∞ Snapchat’s New Spectacles Store in New York City
Brilliant. Just brilliant.
∞ Apple Said to Abandon Development of Wireless Routers
Mark Gurman reporting for Bloomberg:
Apple Inc. has disbanded its division that develops wireless routers, another move to try to sharpen the company’s focus on consumer products that generate the bulk of its revenue, according to people familiar with the matter.
Well, that simplifies the decision on a future router when my current Apple AirPort Extreme stops working.
Workflow 1.6
Workflow was released today:
Workflow 1.6 Release Notes
It brings a new workflow gallery:
Workflow Gallery
Workflow 1.6 is available on the App Store.
∞ After Acquiring Uber, Didi To Stop Foreigners From Using It
Zheping Huang reporting for Quartz:
Didi has also removed the app’s English-language interface, as well as the option to pay with foreign credit cards.
Didi has also made other changes to the app. Uber users in China now call a customer service hotline to leave complaints, rather than sending them to a support division from inside the app.
At the time of the acquisition, Didi said that Uber China would “maintain independent branding and business operations to ensure stability and continuity of service for passengers.” Yet recent changes in both the app and Uber China’s staff suggest that this independence is fast-disappearing.
Shame.
∞ China’s Driverless Trucks Are Revving Their Engines
Will Knight reporting for MIT Technology Review:
He (Xiaodi Hou, CTO of TuSimple) says there is effectively no restriction on testing self-driving systems in China currently, and he believes the government will be supportive because it wants to see the trucking industry improve.
TuSimple is collecting data aboard a number of manually driven trucks. The company aims to demonstrate the technology in the first quarter of next year, and to have a commercial demonstration in 2018.
And
Across China, around 7.2 million trucks and 16 million drivers are responsible for intercity transportation of goods, according to figures provided by TuSimple. This industry is worth more than $300 billion, and drivers account for around 40 percent of the costs incurred by truck companies. Some long-distance trips across China require two or even three drivers to complete.
∞ Super Mario Run Will Be Priced At $9.99
From Business Wire:
The first-ever mobile game featuring the most iconic video game hero of all time goes on sale for iPhone and iPad on Dec. 15 in United States time zones. Super Mario Run can be downloaded from the App Store at no cost, and players can try elements of the game’s three modes for free. Once the game has been downloaded, a one-time payment of $9.99 (United States price) will grant unlimited access to each of the three modes in this release.
I'm slightly disappointed that it's not $19.99 or even $14.99.
PhotoScan by Google Photos
Fantastic app from Google Photos allows you to scan photos easily with your phone.
∞ Nintendo Switch Rumored to Start From £200
Laura Dale reporting that UK retailer GAME will price Nintendo Switch from £199.99:
Today’s report, backed up by one previously used source and one new source who I have vetted thoroughly, is that UK specialist gaming retail chain GAME has been informed of the Nintendo Switch’s wholesale price to retailers, and is planning on selling their basic SKU (stock keeping unit) of the system in stores for £199.99. It is important to note this is not a Nintendo set RRP (recommended retail price), as Nintendo do not set UK RRP prices for consoles. However, it is safe to assume this gives us a solid indication of the price the system will sell at nationwide.
If this is true, game developers will be busy.
∞ Visual Studio for Mac
2016-11-14 update: this is claimed as an accidental post and was removed.
I was very excited when reading this:
At its heart, Visual Studio for Mac is a macOS counterpart of the Windows version of Visual Studio. If you enjoy the Visual Studio development experience, but need or want to use macOS, you should feel right at home. Its UX is inspired by Visual Studio, yet designed to look and feel like a native citizen of macOS.
But then realized that it actually has nothing to do with Visual Studio:
Like Xamarin Studio, Visual Studio for Mac is based on the open source MonoDevelop IDE, which is actively developed by Microsoft.
It's basically MonoDevelop given the Visual Studio brand. How dare you claim it feels like a native citizen of macOS? How dare you?
Fox Squirrel Running and Barking
Near the horseshoe lake at Denali national park.