Tech

Elon Musk goes to war with the almighty Apple

Published

2 days ago

March 27, 2023

Magnate Daily

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Eva Deschamps / November 29, 2022

Elon Musk, Twitter’s owner for the past month, declared “war” on Apple on Monday, after already putting the social network in a perilous position by alienating advertisers, (ex) employees and regulators.

The tempestuous billionaire assured that Apple “threatened” to remove the social network from its application store, a must-have on iPhones.

“Apple has threatened to remove Twitter from its App Store, but they refuse to tell us why,” said the Twitter boss, after a series of tweets accusing the Apple brand of censorship and abuse of dominance.

“Apple has essentially stopped advertising on Twitter. Do they hate free speech in America?” he said, before calling out the head of the California group in these terms: “What’s going on Tim Cook?

Is Apple threatening the availability of Twitter on the App Store or making requirements for content moderation,” asked an Internet user to Elon Musk, who replied “yes.”

Apple did not immediately respond to a request from AFP.

Elon Musk has published a meme (parody image) representing a car named “Elon” that takes a highway exit in the direction of “declare war”, instead of continuing straight to “pay 30%”, the commission of Apple on user spending through the app store.

The Tesla boss advocates a relaxation of content moderation on the social network, in line with his absolutist vision of free speech. He recently had Donald Trump’s account reinstated and other personalities banned after breaking the rules.

His approach has scared off many brands, from General Motors to Pfizer, who have suspended their ads on the platform. Twitter depends on advertising revenue for 90 percent of its revenue.

According to the Washington Post, in the first quarter of this year, Apple was the largest advertiser on the network, spending $48 million, or more than 4 percent of quarterly revenue.

The fight against problematic messages (harassment, misinformation, hate speech, etc.) is also essential vis-à-vis the authorities (the European Union, for example, requires platforms to remove illegal content quickly) and mobile operating systems, namely iOS (Apple) and Android (Google).

The two giants can ban any application that does not comply with their rules on content, often quite vague, with “catastrophic” consequences for the said application, explained ten days ago Yoel Roth, former head of security at Twitter.

“Apple and Google have enormous power over the decisions Twitter makes,” he summarized in an editorial published by the New York Times.

Their representatives “regularly voice their objections to certain content,” he said, leading to “delays in projects and crises that can last weeks or months.

Elon Musk, who has laid off more than half of Twitter’s staff, is already facing many strategic issues, but he seems determined to provoke Apple.

“Secret suppression of free speech by Apple. Customers were never informed. What the fuck,” he tweeted in response to a post from another account, accusing Apple of censorship on the subject of Covid.

He then promised to soon publish “Twitter files” (a term for documents revealed by whistleblowers), on the “suppression of free speech”, because “the public deserves to know what really happened”.

Did you know that Apple has a secret 30% tax on everything you buy through their App Store?” he asked again.

Many app publishers, Epic Games (Fortnite) in the lead, have publicly come out against Apple and Google’s 15-30% commission on spending through their app stores in recent years.

Elon Musk has also relayed a video of Epic Games – which largely lost its first battle against Apple in court – comparing the iPhone manufacturer to the dictatorship of the novel “1984 ».

His plan for an $8-a-month subscription to get additional features and profile authentication will be affected by the commission.

“The new battle between Musk and Apple is not what investors want to see,” reacted Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities. “The market wants less drama, not more,” the analyst continued, “while every day, at Twitter, a new act comes along to encourage investors who bet on Tesla down.”

Tech

Apple Keynote 2022: iPhone 14 unveiled

Published

2 days ago

March 27, 2023

Magnate Daily

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Steph Deschamps / September 7, 2022

It’s back to school for Apple! The Apple company, through the voice of Tim Cook, is currently unveiling its new collection during its big back-to-school conference, the Keynote, which is currently held on the stage of the Steve Jobs Theater, at the Cupertino HQ, in California.

The iphone 14 has been unveiled this Wednesday evening with a larger version, called iPhone 14 Plus but also Pro versions. Five colors were presented. Apple does not announce any price increase compared to the iPhone 13, that is to say a launch price of 799 dollars and 899 dollars for the iPhone 14 Plus.

Before that, the new Apple Watch Series 8 was confirmed, followed by a new Watch SE 2 and a so-called Ultra version for the most extreme athletes.

New AirPods Pro 2 were also presented during this Apple Keynote 2022.

Let’s move on to the pricing of the new iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max. These will be available from several prices depending on the storage capacity you need:

iPhone 14 Pro: starting at $999

iPhone 14 Pro Max: from 1099 dollars.

Both devices will be available from September 16 and open for pre-orders from September 9.

A new sensor will be available for the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max! The latter will have 48 MP, never seen on an iPhone. But megapixels are not everything and we will have to wait and see if the digital processing of the iPhone remains as powerful as before for high quality photos.

The iPhone 13 was already very powerful. But the iPhone 14 Pro goes even further by integrating the new A16 Bionic chip for more performance. Apple even promises 40% higher performance than the competition (are they talking about the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor available in Android?).

You had trouble seeing your notifications on the iPhone? Apple promises a bright screen of up to 2000 nits for its new iPhone 14 Pro (and Pro Max). An impressive figure, but we’ll have to test it when the phone comes out to see if we have the brightest screen on the market.

More room for your wallpaper. This is already the promise initiated with iOS 16 and confirmed with the iPhone 14 Pro and its new, more discreet notch. Notifications become more discreet, but expand when they appear on your screen.

Looking for something new on the iPhone 14? No problem, here are the new iPhones 14 Pro and Pro Max with the new notch that extends when you make phone calls. Available in black, white, gold and purple.

Available from September 16, the iPhone 14 will be offered from 799 dollars, the same price as the iPhone 13 at its launch! No price increase is finally planned despite the numerous rumors of the last weeks. The iPhone 14 Plus will be available at the beginning of October for 899 dollars.

The new feature of emergency calls by satellite will not be free! This last one will be first reserved to Canada and the US with a period of two years offered for the purchase of an iPhone 14.

Are you in an area without a 4G or 5G network? Don’t panic. The iPhone 14 has a brand new service: Emergency SOS via Satellite. This allows the iPhone 14 to connect to a satellite to make emergency calls in case you have no phone network.

Do you have an eSIM card? The iPhone 14 might be for you. The device now supports eSIM on multiple devices while strengthening the security of your data. You will no longer need to have your physical SIM card in your iPhone!

Apple details the new features of the iPhone 14, including an improved 12MP photo sensor. What to take better photos, especially in low light where performance would be improved by 49% compared to the previous generation. The selfie camera is also improved and captures more light in low light.

Black, white, red, purple and turquoise. These are the new colors of the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus available at the launch of the phone. These will be available on the official Apple store and authorized dealers.

The Apple Keynote unveils the new iPhone 14. The latter still has the same design as its predecessor but with some new features, including the iPhone 14 Plus which has a larger size.

A new, even smaller earmold, a new chip, more powerful spatial audio, an improved battery, twice the noise reduction of the previous model… These are just some of the new features of the new AirPods Pro 2. The headphones will also be able to automatically adjust their transparency mode to keep you connected to the world when using noise reduction.

The AirPods Pro 2 will be available starting at $249 on September 23. You can reserve your copy online starting Friday, September 9.

Apple finally announces the AirPods Pro 2! After months of waiting, the most successful wireless earphones of the firm are finally official. They are equipped with a brand new chip and a new audio distortion for a great sound quality. Spatial audio is still available and enhanced as if you were on a stage with your favorite band playing alongside you.

The Apple Watch Ultra is not for the average user. That’s why it has new features, including the most advanced GPS in the range. The Apple Watch Ultra will be available from $799 on September 23. This is a record for a watch aimed at the general public, but the first rumors indicated a price close to 1000 dollars.

Do you like diving? The Apple Watch Ultra will have a new app that will allow you to use it several meters underwater to track your progress, depth and other data that you can then find on your iPhone. Your data will automatically sync at the end of your dive.

Tech

Tesla presents a prototype humanoid robot

Published

2 days ago

March 27, 2023

Magnate Daily

Reading Time: < 1 minutes

Eva Deschamps / October 1, 2022

This robot, “Optimus”, walked on a podium, under techno music, and greeted the public present.

The manufacturer of electric sedans Tesla presented Friday, in Palo Alto (California), during an event dedicated to artificial intelligence, a humanoid robot.

According to Tesla’s boss, Elon Musk, the humanoid robot Optimus could be marketed for about 20,000 dollars. The billionaire said he is convinced that robots will contribute to “a future of abundance, a future without poverty”.

On Twitter, the whimsical CEO also added that there will “naturally be a catgirl version of our Optimus robot ».

Tech

Elon Musk turns around and offers to buy Twitter again

Published

2 days ago

March 27, 2023

Magnate Daily

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Steph Deschamps / October 5, 2022

U.S. multi-billionaire Elon Musk has finally offered to buy the social network from Twitter at the price agreed in April, two weeks before the expected trial between the two parties on this eventful acquisition.

The Tesla boss “intends to complete the transaction contemplated by the purchase agreement of April 25, 2022”, according to the terms, wrote his lawyers in a letter addressed to the Californian group on Monday, and filed Tuesday with the U.S. securities regulator, the SEC.

The only condition expressed in the letter: the end of legal proceedings pending before the specialized court of Delaware.

Twitter’s stock rose more than 22% on the New York Stock Exchange. It had previously been suspended all afternoon “pending information”, after an article from the agency Bloomberg revealing this rebound.

Elon Musk had proposed in the spring to acquire the platform for $54.20 per share, valuing it at $44 billion. The board of directors of the social network, initially very reluctant, had finally accepted.

The contractor had unilaterally reneged on this agreement in July. The group with the blue bird had then launched a lawsuit to force him to honor his commitment, and everything indicated that he was well positioned to win.

Tuesday, the group confirmed in a brief statement “having received the letter” and having the intention “to conclude this transaction” at the defined price.

Elon Musk had bombarded Twitter with criticism before and after the signing of the contract, accusing the platform of censoring users.

He had justified his backtracking by saying that the proportion of automated accounts on the platform was well above the 5%, the figure put forward by the company of San Francisco.

Faced with Twitter’s complaint, the president of the specialized court of Delaware that had to deal with the case granted the company a quick trial, while Elon Musk wanted to wait until next year and asked for astronomical amounts of data.

The trial was supposed to take place from October 17 to 21, but it will not take place if Twitter accepts this new offer.