Apple thinks it has the tools to take your SMB to the next level

After launching in beta last year, Apple has announced that Apple Business Essentials is now available to all small businesses in the US.

The iPhone maker’s new service brings mobile device management, 24/7 Apple support and cloud storage from iCloud together into flexible subscription plans.

Apple Business Essentials is designed to support SMBs throughout the entire device management life cycle from device setup to device upgrades while also providing strong security, prioritized support, data storage and cloud backup. It begins with simple employee onboarding which allows a small business to easily configure, deploy and manage the company’s products from anywhere.

VP of enterprise and education marketing at Apple, Susan Prescott provided further insight on the company’s complete solution for SMBs in a press release, saying

“Apple has a deep and decades-long commitment to helping small businesses thrive. From dedicated business teams in our stores to the App Store Small Business Program, our goal is to help each company grow, compete, and succeed. We look forward to bringing Apple Business Essentials to even more small businesses to simplify device management, storage, support, and repairs. Using this new service leads to invaluable time savings for customers — including those without dedicated IT staff — that they can invest back into their business.”

Apple Business Essentials

One of the most useful features in Apple Business Essentials is Collections which allows groups of apps to be delivered to employees or teams while settings such as VPN configurations, Wi-Fi passwords and more can be automatically pushed to devices.

To get started, employees simply need to sign in to their work account on their iPhone, iPad or Mac using a Managed Apple ID. Once this is done, they will have access to everything they need to be productive including the new Apple Business Essentials app from where they can download their organization’s work apps.

Managed Apple IDs for employees can be created by federating with Microsoft Azure, Azure Director and later this spring with Google Workspace identity services. This allows employees to log into their business laptops using a single business username and passwords.

Apple Business Essentials also works with both company-provided and personal devices and with Apple’s User Enrollment feature, employees’ personal information stays private and cryptographically separated from work data.

In addition to Apple Business Essentials, Apple has announced the launch of AppleCare+ for Business Essentials which provides organizations with 24/7 access to phone support and up to two device repairs per plan per year by individual, group or device. Employees can initiate repairs directly from the Apple Business Essentials app and an Apple-trained technician will come onsite in as little as four hours to get their devices back up and running.

Apple Business Essentials with up to 2TB of iCloud cloud storage starts at $ 2.99 per month after a two-month free trial while plans for AppleCare+ for Apple Business Essentials start at $ 9.99 per month.

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Google thinks it has a better way to sell you a website

Google has announced that its domain registrar service has finally exited beta and is available as a fully-developed product.

First launched in 2015, Google Domains was initially only available in the US, but with the move out of beta it will now be active in 26 countries – and the company says it already has “millions of active registrations.”

“We know how valuable domain names are to customers, and we take seriously the responsibility to provide a service that’s often at the very heart of a business, brand or passion,” said Google in a blog post

Google Domains 

Google will offer its domain hosting service from $ 12 a year, with private registration, two-step verification and one-click DNSSEC for security.

The platform has over 300 domain endings available for people and businesses to build a website with Google Sites or its website builder partners such as Wix, Shopify, Squarespace, Weebly and Bluehost.

The tech giant is offering new and returning customers 20% off any single domain registration or transfer to Google Domains, until April 15.

Although Google Domains helps users register a domain name, it's worth noting that it doesn’t offer any type of hosting, unlike other popular domain registrars.

Google Domains will be available in Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Philippines, Poland, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States and Vietnam.

Via Slashgear

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Zoom thinks it can help the fight against global terrorism

Far from just allowing users to stay in touch with family and friends around the globe, Zoom now also wants to tackle online terrorism.

The video conferencing giant has announced it is joining the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism (GIFCT) alongside the likes of Microsoft, Amazon and Meta.

“It is our responsibility to support our users and protect them against online threats,” Josh Parecki, Zoom's associate general counsel for trust and safety, told Reuters. “By collaborating with other leaders across the industry, sharing key learnings and advancing research, we aspire to make the digital world a safer place for all.”

Zoom GIFCT

Formed by Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter, and YouTube in 2017 following a spate of deadly terrorist attacks across Europe, GIFCT says its mission is “to prevent terrorists and violent extremists from exploiting digital platforms.” 

Now numbering 18 companies following Zoom's addition, the NGO was initially focused on sharing technical collaboration to combat online extremism, but has since expanded to managing a hash-sharing database.

This allows members to share unique “hashes” – records of original content that have had to be removed from their platforms or services following extremism concerns.

These hashes are then used by other GIFCT members to identify if similar content has been uploaded to their platforms.

In a statement, GIFCT Executive Director Nicholas Rasmussen said it was delighted to have Zoom as a partner. He noted that the group's mission “requires we work with a diverse range of companies …to develop cross-platform solutions that render terrorists and violent extremists ineffective across the Internet”.

After an initial surge in popularity and an explosion in user numbers at the start of the pandemic, Zoom came under heavy criticism for failing to secure its platform. 

Following several high-profile “Zoombombing” incidents where outside parties were able to gain access to Zoom calls without permission, the company carried out a major upheaval of its security protections.

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