Apple

Apple Buys Global Rights to ‘The Elephant Queen’ Documentary
Cool Stuff Found

Apple Buys Global Rights to 'The Elephant Queen' Documentary

Bryan Chaffin ·

Apple has purchased the global rights to documentary The Queen Elephant, according to Deadline. This film is about an elephant clan led by Athena. That’s her with the giant tusks. 😍 The documentary was filmed by Victoria Stone and Mark Deeble, who spent years with Athena’s family, as she coped with a drought. It sounds amazing, and I can’t wait to see it. Apple hasn’t said when it will be released, but one might imagine it will be part of whatever original streaming service the company has been cooking up for the last few years.

Apple Hires Condé Nast Exec to Build Apple News
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Apple Hires Condé Nast Exec to Build Apple News

Bryan Chaffin ·

Apple has hired Liz Schimel, formerly of Condé Nast, to help build Apple News. The Information (via AppleInsider) reported (subscription required) that her new title at Apple is Head of News Business, according to her LinkedIn Profile. She’s a media veteran, and her most recent title was President of Condé Nast’s China business. I personally used to worry that Apple News would be yet another project launched and then forgotten by Apple, but the company is clearly intent on growing the service. I read tons of articles on Apple News every day on iPad and iPhone, and I expect to use it in macOS Mojave when that OS ships later this year. TMO has also seen an increase in traffic on Apple News, and that probably coincides with overall growth in the platform. All of which makes Apple investing in more resources and people to build and promote Apple News make sense.

Podcast

Apple/Amazon Trillions, 5 Eyes Magic, iPhone Battery Replacement Reminder - ACM 478

Bryan Chaffin & Jim Tanous · · Add Comment

Amazon was briefly the second company—after Apple—to be valued at US$1 trillion. Bryan Chaffin is joined by Jim Tanous to discuss what makes the two companies, and their valuations, different. They also examine the recent 5 Eyes statement attacking encryption, and then remind everyone to take advantage of Apple’s iPhone batter replacement program while they can.

Podcast

TMO Background Mode Interview with Backblaze Director of Product Marketing Skip Levens

John Martellaro · · Add Comment

Skip Levens is currently the Director of Product Marketing at Backblaze, the cloud storage and backup company. He’s very experienced in brand marketing and technology evangelism. Skip is a former U.S. Marine. After leaving the Marines, Skip went to work for Alain Pinel, a real estate company that embraced the NeXT computer, and that launched his successful crusade to work for Apple. We chatted about Skip’s work at Apple in early internet technologies, then Developer Relations that involved him with supercomputers. We explored the rise and fall of Apple’s Xserve and Xserve RAID as well as the evolution of his expertise in storage technology at Active Storage, Quantum, Symply Storage and now Backblaze. You can’t have more geek fun than this show.

Podcast

Killing the Lighting Port, Buying into Apple Watch Series 4 - ACM 477

Bryan Chaffin · · Add Comment

What would it take for Apple to ditch the Lightning port on iPhones? Bryan Chaffin and Jeff Gamet explore the possibilities, and Bryan ends up convincing himself to buy Apple’s not-shipping-yet AirPower charging pad. They also ask themselves what it would take for them to want Apple Watch Series 4, iPhone Xs, new iPad Pros, and new MacBooks. Their conclusion? It’s going to be an expensive fall.