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Apple has been busy hiring away engineers from Intel and other tech companies in Oregon for its own hardware engineering lab in the state. More than 20 people have been hired so far, and The Oregonian says job listings indicate Apple has been on its hiring spree since last November. Apple isn’t saying what it doing at the lab. It could be new Macs with custom ARM processors, new iPhones or iPads, or some other device that hasn’t been announced yet. According to job listings, Apple needs engineers experienced in ensuring finished products meet original design specifications. That’s not much to go on and doesn’t rule out new product categories, or updates to current products. So all we really know for sure is if you’re a chip engineer you should get your resumé in to Apple.

A funny thing happened on the way to the quantum computer: someone looked at the qubit. No, seriously. They looked at the qubit, and the data that had been stored there changed (and was thus lost) because [quantum computing]. TheNextWeb has a super cool piece on “time crystals,” a real thing that might be what quantum computing needs to be more reliable and not stored near absolute zero. If you’re interested in quantum computing, definitely check out this article. Here’s a snippet:

One of the strangest things about qubits is they act differently when observed. Without a certain amount of coherency, any data transmitted, created, or stored in a quantum system could simply vanish the moment we try to look at it. According to the research, the solution might be the generation of time crystals in quantum bits, so that they’ll “want” to be coherent.

Andy Rubin, the father of Google’s Android OS, is reportedly looking for a buyer for his Essential smartphone company. Essential 2 phone development has been cancelled, and sales of the original model haven’t topped 150,000 units. The idea of a pure Android smartphone with expandability through accessories was appealing in concept, but not in practice considering Essential’s price dropped from US$699 to $200 before and sales still didn’t take off. Now sources are telling Bloomberg Credit Suisse Group AG is helping shop the company around. Essential is a perfect example of how difficult it is to make a hit in the smartphone market, even if you’re the guy that led Google’s Android team.

Check out this great piece by Ben Zotto at Medium. It’s about how he used an original Mac to study Susan Kare’s Chicago, Geneva, New York, and San Francisco fonts. He was looking to better understand the magic that was Chicago, the original proportional font on the Mac. What he found, though were sheep. I don’t want to give it away because it’s a good read, but here’s a snippet:

So what was that thing about the hidden sheep, anyway, you ask? Well, the deconstruction of the original Mac font resources revealed something puzzling: in several of the fonts — though not all of them — there is an unexpected secret character hidden alongside all the normal ones.

AppleInsider‘s Stephen Silver took a trip to Consumer Reports to talk about that magazine’s approach to Apple. It’s a very good read, full of direct information about some of CR’s high-profile criticisms of Apple’s report. Here’s a snippet:

This all said, there are a few things we conclude from our visit to Consumer Reports. Having viewed their testing process and met with their team, we are confident that they do not harbor a purposeful anti-Apple agenda, nor is there any sort of conspiracy against Apple afoot behind the CR walls. Their complete testing and evaluation process is conducted with integrity and in good faith.

However, there may very well be something about CR’s analytical, numbers-driven process that clashes with the design-heavy Apple ethos, and makes their conclusions about Apple products different from those of more traditional reviewers. Even so, this hasn’t stopped them from recommending most of Apple’s lineup.

This, from John Gruber:

But everything about the way Google announced this — the curious details of the calls released so far, the fact that no one in the media has been allowed to see an actual call happen live — makes me suspect that for one or more reasons, the current state of Duplex is less than what Sundar Pichai implied on stage.

This was my thought from the get-go, and John Gruber does a great job of walking through the reasons. He also explains that he’s not bagging on Google’s ability to get to a true human-sounding AI that can book our appointments, and I agree with him there, too. There’s simply a lot that doesn’t add up about the Google Duplex demo and the information about that demo that’s come to light. It’s a good read I recommend.

The internet pretty much had a meltdown when SyFy announced about two weeks ago there wouldn’t be a season 4 for The Expanse. Now Amazon is stepping up and is negotiating to keep the show alive through Amazon Prime. Amazon already has the rights to stream the first three seasons, so adding first-run rights for season 4 makes sense. The Hollywood Reporter makes it sound like the deal is practically a done deal, and hopefully they’re right. After all, we need to know what the protomolecule is up to.

Apple is hard at work on a lower-priced version of the HomePod, or so the latest reports claim. The report comes from the Chinese website with a claim that “foreign media” is reporting a US$199 HomePod is on the way this year. It looks like this all spins out of an article from money.udn.com from early March (english translation) speculating that Apple could decide to make a lower priced HomePod model. The information available so far doesn’t even amount to a rumor, so no, Apple isn’t releasing a sub $200 HomePod this year.

With Apple officially dropping its AirPort Base Station product line it’s no surprise the remaining inventory is dwindling. Reports are cropping up saying some models from Apple’s Wi-Fi router lineup are already gone, although we’re still seeing AirPort Extreme, Express, and Time Capsule as in stock in the Apple Store app. Still, if you’re looking into getting a new Wi-Fi router it may be time to check out the wireless mesh network options. Dave Hamilton has done a great job of explaining what your options are, and how to pick the right product for your needs.