This week, on The CultCast: 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.
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Episode
CultCast #232 – Techno-Utopian Baloney — Subscribe on iTunes
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This week’s links
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.
Apple’s new hires point to iPhone wireless charging
- 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
