Samsung acquires Viv, a firm created by Siri’s co-creater

Tech giant Samsung Electronics Co Ltd said on Thursday it is acquiring U.S. artificial intelligence (AI) platform developer Viv Labs Inc, a firm run by a co-creator of Apple Inc’s Siri voice assistant program.

Samsung said in a statement it plans to integrate the San Jose-based company’s AI platform, called Viv, into the Galaxy smartphones and expand voice-assistant services to home appliances and wearable technology devices.

Viv looks to be a pretty robust system. Impressive move.

Replacement Samsung Galaxy Note 7 catches fire on plane

Southwest Airlines flight 994 from Louisville to Baltimore was evacuated this morning while still at the gate because of a smoking Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smartphone. All passengers and crew exited the plane via the main cabin door and no injuries were reported, a Southwest Airlines spokesperson told The Verge.

More worryingly, the phone in question was a replacement Galaxy Note 7, one that was deemed to be safe by Samsung.

People, get rid of this shit now and keep the rest of us safe.

Samsung slammed by Chinese state TV for recall discrimination

CCTV said a video apology Samsung issued to U.S. consumers, along with various replacement options and compensation, was in stark contrast to its treatment of those in China, where the company issued a brief statement saying most phones didn’t need to be replaced. “Samsung’s discriminatory policy has caused discontent from Chinese consumers,” it said.

Like I said yesterday: Samsung should have issued a total recall of all devices. They would have avoided issues like this and the fading consumer trust.

Apple’s relationship with the pro community

I write Mac software for a YC company in the pro video space. Our new product started deployments a couple of months back, and a major source of problems has been the Apple platform — both hardware and software. It’s so bad that we’re actively working to move off the Mac completely. (I’ve spent 15 years doing Mac software, so this is a big deal for me.)

I’m so sad to see things like this. I use an iMac right now for music production, but many of the pros I know in the music industry are using older Mac Pros and have them locked into old versions of software.

FCC delays vote to make subscription TV available on any set-top box via apps

Juli Clover writing for MacRumors:

Introduced in January by United States Federal Communications Commission chairman Tom Wheeler, the proposal initially called for content providers to allow cable and satellite subscribers to access and watch cable content on any set-top box of their choosing, including the Apple TV, rather than being forced to lease a set-top box provided by cable companies like Comcast and Time Warner Cable.

That’s too bad. The pressure from cable companies against this proposal must have been incredible.

Pro Tools 12.6 available

Currently, Pro Tools 12.6 is compatible with Mac OS X 10.11.6 (El Capitan), 10.10.5 (Yosemite), 10.9.5 (Mavericks), but has not been qualified for macOS Sierra.

Tim Cook to headline Sen. Orrin Hatch’s Utah Tech Tour on Friday

Cook will take the dais following comments from a lineup of Utah’s top tech leaders. The Apple chief will offer a short address before fielding questions from Hatch and members of the public, including those submitted via an online form.

Topics of discussion have not been announced, though the issue of national security versus personal privacy is likely to be broached considering Apple’s recent dustup with the U.S. Department of Defense and the FBI.

It should be a great discussion. Tim is very well versed in privacy, how it relates to Apple, and what the company wants for its customers.

Spotify launches in Japan

It its favor, it is the one mainstream streaming service in Japan that has a free-tier option for users. That goes some way to explaining why it has taken so long for the Swedish company to secure deals with record labels, but it could be a factor that helps its service gain some momentum in the country among users who are not used to paying for digital music consumption.

I wonder how this free tier on Spotify will affect Apple Music. Overall, Spotify has a solid reputation in the streaming business, so it will be interesting to see how this plays out in terms of subscriptions.

Samsung says some Note 7 devices use a different battery

The South Korean firm has said the Note 7 phones that were sold starting on the official Sept. 1 launch date use a different battery than the recalled devices. But a string of reports by users in China, the world’s top smartphone market, that their Note 7s caught fire have dogged Samsung in a country where they have already fallen out of the top five in terms of market share.

It’s like Samsung is doing everything it can to screw up this recall. What they should do is recall all of the devices and replace them—that’s the only way to restore consumer confidence.

Oh Samsung (for the second time today)

A Delta flight from Detroit to Amsterdam diverted on Sunday when a Samsung tablet onboard overheated and started smoking.

The flight diverted to Manchester, where authorities investigated the smoke and found a Samsung tablet lodged in between two seats.

All passengers should be checked for these hazardous devices before boarding a plane.

iMessage and metadata: What you need to know

There’s a story going around about Apple storing metadata associated with the iMessage service and, when obligated by a court order, turning that data over to law enforcement. The details of the story are accurate, as far as I know, but it conflates two very different things in order to create a sensational headline, which is unfortunate for people who want and need to be informed about important issues involving privacy.

Very good explanation from Rene.

Oh Samsung, you just can’t make this shit up

Samsung, maker of the troubled Galaxy Note 7 smartphone, has another problem on its hands.

U.S. regulators on Wednesday warned owners of certain top-loading Samsung washing machines of “safety issues” following reports that some have exploded.

If you own a Samsung product, you should keep it in a bomb shelter.

Apple & Deloitte Team Up to Accelerate Business Transformation on iPhone & iPad

Apple® and Deloitte today announced a partnership to help companies quickly and easily transform the way they work by maximizing the power, ease-of-use and security the iOS platform brings to the workplace through iPhone® and iPad®. As part of the joint effort, Deloitte is creating a first-of-its-kind Apple practice with over 5,000 strategic advisors who are solely focused on helping businesses change the way they work across their entire enterprise, from customer-facing functions such as retail, field services and recruiting, to R&D, inventory management and back-office systems.

Apple and Deloitte will also collaborate on the development of a new service offering from Deloitte Consulting called EnterpriseNext, designed to help clients fully take advantage of the iOS ecosystem of hardware, software and services in the workplace. The new offering will help customers discover the highest impact possibilities within their industries and quickly develop custom solutions through rapid prototyping.

Pro music perspective on Apple

My main music production Mac is always at least one full OS version behind. I know some engineers in the industry that lock down there Macs for years without updating.

Fine-tuning Apple Music’s “My Favorites Mix”

A couple of weeks ago, Apple Music added a new feature call My Favorites Mix to the For You section of the music service. This uses an algorithm to add songs to a weekly updated playlist, which is based on the music you play and love and other music Apple believes you will like. My list has been great, but you can help yourself and fine-tune it to be even better.

BlackBerry will stop development of phones

“The company plans to end all internal hardware development and will outsource that function to partners,” CEO John Chen said in a statement. “This allows us to reduce capital requirements and enhance return on invested capital.”

It’s been a rough decade for BlackBerry.

Public skeptical of self-driving cars

That’s according to the results of a new study published today that aimed to assess public opinion on the subject. The survey commissioned by Kelley Blue Book showed that out of 2,264 U.S. residents polled, 64 percent said they need to be in control of their own vehicle and 62 percent said they enjoy driving.

Count me in the group that loves to drive. I’ve always loved to get out on the highway, play some music and feel the freedom. Not everyone is like me. In fact, the roads would be a lot safer if some drivers were never allowed to touch the wheel of a car. It’s going to take a while before the public comes around to fully autonomous vehicles.

Record labels sue YouTube-MP3

A huge coalition of recording labels has sued the world’s leading YouTube ripping site. The IFPI, RIAA, and BPI in the UK say they are taking legal action against YouTube-MP3 to protect the rights of artists and labels. The site has a reported 60 million monthly visitors and is said to be “raking in millions” in advertising revenues.

Plex Cloud

So what is Plex Cloud? For the first time, you get a full-featured1 Plex Media Server in the… er… cloud.

Oh my, this looks really good.

Apple, Ziegler, and The Verge

This is the most bizarre situation I’ve come across in a long time. A reporter at The Verge working for Apple at the same time and neither seemed to know. I agree with Gruber–something doesn’t add up here.

Samsung Galaxy Note emits smoke, sparks during flight

Passengers on board an IndiGo flight smelled smoke coming from the baggage bin and alerted cabin crew who saw sparks and smoke coming from a Samsung Galaxy Note 2 phone, the airline, owned by InterGlobe Aviation, said in an emailed statement.

This one is supposedly a Note 2, but the exact model wasn’t confirmed. The airlines should make all Samsung users fly on the same, unmanned plane for the safety of the rest of us.

Customers complain about Galaxy Note 7 replacement batteries

Customer complaints that replacement batteries for Samsung Electronics Co.’s Galaxy Note 7 have been overheating and quickly losing battery power threaten to complicate the South Korean technology giant’s unprecedented recall of its premium smartphone.

From the frying pan to the fire. Or maybe that’s the other way around in this case.