Space Javelin

We say goodbye to Peter Mayhew, cackle at China's Game for Peace, chide Bethesda's TTRPG plagiarism, and marvel at CRYTEK's software ray tracing.

Show notes: https://hammercast.fm/81/

There was so much fail this week, cadets, that even a space whale is inadequate to convey the amount. Oh sure, Apple did pretty well -- but IDC and other analysts, Facebook, GT Advanced, Samsung, Qualcomm's caving (as it turns out), the FCC investigating carriers for selling your location data, the death of two Right to Repair bills, the just-plain-death of Anki, Adobe's attempt to pull a fast one -- and that's not even all of it! This week we're calling it all just "What the Fail?" because of the initials.

It wasn't all bad, of course -- apart from losing a bunch of senior designers in something of a cluster, it was a pretty good week to be Apple. Wall Street liked what it heard (though they're misinterpreting and/or oversimplifying things as usual), but there really is a lot to be happy about now and hopeful about later. There was a weird story speculating about mouse support for the iPad Pro (doubtful), but also CarPlay in the Prius Prime, some news (good or bad, depending on how you look at it) about macOS 10.15, an AirPower knock-off that does 90 percent of the job, a new USB-C hub for your 2018 iPad Pros, and some promising news about the return of some classic iOS games.

Mike and Charles also examining the saga of the "parental control" apps and Apple's response (with blame to go around), piece together the confusing meaning of "5G" versus "mmWave" (which is part of, but not all of, 5G), lament Bloomberg's lasting damage to SuperMicro (a US company, incidentally) and tell Tales of the Tech Bench. All this and more, cadets, so grab a pail and start to flail -- we have to rail about all this fail!

Duane, Brian and Old Man Wuerthele hold court on Borderlands 3, the Valve Index, Chinese game censorship, the Epic Games Store, the TTRPG renaissance, and more.

Show notes: https://hammercast.fm/80/

We toyed with just calling this episode "the (JC) penny drops," cadets, because of the sheer amount of "oh, didn't we tell you?" going around in the news this cycle. Facebook's in hot water with both the FTC and Canada's government, the full horror of Samsung's #galaxyfoldgate is revealed in a teardown, August halts sales of its defective View doorbell, the heads of every major US carrier unveil a slew of limitations and price hikes to go with the speed of 5G (when it really arrives), and even Apple has some 'splaining to do with regards to its notebook keyboards and travel adapters (though it still got #1 in notebook service & support).

Ming-Chi Kuo goes for the bloody obvious, Intel staves off 10nm like it was a cyberattack, Apple launches a new YouTube channel and is bringing exactly one color of Powerbeats Pro to market in May, and Beyonce capitulates and brings the crew "Lemonade" at last. It's hot up here!

JC Penney desires no more contact, a student (not named Doctor Evil) sues for ONE BILLION DOLLARS, Sprint folds like a Samsung phone doesn't, mockups of the "iPhone XI" arrive on time, plus Mike and Charles speed-date a few new gadgets, testify on the HomePod, shorthand a couple of feel-good Apple Watch stories, plug a Kickstarter iPad Pro case, and make Shakespeare jokes. All this and not even a single mention of Endgame, cadets, so listen with confidence and use the astro-latrine as you like: it's the only throne mention you'll get from us!

So much news, cadets ... blacking ... out! The Apple vs Qualcomm trial and war is over, and Charles and Mike go over the chain of events and the deal they worked out, as well as Intel's exit (stage left) from the 5G modem business. As usual, Facebook has to own up to yet another security breach, this time affecting scores of millions of Instagram users -- so this seems like the perfect time to announce their own voice spy -- we mean, assistant, right? Amazon and Google kiss and make up, and offer ad-supported "free" music to their respective smart speakers. But there's SO. MUCH. MORE!

Not wanting to be left out, Microsoft has its own security breach, Wisconsin officially moves to kill the Foxconn deal (but they might replace it with a better one if Foxconn actually ever does anything there), the iPhone tops smartphone marketshare in the US, and Mike and Charles take a look at the most credible reports of what's next for the fall iPhones this year (spoiler: not 5G, most likely, but it's not important yet). Meanwhile, apparently you can sue over butthurt if you're a shareholder (not a Samsung shareholder mind you ... different rules for Apple, don'cha know), and Apple's environmental stewardship continues to flourish like a hibiscus in a hothouse, and so is Apple's fledgling News+ service.

T-Mobile and Apple continue the war on robocalls, but the Sprint merger doesn't look healthy; Terry Gou is leaving Foxconn to run for president of Taiwan; inductive Gen2 Apple Pencil charging could mess with your car keys, and ... are you sitting down? Because you should be sitting down for this, cadets ... the Galaxy Fold should have been kept in the lab longer, because at present its an all-new disaster for "first to market, last to get it right" Samsung. So much news we didn't even get to our usual other segments ... and That Can't Be Right!

Black holes, real and digital. Sony teases the next PlayStation. The Minecraft movie, Division 2 patches, and ATLAS' long-delayed 1.5 update.

Show notes: https://hammercast.fm/79/

Co-Cap'n Mike is back from sickbay, and that means the return of the Engineering Report to this all-new episode, cadets, along with a slew of rather remarkable stories! Amazon owns up to what we've all suspected -- Alexa devices record a lot of what you say, and they listen in to the good bits. Even better, they appear to have no real privacy or security policies in place for this sort of thing! Just what you want in a smart speaker. But wait, there's more!

Is iTunes gonna get broken up? Is the new Disney+ coming to Apple TV? Is Netflix mad at AirPlay? Did Apple really play a role in the imaging of a black hole? Is YouTube TV a mediocre deal? Was the Foxconn deal in Wisconsin just a scam? Are pundits just guessing? Spoiler for those last three: yes! There's also stories about India, Qualcomm, Yahoo, Pixelmator, the notorious Eastern District of Texas, the amazing T2 encoder, Cloudflare's new VPN, Lexar, Sonnet, an amazing 26-year-old prototype, gratuitous Canadian pandering and beyond! Get your Space Black steel Apple Watches on, cadets ... it will tap you on the wrist when we pass through the Event Horizon!

Borderlands 3 is coming in the fall. EverQuest turns 20. EVE Online accomplishment and intrigue. BioWare goes astray.

Show notes: https://hammercast.fm/78/

It's springtime on the Space Javelin, cadets, and there are two ways you can tell: a visit to the blooms in the hydropods, and the sounds of sneezing and general misery from the allergy victims in sickbay, which once again includes co-Cap'n Mike. Thus, once again Admiral William Gallagher of space station AI has shuttled over to help Charles pilot the ship through two mirror universes: FAIL and WIN. In the former reality, Samsung nosedives, Facebook faceplants, Microsoft takes its books and goes home, and scammers prey on Apple -- even (gasp) Canadians, who aren't sorry!

In the latter reality, your favorite fruit company and ours has a terrific week of price cuts, soaring stock prices, Apple Card success, and victories with Apple Music, Apple Pay, Apple Watch, and trademarks. Back in our own dimension, there are rumblings of an iTunes deconstruction, Amazon producing Alexa-powered wireless headphones (probably courtesy of a Bragi acquisition), and a really special spotlight on an article that should be shared widely: a guide to helping elderly and/or disabled users get the most out of their Apple gear. All this and more, cadets, including ways to pass the long downtimes of interstellar travel courtesy William's mom, a lotta laughs and more!

If the ship seems a little wobbly this week, cadets, it's because we lost our AirPower superiority as well as Cap'n Mike to sickbay, but happily Admiral William Gallagher answered our distress call with aplomb and a plum (and some tea!). Apple's ECG technology has expanded outside the US, the Texture digital-mag service will be shutting down to become Apple News+, Swift 5 was released, Apple Music is hitting moderately deep into new territories, and Qualcomm's legal fight at the US ITC is tied at one definite loss and one possible win. But that's only the beginning.

William and Charles take a look at some of the new Apple Card details, and issue our semi-annual reminder to audit your existing subscriptions before taking on any new ones. They also team up to talk Samsung earnings warnings and Apple Music on Android, beat up on AT&T further for their ongoing "5Ge" fraud, but disagree (slightly and politely) on whether the EU's Article 13 will do what it hopes to do: put the burden of stopping piracy back on the big tech companies that profit from it (coughGOOGLE ET ALcough) -- which they agree is a great goal -- and whether smaller firms will overreact to the restrictions and/or make it more difficult for artists to leverage the net (where they aren't quite on the same page). Who won the debate? Hopefully, everyone.

All this and more, cadets, including more laughs per hour than any other tech podcast or your money back! Get ready to check your heartrates, cadets -- this is a white-knuckle ride through the Tech News Punditry Zone, and we're going full throttle till the warp engines buckle!