Apple Partners With SunPower Corporation to Build Two Solar Power Plants in China [Mac Blog]

Environmentally conscious solar panel manufacturer SunPower Corporation today announced a partnership with Apple that will result in two solar power projects totaling 40 megawatts in the "environmentally-preserved" ABA Region of China's Sichuan Province.



Currently under construction, the projects will be split across two sites both eventually totaling 20 megawatts each. The first site, located in Hongyuan, is already generating 2 megawatts of power thanks to technology that includes single-axis tracking with rows of parabolic mirrors that reflect light onto SunPower's "Maxeon" cells, "which are the world's most efficient commercially available mass-produced solar cells." The second project is located in Ruoergai County.





As the first solar powered projects deployed in the ABA Region, the combined sites are expected to churn out up to 80 million kilowatt-hours each year. Upon completion, each project will be co-owned by Apple and Sichuan Shengtian New Energy Development Co., Ltd, SunPower's project development joint venture. Work on both sites is expected to be completed by the fourth quarter of 2015.



Speaking with The Associated Press, Lisa Jackson, Apple's vice president for environmental initiatives, discussed the new China-focused solar power project, suggesting the company's partnership with SunPower in the region is only the start of a bigger environmentally-focused push by Apple.

"It's important to us to tackle climate change everywhere we are," Jackson told The Associated Press. "When you talk about China, you're talking about manufacturing partners. We're looking to bring the same innovation there. This is the start."



"Before we go somewhere else and start asking and eventually requiring clean energy, you want to make sure you show folks how to do it," said Jackson, who was U.S. Environmental Protection Agency administrator during President Barack Obama's first term.

Apple and SunPower have collaborated stateside in the past, with six plants ranging from California to Nevada and North Carolina. Today's announcements mark the first international solar power partnership between Apple and SunPower.

Read More [...]

Posted in 2015 at 02:25PM, April 16

'YouTube Kids' Under Fire for Targeting Children with Advertisements [iOS Blog]

A handful of prominent child advocacy groups plan to work together today in asking the Federal Trade Commission to investigate Google's YouTube Kids app, with the groups claiming that the popular video streaming service is deceptively targeting kids with advertisements on the tablet and smartphone application (via San Jose Mercury News ).



The root of the complaint stems from restrictions placed on children's entertainment dating back to the 1970's, which bans hosts of a kids' television series from attempting to sell products during a show, amongst other restrictions. The central crux of that established law, now coming back into play with the coalition's defense against Google, is that young kids haven't yet developed the reasoning behind resisting such advertisements, or even understand that they're being targeted in the first place.

The complaint to be filed Tuesday asks the FTC to investigate several features of YouTube Kids:



Branded channels: "McDonald's has its own channel on YouTube Kids ... (presenting) promotional videos styled as news reports on topics such as, 'What are McDonald's McNuggets made of?' ... (Branded channels) take advantage of children because they do not understand that the entire channel is actually advertising."



Lack of separation between shows and ads: "Selecting My Little Pony brings up four options. Two of the four options are labeled 'TV Commercial.' The other two are identified as 'TV Clip' but are actually promotions for the My Little Pony program.' "

The groups rallying against the YouTube Kids app allege Google's new kid-friendly application blurs the line between funny, kid-centric videos and lengthy product promotions. Jeff Chester, director of the Center for Digital Democracy, one of the groups campaigning for more regulation on the YouTube Kids app, sees this as just the first step in a long line of kids' entertainment regulation.

"This is the opening shot in a new battle with Google, Nickelodeon, Amazon, Netflix, Cartoon Network and others that are trying to cash in on this generation of young children," said Jeff Chester, director of the Center for Digital Democracy. "It's a battle for the hearts and minds and pocketbooks of America's kids in the digital age."



"Google simply ignored the basics," Chester said. "They deliberately ignored the well-documented research on children's developmental limitations when it comes to advertising and programming."

Chester also noted that the groups don't just want a more serious look into advertisements, but anything resembling such in the app as a whole, namely the perennially popular "unboxing videos" found on the service. "We want Google to pull all of its unboxing videos from the app," Chester said. "There's no disclosure of who actually owns those channels. They're an ad, in essence, for toys."






A few have stepped forward in speaking out in Google's favor, namely Parry Aftab, an Internet privacy lawyer, who pointed out that "something's got to pay" for the free app and said that she doesn't "worry about ads as long as they're not ads for Viagra and Victoria's Secret and things like that, and as long as you teach your kids the reality of ads."



YouTube itself responded, stating that when creating the app the company "consulted with numerous partners and child advocacy and privacy groups" and are always "open to feedback on ways to improve the app." The YouTube Kids app officially launched back in February with a catalog of kid-friendly shows and parental controls, both aimed at giving kids a daily burst of entertainment without making parents worry about the more questionable content that can sometimes pop up on YouTube's official service.

Read More [...]

Posted in 2015 at 02:25PM, April 07

Apple Honors Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Its Home Page

Apple today updated its website to celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day with a full page memorial on the company's home page. The image on the site is accompanied by a message to honor the civil rights leader and his work, “Today we reflect on the life and vision of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the work that continues in service of the broader concerns of humanity.”







Following the rollout of the website change, Apple CEO Tim Cook tweeted his own commemoration that highlighted Apple's remembrance of King's legacy.

Honoring the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. #MLK Apple http://bit.ly/1EhIlXj

— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) January 19, 2015

Previously, Tim Cook has publicly expressed his admiration for Dr. King, noting in a Charlie Rose interview last year that he keeps photos of King and politician Robert Kennedy in his office at Apple.

"I had the — just tremendous respect for both of them, and so I do," he said. "I look at them every day because I think for people — there’s still too many cases in the world and in the United States where there’s a class kind of structure or where voting or people are trying to convince each other that this other group of people don’t deserve the same rights. And I think it’s crazy, I think it’s un-American."

Besides the web page refresh, Apple reportedly also is encouraging its employees to volunteer with a donation matching program, reports 9to5Mac . Instead of a paid day off, Apple is offering to donate an additional $50 for each voluntary hour worked by employees.

Read More [...]

Posted in 2015 at 02:25PM, January 19

Save Mart Supermarkets Adds Apple Pay as Bank of America Approaches 800K Customers On Board

Apple Pay was introduced last year during Apple's September iPhone event and debuted alongside iOS 8.1. Months after launch, the service continues to expand with two major announcements today that mark the further expansion of the mobile payments service into regional supermarket chains and the continued adoption by consumers.





Starting today, California supermarket chain Save Mart Supermarkets is rolling out Apple Pay to all 217 Northern California and Nevada stores it operates under the Save Mart, S-Mart Foods, Lucky, Maxx Value Foods, and FoodMaxx brands. Save Mart Co-President & Chief Strategy and Branding Officer Nicole Piccinini Pesco said that the grocery store chain is adding Apple Pay for the "benefit and convenience" of their customers, adding that Apple Pay will "transform the shopping experience for our customers".



While Apple Pay continues to expand to new retailers, consumer interest in the mobile payment service also remains strong. As part of its Q4 2014 earnings report, Bank of America today announced that almost 800,000 customers have enrolled in Apple Pay and have added approximately 1.1 million cards to the service since it launched in October 2014.

The number of mobile banking customers increased 15 percent from the year-ago quarter to 16.5 million users, and 12 percent of deposit transactions by customers were done through mobile, compared to 9 percent in the year-ago quarter. Since the introduction of Apple Pay™ in October, nearly 800,000 customers have enrolled in the service, adding approximately 1.1 million cards.

Bank of America was a launch partner for Apple Pay, and the company has continued to promote Apple Pay since that time, releasing advertisements showcasing the convenience of using Apple's mobile payments service with a Bank of America credit card.

Read More [...]

Posted in 2015 at 02:25PM, January 15

Has Apple’s software quality taken ‘a nosedive’ lately?

Instapaper creator Marco Arment is certainly one of the most read and widely influential Mac and iOS developers around. And when he says that there's something seriously wrong with the way things have been going with Apple's software lately, many people will take note.

Continue reading...

Read More [...]

Posted in 2015 at 02:25PM, January 05