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June 2018
S M T W T F S
     
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Syndication

Thu, 28 June 2018
CultCast #342 - New AirPods! New iPhones! New HomePod!
This week: Apple plans new, improved AirPods, HomePod and over-ear headphones; Apple finally acknowledges its new MacBook keyboards suck, and they’re going to make it right; a top Apple analyst drops a bunch of details on Apple’s 2018 product pipeline; and Apple is tries to solve a fascinating issue with autonomous vehicles.
 
This episode supported by
 
Easily create a website by yourself, at Squarespace.com/cultcast. Use offer code CultCast at checkout to get 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain.
 
Print postage from your office and take advantage of special shipping discounts at pb.com/cultcast, and beat the postage rate increase with exclusive discounts on letters.  Plans start at just $5 a month!
 
CultCloth will keep your iPhone X, Apple Watch, Mac and iPad sparkling clean, and for a limited time use code CULTCAST at checkout to score a free CleanCloth with any order at CultCloth.co.
 
Thanks to Kevin McLeodfor the music you hear on today’s episode.
 
On the show this week
 
Apple finally acknowledges its new MacBook keyboards suck
  • The butterfly keyboards on the new MacBook and MacBook Pro are officially defective.
  • After months of outcry from angry customers, Apple has finally acknowledged that the new keyboards have some serious problems. The company says the issues are limited to a small percentage of MacBooks, but its offering free repairs.
 
Apple plans new, improved AirPods, HomePod and over-ear headphones
  • Bloomberg has a new report out that says we could have some exciting new Apple audio products in 2019.
 
Top Apple analyst drops a ton of details on Apple’s 2018 product pipeline
  • First: Ming still expects three new iPhones in 2018: a second-generation iPhone X, a massive 6.5-inch version dubbed the iPhone X Plus, and a 6.1-inch version that will essentially be a budget iPhone X.
 
Apple is trying to solve a very interest problem with autonomous vehicles, and they’ve hired a fascinating guy to help solve it.
Engineer and YouTuber Mark Rober Working on Anti-Motion Sickness VR Technology for Use in Autonomous Vehicles
  • Engineer and popular YouTuber Mark Rober is, accordingly Variety, working for Apple as an engineer in their special projects group.
  • More specifically, Rober has been working on Apple's virtual reality projects, including "using VR as on-board entertainment for self-driving cars.”
  • His most recent patent addresses an interesting problem:
    • "Many passengers in vehicles may experience motion sickness. Typically, this is not the case for the driver. However, with the arrival of autonomous vehicles, the driver becomes a passenger, and thus may want to occupy themselves while, for example, riding to work. Passengers in conventional or autonomous vehicles may, for example, want to read a book, or work on their notebook computer.
 
Meet Mark Rober, the creative dynamo working on Apple’s autonomous car project
 
Jon Olsson is a young rich guy with a great YouTube channel
 
Dr. DisRespect is the most dominating streamer in the online gaming community
Direct download: CultCast_342_-_New_AirPods__New_iPhones__New_HomePod.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:28pm PDT
Thu, 21 June 2018
CultCast #341 - The SAD state of the Mac
This week:
  • It’s been over a year since Apple has updated virtually any of their Macs.  Just what in the heck in going on?  
  • Why all your online purchases will soon be taxed
  • Instagram takes on YouTube with new IGTV app
  • MoviePass is about to change for the worse.  AGAIN.
  • America’s largest theater chain just put the final nails in the MoviePass coffin
  • And things get weird in an all-new what we’re into!
 
This episode supported by
 
A business is only as strong as its people, and every hire matters… go to LinkedIn.com/cultcast and get a $50 credit toward your first job post.
 
Whether you’re looking to learn something new or just sharpen your skills, Udemy has over 65,000 courses starting at just 11.99.
Visit Ude.my/CULTCASTor download the Udemy app to learn anytime, anywhere.
 
CultCloth will keep your iPhone X, Apple Watch, Mac and iPad sparkling clean, and for a limited time use code CULTCAST at checkout to score a free CleanCloth with any order at CultCloth.co.
 
Print postage from your office and take advantage of special shipping discounts at pb.com/cultcast, and beat the postage rate increase with exclusive discounts on letters.  Plans start at just $5 a month!
 
Thanks to Kevin McLeodfor the music you hear on today’s episode.
 
On the show this week
 
Supreme Court Kills Quill, Gives States More Authority To Collect Sales Tax
  • It’s a sad day for US.  It’s the end of an era.  The end of tax-free shopping online.  
  • In 1992 the supreme court that a state couldn’t force an online retailer to collect sales tax for them if the retailer didn’t have a physical presence in that state.  
  • Today, they reversed that decision
  • What does that mean?
  • Well, it means that you state will undoubtedly begin forcing online retailers to charge you sales tax on all your online orders.  
  • If you have a big purchase to make, I’d do it this summer.  
 
On The Sad State of Macintosh Hardware
  • Rogue Amoeba developer Quentin Carnicelli posted this week on the company’s blog about his frustration with Apple’s continued neglect of the Mac.
  • "At the time of the writing, with the exception of the $5,000 iMac Pro, no Macintosh has been updated at all in the past year.”
 
Instagram takes on YouTube with new IGTV app
  • The photo-sharing social network revealed its new standalone app today called IGTV that’s dedicated to long-form video.
  • IGTV was revealed at an event today this morning where the company also shared that it now has 1 billion monthly active users.
 
MoviePass is going to introduce surge pricing on popular movies by July
  • By the end of the summer, you'll see some major changes to your MoviePass subscription — and you're not going to like them all.
  • MoviePass told Business Insider that by August members of the service would be able to add a friend when buying tickets through the app and would have the option, at an added price, to order tickets to Imax and Real 3D movies.
  • The first change to the service will happen in the coming weeks, when MoviePass will start charging members what CEO Mitch Lowe calls "high demand" pricing.
  • CEO Mitch Lowe: "At certain times for certain films — on opening weekend — there could be an additional charge for films"
  • The added charge will start at $2 for titles the app deems very popular with MoviePass subscribers
 
AMC is launching a MoviePass-like subscription service
  • The largest theater chain in America has announced that it will now offer a subscription service that allows patrons to watch up to three movies a week for $19.95 a month.
  • Called AMC Stubs A-List the online and smartphone-based subscription will allow members to watch multiple movies a day and let you see movies more than once.
  • There will be no online ticketing fees, and it will offer a discount on food and drinks at the concession stand. Plus Stubs A-List will be redeemable toward formats like IMAX and 3D and will also include special AMC locations such as Dine-Ins.
  • The service will allow you to make up to three movie reservations at once in advance without having to physically be at the theater
Direct download: CultCast_341_-_The_SAD_state_of_the_Mac.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:21pm PDT
Fri, 15 June 2018
CultCast #340 - iOS 12’s best hidden features
This week:  the hidden iOS 12 features you need to know about!  Plus, in an all-new Under Review, we’ll tell you about one hecka good portable mouse, a pair of earphones that give you supersonic hearing, the king of all power banks, and a beautiful new wireless charger you’ll be proud to set your phone upon.  
 
This episode supported by
 
Easily create a website by yourself, at Squarespace.com/cultcast. Use offer code CultCast at checkout to get 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain.
 
The single-router wifi model just doesn’t work for our increasingly high-bandwidth world. The EEROdistributed system will blanket your home in hyper-fast, reliable WiFi, and you can score free overnight shipping with code "CultCast" at checkout.
 
CultCloth will keep your iPhone X, Apple Watch, Mac and iPad sparkling clean, and for a limited time use code CULTCAST at checkout to score a free CleanCloth with any order at CultCloth.co.
 
Thanks to Kevin McLeod for the music you hear on today’s episode.
 
On the show this week
 
iOS 12 UI tweaks let you interact with apps as they’re opening - buster
  • Your phone is always available to answer to your input.  No more waiting for animations to finish.  
  • You can launch an app and start scrolling within the app even before it fills the screen.
  • You can launch an app and then dismiss it even before the app has fully opened.
  • You can close and app and instantly open another app from the home screen before the closing animation has finished,
 
The best iOS 12 features Apple didn’t mention
  • Police across the country are purchasing a tool called GrayKey. When hooked to an iPhone’s Lightning port, this swiftly enters thousands of passcodes until the correct one is reached.
  • But just-released beta of iOS 12 can be set to partially deactivate the Lightning port after an iPhone hasn’t been used for an hour.
 
iOS 12 makes iPhones immune to ‘brute force’ unlocking
 
Under Review
 
Logitech MX Anywhere 2S wireless mouse
 
Spigen Essential F306W
 
Anker Powerhouse
 
Nuheara IQ Buds Boost
Direct download: CultCast_340_-_iOS_12_s_best_hidden_features.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:09am PDT
Fri, 8 June 2018
CultCast #339 - WWDC 2018 Reactions! (And our best-of-show picks)
This week: It’s our WWDC 2018 reactions! Plus—our picks for the best new features announced at the keynote.
 
This episode supported by
 
Casper’s American-made mattresses have just the right amount of memory foam and latex, and people everywhere love them.  Learn why and get $50 towards any mattress at Casper.com/cultcast.
 
A business is only as strong as its people, and every hire matters… go to LinkedIn.com/cultcast and get a $50 credit toward your first job post.
 
Thanks to Kevin McLeodfor the music you hear on today’s episode.
 
On the show this week
 
All the important new stuff Apple revealed at WWDC 2018
 
Speed through the WWDC 2018 keynote with sketchnotes
  • It is always exciting to capture the WWDC keynote in sketchnotes, and this year we filled up four pages with drawings showcasing the biggest new features coming in iOS 12, macOS Mojave and watchOS 5.
 
iOS 12 definitely speeds up your iPhone
  • Side-by-side comparisons between iOS 12 beta 1 and version 11.4 show clear speed improvements.
 
Apple’s Craig Federighi explains how iOS apps will work on macOS
 
How iOS 12’s smartest features put users firmly back in control
  • If any other company had introduced Screen Time, the new system-wide toolset for limiting phone distractions, then it would (rightly) be dismissed as a gimmick, a sop to the increasing worries about phone addiction. But as is typical of Apple, Screen Time looks like it took a lot of work to get just right.
 
iOS 12 makes iPhones immune to ‘brute force’ unlocking
  • The just-released beta of iOS 12 can be set to partially deactivate the Lightning port after an iPhone hasn’t been used for an hour. This is a clear attempt to make useless the unlocking tools employed by law enforcement (or thieves).
 
Face ID in iOS 12 recognizes two different faces
  • The first iOS 12 developer beta debuted after today’s WWDC keynote. Intrepid souls who’ve already installed this early version on their iPhone X noticed that Face ID can be trained to recognize more than one person.
Direct download: CultCast_339_-_WWDC_18_Reactions_And_our_best-of-show_picks.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:01am PDT
Thu, 31 May 2018
CultCast #338 - iOS 12! New Macs! It’s our WWDC 2018 predictions!
This week:  It’s been a tight ship over there at Apple, so for the first time in a long time, we know almost nothing about what will be announced at an Apple Keynote.  
 
But we think there’s a good case for new hardware come Monday, and we’ll tell you why.  Plus, we’ll tell you everything we think we know about iOS 12.  And stick around for our ears-on, gaping-jaw review of two HomePods in stereo mode.
 
This episode supported by
 
Whether you’re looking to learn something new or just sharpen your skills, Udemy has over 65,000 courses starting at just 11.99.
Visit Ude.my/CULTCASTor download the Udemy app to learn anytime, anywhere.
 
CultCloth will keep your iPhone X, Apple Watch, Mac and iPad sparkling clean, and for a limited time use code CULTCAST at checkout to score a free CleanCloth with any order at CultCloth.co.
 
Thanks to Kevin McLeodfor the music you hear on today’s episode.
 
On the show this week
 
Apple delays big new iOS features to focus on stability in 2018
  • “Apple has shaken up its iOS software plans for 2018, delaying some features to next year in an effort to put more focus on addressing performance and quality issues,” reporter Ina Fried writes for Axios.
 
Cheaper HomePod, smarter Siri predicted for WWDC
  • Apple will introduce a Beat-branded $250 HomePod smart speaker at WWDC, predicts Apple analyst Gene Munster.
  • “The knock on HomePod is its $349 price is about 2-3x the price of a typical smart speaker,” Munster writes. “We believe Apple can advance its digital assistant ambitions with a $250 Beats-branded option that does not compromise HomePod’s $349 price point.”
 
iOS 11.4 Launches Today With AirPlay 2 and Messages in iCloud, HomePod Gets Multi-Room Audio, Stereo Pairing
 
iOS 11.4 finally brings HomePod stereo pairs and AirPlay 2
  • iOS 11.4 is finally here, bringing AirPlay 2’s multi-room audio capabilities as well as the long-awaited ability to use two HomePods in stereo.
  • Apple also said the HomePod will arrive in Canada, France and Germany by June 18. The speaker is currently available in the United States, United Kingdom and Australia.
  • Using HomePod as TV speakers
 
Ears-on review: Stereo HomePods will blow you away
 
How to use iOS 11.4’s Messages in iCloud
  • The iOS 11.4 update finally brings iCloud support for Messages, which means messages will sync across all devices, and can even be deleted from an iPhone or iPad that’s short on space. But they will remain accessible from the cloud
  • Why use Messages in iCloud sync?
    • Any messages you send or receive on your iPhone will be almost instantly synced to your Mac and iPad. But it has limits. One is that, if you set up a new device, then you will not see any of your old messages or conversations.
    • Also, each one of your devices currently backs up its entire Message library, which is a waste of space on your iCloud drive.
    • You can also remove old messages from a device, but still have access to them in future, saving a ton of space on your iPhone. Or you could choose to automatically delete old messages from your iPhone, but keep the full history on your Mac.
    • Link to how to turn it on in the show notes. You can also manage and delete the messages you have stored in the cloud.
Direct download: CultCast_338_-_Hardware__Software__It_s_our_WWDC_2018_predictions.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:05pm PDT
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