Posts in Linked

Remaster, Episode 15: The Power of Nostalgia→

How do videogame companies use nostalgia to repackage and remaster games for new audiences? Are established and well-loved characters a strength or weakness? And what are the latest hardware rumors on the Nintendo NX?

If you’ve ever felt like nostalgia makes for good business in videogames, the latest Remaster is for you. You can listen here.

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Connected, Episode 102: Zwidge→

This week: new iPad keyboards, old ways of listening to music and a lot of emoji talk.

You know those new emoji that Apple added to iOS 10 beta 4 yesterday? There are some interesting details about them that we cover in the latest Connected. You can listen here.

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Localized iPad Pro Smart Keyboards Arrive→

Apple has introduced new Smart Keyboards for the iPad Pro with localized layouts for several languages. According to 9to5Mac, the localized Smart Keyboards include British English, French, Spanish, Italian, Arabic, and others. The keyboards are available to fit both the 9.7 and 12.9 inch models of the iPad Pro and are available from Apple’s websites in the countries where the applicable languages are spoken, along with the existing US English version of the keyboards.

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Logitech’s CREATE Keyboard for the 9.7” iPad Pro→

Logitech’s CREATE keyboard case, which I reviewed when the 12.9” iPad Pro launched in November, has received a new version for the 9.7” iPad Pro today. Logitech was able to fit all the features of the larger CREATE in this model – it’s a case that protects the front and back of the iPad, it’s got mechanical scissor keys with a full row of iOS-specific shortcuts, and it’s backlit.

Unlike the first CREATE, the 9.7” edition comes with an Apple Pencil holder that will allow you to carry an iPad Pro and a Pencil together with a physical keyboard in one package.

I wasn’t a fan of the original CREATE when it launched, but I feel like a smaller footprint and Pencil support could make the new version a much better deal for 9.7” iPad Pro users.

The new CREATE keyboard case is available today at $129.99 from Logitech’s website.

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An Ode to the iPod Classic→

Lindsay Zoladz, writing for The Ringer, has a great story on the role of the iPod Classic in today’s music streaming landscape. I understand where she’s coming from, and I found this passage on the paradox of choice particularly accurate:

“When I’m searching for something to listen to on Spotify, I feel like I end up listening to the same albums and artists again and again,” my friend Becca wrote in an email, after I asked a handful of acquaintances about their post-iPod listening habits. “My brain by itself isn’t good at cataloguing everything I love.”

The psychologist Barry Schwartz has written (or, if you don’t have too much time on your hands, has TED-Talked) about a related phenomenon he calls “paradox of choice” — the notion that, although we tend to think of freedom of choice as an inherently good thing, too much choice can leave us feeling paralyzed and anxiety-ridden. “With so many options to choose from,” he says, “people find it very difficult to choose at all.” I personally have proven this theory many times over in the past few months, when I’ve stared for a few moments at the infinite void that is the Apple Music search bar and decided, “I guess I will just listen to Pablo or Lemonade again.” Another friend I emailed summed up the Paradox of Digital Music Listening succinctly: “With device-bound listening, I absolutely feel limited by [storage] space. With streaming, I feel limited by my own memory.”

This is why I often buy videogames from a small shop in my hometown. I could open the App Store, or the eShop, or the PlayStation Store, and buy anything I want. But there’s just so much stuff. There’s too many games and too many reviews and too many Let’s Plays to choose from. Sometimes, it’s nice to have fewer options.

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Bluetooth Headphone Revenue Overtook Non-Bluetooth for the First Time in June→

Interesting data from NPD:

According to The NPD Group’s Retail Tracking Service, Bluetooth headphone revenue overtook non-Bluetooth for the first time in June accounting for 54 percent of headphone dollar sales and 17 percent of unit sales in the U.S.

And:

Beats and LG have led the Bluetooth headphone market throughout the first half of the year, accounting for approximately 65 percent of dollar sales.

Not necessarily a direct indication of decline in wired headphones, but a sign that, as average prices of Bluetooth headphones go down, consumers may prefer wireless.

Removing the headphone jack from the next iPhone will be annoying; at the same time, limitations notwithstanding, I can’t deny how nice it is not to deal with wires anymore.

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Apple Maps vs. Google Maps vs. Transit→

Concise, well-illustrated comparison of transit maps from the developers of Transit for iOS:

Transit maps are hard. Really hard. Even for Apple and Google. Piecing a transit map together, city by city, agency by agency, stop by stop, without it turning into a hairy mess is INCREDIBLY difficult. So far, no one (not even Apple or Google) have been able to create a transit map that is both automatically generated and well designed. Why is that?

As Apple outlined at WWDC, their approach to transit takes a long time because it involves manually curated details (things like signs, directions, and cultural conventions that match the real world), which wouldn’t be possible with an algorithm alone.

That said, I can vouch for Transit in Rome. The app is excellent. Well designed, with some clever interactions (such as an “arrive by” option to plan a trip on a timeline), and a joy to use. It’s also the only decent transit app that combines public transit with local car sharing services on the same map.

I wish Apple Maps transit data was a) available in Rome and b) as flexible as Transit.

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Parkopedia and Apple Strike Maps Deal→

Parkopedia, a parking service provider with data on over 40 million parking spots world-wide, has struck a deal with Apple to provide parking data to Apple Maps. Parkopedia announced that Apple Maps users in North America, Europe, Asia and Latin America:

will be able to view key information about parking garages and lots around the world.  In addition, users will have the option to click through to Parkopedia’s website and iOS app to view more detailed information including pricing, user reviews, special offers and real-time space availability. They will also be able to make reservations.

I ran a parking search for downtown Chicago, and many of the parking lots are still listing Yelp ratings and information, but I did find one nearby with Parkopedia information that included the number of spaces, the type of parking lot, payment methods accepted, height limits, hours, and a link to Parkopedia for more information.

It’s good to see Apple continuing to work with other companies to provide additional information for Apple Maps. The last week has seen a couple Google Maps announcements and with today’s news, it seems as though the competition to provide rich map data will only heat up from here.

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