Daily Crunch: Apple launches ‘Exposure Notification Express’ for COVID-19

Apple and Google are adding support for app-less exposure notifications, Facebook says it might block news sharing in Australia and Samsung has a new foldable phone. This is your Daily Crunch for September 1, 2020.

The big story: Apple launches ‘Exposure Notification Express’ for COVID-19

Apple and Google are introducing new tools that should make it easier for public health authorities (PHAs) to implement notifications for people who may have been exposed to COVID-19.

We’ve written before about the two companies’ efforts to create technology that supports contact-tracing efforts, but with the latest update (available today in iOS 13.7 and coming later this month in Android), users no longer need to download an app. Instead, the local PHA can send a notification about exposure notification and what it does, then the user can choose whether or not to opt-in.

Apple and Google said that 20 countries have already built apps based on their API, along with six U.S. states.

The tech giants

Facebook threatens to block news sharing in Australia as it lobbies against revenue share law — The threat is Facebook’s attempt to lobby against a government plan that will require it and Google to share revenue with regional news media.

Samsung’s new Galaxy Fold arrives September 18 for $2,000 — Brian Heater runs down Samsung’s latest foldable phone.

Netflix is making a series based on ‘The Three-Body Problem’ — The show will be executive produced and written by “Game of Thrones” showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss.

Startups, funding and venture capital

Bambuser raises $45 million after shifting focus to live video shopping — Bambuser’s history goes back more than a decade, but it moved into live video shopping last year.

Sarcos raises $40 million to bring its Guardian XO exoskeleton to market — Sarcos’ technology is designed to augment an existing human workforce.

InfoSum raises $15.1 million for its privacy-first, federated approach to big data analytics — The startup has built a way for organizations to share their data with each other in a more secure and decentralized way.

Advice and analysis from Extra Crunch

Jeff Lawson on API startups, picking a market and getting dissed by VCs — The Twilio CEO told us, “The world is getting broken down into APIs.”

Your first sales hire should be a missionary, not a mercenary — Next47’s Micah Smurthwaite discusses the importance of your first sales hire.

Zoom’s Q2 report details some of the most extraordinary growth I’ve ever seen — The “I” in question is Alex Wilhelm, who delivers his daily dive into startups and markets.

(Reminder: Extra Crunch is our subscription membership program, which aims to democratize information about startups. You can sign up here.)

Everything else

Movies Anywhere officially launches its digital movie-lending feature, ‘Screen Pass’ — Screen Pass allows you to lend out one of your purchased movies to a friend or family member.

Oral-B’s iO smart toothbrush is a big upgrade in just about every way — It’s easy to make fun of the idea of a smart toothbrush, but Darrell Etherington makes it sound like this one is actually good.

Watch these 6 startups compete in Pitchers & Pitches tomorrow — It’s a rapid-fire pitch competition with a hefty side of advice.

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 3pm Pacific, you can subscribe here.

from Apple – TechCrunch https://ift.tt/3bg9jpX

Apple launches COVID-19 ‘Exposure Notification Express’ with iOS 13.7 – Android to follow later this month

Apple and Google are continuing to make good on their planned roll-out of exposure notification technology for helping with COVID-19 contact tracing efforts. The two partners are introducing new tools that make it much easier for public health authorities to implement digital exposure notification, without the need for developing and maintaining their own individual apps. Apple makes this possible via the iOS 13.7 system update, out today, while Google is implementing it with an automatically-generated application on Android 6.0 and up coming later this month, a workaround required because of the very different method through which it manages system services and OS updates.

This change in the way the technology works means that users won’t have to actually download and install a dedicated app created by the public health authority (PHA) in their jurisdiction to participate. Instead, you’ll receive a notification that provides information supplied by your local health authority about the exposure notification system and what it does, from which you can choose to opt-in. On iOS, that’ll mean installing a provisioning profile, while on Android, it’ll result in that auto-generated app, which is installed via the Google Play store. Apple and Google clarified that Exposure Notification Express co-exists with existing dedicated PHA apps, rather than replacing it.

PHAs using Exposure Notifications Express can provide Apple and Google with contact information, guidance about care and precautions, and recommendations on next steps. PHAs provide their name, logo, criteria for triggering an exposure notification and info to be offered to an indictable in case of exposure using a system that’s easy for non technical people to use.

Local health authorities will still have to elect to participate, and customize the text and messaging delivered to users in their regions when the receive this notification and onboarding info, but they’ll no longer have to develop and distribute their own applications in order to set up a digital exposure notification system based on the combined Apple/Google tech to supplement their contact tracing efforts. The health authority will also be responsible for determining how they calculate exposure risk, which is what they were able to do with dedicates apps, too. That’s huge, since while Apple and Google note that 20 countries globally have already introduced apps based on their API, and 25 U.S. states are “exploring” use of the system, with six states having launched apps so far, making this a system level feature with a lower technical barrier to entry on the developer/health agency side should help expedite roll-out.

To start, Apple and Google say they expect DC, Maryland, Nevada and Virginia will be the first to implement Exposure Notification Express sometime soon, with others likely to follow. The companies also said they’re working with the U.S. Association of Public Health Laboratories on a national key server that will effectively allow users to have exposure tracking work across state lines when they’re traveling out of their home health agency district.

There has been a lot of misinformation circulating about contact tracing requiring a threshold of 60% or higher adoption to be effective; that’s based on a misinterpretation of an Oxford study published earlier this year. The researchers behind the study subsequently clarified that in fact, any level of contact tracing, as aided by apps that support digital contact tracing, has a positive effect on reducing the spread of COVID-19, as well as resulting deaths.

The system includes the same privacy protections that Apple and Google have provided throughout, which means your location information is not collected or connected to any exposure notifications. Instead, the tech uses a randomly-generated key to track when and where a device has come into Bluetooth range with other devices also using the software. It maintains a log of these random identifiers, and checks against reported confirmed diagnoses (also fully anonymized) to see if there has been any exposure risk – as determined by the definition of exposure in terms of duration and distance as established by each region’s governing public health authority.

from Android – TechCrunch https://ift.tt/3bj7HeN
via IFTTT

Apple launches COVID-19 ‘Exposure Notification Express’ with iOS 13.7 – Android to follow later this month

Apple and Google are continuing to make good on their planned roll-out of exposure notification technology for helping with COVID-19 contact tracing efforts. The two partners are introducing new tools that make it much easier for public health authorities to implement digital exposure notification, without the need for developing and maintaining their own individual apps. Apple makes this possible via the iOS 13.7 system update, out today, while Google is implementing it with an automatically-generated application on Android 6.0 and up coming later this month, a workaround required because of the very different method through which it manages system services and OS updates.

This change in the way the technology works means that users won’t have to actually download and install a dedicated app created by the public health authority (PHA) in their jurisdiction to participate. Instead, you’ll receive a notification that provides information supplied by your local health authority about the exposure notification system and what it does, from which you can choose to opt-in. On iOS, that’ll mean installing a provisioning profile, while on Android, it’ll result in that auto-generated app, which is installed via the Google Play store. Apple and Google clarified that Exposure Notification Express co-exists with existing dedicated PHA apps, rather than replacing it.

PHAs using Exposure Notifications Express can provide Apple and Google with contact information, guidance about care and precautions, and recommendations on next steps. PHAs provide their name, logo, criteria for triggering an exposure notification and info to be offered to an indictable in case of exposure using a system that’s easy for non technical people to use.

Local health authorities will still have to elect to participate, and customize the text and messaging delivered to users in their regions when the receive this notification and onboarding info, but they’ll no longer have to develop and distribute their own applications in order to set up a digital exposure notification system based on the combined Apple/Google tech to supplement their contact tracing efforts. The health authority will also be responsible for determining how they calculate exposure risk, which is what they were able to do with dedicates apps, too. That’s huge, since while Apple and Google note that 20 countries globally have already introduced apps based on their API, and 25 U.S. states are “exploring” use of the system, with six states having launched apps so far, making this a system level feature with a lower technical barrier to entry on the developer/health agency side should help expedite roll-out.

To start, Apple and Google say they expect DC, Maryland, Nevada and Virginia will be the first to implement Exposure Notification Express sometime soon, with others likely to follow. The companies also said they’re working with the U.S. Association of Public Health Laboratories on a national key server that will effectively allow users to have exposure tracking work across state lines when they’re traveling out of their home health agency district.

There has been a lot of misinformation circulating about contact tracing requiring a threshold of 60% or higher adoption to be effective; that’s based on a misinterpretation of an Oxford study published earlier this year. The researchers behind the study subsequently clarified that in fact, any level of contact tracing, as aided by apps that support digital contact tracing, has a positive effect on reducing the spread of COVID-19, as well as resulting deaths.

The system includes the same privacy protections that Apple and Google have provided throughout, which means your location information is not collected or connected to any exposure notifications. Instead, the tech uses a randomly-generated key to track when and where a device has come into Bluetooth range with other devices also using the software. It maintains a log of these random identifiers, and checks against reported confirmed diagnoses (also fully anonymized) to see if there has been any exposure risk – as determined by the definition of exposure in terms of duration and distance as established by each region’s governing public health authority.

from Apple – TechCrunch https://ift.tt/3bj7HeN

Oral-B’s iO smart toothbrush is a big upgrade in just about every way

It can be easy to mock the very concept of a ‘smart toothbrush’ – what other device in our lives do we use daily that seems least in need of a connected upgrade? But Oral-B has been upgrading its powered toothbrush lineup with Bluetooth and app-based intelligence for quite a while now, and its latest new smart brush, the iO Series, is actually a very clever and capable update that should help you keep your teeth better-brushed and in healthier shape.

The basics

Oral-B’s iO is a fundamental rethinking of its powered toothbrush lineup in a way that none of its prior new models has been; the design, feature set, application and more are all brand new. The new look, designed in partnership with Braun, is a vast improvement (more about that below), and there’s a color display that provides more info and visual feedback than on any previous Oral-B smart brush. The induction charger is also new, with magnetic support to keep it in place, and there’s a new companion app that provides a lot more in the way of guidance, with improvements that accrue over time as the software gets to know you.

The iO Series includes different accessories and equipment depending on which version you get – Oral-B provided the Series 8, which includes the toothbrush, a charger, two replacement heads and a carrying case. The different Series’ also include different features – the Series 7 is the most affordable, but lacks the Sensitive+ brushing mode on the Series 8, while the top-end Series 9 is the only one that includes a dedicated tongue brushing mode.

Using the toothbrush is easy. You can use one of two buttons on the brush itself to cycle through its various modes, and then press the other to turn it on and off. An integrated LED ring provides visual feedback about when you’re applying the right amount of pressure, and when you use too much, and vibration feedback indicates when you hit 30-second marks, and when you’ve completed the full dentist-recommended two minutes of brushing.

With the iOS or Android app, you can connect your iO via Bluetooth for more advanced feedback and control, including a guided brushing mode that shows you where you’ve cleaned, and for how long, with a simple graphic representation of your teeth.

Image Credits: Darrell Etherington

Design and features

The new industrial design of the iO is a vast improvement over the previous Oral-B smart toothbrushes in every way. They’re sleeker, with redesigned interchangeable brush heads that not only have a better mechanical connection to the base, but that also flow into the body with a smooth swooping connection point. The black version I reviewed has a matte, slightly textured finish that feels and grips great, and the built-in display is bright and full-color for an easy understanding of which mode you’re in, as well as the status of your battery charge and a quick report card of sorts about the quality of your last brush via smiley face feedback.

Visual and force feedback both work great on this model, with an easily visible LED ring showing green when you’re using just the right amount of pressure, and turning quickly to red when you press too hard. As a serial excess pressure brusher, this worked very well in modulating my bad habit, and I was very quickly able to get into a rhythm of correctly-applied pressure instead.

The new charger design lacks the peg that was present on Oral-B’s previous rechargeable toothbrushes, and instead relies on a magnetic connection akin to the one Apple uses on its Apple Watch charger. This tends to make it a bit more likely to get knocked off the charger by wayward reaches, I’ve found, but it also makes both the brush and charger easier to keep clean, and the charger takes up less counter space. The LCD screen will show you charge level when placed on the charger while it’s plugged in.

Image Credits: Darrell Etherington

As mentioned, you can use the Oral-B iO completely without the companion app, and it works very well. But the app is a great way to help upgrade your daily care routine, thanks to its guided brushing modes and accumulated brushing activity tracking. The guided mode shows you which region you’re currently brushing, breaking your mouth up into six separate zones (three up top, and three on the bottom). In my testing, this tracking was a bit hit or miss when it comes to accuracy, often getting wrong which area I was actively brushing. It was accurate enough to provide a general sense of where I needed to be doing a better job than I had been, however.

Over time, the app will use the info gathered from your guided sessions to provide you with specific tips on how to improve. It also allows you to self-report flossing, rinsing and any gum-bleeding for more detailed trend tracking over time.

Bottom line

Image Credits: Darrell Etherington

The Oral-B iO series sits at the very top of the company’s electric toothbrush lineup, at $249.99 for the Series 8 as reviewed, or $299.99 for the Series 9. The kit you get does include two replacement heads in addition to the one that comes on the brush for a total of 3, along with the travel carrying case and charger (you get 4 total heads on the Series 9, as well as a charging travel case on top of the additional mode an sensing capabilities of the brush itself). You can get a basic electric toothbrush for $50 or less, by comparison.

That said, the iO does offer excellent build and brushing quality, which will definitely leave your mouth feeling cleaner than with budget options. And it’s intelligent features are great if you want to be more mindful about your daily dental hygiene routine, too. That, combined with its attractive, ergonomic design, mean that this is a great option so long as you’re willing to spend a little bit more on a premium device.

from Android – TechCrunch https://ift.tt/34SIerB
via IFTTT

Apple will now allow developers stuck in App Store jail to push bug fixes to their apps

Apple’s App Store policies have gotten quite a bit more attention in the past few months, and while it seems likely that Apple’s team will fight tooth and nail to avoid dismantling any of the core pillars of their Store economy, the company did announce a small policy change today that will hopefully keep users from getting caught in any crossfire.

In a short announcement today posted to their site, Apple shared that they have updated the App Store’s review policy guidelines to allow developers to continue to push bug fixes even if they’re currently in a standoff with the app review team. As Apple seems to get even more aggressive in forcing developers to integrate in-app purchase frameworks into their apps, this change sets Apple up to avoid upsetting users.

The text of the announcement reads that, “bug fixes will no longer be delayed over guideline violations except for those related to legal issues.” Developers won’t be able to submit updates with new features or content updates, the focus of this rule change is firmly on the security/usability front.

This change was previously announced in June.

This change is unlikely to satiate critics hoping for more sweeping changes. In many ways this change helps Apple avoid being painted as the villain in new developer skirmishes. The stars were aligning for Apple to shoot itself in the foot by not allowing a developer to fix any vulnerabilities in their app while they were in a standoff with the company.

from Apple – TechCrunch https://ift.tt/2QGO7Qw

Apple mistakenly approved a widely used malware to run on Macs

Apple has some of the strictest rules to prevent malicious software from landing in its app store, even if on occasion a bad app slips through the net. But last year Apple took its toughest approach yet by requiring developers to submit their apps for security checks in order to run on millions of Macs unhindered.

The process, which Apple calls “notarization,” scans an app for security issues and malicious content. If approved, the Mac’s in-built security screening software, Gatekeeper, allows the app to run. Apps that don’t pass the security sniff test are denied, and are blocked from running.

But security researchers say they have found the first Mac malware inadvertently notarized by Apple.

Peter Dantini, working with Patrick Wardle, a well-known Mac security researcher, found a malware campaign disguised as an Adobe Flash installer. These campaigns are common and have been around for years — even if Flash is rarely used these days — and most run unnotarized code, which Macs block immediately when opened.

But Dantini and Wardle found that one malicious Flash installer had code notarized by Apple and would run on Macs.

The malicious installer was notarized by Apple, and could be run on the latest versions of macOS. (Image: Patrick Wardle/supplied)

Wardle confirmed that Apple had approved code used by the popular Shlayer malware, which security firm Kaspersky said is the “most common threat” that Macs faced in 2019. Shlayer is a kind of adware that intercepts encrypted web traffic — even from HTTPS-enabled sites — and replaces websites and search results with its own ads, making fraudulent ad money for the operators.

“As far as I know, this is a first,” Wardle wrote in a blog post, shared with TechCrunch.

Wardle said that means Apple did not detect the malicious code when it was submitted and approved it to run on Macs — even on the unreleased beta version of macOS Big Sur, expected out later this year.

Apple revoked the notarized payloads after Wardle reached out, preventing the malware from running on Macs in the future.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Apple told TechCrunch: “Malicious software constantly changes, and Apple’s notarization system helps us keep malware off the Mac and allow us to respond quickly when it’s discovered. Upon learning of this adware, we revoked the identified variant, disabled the developer account, and revoked the associated certificates. We thank the researchers for their assistance in keeping our users safe.”

But Wardle said that the attackers were back soon after with a new, notarized payload, able to circumvent the Mac’s security all over again.

Apple macOS security protections can easily bypassed with ‘synthetic’ clicks, researcher finds

from Apple – TechCrunch https://ift.tt/3lCeJ35

Google launches Google Kids Space, a ‘kids mode’ feature for Android, initially on Lenovo tablets

Streaming services have built-in kids’ profiles, so why not devices? Google today is responding to parents’ demand for a better way for their children to interact with technology with the launch of the new “Google Kids Space,” a dedicated kids mode on Android tablets which will aggregate apps, books, and videos for kids to enjoy and learn from. The feature will launch first on the Lenovo Smart Tab M10 HD Gen 2, but Google aims to bring Kids Space to more devices in time.

The concept is somewhat similar to Amazon’s FreeTime, Amazon’s own well-built system for parental controls and access to approved and curated children’s’ apps and media. But in Google’s case, its new kids’ mode is building on top of the company’s earlier efforts focused on designing a safer, more controlled Android experience for families with children.

These efforts began with Family Link, a series of parental control features that’s now built into the Android OS. Family Link already allows parents to set screen time limits, engage content safety filters, set privacy controls, and more. Google then expanded into kids’ app curation with the launch of a Kids tab in Google Play where it can showcase “teacher-approved” mobile apps and games.

Image Credits: Google

The new Kids Space leverages Google’s earlier work in evaluating Android apps for its “Play” tab, and has expanded its curation to now include other types of quality content. For example, Google worked with publishers to make popular children’s books free of charge in Kids Space, and at launch offers over 400 free books in the “Read” tab for users in the U.S.

In the Kids Space’ “Watch” and “Make” tabs, Google is pulling in creative content from YouTube Kids that encourage off-screen activities.

Image Credits: Google

The feature is ultimately meant to be a selling point for Android devices and a way to lock families into the Google ecosystem. This differentiates it from Amazon’s FreeTime, which only partially has this aim. Amazon’s FreeTime is largely meant to a subscription offering, and it’s one that works across platforms — including Amazon devices like Fire tablets and Echo smart speakers, but also on iOS and Android devices. Google’s Kids Space, meanwhile, is only designed for Android.

Google Kids Space is initially available on on the Lenovo Tab M10 HD Gen 2. The company said it worked with Lenovo to ease the setup process for parents and to ensure that Kids Space is a pre-loaded feature. Google says it aims to bring Kids Mode to more Android tablets soon.

from Android – TechCrunch https://ift.tt/3lBjpXd
via IFTTT