The iPhones, much like their Nokia predecessors, mark a quantum leap in policing, where everything from 911 dispatches to criminal background checks and real-time video can be quickly accessed.
When cops are responding to a job, the phone will automatically provide them with the criminal history of the location, such as how many 911 calls have been at the address in the past and what type of calls. The phone also tells the officers if any wanted felons are at the address.
All of the information is prioritized based on the emergency the officers are responding to.
It would be really interesting to see how this works in the hands of the police and the backend data management would be an immense challenge.
Last night, we had a nice little gathering to watch the Super Bowl. As everyone got settled in to watch the game, they pulled out their phones, as one does.
Suddenly, an alert appeared on my phone, one I’ve never seen before, asking me if it was OK to share my WiFi password with one of our guests. I tapped OK and they were logged on to our WiFi.
I’d heard about this behavior (I believe it shipped with the very first version of iOS 11), but never encountered it before. It felt a bit like opening an AirPods case near my iPhone. The alert just popped up, took over the screen.
Benjamin Mayo did a writeup of this behavior back in June 2017. If you follow the link, you can see what the alert looks like.
So what does this have to do with HomePod? Fair question.
Imagine that you lived next door to a big guy, a big guy with a beard who loved Heineken and Ozzie. We’ll call him Jim. What’s to prevent Jim from AirPlaying in to your HomePod, blasting Ozzie at top volume any time he liked?
As far as I can tell, you have to be on the same WiFi network as a HomePod in able to AirPlay in. So if Jim is not on my WiFi network, he has no access to my HomePod.
But suppose he comes over for coffee that one time, and I give him access to my WiFi in the scenario described above. Short of my changing my WiFi password, what’s to prevent Jim from Ozzying up my HomePod any time he likes?
There is a pairing process that is required to set up your HomePod, tie it to an Apple Music account. One question is, is that initial iOS device required in order to play music on HomePod? From everything I’ve read, it seems the only requirement for access is being on the same WiFi network as the HomePod.
To bring this all home, a second question is, once someone gains access to your WiFi, do they then have access to your HomePod? Does the scenario at the top give temporary access, say, for one day, or is it permanent access to your WiFi network?
It’s all about trust.
Just to be clear, I’m not worried that this is some sort of security hole. Just as Apple deals with this sort of protocol between other devices, I feel certain that there is a solution in place. I’m just curious about the details.
I’ll dig into this more once I get my paws on my very own HomePod. Meanwhile, if you know the answers to any of these questions, please do ping me.
In a devastatingly effective demo, Apple lines up four of these things: The Google Home Max ($400), Sonos One ($200), Amazon Echo ($100), and the HomePod. They’re volume-matched and rigged to an A/B/C/D switch, so a single song can hop from one to the other. (Apple even installed a halo backlight behind each speaker that illuminated to show you which one was playing.)
The HomePod sounded the best. Its bass, in particular, was amazing: full and deep, but also distinct and never muddy — you could hear the actual pitch of the bass notes, not just the thud. That, unsurprisingly, is where other small speakers have trouble.
And:
The real shock was the Google Home Max, a massive, 12-pound machine that’s supposed to be all about the sound; it sounded like cardboard compared with the HomePod and Sonos.
Heh. Like cardboard. Nice.
I’ve yet to read a review that didn’t place HomePod on top of the heap. David Pogue’s comments about hearing “the actual pitch of the bass notes, not just the thud”, jibes with what I’ve heard from people who’ve spend quality time with a HomePod.
I think it’s incredibly important to backup your photos onto some form of removable media, tuck it away somewhere safe. This is in addition to your Time Machine or cloud backup.
Personally, I periodically backup all my photos to a single removable drive and store the drive in a safe deposit box.
All that said, this is a terrific article, with detail on prepping for backup, locating all relevant files, importing/moving as needed, and more. Worth reading and passing along.
I asked Siri what she thought about Google Max and Amazon Echo and got a lot of generic responses. Interesting that Google created such a specific, tailored response to HomePod.
The Financial Times today highlighted a limited number of reports from users experiencing delays with incoming phone calls on the iPhone X. Apple later confirmed to MacRumors that it is “looking into these reports.”
And:
The report, which links to a few discussions on the Apple Support Communities, notes that hundreds of customers have complained that the iPhone X’s display experiences delays in turning on for up to 10 seconds during incoming phone calls, preventing these users from tapping the Accept or Decline buttons.
Sounds like a very small pool of people have this issue, but it also sounds like this has been around a while (here’s a Reddit comment on this from two months ago) and is still not solved.
While HomePod is still available for delivery this Friday, supply for in-store pickup is disappearing.
I logged in to the Apple Store HomePod page to check stock this morning and found this message on every zip code I checked:
I checked both Space Gray and White. Add to that this post by Benjamin Mayo for 9to5Mac, who notes that shipping estimates have slipped to February 13th in the UK. This is the first sign we’ve seen of tightening HomePod supply.
Since launching Hodinkee in 2008, Clymer has become famous to the kind folks who obsess over the subtle differences between two Philippe Patek special editions. The site serves both collectors who spend $40,000 on a rare watch, as well as those who aspire to do so, and Clymer now brushes shoulders with watch-loving celebrities while hosting the site’s video interview series, recently chatting about the Nivada Grenchen Depthmaster with chef Alton Brown and Rolexes with golfer Jack Nicklaus.
At some point in your life you’ve almost certainly marveled at the classic drinking bird toy, and probably lost a few brain cells trying to figure out how it works. Don’t be ashamed if you never successfully unravelled the science, though, as engineerguy Bill Hammack explains, even Einstein apparently couldn’t crack it.
So how does it work? Einstein refused to disassemble the toy to reveal its secrets, but Hammack did, and the science and engineering that power it are utterly fascinating. Invented in 1946 by a Bell Labs scientists named Miles V. Sullivan, the drinking bird’s most interesting illusion isn’t its thirst, it’s the liquid inside.
Holy crap. This is brilliant. I often wondered as a kid why this happened. I haven’t seen one of these drinking birds in years.
The word “Alexa” is uttered 10 times during the Super Bowl spot, but thankfully, the Amazon Echo in your living room isn’t going to perk up and try to respond. An Amazon spokeswoman is guarded about explaining exactly why, saying only, “We do alter our Alexa advertisements … to minimize Echo devices falsely responding in customer’s homes.”
A September 2014 Amazon patent titled “Audible command filtering” describes techniques to prevent Alexa from waking up “as part of a broadcast watched by a large population (such as during a popular sporting event),” annoying customers and overloading Amazon’s servers with millions of simultaneous requests.
The patent broadly describes two techniques.
I can’t decide whether this is creepy or cool….maybe creepycool?
Apple is criticized for making much of its revenues from one hit product: iPhone. However, its newest foray into Wearables has not only become its fastest-growing revenue source behind iPhone, but is also larger and growing more rapidly than other top tech firms’ hyped future growth segments, such as Amazon’s ads business, Google’s Cloud and Alphabet’s Other Bets.
Apple Watch has also consistently reached 50 percent growth in both units and revenue for the fourth consecutive quarter, highlighting a solid base of demand for the company’s highly personal, ultra mobile and super integrated Wearables.
All those stories about “Apple Watch isn’t selling” can stop now. While I still don’t like the fact Apple hasn’t announced sales figures for the Apple Watch (a la Amazon and the Echo and Kindle), Ben Bajarin said on Twitter:
Working on updating my smartwatch market/sales model and it is at the point where it isn’t really worth updating any numbers but Apple Watch. Apple has ~75% of the wearables market (not just smartwatches).
Software updates are usually a good thing. They can bring new features and important security updates to whatever device you’re using with little to no effort on your part. If you have a Mac computer, however, you’re probably sick and tired of seeing that same “Updates Available” notification pop-up on your computer every day.
Luckily, there are a few ways to get rid of them depending on how responsible (or irresponsible) you want to be. Here’s what you need to know.
As a follow up to this post, this is a much better way to turn off updates. Who knew it was so easy?
There is little doubt that the motorcycle auction marketplace was evolving at the year-defining Las Vegas auctions this year, both on a macro and micro level. Mecum’s five day sale from January 23 to 27 was the largest single auction of motorcycles ever held, with Bonhams’ one day sale setting a new world record for a motorcycle sold at auction by fetching $979,000 for a 1951 Vincent Black Lightning.
I don’t know enough motorcycle history to really appreciate some of these bikes but I bet some of you are old enough to have owned them and will weep silent tears when you see what they went for at auction.
To me, the “most interesting” award goes to the 1975 Hercules Wankel – yes, a Wankel rotary engine on a motorcycle.
Purple lightning, psychedelic sunsets, glowing clouds and swirling Northern Lights — when it comes to crazily beautiful natural phenomena, airplane pilots have a front row seat.
For the rest of us wanting a glimpse of what life is like in the cockpit 30,000 feet above the planet, there are the incredible photos taken by Dutch pilot Christiaan van Heijst.
“It’s like a peaceful solitude just flying high up in the sky away from the rest of the world and the planet,” he tells CNN Travel.
Those of us who have struggled to take great shots out of an airplane window will be very jealous of this guy.
This is the second in a series of posts on RAW photography on iPhone. I previously wrote about what RAW is by explaining a little on how cameras work, how you can use RAW, and what some key tradeoffs of using RAW are.
I’m the design half of the team that builds Halide, a camera app for iPhone. As a result, I take — and edit — a lot of photos on my iPhone. This guide will walk you through the basics of RAW editing and adjustment.
This is the follow up to the post we linked to back in December. Lots of really good info here and not just specific to de With’s Halide iOS app, although it’s worth your money if you want to get more out of your iPhone shots.
Wireless charging isn’t always a great substitute for plugging in, but it’s a very convenient way to keep your phone topped off through most of the day. A wireless charger on your desk means no more plugging and unplugging throughout the day and a full charge when you head home from work. A wireless charger next to your bed makes it easy to grab and go in the morning, or just pick up your phone to “check one thing” without fussing with the lightning cable.
We’ve tested a big heap of wireless chargers, and these are some of our favorites.
Be sure to check out the second page, which talks about competing standards (iPhones only support Qi), 5W vs. 7.5W performance, and more.
Of course, you can wait for Apple’s announced AirPower charger. All we know about the ship date is “2018”.
Hundreds of Surface Pro 4 owners have been complaining about screen flickering issues on their tablets. A thread over at Microsoft’s support forums shows that the problems have been occurring for more than a year, and most devices affected are out of warranty. Dubbed “Flickergate,” a website to report the issues claims at least 1,600 Surface Pro 4 owners have experienced the screen flickering problems.
And:
Some owners have even started freezing their tablets to stop the screen flickering temporarily. “I get about half an hour’s use out of it after ten minutes in the freezer,” says one owner. Another user posted a video showing how the flickering stops as soon as the Surface Pro 4 is placed in a freezer.
Apple’s results in glorious chart form. Terrific resource.
If I had to pick two charts on which to focus, check out the very first one, “Apple Q1 2018 revenue by category”, and the second from the last chart, “Services revenue (4-quarter moving average)”.
One key to Apple’s continued success is diversity. The growth of that Services pie-wedge in the first chart helps reduce Apple’s dependence on iPhone sales. And that beautiful growth curve in the Services revenue chart shows that Apple is steadily moving in the right direction.
First things first, big thanks to Jason Snell and his mighty typing fingers for this transcript. A service to the community.
Way too much in the transcript to unpack it all, but here are just a few highlights:
Apple’s active installed base reached 1.3 billion devices in January, and is at an all-time high for all of our major products. One point three billion devices represents an astonishing 30 percent growth in just two years.
And:
What makes this even more remarkable is that the quarter we’re reporting today was 13 weeks long, while the year-ago quarter was 14 weeks.
Meaning, we did what we did in one less week than last year. No small thing.
The number of paid subscriptions across our services offerings passed 240 million by the end of the December quarter. That’s an increase of 30 million in the last 90 days alone, which is the largest quarterly growth ever.
And:
Apple Pay has reached an important milestone in the U.S. As a result of 50 percent year over year growth in merchant adoption, it’s now accepted at more than half of all American retail locations, which includes more than two-thirds of the country’s top 100 retailers.
And:
It was our best quarter ever for the Apple Watch. With over 50 percent growth in revenue and units for the fourth quarter in a row, and strong double-digit growth in every geographic segment. Sales of Apple Watch Series 3 models were also more than twice the volume of Series 2 a year ago.
Most popular smartwatch in the world. The early reports on HomePod remind me of the early take on Apple Watch. Lots of naysaying but, for Apple Watch, time did tell.
It was the third consecutive quarter of growth for iPad revenue, thanks to the strength of both iPad and iPad Pro.
And, finally, when asked if he considered the impact offering free or discounted battery replacements would have on iPhone purchases, Tim said:
On the battery, Toni, we did not consider it in any way, shape, or form what it would do to upgrade rates. We did it because we thought it was the right thing to do for our customers. And sitting here today, I don’t know what effect it will have. And again, it was not in our thought process of deciding to do what we’ve done.
Less than a day after the announcement, YouTube TV is now available on Apple’s tvOS platform. The cable-cutter streaming TV service starts at $35/month, with no contracts, and allows users to stream TV from their iPhone and now, Apple TV.
According to the latest research from Strategy Analytics, global smartphone shipments tumbled 9 percent annually to reach 400 million units in Q4 2017. It was the biggest annual fall in smartphone history. Apple captured first place with 19% global marketshare, nudging Samsung into second position. Xiaomi continued its relentless rise, almost doubling smartphone shipments from a year ago.
In a nutshell, smartphone shipments fell 9 percent year-over-year, Samsung fell with it, Apple held reasonably steady in shipments despite the industry as a whole shrinking, and Apple gained considerable global marketshare.
Apple on Thursday reported its fiscal first quarter results, posting revenue of $88.3 billion, an increase of 13 percent from the year-ago quarter and an all-time record.
“We’re thrilled to report the biggest quarter in Apple’s history, with broad-based growth that included the highest revenue ever from a new iPhone lineup. iPhone X surpassed our expectations and has been our top-selling iPhone every week since it shipped in November,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “We’ve also achieved a significant milestone with our active installed base of devices reaching 1.3 billion in January. That’s an increase of 30 percent in just two years, which is a testament to the popularity of our products and the loyalty and satisfaction of our customers.”
In the first quarter of 2018, Apple sold 77.3 million iPhones, down from the 78.2 million from the same quarter in 2017. The company sold 13.1 million iPads, up slightly from the 13 million sold in the year-ago quarter, and they sold 5.1 million Macs, down from the 5.3 million sold in the year-ago quarter. Apple services accounted for $8.4 billion in revenue for the quarter, up from $7.1 billion in the year ago quarter.
As is usually the case, Apple did not break down which models of iPhones, Macs, and iPads sold the most, although Tim Cook did say that iPhone X was the top-selling iPhone.
So much richness here. There’s an organized performance called Choir! Choir! Choir!, where attendees (total strangers, who come to see the performance) are taught a sequence of vocal parts, then a bit of rehearsal, then they perform.
In the video below, David Byrne (the unmistakeable voice from Talking Heads) sings David Bowie’s classic Heroes, and the crowd sings background. I would absolutely love to attend one of these performances. Bucket list.
Apple today updated its HomePod tech specs page with a new Audio Sources section that lists all of the ways in which the speaker can stream audio, setting the record straight on some conflicting information.
iCloud Music Library with an Apple Music or iTunes Match subscription
Beats 1 Live Radio
Podcasts
AirPlay other content to HomePod from iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Apple TV, and Mac
A week from tomorrow!
UPDATE: The question came up about Bluetooth being in the wireless section, but not listed as an audio source. I asked about it on Twitter, the response was, Bluetooth too compressed for the quality HomePod requires. So Bluetooth is used for pairing, but not music transfer.
This is both arcane and fascinating. I stumbled into this rabbit hole via this Jason Snell post. His enthusiasm for the story made me dig in, then it was off to the races.
If you have any love for the history of video games, take a few minutes to immerse yourself (don’t miss the video, which might be my favorite part).
Following the news that Apple had refocused their plans for iOS 12 around stability and performance over new features, many were quick to liken the move to a “Snow Leopard release” of iOS. In recent years, the phrase has reached mythological status in the Apple community, a catch-all referring to stable software and “the good ol’ days” of the Mac.
But how did this perception develop? Was Mac OS X Snow Leopard really the gold standard of software releases, an undefeated champion in the halls of computing history?
I think the real difference is that, with more time between major releases, there was less churn, and there was time for things to settle down before the next major release upended everything again. The last few versions of each cycle got to be really good, and you could stick with them until the next version settled down. Some people stayed with 10.6.8 for multiple whole cycles. (There was also less pressure to update then.) Last fall, if Sierra was buggy for you, the choice was between sticking with a release you weren’t happy with or rolling the dice on High Sierra, which included significant fixes but also introduced new problems of its own.
Nothing is ever rock solid. But there are certainly many shades of grey between rock solid and terribly buggy. And Apple’s reputation is critical to their continued success. Apple cannot allow their brand to tarnish (or at least to become synonymous with terribly buggy). That’d be the ball game.
The tension here, as it usually is, is the balance between past sales and future projections.
Now on to the race to $1 trillion. This is all about market capitalization, or market cap, for short. Market cap is a company’s share price times the number of shares outstanding. Here’s an Investopedia article on the concept.
As of this writing, Apple’s market cap is $860B. That’s based on a price to earning ratio of 18.25. That P/E ratio is on the high end of middling, certainly a reasonable number.
Amazon’s market cap is $696B, with a P/E ratio of 364.98. Yes, you read that correctly. In effect, Apple’s stock is grounded in actual results, while Amazon’s stock is more of a flier, based on growth and the thinking that Amazon is going to eat the world.
And Alphabet? Hot on Apple’s tail with a market cap of $811B and a P/E of 39.09. Right in the middle.
Who will get to $1 trillion first? Might happen this year.
Want to check these numbers for yourself? Go to Google and type “Apple’s market cap” or just “AAPL” and Google will show the relevant details.
As with just about every modern high-end smartphone, the results of the picture-taking process on the iPhone are as much about clever software tricks as they are about the hardware. With the software and hardware combined, does the iPhone X truly offer image quality comparable to so-called ‘real cameras?’ Is artificial background blur driving the final nails into the interchangeable-lens camera coffin?
Of course, the answer isn’t all that simple, and depends an awful lot on the preferences of the user behind the lens. But let’s dive in and take a look at what Apple’s latest smartphone shooter is capable of.
Digital Photography Review’s site is my go-to place for information and reviews of cameras. Their reviews are authoritative and exhaustive.
