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New Apple iPhone 11 ads show off Slofies on a snowboard

 

By Wesley Hilliard
Sunday, January 19, 2020, 03:05 pm PT (06:05 pm ET)

Apple premiered two new iPhone 11 ads on Sunday, showing off the Slofie feature in the hands of a pro snowboarder.

iPhone 11 capturing a Slofie on a snowboard

iPhone 11 capturing a Slofie on a snowboard

Slow motion Selfies, or Slofies, are one of Apple’s newest features on the iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro. Capable of capturing slow motion video at 1080p and 120fps, the iPhone can help you get a bit more creative with your selfies.

The first spot is called “Whiteout” and shows a professional snowboarder crashing through a snow drift using the front facing camera’s slow-mode feature.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99rHpOIpqCA&w=560&h=315]

The second video “Backflip” is the same snowboarder performing a backflip in slow motion.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IJtfbcYbxc&w=560&h=315]

Apple coined the term “Slofie” and has since used it in all of its marketing. While you might not find yourself on a snowboard or at the other end of a hairdryer, Slofies are a fun, if not silly, capability of the new iPhones.

If you want to try your hand at making Slofies, check out AppleInsider’s iPhone 11 Price Guide to find the best deal.

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Tim Cook reveals surprise behind the scenes look at ‘Little America’

 

By Wesley Hilliard
Saturday, January 18, 2020, 02:29 pm PT (05:29 pm ET)

In a Tweet on Saturday Apple CEO Tim Cook shared a new behind the scenes look at the making of “Little America.”

Apple TV+ Little America' is now streaming

Apple TV+ Little America’ is now streaming

The new series debuted on Apple TV+ on January 16, and features stories inspired by true events in an anthology format.

Little America is written and executive produced by Lee Eisenberg, Kumasi Nanjiani, and Emily V. Gordon. The video depicts the executive producers discussing the show and how it came about.

“We wanted these to be human stories,” says Nanjiani. “These are not stories with any kind of agenda.”

The series was created to represent real stories of immigration to America. “As much as we can, directors are from the same countries of origin as the actors in the episode,” Eisenberg said.

AppleInsider reviewed Little America and considered it a decent show with room to grow. Told in eight separate vignettes, this anthology series examines different people’s immigration experience through time.

Apple TV+ is $5 per month and can be found across all Apple devices, third party set top boxes, and some smart TVs.

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Apple TV+ announces biographical docuseries ‘Dear…’ featuring Oprah, Stevie Wonder, more

 

By AppleInsider Staff
Friday, January 17, 2020, 03:28 pm PT (06:28 pm ET)

Apple on Friday announced “Dear,” a new documentary series produced by R.J. Cutler that takes a deeper look into the lives of iconic figures like Oprah Winfrey, Stevie Wonder, journalist Gloria Steinem, gymnast Aly Raisman and more.

Apple TV+

According to a brief overview of the series, “Dear” draws inspiration from the company’s “Dear Apple” advertisements that feature customers reading written testimonials about Apple products.

Like “Dear Apple” letters, which typically focus on life-changing events like Apple Watch discovering a heart condition or iPhone automatically calling emergency services after a car crash, the upcoming show uses letters to paint a picture of “internationally recognized leaders.” Along with Winfrey, Wonder, Steinem and Raisman, the 10-episode series will profiles Spike Lee, Lin-Manuel Miranda, model and activist Yara Shahidi, ballet dancer Misty Copeland and Big Bird.

Cutler, an Emmy and Peabody Award winner, will executive produce the project for Apple. The documentarian gained notoriety for Anna Wintour profile “The September Issue” and most recently worked on the “Untitled Billie Eilish Documentary,” which is expected to debut as an Apple TV+ exclusive later this year.

Todd Lubin, Jay Peterson, Jane Cha and Lyle Gamm are also listed as executive producers, with Matador Content and Cutler Productions producing.

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Google parent company Alphabet hits $1 trillion market cap

 

By AppleInsider Staff
Thursday, January 16, 2020, 03:48 pm PT (06:48 pm ET)

Alphabet, parent company of Google, Verily, Waymo and other firms, became the fourth U.S. company to reach a $1 trillion market capitalization on Thursday, just over a month after former Google CEO Sundar Pichai took the reins.

Sundar Pichai

Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai.

Shares of Alphabet hit $1,450.16 at the bell, with intra-day trading up as much as 0.8%, granting the tech giant a market cap of almost exactly $1 trillion.

Alphabet is the fourth U.S. company — and fourth tech sector stock — to hit the milestone after Apple first breached the $1 trillion threshold in August 2018. Amazon followed suit a month later, while Microsoft achieved the lofty valuation in April 2019.

Currently, Apple and Microsoft sit above the $1 trillion mark, while Amazon has since fallen below that line.

Alphabet derives most of its revenue from Google, which acts as an umbrella company for the firm’s bread-and-butter advertising and search income, as well as gains from Android and YouTube. It is fitting, then, that the conglomerate reached today’s high-water mark with former Google CEO Pichai at the helm.

According to CNBC, market analysts are bullish on Pichai, who was minted Alphabet CEO in December after co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin formally announced to step down from their respective corporate positions. Page was serving as Alphabet’s CEO at the time.

Alphabet’s efforts in the cloud are also beginning to pay off, with the company doubling its revenue run rate from $1 billion to $2 billion per quarter between February 2018 and July 2019, the report said. While not a segment leader, the firm is investing heavily in the space and expects similar revenue growth in 2020.

The company is due to report fourth quarter 2019 earnings on Feb. 3.

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FBI reportedly accessed locked iPhone 11 Pro Max with GrayKey third party tool

The FBI recently cracked the encryption of Apple’s latest and greatest iPhone 11 Pro Max, a report said Wednesday, prompting questions as to why the agency is demanding the company assist in accessing two older iPhone models as part of a high-profile case.

GrayKey

GrayKey device. | Source: MalwareBytes

In 2019, FBI investigators working on a case in Ohio were tasked with executing a search warrant on property owned by Baris Ali Koch, reports Forbes. Among the items seized was a locked iPhone 11 Pro Max that, according to the report, investigators subsequently accessed without Apple’s help.

Koch stands accused of misprision of a felony for helping his convicted brother flee the U.S. by providing a duplicate driver’s license and lying to federal agents. He is currently awaiting sentencing.

As part of the investigation into Koch, FBI personnel on Oct. 11, 2019, acquired the suspect’s iPhone 11 Pro Max which, according to Koch’s lawyer, Ameer Mabjish, was locked and protected by a passcode. Mabjish confirmed to Forbes that no passcode was furnished to authorities, nor was Koch forced to unlock the iPhone via Face ID authentication.

Interestingly, a search warrant filed on Oct. 30 reveals the FBI has in its possession a USB drive containing “GrayKey derived forensic analysis” of the iPhone in question. Produced by startup Grayshift, GrayKey is a data forensics tool that enables law enforcement agencies to thwart iPhone security protocols for purposes of data extraction.

While not specified in the Oct. 30 search warrant, the report suggests the FBI successfully deployed GrayKey to gain access to Koch’s iPhone 11 Pro Max.

If officials were indeed able to crack Apple’s latest iPhone security safeguards, it is possible that the FBI and other agencies have a means to access the much older iPhone 5 and iPhone 7 Plus handsets involved in more recent case.

Last week, the FBI asked Apple for assistance in “unlocking” two iPhones owned by Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani, a Saudi Air Force cadet accused of killing three sailors and injuring eight others in an attack at the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Fla., in December. The situation escalated quickly, with Attorney General Bill Barr putting out a public plea for Apple’s compliance on Monday, while President Donald Trump slammed the company for its stance on strong device encryption a day later.

The Department of Justice claims it has exhausted all internal and external options, meaning Apple’s expertise is the only path forward. Officials refuse to enumerate exactly what methods were attempted.

While Apple has cooperated with FBI requests by handing over user data like iCloud backups and account information, it has declined to extract data from Alshamrani’s iPhone as doing so would necessitate the creation of a backdoor. The tech giant is staunchly opposed to such action as it would purportedly threaten the security of all iPhone users.

Pundits speculate Trump, Barr and the DOJ are using the Pensacola case to rope Apple into a precedent-setting legal fight over encryption. Apple faced a similar court battle in 2016 when it refused to unlock an iPhone 5c used by the San Bernardino shooter. In that case the DOJ threatened a showdown but pulled out at the eleventh hour after finding a third party contractor capable of extracting data from the device.

That said, the DOJ might be telling the truth. Apple could have identified and patched the vulnerabilities GrayKey leveraged to break iPhone 11 Pro Max encryption in the intervening months since Koch’s iPhone was seized. Alternatively, GrayKey could be in possession of an exploit that applies only to newer model handsets, though such a scenario is unlikely given Apple’s encryption architecture.

In any case, Apple is reportedly preparing for a legal scrum as it simultaneously works to keep the issue out of court.

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Trump tells Apple to ‘step up to the plate’ and unlock Pensacola shooter’s iPhones

 

By Mikey Campbell
Tuesday, January 14, 2020, 04:12 pm PT (07:12 pm ET)

President Donald Trump waded into the encryption battle on Tuesday with a tweet calling on Apple to “unlock” iPhones at the request of law enforcement agencies, suggesting the company should do so because of help it receives on trade and “other issues.”

Trump

“We are helping Apple all of the time on TRADE and so many other issues, and yet they refuse to unlock phones used by killers, drug dealers and other violent criminal elements. They will have to step up to the plate and help our great Country, NOW! MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN,” Trump said in a tweet.

The missive arrives as Apple and the FBI are at loggerheads over a data extraction operation related to a recent terror attack in Pensacola, Fla. Last week, investigators sent a letter to the tech giant asking for assistance in unlocking two iPhones owned by Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani, a Saudi Air Force cadet accused of killing three sailors and injuring eight others in an attack at the Naval Air Station in December.

U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr echoed FBI demands in a public plea on Monday, adding that Apple has yet to provide “substantive assistance” to the investigation. Apple denied Barr’s request in a lengthy statement that rebuts the AG’s claims by offering a detailed account of assistance it has provided and continues to provide to law enforcement officials.

“We reject the characterization that Apple has not provided substantive assistance in the Pensacola investigation. Our responses to their many requests since the attack have been timely, thorough and are ongoing,” Apple’s said in a statement Monday night. “We have always maintained there is no such thing as a backdoor just for the good guys. Backdoors can also be exploited by those who threaten our national security and the data security of our customers.”

Trump in his tweet today implies Apple is in a tit-for-tat relationship with his administration and the U.S. government at large. His mention of help “on TRADE and so many other issues” suggests the company should respond in kind for favorable consideration in the ongoing China trade war. in December, Apple escaped hefty tariffs on iPhone, iPad and Mac when Trump inked a “phase-one” deal that roughly halved duty rates and scrapped a threatened $160 billion worth of new levies on Chinese-made goods.

With pressure applied by the FBI, Barr and now Trump, Apple appears set to face another high-profile battle over device encryption. The company first tangled with the FBI and Justice Department in 2016 when it refused to comply with demands to unlock an iPhone used by San Bernardino shooter Syed Rizwan Farook. At the time, Apple CEO Tim Cook vowed to fight a court order that compelled the company to create a special version of iOS with weakened encryption — or a backdoor — saying that doing so would be a threat to all iPhone users.

The DOJ withdrew its demands just prior to a court showdown that would likely have set legal precedent over proper handling of encrypted devices. Instead of going through Apple, the FBI turned to an unnamed third party to penetrate the San Bernardino gunman’s iPhone 5c, a method security experts believe is viable in the current Pensacola case.

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Apple’s ‘Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet’ to make appearance at PAX South this week

 

By AppleInsider Staff
Monday, January 13, 2020, 05:52 pm PT (08:52 pm ET)

Apple will promote its upcoming Apple TV+ comedy series “Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet” at the PAX South gaming expo in Texas on Friday, potentially signaling an early screening of the show ahead of an official debut slated for early February.

Mythic Quest

Though details are scarce, Apple, specifically “Apple TV+ Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet,” is now registered as an exhibitor on a rolling list of PAX South participants maintained on the PAX event website. The expo begins on Friday, Jan. 17 and runs through Jan. 19.

The company has yet to confirm an official presence at the popular annual event, but an appearance would not be too far fetched as “Mythic Quest’s” plot orbits the gaming world.

Starring Rob McElhenney, who created and wrote the series with former “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” collaborator Charlie Day, “Mythic Quest” follows a small gaming studio as it navigates the trials and tribulations of developing a new title. Gaming giant Ubisoft, which pitched the idea to McElhenney, is listed as a producer alongside Lionsgate, 3 Arts Entertainment and McElhenney and Day’s RCG.

Oscar Award winner F. Murray Abraham, Danny Pudi, Imani Hakim, Charlotte Nicdao, David Hornsby, Ashly Burch and Jessie Ennis costar.

How Apple plans to publicize the show at PAX South remains unclear, but gatherings like PAX typically feature panels with content creators and, in the case of Hollywood projects, cast and crew.

All nine half-hour episodes of “Mythic Quest” are slated to launch on Feb. 7 as an Apple TV+ exclusive.

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Apple trims estimated payments for iPhone trade-ins

 

By Malcolm Owen
Sunday, January 12, 2020, 10:02 am PT (01:02 pm ET)

Apple has updated its trade-in program webpage with new estimated payment values for a customer’s iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and other products, a change indicating consumers will receive less for their trade-ins now than one week ago.

The Apple Trade-In program encourages customers to hand in their older iPhones, iPads, and other Apple products, in exchange for credit towards the cost of a new device. The program gives customers a way to gain value from their old models, by using them to reduce what needs to be paid for newer models.

Spotted by BGR, Apple has recently updated the trade-in site to alter the “estimated trade-in value” for a number of products. Research by AppleInsider indicates the change took place overnight on January 9, with the updated values offered from January 10.

Estimated trade-in values for iPhones from January 9 (left), January 10 (right)

Estimated trade-in values for iPhones from January 9 (left), January 10 (right)

The main changes relate to iPhone values, with the biggest drop occurring for the iPhone XS Max, which went from $600 to $500. The iPhone XS moved from an estimate of up to $500 to one of up to $420, and the iPhone XR from $370 to $300. On the other end of the scale, the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus both were cut by $20, dropping to $80 and $100 respectively.

Changes were also made to the iPad listings, with iPad Pro owners now receiving “up to $220” for their device, down from $290. The iPad, iPad Air, and iPad mini also see reductions to their estimates, bringing them to $100, $70, and $80 respectively.

Few changes were made to Macs, with the MacBook Air seeing a drop of just $10, the MacBook by $20, the iMac by $60, and the iMac Pro by $90 to a new estimated trade-in value of $4,150. The Mac Pro and Mac mini remain at $1,700 and $230 each.

In the Apple Watch list, the Apple Watch Series 4 was the only model to be reduced, down $10 to $100, with all other models maintaining their values.

Apple’s Trade-In program is one of a number of different avenues for consumers to gain value from their old devices. Depending on the outlet, it is possible to secure higher values via a third-party than from Apple directly.

AppleInsider’s Price Guide lists expected values for device trade-ins from services including BuyBackWorld, Gazelle, Decluttr, and MyPhones Unlimited, as well as a collection of bonuses to enhance the value of the offers.

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Apple marks Chinese New Year with ‘Shot on iPhone’ film ‘Daughter’

 

By Malcolm Owen
Saturday, January 11, 2020, 03:48 pm PT (06:48 pm ET)

Apple has marked the Chinese New Year with its latest “Shot on iPhone” video, a short film recorded on the iPhone 11 Pro featuring three generations of Chinese women gathering together for the annual event.

The eight-minute video titled “Chinese New Year – Daughter” start off with a mother being troubled by criticism that she took her daughter to work as a taxi driver. Throughout the film, scenes switch between older conversations and the present day, showing other conversations in the mother’s life.

Towards the end of the film, a family reunion of the three generations takes place in the back of the taxi. It is then revealed to the child the older lady is her grandmother, who made dumplings each year while searching for her lost family.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvtwWhKdxhM&w=560&h=315]

The film is directed by Theodore Melfi, who directed the Best Picture Oscar-nominated “Hidden Figures.” Cinematography is by Lawrence Sher, who filled the role for “Joker,” identified as a “2020 Golden Globe Awards nominated film.” Star Zhou Xun is also given a promotional introduction in the opening credits, described as “China’s leading actress.”

A companion making-of video shows how the film was captured on an iPhone 11 Pro. While sometimes extra equipment is used to mount the iPhone and to move it around, as with other Shot on iPhone video productions, some scenes are filmed using just the iPhone without any additional hardware.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dj6Lw7jnqBI&w=560&h=315]

Praise is given to the iPhone by Sher for its ability to handle low light, its stabilization capabilities, and the triple camera setup on the back of the device.

The impressive production for the film is similar to that of the Shot on iPhone video for the 2019 Chinese New Year, which was created on the iPhone XS by director and screenwriter Jia Zhangke.

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Oprah backs out of sexual assault documentary bound for Apple TV+, film will not air on Apple service

 

By Mikey Campbell
Friday, January 10, 2020, 04:50 pm PT (07:50 pm ET)

Oprah Winfrey on Friday said she is no longer attached to a high-profile documentary that explores sexual misconduct in the music industry, adding that the film will not debut on Apple TV+ as planned.

Tim Cook and Oprah

Apple CEO Tim Cook and Oprah Winfrey debut Apple TV+.

Winfrey in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter said she is stepping away from the as-yet-untitled documentary citing creative differences with filmmakers Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering. The film, which was set to debut at the Sundance Film Festival in January, follows a former music executive who accused industry titan Russell Simmons of rape.

“I have decided that I will no longer be executive producer on The Untitled Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering documentary and it will not air on Apple TV+,” Winfrey said. “First and foremost, I want it to be known that I unequivocally believe and support the women. Their stories deserve to be told and heard. In my opinion, there is more work to be done on the film to illuminate the full scope of what the victims endured, and it has become clear that the filmmakers and I are not aligned in that creative vision.”

She goes on to suggest that Dick and Ziering are rushing the film’s completion to make a premiere at Sundance.

“Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering are talented filmmakers. I have great respect for their mission but given the filmmakers’ desire to premiere the film at the Sundance Film Festival before I believe it is complete, I feel it’s best to step aside,” Winfrey said. “I will be working with Time’s Up to support the victims and those impacted by abuse and sexual harassment.”

Dick was previously nominated for an Academy Award for “Twist of Faith,” which sought to expose sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. The filmmaker has worked with producer Ziering on multiple films surrounding sexual assault and rape, including the Oscar-nominated “The Invisible War” (2012) and Emmy-nominated “The Hunting Ground” (2015).

Apple secured rights to the Simmons documentary in December as part of a wider deal with Winfrey.

The tech giant failed to provide a detailed overview of the upcoming film, but a description published by Sundance goes deeper and confirms Simmons accuser Drew Dixon is indeed the documentary’s subject. As noted by The Hollywood Reporter, Simmons was accused of raping Dixon, who served as an executive under the Def Jam Recordings co-founder, in 1995.

Winfrey is still on tap to provide content for Apple TV+ with a pair of documentaries, one covering workplace harassment and another on mental health, and the revival of her famous book club.