Last month in In the news, I posted a link to a funny Apple commercial starring Cookie Monster. (Worth watching if you missed it!) Yesterday, Apple posted a "behind the scenes" (ahem) look at the making of that video. I think it is even funnier than the commercial itself. I don't know who came up with the idea of pairing Cookie Monster with Siri, but I hope that they have ideas for additional amusing Apple commercials. And now, the news of note from the past week:
- Massachusetts attorney Bob Ambrogi wrote a list of 42 essential apps for trial attorneys.
- California attorney David Sparks recommends writing emails backwards — starting with attachments and the body and ending with the subject line and recipients. I often write emails this way for the reasons that David notes, although it never occurred to me that I was writing the email backwards.
- New York attorney David Lat, founder of AboveTheLaw.com, provides cybersecurity tips for lawyers based upon some of the presentations at ABA TECHSHOW.
- Michael Shear of the New York Times reports that tech upgrades at the White House have finally resulted in staffers being able to use iPhones. President Obama is still required to use a specialized modified BlackBerry, but he does use an iPad.
- Jason Snell of Six Colors reviews the 9.7" iPad Pro.
- Joanna Stern of the Wall Street Journal writes about the future of smartphones.
- To celebrate being in business for 40 years, Apple put together an Apple Music playlist of songs used in Apple commercials over the years. There are some great songs on this list.
- If you are communicating with someone else who uses an iPhone, you can do so using secure end-to-end encryption by texting in iMessage or calling using FaceTime Audio or FaceTime Video. This week, and as reported by Cade Metz in an article for Wired, WhatsApp added end-to-end encryption, so now you can use that free app to make secure calls or texts with almost anyone.
- Chance Miller of 9to5Mac surveys note taking apps for the iPad Pro and Apple Pencil.
- If you want a keypad to enter numbers on your iPhone or iPad, Jordan Kahn of 9to5Mac reviews the Satechi Aluminum Wireless Keypad. It is $37.99 on Amazon.
- If you have an Apple Watch and try to meet your Activity Circles every day, you need to check out Activity++, a new $3 app by David Smith that provides an alternative interface to the circles, plus a nice iPhone app to monitor your progress. Click here for more information.
- I reviewed the Sphero BB-8 last December, a fun droid that works with your iPhone or iPad. Jason Ward of Making Star Wars reports that the device was updated so that BB-8 can watch the new Star Wars movie with you, reacting to what happens on the screen (by listening to the audio). It's a fun idea, and I look forward to trying it out when my family and I watch the Blu-Ray tonight of Episode VII. (We'll start out by watching the preview for the upcoming Rogue One Star Wars movie.)
- We've come a long way from Taylor Swift boycotting Apple Music. She now stars in a funny video for Apple Music.
- And finally, for Autism Acceptance Month, Apple produced two videos about a boy named Dillan who uses an iPad to (finally!) communicate with the outside world. Truly inspiring, and both videos are worth watching: (1) Dillan's Voice and (2) Dillan's Path: