News round-up: Apple Pay gets several new partners, more

Since Steve and I can’t cover everything, we’ll frequently offer a wrap-up of news items you should check out. First up: MacRumors notes that Apple Pay has gained several new partners in Europe this week, including American Express in the Netherlands, ING in Italy, Santander in Portugal, and UBS in Switzerland, according to a recently updated list on Apple’s website. Canadian carrier Rogers has also introduced Apple Pay support for its line of Mastercards.

° The U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) has voted to institute an investigation of certain mobile electronic devices and laptop computers.  The products at issue in the investigation are described in the Commission’s notice of investigation. The USITC has identified Apple as the respondent in this investigation.

° Smartphones can detect when you’ve had too much to drink by monitoring your walk, a study has found. American researchers used sensors in smartphones to detect when somebody was over the legal drink-drive limit, reports BBC News.

° Apple will debut the iPad Air 4 in March 2021 with an A14 processor, according to Chinese site MyDrivers.

° Business-Standard reports that Apple is planning to roll out locally made models of its upcoming iPhone 12 by the middle of next year.

° Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway has Apple shares and cash worth 52% of its entire market capitalization, according to Business Insider. The billionaire investor’s company owned $113 billion in Apple stock and $147 billion in cash at the last count, representing more than half of its $499 billion market cap.

° A new MacVoices Live! Wraps up Virtual Macstock 2020 with host Mike Potter. He, along with Macstock chat host David Ginsburg and attendee Frank Petrie, discuss the building blocks of the virtual conference’s success, including the video streaming service and the “audio space” that allowed a “hallway track,” Ginsburg’s handling of the chats and questions from the audience, and some of the extra little touches Potter implemented to make sure the event was as Macstock-like as possible. (Part 1 of 2)