Apple has launched a site dedicated to its Shoot with iPhone 7 instructional videos. Those videos were launched on YouTube Thursday evening. On Friday, Apple published a subsite on the apple.com domain with 16 videos from the series. Bryan Chaffin explains.
Bryan Chaffin
Bryan Chaffin is the cofounder of The Mac Observer and currently serves as Afternoon Editor. He has contributed to MacAddict and MacFormat magazines, and co-authored the last two updates of iPad and iPad Pro for Dummies with Bob “Dr. Mac” LeVitus and Ed Baig. You can find out more about Bryan at his personal site, GeekTells, or find his Twitter link below.
Articles by Bryan Chaffin
Visual Timeline of Apple I Auction Prices Since 1976 to Now
The folks at LiveAuctioneers put together a (self-serving, but who cares because it’s fun) visual timeline of Apple I auction prices. It spans from the device’s 1976 introduction to the introduction of the Apple ][ (I’m not sure why that’s included, but again, cool), through three recent auctions in 2012, 2013, and 2014. There’s a few Apple I auctions missing—and the company’s focus was to illustrate increasing prices—but it does show how desirable these primitive computers are. The whole thing was made to promote a May 20th auction for what auction house Team Breker has called the “best preserved” Apple I to date.
Aerix Black Talon 2.0 Micro FPV Beginner Racing Drone: $99.99
What’s better than having your own drone? Having your own racing drone. Obviously. We have a deal for you on just that, the Aerix Black Talon 2.0, a beginner’s racing drone. It features a wde angle lens on a 720P HD camera with a live video stream, a 6-axis flight control system, and more. It’s $99.99 through us.
Five Apple Videos for Shooting with iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus
Apple released five videos to YouTube Thursday evening, all of them designed to teach you how to shoot on iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus. Topics include shooting action, shooting “great portraits,” shooting close-ups, shooting vertical panoramics (panos), and shooting without Flash. We’ve got all five of them.
Tim Cook Is No Steve Ballmer
A piece at Seeking Alpha argues that Tim Cook needs to be replaced as CEO of Apple because he’s “identical to Steve Ballmer.” Bryan Chaffin was specifically asked what he thought, so here’s the short version: it’s balderdash—Tim Cook is no Steve Ballmer.
iTunes for Windows Is Coming to Microsoft's Windows Store
Microsoft announced that iTunes for Windows will be coming to the Windows Store, according to TechCrunch:
Here is a surprise: at its Build developer conference, Microsoft today announced that Apple’s iTunes will come to the Windows Store by the end of the year. The iTunes app will have full iPhone support and users will essentially get the same iTunes experience from the Windows Store app that the existing Windows app currently offers.
There are two points of significance: one is that Microsoft announced this, not Apple. The second is that this is the only way Windows 10 S users can get iTunes for Windows. That makes a Windows Store version a must-have for iPhone owners with Surface Laptops running that flavor of Windows.
This Maglev Globe Floats: $39.99
It’s a floating globe. On your desk. It floats! No, no! It levitates magnetically! This is far, far too cool, hey? The 3-inch globe floats in its C-shape frame using the power of magnets, and it’s $39.99 through us.
Spot the Apple Product Placement in this SNL Video with Melissa McCarthy as Sean Spicer
Saturday Night Live has a new video trailer promoting Melissa McCarthy as White House spokesperson Sean Spicer, and it was retweeted by Apple VP Lisa Jackson. It could be that she’s a huge Melissa McCarthy fan—because yeah—or it could be the Apple product placement at 38 seconds.
Paris Hilton, the Real Hero of the iPhone
Check out this quote from W about Paris Hilton:
Despite Hilton’s longtime dependency on various cellular devices, it is perhaps visionaries like Steve Jobs who are indebted to her, seeing that it was Hilton who took their creations beyond their wildest expectations, inventing along the way the maligned but ubiquitous selfie.
That’s right. Paris Hilton is the real hero of the iPhone. ? Talk about confusing cause for effect.
Imagining a Siri Smarthome, Apple and Sleep Tracking, and the Real iPhone 8 - ACM 410
With Alexa Show and Microsoft Invoke, Bryan and Jeff envision the Siri smarthome of the future to make the case for an Apple Siri device. They also talk about what Apple might do with sleep tracking technology from Beddit, as well some sexy new renders of Apple’s unannounced iPhone 8.
Readdle Launches PDF Expert 6 for iPhone and iPad
Readdle announced Wednesday the release of PDF Expert 6 for iPhone and iPad. The update includes a new interface, the ability to password protect files, and you can work from and save to Dropbox. On the editing side, users can edit PDF text, add and replace images, add links to text and pictures, and redact content. The company put together a good video showing off the new features (below). PDF Expert 6 is available now on the App Store at $9.99.
Apple Just Bought a Sleep Tracking Company
Apple is—at last—getting into the sleep tracking business. 9to5Mac reported that Apple purchased Beddit, a firm that makes sleep-tracking hardware and apps for Apple’s iPhone and Apple Watch.
Apple Invites Press to 2017 WWDC Keynote
Apple officially invited members of the press to its World Wide Developer Conference (WWDC) keynote. The conference will be held at the McEnery Convention Center in San Jose, CA, from June 5th to June 9th, with the keynote on June 5th.
Blue Ships 'Satellite' Wireless Headphones with Built-in Amp
Blue Microphones shipped Satellite, wireless, over-the-ear headphones with a built-in analog amplifier. Satellite was announced at CES, where I was more focused on the wired Sadie and Ella models also introduced. Satellite is the company’s entry into premium wireless headphones, and they feature Bluetooth 4.1. They’re also foldable and support the Apt-X audio codec. Apple isn’t currently supporting Apt-X, but some Android devices do. I haven’t tested Satellite, but I’m a big fan of Blue’s other high-end over-the-ear headphones. Jeff Butts will be reviewing these for us, and I look forward to hearing what he thinks. Satellite is available now for $399.95.
The Mac PDF Processing Bundle: $29.99
We have a deal on the Mac PDF Processing Bundle, four apps for producing and editing PDF files. It includes PDFConverter, PDF Creator, PDFPasswordRemover, and PDFCompressor. The bundle is $29.99 through us.
John Oliver Makes It Easier to Comment on FCC Effort to Gut Net Neutrality
The FCC under Chairman Ajit Pai did its best to bury the mechanism for publicly commenting on the U.S. Federal Communications Commission’s efforts to gut net neutrality. Fortunately, comedian and Last Week Tonight host John Oliver made it easy.
Watch the Blade Runner 2049 Trailer with Harrison Ford and Ryan Gosling
Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner 2049 has an official trailer, and it’s out now (thanks to Rick Allen for the heads up). The movie takes place 30 years after the the events in the original Blade Runner (which came out 37 years ago, for those keeping score at home). Harrison Ford reprises his role as Rick Deckard, but the star of the film is Ryan Gosling as LAPD Officer K. The trailer hints at a very dark film that emphasizes deteriorating conditions on Earth. That theme was central to the the Philip K. Dick novel (Amazon, iBooks) Blade Runner was based on, but it was largely absent from that movie. And all that said, this new trailer looks amazing! Blade Runner 2049 is scheduled for release on October 6th, 2017.
Apple Watch Wants You to Walk/Run/Roll 1 Mile on Mother's Day
Apple’s next Activity challenge will be Mother’s Day, when you’ll be able to earn an Apple Watch badge for walking, running, or wheelchairing a mile or more. 9to5Mac uncovered a reference to the challenge, as well as images of the badge you’ll be able to get. Apple has done special holiday challenges several times before, including Thanksgiving 2016, New Year’s Day 2017, and Earth Day 2017. This Mother’s Day challenge may be U.S.-only, as not every country has a Mother’s Day, and they don’t share the same date. I love these Activity challenges. It’s just a badge, and you can’t do anything with it, but darned if I don’t want to earn them when they’re offered. Accordingly, do your mother proud and get to moving on Mother’s Day, which is Sunday, May 14th this year.
Throttle Pro 1-Year Subscription: $39
We have a deal on a one-year subscription to Throttle Pro. This service works through a browser extension that generates a one-time email address you can use when signing up or online services. Throttle Pro then emails you a daily digest of all the email sent to those one-time addresses. You can then forcibly unsubscribe to anything you want through Throttle Pro. A one-year subscription through us is $39.
PSA: Russian-Backed Flash Trojan Ported to macOS
A Russian-backed bit of malware called Snake has been ported to macOS, according to security blog Fox-IT (via Malwarebytes Labs). Snake is a trojan disguised to look like a Flash installer, and it’s been around on Windows since 2008 and Linux since 2014. Bryan Chaffin explains.
MEEM Memory Cables: $59.99
We have a deal for you today on the MEEM Memory Cable. This clever device is a Lightning charging cable with a built-in flash drive. It’s designed to let you back up some data while you’re charging. It’s $59.99 for a 32GB model. There’s a 16GB Android version in the deal, too.
Apple Pushes 5th Developer Beta for tvOS 10.2.1
Apple released tvOS 10.2.1 beta 5, build 14W585, Thursday. There are no patch notes for the release, but at this stage of the development cycle Apple is most likely focused on squashing bugs.
The Steam Powered Star Wars Gamer Bundle for Mac: $14.99
We have such a great deal for Star Wars Day. It’s called the Steam Powered Star Wars Gamer Bundle, five Mac games from the Star Wars universe. It includes: The Force Unleashed: Ultimate Sith Edition, Knights of the Old Republic, Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast, Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy, and Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords. These were all published by Aspyr and run through Steam, and the whole bundle is $14.99 through us. May the fourth be with you!
