Mobile Apps News from Nicole Hennig
Mobile Apps News
February 16, 2018
Hi everyone,
Welcome to the 57th issue of Mobile Apps News! I hope you'll enjoy this newsletter and spread the word to your friends and colleagues. Please get in touch if you have any suggestions for topics you'd like to hear about.
This issue includes news of:
a new podcast app called 'Sodes, with a very simple, pretty interface
updates to Apple's iBooks (update will be called "Books")
fun stories: the launch into space of Elon Musk's red Tesla with "Starman" in it, robots at the Winter Olympics, and more
a new review of my latest book, Keeping Up with Emerging Technologies
my upcoming 5-week course on Privacy & Security Online (via ALA)
tips for using the Gmail app more effectively
links to interesting articles like this one: Demonized Smartphones are Just Our Latest Technological Scapegoat (I agree)
links to some fascinating stores about The Arch: The mysterious storage device Elon Musk shot into space
accessibility, thought-provoking articles, interesting stats, and articles about the future
Enjoy!
App News
Featured apps and app lists
Things vs OmniFocus vs Todoist: A Comparison of the Best GTD and Productivity Apps (iOS)
In-depth review of three prominent to-do apps. My favorite is Things.
With ‘sodes App, Liberate Yourself from Podcast Subscriptions (iOS)
A simple, useful podcast listening app for listening to individual episodes without subscriptions. It has a nice, simple interface. I like it.
Protanopia: The Digital Comic That Tilts with You for Cool Effects (iOS)
This app is a fun way to view comics with animation and 3d effects that shift with your movements. There is only one comic story in it, but it’s free and worth looking at for a creative way to present digital comics.
Can’t Get Your News from Facebook Anymore? Try These 6 Apps (Android & iOS)
With Facebook focusing more on updates from your friends, people are looking to other apps for their news. From this list, I like Nuzzel, Feedly, and Flipboard.
App updates
Apple’s iBooks to become “Books” in forthcoming reading app redesign
Apple will soon be improving the iBooks app (changing the name to Books). It will include a “reading now” section and a separate section for audiobooks.
Thoughts on Apple Books
Some recommendations for what Apple should do with its redesigned “Books” app and store.
Scribd’s new unlimited plan for audiobooks and e-books might be an avid reader’s dream
Previously Scribd users got three e-books and one audiobook per month. Without raising their prices ($8.99/mo) they will now offer almost unlimited access (with some data download caps) to e-books, audiobooks, news, magazines, documents and sheet music.
Accessories
The Best Lightning Cable for iPhone and iPad
These Anker Powerline cables are the best I’ve ever used (they don’t fray like some other cables, including Apple's).
The Best Qi Wireless Charger for iPhone and Android Phones
I bought the Samsung charger recommended here and then decided the light from it was too bright for my bedside table. So I moved it to my office desk and instead got the SurgeDisk wireless charger. I like it because the LED indicator dims, so it doesn’t keep you awake. And it’s got a nice bamboo finish., winning “best design” in this review: The 12 Best Wireless Phone Chargers to Buy in 2018. I like the wireless charging pads better than I thought I would. Plugging and unplugging my iPhone feels like a pain after using these.
Just for Fun
Apple Gets Its Animojis to Sing Nominated Songs in Amusing Ads for the Grammys
Cute!
This year's 157 new emoji include kangaroos, toilet paper, feet, and more
Superheroes, raccoon, swan, kangaroo, lettuce, toilet paper, red-haired emojis, and more! Coming in June as part of the Unicode update.
The Wired Guide to Emoji
Interesting history and future of emoji. “More than just cute pictures, these digital icons are a lingua franca for the digital age.”
Watch Boston Dynamics’ Spotmini Robot Open a Door
This reminds me of that scary episode of Black Mirror with the robotic dogs. Robots can also do backflips now. See also robots on skis! (A contest in South Korea, near the winter Olympics).
The Winter Olympics’ first winner? Robots
Cute robots for cleaning, translation, serving drinks, and more!
Elon Musk shares the epic last photo of 'Starman' in the red Tesla he shot into space
Did you hear about the launch into space of Elon Musk’s red Tesla with a mannequin driver? “To make the rocket launch more entertaining, Musk put his own cherry red Tesla Roadster in the rocket to be released into space. And SpaceX, for a limited time, was able to provide a live video feed of the Tesla floating through space.” Fun and inspiring.
My Offerings
Online Privacy & Security: Best Practices for Librarians eCourse (begins March 12)
After you participate in this course, you will
know how to use technologies that protect your privacy and security.
have a security action plan for your own data.
be inspired to offer a workshop on this topic for your library users.
easily continue your learning with the course resource guide.
Sign up now!
5-week course, begins March 12
If you haven't had time to try out various security practices, you'll have time (and get help) during this five-week course. You'll also discuss some VERY interesting readings on security & privacy (and fun, optional podcast episodes) with your classmates.
Keeping Up with Emerging Technologies
My latest book continues to get positive reviews. Here’s one from Booklist.
"A bounty of resources and strategies for advancing user-centered innovation"
— Joyce Kasman Valenza, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Rutgers School of Communication & Information
"An incredibly useful, compact, and well thought-out aid for any librarian or information specialist."
— Candy Schwartz, Professor, Simmons School of Library and Information Science
“The time management strategies for processing and organizing information and continuing to keep up as technology changes are especially useful."
– Marissa Lieberman, VOYA
Get the book
If you're willing, I'd love for you to share this page with your colleagues on social media or via email.
After you've read the book, please consider writing a brief review on Amazon, Goodreads, or anywhere. Thanks!
Tips
What to Do If Your iPad Gets Disabled By Too Many Passcode Entries
Here’s a Handy New Site That Converts iOS 11 .heic Photos to JPEG
10 Gmail for Android tips and tricks - Most of these tips work in the Gmail app for iOS too.
Accessibility
How a new technology is changing the lives of people who cannot speak
This is a fascinating story about VocaliD, a service that creates custom digital voices for people who use devices to help them speak. “By crowdsourcing the collection of voices, anyone can record from the comfort of their own home. Share your voice with others, or bank it for yourself.”
Hearables are breathing new life into hearing aids
Next-generation earbuds are a huge step forward.
Voice Computing
Amazon Alexa Has Opinions. Will Make Recommendations. What it Means.
“Alexa has been offering insights into her preferences from the beginning. So has Siri for that matter.” Learn more about how this works.
Expect to talk to your devices a lot more in the future
Voice-enabled devices are appearing in so many kinds of devices.
Apple and Amazon are under fire for Siri and Alexa’s responses to sexual harassment
After a petition asking for changes in how these devices respond to harassing questions, Amazon changed Alexa’s responses.
How millions of kids are being shaped by Alexa and her siblings
“Kids adore their new robot siblings.” A somewhat negative view of how using Alexa is affecting kids. For more positive thoughts, read Growing Up with Alexa.
Apple’s Homepod is now available. Here are some interesting reviews of it. People love the sound quality but feel that Siri has some catching up to do with Alexa and Google.
Google Assistant can now set music alarms and look up TV schedules
Nice.
Alexa Fast Tips Friday: New Alexa Text Messaging Feature
“You can now use your Alexa devices to send text messages to anyone in your smartphone contacts list who uses an Android phone (or other Android device that can receive text messages), regardless of whether or not the other person has an Alexa device or has even installed the Alexa app on their own phone.”
Audiobooks Now Available on Google Play, A New Battleground for Voice Assistant User Engagement
Previously only Amazon offered audiobooks in a smart speaker.
Storyline lets you build and publish Alexa skills without coding
This looks like fun! I want to try building a skill one of these days.
You can build playlists with voice on Amazon Music now
Good, but only on Amazon’s own music service for now.
Thought-Provoking
Inside Amazon Go, a Store of the Future
“Inside is a 1,800-square foot mini-market packed with shelves of food that you can find in a lot of other convenience stores — soda, potato chips, ketchup. It also has some food usually found at Whole Foods, the supermarket chain that Amazon owns.”
“Every time customers grab an item off a shelf, Amazon says the product is automatically put into the shopping cart of their online account. If customers put the item back on the shelf, Amazon removes it from their virtual basket.”
Demonized Smartphones are Just Our Latest Technological Scapegoat
Worth reading. “Are these new technologies, which are still in their infancy, harming a rising generation and eroding some basic human fabric? Is today’s concern about smartphones any different than other generations’ anxieties about new technology?”
“The pattern of technophobia recurred with the gramophone, the telegraph, the radio, and television.“
States and Cities Keep the Battle for Net Neutrality Alive
Hopeful news.
Mood: Just About Anything
“What it means when there are as many possible moods as there are GIFs on the internet.” “Today, if you want to explain your mood, what you really need is an evocative image.”
Tesla Model 3: The First Serious Review
The reviewer drove 2,860 miles cross-country in a Tesla Model 3. He loved it except for the UI of the autopilot interface. Very interesting.
Ich Bin Ein Tweeter
On moving to Germany to be protected from Nazi rhetoric online.
Tackling the Internet’s Central Villain: The Advertising Business
Thoughts on how internet advertising has led to most of the worst things happening online.
How It Became Normal to Ignore Texts and Emails
“ 'You create for people an environment where they feel as though they could be responded to instantaneously, and then people don’t do that. And that just has anxiety all over it,' says Sherry Turkle, the director of the Initiative on Technology and Self at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.”
Google Clips
This Google Clips article is one of several stories on the ethical issues of new technologies found on the Reilly Top 10. This site covers ethical issues for all kinds of new technologies, with a list of specific new inventions to consider each year.
American Needs More Fiber
America is behind China on the installation of fiber optic lines everywhere. “What all this means is that China, and not the US, will be the sandbox for new applications that require very-high-capacity network connections.”
Warby Parker app uses TrueDepth camera in iPhone X to recommend frames that will best fit the user
A good use for the TrueDepth camera.
Interesting Statistics
New test shows Siri on HomePod answer 52% of questions correctly, lagging behind Alexa & Google Assistant
“One important thing to note here is that some of the queries tested by Loup Ventures are simply not supported by HomePod – such as navigation, email, and calling. When these types of queries were removed, HomePod successfully answer 67 percent of commands – putting it above Alexa and Cortana.”
Podcast Listeners Really Are the Holy Grail Advertisers Hoped They’d Be
“Apple’s Podcast Analytics feature finally became available last month… Though it’s still early days, the numbers podcasters are seeing are highly encouraging… It seems like podcast listeners really are the hyper-engaged, super-supportive audiences that everyone hoped.”
Apple Pay accepted at 1 out of 2 U.S. stores, says Apple VP Jennifer Bailey
When it first launched in 2014, Apple Pay was only accepted at 3 percent of U.S. stores.
The Future
Why These 4 Emerging Technologies Stole The Show At CES 2018
“New Digital Surfaces Are Rapidly Proliferating, Potentially Opening Up New Forms Of Expression And Experience,” and more.
The punk rock internet – how DIY rebels are working to replace the tech giants
“Is it really possible to remake the internet in a way that’s egalitarian, decentralized and free of snooping? “ On building the “indienet."
Apple Watch Is a Bridge to the Future
Interesting thoughts on how the Apple Watch is leading towards a future without iPhones:
“Apple Watch is giving wearers a glimpse of the future by introducing new ideas around how artificial intelligence, voice, digital assistants, and smart sensors can come together to produce a new kind of experience.”
“We move away from pulling data from various apps and getting pushed mostly useless notifications to being pushed a curated feed of data that is always changing and tailored to the day at hand.”
Also offers some interesting stats:
“Based on unit sales, the Apple Watch business is currently about the size of the Mac business. When considering that the Apple Watch is less than three years old, for the product to be nearly outselling Mac on an annual basis is quite the achievement.”
The special data device SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy sent to orbit is just the start
I wonder if archivists everywhere are thinking about the potential of The Arch?
“The Arch on board is a data crystal (sort of like a Jedi Holocron if you’re mad for Star Wars lore) that contains all three books from Isaac Asimov’s classic Foundation trilogy. It’s actually a modest amount of data relative to the possibilities of the storage medium – in this case, a quartz silica structure which, using 5D optical storage techniques, can eventually achieve a max storage capacity of 360 terabytes on a disk just 3.75 inches in diameter.”
“The Arch Mission was actually inspired by Asimov’s Foundation series, which envisions an “Encyclopedia Galactica” that contains all the knowledge ever gathered by a civilization that has grown to galaxy-spanning scale.”
The mysterious storage device Elon Musk shot into space
Learn more about the Arch:
“The Arch library floating toward Mars’ orbit is one in a series of five made from quartz silica (otherwise known as fused quartz) using new femtosecond laser techniques to create “5D optical storage.” Scientists call it the Superman memory crystal. Without overwhelming you with technical details, these small crystals are capable of securely storing vast amounts of data and are expected to survive for 14 billion years.“
Wow.
73 Mind-Blowing Implications of Driverless Cars and Trucks
I love pieces like this one. If you haven’t thought about how the move to driverless cars will affect society, read this for some very interesting thoughts. (“No more local mechanics, car dealers, consumer car washes, auto parts stores or gas stations. Traffic lights and signs will become obsolete. Driver’s licenses will slowly go away as will the Department of Motor Vehicles in most states. Other forms of ID may emerge as people no longer carry driver’s licenses..”)
Advertising Will Decline 30% In Next 5 Years
An interesting prediction. “That’s an ironic prediction for an ad executive whose title is chief growth officer, but Tobaccowala predicted it’s inevitable that the ability to reach people with ads will drop precipitously over the next several years because of a variety of factors, but especially because it’s simply not a good experience for most people.
“We are so disrespecting people’s time that they are spending more and more time in advertising-free environments,” he asserted, citing the rapid adoption of ad-free content platforms such as Netflix as proof.
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