MacPro

fallenjt said:

Andy_Z said:

Just a few minutes ago I received an early-bird preorder email from Ecobee for their HomeKit smart Switch+ with built-in Alexa. 

That’s the best Thermostat on the market. My only complaint is that it’s not compatible with AC 5Ghz band.

The problem with 5GHz is it isn't very good at going through walls.  Perhaps that's why they use 2.4 GHz which is far better suited for that purpose.  My tip is to make sure you name both of the frequencies the same in your router's admin so all devices in your LAN are on the same network and can auto select the best frequency at any given time.

macxpress said:

MacPro said:

macxpress said:

Maybe people should just watch where they're going...

Ah, there's the snag.  Watch all you like but very clear glass at the right light levels and you don't see it at all. 

I bet they know it there now LOL. 

Believe it or not, I've done it almost every other year for thirty years when we shut the sliders as summer comes on (any day now here).  As you bounce off and you forehead feels like you were hit by a 2 x 4 you hear a little voice in your head say ... 'Again, really?"

macgui said:

I might add that unless your iPhone is already in your hand and unlocked, asking Alexa about the weather is almost always faster than looking it up on a visual device or asking Siri.

However using a favorite, more detailed weather app would outweigh Alexa's speed and simple response.

This morning as it was a beautiful day here in central west Florida I asked 'Hey Siri what is the wind speed? As we were thinking of kayaking' Instantly she told me.  I then asked "Hey Siri what's the latest News?'  Instantly she said "Here is the news on NPR, if you want ..."  and listed several other News organization plus Fox News.  NPR news followed.  I spent the next half hour firing question that were instantly answered including 'Hey Siri what is absolute zero?' and got a detailed scientific answer.  All this while the HomePod was playing Gordon Lightfoot quite loudly, she always heard and turned off the music to answer turning it on afterwards.  I am not sure how much faster you could have her respond?  I spent several hours last night listening to old favorited tracks because they just sound so incredibly good.  Shut your eyes and the stereo is actually better than a two speaker set up and there is no 'sweet spot' required as in standard stereo listening, it simply doesn't matter where you are.  Man the bass sounds good on Chicago Transit Authority's I'm a Man.

gatorguy said:

Mike Wuerthele said:

philboogie said:

gatorguy said:

I posted this earlier in the day for those that missed it:


Another day and another report on 4th quarter iPhone sales, this one worldwide rather than US-specific. 

According to Canalys (in a report released today) the iPhone X was the most successful smartphone model in the period, shipping 29 million units with 7 million of those slated for Chinese buyers.

Strange how a casual reader has this info at their finger tips, yet a website dedicated to Apple news fail to f

Props to you sir.

Unlike Newsweek, we don't report on market analysis until we get the entire report from the firm. 

We don't run with just three paragraphs, or an interpretation of somebody else's read.

FWIW the snippet I posted was from the early press release they sent me, and I totally agree it's simply proper journalism to wait for the entire report before doing an actual article here. No reflection whatsoever on AI and none was intended. 

So you get sent press releases ... ?

Soli said:

MacPro said:

I love knowing when my wife rushes out and forgets her iPhone she is still covered with her Apple Watch 3.  $10 a month is a pittance for knowing she has communications abilities not least of which in case of an emergency.

There seems to be an issue with size of the device as if that matters to the carrier, as well as bonus feature of the carrier allowing you to use a single phone number for two discrete devices. I pay for an emergency (dumb) cellphone that hasn't made a call in 5 years except to check to see if it's working twice a year I still pay $10 a month to keep that device on the network. For me to demand that the carrier let me keep as many dumb phones as I want on their network for free  because "it doesn't use much data" is a ridiculous notion.

As you state, the emergency call option is a great feature for many people. There are very simple GPS devices that will only send a beacon to a satellite and have a very limited battery life once activated. Before ACR came out with a product with no annual subscription fees there was SPOT which was $200 a year (I don't think you could do it by the month) and they also cost hundreds of dollars up front. Despite this clear barrier to entry I anyone is going to say that the life of loved one hiking in the mountains isn't worth a couple hundred dollars a year.

My wife being a Realtor and a busy one at that, the odd days she forgot her iPhone I had to drive to meet her somewhere as being without it could cost her literally and metaphorically, dearly.  A few days ago she did it again but was able to carry on business all day via the Apple Phone 3.  I also like being to see where she is and is OK in her line of work now she's doubly covered with the iPhone and Apple Watch 3.