Follow the headline link to Apple’s YouTube channel. There you’ll find a host of videos relating to Monday’s event.

Two of them stand out to me: Previews for Apple Arcade and Apple TV+. Both give a taste of what’s coming, and if games or TV is your thing, both do their best to get the blood pumping, get the juices flowing.

New York Times:

What’s the deal with wearables and fashion? Five years on from the watch’s much-ballyhooed introduction, is the relationship over? Has technology found a new object for its affections?

And:

In advance of the watch’s introduction, Apple — which, after all, had been built on some of the principles dear to luxury, including the allure of tactile design, and planned obsolescence — began seducing glossy executives right and left to come work for the company.

Most notably there was Paul Deneve, the chief executive of Yves Saint Laurent; Patrick Pruniaux, of Tag Heuer; and Angela Ahrendts, the chief executive credited with using technology to transform Burberry, who arrived at Apple to run its retail and e-tail operations with a gilded halo still fresh on her head.

Many other examples follow. But:

But then Mr. Deneve left Apple. So did Mr. Pruniaux. And next month, Ms. Ahrendts departs. Intel “exited the end-product wearables area in 2017,” according to a company spokeswoman, and has pivoted to data analysis used to inform retailers and brands, among others.

Interesting. The Times definitely has their finger on something, just not sure it’s Apple capriciously abandoning fashion. Rather, I think Apple explored fashion as a way to help launch the Apple Watch, to add to other efforts to help legitimize the market.

As the market matured, that need has diminished. Apple has learned a lot and has new drivers, most notably health and the success of the ECG technology.

And I do think Apple Watches, and the wide marketplace of fashionable watch bands, shows that the fashion side of Apple Watch has become self sustaining.

Seems an obvious move. As I said in yesterday’s Apple Card writeup, the numbers on your card are a security risk. Dumping the numbers seems a clear trend.

Apple and partner Goldman Sachs Group Inc. are entering the competitive field of consumer credit, where banks have been shelling out costly rewards to encourage consumers to spend through their cards.

Interesting how many people are touting the minutia of rates, percentage of cash back, as barriers to Apple winning in this space. To me, it’s all about the ecosystem, and about the polish that Apple will bring to this experience. I’ll get and use the card because it fits so well in the rest of my Apple universe.

Sensor Tower:

Sensor Tower Store Intelligence estimates show that 40 million Android users globally have now installed the Apple Music app from Google Play, and we anticipate that the current quarter will be the service’s best yet for new users on the platform.

And:

New users of the app in 4Q18 were up 43 percent over 1Q18, and we project that 1Q19 installs will total 3.8 million for a year-over-year increase of 65 percent.

That’s solid growth. Another sign Apple’s shift to services is working.

There’s no shortage of material written about the credit card Apple announced yesterday. In digging into how all this will work, a few things stood out. While much of this might be obvious to some of you, thought it worth sharing for those still trying to work all this out.

First things first, spend a minute to make your way through Apple’s new Apple Card page.

There’s tons of useful info on the page and, likely, answers to all of your questions.

One thing in particular to notice is the set of images of the physical, laser-etched, titanium Apple Card. Notice the MasterCard logo, as well as the chip on the front and the magnetic strip on the back. The physical card is for you to use in places that do not take Apple Pay. It’s a MasterCard.

Note the lack of a card number, expiration date, and CVV code. They serve no purpose other than as a reminder for when you have to type those things in or read them over the phone. Having them appear on the card does serve as a security risk, so why include them. If you need that info, it’s all contained in the Wallet app on your phone.

Side note: Obvious, I know, but Apple Card is not a good fit if you don’t own an iPhone. Yet another brick for the walled garden.

Another point that supports the Apple Card as MasterCard model is made by John Gruber in this Daring Fireball post:

Footnote 4 on the Apple Card web page says: “Variable APRs range from 13.24% to 24.24% based on creditworthiness. Rates as of March 2019.” What a crock of shit this “low interest rates” line is. Those interest rates are usury, right in line with the rest of the credit card industry. 24% interest ought to be criminal, and 13% is not “low”.

Yup. This is the world of credit card usury. If at all possible, pay off your credit card every single month. Credit card interest rates are beyond awful.

Those awful rates aside, there’s a lot to love here.

There’s the instant cash back (2% on everything you buy using Apple Pay, 3% on everything you buy from Apple). And the incredible detail in the statements, including the ability to tap on a transaction and have the merchant’s location appear on Apple Maps. That last is just genius.

There’s the fact that there’s no annual fee. Zero. And complete fraud protection. Don’t recognize a transaction? Tap it to let Apple know and you won’t be liable for the fraud.

And there’s the 24/7, text your questions, tech support. With a live person at the other end.

I’m digging this. The new Apple Card will definitely have a place in my Wallet.

Wall Street Journal:

The Wall Street Journal is a launch partner for Apple Inc.’s $9.99-a-month news service, marking a significant shift in strategy meant to draw in new readers and paying subscribers without undercutting the publication’s core business.

And:

The paper finished 2018 with 1.71 million digital subscribers, with a full-priced subscription costing $39 a month. Its print subscribers totaled about 840,000. The Apple partnership is viewed as an opportunity to bring in revenue from a broader audience.

That $39 a month is worth keeping in mind when you assess the value of an Apple News+ subscription.

The partnership carries risks for the Journal, since each Apple user will generate much less subscription revenue for the company than a full-priced subscriber.

To me, this says that, for publishers, Apple News+ has far more value as a circulation builder than as a money maker. Not an unreasonable model to buy into.

Apple users will have access to only three days’ worth of the Journal’s archive, the people said. The Journal also negotiated terms that would allow it to drop out of the service, they said.

And there’s the specifics. I verified this myself by finding week+ old stories and trying to find them on Apple News+. I found all the newer stories, sometimes via the search field, but none of the older stories.

Side note on that search field: I’ve yet to find a way to search within a publication or within a story. I hope Apple expands on the search capabilities, as this would allow me to better refine searches, and better do a search without losing the current context (switching back to the News+ home page to do searches loses my place in the current story).

As to value, if you are interested in The Wall Street Journal, but not enough to pay $39 a month, Apple News+ is a terrific bargain. Add in the plethora of magazines (Federico did a nice job listing them all, as I posted previously), the LA Times and a host of digital publications, and Apple News+ really is a no brainer, assuming this sort of content appeals to you.

A bit ironically, for many of you, the headline linked article will be behind a paywall. But if you make your way to Apple News (note I said News and not News+) and search for “Wall Street Journal’s Partnership With Apple”, you’ll find the full article.

One final point: Now that the Wall Street Journal model has been worked out, I wonder if we’ll see the New York Times and Washington Post consider adopting something similar. As is, I’ve got subscriptions to both, but for folks that don’t, it’d be a great introduction.

Federico Viticci, MacStories:

After taking an initial look at Apple News+ with my US Apple ID and noticing the differences between Apple News Format-optimized magazines and standard “PDF-like” ones, I thought it’d be interesting and useful to compile the full list of all magazines currently available to Apple News+ subscribers in the US.

Below, you will find the complete list of all 251 magazines that are available for Apple News+ in the United States. The list was compiled by checking all the magazines featured in the ‘Browse the Catalog’ section of Apple News+ as well as individual categories. Apple advertises “300 publications” as being available in Apple News+.

If you are on the fence about Apple News+, this will help with the value equation. Add in 3 most recent days of Wall Street Journal articles, along with LA Times and all the digital publishers, plus the added value of family plan at no extra cost, see if that’s worth $9.99 a month.

This is a cool project. I wish they’d break it up across multiple pages to reduce the page load time/memory footprint. But I love the idea.

Jon Wilde, GQ:

Look to your left. Look to your right. If you’re on the sidewalk, a subway, a train, or your dorm couch; at a WeWork, an airport, a construction site, or an open-plan office, there are almost certainly little white sticks nearby poking out of someone’s head. Apple’s AirPods have slowly and all at once taken over America’s ears.

More and more lately, if I see people with some form of headphone/earpod, it’s AirPods. Especially in airports. They are everywhere, far outnumbering whatever is in second place.

Fascinating to me how AirPods moved from funny looking to normal, from geeky to desirable, over time. Fashion. Apple gets how it works.

Terrific piece from GQ, with fine photos by Gus Powell sprinkled throughout.

And, as a bonus, some interesting thoughts from Chief Design Officer Jony Ive on how all this came about.

Apple:

Apple today announced Apple TV+, the new home for the world’s most creative storytellers featuring exclusive original shows, movies and documentaries, coming this fall. Apple TV+, Apple’s original video subscription service, will feature a brand new slate of programming from the world’s most celebrated creative artists, including Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg, Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon, Octavia Spencer, J.J. Abrams, Jason Momoa, M. Night Shyamalan, Jon M. Chu and more. On the Apple TV app, subscribers will enjoy inspiring and authentic stories with emotional depth and compelling characters from all walks of life, ad-free and on demand.

Lots of stars, detail on a few shows, a live book club from Oprah, lots of potential.

The all-new Apple TV app brings together the different ways to discover and watch shows, movies, sports, news and more in one app across iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Mac, smart TVs and streaming devices. Users can subscribe to and watch new Apple TV channels — paying for only services they want, like HBO, SHOWTIME and Starz — all on demand, available on and offline, with incredible picture quality and sound; enjoy sports, news and network TV from cable and satellite providers as well as purchase or rent iTunes movies and TV shows all within the new, personalized Apple TV app.

Beginning in May, customers can subscribe to Apple TV channels à la carte and watch them in the Apple TV app, with no additional apps, accounts or passwords required. Apple TV channels include popular services such as HBO, Starz, SHOWTIME, CBS All Access, Smithsonian Channel, EPIX, Tastemade, Noggin and new services like MTV Hits, with more to be added over time around the world.

The Apple TV+ app looks fantastic. I love the fact that I’ll be able to watch all my shows across all my Apple devices. OK, not my Apple Watch, but you know what I mean. Watch a show on your Apple TV, pick it up on your iPhone or iPad. Or your Mac.

It’s handoff for TV. Look for more details in May.

Apple:

Apple today announced Apple Arcade, a game subscription service that will feature over 100 new and exclusive games, including original releases from renowned creators Hironobu Sakaguchi, Ken Wong, Will Wright and dozens more. Apple Arcade games will redefine games, such as 먹튀, and be curated based on originality, quality, creativity, fun and their appeal to players of all ages. Apple Arcade will give customers the freedom to try any game from its handpicked collection of titles that are all-you-can-play, have no ads, ad tracking or additional purchases, and respect user privacy.

The App Store is the world’s most successful and vibrant gaming platform with nearly 300,000 free and paid games. Free games, supported by advertising or in-app purchases, are enjoyed by hundreds of millions of players around the world. Paid games are often critically acclaimed and beloved by the people who play them, but competing with free is hard, so even the best of these games have only reached a smaller audience. With the simplicity of a single subscription, Apple Arcade will bring games like these to the App Store’s more than 1 billion gaming customers. Apple Arcade is the perfect complement to the already enormously popular catalog of free games on the App Store, making iOS the premier gaming platform for players of all ages.

Apple is not just handpicking the games in Apple Arcade, but also contributing to the development costs and working closely with creators to bring the games to life. Made by some of the most critically acclaimed game developers in the world, Apple Arcade games will entertain customers with incredibly fun gameplay and immersive stories, while capturing imaginations with original art and music. The service will feature games from Annapurna Interactive, Bossa Studios, Cartoon Network, Finji, Giant Squid, Klei Entertainment, Konami, LEGO, Mistwalker Corporation, SEGA, Snowman, ustwo games and dozens more.

You’ll access Apple Arcade (great name, by the way) via the App Store, under the Games tab. 100+ games, unlimited play. All games will run on iOS, tvOS, and on your Mac. That’s a big deal.

All games available offline. No net connection required.

Pricing to come.

Apple:

Apple today announced Apple Card, an innovative, new kind of credit card created by Apple and designed to help customers lead a healthier financial life. Apple Card is built into the Apple Wallet app on iPhone, offering customers a familiar experience with Apple Pay and the ability to manage their card right on iPhone. Apple Card transforms the entire credit card experience by simplifying the application process, eliminating fees, encouraging customers to pay less interest and providing a new level of privacy and security. Available in the US this summer, Apple Card also offers a clearer and more compelling rewards program than other credit cards with Daily Cash, which gives back a percentage of every purchase as cash on customers’ Apple Cash card each day.

This Apple credit card lives in your Wallet app. Sign up on your iPhone, it’s available in minutes. And there’s no fee. Ever.

3% cash back on Apple purchases, 2% on all other purchases. And that cash back is available immediately.

The transaction reporting is phenomenal. So much clearer than traditional cards. And there’s a laser etched card for when you need an actual physical card.

Apple:

Apple today announced Apple News+, a new subscription service that brings together over 300 popular magazines, leading newspapers and digital publishers into a beautiful, convenient and curated experience within the Apple News app. Available in the US and Canada, Apple News+ presents the best and most relevant articles to meet any range of interests from renowned publications such as Vogue, National Geographic Magazine, People, ELLE, The Wall Street Journal and Los Angeles Times.

This looks beautiful, especially when shown on the iPad. The magazine covers are animated, the photography simply gorgeous.

And, of course, Apple commits to keep your reading habits completely private.

First month free, $9.99 per month after that. Family sharing thrown in free.

From Reddit, a GIF (embedded below) used Apple product page images to show off the new hinge design on the AirPods wireless charging case.

From the post:

As rumored the wireless version has a new hinge, because the old one apparently interfered with the wireless charging coil.

Mine should be here in two days. Will confirm when I get it.

via GIPHY

Bloomberg:

YouTube has canceled plans for high-end dramas and comedies, people with knowledge of the matter said, a pullback from its grand ambitions for a paid service with Hollywood-quality shows.

And:

The retreat from direct competition with Netflix Inc. and Amazon.com Inc.’s Prime Video service reflects the high cost — in billions of dollars — needed to take on those deeply entrenched players, even for a rich tech giant like Google, the people said.

Interesting timing. We’ll know a lot more about Apple’s plans in just a few hours.

UPDATE: Via TechCrunch:

On the heels of Apple announcing paid, monthly subscription services for video, games, and news, YouTube says it is also doubling down original video content. Parent company Google has denied a report in Bloomberg that YouTube has stopped accepting pitches for scripted shows. But it also confirmed another aspect of the same report: it plans a big focus on paid subscriptions by introducing an ad-supported slate that will include new and existing series in the coming weeks.

Lots of rumors flying around this weekend about the possibility of Apple announcing a game subscription service today. In reading up on possibilities for today’s event, thought I’d share a few links driving this conversation:

• The one that started the conversation for many, this Cheddar report, titled Apple Plans Gaming Subscription Service: Sources came out on January 28th.

> The service would function like Netflix for games such as 안전놀이터, allowing users who pay a subscription fee to access a bundled list of titles. Apple ($AAPL) began privately discussing a subscription service with game developers in the second half of 2018, said the people, all of whom requested anonymity to discuss unannounced plans. > > It’s unclear how much the subscription will cost or what kind of games Apple will offer. The service is still in the early stages of development, and Apple could ultimately decide to abandon it.

• Next up, Mark Gurman’s piece for Bloomberg on what he sees coming in today’s event. Titled Apple’s Reinvention as a Services Company Starts for Real Monday, it’s a solid read on the event in general, but does contain this games nugget:

> Apple is also working on a premium games subscription for its App Store and discussing it with potential partners, according to people with knowledge of the plans. This service won’t take on new cloud-based streaming offerings like Google Stadia. Instead, it will focus on iPhones and iPads and bundle together paid games from different developers that consumers can access for a monthly fee. Cheddar previously reported that Apple was working on a gaming-related subscription service. > > The company would collect these monthly fees, then divide up the revenue between developers based on how much time users spend playing their games, one of the people said. Apple is likely considering popular paid titles on the App Store and would exclude titles that are free to download but generate revenue via in-app purchases. > > Apple could discuss the service as soon as Monday, or it may choose to detail the offering at its conference for developers later this year. Some of the most popular paid games on the App Store include Microsoft-owned Minecraft and franchises like NBA 2K and Grand Theft Auto.

• And finally, there’s this post from John Gruber titled, simply, Apple Games.

> What I would do if I were Apple is get in touch with the best indie game makers for iOS and sign them up to make new games, exclusively for a new subscription service. Apple is going to pay news publishers by engagement — the more time subscribers spend reading a publication’s stories, the more that publication will get paid. No money for clickbait headlines — Apple is looking for nourishing news and opinion pieces. I would pay game makers the same way — the more time people spend playing, the more the game maker gets paid. No in-app purchases — you pay a monthly fee to subscribe to Apple Games and that is it, you get it all. You spend time playing a game, the game’s maker gets paid.

There’s been some pushback, on the developer side, on this payment model. The concern is that it rewards bigger, deeper games, that the big content games which pull you in will collect the lions share of the money. I can see that argument, but I can tell you that I spend far more time playing casual/indie games than those from the big studios.

That said, it will be interesting to see if Apple does roll out something game related today. Just a few more hours until the reveal.

Nice long read, full of detail. One nugget in particular:

Here’s a really big pro in the iPad Mini’s column that I didn’t fully anticipate until diving in with it this week: it’s so much better for thumb-typing. Honestly, I hate typing on the on-screen keyboard on my iPad Pro. I hate it. I really do. If I have to do it I’ll put it in landscape and set it down on a table or counter and try to touch type with all my fingers. But holding the iPad Pro in portrait, I literally can’t type with my thumbs. When I try, everything comes out garbled. I can’t reach all the keys, and inexplicably, the iPad Pro keyboards no longer support splitting them into two smaller more reachable halves.

The iPad mini is a gem of a form factor. Perfect for so many people, especially those with small hands. But it’s also perfect for reading in bed. It’s big enough to see plenty of good-sized text but light enough to not be wearying on your arms.

As to the iPad Pro, the lack of a split for the onscreen keyboard is mystifying.

But that iPad mini? Delicious.

chanind.github.io:

I don’t have to do anything to make my app work in the US or Singapore or Kenya or anywhere else, and I didn’t make the Chinese government angry, so it should just work in China, right? Sadly, it’s not so simple. If your app/website servers aren’t hosted from within China, then, for all intents and purposes, it’s blocked. I mean, it will probably technically load, but will be excruciatingly, unusably slow. And sometimes it will just not load at all for hours at a time. This is true for all services hosted outside of the firewall, even in Hong Kong.

Interesting read, full of insight and useful details for folks who want exposure in China.

I love the new design. Launch the Music app, then tap the Browse tab. As Benjamin Mayo describes, it’s now much easier to get to the actual content.

Wondering if the video content coming Monday will live in this interface. Or, perhaps, if this new interface will be repurposed in a new video app.

Variety:

Fox employees knew this day was coming. For over a year, the men and women who work at the Century City lot have talked of little else but severance packages and job searches. They knew that when Disney wrapped up its $71.3 billion acquisition of much of 21st Century Fox’s film and television assets, thousands of jobs would be eliminated.

But until recently, they just didn’t know the specifics. The ax officially fell yesterday.

Studio veterans such as domestic distribution chief Chris Aronson, president of product strategy and consumer business development Mike Dunn, worldwide theatrical marketing president Pam Levine, and chief content officer Tony Sella, who have decades of experience, were gone in short order, taking with them pieces of the institutional memory of a studio that has made everything from Shirley Temple musicals to “Avatar.”

Tough times for the people at Fox.

Harry McCracken, writing for FastCompany (back in 2015), came across this Apple promotional video that was likely created back in 1984, a look back on the very beginnings of Apple.

Part of the video’s charm is the way it treats the origins of the Apple I and Apple II as ancient history, even though even the Apple I had been introduced only eight years earlier. Woz explains that he designed the Apple I because he wanted a computer himself. “Steve went a little further,” he adds. “Steve saw it as a product which you can actually deliver, sell, and someone else can use.”

A quote from Steve in the video:

Every few days, Woz would say, ‘God, I’ve made an incredible breakthrough. I’ve saved a few chips here and there.’ I remember this iterative process of watching him get to this incredible stage, and then figure out a way to take another few parts out, and add three more features. And it kept getting better and better and better.

So much to love about this video. One particular comment:

If you watch the video as obsessively as I did, you’ll spot amazing little tidbits–almost like Easter eggs that its producers unwittingly hid away for us 21st-century tech aficionados to discover. Here, for instance, are images of Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak wearing watches that you might mistake for Apple Watches, if you didn’t know the photos were a few decades old.

I remember noticing SteveJ’s watch when the Apple Watch first became a thing. Posted this time travel reference.

Anyway, enjoy the video, embedded below.

I very rarely do product mentions, but this one just captivated me.

The Casper Glow light is designed to sit on a charging pad on your nightstand next to you in bed. Here’s what it does:

• Flip it over to turn it on and start a timer that slowly warms the color temperature and dims slowly as you fall asleep.

• Spinning it on a flat surface adjusts the brightness. And, if you have two, you can sync them so you spin one to adjust the brightness for both.

• If you pick it up and carry it (say, for a late night trip to the loo or to check on the baby), give it a shake and it will slightly raise the light level.

There’s more to it, but you get the idea. This is a clever product. Clever enough that I wouldn’t be surprised if it came from Apple.

But it actually comes from Casper, the company known for selling mattresses directly to consumers.

If this captures your interest at all, check the linked article. There are a ton of images and animated GIFs that show off all these features and more, plus there’s an iFixit worthy teardown of the innards.

Here’s a link to the Casper Glow Light product page.

Send me one, Casper, and I’ll take it for a spin.

Reddit:

I just got an extended-warranty claim approved for my airpods. After 1.5 years the battery has really gone downhill and I have started experiencing a lot of disconnects.

I started a chat with apple and since it was out of warranty they said I would have to pay for the replacement. I asked them to confirm that if I was still in warranty this replacement would be free of charge.

I then took this chat history to my citi credit card and two weeks later my claim was approved.

This is a very interesting strategy. Many credit cards include this sort of free replacement coverage. The key is getting Apple to acknowledge that sinking battery life would be covered if the AirPods were still under warranty.

New York Times:

The Wall Street Journal plans to join a new paid subscription news service run by Apple, according to two people familiar with the plans, as other publishers chafe at the terms that the Silicon Valley company is demanding of its partners.

Other major publishers, including The New York Times and The Washington Post, have opted out of joining the subscription service, said the people, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the plans.

And:

The most recent terms that Apple is offering to publishers ask for a cut of roughly half of the subscription revenue involved in the service, the people said. Apple has also asked publishers to give unlimited access to all their content, which has caused concern among potential partners, they said. A subscription is expected to cost $10 a month.

The deal’s terms have caused some publishers to recoil, as a 50 percent cut is higher than the 30 percent that Apple usually takes from apps and subscriptions sold through its App Store. Publishers are also concerned that they won’t have access to important data about the consumers — credit cards, email addresses and other subscriber information — as part of the deal.

This is interesting on two counts. Both that two of the biggest news gatherers in the world have opted out, and to hear a first hand account from one of them as to why.

The event is Monday.

Digg:

We are mesmerized by these unnecessarily fancy and extremely beautiful shoe-lacing techniques.

My friend Sly posted this on Twitter and now I want a slow-motion version so I can really see what’s going on and try it myself.