I sure am glad that iPhone J.D. is devoted to legal mobile technology, not politics, because then I would have to discuss another depressing week of news in this Friday post such as a potential Constitutional crisis. So let's go to the other extreme and start with a story that is just too cute for words. Stephen Messenger of The Dodo reports that a woman who was looking for the beluga whale in Norway that some thought to be a Russian "spy whale" leaned out from a dock to pet the whale when her iPhone slipped out of her pocket into the waters around Hammerfest, Norway. But the beluga whale came to the rescue, retrieving the dropped iPhone and bringing it back to her. This story sounds a little hard to believe, but the story includes a video from Instagram showing exactly that — the whale bringing back the iPhone, almost like a dog retrieving a stick in a game of fetch. Let's just say that I hope that this story is true because that video makes me smile. And now, the other news of note from the past week:
- California attorney David Sparks of MacSparky discusses the tradeoff between cloud services and privacy.
- Glenn Fleishmann of Fast Company explains how you might be able to avoid using passwords at all by instead using your iPhone to authenticate yourself, a new authentication approach being authored by MobielIron — a mobile device management product used by many law firms.
- Sean Captain of Fast Company offers some iPhone tips and tricks.
- Josh Ginter of The Sweet Setup recommends shortcuts that you can use on an external keyboard with an iPad.
- One such external keyboard that you might use is the Brydge Pro 12.9 keyboard, which Jason Snell of Six Colors reviewed (and really likes).
- Chance Miller of 9to5Mac reports that the OLED screen on the Apple Watch Series 4 was named one of the "Displays of the Year" by the Society for Information Display. It is certainly one of the top reasons that I love my Apple Watch.
- Miller also describes an update to the Outlook app for iOS which includes better support for the Apple Watch.
- Apple has done an amazing job restoring the Carnegie Library in Washington, D.C., to turn it into an Apple Store which will open this weekend. Michael Steeber of 9to5Mac has a bunch of pictures showing it off.
- Apple's Beats division has released the Powerbeats Pro. They are wireless earbuds like AirPods, but they sound better, last longer, come with different sized rubber tips so they are more likely to fit your ears than AirPods, and they have an over-the-ear design that makes them much more secure in your ears during vigorous workouts (not that I have ever had my own AirPods fall out of my ears,). They are also more expensive at $249. Jason Cross of Macworld posted this review.
- Zac Hall of 9to5Mac posted these first impressions of the Powerbeats Pro.
- And finally, here is a great drone video by Duncan Sinfield showing Apple's new Apple Park campus. You can see a rainbow stage in the middle, which Apple created for a special event it is planning for May 16 (described by Mikey Campbell in this article for Apple Insider.) The building and the campus look amazing.
