Ars Technica:

Years into the robocalling frenzy, your phone probably still rings off the hook with “important information about your account,” updates from the “Chinese embassy,” and every bogus sweepstakes offer imaginable. That’s despite promises from the telecom industry and the US government that solutions would be coming. Much like the firehose of spam that made email almost unusable in the late 1990s, robocalls have made people in the US wary of picking up their cell phones and landlines. In fact, email spam offers a useful analogy: a scourge that probably can’t be eliminated but can be effectively managed.

Finding the right tools for that job remains a challenge.

That headline is painful but likely true. It also means my iPhone is much less useful as a phone than it would be if this issue could be solved. I never answer my phone any more from any unknown-to-me callers.

Rolling Stone:

New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art is home to an overwhelming collection of historical art objects, including a mummy mask from 60 A.D., Greek bronzes from the 8th century B.C. and the original “Washington Crossing the Delaware” painting. Starting April 8th, it will also welcome a different type of antiques — from the guitar Chuck Berry used to record “Johnny B. Goode” to the knives Keith Emerson would stab into his Hammond organ during the crazier Emerson, Lake & Palmer days.

And:

We can now see Eddie Van Halen’s Frankenstein guitar in almost gruesome close-up; with its pickups and modifications resembling open wounds, it looks like guitar surgery gone bad. A small curvy chunk under glass, with a bit of wire protruding from it, turns out to be a piece of the Stratocaster that Jimi Hendrix played — and burned — at the Monterey Pop festival in 1967. A guitar owned by Joe Strummer comes with a set list for a Clash show still taped to its side.

And:

Five and a half years in the making, “Play It Loud” includes contributions from a wide range of sources. Many of the pieces were donated by collectors. Others come from estates: Yoko Ono donated the 12-string Rickenbacker that John Lennon played on tour in 1964 and on the A Hard Day’s Night album, and Jake Clemons contributed the Selmer Mark VI sax his uncle Clarence used on “Thunder Road” and “Jungleland” and onstage with the E Street Band. A closer look reveals a loop welded onto the horn in two different areas so Clemons could hold the sax with a guitar strap.

And so much more. This is a must see for me.

Juli Clover, MacRumors:

The Netflix app for iPhone and iPad no longer appears to support AirPlay, based on an updated support document found on the Netflix website.

According to Netflix, AirPlay is no longer supported on iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch due to “technical limitations.” There are no details from Netflix on what those technical limitations might be.

As to why, this from Netflix:

“We want to make sure our members have a great Netflix experience on any device they use. With AirPlay support rolling out to third-party devices, there isn’t a way for us to distinguish between devices (what is an Apple TV vs. what isn’t) or certify these experiences. Therefore, we have decided to discontinue Netflix AirPlay support to ensure our standard of quality for viewing is being met. Members can continue to access Netflix on the built-in app across Apple TV and other devices.”

And this, from Netflix’s official support page (the page is titled “How do I use my mobile device to watch Netflix on my TV?”):

Airplay is no longer supported for use with Netflix due to technical limitations.

Hard to suss out the true reasoning behind this decision. Is this really about standard of quality?

If so, seems like Apple’s AirPlay team could work out some sort of whitelist for devices that handle AirPlay and Netflix well enough. After all, if a TV won’t support Netflix well enough, it likely won’t support AirPlay well enough either.

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. 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.

Patently Apple:

This week the US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple that relates to new protective coatings being added to Apple devices in the future that will prevent damage to housing structures, transparent members associated with optical component windows and displays, and other device structures.

And:

The protective coatings may include a binder material such as polymer (sometimes referred to as a matrix or polymer matrix) and may include particles embedded within the binder. The particles may have high hardness to enhance the durability of the protective coatings.

Better living through chemistry.

DigiTimes:

TSMC has announced delivery of the complete version of its 5nm design infrastructure within the Open Innovation Platform (OIP). This full release enables 5nm systems-on-chip (SoC) designs in next-generation advanced mobile and high-performance computing (HPC) applications, targeting high-growth 5G and artificial intelligence markets.

To give you a sense of how much of Apple’s current product line is built on the current 7nm process, here’s the opening paragraph from the Apple A12 Bionic Wikipedia page:

The Apple A12 Bionic is a 64-bit ARM-based system on a chip (SoC) designed by Apple Inc. It first appeared in the iPhone XS, XS Max, XR, and 2019 versions of the iPad Air and iPad Mini. It has two high-performance cores which are claimed to be 15% faster and 40% more energy-efficient than the Apple A11 and four high-efficiency cores which are claimed to use 50% less power than the energy-efficient cores in the A11.

Apple’s A12 Bionic chip was built by TSMC using a 7nm process. A move to 5nm means more transistors on each chip. Way more.

Erynn Brook:

I met a girl on the train last night.

I was on my way home after work. It’s about 10pm, and the subway is pulling up to my stop. I’ve been stressed about my own stuff for days now and I’m in my little bubble and just as I stand up the girl across from me starts talking.

She’d been looking at me and I hadn’t really noticed. Her lips were barely moving, but I took out one earbud and said “pardon?” And she said “are you getting off soon?” And I said yes. The train was mostly empty. But then I noticed she was holding a laminated sheet of paper out.

My friend Sly posted a link to this on Twitter and it’s wonderful, sweet, touching and a little sad.

To get your head around this headline, watch the video embedded in the tweet below:

A virtual eye dropper in AR that can pick up colors from real world and apply it to smart lights. It feels a bit magical so I used the deluminator sound effect in #HarryPotter movie. Prototyping with Zed Mini from @Stereolabs3D @LeapMotion and @oculus rift. pic.twitter.com/mavpkixN21

— WU SHENGZHI (@Wu_Shengzhi) April 3, 2019

This is a fantastic proof of concept. Though the prototype was developed for Oculus Rift, I see no reason this couldn’t be done on iPhone, or any AR wearable Apple produces.

Patently Apple:

Today the US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple relating to a smart charging system for a portable electronic device. The smart charging system includes a magnetized connector and a charging component that can be configured to dynamically attract and repel the connector to and from the portable electronic device.

“Dynamically attract and repel”. That’s very interesting.

And, of course, you had me at MagSafe.

My immediate thought here is that Amazon still does not have a phone. They will never be a first class citizen on iPhone.

Sure, if you have an Alexa device in your kitchen, AmazonPods can rival AirPods in every way possible. But when you leave the house, that picture changes.

AmazonPods won’t have the pairing snappiness of AirPods when Amazon does not own both sides of the connection. Imagine you want to go for a run. Will AmazonPods pair with Apple Watch? Certainly, the connection with iPhone, Apple Watch, etc., will never be as easy as with AirPods.

I suspect AmazonPods will be cheaper than AirPods and will offer advantages when Alexa hardware is on the other end. Will those advantages be enough to pull Apple users from the comfort/snappiness of the ecosystem? We’ll see how this plays out.

CNBC:

Ian Goodfellow, one of the top minds in artificial intelligence at Google, has joined Apple in a director role.

The hire comes as Apple increasingly strives to tap AI to boost its software and hardware. Last year Apple hired John Giannandrea, head of AI and search at Google, to supervise AI strategy.

What does Ian bring to the table?

Goodfellow is the father of an AI approach known as generative adversarial networks, or GANs. The approach draws on two networks, one known as a generative network and the other known as a discriminative network, and can be used to come up with unusual and creative outputs in the form of audio, video and text.

GAN systems have been used to generate “deepfake” fake media content.

I’m assuming the “deepfake” reference here is a red herring. But it does make me wonder how this tech will fit in with Apple’s AI pursuits.

The Cut:

Abigail Disney, 59, is an activist and Emmy-winning documentary filmmaker. She is also the granddaughter of Roy O. Disney, co-founder of The Walt Disney Company, making her an heiress to the Disney family fortune (she declines to say how much she inherited, but has given away over $70 million since she turned 21). Raised in North Hollywood, California, with three siblings, she has a doctorate from Columbia and currently lives in New York. Here, she talks about the paradoxes of growing up in tremendous wealth.

I fully expected to read this article and absolutely hate the subject but she’s surprisingly honest and down to earth about having access to more money than the rest of us combined.

This is a pretty big get for the Mac App Store.

Here’s a link to the official press release.

The Mac App Store version of BBEdit follows a subscription-based pricing model, US$3.99 per month, or US$39.99 per year.

You can also pursue a perpetual and/or multi-user license directly from Bare Bones, so pick which works best for you. No matter the path, you’ll get the exact same experience.

Either way you choose, BBEdit still doesn’t suck.

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, here’s a new commercial showing off the goods.

Oregon Live:

Two Oregon engineering students from China face federal charges in an alleged counterfeit Apple iPhone scheme that cost the company hundreds of thousands of dollars, according to court documents.

The men are accused of importing more than a thousand counterfeit iPhones, then sending each phone back to the company, complaining it wouldn’t power on, in exchange for a new phone under Apple’s warranty process.

An incredibly ambitious scam. Wow. Two people returning more than a thousand iPhones. They will pay the price, while the people who ran the ring will no doubt get off scot-free.

Never got a HomePod? Thinking about a second HomePod? Now might be the time.

Farhad Manjoo, New York Times:

Since becoming the first trillion-dollar corporation last summer, Apple has battled a souring assessment on Wall Street. The iPhone is the most profitable product in the history of business, but more than a decade after its debut, pretty much everyone on the planet who can afford one already has one, and many customers see little reason to upgrade.

So now, instead of selling better stuff to more people, Apple’s new plan is to sell more stuff to the same people.

And:

As I watched Apple’s event, I felt the future shrink a little. In its gilded middle age, Apple is turning into something like a digital athleisure brand, stamping out countless upscale accessories for customers who love its one big thing, a company that has lost sight of the universe and is content merely to put a ding in your pocketbook.

Yeesh. Farhad really doesn’t like Apple. While the picture he paints might ring true to many, it purposely misses the remarkable in service to the complaints.

Apple’s health efforts alone deserve prominent recognition. The Apple Watch is an incredible piece of hardware and it has saved many lives by putting a low-end ECG on every buyer’s wrist. That is no small thing.

Add in all the health-related research that Apple’s health initiatives made possible. This is certainly a ding in the universe, a ding that is destined to grow significantly.

How about the remarkable AirPods, with that H1 chip and Hey Siri, small enough to fit in your ear. Again, tip of the iceberg of what’s coming.

And think about all the doors Apple has opened, all the tech folks Apple has birthed and influenced. iPhone begat Android, have no doubt.

Yes, it’s true that the MacBook Keyboard is a stumble. There are other examples where Apple has lost its way. But let’s not lose sight of the fact that shareholders demand growth at all times. That Tim and company have kept their commitment to privacy and continue to develop some remarkable technology while continuing to serve the ravenous growth demands of Wall Street is no small thing.

Microsoft:

Starting April 2, 2019, the books category in Microsoft Store will be closing. Unfortunately, this means that starting July 2019 your ebooks will no longer be available to read, but you’ll get a full refund for all book purchases. See below for details.

While you can no longer purchase or acquire additional books from the Microsoft Store, you can continue to read your books until July 2019 when refunds will be processed.

Nothing but props for the way Microsoft is handling this. What more could you possibly want them to do? They can’t compete with Amazon and Apple and they’ve turned out the lights. And given folks their money back, to boot.

But this does remind me that we own less and less as consumers. More and more, we license our music, rather than own MP3s, discs and LPs. No more daily papers, no more loaded bookshelves full of favorites we loan to friends.

No more fully working copies of Photoshop, Illustrator, Word, or Excel. It’s all licensed goods.

Not that this is even remotely likely, if Adobe went out of business, you’d lose access to Creative Cloud. If Microsoft went under, you’d lose access to Office 365.

Imagine if Tesla went under. Would the software in your car continue to work? Probably. But no more updates. And that self driving mode? Without updates? That’d be scary.

Don’t mean to be a curmudgeon here. But Microsoft just took their books back.

So there’s an article that’s been making the rounds, with the inflammatory title, The MacBook keyboard fiasco is way worse than Apple thinks.

From the article:

Apple keep insisting that only a “small number of customers have problems” with the MacBook keyboards. That’s bollocks. This is a huge issue, it’s getting worse not better, and Apple is missing the forest for the trees.

The fact is that many people simply do not contact Apple when their MacBook keyboards fail. They just live with an S key that stutters or a spacebar that intermittently gives double. Or they just start using an external keyboard. Apple never sees these cases, so it never counts in their statistics.

I struggled with whether to post this article and, if I did, finding the right take. My issue with the article was the small sample size.

But, I’ve experienced exactly what this article focused on: The “r” key on the very MacBook Pro on which I’m typing this occasionally refuses to work. But it happens so rarely, and responds to my hammering the key back into normalcy, that I just live with it.

Enter John Gruber. From the linked post:

Hansson used the headline “The MacBook Keyboard Fiasco Is Way Worse Than Apple Thinks”, but I suspect it’d be more accurate to say that it’s way worse than Apple admits. They don’t need to look at the number of support incidents from customers. Almost everyone at Apple uses MacBooks of some sort. They know from their own use of the product how problematic reliability is.

And there’s the crux. Apple eats their own dog food, as the expression goes. Numbers being what they are, they must be acutely aware of this problem.

So what’s next? Will we see a MacBook event later this year with a new keyboard? One based on an entirely new (or old and reliable) keyboard design? Time will tell.

Not sure I’d use this bit of open source, but I do think it’s a fascinating concept. I wonder if Apple would ever consider adding this to the Mac’s Touch Bar preferences.

We’ve posted about this before, but one of those things that’s good to be aware of, worth the refresh.

I’ve spoken with a few people who’ve had the issue. One comment:

Well it was fine to begin with but my problem just started after several months usage, so it might have been after an update.

It was not a simple process to get it replaced.

Many hoops were jumped through!

— Don McAllister (@donmcallister) April 3, 2019

Hopefully, this is a software issue introduced by the latest iOS update.

Not a fan of Apple not acknowledging hardware issues. Once an issue surfaces more than a few times in forums, that should be enough for Apple to address it in some way. I get that there’s a liability issue for Apple, that taking responsibility can affect the outcome of future lawsuits. But if a user brings in their iPad Pro with a stuttering issue, and a link to the linked MacRumors article, shouldn’t that be enough for:

• A hassle free repair or swap out.
• Interest within an Apple Store to get their hands on a malfunctioning device they can send back to Apple Park so they can get to the heart of the matter.

As is, many hoops were jumped through.

Straight from the horses mouth (an article in the Times):

The New York Times and The Washington Post did not join the effort, despite intense lobbying from Apple. Mark Thompson, the chief executive of The Times, said the problem with the app, from his perspective, was how it “jumbled different news sources into these superficially attractive mixtures,” making it difficult for users to know which publication they’re consuming.

And from this Vanity Fair article:

Publishers hope they’ll get exposure to new audiences. But any potential new or existing direct subscriber to a publisher will no longer be willing to pay a healthy monthly fee to occasionally access that top content while supporting the rest of the newsroom. They’ll just cherry pick what they want via News+, and Apple will shave off a few cents for the publisher while owning all the data, customer relationship and power.”

And:

That would appear to be the primary concern of the two major News+ holdouts: The New York Times and The Washington Post. Apple badly wanted to lock down at least one of them, and it began a vigorous courtship of the papers last spring, not long after the Texture deal closed and Apple’s plans for its content bundle were beginning to materialize, according to people familiar with the matter. “They put a tremendous amount of pressure on,” one source said. “Eddy Cue was in and out of their offices really trying to woo them.” Cue’s elevator pitch, according to people familiar with the discussions, was, “We’ll make you the most-read newspaper in the world.”

And:

“We’ve been pretty deliberate about saying that the best place you can experience journalism is through a relationship with a news provider,” Meredith Kopit Levien, the Times’s chief operating officer, told me. “So far for us, that has meant a direct relationship with users. The more we have a relationship with users, the better we think our business will be, and the better the experience that we can provide to them.” Kris Coratti, a Post spokeswoman, said, “Our focus is on growing our own subscription base, so joining Apple News+ did not make sense for us at this point. Apple has been a very good partner—we will continue collaborating with them on other ongoing projects and expect to do many things with them in the future.”

My issues with Apple News+ all feel solvable. Like a great piece of hardware saddled with early beta software, you know a better experience is just an update away.

I think Apple News+ has huge potential. At its core is a commitment to privacy and the avoidance of fake news. Every single issue I have relates to interface.

Obviously, the issues keeping the Times and Post at arms length go beyond interface, to user data sharing and revenue split.

As Apple evolves the interface design, I think they’ll see an influx of new users. As that installed base of paying users grows, so grows Apple News+’s leverage. You’ll know they’ve truly succeeded when both the Washington Post and the New York Times come to the table.