Media

What I really think of the iPhone!

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MKBHD shares a long form (really long form, 48 minutes worth) deep dive into the iPhone 12 Pro.

The video is interesting all the way through, but even if you are not in the mood for iPhone coverage, or long, long videos, spend the time to watch the first few minutes. Fascinating thoughts on how much goes in to making all those short videos short, and living with Apple embargoes.

Steve Jobs stories, told by the folks who were there

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The Computer History Museum pulled together a Clubhouse visit with some Apple luminaries, all on the occasion of Steve Jobs birthday:

Chris Fralic, Steven Levy, Esther Dyson, Mike Slade, John/Diane SCULLEY, Seth Godin, Andy Cunningham, Dan’l Lewin, Doug Menuez, Regis McKenna, Andy Hertzfeld, and Steven Rosenblatt share their “Steve Jobs Stories” in honor of what would have been the Apple cofounder’s 66th birthday.

That’s quite a list.

Watch the avatar outline to get a sense of who is talking.

Apple releases three new Apple Watch Series 6 ads

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I love all three of these ads, though the middle one seems familiar to me. Was that middle ad part of the September event?

No matter, all three are to the point, help paint the value of the Apple Watch in a very quick and effective way.

Apple releases Mythic Quest season 2 official trailer

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Mythic Quest was the first Apple TV+ series that really grabbed me. This series and Ted Lasso are two of my favorite comedies of any streaming service. Looking forward to seeing what they do with season 2 (drops May 7th).

Apple unveils Mosquito Coast trailer

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Apple TV:

High stakes, shocking twists, and a new adventure. Get a first look at the newest Apple Original series The Mosquito Coast, starring Justin Theroux and Melissa George and coming April 30th to Apple TV+

Adapted from the best-selling novel, The Mosquito Coast is a gripping adventure following the dangerous journey of a radical idealist and brilliant inventor, Allie Fox (Justin Theroux), who uproots his family for Mexico seeking a safe haven.

Watch the trailer, embedded below. This looks like it could be a ripping ride. As mentioned, the series premiere drops April 30th.

How Apple builds its stores

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[VIDEO] This is a love letter to the Apple Store, with lots of great beauty shots and a nice bit showing Steve Jobs at that first Apple Store back in 2001. Video embedded in main Loop post.

YouTube Shorts (their response to TikTok), coming to US in coming weeks

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YouTube blog:

Every year, increasing numbers of people come to YouTube to launch their own channel. But we know there’s still a huge amount of people who find the bar for creation too high. That’s why we’re working on Shorts, our new short-form video tool that lets creators and artists shoot snappy videos with nothing but their mobile phones.

Here’s a link to the Shorts blog announcement from last September.

Back to the YouTube blog:

Currently, Shorts is available in beta in India. Since the beginning of December, the number of Indian channels using Shorts creation tools has more than tripled, and the YouTube Shorts player is now receiving more than 3.5 billion daily views globally. In the coming weeks, we’ll begin expanding the beta to the US, unlocking our tools to even more creators so they can get started with Shorts.

3.5 billion daily views. That’s no small competitor for TikTok. Especially considering Shorts is an India-only beta.

Apple shares another Billie Eilish trailer

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[VIDEO] The Apple Billie Eilish documentary, “The World’s a Little Blurry” hits Apple TV+ next Friday, February 26th.

The latest trailer is embedded in the main Loop post.

The $922,000 pizza

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[VIDEO] This is simply amazing to me. Back in 2011, someone wanted to demonstrate how to pay for real goods using BitCoin. So they did. That incredibly expensive lesson is shown in the video embedded in the main Loop post.

To see the current value of a Bitcoin, type BTC in your browser window. As I type this, 1 Bitcoin is worth $48,227.30. That’ll be 19.12 Bitcoin please. Hope that pizza was delicious!

High-fidelity fake people

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[VIDEO] From the uncanny valley Wikipedia page:

In aesthetics, the uncanny valley is a hypothesized relationship between the degree of an object’s resemblance to a human being and the emotional response to such an object. The concept suggests that humanoid objects which imperfectly resemble actual human beings provoke uncanny or strangely familiar feelings of eeriness and revulsion in observers.

In a nutshell, fake people that are close to real, but still clearly fake, are creepy.

Watch the video embedded in the main Loop post. This is remarkable work. For me at least, the uncanny valley has been crossed. But that said, this terrifies me as much as it fascinates. Yet another sign of the deepfakes to come.

Ted Lasso Friends intro

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So you’ve watched all the episodes, and you’re jonesing for some Ted Lasso goodness.

Here ya go. Sound on, hit play…

https://www.twitter.com/tedslasso/status/1359234771637919744

David Gilmour, David Crosby, Graham Nash: “Shine on you crazy diamond”

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[VIDEO] Shine on you Crazy Diamond is a seminal Pink Floyd song. There are many, many videos out there showcasing performances by Gilmour, by Floyd, and by other guitarists/performers.

For me, this one is the cream that rises to the top. Gilmour’s guitar sound is clean and pure, the audio capture and mix is excellent, and those background vocals by Crosby and Nash an understated rarity.

Enjoy. Video embedded in the main Loop post.

Apple enters “awards season” with some Golden Globes nominations

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Apple:

Apple was honored with four Golden Globe nominations today for Apple Original films “On The Rocks” and “Wolfwalkers,” and Apple Original series “Ted Lasso,” making history as the first streaming service to receive a nomination in the Best Motion Picture, Animated category in less than a year and a half since its launch. The news was revealed today by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association at the 78th Annual Golden Globes live nominations.

Apple Original Films received its first-ever Golden Globe nominations for a motion picture, including Best Motion Picture, Animated for “Wolfwalkers” and Bill Murray for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in any Motion Picture for Sofia Coppola’s “On The Rocks,” marking his seventh Golden Globe nomination.

Of all of these, I think Apple’s best hopes are for:

  • Wolfwalkers as “Best Picture – Animated”, though it’s up against Pixar’s Soul
  • Ted Lasso as “Best Musical/Comedy Series”
  • Jason Sudeikis as “Best Television Actor – Musical/Comedy Series”

Place your bets. Here’s the full list of Golden Globes nominees.

Can’t miss iPad tips

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[VIDEO] OK, so that headline promises a lot. I was definitely skeptical when I fired up the DailyTekk video (I believe this is the first one of these I’ve shared – won’t be the last).

Between the video’s great vibe/production values and the nature of the tips themselves, this is definitely worth your time. Check it out. Video embedded in main Loop post.

Bezos and Amazon: A few links

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[VIDEO] As you likely already know, Jeff Bezos has stepped down as Amazon CEO, moving to Executive Chair of the Amazon Board and replaced as CEO by former Amazon AWS CEO, Andy Jassy.

Here’s a link to Bezos’ official letter to Amazon employees breaking the news.

And here’s a link to Kara Swisher’s tweet sharing Andy Jassy’s email to his AWS team. My favorite bit from that email:

We have unusual leadership depth in AWS that, along with all of you, are the heart of the business — and that doesn’t change. In the meantime, stay giddied up.

Also worth reading is Kara’s op-ed on Andy Jassy in today’s New York Times.

Finally, here’s a great video (embedded in the main Loop post) from back in 1997, when Bezos and Amazon were still young, Jeff talking about his vision for his new company. Even back then, feels like he knew what was coming.

Tim Cook on privacy

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[VIDEO] Apple continues its big push on privacy, which started with last week’s Data Privacy Day and the shared document A Day in the Life of Your Data.

The video (embedded in the main Loop post) is Tim Cook, laying out the case for and Apple’s commitment to privacy at the Computers, Privacy & Data Protection Conference.

My ’90s TV

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I get the sense this has been around a long while, but ran across it this weekend, thought it worth a share.

Click on the remote control’s power button to turn it on, flip through the channels.

Don’t miss My ’70s TV and My ’80s TV. Enjoy!

A new way of charging your phone. Just be in the room with the charger.

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[VIDEO] Xiaomi blog:

Mi Air Charge Technology enables users to remotely charge electronic devices without any cables or wireless charging stands. Today, we enter a true wireless charging era.

And:

The core technology of Xiaomi’s remote charging lies in space positioning and energy transmission. Xiaomi’s self-developed isolated charging pile has five phase interference antennas built in, which can accurately detect the location of the smartphone. A phase control array composed of 144 antennas transmits millimeter-wide waves directly to the phone through beamforming.

To get a sense of what this looks like, watch the video embedded in the main Loop post. This seems like a remarkable achievement, though I have doubts as to its practicality. Not only is there a cost to the box itself, but there’s the sheer size of the charger, not to mention the question of charge inefficiency (how much power the charger consumes as compared to a traditional wired brick). And, of course, there’s the question of the reality of this as a product.

Taking this with a grain of salt, but will be fascinated to see this roll out, if it ever does.

Apple posts Shot on iPhone 12 Pro Max, Chinese New Year film

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[VIDEO] Apple:

A Chinese New Year legend reimagined as a contemporary coming-of-age story, Shot on iPhone 12 Pro Max. Directed by Lulu Wang and created by the team behind the Golden Globe nominated film, The Farewell.

This is a lovely featurette. Make sure subtitles are enabled. And don’t miss the “Making of”. Both videos embedded in main Loop post.

Apple TV+ renews hit international thriller “Tehran” for season two

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Apple:

Apple TV+ today announced that “Tehran,” the global hit espionage thriller from Moshe Zonder and Omri Shenhar, has been renewed for a second season following its critically acclaimed season premiere.

Since its debut on Israeli network Kan 11 and globally on Apple TV+, “Tehran” has captivated viewers worldwide, and has been hailed by critics as “gripping,” “heart stopping,” and a “captivating spy thriller.”

Now streaming on Apple TV+, “Tehran” tells the thrilling story of Mossad agent Tamar Rabinyan, who goes deep undercover on a dangerous mission in Tehran that places her and everyone around her in dire jeopardy. “Tehran” stars Niv Sultan, Shaun Toub, Navid Negahban, Shervin Alenabi, Liraz Charhi and Menashe Noy.

I loved season one of Tehran. The subtitles worked well for me, every episode was riveting, easy to follow. Glad to see it renewed.

1984 Macintosh promotional video, starring Bill Gates

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[VIDEO] This week marks the anniversary of the original Macintosh rollout. Last week I posted a pair of videos showing the rollout and a marketing video Apple sent around to Apple retailers.

Next up is this more widely shared promotional video (embedded in main Loop post) with a starring role by a very young Bill Gates. Enjoy.

Apple TV+ first look at Palmer, starring Justin Timberlake

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[VIDEO] Apple:

After 12 years in prison, former high school football star Eddie Palmer returns home to put his life back together—and forms an unlikely bond with Sam, an outcast boy from a troubled home. But Eddie’s past threatens to ruin his new life and family.

Palmer drops on Friday. Hopeful this movie is as good as it looks. Video embedded in main Loop post.