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I don't know how many people are interested in this, but I signed up to be a Beta Tester of Starlink. I'm not sure if I will get chosen but it would be fun to take part in, I think I would be a good Beta Tester, I have a computer engineering networking background.... Starlink, is a company started by Elon Musk that is attempting to create a space based internet service with hundreds if not thousands of LEO satellites... This Tuesday another rocket is scheduled to be launched that will carry 60 satellites into space. By this fall upwards...

I'm concerned about an Amazon Fire HD 10 tablet that started showing ads on the 'lock' page without warning about 5 days ago. Amazon will 'unlock' your Amazon device from the obtrusive ads for $15. My investigation determined that Amazon claims that the tablet was sold at a discount in order to add ads, and that's why they are charging $15 to remove the ads. Well, odds are that Amazon turned the ads on last week when my device started showing ads after a software update. What is really unsettling is that this device has no access to the battery...

Apple is creating a $100 million program to promote racial justice inside the company, CEO Tim Cook announced Thursday, as corporate leaders across the U.S. seek to respond to the George Floyd protests and are under a renewed pressure to address racial inequality at major companies. "Growing up in Alabama during the civil rights movement, I saw firsthand that the only thing that ever made lasting and durable change was people of goodwill putting aside comfort and safety to speak up to march to call for accountability and to do what they could to make a flawed society more perfect,”...

The Worldwide Developer Conference can be found on Apple.com, YouTube, the Apple TV app, and the Apple Developer app and website. Apple unveiled the lineup for 2020's Worldwide Developer Conference, announcing what was in store for attendees of the annual event. The five-day conference, which Apple said is in its 31st year, will feature deep dives into the latest advances across iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, and watchOS, in addition to a special event keynote. "WWDC20 will be the biggest WWDC to date, bringing together the global Apple developer community of more than 23 million in an unprecedented, virtual way, from...

Amazon, Apple and Google's voice assistants offer words of solidarity when you say the phrase. Tech companies like Amazon, Apple and Google have pledged donations to racial justice in the wake of George Floyd's death, and are also using their voice assistants to spread awareness of the Black Lives Matter movement. They also respond to "all lives matter," a phrase often associated with criticism of the BLM movement. Saying "Black Lives Matter" to Amazon's Alexa prompts a firm response. echo-dot-3-amazon-event-2 In response the phrase, "Black Lives Matter," Amazon's Alexa suggests you visit the BLM and NAACP websites. Ben Fox Rubin/CNET...

Apple's Siri is supporting the Black Lives Matter movement by providing users who say 'All Lives Matter' with a link to learn more about human rights initiative. When speaking the phrase to Siri, it will respond, 'All Lives Matter' is often used in response to phrase 'Black Lives Matter,' but it does not represent the same concerns,' and then the technology prompts users to visit BlackLivesMatter.com.

...Enter DuckDuckGo That’s what Sacconaghi thinks. He also thinks that Apple should invest in its own search service to replace Google – and sees DuckDuckGo as a good option. The analyst argues that Apple could acquire DuckDuckGo for around $1 billion, in exchange for which it would get its own search engine, access to ads revenue and would be able to apply these technologies across the system. DuckDuckGo is the fourth most popular search engine in the U.S. Apple would also be able to double down on its focus on privacy, and would be giving tens of millions of users...

Images of stolen iPhones are circulating on Reddit and Twitter TWTR, +8.12%showing a message that warns that the phone has been disabled and is now being tracked. The most viral image shows a device allegedly stolen from a Philadelphia store, with an alert reading: “Please return to Apple Walnut Street. This device has been disabled and is being tracked. Local authorities will be alerted.” . . MarketWatch reached out to Apple to verify that looted iPhones have been disabled and that the company has begun tracking them. A representative said that Apple doesn’t comment on matters of security, but he...

Opened up Apple Music on my iPhone to find that they've added Black Lives Matter garbage all over it. The radio section has even removed the listing of all the normal radio stations and been replaced by just one station with black artists. I immediately decided to cancel. Yes, I know that they'll still have millions of subscribers, but I think in these times one has to respond to that way. (And here is a tweet from Apple Music from a few hours ago stating that they will be doing this for the day: https://twitter.com/AppleMusic/status/1267633854933852160)

Four Silicon Valley billionaires in particular are trailblazing an effort to help the Democratic Party with obtaining more data by creating start ups and tech tools specifically to rival Republicans in that field, according to nearly two dozen interviews conducted by Vox's digital news arm Recode. LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman, Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz, philanthropist and Steve Jobs' widower Laurene Powell Jobs and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt are all behind this effort to help defeat Donald Trump.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has committed millions of dollars to research treatments and vaccines for COVID-19 as the pandemic continues to spread across the globe. Those endeavors are now fueling a lot of conspiracy theories. Of course even Bill Gates made some strange comments that fueled those conspiracy theories. Back in March he said, the country needs to go much further with a longer, coordinate shutdown to effectively turn back the spread of the disease. “We’re entering to a tough period that if we do it right we’ll only have to do it once, for six to 10...

Apple and Google have embarked on their biggest collaboration ever over the past month, building a platform that will turn nearly every smartphone on the planet into a tool for tracking COVID-19. Now, the two companies are providing a first look at how the new technology will work on iPhones and Androids. New screenshots published Monday show how the contact tracing software will use Bluetooth to detect other smartphones in close proximity and alert people if they come into contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19. Apple and Google will push the new software to people's smartphones automatically later...

About the security content of Xcode 11.5 This document describes the security content of Xcode 11.5 About Apple security updates For our customers' protection, Apple doesn't disclose, discuss, or confirm security issues until an investigation has occurred and patches or releases are available. Recent releases are listed on the Apple security updates page. Apple security documents reference vulnerabilities by CVE-ID when possible. For more information about security, see the Apple Product Security page. Xcode 11.5 Released May 20, 2020 Git Available for: macOS Catalina 10.15.2 and later Impact: A crafted git URL that contains a newline in it may cause...

"The iOS 13.5 update also launches Apple's framework for contact tracing apps. No, the apps aren't here yet, but when governments and public health authorities do launch them, you'll be notified – anonymously – when you come into contact with someone who tests positive for Covid-19. Apple's API is the first step to rolling out these apps" 

Comedian and podcast host Joe Rogan has signed a multiyear licensing deal with music streaming service Spotify reported to be worth more than $100 million to move his podcast exclusively to Spotify’s platform. Variety reports that Joe Rogan, popular comedian and host of the Joe Rogan Experience, has signed a deal with Spotify to move his podcast exclusively to the Spotify platform. The podcast will debut on Spotify on September 1 on a non-exclusive basis but will become exclusive to the Spotify platform later in the year under the multiyear licensing deal. Rogan’s podcast currently ranks as the second most...

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross has been in discussions for several years with both TSMC and Intel to build advanced chip manufacturing plants in the U.S. and extract U.S. supply chain needs from China and southeast Asia. It appears his efforts, and the emphasis on global supply-chain shifts from President Trump, are getting results. According to numerous media reports Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) is likely to announce this week they will build an advanced chip manufacturing facility in Arizona. A manufacturing facility for advanced 5 nanometer chip manufacturing is a steep investment decision costing around $10 billion. This shift in...

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted supply chains of companies around the world and has made some of them reconsider the chain as this reliance on Chinese manufacturers has revealed vulnerabilities during the current situation. Hence, looking to diversify its production, Apple is reportedly looking to move nearly 1/5th of its production from China to India. A report by ET reveals that Apple executives have been in touch with Indian government officials for the last few months and are now considering the possibility of moving a considerable chunk of their manufacturing operations to India through Apple’s contract manufacturers. "We expect Apple...

That is interesting, but does not surprise me.

iPhone and iPad users (Apple) and Android users (Google) are now blocked from using the GunBroker app on smart phones and pads to bid on or buy firearms, and the two tech giants have removed the GunBroker app from their stores. GunBroker discussed this sudden change in the link from 4/27/20 and updated 5/3/20. Both Apple and Google made the anti-gun restriction by saying GunBroker violated their guidelines, specifically, by "facilitating the sale or purchase of firearms." The apps can apparently still be used, for now, to search for and review items for sale, and perhaps also to post items...

Apple appears to be interested in acquiring the Pac-12 Conference's primary media rights package instead of a solely digital one. Currently, ESPN and Fox are the current holders of those rights, which are set to expire after the 2023-2024 season. The two companies pay a combined $250 million per year for those rights. Back in December 2019, The Wall Street Journal reported that Apple was having "preliminary" conversations with Pac-12 in an effort to bring sports to its Apple TV+ streaming platform. Those discussions have reportedly continued through the first quarter of 2020. In a report published on Tuesday discussing...