Foxconn’s Wisconsin factory is a seemingly never-ending tale of conflicting claims about what it will do and when it will do it. The latest of these is that it will now be used to make medical ventilators, to help hospitals cope with demand for intensive care beds during the coronavirus crisis.
The Taiwanese company says that it will be partnering with a US medical firm …
As Tim Cook announced over the weekend, Apple has designed and is shipping a custom Face Shield to medical workers on the frontlines of COVID-19. Now, Apple has shared a support document with more details on the Face Shield.
Apple Maps has made slight adjustments to better promote things like food delivery and medical services during the COVID-19 pandemic. Apple’s adjustments follow similar changes made by Google Maps, though Apple does not go as far in its efforts.
I should start by making it absolutely clear that I am of course not suggesting in this piece that the coronavirus outbreak was a good thing. It was a terrible thing. Many have died, many more have suffered extremely unpleasant illnesses, many have lost loved ones. If I could wave a magic wand and erase it from history, I’d do that in a heartbeat.
Nor am I suggesting that there is any equivalence between the terrible harm done and the possible good that may emerge. Nothing can come anywhere close to the pain of losing a loved one; any positive effects pale in comparison.
But with that made clear, we may see some silver linings …
Smartwatches are now being used to help monitor the spread of the coronavirus in Germany, though the role the Apple Watch can play in this is limited …
We noted yesterday that bizarre 5G coronavirus conspiracy theories were leading to mobile phone masts being set alight, and Facebook has now said that it is acting in response.
The social network says that it is now removing posts claiming a link between the rollout of 5G service and the spread of the coronavirus…
China appears to be on track to be the first country to recover from the coronavirus outbreak, and a new report today suggests that its smartphone market may likewise be the first to pick up.
Earnings reports, share prices, and analyst reports all give cause for optimism, suggests the piece …
Parents are able to FaceTime their babies in neonatal intensive care units after hospitals were forced to ban physical visits over coronavirus fears.
The iPad-based arrangement has been set up at hospitals in both the US and Europe as they enact measures designed to limit the spread of the virus …
Synology, known for its great network and storage solutions has seen businesses buying licenses for its VPN Plus Client five times higher than normal as the coronavirus pandemic has developed. Now in a generous move, Synology is making its VPN Plus Client and Site-to-Site VPN licenses free.
Prior to the coronavirus outbreak, Quibi’s pitch would have been simple: short-form videos from big names to watch on your phone during your commute. Every show is no more than ten minutes in length, and the format is specifically designed to be viewed on a smartphone.
At a time when most people no longer have a commute, however, the company is going for a more generic message …
5G conspiracy theorists have been around as long as the technology, but it’s only recently that they’ve decided to up their game by setting fire to 5G masts. Their, uh, reason? They believe 5G causes the coronavirus …
Tim Cook is back with another update on Apple’s ongoing efforts to help healthcare professionals amid the COVID-19 outbreak. In a new video posted to Twitter today, Cook said that Apple has now sourced over 20 million masks for healthcare workers, and it’s still pushing to do more.
Apple launched its user-friendly and helpful COVID-19 screening app and website last week. Even though the company publicly detailed it isn’t collecting responses, four US senators have asked Tim Cook for more details on the privacy policy of the app. Here’s what we found in our analysis of the app.
With many cities, states, and countries asking people to remain at home, Google and Facebook location data is being used to help determine how many people are complying with the coronavirus lockdown…
The push for contact tracing apps continues with a joint initiative in Europe and a rather more authoritarian app launching tomorrow in Russia.
We recently outlined how contact tracing works, and described an option for a privacy-respecting version that could potentially be baked into iOS and Android for near-universal coverage…
Various people have suggested in the past that Apple should allow FaceTime for Android and Windows, in an attempt to make it the default standard for consumer video calls. That idea gained new impetus when Apple launched the Group FaceTime function for calls between up to 32 people.
But the coronavirus outbreak has taken consumer group videoconferencing to a whole new level. Back in February, most non-techies had never done it in their lives. Fast-forward to now, and Zoom conferences are a completely normal thing for everyone …
An Apple coronavirus donation has been doubled as the company seeks to provide additional help in China.
Apple CEO Tim Cook today announced on Weibo that the company would be contributing more than 50 million yuan ($7M) in total …
With three-quarters of Americans now under some kind of coronavirus lockdown, you might not think there would be much call for extra mobile data. But the reality is that some home broadband connections are now congested, so many people are relying on a mix of fixed and mobile data to meet their Internet needs.
AT&T has now stepped up to the plate …
With an increasing number of countries and states urging people to stay at home, a new set of seven Apple Music Come Together playlists are designed to help people cope with home lockdowns.
Each of the playlists is designed to meet a specific need, from working or studying at home to forgetting the world’s troubles for a while …
One of the steps taken by some countries in seeking to slow the spread of the coronavirus is the use of so-called contact tracing apps.
The idea behind these is that, once someone is diagnosed with COVID-19, the app can see everyone who came within Bluetooth range of them during the period they were symptomless but infectious. Those people can then be contacted and tested …
Apple has launched its COVID-19 screening app and website that were designed in partnership with the CDC, FEMA, and the White House. The software makes it easy for anyone to get free information and guidance on whether you or a loved one should seek professional medical advice, self-isolate, try to take a test, and more. Read on for how to check coronavirus symptoms on iPhone and more with Apple’s screening app and website.
Police scam warnings in regard to the coronavirus spread have been issued by Europol.
Europol represents the 27 police forces of EU countries and, until the end of the year, the UK too. It says that the coronavirus has increased the risk of online scams in three ways …
Update: The app has now been updated to remove this data transfer. See below for an explanation from the company.
The Zoom iOS app is sharing data with Facebook, without declaring it in the privacy policy. This happens whether or not you have a Facebook account.
Data shared with Facebook includes your iPhone or iPad model, your time-zone, city, phone carrier and a unique identifier which can be used for ad-targeting …
Over the years, Duolingo has become one of the most popular ways to learn a new language. It shook up the market using a free model with gamification, no ads, and a focus on high-frequency words to become conversational in a new language quickly. Now the company has launched Duolingo ABC to teach kids to read.