Senior Correspondent Arnold Woodworth's Weekly Web Wrap-up for Sunday, 2/12/2107

A personal story: Did the Apple Watch save my life?

One of the third-party apps I installed is called HeartWatch, which gathers sensor data from the Apple Watch and presents a richer view than Apple's activity tracking software.

Several weeks ago, I started receiving odd alerts from HeartWatch, saying my heart rate was elevated at certain times.

At first, I dismissed them ... I incorrectly interpreted these elevated heart rate notifications as spam.

While walking home from dinner out one night, I checked my pulse, and it was far too high, given my slow walking pace. I can tell you, watching that number rise was alarming.

After that, I went to see a doctor.

Finally, the Apple Watch software needs improvements. Read the article for details.

http://www.zdnet.com/article/a-personal-story-did-the-apple-watch-save-my-life/



You can save your Visual Voicemail messages as notes or voice memos, or share them using Messages, Mail, or Airdrop.

You need iOS 9 or later, and a carrier that supports Visual Voicemail in order to save Visual Voicemail messages. If you aren't sure if your carrier supports Visual Voicemail, contact them for more information.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT205012



Of Thousands of Apps Tested, These Endured

a handful of the 3,000 or so apps I have tested over the years have true staying power, changing over time but remaining either fabulously useful, well designed or the best in class. With App Smart ending with this final column, here are the apps that have persisted on my home screen for the better part of five years.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/08/technology/personaltech/after-testing-thousands-of-apps-these-endured.html?em_pos=small&emc=edit_ct_20170209&nl=technology&nl_art=5&nlid=11893479&ref=headline&te=1&_r=0



This is the reason why your iPhone shuts down when it’s cold outside

Throughout winter, many Brits with iPhones have taken to social media to complain about their phone batteries running out suddenly.

But it turns out that there is a technical reason behind the problem.

The lithium-ion battery that keeps your device charged up is affected by extreme temperatures — which is why your iPhone is designed to shut down if it gets too cold or too hot.

If your phone’s level of warmth drops below 0 degrees Celsius (32°F) or soars above 35 degrees Celsius (95°F), it is likely to shut down.

Fortunately, your iPhone will return to normal operation once it’s back within the allowed temperature range.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/living/2839705/why-iphone-battery-down-cold-weather/



iMessage is the only thing keeping me on an iPhone

SEE ALSO: I ditched Android for an iPhone 7, and I'm not sorry

iMessage has become the most individual form of texting on the market, and it's good enough to keep me, a lapsed Android-lover, on Apple's system forever.

Now more than ever, Apple needs strategies to lock users into their universe, because it's easier than ever to switch from iPhone to an Android.

In an era when basically any high-end phone is amazing, software like iMessage or Google Assistant can be the tipping point that keeps someone on a platform

There is nothing else about my iPhone 7 that I would describe as "superior" to high-end Android phones.

Apple wins out for making direct communication easy, personal and fun. It really is that simple.

http://mashable.com/2017/02/10/imessage-is-keeping-me-on-iphone/#TGV4VOZsgmq7



The 20 best smartphones in the world

According to this article, the Google Pixel is now best.

Apple iPhone 7 Plus and iPhone 7 are third and fourth, respectively.

http://www.businessinsider.com/best-smartphones-2017-2/



Security News This Week: At Least 76 iOS Apps Are Vulnerable to Attacks

Lots of those apps are listed in this article.

A hint on how to reduce the chance of the vulnerability is provided in this article:
The vulnerability is very likely to only be exploited if your connection is flowing over Wi-Fi.  You can work around the issue by opening “Settings” and turning the “Wi-Fi” switch off. While on a cellular connection the vulnerability does still exist, cellular interception is more difficult, requires expensive hardware, is far more noticeable, and it is illegal.

https://medium.com/@chronic_9612/76-popular-apps-confirmed-vulnerable-to-silent-interception-of-tls-protected-data-2c9a2409dd1#.tb2q2y963



There is no company Apple should buy that they can’t because they don’t have enough money.
But ultimately, Apple needs to do what it has always done. They need to invent their future, not buy it.
       John Gruber — http://daringfireball.net



Apple Is Already the Best Value Stock on the Market – and Just Wait Until Trump Cuts Taxes

Apple is absolutely a value stock, one of the market's most compelling buys right now.

Apple now sports a market cap of $675 billion, but it trades at less than 16 times earnings.

That's way below the Standard and Poors 500 index (S&P 500) Price to Earnings (PE) ratio above 22, or 26 on a forward basis.

On his campaign trail, Donald Trump also called for a reduction in the federal tax corporations would have to pay if they brought their stashed cash home, from 35% down to a flat 10%.

If that happens, Apple would likely bring a monstrous amount of cash back home.
Apple shareholders will be the beneficiaries of all that cash, one way or another.

https://moneymorning.com/2017/02/07/this-is-already-the-best-value-stock-on-the-market-and-just-wait-until-trump-cuts-taxes/



Want A Job In The Future? Get Ready To Become A Cyborg — Companies Have Begun Implanting Employees With RFID Chips

A Belgian marketing firm called NewFusion has microchipped its staff, replacing their traditional ID cards with RFID chips implanted in their hands.

The radio-frequency identification (RFID) chips are about the same size as a grain of rice and store personal security information which can be transmitted over short distances to special receivers.

The US military has already held meetings to discuss the feasibility of microchipping all of its soldiers to be able to track them via GPS.

http://www.activistpost.com/2017/02/want-job-future-get-ready-become-cyborg-companies-begun-implanting-employees-rfid-chips.html



An intern who received internship offers from Facebook, Google, and Apple shares the 7 books that prepared her to ace every interview

http://www.businessinsider.com/job-interview-books-2017-2/#cracking-the-coding-interview-by-gayle-laakmann-mcdowell-1