Linked List: March 3, 2020

Tuesday, 3 March 2020

What Happens if Apple Cancels WWDC 2020? ★

Jason Snell, writing at Macworld:

In terms of a keynote, Apple has several options. It can invite a small number of guests to a live media event at the Steve Jobs Theater — possibly with health checks for attendees — and make its major WWDC announcements in the same way it unveils the new iPhone every year. I kind of can’t imagine Apple doing a keynote without a live studio audience of some kind, but it’s possible it could limit the guest list even further, perhaps just to Apple employees. They’ll certainly provide the applause that’s required.

What’s left of WWDC, however, is the connections.

If WWDC is canceled, I think what Snell proposes is exactly what will happen. There will still be a keynote wherein Apple does what it always does: lays out the roadmap for its platforms for the next year. If the COVID-19 outbreak is under control by June, I’d expect a keynote at Steve Jobs Theater pretty much exactly of the scope of September iPhone events. Technical sessions would simply all be virtual, distributed via the Developer app. Apple probably has to make a decision on holding the conference as usual by mid-April, but for a press-only keynote they typically don’t send invitations until 10 days or so in advance.

The one thing that can’t be replicated virtually are the personal connections. Snell mentions the developer labs — which are incredibly useful to developers — and suggests maybe Apple could do them virtually via FaceTime or something. I don’t know if that would work. But there are all sorts of personal and social interactions that happen during WWDC week, and there’s no way to replace them. And WWDC is now the only annual event on the Apple community calendar. But it is what it is.

Google Cancels I/O 2020 ‘Due to Concerns Around the Coronavirus’ ★

Corbin Davenport, writing for Android Police:

Google I/O takes place near Google’s headquarters in California every year in the early summer, aimed at helping developers with their work and announcing new products. The 2020 event was scheduled to take place on May 12-14, but now Google has canceled it due to safety concerns.

May 12–14 is the middle of spring, but I suppose that’s beside the point here. I’d now put the odds of WWDC being canceled at about 2 in 3.

iPhone 11 Pro vs. Galaxy S20 Ultra Camera Comparison ★

Andrew Hoyle, CNet:

To see how the S20 Ultra’s camera compares to the iPhone 11 Pro, I took both phones around the beautiful Scottish capital city of Edinburgh.

Some great photos and a fair comparison.

Marques Brownlee’s Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra Review ★

Great review, largely focused (no pun intended) on the camera. Sure, the 100x digital zoom is a gimmick, but at 30x (10x optical with 3x digital applied) the results look good, and clearly better than any other phone on the U.S. market.