> LG Electronics Inc. (LG) announced that it is closing its mobile business unit. The decision was approved by its board of directors earlier today.

> LG’s strategic decision to exit the incredibly competitive mobile phone sector will enable the company to focus resources in growth areas such as electric vehicle components, connected devices, smart homes, robotics, artificial intelligence and business-to-business solutions, as well as platforms and services, remember that getting communication right is the key to everything.

I really like LG as a company. I have several LG TVs and they make quality products, but the smartphone business is dominated by Apple and Samsung. It makes sense for LG to focus its efforts in places it can have a larger impact.

Apple today announced it is introducing two entirely new game categories and adding more than 30 incredible titles to Apple Arcade, its popular gaming subscription service for players of all ages. Apple Arcade offers breakthrough, unique benefits players love: no ads, no in-app purchases, support for Apple’s high user privacy standards, and one all-inclusive subscription offer with access for up to six family members. In addition to new exclusive Arcade Originals, including “NBA 2K21 Arcade Edition,” “Star Trek: Legends,” and “The Oregon Trail,” the service is introducing two new game categories, Timeless Classics and App Store Greats. Arcade Originals are playable across iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple TV. Timeless Classics and App Store Greats are available on iPhone and iPad.

With the new categories Apple’s catalog now has 180 games for its users.

Matthew Panzarino, TechCrunch:

Apple is adding two new voices to Siri’s English offerings, and eliminating the default “female voice” selection in the latest beta version of iOS. This means that every person setting up Siri will choose a voice for themselves and it will no longer default to the voice assistant being female, a topic that has come up quite a bit with regards to bias in voice interfaces over the past few years.

This is part of iOS 14.5, beta 6.

Great move on Apple’s part to make the choice of voice part of the onboarding process. No more defaulting to a female voice.

Want to hear the new voices? Play the video in Gruber’s tweet below:

Here’s a recording of Siri’s new lineup of American voices in iOS 14.5. Voices 1 and 4 are the existing ones, voices 2 and 3 are the new ones. pic.twitter.com/6emei4B3Z9

— John Gruber (@gruber) April 1, 2021

A few days ago, we posted an article from 9to5Mac titled Apple developing new Remote for the next-generation Apple TV.

Yesterday, 9to5Mac posted an update (click headline link), adding:

This appears to be an alternative Apple TV Remote that Apple worked with cable companies to make. As the report below explains, this remote was designed for cable companies, hence the Guide button. It may not be sold by Apple directly, but instead was designed in collaboration between Apple and cable companies. It is being distributed by Universal Electronics.

So will we see an updated Siri Remote? Lots of complaints about the current “which side is up” design, would love to see a new, not quite so symmetrical take on it.

And this is the press release for the Universal Electronics remote that seems to be the mistaken identity above. I do love this, though there’s no trackpad, so not likely we’ll ever see this shipping with Apple TV.

Apple Support note:

iOS 14.5, coming later this spring, includes an update where the battery health reporting system will recalibrate maximum battery capacity and peak performance capability on iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max to address inaccurate estimates of battery health reporting for some users. Symptoms of this bug include unexpected battery drain behavior or, in a small number of instances, reduced peak performance capability. This inaccurate battery health reporting does not reflect an issue with actual battery health.

Have an iPhone 11 series phone? Read the linked note.

Patently Apple:

In response to the development of AI, Internet of Things and other developments, the IP giant ARM Ltd. announced late yesterday that it will launch a new Armv9 architecture. This is the company’s first new Arm architecture in the last decade. It’s to roll out at the end of this year. At this point in time, it’s unknown when Apple’s adoption of this new architecture will take place.

Note that the headline is verbatim from Patently Apple. A quibble, but it implies that Apple has endorsed the new Arm architecture. That last sentence in the quote makes it clear that is not the case. Yet.

Still, this seems important news. And others are jumping on board:

Apple is usually silent when it comes to providing testimonials and this time is no different. However, many of Apple’s competitors such as Samsung, Oppo, Vivo, Google (for Android), Xiaomi and others have all signed on.

Read the article, watch the embedded video for details.

Apple, on Brooklyn artist Efdot, using his iPad Pro to design cards for Topps:

His canvas today is a baseball card. While it might seem like an unexpected place to find modern art, there’s a renaissance under way for these collectables, thanks in part to visual storytellers who are transforming sports memorabilia into pocket-sized masterpieces.

And:

Last year, Efdot started working with Topps, the official trading card company of Major League Baseball (MLB), for Project 2020. It was a limited edition release of 20 baseball cards illustrated by 20 different artists that attracted not just collectors and sports enthusiasts, but art and culture lovers too. It’s part of the reason that topps.com saw an astounding 250 percent increase in sales from 2019 to 2020.

As an old school collector, I’m both gladdened and fascinated by this resurgence.

This year, Efdot is part of Project 70, which enlists even more artists and tastemakers to reinterpret cards from the 70 years that Topps has been immortalizing baseball players. New cards are released online every weekday through the end of the year and each card is available to buy for 70 hours only.

Follow the headline link and scroll to get a look at some of this art. It’s fantastic. Gorgeous. Magical. Love the marriage of iPad technology with the art of the sports card.

Wondering how long it will be before Topps announces the NFT of the original art. If it happens, hope Efdot and fellow artists get their fair share of that payday.

Washington Post:

Phillipe Christodoulou wanted to check his bitcoin balance last month, so he searched the App Store on his iPhone for “Trezor,” the maker of a small hardware device he uses to store his cryptocurrency. Up popped the company’s padlock logo set against a bright green background. The app was rated close to five stars. He downloaded it and typed in his credentials.

In less than a second, nearly all of his life savings — 17.1 bitcoin worth $600,000 at the time — was gone. The app was a fake, designed to trick people into thinking it was a legitimate app.

Cautionary tale, both about fake apps in the App Store, and the vulnerability of crypto to non-trackable heists.

Hartley Charlton, MacRumors:

Apple introduced an innovative milled lattice pattern on the ‌Mac Pro‌ and Pro Display XDR in 2019, which is created by machining a spherical array into the internal and external surfaces of the aluminum. The result is a lightweight lattice pattern that maximizes airflow while creating an extremely rigid structure.

The new patent, first spotted by Patently Apple and granted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, is titled “Housing construction” and covers expanding the lattice pattern to other devices, such as the ‌iPhone‌.

Look at that first image. When I saw the article, then the image, my first thought was a check of the date. Nope, too early for April Fools Day. This appears to be a real patent filing.

Here’s a link to the actual patent, with a page showing the cheese grater on the sides of an iPhone.

Still can’t wrap my head around the use case here. A cheese grater on a device Apple worked so hard to waterproof? Not getting it.

Google Maps blog:

Sixteen years ago, many of us held a printout of directions in one hand and the steering wheel in the other to get around— without information about the traffic along your route or details about when your favorite restaurant was open.

Jarring to watch a movie or TV show where a character peers at a paper map or, for a brief slice of time, makes their way through a list of MapQuest turn-by-turn directions.

This year, we’re on track to bring over 100 AI-powered improvements to Google Maps so you can get the most accurate, up-to-date information about the world, exactly when you need it. Here’s a snapshot of how we’re using AI to make Maps work better for you with a number of updates coming this year.

A notable feature here is Live View, to make it much easier to navigate indoors, say, in a mall:

We all know that awkward moment when you’re walking in the opposite direction of where you want to go — Live View uses AR cues to avoid just that. Live View is powered by a technology called global localization, which uses AI to scan tens of billions of Street View images to understand your orientation. Thanks to new advancements that help us understand the precise altitude and placement of objects inside a building, we’re now able to bring Live View to some of the trickiest-to-navigate places indoors: airports, transit stations and malls.

Check out that first animated image to get a sense of this.

Read the whole post. Google Maps is raising the bar.

From John Gruber’s post on the WWDC announcement:

The invitation artwork consists of a diverse bunch of Memoji characters, peeking at a MacBook display as the hinge opens. (One of them is wearing a hearing aid.) It’s a clear callback to the Craig Federighi hero shot in the M1 announcement event that launched a thousand memes.

When I first saw the announcement, didn’t click for me, then saw this Rene Ritchie tweet, now can’t unsee it. Great callback.

But the other thing: every single one of the Memoji characters is wearing glasses, with the contents of the MacBook screen reflected in them. Does this mean Apple’s glasses product is getting announced at WWDC? I’d say that’s possible, but wouldn’t read too much into it.

The hint at Apple Glass seems so strong, so deliberate, it will be interesting to see what Apple does at WWDC to connect the dots here. If they do not announce Apple Glass (or Apple Glasses, or Apple iGlass, etc), seems to me Apple is playing the crowd here. This graphic clearly leads to a very specific conclusion. Or, if no Apple Glass, it purposely misleads.

Has Apple ever put out an invite graphic that purposely misled? Plenty of graphics that didn’t really lead anywhere, some that were obscure until the announcement made things clear (thinking bokeh event invite). But purposefully misleading? Can’t think of one.

From Canalys:

Smart personal audio devices grew 20% in 2020 to reach 432 million units, while wearable bands grew 10% to reach 185 million units. Both segments continued to be strategic winners as countries emerged from the extended battle against COVID-19, where people grew more health-conscious and became active outdoors.

To give a sense of how big Apple’s lead is here:

• Apple/Beats audio shipments for 2020Q4: 29.5 million units
• Second place? Samsung: 9.4 million units

That translates to Apple market share of 26.2%, Samsung 8.3%.

Gadget Hacks:

Every once in a while, an iOS secret surfaces that makes me wonder, “How am I just learning about this?” I remember the first time I found out how to delete numbers in the Calculator app, and when I discovered you could bulk-move apps around the home screen. Now, there’s another tip to add to the list: a hidden iOS app whose icon you quite literally can’t find unless you know where to look.

In a nutshell, to find the app, go to your iOS Home Screen and pull down to bring up Search. Type in the word “code” and the Code Scanner app will appear. Tap it and you are in the QR-code and App Clip scanner.

Apple called the Code Scanner app by a different name in previous iOS versions. On iOS 13, it was “QR Code Reader,” and on iOS 12, it was “Scan QR Code.” Apple likely moved away from having “QR” in the name since it can also scan App Clip Codes, which can launch miniature versions of apps called “App Clips.”

It’s also in Control Center. One of those hidden things that you might not know.

Makes me wonder what new codes Apple might have up its sleeve, with the rumored AirTags and Apple Glasses. Maybe we’ll learn more at WWDC?

Filipe Espósito, 9to5Mac:

We’ve been hearing rumors about the next-generation Apple TV for a while now, but we don’t know when the company plans to officially announce it. Now 9to5Mac has learned that Apple is developing a new Remote for Apple TV, which corroborates some previous rumors about Apple updating the Siri Remote.

Read Filipe’s post for all the details, but this does feel real. If it is real, will this be part of the WWDC keynote? I would love a new remote, one you can clearly navigate in the dark, tell the top from bottom, feel the button shapes you are looking for.

And maybe one compatible with “Find My” for those occasions when it slips behind the couch cushions.

Apple:

Apple today announced it will host its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) June 7 through 11, in an all-online format. Free for all developers, WWDC21 will offer unique insight into the future of iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS.

And:

Apple also announced that this year’s Swift Student Challenge, an opportunity for young developers to demonstrate their coding skills by creating a Swift playground, is now accepting submissions.

Online and free. Perfect.

Will we see the next generation of Apple Silicon Mac? Apple Glass? A new Apple TV remote? Other rumored products? Can’t wait for the keynote.

Entertainment Weekly:

Though season 2 of Ted Lasso won’t premiere on Apple TV+ until this summer, fans who tune into the SAG Awards will be treated to a new sketch starring the AFC Richmond gang, which will open the ceremony on April 4. EW has the exclusive teaser for the two-minute video, in which Coach Ted Lasso (Jason Sudeikis) gives his team a pep talk following their SAG Award nomination for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series.

If you can’t get enough of Ted Lasso, follow the headline link, put up with the ad, then drink in the Lasso.

Tim Hardwick, MacRumors:

Apple has lost a legal bid to block Swatch from registering Steve Jobs’ famous “One more thing” saying as a trademark in the UK, reports The Telegraph.

Here’s The Telegraph link, paywalled.

From the decision:

On Monday, judge Iain Purvis overturned a previous decision that sided with Apple, saying that even if Swatch had meant to “annoy” Apple, the company could not stop it from doing so.

He added that the phrase may have originated with the 1970s television detective Columbo, a character who was known for cornering criminals by asking them “just one more thing.”

That Columbo reference might be prior art here. But still, modern times, that’s a phrase I definitely associate with Apple, no doubt.

In 2017, Apple filed a complaint in a Swiss court over the use of the slogan “Tick Different” in a Swatch marketing campaign, arguing that the watchmaker was unfairly referencing the Apple’s 1990s “Think Different” ad campaign for its own gain.

And:

Two years later the Swiss court agreed with Swatch that Apple’s “Think Different” was not known well enough in Switzerland to warrant protection, and that Apple had not produced documents that sufficiently backed up its case.

Fascinating.

Avast blog:

A total of 134 fleeceware applications have been identified by Avast on the Apple App Store.

Sensor Tower data estimates a total of 500 million downloads of these applications. It also estimates that the applications have brought in $365 million in revenue in their lifetime.

And:

Another solution could be subscription payment confirmation. If the user accepts a free trial, the app could require another confirmation before paying money for the actual subscription once the free trial is over. In this scenario, the app’s functionality would stop until the user pays the required fee. This would give the user direct control over subscription payments and allow them to make a fully informed decision on continuing with the subscription.

This seems a great solution to me. Require a confirmation from the user at the moment a free app transitions to a paying subscription. That confirmation alert should make the costs clear.

From the blog post, here’s a list of iOS Fleeceware apps.

If they can build this list, why can’t Apple?

If you are a Ted Lasso fan, follow the headline link. This is fun. Ted Lasso and Coach Beard, fully in character, takes on Team Trevor Noah playing FIFA 21.

Audio starts about 15 minutes in. Make sure mute is off.

Nice resource, if a bit ad-saturated.

Can’t wait for Season 2 of Mythic Quest, which premieres May 7th.

Also looking forward to checking out Dr. Brain. And, of course, Ted Lasso.

Chance Miller, 9to5Mac, on a report from The Information about Apple’s updated factory security guidelines:

The Information says that it obtained an internal Apple document outlining the changes. One change is that manufacturing partners with which Apple works, such as Foxconn and Pegatron, are no longer allowed to collect biometric data from Apple employees, but they are still free to collect such data from their own employees, even if those employees are making Apple products.

Tricky line to walk, one set of rules for Apple employees, different set for non-Apple employees.

The guidelines also make other changes to help crackdown on product leaks that come from the supply chain. For the first time, Apple is now requiring manufacturers to run criminal background checks on all workers. The company is also mandating that the use of surveillance cameras be increased at these facilities.

I find the chasing of leaks to be a fascinating dichotomy for Apple, a light and a dark side, championing privacy for users, requiring surveillance for workers.

Another change includes Apple increasing its focus on “movement of sensitive parts in factories.” As part of this change, if a component takes “an unusually long time to get to its destination,” an internal security alarm must be triggered.

Leaking of Apple secrets is a disrespectful act. Obviously, there’s a hunger on the part of the media and Apple fans, but it disrespects the people who work hard for that moment when their labors can be shown to the world.

Chasing leaks while respecting privacy, a tricky line to walk.