Fantastic take from Seeking Alpha (free reg-wall). Just a few highlights from a much longer piece:
Apple has now grown up and realized it is not just about using content to sell devices. Eventually, those devices will stop being as profitable as they are now, but content (and the financial value of that content) lives forever.
And:
The pieces are now finally in place and Apple is steering itself into a new direction. It is showing the industry and shareholders that they have a real roadmap in place, and by next year (COVID-19 potentially notwithstanding), the company thinks it can (at a higher level) compete with the Netflix machine.
The “pieces” being the foundational elements of making and acquiring content, with Tom Hanks and Greyhound as a critical moment.
Greyhound being acquired and launching was step one – and again, make no mistake, the pandemic allowed Apple to basically bypass the lead-up to that step, because as mentioned, it had an award-level film literally drop in its lap. It also doesn’t hurt that this is going to be a very weak year for films because of all the delays, so the bar is not the same as in the past.
And:
Content is king, and Apple is putting together high-level packages that could siphon off projects that originally seemed earmarked for the Netflix pipeline.
On the heels of the blockbuster debut of “Greyhound,” and landing the highly anticipated films “Emancipation,” “Killers of the Flower Moon” and “Snow Blind,” Apple is expanding its slate of sought-after original films with “Palmer,” starring Justin Timberlake and directed by Fisher Stevens, from SK Global.
And:
“Palmer” joins Apple original films including the recently announced “Snow Blind,” with Jake Gyllenhaal attached to star; Martin Scorsese’s forthcoming “Killers of the Flower Moon,” starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro; “Emancipation,” from director Antoine Fuqua and starring and produced by Academy Award nominee Will Smith; “Sharper,” a new film from Brian Gatewood and Alessandro Tanaka, starring and produced by Academy Award winner Julianne Moore; “The Sky is Everywhere,” based on the best-selling YA novel of the same name; and the upcoming feature “On the Rocks” from Sofia Coppola, starring Bill Murray and Rashida Jones.
This Apple original films strategy is a big part of why I am bullish on Apple TV+. Remember, Apple TV+ debuted last November, just a bit more than 8 months ago, rolled from scratch, with no back catalog.
What they’ve already achieved is nothing short of remarkable, and the team has set the stage for continued growth. To me, far more important than whether a particular show appeals to me is the wide variety of shows to choose from, and the fact that Apple is building systems to draw big stars and major projects to the platform. And all this less than a year after announcement.
Manuel “Matty” Moroun died on Monday at 93 years old. That name might not mean much to you if you’re not from metro Detroit or Windsor, Canada, but around these parts, he was known mainly as the billionaire who owned, among other things, the Ambassador Bridge, which just happens to carry roughly 27 percent of all merchandise trade between Canada and the U.S.
That’s $400 billion in trade a year, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation with an average of $500 million in trade crossing the bridge daily. It generated $60 million in tolls for Moroun, according to the Detroit Free Press. At least 40 percent of trucking shipments into the US cross this bridge and the closest secondary crossing for big rigs is over two hours away, Forbes reports.
Not only is it the busiest international crossing in North America, but it is also the only one to be privately owned. Does it seem to you like this span is too important a crossing to be in private ownership?
Fascinating story about one of the most important border crossings in the world.
Today, Apple released software updates for all of its platforms, including the iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Apple TV, and HomePod. The updates should be rolling out to users around the world throughout the day.
In general, the updates are fairly small in scope. As usual, iOS 13.6 and iPadOS 13.6 are the beefiest, but they’re still small. The flagship feature is the addition of support for digital car keys on the iPhone. Additionally, Apple has added voice-narrated stories to Apple News+, as well as expanded local news and customization options in the News app. There’s also a new “symptoms” category in the Health app, plus a variety of bug fixes.
Apple is expanding AppleCare+ monthly payment options to Canada, Australia, and Japan, allowing customers in these countries to pay for AppleCare+ for iPhones, iPads, and Apple Watches on a monthly basis.
The online Apple Stores in Canada, Australia, and Japan aren’t yet providing monthly payment options when checking out after new device purchases, but an AppleCare+ support document confirms the feature is rolling out.
Good news for those of you who want to spread those payments out.
The comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) has arrived in the night sky here in the northern hemisphere, delighting skywatchers and photographers alike. With planning, patience, and clear skies, you can capture an unforgettable image of this celestial event.
Nobody knows for sure how long NEOWISE will be visible at night. In theory, the comet should be visible in the northwest evening sky later in July, but this is not guaranteed so shoot it while you can!
I went out last night with the 14 year old and we could see Neowise with an old pair of binoculars. We’ll try and get some photos this weekend.
Apple has introduced audio versions of select feature stories from Apple News+, a daily audio news briefing hosted by Apple News editors, and the beginning of curated local news collections in select areas.
Beginning on Wednesday, Apple News will produce audio stories, narrated by professional voice actors. Apple says that they are developed from some of the best feature reporting and long-form pieces published by Esquire, Essence, Fast Company, GQ, New York magazine, Sports Illustrated, Time, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and Wired. Audio stories are now available to Apple News+ subscribers in the US.
The new “Apple News Today” daily audio news briefing is hosted by humita Basu and Duarte Geraldino. Apple News Today is free to all listeners in the US, can be found in the new Audio tab in Apple News or the Podcasts app, and will be available mornings Monday through Friday.
Along with deals from Verizon and Best Buy, as well as their own in-app offers, Apple seems to really be pushing to get more users for Apple News and subscribers to News+. Personally, I don’t think it’s going to work without an overhaul of the app and service.
The streaming wars adds a new contender today as NBCUniversal enters the ring with Peacock, a video streaming service that wants to take on the likes of Disney+, HBO Max, Hulu, Netflix, and Apple TV+.
Users can sign up for free and watch 13,000 hours of content for free. Peacock features commercials on its free and $4.99 tier.
The $4.99 tier, called Peacock Premium, includes access to new original content and earlier access to programming such as the ability to watch shows like America’s Got Talent, Saturday Night Live, Law & Order, and Chicago Fire the day after they air on TV. For $4.99/month though, users will still be subjected to ads (although they appear less frequently than users on the free plan).
Peacock’s most expensive offering costs $9.99 per month, somewhat awkwardly named Peacock Premium Plus. The content offering is the same as Peacock Premium, without any ads.
Yet another streaming service launches. Will you sign up? Right now, I wouldn’t if only because there’s no content on it that I want to watch that I haven’t already seen.
Read the thread (and the replies). Solid take on the force of character that helped make Steve Jobs who he was.
I feel like people don’t get why Steve Jobs was ultimately so successful. It wasn’t because of his huge ego or because he could be a complete jerk. It wasn’t because of his incredible charisma, although that helped.
If you carry nostalgia for LEGO, the original Nintendo Entertainment System, and Super Mario, you will love this effort. Watch the video below for the official reveal from Nintendo, and follow the headline link if you’ve got cash burning a hole in your pocket and want one (it goes live August 1st).
Beginning later this week, Verizon and Apple are partnering on a new promotion for Apple News+. Any iPad activated through Verizon will qualify for a free six-month subscription to Apple News+. The deal arrives as Apple is trying to juice interest in the News+ service, which includes access to a handful of newspapers and ~300 magazines for $9.99 per month.
This approach to onboarding new customers, to give them a taste of your service, seems smart to me. Free trials for Apple Arcade, Apple Music, Apple TV+, and Apple News+ give folks the chance to develop some new habits, to develop a fondness for/dependence on a particular service.
I just don’t see the value proposition in the existing version of Apple News+. Could there be an incarnation where Apple News+ catches on, or at least works for me? Sure. Start by making it a lot more customizable for me. Make it easier for me to create a front page that has news I really care about, and zero fluff.
Apple has been told it will not have to pay Ireland €13bn (£11.6bn) in back taxes after winning an appeal at the European Union’s second highest court.
And:
“This case was not about how much tax we pay, but where we are required to pay it,” Apple said in a statement. “We’re proud to be the largest taxpayer in the world as we know the important role tax payments play in society.”
That’s about US$14.9 billion, at today’s trade rate. And the Irish government has appealed the decision.
My bad. Hopped in the car for the last leg of a road trip, realized the error, but took me til this afternoon to correct. Clearly, the Irish government is on side here.
Apple’s WWII drama Greyhound, starring and written by Tom Hanks, has become the largest opening-weekend release ever for Apple TV+, including series that have bowed on the service, sources close to Apple tell Deadline. The streamer is loathe in giving up exact numbers, but I’m told the film turned in a viewing audience commensurate with a summer theatrical box office big hit, which of course Greyhound was meant to be until it moved from Sony to Apple because of the uncertainty of movie theaters after COVID-19.
Beyond generating the largest opening weekend ever for Apple TV+, 30% of its viewers were new to the service.
Ignoring the tortured headline, this is great news. As I said on Twitter, “Personal verdict on Greyhound: B+. Very tense. Woefully lacking character development. Confusing jargon (I’m a Navy brat but wife isn’t. I had to explain a lot) and, for us, poor sound quality. Better on big screen.” Still good enough I’d recommend it to anyone interested.
If you rushed to the settlement site to claim the $25 check that Apple must pay to iPhone 6, 7, and SE owners after a class-action lawsuit over performance slowdowns, you might have been left feeling frustrated and disappointed. It’s not the amount, it’s the search tool.
The site says you may be able to locate your old phone’s serial number by entering the Apple ID and device type along with the name and address last associated with the iPhone in question. We weren’t able to find an iPhone 6s that we still have in our possession using the tool, and we’ve heard from readers who say the same. We’re not sure if it’s the result of a bug or strict search parameters, but it’s certainly frustrating.
But even if you can’t find your old phone or it won’t turn on, you might still be able to find your serial number and claim your cash. Here are five ways to track it down.
Very helpful for those of you who want to take part in the settlement but no longer have the eligible iPhone.
Brooks Falls in Alaska’s Katmai National Park is the best place in the world to watch brown bears feasting on salmon as they swim upstream to spawn. Find out the best time to watch live and learn more about Katmai and its brown bears on Explore.org.
When I watched it, I saw four bears feeding and hundreds of salmon trying to get upstream.
Apple is readjusting operations as Covid-19 cases continue to spike in the U.S. and some other parts of the world.
The Cupertino, California-based technology giant is pushing retail staff to work remotely as the virus forces the company to shut some of its stores again, according to a video message sent to employees. It is also shipping Covid-19 test kits to employees’ homes, and told staff in a memo that a full return to U.S. offices won’t occur before the end of the year.
In a video shared with Apple retail employees over the weekend, Deirdre O’Brien, Apple’s senior vice president of retail and people, pressed employees working at stores that have closed again to begin working from home to serve customers buying or seeking support for products online or over the phone.
Just one more indication that things are not getting better in the US.
Apple has announced iOS 14, and it’s the first time in years that the company has made significant changes to the home screen. There are several new features, but perhaps the most significant change is the new Widgets system. We’ve had Widgets on the Today View (the screen to the left of your first Home screen) for years, but not a lot of people use that screen. And what’s the point of glanceable info if you have to swipe around to see it?
With iOS 14, Apple is replacing the old widgets with all new ones that are more dynamic, can pull in more information, come in three sizes, and most importantly, can be placed anywhere on the home screen. Here’s how you work with widgets in iOS 14.
Now that the public beta is available and the full release of OS 14 is around the proverbial corner, lots of folks want to know how to use the new whiz-bang features of the latest version of iOS. Widgets look like they might be quite useful.
There’s a widespread idea that seniors are technologically illiterate or dislike devices, but that’s not necessarily the case. Instead, older adults adopt tech they find useful and resist tech they don’t. In normal times, that can be problematic when it comes to filing online forms or accessing test results. But in the pandemic, when internet connectivity drives social engagement and medical care, this misconception could be deadly.
Roughly 27 percent of Americans over 65 are not online, and understanding why is key to changing that. If companies designed devices and software with value for seniors, not as many older people would find themselves on the other side of the digital divide. During a pandemic, that could save lives.
The older the person, the less likely she is to embrace the internet, social media, or smartphones, but those who have adopted these technologies use them a lot and learn new skills to do so. Seniors are the fastest growing online demographic, though some remain holdouts. In many of those cases, the real barrier to entry isn’t technological—it’s personal.
The answer isn’t as cut and dried as the article makes it seem. There are lots of reasons for seniors to use the internet but there are just as many valid reasons for them to avoid it.
Great read from Filipe Espósito, 9to5Mac. For me, the Camera app is one of the most important apps on my iPhone. Improvements to the camera are important distinguishing features between iPhone generations and between models of the same generation. A big camera improvement can trigger iPhone users to upgrade to a newer model.
This particular iOS 14 change jumped out at me:
With iOS 14, Apple says opening the Camera app and taking the first picture is up to 25% faster, while taking two or more pictures is 90% faster. For iPhones with Portrait Mode, photos are taken up to 15% faster.
These changes are automatically enabled to all devices running iOS 14, so you don’t need to change anything to benefit from these enhancements.
Huge gain in both of these paragraphs. How many pictures have you lost because you were just a hair too slow getting your iPhone out and getting that picture snapped?
And, maybe more importantly, the faster speed is enabled across all models, not just the higher end of the range.
Imahara died suddenly following a brain aneurysm, The Hollywood Reporter has learned. “We are heartbroken to hear this sad news about Grant. He was an important part of our Discovery family and a really wonderful man. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family,” a representative for Discovery said in a statement on Monday.
And:
While part of the Mythbusters team, he sky-dived and drove stunt cars, on film sets he came into contact with some of the most iconic characters in screen history, installing lights onto Star Wars’ R2-D2, creating the robot Geoff Peterson for The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson and working on the Energizer Bunny.
Adam Savage:
I’m at a loss. No words. I’ve been part of two big families with Grant Imahara over the last 22 years. Grant was a truly brilliant engineer, artist and performer, but also just such a generous, easygoing, and gentle PERSON. Working with Grant was so much fun. I’ll miss my friend.
Later this month, the comet will become visible in the evening for those at latitudes like those further south in the U.S. Some skilled observers have reported that – once you spot it with binoculars – you can remove them and glimpse this comet as a fuzzy ball, using only the unaided eye. Using binoculars or other optical aid is a must, though, if you want to see this comet’s splendid split tail. The comet is called C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE). In this post, we provide charts that can help you see this celestial visitor.
Around July 12-15, Comet NEOWISE will appear early in the evening sky, close to the northwest horizon.
Definitely going out this evening with my son to see if we can spot this tonight.
If you are or were a U.S. owner of an iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6s, 6s Plus, and/or SE device that ran iOS 10.2.1 or later before December 21, 2017, and/or a U.S. owner of an iPhone 7 or 7 Plus device that ran iOS 11.2 or later before December 21, 2017, you could be entitled to benefits under a class action settlement.
Under the proposed settlement, Apple will make a minimum, non-reversionary payment of $310,000,000 and a maximum payment of up to $500,000,000, depending on the number of claims submitted.
The max you’ll get is $25 and this is good only for US owners of the affected devices.
The Underdogs are back, navigating their new normal with lots of unknowns but one reliable constant: Apple helps unleash their creativity and productivity even when they’re working from home.
It’s still a world of deadlines, meetings, group chats, conference calls, coworkers, and bosses. But it’s also a world of kids, a dog, and a hairless cat. And it’s a world where collaboration never misses a beat, whether the team uses iPad, iPhone, iMac, MacBook, or all of the above. Working from home (or working from anywhere) isn’t new, but what you can make happen together is.
This is Apple at Work (from Home).
Good to see Apple having a bit of fun amidst all this madness.
Imagine this: An airline loses your checked bag. After an extensive search, customer support comes up empty-handed. They compensate you and life goes on.
But life goes on for your suitcase, too. Written off as “unclaimed,” it sits in a musty collection depot for 3 months. Eventually, the airline sells it — along with hundreds of other lost suitcases and cargo shipments — to a private company, sight unseen.
The new owner cracks the lock, sifts through your former possessions, and marks them for sale.
A few days later, a retired mechanic named Charlie buys your grandfather’s watch for $150. A 19-year-old line cook acquires your Beats headphones. And a nurse from Florida becomes the proud new owner of the scarf your mom knitted you for Christmas.
This is the bizarre secondary market for lost luggage.
It’s unlikely that my two lost iPods would be in this stuff.
Apple is proceeding in its $2.5 billion commitment to help fight the housing crisis in California, with the allocation of more than $400 million going towards affordable housing projects and homeowner assistance programs in the state in 2020.
Apple initially announced its $2.5 billion plan in November, seeking to ease the rising costs for renters and homebuyers in California. The aim was to help people buy houses, including in areas like San Francisco where house prices are escalating and homeownership is at a seven-year low.
In keeping with its plan, Apple revealed on Monday it had ring-fenced more than $400 million for the initiative, which will go to supporting first-time homebuyers and the construction of new affordable housing units. The units include many reserved for veterans, the homeless or formerly homeless, and residents with developmental disabilities.
Good to see these units won’t be reserved for Apple employees but will end up in the general housing pool and aimed at those most in need.
Why should Intel worry about Apple’s decision to base future Macs on homegrown Apple Silicon SoC (System on a Chip) devices? According to Dataquest and IDC estimates, Apple owns no more than 7% of the PC market. Furthermore, Apple doesn’t buy the expensive Xeon chips, used in millions of Cloud servers, that represent a growing proportion of Intel’s revenue. And the company is a headache: It makes demands and complaints way out of proportion with the amount of revenue it generates. Losing Apple is more symbol than substance.
Not so fast. The impact on Intel — and the entire industry — will be felt beyond Apple’s small share of the PC market.
Specifically, what are Dell, HP, Asus, and others going to do if Apple offers materially better laptops and desktops and Microsoft continues to improve Windows on ARM Surface devices?
I’ve read various pundits saying this transition will have little to no effect on Intel. But Gassée argues it may create a seismic shift at Intel.
Apple News+, the company’s paid offering is running a new promotion for users who have tried the service and canceled their subscriptions. The new deal offers previous customers another free month of Apple News+ as the new audio stories are set to launch with the upcoming release of iOS 13.6.
If you haven’t tried Apple News+, the standard welcome at the top of the News+ tab in the Apple News app encourages you to try it for free for one month before paying the $10/month regular price.
Now, Apple is offering a second free month to those who have given it a try but canceled the subscription.
Sorry, Apple. Nothing significant has changed with News+. There’s no need for another trial subscription for me.
It goes without saying, don’t send any money to that Bitcoin account. It looks like 