Conference expects Apple product news
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- With iPhone sales slowing and the last new Apple product released two years ago, expectations are building for what the company will reveal starting today at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference.
Some Apple watchers are counting on artificial intelligence.
With Facebook, Microsoft and Google emphasizing artificial intelligence in their conferences over the past two months, market analysts believe it is Apple's turn. As the race for artificial intelligence, or AI, heats up in Silicon Valley, some worry that Apple is already behind the game.
"If Apple skips AI, I would consider that a significant miss on their opportunity," said John Jackson, a Boston-based analyst for IDC. "Apple is late to this game. There is no other trick up their sleeve around this."
Apple, long known for its secrecy, declined to discuss specifics of the event but emailed a statement that its global developer community has earned more than $70 billion since the App Store launched in 2008.
Rumors and early reports indicate the Cupertino tech giant may release a new iPad pro, and according to Bloomberg, a Siri-controlled home speaker to challenge Amazon Echo and Google Home.
-- The Mercury News
Google Chrome to block more ads in '18
NEW YORK -- Websites that run annoying ads such as pop-ups will have a tough time with Google's Chrome browser starting next year.
The digital-ad giant's announcement that its browser will block more ads comes as hundreds of millions of Internet users have already installed ad blockers on their desktop computers and phones to combat ads that track them and make browsing sites difficult.
These blockers threaten websites that rely on digital ads for revenue. Google's version will allow ads as long as websites follow industry-created guidelines and minimize certain types of ads that consumers really hate. That includes pop-up ads, huge ads that don't go away when visitors scroll down a page and video ads that start playing automatically with the sound on.
Google says the feature will be turned on by default, and users can turn it off. It'll work on both the desktop and mobile versions of Chrome.
Google says that even ads it sells will be blocked on websites that don't get rid of annoying types of ads.
Facebook, too, is trying to make links from inside its universe less annoying for users. It says it's trying to cut down on posts and ads in the news feed that lead to pages with "little substantive content" and "disruptive, shocking or malicious ads."
-- The Associated Press
Amazon to refund children's purchases
WASHINGTON -- Parents whose children made Amazon purchases on mobile apps without their permission will begin getting their money back, the Federal Trade Commission said last week.
And it turns out that money could amount to more than $70 million -- charges incurred between November 2011 and May 2015.
The refunds bring closure to a nearly three-year legal battle surrounding complaints that the tech giant made it too easy for children to make the purchases.
In an April 2016 ruling, a federal judge granted the FTC a summary judgment that found Amazon responsible for the charges. While entering a password linking an Amazon account to a new device, "a reasonable consumer unaware of the possibility of in-app purchases would not assume she was authorizing unforeseen charges," U.S. District Judge John Coughenour wrote in his order.
Two months ago, the FTC and Amazon agreed to end their litigation, clearing the way for the refunds to begin. All consumers eligible for the refunds should have received an email from Amazon.
-- The Washington Post
2 airlines test facial scans for boarding
JetBlue Airways Corp. and Delta Air Lines Inc. will test facial- and fingerprint-recognition technology at two U.S. airports to replace boarding passes, building on industry efforts to increase security and ease passage through airports.
The JetBlue program will start this month on flights from Boston to Aruba's Queen Beatrix International Airport, the airline said in a statement. It will match passenger photos to their passport or visa photos. Delta has been trying fingerprint identification in Washington that may eventually replace boarding passes.
The testing highlights efforts by carriers to speed customers through congested airports while increasing security. Europe's KLM airline in February began using face-scanning technology for boarding at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport. Delta last month said it would attempt a self-serve process for checking bags at one airport using facial recognition.
Delta has been testing the use of fingerprints at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport to allow some SkyMiles members entry to its Sky Club lounges. A second stage would enable participants to also check a bag and board a flight using their fingerprint instead of an identification card and boarding pass.
JetBlue passengers will be able to participate without enrolling or registering in advance.
-- Bloomberg News
Drivers call for probe of Lyft deductions
NEW YORK -- A New York labor organization is calling for an investigation of Lyft and other ride-hailing services for what the organization says is cheating drivers on their fares.
The Independent Drivers Guild, which formed last year as an affiliate of an existing labor union, said last week that Lyft has been engaged in "large-scale deception" by improperly deducting more than 11 percent from drivers' fares on interstate trips. In effect, the ride-hailing company is stealing some of the drivers' wages by collecting taxes and surcharges on trips out of state that should apply only to in-state trips, and then disguising those charges as administrative fees, the labor group says.
New York State Assembly member Robert Rodriguez backed the labor group's request for a full investigation in a letter addressed to the state's attorney general and the Department of Taxation and Finance.
Drivers have also accused Uber, Juno and other ride-hailing services of being less than upfront in their dealings with their drivers.
"There is no merit to this allegation," Lyft spokesman Adrian Durbin said. "Our driver agreement lays out what commissions and fees apply to driving on the Lyft platform, and we've consistently abided by the agreement since entering the New York market in 2014."
Ride-hailing drivers in New York have discovered that Lyft appears to be deducting a state sales tax on out-of-state trips that should be applied only to rides that begin and end in New York, the drivers guild says. The ride-hailing service also appears to be improperly collecting a surcharge for the Black Car Fund that shouldn't apply to out-of-state trips.
-- The Washington Post
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