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Tech News Today is the show where we talk about the tech news with the journalists who report it.

Apple announced a small range of new products -- overall more of a refresh of existing lines than the introduction of something new.

LET THIS LOAD IN ADVANCE
http://www.apple.com/apple-events/2014-oct-event/

http://mashable.com/2014/10/16/apple-magic-wears-thin/

http://mashable.com/2014/10/16/ipad-air-2-event-recap/

Chris Tayler is the Deputy Editor for Mashable.
Karissa Bell is a reporter for Mashable.
CHRIS: You called the event the "most underwhelming example of Apple stagecraft since Gil Amelio was CEO in 1997." Why was the event a dull flop, in your opinion?
Q: Apple obsesses over thinness. The iPad Air 2 is thinner than a pencil. Does anyone care about this?
Q: What else is new in the iPad Air 2?
Q: They barely mentioned the iPad mini 3. Anything interesting in this product besides the introduction of Touch ID?
Q: Apple rolled out a new 27-inch iMac with a 5K retina display. Will this appeal to mainstream users, or is it mainly for professionals?
Q: How about the Mac Mini. What's new there?
Q: Apple announced a Monday launch for Apple Pay. How big is this introduction going to be?
Q: Apple spent 35 minutes re-hashing last month's announcement. What was the point of that?
Q: There were giant chunks of information missing and expected products not announced:
1) a ship date for the Apple Watch
2) any indication about Apple's plans for Apple TV
3) MacBook Air with Retina

Apple rolled out -- but did not announce at its event -- a new SIM card called Apple SIM. According to a statement buried at the bottom of one of its iPad web pages, the Apple SIM gives users the quote "flexibility to choose from a variety of short term plans," unquote. They're referring, of course, to carrier plans. In other words, a single SIM can be used on AT&T or Sprint, and the choice can be made by the user by simply selecting the carrier from a dialog box.

http://qz.com/282466/this-new-apple-sim-could-legitimately-disrupt-the-wireless-industry/

http://www.forbes.com/sites/parmyolson/2014/10/16/why-apple-didnt-talk-about-its-extraordinary-new-sim-for-the-ipad/

http://qz.com/282466/this-new-apple-sim-could-legitimately-disrupt-the-wireless-industry/

http://www.forbes.com/sites/parmyolson/2014/10/16/why-apple-didnt-talk-about-its-extraordinary-new-sim-for-the-ipad/

Q: Is this for iPad only?
Q: What do the carriers think of this -- especially the possibility for iPhones in the future?
Q: Forbes' Parmy Olsen says carrier objection to the idea is why Apple didn't mention it. Do you agree with that?
Q: This has been tried before, but not in the United States. Will the idea take off in the US, Japan and Europe?
Q: Recode's Ina Fried says Verizon won't support it. Why did the other carriers opt in?
Q: The Next Web's Ben Woods points out that these kinds of multi-carrier SIMs have existed for years in markets like Pakistan and India. Apple took that idea and made it simpler than how it works in those countries. Is any part of Apple's SIM patentable?

A Guardian report hit yesterday that slammed the anonymous messaging app Whisper for tracking users, harvesting their personal data, then sharing it with the Pentagon, among other things. Whisper slammed the report, saying it doesn't follow or track users, and accused the Guardian of publishing quote: "Lousy Falsehoods" unquote. Their defense is that while they monitor users, they don't retain personally identifiable information like names or phone numbers. Whisper did, however, quickly and extensively change their privacy policy statement.

A: Whisper not recording names or phone numbers
A: Whisper is storing ALL time and location of messages since 2012 launch
A: Guardian says Whisper tracks newsworthy people
A: Policy previously said would store data only for "a brief period of time."
A: Data shared with Pentagon is from military personnel
A: Guardian: Whisper has in-house mapping tool for pinpoint where messages were sent
A: Developing a version to conform to Chinese censorship
A: 2.6 million messages a day
A: offshore base in the Philippines where more than 100 employees screen messages 24 hours a day
A: Geolocation feature new and optional
A: Guardian: Tracked Israeli Defense Forces on the front line -- tracked 13 or 14 soldiers
A: Guardian: Tracking a sex-obsessed lobbyist in D.C.
A: Guardian: Roughly track people who don't opt in to geolocation via IP address lookup

Apple finally shipped its new iPhones in China today. Compared with the previous iPhone launch, the crowds were pretty small and the energy level was pretty low, according to reports. * * *

The BBC announced plans to continually publish a list of BBC articles removed from Google searches under the "right to be forgotten" rule in order to protect the public's "right to remember." More than 46 BBC links have so far been affected by the right-to-be-forgotten ruling. The list goes live in the next few weeks, according to a BBC article. * * *

We told you on previous episodes that the Twitter-centric photo sharing service Twitpic was being shut down, then it was going to be saved by a buyer. But now we're back to tell you that, no, it's going to be shut down after all. Twitpic founder Noah Everett wrote on the company blog that: “It’s with a heavy heart that I announce again that Twitpic will be shutting down on October 25th." * * *

Amazon is expanding its grocery delivery service Amazon Fresh to Brooklyn's Park Slope neighborhood starting today. * * *

In other news, a China Unicom branch in Shanghai, China, is offering to alter the pants of iPhone 6 Plus customers to make their pockets bigger. It's a publicity stunt, obviously, and a good one. But it's not an original one. They apparently copied the idea from telco KPN in Amsterdam, which offered the same goofy "service" when the iPhone launched there.

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My name is Mike Elgan. Thanks for tuning in. I have the week off next week -- Leo and Sarah will be anchoring the show while I'm out. Have a great weekend. I will see you a week from Monday.

Plus: Apple left one more thing out of the announcement... we'll tell you all about it...

Apple and IBM report earnings on Monday, October 20th.
Also on Monday: Microsoft is holding a cloud event in San Francisco.
Yahoo and Verizon report earnings on Tuesday, October 21st.
And Microsoft and Amazon have earnings calls scheduled for Thursday, October 23rd.

NOTE: GREEN HIGHLIGHTING MEANS WE HAVE AN INTERVIEW AND WILL DO STORY. IT'S 'GREEN LIT.' GET IT? (SIGH.)

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