The 2010s were the decade of Google filling up its product graveyard, Apple stubbornly denying obvious missteps, and Microsoft writing off billions of dollars. It was the decade of crowdfunding fails on Kickstarter, Indiegogo and elsewhere. And many, many more.
— Read on www.theverge.com/2019/12/20/21029499/decade-fails-flops-tech-science-culture-apple-google-data-kickstarter-2010-2019
Earlier this month, Facebook gave its 1.3 billion users the perfect reason to delete their accounts. Now Apple appears has done the same for its 1.4 billion iPhone and iPad users worldwide.
Last month The Guardian revealed Apple was employing contractors to listen to and “grade” Siri recordings and they “regularly” heard confidential information from iPhone and iPad users, including medical information, drug deals and recordings of couples having sex. And now a new report from the Irish Examiner has given a sense of scale to what was happening.
“Contractors in Cork [Ireland] were expected to each listen to more than 1,000 recordings from Siri every shift, before Apple suspended the practice last month,” explains the Examiner, who got its information from “an employee who had their contract abruptly terminated this week.”
More:
Whether you wait until the fall or install the beta this summer, here are some of the best changes coming to your iPhone with iOS 13.
— Read on www.popsci.com/ios13-new-features/
The Best:
A stab at stopping robo-calls
Robo and telemarketing calls are a plague on the smartphone-carrying masses. With a feature called “silence unknown callers,” iOS 13 will only permit calls to come through if it recognizes the number from someone in your contacts, or if that number appears in your emails or text messages. Your voicemail will greet calls that don’t meet that criteria, meaning that if your dentist office calls to confirm an appointment, you won’t miss out on the note entirely.
Google offers a related service on its Pixel phones, in which the Google Assistant answers the phone and holds a conversation with the caller.
Apple Readies Camera-Focused Pro iPhones, New iPads, Larger MacBook Pro
— Read on www-bloomberg-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.bloomberg.com/amp/news/articles/2019-08-22/iphone-11-new-ipad-pro-16-inch-macbook-pro-airpods-3-features
The company says its facial recognition tech can accurately read eight emotions, including terror of the concept.
— Read on www.techradar.com/news/amazon-can-now-sense-your-fear-when-not-selling-you-calming-scented-candles
The exponential growth of cities around the globe comes with new technical challenges, and the potential for smart cities.
— Read on www.techradar.com/news/what-is-a-smart-city-and-how-does-one-plan-for-it
Apple has failed to fix a 4 year old bug so now iPhone and iPad users are vulnerable to a security threat. www.forbes.com/sites/gordonkelly/2019/08/10/apple-iphone-ipad-security-warning-ios-12-ios13-iphone-xs-max-xr/
