Samsung Phones Randomly Sending Photos to Contacts is as Awkward as it Sounds

Sharing photos with friends is cool, but not when your decides to send photos without your knowledge. That’s exactly what’s happening for some Samsung smartphone owners. Mashable says people are freaking out because the photos on their phones are being sent out to other people via SMS and they don’t even know it’s happening until the get a call or text from the recipient. From Mashable:

A few Redditors are claiming that their Samsung smartphones — in one case a Galaxy S9+ — sent photos from their camera roll to another person without their knowledge. And while this nightmare scenario has yet to be confirmed, you’d better believe that Samsung is looking into it.

Samsung is indeed looking into the problem, although it seems to be somewhat isolated. That isn’t, however, much of a consolation for Samsung smartphone users who’re dealing with photos randomly going out to people in their contacts list. Maybe it’s time for your Samsung-toting friends to delete those potentially awkward photos from their phones just to be safe.

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

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.

TMO Background Mode Encore Interview with Freelance Tech Jounalist Kirk McElhearn

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.

Imagining an Apple Maps Future With Advanced Tech

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.

Apple No Longer Cares About PC Switchers

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.