Mysteries are meant to be solved, and when it comes to the mystery that is your “System” disk usage as displayed by macOS, well, that mystery’s not even supposed to exist in the first place. Dave and John dig in to solve this plus a bunch of other questions sent in by you, dear listeners. Press play, listen, learn, and enjoy!
CES2019
USB-C, Quick Tips, Cool Stuff, and a CES 2019 Wrap Up – Mac Geek Gab 744
Back from CES 2019, Dave Hamilton and John F. Braun have a few thoughts to share. Then it’s on to answering your questions, this time with a focus on things that used to work… and stopped. Press play, listen, and learn!
CES - Kodak Demonstrates New Luma Portable Projector Lineup
LAS VEGAS – Kodak demonstrated its new line of Luma portable projectors on the show floor of CES.
CES - Identify Your Stuff, and Help Others Return Your Lost Stuff with iTag
LAS VEGAS – Howe High Tech showed iTag, a system which uses small NFC tags to identify your stuff, and help others return your lost stuff.
CES - Do a Little Bit of Everything with DoBox Portable Wireless Hub
LAS VEGAS – FruitDock Ltd showed the DoBox Portable Wireless Hub, on the CES show floor—as you’ll see, it’s more than just a wireless hub.
A CES 2014 Flashback: The Folly of Curved TV Screens
At one time, five years ago, curved TV screens were all the rage. Every TV manufacturer jumped on the bandwagon, fearful of being left out. Today, we know it was a fad. A folly. A technical dead end. Recently, ars technica took us back in time, via Twitter, to their prescient analysis. After a good technical roundup, “The flat-out truth on curved TVs” ars concluded:
The mishmash of arguments for a curved TV isn’t necessarily an indictment of the value of curved TV. This would not be the first time that manufacturers obscured the technical or scientific reasons for a decision because they think it’s too hard to explain to consumers. It may be easier to latch onto words like “immersive” and “theatrical” and hope no one asks the hard questions.
But, it would also not be the first time that manufacturers assigned value to some spec based on the idea that it qualitatively improved a viewing experience in some way, only for consumers to find the end result is underwhelming and, more importantly, not worth paying for.
CES Wrapup – TMO Daily Observations 2019-01-11
Dave Hamilton and John F Braun join host Kelly Guimont to wrap up coverage of CES 2019 including the show floor and new uses for AR/VR.
CES - Scosche BaseLynx Modular Wireless Charging Station Organizes and Charges Your Devices
Scosche’s CES booth was again full of great new devices for managing your devices in both your home and car, and the highlight to us was their new BaseLynx modular wireless charging station. Available modules include a Qi fast-charge dock, an Apple Watch dock, powered end-cap, and a vertical power station which holds three wired devices. The end-cap has a 12V USB-A and 18W USB-C PD outlet, and the power station has that plus a second USB-A port. You can mix-and-match modules to serve your needs – including just using one if you like – and BaseLynx is engineered to prevent over- or under-voltage, surging, and overheating. Pricing has not yet been announced, and BaseLynx is due to be available this coming spring.
CES - VLC Adding AirPlay Support, Hits 3 Billion Downloads
Popular media player VLC will shortly add AirPlay support, it also surpassed 3 billion downloads during CES 2019.
CES - Ultrahaptics Uses Ultrasound for Touchless Gesture Control, Haptic Feedback, and 3D Viewing
One of the coolest things I found at CES this year was Ultrahaptics technology, allowing for gesture control and haptic feedback using only ultrasound. Touching nothing, I was able to control and manipulate an on-screen “object”, and even feel it all through the magic of ultrasound waves. They also had a demo using their tech that tracks your face and eyes to project and focus a 3D image without the need for any glasses. I talked a bit about it on the show floor: