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It’s Not TV, It’s…Well Now It’s Basically Just TV
HBO’s next year will be ‘like childbirth,’ AT&T media CEO tells employees - The Verge
The bigger picture seems to be that Stankey is talking about turning HBO into more of a direct Netflix competitor — something that doesn’t just focus on prestige content, but also includes a wider variety of shows and
Links
The Mental Burden of Voice Interfaces
9to5Toys has a review of the Amazon Fire Cube and this bit stood out to me:
In theory, having complete voice control over your home theater feels like the way of the future. Siri and Apple TV have dabbled lightly in this area when it comes to surfacing content, and eliminating the need to dig
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The Apple Watch Continues to Transform the Watch Industry
Why Men Are Wearing Watches That Don’t Tell Time - WSJ
With smartphones practically glued to our palms at all times and smartwatches muscling in, traditional timepieces are just no longer as vital as they once were in any practical sense. Fears among watch execs that the Apple Watch, introduced in 2015, would snatch up
Links
Sharing Shortcuts with Sharecuts (that makes sense, right?)
Sharecuts is a new site from Guilherme Rambo where people are able to share their custom Shortcuts for the world to use. There are currently only a few shortcuts there, and you currently have to request access to upload your own shortcuts, but it just opened up today and is sure to grow.
Gui was
My Favorite Movies, Music, and Games of 2018 So Far (Podcast #106)
The year is half over and I thought it was a good time to reflect on some of the best media I've enjoyed so far this year.
Video Games
* God of War
* Celeste
* Hollow Knight
Movies
* Annihilation
* Blockers
Music
* Pusha T - Daytona
* Kanye West - Ye
* Kids See Ghosts - self-titled
* Courtney Barnett - Tell
podcast
Remembering We Don't Have All the Information (Podcast #105)
Apple announced they are doing a major overhaul of their map data and it reminded me that there is a ton going on in the world that we have no visibility to, even at companies we follow intensely. Smart to give yourself a little wiggle room and stay away from definitive statements when it comes
Links
Ulysses, the Best Writing App Out There, Turns 15
15 Years Ago, I Went Indie and Didn’t Know It. – Building Ulysses – Medium
Ulysses is turning 15 these days. You read that right: fifteen freaking years. In computer terms that’s an eternity. And for me, now 31 years old, it certainly feels like one. This is my story.
This is a great article
podcast
Nest Thermostat First Impressions (podcast #104)
I got a Nest Thermostat over the weekend. It's my first foray into smart thermostats and my initial impressions are really positive.
Subscribe to The BirchTree Podcast here.
Links
It’s Not “Netflix for Podcasts,” It’s More Like “This Site Only Works in IE6”
Fast Company has a good summery of some of the changes going on in the world of podcasts recently; specifically, premium podcasts. This whole concept of service-exclusive podcasts makes my blood boil a bit, but I’m trying to understand if that’s because it’s actually a bad thing or if I’m
Apple Entertainment Pricing and Feature Speculation
The Information is reporting that Apple is looking at creating a single subscription that gets users access to TV, music, and news, all for one monthly or annual fee. I think this makes total sense, is exactly what Apple should be trying to make work.
Fast forward 12 months and I expect Apple to have
Nintendo
The Nintendo Switch’s Library Keeps Growing
https://youtu.be/Kjq6ZE7rYSk
The above video isn’t really thrilling, but it walks through 10 of the most significant video game releases of July 2018. The thing that stood out to me was the representation of Switch titles on the list. 5 of the 10 games mentioned are coming to the Switch, which is
podcast
When Passion Projects Pay Off (podcast #103)
Sometimes a passion project you do on the side pays off in your regular day-to-day life. I have had this happen a few times in the past couple years and I find it to be incredibly rewarding every time. I was reminded of this phenomenon this week as I had to step slightly
goodie
8K Pluto iOS Wallpaper
Modern space photography is amazing, and NASA graced us with new photos of Jupiter and Pluto in the past few years that have totally blown me away. I made an updated Jupiter one when Apple removed the old one from iOS 11, and now I figured it was high time we add Pluto to the
podcast
Talking Walkies: Podcast Episode 101
The Walkie Talkie app on coming in watchOS 5 is one of my more anticipated features coming this fall to the Apple Watch. I think I’m going to get a lot of use out of it.
podcast
Sticking With It (podcast episode 100!)
It's hard to create one of something, but it's a whole other level of challenge to make something over and over and over again, all the while keeping yourself and your audience engaged.
BirchTree is my 3rd blog, and this podcast is my 4th podcast. None of my older projects got
Links
Why USB-C Headphones Aren't a Thing
Why USB-C headphones aren’t, and likely never will be, mainstream - The Verge
The most obvious factor working against USB-C headphones is that the two biggest smartphone makers don’t need them. Apple’s iPhones might lack a headphone jack but they also don’t have a USB-C port, while Samsung retains