[SPEAKER_03]: a factual data creation facility production.
[SPEAKER_02]: Recorded live within a somewhat noisy room, located somewhere high up in the Appalachian Mountains.
[SPEAKER_02]: It's the O-F-N-T podcast.
[SPEAKER_02]: Now here's your host, the EverPresident Jim Schaefer.
[SPEAKER_00]: Present and accounted for.
[SPEAKER_00]: Welcome to the O-F-N-T podcast episode 287, which I'm calling, waiting for the max.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's hard to watch other people raving about their new iPhones on each of tubes.
[SPEAKER_00]: While your own iPhone hasn't even shipped yet, at least we still have our 15 pro matches to use while we wait.
[SPEAKER_00]: I was hoping that the ship days of our phones would move up, but that hasn't been the case.
[SPEAKER_00]: What's really going to be a bummer is when I do get my new iPhone and my lovely wife is still waiting hers.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I foresee an uncomfortable week or so when that happens.
[SPEAKER_00]: All right, let's get this episode going.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, before I get started today, I just wanted to give my opinion on recent events.
[SPEAKER_00]: One of the benefits of surviving to an older age is that you've seen and experienced a lot of things.
[SPEAKER_00]: Right now, I've got a case of deja vu.
[SPEAKER_00]: Because the present time resembles what I live through in the late 1960s until the late 1970s.
[SPEAKER_00]: Radical thinking and political violence had almost become the norm back during those times.
[SPEAKER_00]: The difference being, the addition of the internet and social media in these modern times, which allows information, especially miss and disinformation, to be disseminated at lightning speeds.
[SPEAKER_00]: I've heard the old expression, the more things change, the more they stay the same.
[SPEAKER_00]: I've found this to be true, as the same actors of the 1960s and 70s are the same
[SPEAKER_00]: My advice to you is, hold tight.
[SPEAKER_00]: Things will get better over time.
[SPEAKER_00]: Speaking of old things in old people, when I was a youngster, the then old guys had a saying, and it was keep your politics to yourself.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, I think that's sage advice to follow in these uncertain times.
[SPEAKER_00]: Tech News.
[SPEAKER_00]: According to Android Police.com, Amazon has sent out invitations to an event to be held on September 30th, judging from the official invite's graphics.
[SPEAKER_00]: New Kindles, Echos, Fire TV, and perhaps tablets are predicted to be announced.
[SPEAKER_01]: Perhaps those rumours of an upgraded non-forked Android tablet from Amazon withdrew after all.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'll be watching this event to see what happens.
[SPEAKER_00]: If Amazon were to release a worthy competitor to the Basic iPad, I would consider purchasing some from my grandkids as a game of age.
[SPEAKER_00]: These Amazon tablets would have to come in at a price point comparable to a base level iPad and offer a better value than it.
[SPEAKER_01]: But what about FaceTime calling?
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, that's a good question.
[SPEAKER_00]: I figured that the kids could get themselves an Apple account, navigate over to iCloud.com, and use that for FaceTime calls.
[SPEAKER_00]: There's one problem with that, though.
[SPEAKER_00]: While it appears you can do this using the context stored in your iCloud account, I haven't tested this using non-apple devices yet.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, I've got time, so I'll eventually get around a testing this out.
[SPEAKER_00]: Nothing will make its own operating systems for phones and beyond.
[SPEAKER_00]: First, AI native devices coming in 2026, unquote, is the headline from 925Google.com.
[SPEAKER_00]: This is based on comments from founder and CEO Carl Pay.
[SPEAKER_00]: Mr. Pay has previously declared that a future operating system will actually replace the apps that you use.
[SPEAKER_01]: I seem to recall you predicting that AI would actually become the operating system of computing devices sometime back.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes, I certainly did predict that, but I had thought Apple would be the first company to actually implement this, and they would have done it last year.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well partially wrong.
[SPEAKER_00]: Mr. Pay, plans to introduce this AI operating system first on smartphones, audio products, and smart watches, and then eventually other form factors.
[SPEAKER_00]: Such as smart glasses.
[SPEAKER_00]: He also went on to say that in the future, we'll be carrying an additional device that will be just as important.
[SPEAKER_01]: Ah, probably some sort of device that can dispense money, so one can pay for all these digital goodies.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, like a digital wallet full of digital
[SPEAKER_00]: I've always liked Carl Pays since he spoke at the virtual lease of the OnePlus 3T.
[SPEAKER_00]: Probably the first virtual event in smartphone history.
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean it convinced me to buy a 3T.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's just have to wait and see how nothing will implement this new AI operating system.
[SPEAKER_00]: Why do I have the feeling that while other companies will be the first to market with this technology?
[SPEAKER_00]: Google Apple or perhaps Samsung will be the ones to perfect it.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's official, White Dance, the company behind what most would consider the most predicting social media platform ever created TikTok, has thanked the U.S.
[SPEAKER_00]: President Trump and Chinese President Xi for negotiating a way for a White Dance to spin off a U.S.
[SPEAKER_00]: version of the app.
[SPEAKER_00]: Spinoff also includes the coveted algorithm of TikTok.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yes.
[SPEAKER_00]: This new spunoff version is rumoured to be rolling out in early 2026.
[SPEAKER_01]: Now that TikTok is being Americanized, so to speak, will you be signing up for an account?
[SPEAKER_00]: And that'll be a very hard no!
[SPEAKER_00]: I've had it with the madness of social media, and the last thing I'd want to do is sign up for yet another one, but how good the algorithm is supposed to be.
[SPEAKER_00]: No details have been officially released as of the time I'm recording this, but rumors say some sort of consortium, including Oracle and the Murdoch family of all people, will be paying the big bucks.
[SPEAKER_00]: So, TikTokers, rejoice!
[SPEAKER_00]: Apple Insider has dropped some leaks of the upcoming Power Beats fit earbuds.
[SPEAKER_00]: I use the current version of these buds while exercising in a night, and like the audio they provide more sold in my Apple AirPods Pro second generation.
[SPEAKER_00]: Previously, it was predicted that the Power Beats fit would get the heart rate monitoring feature of the Power Beats Pro, but according to these leaks, that won't be the case.
[SPEAKER_00]: It appears that this model will just get slightly better specs, you know, like a longer battery line, improved noise cancellation, etc.
[SPEAKER_00]: Think of these earbuds as you do the iPhone SE which inherited older hardware from other products.
[SPEAKER_00]: A shame, really, I like the form factor of the power beats fit, more than I do the power beats pro, which I still have the first generation of, somewhere around here.
[SPEAKER_00]: Nine to five Mac.com quotes former All Star Supply Chain Leaker, Mr. Ming-Gi-Quow, as saying that in 2026, Apple will launch Touch Screen Max, starting with an OLED screen MacBook Pro.
[SPEAKER_02]: What?
[SPEAKER_02]: Whoa!
[SPEAKER_00]: Boy, Steve Jobs must really be spinning in his grave because of this news.
[SPEAKER_00]: It was supposedly adamant about not equipping max with touchscreen's.
[SPEAKER_00]: According to Quole, this first touch screen MacBook will where you release with an M6 chip, most likely in late 2026.
[SPEAKER_00]: Alongside a non-touch screen MacBook Pro, with a touchscreen version supporting a major redesign.
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know how I feel about this, but as the article points out, the unwipers snappers
[SPEAKER_00]: Me being the old font that I am, wouldn't mind having a touch screen, but probably wouldn't use it that much.
[SPEAKER_01]: Um, you're currently enjoying a touch screen on your iPad Pro at the moment, aren't you?
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes, I am, but I also have the Magic Keyboard case which I used most.
[SPEAKER_00]: I mainly use the touch screen when I have no other option, and for scaling the sizes of various app windows.
[SPEAKER_00]: I must say that even with my limited touching of the screen, I find myself cleaning it a lot more than let's say my MacBook Air screen, so there's that.
[SPEAKER_00]: And also quoting Ming Qi Quo, I wonder if he gets paid anything for Quo's.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'll slightly not.
[SPEAKER_00]: Anyway, MacRomers.com has an article in which the infamous supply chain leaker claims that the so-called cheap, if you consider $599 cheap, I guess you can say that $599 for a MacBook is cheap, couldn't you?
[SPEAKER_00]: I guess you could say that.
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, technically you actually did say that.
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, enough with the knocking down with the fourth wall.
[SPEAKER_00]: Where was I?
[SPEAKER_00]: Cheat MacBooks.
[SPEAKER_00]: No, yeah.
[SPEAKER_00]: Mr. Quow claims that this shall we say cheap MacBook will enter mass production in late 2025 for an early 2026 release.
[SPEAKER_00]: This is the model that will replace the old Intel powered plane MacBook that was popular with YouTubers, especially female YouTubers, because of its small size, traveling business
[SPEAKER_00]: The article speculates that Apple will equip this new MacBook with an A18 Pro chip, which offers similar performance to the old M1 chip.
[SPEAKER_00]: It'll be interesting to see how much RAM this model will come with.
[SPEAKER_00]: The A18 Pro had 12 gigabytes of RAM in iPhones, but all current
[SPEAKER_00]: The A18 Pro, as well as the new A19 Pro, do not support Thunderbolt connectivity.
[SPEAKER_00]: So data transfer speeds won't be as fast as the more expensive MacBook Airs and Pros.
[SPEAKER_00]: But this computer is not marketed towards consumers that require those faster speeds.
[SPEAKER_00]: The display will measure 12.9 inches, which is bigger than the 12-inch display, which the old MacBook this new one replaces had.
[SPEAKER_00]: While I can foresee this poor person's version of a MacBook selling very well, it'll be like Baby's First Mac, or the cute Mac for influencers, and a solid choice for those
[SPEAKER_00]: Once this model had come out while I was gainfully employed, I'd have probably gotten one.
[SPEAKER_00]: I might purchase a few or more of these MacBooks when my grandsons start wanting computers.
[SPEAKER_00]: The close-out, the tech news section, the new Apple N1 Wi-Fi chip, not only equipped the new iPhone Air, but also the regular iPhone and the iPhone Pros.
[SPEAKER_00]: MacRumors.com is reporting that this new chip does have a limitation for Wi-Fi 7 though.
[SPEAKER_00]: The bandwidth standard for Wi-Fi 7 is 320 MHz maximum.
[SPEAKER_00]: The N1 chip is limited to just 160 MHz.
[SPEAKER_00]: Most consumers will not notice or even care about this though, because like myself, most don't have routers or mesh systems that support Wi-Fi 7 standards.
[SPEAKER_00]: We're still at Wi-Fi 6 or less.
[SPEAKER_00]: By the time consumers catch up, I'm sure Apple will have a N1X chip or something, ready for them.
[SPEAKER_00]: I just got aboard the Wi-Fi 6E standard myself.
[SPEAKER_00]: tech I'm using.
[SPEAKER_00]: My iPhone 17 Pro Max pre-ader ship dates have slipped this week.
[SPEAKER_00]: My blue Pro Max has gone from a September 19th to September 24th delivery date, to an estimated September 24th to 29th delivery date.
[SPEAKER_00]: To make matters even worse, the estimated delivery date for my tech woven case has now slipped to Minot Ober.
[SPEAKER_00]: Not only that, but my lovely wife's orange pro-maxest estimated delivery date has slipped to October 13th.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'll just have to order a new case from Amazon, I guess, like my wife previously did.
[SPEAKER_00]: And to think, tech journalists keep predicting lower sales for Apple.
[SPEAKER_00]: I've never waited more than a few days after a release date for any iPhone that I pre-ordered.
[SPEAKER_03]: Yet more first-world problem-wining?
[SPEAKER_00]: They stop accusing me of pretending to be a victim.
[SPEAKER_00]: You're just projecting.
[SPEAKER_03]: Why are I never?
[SPEAKER_00]: I've had enough time with iOS and iPad OS 26 now to make a judgment about it.
[SPEAKER_00]: I actually like it.
[SPEAKER_00]: And both operating systems bring some improvements that actually benefit general users, not just the power users.
[SPEAKER_00]: The one feature I appreciate the most is call screening.
[SPEAKER_03]: I'd like to point out that Android has had this feature for a while now.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes, they sure have.
[SPEAKER_00]: I didn't appreciate the utility of Call Screening when Google was demonstrating it.
[SPEAKER_00]: Call Screening on iOS works like this.
[SPEAKER_00]: If you receive a call from a phone number that isn't in your contact list, the Apple intelligence digital assistant will ask the caller what the reason for their call is.
[SPEAKER_00]: The caller's response will appear on your iPhone screen and gives you the choice of accepting or declining the call.
[SPEAKER_00]: If you do decline call and the caller leaves a voice mail, the content of the voice mail is also displayed live on your iPhone screen.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now this will help cut down on scam calls until those scammers figure out how to get around this hurdle.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, Scammer's be scamming, as he, cool kids, say.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes!
[SPEAKER_00]: Another feature that I'm not sure if I really like, concerns text messages from unknown senders.
[SPEAKER_00]: What iOS does here is send the text to an unknown sender folder and doesn't alert you to having received a text message.
[SPEAKER_00]: So unless you happen to check that folder, you'll ever know you receive the message.
[SPEAKER_00]: I ran into this while on the phone with a customer service representative.
[SPEAKER_00]: We were trying to solve an issue with one of the security cameras which monitors my property, and the rep sent me a link to fixed the problem via text message.
[SPEAKER_00]: Of course the phone number used was in my contact so it bounced to the unknown sender's folder.
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank goodness my old fart mind was sufficiently unfonged at the time to realize this, avoiding something that would have been labeled a senior moment.
[SPEAKER_00]: Some user interface operations have also been changed, but I have quickly gotten used to them.
[SPEAKER_00]: If my age-addled brain can do so, so can yours.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's been pointed out to me that I was wrong about the new heart rate feature of the third generation AirPods Pro.
[SPEAKER_03]: We'll forgive you this time around.
[SPEAKER_03]: Don't let it happen again.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes, ma'am.
[SPEAKER_00]: I assume that like the new Powerbeats Pro, which has gotten heart rate monitoring, if you are wearing an Apple Watch, said HR monitoring defaults to the watch.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yep.
[SPEAKER_00]: The way it will work with the AirPods Pro is, if you are also wearing an Apple Watch, both devices will monitor heart rate simultaneously and use the one that Apple deems the
[SPEAKER_00]: and record that one.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now that makes more sense to me and does separate apples ear buds from the beet ear buds line up.
[SPEAKER_00]: Supposedly the heart rate monitors in the air pods are superior to the ones they power beats are equipped with.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now I'm just wondering how this will work if let's
[SPEAKER_00]: The Peloton pairs with the Apple Watch, so I guess the Peloton software will be using the readings from the Apple Watch.
[SPEAKER_00]: I wonder if you'd be able to pair the new AirPods Pro to that Peloton also.
[SPEAKER_00]: That would enable you just to pair the one device instead of two.
[SPEAKER_00]: Recently, I pair my PowerBeat Fit to the Peloton for just audio and the Apple Watch for heart rate monitoring.
[SPEAKER_00]: It would be nice just having to pair one device and handle both functions, though.
[SPEAKER_00]: entertainment news.
[SPEAKER_00]: Content piracy has been a problem for the entertainment industry since the age of VCRs.
[SPEAKER_00]: Probably before that really.
[SPEAKER_00]: piracy exploded during the late 90s and early 2000s.
[SPEAKER_00]: But once streaming services arrived, privacy declined.
[SPEAKER_03]: And what was the reason for this decline?
[SPEAKER_00]: The reasons for this decline was because the choices and more importantly, the cost of these services was reasonable.
[SPEAKER_00]: For example, I was a direct TV satellite service customer, but as soon as the direct TV now streaming servers arrived on the scene, well, I switched to that.
[SPEAKER_00]: And the reason for that was because doing so, half my monthly bill, and provided the same exact service,
[SPEAKER_00]: All without needing any equipment, like cable television before it, satellite television started off being reasonable in price, but over the years, the cost of the service ballooned.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now we're seeing the same thing happening to streaming services.
[SPEAKER_00]: These services don't have the overhead cost of cable in satellite, so you think that in order to be competitive, they just pass those savings onto their customers.
[SPEAKER_00]: No.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, why would they do that?
[SPEAKER_00]: Instead, they're, in my opinion, house gouging.
[SPEAKER_00]: Response, a partying of content, has exploded.
[SPEAKER_00]: This is noticeable the most with sporting events.
[SPEAKER_00]: Local sports used to be broadcast over the air for free.
[SPEAKER_00]: The broadcasts are made money from advertisement shown during the game.
[SPEAKER_00]: During last week's episode, I complained that none of the free-ed supported television streaming services or, as they're called, fast channels, carried any local professional football
[SPEAKER_00]: The local channels that these games appear on are carried by these fast channel apps, but the sporting events aren't blacked out, and that's if they're even available, because most professional teams have their own networks now, that requires a paid subscription in order to watch them.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, this is just ridiculous, and only have two results.
[SPEAKER_00]: The first result is that audience for these events will find other means in order to watch them if you get my drift.
[SPEAKER_00]: i.e.
[SPEAKER_00]: Pirating Methods.
[SPEAKER_00]: The second result will be in the long term, potential audience will just never develop an interest in sports programming.
[SPEAKER_00]: Either way, money will be lost.
[SPEAKER_00]: The same thing applies to all forms of content that's been put behind a paywall.
[SPEAKER_00]: Something's got to give in order to stay in this streaming model.
[SPEAKER_00]: What do you think?
[SPEAKER_00]: Last evening I dusted off the old Netflix app.
[SPEAKER_00]: I hadn't done that for quite a while, and plot my old fart butt down on my couch in order to watch a couple of movies.
[SPEAKER_00]: First movie I watched was Ice Road Vengeance.
[SPEAKER_00]: This movie is the latest Lyom Neeson vehicle, and follows the same formula as the original taken movie, which came out in 2008.
[SPEAKER_00]: I wasn't expecting Oscar-level performances or screenwriting here, and this movie sure has hacked in deliver any.
[SPEAKER_00]: One thing, though, Mr. Neeson is entering his mid-70s, and it's really getting hard to believe that at his age, he can freestyle climb mountains, beat up much less kill, much younger and fitter men in hand-to-hand combat, or outrun anybody other than people living
[SPEAKER_00]: Then again, in my experience, when a toddler takes off on you, you'd better be quick.
[SPEAKER_00]: I guess these types of movies are all that are offered to Leam East in these days, and hey, you know, a man's got to eat.
[SPEAKER_00]: The second movie that I watched was 28 years later.
[SPEAKER_00]: This movie is a follow-up of 2002's 28 days later, which my lovely wife and I actually watch in a real life movie theater.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, I don't even know what to think about this latest resurrection of an old piece of intellectual property.
[SPEAKER_00]: The movie's opening is done well enough, but there's no follow-up on the scene until the very end of the movie.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's as if the opening and closing scenes were just added on in the last minute just in case some studio decides to fund a sequel, something I find unlikely.
[SPEAKER_00]: But hey, you never know.
[SPEAKER_00]: This will be was in my opinion, just weird.
[SPEAKER_00]: Few enjoy seeing naked men dangling their male parts while running, while you might enjoy this one.
[SPEAKER_00]: Myself, unlike the ancient Greeks, am not enamored with the human male form.
[SPEAKER_00]: In fact, it kind of repulses me.
[SPEAKER_00]: Heck, I repulsed myself while looking in a mirror.
[SPEAKER_00]: podcast news.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm an Abbot listener to the Noagenda podcast and you should be too.
[SPEAKER_00]: Helm by O.G.
[SPEAKER_00]: Tech reporter John C. Devorek, and the odd father.
[SPEAKER_00]: Adam Curry, the podcast is dedicated to what the host call, news, deconstruction.
[SPEAKER_00]: Listening to this podcast may change your view on things.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's not what I want to talk about here.
[SPEAKER_00]: Some months back, the hosts of the no-agenda podcast decided to dip their toes into the podcast hardware market, specifically the microphone market.
[SPEAKER_00]: Mr. Curry was using an electro voice RE320 while Mr. DeVore accused a high LPR-40.
[SPEAKER_00]: I own both of these mics and I could tell you that they are solid.
[SPEAKER_00]: I assumed that after contacting various microphone manufacturers they had a few samples made, which I believe were called the podfather mic.
[SPEAKER_00]: I've noticed a change in audio for Mr. Curry over the last few months, not so much for Mr. DeVorek.
[SPEAKER_00]: Most listeners probably didn't notice this change in audio, but I'm a gear head prodcaster, so I certainly did.
[SPEAKER_00]: In particular, I've noticed artifacts in the low end of Mr. Curry's audio, and mouthclicks are more noticeable than they were when he was using the RE 320.
[SPEAKER_00]: The whole podfather microphone scheme apparently has been dropped though, but Mr. Curry seems to be continuing to use one of the prototypes of the podfather microphone.
[SPEAKER_00]: Out being a gear head, I've always wondered what manufacturer was responsible for these microphone prototypes.
[SPEAKER_00]: Being Mr. Curry sort of shys away from video appearances?
[SPEAKER_00]: There was no way for me to find out.
[SPEAKER_00]: Mr. Curry commented on the No Agenda podcast about the prototype like being smaller than his RE 320, so I assume it was probably made by Hi-L.
[SPEAKER_02]: No.
[SPEAKER_00]: Last week, Mr. Curry did make a rare video appearance on the website of the new media show in order to honor the memory of the late Todd Cochran.
[SPEAKER_00]: Mr. Curry appeared to be using a microphone from Chinese manufacturer, fine-fine.
[SPEAKER_00]: Unfine sells a range of serviceable microphones at pretty cheap prices, but if you check out their microphone offerings on Amazon, many models are labeled with a high return warning.
[SPEAKER_00]: This means that many customers return this product back to Amazon for replacement or refund.
[SPEAKER_00]: The fine fine mics do sound pretty good for their price, but durability and all around quality control isn't nearly as good as it is with the more established brands.
[SPEAKER_00]: I guess Devorek and Curry were aiming for the low-to-middle income range of spot-casters.
[SPEAKER_00]: Anyway, the whole podfather Mike thing went sideways, and I think the project has been officially dropped.
[SPEAKER_00]: I advice for those thinking of starting a podcast, is to spend the extra money on a Mike from a Hile, Electrovoise, Louis II, another major brand.
[SPEAKER_00]: The initial capital outlay will be more, but in a long run, he'll be saving money.
[SPEAKER_00]: I hope that Mr. Curry eventually returns to using his RE320 soon.
[SPEAKER_00]: To my ears, it sounds better than what he's using now.
[SPEAKER_00]: The music has started playing, which signals the beginning of the end of episode 27 of the OFN-T-Bodcast.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hope you enjoyed this episode, I enjoyed making it for you.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like what you heard, you can make a donation using a link in these show notes.
[SPEAKER_00]: And you know, donations will be greatly appreciated.
[SPEAKER_00]: You can always reach me at OFN-T-Bodcast at Gmail.com if you're so inclined.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'd enjoy hearing from you.
[SPEAKER_00]: Remember, don't listen to what they say.
[SPEAKER_00]: Watch what they do.
[SPEAKER_00]: Because of the negligence of a certain high profile hardware chain, I'm still waiting for the gates for me.
[SPEAKER_00]: Fence to be installed.
[SPEAKER_00]: All the good news is this means it's still easy for you to get off my lawn.
[SPEAKER_00]: Stay skeptical.
[SPEAKER_00]: Ahhhh, out.
[SPEAKER_00]: Stue.
[SPEAKER_01]: And that folks is the end of the show.