October 4, 2019

Pixel Envy:

Today marks the one-year anniversary of Bloomberg’s publication of a story about Chinese intelligence intercepting the supply chain of Supermicro, a company which has built and sold servers to Amazon, Apple, the U.S. Department of Defense, and dozens of other companies. Apparently, they developed a chip that looked identical to a rice-sized standard component placed along the main power lines of a server; the implanted chip ostensibly contained a processor and networking capabilities and could, theoretically, act as a backdoor for Supermicro servers.

It sounded like the information security scoop of the decade — except there’s virtually no proof that any of it is true. Unfortunately, a year later, we’re still no closer to understanding what happened with this story. Most upsetting is that we don’t know the truth here in any capacity.

This is a story that should have embarrassed Bloomberg into proving it or retracting it but the rest of the media have, for the most part, sadly moved on from it.

How to stitch together Live Photos as a video, all with just a few taps

This is one of those things that you might never stumble across, but is absolutely worth knowing about.

Benjamin Mayo, 9to5Mac:

Apple is set to launch the next version of the iPhone SE 2 in the first quarter of 2020, according to renowned Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. The new phone will be more affordable than the rest of the Apple iPhone lineup and feature newer internals, like an A13 processor with 3 GB RAM, in a familiar iPhone 8 chassis.

We generally don’t post rumors, but this one struck a bit of a nerve for me. The iPhone SE is the last of the phones for folks with small hands or small pockets. My family and friends group has plenty of both. And this feels like the last nail in the iPhone SE form factor coffin.

Now I know these words won’t change anything. Feels like the ship has sailed. But it doesn’t take a lot of web search to find evidence that the iPhone SE is loved, that there is a slice of the Appleverse that will no longer be served by Apple.

Here’s just one take, from earlier this year. When Apple released a refurbished SE earlier this year, it sold out pretty quickly. And that phone was released in 2016.

I recognize that, if true, this new SE will be priced to sell, and sell it will. But it is a larger form factor, and by taking the SE name (again, this is a rumor, so take with a grain of salt), it feels like Apple is creating a floor in iPhone size. And I think that’d be a shame.

Start off by reading this article from the Register, provocatively titled, Here’s that hippie, pro-privacy, pro-freedom Apple y’all so love: Hong Kong protest safety app banned from iOS store.

From the article:

Apple has banned an app that allows people in Hong Kong to keep track of protests and police activity in the city state, claiming such information is illegal.

“Your app contains content – or facilitates, enables, and encourages an activity – that is not legal … specifically, the app allowed users to evade law enforcement,” the American tech giant told makers of the HKmap Live on Tuesday before pulling it.

Now go read Gruber’s take, linked above. A tiny taste:

But here’s the thing. What’s going on in Hong Kong is important. A small liberal democracy is standing up to a gargantuan authoritarian communist dictatorship with a superpower-grade military force.

Read the whole thing.

Apple shares another M. Night Shyamalan “Servant” clip

This is just so creepy. Here’s hoping it’s sublime. Apple TV+ drops November 1, Servant release is currently set for November 28. Very much looking forward to this.

If you haven’t seen the first two Servant clips, here are links to Jericho and Cricket.

This clip is called Solitude.

This is the title of a Reddit post, and an excellent question. Not an issue on my iPhone, of course, because a tap on the Maps app is all that’s needed.

But on my Mac, I live in Safari. Whether force of habit, or some other frictional force, when I want a map, I turn to maps.google.com. Nearly 100% of the time.

I realize that Duck, Duck, Go does bring Apple Maps to the table, but it is not the same thing. When I go to Google Maps, I am centered on my current location ready to type in an address, set up directions, look for a restaurant, check traffic. And all that from the comfort of Safari, where I can command-click on links to look at restaurant menus, say, without leaving the app.

And for those who say Apple doesn’t do web services, take a trip over to beta.music.apple.com. Maybe that’s a glimmer of hope?

October 3, 2019

AppleInsider:

Apple Arcade has brought a refreshing new model to mobile gaming and has already produced a ton of worthwhile games to check out. Here’s some of our early favorites you may want to check out.

There are a lot of games for you to try in Apple Arcade. I wouldn’t agree with this list but then again, I’m not a “gamer”. I love Grindstone and the little talked about jigsaw puzzle “game” called “Patterned”. What are your favourites?

BoingBoing:

Before the days of elaborate Halloween costumes, there were costumes in a box. Remember them? We seemingly all wore these costumes as kids. Now hear the story behind these costumes and the history of the big three companies that made them, Ben Cooper Inc, Halco, and Collegeville. For years, these costumes were a beloved Halloween institution dating back in the 1930s.

In 1982 at the height of their popularity, the first case of domestic terrorism, the Tylenol Scare shook the United States and threatened to cancel Halloween forever. In an effort to save the holiday, the costume giants, although rivals in business, were forced to come together and unify or trick or treating would become extinct.

I fondly remember those plastic masks as a kid. We all looked forward to going to our local Zellers and picking one out. But, because they had to fit over our winter clothes in the cold of a late fall in Nova Scotia, they all had to be extra-large sizes. My favourite was my Incredible Hulk mask. AT 6 feet tall and 12 years old, it fit me perfectly.

Bose:

You’ve told us that sleepbuds have allowed you to get your first good night’s rest in years, and that you can’t imagine ending the day without them.

But some of you have had a far different experience. You’ve reported issues with your sleepbuds™ not charging fully, powering down unexpectedly, or both. And we learned that while the battery we chose functions safely, it doesn’t work as consistently or predictably as it should to meet our standards.

For that reason, we’re discontinuing sleepbuds. We’re also extending an offer to all our sleepbuds™ customers: You can return your product for a full refund until December 31, 2019.

This is the way you address an issue and make things right for your customers. Thanks to George Krompacky for the link.

The iPhone 11 glows

This is an interesting effect, a glow that outlines the iPhone 11, and an effect that only a few iPhone models over the years has shared. I always thought this was pretty cool. Useless, but cool.

Deep Fusion in the wild

The iOS 13.2 beta just dropped, and it includes Deep Fusion, the iPhone computational photography system.

Here are a few examples, so you can judge the results for yourself:

Click each picture to get a more detailed look, and keep in mind that these images are Twitter compressed. In that first image, focus on the upper right of the yellow speaker material.

Here’s another:

This one shows off the overall increase in sharpness Deep Fusion brings to the table.

Next up, take a look at this blog post from JF Martin, which lays out a lot of detail on which camera modes kick in with which iPhone 11 Pro lenses, along with specific details on each of the three lenses.

And for the pièce de résistance, this video lays out both examples and detail on Deep Fusion. Interesting that the decision to use Deep Fusion is made for you. Also worth noting, at this early point in the beta cycle, Deep Fusion photos appear to consume about twice as much storage as regular photos.

Benjamin Mayo, 9to5Mac:

You need to be an iPhone and AirPods user to take advantage of the feature. With the AirPods in your ears, you will be able to listen and respond to incoming text messages. Siri transcribes the message so you can hear the text without looking at your phone or watch. You can then ignore or immediately reply without having to say ‘Hey Siri’.

The sense I get is that the H1 chip is required here, so the second gen AirPods or Beats headphones with H1 chip required.

The incoming message alert is accompanied by a special alert tone that differs from the regular text tone. Siri will introduce the message with a phrase like ‘Zac says’ before reading the message. If another text comes in from the same sender, it will adjust its description to naturally continue the conversation.

Time will tell if this feature makes it all the way to the public iOS 13.2 release.

October 2, 2019

Tim Hardwick, MacRumors:

Apple has been rolling out HomePod support for live radio requests to Siri over the last few months, and now users in several countries are reporting success when asking their Apple smart speaker to play live radio stations.

This feature was announced back in June, and has been slowly rolling out since then. The issue is, how do you find what stations are available to listen to, and how do you tell Siri to tune them in.

I have not yet found a universal, HomePod compatible, radio station directory. Please ping me if you do know of one. And not just a list of radio stations. Needs to be a list of stations that Siri can play on HomePod.

There are some resources you can tap, though. Start off by firing up the Music App and tapping the Radio tab. Scroll all the way down to the Broadcast Radio section, and tap See All. Currently, for me, that list is a paltry 10 stations. They all work for me, but still, that’s a small sample.

To try one of these out yourself, tell HomePod Siri:

Play radio station WTOP

Note that I pronounced all the letters in the name, W-T-O-P. And the words “radio station” are critical.

Next stop, go to the Music App’s Search tab, and type the call letters of your local station. This is definitely hit or miss, but I did find options that were not listed in the radio tab.

Next up, try downloading one of the radio station aggregation apps, like Tune-in. Note that Tune-in has a monthly subscription in-app-purchase, but if you download the app, you can see the radio stations that the app supports on the free page. They all work for me, when I use the above format to request the station from HomePod Siri.

What I’d really love is a comprehensive, searchable directory from Apple of all the supported stations, especially a list of my local stations supported by Siri. Each entry would need the name Siri recognizes.

Federico Viticci:

A few weeks ago, I came across a post on Reddit claiming that Apple had restored the ability to launch specific sections of the Settings app via Shortcuts in iOS and iPadOS 13.1. I was inspired by that discovery to finish working on a project I had long been putting off: documenting all the URLs supported by the Settings app in iOS and iPadOS.

After some a lot of trial and error, I’ve collected 120+ URLs that can open individual pages and sub-sections of the Settings app. In this post, I’m going to share the complete list of URLs that are supported as of iOS and iPadOS 13.1 (specifically, iOS 13.1.2), as well as a custom shortcut to launch them.

This is an amazing effort. If you use Shortcuts, tuck this one away. Well done Federico.

Mark Gurman, Bloomberg:

Right now, when iPhone users ask Siri to call or message a friend, the system defaults to Apple’s Phone or iMessage apps. If you want to use WhatsApp or Skype, you have to specifically say that.

When the software refresh kicks in, Siri will default to the apps that people use frequently to communicate with their contacts. For example, if an iPhone user always messages another person via WhatsApp, Siri will automatically launch WhatsApp, rather than iMessage.

The article also contains a response from Apple on accusations that App Store search is tilted to prefer Apple apps. As the article says, feels like Apple is slowly loosening the reins.

iPhone 11 Pro Max handheld optical stabilization in the wild

When I first saw this video, I was sure it was shot from a tripod, or steady-cam. Apple really has upped their camera/video game here.

Juli Clover, MacRumors:

With the iPhone 11, 11 Pro, and 11 Pro Max, Apple did away with 3D Touch across its entire iPhone lineup, replacing the former 3D Touch feature with Haptic Touch.

In this guide, we’ll go over everything you need to know about Haptic Touch and how it differs from the 3D Touch feature that’s been available since the iPhone 6s.

If you are confused about Haptic Touch, or want to learn about the settings, read the article. Well done.

And personally, I am very happy with this change. 3D Touch and Haptic Touch had too much overlap, confusing discoverability.

Sophie Charara, Wired:

Amazon’s new Sidewalk protocol and Apple’s experiments with ultra-wideband signal a new battleground that gets Amazon out of the house and Apple inside it

Apple is strong outside the house, weakest inside. The U1 Wideband chip hopes to give Apple very precise location information inside your house.

Amazon’s problem is the opposite. They have great reach inside the house, via Echo devices, but without a phone of their own, they depend on Android and iPhone to go where you are outside the house.

One core point:

For Amazon, in fact, that work has already begun as Sidewalk originally came out of the Ring team’s ambition to extend its connected security devices out into gardens.

There are already efforts by Amazon to share Ring doorbell footage with police departments to help fight crime. Clearly, privacy is a major issue here.

Interesting to watch these opposing solution sets unfold.

October 1, 2019

Introducing Skydio 2

Skydio:

Skydio 2 combines groundbreaking artificial intelligence with a best-in-class 4k60HDR camera, 3.5 kilometers of wireless range, and 23 minutes of flight time in a drone that fits anywhere you can carry a 13” laptop. For experienced pilots, Skydio 2 makes every aspect of flying drones more creative, more fun, more useful, and less stressful. But it’s also capable of flying itself with the skills of an expert pilot, opening up the power and magic of aerial capture to new audiences.

I’m not a fan of posting about products or services you can’t go out and buy right now or videos that are simply advertisements for a product but this video is INSANE. If it works as advertised, it opens up some incredible possibilities for new filming ideas and at that price point and with those capabilities, DJI should be very scared.

The Verge has more about the Skydio 2 here.

Halide:

We released a small lightning update on iPhone 11 launch day with basic support for the new cameras. Now we’re ready to release our big update.

In the past we’ve had a simple button that swaps between your wide angle and telephoto cameras. It served us well, but it was time to revisit it for the three cameras on the iPhone 11 Pro.

At a glance, our lens switcher looks the same as before; we kept it in the same spot so it doesn’t interfere with your viewfinder and is within easy reach. Keeping the viewfinder clear of any obstructions is one of our highest priorities.

I love these blog posts from the developers of the excellent iOS camera app Halide. Really good explanations of what they are doing and what they can’t do. Their new “Lens Guides” feature is brilliant.

Real world iPhone 11 Pro Max video test

This video (from Ben Miller) is shot in 4K and gives a real sense of the clarity of iPhone 11 Pro video, and the real world problem of trying to share that video.

I’ve seen the original, raw footage of the video, and the same video posted on YouTube. YouTube compresses the original 4K footage enough that you can easily see the difference. Add to that the fact that you can’t watch 4K YouTube footage in Safari (it’s a codec licensing issue), but even in Chrome, the difference between raw 4K and YouTube 4K is apparent to the naked eye.

To my eye, the Vimeo 4K experience is much closer to the original. Watch the video below (make sure you set the quality to 4K), and compare to this YouTube version, see what you think.

MLive:

Two hoodie-wearing suspect scaled a 6-foot fence and forced their way into a building housing computer equipment in order to run a pornographic video on a digital billboard along I-75 late Saturday night, police said.

Another Saturday night in Auburn Hills, Michigan.

A short time after the suspects entered the building, Auburn Hills police began to receive calls from motorists saying the billboard on the east side of I-75, south of M-59, was showing pornographic images on both its north and south sides. Officers arrived to find the video still playing, and reached out to the billboard company’s emergency contact to shut down the board.

This feels like the plot to a movie, with blackmail video shown of some candidate, but it turns out to be fake at the end.

Koss commercial, shot entirely on the iPhone 11 Pro Max

Martin Moore show this Koss commercial entirely on the iPhone 11 Pro Max, using FiLMiC Pro and the Zhiyun Smooth 4 3-Axis Gimbal. The video output from the iPhone 11 Pro is truly ready for prime time.

See for yourself.

Apple Maps continues to get better and better. On my last few road trips, Apple Maps was spot on, no bad traffic or road info, and continued to more accurately predict arrival times than Google Maps, which I find to be too optimistic.

Props to the Apple Maps team.

September 30, 2019

Apple:

Join us here on October 30, 2019 at 2:00 p.m. PT / 5:00 p.m. ET to listen to the conference call live.

As per usual, Apple will announce ridiculous numbers of devices sold and metric buttloads of revenue generated.

5280:

Ten years ago this month, the country was captivated by a bizarre spectacle in Fort Collins that was colloquially dubbed the Balloon Boy Hoax. Although Richard Heene, the so-called Balloon Boy’s father, pleaded guilty to charges related to the prank, it was never fully clear whether it was the scam that police made it out to be. For the first time, we reveal the true story.

I remember this weird story from ten years ago. The facts and subsequent years are even weirder.

The War of the Worlds trailer

BBC:

Set in Edwardian England, this new adaptation of H.G. Wells’ seminal tale – the first alien invasion story in literature – follows George (played by Rafe Spall) and his partner Amy (Eleanor Tomlinson) as they attempt to defy society and start a life together. Rupert Graves is Frederick, George’s elder brother, and Robert Carlyle plays Ogilvy, an astronomer and scientist. The War of the Worlds tells their story as they face the escalating terror of an alien invasion, fighting for their lives against an enemy beyond their comprehension.

I loved the 1950s version of the novel and hated the more recent Tom Cruise version. This one, set shortly after the book’s publication in 1897, looks really good.

Independent:

The first Apple Watch had a heart rate monitor built in, not because the company wanted heart health to be the primary focus but simply because it would give much more accurate step counting than rival fitness monitors which worked it out from the user’s height, for instance. But then, things changed.

“The first letter that we got about it saving somebody’s life with just the heart rate monitor, we were surprised, because anybody can go watch the clock and get their heart rate. But then we started getting more and more and we realised we had a huge chance and maybe even an obligation to do more. That led us down the path to do everything including medically regulated apps. Health is such an important dimension. But it’s just one dimension of the Watch. It does so much more, from telling the time to sending messages or making calls and so on. If you tried to sell a heart rate monitor to alert you to problems, you know, 12 people would buy it.”

There are so many capabilities to the Apple Watch, by contrast, that it’s gone on to become a best-seller.

The Apple Watch may have started out as a fashion item but it has quickly become a device to help us check, monitor, and maintain our health.

The Dalrymple Report: Night Mode and Apple Watch

Dave and I talk this week about the iPhone 11 and Night Mode when taking pictures. We also look at the new Apple Watch and what’s important to me about using the device.

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Macworld:

The Apple Watch Series 5 is so far ahead of anything that professes to be a peer, there’s only one reason not to buy one: You want multi-day battery life. Otherwise, you’re not going to find a smartwatch with a better screen, more advanced sensors, nicer design, or stronger app support.

Apple haters will scoff at that notion, but the truth of the matter is, if Apple offered an iPhone-free version of the Series 5 watch, it would instantly become the best selling Android wearable.

If you have a Series 4, you’re probably not upgrading to the 5 unless you really want that always-on display and/or the compass. But, if you have a 3 or earlier, the Series 5 is a big step up and worth the price.