Apple updated its HomeKit page with a fresh, new look. It includes a brief video that shows the power of HomeKit automation with iOS 10. Examples in the video include lights, window shades, coffee makers, door locks and thermostats. Apple also has several sections that give details of different areas of the Home app.
Apple
Perspectives on Blancco's State of Mobile Device Report (iOS & Android)
Recently, Blancco published a report on the performance and health of iPhones and Android smartphones. A key finding was that iPhones are less reliable than Android devices. Â It created quite a stir, and the report intrigued John, so he asked for a copy of the report and looked into the findings. Here’s what he found.
Avoiding Microsoft Office in 2017 and Apple's View of the Mac - TMO Daily Observations 2017-03-02
John Martellaro joins guest-host Bryan Chaffin to talk about whether having or not having Microsoft Office on your Mac is a relevant question in 2017. They also try and consider the state of the Mac product line from Apple’s viewpoint, and how the company might look at the importance of new hardware.
New Apple iPad Pro Spot Shows the Power of Apple Pencil to Sign Documents
Apple has a new entrant in its iPad Pro commercials where the company responds to tweets from real people. The new one is called No more printing, and shows how you can use iPad Pro and Apple Pencil to sign documents. It’s anchored around a tweet from @ROSESplease about printing personal documents on the company printer. I thought these spots were interesting when they launched, and found it interesting that Apple was interacting indirectly with social media and tweets from real folks. As time goes on, however, I find that I don’t think about these adds at all. That certainly wasn’t true with many other Apple campaigns. Then again, I’m not the target demo for these spots. This is the fifth spot in the series, making it likely they’re performing well for Apple.
Appellate Court Rules Smartflash Patents Invalid, Saving Apple $533 Million
Apple won a significant victory in court this week in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. That court ruled three patents owned by Smartflash LLC were invalid, according to Reuters, a ruling that saves Apple US$532.9 million by negating a damage award.
Apple Rumors and Manufacturing, Tim Cook's Pipeline, and $AAPL - ACM 400
In this 400th episode of Apple Context Machine, John Kheit joins Bryan Chaffin to discuss rumors of iPhone 8 and Samsung Galaxy S8, Apple manufacturing, Tim Cook’s claim that Apple cares about pro users and creative pros in particular, the company’s supposed pipeline, and $AAPL’s record high valuation. Oh…and Nickleback.
9 New Facts about Apple Park
We learned some new factoids about Apple Park—formerly known as Apple Campus 2.0—courtesy of The San Jose Mercury News. In coverage to the South Bay Transportation Officials Association, Cupertino public works director Timm Borden and senior civil engineer David Stillman offered up nine things I didn’t know about Apple Park.
Apple gets the Upper Hand on Qualcomm Thanks to Intel's CDMA Chips
Now that Intel is making cell phone radio chips that support CDMA as well as GSM, Apple can source more than just Qualcomm for CDMA-compatible iPhones. That doesn’t, however, mean Qualcomm is about to lose its Apple contract. Instead, Apple has two suppliers it can rely on.
Why Apple Might Discontinue the Mac Pro - TMO Daily Observations 2017-02-27
Apple’s Mac Pro has gone nearly four years without an update, leave plenty of people wondering if its a dead product. John Martellaro and Bryan Chaffin join Jeff Gamet to talk about the reasons why Apple might considering discontinuing the Mac Pro, although Bryan questions if that would be a smart move.
Stanford's 'Developing iOS 10 Apps with Swift' free on iTunes U
iTunes U pushed a version of Developing iOS 10 Apps with Swift. The free iOS tutorial series from the Stanford School of Engineering has been updated for iOS 10 and the current version of Swift. Reader Rick Allen turned me onto this release, calling it, “a great and free resource,” which seems like a great reason to pass it on. Reviews on iTunes are overwhelmingly good, too. The description says the 14-part course covers UI design, memory management, a model-view-controller paradigm, object-oriented databases, animation, power management, multi-threading, networking, and performance. And it’s free through iTunes U.
7 Reasons For Apple to Discontinue the Mac Pro
Recently, John Martellaro took a philosophical tour of the idea that Apple might well want to discontinue some products that we’ve become fond of. The pros and cons. One reader asked what the pros would be to sending the Mac Pro into extinction. John tries to answer that question.
Acoustic Imaging and iPhone 8: Can You Hear My Fingerprint?
Rumors about the iPhone 8 are flying faster than snowflakes in a blizzard. Speculation about the new device using iris scanning, facial recognition, or something completely different abounds. In a recent patent filing, Jeff Butts has uncovered another possibility: acoustic imaging systems. In other words, the iPhone 8 might end up “listening” for your fingerprint. Let’s see how it might work.
Frolic in the Apple Park, Rumors for iPad and Apple Watch - ACM 399
Apple announced the name of what we used to call Apple Campus 2.0—now it’s Apple Park. Bryan and Jeff chew on the name for a while, and discuss what we might expect when it opens in April. They also pore over Apple Watch 3 rumors and the news that a key supplier will stop making Apple Watch displays. And somehow they segue that into some new iPad and iPhone rumors.
Get $8.62 Off Your Amazon Order (Today Only) Thanks to Harris Reputation Poll
Amazon announced Wednesday a celebratory customer discount. The company told customers they could get $8.62 off their order of $50 or more because Amazon topped the Harris Poll Reputation Quotient with a score of 86.27. This is the second year in a row Amazon took top ranking in the annual survey—Apple was #5 in this year’s results, down from #2 in 2016 and #1 in 2012. Amazon’s score of 86.27 in the survey was a record high score. But who cares, right? The important thing is you can get $8.62 off your Amazon order using coupon code BIGTHANKS at checkout. If you order precisely $50 worth of stuff, that would be 17.24% off your order, which is significant. While you’re at it, use TMO’s affiliate link when ordering.
The Pros and Cons of Legacy Apple Products Going Extinct
It seems that there is just as much fuss about Apple products that seem to be on the verge of extinction as there is about exciting new products. John looks at the economics and psychology of Apple dropping beloved products like certain Macs, Airport base stations, displays and other devices that we’ve come to depend on. Are we on the verge of a new age of Apple?
Apple Releases Logic Pro X 10.3.1 with Security Fix, Improved Regions and iOS GarageBand Support
Apple released Logic Pro X 10.3.1 Tuesday. The update includes a security fix for maliciously crafted GarageBand files. It also improves the way regions perform, edits, and the ability to share 44.1kHz projects to GarageBand for iOS.
Apple Takes Us on iPhone 7 'One Night' Tours of NYC, Johannesburg, Shanghai, Tokyo
Apple launched five new commercials through its YouTube channel Tuesday. Four of them are part of the “Shot on iPhone” series and take us on “One Night” tours of New York City, Johannesburg, Shanghai, and Tokyo. Each commercial is comprised of stills and videos from their respective cities, theoretically taken over one night.
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.
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.
Apple's Facial Recognition Plans, the AI Race - TMO Daily Observations 2017-02-20
Apple buying RealFace has people talking even more about using facial recognition to unlock our iPhones. John Martellaro and Bryan Chaffin join Jeff Gamet to talk about Apple’s potential plans and what they think the company has in store for facial recognition technology. They also look at Apple’s Siri and Amazon’s Alexa and the race for mainstream artificial intelligence.
Apple Answers Tweets in 4 New iPad Pro Ads
Apple launched four new iPad commercials that respond to real tweets from real folks. The first (included below) is in response to a tweet about iPad not being a real computer. The second spot addresses a tweet about poor Wi-Fi. The third answers whether Microsoft Word is on the iPad (it is), and the fourth notes that iPads aren’t subject to PC viruses. The Twitter accounts are real (Tweet 1 account, Tweet 2, Tweet 3 account, Tweet 4), and The Verge reported that Apple contacted at least one of the tweeters before using their tweets. There’s almost zero chance Apple didn’t do so with all of them. But, Apple used actors to represent the Twitter account owners. It’s an interesting campaign. Some have already noted it’s reminiscent of Apple’s “Get a Mac” campaign. More interesting, though, is that this is the first time I can remember Apple addressing questions like these, especially in an ad. The company is also leveraging social media, an area that hasn’t typically been a strong suit for Apple. They’re not my favorite spots from Apple, but they’re solid. It will be interesting to see if this becomes a major campaign.
WWDC in San Jose Is Closer and Other Apple Insights
We had a good discussion about Apple moving WWDC back to San Jose on Thursday’s Daily Observations. In that discussion, we talked about how much easier it would be for Apple engineers to attend an event in San Jose because it wouldn’t necessarily suck up a whole day and hours of travel. We also talked about proximity to Apple Campus 2.0, and the reality San Jose is less expensive. Daring Fireball‘s John Gruber discussed the move with Apple senior vice president Phil Schiller, who confirmed most of what we thought. Mr. Gruber also pointed out that Apple’s WWDC is a much bigger deal to San Jose than it ever was to San Francisco. He said Apple was working with San Jose’s mayor and others to stage events throughout the week, something San Francisco never did to my knowledge. Check out his piece—it’s a good read.
New McDonald's Ad Pokes Fun At Apple to Promote 'STRAW'
Fast food chain McDonald’s has a new ad for a product called “the STRAW.” It pokes fun at Apple, in particular Jony Ive, as it features white backgrounds and a British narrator. The product will released along with four new shakes in time for St. Patrick’s Day. Check out the Suction Tube for Reverse Axial Withdrawal in the commercial.