CNET:

You’ve decided you need an Apple Watch in your life, but now the question is which one? There have been six different versions of the Watch over the years and a new one may be coming in a couple of months, but Apple currently gives you two models to choose from: the Series 5, which starts at $399; and the Series 3, which starts at $199.

The good news is you can’t go wrong with either if you have your heart set on an Apple Watch. Both have the same fitness tracking features, notifications and seamless integration with your iPhone. So if price is your main concern, rest easy, you’ll get everything you need from the Series 3 for $200 less. But if you have some wiggle room in the budget, the Series 5 has some standout features that might just make it worth the splurge.

As much as I’d like a Series 5, my Series 3 is a perfectly good smartwatch at a great price.

The Sunday Times:

Apple is pushing for huge rent reductions across its UK stores despite its sales soaring to new heights during the lockdown.

The tech giant has told landlords of a portion of its 38-store estate in the UK that it wants rents slashed by up to 50% and a rent-free period. In return, it has offered to extend leases by a few years.

The tough tactics have caused consternation among property owners.

I don’t know if Apple has actually “demanded” these discounts as the headline posits but I imagine it’s going to be awfully hard for a company that announced 55 billion pounds in profit last year to get any significant discounts from landlords who are “struggling” just as much.

AppleInsider:

Apple recently purchased Mobeewave, a payments technology startup that developed a method by which smartphones like iPhone can be used as mobile payments terminals.

Citing sources familiar with the matter, Bloomberg reports Apple paid approximately $100 million for Montreal-based Mobeewave and its “dozens” of employees. The team has been retained and continues to work out of its headquarters.

Mobeewave’s technology employs NFC communications to enable users to conduct payments by tapping a compatible credit card on a smartphone. Consumers can also trigger transactions by bringing two smartphones within close proximity of each other, the report said.

The CEO of Square is going to be unhappy. Many small merchants at farmers markets around the world are going to be very happy.

CBS News:

A Florida teenager has been identified by authorities as the “mastermind” behind the recent Twitter Bitcoin hack that targeted the accounts of Elon Musk, Barack Obama, Bill Gates and many other high-profile celebrities. The 17-year-old was arrested Friday and charged in Tampa, according to the Hillsborough State Attorney’s Office.

During the hack, the Twitter accounts of celebrities including Elon Musk, Joe Biden, Jeff Bezos, Michael Bloomberg, Kim Kardashian West and Bill Gates asked millions of followers to send money to a Bitcoin address. The hackers acquired more than $100,000 in Bitcoin from more than 400 transfers the day of the hack, the DOJ said, adding that approximately 130 accounts of politicians, celebrities and musicians were compromised.

Twitter announced Thursday that the July 15 hack was the result of a phone spear phishing attack that required access to both the site’s internal network and employee credentials granting restricted access. The hacker was able to obtain passwords and other sensitive information from employees using illegitimate emails, the company said.

I don’t know if it’s scary, sad, or lucky it was “just” three young hackers who did this and not a nation-state or other bad actor. Probably a combination of all three.

MacRumors:

Canada today released a new COVID-19 contact tracing app called COVID Alert, as noted by iPhone in Canada. COVID Alert takes advantage of Apple and Google’s privacy-focused Exposure Notification API to alert people when they’ve come into contact with someone who has the coronavirus.

If someone with COVID Alert tests positive for the virus, they can opt to enter that information into the app, and each person they’ve been in contact with will then receive an alert. COVID Alert collects no location information or personally identifiable data, and was built by Health Canada with the Canadian Digital Service.

Contrary to this story, the app has been available for a week – I’ve been using it each day to report in. Does anyone else use this version or similar apps in their country?

Mac Observer:

Apple usually releases new smartphones in September. However, it looks like we’re going to have to wait just a little longer for the iPhone 12. Chief Financial Officer, Luca Maestri broke the news during Thursday’s earnings call. “As you know, last year we started selling new iPhones in late September,” Mr. Maestri said. “This year, we project supply to be available a few weeks later.”

We’ve been hearing rumors of production delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic for a while now. However, a top Apple exec actually making the admission public at this stage is still significant.

This is definitely significant. Apple is loathe to speak about “future products” and they never confirmed a late September launch so they could have said nothing and gone about their business. But I think this is an admission from Apple that, if the usual September announcements didn’t happen, the rumour mills would run even wilder than usual.

Mark Gurman, Bloomberg:

Apple Inc. agreed in 2016 to halve its App Store fee for Amazon.com Inc. as part of a deal to put the e-commerce giant’s Prime Video app on Apple’s mobile devices and TV set-top box.

Eddy Cue, an Apple senior vice president, and Amazon Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos negotiated directly on the deal, according to emails released Wednesday as part of a congressional hearing on anticompetitive behavior. The companies agreed to a 15% revenue share for customers who signed up through the app and no revenue share for users who already subscribed via Amazon or elsewhere, the emails showed.

And:

Apple generally receives a 30% cut for the first year of an app’s subscriptions made through the platform. That fee drops to 15% after the first year.

And:

“That is not correct,” Cook said when asked if some developers are treated differently. “We treat every developer the same.”

Discuss.

You can watch Tim Cook’s opening statement (with bonus Q&A) in our previous post, or follow the headline link for some links to the prepared remarks.

With that in mind, take the time to read John Gruber’s walk through Tim’s opening remarks. Long, cogent, and interesting, all the way through.

And, for dessert, take a look at Michael Tsai’s rollup page on Tim Cook’s testimony, with links to various write-ups from our community.

Google blog:

Last year, we launched automatic phone backup for members on Android devices. So no matter what happens to your phone, you won’t lose the important stuff like texts, contacts and apps, and photos and videos. To bring this peace of mind to more people, we’re making some Google One features—phone backup and a new storage manager tool—free for Google users wherever Google One is available. You can back up your devices and clean up your files across Google Photos, Google Drive, and Gmail—all in the new Google One app for Android and iOS.

Two things leap out at me:

First, this feels like a push to expand Google’s pay-for-storage business. You get 15Gb for free, but once you buy into the model, you’ll inevitably want more storage, which means more money flowing to Google, less to Apple.

Second, what are the privacy rules here? I’ve not found specifics yet, but before you go down this road, be sure to read the EULA and know if Google has the rights to data mine your data, or use your photos in any way.

If the storage pricing is better, and if there’s no privacy concerns on your end, this might be a net positive, apply pressure on Apple to lower their storage prices.

Juli Clover, MacRumors:

Apple today updated its Apple Store app with a new “For You” tab that offers access to order status, devices, accessory recommendations, services, reservations, and product tips, all in one simple to access place.

And:

There’s also a feature that’s designed to allow you to compare a new iPhone you’re considering purchasing with your existing ‌iPhone‌ so you can see the difference at a glance.

First, note that this is the Apple Store app, not the App Store app.

Second, I’ve not yet gotten this extra tab on my phone, which is running iOS 13, but I did get the new tab on my iPad, which is running the beta of iOS 14.

Reuters:

When the App Store launched in 2008 with 500 apps, Apple executives viewed it as an experiment in offering a compellingly low commission rate to attract developers, Philip W. Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing and top executive for the App Store, told Reuters in an interview.

“One of the things we came up with is, we’re going to treat all apps in the App Store the same – one set of rules for everybody, no special deals, no special terms, no special code, everything applies to all developers the same. That was not the case in PC software. Nobody thought like that. It was a complete flip around of how the whole system was going to work,” Schiller said.

And this bit of history:

In the mid-2000s, software sold through physical stores involved paying for shelf space and prominence, costs that could eat 50% of the retail price, said Ben Bajarin, head of consumer technologies at Creative Strategies. Small developers could not break in.

Bajarin said the App Store’s predecessor was Handango, a service that around 2005 let developers deliver apps over cellular connections to users’ Palm and other devices for a 40% commission.

With the App Store, “Apple took that to a whole other level. And at 30%, they were a better value,” Bajarin said.

Back to Phil Schiller:

“As we were talking to some of the biggest game developers, for example, Minecraft, they said, ‘I totally get why you want the user to be able to pay for it on device. But we have a lot of users coming who bought their subscription or their account somewhere else – on an Xbox, on a PC, on the web. And it’s a big barrier to getting onto your store,’” Schiller said. “So we created this exception to our own rule.”

And:

Schiller said Apple’s cut helps fund an extensive system for developers: Thousands of Apple engineers maintain secure servers to deliver apps and develop the tools to create and test them.

This is clearly a hot button topic. Does that 30% cut make the same sense today as it did back in the early days?

And what about the fact that macOS developers can sell their apps through services like Paddle, who takes a much smaller percentage but provides no marketing exposure or security/privacy oversight? Why doesn’t Apple allow this same sort of behavior in the iOS App Store? This would provide developers the same choice they have with the Mac App Store and likely quiet the uproar.

Seems to me, the devil in this model is the critical importance, to Apple, of services revenue. As I’ve said before, Apple is a public company and is beholden to its shareholders. They need that 30% from iOS app sales. I suspect the money it gets from the Mac App Store has never been big enough to be worth the PR black eye it would bring to force that iOS model on Mac developers.

It’d be interesting to see the cost of running the App Store, with all its engineers, writers, servers, all of it, as a cost per developer. Put that cost, side-by-side against the revenue per developer that Apple takes in.

Om:

In a few hours, the chief executives of four major technology companies — Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google are going to be hauled up in front of our politicians. I am surprised to see Microsoft omitted from this list, though they should be in here with the big four. They will have to defend themselves from the charges that they stifle competition as a result of their market dominance.

And:

The short version (in case you want to skip reading the piece) — all sizzle no steak. In other words, you could (and should) avoid even thinking about it. You are not going to see the four chieftains say anything that damages their business or upsets the status quo. It is not going to impact the employees or the stocks of these companies. Hell, it is not even a photo-op: the whole non-drama is going to play out on Zoom.

Read the whole piece. A number of hot takes, all worth reading. I’m not convinced these hearings will turn into any meaningful change, especially with an election coming up with the potential to upend all political plans.

The Hollywood Reporter:

In a stunning reversal, AMC Theatres has struck a historic agreement with Universal that will allow the studio’s movies to be made available on premium video-on-demand after just 17 days of play in cinemas, including three weekends, the two companies announced Tuesday.

The deal — which presently only covers AMC’s U.S. locations — shatters the traditional theatrical window, a longstanding policy that has required studios to play their films on the big screen for nearly three months before making films available in the home.

Key to this deal is that AMC will get revenue from the video on demand showings. In effect, AMC’s theaters will be paid to let someone else show movies.

Will we see a return to normal movie-going behavior once COVID-19 is in the rear view mirror? Or are we seeing a behavior changing milestone in the model of going to a theater to see a movie? I suspect the latter, given the incredible wealth of quality content available on all our excellent screens, available without requiring us to leave our homes.

Deadline:

When Apple TV+ hit The Morning Show had its Season 2 production stopped by COVID-19, no one rested on their laurels. According to Emmy nominee Mark Duplass, who played beleaguered producer Chip Black, the show is in rewrites to reflect the current global situation—something they also did in Season 1 as a response to #MeToo.

Follow the headline link to read the short interview with Duplass.

Some shows have returned to very cautious production, but most are taking the approach of The Morning Show and using this time for rewrites. I suspect when Hollywood does get the all clear to return to full scale production, we’re going to see a boom in creativity, some informed by the learning that comes along with all the remote collaboration, and some based simply on the massive amount of uninterrupted writing time.

Apple:

Apple today previewed Apple Central World, its second and largest retail location in Thailand. Nestled in the heart of Ratchaprasong, Bangkok’s iconic intersection, the store provides a completely new and accessible destination within the lively city.

Another Apple Store. Another canvas for Apple’s architects. Read on.

Apple Central World’s distinctive architecture is brought to life with the first-ever all-glass design, housed under a cantilevered Tree Canopy roof. Once inside, customers can travel between two levels via a spiral staircase that wraps around a timber core, or riding a unique cylindrical elevator clad in mirror-polished stainless steel. Guests can enter from the ground or upper level, which provides a direct connection to the Skytrain and the city’s largest shopping center.

These words to not do this design justice. Follow the headline link, check out that image. Don’t miss that transparent wrap-around staircase that takes you to the second level. An incredible design.

Definitely on my “sights to see” bucket list.

Bloomberg:

Apple Inc. Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook will tell U.S. lawmakers probing his company’s market power that the iPhone maker’s App Store has opened the “gate wider” for developers and doesn’t stifle competition.

In a prepared opening statement for Wednesday’s hearing in the House antitrust subcommittee, the longtime Apple executive positions the Cupertino, California-based technology giant as a “uniquely American company” that does “not have a dominant market share in any market where we do business.” He cited Google, Samsung Electronics Co. and LG Electronics Inc. as examples of competitors in the smartphone market.

Cook is giving no ground on the company position. Tomorrow’s hearing won’t actually solve any of the issues in play but it will be interesting to see how the testimony is received by the House members from both sides of the aisle.

UPDATE: Here is the full text of Cook’s prepared statement for tomorrow.

MacRumors:

Apple TV+ has earned its first Emmy nominations this morning, with nominations for “The Morning Show,” “Central Park,” “Defending Jacob,” “The Elephant Queen,” and “The Beastie Boys Story.”

In total, Apple has earned well over a dozen Emmy nominations this year. ‌Apple TV‌+ launched last fall, so this marks the first time Apple has been eligible for entry into the Emmys.

Yesterday, Apple won Daytime Emmys for “Ghostwriter” and “Peanuts in Space: Secrets of Apollo 10.” In total, Apple was nominated for 17 awards overall, eight of which were for “Ghostwriter” alone.

Not bad for the little streaming service that could.

CNET:

CES, one of the world’s largest tech events, will be fully virtual next year amid continued concerns over the coronavirus pandemic. The Consumer Technology Association announced the change Tuesday after previously saying CES 2021 would continue to be an in-person event, with additional virtual and digital experiences.

“Amid the pandemic and growing global health concerns about the spread of COVID-19, it’s just not possible to safely convene tens of thousands of people in Las Vegas in early January 2021 to meet and do business in person,” said Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of the CTA, in a release Tuesday.

The CTA said it plans to return to Las Vegas for CES 2022.

After trying to put on a brave face, CES bowed to reality with a justifiable overabundance of caution and made this announcement well in advance so that everyone involved can bet prepared for a very different CES. Will it return to in-person in 2022? That will depend entirely on how successful the virtual 2021 show is perceived by CTA.

Found this on Twitter this morning. Astonishing.

From Steven Soderbergh’s writeup:

I want you to watch this movie and think only about staging, how the shots are built and laid out, what the rules of movement are, what the cutting patterns are. See if you can reproduce the thought process that resulted in these choices by asking yourself: why was each shot—whether short or long—held for that exact length of time and placed in that order?

And:

I’ve removed all sound and color from the film, apart from a score designed to aid you in your quest to just study the visual staging aspect. Wait, WHAT? HOW COULD YOU DO THIS? Well, I’m not saying I’m like, ALLOWED to do this, I’m just saying this is what I do when I try to learn about staging, and this filmmaker forgot more about staging by the time he made his first feature than I know to this day.

Follow the link, watch the movie. That soundtrack is “In Motion” by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. Fascinating how beautiful this film is, even with the loss of color, dialog, and that amazing score.

Was this used by permission? And, if not, how has it escaped a takedown all these years?

Qualcomm:

The world’s first commercially viable fast charging platform to support more than 100W charging power in a smartphone, Quick Charge 5 is engineered to allow users to charge devices from 0 to 50 percent battery power in just five minutes – representing the fastest mobile phone charging capabilities available.

Compare this to Apple’s fast charge:

Use fast charge with certain iPhone or iPad models. You can recharge your iPhone up to 50 percent battery in around 30 minutes.

That’s a big leap on Qualcomm’s part. Also interesting is that Quick Charge 5 runs cooler as well.

Coming to commercial devices in 2020Q3.

Bowdoin College:

Students will receive an Apple iPad Pro with available Wi-Fi and cellular data connectivity (activated and covered by the College for those students who have internet connectivity needs), an Apple Pencil 2, and the Apple Magic Keyboard for iPad, which includes a trackpad.

And the teachers?

All interested faculty members and the staff who support teaching and learning will receive iPads that use Wi-Fi only to connect to the internet.

This is great. The college is covering the cost of the cell plan for students with no WiFi access. Well done, Bowdoin.

Gilad Edelman, Wired:

ON WEDNESDAY, AFTER a brief delay, the CEOs of Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Apple will testify together in front of Congress for the first time ever. Well, sort of: Thanks to the ongoing pandemic, the executives will appear via video, presumably from some bland settings that belie the fact that the group includes two of the world’s richest people. Even so, the event could be historic, with Amazon founder Jeff Bezos making his congressional hearing debut. The theme: whether the four companies, each among the most valuable in history, have built their economic power, or are using it, in ways that harm American society overall.

Remarkable to think that this testimony will include the richest person in the world, commanded to appear in front of Congress.

And this, on Apple:

The case against Apple should be the simplest to follow, and it is likely to revolve around the App Store. App developers have complained—all the way to the Supreme Court—that the 30 percent cut Apple takes of all revenues from its App Store is unfair. They have also accused Apple of discriminating against or ripping off apps that compete with Apple’s own offerings. The CEO of Tile, which makes hardware and software to help people keep track of things like their keys and wallet, has testified that Apple changed its Find My iPhone app to mimic Tile—and then decided to stop selling Tile products in its stores.

Great take on tomorrow’s hearing.