News on the sidelines for the week Aug 27 - Sep 3

Apple applied Saudi taxes in the store; It allows developers to offer coupons on subscriptions, and Russia is considering reducing its commission, launching the first phone with an under-screen camera, and other news in news on the sidelines ...

Apple allows developers to apply promotions for posts

Apple announced that it will allow before the end of this year to provide the option of "promotional codes," which are codes that the developer can create and send to some users in promotional offers, either through various websites or in physical stores. These codes enable you to offer discounts on subscriptions or even offer them for free. Apple said that the feature will be available with iOS / iPadOS 14. These promotions will enable the developer to provide the service at a specific price to some people and entities and to appear to others at the normal price.

Apple notifies developers and users of tax changes

Apple informed developers and users in a message the day before yesterday about tax changes in a number of countries, namely Saudi Arabia, which increased taxes from 5% to 15%, Turkey, which added 7.5% electronic services tax, Mexico, which applied a value-added 16%, Chile, which applied 19%, France and Italy. The application of an e-services tax 3% and England 2%, while Germany decided to cut taxes 3%.

Apple said that the prices of applications and services will increase in Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Chile and Mexico and will not change in other countries, whether they increased or Germany, which reduced taxes.

It is mentioned that fees and taxes are paid by the user, meaning they are not deducted from the owner and developer of the application.

Apple: The software store provides 2.1 million jobs

Apple published a promotional message to it saying that the iOS store has created more than 300 jobs since April 2019, that is, over the past 16 months, according to his recent study; And Apple explained that so far its software store is the cause of 2.1 million jobs in America, a growth rate of 15% last year; Apple generally provides 2.7 million jobs in America (including 2.1 apps) and supports 450 manufacturers and suppliers.

The company said that Texas alone has created 36 jobs in the store, up 30% last year. Apple posted the picture at the top to show app income as an average in different states, "developer income and jobs from apps."

Russian bill sets a 20% cap

A Russian bill has revealed a proposal to put a maximum limit on software store fees of only 20% instead of leaving the ceiling now unrestricted and Apple and Google get a 30% commission from the store. The law also suggested not leaving a full 20% to store owners, but rather to pay a third of this share in favor of the developer and application support fund in Russia. So far, the law is still a draft submitted by a member of the Russian parliament and is based on the Russian antitrust ruling against Apple to dominate downloading apps in iOS and using its power to impose laws, fees and regulations on developers who can only bow. Apple has denied this ruling and announced that it will file an objection and a question against it.

The launch of the first phone in the world with a camera under the screen

Although Xiaomi launched an idea in 2019 to introduce a camera under the phones screen; Then, a few weeks ago, I reviewed a trial version of a phone that comes with this camera; However, the device was not actually released, which gave the Chinese company ZTE the opportunity to launch its latest Axon 20 phone, which came with a camera screen and the selfie camera at the bottom was hidden; The surprise is that the phone comes in the middle category, with a price of 2200 yuan, or $ 320, with a SD765G processor, 6/8 GB memory, 128/256 storage capacity, 4 rear cameras, and a 4220 mAh battery that supports QC 4+ fast charging with a strength of 30 watts.

IPhone 11 is the best selling phone in the world

The Omdia Center revealed a new study in which it said that the iPhone 11 was the best-selling phone in the world during the first half of 2020 with 37.7 million devices, followed by Samsung A51 with 11.4 million; The list included the iPhone SE 2020, which was released only two months before the end of the quarter, and won the fifth place with 8.7 million, followed by the old iPhone XR with a number of 8.0 million, then the iPhone 11 Pro Max with a number of 7.7 million and in the tenth place the iPhone 11 Pro with a number of 6.7 million.

With this, Apple won 5 places from the top 10 and a 69% share of sales of the 10, compared with a share of 38.4% and 3 phones in the same half of 2019.

Apple deletes the Ipic account for programs and leaves the UnReal Engine

Apple completely on the specified date deleted the IPIC account from its developer store, so the company could not develop or send updates to any game or application, including the old infinity Blade game, not just the Fortnite game that the problem revolves around. But Apple's compliance with the court ruling Apple left Epic to develop its own UnReal engine, and all developers can access the engine, and the company can update it and upload updates to developers through the store.

Bloomberg: Apple will soon release 4 iPhone, 2 Watch, iPad and other products

A report by Bloomberg said that Apple intends to launch a large number of devices this fall, and they are:

4 iPhones: iPhone 12, 5.4 inches, 12 Max, 6.1 inches, iPhone 12 Pro, 6.1 inches, 12 Pro Max, 6.7 inches. There will be a distinctive "dark blue" color for the Pro version, just like the iPhone 11 Pro, which came in a distinctive green color.

IPad Air 4 has already leaked a number of its images and designs.

◉ A smaller version of the HomePod, targeting a lower price category.

◉ Over-the-ear headphone not in-ear like AirPods family.

Apple shipped 29.4 million wearables last quarter

A recent IDC report stated that Apple's market share increased in the second quarter of this year, as its sales increased by 25.3%, while the market in general achieved a growth of 14.1%. Apple acquired the first place with sales of 29.4 million devices, a number that surpasses the owners of the second, third and fourth places together, which are Huawei, Samsung and Xiaomi. It is reported that wearable devices include smart watches, frames and headphones; And compete Apple in this area by the watch and headphones AirPods.

Apple refuses to update Facebook due to its reference to Apple fees

We talked about news on the sidelines the week before last -this link- Facebook decided to provide conference reservation service through the application for small and medium companies and asked Apple to exempt them from the 30% fee as support for them. But Apple at the time replied that there were no exceptions, and any amounts would be deducted from them 30%. Last week, Facebook decided to launch the application and provide the service, but it put a message to users saying that the price of these tickets they pay will get Apple 30% of it. Which made Apple reject the application and said that it shows things that are not related to the application and the service. Apple did not agree to the update until after Facebook deleted this message.

Mark Zuckerberg: Apple is monopolistic and destroys innovations

In an online meeting with more than 50 thousand Google employees, Mark was asked about his cloud gaming app and why Apple rejected it; The response was that it was simply Apple. A company that does not want any competitors and destroys creativity and places itself as a watchdog over users, describing it as a gatekeeper who allows entry only to those who do not oppose or compete with him; Mark said that the Apple software store is designed to prevent any innovation and allow the company to monopolically charge anything it wants.

A new sports tire from Amazon

Amazon launched the Halo sports tire, which comes with a large number of sensors but without a screen. Amazon said it focused on developing a framework that is accurate in calculating your health data, whether pulse or temperature, and has 2 microphones to measure noise and includes an LED indicator only to clarify the status and you can know the details of your health and fitness from the application. The tire comes at $ 65. The application provides a free 6-month subscription in a medical system that provides you with advice and information as well as an imaginary form for you when losing weight to be an incentive for you. Amazon said it provides twice the precision of smart scales in calculating “body composition”. The tire ships in 90 minutes and works 7 days continuously.

Apple updates its upcoming beta systems

Apple launched the seventh trial version of its upcoming systems at the end of this year, and it came as follows:

◉ iOS / iPadOS 14, the seventh beta for developers, and it brought performance improvements without major new features.

Mac OS 11.0 and has yet to show new features other than performance improvements and bug fixes.

◉ WatchOS 7 system has not yet appeared what is new in this sixth trial version.

◉ The tvOS 14.0 TV system did not show any new features, but rather general performance improvements.

The Samsung Fold 2 version of Thom Browne will be priced at $ 3299

Samsung revealed that as of September 18, its latest Galaxy Z Fold2 5G phone will be available in the market with a capacity of 256 GB and a memory of 12 GB for the price of $ 2000. The phone is the latest in the foldable Samsung Fuld family and provides a 7.6-inch internal and a 6.23-inch external screen with support for the latest technologies such as 120Hz refresh, UFS 3.1 storage capacity, SD865 + processor, and others.

The phone will have a special version of it, "Thom Browne", which is expected to be available at $ 3300 for the number of 5000 pieces only.

Miscellaneous news

◉ US store giant Walmart revealed a partnership and cooperation with Microsoft in the acquisition of TikTok operations in America, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The deal is currently estimated at $ 20-30 billion.

◉ Netflix announced that some content will be provided free of charge to users; Free content is produced by Netflix.

◉ LG revealed an epidemic mask called PuriCare that comes with two H13 HEPA filters with a UV sterilizer and the mask connects to your phone to send notifications that it needs to be charged.

◉ The WWDC app has been updated to add Japanese and Chinese subtitles.

◉ Odyssey jailbreak tool released with support for A12 / A13 processors for iOS 13.0 to iOS 13.5.

◉ Google has updated its photo app to add a video editor that enables you to light up the video and add various filters and adjustments.

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