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The Level-of-Protection Edition Monday, August 6, 2018

The Swim Test For Smartphones, by J. D. Biersdorfer, New York Times

The first digit in the rating refers to the level of protection from solid substances and is measured on scale of 0 (no protection) to 6, with a 6 meaning no dust enters the device for two to eight hours of exposure. The second number refers to water and is measured on a scale of 0 to 9. A rating of 8 designates protection against water immersion under pressure for long periods, and a 9 rating means the object can also hold up against high-pressure water jets.

Apple At $1Trillion: The Missing Theory, by Jean-Louis Gassée, Monday Note

Pundits and competitors constantly predict the death of the iPhone because “it’s the same closed system mistake as the Mac” or “modularity always wins!”. These death warrants were issued by prestigious academics and still carom around the blogosphere’s echo chamber.

Yet, years later, Apple continues to follow its heterodox path and to prosper as a result.

Stuff

Apple Is Removing Alex Jones And Infowars' Podcasts From iTunes, by John Paczkowski, BuzzFeed

Apple's decision to remove all episodes of Jones' popular show — rather than just specific offending episodes — is one of the largest enforcement actions intended to curb conspiratorial news content by a technology company to date. Though Apple is far from Jones and Infowars' only distribution platform, the decision to pull Jones' content will considerably limit the outlet's audio reach — as of 2018, Apple's Podcasts platform amassed 50 billion all-time downloads and streams.

Newton Email App Makes Digital Correspondence A Breeze, by Jonathan Lamont, Mobile Syrup

The app let me pull all my email accounts into one interface. It colour codes emails so I can see at a glance which accounts they belong to. Additionally, I’m able to isolate one account if I need to focus on that.

The Nucleum 7-in-1 USB Hub Is A Great Peripheral For A 12-inch MacBook, by Dennis Sellers, Apple World Today

Plus in the USB-C hub and you can connect up to seven devices simultaneously — including a mouse and a display. You can also charge your MacBook while, for example, running an external hard drive and charging an iPhone.

Notes

Here’s Apple’s Plan To Keep From Losing The World’s Fastest-Growing Smartphone Market, by Mark Gurman and Saritha Rai, Bloomberg

Michel Coulomb, a well-regarded veteran Apple executive, parachuted in from Singapore to oversee its India operation at the end of last year. In June, having forced out three top sales executives, Coulomb spent three days with senior employees from throughout India at Apple’s sales and marketing headquarters in Gurugram, a tech hub south of New Delhi. He and other executives laid out a strategy to rekindle iPhone sales that focused on better retail deals with higher sales targets, the establishment of Apple stores in India, an overhaul of the company’s relationships with independent retailers, and improved apps and other services aimed more closely at Indians, including a revamped version of Apple Maps by 2020, according to people familiar with the presentation.

iPhone Chipmaker Races To Recover After Crippling Computer Virus, by Debby Wu and Mark Guarman, Bloomberg

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., which makes chips for the iPhone and other devices, is recovering from a debilitating computer virus but warned of delayed shipments and reduced revenue because of the impact on its factories.

TSMC said that 80 percent of the fabrication tools affected by a virus outbreak Friday evening had been restored and that it expects full recovery on Monday. The Taiwanese company said the incident, which comes as it ramps up chipmaking for Apple Inc.’s next iPhones, would delay shipments, without specifying which customers would be affected. Its shares fell more than 1 percent in Taipei.

‘The Beginning Of A Wave’: A.I. Tiptoes Into The Workplace, by Steve Lohr, New York Times

There is no shortage of predictions about how artificial intelligence is going to reshape where, how and if people work in the future.

But the grand work-changing projects of A.I., like self-driving cars and humanoid robots, are not yet commercial products. A more humble version of the technology, however, is already making its presence felt in a less glamorous place: the back office.