The Mac Observer Show

This week we’re diving in deep with authors and writers in the Apple community. Today long time author, journalist, and blogger Ted Landau joins Jeff Gamet to talk about his history in the Apple community, writing one of the top selling Mac titles, running his own Apple-related website, and more.

The new MacBook Pro’s Touch Bar looks great, but it can’t be the primary way for accessing an app’s features. Bryan Chaffin and John Martellaro join Jeff Gamet to look at how the Touch Bar may fit in to third-party app developer’s plans, and why it may not get adopted as quickly as users may like despite its coolness factor. They also look at the results from TMO’s Twitter poll for new Mac buyers.

Apple’s new Touch Bar MacBook Pro carries the “pro” moniker, but it isn’t clear exactly who the new laptops are targeting. Dave Hamilton and the Maccast’s Adam Christianson join Jeff Gamet to share their thoughts on who will want the new MacBook Pro, what could be coming in future models, and what pro users are saying about Apple’s latest laptop offerings.

Vigilantes may be cool in the movies, but no so much in the App Store. Kelly Guimont and John Martellaro join Jeff Gamet to offer up their take on Apple pulling an app that alerted iPhone users to crimes in progress, plus they have some thoughts on the death of the startup chime in the new MacBook Pro models.

After the Dyn DDOS attack, The Mac Observer started looking into claims that HomeKit smarthome devices were protected from participating. Today Dave Hamilton and Bryan Chaffin join Jeff Gamet to look at what they found. Hint: Internet security is a complicated thing in spite of HomeKit’s strengths.

Apple’s “hello again” media event felt like it was missing something, and that’s really bothering Bryan Chaffin and John Martellaro. They join Jeff Gamet to discuss what they think may have been planned, but pulled at the last minute, plus they question how much time Apple devoted to the new MacBook Pro’s Touch Bar.

Apple and Microsoft are taking different paths into computer touch interfaces. John Martellaro and Dave Hamilton join Jeff Gamet to look at the differences in Apple’s Touch Bar and Microsoft’s Surface Studio, plus they explain how USB-C and Thunderbolt 3 fit together.

Apple used its “hello again” media event to introduce new MacBook Pro models and a new Apple TV app for consolidating the shows we watch in a single interface. Dave Hamilton joins Jeff Gamet to talk about Apple’s announcements, what was exciting from the event, and more.

Apple’s fourth quarter earnings report numbers came out yesterday, and some say they look good while other say they look bad. Kelly Guimont and John Martellaro join Jeff Gamet to share their perspectives on how Apple is performing, plus they offer up their reactions to Microsoft’s just announced Surface Studio ahead of tomorrow’s new Mac launch event.

Give us enough time with an app we really like and we’ll find something to improve. Bryan Chaffin and Dave Hamilton join Jeff Gamet to talk about Apple’s iMessage platform and Messages app, and Bryan has some interface improvements he’d like to see. They also look at the CD collection Apple gave the media with the original iPod, and Jeff notes Apple’s Apple ID Two-Factor authentication setup bug seems to be fixed.

Last Friday we all learned first hand what happens when hackers decide to target DNS hosts with a distributed Denial of Service attack. Dave Hamilton and The Maccast’s Adam Christianson join Jeff Gamet to look at Friday’s attack and how the Internet of Things played a major role in the incident. They also talk about how HomeKit devices may also be susceptible to hackers.

An iPhone 7 in Australia caught on fire in a car, and now the media is comparing the incident to Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 debacle. John Martellaro and Dave Hamilton join Jeff Gamet to look at what happened, and to sort out whether or not it’s appropriate to compare this iPhone 7 to the Note 7 fires. They also compare Microsoft Surface sales to the current state of the iPad.

Apple is hosting a media event on Thursday, October 27th, titled “hello again.” Bryan Chaffin and John Martellaro join Jeff Gamet to share their thoughts on whether or not we’ll finally see a refresh to the aging Mac Pro. They also offer up predictions on what else may or may not get announced, and generally hammer on Bryan for his Mac Pro hopes.

Apple’s iPhone 7 has a mystery chip inside and John Martellaro thinks he knows what it may be doing. John, along with Kelly Guimont joins Jeff Gamet to talk about the iPhone 7 and privacy, along with how the mystery chip may be ensuring our data stays encrypted. They also compare Amazon’s Echo and Echo Dot.

Siri seems to be lagging behind in the voice interface game, or at least that’s what some analysts think. Dave Hamilton and John Martellaro join Jeff Gamet to talk about the current state of Siri and the limitations they’ve encountered. They also take a look at what may be holding up the release of new MacBook Pro models.

Apple’s car projects looks like it’s heading down a different path. John Martellaro and Bryan Chaffin join Jeff Gamet to look at how Bob Mansfield is refocusing the company’s car project and discussing what they expect will happen next. They also offer up their thoughts on Tim Cook’s plans to bring us into a cashless society.

Good news athletes, the Nike+ Apple Watch Series 2 will be available on October 28th. Bryan Chaffin and Dave Hamilton join Jeff Gamet to talk about why they might–or might not–want the special edition Apple Watch model, plus Bryan finds a way to use Google to keep track of who’s on this November’s ballot.

Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and other social networks have been giving Geofeedia access to user’s posts that’s being used for police surveillance. Dave Hamilton and Bryan Chaffin join Jeff Gamet to look at what Geofeedia was collecting, how it was being used by law enforcement, and the ethical issues social networks face when giving companies our publicly available data.

Amazon is expanding its streaming music offerings with Amazon Music Unlimited. Kelly Guimont and John Martellaro join Jeff Gamet to share their thoughts on AMU and how it fits into Amazon’s plans. They also loop back to Monday’s show to look at the moral implications of deeper human relationships with artificial intelligences.

Dash is gone from the Mac and iOS App Stores, and the story behind why is a big bucket of drama. John Martellaro and Dave Hamilton join Jeff Gamet to look at what transpired to get Dash banned from the App Store and cost the developer his account. They also offer up their thoughts on the UK Prime Minister banning the Apple Watch from Cabinet meetings.

Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 battery problem isn’t going away and some replacement units are catching on fire, too. Bryan Chaffin and John Martellaro join Jeff Gamet to discuss Samsung’s burning product failure, plus John schools Jeff on the perils of robot sex.

The streaming music market just changed because now Apple Music and Spotify can give us DJ remixes. John Martellaro and Bryan Chaffin join Jeff Gamet to look at the implications bringing remixes to the two big music services will have on the market and on SoundCloud. They also respond to listener comments from Wednesday’s discussion on Yahoo helping intelligence agencies scan our email.

Say what? Samsung bought the Viv artificial intelligence platform designed by the creators of Siri. Bryan Chaffin and Dave Hamilton join Jeff Gamet to talk about how Samsung could use Viv, and what impact it will have on competing platforms. They also look at Facebook’s Secret Conversation encryption for Messenger chats.

A new report says Yahoo! was secretly scanning user’s email at the request of U.S. intelligence agencies. Kelly Guimont and John Martellaro join Jeff Gamet to debate whether or not that was appropriate and to look at what we should expect for privacy in our email.