Author: azeeadmin

Privacy isn’t dead, as many would have you believe. New regulations, stricter cross-border data transfer rules and increasing calls for data sovereignty have helped the privacy startup space grow thanks to an uptick in investor support.

This is how we got here, and where investors are spending.

The rise of privacy tech

With strict privacy laws such as GDPR and CCPA already listing big-ticket penalties — and a growing number of countries following suit — businesses have little option but to comply. It’s not just bigger, established businesses offering privacy and compliance tech; brand-new startups are filling in the gaps in this emerging and growing space.

“For the last decade, privacy tech was trumpeted as one of the next ‘big things’ for investors, but never delivered. Startup business models were too academic, complex and did not appeal to VCs, or crucially, consumers were used to getting free web services,” Gilbert Hill, chief executive at Tapmydata, told Extra Crunch.

Today, privacy is big business. Crunchbase lists 207 privacy startups (as of April 2021) that have together raised more than $3.5 billion over hundreds of individual rounds of funding. The number of privacy companies rockets if you take into account enterprise privacy players. Crunchbase currently has 809 listed under the wider “privacy” category.

The latest Privacy Tech Vendor Report 2021 names 356 companies exclusively dealing in enterprise privacy technology solutions, up from 304 companies a year earlier.

“Since 2017, the privacy landscape underwent a metamorphosis,” the report said. “The emergence of the California Consumer Privacy Act, Brazilian General Data Protection Law and other privacy laws around the world have forced organizations to adhere to a new array of compliance requirements, and in response, the demand for privacy tech grew exponentially.”

That also presents an opportunity for investors.

Increasing investments

Privacy tech was catching the attention of investors even before the recent wave of new privacy laws came into effect. The sector amassed nearly $10 billion in investment in 2019, according to Crunchbase, compared to just $1.7 billion in 2010. Investments remained active in 2020, despite the pandemic.

Case in point: In December, enterprise privacy and compliance firm OneTrust announced a $300 million Series C funding. The deal valued the 4-year-old privacy tech firm at $5.1 billion, making it one of the first modern privacy unicorns. Three months later, it extended its Series C funding, with SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and Franklin Templeton pumping in another $210 million.

Privacy isn’t dead, as many would have you believe. New regulations, stricter cross-border data transfer rules and increasing calls for data sovereignty have helped the privacy startup space grow thanks to an uptick in investor support.

This is how we got here, and where investors are spending.

The rise of privacy tech

With strict privacy laws such as GDPR and CCPA already listing big-ticket penalties — and a growing number of countries following suit — businesses have little option but to comply. It’s not just bigger, established businesses offering privacy and compliance tech; brand-new startups are filling in the gaps in this emerging and growing space.

“For the last decade, privacy tech was trumpeted as one of the next ‘big things’ for investors, but never delivered. Startup business models were too academic, complex and did not appeal to VCs, or crucially, consumers were used to getting free web services,” Gilbert Hill, chief executive at Tapmydata, told Extra Crunch.

Today, privacy is big business. Crunchbase lists 207 privacy startups (as of April 2021) that have together raised more than $3.5 billion over hundreds of individual rounds of funding. The number of privacy companies rockets if you take into account enterprise privacy players. Crunchbase currently has 809 listed under the wider “privacy” category.

The latest Privacy Tech Vendor Report 2021 names 356 companies exclusively dealing in enterprise privacy technology solutions, up from 304 companies a year earlier.

“Since 2017, the privacy landscape underwent a metamorphosis,” the report said. “The emergence of the California Consumer Privacy Act, Brazilian General Data Protection Law and other privacy laws around the world have forced organizations to adhere to a new array of compliance requirements, and in response, the demand for privacy tech grew exponentially.”

That also presents an opportunity for investors.

Increasing investments

Privacy tech was catching the attention of investors even before the recent wave of new privacy laws came into effect. The sector amassed nearly $10 billion in investment in 2019, according to Crunchbase, compared to just $1.7 billion in 2010. Investments remained active in 2020, despite the pandemic.

Case in point: In December, enterprise privacy and compliance firm OneTrust announced a $300 million Series C funding. The deal valued the 4-year-old privacy tech firm at $5.1 billion, making it one of the first modern privacy unicorns. Three months later, it extended its Series C funding, with SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and Franklin Templeton pumping in another $210 million.

Now that Apple’s lost item finder AirTag has officially been introduced, competitor Tile is going on record ahead of its testimony in front of Congress tomorrow about how it perceives Apple’s latest product. The company says it will be asking Congress on Wednesday to take a closer look into Apple’s business practices, and specifically its entry in this lost item tracking category.

Tile has been a strong Apple critic since it learned that Apple would soon launch its own device to take on Tile’s leading lost item finder beacons. Tile had successfully carved out a market for its Bluetooth-powered keychain dongles which allow consumers to find the lost items Tile attaches to — like purses, luggage, keys, bikes, wallets, and more. It also introduced the idea of a “finding network,” where everyone with the Tile app installed on their phone could help to locate someone else’s Tile, in the case that a lost item was out of Bluetooth range of its owner.

With AirTag, Apple is reproducing these capabilities, while also adding support for more precise ultra-wideband technology, integrating AirTag into its first-party “Find My” app, and leveraging its larger iPhone install base to help find missing items. This presents significant competition to Tile, which is not only expected to face off with Apple’s AirTag across Apple’s own devices, but also share a portion of its subscription revenues from in-app purchases with Apple thanks to App Store policies.

Ahead of AirTag’s launch, Apple moved to head off any sort of anti-competitive claims by opening up access to its “Find My” app to third parties. It even partnered with a Tile competitor, the Chipolo ONE Spot, to serve as proof that it’s giving other lost item finders that compete with AirTag equal footing on its iPhone platform. But Tile’s argument to date has been that it doesn’t want to give up the direct relationship it has with customers via its own iOS app to instead support Apple’s “Find My” users, and that Apple’s mere decision to enter this market with its own item-locating tracker will allow it to easily dominate because of its first-party advantage and ecosystem power.

Tile had previously testified before Congress about Apple’s alleged anti-competitive behavior back in 2020, and will now do so again on Wednesday alongside other Apple critics, including Match and Spotify.

The companies are arguing against Apple’s in-app commissions, the so-called “Apple tax,” which Apple recently reduced for smaller businesses. Many larger companies do not want to pay Apple at all — they want to process their own payments directly to retain all the revenue collected. They also want a more direct relationship with customers, not one where Apple is the middleman. And in some cases like Tile and Spotify, the companies don’t feel it’s fair that they’re paying money to Apple when Apple directly competes with their business through its own first-party apps.

In a statement released today following Apple’s event, Tile CEO CJ Prober again publicly criticized Apple’s move into a market Tile created, saying:

Our mission is to solve the everyday pain point of finding lost and misplaced things and we are flattered to see Apple, one of the most valuable companies in the world, enter and validate the category Tile pioneered.

The reason so many people turn to Tile to locate their lost or misplaced items is because of the differentiated value we offer our consumers. In addition to providing an industry leading set of features via our app that works with iOS and Android devices, our service is seamlessly integrated with all major voice assistants, including Alexa and Google. And with form factors for every use case and many different styles at affordable prices, there is a Tile for everyone.

Tile has also successfully partnered with top brands like HP, Intel, Skullcandy, and fitbit to enable our finding technology in mass market consumer categories like laptops, earbuds, and wearables. With over 30 partners, we look forward to extending the benefits of Tile to millions of customers and enabling an experience that helps you keep track of all your important belongings.

We welcome competition, as long as it is fair competition. Unfortunately, given Apple’s well documented history of using its platform advantage to unfairly limit competition for its products, we’re skeptical. And given our prior history with Apple, we think it is entirely appropriate for Congress to take a closer look at Apple’s business practices specific to its entry into this category. We welcome the opportunity to discuss these issues further in front of Congress tomorrow.

Now that Apple’s lost item finder AirTag has officially been introduced, competitor Tile is going on record ahead of its testimony in front of Congress tomorrow about how it perceives Apple’s latest product. The company says it will be asking Congress on Wednesday to take a closer look into Apple’s business practices, and specifically its entry in this lost item tracking category.

Tile has been a strong Apple critic since it learned that Apple would soon launch its own device to take on Tile’s leading lost item finder beacons. Tile had successfully carved out a market for its Bluetooth-powered keychain dongles which allow consumers to find the lost items Tile attaches to — like purses, luggage, keys, bikes, wallets, and more. It also introduced the idea of a “finding network,” where everyone with the Tile app installed on their phone could help to locate someone else’s Tile, in the case that a lost item was out of Bluetooth range of its owner.

With AirTag, Apple is reproducing these capabilities, while also adding support for more precise ultra-wideband technology, integrating AirTag into its first-party “Find My” app, and leveraging its larger iPhone install base to help find missing items. This presents significant competition to Tile, which is not only expected to face off with Apple’s AirTag across Apple’s own devices, but also share a portion of its subscription revenues from in-app purchases with Apple thanks to App Store policies.

Ahead of AirTag’s launch, Apple moved to head off any sort of anti-competitive claims by opening up access to its “Find My” app to third parties. It even partnered with a Tile competitor, the Chipolo ONE Spot, to serve as proof that it’s giving other lost item finders that compete with AirTag equal footing on its iPhone platform. But Tile’s argument to date has been that it doesn’t want to give up the direct relationship it has with customers via its own iOS app to instead support Apple’s “Find My” users, and that Apple’s mere decision to enter this market with its own item-locating tracker will allow it to easily dominate because of its first-party advantage and ecosystem power.

Tile had previously testified before Congress about Apple’s alleged anti-competitive behavior back in 2020, and will now do so again on Wednesday alongside other Apple critics, including Match and Spotify.

The companies are arguing against Apple’s in-app commissions, the so-called “Apple tax,” which Apple recently reduced for smaller businesses. Many larger companies do not want to pay Apple at all — they want to process their own payments directly to retain all the revenue collected. They also want a more direct relationship with customers, not one where Apple is the middleman. And in some cases like Tile and Spotify, the companies don’t feel it’s fair that they’re paying money to Apple when Apple directly competes with their business through its own first-party apps.

In a statement released today following Apple’s event, Tile CEO CJ Prober again publicly criticized Apple’s move into a market Tile created, saying:

Our mission is to solve the everyday pain point of finding lost and misplaced things and we are flattered to see Apple, one of the most valuable companies in the world, enter and validate the category Tile pioneered.

The reason so many people turn to Tile to locate their lost or misplaced items is because of the differentiated value we offer our consumers. In addition to providing an industry leading set of features via our app that works with iOS and Android devices, our service is seamlessly integrated with all major voice assistants, including Alexa and Google. And with form factors for every use case and many different styles at affordable prices, there is a Tile for everyone.

Tile has also successfully partnered with top brands like HP, Intel, Skullcandy, and fitbit to enable our finding technology in mass market consumer categories like laptops, earbuds, and wearables. With over 30 partners, we look forward to extending the benefits of Tile to millions of customers and enabling an experience that helps you keep track of all your important belongings.

We welcome competition, as long as it is fair competition. Unfortunately, given Apple’s well documented history of using its platform advantage to unfairly limit competition for its products, we’re skeptical. And given our prior history with Apple, we think it is entirely appropriate for Congress to take a closer look at Apple’s business practices specific to its entry into this category. We welcome the opportunity to discuss these issues further in front of Congress tomorrow.

It’s Apple event day!

From tweaks to the Apple Card to all new iMacs and iPads, Apple crammed this one-hour event with news. Don’t have time to sit down and click through every last announcement? We’ve slimmed it down to just the key points for maximum skimmability. Enjoy!

Apple Card

Apple kicked things off with a quick but key mention outlining a shift in how Apple Card works. “Apple Card Family” will allow you to share your card with anyone in your family over the age of 13, with customizable spending limits for each added user. You’ll also now be able to “co-own” an Apple card with another adult, with both owners building up their credit equally.

Apple Podcasts

Apple will launch a redesigned Podcast app, including an option for paid subscriptions (monthly or annual) to individual podcasts.

Purple iPhones

No new iPhone this time (those come later in the year, generally), but the existing iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini are getting a new color option: purple. They used a song from Willy Wonka to announce it, because… well, purple.

AirTag

After literal years of rumors and leaks, Apple has at long last officially announced its accessory for tracking things like keys, wallets, and bags through the same “Find My” app you use to find your various Apple devices when you lose them in the couch.

Called “AirTag” (curiously, not ‘AirTags’), Apple says they’ll cost $29 each or $99 for a four pack, and launch on April 30th. They’ll have user-replaceable batteries but, oddly, no built-in attachment loop; if you want to attach it to something like a keyring, you’ll need to add a case. Which, of course, they’ll be making and selling.

Next-gen Apple TV 4K

Apple announced a big refresh to the Apple TV 4K it first launched back in 2017. Here’s the breakdown:

• Powered by Apple’s A12 Bionic chip
• You can use an iPhone to calibrate the picture. Start the calibration, point your iPhone’s camera at your display, and Apple TV 4K will automatically optimize its own output accordingly.
• They’ve redesigned the remote! They’ve moved away from the much lamented touchpad remote, building this new remote around a five-way click pad complete with iPod-esque scroll wheel. There’s a Siri button on the side, in case you feel like talking to your TV instead of pushing buttons. Word is (via WSJ’s Joanna Stern) they’ll also be selling this remote separately for $59.
• $179 for 32GB model or $199 for 64GB.

New iMacs

Time for the iMac to shift over to M1! Apple announced a new lineup of iMacs — and in a throwback to the iMacs of yesteryear, these new ones will come in an array of fancy colors. Here are the highlights:

• Built around the absurdly zippy M1 chipset Apple first introduced into its laptops last year
• 24-inch “4.5K” display
• At last, a decent webcam! These new iMacs will ship with a 1080p FaceTime camera
• Pre-orders start April 20th, shipping in late May
• $1299 gets you an 8-core CPU/7-core GPU setup, while $1499 will bump it up to 8-core CPU/8-core GPU.
• It’ll come in seven colors: green, yellow, pink, orange, blue, purple, and silver. Some colors will only be available in the more expensive model.
• Both models come with a 256GB SSD, and two thunderbolt ports. The $1499 model adds two USB 3 ports
• Apple will ship a new version of its Bluetooth Magic Keyboard, now complete with a Touch ID fingerprint sensor.
  

  Image Credits: Apple

New iPad Pros

The iPad Pro is going M1, too! Apple says this shift brings a 50 percent performance improvement over the previous iPad Pro. Here’s whats new:

• 8-core GPU/8-core CPU
• The 11-inch model will start at $799, while the 12.9-inch model will start at $1,099.
• Cellular models will now have 5G support
• Thunderbolt and USB 4 support through the USB-C port
• The 12.9-inch model will have “Liquid Retina XDR” display that Apple says packs 1000 nits of full-screen brightness, or 1600 nits of peak brightness.
• A feature Apple calls “Center Stage” will automatically keep your face in the center of the frame during FaceTime calls, even as you move about the room.
• Up to 2TB of built-in storage, and 16GB of RAM

Apple just announced the new iMac powered by Apple’s own M1 silicon. Among the numerous updates and upgrades is a new power brick that sports something special to Apple’s lineup: an Ethernet port. On the surface, this seems like a silly placement of a critical I/O port, but there’s a good chance this feature could hit future Apple laptops where it makes much more sense.

The M1 iMac sports a new design that’s much thinner than the last generation and Apple likely didn’t want to make room for the Ethernet port. The only I/O ports appear to be a 3.5mm jack and several USB-C ports. The power adapter itself has a new magnetic connector and doesn’t use one of the computer’s USB-C port. The Ethernet port was relegated to the power supply.

There are several advantages for this placement. It reduces clutter on the back of the computer and streamlines connectivity — items that are even more critical in a portable computer.

Apple famously shares components and accessories across its product line, making it very likely this power brick will come to other products. Apple started removing the magnetic MagSafe power connector when its laptops adopted USB-C in 2016, and it would be fantastic to see a similar product return to the product line. Apple removed the Ethernet port on the MacBook Pro in 2012.

Several companies offer add-ons for Apple power adapters. These, like the Twelve South PlugBug Duo, adds USB ports to the adapters, but none have yet to offer Ethernet.

The big news from today’s Spring Loaded event is, as anticipated, a new version of Apple’s high-end tablet. The new iPad Pro is the first in the line to adopt the M1 chip introduced on the company’s Mac line. The device further blurs the line between the company’s tablet and desktop offerings, as well as improved battery life now listed as “all day.” The Pro also swaps the standard USB-C for Thunderbolt, which allows for a number of new features including external display support.

The Pro also joins the iPhone line with the addition of 5G connectivity. Like the new iMac, the pro features improved imaging, courtesy of the new ISP aboard the Apple silicon. That’s coupled with a new ultra-wide camera. That should allow for improved teleconferencing ability. As reported, the new tablet features an improved display — Liquid Retina, according to Apple’s marketing terms. Among other things that brings much improved high dynamic range.

Developing…

 

Apple has unveiled a new, colorful iMac today with an Apple-designed M1 chip. But that was just part of the story as the company used that opportunity to release new Mac accessories. In addition to a Magic Trackpad and a Magic Mouse with multiple color options, Apple is bringing Touch ID to desktop Macs with a new Magic Keyboard.

Touch ID on desktop works as expected. There’s a fingerprint sensor located at the top right of the keyboard. It replaces the ‘Eject’ key that you can find on existing Apple keyboards. It lets you unlock your computer, pay with Apple Pay, unlock a password manager and more.

Interestingly, Touch ID works wirelessly, which means that you don’t have to connect your keyboard to your Mac with a Lightning cable. There’s a dedicated security component built in the keyboard. It communicates directly with the Secure Enclave in the M1, which means that it only works with modern Mac computers with an M1 chip. It’s going to be interesting to see the security implementation of this new take on Touch ID.

Customers can choose between three keyboard models when they buy a new iMac. Some iMac models probably don’t come with Touch ID by default. You may be able to buy the keyboard separately, but we’ll have to wait for the event to end to find out how much the new keyboard costs.

Apple announced a new Apple TV 4K today, which will come with a new Siri Remote.

In addition to the existing Siri support, this new aluminum remote features a redesigned clickpad that allows for circular gestures in the outer ring, which viewers can use to quickly find the scene they’re looking for. And to eliminate the need to reach for another remote, it also includes a mute button and a power button for your actual TV.

The new Apple TV 4K is built with Apple’s A12 Bionic chip, which the company says will allow it to support higher-quality video, specifically high frame rate HDR and Dolby Vision at 60 frames per second.

Of course, picture quality also depends on the TV itself. But Apple announced a new feature to address the situation, and it’s not limited to people who purchase the new device. To improve the color balance on their TV, any Apple TV owner should be able to use the light sensor in their iPhone to measure their current balance, and the output from their Apple TV will be adjusted accordingly.

The new Apple TV 4K will be available for $179 for 32 gigabytes (or $199 if you want to double the storage capacity), with orders starting on April 30 and availability in the second of May. You’ll also be able to buy an Apple TV HD with the new Siri Remote for $149, or the remote alone for $59.

“With the A12 Bionic and the all-new Siri Remote, Apple TV 4K lets customers enjoy their favorite shows, movies, and more in the highest quality, with simple and intuitive controls,” said Apple Vice President of Worldwide Marketing Bob Borchers in a statement. “And of course, Apple TV 4K offers easy access to Apple services, along with thousands of apps on the App Store for even more entertainment options.”

Apple introduced new iMacs at its event on Tuesday, outfitted with its M1 processor and redesigned inside and out from the ground up. The hardware is impressive, but one of the biggest improvements for everyone’s Zoom-heavy life might be the webcam. Apple said it’s the “best camera ever in a Mac,” which honestly wouldn’t take much, but its specs suggest it actually is a big upgrade.

The camera finally achieves 1080p video capabilities, and Apple has also equipped it with a larger sensor that should provide greatly-improved low light performance. The M1 chip has better image signal processing capabilities, and uses computational video powers to correct and improve the image on the fly, which has brought benefits to the image quality even on existing MacBook Air and MacBook Pro hardware with the same old, bad webcam equipment.

That should mean this iMac actually has really good image quality — or at least not image quality you need to be embarrassed about. The on-board machine learning processor in the M1, which Apple calls the Neural Engine, will be working in real-time to optimize lighting and do noise reduction, too.

On top of the camera, Apple touts new beam forming mics in a three-mic array that will optimize audio, focusing on your voice and eliminating background noise. All told, this should finally be a Mac that provides a videoconferencing experience that doesn’t feel like it’s stuck in the early 2000s.