This could be the year Apple breaks form and introduces new hardware at WWDC, and Bryan and Jeff explain why. They also discuss Apple’s big bets on an even bigger future and the importance of AI, neural nets, and machine learning.
Thoughts On The Apple Mothership: Celebration of the Employee
Steven Levy has written a stellar article at Wired about his tour of the new Apple campus, Apple Park, aka The Mothership. The focus is on the design details inspired by Steve Jobs and the building as “Steve’s gift.” John read the article and has some follow-on thoughts to offer.
Gmail Smart Reply Comes to iOS
One of the features announced today at Google I/O 2017 is Gmail Smart Reply. It was first released in the web in 2015, as a way to let people send short, canned messages in email, similar to iMessage on the Apple Watch. Andrew Orr tells us it’s finally coming to the Gmail app on iOS.
Siri the Cyber Security Guard - TMO Daily Observations 2017-05-17
As artificial intelligence systems improve, voice assistants like Siri make take a more active role in protecting our computers and our online activity. John Martellaro and Kelly Guimont join Jeff Gamet to look at how Siri may play a bigger part in our personal cyber security, and whether or not that’s something we want.
Sal Soghoian Launches CMD-D: Masters of Automation Conference
Sal Soghoian, who is the master of automation on the Mac, is hosting his own conference called CMD-D: Masters of Automation Conference. The day-long event will cover AppleScript, Automator, JavaScript for Automation, Workflow, and more.
SainSmart UNO for Arduino: $53.99
We have a deal on the SainSmart UNO microcontroller board for Arduino. This device is based on the ATmega328 microcontroller, and you can read about its capabilities on the deal listing. It’s $53.99 through us.
iCloud Drive: How to See the Status of Uploads
If you’ve ever uploaded a bunch of files to iCloud Drive from your Mac, you may have wondered how to track the progress of your file transfer. This Quick Tip will cover just that (plus a couple of other handy tricks for the Finder)!
Bloomberg Says Apple Will Announce New MacBooks at WWDC
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman and Alex Webb said on Tuesday that Apple will launch new MacBooks at its annual World Wide Developer Conference (WWDC) in June. Unnamed sources said Apple will bump the processor in its MacBook Pro to Intel’s Kaby Lake. The company will also introduce a faster MacBook and maybe even a faster MacBook Air. Mr. Gurman is almost always right, and I hope he nailed it with this one. Updated MacBook Pros just 10 months after they were introduced would go a long ways to convincing us that Apple is as committed to the Mac as it says it is. The same goes for the other two models.
Tim Cook Charity Auction Raises Record $688K
Tim Cook’s 2017 charity auction for the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Human Rights set a record Tuesday when it closed at $688,999. That’s more than the $605,00 a coffee date with Mr. Cook fetched in 2013, and well north of the $515,000 Mr. Cook’s auction raised in 2016. Charitybuzz, which conducted the auction, shows the “lot” of Mr. Cook closed, but MacRumors caught the action at the end, when it hit $688,999 with 30 bids. Mr. Cook has used his fame as Apple CEO to raise money for the RFK Center since 2013, but this is the first year the resulting hour with Mr. Cook will take place in the brand new Apple Park. Congrats to the winner!
macOS: Great Wallpaper is Hidden in Your Mac's Screensaver Collection
Many people love to change their wallpaper often, but finding terrific images usually requires scouring the Internet for photographs the right size. Jeff Butts has learned, courtesy of Reddit, that there are some perfect images right on the Mac, hidden in the Screensaver folder.