Linked List: December 17, 2018

Monday, 17 December 2018

Forbes: ‘We Broke Into a Bunch of Android Phones With a 3D-Printed Head’ 

Thomas Brewster commissioned a £300 (roughly $380 USD) 3D-printed copy of his own head:

For our tests, we used my own real-life head to register for facial recognition across five phones. An iPhone X and four Android devices: an LG G7 ThinQ, a Samsung S9, a Samsung Note 8 and a OnePlus 6. I then held up my fake head to the devices to see if the device would unlock. For all four Android phones, the spoof face was able to open the phone, though with differing degrees of ease. The iPhone X was the only one to never be fooled.

Apple doesn’t get enough credit for how good Face ID is (and how good Touch ID has always been).

The Talk Show: ‘Out on Home Video’ 

Matthew Panzarino returns to the show. Topics include recent blockbuster movies, motion smoothing on TVs, iPhone demand rumors, Apple’s Made For iPhone (MFi) program, and more. Recorded live from The Overlook Hotel in Sidewinder, Colorado.

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Alfonso Ribeiro Sues Fortnite and NBA 2K Creators for Stealing His Carlton Dance 

Did not wake up today thinking I’d be linking to a TMZ story about Alfonso Ribeiro, but here we are. This story feels like 2018 in a nutshell.

Apple Music Connect, R.I.P. 

Zac Hall, writing for 9to5Mac:

Apple Music Connect appears to slowly be going the way of iTunes Ping. Apple has started notifying Apple Music artists that it is removing the ability for artists to post content to Apple Music Connect, and previously posted Apple Music Connect content is being removed from the For You section and Artist Pages in Apple Music. Connect content will still be viewable through search results on Apple Music, but Apple is removing artist-submitted Connect posts from search in May. […]

Apple also says “Connect posts from artists are no longer supported” on this support document.

Two areas where Apple has never really succeeded: serious gaming and social media. Two areas where Steve Jobs never seemed interested: serious gaming and social media. I just don’t think either of these things are in Apple’s DNA.

You can argue, of course, that the distinction between casual and serious gaming is arbitrary, and that Apple is killing it in casual gaming on iOS. But I think people who play serious games see a very clear distinction, and Apple isn’t part of that world.