Podcast

TMO Editor-in-Chief Bryan Chaffin (#2) - TMO Background Mode Interview

John Martellaro · · 1 Comment

Bryan Chaffin is the co-founder and Executive Vice President of The Mac Observer. He is also our Editor-in-Chief. He’s been working lately as co-author of a new edition of iPad For Dummies, and so I enlisted him to discuss the future of the iPad.

We chatted about how the iPad has made enormous gains in CPU and graphics power over the last 10 years. But iOS and then iPadOS not so much. In the early days Apple wasn’t quite sure where the iPad would go, and that’s perhaps a factor in its development. We examined how multi-tasking has been implemented, the prospects for larger displays, home screen operations, consumption vs. productivity, the stagnation of sales, and whether there needs to be a new product between the iPad and Mac. Bryan resurrects the notorious concept of the ::gasp:: toaster-fridge. There’s much more.

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Netflix Top 10 Lists Appear Today to Show Popular Content

Andrew Orr ·

Starting today Netflix is rolling out a Top 10 lists feature that will update every day. It will feature the platform’s most popular content.

“Starting today you’ll notice something new when you go on Netflix: The Top 10 row,” the company said in a tweet. “The lists update daily to show what’s popular in your country and are broken into three categories: Netflix overall, shows & films.”

The most popular Netflix offerings in your country should show up in their own row once you log in to your Netflix account, the company said. “The list is rolling out globally now and should be on your homepage by the end of the day at the latest.”

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Apple Ups iPhone 12 Chip Orders Despite Coronavirus Outbreak

Charlotte Henry ·

Apple has reportedly aggressively increased orders for processors to go into a forthcoming 5G iPhone. Cult of Mac learned about the situation via a note from analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who pushed back on the idea that the coronavirus outbreak will dent Apple’s plans.

Apple is believed to have aggressively increased its orders for the new processors, which will power this year’s iPhone and iPad Pro — as well as Apple’s first Arm-powered Mac that is said to be scheduled for early 2021. “The 5nm process will be the core technology for Apple’s new products in 12–18 months,” reads the latest report from reliable TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, seen by Cult of Mac. “Therefore, the COVID-19 has no impact on Apple’s investments for 5nm, and Apple has increased shipment forecasts and pulled in for 5nm-related equipment after the epidemic outbreak.”

UK Users Can Get a Year of Disney+ for £49.99
Cool Stuff Found

UK Users Can Get a Year of Disney+ for £49.99

Charlotte Henry ·

Disney+ is heading to Europe in just under a month. In an attempt to build up the excitement, the streaming service is offering a discount to those who pre-order. UK users can get a year of Disney+ for £49.99 instead of £59.99 if they sign up by March 23. In Europe, users can purchase an annual subscription for €59.99 instead of €69.99 ahead of launch day. A monthly subscription costs £5.99/€6.99 per month. Disney+ goes live on March 24. To get the deal, head over to https://preorder.disneyplus.com.

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HackerOne Punished Researchers Who Disclosed PayPal Bugs

Andrew Orr ·

HackerOne is a bug bounty platform that connects companies with security researchers. Recently, when researchers used the platform to disclose six PayPal vulnerabilities, they were punished.

When our analysts discovered six vulnerabilities in PayPal…we were met with non-stop delays, unresponsive staff, and lack of appreciation…When we pushed the HackerOne staff for clarification on these issues, they removed points from our Reputation scores, relegating our profiles to a suspicious, spammy level.

This happened even when the issue was eventually patched, although we received no bounty, credit, or even a thanks…We’ll assume that HackerOne’s response is representative of PayPal’s response.

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New Xbox Series Will Pack 12 Teraflops of GPU Performance

Charlotte Henry ·

We learned new details about the forthcoming Xbox Series X console. Microsoft said it will have 12 teraflops of GPU performance, amongst  other impressive specs, The Verge reported.

The biggest new confirmation is that the Xbox Series X will include 12 teraflops of GPU performance, which is twice what’s available in the Xbox One X and eight times the original Xbox One. This type of performance puts the Xbox Series X beyond most mid-range graphics cards from AMD and Nvidia, and it’s an impressive jump for a game console. It certainly shows that the next-gen Xbox and PS5 are going to go far beyond the Xbox One X and PlayStation 4 Pro.

Stardew Valley 1.4 Update Finally Available for iOS
Cool Stuff Found

Stardew Valley 1.4 Update Finally Available for iOS

Andrew Orr ·

Long awaited by mobile gamers, the huge Stardew Valley 1.4 update is finally available for iOS and iPadOS. There are new 14 heart events for every spouse, a new late-game building upgrade in town, Fish Ponds for farming, over 60 new items, 24 hairstyles, 181 shirts, and other new clothing items, or create your own clothes with the Tailoring skill, sheds can be upgraded, 14 new music tracks, transfer save files on PC to mobile, and various Quality of Life improvements.

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Intuit Could Buy Credit Karma for $7 Billion

Andrew Orr ·

Financial services giant Inuit, which has products like TurboTax and Mint, is close to a deal to buy Credit Karma for US$7 billion.

There is a potentially significant business opportunity for Intuit if it completes a deal. For example, Intuit could try to match all the tax data its TurboTax customers provide with the credit-scoring data that Credit Karma holds.

That could let Intuit serve up better customer prospects to credit card issuers — and eventually let Intuit charge lenders more for access to its hoard of data.

Podcast

Taming System Preferences, Podcasts, Email, and More – Mac Geek Gab 803

John F. Braun · · Add Comment

Sometimes things just get out of hand with your devices and need to be wrangled back into line. Today’s targets: System Preferences, the Podcasts app, IMAP email, and much more. Plus, some early replies on our search for the best way to tame our episode watch lists are already in, too! Listen as John and Dave talk through all of this, add some Cool Stuff Found, and more.

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Tesla Begins Deforestation in Germany to Build New Gigafactory

Charlotte Henry ·

 

Tesla has resumed cutting down trees in eastern Germany following local opposition, Reuters reported. The deforestation is so it can build an enormous factory in the area.

The U.S. electric carmaker last November said it will build a factory in Gruenheide in the eastern state of Brandenburg near Berlin, creating up to 12,000 jobs, a decision that was initially lauded as a vote of confidence in Germany. Tesla wants to start production in 2021, but environmentalists have exploited legal loopholes in the planning process to halt felling of trees until an environmental audit is finalised to gauge whether any rare species could be endangered.

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These Tiny Chips Could Help Stop Counterfeits

Andrew Orr ·

MIT researchers created tiny (0.002 square inches) chips that could help combat supply chain counterfeiting.

It’s millimeter-sized and runs on relatively low levels of power supplied by photovoltaic diodes. It also transmits data at far ranges, using a power-free “backscatter” technique that operates at a frequency hundreds of times higher than RFIDs. Algorithm optimization techniques also enable the chip to run a popular cryptography scheme that guarantees secure communications using extremely low energy.

Sounds interesting. I wonder if these could be used for more than counterfeits.

Featured Image credit: MIT News