It’s like the whole Star Wars universe has been begging for a Han Solo movie, and it’s finally in production. Filming started this week in London, and the cast photo gives us a glimpse into the movie without giving anything away. The pic includes Alden Ehrenreich (Han Solo), Donald Glover (Lando Calrissian), and Joonas Suotamo (Chewbacca). The cast also includes Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Emilia Clarke, Woody Harrelson, and Thandie Newton all packed into the Millennium Falcon cockpit. Details about the movie are under wraps, but we do know it’s set for release on May 25, 2018. Hey Disney, now that the Han Solo movie is underway how about you get to work on the Boba Fett flick?
Apple Watch 3 Shipping in Fall, Switching to Glass-film Touch Surface
Apple is reportedly planning to ship the third generation Apple Watch this fall, and it’s getting a new touch surface. This year’s model will launch with a glass-film touch panel instead of the touch on lens technology Apple currently uses in Apple Watch Series 2.
Apple Remote Desktop Updated with Touch Bar Support
Apple updated Apple Remote Desktop to version 3.9 Tuesday. The update adds support for the Mac Book Pro’s Touch Bar. It also features the ability to export computer lists and beefs up security.
New iPad Pro and iPhone SE Report - TMO Daily Observations 2017-02-21
A report claims Apple will introduce new iPads and an updated iPhone SE in March. Bryan Chaffin and Dave Hamilton join Jeff Gamet to look at what Apple may have in store for the iPad Pro lineup, plus they share their thoughts on an updated iPhone SE.
Apple Using PrimeSense Tech for iPhone 8 3D Front Facing Camera
iPhone 8 rumors are pretty much a daily thing now and the latest says the smartphone’s front facing camera will include 3D sensing for facial recognition. KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo told investors the camera system will be “revolutionary” thanks to the motion tracking and depth-sensing technology it scored from PrimeSense.
Stress Blocks: $14.99
Check out Stress Blocks, a stress-relief toy designed to help burn off stress by giving you something to play with. It has six sides, each one unique, and according to the company, “You’ll never get bored of turning, pressing or spinning.” Two of the buttons being silent for those times you need to be quiet. You can get one of these little doodads for $14.99 through our deal.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYW2jYjAkq8
Rumors about March Apple Event for iPhone SE and iPads Get Serious
Rumors about an Apple media event in March got serious this week with a story from Japanese site Mac Otakara. According to the story, Apple will hold a media event in March—in keeping with last year—where the company will introduce a new iPhone SE and new iPad models.
Game of Thrones 'A Dance with Dragons' iBooks Enhanced Edition on Preorder
Apple’s iBooks Store added the Enhanced Edition of George R.R. Martin’s A Dance with Dragons over the weekend. It will ship on March 30th, and includes new artwork, an expanded glossary, more information about the houses, maps, and more.
Returning to U.S. With iPhone? What Are Your Rights?
When returning to the U.S. from travel, border agents may select you for various reasons for a more detailed questioning. Your smartphone may be requested. You may be asked to unlock it for agents to inspect. What are your rights in this case? Two interesting articles at The New York Times and ars technica go into considerable legal detail about what might happen if you refuse to cooperate. The links and more are on page 2 ofFridays Particle Debris.
TMO Background Mode: Interview with Open Source Developer & Former Apple Manager Jordan Hubbard
Jordan Hubbard, the co-founder of FreeBSD, spent a dozen years at Apple bringing coherence to the UNIX core of Mac OS X. Apple calls it macOS today, but in the early years, there were lots of rough spots integrating the partly FreeBSD core into a viable consumer Mac OS X. Jordan was also instrumental in modernizing Mac OS X with features like MacPorts, Launchd, Grand Central Dispatch and application sandboxing. Today, his work complete at Apple, Jordan is an open source developer. We talked about the early development of Mac OS X derived from NeXT and even the earliest BSD origins. Along the way, we also chatted about Jordan’s childhood memories as an 8-year old being an electronics geek with Radio Shack as his Mecca. If you love macOS, don’t miss this insightful historical tour.
