homepod
Putting HomePod’s Music Powers to the Test
The HomePod sounds good, but how does it stack up to the Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa in terms of taking my music requests? That’s what I looked at today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ne_tu_H2u64
There are tons more things to look at when it comes to the HomePod, but
homepod
HomePod Goodies and First Impressions
I plugged my HomePod moments after UPS valiantly brazed the winter storm to get it to my front door. Despite my concerns, I was very much looking forward to this device and was waiting with bated breath all morning. Given just about 4 hours with the device, here’s what I think so far.
Set
homepod
Why Multiple Voice Recognition is Important to HomePod's Core Music Functionality
How to Prevent Other HomePod Users From Affecting Your Apple Music Recommendations - Mac Rumors
If you're concerned that other people in your household will skew your Apple Music recommendations by using HomePod to play songs that don't align with your tastes, then there's a setting you'll want
homepod
Struggling to Agree on HomePod's Place in the Market
“Smart” speaker – what makes a speaker smart?
Maybe if Apple had called the HomePod a “super speaker” or something else and more directly avoided the comparison to “smart” devices like the Echo and the Home, they wouldn’t be having so many tech reviewers reviewing a Ferrari as if it were a Corolla.
I love
Links
Hulu Rolling Out 60fps Playback for Live TV
It’s here: Hulu with Live TV, now testing in 60FPS. - Hulu
You’ve asked, you’ve patiently waited… and today is the day we begin rolling out 60fps (frames per second) support on Live TV. This was one of the most-requested features by our viewers.
The feature is rolling out now for iOS,
watch
Apple Watch Continues to Grow
18 million Apple Watches ship in 2017, up 54% on 2016 | Canalys
Apple Watch shipments beat expectations, topping 18 million in 2017, up by more than 54% on 2016. The Series 3 was the key growth driver, as total shipments of the latest version of Apple’s Watch were just under 9 million, making up
Android
The Sad State of Autofill Services on Android
We all thought the world of Android would be a better place with an official autofill API. We assumed it would take something that had been hacked together for years on Android and mostly nailed on iOS, and make it great. All the power of an operating system with fewer walls and the security of
podcast
Th BirchTree Podcast #52: Apple's Video Service Might Actually Have a Shot
Apple Music is on pace to overtake Spotify in the US in 2018. This got me thinking about whether Apple is too late to overtake the likes of Hulu and Netflix in the video arena. They have an uphill battle, but giving the success of Apple Music, I'm reassessing how likely their odds
Links
The Verge Clearly Hates Apple
Or maybe they don't. According to Vlad Savov at The Verge, the iPhone X is Apple’s underrated masterpiece.
The iPhone X is the biggest risk Apple has yet taken with its most important product — the most influential single product in consumer electronics history — and what’s striking to me is how casually
Links
Target and Best Buy are Shifting Away from CDs
Best Buy to Pull CDs, Target Threatens to Pay Labels for CDs Only When Customers Buy Them | Billboard
[S]ources say that Target has demanded to music suppliers that it wants to be sold on what amounts to a consignment basis. Currently, Target takes the inventory risk by agreeing to pay for any goods it
movie
My Favorite (and least favorite) Movies of 2017
This list is slightly late, but considering how back-loaded the year tends to be when it comes film, it’s hard for normal people like myself to get out there and see everything by New Year’s Day. A full month into 2018, I think I have seen most of the movies I will
ipad
The iPad Excels at Long Form Writing
Using iPad for Long-Form Writing - Joe Cieplinski
So why, then, am I typing this with a mechanical keyboard on my iPad? Well, because I discovered that for prolonged periods of typing, where I want to do nothing else but type thousands of words for a blog post, a combination of Apple’s Magic Keyboard
Links
Vivaldi Brings a Vertical Reading Mode in Latest Update
Vivaldi 1.14 launches vertical reader mode | Vivaldi Browser
We continue to innovate in this space and in this release introduce vertical reader mode, a first for browsers. This unique functionality came about as a response to needs of users of Chinese, Japanese and Korean languages. No matter where you live or what language you
homepod
“What’s a HomePod?” (Showing My Dad Apple’s New Smart Speaker)
My dad is a “normal” person when it comes to tech. He’s interested in it, and has strong opinions on Mac vs Windows and iOS vs Android (Apple by a mile on both counts), but he’s not reading about this stuff every day. He uses an iPhone 6s Plus, in no small part
homepod
My HomePod Testing Playlist
I’m getting a HomePod in just over a week and I thought I’d share the playlist I’ll be using to test it. These are all songs I love and songs that I think have really good production values that will make the HomePod prove its prowess.
Feel free to recommend your own
podcast
The BirchTree Podcast #51: 15 Million Switches
Apparently the Nintendo Switch has just about hit 15 million sales worldwide, months ahead of other big gam console launches like the Wii and PS4. Nintendo has a hit on their hands, and I'm just enjoying the ride.
Subscribe to The BirchTree Podcast here.
homepod
HomePod will Indeed Have Over-the-Air Updates
Via MacRumors:
When a new software update is released for the HomePod, users will receive an alert and will likely be directed to the Home app to install it, similar to how Apple Watch updates are installed through the Watch app. HomePod will be listed as an available HomeKit device in the Home app.
This