I often share stories of people who used an Apple Watch in a dire circumstance, and this one has a new twist: ice. A teacher in New Hampshire who is an experienced ice skater fell through the ice and could not get out. There was nobody around and he knew that he had about 10 minutes to live. Then he realized he was wearing his Apple Watch, so he was able to use it to call 911. Firefighters arrived about five minutes later, and he was saved. This report from Mike Cronin of WMUR has more details. And now, the news of note from the past week:
- I mentioned this in yesterday’s post about ABA Formal Opinion 498, but just in case you missed it, Apple issued an important security update this week to patch a flaw in the Safari web browser that can be exploited by malicious websites. Apple has more information here. If you haven’t yet upgraded to iOS 14.4.1, you should do so soon.
- In an article for Wisconsin Lawyer, James Pearson (who is not a lawyer) recommends the best smartphone. His top recommendation is the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro, or he recommends the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra for folks who use Android.
- Ben Court of Men’s Health provides a great behind-the-scenes look at the studio that Apple uses to create the Fitness+ videos.
- Ed Hardy of Cult of Mac reviews a new iPad stand from Twelve South called the HoverBar Duo. If you use an external keyboard and mouse/trackpad with an iPad, this looks like a great way to lift the iPad as if it was a monitor.
- If you use a Magic Keyboard for iPad, José Adorno of 9to5Mac has a good list of keyboard shortcuts. And most of his tips work with any Bluetooth keyboard.
- Heather Kelly of the Washington Post writes about how efforts by parents to limit screen time of their kids has completely gone out of the window during the pandemic. That’s certainly been true at my house. And I’m glad that my kids have been able to use an iPhone or iPad to stay in touch with friends even when they cannot be with them in person.
- John Gruber of Daring Fireball explains how to have your Apple Watch notify you when it is fully charged — which is particularly useful when you wear an Apple Watch while you sleep and need to find time to charge it during the day.
- Joanna Nelius of Gizmodo writes that a processor that was used in the iMac in the 1990s is powering NASA’s Perseverance Rover on Mars. I suspect that it won’t be long before robots on Mars are using iPhone or even Apple Watch processors.
- And finally, this has nothing to do with the iPhone, but if you have not yet seen the amazing video of a drone going through a bowling alley, you really need to watch this one. This is one of those I-cannot-believe-that-they-did-this videos, and while the technical feat is impressive enough, the way that they worked the people into the video is equally impressive. Mike Ives of the New York Times explains how the video was made — one shot, no computer graphics, albeit on the tenth try. The video is called Right Up Our Alley:
That bowling alley video is incredible. I saw that David Pogue posted it, and about it, but did not watch it until you linked it. Thanks for doing so. Ten tries to get it? I’m amazed it took that few attempts.
Best to Drew Brees. Great career.