Since Steve and I can’t cover everything, occasionally we’ll direct your attention to articles from various other sources worth your time.
° Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman has published an article that says Apple might work with a less-known contract manufacturer in building an “Apple Car” after talks with some brand name automakers stalled.
° In a note to clients — as noted by AppleInsider — analysts at the J.P. Morgan investment bank say smartphone shipments in China are experiencing a worse-than-seasonal decline despite starting 2021 off strong. They said internationally produced devices, largely comprised of Apple iPhones, dropped 66% month-over-month. Domestic device shipments declined 42% in the same period.
° A team of researchers has demonstrated a new browser-based side-channel attack that works even if Javascript is blocked, one that affects hardware platforms including Intel Core, AMD Ryzen, Samsung Exynos, and even Apple’s M1 chips, according to The 8-Bit.
° Apple has updated its privacy website with a new “Labels” section that brings privacy labels for all of Apple’s apps together in one place.
° Oops. AppleInsider notes that Apple’s Developer Tool Kit return process isn’t going smoothly for everyone. Apparently, parcel companies refuse to collect some Developer Transition Kits, but accept others, and at times demand their return from the wrong address.
° The Chinese-language United Daily News:says Apple manufacturing partner, Wistro, has restarted operations at its iPhone manufacturing facility in India, after rioting by workers last year who angry regarding claims of unpaid wages.
° The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission — a regulatory commission of the Australian Government, under the Treasury — may launch a probe into pre-installed software and pre-defined “default” choices on mobile devices, including Google being set as the default search engine on Apple devices, according to ZDNet.
° Along the same line, but in the U.S., Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), who was recently installed as chair of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Competition Policy, Antitrust, and Consumer Rights, says she plans to investigate tech-related topics including app stores such as Apple’s and Google’s.
° Strategy Analytics in a newly published report, Smartphones: Global Artificial Intelligence Technologies Forecast to 2025, finds that on-device Artificial Intelligence (AI) is being rapidly implemented by smartphone vendors. AI is used in various functions inside smartphones such as intelligent power optimization, imaging, virtual assistants, and to enhance device performance.
° Democrats revealed the Accessible, Affordable Internet for All Act. The Washington Post says the goal of the bill is to expand Internet coverage to places it isn’t available, increase speeds in places it lags behind, and also provide subsidies to families who have trouble paying for it.
