The U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) gave privacy a bit of a lifeline on Friday by ruling that a warrant is required to get cell phone tower location data from carriers.
Bryan Chaffin
Bryan Chaffin is the cofounder of The Mac Observer and currently serves as Afternoon Editor. He has contributed to MacAddict and MacFormat magazines, and co-authored the last two updates of iPad and iPad Pro for Dummies with Bob “Dr. Mac” LeVitus and Ed Baig. You can find out more about Bryan at his personal site, GeekTells, or find his Twitter link below.
Articles by Bryan Chaffin
Apple Launches Keyboard Service Program for MacBook, MacBook Pro
Apple said that affected devices may have “one or more keys or the whole keyboard” replaced for free, and those who have already paid for such service may be eligible for a refund.
Setapp 1-Year Subscription: $69
Our friends at Stack Commerce put together a great deal for us on Setapp from MacPaw. With one subscription, you get access to more than 60 curated apps all in a single, easily navigable library. One year is normally $119, but it’s $69 through our deal.
The iPhone Car Key and the Mythical Apple App Store Monopoly - ACM 467
What would using your iPhone as your car key look like in practice? Bryan Chaffin and Jeff Gamet run through the possibilities. They also look at the on-again, off-again case where plaintiffs accuse the company with a minority share of the smartphone business of having an App Store “monopoly.”
Graphene 8K HyperCharger PRO with 8,000mAh: $39.99
We have a deal on the Graphene 8K HyperCharger PRO, a portable charger with 8,000mAh of capacity. It has built-in Lightning and microUSB connector, and is capable of Fast Charging (iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone X). It’s $39.99 through us.
Twist Plus World Charging Station: $31.99
Check out the Twist Plus World Charging Station. It can plug into any power outlet in the world, and it has four USB ports for charging multiple devices. It also has a adapter on the bottom you can slide your MacBook’s charging brick onto. It’s $31.99 through our deal.
Apple Seeds macOS Mojave Developer Beta 2
Announced at WWDC for a fall release, Mojave brings iOS apps to the Mac for the first time, introduces Dark Mode, and more.
Apple Seeds iOS 12 Developer Beta 2
Announced during Apple’s annual World Wide Developer Conference for a fall release, iOS 12 DB2 continues the hard work of hammering out how new features will work and knocking out bugs.
CleanEmail 1-Year Subscription: $19.99
We have a deal on a 1-year subscription to CleanEmail. It’s a rules and filter-based email management tool, and the subscription covers up to five email accounts. It works from both a browser and email clients, and encrypts access details and removes data after 24 hours so that CleanEmail never retains access to your information. 1 year is $19.99 through us.
PDF Expert for Mac: $24.99
We have a deal on PDF Expert for Mac from Readdle. This PDF editor has a nice list of distinctions, including being The 2015 App of the Year in the Mac App Store, Top Paid App in the Mac App Store, Editors’ Choice by Apple, and 4.6 out of 5 stars from 1,1000 ratings on the Mac App Store. The deal is for PDF Expert 2.4.2, the version on Readdle’s website. It’s $24.99 through our deal, 58% off retail.
U.S. Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Apple Appeal on App Store Monopoly Case
The appeal is on whether or not the case can proceed, and if SCOTUS allows that, it could decide if companies are allowed to maintain walled gardens for app distribution.
Apple Seeds tvOS 11.4.1 Developer Beta 3
There are no new known features in this release cycle, as Apple has turned to development of tvOS 12.
Apple Seeds iOS 11.4.1 Developer Beta 3
iOS 11.4.1 is little more than a bug fix release, and no new features are known to be in this release cycle.
How to Make Quick English-Metric Conversions Using macOS Spotlight
I’ve got a great tip for anyone who ever needs to do a Metric conversion—it’s easy to do right from Spotlight on your Mac.
Apple Touts Creators Using Macs in 4 New Commercials
Each spot focuses on content creators and developers who use Macs to make things.
Parrot Jumping Race Mini Drone: $39.99
We have a deal on the Parrot Jumping Race Mini Drone, and it’s a great deal. This device is controlled through an iPhone app, can do 180 and 360 degree turns, and it can jump, too. Come on, that’s too much fun, and it’s $39.99 through us, 73% off retail.
Apple in Talks for Animated Feature Film that Could (But Won't) Hit Theaters
Oscar-nominated Cartoon Saloon is more than a year away from completing the film, and Apple is talks to purchase the rights.
Watch 5 New Apple Commercials for iPhone Photography: Burst Mode, Pano, Slo-Mo, Soccer, Backlight
Apple has five new commercials promoting iPhone photography techniques and features.
The Pay What You Want 2018 Super Mac Bundle
We have a new Pay What You Want deal called the 2018 Super Mac Bundle. The bundle has 10 Mac apps, including a WhiteSmoke Premium subscription, Disk Drill PRO 3, Aurora HDR 2018 Express, MacX DVD Ripper Pro, Yummy FTP Pro 2, and more. Here’s how the deal work. Pay anything, even a penny, and you’ll get two of the apps. Beat the average price (currently $2.28), and you’ll get all 10 apps. If you beat the price leader at any given moment (currently $20), you’ll be entered into a giveaway for a Super NES Classic.
Tim Cook Interview on Bloomberg: Meeting and Working with Steve Jobs, More
Tim Cook sat down for an interview with David Rubenstein, Co-Chairman of The Carlyle Group, for Bloomberg. It’s a different kind of interview for Tim Cook, and you can see it in his different demeanor. Part of it is Mr. Rubenstein—he’s an excellent interviewer. But for whatever reason, Mr. Cook is more personable, less tightly-controlled, and he tells a few new anecdotes along the way. He talked about his first meeting with Steve Jobs and why he came to work for Apple. He also talked about Apple Watch, running for president (spoiler: he says he’s not), politics and Apple, giving tech support to Warren Buffett, coming out, and more. I call this a must-watch interview if you’re interested in Apple and Tim Cook.
The AR Demo and the Benefits of Surveillance Capitalism - ACM 466
If you’ve been wondering what all the fuss was about augmented reality, Bryan Chaffin and Jeff Gamet have an AR Demo for you to see. They also take time out from ranting about being the product to talk frankly about the benefits of surveillance capitalism.
Charby Sense Charging Cable: $29
We have a deal on a Charby Sense Charging Cable. This cable was successfully funded through Indiegogo, and will cut off charging when your iPhone (Android charging cables available, too) is fully charged. It also supports Fast Charging, which iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X support. It’s $29 through our deal, 25% off retail.
A World in Which $158 Billion Netflix May Be Too Small to Get Access to You
A court granted AT&T the right to acquire Time Warner, which makes sense because the Trump Administration’s blocking of that deal was political, rather than a true issue of antitrust. But when combined with the death of Net Neutrality, which ended Monday, Danny Crichton at TechCrunch had a sobering observation. In a piece arguing the merits of Alphabet and Netflix becoming ISPs (I’d throw Apple on that list), he noted that the world of video is effectively closed to startups. It’s a good read, and here’s a snippet:
One sad note though is how much the world of video is increasingly closed to startups. When companies like Netflix, which today closed with a market cap of almost $158 billion, can’t necessarily get enough negotiating power to ensure that consumers have direct access to them, no startup can ever hope to compete. America may believe in its entrepreneurs, but its competition laws have done nothing to keep the terrain open for them. Those implications are just beginning.
Siri Adds Support for Football in Brazil, Russia, Denmark, Finland, Malaysia, Turkey, Thailand, Saudi Arabia, and Israel
Siri users can ask for scores, schedules, standings, and team rosters in 35 countries now, in the run-up to the World Cup.