roundaboutnow

danox said:

Apps do need to ask a user's permission other than a camera company like Blackmagic Design or similar companies like Nikon or Sony or maybe companies in the medical area down the road? But open season for Google, Meta, Microsoft, Spotify no way.

Microphones and other sensitive sensors should also be off limits without the user's permission.

It's one thing requiring the user grants permission, but how do you ask the subject(s) for permission?

With cameras, I suppose it is obvious that your picture is being taken, but regardless, the camera manufacturers never had to deal with permission. Only if you're a commercial photographer or possibly just being polite would one ask permission. (Not to say hidden cameras aren't a thing).

With an XR device, it's harder to tell when one's image is being captured by the wearer of the device. As I understand it, having the wearer's "fake" eyes displayed on the AVP signals that the subject's image is being captured, but could an app developer capture images without any external notification? This is kinda tricky. I'm guessing Apple was trying to avoid the "glasshole" reputation put upon Google glasses wearers.

Still, the use cases described in the article seem to be good examples of how allowing camera access could be a benefit. Hopefully there is a solution to this that provides both the privacy and utility associated with camera access.

VictorMortimer said:

Just what I need, another camera to tape over.

Also, what's with everybody wanting soundbars?  I've never understood it.  I've got REAL speakers, with actual separation.  I haven't done the overhead channels, but I've got front left, right, and center, rear left and right, and a reasonably large sub.  You're never going to get that from a 3' long plastic box with tiny speakers.

Soundbars can actually be pretty good, especially when mated with a separate subwoofer. They won't be as good as a set of quality separate speakers, but they are much less intrusive and are much easier to install. I emphasize "quality" on the separate speakers because I have been in rooms with crap separates--I will take a good soundbar+sub over these any day.

dewme said:

A soundbar form factor Apple TV with a built-in HomePod plus Apple TV functionality plus Center Stage compatible wide format camera seems like a no-brainer to me.

Why mess around with 3 or 4 devices tethered together with wire or wireless when you can have a single compact solution in a form factor that has already been proven to be popular and convenient by millions of users? There’s no reason to resort to a cobbled together solution. If Apple’s current designers can’t figure out how to solve this, hire Jony.

Exactly what I was thinking.

There are a good number of "smart" soundbars for corporate meeting rooms that are a similar concept. These devices usually include 6-mic arrays in addition to a camera that can auto track room participants (most of these cameras are e-PTZ, some are actually small motorized PTZ cameras). Many have "PC-less" Zoom/Teams capability, although these can get pricey. 

In the consumer space, there is the Roku soundbar. These run "apps" (even including AppleTV app). I have a Roku soundbar with the mating wireless subwoofer, and it is possible to mate a couple of extra speakers for surround. 

An AppleTV based integrated soundbar that can be mated via Airplay2 to subwoofer and/or surround speakers would be cool. Come to think of it, an Apple TV soundbar that can run the Zoom or Teams apps would be a great solution for home or office users. As long as we're at it, a lower cost version without camera like the Roku should be offered too.

PS: Speaking of FaceTime...would be good if FaceTime on the Mac gets integrated screen sharing (that lets you pick which app window to share like Zoom/Teams does, not just entire desktop). And with markup/whiteboard capability.

fastasleep said:

roundaboutnow said:

I wish the Tech Specs were available as 8.5"x11" (or A4) size PDFs. I often specify Apple hardware along with other equipment and need to submit spec sheets for all the hardware I specify. I end up having to copy and paste the web based Tech Spec page(s) into a Word or Pages document, tweak to fit, then export/print to PDF. 

Weird, why would you have to do all that? Just Command-P > PDF menu > Save as PDF...

In the past, straight prints to PDF from web pages were very poorly laid out with extraneous graphics and such that are there for navigating the web site. Now that there is a dedicated web page for Tech Specs, it's definitely a lot cleaner, but I would still prefer a one or two page document.

BTW, if you choose "Export as PDF..." you get one really tall page. For the Mac mini, it ends up being 19.52 × 128.55 inches!

I wish the Tech Specs were available as 8.5"x11" (or A4) size PDFs. I often specify Apple hardware along with other equipment and need to submit spec sheets for all the hardware I specify. I end up having to copy and paste the web based Tech Spec page(s) into a Word or Pages document, tweak to fit, then export/print to PDF.