Tag - BBC

Saying Farewell: writer William Gallagher
I'm not even supposed to be here. While, strictly speaking, I started my career in BBC local radio, I soon moved into computer magazines -- and then I left, from boredom. I'm only telling you this because it's you. Also because they were PC computer magazines: I struggled to get excited when this month's grey box was one percent faster or perhaps 10 percent greyer than the last. Yet by sheer number of hours alone, I think I've written more computer journalism on MacNN in the last 19 months than I have anything else.

BBC ships iPlayer on-demand video app for Apple TV in United Kingdom
The BBC has released its iPlayer app for the fourth-generation Apple TV in the United Kingdom, tvOS software it said was in development in October. The app offers effectively all of the functions users of the on-demand video service can take advantage of through other devices, including its main 30-day catch-up feature, streams of live broadcasts with a live restart option, and access to video content released exclusively via the BBC iPlayer.

BBC Store opens in UK with over 7,000 hours of new, classic shows
The BBC has expanded the online viewing options for its content, by launching its own digital store for its shows. The BBC Store will allow UK citizens to pay for individual shows from the broadcaster for later viewing, with the opportunity to buy currently-running shows for later viewing beyond the iPlayer 30-day limit running alongside classic programs from the BBC archives, all of which can be bought and downloaded to the user's home collection.

Briefly: BBC iPlayer for new Apple TV, New Google Fiber areas proposed
The BBC has confirmed it is bringing iPlayer to the new Apple TV in the future, but not at the set-top box's launch. The popular on-demand video streaming service, which allows viewers in the United Kingdom to watch missed content from the broadcaster's collection of TV channels and radio stations, will be arriving on the fourth-generation Apple TV in the coming months according to BBC director-general Tony Hall.

Briefly: BBC switches away from Flash, Facebook trials profile changes
The BBC is moving away from using Flash for its iPlayer on-demand video service, in favor of HTML5. The broadcaster is now allowing service users to opt in to use the HTML5 player to view shows from web browsers including Chrome, Opera 32, Firefox 41, Internet Explorer 11, Microsoft Edge, and Safari on iOS. While users of Safari for Mac will still have to use Flash, the BBC has already been using HTML5 to stream video to its iOS app for some time.

Mac Game Review: Elite: Dangerous 1.3.08
This is a hands-on review of what I expect I'd be calling, easily, the best game I'd ever played, if only I'd kept my hand in. For I played the original Elite, the really original one, as first appeared on the BBC Micro in 1984. It was a marvel that stretched that 8-bit technology to its core -- yet as good as I got at it, I wasn't bitten by the gaming bug. I can't claim I've never played anything since -- I lost some decades of my life to Lemmings -- but Elite: Dangerous is my first exposure to modern games. It's my first introduction to Steam. Elite back after 30 years, and Steam in all its 2015 power: I'm really reviewing the game alongside this entire environment, and also exorcising some of my childhood.

Game Replay: Destiny storage offer, EA-CD Projekt rumor debunked
Welcome to the Game Replay, the thrice-weekly look at the wider world of gaming by the staff of MacNN. In today's edition, Activision solves a storage problem for Destiny players, CD Projekt Red denies a rumor of an acquisition by EA, Sony rebrands Project Morpheus, and the BBC launches a Doctor Who game maker.

BBC plans 'personalized' radio service mixing live, on-demand content
Listeners of BBC Radio in the United Kingdom will be able to have their own personalized radio station, if plans from the BBC come to fruition. Controller Mark Friend, managing multiplatform music and radio services, has outlined a potential service where every listener would be able to listen to their preferred radio programming whenever they want, as a single cohesive station, leveraging the broadcaster's existing iPlayer live streaming and on-demand services.

One More Thing podcast episode 2: Downton Apple
All the news that's fit to say plus a lot that really isn't because it's just speculation. We'd say this has been the worst week for people guessing what Apple is up to and Apple dropping hints about what it isn't doing yet, except that most weeks are the worst week for that. In this second edition of the Other MacNN Podcast, One More Thing, William Gallagher and Malcolm Owen join some dots, right some wrongs and generally put the world to rights. It's the MacNN guarantee: we'll put the world to rights for you, but you'd probably best tune in to find out exactly how we're doing that. Also to learn the details of our Thingies of the Week.

Briefly: T-Mobile updates family plans, BBC iPlayer Radio offline mode
T-Mobile has revamped its family plan, as part of its "Uncarrier Amped" announcements. The new scheme has two people each having unlimited calls, texts, and 10GB of LTE data for each line for $100 per month, with additional lines including their own 10GB allocations costing an extra $20 per month, and an additional 10GB of data available at $10 per month per line. From now until Labor Day, the carrier will cut the cost of the fourth line entirely, making the four-person family plan with 10GB of data each cost $120 per month.
Now AAPL Stock: The symbol you provided ("AAPL") doesn't appear to be registered
Cirrus creates Lightning-headphone dev kit
Apple supplier Cirrus Logic has introduced a MFi-compliant new development kit for companies interested in using Cirrus' chips to create Lightning-based headphones, which -- regardless of whether rumors about Apple dropping the analog headphone jack in its iPhone this fall -- can offer advantages to music-loving iOS device users. The kit mentions some of the advantages of an all-digital headset or headphone connector, including higher-bitrate support, a more customizable experience, and support for power and data transfer into headphone hardware. Several companies already make Lightning headphones, and Apple has supported the concept since June 2014. http://bit.ly/29giiZj

Apple Store app offers Procreate Pocket

The Apple Store app for iPhone, which periodically rewards users with free app gifts, is now offering the iPhone "Pocket" version of drawing app Procreate for those who have the free Apple Store app until July 28. Users who have redeemed the offer by navigating to the "Stores" tab of the app and swiping past the "iPhone Upgrade Program" banner to the "Procreate" banner have noted that only the limited Pocket (iPhone) version of the app is available free, even if the Apple Store app is installed and the offer redeemed on an iPad. The Pocket version currently sells for $3 on the iOS App Store. [32.4MB]
Porsche adds CarPlay to 2017 Panamera
Porsche has added a fifth model of vehicle to its CarPlay-supported lineup, announcing that the 2017 Panamera -- which will arrive in the US in January -- will include Apple's infotainment technology, and be seen on a giant 12.3-inch touchscreen as part of an all-new Porsche Communication Management system. The luxury sedan starts at $99,900 for the 4S model, and scales up to the Panamera Turbo, which sells for $146,900. Other vehicles that currently support CarPlay include the 2016 911 and the 2017 models of Macan, 718 Boxster, and 718 Cayman. The company did not mention support for Google's corresponding Android Auto in its announcement. http://bit.ly/295ZQ94

Apple employees testing wheelchair features
New features included in the forthcoming watchOS 3 are being tested by Apple retail store employees, including a new activity-tracking feature that has been designed with wheelchair users in mind. The move is slightly unusual in that, while retail employees have previously been used to test pre-release versions of OS X and iOS, this marks the first time they've been included in the otherwise developer-only watchOS betas. The company is said to have gone to great lengths to modify the activity tracker for wheelchair users, including changing the "time to stand" notification to "time to roll" and including two wheelchair-centric workout apps. http://bit.ly/2955JDa

SanDisk reveals two 256GB microSDXC cards
SanDisk has introduced two 256GB microSDXC cards. Arriving in August for $150, the Ultra microSDXC UHS-I Premium Edition card offers transfer speeds of up to 95MB/s for reading data. The Extreme microSDXC UHS-I card can read at a fast 100MB/s and write at up to 90MB/s, and will be shipping sometime in the fourth quarter for $200. http://bit.ly/294Q1If

Apple's third-quarter results due July 26
Apple has advised it will be issuing its third-quarter results on July 26, with a conference call to answer investor and analyst queries about the earnings set to take place later that day. The stream of the call will go live at 2pm PT (5pm ET) via Apple's investor site, with the results themselves expected to be released roughly 30 minutes before the call commences. Apple's guidance for the quarter put revenue at between $41 billion and $43 billion. http://apple.co/1oi1Pbm

Twitter stickers slowly roll out to users
Twitter has introduced "stickers," allowing users to add extra graphical elements to their photos before uploading them to the micro-blogging service. A library of hundreds of accessories, props, and emoji will be available to use as stickers, which can be resized, rotated, and placed anywhere on the photograph. Images with stickers will also become searchable with viewers able to select a sticker to see how others use the same graphic in their own posts. Twitter advises stickers will be rolling out to users over the next few weeks, and will work on both the mobile apps and through the browser. http://bit.ly/29bbwUE
