Innehållsförteckning för #508 från AppleMagazine

Netflix reported its worst slowdown in subscriber growth in eight years as people emerged from their pandemic cocoons. But it has an answer to that: Video games. The streaming giant announced plans to begin adding video games to its existing subscription plans at no extra cost. It didn’t release details except to note that it will initially focus on mobile games. The confirmation of the long-anticipated gaming expansion came in conjunction with the release of the latest Netflix earnings report. That financial breakdown showed the video service added 1.5 million subscribers during the April-June period. That’s slightly better than the modest increase that management forecast after the service stumbled to a sluggish start during the winter months, but still far below its growth rate in recent years. The 5.5 million…

The United Nations’ human rights chief voiced alarm over the reported use of military-grade malware from Israel-based NSO Group to spy on journalists, human rights activists and political dissidents. U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet’s comments came after an investigation by a global media consortium based on leaked targeting data provided further evidence of the malware’s use. “Revelations regarding the apparent widespread use of the Pegasus software to spy on journalists, human rights defenders, politicians and others in a variety of countries are extremely alarming, and seem to confirm some of the worst fears about the potential misuse of surveillance technology to illegally undermine people’s human rights,” Bachelet said in a statement released in Geneva. Given that that software and others “enable extremely deep intrusions into people’s devices,…

Jeff Bezos blasted into space Tuesday on his rocket company’s first flight with people on board, becoming the second billionaire in just over a week to ride his own spacecraft. The Amazon founder was accompanied by a hand-picked group: his brother, an 18-year-old from the Netherlands and an 82-year-old aviation pioneer from Texas — the youngest and oldest to ever fly in space. “Best day ever!” Bezos said when the capsule touched down on the desert floor in remote West Texas after the 10-minute flight. Named after America’s first astronaut, Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket soared on the 52nd anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, a date chosen by Bezos for its historical significance. He held fast to it, even as Virgin Galactic’s Richard Branson pushed up his own…

Ford Motor Co. and a self-driving vehicle company it partly owns will join with the Lyft ride-hailing service to offer autonomous rides on the Lyft network. The service using Ford vehicles and a driving system developed by Pittsburgh-based Argo AI will begin in Miami later this year and start in Austin, Texas, in 2022. It will start with human backup drivers and go fully autonomous at an unspecified date. The cars will gather data to lay the groundwork to deploy 1,000 robotaxis on the Lyft network in multiple markets during the next five years, the companies said in a statement. Until April, Lyft was developing its own autonomous vehicle systems, but the company ended up selling its unit to Woven Planet, a Toyota Motor Corp. subsidiary, for $550 million. The…

A Quiet Place Part II Almost 500 days after their now-burned-to-the-ground farm was attacked by blind aliens with an acute sense of hearing, the Abbott family – including Evelyn (Emily Blunt) and her children Regan (Millicent Simmonds) and Marcus (Noah Jupe) – start to notice new threats. FIVE FACTS: 1. This is the sequel to 2018’s A Quiet Place, with Blunt, Simmonds and Jupe reprising their roles from that film. 2. John Krasinski – Blunt’s real-life husband – similarly returns to the role of Evelyn’s husband Lee, albeit only in an opening flashback sequence set before the first film’s events. 3. Although Krasinski is the only credited writer of A Quiet Place Part II, he co-wrote the first installment’s screenplay alongside Bryan Woods and Scott Beck. 4. The film’s premiere…

AMORTYCAN GRICKFITTIRICK AND MORTY, SEASON 5 (UNCENSORED) SING SING FOR YOUR SUPPERTHE REAL HOUSEWIVES OF POTOMAC, SEASON 6 RICKDEPENDENCE SPRAYRICK AND MORTY, SEASON 5 (UNCENSORED) A FRIEND IN NEED IS A FRIEND INDEEDSHAHS OF SUNSET, SEASON 9 A PRETTY MELTDOWNTHE REAL HOUSEWIVES OF BEVERLY HILLS, SEASON 11 WHAT REMAINSANIMAL KINGDOM, SEASON 5 BUBBLE BATHS AND FAMILY WRATHS90 DAY FIANCE: HAPPILY EVER AFTER?, SEASON 6 A RICKCONVENIENT MORTRICK AND MORTY, SEASON 5 (UNCENSORED) MORTYPLICITYRICK AND MORTY, SEASON 5 (UNCENSORED) COMPASSION AND KINDNESS IS THE WAY TO GO SIESTA KEY, SEASON 4…

Florida’s Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, called this week on the administration of President Joe Biden to greenlight a plan to transmit the internet to people in Cuba via high-altitude balloons when their government has blocked access. CAN INTERNET BE DELIVERED BY BALLOON? Yes. For years, Alphabet — the parent company of Google — worked to perfect an internet-balloon division service called Loon. It shut down that project in January, saying it wasn’t commercially viable. Prior to the shutdown, Loon balloons had been providing service in mountainous areas in Kenya through a partnership with a local telecom, Telkom Kenya. The service also helped provide wireless communications in Puerto Rico in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, which destroyed the island’s mobile network. Loon partnered with AT&T to make service available. HOW DOES…

Conservationists suing a federal agency over approval of a mine at the largest known U.S. deposit of lithium urged a judge to issue a temporary restraining order blocking excavations they say would disturb sacred tribal burial grounds near the Nevada-Oregon line. Overshadowed by conflict at a lithium mine planned north of Las Vegas where the government intends to declare a rare wildflower threatened or endangered, Lithium Nevada Corp.’s proposed Thacker Pass mine is emerging as a potentially bigger battleground in the debate over environmental trade-offs tied to President Joe Biden’s push for renewable energy. Lithium is a key component in electric vehicle batteries. Lawyers for the mine, the Bureau of Land Management and four conservation groups opened their arguments Wednesday morning before U.S. District Judge Miranda Du in Reno as…

President Joe Biden tempered his assessment that social media giants are “killing people” by hosting misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccines on their platforms, saying that he hoped they would not take it “personally” and instead would act to save lives. While companies like Facebook defend their practices and say they’re helping people around the world access verified information about the shots, the White House says they haven’t done enough to stop misinformation that has helped slow the pace of new vaccinations in the U.S. to a trickle. It comes as the U.S. sees a rise in virus cases and deaths among those who haven’t gotten a shot, in what officials call an emerging “pandemic of the unvaccinated.” Speaking at the White House, Biden insisted he meant “precisely what I said”…

Our iPhones and Apple Watches have come a long way over the past ten years, and today’s devices challenge the performance of top-end PCs and consoles. But whilst Apple offers a range of innovative accessories like AirTags, charging pads, and MagSafe battery packs, it’s worth turning to third-party accessory makers to find unique solutions that could make your devices even smarter. TRANSFORMING YOUR APPLE WATCH Although Apple Watch is the world’s most popular watch, outselling the entire Swiss watch industry, the Cupertino company often comes into criticism in regards to the customization of the wearable, with many preferring the more traditional aesthetics of the Samsung Galaxy Watch, as an example. Indeed, the square watch face has suffered a raft of criticism over the years, so much so that the company…

Zoom, the videoconferencing company whose growth was supercharged by the pandemic over the past year, will buy the cloud call center company Five9 in an all-stock deal valued at about $14.7 billion. That is far greater than Zoom’s market valuation a little over two years ago when it went public for slightly more than $9 billion. Zoom founder and CEO Eric Yuan said in a blog post that the acquisition will accelerate the company’s long-term growth by adding the $24 billion contact center market. That will give Zoom greater exposure to more business clients. Yuan added that it also the deal also complements the Zoom Phone, a cloud phone system that is seeing strong demand. The size of the deal would have seemed unthinkable when Zoom Video Communications Inc. went…

Americans would be freer to repair their broken cellphones, computers, videogame consoles and even tractors themselves or to use independent repair shops under changes being eyed by federal regulators that target manufacturer restrictions. Responding to a new competition directive from the Biden White House, the Federal Trade Commission is moving toward writing new rules aimed at helping small repair businesses and saving consumers money on repair costs. The five FTC commissioners took up the so-called “right to repair” issue this week. Unavailable parts, instruction manuals and diagnostic software and tools, product design restrictions and locks on software embedded in devices have made many consumer products harder to fix and maintain, regulators and industry critics say. Do-it-yourself repairs often require specialized tools, hard-to-obtain parts and access to diagnostic software that’s guarded…

ILLENIUM Fallen Embers Having reached number one on the Billboard Top Dance/Electronic Albums chart, been streamed over four billion times and headlined world-class festivals, the electronic producer and DJ ILLENIUM has undoubtedly sparked excitement with the arrival of his fourth studio album. FIVE FACTS: 1. ILLENIUM’s birth name is Nicholas Miller. 2. Although Miller is originally from San Francisco, he moved to Denver in 2013. 3. ILLENIUM’s first music releases were several singles in 2014, but his debut studio album was 2016’s Ashes, while his next two studio albums were 2017’s Awake and 2019’s Ascend. 4. Justifying the title of the new album’s lead single “Nightlight”, ILLENIUM explained: “A nightlight isn’t THAT bright, but it’s enough to help guide you when you’re otherwise in total darkness”. 5. On July 3,…

The Biden administration and Western allies formally blamed China for a massive hack of Microsoft Exchange email server software and asserted that criminal hackers associated with the Chinese government have carried out ransomware and other illicit cyber operations. The announcements, though not accompanied by sanctions against the Chinese government, were intended as a forceful condemnation of activities a senior Biden administration official described as part of a “pattern of irresponsible behavior in cyberspace.” They highlighted the ongoing threat from Chinese hackers even as the administration remains consumed with trying to curb ransomware attacks from Russia-based syndicates that have targeted critical infrastructure. The broad range of cyberthreats from Beijing disclosed this week included a ransomware attack from government-affiliated hackers that has targeted victims — including in the U.S. — with demands…

Canada announced this week it will begin letting fully vaccinated U.S. citizens into Canada on Aug. 9, and those from the rest of the world on Sept. 7. Officials said the 14-day quarantine requirement will be waived as of Aug. 9 for eligible travelers who are currently residing in the United States and have received a full course of a COVID-19 vaccine approved for use in Canada. Public Safety Minister Bill Blair, who said he spoke with U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, said the U.S. has not yet indicated any plan to change current restrictions at the land border. Canadians are able to fly into the United States with a negative COVID-19 test. Asked in Washington if the U.S. would reciprocate, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said, “We…

The Department of Homeland Security announced new requirements for U.S. pipeline operators to bolster cybersecurity following a May ransomware attack that disrupted gas delivery across the East Coast. In a statement, DHS said it would require operators of federally designated critical pipelines to implement “specific mitigation measures” to prevent ransomware attacks and other cyber intrusions. Operators must also implement contingency plans and conduct what the department calls a “cybersecurity architecture design review.” It’s the latest response by the Biden administration to a series of ransomware attacks and intrusions hitting critical U.S. infrastructure and raising fears about American cybersecurity. DHS did not immediately release further details about the guidance, which comes after another directive issued weeks after the May 7 attack on Georgia-based Colonial Pipeline. U.S. agencies also disclosed that Chinese…

The Hubble Space Telescope should be back in action soon, following a tricky, remote repair job by NASA. The orbiting observatory went dark in mid-June, with all astronomical viewing halted. NASA initially suspected a 1980s-era computer as the source of the problem. But after the backup payload computer also failed, flight controllers at Maryland’s Goddard Space Flight Center focused on the science instruments’ bigger and more encompassing command and data unit, installed by spacewalking astronauts in 2009. Engineers successfully switched to the backup equipment last week, and the crucial payload computer kicked in. NASA said that science observations should resume quickly, if everything goes well. A similar switch took place in 2008 after part of the older system failed. “Congrats to the team!” NASA’s science mission chief Thomas Zurbuchen tweeted.…

The leader of the world’s fourth-largest automaker expects a global computer chip shortage that has cut vehicle production to last into next year. Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares says the shortage will easily drag into 2022. He doesn’t see enough signs that chip makers in Asia are increasing semiconductor production that will come to the west. The shortage has forced most automakers to halt production at times, creating shortages and driving up demand and prices. The average cost of a new vehicle in the U.S. hit a record of over $42,000 in June, according to Kelley Blue Book. Tavares told the Automotive Press Association of Detroit this week that the shortage will force his company to make key parts on its own rather than rely on suppliers. He says Stellantis is…

IndyCar announced an extension with NBC Sports that guarantees a majority of its races will be on the main network broadcast rather than cable, including a series-high 13 events on the flagship channel next season. Still, the migration toward streaming will hit full speed next season as NBC Sports plans to exclusively stream two IndyCar races on Peacock. The rest of the IndyCar schedule, which is expected to be 17 races but has not yet been released, will air on USA Network. Jon Miller, president of NBC Sports programming, said the network never wavered in its desire to extend its relationship with IndyCar because “we think its some of the most competitive racing out there. We think it is, quite honestly, really, really good racing.” He cited this season’s move…

The revelation that a documentary filmmaker used voice-cloning software to make the late chef Anthony Bourdain say words he never spoke has drawn criticism amid ethical concerns about use of the powerful technology. The movie “Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain” appeared in cinemas last Friday and mostly features real footage of the beloved celebrity chef and globe-trotting television host before he died in 2018. But its director, Morgan Neville, told The New Yorker that a snippet of dialogue was created using artificial intelligence technology. That’s renewed a debate about the future of voice-cloning technology, not just in the entertainment world but in politics and a fast-growing commercial sector dedicated to transforming text into realistic-sounding human speech. “Unapproved voice cloning is a slippery slope,” said Andrew Mason, the founder and…

Russian aircraft makers unveiled a prototype of a new fighter jet that features stealth capabilities and other advanced characteristics and will be offered to foreign buyers. Russian President Vladimir Putin inspected the prospective warplane displayed with much fanfare at the MAKS-2021 International Aviation and Space Salon, which opened Tuesday in Zhukovsky, outside Moscow. Russian aircraft maker Sukhoi developed the new fighter under the LTS program, a Russian acronym for the Light Tactical Aircraft. Its makers said the prototype is set to make its maiden flight in 2023 and deliveries could start in 2026. They said the new design could be converted to an unpiloted version and a two-seat model. The prospective warplane, marketed under the project name Checkmate, has one engine and is designed to be smaller and cheaper than…

Struggling businesses forced to temporarily shut down around Olympics venues. Olympic visitors ordered to install invasive apps and allow GPS tracking. Minders staking out hotels to keep participants from coming into contact with ordinary Japanese or visiting restaurants to sample the sushi. Japan’s massive security apparatus has raised complaints that the nation, during the weeks of the Games, will look more like authoritarian North Korea or China than one of the world’s most powerful, vibrant democracies. The worry for many here, however, isn’t too much Big Brother. It’s that all the increased precautions won’t be nearly enough to stop the estimated 85,000 athletes, officials, journalists and other workers coming into Japan from introducing fast-spreading coronavirus variants to a largely unvaccinated population already struggling with mounting cases. “It’s all based on…