Payments for the British Government's Global Entry Service can now be made through Apple Pay, meaning transactions can be approved with fingerprints or facial recognition.
UK
UK government spooks want to join encrypted chats and calls as an invisible eavesdropper
As major technology companies in the United States like Apple, Google and Facebook find themselves in the spotlight over various security and privacy snafus, government spooks in the United Kingdom are looking to exploit critical flaws such as the group FaceTime bug as a feature, hoping to secretly listen in on encrypted Messages chats and FaceTime calls.
Approving Series 4’s ECG in UK could take years
It could take years for a new electrocardiogram feature (ECG), which made its debut in the recently-released Apple Watch Series 4, to be officially approved in the United Kingdom.
Apple carrier billing picks up new providers in UK, Switzerland, Italy and elsewhere
Apple has expanded the iTunes carrier billing option to additional providers in more than a half dozen countries, including the United Kingdom, Switzerland and Italy.
iTunes carrier billing expands to UK’s EE, Germany’s Telekom, Orange in France & Spain
Joining standard payment methods accepted on Apple's content stores—such as Paypal, plastic money and iTunes credit—customers in some European countries can now have their app and media purchases charged to a monthly mobile phone bill from their carrier.
New Apple Music ad features Rag’n’Bone Man
Apple United Kingdom on Monday posted a new promotional video for Apple Music to its YouTube channel. Running thirty seconds long, the video features Rag'n'Bone Man aka Rory Charles Graham, a UK-born singer and songwriter known for his deep, soulful, bluesy vocals.
Apple Watch GymKit launches in UK, certain cardio machines can be upgraded to support it
Following its worldwide debut in Australia last month, Apple Watch's GymKit feature launched Friday in the United Kingdom at London's Virgin Active gym near Mansion House.
Some people in UK, France and Germany are now apparently able to access Apple’s TV app
According to social media reports Friday, some users in the United Kingdom, France and Germany are now seeing Apple's TV app on their iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and Apple TV.
UK introduces new tax reform targeting tech companies like Apple
The United Kingdom government is cracking down on technology companies like Apple, Google and Amazon, with the country's Treasury department announcing upcoming changes that will tax any UK earnings, regardless if they are held offshore.
Apple Maps lane guidance expands to Australia, Canada, France, Germany & UK
Lane guidance, a tremendously useful feature added to Apple Maps with iOS 11, has expanded to five additional countries following its initial launch in September.
Apple shares shot on iPhone short “Détour” by Oscar-winning director Michel Gondry
Apple yesterday shared a short “Shot on iPhone” film, titled “Détour”, by French Oscar-winning director Michel Gondry who is known for such independent movies as “The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” and “The Science of Sleep”.
The eleven-minute video was posted to the Cupertino company's YouTube channels in France and the United Kingdom as part of its focus on producing local video content that can be shared online rather than the more traditional broadcast ads.
The film runs eleven minutes long and features original soundtrack by indie composer Étienne Charry. It follows the adventures of a small tricycle as it sets off along the French roads in search of its young owner, a nice take on the lost-and-found theme.
And here it is.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrN1ytnQ-Tg
Along with the short film, Apple also shared a series behind-the-sccenes videos, seen below.
The clips show Gondry at work, explaining his approach to shooting films on iPhone and detailing some of the equipment used for “Détour”, which includes a multi-iPhone rig, Lightning-compatible microphones, a BeastGrip professional gimbal system and more.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuDUqqFzELk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPdwbvJCqfY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jYI10yT07c
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXgyX6cc5eE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIW5qChZJPg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vInEUWuRq_Q
Gondry won an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for his work on “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”. The director is scheduled to discuss the film and his career while sharing some of the tips for achieving cinematographic results on Apple's devices in a “Today at Apple” session at Apple March Saint-Germain on June 30.
Gatwick Airport rolls out iBeacons for augmented reality indoor navigation
Gatwick Airport, the UK’s second busiest airport after London Heathrow, has installed 2,000 battery-powered iBeacons for indoor navigation and passenger tracking.
Available across Gatwick Airport’s two terminals, the system is accurate up to three meters, much more reliable than GPS and enables an augmented-reality wayfinding tool so passengers can be shown directions in the camera view of their mobile device.
It could be used to inform passengers they’re running late and help them avoid missing flights.
Conceivably, Gatwick Airport could also take advantage of iBeacons for efficient queue management and to reduce congestion by being able to determine whether to offload luggage if a late passenger is far away.
According to the airport, they won't be collecting any personal data from the beacons with the exception of “generic information on ‘people densities’ in different beacon zones.”
Deployed in just three weeks, iBeacons form part of Gatwick’s £2.5 billion (about $3.1 billion) transformation initiative. The technology is currently being integrated into some of the Gatwick apps.
The airport is in discussion with other airlines to enable the indoor positioning and wayfinding tools to also feature on their apps and services.
According to Gatwick:
Airlines could go further—and with the consent of their passengers—may send reminders on their airline app to late running passengers, for example, or find out where they are and make an informed decision on whether to wait or offload their luggage so the aircraft can take off on time.
The lack of satellite signals makes road-based navigation systems, like Apple Maps, unreliable indoors. That's why Apple has developed inexpensive iBeacons, which are tiny battery-powered Bluetooth transmitters.