A report today says that Apple is ahead of most large companies in tackling a form of discrimination which originates in India but has affected employee recruitment in Silicon Valley: the caste system.
Although the caste system is in part reflected in attitudes to skin color, discrimination on the basis of caste is not made explicitly illegal by current US law …
Expand Expanding Close
President Joe Biden signed the $52B CHIPS and Science Act yesterday, authorizing subsidies for chipmaking within the US.
The White House claims the act has spurred $44B worth of new chip fabrication plans, but many doubts have been expressed about the likely effectiveness of the measure …
Expand Expanding Close
A former cellphone store owner made an estimated $25M by unlocking T-Mobile phones using stolen credentials. He now faces a possible prison sentence of up to 165 years …
Expand Expanding Close
The scale of subsidies for the TSMC Arizona plant are in doubt as it becomes clear that the $52B CHIPS Act grants won’t go far, and Intel is angling to take the largest slice of the pie.
TSMC has previously said that the subsidy for American chip manufacturing was “vital” to its Arizona plant, which has been expected to begin US production of Apple’s A-series and M-series chips from 2024 …
Expand Expanding Close
The CHIPS Act, originally designed to provide $52B in incentives for chipmakers to open US plants, has now passed a Senate vote, with bipartisan support. It is expected to pass a House vote as early as next week, but has gained weight in its journey through Congress.
Apple lobbied in favor of the original plan, stating that it was vital to the construction of a TSMC plant in Arizona, which is expected to make chips for the Cupertino company …
Expand Expanding Close
One piece of tech which has proven slow to, uh, take off is an electronic baggage tag to replace the usual paper label applied to hold baggage at check-in. Alaska Airlines is hoping to boost adoption by offering it free of charge to frequent fliers.
Expand Expanding Close
A $52B US chip subsidy bill has convincingly passed a new Senate vote, with 64 in favor and just 34 opposed. Apple has said that the subsidy is ‘vital’ to the construction of a TSMC chip-making plant in Arizona, which is expected to make chips for the Cupertino company.
The latest vote had been described as a test of whether there was sufficient backing to include additional funding for science and defense research …
Expand Expanding Close
Banks need to take more responsibility for protecting the victims of cash app scams, says a US finance watchdog. There have been a growing number of scams involving instant cash transfer apps, like Zelle and Venmo …
Expand Expanding Close
The Nothing Phone launched this week, and the most distinctive thing about the design is a transparent rear cover to reveal the internals of the device – along with some funky lights. You can now give your iPhone 13 Pro Max the same look with a new Dbrand skin …
Expand Expanding Close
I know, the idea that iPhones will replace DSLRs seems pretty crazy today. But already a little less crazy than yesterday, and that’s because Nikon has joined Canon in abandoning work on future DSLRs (digital single-lens reflex cameras).
Canon announced in December that the 1DX Mk III would be its last pro body. (It says that it is, for now, continuing to develop consumer DSLRs, but nobody expects that to last for long.) And today, Nikon is reportedly ceasing development work on DSLRs altogether …
Expand Expanding Close
For anyone who was born this century, the idea that life before iPhone even existed would probably be hard to imagine. Fifteen years after the first iPhone went on sale, we’ve all grown used to having the ubiquitous device in our lives.
The iPhone wasn’t the first smartphone – but it was the first smartphone to appeal to ordinary people. Of course, I’m not ordinary people: I’m a geek who owned a whole bunch of the digital devices which preceded the iPhone …
Expand Expanding Close
A piece on how to land a job with the most desirable tech company in the world provides some interesting examples of Apple interview questions.
It outlines the soft skills the company looks for, warns what not to do on your resume, walks you through the interview stages, explains the STAR method for discussing your accomplishments, and provides examples of the sorts of questions you may be asked …
Expand Expanding Close
Mac sales in China have been growing in recent years, with Apple Silicon models accelerating their popularity. But the Chinese government has a plan to reduce its reliance on US tech from Apple and Microsoft: creating its own operating system …
Expand Expanding Close
The CHIPS Act, which would provide more than $50 billion in subsidies for US chip production, is vital if TSMC’s Arizona plant is to proceed on schedule, says the company.
Apple was among the companies to lobby for the subsidy, but political battles mean that the passing of the bill is now in some doubt …
Expand Expanding Close
The legal risks of prosecutors getting access to data from period tracking apps have been getting increasing attention. The Democratic party now plans to enact legislation to provide legal protection for the privacy of this data.
The news was announced by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, who also outlined plans for additional legal protections for women seeking abortions …
Expand Expanding Close
Almost exactly a year ago, the Senate approved $52B in funding to boost US chip production, and the House likewise gave its support in February of this year. Apple also lobbied for the deal. Despite this, the subsidy now appears to be in doubt.
Democrats and Republicans are reported to be bogged down in arguments about other measures in the bill …
Expand Expanding Close
Who could have imagined five years ago that we’d all be swabbing our throats and noses at home to find out whether we have become the latest pandemic victim? But that’s life now, and while everyone knows about lateral flow and PCR tests, few know about the third option available: molecular COVID-19 tests …
Expand Expanding Close
Discussions about the role of social networks in the wake of the deadly mass shootings in Buffalo, New York, and Uvalde, Texas, look set to rekindle arguments about end-to-end encryption of private messages.
Politicians weighed in after it was discovered that both Buffalo and Uvalde alleged killers used social media apps to discuss their plans with online groups …
Expand Expanding Close
Some state privacy laws use wording written by tech companies and their lobbyists, says a new report today. A formerly Apple-backed lobbying group has previously been cited as pushing for weaker privacy protection based on this wording.
Tech giants are aiming to push through weak privacy legislation in order to fend off more meaningful requirements, with one state senator admitting that the text of a privacy bill he put forward was supplied by a tech lobbyist …
Expand Expanding Close
Apple may have abandoned the Touch Bar, but that isn’t stopping other laptop companies from borrowing the concept. Last month saw Dell put touch-sensitive keys into the trackpad, and the Corsair Voyager a1600 gaming laptop is next in line …
Expand Expanding Close
The impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine saw European smartphone shipments fall 10% year-on-year in the first quarter of the year, according to a new report today.
The global chip shortage played a role, but the latest market intelligence data said that the war was a bigger factor in the scale of the decline …
Expand Expanding Close
Back in 2018, I talked about a process you might call digital calming: decluttering my devices by removing redundant apps, and switching off most notifications and badges. Four years later, that remains the single best change I’ve ever made to my use of technology.
Thanks to the focus modes in iOS 15, that process has never been easier …
Expand Expanding Close
If you thought using Apple Pay was easy, a Mastercard Biometric Checkout Program will let you pay simply by smiling at the payment terminal.
The company says that the initiative will be rolled out globally, starting with trials in Brazil …
Expand Expanding Close
Ad tech companies share your online behavior and location with advertisers an average of 747 times a day in the US, and 376 times a day in Europe, according to a report by a civil liberties group. It describes the practice as the biggest privacy breach in the world.
The report says Google is the biggest offender, using a process called real-time bidding (RTB) to let advertisers target internet users by browsing behavior and locations …
Expand Expanding Close
