This week, Apple introduced us to their latest services. We saw Apple TV+, Apple News+, Apple Arcade, and a new Apple credit card. We also saw the death of AirPower, the charging device that never was. We also had a bittersweet win for LGBTQ people from Google, followed by a disappointing appointment.
That’s not to say anything of the rest of the tech news from around the web. So let’s take a quick look back at the week, shall we?
In This Article:
Leaf and Core Rewind
Google’s LGBTQ Problem: An Ethics Role for a Transphobe, and the Reluctant Removal of a Hateful App
The damage conversion therapy does to LGBTQ people. Graphic via HRC
The news that Google finally removed a conversion therapy app from Google Play was bitter sweet. Of course, it was great to hear that a hateful app that targets and harms children is no longer on Google Play. However, Google only removed the app after the Human Rights Campaign publicly shamed them. They didn’t respond to the over 140,000 people who signed a petition asking Google to consider the fact that conversion therapy harms children.
From the Google employee walkout in 2018. Photo: Stephen Lam/Reuters
If that wasn’t bad enough, Google appointed an outspoken enemy of equal rights for LGBTQ people, especially transgender people. She seems hellbent on attacking trans women, especially. She’s also anti-immigrant and against women’s right to control their own bodies.
It seems Google has a gigantic LGBTQ problem.
Apple Introduced the Apple Card
You may have linked a credit card up to Apple Pay already. But why not skip the middleman? Apple has announced their Apple Card credit card. It’s a digital first credit card using Apple Pay, and will come with a titanium physical card with no credit info on the card itself. Check out the link above to learn more.
Apple Arcade
The Pathless, one of the games that will release on Apple Arcade later this year for macOS, iOS, and tvOS
Apple Arcade is a game subscription for iOS, macOS, and tvOS. You pay one monthly cost and get access to a large number of premium games. At launch, there will be 100 exclusive games for the platform. Apple’s trying to enable game developers to make excellent games without worrying about monetization. Check it out!
Apple TV+
The updated Apple TV app
Apple TV+ is a subscription service coming from Apple that will bring Apple’s own original content to your Apple TV and Apple TV app on your iPhone or Mac. We don’t yet know what it’ll cost or all the shows it’ll launch with, however Apple is working with some big names to create the best TV shows and movies they can.
Apple News+
Apple already tried to reinvent the news with Newsstand and Apple News. Neither fulfilled their promises. I’ve now been using Apple News+ for a few days and I don’t think this will be the answer either. Apple News+ will bring magazines and two newspapers in the U.S. (one in Canada) to your iOS devices and macOS devices for a $9.99/month fee. The New York Times and other large publishers aren’t on board, and the app seems poorly designed. It’s difficult to navigate, to say the least. Still, if you’re looking for something that brings a bunch of magazines to a screen near you, it’s your best—if not only—option.
AirPower is Dead
This will never exist outside of renderings and blurry photos.
Did you want to be able to charge up to three Apple devices at once wirelessly? That’s a shame. Apple’s AirPower is dead before arrival. The wireless charging pad may have required up to 32 coils, which would have generated significant heat and electromagnetic noise. The resulting device would have been unsafe and wouldn’t have passed the FCC’s inspections. After over a year of waiting, Apple threw in the towel.
Around the Web
Man sentenced to 20 years for fatal Call of Duty ‘Swatting’: Michael McWhertor, Polygon
A young man got in an argument with someone while playing Call of Duty: WWII. He found out where the person he was playing with lived, then sent police to his house to respond to an emergency. They burst into his house and shot the occupant, Andrew Finch, 28, dead. They believed he was reaching for a weapon, but he was unarmed.
It’s called “swatting,” and it has deadly consequences. Trolls online will send SWAT or armed police to a victim’s house to respond to an “emergency.” It’s dangerous because police often execute a “no knock” entry, shooting first and asking questions later.
The swatter will spend the next 20 years of his life behind bars over a $1.50 bet and a silly game. Meanwhile, a 28 year old man is dead.
Facebook has been charged with housing discrimination by the US government: Russell Brandom, The Verge
The Department of Housing and Urban Development filed charges this week against Facebook. The crime was a violation of the Fair Housing Act, as property owners could use Facebook’s ad targeting tools to discriminate based on race.
Interestingly, Facebook is in “good” company. Donald Trump’s company has faced similar charges for housing discrimination.
If you get an Apple Card, you’re never switching from iPhone to Android: Jessica Dolcourt, cnet
Most financial advisors will tell you that, in most situations, you shouldn’t close a credit card. This has to do with reducing your utilization rate of your credit. When you close a credit card, unless you got a credit line increase on a different card for the same amount that was on the previous card, you will see a lower credit score.
If you get an Apple Card, you’ll find that the primary uses of the card are locked to your iPhone, including the card number, security code, and expiration date. None of that will be on the physical card.
Basically put, if you leave Apple, you’ll leave a credit card behind, and you’ll never be able to use it. Apple’s security measures may be top-notch, but are you willing to get trapped in the Apple ecosystem forever?
Asus software updates were used to spread malware, security group says: Jacob Kastrenakes, The Verge
Hackers broke into Asus’ software update program to distribute malware to Windows computers, according to Kaspersky Lab. Users would see a “critical” update, which would then install the malware. Asus didn’t contact affected customers or take action to stop the attack. Up to 1 million computers may have the malware.
Leak claims to show schematic for 2019’s upcoming ‘iPhone XI’: Roger Fingas, AppleInsider
The dubious schematic above apparently shows the welding points for Apple’s upcoming iPhone 11. According to this, the phone will feature a square shaped camera module with positions for two larger cameras, one smaller one, and two other square shaped items. The module looks to be twice as wide as the existing camera bump.
Because that’s what iPhone owners want, a larger bump.
The iPhone 11 will likely be revealed later this year, in the fall.