We have a deal on a pair of PaMu Scroll True Wireless Earbuds with a charging case. These earbuds feature Bluetooth 5.0, touch controls, and allow you to connect to Siri, Alexa, or Google Assistant. There are four colors to choose from, and their $69.9 through our deal, a 53% discount off retail.
Photos of Travelers, License Plates Stolen in U.S. Customs Breach
Photos of travelers and license plates were stolen in a U.S. Customs breach. A subcontractor for the agency was hacked, but CBP won’t say which one. One hypothesis says it might be Perceptics.
CBP said copies of “license plate images and traveler images collected by CBP” had been transferred to the subcontractor’s company network, violating the contract’s security and privacy rules. The subcontractor’s network was then attacked and breached. No CBP systems were compromised, the agency said. It’s unclear whether passport or facial-recognition photos were included in the breach.
Apple Launches Beats Club Collection Solo3 Headphones
Apple launched the Beats Club Collection today for Solo3 wireless headphones. They come in a range of color combinations.
Paciolan Announces Apple Wallet College Ticket Support
Paciolan is a ticketing provider for college sports, and it announced plans to add Apple Wallet college ticket support for fans.
Chuck Joiner Interviews Dave Hamilton After WWDC19
The Mac Observer’s Dave Hamilton recently appeared on Chuck Joiner’s MacVoices show. Fresh from WWDC19, Mr. Hamilton talks about first impressions of the new Mac Pro (and its intended market), macOS Catalina a geek’s perspective (like the separate system volume), and HomeKit-enabled routers. I liked his perspective on the Mac Pro. The thousand-dollar stand got most of the media attention, but it’s a pro device for specific audiences, such as videographers. There’s a reason why Apple kept comparing the Pro Display XDR to a US$43,000 Sony monitor. Mr. Hamilton also knows routers well, and how Apple is acknowledging that other companies do networking hardware better.
Apple TV Strategy by the Numbers
At one time, it was theorized that Apple would make its own TV set, integrated with Apple TV functionality. Instead, Apple has gone one better by seeking to integrate the Apple TV (4K) into TVs made by others. LoupVentures has the strategy and the numbers.
We believe, eventually, many major TVs will embed Apple TV software. This adoption curve may be similar to CarPlay …
Apple’s approach to the living room has been… led by Apple TV which we estimate is now used in 26m US homes monthly (21% of US households). We believe there are 53 million active Apple TVs worldwide.
While this may appear to be the beginning of the end of the Apple TV box, we believe the device will retain unique value. We believe the standalone box will continue …
This is, of course, all about ramping up for Apple TV+ subscriptions.
Alexa Conversations with Multi-Turn Dialogue and Connected Skills Revealed
Amazon unveiled the developer preview of Alexa Conversations Monday. The function is powered by deep learning and combines skills with multi-turn dialogue, reported VentureBeat. These can subsequently be connected with other skills to create all-in-one use cases. Organizing a night out is one of the first use cases.
Multi-turn conversations have been available for some time, but Alexa Conversations is designed to help people get more done quickly with the AI assistant’s more than 90,000 Alexa skills. The experience is intended at launch to help people make purchases, so if you order a movie ticket, follow-up questions may put you in touch with the OpenTable skill to make dinner reservations or Uber skill to get a ride. Both Uber and OpenTable are early adopters of Alexa Conversations, along with the Atom Tickets skill for the sale of movie tickets. The ability to string together Alexa skills begins with a night-out use case, Amazon VP of devices David Limp told a gathering of reporters.
Professor of Astrophysics Dr. Jo Dunkley - Background Mode Interview
Dr. Jo Dunkley is a professor of Physics and Astrophysical Sciences at Princeton University. Her research is in cosmology, studying the origins and evolution of the universe. She holds a Ph.D. in astrophysics from University of Oxford.
Jo had an interesting path to her Ph.D. Her earliest love was mathematics, and soon she realized she could use math to answer questions about the real world. That led to a love for physics (at Cambridge) and getting her Master’s. While there, she discovered relativity and astrophysics, but another event inspired her to go for a Ph.D. In the second segment, we chatted about her true love, using computer code on supercomputers to model the universe and analyzing the Cosmic Microwave Background (the detectable aftermath of the Big Bang). Also discussed: inflation theory, dark matter and theories of the Multiverse.
iPhone and Apple Crime Roundup
iPhones are both popular with thieves and help catch them. AppleInsider has a nice roundup of Apple crime-related stories. They include how $19m worth of iPhones were stolen, and how one device helped bring in a Mueller investigation witness.
A fraud ring based in New York stole $19 million worth of iPhones over a period of seven years. Per Quartz, the perpetrators ran a scam in which they posed as cell phone subscribers, received new iPhones at little to no cost by using fake IDs and fraudulent debit cards, and then sold the phones on the black market. The case was reported earlier this spring, but the full criminal complaint was unsealed this week, revealing the perpetrators operated the scam in at least 34 states.
WWDC Unofficial App for Mac
Suffering from WWDC withdrawal symptoms? Want to rewatch the keynote or see that session you just couldn’t make. Fear not. The unofficial wwdc.io app for Mac brings together key sessions and footage from conferences over a number of years. I like how you can filter sessions to find what you want and share content easily. The app has a really nice user interface and is super easy to use as well. Download it from https://wwdc.io.
