RSA Sues Apple Claiming Apple Pay Patent Infringement

RSA filed a lawsuit against Apple and Visa over the weekend claiming the iPhone maker’s Apple Pay feature infringes on patents it owns. The company says it holds 13 patents covering Apple Pay technology, and hasn’t been able to get Apple or Visa to pay for licensing.

Fixing Album Art, Cracked iPads, and UPnP Dangers – Mac Geek Gab 658

Your geeks start with some tips: dealing with a bad key on your keyboard, restoring the proper album art after iCloud Music Library has done its part, and dealing with a damaged SD card. Then it’s on to some questions, like whether or not UPnP is dangerous for you or what to do when you hear your Mac’s fans running more frequently than you think is necessary. All this and more, just after you press play!

The Cloud Is a Lie

The cloud is a lie.  John Kheit argues that if you believe in the cloud, you’re not only a sucker, you’ve been brainwashed into accepting your lot as a 2nd class digital citizen. According to him, the cloud is a lie because it convinces you of at least two Stockholm syndrome things: (1) you don’t deserve to own or control your own data, and (2) security for your data does not matter.

Gmail Smart Reply Comes to iOS

One of the features announced today at Google I/O 2017 is Gmail Smart Reply. It was first released in the web in 2015, as a way to let people send short, canned messages in email, similar to iMessage on the Apple Watch. Andrew Orr tells us it’s finally coming to the Gmail app on iOS.

macOS: Speedifier Lets You Control Video Speed In Safari

Speedifier is a Mac app that lets you control video speed in Safari for HTML5 videos. You can use the extension on any on any website. Speedifier was developed by Arno Appenzeller, a part-time Mac and iOS indie developer from Germany. Andrew Orr reviews the app to test it out.

TMO Background Mode Interview with Astrophysicist Dr. Kelly Holley-Bockelmann

Dr. Kelly Holley-Bockelmann is an Associate Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Vanderbilt University. Her research specialty is black holes and gravitational waves. For as long as she can remember, she wanted to be an astrophysicist. In our interview she tells the story about, as a teenager, lying in a field under dark Montana skies and gazing at the Milky Way (the edge of our galaxy). She wondered about all those stars and planets and whether there were other civilizations out there looking up at their own starry skies. It was transformative. Today, she uses a Mac and supercomputers to study how black holes generate ripples in the fabric of spacetime and deepen our astronomical understanding and perspective. Kelly, her students and associates are also devoted Mac users, and she tells me why.

Apple's $200M Advanced Manufacturing Fund Investment in Corning Means No Sapphire iPhone Displays

If you’ve been waiting for a sapphire glass for iPhone display, stop holding your breath because Apple’s $200 million investment in Corning says that’s not going to happen. The investment comes from Apple’s recently announced Advanced Manufacturing Fund, and is going to be used for Corning research and development, capital equipment needs, and state-of-the-art glass processing.

Follow The Dots...to Mac Geek Gab 656

Cool Stuff Found and Quick Tips in the same episode? You bet! John F. Braun and Dave Hamilton aim to deliver for you each and every week. And since the goal is to learn at least four new things each week, some options might include keeping your Mac awaken only when you like, managing Siri’s holidays when set for a foreign voice, yet another replacement for DeskConnect, and a segment one listener calls “follow the dots.” You’ll just have to listen to see what that is all about. Press play and enjoy, folks!

Apple Dethrones Fitbit as the Top Wearables Maker

Apple has taken over Fitbit’s position as the top wearables maker for the first quarter of 2017. Wearable device shipments are on the rise, as are Apple’s sales, but Fitbit’s numbers are declining and the company laid off over 100 employees earlier this year.

iOS 11 May Not Include 32-bit App Support

Apple plans to drop 32-bit app support completely in iOS 11, or at least that’s what seasoned developer Steven Troughton-Smith is hearing. That means apps that haven’t been updated with 64-bit support won’t run at all even though current iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch processors still support both 32-bit and 64-bit code.

Sonos PLAYBASE Review: Room-Filling Sound for Music, TV, and Movies

The new Sonos Playbase falls right in line with what we Apple users have come to expect, delivering a simple-yet-robust experience for people who want to enhance the sound of their TVs and simultaneously add a whole-room music-listening solution. In one, low-profile box that sits underneath your TV (officially anything 75lbs or less), the Sonos Playbase gives you all of this and more, complete with easy setup and simple operation.

Developers: WWDC 2017 Ticket Lottery Opens Today

If you’re a registered Apple Developer Program member and want to go to this year’s Worldwide Developer Conference in San Jose, today is the day to toss your name into the ticket lottery. Apple is opening the ticket lottery at 10 AM pacific time, and it’s the only way to get a conference ticket.

Are You Secure with Your Security? – Mac Geek Gab 650

Security is on the brain this week! Learn how to secure your iCloud account and also learn how to secure your entire home network from your ISP’s prying eyes! Dave and John also help you determine what devices and processes are using your network, and what the difference is between WPA2 Personal and Enterprise. All of this and more in this week’s Mac Geek Gab. Press play and enjoy!

WIN an iPhone 16 Pro!