TLDR 2019-01-31

Facebook had a spyware VPN app called Onavo that got banned from the iOS App Store. Then, Facebook tried to use their special enterprise certificate (meant for internally testing apps) to distribute the app to teenagers. After this was discovered yesterday, Apple revoked Facebook's cert, essentially preventing them from testing any of their iOS apps.

Apple is rumored to launch iPhones with more powerful 3D cameras in 2020. Current cameras have a 3D range of about 25-50 centimeters, while the new cameras will work up to 15 feet from the device. This may be a prelude to Apple releasing their own Augmented Reality (AR) headset device.

iRobot has announced today it’s first autonomous lawnmower robot. Unlike other autonomous lawnmower robots which require a wire to be laid down to define the robot’s boundaries, iRobot’s lawnmower robot uses a wireless beacon setup. There is also a mobile app where grass height can be tweaked and other information about the robot can be monitored.

A team of ex-US government operatives working for the UAE used an iPhone exploit called ‘Karma’ to hack into the iPhones of activists, diplomats, and rival foreign leaders. The exploit is initiated when the attacker sends the target a special text message. Photos, emails, text messages, and location information were stolen using this exploit.

Devflight is a service that makes it possible to work full time on maintaining your open source projects. Basically, if you maintain an open source project, they help you find companies that are willing to pay you for things like priority email and on-demand support, feature request prioritization, faster bug fixes, etc. The company is transparent about their 10% cut and there is a form to join the waiting list to be contacted by DevFlight.

Import-http allows users to import JS modules using HTTP rather than via local node_modules. It is easily used in both Webpack and Rollup module bundlers.

Jizhong Chen, an Apple engineer working on autonomous vehicles, was accused by the FBI of stealing trade secrets. Chen backed up his work information onto personal devices, claiming he was applying for other internal jobs, but had instead applied for external jobs. Chen was put on a Performance Improvement Plan in December, but is now suspended without pay after the discovery of his activities in January.