Down here in New Orleans, we are preparing for the first of two big weekends of Mardi Gras, leading up to Mardi Gras day itself. I'm looking forward to enjoying the parades with my kids, friends, and family, and I'm sure that I'll be using my iPhone X to take lots of photos and videos. Carey Rose of Digital Photograph Review takes photography very seriously, and wrote this review of the iPhone X as a still and video camera. It won't surprise you that there is a lot to like. And now, the news of note from the past week:
- Chicago attorney and trial technology consultant Michael Ko explains in a YouTube video how to use TrialPad at trial to impeach a witness with a deposition video.
- New York attorney Nicole Black explains what she does and does not like about the iPhone X in an article for the GPSolo eReport.
- Jason Cross of Macworld tested wireless chargers that work with the iPhone X and iPhone 8 and reveals his favorites.
- I enjoyed this very short movie, shot with an iPhone, by director Peter Chan called Three Minutes. Worth watching.
- Josh Centers reviews the CARROT Weather app for TidBITS. This is currently my favorite weather app.
- Josh Ginter of The Sweet Setup says that Things 3 is the best task-management app for the iPhone, iPad, and Mac. My wife uses this app to manage all of her tasks, and it works well for her.
- Christian Zibreg of iDownloadBlog notes that Apple recently announced that Siri is now in use on over a half a billion devices.
- In a stream of tweets, Bethany Bongiono, a former Apple employee who led software development as the iPad was developed, shares some interesting stories about Steve Jobs and the debut of the iPad.
- Zac Hall of 9to5Mac reviews Outcast, an Apple Watch app that lets you play podcasts that are downloaded to the watch (and thus can be played even when your iPhone is not nearby).
- Bryan Wolfe of AppAdvice discusses how he is using his iPhone and Apple Watch to beat his Type-2 diabetes.
- Apple VP Phil Schiller discusses the HomePod in an interview with Bob Ankosko of Sound & Vision.
- At this point, I'm not planning to get a HomePod for the reason illustrated in this comic by The Pixel Project. But I might change my mind in the future.
- If you want to install a stereo in your car that supports CarPlay, Eric Evarts of Wirecutter recommends a model by Sony.
- CarPlay Life notes that WhatsApp Messenger now has a CarPlay app.
- Rachel Cericola of Wirecutter explains why the Lutron Caséta in-wall dimmer is the best one on the market. I reviewed this product back in 2015 and it continues to work really well for me, as do other Lutron Caséta products. If you are looking to use HomeKit to maker your home a smart home, this is the route that I recommend.
- Zac Hall of 9to5Mac reviews the Elgato Eve Button, a button that you can place anywhere in your house which people can press to cause HomeKit scenes to occur. This allows folks in your house to use a button, instead of an iPhone, to control HomeKit devices such as lights.
- And finally, speaking of Mardi Gras, here is a fun video from Apple Brazil showing off the selfie feature of the iPhone X as used by folks enjoying Carnival in Brazil. The people in this video are very colorful, in every sense of the word: