If you ask Apple, the massive information this week was its spring product announcement event, the place the corporate confirmed off some shiny new devices, together with a brand new iPhone SE. But not everybody was stoked for fancy Apple devices. According to a new report from the patron advocacy group US Pirg that ranks telephones and laptops primarily based on their repairability, Apple units scored the bottom amongst all main producers.
US Pirg’s rating relies on a French law enacted in early 2021 that requires firms to incorporate repairability scores on merchandise. The nonprofit collated these rankings with extra repairability information from right-to-repair advocates at iFixit. The report centered on simply telephones and laptops, assessing 187 units made by 10 producers. The report assigns a letter score from A to F primarily based on how simply units might be disassembled and the supply and affordability of alternative components. Apple’s computer systems scored a D-, and its iPhones acquired an F. Dell and Motorola units scored the best, on common, each with B+ scores. No firm made it into the highest tier A variety. Google’s telephones earned a D+.
Companies’ scores have been additionally influenced by every producer’s anti-reparability activism. Apple and Microsoft each misplaced factors for lobbying against the correct to restore. The restriction of shoppers’ capability to repair their very own units is a crusade Apple has been on for a while now, although there have been indicators the corporate could also be stress-free just a little. Last 12 months, for instance, Apple mentioned it could lastly make repair manuals out there for a few of its units. Still, for a lot of right-to-repair advocates, these child steps aren’t sufficient.
Here are another goings-on within the great-big world of shopper tech.
Companies Continue to Pull Out of Russia
More tech firms have responded to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine two weeks in the past. This week, Apple restricted machine options and stopped selling products in Russia. Sony additionally halted PlayStation sales and disabled on-line companies in Russia.
After Russia mentioned it could block Facebook within the nation, father or mother firm Meta responded by including neighborhood assets to its platform and permitting Instagram customers to hide followers on non-public accounts in Russia and Ukraine.
Lululemon Laces Up
Lululemon, the athleisure model recognized for its stretchy yoga duds, has introduced that it’s entering into the footwear recreation. The firm’s cavalcade of kicks kicks off with a working shoe referred to as Blissfeel. Lululemon says it spent 4 years on the shoe’s improvement and analyzed over 1,000,000 toes to construct a runner particularly for ladies’s our bodies. Blissfeels shall be out there March 22 for $148. More shoe choices for working, understanding, and stress-free are coming later this 12 months.
Amazon Wants You to DJ Its App Launch Party
Amazon debuted a brand new audio streaming service that goals to compete with social audio companies like Clubhouse and Twitter Spaces. Amazon’s new app, referred to as Amp, lets customers play DJ and host their very own reside radio classes. Aspiring shock jocks can cycle by playlists and settle for calls from others on the platform. Amazon says Amp’s music catalog presently has “tens of millions of licensed songs,” although they don’t seem to be the identical tunes which can be out there by Amazon Music.
Amp is out there in beta on iOS. Amazon says Android and desktop variations are coming quickly.
Android Gets Bigger
Google took the wraps off its long-in-the-works model of the Android cellular working system optimized for tablets, foldables, and different large-screen units. Android 12L has some key options aimed toward making the chonky layouts of those units easier to make use of. Changes embrace a rejiggering of the house and lock screens, a PC-esque taskbar for launching apps, improved assist for split-screen modes, and delineated columns to make notifications simpler to handle. Google says Android 12L shall be launched on choose units later this 12 months.
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