Essential Apple Podcast 52: Blood, Sweat, Tears, VPNs and Subscriptions

Recorded 13th August 2017

After my Sunday out with friends last week it’s Mark’s turn to be otherwise engaged with his social life. That means it’s down to me to keep the show on the road. So that you don’t all have to just listen to me I’m joined by Scott Willsey previously of the Pocket Sized Podcast and now co-host on Don’t Nihongo It Alone to discuss this week’s Apple and Tech related news.

On this week’s show:

Apple puts voices into people’s heads – Wired.com via Daring Fireball
iOS Beta has nearly 100 minor tweaks and refinements – YouTube
Will the next Apple Watch have its own cellular connection? – BBC
Xiaomi takes top wearable spot say Strategy Analytics – [Cult of Mac](https://www.cultofmac.com/495880/xiaomi-wearable-number-one/amp (https://www.cultofmac.com/495880/xiaomi-wearable-number-one/amp/)
That’s totally Apples and Oranges though because as they point out, the Xiaomi band costs about £18-£25 here in the UK and an Apple Watch starts at £269 – hardly competing devices I’d say… that is like saying that someone like Kia are outdoing Ferrari because they shifted more cars!
The full report in excruciating depth – from which that clickbait headline and short precis has been extracted is here Strategy Analytics Report
From @dougee
- Hotspot Shield accused of tracking, logging and selling users histories – Hacker News
Seems Hotspot might not be the only VPN you can’t rely on … never heard of this one but it seems it’s a data gathering tool for Facebook Daring Fireball
WannaCry “hero” charged with Kronos malware creation – The Telegraph
- Also Marcus Hutchins: cybersecurity experts rally around arrested WannaCry ‘hero’ – The Guardian
Firmware update blunder bricks hundreds of home ‘smart’ locks – The Register
Nightmare on Connected Home Street – Wired
From MacJim
Consumer Reports drop recommendations for Microsoft Surface with controversial reports of excessive failure rates – Daring Fireball
Blood, Sweat and Tears could power future medical tech? – The Verge
From Scott Willsey
Ulysses moves to a subscription model. Why does it matter and what’s the outrage over subscriptions? – MacStories