Today is all privacy, talking Facebook spyware and how to keep your credit card safe, with Andrew Orr, Charlotte Henry, & host Kelly Guimont.
Pandora Launches its Podcast Platform Today
There are over 100,000 episodes covering a wide range of topics.
Microsoft Edge Browser Coming to macOS in 2019
Microsoft Edge browser will be coming to the Mac next year. It was launched on iOS and VP Joe Belfiore made a blog post announcing it.
Microsoft Edge will now be delivered and updated for all supported versions of Windows and on a more frequent cadence. We also expect this work to enable us to bring Microsoft Edge to other platforms like macOS.
Microsoft also announced that it will rebuild Edge using Chromium, a move that further solidifies Google’s Chrome hegemony. If you’re a Mac user and don’t like Google Chrome, Firefox, or Safari, I guess give Edge a try? Or use Chromium because it’s open source and Edge will be built on top of it anyway.
watchOS 5.1.2 Brings ECG Function to Series 4
watchOS 5.1.2 is rolling out to everyone, and if you’re the owner of the Apple Watch Series 4 you’ll be getting the ECG heart functionality.
Pro Photographer Tyler Stalman Reviews iPhone XR, XS Cameras
Professional photographer Tyler Stalman reviews the iPhone XR and iPhone XS cameras in a video. He talks about all of the new features, like Smart HDR, the new image signal processor, and how the wide-angle lens is slightly wider than previous models. Speaking of Smart HDR, he noted that it only works with video shot at 30 fps or lower. But it works whether you’re shooting in 720p, 1080p, or 4K. Mr. Stalman also notes something he found that can correct the blurring problems around the edges of subjects when you shoot in Portrait Mode.
Experimental Safari Feature Supports USB Security Keys
In the experimental version of Safari Technology Preview, the browser adds support for USB security keys.
AT&T is the First Carrier to Support eSIM
In a support document, AT&T said that it fully supports eSIM and dual-SIM iPhones.
Apple Puts Third-Party Screen Time Apps on Timeout
Apple is putting third-party screen time apps on timeout. Now that Apple has this capability built into iOS 12, these other apps are being sherlocked. I had a feeling this was coming, and that’s why I haven’t reviewed these screen time apps that certain companies email me about. Apple cites security concerns because this type of app usually uses things like fake VPNs, MDM, and using your background location.
Mixpanel: Numerous Insights Into iPhone Customer Behavior
Jonny Evans at Apple Must reports on the recent findings of Mixpanel. The results are interesting. Quoting author Evans:
1. Apple’s iPhone 7 series smartphones remain the most widely used model of the company’s smartphones even as iOS 12 adoption across the iPhone user base is around 75 percent, according to the latest Mixpanel data.
2. A cursory glance at the company’s iPhone model data seems to prove what I’ve been hearing anecdotally myself: Apple’s iPhone users are navigating to a 2-3-year upgrade cycle.
3. Mixpanel claims around 1/20 iPhone users are now on an iPhone XS/Max with around one-third of that number now on the recently-released iPhone XR.
Item #3 appears to contradict Apple’s assertion about the relative sales of iPhone XR. Fascinating.
The Reality of Working in an Apple Store
There has been a lot of Apple Store news recently – from major new openings in Bangkok and Paris to makeovers at Covent Garden in London. On Tuesday, the Guardian published an interesting extract of an article that appeared in Logic, a new tech magazine. It puts forward a more uncomfortable view of life in an Apple Store and the psychology behind the hugely successful retail outlets. I don’t buy the author’s argument entirely, but it certainly got me thinking.
When we think of “tech,” we rarely think of retail stores, and when we think of “tech workers” we rarely think of the low-waged “geniuses” who staff them. Most media coverage of tech companies encourages us to forget that the vast majority of their employees are not, in fact, coders in Silicon Valley: they’re the suicidal assemblers of your phone, the call-center support staff, the delivery drivers and the smiling shop floor staff who make up the majority of Apple’s workforce.
