Innehållsförteckning för #246 från AppleMagazine

When Dallas police used a bomb-carrying robot to kill a sniper, they also kicked off an ethical debate about technology’s use as a crime-fighting weapon. In what appears to be an unprecedented tactic, police rigged a bomb-disposal robot to kill an armed suspect in the fatal shootings of five officers in Dallas. While there doesn’t appear to be any hard data on the subject, security experts and law enforcement officials said they couldn’t recall another time when U.S. police have deployed a robot with lethal intent. The strategy opens a new chapter in the escalating use of remote and semi-autonomous devices to fight crime and protect lives. It also raises new questions over when it’s appropriate to dispatch a robot to kill dangerous suspects instead of continuing to negotiate their…

Stevie Wonder urged his fans to choose “love over hate” and expressed dismay over the troubles in the world at a concert devoted to one of his classic albums. The legend performed Sunday in Hyde Park for the British Summertime Festival. He opened his concert by telling fans he loved them all in these difficult times, and asked them to live in positivity. “I encourage you to choose love over hate. It’s just that simple. Choose love over hate, right over wrong, kind over meanness. Hope over no hope at all.” The 66-year-old’s Grammy-winning, 1976 album “Songs in the Key of Life” was the focus of the concert; Wonder played the album in its entirety.. Before launching into the set Wonder went on to say that he was happy that…

Twitter says it will live-stream CBS News’ online coverage of the Republican and Democratic conventions later this month, a first for the social media outlet. People will be able to watch video of the conventions on mobile devices and desktops alongside a feed of political tweets, the company said on Monday. The GOP convention in Cleveland begins on July 18, with the Democrats in Philadelphia the following week. Besides being the latest example of Twitter’s foray into video, the announcement is a major shot of exposure for CBSN, which is CBS News’ two-year-old live online stream. “It makes us first among equals if you’re looking for convention video,” said David Rhodes, CBS News president. NBC News also announced Monday that the broadcast network will offer one hour of primetime news…

The final of the European Championship averaged a total of nearly 5.9 million television viewers in the U.S., up slightly from the almost 5.76 million for the 2012 final. Portugal’s 1-0 win over France in extra time Sunday averaged nearly 4.54 million viewers for the English-language broadcast on ESPN, down slightly from the almost 4.57 million for the match between Spain and Italy four years ago. The network said Tuesday that were nearly 1.4 million viewers for the Spanish-language coverage on ESPN Deportes, up 14 percent from 2012. WatchESPN added an average audience of 237,000.…

Zero Days This harrowing documentary movie covers the phenomenon surrounding the Stuxnet computer virus and Operation Olympic Games - a series of cyber attacks launched by the U.S. and Israel on an Iranian nuclear facility. FIVE FACTS: 1. Director Alex Gibney has been nominated for 50 awards, winning 25 of them, including an Oscar for Best Documentary for Taxi to the Dark Side. 2. The title of the movie is based on the term ‘zero-day. This refers to a software author having no time (zero days) to fix a flaw in a computer system, which gives hackers and malware the perfect time to strike. 3. The movie features archive footage of major political figures such as George W. Bush, Hillary Clinton and Ronald Reagan. 4. It was selected to compete…

The easy, electric chemistry of the four leads in Paul Feig’s “Ghostbusters” acts like a firewall against the supernatural and the adolescent, alike, in this spirited reboot of the 1984 original. Ghouls and anonymous Internet commentators - who have flocked to their thumbs-down buttons ahead of the film’s release - share plenty of characteristics. Each is likely to drool and quickly disappear when you turn on the lights. Feig’s “Ghostbusters” ain’t afraid of either. Why should he be, anyway? In his corner he has the best comic actor of the decade, Melissa McCarthy, the klutzy wit of Kristen Wiig, “Saturday Night Live” standout Kate McKinnon and the big-screen breakthrough of Leslie Jones, the film’s secret weapon. His “Ghostbusters” makes some winks to the uproar that preceded his gender-swapping film, but…

After defying industry trends in recent years, Apple is feeling the slowdown in global purchases of laptop and desktop computers. Apple shipped 4 to 8 percent fewer Mac computers during the second quarter of 2016, compared with a year earlier, according to new estimates from two research firms - even while some of its bigger rivals managed to find growth in the PC business. Apple enjoyed steady increases in Mac sales for most of 2014 and 2015, while the rest of the PC market was in a slump. Although the leading PC-makers sell more units, Apple’s Macs tend to command both higher prices and consumer loyalty. But Apple Inc. has been reporting a dip in Mac unit sales since the end of last year, and estimates released Monday suggest that…

Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk, under pressure after a fatal crash involving one of his electric cars, went on Twitter Sunday to say he’s working on another “Top Secret Tesla Masterplan.” He said he hoped to publish details this week. The tantalizing message echoes an August 2006 blog post, titled “The Secret Tesla Motors Master Plan (just between you and me),” in which Musk unveiled the cars that became the Tesla Model S four-door family car and the Tesla 3 sports sedan. Tesla and Musk have been hit with a recent string of bad Wnews. Federal officials are investigating a May 7 crash in Florida that killed a man after his Model S’s cameras failed to detect a turning tractor-trailer and did not automatically activate the brakes. Tesla also said…

Beware: “Pokemon Go,” a new smartphone game based on cute Nintendo characters like Squirtle and Pikachu, can be harmful to your health. The “augmented reality” game, which layers gameplay onto the physical world, became the top grossing app in the iPhone app store just days after its Wednesday release in the United States, Australia and New Zealand. Players already have reported wiping out in a variety of ways as they wander the real world - eyes glued to their smartphone screens - in search of digital monsters. Mike Schultz, a 21-year-old communications graduate on Long Island, New York, took a spill on his skateboard as he stared at his phone while cruising for critters early Thursday. He cut his hand on the sidewalk after hitting a big crack, and blames…

It’s fair to say that this year hasn’t been the best of years for Apple so far. At the start of 2016, the firm reported shipments of the iPhone to be down by 10 million, while revenue was also down 13% at $50.6 billion. Yet, despite fears that Apple had reached its peak and was about to make an ungracious fall from the top, analysts are now predicting that the Cupertino firm is ready to make a comeback. With iPhone SE figures beginning to make a splash in developing markets and the announcement of a new, more diverse iPhone 7 lineup just around the corner, there’s actually rarely been a more exciting time to be an Apple fan - despite the words of the doubters. HOW THE iPHONE SE IS SHAKING…

Wildflower The Avalanches The Avalanches’ second album has definitely been worth the 16-year wait. The long-rumoured follow up to Since I Left You - their 2000 debut that saw the band skyrocket into stardom – is a perfect mish-mash of samples and uplifting R&B. FIVE FACTS: 1. Work on the album began as early as 2005, but was delayed due to illness, a wait for sample clearances and members becoming involved with other projects. 2. Wildflower features collaborations with Ariel Pink, Warren Ellis (Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds) and Father John Misty. 3. The group’s debut is often considered one of the best albums of the 2000s and one of the best Australian albums of all time. 4. Part of the band’s 2000-2001 tour had to be changed from…

Imagine a planet with triple sunrises and sunsets every day for part of the year, and nonstop daylight at other times. Astronomers revealed such a place: a strange new world in the Constellation Centaurus that has not one, not two, but three suns. What’s more, a year there lasts half a millennium from Earth’s perspective. Discoverer and lead author Kevin Wagner said he’s thrilled “to have seen such a beautiful part of nature that nobody else has seen.” As amazing as three sunsets and sunrises are, “I think nature will have some other surprises in store for us as we continue exploring,”Wagner, a doctoral student at the University of Arizona at Tucson, said via email. Triple-star systems with detected planets are rare enough; this is believed to be just the…

A senior U.S. diplomat deleted an untold number of work emails, apparently unaware that even routine messages received and sent by a top government official should be saved, according to a Senate investigation released Tuesday. When Michael Ratney served as the top diplomat in Jerusalem, he found emails with attachments to be a nuisance, the report from the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations said. So, at times, he simply got rid of them to keep his inbox from breaching the storage limits. Ratney, now the U.S. Special Envoy for Syria, didn’t know he was required to keep the messages, the report said. The Federal Records Act requires the preservation of government records. The disclosure of Ratney’s electronic housekeeping comes as Republican outrage mounts over Hillary Clinton’s use of a private…

Consumer Reports says a Samsung phone that’s advertised as being “water resistant” actually isn’t. The problem appears limited to the Galaxy S7 Active, a rugged model available only through AT&T in the U.S. The standard S7 and S7 Edge models have the same claims on water resistance and passed tests. Consumer Reports, a non-profit organization that is well respected for its product testing, said Friday that it can’t recommend the Active because it doesn’t meet Samsung’s own claims. By contrast, Consumer Reports rates the S7 and S7 Edge phones as “Excellent” for their displays, battery life and cameras. Maria Rerecich, Consumer Reports’ director of electronics testing, said she was surprised the Active failed. She said Samsung’s claims are usually “fairly good.” Samsung said it has received very few complaints and…

New rules governing trans-Atlantic data transfers were formally approved Tuesday, months after Europe’s top court ruled against the previous arrangements amid concerns over the surveillance activities of U.S. intelligence agencies. The European Union and the U.S. say the new Privacy Shield imposes stricter obligations on American companies, including the likes of Facebook and Apple, to safeguard the personal data of individuals, from health matters through to social media activities. Critics argue the new framework, which comes into force Aug. 1, doesn’t go far enough, that consumer protections are not strong enough and that the possibility of blanket surveillance from U.S. agencies remains. Another court challenge to the new arrangements is widely anticipated. As part of the deal, the U.S. government has promised that any access on national security grounds by…

The Pokemon Go craze has sent legions of players hiking around cities and battling with “pocket monsters” on their smartphones. It marks a turning point for augmented reality, or technology that superimposes a digital facade on the real world. But the game’s popularity has created unintended consequences in everyday life, from annoyed property owners dealing with hordes of monster hunters to store owners using the game to attract customers. Though perhaps that’s to be expected from a game that has players visit real-world landmarks such as train stations, churches and museums in order to find and trap cartoon creatures. Here’s a look at some of the bigger Pokequestions that have emerged since the game went live last Wednesday: CAN DIGITAL LURES LEAD TO REAL CASH? Some shops are exploring ways…

Facebook is adding to its Messenger app an option for encrypted chats that can only be read on devices where they are sent or received. Users also will be able to set a timer to control how long the message remains visible to anyone, the company said Friday. The “secret conversations,” feature, which is optional, does not work across different devices. So even if a person has Messenger on a phone and on a computer, the conversation will be visible on only one device. The encrypted chats are now being tested with a limited number of people, Facebook said, but the option will be more widely available later this summer. WhatsApp, the Facebook-owned messaging service, already uses end-to-end encryption on all messages.…

After a three-week run at the top of the box office, “Finding Dory” finally found some worthy competition in “The Secret Life of Pets,” another animated family film with an animal focus that opened this weekend and collected $104.4 million. The film featuring the voices of Kevin Hart and Louis C.K. cost only $75 million to make and easily took first place. “The Legend of Tarzan” placed second in its second weekend in theaters with $21 million, bringing its gross to $81.8 million. “Finding Dory” sank to third place with $20.8 million. The weekend’s other opener, the raunchy comedy “Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates” earned $16.6 million against a $33 million budget to take fourth place. “The Purge: Election Year” rounded out the top five with $12.4 million in…

Brenda Hudson recalls weeks spent in a glass-enclosed isolation room after her first kidney transplant, her family allowed to visit only when suited up against germs. That transplant lasted a remarkable four decades - and now Hudson’s recovery from a second one, this time faster and surrounded by germy visitors, showcases how far organ transplants have come and the hurdles that still await. “I’m ready to be well again,” Hudson exclaimed before being wheeled into an operating room at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital last month, far more confident than back at age 17 when she was that hospital’s first recipient of a living-donor kidney. Transplants still require courage, but medical advances haven’t just helped patients. Hudson’s initial donor, her older sister, has a scar stretching from belly to side where…

The Federal Trade Commission says Warner Bros. has agreed to settle charges that it deceived consumers by not properly disclosing that it paid those with big followings on YouTube and social media to promote a video game. The FTC says Warner Bros. paid online influencers thousands of dollars to post positive videos and reviews of the game “Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor” in late 2014. The government says Warner Bros. hired the influencers through an advertising agency and instructed them to publish the disclosure of its sponsorship on YouTube in a spot where consumers couldn’t easily view it. The settlement could be finalized next month. It would bar Warner Bros. from conducting similar campaigns, but there is no financial penalty. Warner Bros. says it’s committed to complying with FTC guidelines…

Flying through the haze over the pyramids of Giza, an experimental solar-powered airplane arrived on Wednesday in Egypt as part of its globe-circling voyage. The Solar Impulse 2 departed from the Seville airport in Spain on Monday and landed at the Cairo International Airport on Wednesday morning. This leg of the trip had been expected to last about 50 hours and 30 minutes. The aircraft, piloted by Swiss aviator Andre Borschberg, had arrived in Seville on June 23 after an unprecedented three-day flight across the Atlantic. The around-the-world voyage began in March 2015 in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates and is due to finish there in the coming weeks. The wings of Solar Impulse 2, which stretch wider than those of a Boeing 747, are equipped with 17,000…