O'Grady's PowerPage

Tag: Bay Area

  • Apple lifts face mask mandate for some of its corporate employees

    Apple lifts face mask mandate for some of its corporate employees

    No one loves wearing a COVID-19 mask, and Apple seems to be cognizant of this, a leaked internal memo pointing towards the company lifting its mandatory mask requirement at “most locations.”

    According to the memo, which was obtained by The Verge, Apple could be lifting the corporate requirement at many of its locations while still asking employees to respect co-workers who prefer to continue wearing face masks.

    “Don’t hesitate to continue wearing a face mask if you feel more comfortable doing so.” The email noted, “Also please respect every individual’s decision to wear a mask or not.”

    The decision to drop the mask mandates for corporate employees arrived in spite of the reported BA.5 variant of COVID-19. The Bay Area transit system reinstated its own mask mandate because of this new variant. Apple first dropped its mask mandate for corporate and retail stores in March. During that time, COVID-19 cases started decreasing. But in May, COVID-19 cases rose again, prompting Apple to reinstate its mask mandate for corporate and retail stores.

    The email, which was written by Apple’s COVID-19 Response Team, does not specifically state which locations will still require employees to wear face masks. The email also cited that the decision to lift the mask mandates was “in light of recent circumstances,” but did not specifically state what those circumstances were.

    The corporate lifting of the face mask mandate could be interpreted as Apple’s way of encouraging employees to return to the office. Apple began this effort back in April, but noted various reactions, both positive and negative, from employees. Some reportage even cites that a number of employees were forced to quit. In May of this year, Apple decided to slow down its RTO order and allowed employees to continue their WFH setup. Those who decided to return to the office were required to wear a face mask.

    It’s unknown as to how widely this policy will spread across Apple’s corporate hemisphere, or whether Apple will continue to modify the policy given the current COVID-19 numbers across the United States.

    Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

    Via The Mac Observer and The Verge

  • Clipper card support added to Apple Pay Express Transit

    Clipper card support added to Apple Pay Express Transit

    If you’re in the Bay Area, this’ll come in handy.

    The Clipper card, which is used for most transit options in the San Francisco Bay Area, now supports Apple Pay with Express Transit mode. As of Thursday, Clipper cards can be added to the Wallet app on your iPhone and Apple Watch and used wherever Clipper card transactions are acceptation.

    Apple has also created a dedicated Clipper card website with details on how to transfer a Clipper card to the ‌iPhone‌.

    In the San Francisco Bay Area, Clipper cards are used for BART, Caltrain, Muni, VTA and more. With Express Transit Mode, transit can be authenticated with a tap and no need to use Face ID, Touch ID, or touch a transit machine.

    If you’ve had a chance to try this out, please let us know about your experience in the comments.

    Via MacRumors and transit.applepay.com

  • Apple Store locations receive new directives to help curb the spread of Coronavirus

    In the wake of the coronavirus, Apple is pulling out the stops to try to stop the spread of the disease at its retail locations.

    Apple Stores have taken a number of measures to try and help limit the spread of the Coronavirus. Most noticeably, all Apple retail locations have now been closed in Italy.

    In total, 17 Italian locations are now shut. In a statement, Apple said:

    As we support the work to contain and manage the spread of Covid-19, our priority remains the health and safety of everyone in the communities we serve.

    The company has also canceled all upcoming “Today at Apple” sessions set to take place in its San Francisco, Bay Area, and Seattle locations.

    Staff at its retail locations have apparently been told to limit physical contact with customers, and management has removed half the available seating in order to stop people from loitering. The locations are also operating below capacity at the direction of new rules introduced on Tuesday. The instructions vary depending on the size and location of the Apple Store retail outlet.

    Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

    Via The Mac Observer and Bloomberg News

  • iOS 13’s “Look Around” feature for Apple Maps expands to Los Angeles, New York City

    Apple’s new Look Around feature, a new component of iOS 13 Maps that offers a street view of your surroundings, is now available in Los Angeles and New York City.

    During the iOS 13 beta testing and launch periods, the Look Around feature in Maps was limited to the Bay Area of California, Las Vegas, and parts of Hawaii, but Apple is working to expand it to additional locations. 

    Look Around can be used across New York City, from Manhattan and the Bronx to Brooklyn and Queens, and it is also available in Los Angeles from Burbank to Long Beach to Pomona. It’s not yet available in Anaheim, Riverside, and other cities further south. 

    The Look Around feature can be used in Apple Maps when an icon of a pair of binoculars becomes available. Simply tap the binoculars icon to launch into a close-up street level view of your location in a little card, which can be tapped again to get a full screen view of Look Around. 

    Look Around can also be brought up when searching for specific supported locations by tapping on the Look Around card in the search results. 

    The Look Around feature also brings up notable points of interest such as restaurants, businesses, parks, and other locations, although the view is limited to what can be captured from the street since it uses data captured from Apple’s mapping vehicles. 

    Look Around will be expanding to additional locations in 2019 and 2020, and Apple is also still in the process of rolling out its updated maps.

    Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

    Via MacRumors

  • Apple test car accident reported on August 24th

    There’s an adage about omelettes and broken eggs…

    An Apple Lexus SUV test car was rear-ended by a Nissan Leaf while merging onto the Lawrence Expressway in California’s Bay Area on August 24th. The Apple vehicle suffered “moderate” damage and the Leaf, which was moving at 15 miles per hour, was also damaged.

    While details are still forthcoming, it’s presently unclear as to whether the accident was the fault of the Nissan driver, Apple’s hardware and software, or some combination of the two.

    (more…)