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Apple to Start Encrypting iCloud Backups

On Wednesday, Apple introduced its plans to enable users to encrypt additional types of iCloud info on its servers, such as full backups, photos, and notes.

The Advanced Data Protection feature will inhibit Apple from viewing the material of a portion of the most confidential or sensitive data stored on its web server and will prevent Apple from providing the information of an encoded backup to law enforcement.

According to Apple, encoded backups would be opt-in and available in the United States even before the end of this year.

Although Apple initially encrypted much of the data it contains on servers, the whole device backups containing text messages, contacts, as well as other necessary details were not end-to-end encoded, and Apple originally had access to the information of the backups.

The move will impress security advocates, who have originally defined unencrypted iCloud backups as a weak link in Apple’s privacy policy. It also implies that if Apple’s servers were ever hacked, user data would not be revealed.

It could offend law enforcement, which has relied on Apple’s policy of not encrypting backups to get contents in investigations even though Apple’s iMessage and devices are encrypted.

The FBI criticized Apple’s new feature in a statement on Wednesday, saying that it would “hinder” the bureau’s ability to “protect the American people from criminal acts,” according to the Wall Street Journal.
Source: cnbc.com

Apple notably battled the FBI’s endeavor to persuade it to unlock an encrypted iPhone utilized by a terrorist in San Bernardino, California, through the courts. Apple stated at the time that an iCloud backup on its servers was an alternative for obtaining the same data.

Encryption is generally opposed by law enforcement officials around the world since it enables suspects to go dark and refuses to acknowledge law enforcement access to potential evidence that they might have earlier access to under lower levels of security.

In an interview in 2018, Apple CEO Tim Cook stated that one major consideration in Apple’s decision-making regarding end-to-end encrypted iCloud backups is the fact that customer expects Apple to be able to assist them to recover their data. If users forget their passwords and have Advanced Data Protection enabled, Apple will be unable to reinstate the account since it lacks the required encryption key.

On Wednesday, Apple further introduced two additional security features. Users will have the option to use a physical key as second-factor authentication for Apple ID logins soon. Another update enables users who are vulnerable to major security risks to verify that their text messages are not being intercepted.

Last year, Apple introduced a system to inspect for inappropriate content including child sexual abuse content that used a complex system that would still enable

Apple encrypts user photos on its servers during an evident attempt to appease law enforcement. Privacy advocates argued that the system would mainly enable Apple to scan people’s hard drives. According to The Wall Street Journal, the system’s development has been halted.

Suhani Jain

I am a student pursuing my bachelor’s in information technology. I have a interest in writing so, I am working a freelance content writer because I enjoy writing. I also write poetries. I believe in the quote by anne frank “paper has more patience than person

Microsoft to Offer Call of Duty on Nintendo Devices if Activision Deal Closes

Microsoft has entered a 10-year deal with Nintendo to release “Call of Duty” (CoD) on Nintendo devices if the Activision Blizzard merger goes through.

Microsoft announced on Tuesday that if its $69 billion takeover of the game’s developer, Activision Blizzard, is completed, it would bring the popular video game brand Call of Duty to Nintendo systems.

Call of Duty, an enduring brand in which players engage in combat in the past, present, and future, is Activision’s flagship product. It has brought in more than $30 billion in revenue for the company.

Antitrust authorities from all around the world are currently investigating Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision, the biggest consumer technology transaction since AOL acquired Time Warner in 2000. Microsoft and Nintendo’s agreement may help allay concerns about the deal’s antitrust implications.

According to Bloomberg, Microsoft officials are meeting with USFTC chair Lina Khan as well as other members this week to present their final justification for the deal’s approval.

Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer noted, “Microsoft has entered into a 10-year commitment to bring Call of Duty to @Nintendo following the merger of Microsoft and Activision Blizzard King.

Microsoft is committed to helping bring more games to more people, however, they choose to play. Microsoft has committed to continue to offer Call of Duty on @Steam simultaneously to Xbox.”

The action is being taken as Microsoft awaits the FTC’s regulatory review of its proposed merger, which has been vigorously contested by Sony, the rival manufacturer of the PlayStation console, who thinks that the possibility of Call of Duty becoming exclusively available on Microsoft platforms would provide the company an unfair competitive advantage in the video game industry.

Regulators in the European Union and the United Kingdom have launched antitrust investigations into the transaction to determine whether it will harm competition. The EU is worried that Microsoft would deny competitors access to titles like Call of Duty. Microsoft has made assurances related to Call of Duty in an effort to allay concerns this week.

The company claims that the Activision acquisition will benefit players and boost industry competition. According to reports, the FTC is likely to approve the acquisition. Previously, Microsoft and Activision stated that they anticipated the agreement to be signed before the mid of 2023.

International regulators assessing the deal have frequently questioned if Call of Duty, one of Blizzard’s most popular titles, will be made inaccessible to PlayStation fans.

Microsoft has consistently assured authorities that the series would remain available on all current platforms, which at the moment include Xbox, PlayStation, and PC, and claimed that stopping PlayStation publication would be fiscally irresponsible.

Microsoft president Brad Smith had earlier this week announced that Microsoft had made a 10-year deal with Sony to make future Call of Duty games available on the PlayStation.

Sony has protested Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision, claiming that doing so would limit the options available to players. Microsoft’s initial proposal to keep Call of Duty on the PlayStation for “several more years” was rejected by Sony as “inadequate on many levels.”

Sandhya Gupta

I am a law graduate from NLU Lucknow. I have a flair for creative writing and hence in my free time work as a freelance content writer.

Microsoft eyes “super app” to challenge Apple and Google’s dominance of mobile search

Leave a Comment / News, Tech News / By Suhani Jain

Microsoft wants to boost its mobile efforts with a new “super app” for the iPhone that combines a variety of features into a single app. According to The Information, Microsoft hopes that such an app will assist it in breaking into the mobile search market, which itself is dominated by Apple and Google as of now.

This one “super app” would integrate purchasing, texting, internet research, newsfeeds, and other features into a single iPhone and Android app.

According to the report, this would resemble a mobile strategy that has worked for Tencent, referring to the hugely popular WeChat app. WeChat, on the other hand, combines messaging, buying stuff, news articles, and various games into a single app.

The report goes on to say that it’s not clear “whether Microsoft will ultimately launch such an app,” but it’s something that’s been internally considered. Microsoft’s push to better integrate into mobile products is being led by CEO Satya Nadella, who is particularly focused on “pushing the Bing search engine to work better with other Microsoft mobile products.”
Source: 9to5mac.com

Due to a major multibillion-dollar agreement between Apple and Google, Microsoft’s Bing is at an obvious disadvantage on Apple platforms. Apple has made Google’s search engine the default on its every platform as a result of this agreement.

The Information reports that Microsoft has previously bid on this deal but has always been beaten out by Google. “The negotiations have typically taken place directly between Nadella and top Apple executives behind closed doors,” the report says. This leaves “many top Microsoft executives in the dark about the process.”
Source: 9to5mac.com

The Google-Apple deal, on the other hand, is coming under increasing antitrust scrutiny. According to the report, an agreement between Microsoft and Apple may not garner as much regulatory attention because Bing’s contribution to the web search market is tiny in comparison to Google’s.

However, there is currently no evidence that Microsoft intends to aggressively pursue a deal with Apple to make Bing the default search engine on the iPhone. Instead, the company’s efforts are focused on enhancing Bing’s compatibility with current Microsoft services and considering the possibility of a super app.

Suhani Jain

Apple lets developers charge up to $10,000 per app

Leave a Comment / News, Tech News / By Sandhya Gupta

Apple is making another move to provide greater flexibility and quell criticism of the service by altering the price strategy for the Apple App Store to allow developers to charge a wider array of amounts.

Apple updated the App Store pricing structure on Tuesday, making it possible for developers to charge anywhere between 29 cents and $10,000 for their apps. Additionally, new options for pricing across numerous countries and currencies will be available to developers.

Apple noted, “These newly announced tools, which will begin rolling out today and continue throughout 2023, will create even more flexibility for developers to price their products while staying approachable to the hundreds of millions of users Apple serves worldwide. And, in turn, help developers continue to thrive on the App Store.”

The company noted, “Under the updated App Store pricing system, all developers will have the ability to select from 900 price points, which is nearly 10 times the number of price points previously available for most apps. his includes 600 new price points to choose from, with an additional 100 higher price points available upon request.”

The departure from Apple’s long-standing 99-cent price limit occurs as the Silicon Valley giant defends itself against claims that it has a monopolistic hold on the App Store, which serves as the only entry point for iPhones.

The change significantly alters the App Store, which Apple introduced in 2008 with a focus on simplicity. In recent years, the platform has come under further fire from regulators and developers who claim that the company’s standards are excessively onerous.

Apple is under fire for the limitations and costs it imposes on developers, notably the 30% commission it charges for some of the apps available on the App Store.

Apple and small devs in the USA reached a settlement in a $100 million class-action suit last year, and one of the terms of the deal included raising prices. Apple also simplified the process for developers to challenge app rejections at the time, as well as adjustments to App Store search.

Political pressure is also being applied on Apple in the US and Europe to loosen its grip on the App Store, which has been criticized by companies like Spotify, Epic Games, and Twitter. A California judge dismissed Epic’s complaint that Apple was operating like a monopoly through the App Store in 2021.

The judge, however, disallowed Apple from forbidding developers from incorporating “external links or other calls to action that direct customers to purchasing mechanisms” in their apps.

New EU regulations that go into effect in May 2023 will compel Apple to allow third-party app stores and other payment methods on its iOS operating system. The Digital Markets Act will also forbid the iPhone from giving Apple’s own services, such as Apple Music or the Safari browser, a competitive advantage.

Apple’s new pricing flexibility does not solve the central issues of sideloading and third-party apps brought up in the last couple of antitrust lawsuits against the corporation. In response to requests for greater transparency, Apple has been adamant that sideloading iOS applications will lead to security issues, while conveniently omitting the fact that macOS supports user-loaded apps.

Unless compelled to do so by the courts or legislators, Apple is unlikely to abandon its App Store gatekeeping, as it did with its price tier adjustments.

Sandhya Gupta

I am a law graduate from NLU Lucknow. I have a flair for creative writing and hence in my free time work as a freelance content writer.

Google to shut down Duplex AI for web

Leave a Comment / News, Tech News / By Suhani Jain

Google has announced the disappearance of its Duplex on the Web service which is a tool powered by AI that was released in 2019 to assist users with a wide variety of online tasks such as purchasing airline tickets or improving the efficiency of the check-in process for flights on airline websites.

“Any automation features enabled by Duplex on the Web will no longer be supported after this date,” said the update.
“As we continue to improve the Duplex experience, we’re responding to the feedback we’ve heard from users and developers about how to make it even better,” a Google spokesperson told TechCrunch.
“By the end of this year, we’ll turn down Duplex on the Web and fully focus on making AI advancements to the Duplex voice technology that helps people most every day,” the spokesperson added.
Source: business-standard.com

The service was first officially confirmed at Google I/O 2019 as just an extension to its call-automation Duplex technology. As well as, while its use case was primarily limited to purchasing movie tickets, the facility subsequently expanded to also include data breach protection and check additional help or aid on e-commerce online sites.

Google has not clarified the reason why it is closing down the service, but as per TechCrunch, the cost of training and fine-tuning resource-intensive AI models might be the reason. Besides that, if website owners prevent the crawler from indexing their content, the performance of Duplex on the Web may decrease badly.

The company plans to invest less in improving Google Assistant and Google Assistant-powered services for non-Google devices.

Google positions it as an assistant that can aid you with mundane activities which include bookings and reservations, where it can contact the location and handle the bookings for you.

In 2019, Google introduced Duplex for the web which was an offshoot of the assistant which would assist you in filling out web application forms to make the user experience more seamless.

Suhani Jain

The Pixel 7 Finally Gets Its Free VPN in Google’s Latest Drop

Leave a Comment / News, Tech News / By Sandhya Gupta

At the “Made by Google” event earlier this year, Google unveiled the Pixel and Pixel 7 Pro smartphones. The company launched free VPN services for its mobile devices via the Google One app in addition to the flagship phones and the Pixel watch.

Despite all of the wonderful features the Pixel 7 offers, up until now, it hasn’t received some of the most highly anticipated abilities. The most recent Pixel release from Google contains some of the much-heralded features of the new Pixel 7 including a free VPN via Google One.

Google has finally provided private browsing after previewing it at its Pixel presentation in October. Users of the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro will now get free, no-cost, subscription-free access to this VPN via the Google One app. Before this only users of Google’s $9.99/month 2TB subscription were permitted to use it.

One’s internet activity is encrypted and their IP address is hidden when using a VPN by Google One. A VPN offers users safety while utilizing a public network and also prevents location tracking. Users of the Google One application can select “Use VPN” to immediately protect their location and browsing history.

Apple offers a comparable solution for iPhones called Private Relay, but it isn’t free for iPhone 14 users and requires a membership to either its iCloud+ or Apple One services. Private Relay, however, only shields user traffic that travels through Apple’s own internet browser, Safari.

With the most recent version, the Recorder app now has speaker labels that will give people in the recording their own labels automatically. Additionally, the software will insert a line break anytime the speaker in transcriptions changes.

The devices will also have Clear Calling activated, which will aid in lowering background noise and enhancing human voice quality. Pixel 7 will be able to distinguish between several speakers and create line breaks when necessary when users record lectures or conferences.

Owners of Pixel Watches will receive Sleep Profiles, a Fitbit Premium feature, even if they aren’t subscribed to Fitbit Premium. To assess one’s sleep, this tool keeps track of ten distinct factors, including the length of your sleep, interruptions, and regularity of bedtime.

New additions for other Pixel smartphones are included in this Pixel drop as well. The upcoming single portal for privacy and security settings will feature action cards with tips on how to make your software as secure as possible.

In January, phones using the Pixel Buds Pro will also get spatial audio. Google noted, “you can also turn on spatial audio with wired headphones.”

In a subsequent update, Google confirmed that the Pixel Watch Fall Detection will arrive in 2023 and that the redesigned tiles for sunset/sunrise and favorite contacts would be available.

Google just unveiled a ranking of the top games and applications available in India’s Google Play Store. Quest has been named the “Best App of 2022” in this yearly update to Google’s top applications and games. While the battle royale game Apex Legends Mobile has been chosen as the “Best Game of 2022.”

Sandhya Gupta

I am a law graduate from NLU Lucknow. I have a flair for creative writing and hence in my free time work as a freelance content writer.

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