Thanks to FabFocus for sponsoring The Loop this week.
With only one touch, FabFocus uses advanced human recognition A.I. to detect people in the foreground, automatically blurring the background to create a professional-looking depth of field effect. Unique to FabFocus, the app enables multiple bokeh effects, transforming point lights into your choice of hexagons, stars, hearts and more!
The Loop sponsorship special — 33% off this week only. Get FabFocus Now.
Alvin Chang, writing for Vox, on his time trolling, then investigating the folks who call claiming they are with the IRS, trying to collect owed taxes.
Jeff Benjamin pulled together this list of tips for 9to5mac. While you might know most of these, odds are, you won’t know all of them. Nice collection.
Eddy Cue, speaking at the Vanity Fair New Establishment Summit:
“I do think television needs to be reinvented. Today, you live with a glorified VCR,” Cue said. “The problem is the interface.”
“It’s really hard to use [a cable box or satellite TV]. Setting something to record, if you didn’t watch something last night, if you didn’t set it to record, it’s hard to find, it may not be available. There may be some rights issues,” Cue said.
“It’s great to be able to tell your device, ‘I wanna watch the Duke basketball game, I don’t care what channel it’s on.’ I just want to watch the Duke basketball game. Today you got to bring in the TV, go through the guide, find which sports programs or whatever — it’s just hard to do.”
The state of television is in flux. Unlike the music industry, which moved to online purchases and then streaming, the dominant TV business model has yet to emerge. Apple is exploring all sides, trying to find their place in the emerging model. Apple TV, as currently implemented, is a portal. But Apple is also dipping its toes in the waters of original content.
Netflix has definitely found success with original content that is not dependent on cable companies for distribution. HBO has original content but is straddling the lines of the a la carte (HBO Now) and the more traditional bundle (as part of a cable package). Hulu and Amazon have their own approaches. Sports and more traditional programming add another wrinkle.
All of this adds up to a mish-mosh of standards. What’s needed is a unifying force to make it possible to watch all this content on demand while, at the same time, making the content universally and intelligently searchable and schedulable.
Seems to me that Apple TV is well placed to be that unifying portal, but an irresistible force is needed to bring all these disparate elements together.
As reported by The MetroWest Daily News, police said the Apple Natick Collection outlet was the scene of a speedy burglary on Tuesday perpetrated by a group of seven unidentified individuals. Described as a “pack,” the suspects are believed to be teens or young men and women.
And:
Wearing hoodies, the roving gang can be seen entering the mall at around 7:15 p.m., making a beeline straight for Apple. Once inside, the suspects gathered around display tables at the store’s entrance —iPhones are usually placed prominently on the sales floor to lure in passersby —ripped 19 iPhones from their security tethers and scrambled out. The heist was over in less than a minute.
This is not the first time this has happened. Apple is removing the tethers from the tables, replacing them with a software “kill switch” that disables the phones when they move out of range.
Apple’s fiscal year 2016 fourth quarter results conference call will be this Tuesday, October 25th, at 2p PT, 5p ET.
Rebroadcast:
The conference call will be available as a continuous rebroadcast beginning Tuesday, October 25, at 5:00 p.m. PDT/8:00 p.m. EDT, through Tuesday, November 8, at 5:00 p.m. PST/8:00 p.m. EST. The dial-in numbers for the rebroadcast are (888) 203-1112 (toll-free) or (719) 457-0820. Please enter confirmation code 2017273.
Webcast:
The live webcast will begin at 2:00 p.m. PDT on October 25, 2016, at www.apple.com/investor/earnings-call/ and will also be available for replay for approximately two weeks thereafter. Live audio streaming requires an iPhone®, iPad® or iPod touch® with Safari® on iOS 7.0 or later, a Mac® with Safari 6.0.5 or later on OS X® v10.8.5 or later, or a PC with Microsoft Edge on Windows 10.
Residents here still speak Sardo, the closest living form of Latin. Grandmothers gaze warily at outsiders from under embroidered veils. And, in a modest apartment in the town of Nuoro, a slight 62-year-old named Paola Abraini wakes up every day at 7 am to begin making su filindeu – the rarest pasta in the world.
No one can remember how or why the women in Nuoro started preparing su filindeu (whose name means “the threads of God”), but for more than 300 years, the recipe and technique have only been passed down through the women in Abraini’s family – each of whom have guarded it tightly before teaching it to their daughters.
I never thought there would be kinds of food that would be endangered in this manner. After reading this story, I want to go to Italy and try the “threads of God”.
In 2015, IBM let their employees decide – Windows or Mac. “The goal was to deliver a great employee choice program and strive to achieve the best Mac program,” Previn said. An emerging favorite meant the deployment of 30,000 Macs over the course of the year. But that number has grown. With more employees choosing Mac than ever before, the company now has 90,000 deployed (with only five admins supporting them), making it the largest Mac deployment on earth.
But isn’t it expensive, and doesn’t it overload IT? No. IBM found that not only do PCs drive twice the amount of support calls, they’re also three times more expensive. That’s right, depending on the model, IBM is saving anywhere from $273 – $543 per Mac compared to a PC, over a four-year lifespan. “And this reflects the best pricing we’ve ever gotten from Microsoft,” Previn said. Multiply that number by the 100,000+ Macs IBM expects to have deployed by the end of the year, and we’re talking some serious savings.
Those of you who have worked in IT probably already knew this and many of us have known or suspected it for years. When I worked for Apple 20+ years ago, we had a slide deck that showed this ROI. I never understood why Apple never took advantage of the data they had on it.
The self-driving software is not finished and has yet to be approved by regulators, but the four-minute clip is nonetheless impressive, showing a Tesla leaving a garage, driving across town, and finding its own parking spot — all autonomously. There is someone sat in the driver’s seat, as per current legal requirements, but they never touch the wheel. Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who posted the clip to Twitter, notes that the car is even smart enough to driver past a disabled parking spot, knowing it’s not allowed to park there.
Introducing Nintendo Switch! In addition to providing single and multiplayer thrills at home, the Nintendo Switch system also enables gamers to play the same title wherever, whenever and with whomever they choose. The mobility of a handheld is now added to the power of a home gaming system to enable unprecedented new video game play styles.
Nintendo Switch (formerly known by the code name Nintendo NX) is a gaming system that embeds a portable system into a dock, making it easy to switch between console and portable without exiting your game. I look forward to taking this system for a spin, playing the next-gen Zelda title on the road.
From the Nintendo Switch Wikipedia page:
The Nintendo Switch is described as a console/handheld hybrid system, allowing players to alternate between playing on a television via a docking station and playing on the move using a detachable screen. Along with supporting wireless game pad controllers, the system comes with detachable controllers which can either be used in tandem with each other, either connected to the screen or used in each hand similar to the Wii’s Wii Remote and Nunchuck control scheme, or can be used as two seperate sideway controllers for multiple players. The game will also feature wireless multiplayer via multiple systems, for example, allowing four players to play using two Switch systems. Games played on the system are distributed via cartridges and digital downloads.
A new video confirms previous reports that the 32GB iPhone 7 has 8X slower write speeds than the 128GB and 256GB models.
Unbox Therapy demonstrates a benchmark and real world test of write speeds on a 32GB and 256GB iPhone 7. The benchmark found that the 256GB model was able to write data at 341 MB/s; whereas, the 32GB was only able to write data at 42 MB/s.
The video is embedded below. Feel free to skip to 1:14 in, where the side-by-side test between the 32GB and 256GB iPhone 7’s starts.
Is this a big deal? I’d say, it’s worth keeping in mind if you are on the fence between the 32GB and 128GB iPhone 7.
Prolific Apple hacker/developer Steve Troughton-Smith last night posted on Twitter that he has found a one-handed mode for the iPhone keyboard, hacking the iOS Simulator to demo the unreleased feature as shown above. The code has apparently been in the system since iOS 8 but is yet to be released as a public-facing feature.
The one-handed keyboard mode is activated by an edge swipe on the keys, revealing a sidebar of cut/copy/paste controls and squishing the other keys down to the side. This would make it much easier for the user to stretch their thumb across the entire width of the alphabet keys, improving one-handed use on larger iPhones.
Zhang Sitong was saving a friend’s phone number on his Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smartphone when it started to vibrate and smoke. He threw it on the ground and told his friend to start filming.
Two employees from Samsung Electronics showed up at his house later that day, he said, offering a new Note 7 and about $900 in compensation on the condition that he keep the video private. Mr. Zhang angrily refused. Only weeks before, even as Samsung recalled more than two million Note 7s in the United States and elsewhere, the company had reassured him and other Chinese customers that the phone was safe.
And:
“They said there was no problem with the phones in China. That’s why I bought a Samsung,” said Mr. Zhang, a 23-year-old former firefighter. “This is an issue of deception. They are cheating Chinese consumers.”
And:
Samsung initially said the Chinese version of the Note 7 had a different battery and was safe. But last week, after reports in China of phones catching fire, it finally recalled the Note 7 there before it scrapped the phone globally.
Samsung was once the top phone maker in China. Now this. Wow.
Apple on Wednesday sent out an invite to press for a special event the company will hold at its Cupertino, Calif. campus on October 27. I will be at the event and will bring you all the news.
It is widely expected that Apple will update its Mac line-up during the event. Nobody knows for sure which Macs are scheduled for updates, but there is hope among users that the MacBook Pro will be among them.
This will most likely be the final product update of the year for Apple as we head into the holiday shopping season.
Late yesterday Apple filed a trademark infringement cases against Mobile Star LLC for selling counterfeit power products such as power adapters and charging cables through Amazon.com. Apple believes these counterfeit products could lead to fires and are therefore a risk to the public.
Apple recently purchased a number of Apple power adapters and charging and syncing cables (collectively “power products”) that were directly sold by Amazon.com – not a third party seller – and determined that they were counterfeit. Amazon.com informed Apple that Mobile Star was its source for the majority of these counterfeit Apple products.
Apple’s internal examination and testing for these products revealed almost 90% of these products are counterfeit.
It’s understandable why people want to buy adapters and cables from third parties because the Apple-branded ones are ridiculously expensive. But, their quality is undoubtedly suspect which is why Apple wants them off the market.
Developer Camp is a three-day hackathon and community event, held regularly in cities all around the world. It relies on a certain pattern to create trust and foster cooperation — right up until the presentations begin. Our next event is all about bots.
This looks like a great event. The camp works with girls, boys, men, and women, so everyone has a chance to learn to code or hone your skills.
With only one touch, FabFocus uses advanced human recognition A.I. to detect people in the foreground, automatically blurring the background to create a professional-looking depth of field effect. Unique to FabFocus, the app enables multiple bokeh effects, transforming point lights into your choice of hexagons, stars, hearts and more!
The Loop sponsorship special— 33% off this week only. Get FabFocus Now.
For the better part of the last decade, one of the biggest demands from people in the market for a premium smartphone was a great camera. These days, though, it’s a feature you should expect. A good smartphone camera is no longer the deciding factor it once was if only because it’s now so common to find one in a high-end (or even mid-range) phone. These three phones are the perfect example of that. Google may have won the race this time around, but Samsung and Apple made it a photo finish.
Another shootout between the three most popular camera phones. Interesting to compare the Verge’s opinions with those of the CNET article I linked to yesterday.
I love this cover of Pink Floyd’s classic, Welcome to the Machine. Give it a few minutes for him to get into the groove. Amazing that this is all done on an acoustic.
Be sure to stick around for the guitar change around 7:27 in.
The Israeli entrepreneur had spent one year designing the product that would make him rich—a smartphone case that unfolds into a selfie stick. He had drawn up prototypes, secured some minimal funds from his family, and launched a crowdfunding campaign.
And:
One week after his product hit Kickstarter in December 2015, Sherman was shocked to see it for sale on AliExpress—Alibaba’s English-language wholesale site. Vendors across China were selling identical smartphone case selfie-sticks, using the same design Sherman came up with himself. Some of them were selling for as low as $10 a piece, well below Sherman’s expected retail price of £39 ($47.41). Amazingly, some of these vendors stole the name of Sherman’s product—Stikbox.
Jason Snell wrote this review of an app called Really Bad Chess. In a nutshell, it’s you against an AI, but with the chess pieces replaced, seemingly at random. So you might end up with 6 queens and only 1 pawn. Turns out the chess piece assignment is part of the Really Bad Chess handicapping process.
I downloaded the game and started playing. It is terrific fun, no matter your chess level.
Read the review, then go get the game (free with $2.99 in-app purchase to turn off ads).
Rumors have been flying that Apple is considering teaming up with a company building customizable keyboards with individual E-ink keys, but the claims, including alleged “confirmations,” appear to spring from a single report that may be little more than self-promotion of an upcoming product.
This is in response to an article that appeared in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal.
It’s all rumors until Apple actually announces it. But this October 27th Apple Mac event, that’s got to be real. It’s just got to be (I’ve got my sights set on a new MacBook Pro, that’s why).
The jet black iPhone 7 and 7 Plus sit high on the supply/demand curve: The supply is limited, the demand high. The jet black finish is unlike any finish before it, created by a unique buffing process (about 1:12 in) called rotational 3-D polishing. And the people rejoiced.
The way I see it, a micro-abrasion is a mark that you can see but one you cannot feel. On the other hand, a scratch is a mark that you can see and feel if running a fingernail on top of it. I believe this distinction to be important, and I also believe that most people would agree with it.
Sébastien is relatively careful with his phone. Despite that care, his iPhone shows both micro-abrasions and scratches. His post does a good job describing both with an excellent photo giving you a sense of what to expect. I’ve seen lots of photos of the iPhone 7, but few get the lighting angle just right. This one does.
The high gloss aluminum finish feels remarkably like glass. I’m not sure I could tell the difference between the display and the back casing in a blind test. It also attracts fingerprints just like glass. I’m constantly wiping the back of my iPhone down with my shirt just like I already do for the screen.
I notice fingerprints everyday. I have to actually look for micro abrasions. They are there, but only visible in certain lighting.
This point about lighting is key. The sense I get is that you wouldn’t notice the abrasions if you weren’t specifically looking for them, tilting the phone to get the light at just the right angle.
Again, some excellent photos here, including one terrible image showing what happens when iPhone kisses pavement. Ugh.
I am very careful with my iPhone, always have been. In fact, without looking, I’d say my iPhone 6s Plus is in perfect condition. Let me just pull it out and look…Hmmm. If I get the light just right, I see some chips and scratches. And, as you’d expect, lots of fingerprints. And I never even noticed them.
If you are entranced by the jet black finish, take a look at the images in the linked posts, then take a really careful look at your existing phone. That should help you decide if the jet black finish is worth the wait.
UPDATE: Here’s another gallery, this from Lee Peterson, showing some jet black wear and tear.
Tap your phone, and AC/DC’s “Back in Black” blasts. Tap again, and the bath runs at a blissful 101 degrees. Sweet, right? Of course, your dad might view it as a bit over the top. All told, $30,000 worth of gadgets and gizmos were on display here, many run with Apple’s free HomeKit app.
And:
Apple is teaming up with a handful of builders and using these kinds of test beds to inch its way into the market for Internet-connected home furnishings, a nascent field that has attracted rivals like Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Amazon.com Inc.
At the core of this article is Apple’s strategy to bring your home into the Apple ecosystem. If you buy a home “wired” for HomeKit, you are more likely to move to iOS, buy an iPhone to control it all.
If I go down this road, will my house be worth less if I sell to an Android buyer? When I am looking for a house, will Android vs Brillo (Google’s Internet of Things platform) be part of the realtor’s pitch?
Apple is planning to introduce new Macs at an Oct. 27 event, sources confirmed to Recode.
The move had long been expected, given that the company released MacOS Sierra last month but had yet to introduce any new computer models sporting the software. It also comes just in time for Apple to have the new products on sale for the full holiday season.
And:
The Mac event is expected to take place at or near Apple’s Cupertino campus rather than in San Francisco, where the company held many recent events, including the iPhone 7 announcement.
And, finally:
Apple declined to comment.
This was widely rumored, widely expected. It will be interesting to see if the new MacBook Pro ships without a headphone jack.
Pearl Jam, Tupac Shakur, Jane’s Addiction and Depeche Mode lead the latest crop of nominees for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, raising the possibility of a sweep of 1980s and ’90s nostalgia for an institution that has been criticized for its devotion to the baby boomer generation.
Of the 19 nominees announced by the Rock Hall on Tuesday, nine were getting their first nods, including Pearl Jam and Mr. Shakur in their first year of eligibility.
I love these stories if only for the arguments they generate. I think Pearl Jam and Tupac should be in the Hall but would disagree that Journey, the J. Geils Band, and Joe Tex deserve entry. What about you? Who do you think, out of the 19 nominees this round, deserves to be in or not?
After setting up his tripod and pointing his camera at airport runways, Kelley spends hours photographing multiple exposures of every airplane that travels across his frame. Afterward, he spends many more hours selecting the best position for planes and combining a section of the photo set into one remarkable composite.
I’ve seen some of this artist’s work before and it is incredible the amount of time and skill this takes.
And according to one of its customer representatives, the Swedish music streaming company is not keen on going beyond its AirPlay support for Apple TV and coming out with its own Apple TV app soon.
This certainly isn’t because of anything Apple is doing to prevent Spotify from making an app—Pandora is on Apple TV, so it’s possible. I wonder if Spotify is just being childish here.
This year, Google broke convention with its flagship phone by scrapping the old “Nexus” brand and calling it something new: Pixel. And while previous Nexus phones had decent cameras, Google says this Pixel has the best camera ever made on a smartphone.
But Google isn’t the only phone maker hyper-focused on photography this year. Apple’s new iPhone 7 Plus included, for the first time, a dual-camera system with optical zoom and a game-changing portrait mode.
So let’s compare the two cameras. I set out on a day-long photoshoot in California wine country, a scenic backdrop, perfect for pitting Pixel against the iPhone 7 Plus.
This is an interesting comparison. The reviewer uses the phones and takes the shots that an “average” person would take. This is not a “Review by a Pro” and therefore, might be even more applicable to our readers. Given the shots the reviewer used, I really don’t have very much argument with their conclusions.
