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Opening
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Opening Music
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Music is Say Anything by Manda and the Marbles
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News
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Apple / Valve AR Partnership?
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DigitTimes claims Apple is partnering with Valve to develop it’s AR headset
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The two have worked together in the past
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In 2017 Apple worked with them to bring native VR headset support to macOS High Sierra
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The solution leveraged the Mac’s eGPU support and Valve’s StreamVR software
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Previously DigiTimes had reported back in May that Apple temporarily stopped AR/VR headset development and was disbanding the team.
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Now they say what was happening was a shift from in-house development to a collaboration with Valve
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Ming Chi Kuo has also stated that Apple is cooperating with third-party brands to launch its first head-mounted AR product
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The product is expected to be sold as a wearable iPhone accessory.
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Essentially a wireless display with the iPhone handling the wireless data and processing functions.
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The headset is expected to have it’s own OS, rumored to be called “rOS” (reality operating system)
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User interface is expected to be a combination of Siri, touch, and head gestures
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Expected to launch next year.
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Ming Chi Kuo had commenced that it would happen in Q4 of 2020
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Analyzing Apple TV+ popularity
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Not sure how much it matters, but Apple’s new TV service is being weighed and measured and found “modest”
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The data comes from Parrot Analytics for the 24 hour period after the November 1st launch
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“See” was the only Apple TV+ show that broke the Top 20 most demanded shows in 2019
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Variety reported that AppleTV+ has drawn “millions” of viewers who and that those who watched one episode of the core four series went on to watch at least one more, if not two.
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Average viewing time was apparently high and exceeding internal expectations.
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The shows have been getting “mixed” reviews, but the public seems to be enjoying them.
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Apple TV does have a limited amount of content but all the shows I’ve watched so far have been great and are series I would continue to watch.
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“See”’s executive producer and director, Francis Lawrence in a Business Insider interview denied the reports that the show will cost $240 million for two seasons.
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Says it is “an expensive show”, but that "People have thrown around that it's the most expensive show. I can guarantee you it's not."
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They worked to incorporate blind and low-vision actors into the show and plan to use more in future seasons
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iPad Pro helps marketshare
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New numbers from Strategy Analytics show iPads global marketshare grew 4 percent in the third quarter
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This in an overall tablet market that fell 4 percent.
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Apple did release the new 10.2-inch entry price iPad which likely helped
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Still the fact that in Apple’s last results iPad revenue grew by 8 percent shows that possibly iPad Pros are having a positive impact as well.
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It’s surprising we still have not seen Apple refresh the iPad Pro line up this year and time appears to have run out barring some quiet announcement in the next week or so.
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Apple Watch also continues to dominate it’s segment
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Again from Strategy Analytics, Apple Watch sold 6.8 million units last quarter an increase of 51 percent year over year.
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They also believe Apple’s smart watch marketshare has increased from 45 percent to 47.9 percent this year.
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Apple has a new privacy page
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The new page at apple.com/privacy
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The new design is cleaner and much simpler to understand
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The page also contains four detailed white papers covering Location Services, Photos, Safari web browsing, and Sign-in with Apple.
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Some of the highlighted protections
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Safari has built-in fingerprinting defense, which shares a simplified system profile with websites you visit.
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In Photos the Apple Neural Engine in the A13 chip performs over 100 billion operations per photo to recognize faces and places without ever leaving your device.
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Smart suggestions in Messages, like pulling up photos to send based on who you’re messaging, are all done on your device.
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Your Apple ID isn’t connected to Siri, and your requests are associated with a random identifier
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Sponsor: Masterclass
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Masterclass
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Masterclass offers online classes that let you learn from the best. They offer exclusive access to online classes taught by masters of their craft.
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One of my favorite things about Masterclass is the amazing depth and variety of the courses taught by the masters in their fields.
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No place else do you have access to this kind of talent.
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The quality and presentation of the courses is the best I've ever seen and they're each unique in their style which keeps them interesting.
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Plus they are presented in small chunks, typically 10-15 minutes so I can easily fit then into my schedule
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That's made even easier by the fact I can access them on any device iPhone, iPad, Mac, and best of all my Apple TV.
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What I'm finding as I take more and more classes on Masterclass is that a lot of what I'm learning I can adapt and apply to the things I do even when maybe the course isn't specifically about my field
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I'll give you an example
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I'm love games and gaming, but I don't make games (I want to)
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So I started Will Wright's, game designer of the Sims, Masterclass and the lesson on early prototyping really got me thinking about the ways I work with clients on developing and prototyping websites for my clients.
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While you can get courses individually I really love having the all-access pass because here's what happens…
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You'll want one course, like Documentary Filmmaking with Ken Burns
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But if you're like me… you'll see Aaron Franklin will show you how to make Smoked Pork Ribs (I love ribs)
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I'm not kidding I watched this and learned how to trim up and prep ribs and why it's important. Something I've never even thought was part of cooking ribs
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And then I've always been fascinated with wanting to learn magic. I've tried other videos, but the Pen & Teller one was hands down the best
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They went though the concept, then teaching to a group, then detailed step by step
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Also supplemental downloadable PDF with photos and instructions.
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They have over 60 classes and they are constantly adding more, so I think it's a great investment in learning.
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Now you can have unlimited access to EVERY MasterClass, and as a [program name] listener, you’ll get $30 off!
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I highly recommend you check it out.
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Get unlimited access to EVERY MasterClass, and as a MACCAST listener, you get 15% off the Annual All-Access Pass!
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Go to [Masterclass.com/maccast](https://masterclass.com/maccast). That’s [Masterclass.com/maccast](https://masterclass.com/maccast) for 15% off MasterClass.
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Feedback, commentary, opinions
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Free Apple TV+ confusion
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Some are being offered the service when they don’t qualify.
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Others, who qualify, aren’t seeing the free offer.
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I have had one listener who was offered the free year and signed up with Apple, but when went back to check it was only the 7-day free trial.
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If you think you qualify and don’t get the offer some things to try:
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Force-quit the TV app and relaunch it.
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Sign out of your Apple ID and sign back in again. Open the TV app.
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Try signing in at tv.apple.com. You can sign up online, and it may show you your free year if your device does not.
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Contact Apple Support. If you contact Apple support with a valid proof of purchase, they should be able to provide you with a special promo code that can be redeemed for one year of TV+.
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Use the Support app. You can request a call and even schedule it.
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Some Apple TV+ Feedback
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Play comments from David and Mike
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The content warnings do come up as an overlay at the start of each episode.
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It is subtle, so could be more obvious
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I do like that they are specific to each episode
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I started to watch “Dickinson” and I’m really liking it. For sure it a older “teenage” comedy vibe.
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Buggy OS release feedback
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Play comment from Brian
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Did follow up that iOS 13.2.2 is out and fixes the RAM management issue
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My friend, Patrice, who is also a software developer brought up a great point
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The release cycle is not the issue, it’s the complexity
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Trying to cram in too many features in a release that has to hit an arbitrary release date.
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Longer release cycles don’t help because they don’t inherently reduce complexity. The chance that some combination of features introduce issues into the system.
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It’s a classic too many variables. Reduce the variable and it’s easier to control.
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Longer release cycles would also potentially hold up features that are ready to go.
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You have to make the release cycle smaller, hence decreasing the number of changes per iteration, decreasing the complexity, shortening feedback cycles and allowing for features to be released when they're ready instead of rushing them out of the door at an arbitrary date
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This is actually one of the advantages that something like “subscriptions” have offered software.
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Adobe is a great example of this.
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Features are simply rolled out as they are ready through the year.
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No big marketing push and release.
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Closing
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Supporters
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