Category: Computing

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Apple joins Google, Facebook, and Twitter in data-sharing project

Just over a year after its official launch, the Data Transfer Project is announcing a new set of partners and features. Today, Apple announced that it will be joining the project, developing interoperable systems to bring data in and out of iCloud. A number of alternative social networks have also joined the project, with Tim Berners-Lee’s Solid project enabling the import and export of contacts, and Mastodon allowing for the import and export of posts.

An open-source project aimed at making it easier to transfer data from one service to another, the Data Transfer Project has mostly consisted of back-end coding to make data export tools like Google Takeout and Facebook’s Access Your Information tool compatible with each other. Right now, those tools let you download data directly to your hard drive, but the hope is that the project’s code could allow the data to be ported directly to another service. That would allow you to send all of your Facebook photos to a Google Photos account, for instance, with no intermediate step and a lesser possibility of leaked data.

Google, Microsoft, Facebook, and Twitter all signed on last summer, and the project’s GitHub page shows regular updates since then, but it is still very much a work in progress. As the official site puts it, “We are continually making improvements that might cause things to break occasionally. So as you are trying things please use it with caution and expect some hiccups.”

So far, most of that work has been on the back end, but there may be more consumer-facing products arriving soon. In a statement, Google teased new user-facing projects arriving in a matter of months. “We’re really encouraged by the progress the Data Transfer Project has made since we announced it last year, and look forward to rolling out our first user-facing features in the coming months,” said Jessie Chavez, Google’s lead for the Data Transfer Project.

Source: TheVerge

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Apple’s 16-inch MacBook Pro model may come as soon as September

Rumors of the 16-inch MacBook Pro will not die down. Today, Digitimes says that Apple has asked Quanta to manufacture the new MacBook Pro, which will feature narrower bezels to accommodate a 16-inch LCD display in ‘the same body’ as the current 15-inch MacBook Pro.

The screen resolution is expected to be 3072×1920, corroborating previous reports. Digitimes claims the new high-end model will debut in September.

The narrower bezels mean that the overall casing is roughly equivalent to the current 15-inch MacBook Pro. Customers should expect a larger screen in the same overall physical size as the 15-inch lineup.

Digitimes says that manufacturers of the aluminum materials should not expect significant growth from this new product introduction, as the raw materials are not really changing — however, the unibody chassis will obviously have to be CNC’d differently to incorporate the larger screen in the top case.

The allusion to a release in September fits with previous reports that suggested a ‘fall’ timeframe, but Digitimes accuracy is often doubted. It would not be surprising for the machine to appear in October, for instance. It depends how Apple arranges its fall product lineup. We expect the iPhone 11 to launch in September, and it is possible that the new MacBook Pro is introduced at the same event. However, there is also a good chance Apple hosts a second media event in October to debut other products.

In 2018, the September event included the iPhone XR, iPhone XS, and Apple Watch Series 4. The October 2018 event was where Apple unveiled the iPad Pro, MacBook Air, and Mac mini.

For 2019, Apple may want to roll its services announcements into the September event, such as pricing and availability details for Apple Arcade and Apple TV+, alongside the new iPhone fanfare. It certainly feels like October is the more natural time for a MacBook Pro hardware revision.

In addition to the slim bezels and larger display, the new MacBook Pro is also expected to include Apple’s replacement for the butterfly keyboard, reported to be a scissor key design. Anxious MacBook Pro buyers are also hoping for other tweaks, like a physical Escape key next to the Touch Bar and maybe the return of some more I/O other than four USB-C ports.

Apple has already spec-bumped the rest of the MacBook Pro line this year. In May, it updated the 15-inch MacBook Pro with 9th-generation Intel processors. In July, ahead of the back to school shopping season, it revamped the entry-level MacBook Pro with the addition of a Touch Bar, Touch ID, and improved CPUs.

Original Source: 9tomac.com