One of the things that I like most about my Apple Watch is the ability to receive notifications with a discreet tap on my wrist; I can just glance down and quickly see what is up, even when I am someplace where it would not be appropriate or convenient to take out my iPhone. This feature came in useful for me on Friday. I was in a day-long deposition, but I was also waiting to get a ruling from a court on an emergency motion in another case. My Apple Watch is configured so that it only taps me when I receive emails from folks added to my VIP list. Friday morning I found an earlier email from the the court (the U.S. Fifth Circuit), tapped on the sender "[email protected]," and added that account to my VIP list. That way, I knew that as soon as the Fifth Circuit ruled and sent out the email with the ruling, I would get a tap on my wrist. I received several taps on my wrist throughout the day — emails from other folks who are on my VIP list — but I could quickly glance at my watch and know that I could deal with them later. But then in the afternoon, I received the tap that was from the Fifth Circuit, and I saw that my emergency motion had been granted. Yeah! I was then able to take a break in my deposition, alert my client to the good news, and then return to my deposition. I look forward to seeing what new features are added when Apple releases the second generation of the Apple Watch (presumably this Fall), but the notification feature in the current Apple Watch is already incredibly useful. And now, the news of note from the past week:
- New Orleans attorney Ernie Svenson has been helping lawyers learn to harness the power of technology through his websites (such as Ernie the Attorney and PaperlessChase) and through his live events (such as Small Firm Bootcamp). It was Ernie who first encouraged me to start this website and who gave me advice on how to get started. Ernie is now getting ready to release an online course that will feature over 50 lessons taught by several nationally recognized speakers. The first few lessons will be free, and you can get started right now by registering at this link. The course is focused on lawyers in small firms (or ones in large firms who want to transition to a solo or small firm practice). Check it out if this looks interesting to you, and don't delay because Ernie tells me the registration for the free lessons will only be open for a short time.
- California attorney David Sparks discusses Siri and other digital assistants such as the Amazon Echo.
- I'm a fan of the Anker PowerPort 6, a device that I reviewed last year which is really useful when you are traveling and want to charge multiple devices at once. David Sparks also wrote about a new Anker charger that adds USB-C support. David says that it would be useful for MacBook owners, but it seems to me that it would also be useful for owner of the larger iPad Pro who want to charge faster. [UPDATE: I see folks saying on Twitter that this Anker device does NOT fast charge the iPad Pro. Bummer.]
- South Carolina attorney Ben Stevens reviews CardNinja, an iPhone wallet.
- Apple Music is now available half-price for students, only $4.99 a month — an excellent deal for any student who is on a budget and who listens to music. So in other words, virtually every student. Benjamin Mayo of 9to5Mac has the details.
- Apple CEO Tim Cook was interviewed by Jim Cramer of CNBC's Mad Money to discuss Apple's latest financial quarter. It's an interesting interview, and you can see both parts of it in this article by Chance Miller of 9to5Mac.
- Time Magazine wrote a list of the 50 Most Influential Gadgets of All Time. There are tons of devices on the list that I used extensively at different points in my life including the Apple iBook (#38), the Palm Pilot (#36), the Commodore 64 (#26), the iPad (#25), the BlackBerry (#24), the IBM Thinkpad (#21), the IBM Selectric Typewriter (#17), the US Robotics Sportster 56K Modem (#14), the Atari 2600 (#13), the iPod (#9), the Walkman (#4), the Mac (#3), and the iPhone (#1).
- Oscar Raymundo writes for Macworld about seven iOS apps promoted by celebrities that are actually somewhat useful.
- Nick Wingfield of the New York Times shares an interesting story about a man who lost his iPad at the airport and then used the Find My iPhone function to track it around the country.
- Abdel Ibrahim of WatchAware describes seven of the best Apple Watch complications.
- Ibrahim also reports that owners of the $200,000 Bentley Bentayga SUV can finally turn on their seat massagers with the Apple Watch, which I'm sure is news that most iPhone J.D. readers have been waiting for.
- And finally, Apple released another commercial with pictures and videos taken on an iPhone, and this one has a Mother's Day theme. It's one of the better videos in this series and worth watching. Great song too: Because You Are Who You Are by K.S. Rhoads. And by the way, if you are reading this and you are a mother, then Happy Mother's Day to you too!
