A Factual Data Creation Facility Production. Broadcasting, sort of, from a very tall building in New York City. Well, not really. It's the OFNT Podcast. Why, thank you, announcer Frank. Welcome to episode 262, which I'm calling Time for a Change. I'm planning to change up things with the OFNT podcast, and you can help me. In the podcast section, I compare audio samples of three mics with another thrown in just for fun. You can tell me which mic sounded the best to your ears.
In this episode, I have plenty of Apple news, talk about a mobile phone scam scare, and welcome the start of Major League Baseball. There are also a few odds and ends thrown in for your listening pleasure. All right. Let's get things a-rolling now. Oh, yes. Yeah, boy. Three, two, one. Tech News. Apple has announced that its annual Worldwide Developers Conference, better known as WWDC, or WWDC if you're amongst the elite of the tech press,
will be held on June 9th until the 13th of that month. The main event, which will come as a pre-recorded video per usual since the pandemic days, will be held on the first day, the 9th. There's no rumors of any hardware that might be announced. But what the WWDC is supposed to be about is software anyway. Yes! We'll be getting our first peek at the newest iterations of iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, watchOS, and other operating systems I don't really care about.
The redoing of the user interface with an attempt to make all various operating systems look and function the same is expected to be the core focus here, and I think it's a noble one. But who knows? Perhaps Apple will surprise us with some hardware after all. The tech press thinks we might see a Mac Pro with upgraded processors. And some bad news for those, like my son, for example.
who prefer a smaller form-factor smartphone, Apple Insider has an article claiming that sources are telling them that Apple has no plans in resurrecting the mini lineup. After years of clamoring for a small but pro-level iPhone, mainly on social media. Apple released the iPhone 12 mini in 2020. Follow the next year with the iPhone 13 mini in 2021.
Customers ignored the miniseries whose sales were so poor that Apple stopped producing them. This proved that the social media crowd screaming for such a phone was overamplified. Heck, I could have told you that.
Social media is not real life after all. No. With Apple killing off the SE series recently, this has left the small form factor customer with nowhere to go. No. I always thought that the iPhone 13 mini would go on to be the basis of a new SE series model, but then again, no one has ever paid me to think. And that's why I believe Apple will eventually come out with a flip-style iPhone like the Samsung Flip Fold series. Here's some more bad news for people like myself who battle hypertension.
According to Mac Rumors, Apple's attempt to bring blood pressure monitoring to its smartwatches has hit a snag. Oh no! According to the article, though Apple previously bragged this feature would be released this very year, Testing has revealed that the results of the blood pressure readings have been inaccurate. If so, why even include this feature in the first place?
Heck, even my expensive semi-medical grade BP monitoring kit isn't accurate sometimes. In other words, blood pressure monitoring is hard. I'd rather wait for accurate readings with my watch instead of inaccurate readings available. on some of these Chinese-made smartwatches. Give it another couple of years and I believe Apple will get it right.
In some good news for those that use WhatsApp as their main messaging app, which I understand is the standard in Europe, MacRumors reports that with its latest release, which is version 25.8.74,
You can now select WhatsApp to be your default calling and messaging app on your iPhone. Yay! Something that was long overdue in my opinion. I was on board early with WhatsApp, even getting a response from one of the... co-creators of the app, John Coombe, to an email I sent to the company thanking them for including a version for the Symbian mobile operating system, which was often ignored even in its heyday in the United States.
He replied that it was no problem as the company's goal was to make messaging easy and available for everyone, no matter what operating system they were using. Of course, back then, circa 2010... WhatsApp could only text message. It wasn't nearly as feature-rich as it is today. I also paid a dollar for the app, which was more like a donation because even if you didn't give the company your dollar, you could still use it.
For me, WhatsApp provided a common way to message over different operating systems and carriers that my family were using back then. My wife and youngest daughter were using iPhone 4s. My eldest daughter was on a Blackberry. And my son was using an HTC Android phone at the time. All were on different cellular providers that had trouble delivering plain text messages to other networks. Well, eventually we all joined the walled garden that is iOS.
So the need for an app like WhatsApp faded. My son was the last holdout before joining the rest of the family on iOS in 2022. The final nail in the coffin for WhatsApp, for me anyway, was when Facebook bought the company. While WhatsApp dominates in Europe, in Asia Facebook Messenger dominates. All of my wife's relatives, be they in North America or scattered around the world, use Facebook Messenger to communicate with each other.
I currently have Messenger installed on my devices because she's in Asia at the moment, but as soon as she's back, I'll be deleting the app from all of them. Apple is going camera crazy, it seems. According to articles on 9to5Mac and Apple Insider, Apple plans on adding cameras to its upcoming smartwatches and is considering adding them to future AirPod models. What? Unfortunately, the cameras on the watches are not for video calling like Dick Tracy. Huh? Yeah, I just dated myself there.
Now, like those being considered for future AirPods, these cameras are for Apple Intelligence, which is the company's much criticized version of AI. This is all part of the plan to bring Apple Intelligence in-house. As of now, Apple Intelligence relies on ChatGPT and Gemini to power it. The cameras would constantly scan the world around you, feeding that info into your iPhone. What's the benefit of having all these cameras?
I don't know. Well, they're not for you to take selfies with, that's for sure. I'm still sticking to my prediction that Apple's AI will eventually be the operating system itself. Rumors about Apple's foldable iPhone are still bouncing around the old intertubes, with the predicted 2026 release date gaining more traction lately. However, while most of the analysts are predicting a book-style foldable phone,
For my lovely wife's sake, I hope a flip-style foldable comes out alongside it. If not, the flip form factor will most likely follow in 2027. One of the weirdest rumors is that of a foldable iPad. that would run Mac OS instead of iPad OS. I don't know about this one. Though a render of one of these things looked cool.
The render pictured a large iPad folded halfway up with the bottom half containing a full on-screen keyboard. It all looked very futuristic. John Prozer, whose front-page tech YouTube channel hasn't been very active lately, I guess he's busy, recently put out a video claiming he has seen the new iOS 19 and it doesn't have rounded homepage app icons like the Vision Pro.
The render he showed has slightly more rounded squircles than those we have now, which appears to have glass reflections on it. It's hard to describe. He thinks the new Vision OS as well as Mac OS will adopt this style too. I guess we'll find out what's really happening at WWDC in June. Well, that'll wrap up this week's tech news section, which was all about Apple. Aw, yeah.
I really couldn't find any interesting news outside of the giant fruit company while pouring through my news feeds this week. Tech I'm using. Nothing shaking this week around the old fart abode. Only one tech problem this week, which was Wednesday morning. My son and I had awoken on that day to find our cell phones displaying SOS with a satellite graphic alongside it.
Though I had enabled the Simblock security feature on my account, I was still worried that I was a victim of the SimSwap scam. We're talking about T-Mobile here, whose security prowess in the past has been proven to be not secure at all. T-Mobile was the victim of numerous breaches over the years, of which the company was fined by the government dearly.
Years ago, my daughter was able to add a new phone to her existing line, which I might say was on my account while she was living in another state. All unbeknownst to me. She didn't even have to show any identification to do so at the T-Mobile store where this transaction occurred. I only found out about this when I received the bill for her new phone.
Of course, I quickly called customer service, which assured me that unless she showed identification that proved she was the account holder, well, this just wasn't possible. Yet, this did indeed happen. Being that my son's phone also didn't have any cellular servers, I figured it was okay. It was probably just a service outage. I looked at T-Mobile's outage map online, but it wasn't showing any outages in my area. Now I was getting worried.
Using the T-Mobile app, I started a chat with customer service, who verified there were no outages in my area. They then had me restart my phone, and still no service, reset my cellular configuration, no joy there, then told me to call customer service, which I did. After a five-minute wait, I got to talk to a customer service rep, advising him of my lack of service and of all the steps I had taken to resolve the issue previously.
He checked and told me that yes, there was in fact a service outage in my area and that the engineers were busy working on the problem. Of course, this put my mind at ease knowing that I wasn't the victim of that SIM swap scam. I thanked him and hung up. By around 1 o'clock in the afternoon, my son and I again had cellular service. My only complaint about this whole thing is that I wasted over an hour of my day texting and talking with these customer service reps. This threw my whole day off.
Yeah, I know. First world problems. Yes. Entertainment news. The Major League Baseball season has begun. This is the first year that I won't be in New York watching and rooting for my beloved New York Yankees. As in past years, my cellular service carrier, T-Mobile, offered an MLB app season pass gratis, which I promptly redeemed.
This year's Yankees opening day game was at home against the Milwaukee Brewers. The game was carried by the ESPN network, which is included with my Sling TV streaming service, so I would have been able to watch the game without the MLB app. The only games the MLB app blacks out in my area are the Atlanta Braves, Cincinnati Reds, and Cleveland Guardians. Hopefully I can find a way around those restrictions. Anyway, the Yankees don't play many games per year against those teams.
My new home state of Tennessee is vying for an expansion team, which, if it does happen, will be playing out of the city of Memphis, which is nearly 500 miles away from where I live, so we won't be making a drive over there to see baseball. If Tennessee does manage to get a major league team, I hope those silly restrictions on the MLB app are lifted. In the meantime, I might have to switch from Sling TV to another streamer which carries local sports networks.
Who carry those games that are subject to the blackouts? Well, it's good to have baseball back. Yes. I know my lovely wife will be pleased upon her return at the end of April. So, how are the Yankees doing so far? Well, the Yanks look good in their season opener, except for the new closing pitcher who almost blew the game. Some things never change. Saturday's game went well for the Yankees also, as the team lived up to their Bronx Bomber nickname.
hitting nine home runs, including a grand slam, with four of the homers coming in the first inning. This continued with another lopsided win on Sunday. But you know, the long baseball season is just starting, which allows times for... Things to go very wrong for the Yankees. Podcast news. I'm thinking of revamping the OFNT podcast that you know and love. Yes. No. Well, kind of.
If my listening numbers are any indication, I'm well past due in doing so. My numbers are in a slow but steady decline recently. When I first started podcasting, I built a pretty large listener base. ranging from areas within and outside of the United States. My biggest audiences were from Florida, California, and Michigan. Outside of the United States, India, Africa, and Australia saw my largest audience numbers.
This was back in what I consider being the day. In other words, pre-pandemic times, before Podcasting Incorporated spread their greedy tentacles across the podcasting space. The OFNT podcast has never recovered. After things settled down a bit, I started building up listeners once again, but not to the level I once had. These days, the OFNT podcast is most popular in Europe.
And I'm thankful for that. India and Australia have almost completely disappeared for me. This has provoked some deep thought on my part. Perhaps I should express more excitement and better diction during my episodes. While it's not really in my DNA to do so, I mean the excitement part. Anyway, I could at least try it. I know that the tech news leans very strongly towards the giant fruit company on this show.
Yes. But Apple News is what my news feeds serve me the most. Also, I don't have access to the Android mobile operating system any longer. This limits my interest in stories about Android. I am thinking of picking up an Android phone just to educate myself, but the one who must be obeyed would get the impression that I would use that phone for secret liaisons and other nefarious purposes.
What? Well, I've been married to her for over half my life, and I've done nothing of the sort over that time period. It's true, if I'm anything, I'm loyal. I always honor my commitments, especially those bound by a contract. Anyway, at this stage of my life, I prefer things I'm accustomed to. I never want to shake things up, which would cause me undue stress. Plus, I'm essentially lazy.
No longer up to putting in the effort the various things require by their very nature. I guess I could try and come up with a deal between me and her, but I just don't think she'd be receptive. No. I digress. What I'm asking here, dear listener, is for a bit of help with my planned format upgrade. Starting with this section, which is a microphone comparison test, you can vote for your favorite sounding microphone.
The mic that wins the most votes is the microphone I'll be using going forward. To vote, send me an email at ofntpodcast at gmail.com. At this time, I'm unable to avoid any prizes, but I can give you a shout-out if desired. The three mics that will be heard here are the Neumann TLM-102, the Heil PR-40,
And old Sparky, the Electrovoice RE20. And not necessarily in that order. Heck, I might even throw in a wild card if I manage to dig out another mic from my closet. You'll be doing me a favor by voting. Well... On with the comparison. Microphone number one. This is my microphone. There are many like it, but this one is mine. It has stood by me during both good and hard times, earning my gratitude.
and respect now on to the second example and here is a test of microphone number two this is my microphone there are many like it but this one is mine It has stood by me during both good and hard times, earning my gratitude and respect. All right, on to the next one. All right, here's the third test. This is my microphone.
There are many like it, but this one is mine. It had stood by me during both good and hard times, earning my gratitude and respect. Okay, I'm going to throw in a wild card now. The final mic is coming up. And here is the final microphone I'll be testing today, the Wildcard. This is my microphone. There are many like it, but this one is mine. It has stood by me during both good and hard times.
Earning my gratitude and respect. Well, that'll conclude this mic comparison. What'd you think? Okay. Ready for some microphone identification? Yeah, I bet you can't wait. I ordered the mics by expense from the most expensive to the cheapest. The only post-processing done was a small amount of compression and some noise removal. I'm trying to go with the less is more method.
Less means less post-processing. The last few episodes were done with limited audio processing. Just a little bit of compression, a mouse to clicker, and a tad of equalization and a limiter. Well, the first mic you heard was the Neumann TLM-102. The second mic was the legendary Electro-Voice RE-20. Up third was the Heil PR-40. And the fourth, which was the wildcard,
and barely the cheapest of the lot, was the Electro-Voice RE320. I was going to throw in the Rode Procaster, but I'm not even considering that mic. So which one sounded the best to your ears? Again. let me know by sending me an email at ofntpodcast at gmail.com. I'd appreciate it. According to PBJ, which stands for the Podcast Business Journal, the British Broadcasting Service has backed off the idea of including advertisements within domestic podcasts.
Domestic referring to the United Kingdom in this instance. For once it seems that sanity was restored within the leadership of the BBC. It's bad enough that the public is responsible for supporting the public broadcaster, VIA.
an annual license fee but inserting advertisements into content would be a slap in the face in my opinion i guess the powers that be will have to find another way to make up for the financial shortfall caused by the disillusion of usa id that now ended quote donation unquote was all about influence anyway i'm certain none of it went towards content or staff
Well, then again, I'm sure some staff got their share, if you know what I mean. Yes. Also, according to PBJ, the global podcast ad market has been downgraded by $20 billion. What? It was predicted that the podcast ad market would grow by 2.1%, but now is predicted to grow by only 0.4%. This will mainly hurt the big shows who... get the lion's share of advertising these days. I know my ad revenue from ads has taken a dive this year. Not that it amounted to much anyway.
If this continues, I'll probably just disable ads in my podcast and go fully in on the value for value formula. What a difference from not too long ago when everybody ate. Not so these days. The music has started to play on this wet night in Appalachia, mistled in the mountains of Tennessee. A signal that it's time to wind things down. I hope you enjoyed this episode.
I enjoyed making it for you. If you like what you heard, you can make a donation using the link in the show notes. Any and all donations will be greatly appreciated. You can always reach me at OFNTpodcast at gmail.com if you're so inclined. I'd enjoy hearing from you. Yeah, I really would. Remember. Don't listen to what they say. Watch what they do. The weather is warming up and that means you can go visit Dollywood again. So, in the meantime... Get off my lawn. Stay skeptical. I'm out. See ya.