The time has come: Dark Sky, the (mostly) beloved weather app for iOS is going to stop working on January 1st, according to in-app warnings. From a report: The sunsetting has been in the forecast for a while — Apple announced it was planning on shutting down the service last year after acquiring it in 2020, and it removed Dark Sky from the App Store a few months ago, according to 9to5Mac. But if you’ve been putting off finding a new weather app, now’s the time to finally get around to it. As for what alternatives iPhone users have available (the Android app was axed in 2020), perhaps the most obvious is Apple’s own built-in Weather app. The company even has a support document titled “How Dark Sky users can use the Apple Weather app,” which talks about how features from the former have been added to the later. Further reading: The World’s Best Terrible Weather App.

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Source: Slashdot – The Dark Sky’s iOS App Will Stop Working Imminently

Apple CEO Tim Cook urged Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to consider user protections when regulating smartphone app distribution during a mid-December meeting, Nikkei is reporting, as the tech giant faces growing pressure to open up to third-party app stores. From a report: Apple has come under fire in Europe and elsewhere for requiring all app downloads on the iPhone go through its official App Store. Cook’s first trip to Japan in three years was likely intended to prevent similar arguments from gaining momentum in Japan. Cook met with Kishida in Tokyo on Dec. 15 as part of a whirlwind tour of Japan. He outlined how Apple invested more than $100 billion in Japanese supply chains in the last five years, and stressed the company’s continued focus on the country.

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Source: Slashdot – Tim Cook Relayed Concern Over App Store Curbs To Japan Prime Minister

Windows Central reports: The Surface Earbuds are a weird product in Microsoft’s line of Surface devices. Now over two years old, and still available to buy at a close to launch price of $160, the Surface Earbuds might be the worst “Surface” branded device you can buy brand new right now. They launched at a time when the wireless earbuds space was heating up and offered less than the competition while charging more. Are they the best in audio quality? Definitely not. Are they the best designed? Most would argue that they aren’t. Are they the most comfortable? That depends, but I know a lot of people claim they don’t properly fit in their ears. Do they support wireless charging? Nope. Is the case premium? Mine scratches easily and the lid feels flimsy. Nothing about the product screams $160 premium earbuds.

[…] My sources have said that Microsoft was working on a successor to the Surface Earbuds, codenamed Ella, that was supposed to launch before the end of this year. We’re now at the end of the year and that never happened. I hope they’ve simply been delayed and not canceled, though I wouldn’t be surprised if they have. Microsoft’s abandonment of the first Surface Earbuds should be a huge red flag for any potential buyers of a second-generation pair. Why should anyone buy them if Microsoft is going to abandon them the second they hit the market? This product segment is competitive, and there are many other brands that will commit to supporting their own wireless earbuds for longer.

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Source: Slashdot – Microsoft’s 0 Surface Earbuds Have Seemingly Been Abandoned

An anonymous reader shares a report: CES 2023 is now just days away, and there’s already a standout category that we’re particularly excited about: 240Hz OLED gaming monitors. Generally speaking, OLED panels can achieve better picture quality and a faster response time than their LED or IPS equivalents but have historically lacked the ability to match them in providing high-refresh rates. There have been some exceptions — such as the Alienware AW3423DW, a QD-OLED running at 175Hz — but now, OLED gaming displays have finally achieved the optimal 240Hz refresh rate prized by gamers who specialize in eSports and FPS titles. There are several 240Hz OLED displays (that we’re aware of) being showcased at the CES 2023 conference. One of the more innovative offerings is the Corsair Xeneon Flex, a 45-inch OLED with a customizable curvature and a $1,999 price tag. By squeezing the screen together, you can switch between flat and 800R curved display modes, making it ideal for both work and play.

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Source: Slashdot – The 240Hz OLED Gaming Displays Are Coming

British businesses have complained about the tactics used by Sage, the UK’s largest listed tech company, to push them into accepting more expensive subscription services or have access to their existing accounting software packages switched off. From a report: Small companies across the UK rely on the FTSE 100 company’s Sage50 software for book-keeping, sending invoices, processing orders and helping with tax payments. But in recent months, Sage has pushed customers who had been sold single-payment, long-term licences to the software on to monthly subscriptions that work out to be more expensive over the long run, by saying they would turn off their licences on security grounds, despite having no specific grounds to do so in their terms and conditions.

“It’s a pitload of crap,” said Kate Barton, owner of model train company Reeves 2000, who last upgraded her so-called perpetual package in January 2019 for a licence she expected to last 15 years. Barton now faces monthly payments of $187 on a subscription model. “This is a bigger picture of the way things are going, where we’re forced on to a subscription for everything,” she said. “It’s quite frightening.” Under the direction of chief executive Steve Hare, Sage’s focus on subscription software forms part of a plan to achieve more regular recurring revenues, which would make it less vulnerable to the income shocks that can occur from an overreliance on new customers making one-off purchases.

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Source: Slashdot – Sage Accused of ‘Strong Arm’ Tactics Over Move To Software Subscriptions