WebProNews

Category: Developer

App Development, Web Design & Web Development News

  • Apple Has Paid App Store Developers $320 Billion Since 2008

    Apple Has Paid App Store Developers $320 Billion Since 2008

    Apple has released a report on the App Store, revealing the company has paid developers $320 billion.

    Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Services, penned a blog post revealing a number of insights into the App Store. First launched in 2008, the App Store is the primary way to distribute software on iOS and iPadOS.

    According to Cue, the App Store sees some 650 million visitors in 175 regions per week. What’s more, the App Store helps drive some “900 million paid subscriptions across Apple services.” Most impressive, Cue says developers have been paid $320 billion over the life of the App Store.

    Credit: Apple

    “It’s remarkable how much great content is at our fingertips; that’s a testament to the extraordinary work of creators worldwide. Never before have we enjoyed instant access to more cinematic original series, more engaging films, more global music, more creative apps, more essential journalism, and more immersive games and sports — no matter where you are, across all your favorite devices,” Cue writes.

    The executive says there’s still much more still to come.

    “And believe me: There’s much more to come,” Cue adds. “Moments to anticipate, enjoy, and reflect upon. Moments that will have us jumping up with excitement or at the edge of our seats, or that make us want to get up and dance. Moments that can create lasting memories and bring us closer to one another.”

  • Kuo: Apple May Launch OLED MacBook in 2024

    Kuo: Apple May Launch OLED MacBook in 2024

    Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has offered his latest report on Apple and its good news for MacBook fans.

    According to Kuo, Apple could finally release a MacBook with an OLED display as early as late 2024.

    Kuo has a solid track record predicting Apple’s next moves. If he is correct about Apple’s OLED plans, it could help the company reinvent the popular MacBook yet again.

  • Mobile App Development Team Structure Guide

    Mobile App Development Team Structure Guide

    Startups and businesses of all sizes increasingly rely on mobile apps to reach customers and engage them in meaningful ways. With the right team structure, you can save time and money while ensuring your mobile app development process is efficient and successful. A team is an essential component of any successful mobile development project and aid in delivering the desired product promptly. 

    Mobile app development is one of the most in-demand skills today. Android development team is essential to building apps that can reach billions of users. Yet, understanding the ins and outs of how an effective Android development team should be structured can seem daunting. However, a comprehensive Android Development Team Structure guide is here to help simplify this process. Let’s dive in. 

    Product Owner for Android Development

    Whether you’re looking to develop a new wellness app or an educational game, your android development team needs someone who can act as the product owner. An apparent product owner ensures that each team member is on the same page, from development sprints to client meetings. 

    Additionally, this leader should ensure that the vision and results meet customer expectations, providing frequent updates to key stakeholders as needed. A great product owner can be a driving force behind successful mobile application launches, ready to provide their unique abilities ensuring the best final product possible. For Android development, finding the right person for the job is essential for project success.

    Project Manager to Lead The Team

    The project manager on a mobile app development team is a crucial role that can’t be underestimated. With their keen business acumen, forward-thinking mindset, and natural leadership abilities, the project manager is responsible for driving the project’s success. It’s their job to coordinate the various efforts of team members, ensure that deadlines are met, and ensure everyone understands the overall mission. 

    The project manager is also a great resource to turn to with questions or clarification on tasks and requirements; they keep track of all the moving parts, so you don’t have to. An experienced and knowledgeable project manager helps keep things running smoothly while keeping productivity high.

    Business Analyst for Client Requirements

    The business analyst on a mobile app development team is often the unsung hero. They are tasked with identifying and understanding the customer’s requirements, a critical step in the development process for successful app and team performance. 

    The business analyst works to understand customer needs through interviews, focus groups, surveys, competitive analysis, industry research, and other techniques that require skillful research and evaluation. This position requires superior communication skills and the ability to interpret data into business objectives that developers, testers, and other support personnel can implement. 

    If your mobile app development team lacks a Business Analyst, consider adding one; they could be the difference between an ordinary product and an awesome one.

    UX/UI Designers to Improve User Experience

    For any mobile app development team, UX/UI designers are a must-have to ensure the success of their product. Not only do they produce visually stunning designs, but they are also incredibly knowledgeable regarding the user experience. 

    They strive to ensure the end-user has an enjoyable and intuitive experience when using the product by understanding various design elements such as layout, typography, images, and consistent color palettes. 

    With excellent knowledge of information architecture and navigation experience, UX/UI designers can create a cohesive pathway for users with both web and mobile platforms in mind. Investing in a great UX/UI design team will lead to greater customer satisfaction.

    Android Developers For Core App Development

    Without an experienced Android development team, you won’t be able to create a rock-solid mobile application. That’s why you must hire experts to make an app a success. Android developers make up the heart of any good mobile app development team. These professionals can deliver stunning results and create powerful user applications with a good structure. 

    A successful Android dev team must be comprised of experienced personnel well-versed in the different available SDKs and coders who know how to maximize their App’s abilities and battery life. 

    Additionally, they will know how to adjust an App’s operations between different screen sizes, orientations, and resolutions. It’s hard work creating premium apps, but without a doubt, Android Development teams are essential for producing exceptional user experiences.

    Backend Developers to Build The App’s Backend

    No team is complete without experienced and knowledgeable developers. These professionals are responsible for developing server-side components that support the mobile app, including databases, security measures, API integrations, and more. They understand how to write code quickly and efficiently with an eye toward scalability so that users can always access the application without issue. 

    Because of their pivotal role in mobile app development, they must be a part of the overall team and collaborate on projects with developers, designers, Project Managers, and other stakeholders. Without backend developers, mobile apps wouldn’t function properly, making them an invaluable asset to any mobile app development team. 

    QA Engineer to Ensure Quality of The Product

    Quality Assurance (QA) engineers are essential to any successful mobile app development team. Their expertise helps to ensure that the product, or mobile app, in this case, is functioning correctly and meets the expectations laid out by stakeholders. With their deep technical understanding, they can spot potential problems before release and prevent embarrassing bugs from making it into production versions. 

    On top of all this, having a QA engineer on your team who values quality and takes pride in their work gives your project a real feeling of assurance that no shortcuts will be taken so that you can trust the final product will be up to par with user demands.

  • Google Docs Adds Option to See Non-Printing Characters

    Google Docs Adds Option to See Non-Printing Characters

    Google Docs has added an important feature to help fine-tune the layout of documents with the option to view non-printing characters.

    In complex documents, non-printing characters are often important elements that help establish the layout and visual characteristics of a document. Line breaks, page breaks, tabs, and spaces are just a few such characters.

    In the latest update to Google Docs, users now have the option of seeing non-printing characters.

    “When viewing or editing a Google Doc, non-printing characters such as line breaks, section breaks, tabs, and spaces are not visible,” the company writes in a blog post. “Starting today, you can choose to display non-printing characters in order to see how a document is laid out.”

    “This feature provides a visual representation of what controls the formatting in a document, allowing you to make appropriate edits much easier,” the company adds.

  • Apple Plans to Drop Broadcom & Qualcomm With In-House Chips

    Apple Plans to Drop Broadcom & Qualcomm With In-House Chips

    Apple is continuing with its goal to bring its modems in-house, reportedly planning to replace both Broadcom and Qualcomm.

    Apple has been working to end its dependence on Qualcomm and Broadcom, duplicating the success it’s had replacing Intel chips with its own custom silicon. The company was rumored to be planning on replacing Qualcomm and using its own baseband chip in the 2024 iPhone SE 4, but the latest report indicates Apple has scrapped the iPhone SE 4 altogether.

    According to a new report by Bloomberg, via The Verge, Apple plans to begin using its own in-house chip to replace the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip it currently sources from Broadcom. The company still hopes to also replace Qualcomm’s modem with one of its own.

    It seems Apple is shooting for 2025 as the year it replaces Broadcom, and Qualcomm told The Verge it expects to lose most of Apple’s business in 2025 as well.

    “For Apple product revenue, we now expect to have the vast majority of share of 5G modems for the 2023 iPhone launch, up from our previous 20% assumption. Beyond this, there are no changes to our planning assumption, and we are assuming minimal contribution from Apple product revenues in fiscal ‘25.”

  • LinkedIn Automation Security: Learn How Can It Assist In Enhancing Your Business

    LinkedIn Automation Security: Learn How Can It Assist In Enhancing Your Business

    What Is LinkedIn Automation Security?

    Using LinkedIn automation can be a great way to improve the efficiency of your outreach efforts and get the most out of your account. However, it’s important to use automation with care. Some automated tools can be dangerous. These include spam and scraped data, which could be a legal issue.

    The best way to protect your account is to follow LinkedIn’s guidelines. The company will monitor your usage and may limit your activities. If you fail to comply, your account could be permanently blocked. In addition, LinkedIn’s algorithms are strong and will look for suspicious activity.

    Using an analytics dashboard will help you determine the effectiveness of your outreach methods. You can see how many replies you’ve received, how many campaigns you’ve launched, and how many of your campaigns have been accepted.

    The Importance of LinkedIn Automation Security

    Using automation on LinkedIn is a great way to increase your outreach efforts and convert prospects to leads. It is important to use the right tools though, to make sure you’re doing everything legally and safely. Below are some do’s and don’ts to help you avoid getting banned from the platform.

    ●  LinkedIn has a strict policy against spam. This means that automated tools that scrape or collect data from your contacts can be a legal issue. Also, if you’re sending out all connection requests at the same time, this raises red flags. This can result in your account being blocked or suspended.

    ●  You should use a tool that allows you to set parameters. This will make sure that your account is not spamming. You can also choose a tool that uses a dedicated IP, which makes it harder to be blocked. You can also try to use a cloud-based tool to minimize risks. Some of the more advanced tools allow you to integrate your automation with your LinkedIn account. You can also find tools that offer smart search options.

    ●  LinkedIn uses an algorithm to detect suspicious activities. If you’re found to be spamming, your account can be suspended or blocked. This can damage your online presence and can even lead to jail. If you get banned, you will not be able to use your account again. It’s important to keep in mind that the algorithms are constantly changing, so make sure you use the best tools to ensure you’re keeping up.

    ●  You should always read the terms of service before you use any tool on LinkedIn. There are a lot of different dos and don’ts to follow. You want to be careful when automating your account, but if you’re doing it properly, you should be able to avoid any problems.

    ●  You should only use LinkedIn automation if you’re doing it for professional reasons. For example, if you’re a salesperson, it’s a good idea to use a tool that is specifically designed for salespeople. This will help you to generate leads and build a reputation, without wasting any of your time. It’s also an easy way to increase your presence on the platform.

    The Functions of A LinkedIn Automation Security System

    Having a LinkedIn automation security system in place can be a great way to keep your data safe. There are several ways to do this, including monitoring and controlling your accounts and limiting your use of them.

    Monitor

    To get the most out of your LinkedIn automation best practices you will need to devote some time to planning, implementing, and tracking your efforts. The best way to ensure you achieve your LinkedIn goals is to set up a workflow and tracking system that will allow you to monitor and manage your efforts in real-time.

    Stay Within Usage Limits

    Using automation on LinkedIn can be a good way to maximize your reach, but you need to make sure you stay within usage limits. If you go beyond your limit, you may be blocked from the site. There are some things you can do to help prevent this from happening.

    First, you need to look for a tool that allows you to set your usage limits. This will help you avoid flagging your account, and allow you to measure your success. The next step is to decide whether you want to be public or private when you use the tool.

    You should also keep in mind that your messages should be personalized. This will make them appear more like real conversations. It will help you build rapport with your prospect, and it will also improve the safety of your messages on LinkedIn.

    Avoid Human Behavior

    Using LinkedIn automation security measures can be the difference between being able to get the most out of your LinkedIn account or being relegated to a dark corner. You’ll have to choose the right tools for your account, stay within usage limits, and follow the proper safety guidelines. Otherwise, you could face a ban from the platform.

    The first thing you should do is research various LinkedIn automation tools. Look for ones with a good reputation. They are often able to stay in the system without getting flagged. You can also find a tool that has a limit on the number of connections you can make in a day. These tools help you build a profile with maximum efficiency.

    You can also consider cloud-based LinkedIn automation solutions. These systems don’t inject code into the platform, but they simulate human behavior. They offer multiple-account management systems and inboxes. These vendors are considered safer than those who sell Chrome extensions.

    Lastly

    Using an automated tool to execute a security playbook in a timely occurrence is an admirable feat in and of itself. The best part is that these eds have the right people at the right time and the right technology to boot. Using the aforementioned technologies in tandem with the aforementioned sysadmins will put you on the fast track to digital security success.

  • AMD Continues to Chip Away at Intel’s Server Dominance

    AMD Continues to Chip Away at Intel’s Server Dominance

    AMD is continuing to make inroad against Intel in the server market, chipping away (pun intended) at the latter’s lead.

    Intel was once the undisputed king of the semiconductor market. While that was true across the entire PC industry, it was especially true in the server market, where the company’s market share was 98% as recently as five years ago. According to Mercury Research (via Network World), as of Q122, AMD’s server market share is now 11.6%, dropping Intel’s to 88.4%.

    AMD has its Epyc line of processors to thank for the success it’s enjoying.

    “It’s been a long, gradual increase. If you look at the data set now, AMD has completed their third consecutive year of having on-quarter gains in share,” said Dean McCarron, president of Mercury Research. “The main driver there is that AMD has its Epyc processors … and each generation has been a little bit more successful than the prior one.”

    See also: Linus Torvolds Switches to AMD, Slams Intel

    AMD’s reputation for consistently delivering quality products is also helping the company gain new business.

    “This isn’t the first time [AMD]’s had success in the market, they had success more than a decade ago, and now they’re getting back in,” McCarron added. “The key here is that they’ve established a pattern of delivery on product reliability.”

    McCarron’s comments confirm the issues Intel has had in recent years. Dell, one of Intel’s most loyal partners, had to look to AMD in 2019 as a result of Intel’s supply issues. Similarly, Cloudflare pivoted away from Intel in late 2021 because AMD’s Epyc processors were much more energy efficient. Google Cloud also moved to AMD, thanks to the performance gains it offered over Intel.

    AMD’s performance has also helped it achieve the highest share of the x86 processor market in its history, according to TechSpot. As of Q122, AMD has 27.7% of the overall market, and 18.3% of the x86 desktop market.

    Under CEO Pat Gelsinger, Intel is determined to turn the tide back in its favor, with Gelsinger even going so far as to say “AMD [is] in the rearview mirror.”

    Unfortunately for Gelsinger, the facts don’t support that claim just yet.

  • France Fines Apple $8.5M for Collecting iPhone User Data Without Consent

    France Fines Apple $8.5M for Collecting iPhone User Data Without Consent

    France’s CNIL has fined Apple $8.5 million for collecting iPhone user data without obtaining prior consent.

    Apple has tried to position itself as a privacy-first company, often highlighting the difference between it and Google or Meta. A major part of that marketing is making the case that Apple doesn’t want, need, or care about user data. Unfortunately, the reality isn’t quite matching up to the hype.

    The CNIL has fined Apple for collecting data from iPhone users that it then used for targeted ads, all without obtaining prior consent from the users. According to the regulatory agency, the Cupertino company did not get “the consent of French iPhone users (iOS version 14.6) before depositing and/or writing identifiers used for advertising purposes on their terminals.”

    What’s more, the CNIL says Apple make it unnecessarily difficult for individuals to deactivate the data collection, especially since the option was not available during initial setup.

    The fine is unusual for Apple, given the company’s well-cultivated reputation, but it does illustrate a growing disparity between Apple’s image and reality. Apple has previously been accused of being the primary beneficiary of its privacy crackdown, while other companies have been significantly harmed.

    Similarly, Apple has been accused of turning a blind eye to companies that have used loopholes to bypass the iOS App Tracking Transparency feature, continuing to track users against their wishes.

    If Apple wants to continue to maintain its reputation as a privacy-first company, it clearly has work to do in order to live up to its own marketing hype.

  • An Introduction to Marketing Software

    An Introduction to Marketing Software

    Marketing is crucial for businesses. Regardless of your product’s or service’s excellence, you won’t get customers without getting the word out. Your business’s success depends on its marketing strategy, and effective marketing campaigns can even help average products sell more. Marketing is a soft skill not everyone has, but online educational platforms can help you become a better marketer.

    Technology has facilitated many business operations, such as marketing. Digital marketing campaigns are essential to getting your business a broader reach on the internet. Several software and tools allow you to market your business more efficiently and gauge the success of your marketing campaigns. Here’s all you need to know about some critical marketing tools:

    Social Media Management Software

    Social media marketing is a promising digital marketing avenue. Over 4.7 billion people use social media platforms, so businesses must use social media to reach out to wider audiences. However, social media marketing can get complicated. You must post regularly on several platforms. To reach the maximum number of individuals, you must publish the same posts on all your social platforms. Social media management software automates this mundane task for you, saving you time and effort. These tools also show you how successful a particular post is so you can adjust your digital marketing campaign accordingly. 

    Business Intelligence Tools

    A successful business requires collecting, analyzing, and responding to data by changing your business strategy when needed. Business intelligence tools help a company efficiently perform these tasks. They deliver customer behavior data and allow the marketing department to profile their target audience. Knowing the characteristics of your demographic enables you to personalize the marketing campaign according to their preferences. Marketing departments gain insight into the audience through business intelligence tools and use them to launch more effective marketing campaigns.

    Customer Relationship Management Tools

    Marketing mainly focuses on generating new leads and expanding your customer base, but retaining your old customers and ensuring they purchase from you again is also integral to your business. A customer relationship management (CRM) tool allows you to gain insights into your existing customers and effectively market to them. They capture customer information and data about purchasing history. The software also allows automated and seamless communication with current customers, improving customer experience.

    Email Marketing Tools

    Email marketing is one of the most common and straightforward types of digital marketing. You send emails advertising your services or products to new and old customers. You incentivize them to buy your products by offering vouchers and discounts. However, manually sending so many emails is an arduous task. Email marketing tools help you automate this process, and you can effectively reach out to more people through email. The software also shows you the email engagement rate. Integrate the content style of high-performing emails into future emails to increase website traffic.

    Endnote

    Efficient businesses always consider how to effectively market their products or services to potential customers. As the world goes digital, so do businesses. Your company must use software and tools to automate its workflow and analyze data. Your marketing departments can use these tools to get insights into the target audience and automate their work. Typical marketing software includes social media management software, business intelligence tools, customer relationship management tools, and email marketing tools. These tools allow you to effectively improve their marketing campaigns by generating more leads and increasing customer lifetime value.

  • TrenDemon CEO: We Connect Content Marketing to Sales

    TrenDemon CEO: We Connect Content Marketing to Sales

    The CEO of TrenDemon, Avishai Sharon, says that they created their cloud-based software solution in order to help companies prove that the marketing content they produced also achieved business goals and sales. In order to show this correlation, the TrenDemon software analyzes all of the different touchpoints the customer has had over his lifecycle and then reverse engineers those successful journeys in order to find out what content is working.

    Avishai Sharon, Co-founder & CEO of TrenDemon, discussed their software on ILTV:

    How Do You Connect Content Marketing to Sales?

    My personal background was heading a marketing agency for many years and one of my biggest struggles was how do I prove our value and our effort to our customers and how do you connect the impact of what we call content marketing to business goals and to sales? When we couldn’t find an easy way to show that correlation three and a half years ago we went ahead and founded TrenDemon to help companies do just that.

    We connect their marketing efforts, which today rely mostly on content, you want your audience to consume valuable content, as opposed to just advertising. The big challenge is how do you attribute those efforts to sales? There’s actually a prior problem, how do you actually map the customer journey? How do you track those different touch points into one picture?

    Reverse Engineering Successful Customer Journeys

    The first thing we do is look at all the different touchpoints that a customer has had over his lifecycle. We ask the question, not just where do they come from, but how deep was their engagement? Did they actually watch the video? Did they actually read the article? Then you can start reverse engineering those successful journeys and say what’s common about all of these successful journeys.

    What we found, and this is the interesting thing, we’re working with over 90 companies today worldwide and the vast majority of content the companies produce, over 90 percent, is ineffective at driving business goals. As you guys know it’s very expensive to create quality content and it takes a lot of effort.

    If People Read the Right Content They Will Covert to a Sale

    The second interesting thing is that if you do manage to find those 10 percent and you find a way to get it in front of the right people you’re actually able to improve dramatically your results. So there’s not just a correlation between what buyers did beforehand, there’s also a causation, a causal relationship, that if people read the right content at the right time they’re more likely to follow a path. We’re not probably as sophisticated as we believe that we are.

    We’re a SaaS company, a cloud-based solution. We’re working a lot in the US and one of our biggest markets and growing markets is Japan. They’re investing a lot of content and a lot on technology. Essentially, because we look at the customer journey and not necessarily specific languages we can operate in any environment which allows us to grow pretty much anywhere. As long as they have content, which means that they’re producing something other than just advertising, they want people and audiences to actually engage with what they’re producing and they do have some business outcomes that they’re looking to measure.

    About TrenDemon:

    Founded in 2013, TrenDemon is the world’s leading content marketing attribution and optimization solution, helping marketers prove and improve their content’s impact.

    TrenDemon insights can help you uncover your content marketing ROI, impact on business goals, and engagement to help guide the content strategy. Our optimization units will help you increase conversions and shorten time to convert on your owned assets.

    TrenDemon proudly serves a wide range of customers, from Fortune 500s and brands to SaaS, B2B, and financial companies and is backed by leading VCs.

  • Windows 8.1 Receives Its Last Update Tuesday

    Windows 8.1 Receives Its Last Update Tuesday

    Windows 8.1 is slated to receive its last update on Tuesday, as Microsoft is sunsetting the operating system once and or all.

    Microsoft first released Windows 8 in 2012, but a decade later the OS has reached the end of its life. The aging OS will receive its last official update Tuesday, despite the fact that Windows 11 is still gaining market share at a relatively slow pace.

    According to Ghacks, Windows 7 is even outliving Windows 8 by receiving extended support via 0Patch. The company continues to provide support for some operating systems after their end-of-life date and is already planning to support Windows 7 for an additional two years.

    Unfortunately, there is no word on continued support for Windows 8.1.

  • Google Open Sources Its Video Blurring Tool

    Google Open Sources Its Video Blurring Tool

    Google has open sourced its video blurring tool, called Magritte, in an effort to improve user privacy.

    Google has been working to roll out additional privacy-enhancing technologies (PETs). Magritte is one of those tools that the company has open sourced to help spur wider adoption.

    “Today, we are happy to announce an open-source version of an internal project, Magritte, which uses Machine Learning (ML) advances to detect objects using low computational resources, and applies a blur to those objects automatically, as soon as they appear on screen,” the company writes in a blog post. “The tool can blur arbitrary objects, like license plates, and more.

    “This code is especially useful for video journalists who want to provide increased privacy assurances. By using this open-source code, videographers can save time in blurring objects from a video, while knowing that the underlying ML algorithm can perform detection across a video with high-accuracy.”

    The company has released the source code on GitHub.

  • Slack’s GitHub Repositories Were Stolen

    Slack’s GitHub Repositories Were Stolen

    Slack has revealed that some of its private code repositories were stolen, although the company says no customer data was impacted.

    Slack is one of the most popular messaging platforms. Like many companies, it relies on GitHub repositories to help manage its code base. GitHub notified the company of suspicious activity on an external repository, leading to the discovery of the breach.

    The company outlined the details in a blog post:

    On 29 December 2022, we were notified of suspicious activity on our GitHub account. Upon investigation, we discovered that a limited number of Slack employee tokens were stolen and misused to gain access to our externally hosted GitHub repository. Our investigation also revealed that the threat actor downloaded private code repositories on 27 December. No downloaded repositories contained customer data, means to access customer data or Slack’s primary codebase.

    The company reassures users that the issue is not an inherent vulnerability within Slack, and that no other information was accessed:

    When notified of the incident, we immediately invalidated the stolen tokens and began investigating potential impact to our customers. Our current findings show that the threat actor did not access other areas of Slack’s environment, including the production environment, and they did not access other Slack resources or customer data. There was no impact to our code or services, and we have also rotated all relevant credentials as a precaution.

    Based on currently available information, the unauthorised access did not result from a vulnerability inherent to Slack. We will continue to investigate and monitor for further exposure.

    Hopefully Slack’s initial investigation is correct and no further breaches are discovered.

  • CES 2023: AMD Unveils Its Apple M1 Killer

    CES 2023: AMD Unveils Its Apple M1 Killer

    AMD is taking aim at Apple, unveiling a chip it claims will outperform Apple’s custom silicon while offering superior battery life.

    Apple’s M1 custom silicon took the semiconductor world by storm, offering an unrivaled combination of performance and efficiency. Other companies have been working to come up with an answer, and AMD believes it has an M1 killer.

    According to MacRumors, the AMD Ryzen 7940HS “is 34% faster in multiprocessing workloads than the ‌M1 Pro‌ and 20% faster than the ‌M2‌ in AI tasks.”

    In addition to performance, the new chips offer significantly better battery life. In fact, AMD says the “Ryzen 7040 series will offer 30+ hours of video playback in ultrathin notebooks.”

    If AMD’s new chips live up to the claims, it could finally offer a compelling alternative to Apple’s custom silicon.

  • CES 2023: Spotify Access Coming to the Android 13 Media Player

    CES 2023: Spotify Access Coming to the Android 13 Media Player

    Google and Spotify are working together to improve the Android audio experience, integrating the streaming service with Android’s media player.

    Spotify is the top streaming service, offering a wide array of content and features. Google clearly wants to tap into Spotify’s popularity and features, using it to improve the Android 13 media experience.

    “With Android 13, we introduced a refreshed media player on your Android phone’s lock screen and notification section that allows you to quickly select which compatible Bluetooth or Chromecast built-in devices to play your content on (currently available with YouTube and YouTube Music),” writes Sandeep Chivukula, Director of Product Management, Android. “This year, we’re working closely with Spotify to enable their users to easily switch playback between any Spotify Connect device from Android’s media player.”

    The integration will extend to better notifications that will help users easily transition from one device to another as they listen to their music.

    “We’re also developing a way for your audio content to move with you throughout your day,” adds Chivukula. “Through notifications on your devices, you’ll be able to tap to start listening to a podcast in the car, continue on your phone and headphones and finish on your TV at home. As you move your physical location, you’ll see these media notifications on your phone or other devices asking if you’d like to transfer the audio over to a nearby device. We are working with Spotify and YouTube Music to use these notifications to help users enjoy the content they are streaming, on the most optimal device available to them.””

  • WhatsApp Launches Worldwide Proxy Support

    WhatsApp Launches Worldwide Proxy Support

    WhatsApp is making it easier for users to stay connected despite disruptions, with worldwide proxy support.

    WhatsApp is the most used messaging platform globally, and is used as a primary means of communication for many. Because of this, as well as its end-to-end encryption support, WhatsApp is often a prime target for governments and oppressive regimes.

    “Our wish for 2023 is that these internet shutdowns never occur,” the company writes in a blog post. “Disruptions like we’ve seen in Iran for months on end deny people’s human rights and cut people off from receiving urgent help. Though in case these shutdowns continue, we hope this solution helps people wherever there is a need for secure and reliable communication.”

    The company’s “solution” to ensure users can stay connected is the launch of worldwide support for proxy connections.

    “Choosing a proxy enables you to connect to WhatsApp through servers set up by volunteers and organizations around the world dedicated to helping people communicate freely,” the blog continues. “If you have the ability to help others connect, you can learn how to set up a proxy here.”

    WhatsApp assures users that the service will still offer the same level of security and end-to-end encryption, even if users opt to connect via a proxy.

    “Connecting via proxy maintains the high level of privacy and security that WhatsApp provides,” the company adds. “Your personal messages will still be protected by end-to-end encryption — ensuring they stay between you and the person you’re communicating with and are not visible to anyone in between, not the proxy servers, WhatsApp, or Meta.”

    The announcement is good news for privacy advocates, journalists, and anyone else who needs to communicate under difficult circumstances or government oppression.

  • Adobe CEO: Pandemic Was Inflection Point For Everything Being Digital

    Adobe CEO: Pandemic Was Inflection Point For Everything Being Digital

    “What the pandemic and the current health situation has done is that it has created yet another inflection point for everything being digital,” says Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen. “The importance of digital in the marketplace is going to be sustainable for decades. You’re not going to put the genie back in the bottle as it relates to engaging digitally and creating content digitally.”

    Shantanu Narayen, Chairman and CEO of Adobe, discusses how the pandemic has created another “inflection point” in the move toward digital transformation:

    Digital Transformation Is A $120 Billion Opportunity

    It was a good quarter all around. All of our businesses performed exceedingly well. On the Creative Cloud and the Document Cloud, not only did we have a great acquisition. in other words, new customers adopting the platform, but we really focused on engagement and demonstrating the value of our products to our customers. Even our retention levels came back to pre-COVID levels which we believe is a really good sign.

    What’s happening in the world is the businesses that we’re in, namely creativity and enabling people to tell their story, what’s happening with documents and accelerating document productivity, and what’s happening associated with every single enterprise needing to engage with their customers digitally, when you add all of this up we think it’s over a $120 billion of an addressable market opportunity for Adobe.

    Pandemic Was Inflection Point For Everything Being Digital

    What the pandemic and the current health situation has done is that it has created yet another inflection point for everything being digital. What we will have to continue to monitor is what happens in the spending environment. But as it relates to the overall need for the kinds of solutions that Adobe provides as well as the importance of digital in the marketplace I think that’s going to be sustainable for decades. You’re not going to put the genie back in the bottle as it relates to engaging digitally and creating content digitally.

    We believe that we’re in this third phase of what is happening in the enterprise. Traditionally, businesses first focused on automating the back office, and then they focused on automating the front office for knowledge workers. It’s absolutely clear that the biggest imperative that exists in the enterprise today is how do you engage with customers? This is a category that we call Customer Experience Management.

    Customer Insight Is Key To Your Digital Transformation

    If you’re an enterprise today and you’re thinking about digital transformation, what’s top of that stack in terms of where you have to invest is to make sure that you have insight into what your customers are doing. How are they engaging with you? What’s the profile? How do you deliver the personalized experience?

    We really believe that what you’re seeing in the enterprise spend environment is that the companies that are focused on this next generation of delivering customer engagement, the customer experiences, and the insight associated with how to take the most advantage of that data, they’re going to be the secular winners moving forward.

    Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen: Pandemic Was Inflection Point For Everything Being Digital
  • Apple Increasing Battery Replacement Cost for Most iPhones

    Apple Increasing Battery Replacement Cost for Most iPhones

    The majority of Apple iPhone users will have to pay significantly more for battery replacements on iPhone 13 and older models.

    First noticed by 9to5Mac, Apple made the announcement on a support page. According to the outlet, the price for out-of-warranty battery replacements for all iPhone models, aside from the iPhone 14, will increase by $20.

    From now until the end of February, Apple will perform battery replacements for $69. Beginning March 1, however, the price will be $89.

  • Epic CEO: Fortnite Is Returning to iOS in 2023

    Epic CEO: Fortnite Is Returning to iOS in 2023

    Fortnite fans may be in for a nice surprise, with Epic CEO Tim Sweeney saying the game may come back to iOS in 2023.

    Fortnite has been absent from the App Store since Epic and Apple’s legal squabbles. Epic decided to stop paying Apple’s App Store fees, resulting in Fortnite being banned from the App Store and sparking a legal fight between the two companies. After Apple largely won the legal battle, it appears Epic may finally be ready to make peace and try to get Fortnite back on Apple’s platform.

    Sweeney tweeted about the possibility on the last day of 2022:

  • Amazon Is Shutting Down the Consumer Version of Wickr

    Amazon Is Shutting Down the Consumer Version of Wickr

    Amazon has announced it is shutting down Wickr Me, the consumer version of its ultra-secure messaging app.

    Amazon acquired Wickr in June 2021. Wickr is a messaging app that offers end-to-end encryption and does not require a phone number or other identifying information to register. Its security and privacy make it a popular option among government agencies, such as US Customs and Border Patrol (CBP), but also among criminals.

    With mounting criticism over how Wickr is used, Amazon has decided to suspend new signups for Wickr Me and ultimately shut the service down altogether:

    At Wickr, we’ve served a diverse set of customers that range from the boardroom to the battlefield. Since AWS acquired Wickr in 2021, we’ve listened closely to our customers to better understand their requirements for end-to-end encryption. After careful consideration, we will be concentrating Wickr’s focus on securing our business and public sector customers’ data and communications with AWS Wickr and Wickr Enterprise, and have decided to discontinue our consumer product, Wickr Me. As a result, we will not accept user registrations for Wickr Me after December 31, 2022, and will discontinue Wickr Me on December 31, 2023.

  • Fixie.ai CEO: AI Will Lead to ‘The End of Programming’

    Fixie.ai CEO: AI Will Lead to ‘The End of Programming’

    Matt Welsh, CEO of Fixie.ai, has made the bold prediction that AI will lead to “the end of programming.”

    Many companies are working to improve AI systems to the point where they can tackle complex problems, such as computer programming. While progress has been made, there are still significant limitations. Despite that, Welsh believes the time is coming when AI systems will revolutionize the software industry.

    Writing in January’s Communications of the ACM, Welsh makes the case that AI will ultimately replace software altogether, in most situations at least:

    I believe the conventional idea of “writing a program” is headed for extinction, and indeed, for all but very specialized applications, most software, as we know it, will be replaced by AI systems that are trained rather than programmed. In situations where one needs a “simple” program (after all, not everything should require a model of hundreds of billions of parameters running on a cluster of GPUs), those programs will, themselves, be generated by an AI rather than coded by hand.

    Welsh believes the definition of software engineers will fundamentally change, with an emphasis on AI training models:

    So I am not just talking about things like Github’s CoPilot replacing programmers.1 I am talking about replacing the entire concept of writing programs with training models. In the future, CS students are not going to need to learn such mundane skills as how to add a node to a binary tree or code in C++. That kind of education will be antiquated, like teaching engineering students how to use a slide rule.

    The engineers of the future will, in a few keystrokes, fire up an instance of a four-quintillion-parameter model that already encodes the full extent of human knowledge (and then some), ready to be given any task required of the machine. The bulk of the intellectual work of getting the machine to do what one wants will be about coming up with the right examples, the right training data, and the right ways to evaluate the training process. Suitably powerful models capable of generalizing via few-shot learning will require only a few good examples of the task to be performed. Massive, human-curated datasets will no longer be necessary in most cases, and most people “training” an AI model will not be running gradient descent loops in PyTorch, or anything like it. They will be teaching by example, and the machine will do the rest.

    Welsh’s predictions are certainly among the most optimistic regarding AI’s future. Nonetheless, at the pace with which the technology is improving, his predictions are certainly not outside the realm of possibliity.