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ExtraBITS for 21 July 2014

Managing Editor Josh Centers sat down with Gene Steinberg to discuss Gmail and Apple TV on The Tech Night Owl podcast, Apple has been denied a trademark on its Touch ID fingerprint scanner, and Greenpeace has declared Apple the greenest company in the tech world.

Josh Centers Discusses Gmail and Apple TV on The Tech Night Owl — TidBITS Managing Editor Josh Centers joined host Gene Steinberg on The Tech Night Owl podcast to explain why he uses Gmail, and what Apple will need to do to keep the Apple TV competitive.

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Apple Denied Touch ID Trademark — The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has denied Apple’s application to trademark Touch ID, the fingerprint-sensing technology built into the iPhone 5s. Apparently, the Touch ID name is too similar to an existing trademark, Kronos Touch ID, which the USPTO claims could cause customer confusion. Apple has six months to change the trademark or make a deal with Kronos, a workforce management solution company whose biometric Touch ID terminal manages employee time-tracking and access in casinos.

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Apple Declared the Greenest Company in Tech — Apple is now the greenest major tech company, according to a new report by Greenpeace. In the organization’s Clean Energy Index, which ranks companies based on clean energy usage, as well as use of other energy sources such as natural gas, coal, and nuclear, Apple scored 100 percent. By comparison, Facebook received 49 percent, Google scored 48 percent, and Amazon Web Services managed only a paltry 15 percent.

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