Another week and another round of wild rumor and barely sourced speculation awaits you in this week's Rundown. Let us begin with the stories that may, or may not, have anything to do with that strange camera-laden car mentioned last week.
The rumor factory was in full swing with a few hoping that Apple was building better battery tech for a hybrid. Two links power this assumption with the first being credited to an Apple Employee talking smack about Tesla. And the second noting that Tesla is hiring away a lot of Apple Employees.
But the non-speculative party poopers theorize that the cars may just end up being a team out to improve Apple Maps.
Of course working for either company means you get a shot at acquiring some awesome stock. Heck even Apple is buying its own stock back for its rainy day fund. Because honestly, who wants to have to dig through the couch cushions anyway to come up with the 850 million to pay for the giant solar panel complex to power your new HQ.
Turning now to the media section of the rumor mill, and fanning the "Apple TV is dead" flames, Apple is working on a Netflix rival. You know, like HBO Go, just bigger. Oh wait, HBO needs Apple's help to launch their standalone service? I thought the MLB team was helping them? Hmm...
well... I guess they could tell HBO about how they are working on taking that Beats service to the next level. They even
could give them some advice on Android streaming while they’re at it.
Just imagine viewing all that Apple content from this possible Netflix like thing combined with the power of Beats music on a ginormous iPad. Yep, Groundhog Day just took place and Johny Ive came out of the Apple Watch division, saw his shadow and declared that the press could continue with six more weeks of iPad Pro mongering. This week's "Fear, Unknown and Doubt" takes the form of "don't get your hopes up" and the shape of another operating system. That would mean that Swift would help you program for OSX, iOS, Watch OS and iPad OS? Move over Microsoft Universal Apps!
Did you know that the iPhone 5c is almost 18 months old from its launch window? Okay, did you even remember there was a 5c? Well there was, and with no official word on the next Apple event for the press to talk about, some sites drive hits back to themselves with the Postmortem article. Here are three such examples sporting highlights of keynotes past.
Corning takes shot at sapphire with 'Project Phire' ultra scratch-resistant glass
Top hospitals in the US are actively deploying Apple HealthKit pilot programs
The latest Developer seed of the next update to Mac OS was really the top story of last week. Sadly, not being a huge fan of photos, I didn't read much in the way of the previews of the new Photo app. Nor did I give much more than a passing glance to this neat story about emoji diversity in the latest Developer Build.
These next two development related stories may be worth a read though.
Crazy iPhone rig shows how Chinese workers manipulate App Store rankings
Twitter clears up confusion on how iOS 8 made it lose users
Thankfully the "i" on security section is a lot lighter this week. The single story does tell a harrowing tale of a Houston reporter finding out that Chrome, Windows and Mac can share browser hijacks via Chrome Sync. Adds a whole new meaning to Cross Platform Cross Scripting doesn't it?
At least we can rest easier knowing that Touch ID, Find My iPhone and other measures have decreased reports of iPhone theft.
Dr. Robert Carter produces some great podcasts. And not just on the world of Apple either. Although this week I'll point you to a show where Dr. Carter talks to David Woodbridge about how the state of Apple Accessibility is better than ever. However, go back through the Tech Doctor archives and listen to the shows about Ireland and Antarctica. Great stuff!
Rene Richie, over at iMore, has been one of the previous guests on the Tech Doctor podcast and Rene has been very vocal about access in the past. While this article isn't written by Mr. Richie, it keeps the conversation going about accessibility to a mainstream reading audience.
Continuing the mainstream perspective, check out the coverage Lifehacker provided on Voice Dream Writer. Also, there was a mention of Voice Dream and Main Menu's own Jeff Bishop on the Daily Tech News Show.
BlindSquare is a pretty awesome app to have around. But if you aren't familiar with it, this introduction will help you determine if you need this app in your travel folder.
Thanks go to Blind Leading the Blind on Twitter for this one: Top iPhone Apps for the Blind & Visually Impaired
And from Lisa Salinger, New iPhone game allows you to control characters with your heartbeat
Finally, and thankfully the two stories are not directly related, here are two high flying stories.
Pilot, wife use iPad to crash land plane at regional airport
MacBook Air survives 1000-foot, 125mph fall from plane
I've never had the chance to write this before, so now seems like a good time, don't try that at home everyone. Did I miss a story? Drop it in the comments section and I'll post it next week. No suggestions on dropping iThingies though. If you need to hear stuff hit the ground, wander over to this classic video from an earlier David Letterman era.
Category: ArticlesNo one has commented on this post.
You must be logged in to post comments.
Or Forgot username or password?
Register for free
Joe Steinkamp is no stranger to the world of technology, having been a user of video magnification and blindness related electronic devices since 1979. Joe has worked in radio, retail management and Vocational Rehabilitation for blind and low vision individuals in Texas. He has been writing about the A.T. Industry for 15 years and podcasting about it for almost a decade.
