arthurba

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arthurba
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  • Apple has the 'key ingredients' needed to disrupt the car market, analysts say

    arthurbaarthurba
    The user experience in cars is rubbish.  

    I drive a lot of different cars when travelling (in a normal year), and the user experience in them is all poor.  Some slightly better than others.  I've not driven a Tesla.

    But the automotive industry have consistently rejected Apple's approach - I find it particularly annoying that anything which supports carplay also supports android auto, like they are interchangable.  Apple want to differentiate their product, but the automotive companies want the opposite - they want to commoditize these sorts of "additions".

    So in the end, Apple need an automotive manufacturer who will really take a leap of faith, or find a "contract manufacturer", or build there own factory or buy a competitor.  Whether it's iPod or Mac or iPhone, Apple have always competed at scale.  Therefore it's my guess that they will buy (hostile takeover if necessary) a manufacturer when the time is right.  No reason why Apple can't buy GM or Ford if they want to (except maybe because of their historical liabilities).
    mark fearinglkrupplolliverBeatssuperklotonMplsPwatto_cobra

  • EufyCam 2C review: Great outdoor HomeKit camera that needs a partner

    arthurbaarthurba
    Comparing this with the TP-Link C120 is wrong - the C120 doesn't have any HomeKit support, and I've not seen even a hint that it may come ever.

    Also weird timing for this review.  I've used Eufy 2C's for a few years already.  

    They obviously wear out being in the weather and mine have all started to die.  Eufy's newer cameras just do not support HomeKit at all, so it doesn't seem sensible to me to be investing in these again.  

    I'd prefer higher resolution than 1080p though I'm not sure HSV supports more than this.

    Where are the newer HomeKit Secure Video cameras - particularly for outdoor?  Crickets.
    ForumPostwatto_cobra

  • Apple's Australian customers get 7 days of AppleCare+ for free

    arthurbaarthurba
    barthrh said:
    darkvader said:
    jace88 said:
    It’s due to recent changes to Australian consumer law around the sale of additional warranties. Basically can’t be done until four days after the purchase. Apple basically confirms this is the rationale in their email to customers after making a purchase of an applicable device eg iPad mini. 



    Wow!  That's an amazing win for consumers in Australia!  All 'product protection plans' are scams, and yes that absolutely includes AppleCare.
    How is it a scam? For anyone who avoided a $600 repair for a $99 deductible, I think they'd disagree. All insurance is a scam until you need it. I've been paying thousands a year in home insurance and have never been robbed or burned down. That doesn't make it a scam. I hope I never see any value in my life insurance.

    Insurance is only a scam when the insurer tries to dodge the claim. Based on commentary from users who filed claims, AppleCare+ pays readily.
    In Australia (as in many parts of Europe) we have very strong consumer protection laws.  Therefore goods sold here are also generally more expensive than the same product sold somewhere without those strong consumer protection laws (eg: USA).  Here in Oz, the ACCC have gone on record to say that for an expensive computer (anything that Apple sells, including phones, would qualify) - the consumer should receive a complete refund or a quick repair for minimum cost for the first 3 years.  For Apple to honour the local laws, it really should be bundling AppleCare with every product sold. The problem is, their competitors are not, and Apple aint gonna be the only company following the rules.  Whilst these laws are strong, the enforcement is negligible.  That doesn't stop local suppliers charging way more for their products and claiming the price difference is because of these laws, but not actually providing the service.  So yes, it is a total scam.  Here.  But not necessarily a scam elsewhere.   About 20 years ago this came to a head, and the Federal government did a big inquiry and the result of that came a recommenddation: all Australians should purchase any significant item via grey market import (ie: buy in USA  and buy international extended warranty and ship it here yourself) - even with all the added costs, it works out generally about 10% cheaper than buying it in Oz and relying on the 'statutory warranty'.  For me (any many/most other Apple customers), this is a business purchase, and the extra cost of AppleCare is just factored in to the cost of the product.  We wouldn't ever buy an Apple product without AppleCare.  But yes, technically, it's a total rip off, because the law here clearly states they should provide all those same services as part of the product cost (except theft, which until recently hasn't been available with AppleCare in OZ).
    FileMakerFeller

  • Child spends $16K on iPad game in-app purchases

    arthurbaarthurba
    Good discussion here. 

    Certainly these games with virtual currency are all a blatant rip-off, and the sooner they are all declared gambling and therefore age limiters put on the better.  But until the government or a court makes that ruling...

    I think the credit card company and Apple need to share the blame here. 

    If I so much as spend £20 on my card I get an immediate call from my bank asking to confirm “unusual activity on my account”.  The bank should have been pro-active. If the family normally spent a lot on Apple I can see this being a bit difficult, which is why Apple need to share the blame. 

    If the bank can detect “unusual activity” so can Apple. I don’t know about fixed $200 / $1000 limits, but “unusual” should be easy to pick up.  Lock the account until the account owner calls and passes id check and confirms the charges.  In the UK/EU banks are required to do this by law (ensure charges are authorised by the account holder) - maybe the legislation needs to be amended to cover large semi-banks like Apple.  But Apple can see the problem, they shouldn’t wait until it’s mandated - they should get out in front. 

    Oh, and Apple can make it easier for banks by giving more detailed sub-account identifiers instead of just ITUNES for everything. 
    kiowavtktappemainyehcjony0

  • Apple facing class action lawsuit over alleged iTunes & Apple Music data sale

    arthurbaarthurba
    titantiger said:
    My guess is that some apps that users have allowed access to their iTunes libraries and have signed up for an account that includes full name and email has been cross referenced with publicly available information.  
    Spot on. The marketing list available is ‘Apple AND Pandora users’ not ‘Apple or Pandora users’. Looks like Pandora have been harvesting data to make a buck. And if that’s the case, bye bye Pandora. 
    chasmappledevwatto_cobra

  • Apple's Eddy Cue says Google is default search engine because it is the best option

    arthurbaarthurba
    So next time Apple are negotiating the license fee for Google to be the default search engine, there is going to be a very awkward converstation.  
    Apple: $15B please
    Google: you said that you make Google the default search engine because we're the best, and we'd be the default search engine regardless, sooo why are we paying?
    Apple: ...
    Google: and if you don't keep us as the default search engine when we stop paying, then you're likely to face perjury charges
    Apple: ...
    Google: right then.  We've saved ourselves $15B

    https://appleinsider.com/articles/21/08/27/google-forecast-to-spend-15b-in-2021-to-remain-default-ios-search-engine

    But seriously I think this means Eddy Cue expects to be retired before the next negotiation.  With someone new in the drivers seat they can set a new 'strategic direction' which is hopefully along the lines of:

    Google: our contract to be the default search engine on iPhone is soon to expire, can we please re-negotiate:
    Apple: ...
    Google: it may have skipped your attention but our entire business model depends on your customers being directed by you to our web site
    Apple: ...
    Google: please reply to my earlier message:
    Apple: ...

    Bart Ywatto_cobra

  • Developer angry that App Store is removing game that hasn't been updated in 7 years

    arthurbaarthurba
    The author is naive to say "This would certainly pull a small amount of resources away from other projects as the developer says."

    I don't know what toolchain this developer is using, but here is what I know about Xcode.

    The latest Xcode won't even open a 7 year old xcode project, and if you have a VM with the old macOS and the old Xcode then it won't connect to Apple to upload or sign it. 

    Maybe if you upgrade the app each year with each new Xcode it's easier, but in my experience, apps older than 3-5 years need a total rewrite.  I also see this on the App Store, apps I use often seem to get a "rewrite" about every 3 years and no longer than every 5 years.

    From my perspective it's much easier to develop for windows desktops where the visual studio 2022 will happily open and compile a 20 year old Visual C 6 project, or develop for Linux servers where the latest gcc happily compiles 20 or 30 year old code.  Sure the resulting program may look "old" but it doesn't need a rewrite, it just needs small UI updates, which will only consume "a small amount of resources" from the development team.

    I have sympathy for his argument for sure, but part of the reason why the iPhone is so "popular" (in the sense people get a new one every 3-5 years, and tend to stay in the ecosystem) is that it and its operating system iOS evolves fairly quickly over time.  If he'd developed the app for Windows Phone, the same would also be true - his app would be removed from the Windows     App Store - not because his app is old, but because the Windows App Store, the Windows Phone and the entire ecosystem is no more, it's gone, it's kaput.

    Sure in an ideal world Apple would enable long term code compatibility and keep up with modern trends, but they've made it clear that they don't think it's possible.  So we get incompatibility, lots of developer work to stay in the same spot, but an ecosystem that does actually still exist.  And just like OS9 emulators can run on macOS or even iPadOS today - maybe his old app will one day run in an iPhone 2017 emulator - gone but not forgotten.
    IreneWtiredskillswilliamlondon

  • 2018 iPhone SE predicted to be a minor upgrade, if it happens at all

    arthurbaarthurba
    wood1208 said:
    If rest of iPhones moving up in size 5.8".6.1",6.5" than SE has option to fill up from 4"-4.7" size space.
    Oh God I hope not.

    As others have said - it's the size, not the price, that I like.  Make me a $2000 iPhone SE 2 with all iPhone X features but just 4" and I'll be happy.

    Failing that though - at least give me an iPhone SE 2 with 256GB and a barometer (so it can count 'flights of stairs') and a 'better' rear camera (front camera already OK).   If the SE2 doesn't have that - then I'd probably just stick with my current gen 1 SE.

    I don't care about wireless charging (too slow) or more energy sapping (and more pixel dense) display or 'force touch' which seem to do nothing but confuse the life out of anyone but the geekiest geek.  

    Things I really like in the X are the edge-to-edge display, no home button and face id - but frankly I can take them or leave them.  Like I said - iPhone X SE with those features I'd pay up to $2K for, but if they are not there I won't miss them.

    Once the 'series 4' (or series 3 2018 refresh) of the Apple Watch Cellular is out - I'm going  to switch to that as my main phone - the SE will sit in a drawer and come out just when the Watch needs updating.  Others have convinced me that the Apple Watch Cellular is actually the 'small premium phone' that Apple make.  For a camera and content consumption I'll be using the Red Hydrogen One (probably with no SIM card since I wouldn't trust Android with cellular connectivity).

  • Phil Schiller again defends Touch Bar MacBook Pro's 16GB RAM limitation

    arthurbaarthurba
    Article incorrectly states Kaby Lake  as due End 2017.

    The mobile Kaby Lake variants are shipping today, the desktop/workstation due Jan 2017:
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaby_Lake

    My problem with the 'new' Late 2016 MacBook Pro is that it is in fact the Late 2015 MacBook Pro 12 months late, and I was wanting the 2016 version.  Once upon a time Apple got the silicon from Intel first and shipped high performance Pro MacBooks while the other vendors were still waiting for silicon.

    Apple's only chance of making this up to the real Pro users is to release the 'real' 2016 edition in early 2017.  And I expect they will.