MacRumors

Executives from PopSockets, Sonos, Basecamp, and Tile are attending a congressional hearing today to testify in an ongoing antitrust inquiry involving major tech companies like Amazon, Apple, Google, and Facebook, reports The Washington Post.

The smaller companies are aiming to provide evidence that the tech giants have become too big and have practices in place that stifle competition and hurt sales. Tile in particular is gunning for Apple, claiming that Apple's iOS 13 Bluetooth and location tracking devices have hurt its business, and that Find My resembles Tile's own service.

Apple made sweeping changes in iOS 13, rolling out the ‌Find My‌ app alongside privacy-oriented changes that make it harder for third-party app developers to track customers without their knowledge.

According to Tile, ‌Find My‌, which is designed to let users locate lost iOS and Mac devices, has a major advantage over competing products because location tracking for ‌Find My‌ is enabled by default, while Tile must obtain user permission for location access in "deep, hard-to-find smartphone settings" that also has to be reauthorized with regular follow-up reminders.

Some lawmakers see Apple's changes as an effort to gain an edge over rival companies, but Apple says the iOS 13 updates are designed to improve user privacy and prevent app developers from using customer data without permission. "Apple has not built a business model around knowing a customer's location or the location of their device," Apple spokesperson Fred Sainz told The Washington Post.

Tile attorney Kirsten Daru said that Tile is "looking to Congress to level the playing field" because Apple's changes have caused a "confusing and frustrating experience for [Tile] users."

Sonos, PopSockets, and Basecamp are sharing similar complaints about Google, Facebook, and Amazon, and the information provided to lawmakers today has the potential to shape future state and federal probes.

Tile could soon be even more upset with Apple, as rumors suggest Apple is working on an "Apple Tags" product that can be attached to small items like wallets or keys to track them using the ‌Find My‌ app on the iPhone.

Apple Tags will directly compete with Tile's own trackers, and will be better integrated into the iOS operating system. Apple will also be able to offer more advanced tracking features, taking advantage of the ultra-wideband chip in the ‌iPhone‌ and the ‌Find My‌ option that uses connected Apple products belonging to other people to locate devices even when they're offline.

For those interested, there is a live stream of the congressional hearing that can be watched on YouTube, with the video embedded above.

Update: CNBC's Kif Leswing has shared Apple's full statement on the House Antitrust Subcommittee hearing involving Tile, which clarifies that Apple is working on an option that will let third-party developers enable "Always Allow" tracking at the time of setup. Apple plans to introduce this setting in a future software update.

Apple builds its hardware, software, and system level apps to protect user privacy and provide the best products and ecosystem in the world. Apple has not built a business model around knowing a customer's location or the location of their device.

When setting up a new device users can choose to turn on Location Services to help find a lost or misplaced device with Find My iPhone, an app that users have come to rely on since 2010. Customers have control over their location data, including the location of their device. If a user doesn't want to enable these features, there's a clear, easy to understand setting where they can choose exactly which location services they want enabled or disabled.

In regard to third-party apps, we created the App Store with two goals in mind: that it be a safe and trusted place for customers to discover and download apps, and a great business opportunity for developers. We continually work with developers and take their feedback on how to help protect user privacy while also providing the tools developers need to make the best app experiences.

We're currently working with developers interested in enabling the "Always Allow" functionality to enable that feature at the time of setup in a future software update.

Apple today announced that it has signed a multi-year agreement with award-winning actress and producer Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who will develop new projects exclusively for Apple TV+ as both an executive producer and actress.

Louis-Dreyfus has broken records with multiple Emmys, Golden Globes, Screen Actors Guild, and Critics Choice Awards for her work as an actress and producer, and is a recipient of the prestigious Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. This marks her first-ever overall deal with a streaming service, according to Apple.

"I am thrilled about this new partnership with my friends at Apple," said Louis-Dreyfus. "Also, many thanks and kudos to my representatives for structuring the deal in such a way that I am paid in AirPods."

Louis-Dreyfus is best known for her long-running roles as Elaine Benes on the popular NBC sitcom "Seinfeld" and Selina Meyer on HBO's political satire comedy series "Veep." She has also appeared on NBC's "Saturday Night Live."

Apple's streaming TV service launched in November for $4.99 per month.

Dutch company Robin Telecom today announced that its Robin ProLine doorbell is the first to support HomeKit Secure Video, allowing the camera to capture and store recordings securely in iCloud.

With help from an Apple TV, HomePod, or iPad set up as a home hub, the ProLine doorbell can intelligently detect when motion from a person, animal, or vehicle is captured and store a recording in iCloud. When activity is detected, users will instantly receive a push notification on their iPhone or iPad and can play video clips right from the Lock screen or in the Home app.

With end-to-end encryption, HomeKit Secure Video is billed as a safer option than storing recordings on the servers of third-party accessory makers. A demo of the feature from an Apple Store was recently shared by Zach Truskowski.

HomeKit Secure Video is only available to users that pay for 200GB or more of iCloud storage, starting at $2.99 per month. Users with the 200GB plan can store 10 days of recordings from one camera in iCloud at no extra cost, while those with a 2TB plan can store 10 days of recordings from up to five cameras. HomeKit Secure Video recordings do not count towards a user's iCloud storage usage.

To update the doorbell's firmware, update the Robin ProLine app to version 1.6.0 or later and tap on the gear icon in the ProLine accessory to open the Details page. Tap on "update firmware" followed by "start firmware update."

Priced at €599 in Europe, the Robin ProLine features 720p video recording, a 130-degree viewing angle, IP53-rated water and dust resistance, and a brushed aluminum finish available in space gray, silver, or black.

While several other HomeKit Secure Video doorbells have been announced, the Robin ProLine is the first to support the feature.

Apps designed for the Mac often don't receive as much attention as apps designed for iPhones and iPads, so we have a series here at MacRumors that highlights useful and interesting Macs worth checking out.

This month's picks include apps for optimizing your Mac, learning keyboard shortcuts, searching cloud services, and watching streaming video.

• Sensei - ($29/Year) - Sensei is a new Mac app designed for Mac optimization, offering a clean interface and a range of tools for disk cleaning, battery health monitoring, GPU, CPU, and RAM monitoring, temperature monitoring, SSD Trim enabling, uninstalling apps, fan control, file deleting, and more. Sensei costs $29 per year or $59 for a lifetime license, but there is a free trial to test it out.
• Mouseless ($15) - Mouseless is an app that helps you learn all of the keyboard shortcuts in your favorite apps, offering up short interactive training sessions that teach shortcuts and then reinforce the learning right away. It's a nifty little tool for anyone who wants to become more accustomed to app shortcuts.
• Clew (Free) - Clew is a search app designed to let you search through all of your connected cloud accounts so you can find exactly what you're looking for and then share it quickly using drag and drop. Clew supports Dropbox, Google Drive, Github, and more.
• Gooba (Free) - Gooba is a writing app and task manager that combines note taking, writing, and task management, so you can do things like write a document and then set a reminder for when to send it. It offers Markdown support, keyboard shortcuts, and cross platform compatibility so you can use it on a Mac, iPad, or iPhone.
• Clicker ($5) - Clicker is a set of apps designed for streaming video services that include Netflix, Disney+, YouTube TV, and Hulu, which is the newest app of the bunch. Clicker lets you launch right from the dock and it offers picture-in-picture support, quick video pausing, full screen browsing, touch bar controls, and more. It's a useful app for accessing video services that are normally restricted to the browser on the Mac. All of the apps cost $5, but the Disney+ version is free.

If you have a favorite must-have Mac app that we haven't highlighted yet, let us know in the comments below and we might feature it in a future video. For more of our Mac app picks, make sure to check out our Mac app archives.

NBC today announced that its upcoming Peacock streaming video service is set to launch in the United States on July 15.

The service, which will offer upwards 7,500 hours of programming including NBC shows and Universal movies, will features three subscription tiers.

NBC will offer an ad-supported tier that people can watch for free, and there will be two premium paid tiers that include live sports and early access to NBC's late night shows.

The $4.99 per month premium tier will include ads, while a $9.99 per month version will be available ad-free. Providing access to live sports will allow NBC to differentiate the Peacock service from Disney+, Netflix, and Apple TV+.

In addition to on-demand content and live sports, Peacock will include live breaking news coverage, same-day rebroadcasts, curated shorts, and access to "Dateline" and "NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt." Premium subscribers will get exclusive access to additional TV shows and movies, for a total of 15,000 hours of content.

Peacock will also include original TV shows and films, such as Tina Fey's upcoming "Girls5Eva" and an adaptation of the classic Aldous Huxley novel "Brave New World."

Customers who already subscribe to Comcast and Cox can get free access to the premium with ads version of Peacock, or pay $5 per month for the ad-free version. Comcast X1 and Flex customers will get access to Peacock on April 15, months ahead of the July 15 launch date.

More details on Peacock are available through the investor webcast that NBC shared today and accompanying PDFs that list all of the movies and TV shows that will be accessible with Peacock.

In a news story about an Apple employee who has started a barbershop for at-risk youth, Apple today said that between its own donations and employee donations, it donated more than $100 million to charitable causes in 2019.

Apple says that 21,000 Apple employees donated their time and donated $42 million to causes they care about. Combined with Apple's 1-for-1 donation match and $25 match per volunteer hour, the total amount donated climbed to over $100 million.

Apple's vice president of Environment, Policy, and Social Initiatives Lisa Jackson said the company has a mission to "change the world for the better, and give back to the communities in which we live and work."

"Apple employees like Jaz embody this culture of giving every day, volunteering over a quarter of a million hours last year. We share a deep commitment to our local communities and doing what we can to cause more good."

Much of Apple's story focuses on Jaz Limos, an Apple Park Visitor Center manager in Cupertino who launched Saints of Steel, a nonprofit pop-up barber shop for at-risk youth and people looking for employment and housing.

Saints of Steel was largely funded by Apple. 80 percent of the donations for the first year came from Benevity, a corporate giving program used by Apple, and 74 percent of that donation was made by Apple.

In its first year, the organization was almost fully funded by volunteers and donations from Apple. "Our board, when we first started, was primarily made up of Apple employees who just jumped in and rolled up their sleeves," Limos says. "We saw the power of Benevity and the company match program, because it funded the majority of our ability to run this program."

More info on Saints of Steel and Apple's donations can be found in the full Apple Newsroom article on the topic.

iPhone 12 models will feature a "refreshed" front-facing TrueDepth system that benefits Apple supplier Lumentum, according to Barclays analysts Blayne Curtis, Thomas O'Malley, and Baylie Harri. This suggests that Face ID could be improved on iPhone 12 models, but no specific details were provided.

In a research note provided to MacRumors, the analysts added that the rear-facing camera system on iPhone 12 Pro models will feature 3D sensing based on a time-of-flight solution, as widely rumored. They also expect iPhone 12 Pro models to be equipped with 6GB of RAM, up from 4GB in iPhone 11 Pro models.

The biggest change of all could come next year, as the analysts said they see potential for Apple to remove the Lightning connector from at least one iPhone model in 2021, echoing a prediction shared by fellow analyst Ming-Chi Kuo last month. This could result in wired EarPods being removed from the box, they said.

Kuo has said that Apple plans to release five new iPhone models in 2020, including a lower-end "iPhone SE 2" or "iPhone 9" by the end of March and four higher-end, 5G-enabled models in the fall.

Correction: A previous version of this article listed Apple supplier Lite-On Semiconductor in the first paragraph. The supplier mentioned in the research note was actually Lumentum.