Apple extends update deadline for outdated apps in danger of being deleted

Apple recently sent notices to some indie developers, warning them that their app will be pulled from the App Store if it’s not updated within 30 days. The tech giant has had a policy in place against outdated and abandoned applications since 2016, but the move suggests that it’s now more rigorously enforcing that rule. Some of the letters’ recipients criticized the policy for being a barrier to indie developers, what with how tough it is to keep up with platform changes and how much work it takes to roll out even a minor update. Now, Apple has published a post clarifying why some old apps are in danger of being removed, along with the announcement that it’s giving developers more time to update their applications. 

In the post, the company said that it will only send removal notices to developers whose apps haven’t been updated in three years, as well as to devs whose apps have not “been downloaded at all or extremely few times during a rolling 12 month period.” Apple said that dropping outdated apps makes newer ones more discoverable and also ensures users can enjoy games and tools that have been optimized for its latest OS and devices. 

As a lot of people know, there are older apps don’t work as well on the latest generation of phones, tablets and laptops anymore, delivering a subpar user experience. Still, 30 days might not be nowhere near enough time for smaller developers to conjure up an update. The good news is that Apple has extended its grace period and is now giving them up to 90 days to update their applications. Users will get to keep apps that are already installed on their devices even if they end up getting deleted, and developers can continue earning from them through microtransactions. 

NASA photos show the debris Perseverance’s landing left on Mars

Back in February 2021, the Perseverance rover landed on Martian soil after a seven-month journey. A cone-shaped backshell protected it while traveling in deep space and during its fiery descent, while a parachute with a secret message that says “Dare mighty things” slowed it down enough for a safe landing. Perseverance had to leave those components behind when it started roaming the planet. On April 19th, the rover’s companion helicopter, the Ingenuity, took photos of the debris left on the landing site — and now NASA has shared images showing what it looks like.

JPL’s Ian Clark said Perseverance had the best-documented landing in history so far, but Ingenuity’s photos offer a different perspective that could help ensure safer landing for future spacecraft. That includes the Mars Sample Return Lander mission, which will retrieve the samples Perseverance collects so they could be sent back to Earth for analysis. The program’s engineers were the ones who asked whether Ingenuity can take photos of the debris.

“If [the images] either reinforce that our systems worked as we think they worked or provide even one dataset of engineering information we can use for Mars Sample Return planning, it will be amazing. And if not, the pictures are still phenomenal and inspiring,” Clark explained. 

In the photo above, you’ll see what remains of the backshell and the overall result of the spacecraft hitting the surface at 78 mph. NASA notes that the shell’s protective coating remains intact, and so are the suspension lines linking the shell to the parachute that’s now buried in dirt. The agency’s scientists will analyze the images over the next weeks to determine a final verdict, which will likely include information that could aid future missions. 

Hidden AirTags should be easier to locate thanks to louder alert sounds

Apple announced back in February that it’s introducing changes that would make AirTags easier to find after several stories of bad actors using the tracker to stalk people came out. One of the upcoming changes it promised is adjusting the sound AirTags emit to be as loud as possible to make them “more easily findable.” Now, as MacRumors reports, the tech giant has started rolling out that capability with the device’s latest firmware update.

While Apple has published release notes to reveal what the update adds to the tracker, it didn’t mention that the company is gradually making the feature available on a staggered basis. According to the publication, only one percent of users received the update when it went out on Tuesday, but it will be delivered to 10 percent of users by May 3rd and to 25 percent by May 9th. Apple expects to complete the rollout by May 13th.

Earlier this April, Motherboard had obtained police data that included 50 cases of women receiving notifications or hearing alert sounds revealing that someone was tracking them with an AirTag. While that’s not a particularly large number, it suggests a growing number of cases wherein the trackers are being used for stalking purposes. In an effort to prevent the device from a creepy character’s tool of choice, Apple promised a handful of anti-stalking features that include showing people a warning that it’s a crime to use the device to track people. The company will also update newer iPhones’ precision finding technology to make them capable of displaying the direction and distance to an unknown AirTag.

Google now lets you request the removal of personal information from Search

You can now ask Google to remove your personal contact information, such as your physical and email addresses, as well as your phone number, from Search. The tech giant already takes request for the removal of identifiable info in cases of doxxing or if the details posted in public could be used for financial fraud. It’s now expanding that policy to cover the aforementioned details, along with confidential log-in credentials and images of ID documents that can be used for identity theft.

According to The Verge, Google still has a process to deal with malicious doxxing, wherein an employee will look at links to determine how they’d cause harm. Under this expanded policy, though, the company can grant requests if the content you want to be removed from search doesn’t have any public interest value or isn’t “relevant to a news report.” 

As the publication notes, it’s also different from the system Google implemented in the EU to comply with the region’s right to be forgotten law. The rules under the law allow you to ask for content removal if it’s irrelevant, inaccurate or unflattering — this policy expansion only covers sensitive information. A spokesperson told The Verge that Google will de-index content whether it’s behind a paywall or not, so long as the request meets its requirements.

In the company’s announcement post, Google Global Policy Lead for Search Michelle Chang reminds people that the removal of content from Search doesn’t mean it’s gone from the internet. Chang encourages contacting website hosts if you want your information scrubbed completely.

Airbnb adopts permanent remote work option for employees

Some companies have started requiring their employees to come into the office a few times a week now that most people have been vaccinated against COVID-19. Airbnb isn’t one them. Company CEO Brian Chesky has informed employees in a letter that they have the option to work remotely forever. A “small number of roles” will be required to work in the office, but the majority of Airbnb employees don’t have to come in if they don’t want to. 

Chesky wrote:

“We want to hire and retain the best people in the world (like you). If we limited our talent pool to a commuting radius around our offices, we would be at a significant disadvantage. The best people live everywhere, not concentrated in one area. And by recruiting from a diverse set of communities, we will become a more diverse company. “

The CEO said that Airbnb had recovered quickly from the pandemic thanks to people booking listings to work remotely, proving that the world is now more open to flexible work arrangements. Apparently, in the second half of 2021, 20 percent of the nights booked on its website were for stays of longer than a month. 

Airbnb will pay employees the same salary wherever it is in their country they choose to work. It will implement pay tiers by country for both salary and equity starting in June, so those getting paid less based on their location could soon be earning more. International moves are much more complex, however, and the company said it won’t be able to support employees who decide to live in another country this year.

That said, it will allow people to work in 170 countries for up to 90 days each starting in September. While employees still have to secure their own work authorization, the company is partnering with local governments to make the process easier. 

In comparison, Google and Apple employees are making a gradual return to office and are now required to work a few days a week on site as part of a hybrid work plan. Twitter opened some of its offices in late 2021 but also told employees that they can permanently work from home.

The 2022 Apple iPad Air is $40 off right now

You can grab the newly launched 2022 Apple iPad Air for just $559 right now. While the device dropped to as low as $550 on Amazon for a grand total of eight hours last week, this latest deal shaves $40 off its retail price of $599. That’s a decent discount for a device that only became available in March. The catch is that only the purple version is on sale for $559, though you can still get the other colors for $20 less than retail at $570. 

Buy 2022 Apple iPad Air at Amazon – $559

The 2022 iPad Air gets a huge performance boost over its predecessor from its M1 chip, which also powers the tech giant’s Mac computers and the considerably more expensive iPad Pro. We gave it a score of 90 in our review, mostly thanks to how significantly faster it is at both single- and multi-core tasks than the previous versions of the tablet when we ran Geekbench 5 on it. 

We also praised the device for having an excellent battery life despite the chip upgrade — it even lasted close to 12 hours during our test instead of just 10 like the company’s claim. Apple also upgraded its front cam and gave it a 12-megapixel ultra wide angle camera that enables Center Stage. That’s the tech giant’s feature designed to follow you around and keep you in the frame during video calls. 

The version that’s currently on sale for $559 is the WiFi-only variant, but you also have the chance to grab its 5G-capable counterpart at a discount. Its purple version has been available for $700 at Amazon over the past week: That’s $49 less its retail price and the lowest we’ve seen for the 2022 cellular Apple iPad Air so far.

Buy 2022 Apple iPad Air (WiFi + Cellular) at Amazon – $700

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CNN+ is shutting down earlier than planned

CNN is pulling the plug on its streaming service today, April 28th, instead of on April 30th like previously reported. The company has sent out emails to subscribers, and as Digital Trends reports, it clearly states that CNN+ streaming “will come to an end on April 28th.” The service launched just a month ago on March 29th, but it was only pulling in 10,000 daily users who were willing to pay $6 a month for live and on-demand news programming, according to CNBC. New CNN president Chris Licht was reportedly the one who recommended its closure, which might come with hundreds of job cuts. 

CNN invested hundreds of millions of dollars into the project and recruited talent from other networks to host shows for the platform. While the service was short-lived, CNN itself reported that the network is committed to finding new roles for the hosts of its shows.

Discovery CEO Jean-Briac Perrette informed employees about the closure in a meeting where he said that the situation was avoidable, but that “prior leadership decided to just keep going” with its planned March debut despite the impending merger between his company and CNN owner WarnerMedia. The merged company, Warner Bros. Discovery, had a different strategy in mind — it’s also billions in debt as a result of the merging process. 

In addition to informing subscribers in an email about the earlier-than-expected closure, CNN has also updated the service’s help page. The company stated in the page that all subscribers will receive a full refund. It didn’t say why CNN+ is shutting down a couple of days earlier than announced, but Digital Trends notes that it might be because subscriptions are about to renew. Some early adopters were able to sign up on March 28th, a day before the service’s official launch date. Whatever the reason is, subscribers can say goodbye to CNN+ today and expect to get their refund on May 28th.

Dell’s XPS 13 Plus ultraportable is now available for $1,299

Dell’s latest flagship ultraportable is now available for purchase. The Dell XPS 13 Plus is powered by Intel’s 28-watt 12th-gen processors and features a clean, minimalist design. Its keyboard has no borders and no space in between its large keys that makes it ideal for touch-typing. The laptop’s haptic touchpad blends into its palm rest and the function buttons at the top of the keyboard aren’t buttons at all — they’re displayed on a touch panel similar to Mac’s Touch Bar.

It’s a beautiful device that gives the illusion of being carved out of a single piece of metal, but it doesn’t come without drawbacks. The biggest one of all? It doesn’t have a headphone jack. You’d have to use Bluetooth headsets with it, and the process of connecting a pair to a Windows laptop isn’t quite as seamless as connecting one to a phone. In addition, we had some trouble using the touchpad when we tested the laptop at CES earlier this year, because the lack of borders means you can’t see its edges. That said, it might be something you get used to the more time you spend with the notebook. 

The XPS 13 Plus will set you back at least $1,299 and comes with either an OLED touch or an LCD display. You can also get the Developer Edition, which ships pre-installed with Ubuntu instead of Windows, for at least $1,249. It’s still showing on Dell’s site as coming soon, but it should be available shortly.

Samsung reports steep rise in profit for the first quarter of 2022

Samsung has reported a massive rise in operating profit for the first three months of 2022, thanks in part to the robust demand for its memory chips and the strong sales of its new Galaxy flagship devices. The Korean tech giant has posted an operating profit of KRW 14.12 trillion ($11.12 billion), which is 51 percent higher than the same period last year, and a record consolidated revenue of KRW 77.78 trillion ($61.2 billion). 

As usual, Samsung’s memory division was a standout performer, exceeding market forecasts because memory prices didn’t drop as much as analysts had expected. It posted a consolidated revenue of KRW 26.87 trillion ($21.14 billion), and while it saw a slight decline in profit due to incentives and seasonality, demand for PC and server chips remained solid. The company’s foundry business also contributed to the division’s performance by achieving its highest ever first quarter sales. Samsung is optimistic for the division’s prospects going forward, but it also expects component shortages to persist through the second half of the year and will constantly monitor the situation. 

While overall demand for mobile was down due to seasonality and “geopolitical uncertainties,” Samsung posted higher profit (KRW 3.82 trillion or $3 billion) and revenue (KRW 32.37 trillion or $25.5 billion) for the division this quarter compared to the last. The strong sales of its new flagship phones, particularly the Galaxy S22 Ultra, as well as of its mass market 5G phones contributed to both profit and revenue growth. Despite the allegations that a preinstalled app on S22 phones is throttling the performance of several applications, the company previously said that demand for the flagship is 20 percent higher than of its predecessor’s. Samsung expects component shortages for mobile to continue, as well, but it also expects the availability of component supplies for the S22 to improve. That’s why it plans to focus on maintaining strong sales for its flagships in the next quarter.

The tech giant reports a rise in mobile display earnings due to solid demand for premium products, as well. For larger displays, it says its QD monitors were well-received. It debuted its QD-OLED technology, which differs from standard OLED in that it only uses blue organic light-emitting diodes for a brighter output, at CES earlier this year. Samsung’s TV business lagged behind its other divisions, though, and saw a decline in demand following strong sales in the end of 2021 and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In early March, Samsung halted its product shipments to Russia, where it has a TV plant and where it’s known as the top smartphone brand. 

Amazon’s second-gen Echo Show 5 falls back to $50

You have another chance to grab Amazon’s second-gen Echo Show 5 for $50. While it’s a bit more than the device’s all-time low on the website, that’s still 41 percent off its retail price of $85. Amazon launched the second-gen version of the smart display in 2021, along with its bigger 8-inch sibling. The device’s screen has a resolution of 960 x 480 pixels, and it has a two megapixel camera instead of its predecessor’s one megapixel. You now also have the choice to get it in deep sea blue in addition to the black and white variants — and yes, all three are on sale right now. 

Buy Echo Show 5 (2021) at Amazon – $50

Like the Echo Show 8, the 5-inch model also comes with the sunrise alarm feature that slowly brightens up the display to mimic the sun rising in the sky. It offers easy access to your smart home controls, such as the thermostat and Philips Hue Lights, and works great as a bedside alarm clock due to its smaller size. 

If you’re looking to buy a smart speaker instead, Amazon is also selling the fourth-generation Echo Dot for just $28. That’s 44 percent off its retail price and the lowest we’ve seen for the smart speaker to date. For $5 extra, you can pick up the Dot plus an extra Amazon smart plug, which normally retails for $75.

In addition to the Echo sales, Amazon is also running a deal for the Blink Mini camera. You can grab a two-camera Blink Mini package for $35, which is the same price you’ll pay for a single device. The plug-in security cam can deliver 1080p HD images and can send alerts to your smartphone when it detects any movement. You can also connect the Blink Mini to an Echo Show and can use the system to monitor any room in your home, such as your kids’ bedroom at night.

Buy Blink Mini camera package at Amazon – $35

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