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ExtraBITS for 19 January 2015

Adam Engst joins the MacBreak Weekly and The Tech Night Owl podcasts to discuss the latest in Apple news, we say goodbye to MacUser UK, German designers mock up an homage to the original Mac, and encrypted messaging apps come under threat in Britain.

Adam Discusses CES 2015 on MacBreak Weekly — Adam Engst joined the regulars on MacBreak Weekly — Leo Laporte, Andy Ihnatko, and Rene Ritchie — to analyze the latest news and gadgets to come out of CES, ponder the future of HomeKit and home automation in general, look into what’s involved with the Thunderstrike attack, and go back and forth on what sizes of iPhones Apple should make. Highly recommended.

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Adam Examines the iMac, Hardware Upgrades, and Apple Software Quality on The Tech Night Owl — On The Tech Night Owl Live, Adam Engst joined host Gene Steinberg to share notes on the iMac with 5K Retina display, talk about why Apple makes it so hard to upgrade Mac hardware, and discuss the drop in Apple’s software quality.

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MacUser UK Is Shutting Down — Dennis Publishing has announced that it’s ceasing publication of MacUser in the UK after almost 30 years. The company cited “challenging market conditions,” although it continues to publish numerous other print magazines. Dennis Publishing will soon be contacting subscribers regarding their subscriptions.

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Curved Mocks Up an Homage to the Original Mac — It’s easy to go overboard when rendering fantastic Mac designs, but the German publication Curved has taken another tack with an imagined iMac design that draws its inspiration from the original Macintosh. The pictures show off a compact Mac that’s sleek, curvy, and gorgeous — the only downside is that it isn’t real.

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British Prime Minister Challenges Encrypted Messaging Apps — British Prime Minister David Cameron, who is seeking reelection, wants encrypted messaging services to give British intelligence access to online conversations. In the name of preventing terrorism, Cameron is proposing banning services like iMessage, WhatsApp, and Snapchat unless they comply. “Are we going to allow a means of communications which it simply isn’t possible to read? My answer to that question is: ‘No, we must not,’” Cameron said. For those wondering, Cameron’s
proposed back door requirement does not appear to contradict the European Union directive on privacy and electronic communications, which “does not affect the ability of Member States to carry out lawful interception of electronic communications.”

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