| + Apple releases iOS 13.1 beta before iOS 13 is even out — I would put odds on Apple releasing the next iPhones with iOS 12. Not great odds, mind you, but better than you might expect. + Apple will let more independent repair shops buy 'genuine' iPhone parts — After neatly tying a bow on top of its Siri privacy scandal, Apple attempted to do the same with the repair issue. This is genuinely good news, but it would still be nicer (and more empowering!) to let regular people make these repairs themselves. + Huawei Mate 30 can't launch with official Google apps, says Google — I'm still deeply annoyed that we don't have nearly enough information to know whether the US ban on Huawei products is anywhere near justified from a security perspective. + Feds ordered Google location dragnet to solve Wisconsin bank robbery — I'm really not comfortable with cops getting to ask companies to provide the names of everybody whose phone was in a certain area at a certain time. + Google is helping to power a US immigration cloud project, new documents show — I can't encourage you strongly enough to read Colin Lecher's story. Google's employees are getting even more organized on social issues, and stuff like this is likely to keep that movement going. + Google's been thinking about a watch with a hole-punch camera — Maybe not everything needs a camera? + I don't even know where to start with this: Samsung announces Galaxy Home Mini public beta before full-size speaker has even shipped + Plex wants to become a one-stop destination in the streaming wars — I like what Plex is doing, but at a certain point, you kind of have to be the box instead of an app on somebody else's box. And setting up a Plex box is harder than just buying a Fire TV Stick on Amazon. + Even Amazon's own products are getting hijacked by imposter sellers Josh Dzieza has a wild story about how disturbingly easy it is to game Amazon's retail system. The conversation is shifting from talking about how it shuts down local retail shops to how it is awful for people who make products, rightly so. Amazon's platform is extremely open. Multiple sellers can sell on a listing, and any of them can edit it. In theory, this leads to improved listings. In practice, black-hat sellers can alter the images and text to depict a different product, or add unrelated items as "variations." + The FTC is reportedly investigating Juul Labs over its marketing practices Ashley Carman has all the details. I think I am going to quote Juul's CEO saying "Don't use Juul" every time I mention Juul in this newsletter, if only because I had a harder time quitting Juul than I did actual cigarettes, and it feels a little like payback. (This is just a joke. Unless it isn't. It is. Is it?) Meanwhile, in an interview today, Juul Labs CEO Kevin Burns warned nonsmokers to never use its company's products. "Don't vape," Burns said in an interview on CBS This Morning. "Don't use Juul." He went on to say the product isn't designed for people who don't already have a "preexisting relationship" with nicotine. + Juul Seizure Reports Prompt FDA Probe into E-Cigarettes - Bloomberg Juul Labs CEO: "Don't use Juul." | 
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