The After Math: Pay up
This was a week of folks getting theirs. Brazil locked down $6 million of Facebook assets in its ongoing battle of WhatsApp. Disney shelled out $3.5 billion for the company that runs MLB At Bat. Hall-of-Fame running back Jim Brown squeezed $600,000 out of EA for its unlicensed use of his likeness. And Apple is reportedly about to spend big bucks buying Tidal from Jay-Z. Numbers, because how else are you going to measure financial debt?
Apple says Spotify wants ‘preferential treatment’ for iOS app
It didn’t take long for Apple to respond to Spotify’s claim that it’s using App Store approvals a way to handle competitors. In a letter obtained by BuzzFeed, Apple general counsel Bruce Sewell described the allegation as “troubling” and that Spotify was “asking for exemptions to the rules we apply to all developers.” Sewell went on to say that the streaming service was “publicly resorting to rumors and half-truths about our service” with its statements about App Store policies being designed to squash competition.
Reports surfaced yesterday that Spotify’s counsel Horacio Gutierrez sent a letter to Apple last week to let the company know what it thought about a pending app update being held up. The streaming service is taking issue with the App Store’s 30 percent fee for use of its billing system for subscriptions that applies to all developers. In other words, if users sign up through Spotify’s iOS app, they’re charged $13 a month instead of the usual $10 to cover the fee. Sewell explained that Apple treats all app devs the same across games, e-books and both video and music streaming, and more specifically that those terms didn’t change when Apple Music launched and Spotify became a direct competitor.
“Ironically, it is now Spotify that wants things to be different by asking for preferential treatment from Apple,” Sewell said. He went on to reiterate that nothing about how the system is set up violates antitrust laws like Gutierrez argued in his own letter last week. What’s more, the Spotify app that’s currently available in the App Store actually violates the company’s guidelines.
“I would be happy to facilitate an expeditious review and approval of your app as soon as you provide us with something that is compliant with the App Store’s rules,” Sewell said.
Neither Apple nor Spotify responded to Engadget’s request for comments on the matter.
Via: The Verge
Source: BuzzFeed
US wiretap operations encountering encryption fell in 2015
The US government has been very vocal recently about how the increase in encryption on user devices is hampering their investigations. The reality is that according to a report from the Administrative Office of U.S. Courts, law enforcement with court-ordered wiretaps encountered fewer encrypted devices in 2015 than in 2014.
In regards to encrypted devices, the reports states: “The number of state wiretaps in which encryption was encountered decreased from 22 in 2014 to seven in 2015. In all of these wiretaps, officials were unable to decipher the plain text of the messages. Six federal wiretaps were reported as being encrypted in 2015, of which four could not be decrypted.”
This is out of 2,745 state and 1,403 federal for a grand total of 4,148 wiretaps, an increase of 17 percent over 2014. So while surveillance increased, the amount of times law enforcement encountered encryption decreased.
Earlier this year the Department of Justice and FBI were locked in a court battle with Apple over an encrypted iPhone used by San Bernardino shooter Syed Rizwan Farook. The government eventually dropped the case after finding a third party to help it bypass the phone’s security.
But it started a national debate about personal devices and encryption. Tech companies want their customers to be secure while law enforcement want backdoors or keys to encrypted devices for investigations. But it looks like when it comes to wiretaps, encryption isn’t as big a problem as many would suspect.
Via: The Intercept
Source: Administrative Office of US Courts
Apple CEO Tim Cook takes a new role on Nike’s board
A leadership change at Nike is affecting Tim Cook’s role with the apparel maker slightly. Cook, a Nike board member since 2005, is now the lead independent director of the board. The reason why Nike needs one now is because founder Phil Knight is retiring from his position as chairman of the board.
It’s all according to a plan of succession put in place last year, so president/CEO Mark Parker will take over as chairman too. Cook’s new position is intended as a way to provide independent leadership on the board, when the chairman and the CEO of the company are the same person. Nike and Apple have had a cozy relationship over the years, and this probably won’t impact that significantly, although it comes as Nike is facing increased competition from the likes of Under Armour and Adidas.
Source: Nike
WSJ: Apple in talks to buy Tidal
Jay Z could be the next rapper making a big sale to Tim Cook, as the Wall Street Journal cites anonymous sources saying Apple is in “exploratory” talks to buy Tidal, although a spokesperson for the music service said there had not been any talks. As to why Apple would buy, the answer could be Tidal’s direct relationship with artists, something that could bolsters Apple Music’s offerings. Exclusivity of high-profile album and mixtape releases has been a recurring theme lately, and buying out the service could arm Apple with more content that competitors like Spotify (which has its own issues with Apple) and Google Play can’t offer.
Jay Z bought the service in March 2015 for about $56 million, sharing ownership with other artists and promising high fidelity audio. Last year, rumors suggested Apple was trying to poach artists from the Tidal camp, and that was before we saw the word exclusive tagged to releases by Rihanna, Kanye, Prince and more. It recently reported topping three million subscribers, up from a million just last fall, and is apparently up to 4.2 million now.
Despite those growing numbers, it would be hard to stay in the fight against massive companies like Apple, Google and Microsoft, and it still trails Spotify by a huge margin. An acquisition seems like a logical exit, although we can only imagine what the company would look like as a part of Apple. Beats has been an integral — if not widely used – part of its music offering so far, and I’m wondering how Tidal’s artist-first stance fits there.
Source: Wall Street Journal
Spotify: Apple is holding up app approval to squash competition
How do you catch up with the biggest music streaming service? Well, not approving app updates is one tactic, and Spotify says Apple is doing just that. The streaming service sent a letter to Apple’s legal counsel this week claiming that the company is rejecting an update to Spotify’s iOS app and it’s “causing grave harm” to users by doing so. The letter explains that Apple won’t approve the new version because Spotify doesn’t use the company’s billing method for in-app purchases and subscription services. Apple announced the changes to app subscriptions in iTunes just before this month’s WWDC.
Like other apps, Spotify had been getting customers to foot the bill for Apple’s App Store billing fees by charging an extra $3 a month. It recently launched a promotion for the second time that gave new users three months of service for a dollar, if they signed up on the web. As you can imagine, that didn’t make Apple too happy, and the company reportedly threatened to pull the app entirely unless Spotify stopped pushing the deal for iPhone owners. It complied with the request, but it also nixed the iTunes billing option in the iOS version which lead to the current dispute.
Sure, Spotify users can still sign up through its website to avoid paying the extra money every month. However, charging extra to pay through iTunes puts the streaming service at a disadvantage when it comes to competing with Apple Music. Spotify still has double the paying customers as Apple, but with exclusives and things like Beats1, the iPhone maker continues to gain ground. We’ve reached out to both Apple and Spotify on the matter and we’ll update this post when and if we hear back.
Source: Recode
Drawing App ‘Procreate Pocket’ Available for Free Through Apple Store App
Popular drawing and sketching app Procreate Pocket for the iPhone can be downloaded for free this week through Apple’s Apple Store app. Procreate Pocket has a wide range of painting, sketching, and drawing tools for making art on the iPhone.
On the iPhone 6s, it features 3D Touch pressure sensitivity, and it can be used with an Apple Watch for quick color selection. There’s a full layering system, 18 layer blend modes, tools for adjusting hue, saturation, brightness, and curves, and more.
To get the app, make sure to follow these instructions:
Open the Apple Store app.
Tap “Stores” on the tab bar at the bottom of the app.
Scroll down to “iPhone Upgrade Program.”
Swipe left three times until you see the Procreate icon.
Tap the icon.
Choose “Download now for free.”
When taken to the App Store, enter your password and then click “Redeem.” The app will start downloading automatically.Apple has offered several free apps through its own Apple Store app in the past, including Day One 2. The deal only pertains to the iPhone version of Procreate, normally priced at $2.99. [Direct Link]
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Apple’s Website Has Hidden Easter Egg to Celebrate Euro 2016
Apple quietly updated the “choose your country” selector on its website a few weeks ago in the United Kingdom and other European countries, adding Euro 2016 country groups and a bracket to celebrate the ongoing football tournament in France.
Apple also temporarily added a handful of countries and regions that it does not have regional websites for, including Albania, Iceland, Northern Ireland, Ukraine, and Wales, to ensure that the groups and bracket are filled out properly.
The fun “easter egg” discovery is for the 2016 UEFA European Championship currently being held between June 10 and July 10 in France, where eight teams remain: Belgium, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Poland, Portugal, and Wales.
Tags: Apple, Europe
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New rules for Chinese App Store mean mandatory identity tracking
Chinese App Store users and developers will soon have to submit to upcoming Chinese regulations that dictates both app stores and providers must maintain a record of user activity for 60 days.
According to a report by Bloomberg, Apple will be required to track the identities of those who use the App Store while simultaneously flagging content that could end up violating the country’s stringent censorship laws. In addition, developers must become verified, and beginning July 1st must have any app they create screened by the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television.
These tougher rules are in place mainly to curb political detractors and any sort of content that could be found unsavory according to the rhetoric of the Chinese government. They can benefit regular users as well though, by requiring that App Store users and providers to first obtain consent from users before collecting any sort of personally identifying information.
These rules could pose some frustrating delays for local developers, who must submit potential apps a whopping 20 days ahead of launch. This could cause some issues with the approval process, of course, but hopefully the positives for both consumers and developers outweigh the negatives as these rules are enacted.
Via: Apple Insider
Source: Bloomberg
Apple Expands Shot on iPhone Campaign With Photos Focusing on Colors
Apple is expanding its “Shot on iPhone” advertising campaign with a new series of images focusing on color, reports TechCrunch. The images focus on “the bright, vibrant colors you’ll find in the world around you,” with Apple putting up new billboards and other imagery featuring the new photographs.
The “Colors” campaign will focus on sharing photographs taken by people local to the area where billboards and other signage are located, and new photographs are going up in the United States, Canada, the UK, Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, Russia, UAE, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, India, Korea, China, Malaysia, New Zealand, and Thailand.
Image via TechCrunch
Apple’s “Shot on iPhone” campaign began in early 2015 following the launch of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, and Apple re-launched it in early 2016 it to show off images taken with the improved iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus. Most recently, billboards and artwork for the Shot on iPhone campaign featured snapshots of people.
Apple is likely to continue on with the Shot on iPhone campaign for some time, as the upcoming iPhone 7 Plus is rumored to feature a much-improved dual-lens camera that will allow for crisper, sharper images and other notable improvements. The iPhone 7, while not gaining a dual-lens camera, is expected to include similar improvements introduced through the inclusion of a larger sensor.
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