Back in April, we learned that Amazon is working on a family robot. Now, LoupVentures has gone into considerable detail in its analysis of this project. In part: “Amazon’s robot could open up new market opportunities. According to The Information, Amazon has considered offering home insurance. By having real-time monitoring of homes, the Amazon robot could monitor and notify a human in instances of theft, fire, or in-home hazards (i.e. an infant wondering near stairs), thereby mitigating the cost of a claim and lowering premiums. Lastly, Amazon has highlighted they want to deliver packages to your home when you are not there. We feel consumers would be more comfortable letting couriers into their homes if a robot could monitor the drop-off.” Are you ready?
Setapp 1-Year Subscription: $69
Our friends at Stack Commerce put together a great deal for us on Setapp from MacPaw. With one subscription, you get access to more than 60 curated apps all in a single, easily navigable library. One year is normally $119, but it’s $69 through our deal.
The MacBook Touch Bar Helps Customers who need Accessibility
Redditor u/cozygodal shared a story of using the MacBook Touch Bar. A lot of Apple customers (including the press) don’t like the Touch Bar and think it’s a gimmick. But u/cozygodal found it helpful for their dyslexia.
I would love to spotlight a specific use-case for the Touch Bar that maybe not a lot of people notice. I have dyslexia and a really hard time to spell words correctly. Taking notes in class is hard because I write so slow and it is a a lot harder to discuss my notes with classmates because nobody can read a dame word.
And a that point the MacBook Pro came in. You can see the words while typing and that is a godsend. I’m so much faster it is unbelievable like a switch in my brain is turned on. If you are telling me a word I cannot spell it in my head I had to memorized every single word I know like a foreign language and I can recall my memory so much faster with the pictorial representation of words in the touch bar.
Thank you Apple for making my life a lot easier 🙂
New Service Cryptee Gives You a Private Google Docs
A Redditor announced a service called Cryptee, which aims to give you a private Google Docs, as well as encrypted cloud storage.
Apple Orders French Series Calls as an English Adaptation
As part of the deal it also acquired the rights to the first season of the original French work.
What is the Strategy With the Apple Health Platform?
Over on Quora, a website where you can ask questions, someone asked: “What is Apple’s strategy with their health platform?” User Mills Baker gave an interesting answer, saying that the Apple health platform aims to fill a void that other tech companies are unable to fill.
For various reasons from fragmentation to consumer concern about data collection and privacy, Samsung, Google, Facebook, Amazon, and so on (including most Android hardware companies) cannot develop advanced health-related features and incorporate them into their products. Nowhere does a tightly-controlled, individual-user-oriented, “device-restricted” product ecosystem make more sense than with sensitive health records and holistic measurement / presentation / usage. Apple will probably remain most-trusted, most-reliable, and most usable in this area for a long time.
Tech Chat with MGG's Dave Hamilton and John F Braun - TMO Daily Observations 2018-06-22
John F. Braun and Dave Hamilton from Mac Geek Gab join Jeff Gamet to talk tech about NFC, Apple Pay, digital keys, breathing new life into older Macs, and more.
Apple Petitions to Invalidate Qualcomm Patents
Apple’s ongoing legal fight with Qualcomm over patent royalty payments iPhone parts suppliers must pay now includes the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Apple filed petitions to invalidate the four patents in question claiming they don’t cover new ideas, according to Bloomberg. The patents cover devices that are phones and PDAs, autofocus for digital cameras, circuit memory, and touch sensitive displays. It could take a year to get a final ruling, assuming the USPTO agrees to move forward with the filing. For now, Apple and Qualcomm will keep moving forward with their other lawsuits in the U.S. and abroad.
Fortnite Brings in $100M in First 3 Months on iPhone, iPad
The massively popular battle royale shooter game Fortnite has already brought in US$100 million from iPhone and iPad players in the three months it’s been available on the iOS platform. Sensor Tower reports that’s three times as much as Arena of Valor brought in during its first 90 days on iOS. The game itself is free but offers in-app purchases that players are clearly happy to buy. You can download Fortnite for free at Apple’s App Store and join in on what’s currently the most popular game on any platform.
The iPhone Car Key and the Mythical Apple App Store Monopoly - ACM 467
What would using your iPhone as your car key look like in practice? Bryan Chaffin and Jeff Gamet run through the possibilities. They also look at the on-again, off-again case where plaintiffs accuse the company with a minority share of the smartphone business of having an App Store “monopoly.”
