Every year, attorneys in Louisiana need to take a one-hour CLE on professionalism. I’ve been to some good professionalism CLEs, but I’ve also been to many that seem to repeat everything you have heard before. The Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary Board made the smart decision to try to do something different in the realm of professionalism, and has released a Professionalism and Technology one-hour online CLE. I was pleased to be a part of it. The CLE is s lively panel discussion moderated by Loyola Law School Professor Dane Ciolino, a leading authority on Louisiana legal ethics. The participants were me, Abid Hussain, Rajan Pandit, and Brandi McNeil. The four of us have very different practices (for example, Brandi is a public defender) so we all had different perspectives on technology and professionalism. We recorded this three months ago at the WLAE studio in Jefferson, LA, and the CLE became available just a few days ago.
LADB is only charging $20 for this CLE, and since it is an online CLE you can just watch it at your desk over your lunch hour, making this a cheap and easy way to get your professionalism credit. And if you are trying to decide whether to watch this CLE, LADB even produced a trailer for the CLE, thus making this the first time that I have ever appeared in a trailer. (I think it would have been better if they had added a Don LaFontaine-style “In a world” voice-over.) Here is the trailer:
If you are a Louisiana attorney looking to get your professionalism credit before the end of this year, I think that you would enjoy this one. Click here to sign up. (Scroll down to the “E-Learning Courses” section.)
I was supposed to be in trial on Monday, but my trial was continued, which means that I won’t be stuck in a courtroom when the solar eclipse happens between Noon and 3pm Central. Unfortunately, I didn’t buy solar eclipse glasses, and it now seems impossible to buy them for a reasonable price — although the current weather report in New Orleans is cloudy on Monday anyway, so perhaps it won’t make a difference for me. If you plan to take a picture of the eclipse with your iPhone, Ben Lovejoy of 9to5Mac has some helpful tips for doing so. My law firm actually has offices in two of the cities that will be lucky enough to experience a total eclipse (Nashville, TN and Columbia, SC), and thus for about three minutes on Monday, I’ll be jealous of my partners in those offices. But of course, in only 61 years, they will all be jealous of me when the May 11, 2078 total solar eclipse occurs in New Orleans — and I suspect that the 2078 version of the iPhone is going to have a really awesome camera. And now, the news of note from the past week:
California attorney David Sparks writes about the future of the Workflow app, a great automation app for the iPhone/iPad which was recently acquired by Apple. David sees signs that Apple may enhance automation in iOS. I hope he is right because it would allow iPads and iPhones to become even more powerful.
I recently mentioned that you might want to turn off your iPhone before crossing an international border so that a customs agent cannot make you use your finger to unlock the device and instead will need a passcode. Killian Bell of Cult of Mac reports that in iOS 11 — which I expect to be released next month — you will be able to press the home button five times to quickly disable using Touch ID to unlock a device.
John Gruber of Daring Fireball discusses a report on the Wall Street Journal that Apple is preparing to spend $1 billion on acquiring and creating video content, which is about half of what HBO spent last year.
Jared Newman of Fast Company examines why the iPad Pro smart connector isn’t very popular for third party accessory manufacturers. I’m now on my second iPad Pro, and I don’t think that I have ever used that connector.
And finally, here is a video describing the Bios Incube, a device that lets you take the ashes of a deceased person and turn them into a plant that can communicate with you via your iPhone. I don’t think that I’m interested in having dead people send me text messages through a plant, but I will give credit for originality. I can honestly say that I have never thought of this as a use for my iPhone:
Over the last few days, in response to President Trump’s remarks regarding the tragedy in Charlottesville, a number of business leaders resigned from White House councils which President Trump had formed. As more and more CEOs did so, I kept waiting to see what Apple CEO Tim Cook would do with regards to the American Technology Council — and other attorneys who know that I follow Apple news have asked me about this too. After all, at the American Technology Council meeting two months ago, Cook was pictured sitting right next to President Trump (although many thought that Cook didn’t look too happy about that). However, last night I saw this article from Kif Leswing of Business Insider in which he explained that Cook and other tech CEOs are not actually on the American Technology Council; they were simply invited to speak at the June event. Jackie Wattles of CNN reported the same thing. Because Cook isn’t even a member, there was nothing for him to resign from.
President Trump has had a very rocky relationship with Apple over the past year. Last night, Tony Romm and Kara Swisher of Recode wrote about some of the details of that history. They also shared an articulate letter that Cook wrote to Apple employees yesterday regarding the horrible events in Charlottesville and the disgraceful response of President Trump. Like many of Cook’s statements on issues relating to equality and fairness, it is well-written and I think it is worth reading:
Team,
Like so many of you, equality is at the core of my beliefs and values. The events of the past several days have been deeply troubling for me, and I’ve heard from many people at Apple who are saddened, outraged or confused.
What occurred in Charlottesville has no place in our country. Hate is a cancer, and left unchecked it destroys everything in its path. Its scars last generations. History has taught us this time and time again, both in the United States and countries around the world.
We must not witness or permit such hate and bigotry in our country, and we must be unequivocal about it. This is not about the left or the right, conservative or liberal. It is about human decency and morality. I disagree with the president and others who believe that there is a moral equivalence between white supremacists and Nazis, and those who oppose them by standing up for human rights. Equating the two runs counter to our ideals as Americans.
Regardless of your political views, we must all stand together on this one point — that we are all equal. As a company, through our actions, our products and our voice, we will always work to ensure that everyone is treated equally and with respect.
I believe Apple has led by example, and we’re going to keep doing that. We have always welcomed people from every walk of life to our stores around the world and showed them that Apple is inclusive of everyone. We empower people to share their views and express themselves through our products.
In the wake of the tragic and repulsive events in Charlottesville, we are stepping up to help organizations who work to rid our country of hate. Apple will be making contributions of $1 million each to the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League. We will also match two-for-one our employees’ donations to these and several other human rights groups, between now and September 30.
In the coming days, iTunes will offer users an easy way to join us in directly supporting the work of the SPLC.
Dr. Martin Luther King said, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about the things that matter.” So, we will continue to speak up. These have been dark days, but I remain as optimistic as ever that the future is bright. Apple can and will play an important role in bringing about positive change.
One of the least glamorous aspects of practicing law is doing time entry every day. We know that we need to do it to get paid, but it can be such a chore. Worst of all, sometimes you forget to record time for an activity, perhaps because you are out of the office when you work on a project, which means that you are essentially working for free. iTimeKeep from Bellefield Systems is an app which lets you enter time using your iPhone or iPad and have the time go straight into your law firm’s billing system. I’ve been using the app for the last two months at my firm, and it works great.
I wasn’t involved with setting up the back-end software for iTimeKeep at my firm — our IT folks did that — but I know that iTimeKeep works with many popular time and billing systems. We use Elite at my law firm, but I see that it also works with Aderant, Equinox, Juris LexisNexis, Omega, LawBase, Tabs3, Amicus, PCLaw, TimeMatters, and many other systems.
Once the software on the server-side is installed, users get an email with an account name and password. They activate an account, and then that’s it. The free iTimeKeep app can be downloaded from the App Store.
Entering time
When you start the iTimeKeep app, you see a list of your latest time entries — the past seven days by default, but you can load more days if you need to do so. The app shows time entries regardless of whether you entered the time in iTimeKeep or if you (or your secretary) entered the time directly in your firm’s billing system using a computer. You can edit prior time entries (as long as they have not been finalized in your billing system) or tap the plus at the top right to enter new time.
On the time entry screen, at the top you indicate the client and matter. The app can default to the last matter on which you entered time, and if that isn’t correct you can easily select the right matter by just tapping the matter area at the top. This brings up a list of your recent matters, plus a search field so that you can do a full text search of client and matter names on your billing systems. I was amazed how quickly the full text search works.
The app defaults to “today” for the time entry date but you can change that if you are entering time for another day. To record hours, you can either press start to begin a timer or you can just directly enter the time by tapping on the 0.00.
I usually just enter my time directly, but the timer feature is pretty sophisticated. If you need to switch to another matter, you can pause time on one matter and then start a timer for another time entry. If you need to adjust the time (for example, if you forgot to press the START button when you started working) you can use the NUDGE button to add or subtract 1, 5 or 10 minutes. Tap END to stop the timer. Even when you use the timer to initially record time, you can still tap on the time to manually change the time entry as needed.
There is a description field where you enter your time description. You can use the iPhone/iPad built-in Siri dictation to speak your time entry if you prefer. You can also use the iPhone’s keyboard shortcut feature to speed up time entry. (In the Settings app, go to General -> Keyboard -> Text Replacement.) For example, if I type “tcw” on my iPhone, it automatically changes that to “Telephone conference with ” so I just need to type the name and the “re” information.
If your matter requires a task code, iTimeKeep will know that and will prompt you to select one from a list (or search for one). I encourage you to enter your description first, because iTimeKeep is smart enough to read what you wrote and will suggest, at the top of the task code list, the likely applicable task code.
When you are finished with your entry you can tap Submit to send it to your time entry system. If you are not yet finished with the entry, you can also flip the switch for Save as Draft. This is helpful if you want to just enter part of the information now and fill in the rest later; when an entry is a draft, iTimeKeep won’t yet validate it against your time entry system. Turn off the Save as Draft function and tap Submit when you are finished.
Review your time
When you are on the main iTimeKeep screen, the word Calendar is at the bottom right. Tap that word to see a summary of all of your time for the month. At the top you see your total hours month-to-date, including an indication of how many were billable hours and how many were non-billable. Then you will see specific daily totals.
You can tell iTimeKeep your daily hourly goal, such as 8.0 hours a day. That way, if you tap the Missing Time tab at the top of the calendar screen, the app will show you any days in the current month when you didn’t record 8.0 hours. For example, when I took the below screenshot, I had not yet entered my time for the day, so iTimeKeep showed me that “today” was the only day so far in the month when I had not yet recorded at least 8 hours:
Apple Watch
If you own an Apple Watch, you can even use your watch to do at least some of the work of recording your time. Start the iTimeKeep app and press the plus sign to start a timer. Then do your work. If you need to pause at any point, just tap the pause button on the watch, and then tap resume when you are ready to start again.
When you are finished with your task, tap the End button. This will cause iTimeKeep to convert the time into .1 increments and will show you the total. Then tap Next and iTimeKeep will start Siri dictation on the watch for you to dictate your time description. Tap Done when you are finished.
The Apple Watch app will then send this time entry to your iPhone. The entry will be incomplete — there won’t be a client / matter assigned yet — so you’ll need to tap the entry to fix the details. But the most important parts will be there: what you did, and how long it took you to do it.
Other ways to enter time
iTimeKeep also has a web browser interface, so if you are at your home computer you can enter time using your full size keyboard. There is also an Android app, which is nice if some of the folks in your law firm don’t use an iPhone.
Security
Your time entries obviously contain lots of confidential and privileged information. As you would expect, Bellefield takes security very seriously, and has a page of its website devoted to all of the security features. For example, all data communication is encrypted using SSL.
Conclusion
iTimeKeep has been around since 2011, and I’ve been watching it from afar over the years as the product has improved. Now that I’ve been able to use iTimeKeep at my law firm for the last few months, I’m really impressed. iTimeKeep is fast, simple and intuitive to use. I can enter time on my iPhone (or iPad) just as easily as I can on my computer, and sometimes even faster because of keyboard shortcuts and the ability to use Siri. I know that iTimeKeep is communicating with my law firm’s servers to work, but the whole thing works so incredibly quickly that it feels like everything is just running on the device. And best of all, iTimeKeep makes it easy to enter time, and is a far better option than just jotting down time on a piece of paper that you might lose. This is not only a convenience, but it can also help you to enter your time at the time that you are working — even when you are out of the office — so that you don’t forget to enter the time. In this way, iTimeKeep can actually help you to make more money.
The cost of iTimeKeep varies depending upon the number of lawyers at your firm, and I wasn’t involved with the price discussions at my law firm. But the product is incredibly useful, so I encourage you to check it out.
I’ve become a big fan of the TripIt app combined with TripIt Pro (which I reviewed earlier this year) whenever I travel. It is nice to have all of my travel info in one spot, and the TripIt Pro service has saved my bacon in the past by altering me immediately when flights are cancelled are delayed. This week, the app was updated this week to add searchable airport maps. The feature looks quite useful. The airport maps are detailed, and make it easy to see what is around you. I don’t think you can get a full list of restaurants at a terminal, like you can in the Gate Guru app I reviewed way back in 2010, but Gate Guru doesn’t seem to be as up-to-date as it used to be so I’m glad to see that TripIt is adding this feature. Not only can you look around the map to see what is at a terminal, you can also search for just about anything at an airport such as “restaurant” or “burger”. And the app can give you step-by-step walking directions in an airport. I’m sure that I will be using this the next time that I travel. Click here for more information from the TriptIt website. And now, the news of note from the past week:
California attorney David Sparks discusses changes to the Timeline 3D app, an app which creates exactly what its name says. I know of many attorneys who have used this app to create 3D timelines used at trial.
I always use Microsoft Word when I draft anything in my law practice, but I know that some attorneys have various reasons for preferring to draft in a plain text editor. If that describes you, Jason Snell of Six Colors explains why Editorial is his favorite iPad app for writing text.
I recently discussed how the Apple Watch is in some ways a successor to the iPod nano. Jason Snell had a similar thought this week, and wrote about it in an article for Macworld.
Marco Arment, developer of the great Overcast podcast app, explains why he is removing the feature to send a podcast to an Apple Watch to allow you to listen to a podcast even if your iPhone isn’t around. This feature didn’t always work for me, but when it did work, it was incredibly useful. I hope that the feature returns in the future.
Dropbox now lets you use the Dropbox app on your iPhone for two-step verification. More details are available on the Dropbox blog.
Ben Lovejoy of 9to5Mac reports that the Uber app is being updated so that if a driver needs to contract you, there is a chat function within the app. Thus, you and the driver don’t have to use text messages to communicate.
If you subscribe to Apple Music, you can now watch the first episode of Apple’s new “TV” series, Carpool Karaoke. It features James Corden and Will Smith. Sonia Saraiya of Variety wasn’t very impressed with the episode, but I thought it was pretty good, and it made me want to watch other episodes that feature folks I’m interested in. I believe that there are 20 episodes in the first season, and starting next week there will be two episodes released each week.
And finally, I didn’t run across any interesting Apple-related videos this week, so instead I’ll share this teaser trailer for Ready Player One, a Steven Spielberg movie coming out March 30, 2018. I absolutely loved the book by Ernest Cline, which I listened to in audiobook format (read by Wil Wheaton). It is a futuristic sci-fi thriller involving virtual reality and a huge number of references to the 1980s, which is a lot of fun if you are around my age and were also a teenager in the 1980s. I hope that this movie is as good as the book, and based on this video, maybe it will be:
I often use my nice Nikon DSLR camera to take photos because the telephoto lens and add-on flash allow it to take fantastic pictures, typically (although not always) better than my iPhone. But I don’t use my Nikon camera to take video anymore because as the quality of video on the iPhone has improved over the years, it now usually does a better job than my more expensive SLR camera. The videos are bright and always in focus, and I can even shoot in 4K or 60 fps. But holding up an iPhone in my hand to take videos of more than a few minutes makes my hand tired, which makes my hand shake, which reduces the quality of the video. The Glif by Studio Neat is a clip that attaches to the iPhone, making it possible to keep the iPhone steady by mounting it on a tripod. The Glif has been around for a while, but it was significantly improved this year, and can now be purchased with a hand grip accessory. Studio Neat sent me a free review unit and I’ve been testing it out for the last few weeks. It works incredibly well.
Glif
I’ve tried lots of different devices over the years that purport to hold an iPhone for taking pictures or videos. The only ones that really felt secure were iPhone cases, but those stop working whenever Apple releases a new iPhone model with a different shape.
The Glif has an ingenious solution to this problem — one of those solutions that once you see it, you wonder why everyone hasn’t been doing it this way all along. The Glif has a lever on the back. With the lever pulled back, you can freely move the clamps on the Glif up and down to accommodate any size iPhone, even when in a case. It can open wide to about four inches, big enough to even accommodate the huge SnowLizard SLXtreme case I reviewed a few weeks ago.
Once the clamp of the Glif is around your iPhone, you push the lever in. This makes the clamp go down just a little more, enough for the rubber inside of the clamps to hold the iPhone snug.
And I do mean snug. The Glif has a fantastic grip on an iPhone, and the iPhone feels very safe and secure in the Glif.
With the iPhone in the Glif, you can use screw holes to attach the Glif to any standard tripod. There are holes on the top, bottom, and the side so you can easily mount the iPhone in either portrait or landscape orientation. And if you are really into iPhone photography and want to attach other accessories like an external light or flash and external microphone, you might have a reason to use all three holes at once.
Here is the Glif attached to a Joby GorillaPad tripod — which is useful because you can use it as a normal small tripod, or you can wrap the feet around most any object to mount your iPhone in a location.
With the iPhone in the Glif on a tripod, it will stay very still. This is nice for shooting videos when you can have a stationary camera. It is also nice for taking photos when you don’t want the camera to move, especially when taking time-lapse photos or photos in low light. Of course, pressing the button on the iPhone to take the picture can make the iPhone move, but you can instead use the timer function on the Camera app. Or better yet, if you have an Apple Watch, use the Camera app on the watch as a remote shutter for the iPhone, which is a great way to make an iPhone take a picture without touching the iPhone.
Hand Grip + Wrist Strap
Studio Neat also sells a great accessory for the Glif called the Hand Grip — another one of those devices that seems so obvious once you start using it. One of the things that I dislike about taking video with my iPhone is that my hand and forearm get tired when I am holding it up for an extended period of time. But holding the Hand Grip feels much more natural, making it easier to keep the iPhone steady, easier to pan the iPhone, and, most importantly, easier to hold the iPhone for much longer.
The Hand Grip is made of cherry wood, and it looks great and feels really nice in the hand. It has a short screw at the top which is perfect for attaching the Glif to it.
The Wrist Strap attaches to the bottom of the Hand Grip and allows you to place your hand through the strap for added protection. Even if you were to drop the Hand Grip, the strap should prevent your iPhone from falling on the ground.
The Hand Grip is not a gimbal so don’t expect to keep your iPhone perfectly steady, but it does make it much easier to keep the iPhone steady. And even if you are walking, and thus you are going to naturally have some up-and-down motion in your video, the Hand Grip keeps the iPhone more steady. Here is a short 90 second video that I shot this past weekend in a park with my kids. In the first part of the video, I am staying in one spot and panning my iPhone. In the second part of the video, I am walking and trying to keep up with my kids on scooters. The video is not perfectly steady, but it is far better than it would have been if I was just holding my iPhone only using a hand.
I look forward to trying out the Glif and Hand Grip the next time that I am on vacation taking video. Both are small enough to easily put in a pocket, and they will make it much easier to take videos. I can also imagine using the Hand Grip to hold up an iPhone over a crowd — although this might annoy the folks in the crowd behind you.
And again, the best part is that even after a long time of shooting video in the park, my hand was very comfortable holding the Hand Grip and the Glif. When not filming, you can let your hand drop as you hold the Hand Grip, and the Glif has such a secure hold on the iPhone that the iPhone remains very safe.
I’ve been talking about taking video because that is where the Hand Grip works incredibly well. My kids at first called this a “selfie stick” but that isn’t accurate. I don’t find that the Hand Grip works well for taking photos because you have to manually reach up and push the button to take each photo. If I am going to have to do that anyway, I think it is just as easy to just hold the iPhone in my hand.
Conclusion
Studio Neat, the same company that makes the great Material Dock stand, has come up with another clever and useful product. If you want to take better photos with your iPhone, keeping the camera perfectly still, the Glif is a fantastic device. It is inexpensive at $28, and it is future-proof because it can adjust to any size iPhone. Thus, you can purchase this device and use it for years. If you want to take video, the Hand Grip and Wrist Strap are great accessories. The next time you need to film your kids at a piano recital, film a birthday party, or just take some great nature videos. the Hand Grip will make it much easier to take video and the quality of the video will vastly improved. And with just a simple pull of the lever, you can release your iPhone and use it normally. The quality of these two products is top notch, and I highly recommend them to anyone who wants to use an iPhone on a tripod or with a grip.
Remember back in March of 2010 when an Apple employee left an iPhone 4 prototype in a bar, and it was subsequently purchased by Gizmodo and revealed to the world? It looks like an Apple employee goofed again, but instead of leaving an iPhone in a bar, this time the employee posted software for the unreleased HomePod on a public server. Not only did that firmware software contain previously unknown details about the HomePod, but it also contains details about an unannounced iPhone — presumably a higher-priced version of the iPhone (iPhone Pro?) that Apple is rumored to release later this year. Jason Snell of Six Colors has more details on what was revealed including the lack of a home button, a bezel-less design, and an infrared face unlock feature. I presume that some Apple employee just made a mistake, but as they say, you cannot unring the bell. Of course, the new revelations raise far more questions than they do answers, so now I’m just anticipating even more the announcement of the next iPhone, which I’m guessing will occur on Sept. 6 or Sept. 12, 2017. And now, the rest of the news of note from the past week:
Sparks also compares and contrasts the 10.5″ iPad Pro with the 12.9″ iPad Pro and gives advice for deciding which one to buy. I love my 12.9″ iPad Pro and cannot imagine going back to a smaller size, even though I understand the appeal of a smaller and lighter device.
A few weeks ago, I discussed the risks of your iPhone being searched when you cross the border to return to the United States. We now have the first ethics opinion to discuss this issue, as reported by Debra Cassens Weiss of the ABA Journal. There’s a lot of interest in this opinion — Formal Opinion 2017-5 of the New York City Bar. For example, the opinion says that if a border agent asks to search an iPhone which contains privileged information, “the attorney first must take reasonable measures to prevent disclosure of confidential information, which would include informing the border agent that the device or files in question contain privileged or confidential materials, requesting that such materials not be searched or copied, asking to speak to a superior officer and making any other lawful requests to protect the confidential information from disclosure. To demonstrate that the device contains attorney-client materials, the attorney should carry proof of bar membership, such as an attorney ID card, when crossing a U.S. border. Finally, if the attorney discloses clients’ confidential information to a third party during a border search, the attorney must inform affected clients about such disclosures pursuant to Rule 1.4.” The opinion also recommends that, in certain cases, a lawyer consider not keeping confidential information locally on the device and instead use secure remote access technology to access confidential information when abroad.
In an article for Backchannel on Wired, Steven Levy discusses Apple’s efforts to make Cochlear implants (which allow some deaf people to hear for the first time) work with the iPhone.
If you use the Uber app, I see that you now have an option to tip your driver, and then when the app sends you an email receipt, the tip is indicated on the receipt.
And finally, Apple is about to release the new Carpool Karaoke series. I’ve always enjoyed these segments on the Late Late Show with James Corden, and it is possible that Apple may have a hit on its hands. We’ll see. The first show in the series will feature James Corden and Will Smith, and here is a preview of that episode, and here is a longer preview of the entire series:
Yesterday, Apple released the results for its 2017 fiscal third quarter (which ran from April 2, 2017 to July 1, 2017) and held a call with analysts to discuss the results. This is typically not a big fiscal quarter for Apple; the important quarter for Apple every year is the first fiscal quarter containing the holiday sales season, and during the fiscal third quarter, most potential Apple customers are waiting to see what new products Apple will introduce in the Fall. Apple reported revenue of $45.4 billion, which is better than the $42.4 billion that Apple saw one year ago (but not as good as the $49.6 billion of two years ago). If you want to get all of the nitty gritty details, you can download the audio of the conference call from iTunes, or you can read a rough transcript of the call prepared by Seeking Alpha. Jason Snell of Six Colors also prepared a transcript. Apple's official press release is here. As always, I'm not as interested in the financial details as I am the statements of Apple executives during the call that are of interest to iPhone and iPad users. Here are the items that stood out to me:
iPhone:
During the past quarter, Apple sold just over 41 million iPhones. That's up just a tiny bit from the 40.4 million iPhones that Apple sold a year ago, but not as good as Apple's record-breaking 2015 fiscal third quarter when it sold 47.5 million iPhones.
Apple CEO Tim Cook said that the Plus model of the iPhone was especially popular this past quarter. Although Apple did not release specific numbers on the Plus model, Cook did say that Apple sold "dramatically" more iPhone 7 Plus models this past quarter than it sold iPhone 6s Plus models in the 2016 fiscal third quarter.
Cook announced that Apple has now sold more than 1.2 billion iPhones. By my math, from June 29, 2007 when the iPhone first went on sale until July 1, 2017, Apple has sold around 1,203,555,000 iPhones. Not a bad run for the first ten years.
So many folks already have an iPhone, is there room for sales growth over the next few years? Cook thinks so, saying that while he wouldn't make a specific prediction, he does "think that we can grow in both units and market share," especially because of developing markets like China and India.
iPad:
Apple sold over 11 million iPads in the last fiscal quarter. That's up from the almost 10 million that Apple sold in the 2016 fiscal third quarter.
The increase in year-to-year sales is noteworthy because it is the first time in three and a half years that iPad sales have started to increase. I think that the best way to see this is to look at a chart that shows the average of four quarters of iPad sales over time. In the following chart, the blue line shows the actual iPad sales each quarter (in millions), and you can see the peaks every year in Apple's fiscal first quarter — the holiday quarter, when folks buy lots of iPads as presents. The green bars show the average of the current quarter and the prior three quarters, which gives you a better sense of iPad sales over time. As this chart shows, the iPad was introduced in 2010 and saw a sharp rise in sales until the end of calendar year 2013 (the beginning of Apple's fiscal year 2014), followed by a decrease in iPad sales over time, and then finally a slight increase in this past quarter. It will be interesting to see over the next few quarters whether this past quarter was just a short-term increase due to the new 10.5" iPad, or whether iPad sales are back on the upswing again.
By my count, Apple has sold over 370 million iPads from April 3, 2010 to July 1, 2017.
Apple CFO Luca Maestri cited a report finding that the iPad had a 55% share of the U.S. tablet market in the month of June, the month that Apple introduced the new 10.5" iPad Pro and an updated version of the 12.9" iPad Pro. What else are folks buying? Cheap tablets. If you just look at tablets costing over $200, the iPad had an 89% market share in June.
Other:
Apple doesn't release specific sales numbers for the Apple Watch, but Cook did say that sales were up 50% in the past quarter, and said that the Apple Watch is the top selling smartwatch in the world by a "very wide margin."
Cook said that Apple is increasing production of the AirPods to try to catch up with demand, and cited a survey showing 98% customer satisfaction with AirPods.
Last week, President Trump revealed in an interview with Tripp Mickle and Peter Nicholas of the Wall Street Journal that "Tim Cook has committed to build three big manufacturing plants in the U.S." When asked to comment on that, Cook didn't directly respond, instead simply noting that Apple had directly and indirectly created a lot of jobs in the United States and had plans to do more.
You can use VPN software on an iOS device to make it appear to the outside world that you are in a different location than you really are. Many iOS users in China have used VPN software to evade China's strict restrictions on what websites can be viewed. But recently, China started to require that all VPN software be licensed — which many believe means that the Chinese government can still spy on what you are doing even if you use VPN, plus can continue to restrict the websites that you access — and this resulted in lots of VPN apps being pulled from Apple's App Store in China. Here is what Cook had to say about that. This is a long quote, but I think it is interesting:
"The central government in China, back in 2015, started tightening the regulations associated with VPN apps, and we have a number of those on our store. Essentially, as a requirement for someone to operate a VPN, they have to have a license from the government there. Earlier this year, they began a renewed effort to enforce that policy, and we were required by the government to remove some of the VPN apps from the App Store that don't meet these new regulations. We understand that those same requirements are on other app stores, and as we checked through that, that is the case.
Today there's actually still hundreds of VPN apps on the App Store, including hundreds by developers that are outside China, and so there continues to be VPN apps available. We would obviously rather not remove the apps, but like we do in other countries, we follow the law wherever we do business. And we strongly believe that participating in markets and bringing benefits to customers is in the best interest of the folks there and in other countries as well. And so we believe in engaging with governments even when we disagree. And in this particular case, now back to commenting on this one, we're hopeful that over time the restrictions that we're seeing are loosened, because innovation really requires freedom to collaborate and communicate, and I know that that is a major focus there. And so, that's sort of what we're seeing from that point of view.
Some folks have tried to link it to the U.S. situation last year, and they're very different. In the case of the U.S., the law in the U.S. supported us. It was very clear. In the case of China, the law is also very clear there. And like we would if the U.S. changed the law here, we'd have to abide by them in both cases. That doesn't mean that we don't state our point of view in the appropriate way; we always do that. And so hopefully that's a little bit, probably more than you wanted to know, but I wanted to tell you."
When asked to comment on what Apple is doing in the field of autonomous automobiles, Cook replied: "In terms of autonomous systems, what we've said is that we are very focused on autonomous systems from a core technology point of view. We do have a large project going and are making a big investment in this. From our point of view, autonomy is the mother of all AI projects. And the autonomous systems can be used in a variety of ways and a vehicle is only one. But there are many different areas of it and I don't want to go any further with that." It was interesting that Cook volunteered that the autonomous artificial intelligence work that Apple is doing has applications other than self-driving cars.
As reported by Chris Welch of The Verge and many others, last week Apple announced that it was finished selling the iPod. There is one exception — the iPod touch — but that has always been just an iPhone without the phone. As for the iPods that were truly iPods, Apple is no longer selling them, and all iPod models are now destined to appear on Apple’s webpage for vintage and obsolete products.
Many folks have been talking about how the iPod was the precursor to the iPhone, and that is certainly true. But this past weekend I was looking at my old iPod nano 6th edition — the penultimate version of the iPod nano — and thinking about how it was a precursor to the Apple Watch. That version of the iPod nano was introduced on September 1, 2010, and I used it for many years. One of the things that I liked about it was the ability to have something very small — much smaller than a traditional iPod or iPhone — that you could clip to your shirt and just have earphones coming out. It was so light that you barely noticed it when it was clipped to your clothes. You could walk around and do chores, exercise, etc. without carrying anything heavy. But unlike the iPod shuffle which, in its second through fourth generation, could also be clipped to your clothes, the iPod nano had a screen so you could actually see what you were doing with it.
There were many folks who looked at the iPod nano (6th edition) and thought that this would make a good watch. Indeed, Apple included a clock as one of the built-in apps (even one with Mickey Mouse). Just two months after the iPod nano (6th edition) was introduced, attorney Nilay Patel (who was then with Engadget) wrote a review of the iPod nano as a watch in light of the numerous iPod nano wristbands on the market.
Thanks to the Apple AirPods and similar Bluetooth earphones, you can now achieve much of the advantage of the iPod nano watch, as long as your iPhone is in the same room. But the real replacement for the iPod nano watch is to use an Apple Watch with music loaded on it along with AirPods. That way, you can walk around and do your chores, exercise, etc. even when far away from your much larger and heavier iPhone, and without any wires getting in your way.
Having said that, the technology is not quite yet where I want it to be. Loading songs onto an Apple Watch is slow and clumsy. Playing songs with just an Apple Watch and AirPods usually works OK, but isn’t nearly as reliable as using an iPhone with AirPods. And loading podcasts onto an Apple Watch is even less convenient. You can use apps like Overcast and Watch Player to transfer podcasts, but playback is not always smooth. And the developer of Overcast, Marco Arment, recently announced on Twitter that syncing to an Apple Watch will probably not work once watchOS 4 comes out later this year so the feature is likely to be removed. Surely Apple will get this all working well at some point; hopefully, that point is sooner rather than later.
Let’s all raise a glass to the iPod. It was the device that many credit with saving Apple in the 2000s. It helped to bring about the iPhone, which is one of the most useful and amazing items in the history of technology. And it also played an important role in inspiring the Apple Watch. As Steven Levy wrote in his fantastic book chronicling the history of the iPod, the iPod truly was The Perfect Thing.
Not long after I discussed the implications of traveling with an iPhone or iPad as you cross the United States border, the TSA decided to make domestic traveling with an iPad even more complicated. This week, the TSA announced that when you go through security at an airport, you now need to remove from your bag any electronics device larger than a cellphone. Under the prior rules, you had to remove a laptop computer, but not an iPad. The new policy is “[d]ue to an increased threat to aviation security” on which the TSA provides no additional details. Note that if you use TSA Pre-Check, then this rule change doesn’t apply to you, and you can continue to keep that iPad in your bag. I signed up for Pre-Check a while ago, and now I have yet another reason to appreciate that program. And now, the other news of note from the past week:
The latest episode of Brett Burney’s Apps in Law podcast features an interview with Pennsylvania lawyer Patrick “PJ” Best, who describes how he uses iAnnotate to work with PDF files. I listened to the episode while driving home last night, and it is a great one. Best notes that one of the most useful features of iAnnotate is that the app lets you modify the toolbar to display just the tools that you like to use when annotating documents, and you can even switch between multiple toolbars. It’s been four years since I reviewed iAnnotate, and that app has received lots of great updates since that time.
California attorney David Sparks discusses Omnigraffle, an iPad app that lets you create diagrams.
New Orleans attorney Greg Rubin and I have been trading emails about Apple Watch apps, and he said that if any iPhone J.D. readers are boaters, he recommends the YoNav! app. If you have an Apple Watch Series 2, this Apple Watch app can show you your GPS coordinates even if you don’t have your iPhone with you. Finding your GPS coordinates is useful if you are on a boat, but could also be useful if you are into geo-location, or if you are hiking outdoors.
Jonny Evans of Computerworld identifies the best new features in the upcoming iOS 11.
And finally, this week Apple released a short video in which Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson shows off some of the things that you can do with Siri. It’s a funny video, so check it out if you haven’t seen it yet:
