Linked List: August 1, 2016

Monday, 1 August 2016

Apple Releases New ‘Apple TV Remote’ App for iPhone ★

Worth noting: it’s a brand-new app, not an update of the old Remote app.

iOS 10 Beta 4 Introduces New Emoji ★

Apple:

More than one hundred new and redesigned emoji characters will be available to iPhone and iPad users this Fall with iOS 10. This exciting update brings more gender options to existing characters, including new female athletes and professionals, adds beautiful redesigns of popular emoji, a new rainbow flag and more family options.

Also notable: the “pistol” emoji is now a toy squirt gun.

Update: Intriguingly, Microsoft is switching their pistol emoji from a toy sci-fi ray guy to a realistic revolver. And Ben Sandofsky argues that the new emoji should be a variant, not a replacement, to avoid the ambiguity of the glyph conveying a very different meaning depending on the recipient’s OS. ~~And, with this change, Apple’s pistol now points to the right; their previous pistol, and those of all other vendors, points to the left.~~ I don’t know why CNN is showing the new water pistol pointing right, but it actually still points left.

Uber Sells Its China Operations to Rival Didi Chuxing ★

Eric Newcommer and Selina Wang, reporting for Bloomberg:

Uber Technologies Inc. is selling its China operations to fierce rival Didi Chuxing, ending an expensive price war and freeing it up to focus on other markets and possibly an initial public offering.

The truce brings to an end a bruising battle between the two companies for leadership in China’s fast-growing ride-hailing market. Uber has already lost $2 billion in China in two years there, people familiar with the matter have said, prompting investors to pressure the company to cut a deal. As part of the arrangement, Didi will invest $1 billion in Uber’s global company, people familiar with the matter said.

Worth noting: Didi is the company in which Apple invested $1 billion back in May.