Vox:
Apple kicked off the event by announcing major upgrades to both of its flagship operating systems: Mac OS X, which powers Macs, and iOS, which powers iPhones and iPads. The releases included a slew of new features. Here are the most important among them.
Good overview of what developers are looking at right now and what the rest of us will see later this year. Some very exciting stuff coming.
PetaPixel:
Apple has really opened the door for developers to go crazy when it comes to creating and improving camera apps.Developers can now access manual controls for the camera.
This is one of those things a lot of people don’t get about WWDC. It’s not for consumers – yet. But developers (and photo app users like myself) are very excited about these kinds of “hooks” Apple is giving them access to.
Apple:
Thoughtfully redesigning OS X meant going deep into every aspect of the interface and focusing on details large and small. There are obvious changes to big things, like translucency in windows and streamlined toolbars. And there are more subtle changes to a lot of small things, like the buttons, icons, and font you see throughout the system. The more you use your Mac, the more you’ll notice, and the more you’ll love it.
Given that few (if any) of us have used it yet, what are your initial thoughts about Yosemite? Overall, I’m excited to use it.
Apple:
Swift is a new programming language for creating iOS and OS X apps. Swift builds on the best of C and Objective-C, without the constraints of C compatibility. Swift adopts safe programming patterns and adds modern features to make programming easier, more flexible, and more fun. Swift’s clean slate, backed by the mature and much-loved Cocoa and Cocoa Touch frameworks, is an opportunity to reimagine how software development works.
Of all the announcement Apple made today, this might turn out to be one of the biggest.
Once a year, Apple kicks off its World Wide Developer Conference with a keynote presentation. Many people seem to think they’re famous for involving Apple dazzling consumers with an array of new products, to the rapturous approval of everybody involved.Which is weird, because that’s not the point at all.
While Apple will announce new hardware on Monday, the focus will be on software – specifically iOS 8 and the next version of Mac OS X.
Apple’s 25th annual developers conference kicks off next week, and as usual, the company’s spent the past week putting up large, colorful banners all over the Moscone West building in San Francisco. That includes large Apple logos to the two sides of the three story building, as well as product banners on the inside of the building.One of those is a banner with a large 8 on it, the first indication of iOS 8, which is expected at the show.
Join me in saying, “Duh.”
The World Cup returns to Brazil, the home of the beautiful game, o jogo bonito, for the first time in sixty-four years this year. It’s the 20th playing of the greatest sports tournament in the world, bigger even than the Olympics, with TV viewership in the hundreds of millions all across the globe.All the pressure is on Brazil – hosts, favorites, winners of five World Cups and all-too-aware that the last time Brazil hosted the World Cup, neighboring Uruguay beat them 2-1 at the Maracana to claim Uruguay’s second and last title. Spain try to become the first team to win four major international tournaments in a row, the Germans are overdue, Argentina looks to Messi while Portugal, Belgium and Columbia dream of a first-ever World Cup title. Add in the Netherlands, previous champions Italy, England, France and Uruguay and all the ingredients are there for one of the best World Cups of all time!
Go Italia!
Re/Code:
A few hours after announcing their $3 billion deal, Apple SVP Eddy Cue and Beats co-founder Jimmy Iovine came to the Code Conference to talk about what brought them together, and what they want to do next. You can watch their conversation with Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher
Always interesting to see what is (and isn’t) said during these interviews.
Vox:
Over the last few months, the cost of coffee has risen dramatically. Since January, the average price of coffee futures on commodity markets has increased by more than 50 percent.It’s taken a while for this to be reflected in the retail price of coffee, because roasters generally have a few months’ stock of beans on hand. But we’re finally beginning to see slight increases in retail prices of coffee too.
So what are the causes of this recent price increase?
Oh, this is going to suck.
It’s amazing how these motorists don’t even notice the cyclist. There were a number of near misses but in the end they got him.
Car drivers, please keep a eye out for those of us who ride on two wheels and give us a break. Thanks to Dan Frakes on Twitter for the link.
If your kitchen drawers are anything like ours, you never have the right measuring implement for the recipe you’re tackling. Keep this chart on hand, and the next time you find yourself asking “How many…” you’ll know just what to do.
While most of the world has gone metric, there are still a lot (at least here in North America) of measurements that are “Old School”. This would make a handy poster to hang in your kitchen to help with various unit conversions.
The Verge:
Milan-based coachbuilder Carrozzeria Touring has teamed up with Mini’s design team to build a truly spectacular one-off, electric-powered concept roadster that somehow manages to meld the classic British design with sleek Italian looks.The so-called Mini Touring Superleggera Vision will almost certainly never see the roads in this form, but that doesn’t mean you can’t fall in love with the design.
I’ve always been a fan of Mini Coopers (even if I’d never buy one) but this one? I’d love be able to buy. Sadly, it’s a one-off. Make sure you watch the very cool video too.
Led Zeppelin have released a new video for a previously-unheard version of their classic 1969 single ‘Whole Lotta Love’ – watch it above.
Wirecutter:
Readers often want to know: Why don’t they ever seem to get our recommendation? In general, it’s a price vs. performance issue, and often they don’t measure up to their competition. But there are a lot of specific reasons, too. So, to better address the frequently asked questions of Beats by Dre, we thought we’d talk you through each model, what you might be looking for when you first consider it, and then why we’d put our hard-earned cash somewhere else.
Some great advice here about the various alternatives if you don’t want to buy Beats.
Wired:
On Sunday, Formula One fans will plunk themselves in front of their TVs to watch the Monaco Grand Prix. If you’re not planning on doing the same, you should be.The Monaco Grand Prix is the greatest race in all of motorsport. It has everything: yachts, champagne, supermodels, royalty, parties, not to mention one of the world’s most historic racetracks that’s built to generate exciting moments.
Here’s why you should be watching when the green flag drops on Sunday at 7:30 AM EST.
I will respectfully disagree with my friend, Jordan Golson of Wired, when he says Monaco is the “greatest” race but it is fun to watch – especially as a companion race to Sunday’s Indianapolis 500.
Vox:
If you live in the United States or Canada and stay up late enough tonight, you might see something pretty cool: a brand-new, relatively big meteor shower.Starting at around 2 a.m. EDT, the Earth will pass through a stream of rocks and dust emitted by a recently-discovered comet. This debris won’t pose any danger — because it will burn up as it enters our atmosphere — but it’s projected to produce somewhere between 100 and 400 meteors per hour.
For those of you lucky enough to be in an area where you can see this, I’d encourage you to grab a blanket, get outside to some place dark and enjoy the show.
The 10 hours in a metal tube between London and San Francisco provide for some great thinking space. The flights to and from WWDC last year as every year offered plenty of time to take stock of where things are, what could be, and on the way back what it all means. With all the focus on iOS 7’s new aesthetic, understandably the “iOS 7-only” mantra was top of everyone’s minds. But as I sat in sessions eagerly watching talks about all the new technologies on iOS, something bigger struck me. Something that’s taken almost a full year to fully analyse.
A long but interesting read from the point of view of a guy who really knows what he’s talking about.
Wired: Airports are known for rules and regulations, a reputation that applies to the runways as well. Almost all airport designs are governed by regulations established by the International Civil Aviation Organization to ensure pilots circling Toledo or Timbuktu remain … Continued
Fast Company:
Before founding Storehouse, Kawano was a senior designer at Apple for seven years, where he worked on Aperture and iPhoto. Later, Kawano became Apple’s User Experience Evangelist, guiding third-party app iOS developers to create software that felt right on Apple’s platforms. Kawano was with the company during a critical moment, as Apple released the iPhone and created the wide world of apps.In an interview with Co.Design, Kawano spoke frankly about his time at Apple–and especially wanted to address all the myths the industry has about the company and about its people.
Interesting comments from a guy who was in the trenches.
Ars Technica:
Galloping Ghost, an arcade located in the western suburbs of Chicago, was said to house well over 400 vintage games. $15 gets you all of the gaming you can stand until closing time at 2am—no quarters needed.
This place would have made my 14 year old self weep with joy. If I ever find myself in Chicago, I’ll have to make a pilgrimage.
NASA was allowed to use the song for one year. That year is up today so the video will be removed from Youtube. All of Canada is extremely proud of Commander Hadfield.
If you already have an Apple TV, I see no reason to rush out and buy a Fire TV, unless you want easier access to Amazon content. Of course, there’s nothing stopping you from having both a Fire TV and an Apple TV, if they’re within your budget and you have enough TV/receiver inputs.In the end, I think the most important thing to realize about the Fire TV, and something that most reviews have missed, is that the Fire TV is merely Amazon’s opening salvo.
Good comparison between the two devices and, more importantly, services.
Re/code:
It took me a while to get into Internet-based “streaming” music services. But I’ve finally warmed up to the idea that music files don’t have to be something that I physically possess.And streaming music services have finally gotten to the point where they offer enough value to offset the occasional interruptions in play or the intrusive ads.
I’ve been exploring some of the lesser-known features of streaming music services like Pandora, Spotify, iTunes Radio and Beats Music. (Beats, of course, may soon be acquired by Apple for $3.2 billion.) There’s a handful of others out there, including Rdio, Songza, Google Play Music and iHeartRadio, but the first four I mentioned are the ones I focused on for this column.
Do you use streaming music services? Which ones? What do you like/dislike about them?
It’s been made clear by the many reports and unnamed sources from every reputed site on the Internet—and by Tyrese—that Beats Electronics will soon be acquired by Apple for around $3.2 billion. But what has not been made clear is why, and why now.Many have questioned whether Apple has run out of ideas—but this is one of the best decisions Apple has made in years. There are three main reasons why this deal likely happened, and all three show that Apple CEO Tim Cook has a keen awareness of the position his company finds itself in and is willing to make the necessary changes to keep Apple on top.
The author makes some very interesting points. I agree the key to the deal is Iovine.
Snood itself is a lot like Puzzle Bobble. A turret presides over the bottom quadrant of the screen, and you, the player, move this turret with your mouse in an arc from left to right. Pick a trajectory, click the mouse button, and another snood ejaculates onto the playing field, making a satisfying “thoonk” not unlike the pneumatic “thoonk” from an arcade’s air ball cannon. Match three snoods of the same color and type, and they vanish. Knock other snoods away with them—a “two birds with one stone” type of play—and they drop from the screen with a little triumphant fanfare.
I’ve been addicted to this game for years.
The modern Formula 1 car is among the most amazing machines ever made. And when you’re going wheel-to-wheel with someone like four-time world champ Sebastian Vettel at 180 mph, you can’t take a hand off the wheel to do, well, anything. Every task a driver might need to do, every bit of information he might need to know, is quite literally at his fingertips.The modern Formula 1 steering wheel is, therefore, the most amazing ever made. It is, in every way, the nerve center of the car.
How insanely complicated does that steering wheel look?
As product names go, iWatch is every bit as obvious as iPhone was. Apple would desire it for exactly the same reason: it clearly describes the category it is about to disrupt, and it echoes all the i-goodness that came before it. It’s a name that single-handedly does an awful lot of the heavy lifting for the marketing dept.Second, securing the iWatch name may require some fancy footwork. According to Bloomberg there are more than 50 companies that can lay claim to the name. The biggest one of the bunch is Swatch, which has been marketing a product called iSwatch since 2009. Swatch is already making noise that the name iWatch will cause confusion in the marketplace.
It will be easier for Apple when it comes to light that ‘iWatch” isn’t a product but an OS/platform.
Yahoo yesterday announced that it will stop complying with Do Not Track signals that Web browsers send on behalf of users who wish to not be monitored for advertising purposes.“As of today, web browser Do Not Track settings will no longer be enabled on Yahoo,” a company blog said. “As the first major tech company to implement Do Not Track, we’ve been at the heart of conversations surrounding how to develop the most user-friendly standard. However, we have yet to see a single standard emerge that is effective, easy to use and has been adopted by the broader tech industry.”
As one of the commenters pointed out, “this is in a nutshell why optional compliance doesn’t work.”
With the world’s biggest sporting event, the FIFA World Cup, set to kick off in roughly 37 days, ESPN has now revealed how it plans to deliver coverage to you.At a recent media event in New York City, ESPN President John Skipper and Co. announced that all 64 World Cup matches from Brazil would be streamed live via WatchESPN and ESPN3. Naturally, you’ll need a cable subscription to have access to the feeds, but the good news is that, since ESPN has full rights to the tournament in the US, you won’t be subject to any tedious blackout restrictions.
Most of the US won’t care/won’t watch but this is the biggest sporting event in the world. I’ll be watching every game.
Amid the security checks, cramped seating and baggage fees, it’s easy to pine for the glory days of air travel. When food was abundant (and included in the price of your ticket), you had room to cross your legs and fashionable air hostesses handed out cocktails and chewing gum. And if you wanted to light up, then — like most anywhere else — you simply lit up. A smoking section on an airplane … is like having a peeing section in a swimming pool.The smoke-filled cabin seems hard to imagine today, a quaint relic of a bygone era when travel also meant white gloves and meaningful customer service. But the right…was far from a given. Just 25 years ago, thanks to the efforts of an intrepid few, from key lawmakers to, yes, valiantly disagreeable flight attendants, a public health hazard went from established custom to punishable offense.
The fight to keep the “No Smoking” sign on in airplanes crossing the friendly skies was not an easy one.
I remember when it was legal to smoke on planes. Seems insane now.
