Apple supplier Dialog Semiconductor on Wednesday reported a slight rise in fourth-quarter operating profit, but warned investors that its revenue in 2019 would decline as it finalizes a deal with Apple to license its iPhone power management technology.
According to Reuters, shares in Dialog rose by nearly 4 percent after its forecast of a single-digit percentage revenue drop this year came in above analysts' predictions of a 9 percent fall.
Last October, Apple agreed to a business arrangement with the German chipmaker to license its iPhone power management technology and transfer technical assets, in a deal worth $600 million.
As part of the agreement, Apple acquired some of the Anglo-German chipmaker's assets and 300 of its R&D staff, or around 16 percent of Dialog's workforce. The deal represents a huge investment for Apple, which will take over Dialog facilities in Italy, Germany, and the U.K., expanding its chip research and development significantly across Europe.
Dialog's shares rose as much as 34 percent on news of the deal, their highest since 2002. The firm's partnership with Apple makes up around 75 percent of its revenue.
The agreement followed a report earlier the same month claiming Apple would design its own power management chips as early as 2018, which came as a serious blow for Dialog, the exclusive designer of the current main power management chip for iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch models.
Online retailers in China have begun discounting iPhones for the second time this year. Reuters reports that several mobile vendors this week announced discounts on iPhone models, including Apple's latest flagship iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max.
Gadget retailer Suning.Com Co Ltd said it would slash the price of the iPhone XS by as much as 1,000 yuan ($148.95) from its official price. Suning had lowered the prices of other iPhone models in January along with other retailers, but those cuts excluded the iPhone XS.
Pinduoduo Inc, an e-commerce site best known for selling inexpensive goods, has also said it would sell the 64GB edition of the iPhone XS for 6,999 yuan, a drop of over 1,000 yuan from the official price.
JD.com is also reportedly poised to offer discounts on its Apple products, including the iPhone XS and XS Max, which escaped the online retail giant's first major round of discounts in January.
Apple first dropped iPhone prices for third-party distributors in China on January 10, allowing vendors to purchase iPhones more cheaply and pass those savings on to customers. Apple cut prices on most iPhone models, but the XR saw the biggest discounts.
Apple launched the price cuts after seeing iPhone sales fall significantly in China during the holiday quarter of 2018, leading to lower iPhone revenue than expected. One report said Apple was seeing improved iPhone sales in China following the price cuts.
Apple has also partnered with Ant Financial, the finance arm of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, and several state-owned banks to let consumers purchase iPhones via interest-free loans.
Apple CEO Tim Cook said in January that the company was reevaluating its pricing strategies in some international markets, returning to pricing that's "more commensurate" with what local prices were last year to boost its iPhone sales.
Cook also said he believes Apple's higher prices were a factor in the declining number of iPhone upgrades that led to a weaker holiday quarter. In some international markets, the strength of the U.S. dollar amplified pricing increases.
Samsung is working on two additional folding smartphone models to succeed the Galaxy Fold that's coming out this April, reports Bloomberg.
The new folding smartphones include a clamshell-like device that folds from top to bottom and another that folds outwards like Huawei's Mate X, another high-end folding smartphone coming this year.
Samsung's current Galaxy Fold, which will be priced at $1,980 when it launches, folds inwards rather than outwards, much like a book.
Samsung is experimenting with multiple folding designs to figure out what kind of fold works best with a smartphone/tablet hybrid.
"No one knows what the ideal design is yet," said Bryan Ma, vice president of devices research at IDC. "The time is ripe for experimentation. Many of these designs won't be successful, but industry players will learn valuable lessons along the way."
Samsung's vertically folding smartphone is set to be released in late 2019 or early 2020, with the company currently working on mockups to finalize the device's design. Right now, the smartphone has an extra screen on the outside, but it may be removed.
Samsung already has a prototype of a smartphone that folds outward like the Huawei Mate X and this device will come out last. It will be thinner than the other two because there is no extra screen.
According to Bloomberg, future foldable devices may incorporate the in-display ultrasonic fingerprint sensor that Samsung has built into the Galaxy S10. Reviews have been mixed on the sensor, with some reviewers suggesting it is sluggish and not always accurate.
Samsung is also hoping to make the Galaxy Fold more durable, eliminating a crease that appears on the current panel once it's been folded approximately 10,000 times. To combat this issue, Samsung is considering offering Galaxy Fold buyers free screen replacements after the smartphone launches. From Bloomberg:
The Galaxy Fold’s screen imperfection develops on a protective film covering the touch sensor bonded with the display underneath, the person said. That’s one reason why Samsung kept the phone inside a glass case at MWC in Barcelona last month, the person said. Samsung’s spokeswoman said the Galaxy Fold was displayed that way because it wanted more attention on the soon-to-be-launched Galaxy S10, not because there was a problem with the quality of the foldable device.
Right now, folding smartphone technology is imperfect and expensive, and it is not clear if foldable tablet/smartphone hybrids are a fad or something that will catch on and dictate the future of the smartphone industry.
There are no rumors suggesting that Apple has plans to release a foldable smartphone in the near future, but Apple is undoubtedly looking into foldable devices given that its major competitors are coming out with folding smartphones. In the past, Apple has patented some foldable display technology, and just recently, a rumor suggested Samsung has provided folding display samples to Apple.
LG today announced that its new smart TVs will receive a software update in mid 2019 with support for AirPlay 2 and HomeKit.
LG first revealed plans to add AirPlay 2 and HomeKit to its latest smart TVs at CES in January. At the time, it said the features would arrive in 2019, and today's announcement narrows down the timeframe to the middle of the year.
New LG TVs will receive an upgrade mid-year to support Apple AirPlay 2 and Apple HomeKit for easy streaming of video and audio content and connectivity to Apple's smart home products. 2019 LG TV owners can also expect to receive a firmware update that will add Amazon Alexa support to complement Google Assistant which is included out of the box…
AirPlay 2 support will allow users to stream videos, music, photos, and more directly from an iPhone, iPad, and Mac to eligible LG smart TVs, complete with lock screen controls. HomeKit support will enable users to easily control the TVs using Siri voice commands or the Home app on iPhone, iPad, and Mac.
AirPlay 2-enabled TVs from LG will include its 2019 OLED, NanoCell SM9X, LG NanoCell SM8X, and UHD UM7X models, according to Apple's list.
Apple and Qualcomm have been squaring off in courts around the world, and this week, the first U.S. jury trial kicked off in San Diego, California, where Qualcomm's headquarters are located.
During today's legal proceedings, which were covered by CNET, Apple claimed that one of its former engineers, Arjuna Siva, had a hand in inventing the technologies covered in one of the patents that Qualcomm is accusing Apple of infringing on.
The patent in question covers a method that allows a smartphone to quickly connect to the internet once the device boots up. According to Apple, Siva came up with the concept for the patent and should be named on it.
Siva was an Apple employee prior to 2011, which was the year Apple released the first iPhone that used a Qualcomm chip. Prior to the release of that device, Apple and Qualcomm worked together for modem chips that would meet Apple's needs. Siva was involved in those discussions and proposed the technology that Qualcomm went on to patent.
Apple claims that while the two companies were in discussions, then-Apple engineer Arjuna Siva came up with the idea that Qualcomm would later patent. Siva, who now works at Google, will testify later in the trial.
"Does Qualcomm believe in giving credit where credit is due?" Apple's counsel, Joseph Mueller of Wilmer Hale, asked Monday.
Qualcomm director of engineering Stephen Haenichen said that Siva did not deserve to have his name on the patent and contributed "nothing at all" to the development of the feature, despite Apple's argument.
According to CNET, Apple's aim with the Siva argument is to prove that Qualcomm is hasty and careless when filing its patents. Qualcomm pays $1,500 to employees for filing a patent and another $1,500 when the patent is issued, which is another point Apple brought up to demonstrate Qualcomm's treatment of patents. Siva will testify later in the week to provide more detail on his role working with Qualcomm back before the first iPhone with a Qualcomm modem was released.
The current trial between Apple and Qualcomm will last through next week and we'll likely see additional interesting tidbits and arguments revealed as the legal battle goes on and the jury tries to decide if Apple is indeed guilty of infringing on Qualcomm technology.
Apple and Qualcomm have been fighting since January 2017, when Apple sued Qualcomm for $1 billion in unpaid royalty fees. Qualcomm countersued, and since then, the two companies have levied multiple lawsuits against one another. Two of Qualcomm's lawsuits have resulted in import bans in Germany and China, both of which Apple was able to skirt with hardware and software updates.
Apple's AirPods are one of its most popular product lines in recent years, and have resulted in crazy demand, memes, and dozens of knockoff products.
In our latest YouTube video, we picked up a pair of $50 i10 TWS earphones that have been designed to look like AirPods to see how they measure up to the real thing.
The i10 TWS AirPods knockoffs are almost carbon copies of the AirPods and at first glance, it's hard to tell them apart. There are some noticeable differences to distinguish the two, though, which will be obvious to AirPods owners.
Instead of a Lightning port, the i10 TWS earbuds have a USB-C port for charging, though they also support Qi-based wireless charging, which the AirPods don't offer. There's also an LED charging indicator light on the front and no Bluetooth pairing button on the back.
When it comes to the case, the i10 TWS is clearly lower quality than the AirPods as it's lighter, feels flimsier, and makes a clicking noise when you open the lid, but the fake AirPods inside look quite similar to real AirPods.
The i10 TWS earbuds are nearly indistinguishable from AirPods, and they sound pretty similar too. Sound quality was about the same with both, and the same goes for voice quality when using the microphone for calls.
Like the AirPods, the i10 TWS earbuds use gestures, with a single tap able to play/pause music and a double tap able to skip tracks. A two-second hold activates a voice assistant like Siri.
There are missing AirPods features, though. There's no autopause/autoplay function when removing one of the i10 TWS earbuds from your ear, and there's no simple pairing due to the lack of a W1 chip.
The i10 TWS earbuds pair to a device like any other Bluetooth headphones, and they also don't enjoy the same long range. As for battery life, they last for about three hours worth of streaming music and charge up in about an hour and a half over USB-C.
So while these look, feel, and sound like AirPods, the i10 TWS earbuds are missing some key features, which explains why the price is so much lower. You can snap these up for about $50, which is more than $100 less than the AirPods.
Would you ever buy knockoff AirPods instead of the real thing? Let us know in the comments.
Need help deciding whether Apple or Google has the right music streaming service for you? Then keep reading. Apple Music launched in 2015 and was a relative latecomer to the streaming services market, but Apple's continual development of the platform has made it into one of the most popular choices for enjoying digital music. Google's music strategy on the other hand has been confusing in recent years. The company's original service, Google Play Music, has been rolled into YouTube Music, so that's what we'll look at here.
Google Music
Google launched its original Play Music streaming service in 2011. Like Apple Music, Play Music gave you access to a vast music library, music recommendations, radio stations, and offline listening, all for a monthly fee. In a unique contribution to the streaming services field, Google Play Music also let all Google account holders (i.e. not just subscribers) upload up to 50,000 tracks from their existing music library to the cloud, for storage and online streaming.
In May 2017, Google launched an on-demand ad-supported music streaming service called YouTube Music, shortly followed by YouTube Music Premium – a revamped version of its ad-free YouTube Red subscription service with a renewed focus on original programming. The rebranded service includes personalized playlists, intelligent search, support for background playback on mobile and music downloads for offline listening. It also offers access to remixes, covers and live versions that aren't available on other platforms. YouTube Music has replaced Google Play Music, and existing subscribers have had their playlists, collections, and preferences migrated automatically.
Subscriptions and Plans
An individual Apple Music subscription costs $9.99 per month in the United States, with slight price variations in other countries and territories. Membership means you can stream Apple's music catalog, download music and videos for offline listening, and get exclusive access to new releases and exclusives, as well as a back catalog of shows broadcast on Apple's Beats 1 radio station.
A standard YouTube Music subscription also costs $9.99 per month. That gets you access to Google's music catalog, music recommendations, radio stations, offline listening, and access to YouTube Music Premium, which has the same features as YouTube Premium such as background listening and video downloads, but with those features locked to the YouTube Music service only. An Apple Music student subscription costs $4.99 and requires you to sign up using your educational institution credentials. YouTube Music doesn't appear to offer an equivalent plan, although eligible students can subscribe to YouTube Music Premium for $4.99 a month.
Apple Music membership plans
Apple Music's family plan costs $14.99 a month and allows up to six people to access the services using a personal account for each family member. Members can also share iTunes purchases with each other in addition to catalog content, but all family members must use the same credit card for App Store/iTunes purchases. Google also offers a $14.99 a month YouTube Music Family Plan. When you subscribe to the family plan, you and up to 5 family members can stream music on up to 10 devices each and share eligible purchased items on YouTube using Family Library. (Each family member still has separate Google Accounts, playlists, libraries, and offline content.)
Both Apple Music and YouTube Music memberships automatically renew each month, but you can cancel renewal at any time and your subscription will run out at the end of your current billing cycle.
Free Trials
Apple Music offers a free three-month trial of its paid service, which converts to a paid membership unless the user cancels before the trial period is over.
Google offers all users a free three-month trial of YouTube Music, which is probably the best way to get a taster of what Google's music streaming service offers.
Libraries and Offline Listening
All paid Apple Music and YouTube Music plans give you access to a huge catalog of songs songs when you sign up. Apple Music boasts 50 million songs in its catalog, while YouTube Music subscribers get the pick of 40 million songs, so regardless of which one has the most content, both allow you to build up a large collection of music.
Apple Music users can download a maximum of 100,000 songs to their library, and thanks to Apple's iCloud Music Library feature these can be synced across devices signed in to the same Apple ID. YouTube Music users can download as many songs, albums, and playlists as they want for offline listening (Google doesn't specify a maximum number).
Streaming quality
Starting in June 2021, Apple Music will support Spatial Audio and Lossless Audio, two features that are being provided to Apple Music subscribers at no additional cost. Both of these features will significantly improve the Apple Music listening experience.
Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos will provide an immersive, multi-dimensional audio experience that allows artists to mix music in a way that makes it sound like the notes are coming from all around you. Apple has had a Spatial Audio feature available for television content, and now it is expanding to Apple Music audio content.
Apple is upgrading its entire music catalog to Lossless Audio with the ALAC (Apple Lossless Audio Codec) that preserves the details in the original audio file. Apple Music subscribers will be able to hear songs exactly as the artists recorded them in the studio.
When Lossless Audio launches, 20 million songs will support the codec, with all 75 million songs available in Lossless Audio by the end of 2021.
The standard Lossless tier will start at CD quality, which is 16-bit at 44.1 kHz, and it goes up to 24 bit at 48 kHz. There's also a Hi-Res Lossless tier available at 24 bit 192 kHz, but Hi-Res Lossless requires an external digital-to-analog converter (DAC).
If you don't opt to use Apple's lossless tiers, Apple Music streams 256kbps AAC files across the board, while Google Play Music users can select the streaming bitrate from low (198 kbps), normal (192 kbps), and high (320 kbps AAC) quality. YouTube Music currently appears to have a maximum bitrate of 128 kbps, but that's likely to improve in time.
Apart from audiophiles, most listeners probably won't notice much difference between the highest quality streams of the same song, but YouTube Music's option to select the bitrate can come in handy if you're worried about using up your cellular data.
Mobile, Desktop, and Web Apps
The Apple Music catalog is accessed from within the Music app, which has a clean white interface and comes pre-installed on every iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, and also is available as a separate downloadable app on Android devices. The mobile app is organized into tabs to access your music library, browse the Apple Music catalog, and listen to radio stations, while a "For You" tab lets you check out recommendations based on your listening preferences.
Google Play Music mobile app
The YouTube Music app, available on both iOS and Android, has a similar clean interface, but a more minimalist feel to it, with tabs for accessing the YouTube Music catalog, your own music library, recently played content, and recommended listening.
Both apps are easy to navigate and include fullscreen media players that showcase album art as you listen. These screens also put add-to-playlist, sharing, song queuing, and audio device options at your fingertips. Users familiar with Gmail and other apps by Google should feel right at home in the YouTube Music app, although Apple's Music app has the advantage of Force Touch support on compatible devices, which can be used to quickly access additional menus.
Apple Music mobile
Both apps allow you to add any existing music you own to your library, but offer different routes to achieving this. YouTube Music lets you sync up to 50,000 tracks from your computer using an upload client app or the web player, after which they become available for streaming from any device signed into your Google account. Apple Music uses iCloud Music Library to match any songs you have in iTunes to tracks in the Apple Music catalog, which are then made available on your other devices.
Apple Music in iTunes (available for PC and Mac) is largely based on the same format as the mobile app, but it's not quite as pretty. It's also a little less navigable, but it does have one trick up its sleeve: Smart Playlists. These can be automatically generated by iTunes based on genre, date added, loved/disliked, and so on, meaning you don't have to manually build playlists yourself if you don't want to. Apple doesn't offer a native player for web browsers, though third-party workaround service Musish lets you listen to Apple Music on the web.
YouTube Music web player
YouTube Music can be played through browsers on your Mac or PC.
Discovery Features
When you sign up for Apple Music, Apple asks you to select some of your favorite artists so that the service can get a sense of your tastes. Using this information, Apple Music populates its regularly updated "For You" section with new releases, daily mixes and playlists to appeal to your preferences. Playlists can take on a style (pop or jazz, for example), a particular artist, or even a particular activity like studying.
Google Play Music mobile app
Discovering new music isn't as straightforward in YouTube Music, especially when you first sign up. However, the Home tab soon starts to populate with personal album and playlist recommendations after you've spent some time liking/disliking songs in the media player, and if you sync existing music to your library, Google will use this to get a better idea of your tastes.
While YouTube Music's Home tab also features new releases and "Made for everyone" playlists categorized into genres and moods/activities, Apple Music's non-personalized content lives in a separate Browse tab showcasing trending artists and playlists, top charts, and music videos. Browse is also home to a TV and films section that features Apple-made programming like Carpool Karaoke and artist documentaries (Apple is currently investing heavily in programming, so expect more content to appear here in the coming months).
Apple Music's Radio tab features curated music stations tuned to your listening habits as well as Apple's Beats 1 radio station. Beats 1 offers live radio 24 hours a day, and also plays a big part in the platform's music discovery. The Radio tab also has an archive of its most popular radio shows and playlists from years past.
YouTube Music sideloads its Radio offering in the Browse tab under various categories including genres, activities, moods, and decades. The UI presentation is a little dull, but listening to YouTube Music's stations is probably the best way to encounter new content on the platform that you might like, and the more thumbs up/thumbs down you give to songs, the better Google's algorithms are at generating new music recommendations for you.
Music Sharing
Apple Music allows you to follow friends who are also subscribers and share playlists with them that you've personally created. Apple Music's For You tab will also show you what your friends are listening to if you've connected to them.
YouTube Music has no such social features, but it does let you share song links via text or over social media.
Speakers and Voice Assistants
As an Apple Music subscriber, you can use Siri as a personal DJ to control song playback, queue up songs, find song facts, add songs to your library, play your favorite playlists, or even play something new. This is a big advantage Apple Music has over YouTube Music, which requires a more complicated solution through Siri Shortcuts, and even then, it lacks many equivalent features.
Apple's HomePod speaker is essentially made to be used in conjunction with Apple Music. In fact, one of the main uses for Siri on HomePod is to control your Apple Music collection. There are Siri voice commands for accessing content like playlists, genres, moods, liking or disliking songs, playing more music based on something you've heard, starting a new radio station, and much more. None of these functions will work with a YouTube Music subscription. You can stream audio to HomePod from a device running the YouTube Music app, but that's it.
If you own a Google Home speaker though, you're in luck. As you'd expect, Google's smart speakers fully integrate with YouTube Music, so you can invoke Google's voice assistant to carry out many of the same spoken commands mentioned above. Apple Music is not available as an integrated option on Google Home devices.
In addition, you can combine YouTube Music with the Google Assistant mobile app. When you do, YouTube Music combines your preferences with real-time information — like location, weather, and more — so that its voice assistant can recommend the right music for what you're doing, how you're feeling, or what you want to hear. However this does involve allowing Google access to a raft of privacy permissions on your mobile device, so you may want to think twice before you enable them.
Listening in the Car
Apple's CarPlay system supports Google Play Music and, of course, Apple Music. If a car doesn't have CarPlay, most newer models have their own entertainment systems, which often make it easy to connect your chosen streaming service. Usually you can do so either direct from a built-in app, over Bluetooth, or via a cable connection. You can also listen to Apple Music and Play Music music through your phone's or car's speakers with Android Auto.
Apple Music highlights
Seamless integration with Apple's eco-system
Beats live radio and archive
Human curated recommendations
Social features
Support for uploading/matching your own music files
Works natively with HomePod
YouTube Music highlights
Cloud storage for existing music library
Official web player
Excellent music suggestion algorithms
Minimalist mobile UI
Summing Up
When Google Play Music migrated to YouTube Music, all of Play Music's features survived the transition, and YouTube Music is a good choice if you own Android devices and you're already a heavy user of Google and YouTube apps and services.
On the other hand, if you're invested in the Apple ecosystem (perhaps you own an Apple TV or a HomePod as well as an iPhone) then Apple Music is the clear winner. Apple's service is quicker off the mark with its music suggestions, offers a better user experience in the mobile app, and includes some neat social features, where YouTube Music virtually has none.
Apple has objected to an apple logo trademark that Norway's Fremskrittspartiet or Progress Party filed for back in November, according to the Norwegian Patent Office.
The image in question features a red apple with a stem and a green leaf that also has a white "F" on the front, an icon used by the Fremskrittspartiet.
In an objection letter provided to Norway's Patent Office, Apple says that the trademark that the Fremskrittspartiet has registered "resembles" the "very well-known" trademarked Apple logo and is likely to be confused with Apple's prior trademarks.
The Fremskrittspartiet has applied to use the trademark for computer software, digital media, stationary and other paper products, household items, textiles like flags, clothing and headgear, buttons, and games and toys.
It's not yet clear how this will play out, but Apple plans to provide additional documentation to support its case in the future. Apple is asking the Norwegian Patent Office to repeal the Fremskrittspartiet's trademark registration.
Apple's upcoming video streaming service and its work on original TV content could spell trouble for Apple board member and Disney CEO Bob Iger, reports Bloomberg, citing the potential for competition between the two companies.
Iger is potentially at risk of losing his seat on Apple's board as Apple prepares to launch its streaming TV service. Apple already has more than two dozen original TV shows in the works and has purchased rights to several movies, with all of that content set to be offered via the upcoming service.
Disney, like Apple, is working on its own streaming service, Disney+, and is potentially set to be one of Apple's competitors. Disney+ will offer Disney, Star Wars, and Marvel content (including content made just for Disney+), and like Apple's TV service, it will launch in 2019. Disney also recently acquired Fox's assets, giving it majority control over Hulu and other channels and film franchises.
Apple proxy filings that have detailed "arms-length commercial dealings" with Disney have specified that Iger does not have a "material direct or indirect interest" in the deals, but Bloomberg suggests that could change when both companies have launched their streaming services.
John Coffee, director of the Center on Corporate Governance at Columbia Law School told Bloomberg that Disney and Apple "might have to recognize that they will become active competitors in the near future." Both companies likely have legal advisers exploring whether Iger should continue to be on Apple's board, according to Coffee.
Iger, who was a good friend of Steve Jobs, has been on Apple's board since 2011, but there is precedent for a board member leaving due to increasing competition. Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt was previously on Apple's board, but resigned in 2009 after Google entered the smartphone market.
Encryption should not provide an "unfettered space" for criminals to hide behind, FBI Director Christopher Wray said today in an interview at the RSA conference, a cybersecurity event in San Francisco.
As noted by CNET, Wray said that while the FBI is not seeking backdoors in electronics, encryption needs to have limitations.
"It can't be a sustainable end state for there to be an entirely unfettered space that's utterly beyond law enforcement for criminals to hide," Wray said, echoing a position that law enforcement officials have taken on encryption time and time again.
Apple and other technology companies have been clashing with law enforcement agencies like the FBI and fighting anti-encryption legislation for years now. Apple's most public battle with the U.S. government was in 2016, when the Cupertino company was ordered to help the FBI unlock the iPhone used by Syed Farook, a shooter in the 2015 attacks in San Bernardino.
Apple opposed the order and said that it would set a "dangerous precedent" with serious implications for the future of smartphone encryption. Apple held its ground and the U.S. government backed off after finding an alternate way to access the data on the device, but Apple is continually dealing with additional law enforcement attempts to weaken encryption.
Multiple tech companies, Apple included, have formed the Reform Government Surveillance coalition to promote strong device encryption and fight against legislation calling for backdoor access into electronic devices.
Apple has argued that strong encryption is essential for keeping its customers safe from hackers and other malicious entities. A backdoor created for government access would not necessarily remain in government hands and could put the company's entire customer base at risk.
During the interview, Wray said that encryption is a "provocative subject" and he provided no additional insight into how tech companies might provide strong encryption for customers while also acquiescing to law enforcement demands for device access.
Wray did say that the U.S. is seeing an uptick in threats from "various foreign adversaries" that are using criminal hackers, which suggests the need for strong encryption is greater than ever.
Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.
Over the weekend, it was discovered that Facebook had hidden a "Dark Mode" toggle in the latest version of FaceBook Messenger.
On Monday Facebook confirmed the release of the hidden feature but also promised a full roll out in the "coming weeks."
Dark mode in Facebook Messenger can be enabled by sending a crescent moon emoji in Messenger. Facebook describes the process as "Simply send a crescent moon emoji – 🌙 – in any Messenger chat to unlock the setting and prompt to turn on dark mode." That said, many have found they may need to force quit Messenger or even reinstall it for the Dark mode to activate. There's been no word on a dark mode coming to Facebook proper.
Facebook also demonstrates that you can improve the look of your chats by tapping on the name, and selecting a custom color or gradient.
LaCie, Seagate's premium brand, recently launched a new external SSD, the LaCie Mobile SSD, which offers up to 2TB of storage space along with USB-C transfer speeds up to 540MB/s.
The LaCie Mobile SSD follows the LaCie Portable SSD, offering a thin, light enclosure that's easily pocketable but still eye catching. LaCie first introduced the Mobile SSD at CES 2019, and it's now available for purchase from Apple.
LaCie designed the Mobile SSD with unique "diamond-cut" edges, which look quite nice in person. The Mobile SSD is futuristic but simple, which is appropriate because this is an Apple exclusive product. I'm not sure how important SSD attractiveness is to the average person, but this is certainly the best looking external SSD I've used.
It's made from a brushed aluminum material that matches well with Apple's MacBooks (especially the Space Gray model), and since it's aluminum, it's light but durable. LaCie says it can withstand drops up to 3 meters, though it's never a good idea to be rough with a data storage device if you can help it.
The LaCie Mobile is available in 500GB, 1TB, and 2TB capacities, and LaCie sent me the 1TB version to test. It comes with both a USB-C to USB-C cable for use with Apple's most recent Macs and a USB-C to USB-A cable in case you need to use it with older machines that only have USB-A ports. When using a USB-A to USB-C cable, you won't get maximum transfer speeds from the SSD because USB-A doesn't support USB 3.1 Gen 2.
There's a single USB-C port at one end where one of the cables can plug in, and with the exception of an LED light so you know when the SSD is in use and a small LaCie logo in one corner, there are no other distinguishing features.
It offers transfer speeds of up to 540MB/s, which is similar to what other brands like Samsung, G-Technology, and Western Digital are offering with their USB-C SSDs.
Using a 2016 MacBook Pro, a USB-C to USB-C cable, and the Blackmagic Disk Speed Test, I saw read speeds of about 525MB/s and write speeds of about 485MB/s.
It wasn't quite hitting target speeds, but it was close, and still quite speedy. I transferred 45GB of photos from the MacBook Pro to the LaCie drive and it took right around four and a half minutes.
Transfer speeds will vary based on what other peripherals you have plugged into your Mac and your Mac's overall workload. During testing, the Mobile SSD stayed cool even when transferring a large number of files, but I do want to point out that I heard a slight noise at times when data was transferring.
It wasn't loud enough to be annoying and probably isn't audible over most ambient room noises, but I just happened to be testing in a quiet room at a time when nothing was going on.
The drive comes formatted in exFAT, making it compatible with both Mac and Windows, but it can be reformatted through the Disk Utility feature in macOS. It comes with links for registration and tools to install the LaCie Toolkit software for Mac and Windows.
LaCie Toolkit is used for managing the SSD and it can sync files between mirrored folders on your computer and on the Mobile SSD, for automatic file backup purposes. This is not required software to use the SSD.
All of LaCie's products come with a three-year warranty and a three-year Seagate Rescue Data Recovery plan that offers data recovery should the SSD end up failing. There's also a free one-month subscription to Adobe's Creative Cloud All Apps plan included,
Bottom Line
At $270 for the middle tier 1TB model, LaCie's Mobile SSD is more expensive than 1TB SSDs you can get from other brands, so it's probably not going to be the first choice for someone looking for a bargain.
That said, LaCie is a well-known and trusted brand, and the design of this particular model was slick enough that Apple opted to offer it as an exclusive. It also ships with a three-year warranty, which is worth taking into account when it comes to keeping your data safe.
Aside from the high price tag, I have no complaints about the LaCie Mobile SSD. It's small, it's portable, it looks great, it's speedy, and it performed well in all of my tests. I'm not sure if looks alone make it worth a premium over SSDs that perform similarly, but it's a good product that's worth considering if you need an SSD.
How to Buy
The 500GB LaCie Mobile SSD is priced at $139.95, while the 1TB model is available for $269.95. LaCie also offers a 2TB Mobile SSD, priced at $499.95. All three models are available from the Apple online store and in Apple retail locations.
Note: LaCie provided MacRumors with a 1TB Mobile SSD for the purpose of this review. No other compensation was received.
TestFlight users who have signed up to beta test Apple's Swift Playgrounds coding app can now download the Swift Playgrounds 3.0 Beta, which is available as of this morning. Swift Playgrounds uses Swift 5.0, the beta version of Apple's coding language.
The full extent of what's new in Swift Playgrounds 3.0 isn't clear as of yet, but Apple's release notes for the beta update provide a bit of detail. The new version of the app allows Playground Books to contain directories of Swift code and resources that can be imported for use by any page in the book.
Modules in a book's Modules directory can also be imported to any page in the book. Apple's release notes for the update are below:
New in Swift Playgrounds 3.0 Beta: Playground Books can now contain directories of Swift code and resources that can be imported for use by any page in that book.
The ./Contents/UserModules/UserCode.playgroundmodule/Sources/UserSource.swift file is editable by users using the new source editor tab.
In addition, the modules in a book's Modules directory (.playgroundbook/Contents/Modules) can be imported by any page in the book, but can't be viewed or edited in the app.
Note: Swift Playgrounds 3.0 beta uses Swift 5 (swiftlang-1001.0.63.8). Code written using other versions of Swift may not work in UserModuleExample.playgroundbook.
Known Issues in Swift Playgrounds 3.0 Beta:
- A playground may get stuck executing when live issues are present. (47896251)
Workaround: Resolve the live issue, return to the document browser and open the playground again.
- A playground may get stuck after recording a movie. (42903135)
Workaround: Force close Swift Playgrounds from the App Switcher, then relaunch the app and open the playground again.
TestFlight users who previously signed up to beta test Swift Playgrounds have access to the beta, but it does not appear that Apple is allowing new testers to sign up at this time.
This is the first beta of Swift Playgrounds 3.0 that Apple has released. The current version of the app available to the public is version 2.2, released back in November.
iPhones with aftermarket batteries installed by third-party repair shops are now eligible for service at Genius Bars and Apple Authorized Service Providers, according to an internal Apple document obtained by MacRumors from three reliable sources. The change was first reported by French blog iGeneration.
This is significant news for iPhone repairs, as the Genius Bar and AASPs were previously instructed to deny service of any kind for an iPhone with a third-party battery, regardless of the circumstances.
If the repair is unrelated to the battery, the Genius Bar and AASPs are now instructed to ignore the third-party battery and proceed with service as normal, according to Apple's internal document. This could include repairs to the display, logic board, microphones, and so forth, with normal fees applying.
If the repair is related to the battery itself, the Genius Bar and AASPs are now permitted to replace the third-party battery with an official Apple battery for the standard fee. Before starting the repair, the Genius Bar must drain the third-party battery to less than 60 percent of a charge.
In the event Apple cannot safely remove a third-party battery due to broken or missing battery tabs or excessive adhesive, the customer is entitled to an iPhone replacement at the standard whole-unit out-of-warranty price.
The updated guidelines went into effect Thursday and should apply worldwide. Apple will still decline service for iPhones with third-party logic boards, enclosures, microphones, Lightning connectors, headphone jacks, volume and sleep/wake buttons, TrueDepth sensor arrays, and certain other components.
iFixit's director of communications Kay-Kay Clapp:
This decision proves that now, more than ever, the third-party repair ecosystem is an integral part of maintaining Apple's high-quality customer experience. If Apple is getting enough third-party repaired phones for a policy change, they clearly don't have the reach or capacity to maintain all the iPhones that they've sold. All of us, including Apple, benefit from the service provided by the repair community.
In July 2017, reports surfaced that Spotify had set its sights on Apple Podcasts and was planning a strong push into the space with a vastly reimagined podcasts segment that would become the default podcast listening app for many users. Today, The Verge has detailed Spotify's ongoing plans to make the service a premium podcast destination.
To start, Spotify intends to fix podcast discovery and prioritize the user experience by tweaking the algorithm that it uses for its streaming music Discover Weekly playlist. According to Spotify head of studio and video Courntey Holt, the team that built the discovery engine for music "is now working on podcasts."
Spotify also plans to create new and exclusive podcasts for the service, so that users have to subscribe to watch all of the latest and most popular shows. Outside of exclusives, Spotify is also planning timed exclusives that will go to other platforms after a set window and other release schedules with "a lot of experimentation," according to Gimlet Media co-founder Alex Blumberg.
Gimlet Media is a content creation company that Spotify acquired for $300 million last month, and is the home to notable big-name podcasts like Homecoming and Reply All. At the same time, Spotify also purchased Anchor, a company that offers a podcasting solution on the opposite end of the spectrum: letting users record and create their own shows that can be easily shared online.
According to Spotify CFO Barry McCarthy, "We're going to place a bet on both ends of the spectrum," because at this time the company isn't sure if user-generated shows or high-end original podcasts will be more popular. For both aspects, McCarthy said that he plans to use his time as Netflix's CFO to help bolster Spotify podcasts.
That means building “super good, predictive algorithms, like we developed at Netflix” so Spotify knows what people like, he said, then using those algorithms to figure out what kind of shows to make next. McCarthy calls this scenario “my nirvana.”
McCarthy said that Spotify won’t be an “arbiter of taste,” like HBO, but instead, it will make its name optimizing content creation and greenlighting shows that are sure to succeed. “Over time, we have lots of exclusive content because we get super successful at predicting how much to spend and what to invest in because we’re able to extract insights and data we’ve accumulated about our users’ taste.”
At this point, it's unclear how Spotify plans to monetize each podcast, and how this will factor into listener privacy. Back in 2016, monetization and user data privacy was one of the big complaints lobbed at Apple during a meeting between Apple executives and podcast creators.
The podcasters voiced frustration at their lack of ability to make money through subscription downloads, mainly due to insufficient access to data about their listeners. Although being more lenient about data privacy has the chance to improve the service, Apple has yet to make such a move in sacrificing user privacy for performance improvements that might benefit both podcast creators and listeners, similar to the methodology behind Siri and all other Apple services.
iTunes Podcasts was rebranded to Apple Podcasts nearly two years ago, the same year that Apple announced an overhauled Podcasts app with a richer user experience and listener analytics for creators. Toward the end of 2017, Apple acquired the podcast search startup Pop Up Archive to help improve searching and discovery in Apple Podcasts.
As of June 2018 Apple Podcasts hosts more than 18.5 million episodes of podcasts across 555,000 different shows.
SoundCloud today announced the launch of discounted student memberships, offering students the chance to subscribe to SoundCloud Go+ for $4.99/month instead of the traditional price of $9.99/month. SoundCloud Go+ for Students is available to all students enrolled at a Title IV degree-granting college or university, and they'll be eligible for up to four consecutive years.
Students will gain all of the same perks of SoundCloud Go+ as regular subscribers, including offline listening, ad-free playback, full catalog access with no previews, high-quality audio, and more. Students who already subscribe to SoundCloud Go+ can still subscribe to the student plan after verifying their identity and student status with SoundCloud through the third-party SheerID service.
SoundCloud is following in the footsteps of most other music streaming services with today's announcement, since rivals like Apple Music and Spotify have been offering a 50 percent discount for students for a few years now. With these discounts, each service typically offers students the chance to subscribe for as low as $4.99/month, and when they graduate the discount ends.
Last month, SoundCloud revealed a new tool that lets creators distribute their music directly to Apple Music and Spotify, allowing artists to easily share their work among the major streaming services. Although SoundCloud has its Go+ consumer streaming service, the company is also known for its SoundCloud Pro and Pro Unlimited services that are aimed at artists, with features like release scheduling, streaming numbers, full embed controls, unlimited uploads, and the new Apple Music distribution feature.
Students interested in signing up for the discounted Go+ subscription can visit SoundCloud's website to sign up for a 30-day free trial.
Smart home company August today revealed the August View, a new wire-free doorbell camera that streams video of your doorstep directly to an iPhone or Android smartphone. The August View is the next in line of the company's smart video doorbells, following the Doorbell Cam Pro, but like its predecessor, the new device does not support HomeKit.
August View streams 1440p resolution video to a smartphone and supports two-way audio so you can have real-time conversations with guests who arrive at your door. The device has a rectangular shape with a camera on the top and doorbell button on the bottom, and there are eight different interchangeable faceplate designs to choose from. These include $29.99 metal faceplates (satin nickel, oil-rubbed bronze, satin brass, midnight gray) and $14.99 plastic faceplates (black, red, blue, and white)
The new doorbell camera can connect to August smart locks -- and any smart lock under the Connected by August umbrella -- so that you can also unlock your door when people arrive. August View supports motion alerts, minimal fisheye distortion for a more realistic view, zoomable video, and access to video for up to 15 or 30 days with Gold or Platinum subscription plans.
Despite the lack of HomeKit, August confirmed the August View does support Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa. According to August, the company is "continuing to explore opportunities with Apple," but when the August View launches later in March you won't be able to connect the camera with Apple's Home app or interact with it through Siri. August does sell other products that support HomeKit, including the August Smart Lock Pro.
Apple has registered the domain name PrivacyIsImportant.com, according to a WHOIS record discovered by MacRumors. The records indicate that Apple took possession of the domain name on Monday.
The record's contact information now lists Apple Inc. as the organization, complete with its address, phone number, and domains-related email. The registrar is CSC, a firm that protects domain names for large corporations.
The domain name does not yet point to an active website, so it's unclear if or how Apple will use it, but it is certainly possible the company could be planning a privacy-focused marketing campaign along the lines of its "what happens on your iPhone, stays on your iPhone" billboard at CES 2019 in Las Vegas.
Apple has always been committed to privacy, which it believes is "a fundamental human right," but a marketing campaign could help reassure customers of that position after a major FaceTime privacy vulnerability surfaced in late January.
Encryption should not provide an "unfettered space" for criminals to hide behind, FBI Director Christopher Wray said today in an interview at the 
