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The Single-Footage Edition Thursday, May 30, 2024

Apple Touts The Power Of M4 iPad Pro With A Trio Of Green Screen Creativity, by Michael Potuck, 9to5Mac

The one-minute ad features work commissioned by Apple with three different animators/illustrators offering their unique perspectives on what to do with a single piece of green screen footage on an M4 iPad Pro with Apple Pencil Pro.

Apple’s New iPad Pro Ad Puts The Focus Back On Creators, by Allison Johnson, The Verge

The animators are listed farther down in the caption; they are Natalie Labarre, Jin & Jay, and Eric Lane. All real people! Personally, I think their work leaves a more lasting impression than the previous one.

Spatial Adventures

Apple Vision Pro And Marvel Studios’ New Interactive ‘What If…?’ Game Lets Fans Play The Hero, by Rudie Obias, Hollywood Reporter

Time. Space. Reality. These are three of the elements you can control in Marvel Studios‘ What If…? – An Immersive Story, a new interactive original experience for the Apple Vision Pro inspired by the animated series of the same name.

One-part series original and one-part video game, What If? is available as a free app starting on Thursday, May 30, exclusively for the tech company’s mixed-reality headset.

Review: “What If?” Shows Off The Vision Pro’s Strengths, by Jason Snell, Six Colors

It’s hard to judge “What If?” overall, because it really does seem like a sampler platter of ways this sort of entertainment could evolve in the future. Is there room for something that’s more interactive than watching TV, but less interactive than a full-on video game? I have no idea. But I do know that the hour I spent with “What If?” was maybe the best hour I’ve spent on the device since I got it. If Apple is looking for a single app that demonstrates all the features of the Vision Pro at its best, “What If?” may be the answer.

Marvel’s What If…? Vision Pro App Is An Awkward Mix Of Video Game And Movie, by Wes Davis, The Verge

This stuff is actually fun to do, but it’s also very constrained by the fact that you can only do it at scripted moments, which sucks. That would be fine if the story was compelling, but it’s not given any room to be. It’s just a series of brief vignettes that serve as setup for the next interactive section, then you’re dropped in to get whichever stone you’re after, at which point you learn a new skill that you may or may not use again later. Each vignette basically follows the same pattern and ends up feeling like it’s building to something that never pays off.

I Spent An Hour In Marvel’s Apple Vision Pro Experience. I’m Still Not Sure Why, by Marah Eakin, Wired

Just sitting on a couch flopping my hand around like a fish felt anti-climactic, considering I was supposedly tasked with saving all of humanity. Ultimately, it felt like a ride on the Jungle Cruise, in that there was a lot of action and story supposedly happening all around, but at no point did I feel like it was in any way real or dependent on me caring.

Stuff

Beats Solo Buds Available To Order June 18, Launching June 20, by Eric Slivka, MacRumors

Following a late April announcement, the upcoming Beats Solo Buds will be available to order starting Tuesday, June 18, with a launch coming two days later on Thursday, June 20.

Japanese 'My Number Card' Digital IDs Coming To Apple's Wallet App, by Eric Slivka, MacRumors

Apple today announced that support for national My Number Card IDs in Japan will be coming to Apple's Wallet app "late next spring," marking the first expansion of digital IDs in Apple Wallet beyond the United States.

Apple's Tap To Pay On iPhone Now Available In Italy, by Filipe Espósito, 9to5Mac

As in other countries where the feature is available, the company has been working closely with major payment platforms in Italy so that they can provide support for Tap to Pay on iPhone to their customers. Nexi SoftPOS and SumUp are among the first platforms to work with Apple in Italy.

Halide's Kino App Aims To Revolutionize Shooting iPhone Video, by Jeremy Gray, PetaPixel

The team says its mission with Kino is to “make great, cinematic video easy — while still delivering an app that’s powerful enough for real pros.” In that spirit, Kino sports a simple user interface but complete manual control.

However, while seasoned vets can override automatic tools to dial in their desired settings, Kino promises very sophisticated features to help beginners get cinematic footage. Kino includes “AutoMotion,” for example, which enables users to get a 180-degree shutter angle on footage without tweaking settings. This is achieved through auto control over exposure values.

Pixelmator Pro 3.6, by Agen Schmitz, TidBITS

The update introduces a new masking framework that enables you to add masks by simply double-clicking a layer or selection.

Carrot Weather Gets Major Update With New Look, Line Charts, Fresh Layouts, And More, by Michael Potuck, 9to5Mac

The default new design features a “garden that grows over time,” line charts have arrived for hourly and daily forecasts, weather news is integrated from around the world, and more.

YouTube Stops Screen Stealing On Apple TV, by Joe Steel, Unauthoritative Pronouncements

So what happened? What made the screensavers go poof all of a sudden? Is this a temporary reprieve as something about the screensavers gets retooled, or is this permanent? Is it because someone from Apple called someone from Google and got this quietly killed only on Apple TVs?

Notes

Apple Signals That It’s Working On TV+ App For Android Phones, by Mark Gurman, Bloomberg

In a job listing published in recent days, Apple said it’s looking for someone to lead the development of “fun new features” and “help build an application used by millions to watch and discover TV and sports.” A spokesman for Apple declined to comment.

Apple Wins Legal Battle In China Over App Store Fees, by Business Times

A Chinese court dismissed a case filed by a local consumer against Apple’s commission fees for purchases via its App Store, granting the US company some reprieve as it faces growing scrutiny around the world over its practices.

Apple has not abused its status despite dominating the App Store, the Shanghai Intellectual Property Court said in an unpublished on Wednesday (May 29) verdict seen by Bloomberg News.

The Last Kid In Ninth Grade Without An iPhone, by Liz Krieger, The Cut

Greta always knew she would have to face her first year of high school without a phone. Her parents made their stance clear back when she was in elementary school, then banded together with a handful of other families in the neighborhood to stand firm.

“I know I missed out on hanging out with friends because I just didn’t know or wasn’t able to coordinate. And there were conversations I was not a part of,” says Greta, who is now 17 and finishing her senior year in Richmond, Virginia. Her parents finally relented the summer before Greta began tenth grade. “It was actually a huge deal, in junior year, when I was finally able to get added to this text thread that a group of girls had all started many years before. Getting added to an established group chat can be really hard.” Feeling clueless about viral videos and memes was also deflating. “Sometimes I pretended to know, although that can be embarrassing too. But honestly, my friends usually just explained it all to me, then they sometimes joked that ‘I live under a rock.’”

Bottom of the Page

Remember all those iPad AR demos at all the keynotes before the Vision Pro?

So, why isn't any of these AR stuff on the iPad anymore?

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Thanks for reading.