Media

Watch/read Tim Cook’s full interview after the Berkshire Hathaway shareholder meeting

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[VIDEO] The video of the interview is embedded in the main Loop post. Follow the headline link to a transcript of the interview. This is the source of the comment, “We acquire a company on average, every two to three weeks”, that’s been flying around the blogs the last day or so. But the interview is much more than that, and absolutely worth watching.

History of the music biz, in one graphic

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The thing that strikes me, absolutely, is that moment, right in the middle, where the music industry hit its height, and Napster stepped in.

I do think Napster was inevitable, and not the cause of the falloff. The availability of MP3 files over the internet made sharing possible, and piracy an obvious result.

Thanks to Overcast, now you can share a short podcast clip

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Marco Arment, Overcast creator:

Podcast sharing has been limited to audio and links, but today’s social networks are more reliant on images and video, especially Instagram. Podcasts need video clips to be shared more easily today.

I’ve seen some video clips from tools specific to certain podcast networks or hosts, but they were never available to everyone, or for every show. So people mostly just haven’t shared podcast clips, understandably, because it has been too hard.

Not anymore.

And:

With today’s 2019.4 update, you can now share audio or video clips, up to a minute each, from any public podcast. Simply tap the share button in the upper-right corner.

Great feature, huge help for podcasters trying to get the word out. I hope this becomes a standard for all podcast apps, especially this one.

Side note from 512 Pixels on how this feature came to be.

The 50 best music documentaries of all time

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I love music documentaries. But I’d be hard-pressed to name 10.

No matter what you think about the order of this list, there’s a lot of good ones to consider here. And as with all lists, there are some worthy candidates left out.

One of my favorites, Muscle Shoals, didn’t make the cut. Any others you’d add?

Fender releases three Game of Thrones guitars

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[VIDEO] Marketing. But still, pretty cool looking guitars, built to order in the Fender Custom Shop.

Embedded in the main Loop post, a video showing a bit of playing on these beauties, along with some back story.

Zoomquilt

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An infinitely zooming image. It’ll start as soon as you click the link.

Hypnotic.

The Making of Apple’s “Don’t mess with Mother” ad

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[VIDEO] If you haven’t already, jump to this post and watch Apple’s fantastic “Don’t mess with Mother” ad. Great footage synced with great music.

Once you’ve absorbed that chewy goodness, check out the making of video, embedded in the main Loop post. Yes, that ad was filmed completely on an iPhone.

Trying on shoes via iPhone augmented reality

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Another example of augmented reality creeping into real life:

https://twitter.com/kpimmel/status/1118178703534510080

I can definitely see using this to get a sense of how new kicks would look on your feet, props for that. But not sure how you’d get a sense if the shoes actually fit.

Same for shirt, pants, other clothes that rely on fit. Perhaps as laser-scanned, 3D models of your body become a standard, this will prove a reliable way to buy.

That aside, this AR looks terrific. Slight glitchiness on the edges, but definitely good enough to give you a feel for the fashion.

Apple ad: Don’t mess with Mother

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[VIDEO] I love this ad (embedded in main Loop post) so much. The choice of music, “Last Rites” by Megadeth, is just perfect.

Watch. Worth it.

War. And YMCA.

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[VIDEO] This is a crazy mashup of Edwin Starr’s War and the Village People’s YMCA (video embedded in main Loop post).

Thing is, it’s incredibly well done. One of those, “I have no idea how this was created” kind of videos. Is all of this audio/video archived? Is some of it recreated?

No matter, I love it.

20 AirPods 2 hacks in 3 minutes

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[VIDEO] Have second gen AirPods? This quick stream of tips from Rene Ritchie and Georgia Dow (embedded in the main Loop post) is definitely worth watching.

Apple posts two beautiful surfing videos, shot on iPhone XS

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[VIDEO] There’s something special about being able to shoot video of the water, from in the water itself. Add in the physics and spiritual nature of surfing, and these two videos really are magical. Both are embedded in the main Loop post.

The second is a “behind the scenes” video, but it stands on its own.

Hands-on with AirPlay 2 and HomeKit on a Vizio SmartCast TV

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[Video] Juli Clover, MacRumors:

Vizio yesterday launched a beta version of its updated Smartcast software, which allows iPhone owners who have a Smartcast-enabled TV to use AirPlay 2 and HomeKit integrations for the first time on a third-party television set.

We picked up a compatible Vizio television set (which includes the recent P and M series models at the current time) and were able to take a look at how AirPlay 2 and HomeKit work on a non-Apple device.

Fascinating video (embedded in main Loop post – definitely worth watching). Early days, obviously (This is a beta). But there’s a lot of functionality here. Netflix not working is no surprise. I’ll post about that in a bit.

A close look at Apple’s brand new Powerbeats Pro

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[VIDEO] Nice detailed review from The Verge. If you are considering buying the new AirPods or prefer the noise-muffling benefits and fit of in-ear earbuds, spend some time reading through this review.

The Powerbeats Pro are pricey at $249.95 and shipping in May.

As an aside, the main Loop post embeds a new commercial showing off the goods.

Pulling handwritten notes into a shortcut

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[VIDEO] This is a pretty interesting find by Matthew Cassinelli. In a nutshell, you can handwrite notes on your iPad using Apple Pencil, then send that text (as text, not as drawn text) to a shortcut.

To see this in action, watch the video (embedded in the main Loop post) and jump to about 2:12.

If you do a lot of handwritten notes, I can see lots of value here. Export the text to a shopping list, for example. Or, perhaps, append the text to a list of app ideas. I suspect you could even create a shortcut smart enough to figure out from context what list stuff should go to.

Of course, your success here will depend on how readable your handwriting is.

Apple’s new ad highlights privacy branding

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[VIDEO] Ever since that ad with the girl making her way down the corridors of her school, unlocking everything in her path with just a glance, Apple has slowly incorporated the padlock into their branding.

The newest ad, embedded below, is the latest example of Apple’s ad shift. The shift emphasizes privacy, both in words “Privacy. That’s iPhone.” and in the use of that locking padlock icon that wraps everything up.

Nice branding work. Embedded in the main Loop post.

A look at the overhauled TV app

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[VIDEO] This is a look at the first beta of iOS 12.3 and tvOS 12.3 (video embedded in main Loop post). What I found most interesting was the up close exploration of the overhauled TV app.

I’ve long gotten used to being able to watch (some) content from my cable package on my iOS device. But this feels different. Both more comprehensive and with much more potential as far as searchability goes.

No Netflix, though. Wonder if that’s ever going to change. Not sure what Netflix’s game is here. If the TV app gains traction (and I think it will), seems like Netflix will only lose exposure and subscribers as more and more viewers use the tvOS interface to learn about new, recommended content.

Very excited to watch this unfold.

Rene Ritchie puts the new AirPods through their paces

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[VIDEO] If you’re considering the gen2 AirPods, watch the video (embedded in the main Loop post).

One point Rene highlights is that the new AirPods, courtesy of the H1 chip, are Bluetooth 5.0 compatible. Bluetooth 5.0 is about twice the speed of its predecessor (about 48MBps) and capable of longer distances between devices. Obviously, to gain these benefits, the devices on each end need to support Bluetooth 5.0.

Fortunately, all modern iPhones support Bluetooth 5.0 (the iPhone 8 does, the iPhone 7 is at Bluetooth 4.2). And Bluetooth 5.0 is backward compatible.