The program will only allow independent repair shops to offer out-of-warranty service for iPhones, such as display and battery replacements, with no mention of in-warranty repairs or other devices at this time. Apple has set up a new page on its website where businesses can learn more and apply.

To qualify, repair shops must be an established business with verification documents available for review by Apple, must be in a commercially zoned area, and must have an Apple-certified technician on staff to perform the out-of-warranty iPhone repairs when using genuine parts. There is no cost to join the program.

Apple also says that meeting the requirements does not guarantee acceptance into the program, and it reserves the right to reject any application without comment, so we’ll have to see how flexible the company chooses to be.

Apple COO Jeff Williams:

To better meet our customers’ needs, we’re making it easier for independent providers across the US to tap into the same resources as our Apple Authorized Service Provider network. When a repair is needed, a customer should have confidence the repair is done right. We believe the safest and most reliable repair is one handled by a trained technician using genuine parts that have been properly engineered and rigorously tested.

Over the past year, Apple says it launched a pilot with 20 independent repair businesses in North America, Europe, and Asia who are currently offering genuine parts for repairs. Apple plans to expand the program to other countries over time.

While limited to out-of-warranty iPhone repairs for now, this can certainly be viewed as a step in the right direction for Right to Repair advocates.

At least five people were dead after a gunman who hijacked a postal service vehicle in West Texas shot more than 20 people, authorities said Saturday. The gunman was killed by police and three law enforcement officers were among the injured.

Odessa Police Chief Michael Gerke said that in addition to the injured officers, there were at least 21 civilian shooting victims. He said at least five people died. He did not say whether the shooter was among the dead. It was also not clear whether Gerke was including the five dead among the at least 21 civilian shooting victims.

“There is no active shooter at this time. All agencies are investigating reports of possible suspects,” Midland Police said on Facebook. The city of Midland neighbours Odessa. 

According to authorities, the shooting started with a traffic stop. The suspected shooter, described by police as a white male in his 30s, began shooting at law enforcement. He then hijacked a US Postal Service vehicle and continued to shoot at random, police said.  

Gerke said authorities believe the shooting is over, but he urged residents to remain vigilant. 

“I want to remind all Texans that we will not allow the Lone Star State to be overrun by hatred and violence. We will unite, as Texans always do, to respond to this tragedy,” Texas Governor Greg Abbott said in a statement. 

Statement on shooting in Odessa, Texas: pic.twitter.com/3QV5LriVzi

— Gov. Greg Abbott (@GovAbbott) August 31, 2019

Saturday’s shooting comes just weeks after 22 people were killed and dozens injured when a gunman opened at a Wal-Mart in El Paso, Texas. The suspect in that shooting said he was targeting Mexican immigrants. 

Abbott this week held two meetings with politicians about how to prevent mass more shootings in Texas.  He said he would visit the Odessa-Midland area on Sunday.

Vice President Mike Pence said following the shooting that President Donald Trump and his administration “remain absolutely determined” to work with leaders in both parties in Congress to take such steps “so we can address and confront this scourge of mass atrocities in our country”.

Preparing to fly to Poland, Pence told reporters that Trump is “fully engaged” and closely monitoring the investigation. He said, “Our hearts go out to all the victims, the families and loved ones.” He also commended law enforcement “for their swift, courageous response”.

SOURCE:
Al Jazeera and news agencies

The catch is that the deal is only available at Micro Center retail stores, likely to draw in foot traffic, although orders can be reserved online for in-store pickup. The Apple Authorized Reseller has only 25 locations across the United States, so be sure to check if there is a location in your area.

Micro Center is also offering the wireless charging case by itself for $49.99, down from Apple’s regular price of $79, and the second-generation AirPods with a standard charging case for $129.99, down from $159.

The deals are limited to one per household, and supplies are likely extremely limited, so we recommend calling ahead if you are planning on visiting a Micro Center store. There’s no indication when the sales end, so act fast.

A number of malicious websites used to hack into iPhones over a two-year period were targeting Uyghur Muslims, TechCrunch has learned.

Sources familiar with the matter said the websites were part of a state-backed attack — likely China — designed to target the Uyghur community in the country’s Xinjiang state.

It’s part of the latest effort by the Chinese government to crack down on the minority Muslim community in recent history. In the past year, Beijing has detained more than a million Uyghurs in internment camps, according to a United Nations human rights committee.

Google security researchers found and recently disclosed the malicious websites this week, but until now it wasn’t known who they were targeting.

The websites were part of a campaign to target the religious group by infecting an iPhone with malicious code simply by visiting a booby-trapped web page. In gaining unfettered access to the iPhone’s software, an attacker could read a victim’s messages, passwords, and track their location in near-real time.

Apple fixed the vulnerabilities in February in iOS 12.1.4, days after Google privately disclosed the flaws. News of the hacking campaign was first disclosed by this week.

These websites had “thousands of visitors” per week for at least two years, Google said. It’s not immediately known if the same websites were used to target Android users.

Victims were tricked into opening a link, which when opened would load one of the malicious websites used to infect the victim. It’s a common tactic to target phone owners with spyware.

One of the sources told TechCrunch that the websites also infected non-Uygurs who inadvertently accessed these domains because they were indexed in Google search, prompting the FBI to alert Google to ask for the site to be removed from its index to prevent infections.

A Google spokesperson would not comment beyond the published research. A FBI spokesperson said they could neither confirm nor deny any investigation, and did not comment further.

Google faced some criticism following its bombshell report for not releasing the websites used in the attacks. The researchers said the attacks were “indiscriminate watering hole attacks” with “no target discrimination,” noting that anyone visiting the site would have their iPhone hacked.

But the company would not say who was behind the attacks.

Apple did not comment. An email requesting comment to the Chinese consulate in New York was unreturned.

A new 15% tariff on Chinese imports will go in effect just after midnight Sunday, placing levies on hundreds of household goods and consumer tech, including a bevy of Apple products.

The tariffs, put in place by President Donald Trump as part of an escalating tit-for-tat trade war with China, were entered into the Federal Register on Friday.

Apple, the largest U.S. technology company by market cap, has its products assembled in China by Foxconn and then ships them to consumers all over the world. The Apple Airpods, Apple Watch and accompanying Apple Watch bands and the Apple Homepod are all products subject to the higher tariffs beginning Sunday. The iPhone doesn’t appear to be impacted this round, but could be subject to tariffs that begin Dec. 15.

Apple is hardly the only electronics company — most of which have final assembly in China — to be affected by the tariffs. TVs, speakers, digital cameras, lithium-ion batteries and flash drives are just a few of consumer electronics that will be subjected to a 15% tariff beginning Sunday. But the higher tariffs do threaten to give rival Samsung an edge.

The new higher tariffs come just a few weeks since Apple CEO Tim Cook met with Trump to argue that such a move would benefit its No. 1 competitor Samsung.

The 15% tariff will affect about $112 billion of Chinese goods, lower than the original list of $300 billion imports. Last week, the U.S. Trade Representative office modified the original list, either delaying tariffs on some products until December 15 or removing some goods altogether.

Despite the lower number, the impact is still expected to pinch companies importing products from China. The complete list of products affected by the 15% tariffs is 122 pages long. And eventually, that pain — aka higher prices — will be passed onto consumers.

Apple has not said whether it will increase prices of its products. Analysts from JP Morgan expect Apple to absorb the costs.

Tariffs have already had a cost, according to the Consumer Tech Association. Since July 2018, Section 301 tariffs on China have cost the consumer tech industry over $10 billion, including $1 billion on 5G-related products, the CTA said.

In total, American taxpayers have paid over $27 billion in extra import tariffs from the beginning of the trade war in 2018 through June of this year, most of which can be attributed to the U.S.-China trade war, according to U.S. Census information provided by the Information Technology Industry Council (ITI).

Another 30% tariff on about $250 billion of goods is expected to begin October 1.

That was the biggest news of the week, but there was much more including a surprise release of the first iOS 13.1 beta even as iOS 13.0 has yet to be released, exclusive details on Apple’s Tile competitor for tagging and locating physical items from your iPhone, privacy-related changes to Apple’s quality control program for Siri, and more, so check out all of this week’s most important stories below.

Save the Date: Apple’s Next Event is September 10th

Apple on Thursday invited the media to a special event on Tuesday, September 10 at Steve Jobs Theater on its Apple Park campus in Cupertino, California. At the keynote, scheduled for 10 a.m. Pacific Time, the company is widely expected to introduce new iPhone and Apple Watch models.

We may also hear more details and pricing for Apple’s two new services launching in the fall, Apple TV+ and Apple Arcade. There are also rumors about a 16-inch MacBook Pro, an iPad Pro refresh, and a 10.2-inch iPad, but these products could be held for an October event.

MacRumors will have live coverage of the keynote as it unfolds on our website and @MacRumorsLive on Twitter.

Apple Releases First Beta of iOS 13.1

Surprise! Apple this week seeded the first beta of iOS 13.1 to developers and public beta testers before iOS 13 has even been officially released.

This has allowed Apple to push back some iOS 13 features until iOS 13.1, like ETA sharing in Apple Maps, a new Audio Sharing feature, and Shortcuts automations. iOS 13 will still be released first in mid September, while iOS 13.1 should be available to all users by October.

Apple has also released iOS 12.4.1 with a jailbreak fix and seeded the latest betas of macOS Catalina, watchOS 6, and tvOS 13. And if you’re still running macOS Mojave, there is a new Supplemental Update this week.

Exclusive: Apple’s Tile Competitor Will Include ‘Items’ Tab in iOS 13’s Find My App and Much More

Apple has been rumored to be planning to compete with Tile and announce a small Bluetooth beacon device. This beacon could be attached to personal items such as keys, purses, or wallets so that the owner could find them even when out of range of the items.

MacRumors has discovered an ARKit “star” image in the Find My app bundle that hints at the possibility of Apple’s beacon incorporating augmented reality to find lost devices or items, similar to the Pixie Tracker. Apple may also allow these beacon devices to be “leashed” to an iOS or watchOS device so that the user would be notified when a beacon device is out of range of an iOS or watchOS device.

Taking things further, MacRumors was able to learn more about the beacon and how it will integrate with the new Find My app, discovering a number of images and other tidbits of information within an internal build of iOS 13.

Apple Apologizes Over Siri Privacy Concerns, Will Resume Grading Program in Fall With Several Changes

Apple has apologized over privacy concerns that arose after it was reported that contractors hired by the company frequently heard confidential information while listening to anonymized Siri audio recordings for quality evaluation purposes — aka grading.

After swiftly suspending its grading program and conducting a review of its policies, Apple says it will resume the evaluation process in the fall on an opt-in basis only and with improved privacy measures, including no longer retaining audio recordings.

Apple employees will still review anonymized, computer-generated transcripts of Siri interactions regardless of a customer’s opt-in status, with the only way to avoid this being to disable Siri entirely.

Apple to Allow Independent Repair Shops to Service Out-of-Warranty iPhones With Genuine Parts

Apple is launching a new program that will provide independent repair businesses with the same Apple genuine parts, tools, training, repair manuals, and diagnostics as Apple Authorized Service Providers, starting in the United States.

The program will allow independent repair shops to offer out-of-warranty service for iPhones, such as display and battery replacements, but there is no mention of in-warranty repairs or any other devices at this time. Apple has set up a new page on its website where repair businesses can learn more and apply.

macOS Catalina Tips and Tricks Worth Knowing

macOS Catalina should be released by the end of September, and ahead of time, we have highlighted some lesser-known features, tips, and tricks for the update over on our YouTube channel.

As a refresher, be sure to watch our macOS Catalina hands-on video from June, which provides a detailed overview of major new features.

Subscribe to MacRumors on YouTube for new Apple videos every week!

Apple Shelves ‘Walkie-Talkie’ Feature for iPhone-to-iPhone Messaging Without Wi-Fi or Cellular

A recent report claimed that Apple has shelved plans for a “walkie-talkie” feature that would have allowed iPhone users to communicate with each other in areas without cellular coverage, such as while hiking.

The feature would have allowed messaging without Wi-Fi or cellular connectivity, instead relying on the 900 MHz radio spectrum. The technology apparently relied on Intel modems, though, and Apple is widely expected to switch back to Qualcomm modems in iPhones starting in 2020.

MacRumors Newsletter

Each week, we publish an email newsletter like this highlighting the top Apple stories, making it a great way to get a bite-sized recap of the week hitting all of the major topics we’ve covered and tying together related stories for a big-picture view.

So if you want to have top stories like the above recap delivered to your email inbox each week, subscribe to our newsletter!

There’s no doubt that Apple’s self-polished reputation for privacy and security has taken a bit of a battering recently.

On the security front, Google researchers just disclosed a major flaw in the iPhone, finding a number of malicious websites that could hack into a victim’s device by exploiting a set of previously undisclosed software bugs. When visited, the sites infected iPhones with an implant designed to harvest personal data — such as location, contacts and messages.

As flaws go, it looks like a very bad one. And when security fails so spectacularly, all those shiny privacy promises naturally go straight out the window.

And while that particular cold-sweat-inducing iPhone security snafu has now been patched, it does raise questions about what else might be lurking out there. More broadly, it also tests the generally held assumption that iPhones are superior to Android devices when it comes to security.

Are we really so sure that thesis holds?

But imagine for a second you could unlink security considerations and purely focus on privacy. Wouldn’t Apple have a robust claim there?

On the surface, the notion of Apple having a stronger claim to privacy versus Google — an adtech giant that makes its money by pervasively profiling internet users, whereas Apple sells premium hardware and services (including essentially now ‘privacy as a service‘) — seems a safe (or, well, safer) assumption. Or at least, until iOS security fails spectacularly and leaks users’ privacy anyway. Then of course affected iOS users can just kiss their privacy goodbye. That’s why this is a thought experiment.

But even directly on privacy, Apple is running into problems, too.

To wit: Siri, its nearly decade-old voice assistant technology, now sits under a penetrating spotlight — having been revealed to contain a not-so-private ‘mechanical turk’ layer of actual humans paid to listen to the stuff people tell it. (Or indeed the personal stuff Siri accidentally records.)

Apple defines vintage products as those that have not been manufactured for more than five but less than seven years. Macs and other products on the vintage and obsolete list are generally no longer eligible for hardware service at a Genius Bar or Apple Authorized Service Providers.

That being said, also-obsolete Late 2012 model iMacs are currently eligible for Apple’s pilot program that allows for repairs to continue into the vintage period, subject to parts availability. It’s not clear if the Early 2013 model 21.5-inch iMac will also come under the pilot program, but Apple has expanded it to include additional Macs and other Apple devices in the past.

The Early 2013 21.5-inch iMac was originally only available to educational institutions, taking advantage of a cheaper dual-core Intel Core i3 processor and integrated graphics to offer pricing of $1099, which was $200 less than the entry-level pricing for the consumer 2.15-inch iMac models Apple was selling at the time. The education-only iMac, which carries a model number of ME699LL/A, also included just 4GB of RAM and a 500GB hard drive.

Omar al-Bashir, Sudan’s former president, has told a court that he received $25m from Saudi Arabia’s powerful crown prince.

The 75-year-old, who was toppled in April in the wake of mass protests against his three-decade rule, made the statement on Saturday after a judge formally charged him with illicit possession of foreign currency and corruption. 

The offences could put al-Bashir behind bars for more than a decade. 

Questioned in court for the first time, al-Bashir said he used the money for donations and not for his own benefit. 

Sitting in a metal cage in the court in Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, al-Bashir said: “My office manager … received a call from the office of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman saying he has a ‘message’ that will be sent on a private jet.    

“We were told that the crown prince did not want his name to appear [linked to the transaction] … and if the funds were deposited with Sudan’s bank or the finance ministry, the source would have to be identified,” he said.

‘As you see fit’

Al Jazeera’s Hiba Morgan, reporting from Khartoum, said al-Bashir told the court he gave five million dollars to the Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary group that helped remove him from power, four million dollars to a university in Sudan and two million dollars to a military hospital.

But he told the court he had no record of how the money was spent. 

“He said he did not want to turn down the money because he did not want to  upset a country that had special relations with Sudan. But he also said that he wasn’t sure of why it was given in the first place,” said Morgan. 

Prince Mohammed told al-Bashir to “use the money as you see fit”, she added. 

An investigator had previously told the court that al-Bashir received $90m in cash from Saudi royals.

The Saudi government communications office did not immediately comment on the testimony.

A lawyer for al-Bashir said that his client denied the charges against him and that witnesses for the defence would be presented at the next hearing. Ahmed Ibrahim al-Tahir, the former president’s legal counsel, previously told reporters it was normal for heads of state to hold foreign currency. 

The court rejected a request from al-Bashir’s defence attorneys for his release on bail.

The trial was adjourned until September 7. 

Authorities found millions in foreign and domestic currency stockpiled at al-Bashir’s home after his arrest. 

Al-Bashir was also charged in May with incitement and involvement in the killing of protesters.

Separately, the former Sudanese leader is wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of war crimes and genocide linked to the Darfur conflict in the 2000s.

Politically significant

Speaking to Al Jazeera, William Lawrence, a professor of political science at George Washington University, said the optics of al-Bashir’s trial are “exceedingly important” as Sudan embarks on a transition to civilian rule following a power-sharing deal signed on August 17 by protest leaders and the generals who replaced him.

“Certainly both sides … will want to demonstrate that there is a growing rule of law, a justice system that can function,” said Lawrence. 

But the transparency may have limits as the proceedings continue, he added, as there are “officials who are very corrupt who are being protected by the current military authorities.”

“It will be interesting to see whether they try to limit going forward what comes out of the trial to protect people still holding positions of confidence,” Lawrence said. 

SOURCE:
Al Jazeera and news agencies

If the attacks were successful, a monitoring implant would be installed on the targeted iPhone, able to steal private data including messages, photos, and GPS location in real time. Google estimated that thousands of visitors headed to these websites per week over the course of two years, and that iOS versions ranging from iOS 10 to iOS 12 were exploited.

There was no target discrimination; simply visiting the hacked site was enough for the exploit server to attack your device, and if it was successful, install a monitoring implant. We estimate that these sites receive thousands of visitors per week.

TAG was able to collect five separate, complete and unique iPhone exploit chains, covering almost every version from iOS 10 through to the latest version of iOS 12. This indicated a group making a sustained effort to hack the users of iPhones in certain communities over a period of at least two years.

Project Zero discovered exploits for a total of 14 vulnerabilities in iOS, seven for Safari, five for the kernel, and two separate sandbox escapes. The team reported these findings to Apple in February, and Apple’s release of iOS 12.1.4 that same month addressed the issues.

Google’s deep dive into the iOS exploit can be read on the company’s Project Zero blog.

Satechi makes a whole range of different USB-C adapters, hubs, and docks to add ports to Apple’s Macs, but the Multimedia Adapter is one of the more powerful, specialized options.

Priced at $109.99, the Dual Multimedia Adapter is designed to plug into two USB-C ports on a MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, or Mac mini. It needs two USB-C ports because it offers two 4K HDMI ports, so you can connect two 4K displays.

Along with two 4K HDMI ports, the Multimedia Adapter features a USB-C port for charging purposes (up to 60W), a Gigabit Ethernet port, microSD and SD card slots, and two USB-A ports for USB-A accessories.

The Multimedia Adapter is made from brushed aluminum and comes in either silver or space gray to match Apple’s devices. It measures in at 5 inches long and 2 inches wide, which means it’s portable enough to take with you on the go if needed, but it’s also perfect for desk use.

Satechi says that the Multimedia Adapter works with the 2018 and later MacBook Pro, the 2018 MacBook Air, and the 2018 Mac mini.

We have five of the Multimedia Adapters from Satechi to give away. To enter to win, use the Gleam.io widget below and enter an email address. Email addresses will be used solely for contact purposes to reach the winners and send the prizes. You can earn additional entries by subscribing to our weekly newsletter, subscribing to our YouTube channel, following us on Twitter, following us on Instagram, or visiting the MacRumors Facebook page.

Due to the complexities of international laws regarding giveaways, only U.S. residents who are 18 years or older and Canadian residents (excluding Quebec) who have reached the age of majority in their province or territory are eligible to enter. To offer feedback or get more information on the giveaway restrictions, please refer to our Site Feedback section, as that is where discussion of the rules will be redirected.

The tariffs were entered into the Federal Register today and will go into effect on 12:01 a.m. local time on Sunday in Washington, D.C. for products entering the U.S. or being pulled from warehouses for use in the United States.

Apple devices set to be impacted include the Apple Watch and Apple Watch bands, AirPods, HomePod, some Beats headphones, and some iMacs. Bloomberg says that repair parts for iPhones could also be affected, as could the NAND flash storage used in iPhones.

Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said earlier in August that he believes Apple will absorb most of the U.S. tariff costs on its devices “in the mid-short term” rather than raising prices for consumers. Apple has been expanding its production facilities in countries like India and Vietnam, which, in the long term, will diversify manufacturing beyond China and alleviate tariff concerns.

Apple CEO Tim Cook recently met with U.S. president Donald Trump at Trump’s Bedminster golf club, where Cook reportedly made a “good case” that tariffs would put Apple at a disadvantage with rivals like Samsung. “I thought he made a very compelling argument, so I’m thinking about it,” Trump told reporters.

Apple in June also sent a letter to the Trump Administration urging against the tariffs because it would reduce Apple’s contributions to the United States economy and weigh on its global competitiveness. Trump could still elect to delay the tariffs or exempt Apple products ahead of when they are set to go into effect, but recent tweets suggest that may be unlikely to happen.

Apple accessories like power adapters, cables, and cases are already subjected to an import tax at the current time, separate from the tariff set to hit new Apple products on Sunday.

This tariff won’t immediately affect the iPhone, one of Apple’s most popular devices that’s responsible for a large portion of its revenue, until December 15 as tariffs on electronics like smartphones and laptop computers have been delayed so as to not impact the holiday shopping season.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Medellin, Colombia – The memories came flooding back to Angela Maria Escobar when she woke to the news that key former leaders of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) were once again picking up arms.

The bloody clashes between the rebel fighters and paramilitary groups. The sounds of gunfire that once echoed across her small Colombian town. Her friends who were murdered by one armed group because they were suspected of helping the other.

The sadness, desolation, fear, and the date, December 23, 2000: the day she was raped by three paramilitaries fighters.

“It’s a sadness, devastation, I felt like I was powerless,” she said.

Anxiety struck many in the South American country on Thursday morning, when a group of FARC leaders – including former peace negotiator Ivan Marquez – announced they were rearming against the government of Colombian President Ivan Duque, accusing him of not honouring the 2016 peace accords.

While the peace was already on thin ice, the announcement of a “new phase of armed struggle” by the guerrilla fighters marked perhaps the biggest hit to Colombian peace since the accords were signed three years ago.

But for victims like Escobar, it was something more potent.

“We hope it doesn’t happen again, we have to make sure we stop it from happening again: the massacres, the assassinations, the kidnappings, the sexual violence,” she said.

The Colombian armed conflict has raged for more than half a century in the country’s jungles and cities, leaving behind more than eight million victims, including an estimated 28,000 people who were sexually abused. When the FARC fighters and the government of former President Juan Manuel Santos signed the peace accords in 2016, it acted as a light at the end of the tunnel for many victims. It promised compensation for their pain, a way for their voices to be heard and an end to the violence that had grown to define their lives. 

“I spent 10 years in silence,” said Escobar, now leading organisation working to amplify the voices of sexual violence victims of the armed conflict. “Ten years suffering.”

But hope began to shift towards anxiety one year ago when Duque took the stage, winning the presidency after campaigning against Santos’s peace deal.

Peace far from the reality

The next year brought with it a surge of killings of social leaders and former rebels, as well as failures by the government to implement key parts of the deal, including reintegration of former combatants, victims restitution and development in rural areas often disproportionately affected by the conflict.

As many ex-FARC fighters began to once again pick up arms with other dissident groups, and world leaders urged the Colombian government to sufficiently implement the accords, the concept of peace became more of a dream than a reality for many formerly wartorn areas of the country.

That was the feeling in March for Marifer Culman Ortiz, a 19-year-old working to deactivate landmines in her jungled home of Caqueta, Colombia, once the heart of the FARC’s fight against the government.

Marifer Culfer Ortiz, a 19-year-old deminer, digs through jungle earth speckled with landmines in Caqueta [Megan Janetsky/Al Jazeera] 

As a child, she watched family and classmates picked off by gunfire and explosives exchanged by FARC rebels and the military. Her strongest childhood memories were always of bullets and bloodshed. Though violence had dissolved in much of the zone, she saw the accords only as a brief respite.

“What they call the peace process, it’s not a peace process. It’s just a way to calm the guerrilla,” she said, looking out into the distant mountains where groups of dissidents were reported to be regrouping. “This is only for a moment.”

With Wednesday announcement by Marquez and other leaders – who were surrounded by a group of uniformed and armed men and women in a 32-minute YouTube video – many fear that moment may soon be over.

A screengrab taken from YouTube and released on August 29, 2019, shows former senior commanders of the dissolved FARC rebel army group in Colombia [YouTube/AFP] 

Duque responded on Thursday by announcing he was sending a special military unit after the rebels and declaring a three billion peso, or $882,000, reward for the arrest of those in the video.

On Friday, Defence Minister Guillermo Botero said troops killed nine FARC dissidents in rural areas of the south.

‘I hope we don’t return to the years of horrors’

While other FARC leaders were quick to reaffirm that more than 90 percent of ex-rebels were still committed to consolidating peace in Colombia, for Escobar, the move by the former FARC leaders was a long time coming. 

“As a victim, I will say: the truth is, this man doesn’t want peace,” she said. “Of course, I see him as being responsible. Of course, the Colombian government has part of the responsibility. They failed to implement the peace accords.”

Others, like Fabiola Perdomo, a wife of one of 11 Colombian deputies held captive and assassinated by the FARC and a leader in Colombia’s Victims Unit, instead met the announcement with anger, telling Colombian media that “Marquez has failed the victims”. She wondered, like much of the South American country, if future peace was still in the cards for them.

“Now, there’s only one path for the state to persecute and combat them,” she said. “I only hope that we don’t return to those years of horrors where the only thing they left behind in the country were the displaced, the widows and orphans.”

Apple says that “under very rare circumstances” a crack can form along the rounded edge of the screen in aluminum Series 2 and Series 3 Apple Watch models, starting on one side of the screen and then continuing around it.

Customers with an eligible Apple Watch model can have their Apple Watch screen replaced free of charge from Apple or an Apple Authorized Service Provider if it is exhibiting this kind of crack. Affected customers can contact Apple support for a mail-in repair, visit an AASP, or visit an Apple retail store.

All Apple Watch Series 2 and Series 3 models in aluminum are included in the repair program, with a list available in Apple’s support document.

Apple says that the new program covers eligible aluminum Apple Watch Series 2 and Series 3 models for three years after the first retail sale of the unit or one year from the start date of the program, whichever is longer.

The internal build contains an image of the accessory that suggests it will be a small, circular tag with an Apple logo in the center, similar to many other Bluetooth trackers. The image could be a mockup or placeholder, however, so the final design of the tag may vary at least slightly.

This image looks similar to one shared by 9to5Mac‘s Guilherme Rambo, who was first to reveal Apple’s plans for this product in April.

MacRumors can confirm the tags are codenamed “B389” within Apple, and there are many strings that are a dead giveaway as to what this product’s purpose will be, such as “tag your everyday items with B389 and never lose them again.”

The tags will be closely integrated with the new Find My app in iOS 13, which merged Apple’s previous Find My iPhone and Find My Friends apps into one. While not available in public betas of iOS 13, the internal build contains a new “Items” tab in the Find My app for tracking the location of personal belongings.

Users will receive a notification when they are separated from a tagged item, according to strings in the internal Find My app bundle. If necessary, users can then tap a button in the Find My app that will cause Apple’s tag to start emitting an audible chime to help locate the lost item.

“Safe Locations” can be set where the user will not be notified if this item is left in those locations, and users will also be able to share the location of items with friends and family members, based on iOS 13 strings.

If users are unable to find an item, they can place the attached tag into a “Lost Mode.” Then, if another iPhone user comes across the lost item, they will be able to view contact info for the item’s owner and contact them by phone or text message. Perhaps the stranger will be alerted with a Find My notification on their iPhone when they have found a lost item. The item’s owner will also be notified.

After digging further into the code, we remain confident that augmented reality will play a role in Apple’s item tracking feature.

Like the Pixie Tracker, the Find My app will likely incorporate functionality from Apple’s ARKit platform. The internal build of iOS 13 includes an asset for a 3D red balloon that could help a user pinpoint a lost item after scanning a room with their iPhone. There’s also an image of a 2D orange balloon.

“Walk around several feet and move your iPhone up and down until a balloon comes into view,” a string in the internal Find My app bundle reads.

There are also strings that suggest Apple’s tags will be equipped with a removable battery, which would likely be a button cell, aka the small, circular batteries found in many watches and the latest Tile trackers. A low battery warning appears to prompt the tag to send a final location of the item it is attached to.

“Unscrew the back of the item and remove the battery,” another string in the internal Find My app bundle reads.

While we were not able to proceed any further with the “Items” tab, it should be similar to the “Devices” tab in the Find My app, with a map at the top and a list of items at the bottom. It is possible the “Me” tab will be relocated to an avatar hovering over the map, although there could simply end up being four tabs.

Here’s the image that should appear in the “Items” tab prior to any items being added, in line with the “People” and “Devices” tabs when empty:

This internal build of iOS 13 is from June, so we cannot guarantee that the “Items” tab or all of the details presented above will be exactly as described. The icon for the “People” tab has already been tweaked slightly in subsequent iOS 13 betas, for example, so there will be at least some minor changes.

Apple is hosting a September 10 event at Steve Jobs Theater, where it is widely expected to unveil new iPhone and Apple Watch models, but it is unclear if its item tracker tags will be unveiled at that time or later.

Skype is best known for being a video calling app and, to some extent, that’s because its messaging feature set has been a bit underdeveloped. Today, the company is working to change that image with a series of improvements to Skype’s chatting features aimed at further differentiating it from rival apps.

One of the most useful of the new features is support for Message Drafts.

Similar to email, any message you type up in Skype but don’t yet send is saved within the conversation with a “draft” tag attached. That way you can return to the message to finish it and send it later on.

It’s a feature it would be great to see other messaging clients adopt, as well, given how much of modern business and personal communication takes place outside of email.

People have wanted the ability to draft and schedule iMessage texts for years — so much so that clever developers invented app-based workarounds to meet consumers’ needs. Some people even type up their texts in Notepad, while waiting for the right time to send them.

In another email-inspired addition, Skype is also introducing the ability to bookmark important messages. To access this option, you just have to long-press a message (on mobile) or right-click (on desktop), then tap or click “Add Bookmark.” This will add the message to your Bookmarks screen for easy retrieval.

You’ll also now be able to preview photos, videos, and files before you send them through messages — a worthwhile improvement, but one that’s more about playing catch-up to other communication apps than being particularly innovative.

And if you’re sharing a bunch of photos or videos all at once, Skype will now organize them neatly. Instead of overwhelming recipients with a large set of photos, the photos are grouped in a way that’s more common to what you’d see on social media. That is, only a few are display while the rest hide behind a “+” button you have to click in order to see more.

Unrelated to the messaging improvements, Skype also rolled out split window support for all versions of Windows, Mac, and Linux. (Windows 10 support was already available).

As one of the older messaging apps still in use, Skype is no longer the largest or most popular, claiming only 300 million monthly active users compared to WhatsApp’s 1.5 billion, for example.

However, it’s good to see its team getting back to solving real consumer pain points rather than trying to clone Snapchat as it mistakenly tried to do not too long ago. (Thankfully, those changes were rolled back.) What Skype remaining users appreciate is the app’s ease-of-use and its productivity focus, and these changes are focused on that direction.

Outside of the expanded access to split view, noted above, all the other new features are rolling out across all Skype platforms, the company says.

The Daily Crunch is TechCrunch’s roundup of our biggest and most important stories. If you’d like to get this delivered to your inbox every day at around 9am Pacific, you can subscribe here.

1. Apple will unveil the next iPhone September 10

Apple has sent out invites confirming rumors that its next major press event will happen on September 10. The event is expected to focus on the iPhone 11, unveiling three different models — the standard 11, as well as two Pro options.

If this happens, it would mark a subtle-but-significant shift in the way Apple structures its phone lineup. With a lower-priced flagship replacing the budget XR, the company could appeal to consumers who’ve been turned off by the rising prices for higher-end options.

2. Uber and Lyft are putting $60M toward keeping drivers independent contractors

In the event that California’s Assembly Bill 5 passes — forcing Uber and Lyft to make their drivers W-2 employees — each company is putting in $30 million to fund a 2020 ballot initiative that would enable them to keep their drivers as independent contractors.

3. Google lets David Drummond do the talking

Anyone wondering if Alphabet might reprimand its chief legal officer David Drummond for a long-ago extramarital affair with a former subordinate (which recently resurfaced in a much-discussed blog post), the answer seems to be . . . not right now.

Image via Getty Images / vladwel

4. ‘Filmmaker Mode’ will automatically turn off all the dumb motion smoothing and noise reduction on new TVs

Most new TVs come with a bunch of random junk turned on by default; things like motion smoothing that makes epic movies look like soap operas, or noise reduction that can wash out details and make an actor’s skin look cyborg-y. With Filmmaker Mode, you’ll be able to push a button and all that crap gets turned off.

5. Nike Huaraches get updated for the smartphone age

Slowly but surely, Nike has made its self-lacing motor technology more accessible. The next step: Bringing the tech to its Huarache line next month.

6. What is Andela, the Africa tech talent accelerator?

To put it succinctly, Andela is a startup — backed by $180 million in venture capital — that trains and connects African software developers to global companies for a fee. (Extra Crunch membership required.)

7. Marc Benioff will discuss building a socially responsible and successful startup at TechCrunch Disrupt

Benioff is coming to TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco to discuss how to build a highly successful business while giving back to the community.

Spotify this morning announced a new way for you to share music with friends (or fans, if you’re an artist) — by way of a new Facebook Stories integration that includes 15-second song previews. Viewers can also optionally tap on the “Play on Spotify” button in the Story to be redirected to the Spotify app to hear more.

The feature is designed largely with artists and their teams in mind, as it gives them another way to promote their new music across Facebook’s social network. Musicians and their managers often today use the Spotify app’s sharing feature to post their content across social media, including to Instagram, Twitter, WhatsApp, and elsewhere.

Last year, Spotify introduced a way to share music to Instagram Stories, including their albums, tracks, and playlists, as part of Facebook’s announcement that it was opening up sharing to Facebook and Instagram Stories from other, third-party apps.

At the time, the company said an integration with Facebook Stories was coming soon.

Since its launch on Instagram, the sharing feature has been mutually beneficial for both Spotify and Instagram alike, as it made users’ Stories more engaging while also sending traffic back to the Spotify app for further music discovery.

There’s likely not as much demand for sharing to Facebook Stories, however.

In order to share the 15-second clips to Facebook Stories, you’ll tap the “Share” button from the Spotify app and choose Facebook as the destination.

Side note: We’re not seeing the option to share to News Feed as the picture Spotify published shows (see above. Instead, tapping “Facebook” launches you right into the Story interface, as shown in the tweet above. 

You can then customize your Story as you would normally using the Story editing tools and post it to your profile. Viewers will get to hear the 15-second song clip, and can then tap to go to Spotify to hear more.

Spotify had offered Facebook Story sharing in the past, but the access was later pulled.

These song previews only work when you’re sharing a single track to Stories. If you choose to share other content, like albums, playlists, or an artist profile page, viewers can click into that content, but won’t hear any preview, Spotify says.

Apple isn’t the only smartphone manufacturer planning a big September launch. Huawei’s got a big event on the books as well, set for September 18 in Munich, just over a week after the new iPhones are unveiled. For Huawei, however, the Mate 30 announcement is about more than just smartphones.

The event is effectively the first big handset launch since the embattled Chinese manufacturer was added to the U.S. trade blacklist. The move had seemingly been a longtime coming, after years of allegations ranging from spying to sanctions violations, but with the ban in place, the move will mark a key moment of truth for a company that has so far been dependent on offerings from U.S. companies like Google.

The Mate 30, which also marks a push into 5G, could potentially launch without Google apps. The recent U.S. government reprieve only applied to already announced products, according to a statement Google gave to Reuters. Trump has suggested the ban on Huawei products could be lifted with a new U.S.-China trade deal, further clouding the suggestion that the move was made purely out of concerns for security.

The smartphone maker gave its own comment to Reuters, noting, “Huawei will continue to use the Android OS and ecosystem if the U.S. government allows us to do so. Otherwise, we will continue to develop our own operating system and ecosystem.”

That last bit is a clear allusion to HarmonyOS. The recently unveiled operating system is largely limited to low-end handsets and IoT devices, but Huawei is also certainly readying itself for a long-term life after Google.

Meanwhile, CNBC is citing a source that suggests the phone will launch with or without Google apps, depending on how things shake out over the next few weeks. That would likely amount to a minor nuisance, requiring users to download them after purchase, while a full-out Android brand would prove far more harmful to its bottom line.

It seems quite unlikely at the moment, however, that the company would attempt to launch such a high-end device with its own partially baked operation system.

A tipster who claims to work at a major carrier has since provided MacRumors with internal communication that suggests the rumored iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro models will be available to pre-order Friday, September 13 ahead of deliveries to customers and in-store availability starting Friday, September 20.

MacRumors has received similar tips echoing these dates in recent weeks, so there is a good chance they are accurate.

iPhone pre-orders have begun two to three days after Apple’s event for years now, followed by availability a week later, so these dates are hardly a surprise but good to know nevertheless. Unlike the iPhone X in November 2017 and the iPhone XR in October 2018, however, all three 2019 iPhones are expected to launch simultaneously.

The tipster requested anonymity and asked us not to share the screenshots of the internal communication.

Nearly two weeks since setting sail from Gibraltar, uncertainty remains over the destination of a huge Iranian tanker that has been at the centre of mounting tensions between the United States and Iran.

The Adrian Darya 1 vessel, formerly known as the Grace 1, was seized by the British territory on July 4 and held for six weeks on suspicion of shipping oil to Syria in breach of European Union sanctions. Tehran denied the charges and on August 15 a court in Gibraltar ordered the tanker’s release despite a last-minute legal attempt by Washington to have it detained.

Since its departure three days later, the Adrian Darya 1 has been bouncing around the Mediterranean Sea, with every change of course sparking speculation about where its cargo of 2.1 million barrels worth about $140m will ultimately go.

Maritime traffic monitors had shown that the Adrian Darya 1’s latest listed destinations, which are not necessarily the next approved port of call, were in Turkey. After tracking sites showed Mersin as its destination, it then switched on Friday to Iskenderun, a small Turkish port on the Mediterranean Sea – prompting a reaction from Turkey’s foreign minister.

“This tanker is not heading actually to Iskenderun [in Turkey], this tanker is heading to Lebanon,” Mevlut Cavusoglu said during a visit to Norway’s capital, Oslo. 

He later clarified the vessel was headed towards Lebanon‘s territorial waters, not a Lebanese port.

Beirut had earlier dismissed the scenario, stressing that it never buys crude oil because it simply does not have refineries.

“The energy ministry does not buy crude oil from any country and Lebanon does not own a crude oil refinery,” Lebanese Energy Minister Nada Boustani said in a statement.

She added that Lebanon had not received any docking request from the tanker.

“There is also no request for the Adrian Darya 1 oil tanker to enter Lebanon,” Boustani said.

According to maritime traffic monitoring websites, the tanker is currently just west of Cyprus.

Iran said on Monday it had “sold the oil” on board the tanker and that the owner would decide the destination.

It did not identify the buyer nor say whether the oil had been sold before or after the tanker’s detention in the Strait of Gibraltar, on Spain’s southern tip. Tehran said it could not name the actual destination due to the US’s “economic terrorism” and its sanctions on Iran’s oil sales.

Tensions between arch-enemies Iran and the US have soared ever since Washington stepped up its campaign of “maximum pressure” against Tehran and reimposed sanctions after leaving last year a multinational nuclear deal signed between Iran and world powers in 2015.

Syria, which has ports on the Mediterranean, is also under various US and EU sanctions over its eight-year-old ongoing conflict.

In July, Iran impounded a British-flagged tanker in the Gulf, which Britain called a tit-for-tat move but Tehran denied any connection.

SOURCE:
Al Jazeera and news agencies