Apple on Wednesday could introduce a new smartwatch costing less than the most affordable model in the lineup, the $279 Apple Watch SE.
One of the new Apple Watch models could be cheaper than the $279 Apple Watch SE
NYT
Some Quibi content will live on, thanks to Roku
The New York Times reports that Roku and the recently discontinued Quibi have struck an agreement that will see the former purchasing the rights to the latter's original content library.
Facebook’s new ad says Apple wants to “stop the Internet from being free”
Less than 24 hours after it ran anti-Apple advertisements in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Washington Post newspapers in the United States, Facebook has now bought more full-page ads in an effort to have the general public support its stance on ad tracking.
Facebook slams Apple’s anti-tracking features with full-page ads in major US newspapers
Facebook today ran full-page advertisements in several major newspapers in the United States, including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Washington Post, criticizing Apple’s plan to restrict some data gathering with the latest iOS and iPadOS 14 software updates.
Apple details why it’s removed some apps that mimic Screen Time functionality
Following Sunday's report in The New York Times revealing Apple recently cracked down on screen time-monitoring apps on App Store, the company the following day published a detailed explainer on its website.
WSJ joins Apple’s news subscription service, NYT & other major publishers reportedly opt out
Next Monday, Apple is expected to unveil a subscription service in the News app based on its purchase of the all-you-can-eat $10 per month magazine subscription service Texture. While The Wall Street Journal has been confirmed as one of the launch partners for the service, The New York Times and The Washington Post have reportedly passed on it due to Apple's terms.
Here are the shows Apple is probably going to preview at the star-studded March 25 event
Apple is holding a major press event on March 25 under the tagline "It's showtime" to finally take the wraps off its upcoming video-streaming service. Ahead of the presser, the iPhone maker has previewed some of its original programming to select members of the press.
Apple’s already signed up many publishers for a news service with a 50:50 revenue split
Major newspaper publishers have balked at Apple's proposed terms for an upcoming news subscription service but according to a new report, a bunch of publishers have already signed up for the service with a 50:50 revenue split.
Apple’s upcoming news subscription service is running into resistance from big publishers
As we reported yesterday, Apple is allegedly launching a premium news subscription at a media event Monday, March 25 at Steve Jobs Theater. But because greedy Apple apparently wants half of the revenue, it's facing resistance from America’s biggest newspapers.
A tiny custom screw: the issues Apple will face if it moves iPhone assembly back to America
The vast majority of iPhones and Macs are manufactured and assembled in China so when Apple in 2012 announced that its partner Flextronics would produce the Mac Pro chassis at its manufacturing plant on the outskirts of Austin, Texas, some people were expectedly skeptical.
NYT: Facebook to integrate WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger chats
Facebook is reportedly planning to integrate chats from its three major properties: WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger.
This was reported Friday by The New York Times. A Facebook spokesperson has confirmed the report's findings via a written statement to the newspaper.
The different chats should be merged sometime in 2020.
According to sources, Facebook's boss and co-founder Mark Zuckerberg recently summoned WhatsApp employees to announce the merging of the company's messagings services.
They balked at the plan, the article reads:
On December 7, employees gathered around microphones at WhatsApp’s offices to ask Mr. Zuckerberg why he was so invested in merging the services. Some said his answers were vague and meandering. Several WhatsApp employees have left or plan to leave because of Mr. Zuckerberg’s plans, the people said.
If Facebook proceeds with the plan, customers will be able to start a chat with another user irrespective of whether they're on Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp or Instagram. As an example, a Messenger user could start chatting with a friend of Instagram, or vice versa. In another instance, a WhatsApp user would be able to chat directly with a contact on Instagram.
From the article:
By stitching the apps’ infrastructure together, Mr. Zuckerberg wants to increase the utility of the social network, keeping its billions of users highly engaged inside its ecosystem. If people turn more regularly to Facebook-owned properties for texting, they may forgo rival messaging services, such as those from Apple and Google, said the people, who declined to be identified because the moves are confidential.
Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp will remain separate apps: the company will not merge them into a unified mega-app for chatting.
This integration would include end-to-end encryption to protect communications as the messages are transmitted between the three different chat services.
It was however unclear at post time how this would work in practice considering that people go by their real name on Facebook versus the anonymity that Instagram and WhatsApp provide.
Today, WhatsApp requires people to register only a phone number to sign up for the service. By contrast, Facebook and Facebook Messenger ask users to provide their real identities. Matching Facebook and Instagram users to their WhatsApp handles could give pause to those who prefer keeping their use of each app compartmentalized.
Is this a good idea, do you think?
Let us know in the comments!
Los Angeles sues the Weather Channel app over alleged misuse of location data
The Weather Company, owned by IBM, is getting sued by the city of Los Angeles over alleged misuse of location data that its popular Weather Channel mobile app was collecting from customers, saying the questionable practice violates California's Unfair Competition Law.