Linked List: December 15, 2020

Tuesday, 15 December 2020

Siri Can Now Play Animal Sounds 

Mitchell Clark, writing for The Verge:

With yesterday’s release of iOS 14.3, Siri got a new trick: the ability to play real-world sound samples on command. Ask “Hey Siri, what does _____ sound like?” and it will start playing the sound for you. If you ask on an iPhone or iPad, it will show you a picture as well. Google Assistant has been able to do this for a few years now, but now it’s available for the iPhone, iPad, and HomePod.

Apple hasn’t announced how many sounds it’s added, but it’s been able to handle most of the animals I asked about (except for some obscure ones that I’m not sure have a real distinctive noise, like an anteater).

I tried “What does a krayt dragon sound like?” and Siri was no help, so a HomePod isn’t going to help you scare off marauding Tusken Raiders.

Touchscreen Macs: Now or Never? 

Yours truly and Rene Ritchie arguing — politely! remember friendly arguments? — about whether Macs should and/or will have touchscreens. That should they? and will they? are two different arguments is part of what makes this debate so interesting.

My main link here is to the video on Rene’s YouTube channel, but he’s got the full double-length interview up on Nebula, which, while subscriber-based, will let you watch this one free. I say go long.

Nikkei Report: iPhone 12 Sales Strong Lineup-Wide, but 12 Mini ‘a Bit Sluggish’ 

Lauly Li and Cheng Ting-Fang, reporting for Nikkei from Taipei:

Apple plans to produce up to 96 million iPhones for the first half of 2021, a nearly 30% year-on-year increase, after demand for its first-ever 5G handsets surged amid the pandemic, Nikkei Asia learned. […]

“The planned production for the next quarter and the following quarter have been decided and the outlook is quite bright,” an executive at a key Apple supplier told Nikkei. “The iPhone 12 Pro, and iPhone 12 Pro Max are especially stronger than we estimated, while the demand for iPhone 12 is in line with the forecast, but iPhone 12 mini is a bit sluggish,” the person added.

If true this is a bit disappointing to those of us who adore the iPhone 12 Mini. Hopefully, even if true, a bit is really just a bit, and not a euphemism for “dropped from the lineup next year” bad.

Some analyst reports and numbers from mobile ad network snoops Flurry Analytics back this, though — pegging 12 Mini sales out of the gate as lower than the other iPhone 12 models.