The devastating floods in Kerala left a million people at least temporarily homeless, and 445 dead with more bodies being discovered. Over 50,000 houses were destroyed, and more than 6,200 miles of roads have been lost. Apple donated US$1 million to the relief fund, and you can help out, too. Apple added Mercy Corps donation buttons to the iTunes Store ranging from US$5 to $200. Like other relief funds Apple has supported, 100% of the money goes to the charity—Apple doesn’t take its usual 30% cut.
Apple
Apple Seeds watchOS 5 Developer Beta 9
Apple seeded watchOS 5 Developer Beta 9 for Apple Watch to developers on Friday, making this a two-developer beta release week.
Facebook's iPhone Activity Tracking, Apple Kills Back to My Mac - TMO Daily Observations 2018-08-23
Andrew Orr and Bryan Chaffin join Jeff Gamet to share their thoughts Facebook using its Onavo VPN app to track iPhone user’s activity, plus they speculate on why Apple killed Back to My Mac in macOS Mojave.
Kyoto Apple Store Opens Saturday
Apple’s Kyoto retail store officially opens this Saturday, August 25th. This is Apple’s ninth store in Japan and first in Kyoto.
Apple Suggested Facebook Remove Onavo Protect from App Store - Here's Why
After multiple meetings, Apple suggested to Facebook that it “voluntarily” remove its Onavo Protect app from the App Store; here’s why.
Verizon's $2, Apple's Newest Football, Netflix's Rebellion - ACM 476
Verizon recently throttled a fire department’s command and control vehicle in a pursuit of $2, and Bryan Chaffin and Jeff Gamet have some thoughts about the propriety of such an action. They also wonder whether rumors of a new iMac mean we can start trusting Apple to update its Macs again, or if Lucy will just yank the ball away instead. They cap the show with a look at Netflix’s baby steps towards rebellion against Apple’s App Store cut for subscriptions.
Tim Cook Donates More than 23,000 of His Apple Shares to Charity
Apple CEO Tim Cook has donated some 23,215 shares of Apple stock to an unnamed charity, according to an SEC filing uncovered by BusinessInsider. Shares of $AAPL closed at 215.04 on Tuesday, making the value of this donation worth some $4.99 million dollars today. Of course, that value will change over time, and the dividend for those shares will earn the charity $16,947 every quarter. That’s a gift of $67,788 per year that keeps on giving, and it could grow if Apple continues to increase that dividend. In other words, it’s a princely gift from a man who has already promised to give away all his wealth (after providing for the education of his young nephew).
New MacBook, iPad Pro, and AirPower Coming in September
Apple is set to introduce a new entry level MacBook in September, along with an iPad Pro refresh, and the AirPower wireless charging pad.
Apple Says Customer Data Wasn't Compromised in Teen Hacking Case
The teenager from Melbourne, Australia, who hacked in to Apple’s servers didn’t compromise any personal data, according to the iPhone and Mac maker.
Twitter Absurdity, iPhone Pencils, Cyborg Vision - ACM 475
Twitter killed some key APIs third party apps used to make their apps useful because Twitter hates influencers and power users. Bryan Chaffin and Jeff Gamet drop a few f-bombs. They also talk about the latest rumor that Apple will bring support for Apple Pencil to some new iPhone models. The cap the show by dipping into our cyborg future of enhanced vision.
Apple Seeds iOS 12 Developer Beta 8 after Pulling DB7
The company pulled the earlier version due to performance issues, and the new release gets the iOS 12 developer beta program back on track.
The $500 Lesson: Apple Doesn't Call You to 'Fix' Your Software
A Houston man found out the hard way Apple doesn’t call you on the phone asking for money.
Trump, Cook Have Dinner, Likely Discussed Tariffs
Apple CEO Tim Cook had dinner with Donald Trump last Friday and there’s a good chance they discussed the the tariffs the White House is imposing on China.
Apple's Mac MDM Security Flaw is Bad, but Probably Won't Impact You
Security researchers found a way to compromise a Mac out of the box before the user even logs in for the first time, but it’s hard to do, and has already been patched.
Doug Field Returns to Apple from Tesla for Project Titan
Doug Field left Tesla and is returning to Apple to work on Project Titan, Apple’s self-driving car, with Bob Mansfield.
Apple Orders Comedy from 'It's Always Sunny' Stars Rob McElhenney and Charlie Day
Apple has ordered a scripted comedy from Rob McElhenney and Charlie Day, co-stars and co-executive producers of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
Apple and Privacy Protection, Anki Vector Robot - TMO Daily Observations 2018-08-09
Adam Christianson from the Maccast and Andrew Orr join Jeff Gamet to share their thoughts on whether or not Apple is doing enough to protect our privacy, plus they have some first impressions on Anki’s new Vector robot.
Online Voting, the Corporate Public Square, Picard’s Return to Star Trek - ACM 474
What will it take to make online or app-based voting safe, secure, and reliable? Bryan Chaffin and Jeff Gamet are joined by John Kheit to discuss the future of voting. They also explore the idea of corporate platforms (i.e. private platforms) becoming so big that they become synonymous with the public square and subject to the First Amendment. Then Bryan goes off on a weird tangent about how cool Patrick Stewart’s new episode of Star Trek could be if Jean-Luc Picard was a broken and bitter man. Good times!
Apple Versus Infowars, Pachinko TV Series - TMO Daily Observations 2018-08-08
Kelly Guimont and John Martellaro join Jeff Gamet to look at Apple delisting the Infowars podcasts while leaving the app on the App Store, plus they share their thoughts on Apple’s deal for the Pachinko TV series and diversity in programming.
Apple Tells Congress that Privacy Is Fundamental Human Right
The comment came in a response to a request from the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce asking about Apple’s data collection and privacy policies and practices.
Apple Joins Technology Group for Mesh-Connected IoT Devices
Apple joined the Thread Group on Monday, the group behind the Thread protocol, an IPv6-based technology for creating mesh networks out of Internet of Things (IoT) devices.
Deconstructing the "Apple is Greedy" Argument - TMO Daily Observations 2018-08-06
Bryan Chaffin and John Martellaro join Jeff Gamet to look at TechCrunch’s list of reasons why Apple is a greedy company and share their thoughts on whether or not they got it right.
The Story and Analysis of Apple's Trillion Dollar Journey
Here’s a thumbnail sketch of Apple’s journey to a trillion dollar valuation — and why it matters to investors and customers.
Emotions and Apple's Market Cap, Lisa Brennan-Jobs Memoir - TMO Daily Observations 2018-08-03
John Martellaro and Dave Hamilton join Jeff Gamet to talk about the emotional aspect of Apple’s trillion dollar market cap, and the Lisa Brennan-Jobs memoir about growing up as Steve Jobs’ daughter.
