Innehållsförteckning för #495 från AppleMagazine

Bicycles continue to spin out of stores in record numbers. Last March, people began purchasing bicycles at the beginning of the pandemic. A year later, the industry continues to see an increase in sales — to the point where manufacturers are struggling to supply product, experts said. “We used to get a truckload of bikes, and now we are getting two or three at a time,” said George Gatto, co-owner of Gatto Cycle Shop in Tarentum. “The vendors can’t keep up with the demand. It’s been a really challenging past 12 months.” This time last year, Gatto said, he was hesitant about placing a big order, but peers from shops in other states suggested he do so. “I am glad I did, because now there is no inventory anywhere,” Gatto…

It was perhaps one of Apple’s most anticipated product refreshes of all time, and at its Spring Loaded event, the Cupertino company did not disappoint. Apple’s iconic all-in-one desktop computer has been overhauled from the ground up, sparking a new era for the Mac. AN ALL-NEW DESIGN At last year’s Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple confirmed plans to transition away from third-party computer chips towards its own custom-designed silicon. Fast-forward six months, and the first M1 Macs were born, with the Mac mini, MacBook, and MacBook Pro given new leases of life with record-breaking internals, taking the Mac into a new direction. Speaking of the M1 chip ahead of its launch, Apple’s CEO Tim Cook said that “Apple silicon will make the Mac stronger and more capable than ever. I’ve never…

Diners got used to delivery during the pandemic, and the habit may stick long after dining rooms reopen. But restaurants and delivery companies remain uneasy partners, haggling over fees and struggling to make the service profitable for themselves and each other. Companies like DoorDash and UberEats helped many restaurants stay in business during lockdowns, allowing diners to stay in and still order out. But that convenience came at a price: Delivery companies can charge commission fees of 30% or more per order, hurting restaurants’ already meager profits. Some restaurants, fed up with the fees, have since started their own delivery or dropped off the platforms altogether. Delivery companies are trying to keep them in the fold with lower-priced services and relief funds. But they’re not making money either. “The relationship…

Tom & Jerry Jerry Mouse takes refuge in New York City’s plush Royal Gate Hotel on the eve of an eagerly anticipated celebrity wedding, leading event planner and hotel employee Kayla Forester (Chloë Grace Moretz) to hire Tom Cat in a desperate attempt to get rid of the vermin. FIVE FACTS: 1. This is only the second theatrically-released, feature-length film starring Tom and Jerry – after 1992’s Tom and Jerry: The Movie. 2. However, while that film was entirely animated, the new film combines animation and live action in a similar manner to the 1988 classic Who Framed Roger Rabbit. 3. Jennifer Lawrence, Kelly Marie Tran and Olivia Cooke were all reportedly considered for the role of Kayla . 4. The film includes archive recordings of animator William Hanna, who…

Amazon is rolling out pay-by-palm technology at some Whole Foods grocery stores near its headquarters to make paying quicker and more convenient. The technology, called Amazon One, lets shoppers scan the palm of their hand and connect it to a credit card or Amazon account. After the initial set up, which Amazon says takes less than a minute, shoppers can scan their hand at the register to pay for groceries without having to open their wallets. Amazon first launched the technology late last year and at the time said the technology could be used at stadiums, office buildings and other retailers. So far, Amazon hasn’t announced any takers. It has been put into use in several of its cashier-less stores and Amazon said it has signed up thousands of users,…

Foxconn Technology Group will be eligible for just $80 million in taxpayer subsidies under a new contract signed this week, down from nearly $3 billion it could have received under the original deal that envisioned a much larger project in southeastern Wisconsin. Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, who ran in 2018 as a critic of the deal that his Republican predecessor struck with the world’s largest electronics manufacturer, announced details of the new contract after it was approved by the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. during a closed session. “The last deal didn’t work for Wisconsin, and that doesn’t work for me,” Evers said. “Today I’m delivering on that promise with an agreement that treats Foxconn like any other business and will save taxpayers $2.77 billion, protect the hundreds of millions of…

European Union officials unveiled proposals for reining in high-risk uses of artificial intelligence such as live facial scanning that could threaten people’s safety or rights. The draft regulations from the EU’s executive commission include rules on the use of the rapidly expanding technology in systems that filter out school, job or loan applicants. They also would ban artificial intelligence outright in a few cases considered too risky, such as “social scoring” systems that judge people based on their behavior and physical traits. The ambitious proposals are the 27-nation bloc’s latest move to maintain its role as the world’s standard-bearer for technology regulation, putting it ahead of the world’s two big tech superpowers, the U.S. and China. EU officials say they are taking a “risk-based approach” as they try to balance…

Daimler AG unveiled a battery-powered counterpart to its top Mercedes-Benz luxury sedan as German carmakers ramp up their challenge to electric upstart Tesla. The EQS is the first Mercedes-Benz vehicle to be built on a framework designed from the start as an electric car, rather than using components from an internal-combustion vehicle. Mercedes underscored the car’s technological features by equipping it with a sweeping touchscreen panel that stretches across the entire front of the car’s interior in place of a conventional dashboard. Tesla and other carmakers are also adding large screens to their interiors. The EQS is the sibling to the company’s S-Class large internal-combustion sedan, the luxury brands flagship model that sells for $110,000 and up. The two cars aim at the same upper end of the market, though…

Apple spruced up its product line at an event Tuesday while slipping in quiet notice of a software update, now due next week, designed to enhance the privacy of iPhone users at the expense of digital advertisers such as Facebook. Timing for the software upgrade trickled out during a series of announcements for new iPads, iMac computers and more during a prerecorded event that sometimes seemed like a one-hour infomercial for Apple. Apple also unveiled a new subscription option for podcasts and a gadget called AirTags — coin-sized devices that can be attached to keys, backpacks, purses and other items to help people track them down via iPhone if they’re misplaced. The AirTags, due in stores April 30, will require the iPhone software update called iOS 14.5. That update will…

The United Auto Workers union is calling on General Motors to pay full union wages at electric vehicle battery factories, thrusting what had been a festering conflict into the spotlight. The union, in a statement reacting to GM’s announcement that it would build a second U.S. battery plant, said the company and its joint venture partner have a “moral obligation” to pay the higher wages at battery factories. The statement sets the tone for the next round of contract talks in 2023 between GM, Ford and Stellantis (formerly Fiat Chrysler), all of which have plans to make significant numbers of battery-powered vehicles by then as they invest billions to transition from internal combustion engines. However the conflict is resolved, it’s likely to chart the course of American manufacturing wages into…

Slime Language 2 Young Stoner Life, Young Thug & Gunna Young Thug, widely considered one of his generation’s most influential rappers, has recruited many other big names on the hip-hop scene – including Drake, Lil Uzi Vert and Lil Baby – for this compilation album released by Young Thug’s Atlanta-based label imprint YSL Records. FIVE FACTS: 1. Young Thug rose to mainstream recognition with his 2014 singles “Stoner” and “Danny Glover”. 2. Slime Language 2 is the follow-up to the compilation album Slime Language, which was released on August 17, 2018 – also by Young Thug on his YSL Records label. 3. Artists who featured on that earlier album and returned for its sequel include Lil Uzi Vert, Lil Keed and Lil Baby. 4. Slime Language 2 was delayed multiple…

NASA’s experimental helicopter Ingenuity rose into the thin air above the dusty red surface of Mars on Monday, achieving the first powered flight by an aircraft on another planet. The triumph was hailed as a Wright brothers moment. The mini 4-pound (1.8-kilogram) copter even carried a bit of wing fabric from the Wright Flyer that made similar history at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, in 1903. It was a brief hop — just 39 seconds and 10 feet (3 meters) — but accomplished all the major milestones. “Goosebumps. It looks just the way we had tested,” project manager MiMi Aung said as she watched the flight video during a later briefing. “Absolutely beautiful flight. I don’t think I can ever stop watching it over and over again.” Flight controllers at NASA’s…

The Treasury Department slapped six Russian technology companies with sanctions for supporting Kremlin intelligence agencies engaged in “dangerous and disruptive cyber attacks.” But only one of them stands out for its international footprint and partnerships with such IT heavyweights as Microsoft and IBM. That company, Positive Technologies, claims more than 2,000 customers in 30 countries, including major European banks Societe Generale and ING, as well as Samsung, SK Telecom of South Korea and BT, the British telecommunications giant. Its clients also include the FSB, a successor to the KGB that “cultivates and co-opts criminal hackers” who carry out ransomware and phishing attacks, the Treasury Department said. The U.S. said big conventions hosted by Positive Technologies are “used as recruiting events” by the FSB and the GRU, Russia’s military intelligence agency.…

Organizers of a $20 million contest to develop products from greenhouse gas that flows from power plants announced two winners ahead of launching a similar but much bigger competition backed by Elon Musk. Both winners made concrete that trapped carbon dioxide, keeping it out of the atmosphere, where it can contribute to climate change. Production of cement, concrete’s key ingredient, accounts for 7% of global emissions of the greenhouse gas, said Marcius Extavour, XPRIZE vice president of climate and energy. “So it’s not surprising that the winning teams focused on reducing emissions associated with concrete, which will be a game-changer for global decarbonization,” he said in a statement. Meanwhile, Musk, the electric car and space entrepreneur, has pledged $100 million for researchers who can show how to trap huge volumes…

The fiery crash of a Tesla near Houston with no one behind the wheel is drawing scrutiny from two federal agencies that could bring new regulation of electronic systems that take on some driving tasks. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the National Transportation Safety board said this week they would send teams to investigate the Saturday night crash on a residential road that killed two men in a Tesla Model S. Local authorities said one man was found in the passenger seat, while another was in the back. They’re issuing search warrants in the probe, which will determine whether the Tesla’s Autopilot partially automated system was in use. Autopilot can keep a car centered in its lane, keep a distance from cars in front of it, and can…

Apple said it has reached an agreement with the right-wing social app Parler that could lead to its reinstatement in the company’s app store. Apple kicked out Parler in January over ties to the deadly Jan. 6 siege on the U.S. Capitol. In a letter to two Republican lawmakers in Congress, Apple said it has been in “ substantial conversations ” with Parler over how the company plans to moderate content on its network. Before its removal from the app store, Parler was a hotbed of hate speech, Nazi imagery, calls for violence (including violence against specific people) and conspiracy theories.…

Democratic lawmakers are unveiling legislation that would invest $25 billion to convert the nation’s fleet of gasoline- and diesel-powered school buses to electric vehicles, aiming at a component of President Joe Biden’s $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan to improve children’s health. The legislation led by Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., seeks to build on the administration’s effort this week to promote the electrification of school buses, which Biden sees as an important step in addressing climate change and economic inequities. School buses make up 90% of the nation’s total bus fleet and typically carry nearly 25 million children each day. Emissions from diesel engines may contribute to respiratory illnesses in children, studies have found, and have been linked to poor academic performance. The bill introduced this week would authorize federal grant money…

Is there a more woebegone movie genre than the video game adaptation? This is the pantheon of “Max Payne,” “Wing Commander” and “Assassin’s Creed.” In the 27 years since the first video game movie, “Super Mario Bros.,” these adaptations have been so regularly mocked that you might think the genre was -- like a teetering fighter in “Mortal Kombat” surrounded by chants of “Finish him!” -- on its last legs. And yet, Hollywood is increasingly viewing video games as one of the ripest, richest veins of intellectual property outside of comic books. Even as much of the film business slowed over the last year, the hunt for the kind of IP that has fueled an overwhelming share of worldwide box-office ticket sales has continued unabated. The video game movie isn’t…

For the first time, NASA is putting its trust in a recycled SpaceX rocket and capsule for a crew. Astronaut Megan McArthur takes special pleasure in the reused spacecraft set to soar Thursday morning. In “a fun twist,” she’ll sit in the same seat in the same capsule as her husband, Bob Behnken, did last spring for a test flight to the International Space Station. “It’s kind of a fun thing that we can share. I can see him and say, ‘Hey, can you hand over the keys. I’m ready now to go,’“ she said in a recent interview with The Associated Press. While their 7-year-old son, Theo, is becoming a pro at parent launches, McArthur said “he’s not super excited” about her being gone for six months. That’s how…

British authorities are exploring the possibility of creating a new digital currency that Treasury chief Rishi Sunak touted as “Britcoin.” The Bank of England and the Treasury said this week that they will work together to assess the benefits of a central bank digital currency, at a time when cash payments are generally on the decline, partly as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. The bank said the new currency, if it comes to pass, would be a new form of digital money for use by households and businesses and would exist alongside cash and bank deposits, rather than replacing them. Digital currencies, which are only available in digital or electronic form, are already being explored or even implemented in several other countries, with many proponents drawing inspiration from the…

Global warming emissions are expected to spike this year as the world emerges from the coronavirus pandemic and economies begin to recover. Worldwide energy-related carbon dioxide emissions could surge by 1.5 billion metric tons this year, following last year’s decline due to the pandemic, according to a report from the International Energy Agency, an intergovernmental group based in Paris. That would be the second-largest annual increase in emissions since 2010 following the global financial crisis of 2008-2009, the IEA reported. Carbon dioxide emissions will increase 5% increase this year, to 33 billion metric tons, the IEA forecast. The group says that the main driver is coal demand, which is on course to grow by 4.5%. That would surpass its 2019 level and approach its 2014 peak, according to the IEA,…