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Gruber on Apple’s China problem

I read through Gruber’s piece and tried to pick out one point to quote here, but it’s so thoughtfully woven together, you should just read it all.

Amazon video app may come to Apple TV

Amazon and Apple may have reached a truce.

The tech giants, who are increasingly competing for customers’ time, eyeballs and money, are close to an agreement to bring an Amazon video app to Apple’s Apple TV set-top box, according to people familiar with the two companies.

This agreement will benefit both companies. Amazon subscribers want to be able to use their Apple TVs to watch videos without using AirPlay and Apple wants to offer a full complement of programming options for its customers.

YouTube investing in 40 original TV shows and movies

The company will fund more than 40 original shows and movies in the next year, spending hundreds of millions of dollars, according to a person familiar with the plans. YouTube is betting high-profile stars will attract more advertisers like Johnson & Johnson, which is sponsoring “Best.Cover.Ever,” a music competition from Ryan Seacrest that’s scheduled for later this year.

I think this is great. The original programming from Netflix and others over the past few years has been fabulous. Hopefully that trend will continue.

Porsche opens digital center in Silicon Valley

Sportscar maker Porsche is opening a digital technology center with 100 staff in Silicon Valley to forge new partnerships, cooperate with venture-capital companies and invest in new companies, it said on Friday.

This is a very interesting move for Porsche. They aren’t waiting to license technology in a few years when it matures, they are getting in on the ground floor where it’s being developed in Silicon Valley.

Imagination Technologies starts dispute process with Apple

Imagination said in April that Apple had notified the British firm it was developing its own graphics chips and would no longer use Imagination’s processing designs in 15 months to two years time.

I get why Imagination wants to hang on to Apple, but it makes a lot of sense for Apple to make its own chips. It has the facilities and technical people to make it happen. Doing so means that Apple doesn’t have to pay licensing fees to a third-party, which means it keeps more the money from each sale.

Damage

While Gemmell will be perceived as biased, he’s not far wrong. It must be disheartening for developers to see the race to the bottom on the iOS app store where people bitch about paying $4.99 for an app and complain about paying for updates/upgrades in the form of new versions.

Canon EOS Rebel T7i/800D review

I’m a Nikon guy but, if you’re in the market for your first DSLR or to replace an older one, you can’t go wrong with the latest Canon Rebel. The Rebel line is the best selling camera for good reason.

Beware of the Google Doc phishing attack

There are two reasons why this thing is so tricky. For one, it looks legit: An invitation to view a Google Document appears to come from an existing contact. But when a person clicks on the link, the attack immediately replicates itself—meaning, it has the potential to spam all of that person’s contacts with the same message. The second reason it’s so tricky is that it’s unclear what the attack is attempting to do. Phishing is often a way for bad actors to gain unauthorized access to a person’s email or other private accounts, but it’s not yet clear what’s motivating this attack.

I received this about 30 minutes ago. I didn’t open it.

Hulu unveils Live TV

Hulu joined the ranks of those companies offering Live TV through its mobile and Apple TV. I think I want to be a cord cutter, but maybe I’m not a good candidate. I just don’t find any of the offerings on the market that appealing. If this is something that interests you, have a look at Hulu’s page.

Uber fights for self-driving car future

The ride-services company is contesting Waymo’s accusation that former Waymo engineer and current Uber executive Anthony Levandowski took technical secrets from Waymo and used them to help Uber’s self-driving car development.

If it were proven that Levandowski and Uber conspired in taking the information, that could have dire consequences for Uber, say legal and ride-hailing industry experts. Uber’s $68 billion valuation is propped up in part by investors’ belief it will be a dominant player in the emerging business of self-driving cars.

The man at the heart of this dispute, Anthony Levandowski, was given $250 million worth of Uber stock the day after he left Google’s self-driving program. While suspicious, that in itself doesn’t mean Uber is guilty of anything. Google also says that Levandowski stole 14,000 confidential documents before leaving the company. That one could hurt.

Tim Cook to appear on CNBC today at 6pm ET

According to CNBC, Apple CEO Tim Cook will appear on CNBC’s Jim Cramer on “Mad Money” show which airs today at 6pm ET. While CNBC doesn’t specify what the two will chat about, it’s pretty obvious that Apple earnings will be the main topic. It’s always very interesting to listen to Tim talk about Apple and how he feels the company is doing, not just financially, but with its products, the environment, and the future.

Apple Watch, AirPods, Beats sales hit Fortune 500 level

Apple Watch sales, along with AirPods and Beats headphones have hit Fortune 500 level, which means they’re bringing in over US$5 billion to Apple’s “other products” category. Company CEO Tim Cook shared that detail during the company’s second fiscal quarter earnings report on Tuesday.

I know some people question whether these products are successful or not, but come on, That’s an incredible amount of sales. I vote successful.

Apple reports second quarter results

Apple on Tuesday reported its fiscal second quarter results. According to the company, it had quarterly revenue of $52.9 billion and quarterly earnings per diluted share of $2.10. These results compare to revenue of $50.6 billion and earnings per diluted share of $1.90 in the year-ago quarter.

How a Zippo lighter is made

I still remember the very first Zippo lighter I ever got. My dad was stationed on the HMCS Iroquois, a Canadian Navy destroyer and I went on a deployment with him. He gave me a Zippo branded with the ship’s crest that only the ship’s sailors could buy. I treasured it for years.

Twitter announces 16 new live streaming partners

Another 16 sports, news and entertainment companies will soon be livestreaming content on Twitter as the company furthers its mission to be the go-to source for live content around the clock.

Twitter isn’t the place I go for live streaming, but maybe I’m wrong.