The Case For Buying The iPhone 12 Mini

I’ve opted for the iPhone 12 Pro. However, Luke  Dormehl is going for mini. He explained why he finds the device so compelling over at Cult of Mac.

It’s a blend of classic iPhone and modern iPhone: the handset I’ve wanted since Apple devices started growing progressively bigger around the time CEO Tim Cook took the reins at Apple. Here’s what makes the iPhone 12 mini so compelling. There was something old-school about the iPhone 12 mini from the moment Apple announced it. The company’s slick, socially distanced virtual keynotes aren’t short of impressive visuals, but they’ve not exactly been overflowing with levity. However, the gag with the Russian doll suitcases — the latches on a large one being flipped open to reveal a smaller one inside, which is opened to reveal a smaller one, which is opened to reveal an even tinier one and, finally, the iPhone 12 mini — was just plain fun. It reminded me of the lightheartedness of a Steve Jobs-era keynote.

Snapchat Competes With TikTok and Launches ‘Sounds’

Snapchat launched a new feature on Thursday called Sounds. It lets users add song clips to their snaps and stories, and it’s currently only available in the iOS app.

With Sounds on Snapchat, users of the iOS app worldwide can add music to their Snaps (pre- or post-capture) from a curated catalog of music. Snapchatters can add music before recording video by selecting the Sounds tool (with the music notes icon) on the right-hand side of the Camera screen and choosing a track from the Featured Sounds list. Alternately, they can select a track from the Sounds tool after taking a Snap.

Trailer for Bruce Springsteen Apple TV+ Documentary Lands

The official trailer for the upcoming Bruce Springsteen documentary Letter to You dropped on Thursday. The film shows Mr. Springsteen and the E-Street Band recording the album of the same name, the first they’ve recorded live together since Born in the USA. The film will land on Apple TV+ on Friday, October 23, the same day the album launches.

How the iPhone 12 Pro Could Change Filmmaking

Apple made great play of the iPhone 12 Pro’s camera and 5G capabilities. The Hollywood Reporter spoke to those in the film industry who think some of the features, particularly the cameras, could help revolutionize filmmaking.

“The new iPhone with Lidar, HDR, and the other camera improvements is a visual effects artist’s dream,” says Academy Award-winning VFX pro Ben Grossmann, who is CEO of Magnopus, an L.A. tech developer that worked with Jon Favreau to create the virtual production pipeline used to make The Lion King. “We used to go on movie sets to do all those things with separate pieces of hardware that could add up to hundreds of thousands of dollars and would take weeks to process into something useable. The notion that you have them all combined in your pocket, with the onboard processing power like that, and a connection to cloud compute over a connection speed that used to cost us tens of thousands of dollars in our machine rooms? It’s a bit more futuristic than I’d thought possible in 2020.”

Snapchat Rolls out Lens Studio Update for iPhone 12 LiDAR Lenses

Snap, Inc. has updated its Lens Studio tool to let people make LiDAR lenses for the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max. It will bring a better AR experience for Snapchat users.

Version 3.2 of Lens Studio includes an interactive preview mode to provide an idea of how the LiDAR lenses work, even before the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max start shipping. Creators can also preview their LiDAR lenses in the Snapchat app if they have the most recent iPad Pro.

Barnes & Noble Hack Revealed in Emails to Customers

A Barnes & Noble hack occurred on Saturday, October 10, customers learned in an email from the retailer. Data that was accessible included email addresses, billing/shipping addresses, and telephone number. Financial data like credit cards were safely encrypted.

According to Barnes & Noble’s Nook Twitter account, a “system failure” was responsible for the service interruption for Nook owners. The firm said it was “working urgently to get all NOOK services back to full operation. Unfortunately it has taken longer than anticipated, and we sincerely apologize for this inconvenience and frustration.”