Yearly Archives: 2015

Monday Note:

As the first wave of Apple Watch reviews shows, waiting for impressions to settle down isn’t part of the Product Review genre. The psychoactive toxicity of Apple product launches that I made fun of two weeks ago is in full display as reviewers climb to the rooftops in a race for income-producing pageviews.

There’s no doubt that “page view journalism” has taken its toll on, at the very least, reviews of Apple’s products.

Macworld:

Popcorn Time for iOS tries to offer a version of sideloading, but there are far too many pieces of its process to worry about. Further, it’s not likely to be reliably available.

It’s unimaginable that Apple would ever allow something like Popcorn Time in the App Store. It’s also inadvisable by any standard to install software like it through the method the developers provide.

Leaving aside the legality of this app, the process you have to go through in order to install it makes it a non-starter for me.

iMore:

Photo editing app Snapseed gets its first major update since 2013 with version 2.0, adding a number of new editing tools to help you get the most out of your photos.

Snapseed is my favourite iOS editing app and it’s free. The interface has changed significantly but it’s not awful. If you’ve used previous versions, you’ll get the hang of this new UI fairly quickly. If you’ve never used it, you really should. It’s easy to figure out. Every photo I take on my iPhone gets passed through Snapseed.

I spent some time today talking to TechCrunch’s Darrell Etherington about Apple Watch and the 12-inch MacBook.

Samsung talking about Apple releasing the Apple Watch:

“It’s with great delight that Apple has followed us into that market.”

It’s like that company doesn’t know when to shut the hell up.

Great seeing you again, Tim. Much respect.

Steven Levy:

A few weeks ago I was crossing the street. It was cold — late February in the Winter From Hell here on the east coast — and I was wearing a heavy coat with an inside pocket for my iPhone. The device buzzed and vibrated. My heart quickened. I ran the remaining few yards to the curb. I pulled off my gloves, fumbled to open the buttons of the coat, and almost dropped my bag in the process. Finally I managed to pull out the phone. On the screen was the following message:

“Braves OF B.J. Upton has changed his name to Melvin”

This was delivered to me in the standard message format, no different than a New York Times alert informing me a building two blocks from my apartment has exploded, or an iChat message that my sister is desperately trying to reach me. Please note that I am not a blood relative of B.J. — sorry, Melvin — Upton, nor am I even a fan of the Atlanta Braves. In other words…this could have waited.

I reflexively deny permission to 99% of the apps that ask to notify me of every stupid little thing so I have less of an issue with this but I do understand where Levy is coming from. One of the things that jumps out at me from some of the Apple Watch reviews is the idea that, if you set it up right, only those notifications that are truly important will be sent on to your wrist. But that’s the way I have my iPhone set up already.

San Jose Mercury News:

Apple has opened the door for construction workers with recent felonies on their records to help build its new campus.

The tech giant has lifted a requirement that people who had been convicted of felonies within the past seven years could not work on the massive Cupertino construction project, Apple spokesman Josh Rosenstock told this newspaper Thursday. After the policy came to light this week, Apple came under fire from union leaders and advocates, who say construction jobs are a key source of work for felons trying to transition back into society.

I’m glad they did this. Now I can apply for a job on the Apple Campus 2 construction crew.

MY thanks to Yamaha for sponsoring The Loop this week. Perfect for webcasting, podcasting, gaming and music production, the AG03 and AG06 hybrid mixing consoles/USB interfaces have unique features that make your computer-based audio tasks easier and better. The AG Series offers high-resolution (24-bit/192kHz) audio recording and playback, iOS compatibility and battery operation.

The intuitive “TO PC” switch allows users to route selected inputs back to a desktop or iOS device. The “Dry CH 1-2” allows computer or iOS recording of inputs 1 and 2, while the “INPUT MIX” switch routes all inputs to the computer or iOS device via USB for music production applications. The “LOOPBACK” switch routes all inputs to the stereo USB output along with the USB input from the computer — perfect for podcasters.

Gamers will appreciate the headset/mic interface and direct hardware control of game and voice level, perfect for adding professional audio to videos or TwitchTV broadcasts.

The AG series “1-TOUCH” effects utilize programmable digital signal processing like Reverb, Compression, EQ and even Amp Simulation, adding the final professional stroke to your music productions.

There are a lot of things to consider with the new MacBook—a Retina display, a new sized screen, weight, redesigned batteries, a newly designed keyboard and trackpad, and the fact the laptop only has one port—USB-C. Of course, one of the biggest things, for me anyway, is whether the MacBook fits into my workflow. Any one of these new features could be a deal breaker for many people, or this could simply be one of the smartest moves Apple has made in its laptop business in years. […]

If you need to chill out after reading all those Apple Watch reviews, let me show you this wonderful new, tiny and always-be-melting Apple Computer.

Om Malik finds some of the most wonderful things.

This is a really comprehensive guide from Rene Ritchie and his crew. If you have any questions, this is the best place to start.

You can download the release by opening the Mac App Store on your computer and check for updates. Of note in this release is Photos, Apple’s new photo management application.

Go to Settings > General > Software Update on your iOS device to download it.