Games Apple Plays

[Carl in Michigan]

Apple’s App Store appears to be protecting Hillary Clinton from political satire games while allowing titles like “Punch Trump” onto the digital retail platform.

A new game called “Hide it Hillary” was denied access to Apple’s App Store because company gatekeepers said it “includes content that could be considered defamatory or mean-spirited.” The same vetting process allowed titles like “Punch Trump,” “Slap Donald Trump,” and “Smack a Trump” into the marketplace.

Hillary Clinton ‘Hide It’ mobile app game banned by Apple; titles like ‘Punch Trump’ approved

 

[Bassman007]

Apple’s App Store appears to be protecting Hillary Clinton from political satire games while allowing titles like “Punch Trump” onto the digital retail platform.

A new game called “Hide it Hillary” was denied access to Apple’s App Store because company gatekeepers said it “includes content that could be considered defamatory or mean-spirited.” The same vetting process allowed titles like “Punch Trump,” “Slap Donald Trump,” and “Smack a Trump” into the marketplace.

Hillary Clinton ‘Hide It’ mobile app game banned by Apple; titles like ‘Punch Trump’ approved

Apple will be paying a 300 percent import tax to ship their I-phones back from China where they were made by child labor in sweat shops soon enough.

 

[waltky]

Has Apple priced itself out of the market with new MacBook Pro?...

Apple adds touch screen keys to MacBook Pro, price jump startles some
October 27, 2016 - Apple Inc unveiled a revamped MacBook Pro on Thursday, adding a fingerprint reader, replacing function keys with a small touch screen and raising prices by several hundred dollars.

The first redesign in several years is a sign Apple still sees a role for the product that launched the company, even though its iPhone has become the flagship product. Ben Bajarin, an analyst at Creative Strategies, described the changes as "important incremental upgrades" which would convince people with old Macs to trade up to the smaller, faster model. But he noted that Microsoft Corp’s competing Surface notebook allowed touch on its main screen. "A lot of people spend a lot of time on these machines. The key for them is incremental innovations that make their job easier," said Bajarin. "That’s value." The new pricing is roughly line with expectations, Bajarin said, but it surprised some. On Twitter, many potential buyers were underwhelmed by the new features and posted pictures of people crying about the new prices. Others tweeted that they hoped for more products. Apple shares fell 1.2 percent.

BUTTONS AS SCREENS

Customers will be able to access the new machines with Touch ID, the fingerprint reader also used on iPhones, and use the touch screen bar of keys, called the Touch Bar, to control programs on the main screen. The buttons, which change depending on what programs the user is running, effectively act as a second screen, showing older versions of a picture being edited, for example. Other computer makers have chosen to use touch screens for the main display screen, including Microsoft's first-ever desktop and a revamped Surface Book laptop, launched on Wednesday.

The MacBook Pro with Touch ID, Touch Bar and a 13-inch screen will start at $1,799, compared with $1,299 for the previous 13-inch product. Apple also will offer a 13-inch MacBook Pro without the Touch ID and Touch Bar for $1,499. The 15-inch notebook will start at $2,399, compared with $1,999 for the previous version. The Mac line accounted for about 11 percent of Apple sales in the just-finished fiscal year, with the number of machines sold down by 10 percent to 18.5 million.

Apple has steadily upgraded components to the MacBook Pro, but the overall form has changed little, and PC Week described the unit being replaced as a "fossil" which had not had a major design change since 2013. Apple also announced a new TV App that would work on Apple TV, iPhone and iPad products, in an effort to make it easier to tune into programs across devices. The company also said that it would integrate Twitter Inc feeds into live sports games on Apple TV, adding a social element to the product.

Apple adds touch screen keys to MacBook Pro, price jump startles some

See also:

Qualcomm to buy NXP for $38 billion in biggest chip deal
October 27, 2016 - Smartphone chipmaker Qualcomm Inc <QCOM.O> agreed to buy NXP Semiconductors NV <NXPI.O> for about $38 billion in the biggest-ever deal in the semiconductor industry, making it the leading supplier to the fast-growing automotive chips market.

The acquisition will also help Qualcomm, which provides chips to Android smartphone makers and Apple Inc <AAPL.O>, reduce its dependence on a cooling smartphone market. With the deal, Qualcomm is taking a big bet on the so-called Internet of Things (IoT), which enables everyday objects such as fridges and cars to communicate with each other. "The pace of innovation in automobile and IoT will increase dramatically and I think we look at it as a tremendous opportunity," Qualcomm Chief Executive Steven Mollenkopf said on a conference call.

By 2020, some 21 billion IoT devices will be in use worldwide, up from fewer than 5 billion last year, research firm Gartner has estimated. Qualcomm sat out the transformative consolidation that has swept the chip industry recently. The deal announced on Thursday tops Avago's $37 billion acquisition of Broadcom <AVGO.O> last year. The equity value of Qualcomm's offer is $37.88 billion, according to Reuters calculations based on the company's fully diluted shares as of Oct. 2. Including debt, the deal is worth roughly $47 billion.

Qualcomm's shares were up 4.9 percent at $71.55 in afternoon trading. The $110 per share cash offer represents a premium of 11.5 percent to NXP's Wednesday close. NXP's shares, which had risen 20 percent since reports of a potential deal emerged on Sept. 29, were marginally higher at $99.24.

SMOOTH SAILING?