The Ridgewood Blog Brings a Free Market Laissez-faire Point of View to Local, New Jersey State and National Issues.
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Apple is discontinuing the iPod Touch. It will still sell the current Touch while supplies last. The first iPod Touch was introduced over 20 years ago. The current seventh-gen model was introduced in 2019. It was popular with those who wanted an iPhone-like experience but didn’t actually need a phone.
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewwood NJ, Apple, Google, and Microsoft have launched a joint effort to kill the password and replace it with the passkey standard. The passkey standard allows users to log in to apps and websites through an authentication request sent to the user’s phone. It will use Bluetooth to verify physical proximity. Passkeys can be backed up to cloud services to make it easy to authenticate new devices and sync passkeys across devices. Users can set up multiple devices as authenticators.
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Apple has launched its Self Service Repair program. Customers in the US will now be able to repair their iPhones from home. The unexpectedly large kits will have all the tools required to repair an iPhone 12 or iPhone 13 lineup model or the third-generation iPhone SE. They will be rented to customers for $49.
Continue reading Apple Has Officially Launched its Self Service iPhone Repair Program
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, it looks like the the age of Netflix and chill is over. Netflix is, of course, the N company in the super-tech quintet of FAANG titans which includes Facebook, Amazon, Apple, and Google.
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, DuckDuckGo has revealed a desktop browser that features a tracker blocker, email protection, and a button that closes all tabs and wipes browser data with a single click. The browser’s Smarter Encryption feature will help users use HTTPS more often. It can automatically clear cookie consent pop ups while rejecting as much tracking as possible. The browser is currently only available on Mac in an invite-only beta.
Continue reading DuckDuckGo Testing its Privacy-centric Mac browser
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Apple is planning to build its own in-house technology and infrastructure for financial services. Financial services are a rapidly growing part of Apple’s overall product strategy. Developing these services will help Apple create more consistent recurring revenue from customers. Apple is working on payment processing, risk assessment for lending, fraud analysis, credit checks, and additional customer-service functions. The company is preparing to release a pay later feature and hardware subscription bundle to which these new plans will likely apply.
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Apple experienced far-reaching network outages on Monday March 21st that affected many of its services. The outage affected both services used by customers and internal tools. Apple Store employees had to use pen and paper to keep the stores running during the outage. All services have been restored.
Continue reading Apple Experienced Far-reaching Network Outages on Monday March 21st
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Apple hit a market cap of $3 trillion during intraday trading on Monday. It was the first publicly traded US company to hit a $1 trillion market cap in 2018. Apple showed annual growth across all of its product categories in its fourth-quarter earnings. Investors remain bullish, with many predicting more growth in the near future. Apple’s peers aren’t far behind, with Microsoft worth about $2.5 trillion, Google about $2 trillion, and Amazon around $1.75 trillion.
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, a recently published report details Apple CEO Tim Cook’s efforts to establish strong relationships between Apple and the Chinese government. Cook repeatedly visited China in the mid-2010s, signing a five-year $275 billion deal in 2016 to mitigate regulatory action by the Chinese government. The deal involved Apple helping develop technology in the country and also investing billions of dollars into building new retail stores, research and development centers, and renewable energy projects. Cook’s work is likely the reason the company has been so successful in China.
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Apple is rumored to be visiting several car manufacturers in Asia to mass-produce a branded car by 2024. The company will likely make its EV batteries in the US, but it might seek partnerships with established vehicle makers to do so. Apple is developing a new battery design to reduce the cost of batteries and increase the vehicle’s range. While Apple aims to begin production in 2024, the ongoing global health crisis and current chip shortage could cause delays.
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Recent benchmark tests found that old iPhones, for example, the iPhone 7, run slightly faster after switching regions to France. A few years ago, Apple was found to intentionally reduce the performance output of old iPhones. Apple had to pay a fine in France, but it avoided paying fines in most other regions by adding battery health options in iOS and introducing a policy to reduce the price of replacement batteries. The reduction of iPhone performance doesn’t affect new iPhones.
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Rockley Photonics produces sensors for the Apple Watch. The company is preparing to go public in New York. A recent report suggests that its new sensors, which can detect blood pressure, blood glucose, and alcohol levels, could be in devices as early as 2022. Rockley Photonics’ CEO did not confirm if the sensors will appear in an Apple product. Apple is Rockley Photonics’ biggest customer, and it is unlikely that the sensors the report are referring to belong to any other company.
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Russian hacking group REvil is targeting Apple in a $50 million ransomware attack. The group stole engineering and manufacturing schematics from Quanta, a company that manufactures products for Apple. It has already begun posting the stolen data. REvil is hoping that Apple will pay the ransom by May 1. Quanta refused to pay the ransom, saying that the hack did not impact the company’s business operations. The result being a massive data leak implying its a legitimate threat .
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Apple is adding two brand new Siri voices and will no longer default to a female or male voice in iOS . We we were looking forward to Apple would introducing the voice of Mr. T from the 1980s television series The A-Team, but no luck.
by Alvaro Puig Consumer Education Specialist, FTC
Ridgewood NJ, Scammers are calling people and using the names of two companies everyone knows, Apple and Amazon, to rip people off. Here’s what you need to know about these calls.
Continue reading Beware of Fake Calls from Apple and Amazon Support
