The AWT News Update is on hiatus while my compadre, Steve, takes a road trip. In its place, I’ll offer a text-only (no podcast) summary of breaking stories with a tip o’ my hat to my former website, Apple Daily Report.
A Menlo Park startup dubbed Swarm Technologies illegally launched four prototype satellites in January that the Federal Communications Commission says are unsafe to be put in orbit because they are too small to track. Swarm Technologies is a stealthy company that was founded in 2016 by former Google engineer Sara Spangelo and Benjamin Longmier, who was briefly a manager at Apple after selling a business to the tech giant.
Apple will be reopening its Bluewater retail outlet in Greenhithe in the United Kingdom later this month after being closed for nine months for refurbishment, with signs at the front of the store advising it will resume business on March 24.
Calendar 2, a popular title in the Mac App Store, recently embraced coin mining openly, and so far Apple gatekeepers haven’t blocked it. However, the mining feature is reportedly being removed in future versions of the app.
Apple has added the ability to find bike sharing stations in its Maps app easier as it’s integrated new data in over 175 cities.
Apple has released the fifth developer beta versions of macOS High Sierra 10.13.4, iOS 11.3, watchOS 4.3, and tvOS 11.3. Registered developers can download them from Apple’s Developer Center — or over-the-air once the proper configuration profile has been installed from the Developer Center.
Accessory makers in Apple’s Made-for-iPhone/iPad/iPod (MFi) licensing program now have the ability to create new types of products as the company adds specs for a Lightning to 3.5mm output cable and USB-C ports. The new specs were detailed in Apple’s recently updated materials for manufacturers in the MFi program.
