(Sponsor) The infinite loop of security I recently attended the RSA conference in San Francisco–security’s biggest event of the year– and I was struck by how infatuated everyone was with the promise of new, shiny solutions to fix new, shiny problems.…

(Podcast) Upgrade 543: In the Pocket of Big Turkey To celebrate the season we discuss Christmas lights, tech gifts, favorite holiday food items, holiday TV and movies, and answer some holiday-themed listener questions. Happy holidays to all Upgradians!…

Our 2024 favorites: Apps and games Runestone on Vision Pro, framed by Shareshot.Tailscale One of my persistent quests over the years has been making it easy to access all my devices no matter where I am.…

(Podcast) Downstream 85: A Holiday Visit from Tim Goodman Down the chimney comes Tim Goodman, reuniting with Jason to discuss his super-secret insider TV reviews, streaming’s influence in the rise of international TV here in the U.S.,…

(Podcast) Clockwise 586: Face IDea Our likelihood of investing in smart home tech with Apple’s entry, our technology goals for 2025, our end/start of year tech rituals, and predictions for how technology will improve the world in 2025.…

Apple still has some tricks left up its sleeve for 2025 (Macworld/Dan Moren) Here it comes, barreling down on us full steam: 2025. Somehow we’ve already burned through a quarter of this century. It’s been a good twenty-five years for Apple, to be sure, and from all the early indications it seems like the next year will continue the trend, insofar as such things can be predicted with any certainty.…

Listen to Dr. Jones ↦ “Raiders of the Lost Ark” is one of my favorite movies (and Stephen Spielberg’s best, in my opinion), but I never knew about this “loose end” until I read about it in a compilation of deleted scenes: A plot element involving the Ark of the Covenant was cut from the film and is only hinted at during the finale when the Ark is opened.…

Mic Drop mutes your microphone everywhere Mic Drop offers temporary floating status warnings and a persistent Menu Bar item as options.I’ve gotten so used to having a physical mute button on my podcast recording setup that it’s quite disconcerting when I use a different setup that doesn’t offer one.…

(Podcast) Downstream 84: The Hulu of It All How Disney’s strategy has led to ESPN inside the Disney+ app, Disney and Netflix content strategies, Warner Bros. Discovery and Comcast make a deal, the ramifications of Comcast’s “SpinCo,” crafting a theatrical hit out of a Disney+ TV show, and TV picks!…

(Podcast) The Rebound 525: I’m Wrong But I Feel Like I Should Be Right We’ve all got problems.…

(Podcast) Clockwise 584: Hush, We Don’t Have Time Our interest in current smart glasses, the smart tech we use to monitor our homes and pets, our thoughts on iOS 18.2 features like Genmoji and Image Playground, and how we organize and manage holiday gift-giving lists for ideas and tracking.…

Appearance: Apple Intelligence’s generic humans Choose from three different collections of appearances.On Wednesday iOS 18.2 and macOS 15.2 were released, and we wrote about it here. One of my complaints is that you can’t just make generic figures of people—you have to choose actual people in your library.…

The iPhone-as-computer experience ↦ So many words spent handwringing on whether you can do “real work” on an iPad and yet nobody ever stops to ask the actual question: can you do real work on an iPhone?…

The long, strange story of Audio Hijack ↦ Audio Hijack is a thing of beauty. And we almost lost it.Back in the early Apple silicon era, must-have Mac audio tool got a serious downgrade via a new installation process that required many steps and multiple reboots.…

(Podcast) Clockwise 578: Sadly, No Taste for Blood Our use of tech in Halloween celebrations; the smallest tech we regularly use and the small gadget that wowed us; which Apple Intelligence features we’re using and looking forward to next; and the one item we’d give up this week, tech or non-tech.…

Taking the AirPods Pro hearing test The hearing test first checks your fit and environmental noise (left). During the test, you tap the screen when you hear a tone, as the screen image throbs (center).…

Apple’s Q424 results: $95B revenue–with a twist Apple reported its financial results on Thursday for its fourth fiscal quarter, which ended on September 28. Revenue was $94.9 billion, up six percent versus the year-ago quarter and an all-time fourth quarter record.…

This is Tim, that was Luca: Apple’s Q4 results phone call, transcribed Every quarter after releasing financial results, Apple CEO Tim Cook and CFO Luca Maestri hop on a conference call with analysts to detail the quarter gone by, give a peek at what’s to come, and dodge—er, I mean answer—questions from analysts.…

Apple sinks $1.1 billion into Globalstar’s satellite network, takes ownership stake If you had any idea that satellite connectivity isn’t a key part of Apple’s strategy, well, the company’s satellite partner Globalstar has disclosed changes to its deal with Apple, including a new influx of $1.1 billion from Apple tied to capital improvements, and $400 million in equity, which gives Apple a 20-percent stake in the company.…

Apple buys Pixelmator ↦ Pixelmator Team, announcing a shocker: Pixelmator has signed an agreement to be acquired by Apple, subject to regulatory approval. There will be no material changes to the Pixelmator Pro, Pixelmator for iOS, and Photomator apps at this time.…