Tag Archives: Apple

PTJ 379: IT’S THAT TIME OF YEAR AGAIN!

September 16, 2024 J.D. Biersdorfer Leave a comment

If it’s September, it must be time for an Apple Event to announce new iPhones! El Kaiser and J.D. discuss the presentation and the new fall line-up of Apple gear, and take side trips into Amazon’s new Batman show and El Kaiser’s dilemma about saving a high-end display. And we pour one out for James Earl Jones, who made a twisted soul sound so darn good in that galaxy far, far away. All this right here on PTJ 379!

How to watch ‘Batman: Caped Crusader’ on Prime Video (About Amazon)
Yet Another iPhone, Dear God (The Atlantic)
Introducing Apple Watch Series 10 (Apple)
Apple introduces AirPods 4 and the world’s first all-in-one hearing health experience with AirPods Pro 2 (Apple)
Apple introduces groundbreaking health features to support conditions impacting billions of people (Apple)
Apple introduces iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus (Apple)
Apple debuts iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max (Apple)
Apple Intelligence comes to iPhone, iPad, and Mac starting next month (Apple)
Skipping the iPhone 16 Pro? Here’s What’s Rumored for iPhone 17 Pro (MacRumors)
Three reasons to wait for the iPhone 17 Air (9to5Mac)
Should You Wait for the iPhone 17 or iPhone 17 Pro? (How-To Geek)
AstroPad Luna Display
James Earl Jones obituary (The New York Times)
James Earl Jones’ Darth Vader voice lives on through AI. (AP)

Episode Links, Podcast

PTJ 377: Tangled Up in Blue

July 26, 2024 J.D. Biersdorfer Leave a comment

If a few lines of bad computer code from a cybersecurity company can cause an epic global IT meltdown/Blue Screen of Death festival across the Windows systems that run the airlines, healthcare, banking and other major industries, J.D. and El Kaiser ponder: Just how sturdy is the world’s technological infrastructure these days? Along with a quick news roundup, El Kaiser also shares his thoughts on two popular streaming TV shows and J.D. has advice on decluttering your phone after years of photo cruft. Come fly with us on PTJ 377!

Star Trek: Discovery (Paramount+)
Star Trek: Section 31 Shares First-Look Image (Nerdist)
Stranger Things (Netflix)
What we know about global IT outage (BBC News)
Chaos and Confusion: Tech Outage Causes Disruptions Worldwide
(The New York Times)
Technical Details on Today’s Outage (CrowdStrike)
Statement on Falcon Content Update for Windows Hosts (CrowdStrike)
What Happened to Digital Resilience? (The New York Times)
Netflix beats estimates as ad-supported memberships rise 34% (CNBC)
Halo Canceled at Paramount+ After 2 Seasons (Deadline)
Apple just announced the next slate of Vision Pro immersive experiences (The Verge)
Google’s goo.gl links will stop working in August 2025 (9to5Google)
USPS shared customer postal addresses with Meta, LinkedIn and Snap (TechCrunch)
Goodbye for Now to the Robot That (Sort Of) Patrolled New York’s Subway (The New York Times)
On NYC beaches, angry birds fight drones patrolling for sharks and struggling swimmers (AP News)
How to Clean Up Your Phone’s Photo Library to Free Up Space
(The New York Times)

Episode Links, Podcast

PTJ 376: Retro Fever

June 24, 2024 J.D. Biersdorfer Leave a comment

El Kaiser and J.D. take a walk down a repaved Memory Lane on this installment of Pop Tech Jam, discussing the growing public interest in old 20th-century analog treasures like film cameras, vinyl records — and “X-Men” cartoons. Later in the show, El Kaiser reviews a pair of sleek wooden headphones, the Meze 99 Noir model. All this and more here on PTJ 376!

Ricoh announces the PENTAX 17 compact film camera (Ricoh)
From 2022: PENTAX brand launches a film camera project focused on developing new film-based products along with camera fans (Ricoh)
Pentax 17 Film Camera (Ricoh)
Pentax 17 review (PetaPixel)
Despite Comeback, Vinyl Is Still Far From Its Glory Days (Statista)
How to Give Your Photos and Videos a Vintage Look
(The New York Times)
Biden b a ns US sales of Kaspersky software over Russia ties (Reuters)
FTC Takes Action Against Adobe and Executives for Hiding Fees, Preventing Consumers from Easily Cancelling Software Subscriptions (Federal Trade Commission)
Stolen test data and NHS numbers published by hospital hackers (BBC)
Apple Intelligence (Apple)
Apple Intelligence is leaving hundreds of millions of iPhone owners out in the cold — here’s why (Tom’s Guide)
Juneteenth Box Office: ‘Inside Out 2’ Scores Record $30M Wednesday (The Hollywood Reporter)
Massdrop X Meze 99 Noir Closed-Back Headphones (Drop)
Local guy writes book (River Reporter)
Christopher Mele / “Goodwill’s Secrets”

Episode Links, Podcast

PTJ 375: AI Heats Up

June 10, 2024 J.D. Biersdorfer 2 Comments

El Kaiser and J.D. discuss the Humane AI pin’s public release and its flameout with critics and consumers. But there’s no slowing the wave of AI-enhanced products hurtling into the world, so this week’s episode ponders just a few of them — and the impact on life as we know it at the moment. All this and more on PTJ 375!

How the Humane AI Pin Flopped (The New York Times)
Humane’s AI Pin Wants to Free You From Your Phone (The New York Times)
Humane, the startup behind the AI Pin, in talks with HP, telecoms to sell (CNBC)
Apple to Debut Passwords App in Challenge to 1Password, LastPass (Bloomberg)
Adobe’s new terms of service unacceptably gives them access to all of your projects, for free (AppleInsider)
Adobe terms clarified: Will never own your work, or use it for AI training (9to5Mac)
Suicide Squad left a $200 million hole in WBD’s video game division (The Verge)
What a TikTok ban in the US could mean for you (Associated Press)
Artificially Intelligent Help for Planning Your Summer Vacation (The New York Times)
Apple apologizes after piano crushing ad backlash (BBC)
The Acolyte (StarWars.com)
Star Trek: Discovery (StarTrek.com)

Episode Links, Podcast

PTJ 374: BADGE IN

November 16, 2023 J.D. Biersdorfer 6 Comments

On this episode of Pop Tech Jam, El Kaiser shares his love for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. J.D. keeps the Trek vibe going with a short news roundup that includes a report on Humane’s new $700 wearable AI pin that brings to mind a Next Generation communicator badge — with a whole lot of AI under the hood. Beam up for PTJ 374!

• Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
• Silicon Valley’s Big, Bold Sci-Fi Bet on the Device That Comes After the Smartphone (The New York Times)
• Humane AI Pin (with video)
• Former Apple designers launch $700 Humane AI Pin as smartphone replacement (CNBC)
• Apple Plans Ambitious iOS 18 and macOS 15 Updates, Seeks to Squash Bugs (Bloomberg)
• Payments app Zelle begins refunds for imposter scams after Washington pressure (Reuters)
• Meta Threads users can now stop their posts from showing on Instagram (The Verge)
• Genetic testing company 23andMe denies data hack, disables DNA Relatives feature (USA Today)
• 23andMe data theft prompts DNA testing companies to switch on 2FA by default (TechCrunch)
• Netflix to Prioritize Scripts for Wednesday Season 2 & Stranger Things Final Season (MovieWeb)

Episode Links, Podcast

PTJ 372: Nothin’ But Bluesky Do I See

September 14, 2023 J.D. Biersdorfer Leave a comment

El Kaiser and J.D. discuss life after the Bird-Themed Microblogging-Service-Turned-24th-Letter-Of-The-Alphabet platform, as well as reviews of the new biography of said platform’s owner. Also in the news: A big cyberattack in Las Vegas, cable spats and a possible preview of interoperability in messaging platforms. All this and more as we prepare for Audio Interface October here on PTJ 372!

• MGM Resorts Suffers Cybersecurity Attack, System Outage Reported (Casino.org)
• Elon Musk Wants to Save Humanity. The Only Problem: People.
(The New York Times)
• Let’s put a stake in the ‘great man’ biography — starting with Isaacson’s ‘Elon Musk’ (The Los Angeles Times)
• Twitter appears to throttle New York Times (Semafor)
• 4 years after launch, Nintendo is ending Mario Kart Tour content (VideoGamesChronicle)
• Disney, Charter Settle Cable Dispute Hours Before Debut of ESPN’s ‘Monday Night Football’ (Variety)
• WhatsApp lays the foundation for supporting messages from other chat apps (9to5Google)
• Amazon to require some authors to disclose the use of AI material (APNews)
• Apple Fall 2023 Event on September 12 (Apple)

@prrosado.bsky.social
@jdbiersdorfer.bsky.social

Episode Links, Podcast

PTJ 371: RIDE OF THE VALKYRIES

August 31, 2023 J.D. Biersdorfer 3 Comments

As August winds down and product announcements are scarce, El Kaiser dives into Season 1 of Only Murders in the Building for a properly depicted New York City apartment-living experience. In the meantime, J.D. reads up on the latest in drones ‘n’ cloud headlines, as well as news of the continuing nostalgia for the Atari 2600. All this and more on PTJ 371!

• “Only Murders in the Building” (Hulu)
• Walmart and Wing set to expand drone delivery together in Dallas metro (Wing blog)
• A.I. Brings the Robot Wingman to Aerial Combat (The New York Times)
• Updates to our storage policy on Dropbox Advanced (Dropbox blog)
• Apple Bets on Revamped iPad Pro to Reignite Sluggish Tablet Sales (Bloomberg)
• ‘We’re Winning’: Apple Formally Endorses Right to Repair Legislation After Spending Millions Fighting It (404 Media)
• Max To Offer 24/7 Live News Streaming Service With “CNN Max”
• Launching On September 27 As Part Of An Open Beta In U.S. (Warner Brothers Discovery Press Room)
• Amazon Luna and LG Electronics team up to launch Luna on LG Smart TVs (Amazon Luna blog)
• Atari launches replica 2600 console to go with all its replica 2600 cartridges (Ars Technica)

Episode Links, Podcast

PTJ 370: SPACE WARS AND MOON BASES

August 14, 2023 J.D. Biersdorfer 2 Comments

Which is better — paying big bucks for the in-theater movie experience, or waiting a couple months and watching the flick at home? Are streaming services jacking their monthly prices too high for the average consumer? What’s with all this renewed global interest in the Moon and what’s going on with our Mars missions? And: are we ready to see holiday merch for sale while we’re in Back to School shopping mode? El Kaiser and J.D. discuss all of these pressing topics — and more — on Episode 370 of Pop Tech Jam!

• “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem”
• Barbie’s So Big, Folks Made It Their First Theatrical Pandemic Movie (Gizmodo)
• ‘Sharknado’ Channels ‘Barbie’ as B-Movie Hit Gets New Poster, Trailer Ahead of 10th Anniversary Theatrical Release – Exclusive (The Hollywood Reporter)
• ‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny’ Set for Digital Home Release Aug. 29 (MediaPlay News)
• Hollywood calls time on golden era of cheap streaming (Financial Times)
• Mark Zuckerberg-Elon Musk Cage Fight Update: Speculation Grows That Tech Tycoons Could Slug It Out In Rome’s Ancient Colosseum (Deadline)
• Apple Plans Major ‘Watch X’ Overhaul for Device’s 10-Year Anniversary (Bloomberg)
• Forget Black Friday: The holiday shopping season starts now
(Axios)
• A Time Capsule of Human Creativity, Stored in the Sky (The New York Times)
• Moon Missions (NASA)
• Mars Sample Return Mission (NASA)

Episode Links, Podcast

PTJ 369: Think Pink

August 1, 2023 J.D. Biersdorfer Leave a comment

On this episode of Pop Tech Jam, El Kaiser shares his love of My Hero Academia and open-backed headphones for audio-mixing. Meanwhile, J.D. goes to a movie theater for the first time since 2019 to observe the fuss over the Barbie movie — a film that seems to be outperforming both Tom Cruise and Harrison Ford this summer. All this and more on PTJ 369!

• My Hero Academia (Viz)
• Barbie’s Box Office In Weekend 2 Is Bigger Than Most 2023 Movies’ Opening Weekends (MovieWeb)
• Twitter Becomes X: The Future Of The ‘Everything App’
(Search Engine Journal)
• Twitter Threatens Legal Action Against Nonprofit That Tracks Hate Speech (The New York Times)
• Letters from the lawyers: Musk threatens CCDH with brazen attempt to silence honest criticism. (Center for Countering Digital Hate)
• Apple says it’s aware of a bug that may affect Screen Time restrictions for kids (Engadget)
• A Tech Checklist for the Dark Side of Summer Weather
(The New York Times)
• Did a Houston Woman Bake Bread in Her Mailbox? (Snopes)
• Grado Labs SR125x
• Austrian Audio Hi-X65 Headphones
• Sennheiser Sennheiser Audiophile Headphones

Announcement, Podcast

PTJ 366: The Return of Pop Tech Jam

June 13, 2023 J.D. Biersdorfer 8 Comments

After a year trapped in The Joker’s lair, El Kaiser and J.D. staged a daring escape through Gotham’s subway tunnels …oh, never mind.

After a year of life events and work schedules GETTING IN THE WAY OF THINGS, El Kaiser and J.D. are back with some thoughts on recent developments in the technology and pop-culture worlds.

We’ve missed y’all.

The independent audio magazine devoted to mashing up pop culture, technology and more. J.D. Biersdorfer and Pedro Rafael Rosado are your hosts. It's an Internet Radio revolution!