Business

‘The risk paid off’: How Apple prevailed in the U.S.-China trade war

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Politico:

Under CEO Tim Cook, Apple has kept its China-manufactured iPhones off the list of Chinese imports that Trump has slapped with roughly $250 billion in tariffs. That puts the Cupertino, Calif.-based electronics giant in an enviable position compared with other sectors caught in the crossfire — thanks in part to efforts by the soft-spoken, 58-year-old Cook to cultivate leaders in both countries.

This is clearly a political issue, but the article is an interesting take on Tim Cook’s under-appreciated finesse.

A nice explainer on the new USB4 spec: Thunderbolt 3, 40Gbps, and less confusion

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PCWorld:

Meet USB4, which promises to simply the USB naming scheme and integrate the high-bandwidth Thunderbolt 3 specification. Just a week after the upcoming USB 3.2 specification’s branding scheme threatened to confuse PC buyers, the next USB spec is trying to resolve it all.

And:

From a technical standpoint, USB4 is good news, promising to take the small jumble of USB specifications, form factors, and branding and consolidate them into something more understandable for a general audience.

And this, from the USB4 announcement itself:

With over 50 companies actively participating in the final stages of review of the draft specification, the USB4 specification is on track to be published around the middle of 2019. Coincident with the release of the USB4 specification, the release of an updated USB Type-C Specification will be made to comprehend USB4 bus discovery, configuration and performance requirements.

This feels like the USB Promotor Group is really trying to wrap their hands around the spec, corral the confusion. What I’d really love to see is a labeling scheme that takes all the guesswork out of “will this cable work with this port?” kinds of issues.

Upgrading From an iPhone SE to an XR

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Michael Tsai writes up his experience moving from small form factor to the larger iPhone XR. Moving from Touch ID to Face ID.

Lots of detail, terrific read. One thing that did not come up is the move from a headphone jack to none. I suspect Michael already made the move to AirPods (or the like) and it just wasn’t an issue.

UPDATE: From Michael, via Twitter, on my question about the headphone jack:

The headphone jack is not an issue for me. I use AirPods and recently found a much better Bluetooth car adapter (will hopefully write about it soon).

Another cool Augmented Reality example

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This concept was built for Legoland Denmark. Watch the embedded video:

https://twitter.com/jachim_van_huut/status/1100348709991313408

I love the design, love the functionality here. This is a terrific model for theme parks.

NY Post: Apples’s Hollywood venture marred by ‘intrusive’ execs

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This story has been making its way around the blogosphere. I’d take it all with a grain of salt.

On one hand, hard to know how well sourced this is, whether this is simply the groans of a few, or truly representative.

On the other hand, Apple is a beginner here, brand spanking new to this space. If this is truly an issue, Apple will learn the lesson over time. Apple has deep pockets, can afford to make plenty of mistakes.

Side note on that headline: Apples’s? Really? Apple’s venture. Not Apples’s venture.

UPDATE: They fixed the headline.

Microsoft Excel lets you take pic of table, convert to editable spreadsheet

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Microsoft 365 blog:

With Insert Data from Picture, you can take a picture of a printed data table with your Android device and convert that analog information into an Excel spreadsheet with a single click. New image recognition functionality automatically converts the picture to a fully editable table in Excel, eliminating the need for you to manually enter data. Insert Data from Picture will be available in preview for the Excel Android app soon.

Rolling out for Android now, iOS support coming soon. If you use Excel, this is a great feature. It’ll be interesting to see if similar features emerge for Apple’s Numbers and/or Google Docs.

The Microsoft Band, Health Dashboard officially killed by Apple Watch

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Microsoft Band support page:

Microsoft has announced the end of support for the Microsoft Health Dashboard applications and services. This document contains important dates and information regarding the end of support.

On 5/31/2019, the Microsoft Health Dashboard site will be shut down and Microsoft Band applications will be removed from the Microsoft Store, Google Play, and Apple App store.

If you bought into the Microsoft ecosystem, you can get a refund. Follow the headline link for details.

The Apple Watch, at least currently, really owns this space. Another example of Apple’s strategy of entering a space when they know they have the right product and the product right.

[H/T Friend of the Loop Andrew Leavitt]

Put your AirPods under your MacBook, your MacBook falls asleep

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Encountered this on Reddit today. Crazy.

If you have an older MacBook or MacBook Pro, try this (make sure you have a current backup first):

  • Fire up your Mac
  • Take your AirPods case and place it under your MacBook, on the left side, about halfway down
  • Your Mac will go to sleep

Basically, this is how the Mac detects that the lid is closed. Which is why it goes to sleep and, when you remove the magnet, it wakes back up.

I verified this with my 2015 MacBook Pro. Did not work with my 2018 MacBook Pro, though I suspect I just haven’t hit the right sweet spot.

Of course, I wouldn’t do this experiment without making sure you have a current backup, just cause magnets and magnetic media.

The incredible value of Apple Watch and archived heart data

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MIT Technology Review:

One day, while I was testing my own Apple Watch, Tom was deconstructing a rack of network equipment. He suddenly noticed his heart was pounding. Then he began feeling dizzy. Next came tunnel vision. He needed to sit down.

First he checked the pulse on his neck, but he realized his watch could provide more data. It said 203 beats per minute, so he fired up an ECG.

And:

Tom was definitely not feeling well, so he had a coworker take him to the hospital, where triage got him to a nurse straight away.

His nurse set up an ECG, the traditional “gold standard” kind, but Tom could feel that his heart rate had dropped closer to normal. He worried that the hospital test wouldn’t find anything, so he unlocked his phone and passed the readings to the nurse, who showed them to the remote teledoctor on call.

“Oh, that’s an SVT,” the doctor said, immediately. A supraventricular tachycardia: an abnormally fast heartbeat caused by irregular electrical activity.

The Apple Watch already has incredible value. Just like the camera, the best ECG is the one you have with you. So many stories about Apple Watch saving people’s lives. And this still feels like early days.

US music fans throw more money at vinyl, CDs than iTunes downloads now

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Cnet:

Downloads represented just 11 percent of US labels’ revenue last year, a music industry trade group said Thursday. Physical sales — the term for music formats you can actually hold, which are mostly CDs and vinyl at this point — booked 12 percent.

Looking at my own habits: I haven’t bought music in months. Apple Music brings me an embarrassment of riches, gives me more than enough to listen to.

Streaming is clearly killing downloads. Without specific legislation, I can’t ever imagine 99 cents per single purchases rising back up.

5G tide to lift Apple

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Loup Ventures:

Apple has four initiatives that will materially benefit from 5G: iPhone, augmented reality, healthcare, and autonomous vehicles. In our view, Apple will be one of 5G’s biggest beneficiaries.

Interesting article. A lot of this clicks for me, especially the concept that 5G will greatly enhance connectivity/reduce latency with the cloud.

One piece of this I can’t get past: The idea that 5G will benefit autonomous vehicles:

Autonomy needs 5G. A vehicle can drive itself without the 5G network, but for things like V2V communication, teleoperations, and other enablers of mass adoption, full coverage and instantaneous data are required.

The problem for me? 5G range is about a city block. Which means lots of equipment/expense. Which means, we’ll see 5G roll out in densely populated urban areas, and possibly never in rural areas. As vehicles move in, say, suburban areas, or rural areas, dependence on 5G will mean degraded signals as you drive.

Apple files new folding iPhone patent to address the “hinge wrinkle” problem

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Apple is clearly working on solving one of the knottiest of problems with foldable phones, that of hinge wrinkle. When you have a screen that crosses the fold of the phone, the screen can show wear, like you might see on the spine of a well worn paperback book, or if you folded and unfolded a piece of paper.

From Patently Apple:

A new patent application from Apple published by the U.S. Patent Office shows that Apple is working on a method to keep the fold area warm as a cold display could cause problems when folding.

Specifically, Apple notes that a folding device may have a hinge that allows the device to be flexed about a bend axis. A display may span the bend axis. To facilitate bending about the bend axis without damage when the display is cold, a portion of the display that overlaps the bend axis may be selectively heated.

Interesting solution. I do think the hinge wrinkle problem is a must solve for Apple. If I unfold my phone, a wrinkle, however slight, in the middle of the display, will kill the illusion of a single unbroken screen.

How Disney built Star Wars, in real life

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If you are a Star Wars fan, or a Disney fan, bookmark this detailed take on Disney’s multi-billion dollar construction project, bringing the planet Batuu’s Black Spire outpost to life, both in Florida (Disney World) and California (Disneyland).

This is just a wonderful read. Matthew Panzarino really loves both Disney and Star Wars and it shows.

One tiny taste:

“We’re really being very ambitious with what we do with Star Wars,” says Disney Portfolio Executive at Walt Disney Imagineering, Scott Trowbridge. “This location is over 14 acres. It is basically a small city in our parks. All the amazing architecture…the ships, the aliens, the droids, the creatures, everything that makes Star Wars Star Wars, all coming together so that our guests can have an opportunity to live that dream of living their Star Wars story.”

At risk of being too susceptible to marketing speak, I’d have to agree with this particular statement. What is being built here has little parallel in terms of immersion and ambition in an amusement park or out. And it’s going to blow Star Wars fans, casual and involved, away.

Can’t wait.

Apple and the NHL partner to turn candid player iPhone pics into giant ads

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Ad Week:

The Shot on iPhone campaign has long been known for highlighting the surprisingly artistic shots that can be captured by just about any caliber of photographer. Now the outdoor-focused effort is heading onto the ice and behind the scenes of the NHL to give fans a closer look at the game and its star players.

In new ads launching today on arenas across the U.S. and Canada, Apple features photos taken on the iPhone XS by some of today’s top hockey pros and featuring candid moments with their teammates.

These are some great photos. No way a fan photo can match a photo taken on the ice or in the locker room by a player.

This is a brilliant partnership. I hope it spreads to other sports.

Cellebrite iPhone hacking tool is selling on eBay for $100 — And it’s leaking data

Written by

Forbes:

The U.S. federal government, from the FBI to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, has been handing millions to Cellebrite to break into Apple and Google smartphones. Mr. Balaj (Forbes agreed not to publish his first name at his request) and others on eBay are now acquiring and trading Cellebrite systems for between $100 and $1,000 a unit. Comparable, brand-new Cellebrite tools start at $6,000.

More importantly:

Rather than return the UFEDs to Cellebrite so they can be properly decommissioned, it appears police or other individuals who’ve acquired the machines are flogging them and failing to properly wipe them. Cybersecurity researchers are now warning that valuable case data and powerful police hacking tools could have leaked as a result.

This was one of the scenarios that emerged, back in late 2015, during the Congressional hearings that followed the San Bernardino shooting, asking Apple to build a golden key to allow law enforcement to unlock any iPhone on-demand. The concern then was that the golden key might get into the wrong hands, risking the data and privacy of the larger iPhone community.

Apple Watch accounts for more than half of all smartwatches sold last quarter

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Apple Watch is maintaining a large lead in a market that is growing more competitive.

To give a sense of this, Samsung and FitBit, fighting for second place, have 13.2% and 12.7% of the 2018Q4 marketshare, compared with Apple’s 50.7%.

It is estimated that Apple shipped more than 22 million Apple Watches last year, compared to FitBit (5.5M) and Samsung (5.3M). That’s some difference.

What 15 people did with a sudden financial windfall. What’s your life changing number?

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Topic Magazine (via Kottke):

Winning the lottery. Having a long-lost relative put you in their will. Selling your TV show. For our Money issue, we interviewed 15 people—and asked writer Ijeoma Oluo to contribute an essay—on the subject of windfalls. How they got their money, and what they did with it, was both as intensely personal, and shaped by cultural expectations, as anything else.

A fascinating set of stories, full of variety.

A few tastes:

There are different tiers to writing television shows: you start as a staff writer, and each time you move up the ladder—to story editor, executive story editor, coproducer, producer, supervision producer, executive producer—you get a minimum payment from the Writers Guild.

When I moved up from staff writer to story editor for Maniac, I got my first script fee, which was around $27,000. For most of my adult life, this was equivalent to an annual salary.

And:

My coach, Erik Seidel, is a legend, and one of the first things he taught me was that if I was going to do this right, I should approach it the way any professional poker player would. The number one rule is good bankroll management: Don’t play in any events that are above what you can afford to lose, and always have a lot of money in advance.

The first time I went out to Las Vegas, Erik wouldn’t let me play in any event that was more than $60, so the first game I won was a daily tournament at Planet Hollywood. I won close to a thousand dollars, and I was absolutely ecstatic.

The way Erik and I approached the project was my winnings would be put back into poker—that would now be my poker bankroll.

These are just tiny bits of much longer stories. The whole thing is a fascinating read.

How much is a life changing amount of money for you? Is it $1,000? $100,000? $1 million? If you got it, what would you do with it?

Would Apple be remarkably different if Steve Jobs were still alive?

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This Reddit thread is provocative, but thoughtful. Rare to see a discussion like this not devolve into opposing, trolling camps.

I value perspective on Steve because he made so many dents in the universe and had such strong vision. Lessons (both positive and negative) worth holding onto.

The 50 best movie soundtracks of all time

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Yup. It’s a list, with all its flaws and omissions.

But one thing I love about this list is all the new music I’ve been listening to the past few days.

As I write this, I am listening to the Super Fly soundtrack, by Curtis Mayfield. And it is damn good.

Apple highlights best photos shot on iPhone around the world

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From Apple’s press release:

iPhone photographers around the world shared their best photos for the Shot on iPhone Challenge, capturing remarkable moments with the world’s most popular camera. The 10 selected winners will be featured on billboards in select cities, in Apple retail stores and online. The winning shots came from a range of models, from iPhone XS Max to iPhone 7, showcasing the quality of cameras across the line.

The top 10 winners came from countries including Singapore, Germany, Belarus, Israel and the US, highlighting the global community of iPhone photographers that participated. These photos capture colorful city scenery, curious animals, creative reflections, the beauty of the ordinary and more.

Our international panel of judges — Pete Souza, Austin Mann, Annet de Graaf, Luísa Dörr, Chen Man, Phil Schiller, Kaiann Drance, Brooks Kraft, Sebastien Marineau-Mes, Jon McCormack and Arem Duplessis — gave some insight on why they loved these shots.

There are some pretty phenomenal shots here. Amazing to me that these were taken by ordinary folks, and also how sophisticated our pocket cameras have become.

A Google Maps product naming story

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From this Twitter thread:

There was a geeky holy war on the Maps team. When Lars checked in the code to switch between maps and imagery, he called it “Satellite.” We were quickly informed that a significant % of the images were taken from airplanes — “Aerial Photography.” Our name was factually incorrect.

The story digs into the crazy process Google used to come up with an appropriate alternative to “Satellite” for Google Maps.

Fascinating.

Apple employees actually read the letters customers send to Tim Cook, and sometimes they inspire changes

Written by

CNBC:

Sometimes people write to Apple CEO Tim Cook.

Most don’t get a response.

But they do get passed around the company, and sometimes they inspire real action inside. In particular, they’ve helped guide the company deeper into the health care field.

And not just letters to Tim. There are lots of examples out there of letters that get responses from Craig Federighi, Phil Schiller, Eddy Cue, etc.

Apple’s latest Depth Control ad

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[VIDEO] First we had this one, in which a mother exclaimed, “Did you bokeh my child?”

Now we’ve got Alejandro (see the ad embedded in the main Loop post). The power of bokeh.

Clever way to save a tweet for posterity

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Want to save off a tweet, preserve it for posterity? Perhaps one of those tweets that you just know is going to get deleted?

Here’s one way:

  • Get the tweet URL (use the share panel, or just copy the URL from Safari)
  • Paste this in front of the tweet URL:

web.archive.org/save/

  • Be sure to keep the “https://” in front of the original URL, so you might see something like:

web.archive.org/save/https://en.wik
ipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Jobs

  • Enter the new long URL into Safari, hit return/go.

That’s it. You’ll be taken to the wayback machine, and you can save off the new URL for safekeeping.

Apple COO Jeff Williams speaks about his early days at Apple and Apple Watch pricing

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The Times News, covering Jeff Williams speech at Elon University:

The Apple of 1998 was not what it is today.

The company was coming off a series of costly failures and was nearly bankrupt. Co-founder Steve Jobs had just come back as CEO after resigning over a disagreement with John Sculley in 1985. But there was a renewed energy, and Jobs had a plan.

Apple would become “the Sony of the PC industry.” It would make computers fashionable, and it would go after individual consumers rather than big business.

“I thought, ‘This is about the dumbest strategy I have ever heard,’ and that’s one of the reasons I thought it would go belly-up,” Williams said. “I guess you could say [Jobs] may have been right.”

Despite Jobs’ questionable business plan, Williams was charmed by the “contagious, palpable enthusiasm” at Apple, so he listened to his gut and came on board as head of Worldwide Procurement.

Just a reminder. Steve Jobs returned to Apple in 1997. So Jeff Williams’ timing was perfect, a chance to be part of one of the greatest business renaissances in history, a chance to work closely with Steve, watch all this unfold.

When the first Apple Watch was released, the basic model cost consumers $349 — steep compared to the first Fitbit, which clocked in at $99.95. Though the Apple Watch’s design and abilities differ from those of the Fitbit, another reason for the increased cost is the research that went into developing the product.

Apple wanted to create a wearable activity tracker that didn’t just measure exercise based on arm movement, Williams explained, so the tech giant built a physiology lab, hired 40 nurses and enlisted 10,000 participants to study how best to measure the calories burned during exercise.

And:

Williams did say cost is something they’re working to address.

“It’s something we’re very aware of,” he said. “We do not want to be an elitist company. That’s not — we want to be an egalitarian company, and we’ve got a lot of work going on in developing markets.”

Interesting read.

The pros and cons of Apple News

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Digiday:

Monetization on Apple News remains a slog, according to seven publishers interviewed by Digiday. Ad revenue is bogged down by advertisers’ disinterest in the ad inventory that publishers are selling directly, and by remnant ad fill rates that many publishers describe as abysmal, even after a modest improvement to start the year, sources said.

But:

But publishers contacted for this story all reported seeing steady growth in audience over the past year. For three sources, Apple News now drives more referral traffic than Facebook does. Getting featured in the product’s human-curated Top News widget inside Apple News can drive enormous boosts in traffic, sources said. Getting articles into Apple News’s content recirculation widget, which recommends stories for users to read next, can make a story one of the highest-read stories a publisher can share in a month, one source said.

This is an interesting story, worth reading. The original headline focuses on the cons, that of low revenues. Fair to point that out, but it does hide the fact that Apple News is still in its relative infancy and it has the ability to generate tremendous traffic.

Most importantly, at least to me, is Apple’s stance on privacy. Tracking users raises the value of advertising. Easier to make a buck via highly targeted user-tracking sites, since the advertiser’s results can be highly customized. But Apple offers a path that is better for users. Can publishers resist the Google/Facebook siren call?

Apple plans to close stores in Eastern District of Texas in fight against patent trolls

Written by

Joe Rossignol, MacRumors:

Apple plans to close both of its retail stores within the Eastern District of Texas in a few months from now in an effort to protect itself from patent trolls, according to five sources familiar with the matter.

Apple Willow Bend in Plano, Texas and Apple Stonebriar in Frisco, Texas, both located in the northern suburbs of Dallas, are expected to permanently close in mid April. One source said each store’s final day of business will be Friday, April 12. Employees were briefed about the plans earlier this week.

To continue to serve the region, Apple plans to open a new store at the Galleria Dallas shopping mall in Dallas, just south of the Eastern District of Texas border.

And:

The plans are significant, as U.S. law states that patent infringement lawsuits may be filed “where the defendant has committed acts of infringement and has a regular and established place of business.” By closing its stores in Eastern Texas, Apple is ending its established place of business in the district.

Oh do I hate patent trolls. A scourge. Incredible to me that this giant step is necessary. This system is broken.

Axios: Apple expected to move to ARM-based Macs as soon as next year

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Ina Fried, Axios:

Although the company has yet to say so publicly, developers and Intel officials have privately told Axios they expect such a move as soon as next year.

This seems inevitable, and tied to Bloomberg’s Marzipan reporting.

From that Bloomberg post:

Later this year, Apple plans to let developers port their iPad apps to Mac computers via a new software development kit that the company will release as early as June at its annual developer conference. Developers will still need to submit separate versions of the app to Apple’s iOS and Mac App Stores, but the new kit will mean they don’t have to write the underlying software code twice, said the people familiar with the plan.

So much to chew on here. One sense I do get is that of a grand master plan unfolding, all of this leading to a new ARM-based, shared code base vision. But a vision that is not quite in focus yet. I’ll be very interested to see if Apple shares the big picture at this summer’s WWDC.