If you’ve been playing board games with your family lately, you might appreciate Pandora’s newest announcement with Hasbro.
Audiobooks on Macs – TMO Daily Observations 2020-05-07
Charlotte Henry joins host Kelly Guimont to walk through how to listen to your audiobooks on a Mac, both from Audible and from Apple Books.
UK Keeps Door Open to Apple/Google Approach For Contact Tracing App
A group of software developers has been asked to “investigate” using the Apple/Google model of COVID-19 contact tracing by UK health chiefs.
UPS Adds Sign In with Apple Login Functionality. Here’s How to Use It
In its most recent app update, version 8.8.0, UPS added Sign In with Apple for new and existing customers. Here’s how to use it.
Look How Cool the iPad Pro Magic Keyboard Looks Under X-Ray
The folks at iFixit examined the iPad Pro Magic Keyboard with X-rays. It looks cool and shows the product’s complexity.
What makes this the Magic Keyboard instead of a Smart Keyboard? Scissor switches, which proved much smarter than butterfly switches over (too) many years. This is the least complicated thing we can see on the Magic Keyboard, and it’s probably the biggest improvement.
I think this looks great. Right now I’m not sure if I’ll get the Magic Keyboard or not. Brydge plans to send me their keyboard accessory. However, I’m definitely a fan of how thin the Smart Keyboard is, and it looks like the Magic Keyboard shares that trait.
Animal Crossing is Fastest Selling Nintendo Switch Game
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is officially the fastest-selling Nintendo Switch game. Nintendo said that a record 13.4 million units of the game were sold in the first six weeks it was available, Reuters reported.
Nintendo has defied scepticism over its ability to draw in consumers beyond a hardcore base in the Switch’s fourth year with the runaway success of Animal Crossing: New Horizons, which has become the console’s fastest-selling title since launching on March 20. The appeal of the title among consumers looking for escapism in coronavirus-hit economies around the world underscores Nintendo’s games-maker credentials at a time when investors have been frustrated by the company’s conservative management, which includes what many regard as a half-baked foray into mobile gaming.
Zoom Meetings: Bookstore Helping Make Bookshelf Background's Better
A nearly 200-year-old bookstore in Boston is adapting to the age of Zoom, Inc. reported. It is curating collections of books for customers that they can have in the background in order to give off the right impression.
The Brattle Book Shop, founded in Boston in 1825 and acquired by the Gloss family in 1949, inhabits a three-story gray brick building near the Boston Common. Ken Gloss, president and owner since 1985, believes his used-and-rare-book business can survive up to a year of pandemic with no layoffs. For the time being he, his wife, and their staff of eight are trying to be productive while awaiting the return of foot traffic. The store’s new service: selling curated selections of books for display in the backgrounds of video meetings. “People want to project an image of prestige and expertise,” says Gloss, who is also an appraiser on Antiques Roadshow. “They are looking to show off intellectually, politically, and business-wise.”
Sonos S2 Arrives June 8th With Room Groups, Increased Audio Bandwidth, More
Sonos’s next-generation software platform, Sonos S2, will be available for everyone on June 8, 2020. Announced in March, this platform will allow Sonos to bring new features like room groups and increased audio bandwidth, allowing for a richer Sonos experience going forward. What it won’t bring with it are older Sonos units like the original Play:5 (Gen 1), Bridge, and others. No worries, though – there’s a path to keeping those online, too.
Apple Awards $10 Million to Firm Producing COVID-19 Sample Collection Kits
Apple has awarded $10 million ro COPAN Diagnostics, which produces sample collections kits crucial to Covid-19 testing.
Wink: Give Us $5 Monthly Or Lose Access to Your Devices
Wink is a company that makes smart home devices, and it recently announced it will force customers to pay a US$5/month subscription or they will lose access to device functionality.
In order to provide for development and continued growth, we are transitioning to a $4.99 monthly subscription, starting on May 13, 2020. This fee is designed to be as modest as possible […] Should you choose not to sign up for a subscription you will no longer be able to access your Wink devices from the app, with voice control or through the API, and your automations will be disabled on May 13. Your device connections, settings and automations can be reactivated if you decide to subscribe at a later date.
1: I think that’s called extortion, or fraud at the very least. 2: Apparently Wink is owned by will.i.am of The Black Eyed Peas, and has trouble paying its employees. Not that it’s relevant, I just haven’t heard either of those names in years.


