Eric_WVGG

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Eric_WVGG
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  • Spotify abandons AirPlay 2 support [u]

    Eric_WVGGEric_WVGG
    I was all set to jump on the “holy shit Spotify is completely inept” bandwagon (I personally ignored Spotify in favor of Beats Music because of the latter’s superior Mac software back in the day), but these tweets by Marco Arment — creator of the Overcast podcast app, Instapaper, and some social network called Tumbling or something — made me think twice. 

    “An app can support AirPlay 2 […] with a four-step process outlined on Apple's developer website.”
    Those “four steps” from developer.apple.com/documentation/… are:
    1. Set one flag. One line of code.
    2. Add the AirPlay picker to your UI. Probably already there.
    3. Respond to play/pause. Probably already do.
    4. Rewrite your ENTIRE AUDIO PLAYER to use a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT API
    …and that new API:
    - is barely documented
    - has no public sample code
    - is full of major gotchas
    - can’t change speeds seamlessly
    - doesn’t provide precise timing
    - requires much more complex logic
    - is less efficient, which can cause background CPU-overage terminations

    i spent about a month of last winter trying to make a music player in the vein of Poolside.fm. It turned out to be a total bust; iOS has (at least) three different audio APIs, with non-overlapping levels of functionality, and uniformly poor documentation. it fucking sucks.

    granted, Spotify has enough cash to buy all the talent it wants, but I’m not at all surprised to hear that Airplay 2 support could require a complete rewrite of the core functionality of a very mature app. Audio APIs represent Apple technology at their worst.
    williamlondonJapheyelijahgravnorodommuthuk_vanalingam

  • Google teases Pixel 6, Pixel 6 Pro with new Tensor AI chip

    Eric_WVGGEric_WVGG
    They sure look cool though. Dig that yellow/blue one, I wonder if you could pick top/bottom colors at checkout?

    I'd take that bar over the wobbling that the squircle creates when you put your iPhone on a table. Probably makes it less likely for your thumb to enter the edge of a picture, too.
    byronlwilliamlondon

  • Playdate handheld game console preorders start July 29

    Eric_WVGGEric_WVGG
    Hmmm...  both of my kids have a BittBoy for playing retro games.  At $179, the price is rather steep too.

    I am not sure what problem this device is trying to solve, or what niche it is trying to fill.
    What were they thinking? The games are all black and white like going back to the old GameBoy day? The device: who are they targeting consider everyone owns a smart phone with 3D/color games now a day? I don't understand where this device is fitting in today's market. It's cute BUT....
    This is the indie videogame equivalent of a limited edition vinyl being released by some band you've never heard of. It's hipster silliness. In fact, the manufacturer — Teenage Engineering — is renowned for their extremely weird and niche electronics.

    It's fine if you've never heard of people like Cable Sasser, Lucas Pope, or Keita Takahashi. Those of us who have can barely contain our excitement.

    Not everything is trying to sell ten million units or be a mainstream success. This is just a weird little device for indie game fanatics. 
    ravnorodomwatto_cobra

  • M1X Mac mini will be thinner, use iMac's magnetic power connector says leaker

    Eric_WVGGEric_WVGG
    I was about to quip "What, no USB-C ports?" when I realized that I had mistaken them for a vent. Cool!

    I hate this trend to take the power supply out to pretend the device is smaller. No, your device is actually bigger now, and sloppier, and more stuff to break/lose. Reminds me of that awful old X-Box 360 power supply that was bigger than a shoe… sloppy, messy. Eff that. 
    williamlondoncaladaniancgWerkswatto_cobra

  • Facebook developing smartwatch with health, messaging features

    Eric_WVGGEric_WVGG
    Just pretending for a moment that they had the UI acumen and industrial design necessary to design the device, there's still the problem of the Apple S6 CPU. There's nothing else like it on the market. The best performing Qualcomm CPU in that watt range has nowhere close to the performance. Personally, I think this is why Google has more or less ceded the market… they literally can't make an equivalent wearable without hardware that they can't design and money can't buy.
    lkruppgregoriusmplastico23Mactintanantksundaramfotoformatbageljoeywilliamlondonwatto_cobra