News on the margin the week of February 5-11

Apple apologizes to a developer after removing its app, the health app helps jail a 16-year-old man, and has privacy features in Android 12 similar to iOS 14, and Google Fi begins expanding the VPN for iPhone users, and Mac devices made of honey, charcoal and other materials, and Xiaomi unveils a phone With a new design, a band imitating iPhone tones with their mouths, and other news on the sidelines ...

New Google Chrome update to fix Zero-Day bug

Google has released an update to its Chrome browser that includes a fix for the Zero-Day vulnerability, or the so-called "attack without waiting", which is one of the most dangerous vulnerabilities at all. It is said that it was used to disrupt the Iranian nuclear program, as the intelligence services, especially the US, depend on it.

Some of the attacks included luring security researchers into a blog, where the attackers took advantage of the browser to run malware on researchers' systems and used Google Chrome to launch these attacks, as Microsoft said. As a result, all users are advised to update their Google Chrome browser immediately by clicking on the three dots in the upper corner of the browser, then Help, then About Google Chrome, and the browser will be updated to the latest version.

Xiaomi unveils a new design phone

Xiaomi announced a new design phone that features a screen that it called "the waterfall" that bends around the four sides of the device, at an angle of 88 degrees, not only on the left and right sides, as usual. The phone comes without ports or buttons. Based on promotional materials, the device corners show the moving "waterfall" effect as well as haptic responses on those sides.

Xiaomi told The Verge that the device is already in place and being used by its employees already and that it is a big step forward in the way that we offer future phones without ports and the screen in which the entire device is already occupied.

Visualized for Macs made of honey, charcoal, and other materials

Hank Baer is a sculptor designer who designs quirky designs for high-value devices and products, including honeycomb Mac designs.

And a Mac from charcoal.

And another mac of stones

To see more masterpieces visit this Link

Doctors stress the potential risks of iPhone 12 interference with pacemakers

This week, American cardiologists confirmed Apple's warning to keep iPhone 12 away from heart devices due to electromagnetic interference. To test the risk, cardiologist Gurjit Singh and colleagues at the Henry Ford Cardiovascular Institute recently conducted more tests to see the effect of Apple products.

According to Dr. Singh, more than three hundred thousand people in the United States undergo surgery to implant one of these devices every year, and about one in four smartphones sold last year was iPhone 12. Dr Singh and his colleagues passed the iPhone 12 Pro over a patient’s chest, and immediately the results were shocking. The defibrillator was disabled, and when the phone was removed from the patient’s chest, the defibrillator immediately returned to its normal function. This matter is very dangerous for these patients at the present time, and care must be taken to place these devices near the patient's chest.

A new setting lets Siri define the default music player

Last week, Apple released beta versions of upcoming iOS 14.5 and iPadOS 14.5 updates to developers and public beta testers, and among a number of new features, Apple added the ability to set the default music streaming service when using Siri to play songs. The first time you ask ‌Siri to play a song in iOS 14.5, you will be given a choice from a list of third-party music-streaming apps in addition to Apple Music. After that, you are not required to select the player when you ask Siri to play any audio file.

Antitrust warns Apple about unfair tracking

Amid Apple's planned privacy changes that will require app developers to request permission before tracking users, the European Commission deputy has warned Apple that it must treat all apps equally, including their own. If not, it could lead to antitrust problems. Facebook has explicitly claimed that Apple's plans are not competitive because Apple's proprietary apps are exempt from the rules. And Apple made it clear that it would cancel the subscription of any developer who did not comply with this matter, including Apple. Tracking transparency will be enforced upon the release of the iOS 14.5 and iPadOS 14.5 update.

NHS COVID-19 app announces isolation of 1.7 million users

The NHS COVID-19 contact tracking app created by the UK government has alerted more than 1.7 million people since last September, and they are the total number of app users in isolation after close contact with someone whose test results are still positive and that he is still infected with the Coronavirus.

Google Fi begins expanding the VPN to iPhone users

Google announced that it will expand the VPN service included in Google Fi to include the iPhone from this spring, providing iOS users with another option to make sure that their connection is secure and private on a cellular network or Wi-Fi network. Google also said that the VPN is available as a beta version for Android users. With a VPN, users can stream, browse, and download on an encrypted private connection, which is especially important for unsecured public Wi-Fi networks. VPNs also prevent websites from tracking a user's location by hiding their IP address.

IPhone 12 mini represented only 5% of sales in the first half of January

Counterpoint Research, citing Reuters, notes that the iPhone 12 mini represented only 5% of the sales of the entire iPhone 2020 series in the first half of January in the United States. The report indicates that phones over 6 inches in size, such as the iPhone 12‌, 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max, outperformed the smaller 5.4-inch mini model at the beginning of this year. The relatively low sales of the 12 mini are expected due to the small screen size compared to the large screens around it that most users prefer. This weak demand could lead to a complete production cut in the second quarter of 2021.

Apple last month announced its first quarterly earnings after launching the iPhone 12‌ in October. While Apple did not disclose specific sales figures for each of the models in the lineup, it reported revenues of $ 65.60 billion for the iPhone sector alone.

Leaked footage reveals privacy features similar to iOS 14 coming to Android 12

Google is expected to unveil Android 12 in a few weeks. XDA Developers for "Mobile Software Development" shared some leaked screenshots showing the similarities between iOS 14 and the upcoming Android 12. Where Apple added a small dot in the status bar to let you know if the microphone or camera has been activated, and in Android 12, it appears that Google has a similar option. When the camera or microphone is in use there is a green bar also above the front of the system. And it appears that Apple has not been bothered by it, with Apple executives saying several times that when it comes to protecting privacy, it is something that it would be happy to see competitors imitating it.

Health application data helps to imprison a man due to the death of his wife

As explained by The Birmingham News, Mrs. Cat West, wife of named Jeff West, was found dead in January 2018 after suffering a blow to the head. Jeff West claimed she was drunk and fell while he was asleep in bed, but the health app on his iPhone showed police otherwise.

West told investigators he fell asleep around 10:30 p.m. He stayed in bed until 5:15 a.m., but his health app showed he made a total of 18 steps from 11:03 p.m. Until 11:10 PM, a fact that contradicts his claims. Data from the iPhone from Cat West showed it stopped moving after 10:54 p.m., which corresponds to the time Jeff West claimed he was asleep.

West's fingerprints were also found at the bottom of the bottle, which was used to hit his wife in the head. Prosecutors stated that Jeff killed his wife after an altercation about her field of work and then told this story to acquit him, but he is now convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 16 years in prison.

Apple is working with TSMC to produce Micro OLED displays for upcoming AR glasses

Apple has partnered with TSMC of Taiwan to develop state-of-the-art OLED displays at a secret facility in Taiwan. Small OLED screens will be used in upcoming augmented reality devices.

The development on small OLED screens is said to be in beta production and it will take several years before Apple and TSMC are ready for mass production which is rumored to be launched sometime in 2023. The screens are said to be less than an inch in size, and this is a donation from TSMC .

Apple apologizes to a developer after accidentally removing his app from the App Store

Apple has apologized to an app developer aiming to promote language Sm'algyax after being falsely accused of dishonest and fraudulent acts, and as a result, the app has been removed from the app store. Sm'algyax is a dialect of the Simchian language spoken in northwestern British Columbia and southeast Alaska. Sm'algyax literally means “real or real language”.

Miscellaneous news

◉ According to Snapchat, any privacy changes to iOS are usually disruptive, offer unconfirmed results, and may pose a risk to an advertiser's request. The company added that it was unclear how this would affect the business in the long term.

◉ South Korean capella group MayTree shared a video where they imitated many of the most popular ringtones and sounds available on the iPhone with their mouths, you can watch the video.

◉ Arrhythmia notifications from Apple Watch have been approved in Australia, however final approval has not yet been medically approved.

◉ Apple has increased the use of cargo ships and private jets to reduce shipping delays amid the Corona epidemic.

بتح Adobe has updated its Photoshop, Illustrator, and Fresco Creative Cloud applications to introduce a new "Invite to Edit" feature that allows asynchronous editing between collaborators on all devices, including desktop, iPad, and iPhone.

◉ Spotify is now testing Live Lyrics feature in the US, so some users will see an option to view lyrics synced to the music they are listening to on their iOS device.

◉ Apple released macOS Big Sur 11.2.1 update to treat the non-charging issue in some MacBook Pro models for the years 2016 and 2017 and to fix a security flaw, which is the third update of the macOS Big Sur‌ operating system that was launched in November.

◉ Twitter shared its fourth-quarter earnings results and provided some details about projected expenditures and revenues in 2021. Twitter believes that Apple's application-tracking transparency requirements will have a "modest impact" on revenue.

◉ The beta version of iOS 14.5 adds a new feature to Apple Maps that allows you to report accidents and hazards you see on the road.

◉ Picture-in-picture for YouTube is working again in iOS 14.5 beta.

◉ A Northern California judge today dismissed a class-action lawsuit accusing Apple of recording "illegal and intentional" Siri classified communications without the user's consent.

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