Let’s Talk Apple – Ep. 28 (December 2015)


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Panel:

The show starts with a quick look at some interesting Apple-related numbers released in December before moving on to a quick review of the month’s legal news. The five main stories for the month were: the fight over encryption, executive team changes at Apple, the Apple iPhone battery case, some mobile payment developments, and the abandonment of Apple’s talks with the TV networks. The show finishes with a quick rundown of some other shorter stories that made the news in December.

You’ll find detailed show notes below the fold, and if you enjoy this free show, please consider clicking on the donate button at the top of the left side bar – the show is free for you to listen to, but not for Bart to Produce!

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Notable Numbers
  • Apple says Apple Maps now used 3x more often than it's next leading competitor (presumably Google Maps) – www.imore.com/…
Legal Latest
  • Apple reaches €318M settlement with Italian government in tax investigation. This does not end the country's criminal investigation into Apple executives though – www.macobserver.com/…
  • Apple -v- Samsung:
    • Samsung agrees to pay Apple $548M, but reserves the right to ask for it back if any of the patents get overturned – www.fosspatents.com/…
    • Samsung files a motion requesting the US Supreme Court review the case – www.fosspatents.com/…
    • Apple files a motion for supplementary damages in it's case against Samsung – these damages are for interest on money awarded to Apple but not paid promptly, and for continued use of the patented technology after the judgement – www.macobserver.com/…
    • BGR reminds us that fighting this case has forced Appel to make public a whole lot of internal secrets, including pictures of iPhone prototypes – bgr.com/…
  • Apple & Ericsson end their patent fight with a Patent Licensing deal – www.macobserver.com/…
Main Stories
  1. The Battle over Privacy heats up, and the UK is the front-line of the battle
    • Apple lobbies the British government directly, proposing changes to the controversial Investigatory Power Bill which is making it's way through the British parliamentary process – www.imore.com/… & www.macobserver.com/…
    • Tech industry group warns that current wording of the bill would allow the government to hijack toys to spy on people – nakedsecurity.sophos.com/…
    • Meanwhile in the US, the director of the FBI calls for tech companies to 'change their business models' so they're no longer selling privacy – theintercept.com/…
    • We've been here before – Ars Technica reminds us of what we should remember from the disastrous clipper chip back in the 1990s – arstechnica.com/…
    • A good FAQ on the wider topic from Ars Technica – arstechnica.com/…
  2. Executive Team changes at Apple – Jeff Williams promoted to COO, Phil Schiller put in charge of App stores – www.apple.com/… & arstechnica.com/…
  3. Apple launch iPhone battery case – Apple Fandom collectively lose their minds!
  4. Mobile Payment developments:
    • Apple announce Chinese Apple Pay deal – will partner with Union Pay in China as soon as regulatory approval is granted – hopefully in 2016 – www.macobserver.com/…
    • Walmart launch Walmart Pay – www.imore.com/…
    • Google Wallet updated to allow sending of money to friends via SMS (previously only via email) – www.imore.com/…
    • Target rumoured to be working on it's own mobile payment system which may or may not be launched, and if it is, it may or may not happen in 2016 – www.imore.com/…
  5. It's rumoured that Apple have suspended talks on their rumoured US TV streaming plans because TV companies were insisting on bundling their channels – www.bloomberg.com/… & www.imore.com/…
Quick Stories

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