Month: February 2021

Apple launches self-serve activation lock removal request web page

Dan Uff February 12, 2021 0

Activation Lock is designed to prevent anyone else from using your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch if it's ever lost or stolen. When you mark the device as lost on the iCloud website, this locks the device's screen with a passcode and lets you display a custom message with your phone number to help you get it back. And if the device is erased, Activation Lock requires the original owner's Apple ID and password to be entered.

When an activation lock is enabled, customers would have to contact Apple to unlock the device. Now Apple has made the feature available via a web page.

For more information about this feature, click here.

BitPay adds support for Apple Pay

CompuScoop Staff February 12, 2021 0

BitPay, the world’s largest provider of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency payment services, today announced that U.S. cardholders of the BitPay Prepaid Mastercard can add their card to Apple Wallet and spend with Apple Pay.

With Apple Pay, BitPay cardholders can make secure purchases in stores, in apps, and online. In addition, customers waiting on delivery of their plastic card can add their virtual card to Apple Wallet via the BitPay Wallet app and can start spending immediately. Support for Google Pay and Samsung Pay is planned for later this quarter.

“We have thousands of BitPay Wallet app customers using the BitPay Card who are always looking for new places and ways to spend their crypto,” said BitPay CEO Stephen Pair in a statement. “Adding Apple Pay and soon Google and Samsung Pay makes it easy and convenient to use the BitPay Card in more places from day-to-day items to luxury purchases.”

BitPay continues to innovate its global blockchain solutions to make paying with Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies faster, easier and safer than ever before. The BitPay Wallet app is designed to enable customers to manage and spend Bitcoin, and also turn it into dollars and spend with the BitPay Card.

For power blockchain users, the BitPay Wallet app supports an array of options to buy and store crypto and make online payments. Users can instantly buy gift cards from hundreds of top retailers in store and online. The BitPay Card enables customers to instantly convert cryptocurrency into fiat currency, which is then loaded onto the card and can be spent anywhere Mastercard debit is accepted around the world. Customers can also use the cards online for purchases and to withdraw cash from ATMs.

The BitPay Wallet app supports Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, and Ether, as well as four dollar-pegged stablecoins, USDC, GUSD, PAX and BUSD.

To add a card to Apple Wallet, cardholders need to have the most recent version of the BitPay app, 12.1.0 which is available in the App Store.

3rd Generation Apple TV loosing support for Paramount+ (formally CBS All Access)

Dan Uff February 10, 2021 0

CBS All Access is displaying a notice to those customers who have a 3rd generation Apple TV notifying them that their device won't be supporting the new Paramount + Streaming Service when it debuts on March 4th, 2021.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="1600"] CBS All Access Notice[/caption]

If a user does NOT see the above notice, then their device will be good to go when the switch over occurs.

Mount Sinai study finds Apple Watch can predict COVID-19 diagnosis up to a week before actual testing

CompuScoop Staff February 10, 2021 1

A new study from Mount Sinai researchers published in the peer-reviewed “Journal of Medical Internet Research” found that wearable hardware, and specifically the Apple Watch, can effectively predict a positive COVID-19 diagnosis up to a week before current PCR-based nasal swab tests.

The investigation dubbed the “Warrior Watch Study,” used a dedicated Apple Watch and iPhone app and included participants from Mount Sinai staff. It required participants to use the app for health data monitoring and collection, and also asked that they fill out a day survey to provide direct feedback about their potential COVID-19 symptoms and other factors, including stress.

During the course of the study, the research team enlisted “several hundred healthcare workers” to participate, and collected data over several months, between April and September. The primary biometric signal that the study’s authors were watching was heart rate variability (HRV), which is a key indicator of strain on a person’s nervous system. This information was combined with information around reported symptoms associated with COVID-19, including fever, aches, dry cough, gastrointestinal issues, and loss of taste and smell, among others.

To read the rest of the TechCrunch article, click here.