Enter our new international giveaway for a chance to win the brand new iPhone 16 Pro.
Sonos Radio, Free and Ad-Supported Streaming Service, Launches on All Sonos Devices Today
On Tuesday, wireless speaker company Sonos announced the rollout of Sonos Radio, a free and ad-supported streaming service that runs on all Sonos devices. The new Sonos Radio service will arrive by way of a software update and will include Artist Stations, Sonos Sound System, Genre Stations, as well as music, news, and sports from a growing list of over 60,000 world-wide radio stations.
Apple Music Available in 52 New Countries as Apple Expands Services Globally
Apple is now offering services in more countries than ever before, including the rollout of Apple Music into 52 new countries.
Programmer, Author, Podcaster Rosemary Orchard - TMO BGM Interview
Rosemary Orchard describes herself as a geek, nerd, and programmer. She works full time as a developer of web applications, but her real loves are automation and productivity. She’s also a book author and podcaster.
Rosemary told me the story about how she started with computers and programming. After a bad experience with a Toshiba notebook and Windows Vista, she bought a MacBook Air for her university work—and loved it. At this point, she was still pursing human languages, but in time gravitated towards, instead, creating computer software that would make peoples lives easier. And she never looked back. We talked about her Web app development, her books (one on Shortcuts) and finished with how she learned to podcast. Today she does two. You’ll enjoy hearing how Rosemary’s career has developed.
Disagreement Over How to Proceed with European Coronavirus Contact Apps
Apple and Google have teamed up to help build contact-tracing apps, aimed at helping reduce the spread of coronavirus. However, there is disagreement in Europe over how to progress, Reuters reported.
Scientists and researchers from more than 25 countries published an open letter on Monday urging governments not to abuse such technology to spy on their people and warning of risks in an approach championed by Germany. “We are concerned that some ‘solutions’ to the crisis may, via mission creep, result in systems which would allow unprecedented surveillance of society at large,” said the letter that gathered more than 300 signatures. Tech experts are rushing to develop digital methods to fight COVID-19, a flu-like disease caused by the novel coronavirus that has infected 2.4 million people worldwide and been linked to 165,000 deaths.
Xcode for iOS Might Mean You Can Write Software on Your iPhone
Developers may soon be able to code on their iPhone or iPad with Xcode on iOS/iPadOS 14. I don’t imagine many people are going to settle down to a big coding session on their iPhone, but I can imagine them doing it on an iPad. If Xcode does come to iPadOS it would cement a move we already saw with the latest iPad Pro – Apple is blurring the lines between a laptop and a tablet. Cult of Mac took a look at the latest rumors.
This report comes from Jon Prosser, founder of YouTube channel Front Page Tech, who recently correctly predicted the launch date of the 2020 iPhone SE. On Monday, Prosser said via Twitter “XCode is present on iOS / iPad OS 14. The implications there are HUGE”… Whenever anyone suggests that iPads have become as powerful as MacBooks, someone always asks, “Does it do Xcode?” The implication is that iPads are just toys — only Macs are real computers. But if Prosser is correct, then devs will be able to use iPad or Mac, whichever they prefer.
Facebook Publishes First COVID-19 Maps
Facebook has released the first maps built using COVID-19 data collected from a survey distributed across the social network.
Leaks Claim AirTags Will Have Speakers, Activation Lock, Work With Non-U1 Devices
A report today claims that Apple’s rumored AirTags product will have speakers and will work with devices that don’t have the U1 chip. They will also require activation lock as a security measure.
Alongside the speaker, Fudge also says that the AirTags will come with an accelerometer, which detects motion. Fudge does not elaborate on this, so we don’t know entirely what it is for.
The most recent thing Fudge announced was that the AirTags may come in multiple different colours, which could be really cool. However, if AirTags are anything like AirPods, colours might not ever arrive.
I’m glad to know that they won’t require a U1 chip. It’s a “claim” by this leaker but if Apple required a chip for the tags to work, this would lock out a significant portion of its user base, so that part seems likely to me.
eBay Now Supports Sign In with Apple
eBay recently updated its iOS app to version 6.0.0 and the major feature it adds is Apple’s private Sign In with Apple option.
Sony Announces 8K And 4K TVs With HomeKit And AirPlay 2 Support
Sony announced a new range of 8K and 4K televisions that come with support for HomeKit and AirPlay 2, as well as Alexa and Google Assistant.
Mac Screenshot Tips, New iPhones – TMO Daily Observations 2020-04-20
Charlotte Henry and John Martellaro join host Kelly Guimont to discuss quick tips for screenshots on macOS, and the new iPhone release.
Bendy Suction Phone Mount: $23.99
We have a deal on a very interesting smartphone mount. It’s bendy and it has suction pads on it, which makes its name appropriate: Tenikle 2.0. It’s essentially modeled after a three-tentacled octopus with suction pads on each of those limbs. You can then wrap one or two of the limbs around whatever you need—or use them as feet—and use the suction pads on the third limb to hold your iPhone (or Android device). And you can roll it into a ball for storage and portability. Tenikle 2.0 is $23.99 through our deal.
How The Colorful iMac Saved Apple
The iMac is credited with saving Apple during its darkest days. Designed by Sir Jony Ive, it is the first Apple machine I remember really being conscious of. The colorful range of computers first went on sale in the U.S in August 1998 and by April 2001 five million had been shipped. On AppleInsider, William Gallagher reflected on the device’s staggering success.
This machine took the innovation Apple had done before, it took the company’s ethos of strong design and a complete appliance-like tool, and it shouted about it all. Where the Mac had literally said “Hello,” the iMac figuratively said, “look at me.” And people listened. The iMac was announced by Steve Jobs on May 6, 1998, but it didn’t go on sale in the US until August 15 that year. Two weeks later, it was released in Europe and Japan. Two years, eight months, and four days later on April 19, 2001, Apple announced that it had shipped its five millionth iMac. That makes approximately 5,112 iMacs sold every day. It’s one iMac every 1.183 seconds. No wonder it saved the company.
Apple Store in Seoul, South Korea Reopens - The First Outside of China to do so
The Apple Store in Seoul, South Korea has reopened – the first outside of mainland China to do so following the COVID-19 outbreak.
Cloudflare Tool ‘Is BGP Safe Yet’ Tells You if Your ISP is Safe
Cloudflare recently released a tool called Is BGP Safe Yet. It lets people check whether their ISP has security protections against BGP hijacking.
Those improvements are most effective with wide adoption from ISPs, content delivery networks like Cloudflare, and other cloud providers. Cloudflare estimates that so far about half of the internet is more protected thanks to heavy hitters like AT&T, the Swedish telecom Telia, and the Japanese telecom NTT adopting BGP improvements. And while Cloudflare says it doesn’t seem like the Rostelecom incident was intentional or malicious, Russian telecoms do have a history of suspicious BGP meddling, and similar problems will keep cropping up until the whole industry is on board.
Neither my ISP nor my VPN provider are safe against hijacks.
Sharing, Streaming, and Securing – Mac Geek Gab 811
Need to share big files from home? Trying to manage your video streaming and conferencing? Want to secure your setup? Good news, Mac Geek Gab has some ideas for you. Plus, there are Quick Tips, Cool Stuff Found, and lots more answers to lots more questions contained within. Press play and enjoy learning at least five new things!
Leaks Reveal Google Pay Card as Rival to Apple Card
Leaked images of a Google Pay Card reveal that Google is busy creating a rival to Apple Card. There will also be an associated virtual card with it.
The Google card and associated checking account will allow users to buy things with a card, mobile phone or online. It connects to a Google app with new features that let users easily monitor purchases, check their balance or lock their account. The card will be co-branded with different bank partners, including CITI and Stanford Federal Credit Union.
I remember getting a card associated with my Google Pay account back in 2015 or so. They released it long before the Apple Card, but like many Google products it eventually got canceled.
Official Trailer for Apple TV+ Series 'Home' Arrives
The official trailer for Apple TV+ show Home landed on Friday. It is a docuseries that looks inside some of the world’s most innovative homes. All episodes are available now with an Apple TV+ subscription.
First Look at Apple TV+ Series ‘Defending Jacob’
Apple uploaded a trailer for its upcoming Apple TV+ show Defending Jacob, giving us the first glimpse into this thriller.
In this gripping, character-driven thriller, a shocking crime rocks a small Massachusetts town and one family in particular, forcing an assistant district attorney to choose between his sworn duty to uphold justice and his unconditional love for his son.
Based on the 2012 New York Times best-selling novel of the same name, this limited drama series stars Chris Evans, Michelle Dockery, Jaeden Martell, Cherry Jones, Pablo Schreiber, Sakina Jaffrey, Betty Gabriel, and J.K. Simmons.
iPhone SE Delivery Shifts Into May
Available for preorder today, customers are finding that iPhone SE delivery dates are shifting into May due to popular demand.
Interview with Gary Orenstein of Bitwarden – TMO Daily Observations 2020-04-17
Kelly sits down with Bitwarden’s Gary Orenstein to talk about their password manager and how it can be both open source AND secure software. Learn more about setting up passwords and why it matters on Security Friday!
Google Blocking 18m Coronavirus Scam Emails a Day
There has been a deluge of attempted phishing attacks during the coronavirus outbreak. BBC News reported that Google is now blocking 18m coronavirus-related scam emails on a daily basis.
The company said it was blocking more than 100 million phishing emails a day. Over the past week, almost a fifth were scam emails related to coronavirus. The virus may now be the biggest phishing topic ever, tech firms say. Google’s Gmail is used by 1.5 billion people. One of the scam emails impersonates the World Health Organization Individuals are being sent a huge variety of emails which impersonate authorities, such as the World Health Organization (WHO), in an effort to persuade victims to download software or donate to bogus causes.
How to Use 'Tile Window' Function to Multitask on a Mac
The ‘Tile Window’ option is a really useful macOS Catalina function, and Charlotte show’s you how to use it a new video.
HideMyAss VPN 2-Yr Subscription: $79.99
We have a deal on a 2-year subscription to HideMyAss, a VPN featuring 256-bit AES encryption and a strict no logging policy. The subscription is good for unlimited installs with up to 5 connections at once, and 2-years is $79.99 through our deal.
InvisibleShield and Gear4 Announce iPhone SE Screen Protectors
InvisibleShield and Gear4 have released cases and iPhone SE screen protectors. The InvisibleShield Glass Elite VisionGuard+, Glass Elite+ and Glass+ provide customers with tempered glass protection for extreme impact and scratch protection. Meanwhile, Gear4 is manufacturing antimicrobial iPhone SE cases with D3O reinforced backplate and others made with recycled materials.