Episode 280 — Let’s Talk About the News

car radio for audio news — Photo by Dawid Zawiła on Unsplash

Michael and Michael return to discuss all the news that’s fit to podcast, starting off with Apple’s iOS 13.6 update this week, which among other things, includes Apple News+ Audio. The enhanced News+ includes local news coverage of several municipal areas including New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Houston. This reminded the co-hosts of some big news from the Court of Justice of the European Union this week, dealing with the the EU-US Privacy Shield, and while neither host is an attorney, this news will have a big impact.

Turning to the world of robotics, the pair talk about Stretch, the new robot from Hello Robot that just emerged from stealth mode. Platform games are the subject of several stories, from the LEGO edition of a Super Mario NES replica that could fool you too, to Microsoft reportedly discontinuing a couple of Xbox models. Wrapping things up with the excitement around the upcoming launch of the latest edition of Microsoft Flight Simulator, Michael R reminisces how he would fly his virtual plane around Hawai’i.

Where would you like to virtually fly? What robots are occupying your thoughts? Share your news and ideas with the Games At Work team, and your story could be on the next edition of the podcast!

Selected Links

MacRumors article: Apple Launches Audio Stories in Apple News, Adds Local News in Five Regions — https://www.macrumors.com/2020/07/15/apple-launches-audio-stories-apple-news/

9 to 5 Mac article: Apple releasing i)S 13.6 today with Apple News+ Audio, Car Key feature, more — https://9to5mac.com/2020/07/15/apple-releasing-ios-13-6-today-with-apple-news-audio-carkey-feature-more/

BBC article: EU-US Privacy Shield for data struck down by court — https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-53418898

Court of Justice of the European Union press release No 91/20 — https://curia.europa.eu/jcms/upload/docs/application/pdf/2020-07/cp200091en.pdf

TechCrunch article: Hello Robot emerges out of stealth to launch a mobile robotic gripping platform for the home — https://techcrunch.com/2020/07/14/hello-robot-emerges-out-of-stealth-to-launch-a-mobile-robotic-gripping-platform-for-the-home/

Hello Robot — https://hello-robot.com

TechCrunch article: Hand-crank a level of Super Mario Bros. on Lego’s new 2,646-piece NES kit — https://techcrunch.com/2020/07/14/hand-crank-a-level-of-super-mario-bros-on-legos-new-nes-kit/

The Verge article: Lego made a 2,600-piece replica of playing Mario on the NES — https://www.theverge.com/2020/7/14/21322481/lego-nintendo-nes-super-mario-interactive-set-replica

The Verge article: Microsoft discontinues Xbox One X and Xbox One S digital edition ahead of Series X launch — https://www.theverge.com/2020/7/16/21327330/microsoft-xbox-one-x-s-digital-edition-discontinued

TechCrunch article: US beat China on App Store downloads for first time since 2014, due to coronavirus impact — https://techcrunch.com/2020/07/16/u-s-beat-china-on-app-store-downloads-for-first-time-since-2014-due-to-coronavirus-impact/

The Verge article: Microsoft Flight Simulator will launch on August 18th on PC — https://www.theverge.com/2020/7/13/21322499/microsoft-flight-simulator-pc-launch-august-18th-pricing