Category: Apple Insider

Apple has come under fire for failing to pay artists taking part in the Apple Store’s Today at Apple sessions in San Francisco, after it was discovered participants were offered a free Apple product instead of receiving an appearance fee from the retail outlet.

The Today at Apple sessions provide a way for visitors to the Apple Store to see performances and discussions by artists and creative individuals. While potentially offering a number of benefits to those taking part, some artists are dissatisfied at their treatment by the iPhone maker, especially concerning how they are compensated for their appearance.

Artists taking part in the in-store events are not paid, according to a report from KQED, with eleven artists confirming no monetary compensation is offered by Apple at all for events in San Francisco. Compensation was provided, but in the form of goods, with the choice of AirPods, an Apple TV, or an Apple Watch Series 3 on offer.

It is thought that the practice has been occurring for quite some time, as Counter Culture Group founder Victor Valle advised of two artists who performed at the Union Square store in 2017, in exchange for an Apple Watch. At the same time, Valle believes the opportunity is good for artists at first glance. “This may feel like it’s going to be the break for you, like, ‘Oh man, we’re doings something with Apple!” suggests the creative agency founder.

Valle declined further offers from Apple to book clients, noting there is “no return” for artists spending time and money making a show in that situation. “You take a hit financially trying to get a band together, pay your members, pay your way out to the store or even park in the ares,” he adds.

The relative lack of promotion of an artist’s event by Apple itself is also considered a problem for those taking part. The lack of official Today at Apple social media accounts and the simple listing of upcoming events on the Apple Store’s page offers little marketing, but while Apple does provide digital assets in the form of “Instagram-ready flyers” the artists could post to their own social media accounts, the flyers also reuse the artists’ existing promotional images.

A lack of a photographer to document one poetry reading was also seen as a misstep by playwright Ayodele Nzinga, who suggests the addition would have made working for trade a more worthwhile prospect for the event.

Vanessa Nguyen, a visual artist and producer known as Besame, enquired with Apple about potential monetary compensation, but was informed “all they could do was give product out.” In that event, her creative collective Le Vanguard received a number of Apple TVs and an iPad.

Most of the artists contacted for the report believe Apple should pay for artistic labor if it truly values it, or to provide a sufficient level of promotion for the artists.

Apple was recently criticized for seemingly taking advantage of creative work, in its “Shot on iPhone” challenge. The original terms of the competition had Apple using winning images on billboards and in stores, but only offered exposure as the prize, a mistake Apple rectified quickly by offering to pay a licensing fee to winners.

 

By Roger Fingas
Wednesday, March 13, 2019, 12:57 pm PT (03:57 pm ET)

Apple on Wednesday confirmed its recent takeover of Laserlike, a Silicon Valley startup that applied machine learning to content discovery.

The firm was actually absorbed sometime last year, The Information said. It’s not clear what the terms of the deal were, or why exactly Apple would want the business.

Laserlike was active for four years and concentrated on an “interest search engine” that could fetch news, video, and general Web content relative to each user. A key assumption was that people may want to know about things that don’t necessarily pop up in their usual sources, such as a car recall or an upcoming music festival. The app for the engine is no longer available.

A possibility is that Apple will use Laserlike’s technology and/or staff to boost its own machine learning efforts. Siri, for instance, has been criticized as weaker than rival AI assistants from Amazon and Google, which have the advantage of being hooked into massive amounts of cloud data. Apple’s privacy stance has siloed Siri in many cases, and wherever possible it relies on on-device processing.

The technology could also be applied to services like Apple News. A paid subscription option, Apple News Magazines, should be announced at a March 25 press event alongside a video streaming service, which itself will need recommendations to spur viewing.

The Laserlike crew has reportedly joined Apple’s AI division, led by John Giannandrea, who was hired away from Google in 2018. His unit oversees the strategy for AI and Machine Learning across all Apple products, as well as the development of Core ML and Siri.

More recently Giannandrea kicked Bill Stasior out of Siri development, allegedly to steer work towards research and away from evolutionary upgrades. It’s unknown if Stasior has been replaced.

 

Video

By Andrew O’Hara
Saturday, March 09, 2019, 08:14 am PT (11:14 am ET)

Using AirPods with a new Samsung Galaxy S10 is easy to do. AppleInsider walks you through how to pair them, as well as what features you may miss out on.

AirPods have become the king of true wireless earbuds, taking over the iOS world. Fortunately, you don’t have to have an iPhone or iPad to use AirPods. While you lose out on a couple features, here is how you can pair your AirPods with your brand new Samsung Galaxy S10, S10+, S10e, or most other Bluetooth devices.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6i2gV5EH2-8&w=560&h=315]

How to

Start by placing your individual AirPods into the charging case. While the case is open, press and hold the small pairing button located on the back.

Open the Bluetooth settings menu on your Galaxy S10 (or another device).

Choose AirPods and confirm the pairing.

Now you can listen to your music, movies, podcast or whatever else through your AirPods just like any other Bluetooth earbuds.

When you’re done, from the Bluetooth menu, forget or unpair the headphones so they no longer connect. All previous iCloud associations remain intact as well, so when you unpair from your work PC you can instantly use them once more with your iPhone.

Trade-offs

Being that other non-Apple devices lack certain aspects, there are a few things that don’t work as they do on iOS. For starters, as outlined above, the simple and elegant pairing process is a no-go. You are stuck pairing the old fashioned way.

The controls on the sides of the earbuds also act differently. A double-tap on either earbud will act as a play/pause button. On iOS, this can be configured to suit your preferences.

You also don’t get to take advantage of the iCloud sharing that seamlessly syncs the AirPods to all your devices, as it does on Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, and Apple Watch.

What you get

The sound is still good, the range and signal strength is fantastic, they pack a ton of battery in a small design, and they are iconic enough to be recognized by anyone as you walk down the street.

We’ve espoused our love of Apple’s true wireless earbuds many times over the years and that still holds true today.

Whether you’re going from an iPhone to a new Galaxy S10 or you already have an Android device but want to rock Apple’s buds, it is extremely easy to do.

 

Hands-On

By Roger Fingas
Thursday, March 07, 2019, 11:47 am PT (02:47 pm ET)

Logitech’s latest 5.1 surround system, the Z606, tries to strike a balance between cost and modern expectations such as Bluetooth support.

Surround sound isn’t quite de facto yet, but it’s certainly more affordable than it used to be. Even if you don’t want to invest in a “true” surround system, many headphones and soundbars can now get you close enough.

The Z606 is probably one of the least expensive 5.1 options on the market. It’s just $129.99, less than many individual speakers, yet it comes with a remote, Bluetooth 4.2, and on-sub controls with a simple LED display. You can connect any 3.5mm or RCA device, though in the latter case you’ll have to supply your own cables.

There are a few ways it reaches such a low pricetag. First the system is rated at 160 watts of peak power, or 80 watts RMS. That’s weak when you consider that Logi’s own Z906 has specs of 1000 watts and 500 watts respectively, albeit for $399.99.

The Z606 is also completely wired apart from Bluetooth compatibility. That means you’ll be stringing unsightly wires around, though Logi was smart enough to use 20.3-foot cables for the two rear channels, meaning you (probably) won’t need any extensions to reach the back of a room.

We’ll have more to say later, but for now we’ll say that initial tests were underwhelming. We had to crank the volume to hear much of the surround effect, even after using software to boost decibel levels and correct room dimensions. Audio fidelity was merely acceptable — with both 3.5mm and Bluetooth we occasionally heard distortion on the high end, and the subwoofer could stand to deliver more punch, which may not be surprising since it’s capped at 50 hertz and 50 watts.

There were a few moments of genius, such as when we tried a couple of tracks from Pink Floyd’s remastered “The Wall” on Spotify’s high-quality setting. For whatever reason, that version of the album easily filled the room with ear-pleasing sound, moreso than some of the other 5.1-enabled audio we tried.

Stay tuned to AppleInsider for a full review in the near future.

Where to buy

Logitech’s Z606 5.1 surround sound speaker system is available for pre-order from Logitech directly, as well as Amazon.com. Priced at $129.99, both retailers are including free shipping on the speakers as well.