Evidence suggests Apple stopped loving iBooks. Bryan and Jeff go over that evidence and discuss why Apple should rekindle that love and make iBooks great again. They also take a few minutes to experience some schadenfreude over Samsung’s battery factory fire, and argue that a loss of market share demonstrates Samsung’s lack of software relevance.
Pinterest Visual Search Gets A Tool Called Lens
Today Pinterest rolled out a new visual search tool called Lens. It’s a feature found within the app that uses machine learning to classify real-world objects. Lens suggests items in Pinterest that are related to the object. Pinterest co-founder Evan Sharp demonstrated Lens visual search to detect a pomegranate, and Pinterest showed him pins about pomegranate bread, sandwiches and helpful tips to peel the fruit. Along with Lens, the company introduced Shop the Look, a tool that identifies objects in pins that you can purchase, and gives you a direct link to buy. Right now it’s only available for five brands. Although currently in beta, Lens is sure to help usher in augmented reality.
Hello, Irony: Samsung Note 7 Battery Factory Catches on Fire
It’s the kind of irony that takes serious script work to bring together in a TV show, but for Samsung it’s real life: The factory that makes the faulty batteries that led to the exploding Galaxy Note 7 caught on fire. Luckily no one was hurt, so it’s totally OK for us to poke fun at Samsung’s latest misfortune.
Apple TV's New Marketing Boss - TMO Daily Observations 2017-02-08
Apple may have some new plans for Apple TV now that they hired away Amazon’s Fire TV boss. Kelly Guimont joins Jeff Gamet to talk about Timothy Twerdahl’s now job as Apple TV’s vice president for product marketing, plus they look at what could be in store for the next Apple TV refresh.
Amazon's Fire TV Boss Joins Apple TV Team
Apple TV has a new vice president for product marketing and he used top be in charge of Amazon’s Fire TV division. Timothy D. Twerdahl came on board with Apple in February and he’s taking over the marketing job from Pete Distad.
macOS: Using the Text "Transformations" Feature
Never heard of the Transformations menu option? Then you should come check this out. The feature’s been around forever, but a lot of folks don’t know that you can use it to change text accidentally typed in uppercase to lowercase, for example. Sweet!
LimeLens Universal Smartphone Camera Lens Set: $39.99
We have a deal for you today on the LimeLens Universal Smartphone Camera Lens Set. It works with iPhones, many Samsung devices, some Sony devices, and even some Chinese Android devices. It includes a dual macro/wide lens that’s 10x macro on one side and 0.67x wide angle on the other. It also has a fisheye lens with a 190° view. The set is $39.99 through our deal.
Steve Wozniak to Tell 'Untold Stories' about Apple at Startup World Cup Grand Finale
Steve Wozniak will be speaking at the Startup World Cup Grand Finale in San Francisco on March 24th, 2017. Event organizers Fenox Venture Capital said Tuesday that Woz will, “share insights on his time at Apple and tell some untold stories.”
Apple in a Standoff with Australia's Banks Over Apple Pay
Don’t count on Apple Pay coming to most of Australia any time soon because the ongoing fight between Apple and the banks is only getting worse. Apple is calling Australia’s banks a cartel looking to squeeze more money out of customers, and the banks say Apple is trying to kill competition. Both sides are digging in their heels, and it doesn’t look like they’re interested in finding a compromise.
Renogy: Solar Panel, Hefty Battery, Lots of Ports in a Small Suitcase
This new product caught my eye because its so darn cool. Consider: a replaceable Li-ion 16 amp-hour battery in a nifty suitcase (16 x 12 x 4 inches), 13 lbs, with 2 x 10 watt solar panels built into the lid that can charge it in about six hours. Outputs include 110 volts AC, 2 x 12 volts DC and 4 x USB (6 amps). You can also charge it from your car or AC power. The battery packs enough energy to charge an iPad Air six times, an iPhone 32 times or a small notebook five times (40 W-h). Perfect for the camper, and it’s now available, under $600.00.