Adrian Weckler joins host Charlotte Henry to discuss the imminent arrival of Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos and lossless audio to Apple Music. It’s cool, but are many people actually going to notice the difference?
Summon the Seven Princes of Hell With ‘The Book of Asmodeus’
“5300 years ago Asmodeus wrote a book that people can summon his demons. If you defeat the demons, all earthly lust and pleasure are yours. In 2021 we found that book.” The Book of Asmodeus is an “interactive horror book and game” that involves using the augmented reality capabilities on your iPhone. The Kickstarter page lists it as an upcoming project, but the team’s Medium post shares the details. In the game it sounds like you “summon” AR demons and defeat them, all while writing your own story. It sounds like one of those Choose Your Own Adventure books. The book in question looks really cool. The team says it’s handmade with a 3D printed/polymer clay cover, with pages showing original artwork. There will be a PDF version for US$49 and a super early bird Kickstarter reward for the hardcover-US$79.
Apple Music Lossless Audio Doesn't Work on AirPods, Not Even Wired AirPods Max
It turns out that no AirPods will be able to play lossless audio when the feature arrives on Apple Music. This includes the US$549 AirPods Max, even when they are using a wired connection, The Verge reported.
“Lossless audio is not supported on AirPods, any model,” an Apple spokesperson said by email. “AirPods Max wired listening mode accepts analog output sources only. AirPods Max currently does not support digital audio formats in wired mode.” It makes complete sense that the AirPods and AirPods Pro have no way of playing lossless audio. They’re totally wireless, and Apple supports the AAC codec over Bluetooth. AAC sounds plenty good, but it’s nowhere near the bit rate of CD-quality or high-resolution tracks. To do any better, Apple would need to come up with some new wireless codec — its own version of Sony’s LDAC, sort of — or make these things play music over Wi-Fi instead of Bluetooth. None of that is happening today or by June when Apple Music will start offering lossless. Things are a little more complicated with the AirPods Max, which can be plugged into audio sources with a cable. However, it turns out that even if you have Apple’s $35 Lightning-to-3.5mm cable plugged into a device that’s streaming lossless Apple Music tracks, you’re not going to hear the full audio fidelity of the source.
EU Apple Pay Probe 'Quite Advanced'
The EU’s investigation into Apple Pay is “quite advanced” according to the bloc’s antitrust chief, Margrethe Vestager.
Apple Releases watchOS 7.5 Release Candidate
In addition to its other operating systems, Apple has released watchOS 7.5 release candidate, which includes several major features.
macOS Big Sur 11.4 Release Candidate Released
On Monday Apple released macOS Big Sur 11.4 release candidate. This has appeared a couple weeks after 11.4 beta 3.
Martellaro Monday with the Dream Team – TMO Daily Observations 2021-05-17
Charlotte Henry and John Martellaro join host Kelly Guimont to discuss accessibility needs on macOS, and (as usual) what we’re watching.
Wirelessly Charge AirPods, Apple Watch, iPhone at the Same Time: $32.99
We have a deal on the 3-in-1 Wireless Charging Pad. With 3 wireless charging coils, you can can charge you Apple Watch, AirPods, and iPhone at the same time (or any Qi-enabled phone). It’s powered through USB-C, and it’s $32.99 through our deal.
iOS 14.6 Developer Release Candidate Includes Apple Card Family and Podcast Subscriptions
Apple pushed a release candidate for iOS 14.6 to developers which includes Apple Card Family and Podcast subscriptions.
'Charlie Bit my Finger' to be Auctioned as an NFT... Then Deleted
The ‘Charlie Bit my Finger’ video joining the NFT action, The Verge reported. One of YouTube’s most famous and popular videos, it will be deleted after the auction. (The title of the clip has even changed to reflect this.)
At the end of the auction, which will begin on May 22nd, the original video will be deleted from YouTube forever, according to a press release, where it currently has over 880 million views. The auction will kick off on the video’s 14th anniversary. Since NFTs exploded onto the cultural landscape earlier this year, we’ve seen plenty of early-to-mid 2000s memes being sold on the blockchain, with many of them fetching higher prices than I would’ve ever have imagined… Seeing these numbers, some people (including myself) have snidely said something along the lines of “why would you pay that much for something that’s not actually scarce? I can see Nyan Cat on the internet whenever I like.” Deleting one of the most well-known videos from YouTube does at least somewhat solve that argument, since whoever ends up with the NFT will actually be able to lay claim to something scarce.
Inside The Episode Four of Apple TV+ 'The Mosquito Coast'
The latest ‘Inside the Episode’ video for episode of The Mosquito Coast was released over the weekend. In it, cast and creators, including Justin Theroux, discuss the various characters’ motivations.
Apple Unveils 2021 Pride Watch Bands and Faces
Apple revealed its Apple Watch Pride bands for 2021 – a Braided Solo Loop for US$99 and Nike Edition Sport Loop for US$49.
Spatial Audio With Dolby Atmos and Lossless Audio Comes to Apple Music
Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos is coming to Apple Music and the service’s entire library of tracks is also going to become available in Lossless audio.
Official Trailer for Prince Harry, Oprah Apple TV+ Series Emerges
The official trailer for Oprah and Prince Harry’s Apple TV+ series about mental health has emerged. It gives a hint at the range of voices that will appear in The Me You Can’t See. The show itself premieres on May 21. The trailer was still ‘unlisted’ on YouTube at the time of this writing, but MacRumors had spotted it!
Passwords, Mesh WiFi, Quick Tips, and More — Mac Geek Gab 871
You like tech? Wanna learn more? Listen as John and Dave answer your questions about what to get, how to set it up, how to fix it, and more! Of course, they round out the episode with some Quick Tips, Cool Stuff Found, and some productivity tools, too. Press play and enjoy learning at least five new things!
Apple TV+ Recap - Iconic Book Characters as Seen in 'Ghostwriter'
New episodes of Ghostwriter are now available on Apple TV+. A video was also released on Friday recapping some of the iconic book characters that have already appeared in the series. They include The White Rabbit from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Mowgli from The Jungle Book.
Coinbase Will List Dogecoin as Tradeable in 6-8 Weeks
In a call with investors, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said the crypto exchange will list Dogecoin as tradeable in six to eight weeks.
You Can Search and be Directed to Contact's Address in Apple Maps
You can search for the address of someone in your Contacts directly in Apple Maps, using the name you’ve saved them under.
Dealing With CAPTCHAs Costs Humanity 500 Years Per Day
Cloudflare wants to kill CAPTCHAs and replace them with security keys like YubiKey.
Based on our data, it takes a user on average 32 seconds to complete a CAPTCHA challenge. There are 4.6 billion global Internet users. We assume a typical Internet user sees approximately one CAPTCHA every 10 days.
This very simple back of the envelope math equates to somewhere in the order of 500 human years wasted every single day — just for us to prove our humanity.
Why Putting macOS on iPad is a Bad Idea
Since the introduction of the M1 chip to various iPad models, there has been lots of talk about replacing iPadOS with macOS. One person who is not a fan of this idea is Ed Hardy. He explained why at Cult of Mac.
No matter that Macs and iPads run on the same chip. macOS isn’t designed for a touchscreen. Apple would need to redesign the operating system to run on a tablet, and devs would need to alter third-party applications, too. And that would anger people using non-touchscreen laptops and desktops. Plus, people happy with the iPad now wouldn’t like the change either.
Major Browsers Vulnerable to Cross-Browser Tracking Exploit
Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Tor are vulnerable to a type of cross-browser tracking that can identify users.
Did the Government Take Down the DarkSide Ransomware Group?
DarkSide is the group behind the ransomware attack affecting Colonial Pipeline, and recently said it lost control of its web servers.
Security Friday: Protected Photo Tips – TMO Daily Observations 2021-05-14
Andrew Orr joins host Kelly Guimont to discuss Security Friday news and tips on how to store a photo (like a photo of a vaccination card).
FDA Continues to Monitor MagSafe Magnets With Medical Devices
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a statement saying the agency is continuing to monitor the effects of MagSafe on medical devices.