HARDWARE

Apple Works Around Working Remote

Apple's special ops teams—the units tasked with top-secret projects—face an unfamiliar foe: working from . 

But don't listen to me

Monday reports from The Information and Bloomberg detail how COVID-19 is disrupting key steps of the Apple product roadmap. 

• Secrets: Employees who build new products normally "work behind secure doors with blacked-out windows, lock products in cabinets, and are barred from discussing their assignments even with spouses," Bloomberg explains. 
• Meetings: "During video calls, [employees] have resorted to tracing shapes in the air to describe components they've had to leave back in the office," per The Information. 
• Prototyping: Most employees don't have access to their office’s 3D printers and product testing machinery.
• Site checks: In January, dozens of Apple employees were still traveling to China every day to check in on manufacturing. Now, they can't keep a watchful eye over component specs, production, and possible defects. 
• Software: Programmers working hand-in-hand with hardware teams can get limited access to unreleased software. Taking highly confidential projects home requires sign-off from the top brass.

Apple’s mixed reality ambitions also had a setback this week. Facebook struck an exclusive deal to buy all AR displays made by Plessey, a British supplier that Apple previously considered acquiring, The Information reports. Hardware competition is mounting, from talent to suppliers. 

The show goes on

Apple's adapting. Key hardware engineers can still go into the office. The company has also allowed some employees to bring earlier versions of secret projects home...and let manufacturers send pics from the factory floor to U.S. engineers for troubleshooting. Work continues apace on new device models from the Apple Watch to the HomePod. 

• Worth noting: Apple relies on Chinese factories, which are revving back up.

Big picture: I recently speculated Apple's secretive AR/VR projects could be delayed, a fate that may also await the 5G iPhone. Even if release dates aren’t pushed back, the coronavirus has thrown a monkey wrench in the day-to-day operations of Apple teams focused on consumer electronics' next big thing.

AR

The Pokémon Can Pivot

"This like the exact opposite of that pokemon go summer." @NerdyAndQuirky's viral tweet is hilarious, but au contraire, the Pokémon kids are alright. 

Pokémon Go made a big splash when it launched in 2016, then followed up with a Wailord-sized cannonball last year—grossing a record $894 million. The momentum continued last week: The AR mobile game had its highest-earning week of 2020, per analytics firm Sensor Tower.

• The app held a large in-game event that likely contributed to its haul. 

The big overhaul: playing inside

Pokémon Go's developer, Niantic, is shipping updates to its slate of adventure mobile games, which also include Harry Potter: Wizards Unite and Ingress, to make them conducive to indoor play.

But...some users are still playing outdoors. British police stopped a man playing Pokémon Go in a Stevenage, England, park, to remind him that catching them all is not essential travel. 

+ While we're here: Yesterday, Niantic said it acquired 6D.ai, a spatial mapping startup spun out of Oxford University, to build a "3D map of the world" to enable "new kinds of planet-scale AR experiences."

SPONSORED BY QUICK BASE

Low-Code for the Greater Good

Quick Base is the low-code platform that helps companies build the best business applications around. Now, Quick Base is partnering with their customers to help them through the COVID-19 crisis.

They’ve extended organizations on the front line of the crisis free access to their COVID-19-related response solutions. Here are some examples of the work Quick Base is doing across our global community:

• One of the largest U.S. cities used Quick Base to create a medical response hotline process.
• The Orleans Parish connected New Orleans citizens to emergency resources thanks to a Quick Base digital process.
• An enterprise delivery services provider is tracking the outbreak and assessing business impact in real time.

All kinds of organizations are using Quick Base to solve problems during this time of crisis; yours can, too.

Try a 30 day free trial of Quick Base today.

QUANTUM

Quibits Join the Fight

D-Wave is extending free access to its quantum computing cloud services to anyone fighting COVID-19. The Vancouver-area company said it's a response to the Canadian government's call on the private sector to help during the coronavirus pandemic. 

Because researchers and healthcare organizations have more pressing matters than googling "How do I quantum,” existing D-Wave partners, including Fortune 500 corporations and university labs, will pitch in engineering teams to lower the learning curve for interested parties. 

• Potential quantum use cases: solving complex problems like modeling the virus's spread, accelerating drug discovery, or mapping logistics. 

In a previous interview, CEO Alan Baratz told me D-Wave aims to "get quantum computing in the hand of developers and customers so they can start using it and help us understand what works and what doesn't." He made the comment in a commercial context, but it also applies during a public health crisis. 

+ While we're here: Check out our guide to quantum computing written by Emerging Tech Brew editor Alex Hickey.

BITS & BYTES

Stat: Downloads of the video conferencing app Houseparty surged 423x in Italy from March 15–21 relative to the average Q4 2019 week. On a more salacious note, the Epic Games-owned app is offering $1 million for information on those responsible for "a paid commercial smear campaign" alleging the app caused other user accounts on apps like Netflix and PayPal to get hacked . 

Quote: "Amazon is the new Red Cross"—James Thomson, former Amazon Services head, to the FT. 

Read: Rep. Ro Khanna praised the tech industry's COVID-19 mobilization in an interview with Protocol. Though Khanna represents Silicon Valley in Congress, he doesn’t always stan Big Tech.

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING

• Microsoft rebranded its Office 365 suite and added more AI and cloud-based features.
• Huawei open-sourced MindSpore, an AI app development framework rival to Google's TensorFlow and Facebook's PyTorch. The Chinese tech giant is also preparing for a bigger push into self-driving, Nikkei reports. 
• Snapchat launched App Stories, which lets developers and users syndicate Stories in other apps. 
• Fitbit, a unit of Google, unveiled a $150 fitness tracker with GPS, support for contactless payments, and Spotify compatibility.
• Amazon hired Boeing vet David Carbon to run its Prime Air drone delivery unit. 
• Samsung reported the first coronavirus infection at its chip factory.
• Zoom calls aren’t end-to-end encrypted, despite marketing materials that state otherwise, The Intercept reports. Other privacy/security/Zoombombing issues have surfaced, prompting an investigation from the NY attorney general. 

SPONSORED BY KIWICO

The kids stay busy, and you stay sane. KiwiCo develops engaging hands-on projects that spark curiosity and creativity in kids of all ages. During this period of homebound time, KiwiCo’s activities keep the kiddos engaged, occupied, and off of screens. Enjoy a Morning Brew exclusive 20% off everything on the site—no subscription necessary.

BLACK MIRROR IRL

Sometimes Black Mirror storylines seem like they're unfolding in real life. This week's roundup:

• A hacker hijacked YouTube accounts, made them look like official Microsoft accounts, and streamed a cryptocurrency Ponzi scam. Please like, share, give me your private key, and don't forget to subscribe!
• The Russian Navy quarantined a nuclear sub crew over possible coronavirus exposure. 
• An Australian astrophysicist tried to create a device to remind you not to touch your face, but was hospitalized after getting magnets stuck up his nose. He's OK and has "ruled out further experiments with the magnets and face-touching."

THE TECHLARATION

If you're feeling a bit down, I may have just the digital dopamine fix. Botnet is a social media network populated by a million bots with algorithmically generated usernames. Unlike most Twitter bots, these ones shower you with adulation.

TECH THINGAMABOBS

This is a limited-run section to help you pass the time during lockdown. 

For the cultured: The Guardian curated 10 of the world's top museum and art gallery exhibits for you to virtually tour. 

For parents: The Kid Should See This is a collection of kid-friendly videos with thousands of science and technology options, curated with the help of a 9 and 12 year old.

For future professionals: A running list of changes or cancellations to companies' summer internship programs. As of now, most are still on .

For film critics: In 2010, Huawei tried to predict telecommunications and tech in 2020. The video features hologram displays, cars driving on autopilot, renewable energy, biometrics, and really awful acting. Highly recommended.