Goodbye, iPhone Headphone Jack; Ireland Backs Apple Against EU Fine

Posted September 8th, 2016 at 11:58 am (UTC-4)
Leave a comment

Today’s Tech Sightings:

AirPods are displayed as Apple Inc CEO Tim Cook makes his closing remarks during an Apple media event in San Francisco, California, US, Sept. 7, 2016. (Reuters)

AirPods are displayed as Apple Inc CEO Tim Cook makes his closing remarks during an Apple media event in San Francisco, California, US, Sept. 7, 2016. (Reuters)

Eulogy for the iPhone Headphone Jack

Twitter burst into a flurry of activity Wednesday when Apple declared the death of the iPhone headphone jack at its iPhone 7 event in San Francisco. The tech giant replaced the jack with wireless earbuds, outfitted with their own communications chip. Apple described the move to do away with ancient technology and make room for more space as “courage.” But there are those who see profit as the motivating force for replacing the traditional headphone jack with $159 earbuds. While other news coming out of the event generated a lot of interest, the demise of the headphone jack was the most talked about – and mourned – on Twitter.

Microsoft’s Top Lawyer Becomes a Civil Rights Crusader

Microsoft’s president and chief legal advisor, Brad Smith, is taking on the U.S. federal government. In the past three years, he took the government to court four times for alleged constitutional violations in the process of trying to get access to Microsoft’s customer data. Smith believes government surveillance should be subject to checks and balances that protect privacy and says that balance needs to be restored.

Irish Government Wins Strong Backing by Parliament for EU Apple Appeal

The Irish government has won strong support in parliament to appeal the European Union’s decision to fine Apple billions of dollars in back taxes. The government denied giving Apple favorable tax treatment or any state aid and said the EU decision cannot be allowed to stand.

More:

Aida Akl
Aida Akl is a journalist working on VOA's English Webdesk. She has written on a wide range of topics, although her more recent contributions have focused on technology. She has covered both domestic and international events since the mid-1980s as a VOA reporter and international broadcaster.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *