shownotes_20170215

Opening
  Opening Music
    Music is Say Anything by Manda and the Marbles
Sponsor: Blue Apron
  Blue Apron
    Blue Apron is the #1 fresh ingredient and recipe delivery service in the country.
      Blue Apron’s mission is to make incredible home cooking accessible to everyone.
      Blue Apron achieves this by supporting a more sustainable food system, setting the highest standards for ingredients and building a community of home chefs.
    We've been enjoying Blue Apron meals for a few weeks now
      Recently we had Cashew Chicken Stir-Fry with Tango Mandarins & Jasmine Rice and Roasted Pork with Apple, Walnut, & Farro Salad
      Each week there are great new recipes to pick from. They will auto select based on your previous choices, but you can go into the site and change the selections to meet your dietary needs and taste preferences.
      The quality and freshness of the ingredients has been amazing.
      Blue Apron sources ingredients locally and is committed to sustainable, responsible, and regenerative food sources.
    A huge advantage for us with Blue Apron has been learning about new foods and new ways of cooking
      We are becoming better cooks and learning about new flavors and spices from a variety of regions.
      It's helping my kids become less picky eaters because they are excited to explore and try new things
      Because the meals come with step-by-step, easy to follow recipe cards and ingredient lists we are expanding our families meal choices.
      We've already planned to remake several of the meals.
    Best of all as a Maccast listener you can try out Blue Apron for free.
      Check out this week’s menu and get your first THREE meals FREE—WITH FREE SHIPPING—by going to http://blueapron.com/maccast
      You will love how good it feels, and tastes, to create incredible home cooked meals with Blue Apron, so don’t wait!
      That’s http:// /maccast
    Big thanks to Blue Apron for supporting the Maccast.
News
  Apple's Apple Pay fight in Australia
    So far, only one major national bank, ANZ, currently supports Apple Pay in Australia,
      Apple Pay is also available through American Express and many credit unions in Australia
    Since the beginning Banks in Australia have been doing battle with Apple on Apple Pay
      Argued that Apple was in breach of antitrust by not allowing other payment systems to use the NFC chip in the iPhone
      They have also been unhappy about the 0.15 percent that Apple collects from each transaction. The bank only takes 1 percent so Apple's small cut of that eats into the bank's profits.
    A group of the major banks wanted the ability to negotiate as a group with Apple in hopes of getting their way, but the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission rejected the proposal.
      I assume the concern is that if one bank caves the others might follow?
    After Apple refused access to the NFC chip the banks sued
      A draft ruling released last week seems to indicate the court might rule in Apple's favor
      The final decision is expected to be announced in March
      Plus the banks are hedging their bets and have already reapplied a new NFC request with a "narrowed" focus to the ACCC
    Apple is defending their choice to keep the NFC chip closed saying opening it up would undermine the security and simplicity of the iPhone
      Apple Vice President Jennifer Bailey made comments that indicated that because the conversation is going through the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and not with the directly it is slowing the process.
    The banks claim they are defending consumer choice and protecting competition.
      The claim while Apple has a "stranglehold" on this technology, no actual competition can take place in the mobile wallet marketplace.
      That's crazy considering you have Samsung Pay, AliPay, PayPal, MasterCard PayPass, AndroidPay, Google Wallet, and others
    Meanwhile, Apple Pay is expanding at retail locations in the US and available at 16 percent more of the top 500 retailers in the US in 2016
      Numbers from Boston Retail Partners
      That means Apple Pay is now supported by 36 percent of merchants in the US.
      That's more than PayPal or even MasterCard Paypass
      Even better 22 percent of merchants say they plan to add Apple Pay in the next 12 months and 11 percent will add in in 1-3 years.
  Apple's interest in AR continues
    Tim Cook was recently on a trip across Europe and once again made string statements about Apple's interest in AR technology
      He told The Independent that he regards AR “as a big idea like the smartphone”
      He once again reiterated that he sees AR as a technology that can improve and enhance a users experience unlike VR which "closes out the world".
      He talked about his excitement around the ways AR technology could improve everyone's lives and be entertaining.
    Robert Scoble continues to believe Apple will release some sort of solution with AR technology soon
      Was on This Week in Tech this past week
      Says he has "many" sources at "high levels"
      During CES he said he learned that Apple was partnering with Carl Zeiss for lenses for an AR headset or glasses
      For timing of an announcement he speculates as soon as this summer, maybe with an Apple Campus 2 announcement or along side the 10th anniversary iPhone announcement.
    Ming-Chi Kuo has also said Apple would be shipping a VR system, but he thinks it's a least a year or two away.
    For Apple's part in that Independent interview Cook said, about AR, that there are still "things to discover" before the technology is "good enough" for the masses.
  Another 'new' Apple connector?
    The “Ultra Accessory Connector” (UAC) has been released as a developer preview.
    Apple also plans to adopt it as a connector for it's Made-for-iPhone (MFi) licensing program.
    The shape looked similar to the ultra mini USB connectors you find mainly on Nikon cameras (UC-E6). It has 8-pins and is slightly thinner than USB-C and about half as wide.
    Under the program manufacturers can use Lightning to UAC, USB-A to UAC, and 3.5mm headset jacks to UAC cables.
    Right now it looks like use of the UAC would be mainly for headphones and it's not clear if the program extends beyond that application.
    THe UAC, is actually just a new name for an existing connector, like in the Nikon cameras, and Apple told Ars Technica that the port has been added to the Made for iPhone program at the request of licensees.
    So don't expect to see Apple switching away from Lightning or USB-C anytime soon.
  Apple's new campus as detailed as it's products
    A Reuters piece on the new "spaceship" Campus has stories about Apple applying the same fanatical attention to detail that they have for their products to their new office space.
    They spoke with nearly two dozen current and former workers involved in the project.
    Many who said it was Apple's "fanatical" attention to detail that led to delays in the $5 billion project which was originally set to be complete in 2016
    No vents or pipes were allowed to be reflected in the curved glass that surrounds the structure
    The guidelines for the wood used through the building was 30-pages long.
    Apple demanded extremely tight tolerances often tighter than 1/8-inch and even in places where the surface would never be seen.
    Proportions and designs came from Apple products like the curve of rounded corners or elevator buttons that look like the iPhone home button.
    Apple wanted doorways to be perfectly flat with no threshold
      Supposedly so engineers didn't have to adjust their gait when entering or exiting
      The construction people tried not to do it because that’s time, money and stuff that’s never been done before
    Apple wanted minimalistic signage, but it also had to comply with regulations. Took at least 15 meetings with the fire chief.
    Another story of a year and a half spent on the door handle for conference rooms and offices.
  Software and Mac updates
    Possible references to new MacBook Pro models in macOS 10.12.4
      Three motherboard identifiers that did not exist before and don't match any existing models
      From an Apple blog, Pike's Universum, that notes the identifiers use the exact same processor power management data as 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Pro models
      Speculation is they could be for Kaby Lake updated models that Apple might release soon (ish)?
        I suspect WWDC at the earliest
        KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said new Kaby Lake-equipped MacBook Pros will enter mass production in the July quarter
      We're also overdue for desktop Mac updates.
    Forbes reported that security researchers at Elcomsoft discovered Apple was retaining deleted iCloud-stored Safari browser history "by accident." for over a year even after deletion.
      Elcomsoft used special software to extract the information from downloaded iCloud data on one of their own researchers accounts.
      The data also contained full Google search terms back to 2015, and "cleared" Notes for the last 30 days.
      To use the tool you need to have credentialed access to the users iCloud account, so this was a privacy more than a security discovery.
      Just days after the story broke it was reported that Apple seemed to be removing the old data and the assumption is that they have resolved the "bug".
      Apple made a statement to AppleInsider suggesting suggesting that users "select strong passwords and use two-factor authentication," which would prevent the data from being unknowingly accessed.
      Deleted browser records in iCloud are typically only stored for two weeks, this it ensure time to allow for data syncing on devices that may not always be connected or turned on.
      Some have reported that the issue was also addressed by Safari 9.1 and iOS 9.3 which added feature that hashed URLs in the browser history, Elcomsoft commented that this was not an issue for their software.
        Again the software relies on having access to the iCloud account and thus encryption keys which are stored on iCloud, so the hashing wouldn't be an issue.
        It's the data retention encrypted or not that was called into question and Apple has apparently fixed that.
  Apple TV news
    9to5 Mac discovered something that was quietly added to tvOS back with the 10.0.1 update in October
      AppLaunch, wi-if configuration, VoiceOver and other accessibility features for 3rd party accessories
      Just coming to light now because specs were recently made available to accessory makers in Apple’s Made-for-iPhone/iPad/Apple TV licensing program.
      AppLaunch, lets the accessory prompt users to launch or install companion apps just like on iOS.
      Wi-Fi Accessory Configuration shares the existing Wi-Fi settings with wireless accessories without having to manually select the right network and enter credentials.
      VoiceOver and assistive touch support for accessories as well.
    Apple hired the former head of Amazon's Fire TV efforts, Timothy D. Twerdahl, to lead their Apple TV business according to Bloomberg
      The hire is said to be in part to free up other executives to work on other projects
      Pete Distad who was leading Apple TV will now reportedly work closer with Eddie Cue on content deals.
      Twerdahl seems like a perfect fit. Before amazon he also was an executive at Netflix and a VP at Ro
      Apple TV seems poised to be a much bigger player in 2017 and will be a key component in supporting Apple's expanded services business
    Apple is prepping their new original series on Apple TV
      They released trailers for both Carpool Karaoke and Planet of the Apps
      Planet of the Apps is an unscripted reality show focused on developers creating apps and receiving mentorship from various celebrities including Gwyneth Paltrow, Jessica Alba, Gary Vaynerchuk, and will.i.am.
        Reportedly 100,00 apps applied to be featured and just 100 were selected for the show
        The format is being compared to something like SharkTank with developers pitching their ideas and finalists being selected by a celebrity judge as a mentor to help complete the App
        Ultimately to a final pitch with Lightspeed Venture Partners and access to a $10 million fund
        Successful apps also get featured placement on the App Store
      Carpool Karaoke is coming in April.
        Series seems a bit different.
        Thirty minute episodes take two celebrities who don't know each other, put them in a car and send them on a road trip.
      A big part of why Apple is exploring and launching this original content on Apple Music is to separate it from the competitors
        Apple's services business is a big deal to them and Apple Music is a big part of it
        Eddie Cue spoke at the ReCode Media conference and said Apple Music is now “well past 20 million” subscribers.
        He also talks about the "exponential" potential for the service. 100 million people subscribing to streaming music now, but even more listen to music via other methods.
        They discuss Apple's "TV" content being more interactive than traditional "linear" programs, but did not elaborate.
      The shows will be featured under a new TV & Movies section under the 'Browse' tab in the Music app
      Cue also said, "We're working on new features for podcasting – stay tuned."
  Apple Watch leads the market
    Canalys estimated Apple Watch sales at around 6 million units and $2.6 billion in revenue in Q4 of 2016
    If accurate that means Apple had 80 percent of the Smartwatch category last quarter up 12 percent year over year
    Canalys believes the lower price point of the Apple Watch Series 1 and Apple's marketing focus on the fitness aspects of the Watch helped drive up sales.
    Tim Cook seemed very pleased with Apple Watch during the first quarter conference call even noting that demand outstripped supply.
  Having the 'next' iPhone will cost you
    Fast Company claims to have a source telling them that the iPhone 8 (10th Anniversary) iPhone could cost more than USD $1,000
      Really not that big a stretch considering the 256GB iPhone 7 Plus is USD $949.00
      The 5.8-inch model with edge-to-edge wrap around display.
      There have also recently been mentions of retinal scanning in the new phone.
      Report also seems to confirm the 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch iPhone 7s models.
    KGI Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo notes the new glass design is also contributing to manufacturing costs
      Wireless charging unit causes more heat and glass doesn't dissipate that heat as well.
      Apple is having to incorporate a graphite layer to protect the film 3D Touch sensor.
      He does believe all three models will offer wireless charging
    Mentions also of a 3D sensor technology that may be for facial recognition or augmented reality.
      Ming-Chi Kuo and Cowen and Company analyst Timothy Arcuri have both mentioned the feature
      Acuri thinks facial or gesture recognition technology could be powered by a laser sensor and an infrared sensor located near the front-facing camera.
    Reports that wireless charging accessory will be "sold separately" and that Apple will not include the 3.5mm to headphone adapter with this years models
      Apple has officially joined the Wireless Power Consortium, the governing body behind the Qi charging standard.
      The Apple Watch uses technology based on the Qi standard, but it uses an authenticated, proprietary variant. Locked to Apple's own charger.
      Kuo also reported that the "iPhone 8" will have a battery similar in size to the iPhone 7 plus. Apple will gain more space for the battery by switching to a "stacked" logic board design.
    Kuo also mentions the iPhone 8 having a 5.15-inch usable area of the display with a "function" area replacing the TouchID and using new biometric technologies.
      The display is still expected to be 5.8-inches, but some is lost to the new function area.
    Apple is probably already ramping up production
      Samsung signed a deal with Apple to make 160 million OLED panels according to the Korea Herald
        They reportedly already had a 2016 deal for 100 million 5.5-inch screen
        This new deal is said to be for 5-inch OLED displays?
      DigiTimes reported that Apple has asked its chip and component suppliers to start trial production and inspection and begin preparing their inventories.
      With the release still believed to be in the usual September timeframe these requests are earlier than normal
      Most likely because of the new design and components like the new OLED display, plus expected VERY high demand.
  Apple suspends sales of LG UltraFine 5K Display
    Apple has apparently stopped selling the LG UltraFine 5K Display in Apple Retail stores according to 9to5 Mac
    They also seem to have pushed delivery dates for online sales back from 2-3 days to 5-6 weeks
    The move seems to be in response to the current models of the display suffering from an interference issue when the displays were near Wi-Fi routers. A issue that LG has confirmed and is addressing with newer models by adding additional shielding.
    Looks like LG wants to make sure that all new stock going out is the updated version.
    Apple pulled the existing 5K monitor stock from Apple Stores at LG’s request while new hardware is being manufactured.
    I have had a couple other listener's contact me about issues with both the 4K and the 5K displays
      Reports of crashing when waking from sleep and I confirmed it was NOT the router issue
      Another user who had the 4K display that would not wake when he woke up his Mac without a full reboot.
      Worse was that Apple would not support it and LG support was less than helpful.
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Feedback, commentary, opinions
  Apple's 'record breaking' quarter
    Address the naysayers who point out the quarter had an extra week
    IPhone 7 launched earlier, so more sales were in the previous quarter offsetting launch demand. More launch sales in the third quarter.
    iPhones were more expensive abroad due to the strength of the US dollar.
    Apple grew channel inventory significantly less this year
    All of these were pointed out during the call by CFO Luca Maestri.
    Point is, there are always factors that impact quarterly numbers one way or another.
    You can't necessarily always do an apple's to apple's comparison, but that's always the case and record numbers are record numbers.
  More alternatives to Time Capsule backups
    We talked a bit about alternate solutions to Time Machine backups
    I had several of you confirm that you are using the Western Digital MyCloud drives and that they are a good solution.
    Another great tip I got was to use a network connect Mac, maybe an old one, and install OS X Server
      macOS Server has Time Machine Support built right in
      It's a $20, upgrade for 10.11.6 or later
      I have never used it personally, but looking at instructions online it seems straight forward
      You enable the TimeMachine Backup service and then set up backup destination, you can even limit the storage for each destination.
      Enabling TimeMachine service also turns on the File Sharing service
        For security make sure that Guest sharing isn’t on the Time Machine file
      Once the location is set up and on then you should be able to choose it as a Time Machine destination from other Mac on your network.
  Understanding Apple File System
    Over the next year or so Apple will be finally moving from the HFS+ file system on OS X and iOS to a new system called Apple File System (APFS)
    Apple released a preview of APFS for macOS to developers at WWDC last June and with iOS 10.3 beta it is testing APFS on iOS as well.
    Rene Ritchie over at iMore wrote [a great article](http://www.imore.com/apple-file-system-apfs-and-what-you-need-know) that explains the move and why it's happening
    What's wrong with HFS+
      In reality nothing major except it's old. Born in 1998 in fact.
      It was also built for a time when we did not have Flash storage and much smaller data storage options. IPhones and iPads also did not exist.
      Apple's team of engineers has been patching HFS+ to make it meet the current needs, but in the end it's continuing series of hacks.
      Another problem is the format is implements differently across different devices.
    APFS will have a single code base that can be scaled across multiple kinds of devices
    Might feel faster since a focus is low-latency and it offers fast directory resizing.
    It's built for SSDs optimizing the way it works and supporting the TRIM command
    Snapshots and clones
      Snapshots are read-only copies of the system at a single point in time. Changes from snapshots can be reverted.
      Clones are copies of "files"
      Both clones and snapshots use space more efficiently because they don't duplicate any data until changes are made.
    Partitions can be resized because it uses containers around all the partitions. It also supports sparse files, so storage is only allocated when it's needed.
    The system also has more robust data protection and error checking
      Does what's called copy-on-write. The file is copied and the copy only deleted when the write of the new version has been verified.
    APFS has been designed from the ground up with support for encryption at all levels including, system-level, file-level, and even for specific data and metadata.
    Still the file system is not finished
      Compression currently isn't built-in and data checksums, though Apple may think that Error Correction Code (ECC) on modern Flash is enough.
      Oh and the current beta of APFS doesn't work for Startup disks, Time Machine, File Vault, or on Fusion Drives.
    So obviously for macOS we're a little was off, but we could see it in iOS soon, maybe with 10.3?
  Paste as plain text
    So we all know the tried and true Command+C and Command+V trick
    But these days more and more you might be encounter situations where Command+V is bring along more than just the text.
    For example if you right click a Safari or Email link and say 'Copy Link' when you paste you often get the Text as a link instead of the actual full URL. Basically it's copying the formatting and everything.
    What you might not know is there is actually a solution for this. In addition to the Command+V paste macOS and many apps support a "Paste as Plain Text" or "Paste and Match Style" option. You may or may not see it under the edit menu.
    If you just add a Shift to the paste shortcut, so Command+Shift+V, it usually works.
    I bring this up because Fernando asked if there was any way to change the default Command+V behavior to ALWAYS be like Command+Shift+V.
      I don't know a way, but maybe someone in the community does?
    One possible "hack" is to try overriding the shortcut using the Keyboard preferences
      In System Preferences > Keyboards
      Go to the Shortcuts tab and select App Shortcuts from the sidebar
      Then click the "+" to add a new shortcut and add it for 'All Applications'
      Then for the Menu Title enter "Paste and Match Style" exactly as it appears in the menu and set it's shortcut to Command+V and choose 'Add'.
      It should then override the default paste command at least in any apps that support "Paste and Match Style".
  Importing Photos on an older Mac
    Frank wrote in with a bit of a dilemma. See, he has a newer iPhone 7, but an older Mac.
    With so much syncing happening via the Cloud it's generally not an issue even though the iPhone 7 technically requires OS X 10.9 or later and iTunes 12.5 or newer.
    Frank's Mac is a late 2006 20" iMac running OS X Lion 10.7.5 and when he attempted to sync his Photos he got an error:
      "Photos in the Camera Roll of "Frank’s iPhone" cannot be imported because the device is locked with a passcode. You must unlock the device to import them."
    Despite the odd, and misleading, message the issue is the old OS and Mac.
    So Frank asks, what can I do?
    I would say one thing to try would be Image Capture. You might be able to go direct.
    If that doesn't work, then try [iMazing](https://imazing.com). It will run on a Mac running 10.7 or greater and lets you import photos
    Before you write in and say iCloud Photo Library, that requires Photos app which is only available on OS X Yosemite (10.10) or later.
  Thing of the Moment: Hidden Folks
    This is a game I have been waiting for for a while and it released today
    It's a hidden picture type game, but with these amazing black & white hand drawn illustrations.
    You also need to tap and interact with elements to help uncover and find some of the pictures.
    Great little animations and challenges.
    [Hidden Folks](http://hiddenfolks.com) - USD $3.99 on App Store.
Closing
  Maccast AirPods Giveaway
    I have to say you guys are amazing. I received hundreds of entries and 100% of you got all three secret words correct.
    Submissions ended at midnight last night and a randomly selected name was chosen.
    Peter Staab is the recipient of the AirPods in our giveaway. Congratulations.
    Thanks to everyone who participated it was a lot of fun. I hope to maybe do some more giveaways in the future.
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