Tech Brew Ride Home - Tue. 09/17 - The iPhone 11 Reviews Are In

Starting point is 00:00:00 On April 4th, 2023, around 2 in the morning, a man was found stabbed multiple times on a sidewalk in downtown San Francisco. Hey, who did this to you? What happened next turned the story into a political firestorm. Reports have identified the victim as Bob Lee, the founder of Cash App. From Bloomberg Podcasts, this is Foundering, the Killing of Bob Lee, beginning April 16. Welcome to the TechMeme right home for Tuesday, September 17th, 2019. I'm Brian McCullough. Today, WeWorks IPO is off for now. Amazon Music HD is going after title. The streaming wars mean big price tags for Seinfeld and Big Bang Theory and a wrap-up of all the iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max reviews. Here's what you miss today in the world of tech. Free Software Advocate Richard Stallman has resigned as president and director of the Free Software Foundation, as well as resigning for

Starting point is 00:01:10 from MIT's computer science and artificial intelligence laboratory over his comments relating to Jeffrey Epstein. Quote, I am resigning effective immediately from my position in C-Sail at MIT, Stallman wrote in the email. I am doing this due to pressure on MIT and me over a series of misunderstandings and mischaracterizations, end quote. Quoting from Motherboard. Last week, Motherboard published the full email thread in which Stallman wrote that the, quote, most plausible scenario, end quote, is that Epstein's underage victims in his campaign of trafficking were, quote, entirely willing, end quote. Stallman also argued about the definition of rape and whether the term applies to the victims. When someone else in the email thread pointed out that

Starting point is 00:01:55 victim Virginia Guffrey was 17 when she was forced to have sex with AI pioneer Marvin Minsky, Stallman said, quote, it is morally absurd to define rape in a way that depends on minor details. such as which country it was in or whether the victim was 18 years old or 17, end quote. WeWork has officially called off its investor roadshow that was scheduled to begin this week, thereby effectively shelving its immediate plans for an IPO, though the Wii company still maintains that this is just a postponement, and it still plans to go public by the end of this year. From what I've been gleaning from Twitter, so obviously take that with a grain of salt, we really was staring down the barrel of going public at only a $10 to $12 billion

Starting point is 00:02:49 valuation at best, which is problematic for a bunch of reasons, not the least of which. That would be less than the $12.8 billion in equity that the Wii company has raised over the course of its entire life. And it would be a huge blow to Wee's largest investor, as we've discussed, SoftBank. And also, quoting from Reuters, SoftBank was discussing supporting the IPO by snapping up shares worth between $750 million and $1 billion, the sources said. However, Wee Company decided on Monday that even with SoftBank's support, the IPO would have raised a little over $2 billion, short of its target of at least $3 billion. This target is tied to a $6 billion credit line we company secured from banks last

Starting point is 00:03:34 month that calls for an IPO to take place by the end of the year and raise at least $3 billion, one of the sources said. Were the New York-based company to fail to meet this target by the end of the year, it would need to secure alternative funding, end quote. Let me just quote Henry Blodgett here. IPO rejections like WeWork do not happen often. Also hard to see what will change before the end of the year to suddenly make investors excited. Will SoftBank now fund another round?

Starting point is 00:04:03 Will it be enough cash? End quote. But in his pro rata newsletter this morning, Dan Premack wrote, This is obviously a negative event with WeWork Bonds tumbling deep on the news. And it provides more Chadenfreude for those in Silicon Valley who want to see SoftBank suffer. At the same time, however, so far, it's more of a procedural fail than a material one, end quote. Amazon has launched Amazon Music HD, which offers lossless audio for streaming or downloading music music for just $14.99 a month or 1299 a month for prime customers. As every piece about this news takes care to note, what does that

Starting point is 00:04:51 mean for title? The main competition for high-end audio streaming titles plans are $19.99 a month. Quoting the Verge, Amazon says it has a catalog of over 50 million songs that it calls high definition, which is the term that it's applying to songs with CD quality bit depth of 16 bits and a 44.1 kilohertz sample rate. It also has millions, read less than 10 million, more than one million, of songs that it's calling Ultra-Hd, which translates to 24-bit, with sample rates that range from 44.1 kilohertz up to 192 kilohertz. Amazon Music HD will deliver them all in the lossless flak file format instead of the MQA format that title uses. Amazon's VP of Music, Steve Boom, tells me that Amazon chose. the HD and Ultra HD terminology because it found it was more comprehensible to a mass audience than the

Starting point is 00:05:47 current terminology for audio quality. And mass audience is exactly what Amazon is going for. It doesn't want Amazon Music HD to be a niche player like title and other lossless music platforms like HD tracks or Quobaz, end quote. Once again, the streaming wars are turning this into a bit of a Hollywood ride home. Netflix has acquired the global rights to Seinfeld for five years, beginning in 2021, when Amazon and Hulu's rights to stream the show expire. Hulu had been paying $150 million a year for just the U.S. rights for Seinfeld, quoting the Hollywood reporter. Sources tell the Hollywood Reporter that the new Seinfeld Streaming Pact is worth more than $500 million and covers global rights. By comparison, the Office and Friends moved to NBC's streaming platform and HBO Max,

Starting point is 00:06:43 respectively, for similar valuations that only covered domestic. The deal sources stress was competitive with Netflix beating out rich offers from the likes of Amazon, NBC's streamer, HBO Max, and CBS All Access, end quote. There is a little wrinkle to this, though. For all the eyes popping at the size of that deal, is it actually a good deal? Or is this inflation because of the streaming wars? Quoting Alex Sherman on Twitter. Sources say Seinfeld accounted for less than 1% of Hulu's viewing. The Office accounted for 7% of Netflix and Friends 4% according to third-party data. In other words, Seinfeld wasn't a clear streaming winner for Hulu.

Starting point is 00:07:30 Friends and the Office were for Netflix. Do old NBC sitcoms play better on Netflix? Or is there something about Seinfeld that makes it a worse streaming asset, end quote? And this morning, HBO Max has secured the exclusive five-year streaming rights to the Big Bang Theory in the U.S. This is a package deal where WarnerMedia Sister Channel TBS has also extended the rights to air reruns of the Big Bang Theory to 2028. So the total deal for Big Bang is apparently in the neighborhood of $600 million. If you're keeping track of all this, HBO Max also landed the rights to friends for $425 million for five years. NBC Universal nabbed the streaming rights for the office for five years for $500 million. And speaking of NBC Universal, that company has announced that its ad and subscription-supported streaming service will be called Peacock.

Starting point is 00:08:28 Peacock will launch in April of 2020 and will reportedly have more than 15,000 hours of content. Peacock will become the exclusive streaming home of Parks and Recreation and, quoting, Vulture. The new service has also locked down deals for a slew of originals with ties to existing NBCU brands, including a reboot of Battlestar Galactica overseen by Sam Esmail of Mr. Robot fame, revivals of Saved by the Bell and Punky Brewster, a comedy-stander, slash talk show hosted by late nights Amber Ruffin, a new spinoff from the Real Housewives universe, and a new comedy from the Good Place creator Mike Scher, starring the offices Ed Helms. There will also be dozens of films from the Universal Library, new animated shows from

Starting point is 00:09:15 DreamWorks animation, and even reruns of Downton Abbey, end quote. The Snapchat app has added a 3D camera mode with 3D effects, lenses, and filters, which can be used by anyone who's got an iPhone 10 and above. Snap's most recent spectacles already added 3D effects, but now you can achieve the same thing inside regular old Snapchat. You do need those higher-end iPhones to create these new 3D images, and also you need an iPhone. This is not yet available on Android,

Starting point is 00:09:52 but the images and effects can be viewed later by anyone, quoting TechCrunch. The feature can be accessed via the camera mode, using the drop-down menu on the right. The pictures can also be viewed but not created on older and other phone models, including Android as well. Alongside the 3D camera mode, those creating pictures will also naturally be supplied with a new library of 3D effects, lenses, and filters. And after you are finished making the images, you can also save them to your camera

Starting point is 00:10:21 roll to use elsewhere as well, end quote. The embargo on iPhone 11, 11 Pro, and 11 Pro Max reviews broke this morning. this time I will do a review roundup. The consensus on the 11, terrific battery life, an excellent camera, and probably the best phone for the average consumer. Consensus on the pro and pro max, improve battery life, better performance, and flexible new camera system, but the ultra-wide camera sometimes lacks detail. Let's start with Nilai Patel from The Verge.

Starting point is 00:11:00 Is it worth upgrading to the iPhone 11? If you've got an iPhone older than the 10R and you're looking to upgrade, I think the answer is yes. The camera is substantially improved and you will get vastly better battery life than anything aside from a 10R. That's what most people care about and Apple has really delivered here. I'd only spend the extra money on the iPhone 11 Pro if you really care about the display. I don't think you're missing out on much by not having a telephoto camera lens, to be honest. I personally care quite a bit about displays, so I'm getting a pro. think most people will be very happy with the iPhone 11, end quote.

Starting point is 00:11:38 Both Nilai and Dieter Bone at The Verge reported, by the way, that iOS 13 remains very buggy, at least on their review unit, so they actually caution you to maybe not rush to upgrade until iOS 13.1 comes out. Here's Chris Velasco in Engadget. Quote, what does it mean for a phone to earn the name pro? Lots of power, for one, usually great cameras. and software robust enough to handle arduous tasks with ease. The new iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max certainly tick all these boxes, and as you might expect, they're the best iPhones

Starting point is 00:12:13 Apple has ever made. The thing is, I say that every year, and it's true each time, but it doesn't really sum up how I feel about the new iPhone pros after having tested them for a while. The iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max offer the best that Apple is capable of right now, but we're still left with an important question. Do you actually need everything on offer here? Certain changes like improved battery life and the more flexible triple cameras are updates everyone can enjoy. For almost everything else, though, the differences in actual day-to-day use can be so subtle that you'd be hard-pressed to really notice them. Make no mistake, the iPhone pros are better all around compared to the 10S series and are among the most powerful smartphones money can buy right now. But if you don't

Starting point is 00:12:57 need the best of the best or still aren't thrilled about the idea of dropping $1,000 on a phone, even if it'll last you for years, the iPhone 11 is probably the smarter choice, end quote. Moving on to discussions of the cameras, Matthew Panzerino at TechCrunch mentions the lack of crispness in the ultra-wide lens, as I mentioned before, quote, of note, the ultra-wide lens does not have optical image stabilization on either the iPhone 11 or iPhone 11 pro. This makes it a much trickier proposition to use in low light or at night. The ultra-wide camera cannot be used with night mode because its sensor does not have a thousand percent focus pixels and, of course, no OIS. The result is that wide-angle night shots must be held very steady or soft images

Starting point is 00:13:45 will result, end quote. And here's Lauren Good at Wired discussing night mode. Both the iPhone 11 and the new pro modes have a new night mode which is automatically activated in dark environments and tells you how long you'll have to hold the phone steady for it to capture an optimal shot. I already love it. It's so much more intuitive than swiping through settings to find a dedicated night mode, end quote. And maybe the most interesting review came from Brian X-Cen in the New York Times. Quote, now is the moment to ask, do we really need to upgrade our iPhones every two years? Based on my tests of the iPhone 11, 11 Pro, and 11 Pro Max, the answer is no. Don't get me wrong. The newest models are nice.

Starting point is 00:14:27 Apple has made them speedier, improve the cameras and lengthen the battery life. The new lineup also starts at a lower price of $700 down from $750 a year ago, which is a relief in an era of skyrocketing smartphone costs. But none of this is enough to warrant an immediate upgrade if you have had your smartphone for only two years. The latest iPhones just aren't a big leap forward from last year's iPhones or even the iPhone 10 from 2017. So here's what I ultimately suggest.

Starting point is 00:14:56 You should definitely upgrade if your current devices at least five years old. The iPhone 11 models are all a significant step up from those introduced in 2014. But for everyone else with smartphones from 2015 or later, there is no rush to buy. Instead, there is more mileage and value to be had out of the excellent smartphone you already own, end quote. And real quick before we go, and Gadget has a hands-on with Apple Arcade. So one more review. Devendra Hardewar says it's a no-brainer

Starting point is 00:15:32 to subscribe to Apple Arcade at $4.99 per month because it has a strong selection of exclusive games and, crucially, a model that lets developers focus on fun rather than extracting money from users. Quote,

Starting point is 00:15:46 at its best, Apple Arcade will encourage developers to cut loose and get weird. Take sneaky Sasquatch from Rack 7. You play as the aforementioned Bigfoot, wandering around a forest and stealing food from campers picnic baskets. All the while, you're avoiding the nefarious park ranger, yogi bear style. While it looks like an Animal Crossing

Starting point is 00:16:06 inspired title at first, the game eventually opens up in wild new ways. You'll be able to drive cars into town, wear human clothes and fool people, except that darn park ranger, and even go skiing in a mountain resort. The latter brings to mind the classic Windows game ski-free, except now you're the Sasquatch zooming down slopes. Rack 7 also developed a unique puzzle game, Spec, where you rotate three-dimensional levels to collect fragments of a lost dimension. Okay, they just look like dots. It's a simple idea at first, bringing to mind the likes of Fez, but it looks addictive. There's also an augmented reality mode where you can physically walk around the puzzle to collect pieces. And unlike other AR games,

Starting point is 00:16:46 like Angry Birds, you don't need to anchor it to a flat surface. The puzzle will just float in the air like a virtual chandelier. Speck looks like something that would be perfect. And for the rumored Apple AR headset. These games alone make Apple Arcade a no-brainer subscription for anyone with an Apple device. It's $5 for the entire family, the price of many individual mobile games. It already has a handful of strong titles and you can easily play across iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, and Mac. Apple needs to maintain the stream of quality games and could very well raise the price eventually, but for now, Apple Arcade seems like one of the best deals in gaming, end quote.

Starting point is 00:17:26 That is all for today. As always, I've been your host, Brian McCullough. Follow me on Twitter at Brian MCC. The show's subreddit where you can tip me stories and talk about them is R slash right home. If you look at the very bottom link in the show notes, you'll find a way to subscribe to the ad-free version of the show and support the show directly. Talk to you tomorrow.

Tech Brew Ride Home - Tue. 09/17 - The iPhone 11 Reviews Are In

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