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The Naming-Conundrum Edition Monday, August 27, 2018

Apple To Embrace iPhone X Design With New Colors, Bigger Screens, by Mark Gurman and Debby Wu, Bloomberg

The world’s most valuable company plans to launch three new phones soon that keep the edge-to-edge screen design of last year’s flagship, according to people familiar with the matter. The devices will boast a wider range of prices, features and sizes to increase their appeal, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing unannounced products.

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The new iPhone lineup has presented Apple with a naming conundrum, according to a person familiar with the deliberations. The company will be selling three phones that look similar and all have Face ID. But the cheapest model will be larger than the mid-range version, potentially confusing consumers.

Apple Replaced My Butterfly Keyboard, by Joe Wilcox, BetaNews

All that said, I commend Apple Store for giving more than promised with the repair—and for making a program available to fix problems for free. Still, no keyboard replacement should have been necessary. That, reportedly, particles as small as dust can cause Butterfly keyboard failure must be first and foremost regarded as a design failure.

How To Manage Your Digital Read-it-later List—before It's Too Late, by David Nield, Popular Science

Most of us have some kind of system for saving online articles we want to read...eventually. Maybe you favorite tweets, employ a dedicated app like Instapaper, add links to a bookmarks folder, or leave a few gazillion tabs open in your web browser.

There's just one problem with this habit: You add stories to your list faster than you can check them off, increasing your roundup with each passing week. Eventually, read-it-later lists can become as clogged as email inboxes.

It's time to finally finish your pile of saved stories—or at least whittle it down to a manageable size. Here are some strategies to help you work through your self-assigned reading.

Stuff

Secret iMessage Shortcuts: 14 Gestures To Speed Up Your iPhone Chat!, by Tory Foulk and Rene Ritchie, iMore

Messages is the most popular app on iPhone because it's what keeps you in touch with everyone else who has an iPhone. And iPad, and Mac, and any other kind of phone. Thanks to all the gestures and shortcuts Apple's built into Messages, it also keeps you in that contact quicker than ever. Not all of them are obvious, but all of them are useful — once you figure them out!

Eve Room HomeKit Air Quality Monitor Redesigned With Display, Built-in Battery, by Zac Hall, 9to5Mac

The original Eve Room sensor worked with HomeKit and measured temperature, humidity, and air quality — but it had a larger plastic design and ran on AA batteries. The second generation Eve Room has a much smaller design, includes a built-in rechargeable battery, and now features an e-ink display that shows you data on the device.

Replace Your Alarm Clock With Meditation Using This App, by Emily Price, Lifehacker

The iOS and Android app Beditations kind of turns the idea of how we go to sleep and how we wake up on its head, offering guided meditations not only to put you to sleep at night, but also morning meditations to wake you up in place of a traditional alarm clock.

Best Apps To Educate And Entertain Preschool- And Kindergarten-age Kids, by Joshua Rotter, CNET

Every moment can be a learning opportunity with our picks for the best educational apps for preschool- and kindergarten-age children. So before you hand your child your iPhone, iPad, or Android device to watch a cartoon in the car, over a long flight, or when you must step away for a minute, why not make the most of their time with the best apps for early learning? These kids apps are easy to pick up, provide a wealth of knowledge, and retain children's interest with an engaging interface, arresting sounds, and memorable characters. Best of all, these kids apps are so entertaining that your kids won't even know they're learning.

Notes

Apple, Sui Generis, by Jean-Louis Gassée, Monday Note

Wall Street still doesn’t trust Apple’s future. The company is seen as an anomaly, it shuns accepted ways of doing business and defies categorization. Perhaps the categories are wrong.

If Spotify Wants To Dominate Podcasting, It’s Time To Step Up Its Ambitions, by David Lidsky, Fast Company

Podcasting could be a compelling means by which Spotify distinguishes its streaming service and expands beyond music, but its efforts thus far are .5x in a world that’s moving at double or even triple speed.

Bottom of the Page

I think I read somewhere that Apple's marketing folks are involved in the product creation process right from the start -- which makes me think that there isn't any naming conundrum over at the marketing department on the names of the new iPhones.

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Thanks for reading.