Month: December 2017

How to: Keep your Holiday orders private with Amazon Echo

Dan Uff December 17, 2017 0

The holidays are here, and that means you may have gifts arriving soon. To avoid giving away any surprises, you can now choose whether Alexa reads product names when you ask "Alexa, where's my stuff?" or when Alexa reads your Amazon delivery notifications.

If you don’t want to hear product names, you can turn them off in the Alexa App.

Go to the menu and select Settings.
Scroll to the Accounts section and select Notifications.
Select Shopping Notifications.
Turn product names on or off for Notifications and “Where’s My Stuff?”
Swipe right on the settings toggle to turn on product names. Swipe left to turn off product names.
That's it.

Source: Amazon.com customer e-mail.

It’s Finally Here: The Official Star Trek: Discovery Chapter 1 Soundtrack

Dan Uff December 16, 2017 0

CBS has just released the long-awaited Star Trek: Discovery soundtrack that comes from the 1st Season (Chapter 1).

It's available for digital download by going here.

How to: Check and see if your iPhone’s Battery needs to be serviced

Dan Uff December 16, 2017 0

As with anything that runs on rechargeable batteries, an iOS device has so many recharge cycles until its battery needs to be replaced by an Apple Genius or an authorized Apple repair establishment.

Fortunately, Apple has made it easy to check this. Just do the following steps:

Go to Settings > Battery.
If the Battery needs replacing, you'll see the graphic that's included with this article.
That's it.

Apple buys SciFi show from Ronald D. Moore

Dan Uff December 15, 2017 0

Ronald D. Moore, the brain behind the critically acclaimed remake of "Battlestar Galactica," will pen a new space drama for Apple, as the company continues its push into original TV content to compete with the likes of Netflix, Amazon and Hulu.

The untitled show is created and written by Moore, and imagines a world in which the space race never ended, according to Deadline. It boasts "Fargo" producers Matt Wolpert and Ben Nedivi, and comes from Sony Pictures Television and Tall Ship Productions.

The win for Apple comes thanks to their hiring of former Sony Pictures Television executives Jamie Erlicht and Zack Van Amburg, who joined the company back in June. Erliht and Van Amburg were responsible for programming like "Breaking Bad" and "The Goldbergs," but also had a previous relationship with Moore, working with him on shows like Starz's "Outlander and Amazon's upcoming "Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams."

Apple is allegedly planning to spend beyond a previously-reported $1 billion budget on original video, and Erlicht and Van Amburg are said to be tasked with securing "around a dozen" original TV shows.

The new show from Moore marks the third in production at Apple. The first is a reboot of Steven Spielberg's "Amazing Stories" anthology, while the second is a morning show drama starring Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon.

Apple Worldwide Video is based in the company's Culver City office located near Sony Pictures and the La Cienega Expo facility that Apple is rumored to be leasing for video production. Culver City is south of Hollywood, between Santa Monica and downtown Los Angeles.