CultCast #232 - Techno-Utopian Baloney

The CultCast - A podcast by America's favorite Apple Podcast - Fridays

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Technology

This week: Apple makes a curious investment in China’s version of Uber; iPhones that charge wirelessly in your pocket; Siri is coming to a Mac near you; more weird and wacky stories from the Cult of Mac; and we tell you what we like (and what we don’t) about the gadgets we’re currently testing in an all-new Under Review.
 
This episode supported by
 
Freshbooks, the easy-to-use invoicing software designed to help small business owners get organized, save time invoicing and get paid faster.  And I can vouch for this from experience, it also makes tax time a cinch.  Get started with a free trial at Freshbooks.com/cultcast, and please enter “CultCast” in the “How did you hear about us?” section!
 
TunnelBear, the simple privacy app that makes it easy to browse privately and enjoy a more open internet. Visit GetTunnelBear.com to get your free TunnelBear today.
 
We also want to give Kevin MacLeod at incompetech.com a  thanks for the great music you hear on today's show.
 
On the show this week
 
Intro: Your future computer, The Knowledge Navigator
 
Apple invests $1 billion in Chinese Uber rival
  • Apple has invested $1 billion in Chinese Uber rival Didi Chuxing
  • Tim Cook says the deal “reflects our excitement about their growing business … and also our continued confidence in the long term in China’s economy.”
  • Cook told Reuters: “We are making the investment for a number of strategic reasons, including a chance to learn more about certain segments of the China market,” 
  • Jack Kent of tech analytical firm IHS Technology said partnering with Chinese companies is a common way for international companies to get into the massive Asian market.
 
  • In the last four months Apple has hired two former uBeam engineers with expertise in wireless charging and ultrasonic technology
  • The Verge did some investigating, and discovered that in fact the in the last two years Apple has hired more than a dozen staffers with expertise in wireless charging.
  • Earlier this year Bloomberg reported that Apple was hoping to add wireless charging to the new iPhone it releases in 2017.
  • According to Bloomberg's sources, Apple wants to implement a much more advanced technology that would allow you to walk around a room and have your phone charging the entire time.
  • Is the smart dock a stop gap?
 
Siri for Mac icons leak ahead of WWDC
  • Apple’s digital assistant Siri is expected to finally arrive on Macs later this year with the next OS X update
  • Cool icon in dock, plus accessible via the menu bar and Hey Siri option
 
Buster’s reviewing the Garmin Phoenix 3
 
Leander’s been listening to the Moshi Avanti on-ear headphones
 
Erfon’s lighting his house with the illumi smart bulbs
 
 
The three Apples that changed the world, featuring Jimmy Page and Fiona Apple