Linked List: December 22, 2016

Thursday, 22 December 2016

Pokémon Go Arrives on the Apple Watch ★

Sarah Perez, writing for TechCrunch:

Following an erroneous report claiming that Niantic’s plans to bring Pokémon Go to the Apple Watch were canceled, the company today put those rumors to rest with more than a mere statement: it has now launched the Apple Watch version of its popular game. The new smartwatch app lets you more easily play Pokémon without having to always pull out your phone. Instead, you can tap to find nearby Pokémon, collect items from PokéStops, and even log your gameplay as a “workout.”

That “erroneous report” is a real doozy. Chance Miller, writing for 9to5Mac just five days ago:

After rumors emerged claiming that Niantic had ceased development of Pokémon Go for Apple Watch, 9to5Mac has confirmed with a source with knowledge of the plans that the Apple Watch app has for now been shelved.

From the Department of ‘Headlines Matter’ ★

Headline from The Verge: “Google Will Launch Two Flagship Smartwatches Early Next Year”. But from the story, by Dan Seifert:

The new models will not have Google or Pixel branding, but will be branded by the company that is manufacturing them. Chang says that Google collaborated with the manufacturer — which he wouldn’t name, but said has produced Android Wear devices in the past — on the hardware design and software integration for the watches. He likened the partnership to Google’s Nexus smartphone program in terms of collaboration and goals.

So if they’re not “Google” or “Pixel” watches, why does the headline say Google is launching them? (Answer: because that headline gets more clicks than one with “LG” or whoever it is who’s making these.)

And, conversely, if, as The Verge has claimed, Google is finally getting serious about hardware and “wants to be another Apple”, why don’t these smartwatches have Google or Pixel branding?

Trump Scrambling to Book Performers for Inauguration ★

Itay Hod, reporting for TheWrap:

Donald Trump is so displeased with his team’s inability to lock in A-list talent for his inauguration events next month that he’s ordered a “Hail Mary” shakeup of his recruiters to try to book performers, a person familiar with the situation told TheWrap. […]

The Trump transition has been struggling for weeks to secure A-list talent for the inauguration celebration. The only person confirmed to perform at the event is Jackie Evancho, a 16-year-old former “America’s Got Talent” contestant. She is set to sing the national anthem before he takes the oath of office

You know this is killing him.

David Pogue’s AirPods Review: ‘You’re Worrying About the Wrong Thing’ ★

David Pogue:

They stay in snugly when you’re dancing, bopping, shivering. They stay in under conditions when the wired EarPods would have fallen out. In other words, here’s what most people miss: The weight and tug of the earbud cord add to the falling-out problem, rather than solving it.

So if that’s what you’re worried about, forget it.

What you do have to worry about is dropping the AirPods. They’re tiny and shiny-slick; Apple may as well have covered them with Teflon. In the three months I’ve been testing them, I’ve dropped ‘em a few times onto the floor of the commuter train or the bowels of my airplane seat, simply in the process of transferring them between their two homes: the case and your earholes. (A replacement AirPod costs $70, although of course you could always just forage in couch cushions in public places.)

Totally agree about this. After three months, I’ve never once had one fall out (your ears may vary, of course), but I have dropped them a few times.

iTunes’s Top Five Best-Selling Holiday Movies of All Time ★

Elf and Christmas Vacation are perennial favorites at our house (“Hallelujah! Holy shit! Where’s the Tylenol”) — but it feels downright criminal that Die Hard isn’t on this list.