NewsBytes Briefing: Apple refreshes iMac, ex-Google exec gets prison term
In the updates since last night, Apple unveiled a refreshed 27-inch iMac. The system looks unchanged but makes SSD standard across the board and packs Intel's 10th-generation Comet Lake processors, with up to 10 cores, as well as enhanced graphics, a higher-resolution 1080p webcam, higher fidelity speakers, and studio-quality mics. It starts at Rs. 169,990 in India. Here are other major developments.
Apple's other hardware updates, new marketing chief
Apple also updated the 21.5-inch iMac by making SSD standard - with the option of choosing the Fusion Drive. The Pro variant, meanwhile, now comes standard with a 10-core Intel Xeon processor. The company also said that its longtime SVP of Worldwide Marketing, Phil Schiller, will be stepping down to become an "Apple fellow" while product marketing head Greg Joswiak will take his position.
Former Google executive gets 18-month prison term
Anthony Levandowski, the former Google engineer who started the company's self-driving car program (Waymo), has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for stealing autonomous driving trade secrets and defecting to Uber. "I want to take this time to apologize to my colleagues at Google for betraying their trust," Levandowski said. However, he will be serving the sentence later due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Nearby Share launched, Google Play Music shutting down in December
Meanwhile, Google has announced the official roll-out of Nearby Share, its AirDrop challenger, on phones running Android 6.0 or newer. Additionally, the company detailed the plan to revoke access to Google Play Music and shut down the service completely by December 2020. This means you just have a few months to migrate your content (if any) from Play Music to YouTube Music.
Other major developments to note
Among other things, Microsoft announced that its xCloud game streaming service will be launched on September 15 on Android in select countries. Disney, meanwhile, reported its quarterly earnings and revealed that its streaming services (Disney+, Hulu, ESPN) now have 100 million+ subscribers. Their revenue plummeted 42% YoY, courtesy COVID-19. Honda, on the other hand, recalled over 600,000 cars due to faulty software.
Finally, some COVID-19-related news
On Tuesday, India registered roughly 51,000 new coronavirus infections, taking the nationwide tally to 19.06 lakh. The death toll rose to 39,833 with 850 more deaths. Also, ICMR's Director-General Balram Bhargava has said that the vaccines developed by Zydus Cadila and Bharat Biotech have moved into Phase 2 of clinical human trials. Bharat Biotech's shot will reportedly cost less than a water bottle.
