Month: March 2019

Apple want to change the way you watch sports

Reuters News March 20, 2019 2

If Apple Inc. gets its way, you might never miss a sports highlight again.

According to a report published Tuesday by Sports Illustrated, the tech giant has a team of a dozen workers constantly watching a variety of sports — in what they geekily call “The Sports Ball Room” — and potentially laying the groundwork for a curated service that may someday let users tune into highlights as they’re happening.

Apple is expected to unveil its highly anticipated streaming-video service next week. But while streaming rivals such as Amazon.com Inc. and Facebook Inc. have started offering live sports, that doesn’t seem to be the direction Apple is headed.

Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president for software and services — which is an increasingly important part of Apple’s revenue stream — told SI that the company has no current plans to enter the live-sports programming arena. “That’s not to say we would never do sports, because who the heck knows,” he said. “Never is a long time, but I don’t think that’s a problem right now.”

As Cue described to SI, what he envisions is more along the lines of a Google Alert for live sports highlights, letting fans know what to watch, right now. An every-sport version of the NFL Network’s Red Zone, if you will.

As an example, Cue mentioned Kobe Bryant’s 81-point performance in a random, middle-of-the-season NBA matchup between the Los Angeles Lakers and Toronto Raptors in 2006, which happened to be played on a Sunday night. “It was amazing to watch, but the vast majority even of Lakers fans didn’t see it,” he told SI. “As a fan, I’ve always looked at it as an opportunity.”

In Cue’s dream scenario, Apple would serve as a middleman, giving users one-click access to the games everyone will be talking about tomorrow, perhaps linking to video streams from subscription networks that are available through Apple’s app store. The NCAA Tournament would be ripe for such viewing, with users conceivably being led from one nail-biter of an ending to another, while being able to skip the boring games. Users could also be alerted to tune in when their favorite players, or fantasy-league players, are having a big game, or when their favorite team is making a comeback.

How exactly would it work, and how would Apple make money off it? That’s what Cue and his team are trying to figure out.

But that’s not to say it won’t be a big thing one day. As SI notes in the article, “Apple rarely does tiny.”

Via: Reuters / USA Today

Man steals women’s iPhone at Lorimer Street J/M Station in NYC

CompuScoop Staff March 19, 2019 0

By Laura Hanrahan - Greenpoint Post

Police are searching for a man who allegedly stole a woman’s iPhone at the Lorimer Street J/M subway station last week.

The suspect approached the 43-year-old victim from behind at around 5:10 p.m. on March 11 as she was heading down the stairs toward the J train. He placed an unknown object on her back before stealing her iPhone and fleeing the train station, according to police.

The suspect seen inside 54 Boerum St. (NYPD)

Surveillance footage shows the man leaving the subway station with the phone and a gun-like object in hand.

The suspect was then seen entering 54 Boerum St.—a 21-story residential building—where he was captured on lobby surveillance cameras, police said.

The suspect is described as light-skinned, approximately 5 feet 9 inches in height, 150 pounds with a medium build. He was last seen wearing a dark sweat jacket with white strips, dark sweat pants with white stripes, white Nike sneakers and a silver metal chain. He was carrying an unknown black object in his right hand.

Anyone with information on the case should contact the Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-8477, or text CRIMES and then enter TIP577, or visit www.nypdcrimestoppers.com.

YouTube bans secondary Alex Jones channel hosting NZ conspiracy videos

CompuScoop Staff March 19, 2019 0

YouTube has terminated a channel Alex Jones was reportedly using to skirt his ban from the platform. On a video posted on Resistance News, which was a secondary Infowars channel according to Media Matters, Jones described last week's New Zealand mosque shootings as a "false flag" operation and attacked Muslims.

Resistance News had more than 64,000 subscribers by the time YouTube killed the channel, which exclusively hosted Infowars videos. Articles on the Infowars site also embedded Resistance News videos.

The now-deleted New Zealand video included footage from the gunman's livestream of the shooting, according to Media Matters. Jones also included a clip of Rush Limbaugh promoting the false flag theory, while the video reportedly ended with ads for Infowars products. The Resistance News channel had posted several other videos related to the attack.

YouTube expelled Jones from the platform back in August and later removed some other Infowars channels. In January, YouTube its algorithms would no longer recommend conspiracy theory videos.

Meanwhile, on top of the Infowars situation, YouTube (and other Internet giants such as Facebook) had to fend off a tidal wave of videos related to the shooting. YouTube users uploaded clips as quickly as one per second over the weekend, many of which contained graphic footage.

Via: Engadget.com

Apple quietly lowers MacBook Pro and other SSD upgrade prices

CompuScoop Staff March 19, 2019 0

Alongside updating the whole line on iMac models today, Apple has quietly reduced the price of the SSD upgrades across its MacBook Pro and MacBook Air lineup, as spotted by MacRumors. Now, updating to a 2TB or 4TB SSD in a 13-inch or 15-inch MacBook Pro is more affordable to the tune of up to $400 and selecting the 1.5TB storage option for your MacBook Air is $100 less than previously.

As well as making larger SSDs less expensive in its portable Macs, Apple has also reduced the price of SSD and RAM upgrades in its Mac mini.

Upgrading to a 2TB SSD on either the 13-inch or 15-inch MacBook Pro is now $200 less than before. Depending on the spec of the machine you opt for, this upgrade will now cost $1,000 or $1,200. Bumping the storage of your built-to-order 15-inch MacBook Pro up to 4TB is now $400 less at $2,800 to $3,000.

For the 2018 MacBook Air, a 1.5TB SSD upgrade now incurs a $900 or $1,100 surcharge — $100 off. If you upgrade the SSD in your 2018 Mac mini to 2TB, you'll pay $200 less than yesterday's price. No other SSD configurations have changed in price.

Interestingly, Apple has also taken this opportunity to adjust its RAM pricing in the Mac Pro. While we know a new version is on the way, you can now add the 64GB RAM upgrade in the 2013 Mac Pro for $800. Prior to today's update, it was $1,200. Other configurations remain unchanged.

Apple's current crop of MacBook models are not designed to be upgraded by the user post-purchase, so it's wise to get as much storage as you need and can afford when you buy the machine. Today's changes make it more affordable to spec-up your Mac laptop which is sure to please those in the market for one. These upgrades still add to the cost of the machine considerably, so it may be worth considering external SSD storage if you don't need all that space all the time.

Part prices and availability do affect Apple's decision-making when it comes to product price tags. It's not all that unusual for the company to adjust its prices mid-cycle to reflect market changes.

The prices do not seem to be available at third-party retailers like B&H just yet and are only available at Apple.

‘Via: iMore.com