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Apple introduced a new technology to intelligently block browser cookies in Safari, which brought criticism from a number of advertising organizations. Apple believes in privacy with every product it makes, and the advertising groups want to track everything we do so they can sell ads. […]

Ahead of next week’s launch of the new Apple TV 4K with HDR support, Apple has begun releasing 4K HDR content on iTunes in the United States and other countries.

I love Apple’s commitment to getting this content out now, so people who purchase the new Apple TV 4K can start to enjoy it.

Alphabet Inc. has held conversations with Lyft Inc. about a potential investment in recent weeks, signalling strong support for Uber Technologies Inc.’s main U.S. competitor, according to people familiar with the matter.

An investment of about $1 billion in Lyft may come from Google or CapitalG, Alphabet’s private-equity arm, said some of the people, who asked not to be identified because the discussions are private.

This makes perfect sense for both companies. Waymo, Alphabet’s self-driving car division, signed a deal with Lyft to test that technology. The strange part is that Alphabet is also an investor in Uber, but Waymo is suing them for allegedly stealing their self-driving car technology.

BMW (BMWG.DE) is reviewing the necessity of car keys, Ian Robertson, the company’s board member responsible for sales told Reuters.

The fact that customers now all carry a smartphone and the availability of a BMW App which allows customers to unlock their vehicle, has made old fashioned keys less relevant.

Yes and no. I get where they’re going, but there are some obvious situations where you may need a key. What if your phone runs out of battery or you lose it—now you can’t even get in your car.

If you plan to get one of Apple’s new products, they are available for pre-order now.

• iPhone 8/iPhone 8 Plus
• Apple TV 4K
• Apple Watch Series 3

Second, what kind of sociopaths are these people that they want to put mom-and-pop corner stores and bodegas out of business?

Yeah, “fuck these guys.”

An amazing mission and a fitting ending.

As always, when Mogull writes/speaks, I listen. Good article even with the sour note at the end.

Many of us have complained about iTu8nes bloat and wanted Apple to do something about it but, in my opinion, this isn’t it. I like having backups on my Mac.

…it was only yesterday it hit me how odd and jarring the term “Town Squares” was. I can’t quite put my finger on why I dislike it so much.

If I could only pick two, I’d say Matchbox Cars and Risk are worthy of the Hall.

The Apple Support Twitter feed posted the details of what iOS devices will be compatible with iOS 11.

Along with all the other important announcements, Apple quietly posted the release date for High Sierra.

Apple has posted a bunch of product videos from today’s announcement but the “Dear Apple” video was especially touching.

It was the first-ever event at the Steve Jobs Theater, a spectacular looking venue.

Apple’s event has wrapped and here is a cheat sheet for what will be available when

Apple has just wrapped today’s event and the link will take you to all of their PR for the products announced today. We’ll have other links to commentary as the day goes on.

Thanks to Hullo for sponsoring the Loop this week. Your pitiful old squishy pillow needs constant readjustment. It’s invariably too thick, too thin, sometimes just too warm. Flipping, folding and fluffing are getting in the way of your rest. You … Continued

The theory is that Siri can’t provide as much of a personal experience for its users because privacy is so important to Apple. Not so, says Apple:

“I think it is a false narrative,” said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s VP of product marketing. “It’s true that we like to keep the data as optimized as possible, that’s certainly something that I think a lot of users have come to expect, and they know that we’re treating their privacy maybe different than some others are.”

And

Joswiak argues that Siri can be every bit as helpful as other assistants without accumulating a lot of personal user data in the cloud, as companies like Facebook and Google are accustomed to doing. “We’re able to deliver a very personalized experience . . . without treating you as a product that keeps your information and sells it to the highest bidder. That’s just not the way we operate.”

BOOM!

More than two dozen lawsuits have been filed in the United States against Equifax Inc (EFX.N) after the credit reporting company said thieves may have stolen personal information for 143 million Americans in one of the largest hackings ever.

Equifax is in for a world of hurt.

Both Gruber and the BBC confirmed the iOS 11 GM came from an Apple employee. I don’t know how a person can accept a paycheck from a company and then turn around and screw them like this. They betrayed Apple and every single other person in the company.

Leaks or not, I’m really excited for this announcement.

Thanks to Jamf Now for sponsoring The Loop this week. Jamf Now is an on-demand mobile device management solution for the iPads, iPhones and Macs in your workplace. We make device management simple and affordable for everyone, so businesses can support their users; no IT required. Manage your first three devices for free and add more for just $2 per device per month. Get started for free today!

Authorities said Brett Kennedy gave fellow University of Washington alumnus Maziar Rezakhani nonpublic information from Amazon’s database, showing that the retailer would lose less money and report higher revenue for the first quarter of 2015 than Wall Street expected, in exchange for $10,000 cash.

Oh my.

And

Rezakhani, also 28, pleaded guilty in July 2016 to mail fraud, bank fraud and filing a false tax return after being accused of defrauding Apple Inc AAPL.O, a small bank and various shippers in connection with his iPhone resale business.

This guy is crooked in everything he does.

The National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) launched a search on Wednesday for asset managers to take care of the money as it is held in escrow while the Government and Apple appeal a 2016 European Commission decision that Apple received €13 billion in illegal state aid in the decade to 2014.

This is going to be an incredibly long process, so the money needs to be managed wisely.

These are wonderful photos of amazing women. That they were shot so quickly on something as “simple” as an iPhone (and three different models at that) shows the power of the device in the hands of an accomplished photographer.

Anything Apple can do to make Siri better is a welcome thing. I’ve heard comments from iOS 11 beta testers that Siri sounds different. I just want “her” to work better.

I’ve always been about as flexible as a plank but, as I’ve gotten older, I’ve really noticed a significant additional stiffening. My SO is an accomplished yoga practitioner and has encouraged me to start off slow doing these kinds of poses.

After fears that Apple’s developer site may have been hacked earlier today, the company said tonight that there was no security breach. Apple emailed the following statement to The Loop: […]

Apple’s Developer site has been down for a couple of hours now, and while it originally seemed like the outage was related to maintenance, a few reports trickling in from developers suggests there could potentially be another cause.

Several developers are reporting that all of their developer account addresses have been updated with an address in Russia, perhaps indicating some kind of breach or serious internal error. According to multiple developer reports, their accounts list a Russian address instead of their correct address.

We’ve reached out to Apple for comment.