John Paczkowski, BuzzFeed:

Apple has settled on a date for its first big product announcement of 2019. Sources tell BuzzFeed News that the company plans to hold a special event on March 25 at the Steve Jobs Theater on its Apple Park campus. Headlining the gathering: that subscription news service that has been all over the news today. Unlikely to make an appearance: next-generation AirPods, or that rumored new iPad Mini.

Well this should be interesting.

A story from a Reddit user who brought their bent iPad Pro back to the Apple Store and asked for a replacement.

The story itself is interesting, and a useful guide if you get a bent iPad Pro from Apple and want to get it replaced.

But the comments that follow the story are also worth reading, comments from ex-Apple employees weighing in with their experiences over time, discussing what they were allowed to do for their customers.

The ability of an Apple Store employee to bend the rules to keep their customers happy is, to me, an incredibly important part of the Apple Store culture.

The Wall Street Journal:

Apple Inc.’s plan to create a subscription service for news is running into resistance from major publishers over the tech giant’s proposed financial terms, according to people familiar with the situation, complicating an initiative that is part of the company’s efforts to offset slowing iPhone sales.

In its pitch to some news organizations, the Cupertino, Calif., company has said it would keep about half of the subscription revenue from the service, the people said. The service, described by industry executives as a “Netflix for news,” would allow users to read an unlimited amount of content from participating publishers for a monthly fee. It is expected to launch later this year as a paid tier of the Apple News app, the people said.

Me being picky, but I hate the tag “Netflix for news”. Movies have a long shelf life. The Netflix model works there. Music has a long shelf life. The Apple Music model works there.

News? The word “new” is right in there. Old news is like stale bread. Netflix works, in large part, because of the huge well of older content. New stuff is what draws you in, perhaps, but the older stuff keeps you engaged.

More from the story:

The New York Times and the Washington Post are among the major outlets that so far haven’t agreed to license their content to the service, in part because of concerns over the proposed terms, which haven’t been previously disclosed, according to the people familiar with the matter.

Part of the problem might be this:

Another concern for some publishers is that they likely wouldn’t get access to subscriber data, including credit-card information and email addresses, the people said. Credit-card information and email addresses are crucial for news organizations that seek to build their own customer databases and market their products to readers.

And this from The Verge’s Apple’s new deal for journalism should send publishers running (note that the URL ends with “LOL”):

Publishers, meanwhile, may need to hire new employees to manage the partnership, build the necessary product integrations, and address customer service issues. At a time when the industry is already laying off hundreds of journalists, asking them to build out their partnership and product teams in exchange for a potential revenue increase in the single digits appears laughable on its face.

I can’t imagine that this deal is going to work, at least not as is. Me? I’m going to keep my subscriptions to the new sources I value. I like sending my money directly to the organizations paying the reporters.

One of the many Apple stories getting traction over the past few days is an analyst note from Goldman Sachs, which mentions Google’s contribution to Apple’s services revenue numbers, as well as the idea of an Apple Prime bundle.

On Google, they paid Apple $9.6 billion for traffic acquisition costs (TAC), essentially paying for the privilege of being the default search engine on your iPhone.

On Apple Prime, the idea there is that Apple would create an Amazon Prime-like bundle to help bring more subscriber dollars to Apple, instead of Netflix, etc. This would obviously come into play when Apple rolls out their video offering later this year.

The stories out there (including this one), are takes on the Goldman Sachs analyst report. If you’ve got five minutes, watch the video below and get this straight from the horse’s mouth.

This is detective work, not an official announcement from Apple. But reading the logic, seems right on the nose.

Uncrate:

Guillaume Néry is somewhat of a legend in the freediving world. He’s broke the freediving world record four times and won the world championship twice. While he’s retired from the sport, he still dives and makes short films exploring the depths of the ocean, like this one where he spends over 10 minutes below the surface in the Philippines on a single breath. As instructed by Guillaume, “turn out the light, put on your headphones, and freedive with me around the world.”

Mindboggling. I love being underwater but this guy is part fish. And what’s up with that weird underwear pattern on his wetsuit?

512 Pixels:

With the 2018 MacBook Air, Apple has attempted do bring back a classic design, updating it for the modern era. For the most part, it works. The tapered design still looks great, and while it can’t keep up with the MacBook Pro, the dual-core CPU doesn’t have to. The second-generation MacBook Air was fast enough for just about everyone, and Apple has managed to maintain that level of performance here as well. Even the stellar battery life reminds me of the old machine.

Everything on paper checks out, but I’m not sure the new MacBook Air feels as special as the old one did.

I broke the screen of my old MacBook Air on (the first day of!) my trip to Australia last year but haven’t felt the need to replace it until now. The 2018 MacBook Air is tempting.

9to5Mac:

Heart Analyzer is a great third-party app that allows you to see incredible detail from Apple Watch heart rate readings. In an update today, the app has added live heart rate support, improved complications for Series 4 users, and more.

With support for live heart rates, Heart Analyzer will now record your heart rate in real-time when you have the app open. This allows you to get detailed information about your heart rate at specific times, and view trends and graphs over time.

I’ve been using this app for a couple of days and for data nerds, there’s a wealth of interesting info included.

Above Avalon:

Apple has a hit on its hands, or maybe we should say in its ears. AirPods have become the second best-selling Apple product out of the gate of all time. More interestingly, there are signs of AirPods now becoming a cultural phenomenon. AirPods do a superb job of demonstrating Apple’s competitive advantages with wearables, a product category that will come to define Apple for decades.

Interesting analysis but for me, it’s tempered by that fact that where I live in Vancouver, Canada, I rarely if ever see AirPods in use.

Dr. Drang upgraded a work machine to Mojave and shares a few thoughts on the use of transparency scattered throughout the macOS interface, with screenshots to bring the points home. Good read.

This was fascinating to me. It all started with this tweet from Jack Dorsey:

@karaswisher hi Kara!

— jack (@jack) February 8, 2019

As you read down the tweet replies, you’ll watch this afternoon’s interview take shape, all on this single thread.

The action starts at 230p PT, 530p ET. Follow the hashtag #KaraJack. Jack has promised to answer any and all questions. Bring it, Kara.

Mark Gurman, Bloomberg:

Apple Inc. assigned a longtime iPhone executive as its first head of marketing for augmented reality, demonstrating the importance of the technology to the company’s future.

Frank Casanova moved from leading iPhone marketing for wireless carriers into the new role this month.

And:

The decision by Apple to name its first head of product marketing for AR underscores the technology’s importance to the company’s quest for major new products.

Whether it arrives via special goggles, iPhone apps (see the post on Google’s AR Mapping effort that follows), or even automotive heads up displays, AR is a major wave coming.

Looking forward to seeing Frank on stage at a future Apple Event.

The Verge:

When Pixar Animation Studios first introduced the SparkShorts series in January, the studio explained that the short films came from a program of “indie filmmaking inside of Pixar.” Creators are given six months and a small budget to make their own unique projects. The latest of those shorts, Smash and Grab, just debuted on YouTube, and it may seem a bit familiar to longtime Pixar fans — it features robots with a minor resemblance to the protagonist of Pixar’s Wall-E, from the head-cocked expressions and grabby gimbaled hands to the expressive mechanically irising eyes.

I love these little videos from Pixar.

Apple:

Working with the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Apple announced that the Health Records on iPhone feature will be available soon to veterans. For the first time, American veterans receiving care through the Veterans Health Administration will be able to securely view their aggregated health records directly in the Health app on their iPhone.

“We have great admiration for veterans, and we’re proud to bring a solution like Health Records on iPhone to the veteran community,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “It’s truly an honor to contribute to the improved healthcare of America’s heroes.”

As I said elsewhere, keep an eye on this program because, make no mistake, Apple wants to roll this out to every American.

CNBC:

A coalition of companies including Apple and Amazon urges Congress to pass bipartisan legislation that enables more than 700,000 immigrants, known as “Dreamers,” to legally work and live in the U.S.

“With the re-opening of the federal government and the presumptive restart of immigration and border security negotiations, now is the time for Congress to pass a law to provide Dreamers the certainty they need,” the coalition wrote in a letter to lawmakers.

700,000 young immigrants’ lives hang in the balance.

CNET:

Amazon has agreed to buy Eero, a San Francisco-based maker of home Wi-Fi hardware, the companies announced Monday.

Eero makes simply designed white Wi-Fi pucks that people can plug in around their homes. An Eero Wi-Fi system is meant to provide more reliable Wi-Fi in every nook and cranny of a home, providing better coverage than a single Wi-Fi router.

This is definitely an area many of us wish Apple had taken the lead in developing.

TechCrunch:

Apple’s push to get developers to build subscription-based apps is now having a notable impact on App Store revenues. According to a new report from Sensor Tower due out later this week, revenue generated per U.S. iPhone grew 36 percent, from $58 in 2017 to $79 last year.

As is typical, much of that increase can be attributed to mobile gaming, which accounted for more than half of this per-device average. However, more substantial growth took place in the categories outside of gaming — including those categories where subscription-based apps tend to rule the top charts, the firm found.

Users say they don’t like/want in-app purchases and subscriptions but we keep buying them.

AppleInsider:

“Steve Jobs” was composed by Mason Bates, and recorded by the Sante Fe Opera Orchestra. It takes place within a single act but jumps around in time, depicting milestones like the founding of Apple and the launch of the iPhone, mixed in with personal events and Jobs’ interest in Zen Buddhism.

Some of the opera’s competition included a recording of Richard Strauss’ “Der Rosenkavalier” starring Renee Fleming, and a BBC production of John Adams’ “Doctor Atomic,” about the testing of the first nuclear warhead in 1945.

Bet you didn’t see this one coming.

Chance Miller, 9to5Mac:

As anyone who visits an Apple store knows, you’re first greeted by a friendly person with an iPad at the store’s entrance. I told the greeter that I had a Genius Bar appointment for my iPhone XS Max, and she asked for a brief description of my problem.

I explained that my device was randomly shutting down and wouldn’t come back on for several hours. As soon as I finished the explanation, the greeter said, “Have you considered upgrading to a new iPhone recently?”

I was holding my iPhone XS Max in my hand.

And:

A source tells 9to5Mac that this is a new policy at all Apple retail locations. Employees are being instructed to push for an upgrade instead of repairing an existing device. In some stores, the source says, an employee is tasked with pitching iPhone upgrades to Genius Bar customers as they wait for appointments. Other stores have the Geniuses themselves to pitch an upgrade.

This slide into upselling seems new. I’ve always found the Apple Store to be chill, there to help or give me the opportunity to learn about new product. I certainly hope this isn’t the new Apple Store. And I can’t help but wonder if this policy, if it is indeed the new policy, has anything to do with the change at the top.

From this post by Benjamin Mayo:

The Apple Store has never been defined by the hard sell. In fact, it boldly fought against it. Apple retail employees have never earned commission because the goal was to give shoppers the right advice, and match person to product based on need and wants, not which one gives the biggest kickback.

These new initiatives to juice iPhone XS and iPhone XR fly in the face of the principled stance Apple has established in the past. Staff advice is distorted by upper management marketing pressure, rather than monetary incentives, but the result is the same for the customer. The advice is currently biased towards hitting Apple’s targets, not what the person walking in the shop really wants.

Perfectly put. This is not the Apple I know. And love.

Motherboard:

In 2013, Apple introduced a security feature designed to make iPhones less valuable targets to would-be thieves. An iPhone can only be associated to one iCloud account, meaning that, in order to sell it to someone else (or in order for a stolen phone to be used by someone new) that account needs to be removed from the phone altogether. A stolen iPhone which is still attached to the original owner’s iCloud account is worthless for personal use or reselling purposes (unless you strip it for parts).

And:

The iCloud security feature has likely cut down on the number of iPhones that have been stolen, but enterprising criminals have found ways to remove iCloud in order to resell devices. To do this, they phish the phone’s original owners, or scam employees at Apple Stores, which have the ability to override iCloud locks. Thieves, coders, and hackers participate in an underground industry designed to remove a user’s iCloud account from a phone so that they can then be resold.

This is a fascinating deep dive into the sophisticated black market that evolved for the sole purpose of defeating iCloud security locks.

Netflix blog:

Since we launched the Download feature in 2016, one thing has been clear — members love downloading and enjoying Netflix on the go. Whether they are commuting, traveling or just in a place with pricey or spotty internet access, the download feature makes it possible for our members to take their stories with them wherever they go.

Today, we are excited to introduce Smart Downloads. Now, when you finish watching a downloaded episode, Smart Downloads will delete it, and then automatically download the next episode. You watch, we do the work.

This definitely eliminates a pain point with managing offline content. If you have a Netflix account, take the time to read about this.

The list of winners (and nominees) is posted in lots of places, but this is the official list, published by the Recording Academy, the people behind the Grammy Awards.

Shoshana Wodinsky, The Verge:

An anonymous blackmailer has caught at least two YouTube creators in a scheme involving cash ransoms and esoteric copyright laws.

Last week, both creators shared stories of how their channels were being threatened with a third copyright strike — and the possible termination of their channels — from an anonymous extortionist. The scammer offered to reverse the strikes in return for payment to a bitcoin wallet.

It’s a balance issue. Copyright strikes let copyright holders protect their content, but open the doors to this sort of extortion.

Those who are able to appeal the strikes don’t have it much easier. The process, when successful, can take at least a month — and during that time, “you can’t upload at all,” according to Pierce Riola, a voice actor whose YouTube channel been hit by similar extortion scams in the past.

Interesting read. Reminds me of the issue in the iOS App Store, where copycats copy successful apps, down to the pixel, and the original creators are stuck between the hard rock of legally pursuing the copiers, or pressing Apple for a takedown, which can take time, if successful at all.

In the YouTube channel example, should this be YouTube’s responsibility to fix? In the case of the App Store, does Apple have a responsibility to prevent or repair the app copying scourge?