The CultCast
This week: why iPhone X's Face ID is an astounding accomplishment! Plus: the new and notable features in macOS High Sierra; Bill Gates finally ditches his Windows Phone; Leander’s writing a new Tim Cook book; Erfon talks about the best 4K television money can buy; and we’ll tell you what we like and don’t about the gadgets we’re reviewing in an all-new under review!
 
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CultCloth will keep your iPhone 7, Apple Watch, Mac and iPad sparkling clean, and for a limited time you can use code CULTCAST to score a free CleanCloth with any order at CultCloth.co.
 
The Cult of Mac watch store has the best straps in the biz!  Save 20% off any order with code CultCast at checkout.
 
Thanks to Kevin MacLeod at incompetech.com for the great music you hear on today's show.
 
On the show this week
 
Catch our CultCast live show on Monday, Oct 2nd at 12PM!
 
Bill Gates ditches Windows Mobile, but not for iPhone 8
  • Bill Gates just got himself a brand new smartphone, and it isn’t an iPhone 8.
  • The Microsoft co-founder has ditched Windows Mobile for Android. Despite getting closer to Steve Jobs before he died in 2011, Gates still has no interest in using iOS.
  • further pressed about the possibility of using iOS instead, Gates responded, “Nope. No iPhone.”
 
Apple TV is finally back on Amazon buster
  • Getting your hands on the new Apple TV 4K though Amazon won’t be easy though. The page for Apple’s newest set-top box shows that there are no units in stock. It appears that Amazon is only offering the 64GB model priced at $199.
  • Putting Apple TV back on its digital shelves is a bit unexpected but is likely related to Apple TV finally gaining an Amazon Prime Video app. The service still hasn’t launched on Apple TV yet but is expected to debut at some point this fall.
 
Apple's Face ID is a Triumph of Machine Learning Technology
  • Data scientist Abdul Dremali is leading research & development in Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Big Data at the AndPlus Innovation Lab, and he’s very impressed with Face ID.
 
macOS High Sierra is now available to the public buster
  • Apple unleashed its huge update for the Mac this morning bringing a host of new features and UI changes to desktops after months of beta testing. Most of the update contains under-the-hood changes the makes machines faster and more stable, but there are plenty of new additions to love.
  • macOS High Sierra brings support for the new Apple File System to the Mac. Apple added it to iOS devices last year. AFS’ 64-bit architecture is more secure, with built-in encryption, crash protection and simplified data backups.
  • Safari is one of the biggest benefactors from the macOS High Sierra update. Apple claims its now the world’s fastest browser, with an 80% speed advantage over Google Chrome
  • Mail received some improved search functions tied to the update to Spotlight. You can also use a new Split View mode too that lets you write emails while keeping tabs on your inbox.
  • The Photos app also got some big updates. There’s now better facial recognition and some new editing tools that make it a more capable photo editor. Notes got a new pin feature to keep your most important notes to the top of the list where you’ll be able to find them easier. The app also has support for tables now.
  • Last Thursday, six ad industry groups penned an open letter criticizing Apple's upcoming Safari feature, saying the decision to incorporate such technology into a web browser is heavy-handed and "bad for consumer choice and bad for the ad-supported online content and services." 
  • Today, Apple responded to the missive in a statement to The Loop.
  • "Apple believes that people have a right to privacy - Safari was the first browser to block third party cookies by default and Intelligent Tracking Prevention is a more advanced method for protecting user privacy," Apple said. "Ad tracking technology has become so pervasive that it is possible for ad tracking companies to recreate the majority of a person's web browsing history. This information is collected without permission and is used for ad re-targeting, which is how ads follow people around the Internet. The new Intelligent Tracking Prevention feature detects and eliminates cookies and other data used for this cross-site tracking, which means it helps keep a person's browsing private. The feature does not block ads or interfere with legitimate tracking on the sites that people actually click on and visit. Cookies for sites that you interact with function as designed, and ads placed by web publishers will appear normally.”
 
Apple’s Face ID white paper is not nearly as boring as it sounds
 
Under Review
Direct download: CultCast_303_-_Face_ID_is_a_Triumph_of_Machine_Learning.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:37am PDT

This week: iPhone 8 reviews are in!  We’ll tell you what everyone loves Apple’s newest phone, and why you should get one (but probably won’t).  Plus: we round up the reviews for Apple Watch series 3, and argue over which model is best. And stick around for what we don’t like about iPhone X; Apple’s A11 chip hits a surprising benchmark; tests show iPhone 8 wireless charging is abysmally slow; Apple quietly hikes their iDevice prices; and we’ll tell you all the best AR apps you need to try.
 
This episode supported by
Build a beautiful, responsive website quick at Squarespace.com.  Enter offer code CultCast at checkout to get 10% off. Squarespace—Build it Beautiful.
 
CultCloth will keep your iPhone 7, Apple Watch, Mac and iPad sparkling clean, and for a limited time you can use code CULTCAST to score a free CleanCloth with any order at CultCloth.co.
 
The Cult of Mac watch store has the best straps in the biz!  Save 20% off any order with code CultCast at checkout.
 
Thanks to Kevin MacLeod at incompetech.com for the great music you hear on today's show.
 
On the show this week
 
Historical first? New iPhones fail to sell out - leander
  • For the first time since the launch of the iPhone in 2007, the company’s latest models failed to immediately sell out.
  • More than 12 hours after pre-orders opened this morning, the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus remain generally available for pickup at Apple stores next Friday,
  • Shipping time is currently 3 business days
 
iPhone X’s Face ID will only recognize one person - buster
  • When the new biometric security features makes its debut this November, it will support just one user, Apple has confirmed. If anyone else uses your device, they’ll have to enter the passcode.
 
Apple silently raises iPad Pro prices
  • Changes made to the online Apple store show that the 10.5-inch iPad Pro models with WiFi only are now $50 more expensive each. Before yesterday’s keynote, the 256GB and 512GB units cost $749 and $949. Now they’re priced at $799 and $999.
  • iPhone prices have also been hiked up.
  • The cellular models for the 10.5-inch iPad Pro also got a price increase
  • Nothing has changed about the products.
  • iPhone prices have also been hiked
    • iPhone 7 32GB - $649
    • iPhone 7 Plus 32GB - $769
    • iPhone 8 64GB - $699
    • iPhone 8 Plus 64GB - $799
 
Adding wireless charging to your AirPods will cost $69
  • Apple’s new Wireless Charging Case for AirPods will go on sale this December, according to a report out of Europe, which sites Apple Switzerland. The device is expected to cost $69, which is the same amount you’ll pay to replace a standard case if you lose it.
  • Apple reportedly has no plans to sell AirPods with the Wireless Charging Case, so it will be available as an optional accessory.
 
The best ARKit apps to try on iPhone and iPad
 
Direct download: CultCast_302_-_Why_you_should_get_the_iPhone_8_but_probably_won_t.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:19am PDT

This week: we react to everything announced at Apple's iPhone X press event! Plus, we’ll tell you everything we now know about iPhone X, iPhone 8, the new Apple TV 4K, Apple Watch Series 3, the AirPods update, and the new AirPower charging mat.  It’s a packed show.  Better hit play, fam!
 
This episode supported by
Casper’s American-made mattresses have just the right amount of sink and bounce, and people everywhere love them.  Learn why at Casper.com/cultcast,and get $50 towards any mattress with code CultCast at checkout.
 
CultCloth will keep your iPhone 7, Apple Watch, Mac and iPad sparkling clean, and for a limited time you can use code CULTCAST to score a free CleanCloth with any order at CultCloth.co.
 
The Cult of Mac watch store has the best straps in the biz!  Save 20% off any order with code CultCast at checkout.
 
Thanks to Kevin MacLeod at incompetech.com for the great music you hear on today's show.
 
On the show this week
 
Erfon’s Twitch stream on Faceshift, the technology powering Star Wars animations and now iPhone X Animoji
 
iPhone 8 brings awesome new features at a cheaper price
 
iPhone cameras just got a whole lot smarter
 
Watch all of Apple’s new iPhone videos right here
 
7 ways Apple surprised us at the iPhone X event
 
Apple releases iOS 11 GM (the right way)
 
iPhone X vs. iPhone 8: Should you wait longer and pay more?
 
Everything Apple unveiled at its iPhone X keynote

 

Direct download: CultCast_301_-_Our_iPhone_X_event_reactions.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:51pm PDT

This week: a look inside the new Steve Jobs Theater, a beautiful spectacle of technology and architecture, a physical manifestationof the Apple ethos, and a true and fitting monumen..  And like any Apple product, it packs some features that will delight you. Plus: why it will probably be damn near impossible to purchase an iPhone 8, and we’ll pitch you our favorite gadgets then vote on which is best in an all new Faves ’N Raves!
 
This episode supported by
Build a beautiful, responsive website quick at Squarespace.com.  Enter offer code CultCast at checkout to get 10% off. Squarespace—Build it Beautiful.
 
CultCloth will keep your iPhone 7, Apple Watch, Mac and iPad sparkling clean, and for a limited time you can use code CULTCAST to score a free CleanCloth with any order at CultCloth.co.
 
The Cult of Mac watch store has the best straps in the biz!  Save 20% off any order with code CultCast at checkout.
 
Thanks to Kevin MacLeod at incompetech.com for the great music you hear on today's show.
 
On the show this week
 
Pre-Orders for iPhone 8 Likely to Start on September 15, Shipments on September 22
 
Drone flyover shows off a bustling Steve Jobs Theater
 
Steve Jobs Theater is as special as any other Apple product
  • On Tuesday, September 12th, according to Bloomberg, will unveil not only its latest batch of products, but also give us all a first glimpse of its brand new campus
  • The Steve Jobs Theater is as obsessively perfect as you’d expect a building named after Apple’s co-founder and former CEO should be.
  • The entrance to the venue sits underneath a silver disc, which which sits 20 feet in the air, supported by gigantic glass panels.
  • The auditorium itself occupies four underground stories, and to get there, journalists will descend a staircase spiraling down alongside the walls.
  • In order to gain access to the subterranean theater, attendees can either descend via a spiral staircase or using two custom elevators. These elevators rotate as they descend, so that passengers enter and exit through the same door, even though they do so from different directions.
  • The theater also sports a retracting wall, which opens to reveal a hidden product testing area.
  • Given the theater's 1,000-person capacity, one engineer said back in March that the building's budget meant each leather seat had cost Apple the equivalent of $14,000 apiece.
  • It’s a touching eponym, isn’t it?  Steve Jobs theater?  It will be a beautiful spectacle of technology and architecture, a true and fitting monument.  A metaphor for Steve Jobs, and a physical representation of the Apple ethos.
  • Steve Jobs was man that literally started with nothing, not even his biological parents, and went on to build one of the world’s most coveted companies.
  • It’s a uniquely American success story.
 
 
Analyst: Blame Samsung for iPhone 8’s high price tag
Apple’s upcoming premium iPhone is likely to be its most expensive model ever — and Samsung is partly to blame, according to a reliable Apple analyst.
  • In his latest research note, KGI Securities analyst Ming Chi-Kuo explains to investors that Samsung currently holds a practical monopoly on the supply of OLED displays. They’re the only ones capable of reliably mass producing the screens Apple needs, and thus seems to be inflating the price.
  • Apple previously paid between $45 and $55 for the screens on Plus-size iPhones. But Ming Chi Kuo claims Samsung is probably charging about $75 more for OLED displays. The final price for the displays likely costs Apple $120 to $130 per unit. That could explain why rumors predict the iPhone 8 (or iPhone Edition)
 
 
Our Faves N Raves Picks
Direct download: CultCast_300_-_Incredible_extravagance_of_the_Steve_Jobs_Theater.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:05am PDT

This week: IT’S OFFICIAL—Apple’s next iPhone event is September 12th!  Tune in to catch our hardware predictions, plus, we take a look at the leaked iPhone 8 UI, and how the new phone will work without a home button. Next, we'll regale you with the story behind the evolution of the Apple logo, and the story you’ve never heard about its iconic bite.  And stick around for an all-new What We’re Into, where Leander tells us why Game of Thrones has turned into his most despised show!
 
This episode supported by
BlueApron - a better way to cook! Get your first 3 meals free with free shipping at BlueApron.com/CultCast
 
CultCloth will keep your iPhone 7, Apple Watch, Mac and iPad sparkling clean, and for a limited time you can use code CULTCAST to score a free CleanCloth with any order at CultCloth.co.
 
The Cult of Mac watch store has the best straps in the biz!  Save 20% off any order with code CultCast at checkout.
 
Thanks to Kevin MacLeod at incompetech.com for the great music you hear on today's show.
 
On the show this week
 
Apple’s cryptic invitation confirms September 12 event
  • After months of anticipation and a flurry of rumors, Apple finally sent out media invites to its big iPhone 8 event today, welcoming the press to come to Apple Park for the big date.
  • Apple’s keynote is set for September 12, which is in line with previous rumors that circled the second Tuesday of September as time when the keynote would take place. The event will take place in the Steve Jobs Theater at Apple Park.
  • Apple is expected to present three new iPhones on stage: the iPhone 7s, iPhone 7s Plus and the premium iPhone 8 models. Other products that could make an appearance include a new Apple TV with 4K video support as well as the Apple Watch Series 3 with LTE.
 
Apple Inc. plans to transform the way people use its next high-end iPhone
 
Without a Home button, here’s how the new iPhone 8 UI will work
  • Across the bottom of the screen there’s a thin, software bar in lieu of the home button. A user can drag it up to the middle of the screen to open the phone. When inside an app, a similar gesture starts multitasking. From here, users can continue to flick upwards to close the app and go back to the home screen.
  • The new model’s overall size will be similar to that of the iPhone 7, but it will include an OLED screen that is slightly larger than the one on the iPhone 7 Plus (5.5-inches)
  • The new screen is rounded on the corners, while current iPhone screens have square corners. The power button on the right side of phone is longer so it is easier to press while holding the device in one hand, according to the images and the people.
  • The phone will still have six vertical rows of apps, showing 24 icons on each page, excluding the dock, a grey bar at the bottom that houses commonly used apps. The dock is redesigned with a new interface similar to the one on the iPad version of iOS 11
  • Apple also plans to include a stainless steel band around the phone which the glass curves into
 
 
iPhone 8 inductive charging may be a wee bit slow BH
  • According to the latest rumor out of Asia, Apple will use an older standard for its inductive charging feature which means recharging could take longer than expected.
  • All three new iPhone models are expected to pick up the inductive charging feature this fall. Instead of using the full 15 watts of power supported by the Qi Ver. 1.2 standard, Macotakara claims Apple’s tech will only draw 7.5 watts.
  • Every time I’ve used inductive charging, it’s been slooooooow
 
Today in Apple history: Rainbow Apple logo gets a modern overhaul LK
  • August 27, 1999: Apple replaces the striped, multicolored logo it used since 1977 with a new single-color version.
  • Apple’s first corporate logo was actually not the memorable “bitten apple” logo at all. A riff on a Victorian woodcut, it portrayed Sir Isaac Newton sitting beneath a tree with a solitary apple dangling over his head. A quotation from William Wordsworth’s The Prelude ran around the image’s border: “A mind forever wandering through strange seas of thought, alone.” It was created by long lost Apple co-founder Ronald Wayne.
  • After less than a year, Apple replaced that logo with the bitten Apple version we have today. Designed by 29-year-old Rob Janoff, it coincided with the debut of the Apple II at the West Coast Computer Faire, which marked Apple’s graduation from a small startup to a serious business
  • Jobs gave Janoff — who does not receive any royalties for his design — two directions for the Apple logo. 1) Don’t make it cute. And 2) Find some way to visually incorporate the Apple II’s revolutionary 16-color display, which was the first PC to include a color display.
  • The “Glass” themed logo was the next evolution for the logo and was featured on the first ever iMac. The bondi blue iMac  looked ridiculous with a rainbow logo, and needed something fresh
  • Today, the company uses a more modernized flat monochromatic logo. The logo comes mainly in 3 colors; silver, white and black.
  • The bite
    • According to Rob Janoff, the bite on the Apple logo was to really let people know that it was an apple and not a cherry. The bite also played along with the computer buffs at that time because it had a similar sound off to the word ‘byte’, a unit of digital information in computing and telecommunication.
 
What We’re Into
 
Blade Runner 2049 Short Film Reveals What Happened in 2036
 
Awaken, my love!  By Childish Gambino
 
Game of Thrones has jumped the shark
 
Direct download: CultCast_299_-_Our_iPhone_8_event_predictions_.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:06am PDT

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