Month: September 2021

IPhone owners should beware picking up bad vibrations from powerful motorbikes, as they may damage camera systems, Apple has said.

The technology giant published a warning iPhones should not be attached to powerful bikes, in a support document spotted by MacRumors.

Engine vibrations can harm phones’ optical-image stabilisation or closed-loop autofocus systems, it says.

Owners of scooters and mopeds should also use “vibration-dampening mounts”.

On social media, several users have said their phones have been damaged after being attached to a motorcycle.

And Apple says several models of iPhone are susceptible to the damage.

‘High-amplitude vibrations’
The affected systems are designed to improve picture quality by counteracting movement, vibrations, and the effects of gravity.

But high-power or high-volume motorcycle engines generate “intense high-amplitude vibrations”, the support page says, which can be transmitted through the frame and handlebars.

“Direct exposure to high-amplitude vibrations within certain frequency ranges may degrade the performance of these systems and lead to reduced image quality for photos and videos,” it says.

The solution is to refrain from attaching iPhones to the bike in the first place – something commonly done for navigation.

Apple has been dealt a major blow in its ongoing trial against Fortnite-maker Epic Games.

A court in Oakland, California, has ruled that Apple cannot stop app developers directing users to third-party payment options.

Apple had argued that all apps should use Apple’s own in-app payment options.

In a high profile trial, Epic Games had challenged the up-to-30% cut Apple takes from purchases – and argued that the App Store was monopolistic.

On Friday, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez-Rogers ruled that “the court cannot ultimately conclude that Apple is a monopolist”.

However she also issued a permanent injunction, stating that Apple could no longer prohibit developers linking to their own purchasing mechanisms.

For example, a movie-streaming service will now be able to tell customers to subscribe via its own website, without using Apple’s in-app purchasing mechanism.

Epic has also taken legal action against Google over its Play Store.

Apple’s closed payments system is hugely lucrative for the tech giant, although the company says it does not know exactly how much it makes.

The ruling effectively states that Apple cannot ban developers from communicating with customers. Often there are cheaper options for consumers away from the App Store, however Apple did not allow companies to tell consumers this.

Epic had argued that this was unreasonable and that developers should be able to inform users that they could make purchases away from the App Store.

However in a win for Apple, the judge also ruled Epic failed to demonstrate Apple was operating an illegal monopoly.

Judge Yvonne Gonzales-Rogers said: “Apple enjoys considerable market share of over 55% and extraordinary high profit margins.”

But added: “These factors alone do not show antitrust conduct. Success is not illegal.”

A spokesperson for Apple said: “Today the Court has affirmed what we’ve known all along: the App Store is not in violation of antitrust law.

“Apple faces rigorous competition in every segment in which we do business, and we believe customers and developers choose us because our products and services are the best in the world.”

Epic Games’ chief Tim Sweeney said the ruling was “not a win for developers or consumers” and vowed to “fight on”.

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Music streaming site Spotify said: “We are pleased with [the decision that] Apple engaged in anti-competitive conduct and has permanently prohibited their anti-steering provisions.”

The ruling also revealed that gaming apps account for 70% of App Store revenue.

It’s likely the decision will be appealed, perhaps by both sides.

Apple’s share price has fallen by 3% since the decision, wiping billions of dollars from its valuation.

Apple has been quick to claim victory – calling it a “resounding win”.

It is true that the judge mainly sided with Apple on Epic’s major contention, stating it is not a monopoly.

However the characterisation that Apple has “won” here is misleading.

Epic’s case against Apple was speculative. Many believed they didn’t stand a chance.

That the court has moved to allow in app purchases to be redirected away from the App Store could be a major blow to Apple’s business model.

It was revealed that 70% of Apple’s App Store revenue comes from gaming apps – an astonishing figure.

I say “could be” because it’s unclear how many people would choose to purchase away from the App Store, or to what extent that would dent Apple’s profits.

During the trial, Apple’s CEO Tim Cook said he didn’t know how much the company generates from the App Store. That makes trying to assess the damage this ruling could have on the company difficult.

Epic is saying it is disappointed in the ruling, and certainly the judge could have given them more.

But the decision has been welcomed by anti-trust campaigners, who believe Apple use their market dominance to bully developers.

Stickers that claim to protect users against electromagnetic fields (EMF) from phones remain for sale on Amazon.

The listings remain eight months after scientists told the BBC the smartDOT stickers had “no effect”.

This week the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) also criticised the claims on the makers’ website.

The firm has told the BBC it is changing its website, product descriptions, advertising and marketing – including on Amazon.

On Wednesday, the ASA found that Global EMF Solutions Ltd had made unsubstantiated claims on the Energydots website that EMF were harmful and that its stickers offered “protection”.

It told the company it must no longer use phrases such as: “SmartDOT protected users from EMF emitted from wireless devices and helped users feel energised, more focused and less stressed.”

It must also not suggest that EMF from wireless devices were harmful to health, the ASA ruled.

In January, as part of the BBC’s investigation, the University of Surrey tested 4G mobile phones and wi-fi access points with and without the smartDOT stickers applied to them.

The researchers found no evidence of any effect, although Energydots said that measuring the “harmonising” effect of the stickers would require “biological testing”.

At the time of the investigation, SmartDOT was available for sale on Amazon and the firm told the BBC it would investigate.

Eight months later, the Energydot store on Amazon was still selling smartDOT stickers, even after the ASA ruling.

But after the BBC contacted both firms the smartDOT product listing was removed from the Energydot Amazon store, although the stickers remain for sale elsewhere on Amazon.

The product description says the stickers provided “everyday protection from EMF”. The listing said the stickers “can be stuck on all devices to reduce everyday harmful magnetic radiation”.

Energydot told the BBC that it was changing its website, marketing materials, product descriptions and adverts in line with the ASA ruling.

It said its new listings with Amazon were currently “under review” and that changes would be completed by Monday 13 September.

When asked what it would say about smartDOT, given that it can no longer claim it “protects” against EMF, the company said its marketing materials would be “legally compliant”.

PayPal is introducing new fees for payments between businesses in the UK and those in Europe, from November.

British businesses will be charged a 1.29% fee for payments from the European Economic Area and vice versa.

Most currently pay about 0.5% in similar charges, which have remained unchanged since before the UK left the EU customs union and single market.

PayPal said it was now incurring extra costs, such as the rise in interchange fees between the UK and EEA.

European rules capping credit and debit card interchange fees at 0.2% and 0.3% no longer apply to UK businesses.

And both Visa and Mastercard have announced they will raise them fivefold from mid-October.

‘Highly competitive’
The EEA is made up of the 27 remaining European Union states plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.

And the new charges apply to the whole of the UK, Guernsey, Jersey, Gibraltar, and the Isle of Man.

Bitcoin comes to UK PayPal – but not for payments
eBay sellers can no longer use PayPal
Most businesses will see their current 0.5% fee raised to 1.29% – still lower than PayPal’s standard 1.99% for the rest of the world – but some of those with their own customised agreements with PayPal will have their existing rate raised by 1.29%.

The new fee was first mentioned on the same day the company announced it would accept cryptocurrency Bitcoin but details were not released until this week.

PayPal said it was “simplifying” its cross-border fees.

“In a highly competitive market, this will make it easier for these businesses to compare PayPal’s pricing with that of other providers and to better appreciate the value we provide,” it said.

‘Stronger support’
The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) said any rise in payment-platform fees “is unwelcome news for small businesses and entrepreneurs”.

“Since the start of the year, around one in four small exporters have stopped exporting to the EU, citing amongst other reasons the costs involved in selling to EU-based customers,” vice-chairman Martin McTague said.

And over the past three months, a little over 40% of small exporters said the value of their exports had dropped.

“We need to see stronger support for small exporters from the government, including a relaunched SME [Small and Medium Enterprises]Brexit Support Fund and a reformed Tradeshow Access Programme,” McTague added.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer should take inspiration from US President Joe Biden in promoting workers’ rights, the head of the UK’s unions has argued.

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said better pay and conditions must become “absolutely central” to the party’s pitch to voters.

She praised Mr Biden for making the “dignity of work” a major slogan in his successful presidential campaign.

Ms O’Grady also urged the government to clarify what “levelling up” means.

Speaking to the BBC ahead of the TUC’s annual congress, which starts on Sunday, she said a government “of any colour” needed to prioritise tackling inequality.

Give workers full rights from day one – Labour
Johnson sketches out ‘levelling up’ vision
Unite union elects first female leader
UK’s biggest union elects first woman leader
Over the summer, Labour pledged to give workers “full” employment rights – including flexible working and ending the practice of fire-and-rehire, where staff are dismissed and taken back on, often on worse terms – from their first day in a new job.

Ms O’Grady called these policies “really encouraging”, but urged Sir Keir to promote them more vigorously when he addresses TUC delegates on Tuesday.

“He’s got another opportunity to set out in primary colours what his agenda for working people in this country is,” she said.

“I hope he will take some inspiration from what we’ve seen from President Biden and in New Zealand and a number of other countries, with that whole issue of dignity at work becoming absolutely central to the public policy agenda and that recognition that there has to be a major reset on workers’ rights.”

At the 2019 general election, which his Conservative Party won by a landslide, Boris Johnson promised to “level up” all parts of the UK, including boosting transport links, skills training and business opportunities in poorer areas.

The prime minister said in July that this would mean giving more power to local leaders, but critics have described the plan – on which more detail is expected later this month – as vague.

“The pressure is on the government to define levelling up,” said Ms O’Grady. “People in the country want a sharp definition. It must include making working lives better.

“There’s a sharp picture of a Covid class chasm between those who kept on going into work throughout the pandemic, keeping us fed, safe and looked after, and the better-off in society.”

This year, the UK’s two biggest unions – Unison and Unite – have elected female leaders for the first time.

This followed a damning report last year about the former leadership of the third-largest union, the GMB, which found it was “institutionally sexist”, with bullying, misogyny, cronyism and sexual harassment “endemic”.

Ms O’Grady said she was “absolutely delighted” that Sharon Graham and Christina McAnea – two “very strong” figures – were now in charge of Unite and Unison.

“When the GMB story came out I felt really let down and angry. Too often it was discussed around the politics of the union,” she added.

“Those women [who made complaints] should have been front and centre of everybody’s considerations, because no woman should have to put up with that kind of behaviour.”

Unions were working hard to prevent harassment at work, she said, adding: “When it comes to the union movement, people need to be able to look and see themselves, in terms of leadership, so the changes we’ve seen will make a difference.”

The TUC annual congress, held in central London with most delegates taking part online, runs from Sunday to Tuesday.

The president of game-studio Tripwire Interactive has stepped down after tweeting support for a controversial new abortion law in Texas.

The Texas law bans abortions from as early as six weeks into pregnancy.

John Gibson tweeted he was “proud” of the legal outcome and was a “a pro-life game developer”.

Some of the studio’s partners rapidly distanced themselves from Mr Gibson, with one announcing it would cancel its contracts over the issue.

And two days after the tweet was posted, amid an avalanche of criticism, Tripwire said: “Effective immediately, John Gibson has stepped down.”

Mr Gibson’s comments had been his own – and not the company’s, it said.

“His comments disregarded the values of our whole team, our partners and much of our broader community,” Tripwire said.

“Our leadership team at Tripwire are deeply sorry and are unified in our commitment to take swift action and to foster a more positive environment.”

Intense controversy
Tripwire is a developer of titles including Man Eater, in which gamers play as a shark, and the publisher of medieval-combat game Chivalry 2.

Mr Gibson had tweeted: “As an entertainer, I don’t get political often.”

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But he was “proud of US Supreme Court affirming the Texas law banning abortion for babies with a heartbeat” – a description medical authorities say is misleading.

“With so many vocal peers on the other side of this issue, I felt it was important to go on the record as a pro-life game developer,” he had added.

The tweet quickly generated intense controversy.

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Many individual gamers called for a boycott of Tripwire’s games, sharing tips on how to hide listings for its products in Steam’s online game store or making donations to women’s charities in Mr Gibson’s name.

Supporters of the Texas law also responded, with the original tweet clocking up nearly 13,000 replies.

But Shipwright Studios, a “work-for-hire” studio that contributed to some of Tripwire’s games, wrote it was ending a three-year relationship because of Mr Gibson’s comments.

“While your politics are your own, the moment you make them a matter of public discourse you entangle all of those working for and with you,” Shipwright Studios said.

“We cannot in good conscience continue to work with Tripwire under the current leadership… [and] will begin the cancellation of our existing contracts”.

Chivalry 2 creator Torn Banner Studios also condemned Mr Gibson’s stance.

“This perspective is not shared by our team, nor is it reflected in the games we create,” it wrote.

“The statement stands in opposition to what we believe about women’s rights.”

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Tripwire said vice-president and co-founder Alan Wilson would take over as interim chief executive, promising to listen to remaining concerns from employees and external partners.

“His understanding of both the company’s culture and the creative vision of our games will carry the team through this transition,” it added.

Mr Gibson has been contacted for comment.

App users in the UK and US are spending more time on TikTok than on YouTube, a new report suggests.

Data from app monitoring firm App Annie indicates that average time per user spent on the apps is higher for TikTok, indicating high levels of engagement.

App Annie characterised TikTok as having “upended the streaming and social landscape”.

However, YouTube retains the top spot for overall time spent – not per user – as it has many more users overall.

The Google-owned video giant has an estimated two billion monthly users, while TikTok’s most recent public figures suggested it had about 700 million in mid-2020.

App Annie specialises in analysis of the apps market.

The “time spent” metric in its report only accounts for Android phones – but also does not include China, where TikTok – known locally as Douyin – is a major app.

‘Mass audience’
“YouTube still leads TikTok in overall time spent, including in the UK,” explained Jamie MacEwan, from Enders Analysis.

“YouTube’s mass audience means it’s getting more demographics that are comparatively light internet users… it’s just reaching everyone who’s online.”

The most-invested YouTube users probably “match or surpass” the engagement of TikTokers, he said.

But “none of that’s to say TikTok isn’t a success”, he added.

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“TikTok was spending big to attract users, but they were not necessarily hanging around for long compared to other social media,” he said.

“Now we know that in the US and UK, TikTok has overhauled YouTube, and is reeling in Facebook… that’s a huge seal of approval.”

The “time spent” metric in App Annie’s report only accounts for Android phones – but also does not include China, where TikTok – known locally as Douyin – is a major app.

It shows that in the UK, TikTok surpassed YouTube back in June 2020, and has maintained its lead since. In the US, TikTok and YouTube traded places multiple times late last year before TikTok emerged on top in April 2021.

Other metrics tracked by the firm reflect TikTok’s increasing importance.

Among social, communication, photo, video and entertainment apps, TikTok is ranked as the most-downloaded worldwide since 2020. It also competes with YouTube for the top spot in consumer spending since last year.

Spendy streaming
App Annie’s report also suggests that apps with live-streaming – including TikTok – are fuelling a surge in money spent on creators.

Apps that have live-streaming as “a prominent feature” accounted for three-quarters of money spent in the top 25 social apps in the first half of 2021, the report says.

On gaming site Twitch, for example, viewers can purchase “Bits” – a virtual currency – and spend them to “cheer” streamers during a live stream. Or they can set up a recurring subscription to a creator’s channel in exchange for subscriber-only benefits.

Tiktok lets users tip creators with “coins” – its own version of “bits”, while YouTube runs similar programmes for its live streams.

“Live-streaming is driving growth in engagement for social apps, which sets them up for consumer spend,” App Annie says.

The report also highlights another winner in the past year – Snapchat.

The augmented-reality focused messaging app saw its downloads outside the US grow by nearly 30% year-on-year, and by 45% on two years ago, App Annie’s data suggests.

Apple has delayed plans to roll out detection technology which would have scanned US users’ iPhones in search of child sexual abuse material.

It follows widespread criticism from privacy groups and others, worried that the on-device tracking set a dangerous precedent.

Apple said that it had listened to the negative feedback and was reconsidering.

There were concerns the system could be abused by authoritarian states.

The so-called NeuralHash technology would have scanned images just before they are uploaded to iCloud Photos. Then it would have matched them against known child sexual abuse material on a database maintained by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

If a match was found then it would have been manually reviewed by a human and, if required, steps taken to disable a user’s account and report it to law enforcement.

It was due to launch later in the year.

In a statement, Apple said: “Last month we announced plans for features intended to help protect children from predators who use communication tools to recruit and exploit them, and limit the spread of child sexual abuse material.

“Based on feedback from customers, advocacy groups, researchers and others, we have decided to take additional time over the coming months to collect input and make improvements before releasing these critically important child safety features.”

Privacy campaigners expressed concern that the technology could be expanded and used by authoritarian governments to spy on citizens.

The Electronic Frontiers Foundation has been one of the most vocal critics of the system, gathering a petition signed by 25,000 customers opposing the move.

Its executive director Cindy Cohn told the BBC: “The company must go further than just listening and drop its plans to put a backdoor into its encryption entirely.”

“The enormous coalition that has spoken out will continue to demand that user phones – both their messages and their photos – be protected, and that the company maintains its promise to provide real privacy to its users.”

Apple has been an exponent of privacy and end-to-end encryption in the past.

Authorities are investigating after a map claiming to show the addresses of thousands of firearms owners in the UK was published online.

Gun-selling site Guntrader announced a data breach affecting more than 100,000 customers in July.

This week, reports emerged that an animal rights activist blog had published the information.

The group had formatted the data so it could be easily imported into mapping software to show individual homes.

The National Crime Agency, which has been investigating the data breach and its fallout, said it “is aware that information has been published online as a result of a recent data breach which impacted Guntrader”.

“We are working closely with the South West Regional Cyber Crime Unit, who are leading the criminal investigation, to support the organisation and manage any risk,” it said.

And data regulator the Information Commissioner’s Office also said it was “aware of a potential change in the Guntrader Ltd incident”, adding “we will be making inquiries”.

In its initial statement in July, Guntrader said that no information about the “location of firearms was taken”, but acknowledged that user names and addresses had been.

The company said it had nothing to add in response to the latest development “beyond saying that we continue to work with the relevant authorities to mitigate the impact of this data theft”.

‘Remain vigilant’
The existence of the new map format was first reported by tech news site The Register, which characterised it as the “worst-case scenario” following the initial hack.

In July, one gun owner told the BBC he feared that the leak could put his family in danger, particularly from criminals.

What are the gun laws in the UK?
Gun owners’ fears after firearms dealer data breach
While the leaked data had previously been published on the dark web, the latest development was published online and easily accessible to anyone, and reformatted so that it could be imported easily into Google Maps.

Doing so would give “precise geographic co-ordinates” for many – but not all – of the more than 100,000 people in the database, The Register suggested.

2px presentational grey line
Firearms security
Firearms are tightly controlled in the UK, with a licence required for rifles and shotguns, mainly used legally by farmers or for hunting.

The law requires licence holders to store firearms and ammunition securely so they cannot be taken by anyone else.

The British Association for Shooting and Conservation recommends using a purpose-built gun cabinet bolted to a solid wall to do so.

Keys should be kept securely so that only the owner and no-one else – not even other members of the family – can access them, it says, possibly in a small combination safe.

The government also has a guide to firearms security, outlining best practices.

2px presentational grey line
“The Guntrader data leak represents not only a serious breach of privacy – but also poses a physical threat,” said Attila Tomaschek, of the ProPrivacy group.

The animal rights activists posting the data claimed without any accompanying evidence that the “vast majority” of gun owners kill animals “and sometimes even go on to kill humans”.

Mr Tomaschek said the group’s post amounted to “calling on others to confront the victims of the breach”.

“Those with firearms must now remain vigilant as it may only be a matter of time before the information is used by opportunistic criminals looking for weapons,” he warned.

In addition to concerns about harassment or theft, some of the data may not be accurate.

“Some of the data is reportedly over five years old, meaning that a number of the addresses likely no longer even belong to the gun owners included in the leak, putting an even greater number of individuals at risk,” Mr Tomaschek warned.

Toyota is resuming operations of its autonomous vehicles at the Paralympic Games village in Tokyo following an accident.

Services of the e-Palette pods were halted after a vehicle hit a visually impaired athlete last week.

The athlete was not seriously injured, but he had to pull out of an event because of cuts and bruises.

The vehicles will now have more operator control and extra staff to ensure they do not hit any more people.

Aramitsu Kitazono, a member of Japan’s judo team, was hit as he was walking across a pedestrian crossing on Thursday.

Mr Kitazono was unable to compete in his 81kg category because of the accident.

In a statement late on Monday, Toyota said: “The vehicle’s sensor detected the pedestrian crossing and activated the automatic brake, and the operator also activated the emergency brake. The vehicle and pedestrians, however, came into contact before it came to a complete halt.”

The company said that operators would now be given control over how fast the vehicles travel, with two members of safety staff on board, rather than one, to help look out for pedestrians.

New safety features will also include louder warning sounds, while pedestrian guides at busy crossings in the Paralympic village will be increased to 20 from six.

Toyota also said that it would continue to make safety improvements “on a daily basis” until the village closes.

The company also said it was co-operating with a local police investigation to determine the cause of the accident.

Chief executive’s apology
On Friday, Toyota chief executive Akio Toyoda made a public apology after the incident.

“A vehicle is stronger than a person, so I was obviously worried about how they were,” he said in a YouTube video.

Mr Toyoda said the accident illustrated just how difficult it was to operate self-driving vehicles in the special circumstances of the village during the Paralympics, with people there who are visually impaired or have other disabilities.

“It shows that autonomous vehicles are not yet realistic for normal roads,” he added.

Autonomous ambitions
The company’s e-Palette pod, a fully autonomous electric vehicle, was adapted specifically for use during the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games, with large doors and electric ramps to allow groups of athletes to board quickly.

The world’s biggest carmaker, like many of its motor industry rivals, is trying to develop autonomous vehicles to operate safely on public roads.

The e-Palette was unveiled at the CES technology show in Las Vegas in 2018, with the company touting it as “a symbol of mobility that goes beyond cars to provide customers services and new values.”

At that time, Mr Toyoda declared that Toyota was going to transform itself from a car company to a “mobility company”.