Soundbyte 301 – March 2020

ChristopherNews, SoundByte

Welcome to Soundbyte! In this issue:

  • March Meeting
  • Productivity, iPad Style
  • Cut, Copy and Paste
  • A triple folding smartphone?
  • Recreate smart playlists on your iPhone
  • Cloud computing and the climate: win win?
  • Apple and China – stuck together?
  • Offers for members!

March meeting

Join us this Monday, March 9 to discuss ‘Life with the iPad‘. We will meet downstairs in the basement of the Sir John Balcome as usual from 7pm. We start the evening with Soundbyte, this time delivered by our talented Technical Editor. We will have a great raffle prize as usual to complement the main topics.

You will no doubt be aware that there is a virus in the news. The risk is only moderate, but make sure you have read the appropriate advice from the NHS and don’t forget, we will will be live streaming the night as usual.

Click below to watch our last meeting, subscribe, click the bell icon to be notified when we go live and share LMUG with your friends!

Productivity, iPad style

The iPad is not a Mac, but the gap has been growing smaller in recent years. In preparing for our March meeting I was amazed to find this video below. It goes far beyond what I can do, and what I will show. Have a look at what’s possible if you use all the functions and features available.

Cut, Copy and Paste

Sad news last month of the death of the inventor of the cut, copy and paste functions on your Mac, Larry Tesler. TidBits have shared the last interview they had with him. A nice retrospective, click the image below to read the article.

Image of Larry Tesler licensed by Yahoo under the CC BY 2.0

A triple folding smartphone?

Again, Android phone makers are experimenting with phone designs that Apple no doubt also have in their labs. The difference is that you won’t see Apple‘s design until the product makes sense and is compelling. Instead, this month we must live vicariously though TCL, a Chinese electronics company. Have a look at what they have done. Would you buy an iPad or iPad Mini that worked like these?

Recreating smart playlists on your iPhone

If you enjoyed smart playlists in iTunes, you might, for a long time, have missed them on your iPhone. Well, roll your sleeves up, because it seems there is a way to get them back with the Miximum app. Details below, have a go and let us know if it works for you at one of our month’s meetings.

Cloud computing and the climate: win-win?

The experts say we have 10 years left to curb our carbon emissions. We have powerful devices now, many of which don’t use much electricity to charge up. But we rely on apps like FaceBook, Google, Amazon and iCloud which use warehouses filled with large computer servers, that consume lots of electricity. So are we saving electricity and the climate or not? Click the image below to read a report from the New York Times on this.

Cloud Computing in not the energy hog that had been feared

Apple and China – stuck together

Recent events have highlighted the world’s reliance on China as an electronic’s manufacturer. This presents a business risk and multi-nationals like Apple prefer to diversify the countries where products are made. Why is your iPhone still going to be made in China then? Have a look at this article on Ars Technica about the challenge Apple faces.

Sources say it’s not possible to replicate Chinese supply lines elsewhere.

Offers for Members!

And that’s it for the month! Thanks for reading on, till the end. As your reward, here are the Special Offer discounts available to Apple User Group members. I recently took advantage of the Eve discount to get a Home Kit connected humidity sensor for my kitchen. Find the special code to access these offers on our website or contact us by email or Slack.

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