Year: 2022

Astound/RCN sends emails about North East Winter Storm

Dan Uff December 22, 2022 0

Cable operator Astound/RCN sends emails to customers notifying them about possible service interruptions during Thursday’s and Friday’s Nor’easter and winter storm that’s scheduled to hit the Northeast of the United States.

The email reads:

We're here for you

Winter Storm Warning: Winter storm Elliott is approaching the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast Thurs, 12/22 through Sat, 12/24. Weather reports predict gusty winds, heavy rain, ice and dangerously cold temperatures. Commercial power outages are possible.

Please be patient, take precautions, follow advisories and, above all, stay safe. Be assured that when weather events threaten our area, we take appropriate measures to monitor and respond to the possible impact of the storm. More information >>

Northeast residences can also assume that there maybe interruptions with other cable systems such as Xfinity, Verizon, and others.

YouTube becomes front runner for NFL Sunday Ticket

CompuScoop Staff December 21, 2022 0

After Apple reportedly gave up its quest, the National Football League is in advanced talks to grant YouTube exclusive rights to NFL Sunday Ticket, a subscription-only package that allows viewers to watch all out-of-market Sunday afternoon NFL games, The Wall Street Journal reports citing “people familiar with the matter.”

An agreement could be reached as early as Wednesday, following a meeting of NFL owners, who approve rights deals.

A potential move of Sunday Ticket to YouTube is further evidence of major sports migrating from traditional TV, which has been hit by cord-cutting, to streaming, and tech companies that are willing to spend heavily on content. Amazon.com Inc. has its own NFL deal, while Apple Inc. streams some Major League Baseball games and has a new deal for Major League Soccer. Amazon and Apple also kicked the tires on Sunday Ticket.

Under the scenario being discussed, NFL games would be available to be streamed on two subscription services, YouTube TV and YouTube Primetime Channels, next season. Google is a unit of Alphabet Inc.

YouTube TV, a $64.99-a-month online bundle of cable channels, crossed more than 5 million subscriptions and trial accounts in June, according to the company. Primetime Channels, which launched in November, allows viewers to individually subscribe to more than 30 streaming services.

Sunday Ticket would be offered as an add-on to both services, the people familiar with the potential agreement said.

Via: The Wall Street Journal

Major League Soccer announces 2023 season schedule

Dan Uff December 21, 2022 0

December 20, 2022

UPDATE

Major League Soccer announces 2023 season schedule

Every MLS match to air live on MLS Season Pass, the unprecedented streaming service on the Apple TV app launching February 1

Fans can enjoy consistent match windows on Saturdays and select Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m. local time

Major League Soccer today announced the complete 2023 MLS regular-season schedule, highlighted by the inaugural campaign of the league’s 29th club, St. Louis CITY SC.

The 2023 season will also see the debut of MLS Season Pass, the unprecedented subscription service from Apple and Major League Soccer that will have every match of the MLS regular season, Audi 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs, and Leagues Cup¹ — all in one place and with no blackouts. With MLS Season Pass, fans can enjoy every MLS match on billions of devices through the Apple TV app on Apple devices, smart TVs, streaming devices, set-top boxes, and game consoles, and the web at tv.apple.com. The launch of MLS Season Pass on February 1, 2023, marks the official kickoff of the 10-year partnership between MLS and Apple, a historic first for a major professional sports league.

With a focus on building a schedule to best serve the league’s passionate fans and drive destination viewing and attendance, the majority of games in the 2023 season will be played on Saturdays and select Wednesdays, with 7:30 p.m. local start times. To complement the action, MLS Season Pass will offer a five-hour live whip-around show, capturing all of the key moments from every match from the start of the Eastern Conference games through the final whistle of the Western Conference games (7:30 p.m. ET-12:30 a.m. ET).

A selection of MLS and Leagues Cup matches, including some of the biggest playoff matchups, will also be available at no additional cost to Apple TV+ subscribers, with a number of matches available for free on the Apple TV app. Select matches will also be available on FOX networks in the US, and on TSN and RDS in Canada.

The full MLS schedule can be found on mlssoccer.com/schedule. Highlights of the MLS 2023 season schedule are included below.

“MLS is Back” Opening Weekend

“MLS is Back” on Saturday, February 25, as teams take the pitch in their 2023 debuts. All matches during the “MLS is Back” weekend will be available to watch for free on the Apple TV app.

The first match of the 2023 season will see Nashville SC, with Landon Donovan MLS MVP Hany Mukhtar, host New York City FC, with 20-year-old Brazilian star Talles Magno, at GEODIS Park at 4:30 p.m. ET, live on the Apple TV app, FOX, and FOX Deportes.

The opening day action continues with an always-intense El Tráfico match reaching new heights at the historic Rose Bowl, when the LA Galaxy open their season against reigning MLS Cup champions and crosstown rivals Los Angeles Football Club at 9:30 p.m. ET, live on the Apple TV app.

St. Louis CITY SC Debuts

MLS welcomes a new club, a new city, and a brand-new stadium in 2023 with the debut of expansion team St. Louis CITY SC. Kicking off their inaugural campaign on the road against Austin FC at Q2 Stadium and live on MLS Season Pass, on Saturday, February 25, at 8:30 p.m. ET, St. Louis will make their highly anticipated home debut as hosts to last year’s newcomers, Charlotte FC, at CITYPARK on Saturday, March 4, at 8:30 p.m. ET. With a capacity of 22,500 at CITYPARK and more than 60,000 season ticket deposits, the debutants have all the makings of a memorable home-field inauguration.

Rivalry Week Returns

Rivalry Week will present four days of the league’s fiercest rivalry matchups from May 13-20. Kicking off Saturday, May 13, at 7:30 p.m. ET on MLS Season Pass will be a Southern showdown featuring Atlanta United hosting Charlotte FC at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, while at the same time, the New York Red Bulls take on Hudson River rivals New York City FC at Red Bull Arena.

The California Clásico will pit the LA Galaxy against the San Jose Earthquakes at Dignity Health Sports Park on Sunday, May 14, at 9:30 p.m. ET on MLS Season Pass, FS1, and FOX Deportes before a thrilling slate of nine matches brings Rivalry Week to a close on Saturday, May 20.

2023 MLS All-Star Game Presented by Target

The 2023 MLS All-Star Game presented by Target is set for Wednesday, July 19, at Audi Field, home of D.C. United. The opponent for Major League Soccer’s showcase event will be announced at a later date.

Leagues Cup Break

In a monumental new chapter for North American soccer, beginning in 2023, all 47 MLS and Liga MX clubs will compete in a completely reimagined Leagues Cup: an annual, monthlong, Concacaf-sanctioned tournament. Leagues Cup 2023 will make history as the first major soccer tournament to feature every club from a pair of top-flight leagues. The MLS regular season will pause following the July 15 games for Leagues Cup play, and resume on August 20.

MLS Cup Rematch

A rematch of the 2022 MLS Cup and last year’s two best regular-season teams will feature the Philadelphia Union against LAFC on September 23, live on MLS Season Pass.

MLS Decision Day 2023

In the final day of action on October 21, all teams will face intraconference opponents with everything on the line in a battle for playoff spots and seeding. MLS Decision Day kickoff times will be announced at a later date.

More details on the Audi 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs will be announced at a later date.

MLS Conference Alignment

With the addition of St. Louis CITY SC to the Western Conference, Nashville SC will rejoin the Eastern Conference.

MLS Schedule Construction

The 15 Eastern Conference teams will play:

Two games vs. each intraconference opponent (28 games).
One game vs. six different cross-conference opponents (6 games).

The 14 Western Conference teams will play:

Two games vs. each intraconference opponent (26 games).
One game vs. 1 or 2 additional intraconference opponents (1-2 games).
One game vs. 6 or 7 different cross-conference opponents (6-7 games).

Additional Notes About the 2023 MLS Schedule

MLS will pause during the October and November FIFA international windows. MLS clubs were presented with the option to play during the June and September FIFA international window, with 13 clubs electing to do so.
The five MLS teams that have qualified for the Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League will kick off the first leg of Round of 16 play on March 7-9. Participating teams include Austin FC, LAFC, Orlando City SC, Philadelphia Union, and Vancouver Whitecaps FC.
Seattle Sounders FC will play in the FIFA Club World Cup, which kicks off February 1-11 in Morocco. Match dates and times have yet to be confirmed.

Follow MLS Clubs on the Apple TV App and Apple News

Fans can ensure they catch all of the action in 2023 by following their favorite MLS clubs through My Sports on the Apple TV app. With iOS 16, Apple introduced a new My Sports section across iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV for users to easily follow their favorite clubs, teams, and leagues. Fans can visit apple.co/MySportsMLS on iPhone or iPad to be directed right to the Apple TV app and follow their favorite Major League Soccer clubs, and get alerts before upcoming games, follow scores in real time, and more.

My Sports also makes it easy to get personalized, real-time sports coverage from Apple News. Fans can stay up to speed with the best stories from top publications — plus get live scores, schedules, standings, and highlights.

Subscribing to MLS Season Pass

Starting February 1, fans can subscribe to MLS Season Pass on the Apple TV app for $14.99 per month during the season or $99 per season, and Apple TV+ subscribers can sign up at a special price of $12.99 per month and $79 per season. A subscription to MLS Season Pass will be included with each full-season ticket account. Through Family Sharing, up to six family members can share the subscription using their own Apple ID and password.

This excludes Leagues Cup and Campeones Cup for viewers in Mexico.

Press Contacts

Bernadette Simpao

Apple

Apple Media Helpline

What’s new with Apple’s Shortcuts app for iOS, iPadOS, MacOS, and WatchOS

CompuScoop Staff December 19, 2022 0

In Apple’s Shortcuts app, a shortcut is a quick way to get one or more tasks done with your apps. The Shortcuts app lets you create your own shortcuts with multiple steps. For example, build a “Surf Time” shortcut that grabs the surf report, gives an ETA to the beach, and launches your surf music playlist.

An action — the building block of a shortcut — is a single step in a task. Mix and match actions to create shortcuts that interact with the apps and content on your Apple devices, as well as with content and services on the Internet. Each shortcut is made up of one or more actions.

An Automation is a type of shortcut that’s activated by an event, rather than manually. You can use the Shortcuts app to set up a personal or home automation and then have the automated shortcut run when you arrive or depart, when you change a setting on your iPhone, at a time of day, and much more.

Here’s what’s new in Apple’s Shortcuts app for the most recent versions of iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and watchOS.

This update includes new Books app actions, enhancements to existing actions, and reliability improvements to the Shortcuts editor and library.

New Actions

Books
• Open Book, Play Audiobook, Change Book Appearance, Change Page Navigation, Change View in Books, Open Collection, Search in Books, and Turn Page are now supported

More
• Switch Between Wallpapers sets the current wallpaper on iOS
• Get Wallpaper returns all of the wallpapers added to the Lock Screen on iOS

Updated Actions

For those building custom shortcuts, some actions have been updated:
• Set Wallpaper Photo can now set photos for wallpapers that use iOS 16’s new widgets and customization options
• Get Battery State can now check charging state (charging, connected to charger)
• Edit Calendar Event can now set invitee status (declined or accepted)
• Find Calendar Events can filter events by number of attendees
• Find Health Samples can now return sleep phases (core, deep, REM) on iOS
• Set Parked Car now accepts locations other than the current location
• Speak Text runs more reliably when a shortcut is invoked as a part of an automation
• Start Timer now prompts to select a duration when set to “Ask Each Time” and run via Siri

New in iOS and iPadOS 16.1, macOS 13.0, and watchOS 9.1

This update adds support for Share Sheet shortcuts on macOS, and includes new actions and reliability improvements to the Shortcuts editor and library.

New Actions

Clock
• Open Tab is now supported
• Create Alarm, Toggle Alarm, Get All Alarms, and Start Timer are now supported on macOS

Reminders
• Open Smart List is now supported on iOS and iPadOS

Safari
• Get Article using Safari Reader is now supported on macOS

More
• Get Current Focus enables checking current Focus status
• Configure Focus Filter actions allow setting Focus Filters for apps on macOS
• Search in Shortcuts allows starting a search in the Shortcuts app

Updated Actions

For those building custom shortcuts, some actions have been updated:
• Send Email now supports rich text on macOS
• Health actions can now run when the Health app is not installed
• Configure Focus Filter actions now support Ask Each Time
• Get Current Weather now correctly returns weather information when run from a Home automation

New in iOS and iPadOS 16.0 and watchOS 9.0

This update adds support for App Shortcuts to allow you to run shortcuts with no setup, and includes new actions and updates to the Shortcuts editor and library.

New Actions

Safari
• Open Tab Group, Create Tab Group, Open View, Find Bookmarks, Open Bookmark, Find Reading List Items, Open Reading List Item, Show/Hide Reader in Safari, Close Tab, Create New Tab, Create New Private Tab, Find Tabs, and Open Tab are now supported

Maps
• Get Parked Car Location and Set Parked Car are now supported

Clock
• Open Tab is now supported

Notes
• Delete Notes, Pin Notes, Open Notes Account, Change Notes Setting, Open Notes View, Create Folder, Delete Folders, Move Notes to Folder, Open Folder, Add Tags to Notes, Create Tag, Delete Tags, Open Tag, and Remove Tags from Notes are now supported

Mail
• Open Mailbox, Search in Mail are now supported

Voice Memos
• Search Voice Memos, Open Folder, Open Recording, Delete Folders, Play Recording, Create Folder, Change Playback Setting, Delete Recordings, and Create Recording are now supported

Reminders
• Create List and Search in Reminders are now supported

Files
• Search in Files is now supported

More
• Configure Focus Filter actions allow setting Focus Filters for apps
• Create Shortcut, Delete Shortcuts, and Open Folder are now supported with Shortcuts
• Optimize File Size of PDF compresses the images inside a PDF, resulting in a smaller file size
• Remove Image Background removes the background of images, keeping the subject only
• Set Flashlight can now control the flashlight on watchOS
• Set Personal Hotspot toggles the status of Personal Hotspot on iOS

Updated Actions

For those building custom shortcuts, some actions have been updated:
• Find Calendar Events filters events by invitee status (declined or accepted)
• Create Note and Append to Note now support Rich Text
• Find Notes no longer has a limit to how many notes can be retrieved at a time
• If conditionals now correctly match the “ends with” condition
• Shazam It can recognize music when a shortcut is invoked via Siri
• View Content Graph has an improved interface for content graph browsing

Shortcuts editor

For those building custom shortcuts, some changes have been made to the shortcut editor:
• New keyboard shortcuts are available on iPadOS for faster editing
• Icon search lets users find shortcut icon glyphs by name
• Quick controls in the shortcut document menu include: Rename, Choose Icon, Duplicate, Move, Add to Home Screen, and Export File
• Next Action Suggestions can now be dragged and dropped into a shortcut
• Improved performance and reliability