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The Post-Lockdown-Surge Edition Friday, November 3, 2023

Apple Sales Dip Again Despite iPhone Boost, by BBC

Sales of its Mac computers and iPads struggled after a post-lockdown surge in interest.

It marks the fourth quarter in a row where sales have fallen year on year.

Apple Services Revenue Hits $22.3 Billion, A New Record, As Tech Giant Beats Wall Street Expectations On Strong iPhone Sales, by Todd Spangler, Variety

The company’s services revenue came in nearly $1 billion over analyst forecasts of $21.35 billion. The segment includes the App Store, Apple Pay and Apple Card; subscription services such as Apple TV+, Apple Music, Apple Arcade and iCloud; advertising; and payments from Google for search. In August, Apple boasted that it had topped 1 billion paid subscriptions across all apps and services (including those from third parties).

Last month, Apple TV+ hiked its monthly price to $9.99 — the second increase in a year and double the $4.99-per-month price point it launched with in 2019 — and also raised fees for Apple Arcade, Apple News+ and Apple One bundles.

Apple Holiday Forecast Disappoints On iPad, Wearables Demand; Shares Slip, by Stephen Nellis and Yuvraj Malik, Reuters

Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri told analysts on a conference call that sales for the current quarter, which includes the Christmas holidays and when Apple typically has its biggest sales of new iPhone models, will be similar to the previous year. Wall Street had expected a forecast for a rise in sales of 4.97% to $122.98 billion.

On Security

This Tiny Device Is Sending Updated iPhones Into A Never-ending DoS Loop, by Dan Goodin, Ars Technica

This slim, lightweight device has been available since 2020, but in recent months, it has become much more visible. It acts as a Swiss Army knife for all kinds of wireless communications. It can interact with radio signals, including RFID, NFC, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or standard radio. People can use it to covertly change the channels of a TV at a bar, clone some hotel key cards, read the RFID chip implanted in pets, open and close some garage doors, and disrupt the normal use of iPhones.

[...]

For now, the only way to prevent such an attack on iOS or iPadOS is to turn off Bluetooth in the Settings app.

Stuff

NASA Launches New App To See The International Space Station, by Derek Wise, 9to5Mac

On Thursday, NASA launched a new app to make it easier than ever to spot the International Space Station in the night sky. NASA has long operated the Spot the Station website, but their new app, available on both iPhone and Android, brings augmented reality features and a handy interface to learn more about the orbiting laboratory.

Audio Hijack Adds Automatic Transcription, by Dan Moren, Six Colors

By taking advantage of OpenAI’s Whisper framework, Audio Hijack can now take any audio it’s recording and generate a text transcript.

Notes

How I Read 40 Books And Extinguished The World On Fire, by Emily F. Gorcenski

A few months ago now I did a little search: “wall mounted phone holder.” As I’ve gotten older my sleep schedules have changed. I wake up naturally around 6 AM almost every day. I’d wake up, check my phone, and then lose hours in and endless downward spiral of social media, emails, sports recaps, and more. I started to take inventory of the hours I was losing. It was bad. I was worried I was wasting my life with bullshit I could not control and could do nothing about. I needed a change. I ordered a cheap, stick-on mount and attached it to the hallway wall outside my bedroom. I decided I would self-impose a “no phone in the bedroom” policy.

Apple MixC Wenzhou Opens For Customers This Saturday, November 4, In China, by Apple

Apple today previewed Apple MixC Wenzhou, the company’s first store in this dynamic city and the fourth in China’s Zhejiang province. The new store reflects Apple’s deep commitment to accessible and sustainable design — including universal design elements and plant-based materials — creating an inviting and inclusive space for everyone.

To Avoid Regulation, Apple Said It Had Three Safari Browsers, by Thomas Claburn, The Register

Apple tried to avoid regulation in the European Union by making a surprising claim – that it offers not one but three distinct web browsers, all coincidentally named Safari.

[...]

Cupertino also claimed it maintains five app stores and five operating systems, and that these core platform services, apart from iOS, fell below the usage threshold European rules set for regulating large platform services and ensuring competition.

Bottom of the Page

Nowhere near beleaguered.

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Thanks for reading.