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How Does Amazon's Fire TV Cube Compare to Apple TV 4K?

John Martellaro ·

The Apple TV 4K has been shipping since September, 2017. Now there’s a new competitor, Amazon’s Fire TV Cube. One might think that a later design might be seriously better than the Apple TV 4K, but as this review demonstrates, the Fire TV Cube is a long way from achieving that. Apple’s mighty little black brick packs some real punch while “the Fire TV Cube is simply last year’s Fire TV combined with an Echo Dot.” This is a good review.

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TMO Background Mode Encore Interview with Freelance Tech Jounalist Kirk McElhearn

John Martellaro · · Add Comment

Kirk McElhearn is an expert technical journalist for all things Apple. He was a Senior Contributor at Macworld for 15 years, is known as “The iTunes Guy,” and writes about Macs, security, iTunes, books and music. Kirk has also written several “Take Control Books,” including tutorials on iTunes, Audio Hijack and Scrivener. In this encore appearance, Kirk and I chatted about the evolution of photography at Apple, the emergence of the iPhone as a pocket supercomputer-camera, AI technologies and facial recognition used in iPhone photography, lens and CCD technologies, Aperture vs. iPhoto/Photos, managing digital assets, and how sophisticated software has allowed the average user to take great photos. And more. We finished with a discusion of Kirk’s new podcast (with Jeff Carlson) called PhotoActive which is all about photography and the Apple ecosystem.

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Imagining an Apple Maps Future With Advanced Tech

Andrew Orr ·

Macworld put out an interesting article over the weekend. Jason Cross writes about an Apple Maps future with augmented reality and high-precision GPS. Apple has a true Google Maps rival on its hands if it can implement these features. The company is already in the process of overhauling its maps data, and in this hypothetical future, Apple Maps becomes supercharged.

Imagine driving down the highway and being told not just what your next turn is or which lane you need to be in, but getting individualized guidance based on knowing which lane you’re currently in.

Imagine getting walking directions that can tell you when you need to cross the street because [your iPhone] knows you’re on the opposite side from the store you’re looking for. It knows the entrance is around the corner and down the alley, and gives you step by step directions that guide you right to it.

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Apple No Longer Cares About PC Switchers

Andrew Orr ·

Writing for AppleInsider, Daniel Dilger makes the argument that iPads are the new PC, and Apple isn’t targeting PC switchers anymore. The “What’s a Computer” commercial seems to be one of the most hated ads of all time. It sends a clear message that the iPad is the computer for the majority of people, and only people in specialized professions need a Mac.

This year, Apple again devoted massive new attention to macOS Mojave at its Worldwide Developer Conference. And fittingly so, because developing software for its massive mobile iOS platform requires a Mac. Apple’s macOS Mojave is still a work in progress, but the strategy is clear: Welcome to the Mac for iOS users.

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RIP StumbleUpon: Say Goodbye to my Little Friend

Andrew Orr ·

Popular website StumbleUpon is closing down. First launching in 2002, it was a content discovery platform that helped people find cool stuff before the likes of Facebook and Twitter. I was a big user of StumbleUpon back in the day, and when I got my first computer the service was my main tool to explore the internet.

Creating StumbleUpon has been an amazing experience. It was the first project I worked on back in college in 2002. I have personally clicked the stumble button hundreds of thousands of times, and learned a lot in the process. But it’s now time to focus on the future, and create the next discovery platform that will uncover hidden gems we would never think to search for.