TMO Link

If a company is going to be a player in the major OS market, it has to fight hard in the trenches and learn. It has to walk the walk of the highest levels of OS security and performance.

The spectrum of reactions to the new HomePod ranges from “superbly Apple,” to “Doesn’t stand a chance.” Friday’s Particle Debris points to three articles that span the expected range of media coverage. Pick your favorite.

We are pleased to have iDrive as our sponsor here at TMO this week. Cloud backup is something we talk about a lot here on the site and on our Mac Geek Gab podcast, and iDrive is doing a lot of things right. First in the “doing things right” department, iDrive is giving TMO readers a special deal on their Personal Plan, which gets you 2TB of cloud backup storage for 1 year for just US$6.95. Read more about iDrive after the jump.

Powerful forces are lining up to fight the undermining of Net Neutrality. Particle Debris page #2 points to major articles that bring us up to date.

There are many signs that suggest Net Neutrality is not dead yet. The fight will continue because there’s so much at stake.

Now that Apple Pay Cash is up and running you can enable it and start sending and receiving money through the Messages app on your iPhone and iPad. There are a few steps involved, so follow along with TMO’s Apple Pay Cash primer to get set up.

Friday’s Particle Debris pointed to a video by Boston Dynamics of its Atlas robot doing backflips. Sure, that might look impressive, but as robots get better at physical tasks, they’ll also become more expensive. Maybe they won’t replace human labor any time soon, simply augment it in tough situations. A mixed workforce. The linked video provides food for thought.

On page 2 of Friday’s Particle Debris, John provides a roundup of some of the best articles written about the Apple iPhone X to date,

It could well be that as part of the re-thinking of the Mac lineup, one that is more practical and functional, with less focus on design that interferes with instead of enhances functionality, Apple will make some welcome changes to the future MacBook and MacBook Pro models.

There’s been a lot of discussion lately about autonomous cars and vehicles from the techies, but now the automotive gurus, the team at Car and Driver weigh in with expert, thorough analysis.

You’ve never read a review of an Apple TV that’s as good as this one.

There’s a cost analysis case to be made that manual labor robots won’t replace their human counterparts. Think partnership.

Great strides are being made in artificial intelligence, so how far will governments go to seize that technology to gain an edge for themselves?

Germany isn’t waiting for others to define a path forward for the ethical behavior of its autonomous cars.

Bloomberg reports that Apple and Comcast have been negotiating with two movie studios for a very early rental of theatrical releases — 17 days later on Apple TV for $50. The theater owners don’t like it.

There are only a few days left to get ready to watch the August 21st solar eclipse—the first eclipse in nearly 100 years with a path of totality that stretches from coast to coast in the continental United States. TMO put together a list of apps, websites, and other tips to help you get the most out of this once in a lifetime event. We just updated our list with more resources including an interactive Web-based eclipse map, and additional places where you may still be able to find protective eyewear.

We’ve gone from rags to riches: dismay over a seemingly delayed Apple TV with 4K/UHD, to fairly certain of a new 4K version, to learning about its HDR features, and now a possible release as early as September.

Research by an expert in generational changes reveals how smartphones are causing a skyrocketing rate of teenage depression, and it’s taking the news cycle by storm.

Thanks to Microsoft’s culture, failure with the Windows Phone became an option.

For some, the obsession is to work for Apple; for some others who’ve done that, the goal is to move on.