John Kheit's HomePod Unboxing Video

John Kheit put together a HomePod unboxing video for me. It includes not only the unwrapping and unboxing, and his set up process, too. It stops shy of him foaming at the mouth about how much he doesn’t like the sound, but we’ll get to that next Wednesday on Pop.0. Until then, check out the unboxing experience with HomePod!

Can Social Media Be Humane, Smartwatch Diabetes Detection, and Nice Apple Content - ACM 448

Can social media be “humane,” or is the push for addictive platforms just par for the course? Bryan Chaffin and Jeff Gamet discuss The Center for Humane Technology’s push for reform. They also talk about Cardiogram’s ability to detect diabetes from Apple Watch activity data, and they talk about Apple’s penchant for avoiding dark and edgy content.

Apple Seeds iOS 11.3 Developer Beta 2

iOS 11.3 includes new Animoji, Business Chat, Health Records, ARKit 1.5, HomeKit software authentication, more information about battery health and an option for disabling the feature for improving iPhone stability with worn out batteries, and more.

DOJ/SEC Investigate Throttlegate, Facebook Google Doom, New Macs in 2018 - ACM 447

The DOJ and the SEC are investigating Apple’s Throttlegate controversy, and Bryan and Jeff think it won’t go well for Apple. They also talk about Facebook, Google, and social media, and recent comments from philanthropist and political activist George Soros predicting their demise. They close the show with the implications of rumors that say Apple has three Macs coming out this year with Apple coprocessors.

Phil Schiller Talks Music, Siri, and HomeKit for HomePod in Interview

Apple has turned out the C-Suite to promote HomePod, including senior vice president of marketing Phil Schiller. In an interview with audio magazine Sound and Vision, Mr. Schiller talked up three aspects of Apple’s smart speaker: music, Siri, and HomeKit. There’s little I would call new in the interview, and when I went looking for a standout quote, it all felt like informative marketing speak. But, it’s interesting to see Mr. Schiller pushing HomeKit integration, which has largely been downplayed in Apple’s marketing message so far. One way or another, however, it’s a good read that gives a nice overview of what Apple wants us to think about HomePod.