Year: 2022

Apple introduces broadcasters and production details for “Friday Night Baseball,” beginning April 8 only on Apple TV+

Apple Inc April 7, 2022 0

Apple today announced the lineup of broadcasters and production enhancements for “Friday Night Baseball,” which leads off tomorrow, April 8, only on Apple TV+. Fans can access “Friday Night Baseball” games and additional content, including new exclusive programs such as “Countdown to First Pitch” and “MLB Daily Recap,” beginning today in the Apple TV app.

Beginning Friday, April 8, the broadcast team of Melanie Newman (play-by-play), Chris Young (analyst), Hannah Keyser (analyst), and Brooke Fletcher (reporter) will call the New York Mets at the Washington Nationals at 7 p.m. ET; and Stephen Nelson (play-by-play), Hunter Pence (analyst), Katie Nolan (analyst), and Heidi Watney (reporter) comprise the crew that will call the Houston Astros at the Los Angeles Angels game at 9:30 p.m. ET. Game assignments for “Friday Night Baseball” broadcasters will be announced on a weekly basis. In her new role with “Friday Night Baseball,” Newman becomes the second woman to lead play-by-play duties for a national broadcast team; she joined the Baltimore Orioles’ broadcast team in 2020.

“Friday Night Baseball” live pre- and postgame coverage will be hosted by Lauren Gardner, along with a rotating group of analysts and former Major League Baseball (MLB) players, including

Carlos Peña, Cliff Floyd, and Yonder Alonso.

Scheduled games are available to anyone with internet access, for free, only on Apple TV+. Users can find step-by-step instructions to access “Friday Night Baseball” across devices.

Produced by MLB Network’s Emmy Award-winning production team in partnership with Apple, “Friday Night Baseball” will offer a modern and dynamic broadcast experience that appeals to new viewers and veteran fans alike. Each game broadcast will employ state-of-the-art cameras, including high-speed Phantoms, the high-resolution Megalodon, and more throughout the season to present vivid, live-action shots, and offer immersive sound in 5.1 with spatial audio enabled. “Friday Night Baseball” will also incorporate new on-screen graphics that include innovative new probabilities-based forecasts of different situational outcomes, plus highlights and live look-ins from around the league integrated right into the broadcast. Throughout the “Friday Night Baseball” broadcasts, fans can enjoy on-screen callouts about batters’ walk-up songs from Apple Music, test their knowledge of baseball trivia with help from Siri, and more.

And, in a first for MLB games, “Friday Night Baseball” will feature rules analysis and interpretation from former MLB umpire Brian Gorman.

In addition to two marquee games on Friday nights throughout the regular season, fans in the US and Canada can enjoy new 24/7 live programming with MLB game replays, news and analysis, highlights, classic games, and more. Each Thursday, fans can tune in to “Countdown to First Pitch” for a preview of the week’s upcoming games, and every morning to “MLB Daily Recap” for highlights from across the league, both available only on Apple TV+, as well as the “MLB Big Inning” whip-around show featuring live look-ins and in-game highlights every weeknight. Additionally, fans will be able to watch full games, as well as condensed game replays, on demand on Apple TV+ after the completion of the live broadcasts each week.

In Apple News, fans can easily follow their favorite teams and watch personalized MLB highlights right in the News app. Today, fans can find an Opening Day preview curated by Apple News editors, and each Friday, enjoy a curated group of highlights and stories from around the league, and easily tap to watch “Friday Night Baseball” directly in the Apple TV app.

In Apple Music, fans can find exclusive playlists of batters’ walk-up songs from teams featured on “Friday Night Baseball” each week, as well as a collection of classic songs celebrating baseball.

“Friday Night Baseball” games will be available to anyone with internet access across devices where Apple TV+ can be found, including on the Apple TV app on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV 4K and HD, and on tv.apple.com, along with smart TVs, gaming consoles, and cable set-top boxes. “Friday Night Baseball” will be available on Apple TV+ in the United States, Canada, Australia, Brazil, Japan, Mexico, Puerto Rico, South Korea, and the United Kingdom, and for a limited time, without the need for a subscription.

About Apple TV+

Apple TV+, the first all-original video subscription service and home of today’s most imaginative storytellers, offers an award-winning and inspiring lineup of original series, films, and now, sports, beginning with “Friday Night Baseball.” Subscribers can watch Apple TV+ Originals both online and offline — and on demand — on the Apple TV app, which comes preinstalled on iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, iPod touch, and Mac, as well as online at tv.apple.com. The Apple TV app is also available on select smart TVs, including Samsung, LG, Panasonic, Sony, TCL, VIZIO, and others; Amazon Fire TV and Roku devices; PlayStation and Xbox gaming consoles; Chromecast with Google TV; and set-top boxes including Sky Q, SK Broadband, and Comcast Xfinity. More information is available at apple.com/apple-tv-app.

How to sign up for YouTube TV

Dan Uff April 7, 2022 2

Are you considering signing up for YouTube TV but don't know how? This video might help.

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Rumor: Apple’s logo to appear on NFL Coaches Headsets in 2022?

CompuScoop Staff April 6, 2022 2

For eight years, the Bose logo was painted onto every NFL coaching headset, but Terry Lefton of Sports Business Journal reports that Bose is now officially out as a league sponsor. Could the Apple logo replace Bose on NFL coaches’ headsets in 2022?

Bose followed Motorola, after the league went with the shield on its headsets for a season. The question now becomes which NFL partner ends up in that high-profile space.

Lefton mentions Apple as a potential headset sponsor, especially if Apple purchases the rights to Sunday Ticket. That would make for some awkward conversations between the league and Microsoft, which supplies the league’s ubiquitous sideline tablets (and which sometimes are referred to as iPads).

Whatever the partner, the relationship has real value. Via Lefton, Navigate Research estimates that the headsets are seen, on average, for eight minutes per game.

Via: NBC Sports

Apple Business Essentials now available for small businesses

Apple Inc April 4, 2022 3

Thousands of small businesses in the Apple Business Essentials beta reported significant time savings and renewed ability to focus on their mission.

CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA Apple today announced that Apple Business Essentialsis now available to all small businesses in the US. The new service brings together device management, 24/7 Apple support, and iCloud storage into flexible subscription plans. Apple also unveiled new AppleCare+ for Business Essentials options that can be added to any plan. Additionally, a two-month free trial will be available to all customers, including those who have been using Apple Business Essentials in beta.

“Apple has a deep and decades-long commitment to helping small businesses thrive. From dedicated business teams in our stores to the App Store Small Business Program, our goal is to help each company grow, compete, and succeed,” said Susan Prescott, Apple’s vice president of Enterprise and Education Marketing. “We look forward to bringing Apple Business Essentials to even more small businesses to simplify device management, storage, support, and repairs. Using this new service leads to invaluable time savings for customers — including those without dedicated IT staff — that they can invest back into their business.”

Apple Business Essentials supports small businesses throughout the entire device management life cycle — from device setup, to device upgrades — while providing strong security, prioritized support, and data storage and backup. The complete solution begins with simple employee onboarding, allowing a small business to easily configure, deploy, and manage Apple products from anywhere. With the Collections feature, groups of apps can be delivered to employees or teams, and settings can be automatically pushed to devices, such as VPN configurations, Wi-Fi passwords, and more.

MacBook Pro, iPhone 13 Pro, and iPad Pro using Apple Business Essentials.

Employees simply sign in to their work account on their iPhone, iPad, or Mac using a Managed Apple ID. Once they sign in, they will have access to everything they need to be productive, including the new Apple Business Essentials app, where they can download work apps available to them. Managed Apple IDs can be created by federating with Microsoft Azure Active Directory and, coming later this spring, with Google Workspace identity services, allowing employees to log in to their device with a single business username and password. Apple Business Essentials works with company-provided and personally owned devices, and with Apple’s User Enrollment feature, employees’ personal information stays private and cryptographically separated from work data.

In addition to a streamlined setup, Apple Business Essentials provides a dedicated iCloud work account for simple and secure storage, backup, and collaboration on files and documents. Business data is automatically stored and backed up on iPhone or iPad, making it easy to upgrade to a new device. And iCloud Drive keeps information synced across Mac, making it easy to move between devices at work.

AppleCare+ for Business Essentials

Beginning today, businesses have the option to add prioritized support for employee devices with AppleCare+ for Business Essentials. This service includes 24/7 access to phone support, training for both IT administrators and employees, and up to two device repairs per plan — by individual, group, or device — each year. Employees can initiate repairs directly from the Apple Business Essentials app, and an Apple-trained technician can come onsite in as little as four hours to get their iPhone back up and running.¹

“Espresso machines are the last piece of food service equipment art, and the centerpiece of every cafe. We take pride in being part of the international coffee community with a superior customer experience in the Minneapolis area,” said Peter Kelsch, Espresso Services Inc.’s president. “I started this business in 1989 on Apple products, and now iPhone, iPad, and Mac are used across sales, operations, and service for our coffee equipment business. Apple Business Essentials makes deployment and security simple for our business as we continue to grow, and will reduce our IT management overhead and streamline our growth process. It’s going to be a game-changer for our business.”

A customer sitting on his desk using Managed Lost Mode with Apple Business Essentials on an iMac.

Pricing and Availability

Apple Business Essentials is now available as a subscription for all small businesses in the US. Flexible plans can be customized to support each user and device in an organization with up to 2TB of secure storage in iCloud, starting at $2.99 (US) per month after a two-month free trial. Plans that include AppleCare+ for Apple Business Essentials start at $9.99 (US) per month. Sign up today at apple.com/business/essentials.