Apple and Qualcomm's Settlement

For a while, Apple and Qualcomm have been quarreling in legal issues, which has been resolved today in a settlement. This settlement has more implications than you may have initially thought. Apple was thought to be using Intel's 5G chips for their 2020 iPhones, but shortly after this settlement, Intel announced that they are exiting the 5G chip market, likely due to this settlement. Apple will likely go with Qualcomm's 5G chips in this light, which, in my opinion, is a win for consumers. Intel is likely a big reason that this year's iPhone won't have 5G capabilities. At this point, it's probably too late for Apple to use Qualcomm's 5G chips for this year's iPhone.

Apple Sued for Swollen Apple Watch Batteries

Gina Priano-Keyser is filing a class action lawsuit claiming that Apple Watches are subject to having their batteries swollen, ultimately causing the screen to pop off [Source: MacRumors]. The lawsuit states that this could pose a safety issue to consumers. Apparently, Apple was supposed to repair these for free for up to three years after purchase, but supposedly attributes the damage to an accident, which voids the offer.

This issue actually happened to my first generation Apple Watch last year. I was sitting in a chair and I suddenly heard a loud pop come from my wrist and the screen had popped off. It occurred on July 8, 2018 and I had received my watch in early June of 2015, so the three year deadline was gone by then. When I took it into the Apple Store, I was told that it was likely due to a swollen battery and that it would cost about $100 and take 5 days to fix. They ended up replacing it with an Apple Watch Series 1 (instead of first generation) with an aluminum case. I gave it back stating I had a stainless steel case. A few days later, I got a refurbished original Apple Watch with a stainless steel case, but then they overcharged me by about $150. After they realized they made an error, they sold it to me for $80, since it was a refurbished replacement. Overall, it was a frustrating experience that went in a lot of circles. If people really were injured due to the swollen battery, I can only imagine how much more frustrating it was for them. Apple should find a way to properly address this issue and do more testing as to what makes these batteries swell.

Older iPhone Battery Replacements

Apple is offering $29 battery replacements for the iPhone 6 and later. However, what if you own a device that’s older? If the device is still supported, it will cost you $79. I figured that was worth noting to clarify that Apple can still repair these models. iFixit will sell these kits for $29 or less, but shipping is charged and you have to do it yourself. 

$29 Battery Replacements Now Available

Previously, Apple stated that $29 battery replacements would be available in late January. However, they are available now. If you own an iPhone 6 or newer, then you are eligible [Source: TechCrunch]. Apple does say that supplies are limited due to this immediate availability. Check your local Apple Store for details. 

Steve Jobs: The Italian Clothing Brand

Every once in a while, you come across a story like this and you have to read it twice. But then you realize, if it was possible, someone had to do it. Today, we look into how an Italian clothing brand acquired the right to use "Steve Jobs" as its name [Source: The Verge]. Vincenzo and Giacomo Barbato had a clothing brand and named it "Steve Jobs" in 2012 since Apple did not have it trademarked. Interesting choice, seeing as the brand had a stunning lack of black turtle necks. But it doesn't stop there. Their logo is a "J" with a bite taken out of the side, with the signature Apple leaf on top. Apple obviously sued, but the brothers won the right to use the name and logo. Apparently, the letter "J" isn't edible. Shocking, I know. But because of that, it would not be mistaken for an apple. Personally, when I look at the Apple logo, I'm not reminded of the fruit the most of the time, just because the logo is so iconic. But that aside, when the context is Steve Jobs, I'm immediately going to think that the clothing brand has some association with Apple. At this point, how could a story that's so bad, it's good, get any better? According to Business Insider Italia, these brothers are working on selling electronics. A bit of a leap from clothing to technology. I'm sure they will be amazing. 

Apple's Response to the Battery Lawsuit

Literally an hour before this news story went live, I was thinking about this whole Apple lawsuit. I was just thinking how most of the people against Apple were hoping to get some cash settlement or a new phone and were only in it for just that. But I figured Apple would just replace their batteries, since that would resolve the issue by everyone's logic. An hour later, Apple did basically that. They announced that they would replace batteries of the iPhone 6 and later for just $29 for out-of-warranty customers. That's opposed to the regular $79 fee. In addition, in early 2018, Apple will update iOS to have a battery health screen. This helps users keep track of their battery capacity. I'm certainly looking forward to this. I'm sure there are third-party apps that do this, but I would obviously prefer an Apple-made solution when dealing with my battery life. Everyone has been acting like this was one big scheme by Apple, when in reality, they've been pretty transparent about it. And by doing that, the world freaked out. This isn't some big conspiracy. If you owned any other brand of phone, your battery would drain much faster instead of a slower phone until it bricked because it can't hold enough of a charge to startup. It's the literal nature of a lithium-ion battery. One would have to buy a new phone eventually, and, to be honest, they probably would've bought one anyways. That's my take on it, but if you'd like to read Apple's statement on this, you can do so here.

On Apple’s Battery Lawsuit

Currently, Apple is being sued for throttling speeds of older iPhone models in an effort to get these users to upgrade to new phones. Apple has responded by stating that as lithium-ion battery health declines, it is harder to efficiently do more demanding tasks. Apple comphensates by slowing down the phone. This was met with outcry of many saying that this is unethical. My response to this is that if Apple didn’t do this, people’s batteries would be draining way quicker. At the same time, people wouldn’t have a case if this happened. Apple shouldn’t be at fault, but probably will be because they were transparent. This case is ridiculous, but it will probably be a slap on the wrist for Apple in the end. 

iPhone Lawsuit Finally Comes To An End

After lots of debate and controversy, the Justice Department has finally dropped their lawsuit against Apple according to CNBC. The case was dropped because of a new exploit discovered in the code of iOS. That exploit has not been revealed and hopefully it stays that way. This discovery postponed Apple's trial last week. It also led to this whole thing coming to an end.

"Applicant United States of America, by and through its counsel of record, the United States Attorney for the Central District of California, hereby files this status report called for by the Court's order issued on March 21, 2016. The government has now successfully accessed the data stored on Farook's iPhone and therefore no longer requires the assistance from Apple Inc. mandated by Court's Order Compelling Apple Inc. to Assist Agents in Search dated February 16, 2016. Accordingly, the government hereby requests that the Order Compelling Apple Inc. to Assist Agents in Search dated February 16, 2016 be vacated."

Government Changed Password on Shooter's iPhone

Okay, I'm going to try to describe what happened as best as I can right now, but it's a bit complicated. Also, if you haven't read my opinion on the whole "backdoor dispute" thing, I recommend you read that now.

So, according to BuzzFeed, the government got a hold of some Apple engineers to help them crack open the iPhone owned by one of the shooters from the San Bernardino shooting last year. Apple suggested several ways, one that involved connecting the iPhone to a WiFi network. But, it turns out the government changed it. How? I have no idea. Apparently, the San Bernardo Health Department was the one who changed it. Yep, it's this kind of disorganization that causes this kind of stuff to happen. I wouldn't want my phone to be in the hands of people who would be changing my password and who can't keep track of said password. In fact, if this password wasn't changed, the government wouldn't need this backdoor solution. The FBI is trying to blame their own fire on Apple while they add some fuel to that fire.

If you agree with me, be sure to sign the official White House petition to support Apple and to not use a backdoor. We have until March 18, 2016 to reach 100,000 signatures.

My Opinion On The Apple "Backdoor Dispute"

You've probably heard about the dispute between Apple and the FBI. If you haven't, here's a quick recap of everything regarding this.

Let's start at the very beginning, shall we?

A few years back, some celebrities had their photos leaked from their iOS devices. Apple came under huge fire for this (I'm pretty sure they just had really bad passwords/password hints.). In the years following, Apple put a HUGE emphasis on the security on their devices. Makes sense, right?

December 2, 2015, a terrorist attack occurred in San Bernardino. Without getting too detailed, one of the shooter's iPhones were recovered and the FBI tried to unlock it. Unfortunately for them, the security was so air-tight, the FBI couldn't crack it. A federal judge has ordered Apple to intentionally create a security flaw in iOS to allow the FBI to unlock iPhones for investigation. Apple refused to do this because there could be security risks to their customers.

People are pretty split on this issue. Facebook and Twitter side with Apple while every politician ever sides with the government. What follows is my opinion and my solution. Keep in mind that this is my opinion and I believe that everyone is entitled to their own.

Personally, I side with Apple on this, not because of any bias and not because I'm worried about the FBI looking at my phone for investigation. I side with Apple on this because I don't want any hackers getting my phone. Microsoft has done this years ago and I believe many hackings can be attributed to this. With this security flaw, whatever it could be, hackers, black hat or white hat, will find a way. I feel that a lot of people underestimate what hackers are capable of. Especially if the government had phones affected by this. This would backfire against our own government, leaving them susceptible tot their own creation. It is not worth putting every person with an iOS device at risk to retrieve information that might not exist... But I do have a middle ground solution.

Apple, along with other smartphone creators, should create flashable operating systems that work with all of their phones that will unlock their phones. Each distribution of this operating system must be approved by the FBI and Apple, similar to a safety deposit box (Y'know how the boxes need two keys to open?). Apple can figure out the technical details.

If you side with Apple as well, be sure to sign the digital petition at the official White House website. We have until March 18, 2016 to reach 100,000 signatures. If not, that's fine too.

Apple App Store May Change 30/70 Profit Split Between Apple and Developers For Subscriptions

Currently, for every app a developer sells, the developer will get 70%. This formula applies to in-app purchases, such as subscriptions. For example, if a user buys a Microsoft Office 365 subscription from the Microsoft website, Microsoft gets 100% of the profits. If they purchase the same thing from the iOS app, Microsoft gets 70% of the profits. They may change soon in favor of the developer to avoid lawsuits and increase appeal. HBO Now and Apple TV apps get 85% profits.

"Changing the App Store's terms of trade could improve the economics of online content businesses and reassure regulators that the company is not abusing its position as gatekeeper to one of the world's most lucrative digital marketplaces."

- Financial Times 

Bose Products May Return To Apple Stores Next Week

After Apple acquiring Beats (a competitor of Bose) and Bose accusing Beats of stealing Bose's ideas, you'd think Bose in an Apple Store is a big no-no on Apple's behalf. Well, for some reason, Apple will sell Bose products in Apple Stores again, according to iGen.fr. After all Apple and Bose have been through, you'd think they would be a bit hesitant about this decision. I mean, Bose teamed up with the NFL to put a ban on players from wearing Beats on camera. We will see if this prediction is valid in the coming weeks...

Possible Class Action Suit Towards CVS and Rite Aid

After CVS Pharmacy and Rite Aid stopped accepting Apple Pay and Google Wallet at their retail stores to avoid credit card fees, Schubert Jonckheer & Kolbe are launching an investigation against them. Basically, to avoid NFC fees, the merchants developed their own mobile wallet solution, called CurrentC. CurrentC uses a generated barcode as the method of payment. That's all fine and dandy, except for one thing: people don't want to have to get another app and it's less secure! Okay, I guess that's two things. Remember when Target and The Home Depot had credit card information stolen? Personal information has already be stolen with CurrentC. Schubert Jonckheer & Kolbe are "investigating whether CVS and Rite Aid violated the antitrust laws by banding together with other MCX members in a decision to boycott other payments systems, including Apple Pay."

Save AppGratis!

AppGratis, the app that gives you one free app a day, has been removed from the Apple App Store! But, is it all over? We get the final say. Please, sign the petition to bring back AppGratis by sending an email to save@appgrat.is and save AppGratis. I have, and you should too. AppGratis has put out an official statement.

Last week, on April the 5th, Apple decided to ban AppGratis from its App Store.

Because more than 12 million people in the world use AppGratis, this story has been all around the planet.

In an official statement to the Wall Street Journal on april the 8th, Apple said we violated two of its iOS Guidelines.

But we know we haven't.

And we have written our side of the story here.

Today we believe it's you, Apple's customers, who should have the final word.

Today, you can speak up.

Tell Apple that you think different.

Tweet it to the world! Save AppGratis! Here's my Google+ post:

Support AppGratis, sign the petition: http://save.appgratis.com 
The AppGratis app gives you a free app a day. Apple has removed the app from their store. Power to the apps. Save AppGratis. Because there should always be an app for that.
#ThinkDifferent 

- +Alex Baratti  

This looks familiar

Take a look at these screenshots between iPad's Siri and Blackberry's Voice Control. Notice how the buttons look very similar. I hope this spreads some attention on how many people copy Apple.

Apple Bites Back

Recently, Apple lost a lawsuit with Samsung in the UK and Apple had to post an apology. Apple posted the apology with note that they won the lawsuit in the US. The judges disapproved and required a rewritten apology. Apple said it would take two weeks to rewrite it. After two weeks, the apology was on Apple UK's website. However, Apple added some JavaScript to require users to scroll down to see the apology no matter the dimensions of the user's screen. Nice going Apple!

To see Apple UK's apology, go to  apple.com/uk.

Apple vs. Samsung

You may know about the tension between Apple and Samsung. I made a quick video about most of the things Samsung has copied, included plug-ins, app icons, and design. Check it out!