Apple recently released an open source version of its HomeKit Accessory Development Kit. That means anyone can make HomeKit accessories.
Get this Mandalorian T-Shirt Before Disney Shuts it Down
Have you caught a case of Star Wars fever yet? There’s a new movie out, and people who hopped on the Disney+ train early have been enjoying The Mandalorian. Interestingly, Disney hasn’t had a lot of merch around the show yet, leaving others to fill that gap. Like Etsy shop SmokeScreenPrinting, which has a new Beskar Friends! shirt, printed in silver ink. I cannot confirm if any actual Beskar was harmed in the production of these shirts, but I can confirm that the shop takes more forms of currency than Imperial Credits.
Location Data, Listener Mail – TMO Daily Observations 2019-12-19
Dave Hamilton and John Martellaro join host Kelly Guimont to discuss location data and who gets to use it, as well as some listener mail.
Apple Shares ‘Little America’ Trailer Coming to TV+
Premiering on January 17, 2020, Little America is an anthology series to share the true stories of immigrants. Apple shared a trailer for the series on its YouTube channel.
“Little America,” is written and executive produced by Lee Eisenberg (“The Office,” Good Boys), who serves as showrunner, and executive produced by Kumail Nanjiani (The Big Sick, “Silicon Valley”), Emily V. Gordon (The Big Sick), Alan Yang (“Master of None,” “Parks and Recreation”), Sian Heder (Tallulah, “Orange Is the New Black”), Joshuah Bearman (Argo), Joshua Davis (Spare Parts) and Arthur Spector (The Shack). Heder also serves as co-showrunner alongside Eisenberg.
Private Social Network MeWe Gets More Premium Features
MeWe is a private social network I’ve reviewed before, and the company announced some new premium features today.
Save Space and Regain Power With This USB-C Apple Watch Charging Dock
Satechi has a very smart looking USB-C Magnetic Charging Dock for the Apple Watch. It can neatly plug into your devices, saving the annoyance of having cables everywhere. The dock fits all sizes of Apple Watches and will charge when connected to any powered USB-C device. It costs $44.99 and is available from the firm’s website.
Today at Apple Sessions During 2019
2019 was a big year for Today at Apple sessions. 9to5Mac had a look back at the year that was.
Apple refocused its session offerings around three categories: Skills, Walks, and Labs. Skills sessions introduce essential knowledge in an approachable way for anyone. Walks extend beyond the store and invite customers to explore their surroundings. Labs are deep dives into a specific creative technique. Emphasis moved from rudimentary tutorials to more immersive content. Apple said that Walks were its most popular type of session because they offer experiences you can’t get online. To celebrate the session launches, Apple commissioned artwork for its stores around the world and updated the Apple Store app’s Sessions tab. Sessions were made more accessible to everyone, with iPhones and iPads readily available for customers without their own devices. In summer, the need to have an Apple ID to sign up for a session was dropped, and session passes in the Wallet app arrived in fall. For the iPhone 11 launch, Quick Tips sessions began offering brief, easy to understand skills without the need to sign up at all.
Netflix Put Out Average of One New Show or Movie a Day in 2019
Netflix released a total of 371 new TV shows and movies in the U.S. during 2019, Variety reported. That averages one new one every day.
The streaming giant released 371 new TV shows and movies on the service in the U.S. this year, according to data from Variety Insight. This is an increase of 54.6% over the 240 shows and movies Netflix released in 2018. For context, this figure is greater than the number of original series that the entire U.S. TV industry released in 2005 (the last year Netflix managed to exceed the TV industry’s total). That includes broadcast networks, cable networks and premium cable networks.
Xperi And TiVo to Combine in $3 Billion Deal
Xperi and TiVo have announced that they are to combine in a deal that is said to be worth around $3 billion.
Lawmakers Don't Think Facebook Needs to Constantly Track Your Location
Lawmakers were unimpressed with the reasons that Facebook gave for needing to constantly track users’ locations.

