xyzzy01

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xyzzy01
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  • 'M2' chip to arrive in early 2022 in a colorful MacBook Air, says leaker

    xyzzy01xyzzy01
    New colours is probably the last thing I want on a new laptop. Sure, please add stellar gray, but other than that - just leave it alone.

    I'm waiting for a new laptop, but don't need one right away. The first thing that comes to mind is that both the MacBook Pro and the MacBook Air need better front facing cameras. Previously, I didn't really care that much... but the last 16 months have been filled with online meetings, and I expect that to continue to be important - hopefully less so, but more than in the past. The cameras are pretty bad, because Apple didn't care either. Hopefully, the last year and a half have given them time to fix that... even though we see that there is some lag, in that many devices just support FaceID and don't include the new Touch ID on the side button. With hardware and a large company, it takes time before a need translates into changes in upcoming products.

    I like the idea of going fanless, so MBA is the front runner on that account - I don't use the touchbar much on my current MacBook Pro, and sustained performance isn't that important. But I will have to wait and see for the next gen for a better camera.

    Also, with Apple now building their own CPUs I'm also thinking that Q3 is not a good time to buy a laptop, just as that's a bad time to buy a new iPhone. 
    watto_cobra

  • Apple releases macOS Big Sur 11.4 with support for Apple Podcast Subscriptions

    xyzzy01xyzzy01
    DAalseth said:
    Ok I updated macOs, padOS, and the rest, bu I might as well have skipped it. Podcast subscriptions I won’t be using,  support for AW features in countries I don’t live in and Apple card that i dont have. If it weren’t for a couple of bug fixes, and that the nagging bugs me, I wouldn't have bothered. 
    There are also very important security fixes in there, including issues that are being used in the wild.

    If someone hasn't updated, they should.
    fastasleep

  • Chipolo ONE Spot review: the only real alternative to AirTag

    xyzzy01xyzzy01
    genovelle said:
    Kuyangkoh said:
    And Tiles can complain of anti competitive to Apple??My tiles are still working, it will be a while before it will be replaced 
    Tile and the other large companies are doing what Amazon did in the ebook industry. They are protecting their dominant positions in their markets by attempting to limit Apple’s ability to not only compete, but also lower the cost of entry into their markets for other competitors. 

    Basically taking away their cash cows. Every time Apple moves into a market like streaming, trackers, Games, the create new technology that filters down to all developers. Apple ends up being the Guinea pig and if their solution works most of the underlying APIs becomes available for other developers to use. 

    Tile, AFAIK, isn't complaining about Apple's ability to compete. They are complaining about Apple's ability to use a dominant position in one market to take over a separate one - one that Tile invented, or at least was an early innovator in.

    What Apple is doing is using every iDevice as part of a large network which can find the tags - whether or not you have an Airtag. An iPhone user doesn't have to do anything active, agree to anything - or know anything about it. They are all opted in, with no opt out. This makes Airtags superior to Tile for locating lost devices.

    Tile, obviously, can't do this. Tile can only rely on their own users to help tracking - and Apple is warning frequently about this app tracking your location, and asking "do you want to continue this?". Because, obviously, it is tracking your location.

    Thus, Tile has a lot of reason to be complaining... that said, it's obviously not a solution to let every company install background tracking apps, anonymised or not. Apple is using their dominance in mobile platforms to take over or make large entries into many markets established by others, so there will obviously be a lot of complaining. 
    muthuk_vanalingam

  • Spotify 'HiFi' audio control, error messages uncovered by user

    xyzzy01xyzzy01
    EsquireCats said:
    Spotify's advertising says that Spotify HiFi is CD-quality. Which will make it the lowest quality of all of the lossless audio providers on the market by a significant margin. How exciting it is to 'upgrade' to the sound quality of 1982.

    To be fair, it's doubtful that you will be able to hear any difference between CD quality and higher qualities. The sample rates were chosen back in the 80s for good reasons.... Even the difference between the current compressed streams and the lossless streams are minimal, and very hard to hear on most gear - if you're able to do so at all.


    dewme

  • Epic Games admits its own developer agreements ban rule-breakers

    xyzzy01xyzzy01
    silvergold84 said:
    Epic, Sony , Xbox, android.. everybody ask 30% on their stores. Epic itself don’t admit break rules. So .. Apple have right! It’s their store! They offer the only one real alternative to the people: everybody else use Android with the same os and the same opportunity to download and install trash from online. The only different is iOS. My iPhone is powerful and secure that any android, I like to keep it in this way like Apple is doing now. 

    First: Epic charges only 12%, not 30%. They also drop the fee for using their engine if you sell through them - that is another 5% which you don't have to pay.

    Second: In the context of Android, you clearly have a choice - you don't have to pay the 30% - you can sideload the app, or even install another app store. "Oh, but then my customers won't find my app or install it" - great, you've now proven that there is value to being in that store and can absolutely get off your high horse and follow the terms and conditions.

    While in general I loathe Epic - both their general business modell (F2P ruins gaming) and their blatant violation of the terms - I think Apple trying to get a cut out of everything is  problematic. Especially so when it comes to markets which they themselves have enterered, e.g. music streaming. Using a dominant position - cell phones is a duopoly - to gain benefits in a separate market is not good.

    A modern cell phone is a general purpose platform, just like a computer - it's just more portable.  How would we like it if Microsoft wanted a cut of all economic activity on their platform, or Apple on Mac? It's not like providing APIs is a ground breaking and unique value for a cell phone, those exist on all platforms - which is what they initially wanted to earn their money from.
    muthuk_vanalingamOfer