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The Forms-and-Environments Edition Sunday, January 5, 2020

Why Amazon, Google And Apple Want To Record You, by Jefferson Graham, USA Today

Unlike its rivals, Apple will make you work to volunteer. Within the general Settings, under Analytics and Improvements, Apple offers the ability to "help improve Siri and Dictation by allowing Apple to store and review audio of your Siri and dictation interactions," by clicking the feature on. By default, it's turned off.

But opting in, the users may be monitored. "A small sample of audio from Siri requests may be reviewed by Apple employees to measure how well Siri was responding and to improve its reliability," Apple says. "For example, did the user intend to wake Siri? Did Siri hear the request accurately? And did Siri respond appropriately to the request?"

Stuff

Apple Continues Stunning 'Shot On iPhone Experiments' Series With New 'Fire & Ice' Video, by Chance Miller, 9to5Mac

The “Fire & Ice” video was shot on iPhone 11 Pro by Donghoon Jun and James Thornton of Incite and was commissioned by Apple. The video offers incredibly close-up looks at fire and ice in different forms and environments. The video shows off features such as slo-mo, 4K, and more, and focuses on highlighting the power and versatility of the iPhone 11 Pro camera.

Note It Down, It’s A New Year, by Sarazeen Saif Ahana, New Age

If you’re likely to be struck by sudden inspiration, stuck in a lecture with no notebooks or watching your boss breeze through a flawless presentation, Notability is how you step up your game. It’s 2020, let’s save a tree and use an app.

HomeKit Support For Anker EufyCam 2C Available Now, by Benjamin Mayo, 9to5Mac

This update adds support for HomeKit live streaming, snapshots, Siri integration and motion alerts. Despite being part of the initial HomeKit Secure Video announcement at WWDC, this week’s update does not include those features.

Notes

How Big Tech Is Turning New York Into A Silicon Valley Rival, by Matthew Haag, New York Times

Four companies — Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google — already have big offices along the Hudson River, from Midtown to Lower Manhattan, or have been hunting for new ones in recent months, often competing with one another for the same space.

In all, the companies are expected to have roughly 20,000 workers in New York by 2022.