All Apple All Day

I thought that spring had arrived in Chicago. And then I attended Saturday's Cubs game. I've been to 46 Cubs games in the last 5 years, and I have NEVER been that cold at Wrigley.  38 degrees is bad for baseball. It was, however, a great weekend at the AAAD household. We had a full house this weekend - my parents and my wife's mom were in town from Iowa. Which is a great thing, because we needed all of the help we could get around here the last few days.

As you know, I'm a fan of DirecTV's HR34 Genie.  From its interface, to its 5-tuner functionality, to its online and iOS capabilities, I think it is the best DVR I've ever used. Well... it's getting better.  DirecTV's HR44 is right around the corner, and I'm going to be pulling every possible string to get one. 

Is Apple really going to make us wait until June for the WWDC keynote?  If so, that would be an unprecedented eight-month span between keynotes... and as I wrote in a previous post , it's my opinion that this lack of "Apple events" is one of the primary factors in Apple's perceived doldrums. 

iCloud takes a lot of criticism. Some of that criticism is well-earned - there have been outages, and occasional issues with functionality.  A lot of the criticism, however, seems to be the result of misplaced expecations. This criticism is usually along the lines of "iCloud doesn't live up to the hype", or arises from the sentiment that "iCloud didn't   really change anything", or even "I don't understand this." iCloud can do a lot of things very well. Most of the time, you don't even notice that iCloud has been doing those things, until you need one.  This post will briefly discuss some of the issues and limitations of iCloud, and then will give a few examples of how you can integrate it into your routine.  We'll follow up with a deeper dive into each of these iCloud features in later posts. 

It's Opening Day (at Wrigley!) Rainy around Chicago, but they should find a way to get the game in.  I'll be using the MLB At the Ballpark app throughout today's game, and I'll have a full review tonight. (UPDATE: It worked more or less as expected. Foursquare-style check-in, followed by the ability to share photos with other people at the game. Great app!) Before the game, I'm off to the city to make some repairs around the old house, as the (fantastic!) tenants are approaching the end of their lease. New LED bulbs, and some general maintenance. Landlord stuff.

This is pretty great.  Remembrum has created a website in the style of a System 6-era black & white Mac interface, telling the story of Steve Jobs.  I don't want to spoil it too much - here's the link .

A few days ago, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York granted summary judgment to Capitol Records in  Capitol v. ReDigi . This case has far-reaching implications.  What's at stake, really, is what it means to "own" music in the digital era. And based on the March 30th ruling, "ownership" isn't what it used to be.  As a "computer lawyer", I'm not exactly sure what to think about that. But I'm sure interested in where this discussion leads. 

The slogan of AAAD is "building an iOS home, bit by bit."  We're trying to leverage Apple and iOS to the greatest extent possible. These are some of the best, most   helpful uses of iOS that we've seen so far.

The conventional wisdom, right now, is that Apple is in a tailspin and badly needs a new, "magical" product. If Steve Jobs were still alive, we hear, Apple would never go this long without dazzling us.  I don't know if that's necessarily the case. 

I've posted quite a bit about Apple's proposed "iRadio" service, and why their lowball offer on royalties per song streamed may be justified.  Put simply, if the Apple music service is anything like what's been described, it will drive music sales, while making the iPod (or the "Music" app on the iPhone) more indispensable than ever. And now, it appears that iRadio is closer than ever - maybe arriving this summer. 

Just in time for Opening Day, MLB At the Ballpark just got a major update. New "ticket-style" icon, new features. I'll be using this app all season, so the review will be ongoing. But for now, some Opening Day thoughts:

It's been quiet on the Apple Rumors front. Too quiet. And as such, it's been a bit quieter around AAAD. I'll be working around the house over the weekend, and blogging about it starting on April 1. In the meantime, have a great holiday weekend.

Yesterday we talked about replacing parts for a Weber Genesis E-310. Today's discussion is about our other 2013 outdoor project - adding a patio retaining wall and a built-in fire pit.  Neither project is particularly difficult (or expensive). They just require an awful lot of heavy lifting.

Now that the winter is ending (allegedly!), it's time to come out of the basement, and get started on the outdoor phase of our home renovation projects! Spring cleaning time.

By now, you've probably tried a ton of iOS games. And your App Store account probably has hundreds of games in your "Not On This Device" folder. This High Five isn't the "greatest iOS games of all time". I'm not putting Angry Birds or Plants v. Zombies on the list. It's the games we're enjoying the most right now.

I've written on this blog about our ongoing problems with Comcast . My primary issue with Comcast is that I AM NOT A COMCAST CUSTOMER, AND THEY KEEP BILLING ME.  FOR GOING ON SIX MONTHS NOW.

I'm going to be busy with work for most of today, but I just wanted to mark an anniversary of sorts - yesterday was my 100th post on this blog. I hope that some of these posts have been fun and informative for you. It's been fun for me to log the progress - or lack thereof - of our various home projects. New High Five tonight!

If you haven't read the two  prior   posts in this series, here's the quick summary: For a long time, TiVo was the "luxury brand" DVR. Sure, it cost more, and you could go with the cable company's DVR service - but their interface was terrible and their boxes were ugly. And TiVo was selling the beautiful Series 3. It cost more, but it was worth it. A DVR to be envied.  Then, everything changed.

As you may know, AAAD isn't just an Apple rumors or tech-discussion site. It's about integrating iOS and Apple into all aspects of our home. And sometimes, our DIY home fix-it projects have nothing to do with tech. Like the foosball table in the basement.

Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty was on CNBC "Fast Money" this afternoon , and suggested that the iPhone 5S will have a "killer feature" that will differentiate the phone and "drive consumers increasingly to the platform".  We've previously suggested that the iPhone 5S will need to be a substantial improvement over the iPhone 5 - which, we believe, will get a new plastic shell and will become the new multicolored "low-cost iPhone".  Because if the iPhone 5 is $350 without a contract, why buy a 5S?

This is the hardest post for a TiVo fan like me to write.  TiVo was never a market share leader in the DVR space - at least not after the cable companies started offering their own barebones DVR service.  But they were a thought leader, and a features leader , and the competition wasn't close.  For consumers, the choice was clear - pay your cable company to rent a lousy UI and basic, ugly DVR, or pay a little bit more to buy an elegant, cutting edge solution from TiVo.  And then that status quo completely fell apart. 

It's hard to write this post. I've been working on it, off and on, for quite a while. You see, I'm an unabashed TiVo fanboy. For about a decade, we bought almost every box TiVo ever produced. We owned their stock. We even picked up TiVos for our parents. We were TiVo evangelists. And for the first time in 12 years, there isn't a single piece of TiVo hardware in our house. How did this happen? Well, gradually, and then suddenly.

AppleInsider had an article today discussing the rumored "low-cost" iPhone. According to their sources at KGI Securities, the new low-cost iPhone will have the standard iPhone 5 form factor and 4-inch screen, with a "super-thin casing made of plastic and glass fiber". That makes sense. Assuming this is true, it also gives us a huge clue about how Apple intends to balance their position as a "high-end" phone maker with the introduction of a low-end model.

We downloaded CBS's new app last night.  While they have big plans for integrating their "CBS Connect" functionality in the future, for the moment, it's precisely what you'd expect: the last few episodes of the network's primetime programming, along with a handful of extras.  As with any other TV network app, it can be useful. Just not, you know, THAT useful. 

There are a number of ways to get TV shows for free over the internet. We use AirPlay to stream shows from Netflix, from the HBO GO app, from the PBS app, and from the ABC app.  It looks like CBS is joining the party. 

Well, that relaunch went a lot smoother than I'd imagined! That's much better.  This is probably a good opportunity to explain the purpose of this blog.  It's called " All Apple All Day ", but that's a bit of a misnomer. While I'm very Apple-focused, we spend a lot of time talking about non-Apple stuff, too. 

I've been pretty outspoken about my disappointment in Apple Maps. Over the course of about 2 weeks, I went from excitement about the new app, to grudging acceptance, to crestfallen confusion. How could Apple release such a clearly inferior product - and kick the better option, Google, off the iPhone? And then Google released a vastly-improved Google Maps for iOS, and everyone was happy and forgot all about ol' Apple Maps.

I never owned an Intellivision. I was an Atari kid.  But my best friend had an Intellivision, and it was - in many ways - obviously superior.  In other ways, it was ridiculously inferior. The controllers were hardwired to the console!  And no joysticks!

I've written about DirecTV's iPad app before. It's great.  One of its best features is the ability to browse OnDemand content, and download in bulk.  Browsing DirecTV On Demand menus with your remote is kind of a pain. It's pretty, but it's slow. Screens take too long to load. The iPad, on the other hand, is the best tool for managing media content that has ever been invented. It is intuitive, it is responsive, its graphics are excellent, and obviously, it's a touchscreen.  And DirecTV makes great use of it. 

I don't know about you, but my workspace is crowded. Not cluttered (well, okay, a little cluttered), but crowded . I work from a home office, so I don't have a giant workspace. My desk has 2 monitors, my laptop and dock, my keyboard, my mouse, an "work inbox" pile and a "home inbox" pile, my phone, and a coaster for my coffee. Like you, I was intrigued by recent reports that Apple (and Samsung) are likely to build in wireless charging for the next generation of their phones and tablets. But where am I going to put a wireless induction charging pad?

We're making a rather audacious leap forward here at AAAD - one that will, hopefully, make the site look a bit more professional. Of course, as we incorporate the new website template, there will be a handful of placeholders and dead-end links. I'll be ironing those out over the course of the next day or so.  (I picked a Sunday afternoon to get started, as traffic is a bit lighter.) I know we don't get a lot of comments, but if you have an opinion re: the new look, let me know.

As I was writing yesterday's post on what we've learned about Apple's rumored music streaming service, a few conclusions jumped out at me: 1. While most streaming services have a neutral or negative effect on music sales, Apple iRadio will  actively increase sales ; and 2. While most streaming services are bandwidth hogs, Apple iRadio will be materially easier on your mobile data plan - and will use less of your data cap the more you purchase music.  Here's why. Keep in mind, all of this is speculation. But it's informed speculation, based on available facts, and rather obvious inferences.

It was widely reported yesterday that Apple had been in negotiations with the record labels to add a streaming music service - rumored to be called "iRadio". The hope, apparently, was that iRadio would launch with the iPhone 5. That obviously didn't happen.

Digitimes has a rumor today that the next generation of iPhone will be charged wirelessly  via induction- and that the wireless-charging iPhone will be out this year!  Considering that we already have wireless sync, this would - in theory - mean that our iPhones were finally, completely, free from cables.  A completely untethered iPhone! But not so fast. 9to5Mac says that, despite Digitimes' rumors to the contrary, we shouldn't expect a wireless charging iPhone  in 2013. Or in the upcoming generation of iPhone, whenever it gets released. 

I had an opportunity to learn how to use Google SketchUp yesterday.... it's free, and the learning curve is pretty shallow. I watched one YouTube video tutorial , and right away, I was able to create a 3D model of our plans for our home theater. This is going to be very, very helpful. For reference, this is what the home theater looks like right now: The additions will allow us to get our speakers mounted, the TV mounted above the fireplace, the HDMI cables buried in the walls, and the components hidden away in the left-side cabinet. For now, we're planning on keeping the same Bose system - no built-in speakers for us just yet. They're really incorporated into the design, though - it should look nice.  The cabinets will be semi-custom - we'll be sizing them up and ordering them online, unless a Chicago-area cabinet maker can match. The bookcases above the cabinets will be a DIY project. (While it's probably a very easy DIY project, it&

One of our primary projects at AAAD is to add a home server to our system - for backup of existing digital files, and for storing and playing media, like my iTunes library. I'd previously looked into a number of NAS (Network Attached Storage) solutions, but I'm really looking for something as Apple-centric as possible. The reports I've seen about people going full-Apple and using Mountain Lion Server aren't exactly glowing - at least not for what I'd want to use it for.  I want to get my iTunes library off of my iMac!  And I want to get my DVD collection out of my media cabinet - and onto a server. Based on a review last night at 9to5 Mac , a Synology Diskstation really seems to be what I'm looking for. I'm sold. Count me in. Specifically, for the 4-drive box pictured above.

Analysts have been claiming that Apple is going to develop an HDTV for years . Basically, ever since the  dawn of HDTV and the rise of Apple.  Apple, for what it's worth, has made it clear that they'd like to be a fixture in the living room.  They introduced the AppleTV for exactly that purpose. And they've sold millions.  I've owned all three versions of the AppleTV.  And I believe that the changing nature of the AppleTV device - both in what it does, and how it's controlled - provides us with some clues about how Apple intends to proceed in the living room space.  And it doesn't point toward Apple developing an HDTV. 

Continuing our "Vintage Gaming" run of High Fives, here's a second look back down memory lane - this time, to the Atari 2600. The 2600 was groundbreaking and ubiquitous. Everyone, it seemed, had one. (Except for one of my friends, who had an Intellivision - a topic for another High Five.) And there were LOTS of games available for the 2600. Wikipedia says 565 in total, and I have no reason to doubt them. (Of course, back then a cartridge would claim that it contained 5 "games" if you were allowed to adjust the difficulty to make the ball move at 5 different speeds. So it's an unverified number. But there were hundreds of individual cartridges.) I was about 8 when I got my Atari, and almost immediately, we realized that the best games were being made by Activision.

I read an interesting post this morning at Monday Note , setting forth a hypothetical "Red Guide" to the Android Market.  The general point is this: while the App Store has been a transformative, massive success, it's also very chaotic and difficult to use. New apps are just dumped in the index, competing with millions of others.  At some level, human curation of apps may be the next "evolution". But what would a curated App Store look like? A hint for my potential answer is to the right - and no, it's not an Apple Power Glove.... although that would be " so bad ". 

I used to have a first-generation 500 GB Time Capsule.  I still have it. Except now, it's a 1 TB Time Capsule.  Maybe your original Time Capsule disk failed, like mine did - or maybe you just want some more breathing room on your TC disk... either way, replacing and upgrading your Time Capsule hard drive is a simple, cost-effective fix.  But don't expect the Geniuses at the Apple Store to fix it. 

   I've got a son in first grade. And like most first graders, he's absolutely enthralled by video games - "Skylanders", primarily, but also "Clash of Clans" for iPad and "Mario Kart 7" for 3DS.  While I don't game much anymore, I can still appreciate the obsession - after all, I was a member of the very first  generation of kids to spend all day with home videogame consoles.  And I was even more obsessed than my kid is today. The Great Video Game Crash happened when I was about 9 years old. I didn't even notice.  I was too busy playing "E.T." and "Swordquest: Fireworld on our first game system - the Atari 2600. 

Well, that's what's being reported , anyway.  I still hope that this isn't the case.  But analysts keep saying it .  But I still don't think it makes any sense. Apple's iPhone is one of the most profitable products in the history of mankind.  It's a luxury item. It commands a premium on the market. And people are willing to pay that premium.  Just to be associated with the brand. Because they like what owning an iPhone says about them as a consumer.  This way of thinking - no compromises, no price battles - has led Apple from the brink of bankruptcy, to becoming the most valuable company in the world.  Look at the Macintosh. Despite Apple's stubbornly small market share, which (to my knowledge) has never topped 10 percent of PC sales,  Apple rakes in a giant share of the industry's profits .  This is a fundamental truth, and one which Steve Jobs conclusively proved at Apple: create great things, and people will aspire

This isn't really a full post, but I'm pretty happy with the updated look for AAAD. We're going to be making a few more tweaks - and incorporating a title graphic in short order - but for now, it's just nice to look at a website that isn't all greyscale!

I'm on the road a lot. But when I'm in Chicago, I am a remote worker, operating from my home office.  Our company uses GoToMeeting quite a bit - both for internal meetings & presentations, and for assisting clients with remote forensic collections of their data for litigation.  It's a very versatile and powerful web platform - essentially, a conference call in which all of the participants can hear each other, either over the phone or through their computer's microphone & speakers.  At the same time, all of the participants can see the selected "presenter's" computer screen - and any participant can be given control of the presenter's computer.  As you can imagine, this is incredibly useful for, say, operating a powerful forensic tool for a client employee based in, say, China. The only problem is, we're interviewing that employee and logging responses at the same time. And if the GoToMeeting is showing the target's

Apple's AirPort networking products have a few built-in advantages.  First off, they're high quality - both in terms of functionality and in terms of build quality.  Secondly, they're simple. Very simple. With the AirPort Utility on a Mac doing most of the heavy lifting, they're basically plug-and-play. In my experience, that is somewhat unusual.  We've been very happy with our wireless network, which has a Time Capsule as the primary router, and multiple A1264 AirPort Express devices extending the network.  So why am I updating my AirPort networking components? Why rock the boat? 

I used to be a prodigious diet soda drinker. To the point that people noticed . To other people, diet soda consumption was my "thing". Really. But those days are over - my 2013 resolution was to cut artificial sweeteners entirely out of my diet. Now, I don't know if there's anything wrong with diet soda. I don't know if artificial sweeteners are in any way unhealthy, or if diet soda is associated with weight gain, or anything. I doubt that any of that is true, actually.  But I do believe in moderation, and I figured it was time to stop compulsively pounding Diet Mountain Dew and Coke Zero. Two months in, and I really barely miss diet soda anymore. But it's time to dial the resolution thing up a bit, and drop some weight.  Also, this gives me an excuse to add a new gadget! My 6-year-old and I were at the Apple Store yesterday, and I noticed that they're selling wi-fi scales - that track your weight and BMI every day.

I know what you're probably thinking about that title - Matt, of COURSE you can watch British TV shows! There's Downton Abbey and Doctor Who, of course, and Gordon Ramsay and Ricky Gervais are on at least 15 shows each right now.  AND there's the entire BBC America, and Wheeler Dealers on Velocity, and there's American versions of Top Gear, and British versions of Law & Order, and Premier League on Fox Soccer, and Six Nations Rugby.... what more can you want? Well, that's not what I'm looking for - I want to be able to see British TV that's on RIGHT NOW. As in, last night.  Mostly, topical comedy panel shows, like Sean Lock and Jon Richardson on "8 Out of 10 Cats". 

I'm obviously a huge Apple fan. So when iOS was released last year, I didn't mourn the loss of Google Maps, as much as I welcomed the arrival of Apple Maps. Yes, I knew it wouldn't have data for public transit at first - but I figured that would be a short-lived problem... surely Apple, with its gargantuan war chest, can acquire a company or service that provides transit data.  And then the app arrived. It's beautiful. It's minimalist. The vector graphics scaled really smoothly and gorgeously, as opposed to Google Maps' constant "disappear to grid, redraw" whenever you zoomed in or out. But then we all started using the app. And we laughed at the melting freeways, and we started to notice rather obvious mistakes, like misplaced cities and missing roads.  The turn-by-turn was awesome, but it often took us to incorrect locations. And you couldn't count on the app to know where a particular business was - the maps were shockingl

Today was the first day of intrasquad Cubs games down in Mesa, Arizona.  And while the future of the team looks bright (OF prospect Jorge Soler homered, SS prospect Javy Baez crushed a ball that SS Starlin Castro turned into diving putout), this could be a long season.  Who cares! It's still baseball. This year is our 5th consecutive year of buying the 9-pack of tickets. For the first time I can remember, the Cubs basically allowed us to pick any 9 games we wanted, with no April Wednesday afternoons forced upon us.  Our tickets arrived last week. It's a mix of Saturdays, Sundays, and night games. A pricier 9-game pack than usual, because we only purchased games that were in demand - but the Big Games are always more fun.  We'll be using the MLB At The Ballpark app this year to log our attendance at Wrigley, and on roadtrips to Brewers and White Sox games. The app got some pretty good reviews last year, and I'm curious to see what it can do. 

The Verge wrote today that Spotify is in the process of renegotiating its deal with the US record labels.  Those negotiations are reportedly focused on 2 areas: first, Spotify wants to lower the royalty payments that it makes to the record labels into line with its revenues. Secondly, Spotify wants to make its free, ad-supported tier available on mobile platforms, such as the iPhone.   The second point is exciting. If I could access and control Spotify from my iPhone, then essentially every song ever written would be available for streaming, at all times.  Moreover, this would (potentially, perhaps even likely) allow control of Spotify over AirPlay - maybe natively within the app, or if necessary, by double-clicking the home button, swiping to the left, and AirPlay streaming the entire iPad or iPhone.  All of that excitement comes with quite a few troubling caveats, though. The first point, re: royalty payments, for instance. It's been reported for some time that