The mind-blowing Sensus Smart Guitar

[VIDEO] This is some incredible technology. Just watch the video embedded in the main post. I’d love to get my mitts on one of these.

USB-C accessory landscape is a mess

Jordan Kahn, writing for 9to5Mac:

It would be fine if all of those USB-C accessories you purchased for your 2015 MacBook were firmware upgradeable and received updates like Apple’s own products, but many of them are not.

This seems like a mess, and one that is not necessarily merging towards stability.

Why Tony Fadell left Nest — and Alphabet

Nilay Patel, writing for The Verge:

“Tony at Alphabet was paying Google employees at Google rates with Google benefits. He was paying Google rents. This is not what a startup does”

The app boom is over

Peter Kafka, writing for Recode:

If you are an independent app developer or publisher, you have probably known this for a while, because you have found it very difficult to get people to download your app — the average American smartphone user downloads zero apps per month.

The future of Apple Pay, and a wrist experiment

Jonny Evans, writing for Computerworld, weighs in with his predictions for the future of Apple Pay. One in particular struck me:

Banks are developing cash machines with NFC support. I imagine these will demand both a biometric element and passcode in order to protect against theft, but one day you will inevitably be able to withdraw cash from any ATM anywhere just by waggling your Apple Watch above the machine.

An iOS app that teaches you how to program

Interested in learning how to program? Have some dead time, perhaps during a commute or visit to the DMV? Check out TapCoding, an iOS app that teaches you the fundamentals of Swift, all via taps on your iPhone.

Eddie Cue, the Golden State Warriors, and the Valley Effect

NY Times:

With Silicon Valley just a short Tesla drive away from Oracle Arena, Mr. Cue is far from the only techie losing his mind over the Warriors. The team is owned by a coalition of tech investors, and on any given night, you will find a passel of executives, venture capitalists and other assorted billionaires cheering from the sidelines.

A very valley problem.

The future of podcasting

Since its inception, podcasting has largely been an indie game. Though there are larger players in this space, almost all are independent companies. Ben Thompson digs into the current model, and the difficulties of making money with this model. He details a major threat to the independent podcast universe and offers some thoughts on alternatives.

Good read.

The Waze battle over local shortcuts

The ongoing and ever-growing battle between Waze and the suburban streets that have become an unwilling part of the main traffic grid.

The quest for a smarter Siri

Jason Snell explores the current incarnation of Siri, pointing to the cracks and potential. One thing in particular struck me, added my thoughts.