A teenager accused of January's London Apple Store theft has pleaded guilty, an influencer home invasion, and a trip to China in this week's Apple Crime Blotter.The Apple Store in Brent Cross in London - Image Credit: AppleThe latest in an occasional AppleInsider series, looking at the world of Apple-related crime. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

Bidding has started for the important project management role for the 'North Pole' central business district that will accompany Foster + Partners design for a 2-kilometer (appx. 1.2-mile) megatall towerthe worlds tallestin Riyadh. According to Global Construction Review, likely bidders include heavyweights Aecom, Bechtel, Jacobs, Parsons, Mace, and Turner Construction (the latter having just been announced for the same role in the shorter Jeddah Towerto which it is considered a competitor).The outlet also reported that the project is to be named 'Rise Tower' and located near King Khalid International Airport, which was also master planned by Foster + Partners.

In recent weeks, airport Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents have drawn public outcry for denying travelers US entry based on searches of their phones. A doctor on an H-1B visa was deported to Lebanon after CBP found sympathetic photos and videos of Hezbollah leaders. A French scientist was turned away after a device search unearthed messages criticizing the Trump administrations cuts to research programs, which officers said conveyed hatred of Trump and could be qualified as terrorism. As the administration ratchets up pressure to turn away even legal immigrants, its justifications are becoming thinner and thinner but travelers can still benefit from knowing what are supposed to be their legal rights. Your ability to decline a search depends on your immigration status and, in some cases, on where and how youre entering the country. Courts across the country have issued different rulings on device searches at ports of entry. But no matter your situation, there are precautions you can take to safeguard your digital privacy.CBP device searches have historically been relatively rare. During the 2024 fiscal year, less than 0.01 percent of arriving international travelers had their phones, computers, or other electronic devices searched by CBP, according to the agency. That year, CBP officers conducted 47,047 device searches. But even before this recent wave of incidents, inspections were on the rise: eight years earlier, during the 2016 fiscal year, CBP searched only 19,051 devices.The border search exceptionThe Supreme Court ruled in 2014 that warrantless searches of peoples cell phones violated the Fourth Amendment. But theres one exception to that rule: searches that happen at the border. The courts have held that border searches are reasonable simply because they occur at the border, meaning in most cases, CBP and Border Patrol dont need a warrant to look through travelers belongings including their phones. That exception applies far beyond the USs literal borders, since airports are considered border zones, too.Traditionally, the border search exception to the Fourth Amendment allowed customs officers to search things like luggage. The idea was whatever youre taking with you is pertinent to your travel, Saira Hussain, a senior staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, told The Verge. The point was to look for people or things that were inadmissible into the country.It can show every facet of your life.These days, most travelers are carrying a lot more in their pockets not only information stored on a phones hardware, but anything thats accessible on it with a data connection. When you look at devices, the data that you carry with you isnt just pertinent to your travel. This data can precede your travel by over a decade because of how much information is stored on the cloud, Hussain said. It can show every facet of your life. It can show your financial history, your medical history, your communications with your doctor and your attorney. It can reveal so much information that is not analogous at all to the notion of a customs officer looking through your luggage. Privacy advocates have warned of this issue for years, but in an environment where officers are seeking any pretext to turn someone away, its an even bigger problem.If youre a US citizen, you have the right to say no to a search, and they are not allowed to bar you from the country, Hussain said. But if you refuse, CBP can still take your phone, laptop, or other devices and hold onto them.Permanent residents can similarly refuse a search, but with complicating factors. If someone with a green card leaves the US for more than 180 days, theyre screened for inadmissibility reasons they may be barred from entry upon returning to the country. Green card holders who have certain offenses on their record may also be deemed inadmissible. That appears to have been the case with Fabian Schmidt, a permanent resident whose family said he was violently interrogated by CBP agents at Boston Logan Airport after returning from a trip to Europe. Because of these factors, permanent residents may not feel comfortable refusing a search, even if doing so wouldnt bar them from entering the country. Visa holders have fewer rights at ports of entry, and refusing a search could lead to them being denied entry to the country. How deep is the search?There are two types of device searches CBP officers can conduct: basic and forensic, or advanced. Theres a distinction that the government draws between searching your phone and just looking at whatever is on it, versus connecting your phone to external equipment to search it using advanced algorithms or to copy the contents of your phone, Hussain said.The government maintains that it doesnt need a warrant to conduct basic searches of the contents of a persons phone. During these searches, Hussain explained, agents are supposed to put your phone on airplane mode and can only look at what is accessible offline but that can still be a lot of information, including any cloud data thats currently synced.While forensic inspections are powerful, a lot of mischief can happen through the physical, thumbing-through inspections that law enforcement can engage in, Tom McBrien, counsel at the Electronic Privacy Information Center, also told The Verge.A lot of mischief can happen through the physical, thumbing-through inspections that law enforcement can engage inFor the most part, courts have avoided the question of whether CBP can conduct warrantless basic searches of a persons phone or laptop, effectively allowing the agency to do so. But theres one geographic exception to this rule. Last year, a federal judge in New Yorks Eastern District ruled that CBP cant conduct any warrantless searches of travelers devices. That ruling doesnt apply anywhere else in the country, but the district includes John F. Kennedy Airport in Queens the sixth-busiest airport in the US. That ruling applies to both basic and forensic inspections.Elsewhere in the country, judges have imposed some limitations on advanced searches. Warrantless forensic searches are allowed in some places and prohibited in others, depending on how different federal circuit courts rule. The Supreme Court could clear this up with a ruling that applies nationwide, but its avoided the question for years. Your rights will be different depending on whether youre on a flight landing in Boston Logan in the First Circuit or Reagan/Dulles in the Fourth Circuit, McBrien said. Similarly, your rights would be different if youre crossing the border in Arizona (Ninth Circuit) or New Mexico (Tenth Circuit). This does not make a lot of sense, but the Supreme Court has consistently declined to address these disparities by consistently denying petitions for certiorari in cases that have teed the question up.RelatedSome courts have been more permissive than others. The Ninth Circuit which includes Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington prohibits warrantless forensic searches unless officers are looking for digital contraband, such as child sexual abuse material. The Fourth Circuit covering Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia prohibits warrantless forensic searches unless officers are looking for information related to ongoing border violations, such as human smuggling or drug trafficking. In 2023, a federal judge in the Southern District of New York ruled that the border search exception doesnt extend to forensic searches, for which warrants are needed. (Oddly, the case in question involved a phone search at Newark Liberty Airport in New Jersey, a state that is in a different federal circuit from New York.) These searches, judge Jed Rakoff wrote, extend the Governments reach far beyond the person and luggage of the border-crosser as if the fact of a border crossing somehow entitled the Government to search that travelers home, car, and office.Maliks phone was taken even though hes enrolled in Global EntryNot all judges agree. In 2021, Adam Malik, an immigration lawyer, sued CBP after agents at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport seized his phone and searched the contents without a warrant. According to the lawsuit, Maliks phone was taken even though hes enrolled in Global Entry, CBPs trusted traveler program. Because the agents couldnt bypass Maliks password, they sent the phone to a forensics lab, which extracted all the phones data.A federal court ruled in favor of DHS, saying the warrantless search hadnt violated Maliks rights. When Malik appealed to the Fifth Circuit which covers Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas the judges held that the search didnt require a warrant. But the court also expressed no view on how the border-search exemption may develop or be clarified in future cases. In other words, the constitutionality of these searches is still an open question and CBP wont stop conducting them until and unless its expressly forbidden from doing so.These distinctions matter because they determine a persons basis for challenging device inspections in court. But given the Trump administrations recent track record of ignoring the law and flouting judicial orders, limiting what can be found on your phone is a safer bet than suing the government over an unlawful search after the fact.Safeguarding your data Instead of trying to game out what rights you have depending on your immigration status and what airport youre flying into (or what land border youre crossing), the best way to keep your devices safe from CBP is to limit whats on them.We always encourage data minimization when crossing the border; you want to travel with the least amount of data possible, Hussain said. Before traveling, you should encrypt your devices and make sure youre using secure passwords. Travelers should disable biometric logins like Face ID, since some courts have ruled that police cant compel you to tell them your password but they can use biometrics to unlock your phone. Travelers should disable biometric logins like Face IDThe EFF recommends that travelers limit what can be found during basic phone or laptop searches by uploading their data onto the cloud and deleting it off their device and ensuring that its fully been removed, since agents can also look through your phones recently deleted files during basic searches. Customs agents are supposed to keep your phone on airplane mode while they conduct a basic search, but that still lets them see any cached emails, text messages, and other communications. The best way to safeguard this information is to back it up onto the cloud and then wipe your phone or laptop entirely.Backing up sensitive or personal data doesnt just prevent others from accessing your device; it also ensures you dont lose that data if CBP seizes your phone or computer. McBrien also suggests that people turn their phones off when theyre crossing the border or at the airport. Turning the phone off means that when you turn it back on, it requires a passcode whether or not you use FaceID or other biometric measures, McBrien said.In a better legal environment, these precautions wouldnt be the only meaningful shield between you and a border search. Without strong constitutional and statutory protections, personal choices about how to configure ones device and apps can only mitigate not eliminate the dangers that border device searches pose to their privacy and speech rights, McBrien said. For now, if CBP really wants to look through your phone, theyll likely find a way. But you can still protect yourself as much as possible. See More:

Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 76, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. (If youre new here, welcome, sorry if your brackets busted, and also you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage.)This week, I have been shirking most of my responsibilities to watch March Madness. But Ive also been reading about Polymarket and the future of social media and Taylor Sheridan, watching the Severance finale and immediately starting a full season two rewatch, listening to Amy Poehlers delightful new podcast, testing out the new base-model iPad and the Nothing Phone 3A Pro, and cleaning out my Downloads folder for the first time in way too long.I also have for you a new-old gadget I love, a new Assassins Creed title, a new mid-range Android phone, a decidedly not mid-range camera youll want anyway, a great journaling app, and much more. I want to buy too many things this week. Lets dive in.(As always, the best part of Installer is your ideas and tips. What are you into right now? What should everyone else be watching / reading / playing / listening to / sticking in their suitcase this week? Tell me everything: installer@theverge.com. And if you know someone else who might enjoy Installer, tell them to subscribe here.)The DropThe Core 2 Duo. I have so many fond memories of Pebble smartwatches, which combined features, battery life, and simplicity better than basically anything Ive used since. And now theyre back! Theyre not called Pebbles, but theyre Pebbles. The Core 2 Duo is the cheaper option and ships sooner, and you better believe I pre-ordered one.Assassins Creed Shadows. There are three game franchises I will always try any new version of, no matter what, and Assassins Creed is one of them. There have been some disappointments, but this isnt one of them theres no wheel-reinvention happening here, but the game is huge, gorgeous, and exactly what I want it to be.Day One for Windows. I have tried all the journaling apps, and Day One is still the best around. The Windows app is long overdue, and while I dont think its the best-looking version, its at least pretty full-featured right out of the gate. Another excuse not to switch away.The Google Pixel 9A. I almost didnt include this one, because you cant actually buy it yet thanks to some ongoing hardware weirdness that Google ought to be a lot more forthcoming about. But the Pixel A series has long been one of the best deals in smartphones, so consider this a PSA: if youre phone shopping, hold off. This might be worth the slightly longer wait.Tweek. Tweek is one of my favorite super-simple planner apps, except Ive always hated it on mobile. Now it has some new views and design tweaks that make it really nice on mobile! I hate how much I want to go back and throw my life into this app.Can You Fool A Self Driving Car? This Mark Rober video is full of interesting and fun ideas even though there are some very sketchy details in the methodology and results. I still liked it, even just as a way of understanding why this is such a hard problem to solve.The Fujifilm GFX100RF. Love seeing Fujifilm take its gorgeous X100 fixed-lens vibe and start adding it to its other camera lines. In this case, a medium format GFX camera with both looks and specs to spare. Yeah, yeah, yeah, its $4,900. I can still hope someone steals me one. (PS: our friend David Imel made a great video about this camera.)Gemini Canvas. I hear all the time that these live-updating canvas views are a great way to interact with AI bots and Googles version of the feature is instantly one of the most accessible and straightforward canvas tools Ive seen. Gemini is kind of good?Xenoblade Chronicles X. A decade-old Wii U game just made it to the Switch, where I suspect it will find new life. My colleague Andrew Webster called the game an absolutely massive sci-fi RPG, which is really all I need to hear.My favorite iOS browser these days is Quiche Browser. Its somehow both incredibly simple and one of the most customizable browsers Ive ever tried, which is a really hard balance to pull off. I spent 10 minutes mucking around in the settings, moving all the buttons and icons into exactly the right spot for me, and now everything seems to be where my thumb expects. Its great.Quiche is made by Greg de Jonckheere, a solo developer living in Japan. I reached out to Greg to see if hed share his Quiche Browser setup with me, because I wondered if he had any cool tips I didnt know about. Then I figured he should share with all of us and asked him to share his homescreen, too. Here it is, plus some info on the apps he uses and why:The phone: Still an iPhone 15 Pro. That rumored iPhone 17 Air better be compelling and keep the USB-C port (a must for iOS app development), otherwise the old 15 Pro might have to go for another ride.The wallpaper: Im stuck with the iOS 18 default, not so much for its aesthetics, but because I love the idea of an animated wallpaper that transitions beautifully with the time of day. Now if only Apple could let developers create their ownThe apps: Quiche Browser (more on that below), Things (still the GOAT), Reeder Classic (same), Fantastical, Endel (in love with the new 8D Odyssey soundscape), Cosmos (like Pinterest, but with taste), Poolsuite FM (my favorite indie brand and radio), too many messaging apps (the perks of living in Asia while keeping in touch with friends and family in Europe each country has its own go-to apps, and I need to be on all of them), plenty of Apple stock apps, and a folder full of apps to track my apps downloads, reviews, subscriber counts, and revenue, as well as one with development builds.I use Spotlight and Siri suggestions a lot, as theyre surprisingly good at remembering the apps I use most depending on time and location. So, my home screen doesnt necessarily reflect my actual usage.I also asked Greg to share his Quiche Browser setup. Here it is:A compact, one-row toolbar that fully disappears on scroll for full-screen, distraction-free readingA left-handed-friendly button layout. From left to right: tab overview, new tab, search / edit URL, address bar, close tabThe address bar shows the page domain, title, and read time, but it doesnt open the keyboard. Instead, its a large button that opens a menu with everything I need occasionally: history, downloads, settings, find on page, search this site, reader mode, move tab to private mode, copy URL, share, disable blocker, disable JavaScript, toggle dark mode, reload, undo close tab (phew)No back/forward buttons. I use gestures insteadIn night mode, the toolbar switches to full black with low-contrast buttons, and dark mode is enabled on all websites. Right now, Im using a dark blue and orange custom theme, quite cozy for reading at nightAnd finally, I asked Greg to share a few things hes into right now. Heres what he sent back:Severance. Fun fact: because season 1 had nine episodes, and last weeks episode was the ninth and ended on the exact same line, I was dead sure Id just watched the season 2 finale and spent an entire day feeling utterly frustrated.Drive to Survive and Formula 1. I skipped last years season as I didnt want to relive the dull 2023 F1 season, but the latest episodes are good. After that first epic race of 2025, Im absolutely hyped for whats to come.Targzs generative pen-plotting. My good friend and mentor mixes generative art and pen-plotting to create incredible work (like physical art, on actual canvas and all). He recently showcased his latest piece at a very prestigious exhibition at Paris Grand Palais, and his timelapse videos are mesmerizing to watch.Imagining Arc by The Browser Company. A fascinating dive, especially in hindsight, into what went through the founders mind just weeks before the companys biggest pivot and presumably its most challenging period yet.Conversations on Quality on YouTube. I cant get enough of digital product people talking about their craft.CrowdsourcedHeres what the Installer community is into this week. I want to know what youre into right now as well! Email installer@theverge.com or message me on Signal @davidpierce.11 with your recommendations for anything and everything, and well feature some of our favorites here every week. For more great recommendations, check out the replies to this post on Threads and this post on Bluesky.I just picked up a Supernote Nomad, which is hitting the sweet spot for an e-ink reader and notetaker for me. Being able to read EPUBs and PDFs while drawing on them like a physical book is exactly what I want out of an e-reader. Though it did start me down a rabbit hole of moving all my ebooks to Calibre, getting the metadata just right, and customizing the epub formatting with the right layout and custom font to make reading on my Nomad perfect. SageI recently stopped relying on algorithms for music discovery and instead I subscribed to a Patreon for a (dont like this term but) tastemaker named Derrick Gee. MikeAdolescence on Netflix. Amazing drama with hour long episodes filmed in one shot, single camera. Even includes a camera passover to a drone just to make things more complicated. PaulIve been using Ladder, and Ive found it generally perfect. My coach drops six workouts each week and prioritizes three. On top of this, the iOS app is such a great experience. If youre in the Apple ecosystem, it takes over your Apple Watch, integrates with Spotify / Apple Music, and tracks your vitals intra-workout, such as % of max heart rate. There are warm ups and cool downs, and I believe its as close to getting a personal trainer who creates a progressive training plan as is achievable in an app. KevinURList, a little tool for making lists. ItayI finished rewatching FXs Legion and was as glued to it as the first watch. What particularly caught my attention is some of the scenes narrated by Jon Hamm in Season 2 and how unfortunately prescient they are. ZaydI was absolutely fascinated by this 1970s BBC documentary about how the coming age of the microchip would lead to our children growing up without jobs to go to. Interesting echoes of the AI debate. MikeThis week I am happily listening to Into the Aether, a low-key video game podcast. They are known for marathon GOTY-casts and console retrospectives. This week they announced theyre joining a podcast network, so Im just really happy for them. DanIm going to Japan next week for my honeymoon, and have been using a couple tools to pick up basic Japanese. One of them is a game, Shashingo, which helps you learn through photography. CameronSigning offOne of my favorite niche genres of YouTube is I got a tour of a Disney lab. There are tons of these videos out there Cleo Abram and CrunchLabs both published some in the last two weeks, The Wall Street Journal and MKBHD did them last year, and there are so many more a quick search away and I gladly watch them all. Even after watching the official Imagineering documentary, The Imagineering Story, I still cant get enough of seeing the mix of practical, weird, useful, and just cool stuff happening inside the labs. It does feel like Disneys cachet is not what it once was, but theres still some amazing stuff happening inside the House of Mouse. Plus: everybody ends up doing some kind of lightsaber demo, and I am always here for a lightsaber demo.See you next week!See More:

No matter how big or small a house, there always seems to be a room that becomes the center of it all. Maybe the light is brighter there, the air circulation fresher, the vibes inexplicably better. Maybe its all three.For ELLE DECOR A-List interior designer Sheila Bridges, that room is the large enclosed porch at the back of her Hudson Valley home, featured on the cover of our September 2020 issue. Or perhaps we should say the front of the home, as Bridges prefers that guests walk through her yard and garden before entering the house.This enclosed porch wears more hats than one might expect. Aside from being Bridgess alternate foyer, its also a dining room, a workspace (when she needs a break from her in-house studio), and a place for rest, for reading, and all-around relaxation. I really use it for everything, Bridges says. Its where I love to entertain. I have people over for cocktails in the evening. It accommodates up to eight for dinner. I sit, read, or work on my laptop in the living area. It is flexible and very functional.Frank FrancesAn ottoman from Stair Galleries sits in front of a vintage Janus et Cie chair. The ceiling fan is by Visual Comfort. Even her dog, a Mudi named Loki, has free rein: A dog door allows him the run of the property, inside and out. But aside from the freedom and variety the space offers, its access to the natural world is what Bridges finds most appealing. This preference has defined the designer since her childhood, which was filled with tennis, horses, and skiing with her family. I love the outdoors. I wouldnt have a house in upstate New York if I didnt, Bridges says. A screened-in porch combines the best of both worlds: an interior space and an exterior space.I love the outdoors. I wouldnt have a house in upstate New York if I didnt.The three-season room (Bridges avoids it in winter) extends the full width of the houseunusual for a porchwith screens instead of windows on three sides. In the morning the breeze pours into the room. Ceiling fans turn in the hottest months, when the porch offers fresh air without the annoyance of insects and other critters. The love affair mosquitoes have with me is incredible, Bridges says. At dusk shadows creep poetically through the space. The room gets amazing natural light, but because it faces west, I also get the sunset, she says.Inside Sheila Bridges' PorchSince the room is not insulated, Bridges uses furniture suitable for the outdoors. Guests gather around a Saarinen Tulip table, with custom rattan chairs in black, brown, and blue (the palette of the room), and eat off Wedgwood china of Bridgess design and cutlery she inherited from her parents. The lush green of the surrounding maple, oak, and white birch trees acts as a cocoon, with a green sofa and lanterns bringing the hue inside.In those dreamy hours between day and night, Bridges might take a nap here, play jazz from her concealed speakers, or simply sit, look, and listen to the rich, layered world around her. This story originally appeared in the April 2025 issue of Elle Decor. SUBSCRIBE

In a move to position the Apple Watch as more of an AI wearable, Apple is working on multiple versions of future Apple Watch models that include cameras. This will help the device see the outside world, per Bloombergs Mark Gurman.This AI push would go hand in hand with Apples existing Visual Intelligence technology, which the company also intends to bring to AirPods. Right now, Visual Intelligence heavily relies on ChatGPT and Google. According to Gurman, though, the company wants to bring this work in-house:Apples ultimate plan for Visual Intelligence goes far beyond the iPhone.The company wants to put the feature at the core of future devices, including the camera-equippedAirPods that Ive beenwriting aboutfor several months. Along the way, Apple also wants toshift Visual Intelligence toward its own AI models, rather than those from OpenAI and Google.As for Apple Watch models with cameras, Gurman reports that Apple is working on it for both standard and ultra Apple Watch models. With the standard Apple Watch, the camera would be embedded within the display, similar to an iPhone. Its unclear if this would utilize under display-tech, or if thisll necessitate a camera cutout.With the Ultra, the company plans on embedding it on the side of the watch, next to the digital crown and side button. Apple is likely doing this because they have more space to work with. Gurman says that Ultra users would have an easier time pointing their wrist at things to scan.This Apple Watch wouldnt watch until at least 2027, according to Gurman, alongside the rumored AirPods with cameras. This all hinges on Apples AI teams getting things in order. The team recently underwent an executive shake-up.My favorite Apple accessories on Amazon:Follow Michael:X/Twitter,Bluesky,InstagramAdd 9to5Mac to your Google News feed. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.Youre reading 9to5Mac experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Dont know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

When it comes to life in the age of global capitalism, there's probably no better symbol for the worker's burden than the dreaded alarm clock. Although the snooze button offers temporary escape, its betrayal is inevitable, leaving many a weary worker to spam that thing like there's no tomorrow.That cruel button is the driving force behind Alarmy, a cheery South Korean startup with a mission to "make people's morning successful." Alarmy is one of the top alarm clock apps on both the Apple and Android app stores, logging tens of millions of downloads on both.Though Alarmy bills itself as an all-day wellness app, its main draw is its wakeup function, a dastardly if helpful, for some bit of software that makes you finisha task in order to turn the alarm off.Alarmy's wake-up errandsrange from memory games to squat challenges to dreary-eyed math quizzes. It also includes ads, as some drowsy Redditors discovered after popups ads hijacked their snooze bar."That will be the last time I use that app," wrote user LoganScheffler, along with a picture of a prompt to "watch ad to snooze 3 minutes."Curious about the feature, we reached out to Alarmy's parent company Delightroom, which was thrilled to explain the process, though it requested that we frame the feature in a "witty and lighthearted" tone rather than a critical one. ("After all, its designed to help people wake up more effectively!" a spokesperson reasoned.)As for the wake-up ads, Delightroom says that users get to set a maximum number of snoozes for themselves to enjoy in the morning, though the app defaults to three out of the box."However," the spokesperson said, "if they really want to snooze just one last time, they have the option to watch an ad to extend snooze only once.""After that, no more snoozes are allowed even with an ad. Theyll have to get up!" they added.Fishing for the "X" on a pop-up ad as your alarm rips you back from dreamland might not be everyone's idea of happy-go-lucky fun, though we'll grant it adds a bit of much needed whimsy to the adpocolypse. "Please stand up and yell Coca Cola at your phone,"asone Redditorquipped.In a bigger sense, ad-based alarm clocks are indicative of the creep of "adtech" into yet another corner of life. Adtech is the layer of software behind nearly every app we use that lets companies manage their ad campaigns everything from hyper-personal targeted ads to those perfidious fake game popups.For DelightroomCEO Shin Jae-myung, the alarm app is just the tip of the iceberg. His real bread and butter is DARO, a streamlined adtech platform offering developers a chance to reproduce Alarmy's lucrative marketing setup. With Alarmy, the CEO said in an interview, the company "created a new advertising monetization platform that can be shared with other startups, because it is a waste to use that know-how only internally."That know-how, like with many other adtech platforms, comes at a hidden cost for consumers. Alarmy's privacy policy which users must accept to use the app in the first place contains a huge list of reasons the company is allowed to use your personal data, including to spam youwith special offers about affiliated products, to share with third party internet service providers, and to sell to other for-profit advertising firms, like Google's AdMob or BlackRock's AppLovin.While Alarmy's marketing work is a drop in the bucket compared to the $876 billion global adtech market, it's nonetheless a potent reminder of that old adage: if it's free, you're the product.Share This Article

President Donald Trump has some accolades for the technical acumen of his youngest son Barron and they're baffling.In a sit-down interview withFox Newspersonality Laura Ingraham in the Oval Office, the second-time president bragged that his youngest son may have a future in tech because, apparently, the 19-year-old college freshman knows how to turn his laptop on.When Ingraham asked the president if Barron shows more of a propensity for business or politics a valid question, considering he's currently enrolled New York University's Stern School of Business the elder Trump responded "maybe technology.""He can look at a computer..." Trump responded, trailing off. "I turn off his laptop, I said, 'Oh good,' and I go back five minutes later, hes got his laptop, I say, 'How do you do that?' 'None of your business, dad.'"Trump is notoriously technophobic, reportedly not using a computer or email. His outbursts about technology are often incomprehensible, like when he ducked into a Tesla recently and exclaimed that "everything is computer."Were this any other father attempting to brag about his directionless young adult son, his latest rejoinder might be relatable. But Trump is far from the average father: this is a man who became a billionaire after allegedly ripping off the city of New York and getting in bed with the Russian mob, and whose second presidency is, somehow, already more nativist and violent than his first.Behind the scenes, there's no telling how hard the president comes down on his youngest. We do, however, know a bit about how he's treated his other kids: according to Miami realtor (and DJ) Scott Melker, Trump once slapped his eldest son, Don Jr., in the face in front of their shared freshman dorm room at the University of Pennsylvania for having the gall to wear a jersey to a baseball game."Don Jr. opened the door, wearing a Yankee jersey. Without saying a word, his father slapped him across the face, knocking him to the floor in front of all of his classmates," Melker wrote in a November 2016 Facebook post, per the Miami New-Times. "He simply said 'put on a suit and meet me outside,' and closed the door."One would hope that the president has softened on his kids with age, but given that weird anecdote about the laptop, it seems that Trump is either trying to save face on behalf of his kid who, like most college freshmen, doesn't have their whole life mapped out yet or that he really is astounded by someone being able to turn on a computer.Share This Article

This battery breakthrough would be good news for the EV industry.

Don't miss the latest on Apple TV Plus, Prime Video and other streaming services. Here's what's coming the week of March 24 to 30.