Maccast 2015.07.23 - Show #534
Links
V Opening
V Opening Music
* Music is Say Anything by Manda and the Marbles
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V News
V Apple Q3 2015 is good
* Quarterly revenue of $49.6 billion and quarterly net profit of $10.7 billion
* International sales accounted for 64 percent of the quarter's revenue.
* Apple sold 47.5M iPhones, 10.9 M iPads, 4.8M, Macs. They didn’t break out Apple Watch, iPos, Apple TV, or Beats which all fall in an "Other" category
* iPhone revenue up 59 percent, Mac revenue up 9 percent, iPad revenue down 23 percent
* iOS Device unit sales have finally passed Windows PC unit sales according to Benedict Evans of Andreessen Horowitz using Gartner data
V Apple did post a year over year increase in revenue of about $1B in the other category
* Apple CFO Luca Maestri told the Associated Press the Apple Watch revenues amounted to "well over" the $952 million increase between the two quarters.
* Assumption is that Beats and iPod sales revenues were down, of if Maestri’s statement is correct that seems like Apple TV revenue was also flat or also saw a decline.
* $5 billion revenue for services (iTunes, AppleCare, Apple Pay, licensing and other services.)
* Apple’s cash on hand is now $202.8 billion in cash and marketable securities.
V Growth in China was up 112 percent, a big deal.
* iPhone sales up 85% in China and India
V All in all very positive, yet now enough for Wall Street
* They had set a slightly higher consensus revenue target of around $50 billion for the quarter.
* They of course ignored Apple’s guidance which Apple did beat.
* They also set a 15 million units target for Apple Watch which seems ludicrous.
* Apple also gave conservative guidance for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2015, which Wall Street doesn’t like.
* Apple saw shares drop, as they always do, following the announcements
V The big debate is still how Apple Watch is doing
* Not well enough for much of the media, Wall Street, or analysts who all set astronomically high, and in my opinion totally unreasonable, expectations for the device
V Apple seems VERY happy with the sales
* 94% of Apple Watch users wear and use it regularly
V Of 800 Apple Watch owners surveyed by Wristly 97% reported they were "satisfied" with their Apple Watch. Two-thirds of those saying they were "very satisfied".
* Non-tech users seemed to like it more than tech users
V Tim Cook said sales "exceeded" their expectations
* He also said watch sales in June were higher than they were in April or May. This seems to contradict the sales data reported by Slice a few weeks ago.
V Analyst estimates that range from an estimated 2.85 million sales to 5.7 million.
* Smartwatch Group reported that Samsung sold 1.2 Million Smartwatches worldwide in all of 2014
V Strategy Analytics estimates that the Apple Watch captured 75.5% global smartwatch market share during its launch quarter.
* They predict Samsung sold an estimated 400,000 smartwatches during the three-month period ending June 30
* That’s 1/10th the possible unit volume of Apple.
V iPhone 6 series A9 Chips enter production
* DigitTimes claims that both Samsung and TSMC, have each begun volume production of the next-generation "A9" CPUs for the next iPhones according to AppleInsider
* The report says that Samsung will probably big a bigger up front supplier since TSMC isn’t expected to enter mass production with it’s newer 16-nanometer FinFET process until the 4th quarter.
V Estimates are said to be 80 million iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus units by the end of 2015 with Apple expected to start shipping around September.
* That number is slightly lower than numbers reported by the The Wall Street Journal recently
V Beyond the new A9 processor the iPhone 6 updates are expected to be:
* Force Touch display
* Improved 12 MP FaceTime and updated 5 MP iSight camera
* 2GB of RAM
* A faster Qualcomm LTE chip,
* 7000 Series "Apple Watch" aluminum.
* Possible "stronger" back case.
* There have also been sporadic rumors of an update to the iPhone 5c with a 6c that would come in the same 4-inch screen screen, have similar specs to an iPhone 5s and ditch the plastic case for a metal one
V What else is next?
V MacRumor’s said they have seen a note from KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo laying out the products Apple will release before the end of the year
* Of course new iPhones were on the list, but what else?
* Cheaper "gold" Apple Watches, a new iPad mini, and a new iMac
* New color options for the Apple Watch Sport, which will match the colors of the iPhone 6s, so yellow and rose gold colors, but not real gold.
* An iPad mini 4 that is basically a slimmed down version of the iPad Air 2
* He did not mention an iPad Air 3 or iPad Pro, and there has been a recent rumor that Apple may not update the iPad Air this year.
* Mac Rumors had not details on the new iMac model mentioned in Quo’s note.
V iCar or Apple’s 'Titan' project
* Apple hired automotive manufacturing and quality control executive Doug Betts who led global quality at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.
* Apple also recently recruited a researcher, Paul Furgale (deputy director of the Autonomous Systems Lab at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, or ETH), with a specialization in autonomous vehicles to join its team.
* I visited Michael Johnston, from The iOS Show, at Nasa JPL in Pasadena and we saw their Robosimian project. Basically an "ape like" mobile robot made for a DARPA challenge. They are shutting down because Apple and Google have acquired many of the projects best engineers.
* Rumors have suggested Apple is aiming to produce a car by 2020
V Apple's R&D spending jumped roughly $116 million from last quarter to $2.03 billion for the quarter ending June.
* This time last year Apple was spending about 1.6 billion on R&D
V New iPod Touch details
* iFixit has torn apart the new iPod Touch so now we know what’e the same and different
V The main things are a slightly larger battery and double the RAM
* 1,043 mAh rated lithium-ion battery (old one was 1,030 mAh)
* 1GB of SK Hynix LPDDR3 RAM
* It also has the Apple A8 chip and M8 motion coprocessor, which we knew, but that adds Health tracking capabilities to the iPod Touch
V Upgraded 8-megapixel model iSight camera, but doesn’t have the sapphire lens cover
* May have been done to save costs
* I assume it’s now Ion-X?
* Bluetooth 4.1 which is only in the iPod Touch at the moment.
* Also now has a 6-axis gyroscope, vs. a 3-axis.
V Apple music not on Nano or Shuffle because, "Piracy"
* 9to5 claims sources are telling them that the lack of wi-fi in these devices means they won’t get access to Apple Music
* The fear is that customers would be able to download tracks to the devices, cancel their subscriptions, and keep the music indefinitely
* Seems like a stupid argument to me.
* Can be handled with a time out and even if not the storage is severely limited so the amount of music stolen would b minimal and ultimately limit the users ability to use the device moving forward.
V New rounds of OS Betas
V iOS 9 Beat 4 to Developers
* Home Sharing back in the Music App
* OS X 10.11 El Capitan Beta 4
* Watch OS Beta 2
* iOS 9 and OS X 10.11 El Capitan Public Beta 2
V MacBook Pro Flash Storage Firmware Update 1.0,
* A small update for mid-2015 MacBook Pro owners
* Address an issue where some 2015 Macbook Pro owners were seeing with corrupted data.
V Why we’re still Homekitless
* At the moment there are roughly five HomeKit compatible lines of products available. Ecobee3, Elgato Eve, iHome iSP5 SmartPlug, Insteon Hub and Lutron Caseta Wireless Lighting Starter Kit
* Apple high standards for security is reportedly causing delays in manufacturers getting their HomeKit compatible products on the shelves.
* HomeKit encryption standards require that accessories use 3,072-bit keys, and Curve25519, an elliptic curve for signatures and key exchange, according to Forbes.
V An AppleInsider piece reports that the encryption is causing "unusable levels of lag" in prototype Bluetooth products.
* Elgato said one product took up to 40 seconds to detect if a door was open or closed.
* An another anonymous vendor claimed that lag reached up to 7 minutes on a device.
* Products that use high-speed wi-fi for connectivity don’t seem to be suffering the same trouble.
V Apple is aware of the issue and Bluetooth LE makers like Marvell and Broadcom are reportedly working on tweaking the chipsets to better handle things.
* Security experts say adding extra security into Bluetooth LE is a good thing
* Bluetooth was originally designed with low-level security and now that more of it will be controlling our homes it should be tightened up.
* In the meantime Elgato is using via optimized firmware and extra onboard memory to workaround the issues and will possibly sell it’s workarounds to other vendors to help them get product on the shelves.
V Apple taking a pro-active approach on security in this area should be applauded.
* It’s one thing to get your Facebook account hacked, but a whole different thing if a hacker or thief can take over your Smarthome.
V Feedback, commentary, opinions
V Apple Music connection issues
* Like a lot of us Tim has been using and listening to Apple Music.
* Unfortunately he also, like many of us, has run into some issues during playback.
V Specifically iTunes on the Mac simply skips from one song to the next without playing anything.
* I’ve actually experienced this myself, but on iOS
* Tim did some digging and on an Apple Discussion thread found a solution that worked for him and others.
V Simply changing his DNS from the one provided by his ISP to one from Google, Open DNS, or Norton
* This is generally a good idea anyway as these service, like Open DNS, also offer some URL protection.
* They also tend to be faster and more up to date than your ISP
V Change DNS on OS X
V 1) Click Apple > System Preferences > Network.
* If the lock icon in the lower left-hand corner of the window is locked, click the icon to make changes, and when prompted to authenticate, enter your password.
V 2) Select the connection for which you want to configure a Public DNS. For example:
* To change the settings for an Ethernet connection, select Built-In Ethernet, and click Advanced.
* To change the settings for a wireless connection, select Airport, and click Advanced.
* 3) Select the DNS tab.
* 4) Click + to replace any listed addresses with, or add, the Public DNS IP addresses at the top of the list:
* 5) Click Apply > OK.
V To Change DNS on iOS:
* 1) Open Settings > Wi-Fi
* 2) Find the Wi-Fi connection you want to change and click the 'i" icon
* 3) Tap the DNS section and enter the Public DNS IP addresses.
* 4) Back out when you’re finished.
V Something to know in general too. Apple has had several network outages since taking Apple Music live, so while it may seem like there is a problem on your end, it might also be on theirs.
* You can Apple Support’s System Status page to see if there is something currently effecting the service
V iCloud App Specific Passwords
* Play comment from Gary
* What you’re thinking of is part of enabling 2-factor authentication on your Apple account
* Once that is enabled there are 3rd Party apps that might not support entering two-step verification codes.
V You can manage and set up App specific password through the My Apple ID page, https://appleid.apple.com
* Go to My Apple ID
* Select Manage your Apple ID and sign in.
* Select Password and Security.
* You can select View History to see and revoke app-specific passwords you’ve set up in the past. I have ones for BusyCal, Fantastical, iMessage and FaceTime, and Spark.
V From the Password and Security page you can also click 'Generate an App-Specific Password' to generate a new one.
* Give it the App name and click generate.
* I keep track of my 2-factor App Specific password by putting then in a 2-Factor Passwords folder I set up in 1Password.
V Play comment from Gary about Apple TV content
* I don’t really have an answer because I don’t have ANY cable TV subscription
* I get by with the TV apps many of which offer week delayed limited time viewing with ads.
* I think your suspicion of a 30-day timeout might be correct.
* I agree that Apple’s streaming TV service will need to work more seamlessly. I’m just worried it’s going to be too content restricted and too expensive at first.
V Manage Apple Music Subscription and renewal
* If you signed up for Apple Music you get a free 3-month trial, but at the end of that period you will start to get charged.
* $9.99/mo USD for a single user plan or $14.99/mo for a Family plan. I think too that, unless you change it, Apple will auto-bill to the card you have on file for iTunes purchases.
* Steven emailed because he was concerned that because he upgraded to the new iTunes that he might be auto-enrolled and begin to get charged at some point.
* Luckily Apple will not automatically sign you up for Apple Music just because you upgraded, though they do make the offer to sign up the first time you launch the app.
* Still Steven you can check to be sure in your account. This is also helpful because in the same place you can turn on or off the Auto renew
V On Mac (iTunes):
* 1) Open iTunes.
* 2) Click Sign In and enter your Apple ID. (under the 'Profile icon')
* 3) Click your name, and select Account Info from the drop-down menu.
* 4) Enter your password again.
* 5) On the Account Information screen, scroll to the Settings section.
V 6) To the right of Subscriptions, click Manage.
* If you don't see a subscription in iTunes then you likely are not subscribed to Apple Music and can stop here.
V 7) Choose the subscription you want to manage.
* Use the options to manage your subscription. You can choose a different subscription period, or turn off Automatic Renewal.
* 8) Turn off Automatic Renewal to cancel a subscription, your subscription will stop at the end of the current billing cycle.
V On iOS (Music):
* 1) On the Home screen, tap Settings.
* 2) Tap iTunes & App Store.
* 3) Tap your Apple ID.
* 4) Tap View Apple ID. You might need to sign in.
V 5) Under Subscriptions, tap Manage.
* If you don't see a subscription in iTunes then you likely are not subscribed to Apple Music and can stop here.
V 6) Tap the subscription that you want to manage.
* Use the options to manage your subscription. You can choose a different subscription period, or turn off Automatic Renewal.
* 7) Turn off Automatic Renewal to cancel a subscription. Your subscription will stop at the end of the current billing cycle.
V Thing of the Moment: HeadsUp - Webcam Viewer
* I recently was invited to give a presentation on Apple Music to the Atlanta Mac Users Group
* I’m in CA and was not traveling to Atlanta, so would be presenting via Skype.
* Skype has screen sharing which works great, but I also wanted the group to be able to see me in a PIP style window. Not a feature that’s built into Skype.
V In the past I’ve used Cam Twist, http://camtwiststudio.com.
* It allows you to basically "hijack" the video source, pipe in all kinds of effects and overlays, and then presents it self to video apps, like Skype as a video input source.
* It’s awesome and can do a PIP, but it has quite a bit of overhead and was more than I really needed for this application.
* I just wanted something to overlay my FaceTime Camera video in an always on top window on the screen I was sharing with Skype.
* On the App store I found HeadsUp - Webcam Viewer by Keisi ( Mac App Store) USD$1.99
* Menubar app, that offers a scaleable always on top view of your web cam.
* Also lets you assign a hotkey on the keyboard that will fade out the video and you can define the level of transparency to fade to.
* Simple and effective and worked great for my presentation.
V Closing
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