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The Literally-Walk-Through Edition Friday, February 2, 2018

This App Lets You Dive Into The Richness Of An Artist’s Studio From Anywhere, by Daniel Terdiman, Fast Company

There are a number of virtual reality apps that take art fans inside famous museums. But they require headsets and often have limited scope for allowing viewers to craft their own experience. Now, a new augmented reality app for Apple’s iOS is letting art lovers step inside the Los Angeles studio of a well-known visual artist, as well as literally walk through some of her three-dimensional VR pieces.

The app, known as 4thWall, showcases the multimedia work of artist Nancy Baker Cahill in two distinct ways. Cahill has spent the last year developing art in VR–360-degree pieces that seem to spread throughout a room and that headset-wearers can walk through. With the new app, anyone with a recent iPhone can do the same, visualizing one of her pieces and virtually walking through it as they physically move around with their phone, and, just as interesting, superimposing the pieces on any environment they want–a living room, a park, a foyer, and so on.

Apple’s New Vienna Store Is An Homage To The Wiener Werkstätte, by Fabian Pimminger, Medium

The glass walls, as well as the Apple logo, are decorated with black and white patterns, that look a little odd, old and kind of futura-esque. But actually, it’s an ingenious homage to the “Wiener Werkstätte”.

Apple Celebrates Chinese New Year With Short Film “Three Minutes” Shot On iPhone X, by Michael Steeber, 9to5Mac

Three Minutes was created to showcase how creative professionals can take advantage of the camera hardware and powerful software Apple offers. The website accompanying the production shares additional cinematography tips and behind the scenes footage from the making of the film.

A Traveling Frog Exposes The Fake App Problem In Apple’s Chinese App Store, by Jon Russell, TechCrunch

The iPhone-maker has a reputation among developers for its tough approach to vetting apps before they are allowed into the App Store — just yesterday it briefly pulled apps from popular messaging firm Telegram — but research from China-based social media marketing firm China Channel has shown that more than 30 apps imitating Tabi Kaeru were accepted into the Chinese App Store.

In one case, the most successful knock-off — an app named “旅行青蛙.” — was able to generate significant revenue after seeming to game the App Store and gain a prominent position in its charts.

Cupertino Business

Tim Cook: iPhone X 'Top-selling iPhone Every Week Since It Shipped In November', by Mike Wuerthele, AppleInsider

In Apple's quarterly earnings statement, Apple CEO Tim Cook declared that since it shipped to customers, the iPhone X was the biggest seller every week, outpacing the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus through November and December.

The iPhone X Is Apple’s Underrated Masterpiece, by Vlad Savov, The Verge

Everyone I have asked that has purchased an iPhone X has expressed happiness with that decision. No one has been stoked about the price, but after that minor qualifier, all I hear about are the fluid and intuitive gestures to navigate the UI, the gorgeous display, the improved battery life, the futuristic ease of Face ID, and a bunch of other small things that make the user experience a happy one. There’s no getting around this basic fact: the iPhone X is an excellent phone, as judged by the people who use it.

Apple Aims To Reduce $163B Net Cash Balance To 'Approximately Zero,' Hints At Investments And M&A, by Mikey Campbell, AppleInsider

In an earnings conference call on Thursday, Maestri said Apple is looking to shrink its cash balance, which currently stands at $285 billion or $163 billion excluding debt, down to nothing. The strategy is in stark contrast with Apple's traditional financial model that saw the firm hoard cash overseas in anticipation of lower U.S. tax rates.

This Is Tim: Transcript Of Apple's Q1 2018 Earnings Call, by Jason Snell, Six Colors

Every quarter Apple executives hop on an hourlong call with financial analysts and provide “a little more color” about its quarterly financial results. This quarter was no different. Here’s a complete transcript of the call, right down to the latest attempt by an analyst to get Tim Cook to reveal future iPhone product decisions seven months early. (Spoiler alert: It didn’t work.)

Stuff

Apple Clarifies HomePod Audio Sources, by David Sparks, MacSparky

A lot of people were questioning whether or not it would play iTunes Music Purchases and the iTunes Match music library. I'm glad it does.

YouTube TV Now Available Natively On Apple TV, by Peter Cao, 9to5Mac

The cable-cutter streaming TV service starts at $35/month, with no contracts, and allows users to stream TV from their iPhone and now, Apple TV.

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