Bryan and Jeff go inside Apple’s annual shareholder meeting, and talk about the things that seemed to get Tim Cook excited. A listener also calls them out for being hypocrites on ad profiling, and they talk about how Apple’s new HomePod isn’t a home wiretap.
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
Gemini 2 for Mac: $12.99
We have a deal for you today on MacPaw’s Gemini 2 for Mac. This utility uses some smarts to find duplicate files on your Mac so you can delete them and recover storage space. It also learns what you delete and what you choose to keep so the cleanup process is continually improving. It’s $12.99 through us, 34% off retail.
Apple and Ron Howard Developing Series Based on NBA Superstar Kevin Durant's Early Career
According to Variety, the show will be titled Swagger, and it will be produced by Brian Grazer and Ron Howard’s Imagine Television along with Durant’s Thirty Five Media.
AirBolt Smart Travel Lock: $54.99
We have a deal on the AirBolt Smart Travel Lock. It’s a Bluetooth lock for your luggage you open with your smartphone and open with a touch. And it relocks automatically if it’s not opened. It’s $54.99 through us, 31% off retail.
Dave Hamilton on The Dalrymple Report to Talk Gigging, Drumming, Music, More
Dave Hamilton is on this week’s episode of The Dalrymple Report. According to Jim, they “talked about live setups, different bands, recording, and tell a couple of drummer jokes.” It’s a fun interview, and definitely worth the listen.
iPhone X: 2 New Apple Videos on Shooting and Editing Portrait Mode Selfies
Both videos make it clear just how easy it is to work with Portrait Mode on iPhone X.
Apple Video on Creating a Bouncing Live Photo
Apple published a new video to YouTube showing you how to create a Bouncing Live Photo. Fans of Instagram and other social media services might be familiar with the idea under the name of Boomerang. Check it out.
iHeartRadio Editorial Content Now on Apple News
iHeartRadio announced Monday that its written editorial content is now available on Apple News. Current articles include celebrity gossips and news, music news, tips, sports, and more. There’s also a story about terrifyingly large giant boars doing some dumpster diving, as shown in the screenshot below. Yikes.
Lofree Poison, a Nostalgic Powerful Wireless Speaker: $79.99
Check out the Lofree Poison, a portable Bluetooth speaker successfully funded on Kickstarter and Indiegogo. The company took a retro design and added a 20-watt amplifier and six hours of battery life. It’s $79.99 through our deal, 32% off retail.
John Kheit's HomePod Unboxing Video
John Kheit put together a HomePod unboxing video for me. It includes not only the unwrapping and unboxing, and his set up process, too. It stops shy of him foaming at the mouth about how much he doesn’t like the sound, but we’ll get to that next Wednesday on Pop.0. Until then, check out the unboxing experience with HomePod!
Apple Has Four New HomePod Commercials: Equalizer, Distortion, Bass, and Beat
They’re all abstract pieces that say little specific about Apple’s smart speaker.
TAMO Forever Lightning Cable Is Sheathed in Steel: $27.99
We have a deal on a Lightning cable sheathed in steel. It’s called the TAMO Forever Steel Cable, and it comes in Rose Gold, Gold, Silver, or Black. It’s MFi-certified, too, and priced at $27.99 through us.
Sprint and T-Mobile Plan Fewer Wireless Discounts in 2018
Sprint and T-Mobile are both planning to dial back their aggressive discounting in 2018, according to The Wall Street Journal. Both carriers—the #4 and #3 carriers in the U.S.—are prime pushers of cheaper plans, and their tactics have served as checks on pricing from Verizon and AT&T (#1 and #2, respectively). In other words, there’s a chance we’ll see higher prices across the board this year. So yay?
Bryan Irace on the Fracturing of the Siri Experience
iOS developer Bryan Irace wrote a great piece on Siri, and how Apple has allowed the Siri experience to fracture. Bryan Chaffin recommends it as a good read.
SpaceX's 4 Hour Video of Starman's Voyage to Mars
SpaceX posted the four hour stream of Starman’s initial voyage into space, and it’s super cool. Starman is the name of the dummy SpaceX plopped into the driver’s seat of the Tesla Roadster it sent to Mars. Because [Elon Musk]. This was all part of the maiden launch of Space X’s Falcon Heavy rocket earlier this week. According to Space.com, SpaceX expected the battery on the streaming camera to work for 12 hours, but it crapped out after four. And those four hours are pretty darned cool—Flat Earthers may find the whole thing particularly enlightening. Check it out!
Apple Watch Wants You to Heart Your Body with Heart Month Challenge Badge
The Heart Month Challenge is simply to fill your exercise rings seven days in a row any time in February, starting February 8th.
Photolemur Spectre Family License for Mac and Windows: $19
We have a deal on a family license for Photolemur Spectre, for both Mac and Windows. The software uses machine learning and photo recognition to adjust your photos. You can get it for $19 through us, 61% off retail.
Can Social Media Be Humane, Smartwatch Diabetes Detection, and Nice Apple Content - ACM 448
Can social media be “humane,” or is the push for addictive platforms just par for the course? Bryan Chaffin and Jeff Gamet discuss The Center for Humane Technology’s push for reform. They also talk about Cardiogram’s ability to detect diabetes from Apple Watch activity data, and they talk about Apple’s penchant for avoiding dark and edgy content.
Cardiogram's DeepHeart Neural Net Can Detect Diabetes and Prediabetes with Apple Watch, Android Wear
The company said a study by its own researchers and researchers at the University of California San Francisco found DeepHeart could accurately identify diabetes with 85% accuracy using only heart rate and step count measurements.
Takieso Walnut Qi Charger Made from North American Walnut: $34.90
We have a deal on a Qi charger for iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X wireless charging, one that’s handcrafted from North American walnut wood. It’s called the Takieso Walnut Qi Charger, and you can get it through us for $34.90.
Apple to Open 2nd Data Center in China for Mainland iCloud Services
According to XinhuaNet, Apple will build the facility in Ulanqab City, in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.
Apple Seeds iOS 11.3 Developer Beta 2
iOS 11.3 includes new Animoji, Business Chat, Health Records, ARKit 1.5, HomeKit software authentication, more information about battery health and an option for disabling the feature for improving iPhone stability with worn out batteries, and more.
Spelling and Grammar Checker WhiteSmoke Premium: 1-Year Subscription
We have a deal for you on a 1-year subscription to WhiteSmoke Premium, which bills itself as the “Intelligent, All-in-One Spelling, Style, and Grammar Police App.” WhiteSmoke checks your work for grammar, spelling, punctuation, and style errors, and you get a 1-year subscription for $19.99, 83% off retail.
Momo Stick Phone Grip: $8
We have a deal on the Momo Stick Phone Grip, a clever little device that sticks to the back of your iPhone to give you a finger loop for a better grip. It’s just $8 through our deal.