By news@appleinsider.com (Malcolm Owen) The EU’s AI Pact has a lot of big-name tech companies pledging to develop AI in a safe way, but Apple and Meta are the two outliers who aren’t getting involved.An iPhone running Apple Intelligence, in front of the EU flagThe European Commission announced on Wednesday that it had secured over a hundred signatures from companies signing up to the EU Artificial Intelligence Pact. Made up of voluntary pledges, the pact asks companies to work to ensure that AI is safe and produced in a responsible way.The list of companies taking part in the pact includes quite a few major names, including Adobe, Google, IBM, HP, Qualcomm, Microsoft, and Open Ai, the creator of ChatGPT. However, that list doesn’t include two major names in AI: Apple and Meta. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
By news@appleinsider.com (Malcolm Owen) A letter has been sent from Congress to the Department of Defense claiming China’s subsidizing of display producers is a security risk to the US, with an endgame that could result in forcing Apple to change its supply sources.BOE has been linked to the iPhone SE 4, which could look like the iPhone 14Apple’s global supply chain relies on multiple companies to provide displays for its iPhones, iPads, and Macs. However, while Chinese producer BOE has had a troubled existence within the supply chain, its status may become a little tougher to maintain.John Moolenaar (R-MI), chairman of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, has written to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin about China’s subsidization of display producers. The letter, released on Tuesday, takes specific aim at BOE Technology Group and Tianma Microelectronics, and the possibility they could become a national security threat. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
By news@appleinsider.com (William Gallagher) Ex-Apple chief designer Jony Ive’s LoveFrom company has revealed a new animated logo featuring Montgomery the bear.Still from the newly animated LoveFrom logoAfter working on everything from the iMac to the iPhone, Ive eventually left Apple in 2019 to form his own company, and he’s been steadily recruiting many of his old colleagues from Apple Park. Now, months after looking for $1 billion to fund development of an AI device, Ive has refreshed his website with a new animated logo.Good luck finding what it used to look like. Even the Internet Archive’s snapshots of the LoveFrom website now either display the new animation, or lead to blank pages with errors. Although don’t look too far back, as the domain used to be owned by a firm selling “adult love letters.” Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
By news@appleinsider.com (Malcolm Owen) Disney is coming down hard on users that share accounts across households, with the company forcing users that are doing so to add a paid sharing add-on to their account.Disney+’s password crackdownStreaming services often miss out on subscription revenue because of the common practice of password sharing. Families often use the same account credentials between houses, which saves them money.However, Disney has decided to try and recoup the missed-out subscriptions for Disney+, by clamping down on the practice. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
By news@appleinsider.com (William Gallagher) Republican Presidential candidate Trump has called for Apple to help the FBI unlock iPhones and “foreign apps” belonging to people accused of plotting to assassinate him.FBI headquartersAs predicted by AppleInsider back in July 2024, former President Trump has weighed in on the long-standing disagreement between Apple and the FBI. Repeatedly, the FBI will call for backdoors to be added to iOS to allow law enforcement access, and Apple will point out that this makes a back door for bad actors too.Now according to Fortune magazine, Republican presidential nominee Trump has said that Apple has to help the FBI. Trump said that the FBI had been unable to unlock “three potentially foreign-based apps” on the iPhone belonging to Thomas Matthew Crooks, who was behind the shooting in Pennsylvania. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
By news@appleinsider.com (William Gallagher) Apple’s efforts with bringing technology to young people in education has been honored with a Michigan 4-H Citation Award.Michigan State UniversityApple has been working in 4-H — “Head, Heart, Hands, and Health” — with its Community Education Initiative since 2019. More recently, Apple has established a Detroit Developer Academy, and worked with the University of Michigan on hearing studies that have led to the new functionality in the AirPods Pro 2.Now Michigan State University (MSU) has announced that it is giving Apple its highest 4-H honor, the Michigan 4-H Citation Award. Two such awards are given annually to organizations and individuals whose support has “advanced the work of MSU Extension’s 4-H Youth Development… to affect the lives of Michigan young people in positive, significant, and meaningful ways.” Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
By news@appleinsider.com (David Schloss) The Action Button on the iPhone 15 and iPhone 16 provides one-click access to features, but strangely it can only perform one action. With a quick workaround in the Shortcuts apps, it’s possible to use the Action Button to trigger up to eight applications or automations.The iPhone Action Button is more powerful than you may think.The Action button has several default functions, including toggling silent mode, launching an app, setting focus, and more.The Action Button can only be assigned to perform a specific task, which is unusual when Apple uses double and triple clicks on the AirPods to perform different functions. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
By news@appleinsider.com (Wesley Hilliard) Former Masimo CEO Joe Kiani may have won the war against Apple, but he has resigned after losing a fight with a hedge fund.Apple Watch Series 9 and newer are sold with a deactivated blood oxygen sensorAfter spending over $100 million and betting the company he founded on principle alone, Joe Kiani is out at Masimo. However, the reason he has resigned as CEO has nothing to do with Apple or a patent dispute.Reuters has the story, stating that Kiani stepped down after being removed from Masimo’s board by shareholders. The move came after a proxy battle with hedge fund Politan Capital Management. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
By news@appleinsider.com (Marko Zivkovic) While the iPhone 16 introduced a variety of hardware improvements, some of Apple’s planned features never made it to the final mass-production units. Here’s everything that was scrapped during development.Some iPhone 16 features didn’t make it past the prototype stage.Apple’s iPhone 16 lineup went through several different prototype stages, as is typically the case for new hardware projects. During these various development stages, the company sometimes makes significant design changes, altering the appearance of devices in the process.In other situations, however, Apple can remove new hardware features. This can happen for a variety of reasons, depending on the situation in question. The company has to make sure that new hardware components adhere to its stringent quality-control standards, meaning that different designs and materials are often tested. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
By news@appleinsider.com (Wesley Hilliard) While Meta might be playing fast and loose describing its Orion smart glasses as having the look and feel of a regular pair of glasses, it is a clear look at the future possibilities of Apple Vision.Meta Orion are a pair of AR glasses that hope to pass as regular specsWords used to mean something, like “Artificial Intelligence,” “hologram,” and “regular pair of glasses,” but we’re throwing out all pretense in light of Meta’s latest announcement. These definitely “regular” looking spectacles promise to bring augmented reality computing to your face — well, not your face exactly.Orion isn’t a public product. It is being revealed to show that Meta has made progress in the last five years towards, well, something. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
