WEBVTT - Tech News: Spring-Loaded Apples

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from my Heart Radio.

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<v Speaker 1>Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host,

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<v Speaker 1>Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with I Heart Radio

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<v Speaker 1>and I love all things tech. Is time for the

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<v Speaker 1>tech news for Thursday, April twenty second one, and long

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<v Speaker 1>time Tech Stuff listeners know that I'm not really an

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<v Speaker 1>Apple user. Heck, way back in the day, when Chris

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<v Speaker 1>Palette was my co host, we would receive listener feedback,

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<v Speaker 1>which is a kind way of putting it that accused

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<v Speaker 1>me of having an anti macbias. Actually made it kind

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<v Speaker 1>of a joke for a long time. And this episode

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<v Speaker 1>is absolutely not affiliated with or sponsored by Apple. With

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<v Speaker 1>all that out of the way, let me gush a

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<v Speaker 1>bit about what Apple showed off this week during their

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<v Speaker 1>spring Loaded event. We're gonna start off with the new Imax,

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<v Speaker 1>which are just beautifully designed machines. Apple has always paid

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<v Speaker 1>super close attention to esthetics. The new Imax reminds me

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<v Speaker 1>a bit of the classic iMac G three computers from

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<v Speaker 1>the late nineties and early two thousand's. These were all

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<v Speaker 1>in one computers, so monitor and CPU and all that

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<v Speaker 1>stuff all in one package, and it was the big

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<v Speaker 1>monitor style, you know, like the CRT style monitors, and

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<v Speaker 1>there were several translucent case colors that you could choose from.

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<v Speaker 1>They also follow in the style of the later iMac

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<v Speaker 1>all in ones, which went with the flat display form

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<v Speaker 1>factor with all the computer parts built in. So now

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<v Speaker 1>you've got this flat and incredibly thin. The new Imax

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<v Speaker 1>are like less than twelve millimeters thick, but you've got

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<v Speaker 1>this flat display, and you can choose one that has

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<v Speaker 1>a back that has a bright color to it, kind

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<v Speaker 1>of like smartphones do. I happen to really like the

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<v Speaker 1>purple one. You can get matching accessories for it as well,

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<v Speaker 1>like the keyboard and mouse will have accents that complement

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<v Speaker 1>the color scheme of your computer. Now the thing just

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<v Speaker 1>looks gorgeous to me. It also has a really neat

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<v Speaker 1>feature that I like. The computer uses its sensors to

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<v Speaker 1>detect changes in environmental lighting. So if you're working in

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<v Speaker 1>a space that has a lighting profile that changes over time,

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<v Speaker 1>like you are working in an office that has a window, well,

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<v Speaker 1>the iMac will dynamically adjust stuff like screen brightness and

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<v Speaker 1>color balance and contrast. So for folks who work in

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<v Speaker 1>digital photography or video production, those are really important considerations.

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<v Speaker 1>Back in our office in the old days, the video

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<v Speaker 1>team would work in a darkened area sometimes you just

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<v Speaker 1>call it the cave, because they needed to make sure

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<v Speaker 1>they knew exactly what their monitor settings were in order

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<v Speaker 1>to get the best result from editing. And if the

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<v Speaker 1>lighting kept changing, you might end up having two shots

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<v Speaker 1>that have mismatched color balance or white balance. Anyway, these

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<v Speaker 1>computers look amazing, and if I were in the space

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<v Speaker 1>to upgrade the old iMac I have, I would jump

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<v Speaker 1>on this. But all that being said, I'm not really

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<v Speaker 1>in the Apple ecosystem. The iMac I have is from

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<v Speaker 1>like the early mid two thousand's era, and I haven't

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<v Speaker 1>touched it in years. So while I feel the urge

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<v Speaker 1>to splurge, as it were, I don't think I can

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<v Speaker 1>justify it for myself. These are expensive computers. They start

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<v Speaker 1>at twelve nine for a base model that has four

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<v Speaker 1>color options, or you could pay almost fift dollars for

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<v Speaker 1>the upgraded models with more color options. Now that's not

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<v Speaker 1>ridiculously expensive for a new computer, but it's probably more

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<v Speaker 1>money than I should pay just because I think they

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<v Speaker 1>look pretty. I need to have a better reason than that.

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<v Speaker 1>But maybe I'll do a side hustle and save up

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<v Speaker 1>my pennies to get one anyway, because I mean, they're

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<v Speaker 1>so pretty. I also do not own an Apple TV device. Lord,

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<v Speaker 1>do I have a four K television. In fact, my

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<v Speaker 1>television doesn't have HDR, doesn't support high frame rate, none

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<v Speaker 1>of that stuff anyway. All that being said, the announcements

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<v Speaker 1>regarding the new Apple TV four K, which does support

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<v Speaker 1>HDR and high frame rate, also included something that I

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<v Speaker 1>thought was super cool. All right, so the device lets

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<v Speaker 1>you stream content to your television or download stuff to

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<v Speaker 1>the Apple TV device, and then you can view it

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<v Speaker 1>on your super fancy television. All of that is standard.

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<v Speaker 1>None of that is new stuff. But the thing that

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<v Speaker 1>impressed me is that Apple has built in a tool

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<v Speaker 1>that automates sort of like the TV settings like brightness, contrast,

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<v Speaker 1>and color balance. Using an iPhone, Apple TV owners can

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<v Speaker 1>do a sort of automated calibration. But it's not affecting

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<v Speaker 1>the TV settings itself. What it does is it measures

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<v Speaker 1>the color balance that your television is outputting, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>the brightness, the white balance, all these sort of things.

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<v Speaker 1>The contrast, the iPhone could pick that up and then

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<v Speaker 1>adjust the video streaming to the television, so the settings

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<v Speaker 1>of the video so that the TV displays video that

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<v Speaker 1>is close to industry standard specifications. So again it's not

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<v Speaker 1>changing the settings of the television set, but rather the

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<v Speaker 1>video feed so that it shows up on your TV

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<v Speaker 1>the way that the creators of various films and television

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<v Speaker 1>shows intended. And I think this is phenomenal. It's a

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<v Speaker 1>pretty common experience for people to get television home from

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<v Speaker 1>the store. They set it up, and then they sit

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<v Speaker 1>down and watch and they feel like the picture quality

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<v Speaker 1>just isn't as good at home as it was in

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<v Speaker 1>the store. Well, getting the settings just right for your

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<v Speaker 1>particular viewing environment takes a little bit of effort, and

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<v Speaker 1>it's not necessarily intuitive or easy, particularly depending on the

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<v Speaker 1>model of the television. The user interface for some of

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<v Speaker 1>these TVs gets to the point where you could spend

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<v Speaker 1>hours trying to tweak settings and and not be any

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<v Speaker 1>better result by the end of the day. And all

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<v Speaker 1>of that means that you're going to have a less

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<v Speaker 1>than optimal viewing experience. So this new feature for Apple

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<v Speaker 1>TV helps you get around that by having the stream

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<v Speaker 1>adjust for the jankie settings of your television, which happened

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<v Speaker 1>to like a lot. Oh, and then there's the iPad Pro. Heck,

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<v Speaker 1>I'm on record years ago saying the iPad would be

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<v Speaker 1>a flop. It is one of the dumbest things I've

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<v Speaker 1>ever said on this show. And if you've been listening

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<v Speaker 1>for a long time, you know that comes up against

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<v Speaker 1>some pretty stiff competition. But I want to talk about

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<v Speaker 1>a feature that Apple calls center Stage, and it involves

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<v Speaker 1>using the iPad Pro as a video camera. Now, I

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<v Speaker 1>know there's this social stigma attached to using a tablet

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<v Speaker 1>as a camera, and I get that, but this is

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<v Speaker 1>kind of neat The iPad Pro has a wide angle

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<v Speaker 1>lens which lets you get a really good field of

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<v Speaker 1>view of a scene. So imagine you set up an

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<v Speaker 1>iPad Pro to act as your video camera as you

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<v Speaker 1>do some sort of you know, YouTube style video. The

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<v Speaker 1>example that Apple used was a cooking video which was perfect.

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<v Speaker 1>Center Stage has the iPad Pro digitally punch in, zooming

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<v Speaker 1>in and effectively cropping out the edges of the field

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<v Speaker 1>of view so that you are in the center of

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<v Speaker 1>the frame. But because we're talking about a wide angle lens,

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<v Speaker 1>that gives you the freedom to move a little bit

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<v Speaker 1>to the left and to the right. You've got some

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<v Speaker 1>face there, and the iPad pro can digitally pan the perspective,

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<v Speaker 1>keeping you near the center of the frame even as

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<v Speaker 1>you move around. It's kind of the same effect as

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<v Speaker 1>if there were someone operating a camera and they were

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<v Speaker 1>panning the camera to keep you in view. If someone

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<v Speaker 1>else happens to join you in the video, the iPad

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<v Speaker 1>pro can digitally zoom out and keep you both inside

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<v Speaker 1>the frame of you. It's like having an automated camera operator.

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<v Speaker 1>So I can see that being really handy for certain

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<v Speaker 1>types of single creator videos like a SMR artists or

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<v Speaker 1>cooking videos or maker videos, and I think that is

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<v Speaker 1>super neat. Apple had a lot of other stuff to

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<v Speaker 1>talk about as well. They had a purple iPhone, as

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<v Speaker 1>in the back of the iPhone is purple, and they

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<v Speaker 1>also showed off air tags, which are little tokens you

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<v Speaker 1>can attach to stuff like your keys, or maybe put

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<v Speaker 1>one inside your wallet or your purse, and when you

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<v Speaker 1>can't find those things, like when that happens, you can

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<v Speaker 1>use your iPhone that's paired with that tag to track

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<v Speaker 1>down where it is. Apple's version gives you an indicator

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<v Speaker 1>that tells you what direction the lost object can be

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<v Speaker 1>found in. So you have a little arrow that says,

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<v Speaker 1>go this way, and it also tells you how far

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<v Speaker 1>away you are from it. It gives you like a

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<v Speaker 1>distance meter, and it includes haptic feedback as you start

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<v Speaker 1>to get closer, which is kind of like it's saying

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<v Speaker 1>you're getting warmer. You're getting warmer as you know, you

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<v Speaker 1>get close to whatever it is you lost. Now, these

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<v Speaker 1>kind of tags aren't exactly new. Tile does something similar,

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<v Speaker 1>and in fact, there is some ongoing kerfuffle related to this,

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<v Speaker 1>but I'll have to cover that in a later episode

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<v Speaker 1>because it's just breaking news as I record this. But

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<v Speaker 1>Apple's app approach is more precise than what I have

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<v Speaker 1>seen in other implementations. Anyway, most of the stuff I

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<v Speaker 1>mentioned will be available for order by the end of April,

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<v Speaker 1>and a lot of it won't actually start shipping until

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<v Speaker 1>the second half of May. And a again, I am

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<v Speaker 1>not an Apple guy, but I do admit some of

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<v Speaker 1>these things sound kind of cool and useful for specific applications,

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<v Speaker 1>specific use cases, specific types of users. I just don't

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<v Speaker 1>happen to fall into those categories, but I do encourage

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<v Speaker 1>folks who do fall into those categories to look into

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<v Speaker 1>it further. However, we have some other tech news to

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<v Speaker 1>touch on. Over in the UK, TikTok is in some

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<v Speaker 1>legal trouble and Longfield, who is the former Children's Commissioner

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<v Speaker 1>for Britain, has filed a lawsuit that alleges TikTok has

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<v Speaker 1>collected personal information of children who are using the app,

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<v Speaker 1>which is a huge no no in the UK and

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<v Speaker 1>the European Union. The lawsuit seeks out a staggering one

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<v Speaker 1>billion dollars and damages from the company to cover for

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<v Speaker 1>the data collection that has been going on since May ofen.

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<v Speaker 1>According to the allegations, the collected data includes stuff that

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<v Speaker 1>you would expect like tele phone numbers, location information, and

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<v Speaker 1>of course the videos actually shared through the app. But

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<v Speaker 1>Longfield argues that this process is not communicated clearly to

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<v Speaker 1>the user and moreover goes to great links to make

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<v Speaker 1>it unclear what the company is actually doing with all

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<v Speaker 1>the data it's collecting. The lawsuit seeks to force TikTok

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<v Speaker 1>to stop the practice of collecting data that's originating from

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<v Speaker 1>children using the app. This is at best a complicated solution.

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<v Speaker 1>For TikTok to work, it has to be able to

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<v Speaker 1>collect some information, even if all it's doing is enabling

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<v Speaker 1>the basic features of the app. A total halt could

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<v Speaker 1>mean that TikTok simply won't be able to find a

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<v Speaker 1>way to make things work for younger users, which in

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<v Speaker 1>turn creates the problem of how do you make sure

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<v Speaker 1>that TikTok has an age gate that it's restricted to

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<v Speaker 1>people who are of age, which is a thorny issue.

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<v Speaker 1>TikTok representatives say that the allegations are misleading and that

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<v Speaker 1>the company will quote vigorously defend the action end quote.

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<v Speaker 1>That's to be expected. There's no surprise there. As for

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<v Speaker 1>what I think, well, all major social media platforms are

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<v Speaker 1>ultimately in the business of collecting user data and then

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<v Speaker 1>leveraging that data in order to generate revenue. That's the

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<v Speaker 1>nature of the business, and I agree that when it

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<v Speaker 1>comes to children, this is a huge problem. It's one

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<v Speaker 1>thing for an adult to understand the consequences and implications

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<v Speaker 1>of sharing so much information, although I would argue that

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of adults, perhaps the vast majority of them,

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<v Speaker 1>don't really understand this fully or appreciate it fully. However,

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<v Speaker 1>it's definitely a challenge for a child to understand it,

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<v Speaker 1>and I am not actually sure what the right solution

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<v Speaker 1>is here. Though, if TikTok could somehow have like an

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<v Speaker 1>age gate on their side that prevented the company from

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<v Speaker 1>collecting data about younger users, I'd be in favor of that.

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<v Speaker 1>I just don't know how realistic that is. Meanwhile, over

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<v Speaker 1>here in America, the Federal Communications Commission, or f c C,

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<v Speaker 1>is making some moves to tackle the seriously annoying and

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<v Speaker 1>sometimes dangerous practice of robo calls. These automated calls range

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<v Speaker 1>from being a nuisance to enabling various scams and misinformation campaigns.

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<v Speaker 1>And I don't know about you folks out there, but

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<v Speaker 1>for me, it has meant that if I'm getting a

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<v Speaker 1>phone call and I do not recognize the phone number,

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<v Speaker 1>I do not answer the phone. I just let those

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<v Speaker 1>calls go to voicemail, and miraculously, about nent of calls

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<v Speaker 1>never leave a message. This convinces me that whatever the

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<v Speaker 1>call was couldn't have been important, or else they would

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<v Speaker 1>take the effort to leave a message. Meanwhile, I'm getting

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<v Speaker 1>between five and twelve calls from numbers I don't recognize

0:13:57.000 --> 0:14:00.400
<v Speaker 1>every single day. Well, everyone is fed up with that,

0:14:00.720 --> 0:14:03.920
<v Speaker 1>including people in the government. So what exactly is the

0:14:04.000 --> 0:14:07.600
<v Speaker 1>f c C doing. Well, it's kind of passing on

0:14:07.679 --> 0:14:12.920
<v Speaker 1>that responsibility to the telecommunications companies, which makes sense. So

0:14:12.960 --> 0:14:15.240
<v Speaker 1>the idea is that the f CC will create a

0:14:15.320 --> 0:14:18.760
<v Speaker 1>database or actually has created a database, that all voice

0:14:18.760 --> 0:14:22.960
<v Speaker 1>providers will have to use. The database is the Robocall

0:14:23.200 --> 0:14:27.560
<v Speaker 1>Mitigation Database, which sounds almost like it's a futuristic kind

0:14:27.600 --> 0:14:30.680
<v Speaker 1>of police force, but no, this is a document or

0:14:30.720 --> 0:14:33.680
<v Speaker 1>a database that phone companies will use to keep the

0:14:33.760 --> 0:14:39.520
<v Speaker 1>FCC informed on their individual robocall mitigation programs. Starting on

0:14:39.600 --> 0:14:45.680
<v Speaker 1>September one, phone companies quote must refuse to accept traffic

0:14:45.760 --> 0:14:50.240
<v Speaker 1>from voice service providers not listed in the Robocall Mitigation

0:14:50.320 --> 0:14:54.640
<v Speaker 1>Database end quote. So in other words, if you fail

0:14:55.080 --> 0:14:59.680
<v Speaker 1>to meet these FCC requirements, you don't get on that list.

0:14:59.720 --> 0:15:02.960
<v Speaker 1>If you're or a phone voice provider, then if you're

0:15:02.960 --> 0:15:05.640
<v Speaker 1>not on the list, you don't get in. That means

0:15:05.720 --> 0:15:08.760
<v Speaker 1>like your calls will not go through to other people.

0:15:09.240 --> 0:15:12.920
<v Speaker 1>The rules also involved incorporating protocols that will verify that

0:15:13.120 --> 0:15:17.080
<v Speaker 1>phone numbers are coming from where they claim they're coming

0:15:17.120 --> 0:15:19.160
<v Speaker 1>from before it can go to a customer. So you

0:15:19.240 --> 0:15:22.040
<v Speaker 1>might be aware of the practice of spoofing. That's when

0:15:22.040 --> 0:15:26.240
<v Speaker 1>a robocaller uses a sort of mask for the phone number.

0:15:26.720 --> 0:15:29.520
<v Speaker 1>They will often end up using a phone number that's

0:15:29.560 --> 0:15:31.880
<v Speaker 1>similar to yours in an effort to get you to

0:15:31.920 --> 0:15:33.640
<v Speaker 1>pick up the phone. So you might get an incoming

0:15:33.640 --> 0:15:36.240
<v Speaker 1>call and you're like, hey, this phone number is just

0:15:36.280 --> 0:15:38.360
<v Speaker 1>a couple of digits off from mine, it must be local.

0:15:38.440 --> 0:15:40.120
<v Speaker 1>I'm going to go ahead and answer. It turns out

0:15:40.400 --> 0:15:43.800
<v Speaker 1>it's coming from who knows where, and that phone number

0:15:43.840 --> 0:15:47.960
<v Speaker 1>was spoofed. Well, these protocols will let phone companies verify

0:15:48.160 --> 0:15:50.560
<v Speaker 1>that a call that claims it's coming from a number

0:15:50.600 --> 0:15:54.440
<v Speaker 1>that's just two digits off from your number is really

0:15:54.920 --> 0:15:58.040
<v Speaker 1>in fact from that phone number. If it isn't, it's

0:15:58.040 --> 0:16:00.800
<v Speaker 1>got to be blocked. That's the kind of idea there.

0:16:01.000 --> 0:16:03.760
<v Speaker 1>So the message here to phone companies is you have

0:16:03.880 --> 0:16:07.760
<v Speaker 1>the tools and you have until June one to get

0:16:07.760 --> 0:16:10.880
<v Speaker 1>them all in place, and if you do then you'll

0:16:10.960 --> 0:16:14.000
<v Speaker 1>be on this list. But if you fail to do it,

0:16:14.640 --> 0:16:17.720
<v Speaker 1>you won't be on the list, which means calls through

0:16:17.760 --> 0:16:20.320
<v Speaker 1>your services are just gonna be blocked to all the

0:16:20.400 --> 0:16:24.600
<v Speaker 1>other phone providers out there. This is an interesting approach.

0:16:25.280 --> 0:16:27.360
<v Speaker 1>It is one that worries me a little bit just

0:16:27.520 --> 0:16:32.320
<v Speaker 1>for innocent customers of phone voice providers. I mean, they

0:16:32.360 --> 0:16:36.040
<v Speaker 1>are not necessarily culpable for robocall practices that are carried

0:16:36.080 --> 0:16:39.320
<v Speaker 1>out on that same service, but they depend on that

0:16:39.360 --> 0:16:42.680
<v Speaker 1>phone service. I'm not sure how you work around that, Like,

0:16:42.720 --> 0:16:45.040
<v Speaker 1>how do you make sure that the innocent customers who

0:16:45.080 --> 0:16:48.960
<v Speaker 1>are affected by this are still able to communicate to

0:16:49.480 --> 0:16:52.240
<v Speaker 1>folks using the phone. I don't know what the answer

0:16:52.320 --> 0:16:55.320
<v Speaker 1>is there, but it is an interesting approach and I

0:16:55.360 --> 0:16:58.840
<v Speaker 1>will continue to cover this story. If you live in

0:16:58.880 --> 0:17:02.120
<v Speaker 1>Seattle and you shop at Whole Foods, you might be

0:17:02.240 --> 0:17:05.800
<v Speaker 1>able to pay for your artisanal groceries with the wave

0:17:05.920 --> 0:17:10.080
<v Speaker 1>of your hand. Amazon is piloting a payment program called

0:17:10.119 --> 0:17:13.400
<v Speaker 1>Amazon One at a few Whole Foods stores in Seattle.

0:17:13.720 --> 0:17:16.760
<v Speaker 1>Customers who opt in can link a credit card or

0:17:16.840 --> 0:17:21.240
<v Speaker 1>Amazon account to their palm print, essentially so then after

0:17:21.600 --> 0:17:24.840
<v Speaker 1>having their groceries rung up after they've done shopping, they

0:17:24.880 --> 0:17:29.439
<v Speaker 1>can run their palms over as payment. They scan the

0:17:29.520 --> 0:17:32.960
<v Speaker 1>palm and the money comes from the connected card or

0:17:33.000 --> 0:17:36.719
<v Speaker 1>Amazon account. Amazon has already used this technology for a

0:17:36.720 --> 0:17:40.520
<v Speaker 1>few of its pilot stores that operate without cashiers, and

0:17:40.560 --> 0:17:43.000
<v Speaker 1>the company says that the tech could end up being

0:17:43.080 --> 0:17:46.439
<v Speaker 1>used in other locations such as sporting events and such.

0:17:47.280 --> 0:17:49.760
<v Speaker 1>Not in a way, I think that approach could help

0:17:49.840 --> 0:17:53.840
<v Speaker 1>down on practices like scalping and the whole resale market,

0:17:54.280 --> 0:17:57.600
<v Speaker 1>which could mean that for stuff like you know, sporting

0:17:57.640 --> 0:18:01.399
<v Speaker 1>events and theater events, that the folks who really want

0:18:01.440 --> 0:18:05.360
<v Speaker 1>to go to those events but constantly find it difficult

0:18:05.359 --> 0:18:08.760
<v Speaker 1>to get tickets because scalpers have bought up huge banks

0:18:08.800 --> 0:18:12.560
<v Speaker 1>of them might have a better chance. But then you

0:18:12.600 --> 0:18:17.040
<v Speaker 1>could also say that whenever you start incorporating biometrics into

0:18:17.160 --> 0:18:21.200
<v Speaker 1>payment plans, it gets a little creepy, so there can

0:18:21.240 --> 0:18:24.160
<v Speaker 1>be a negative response, which I think is totally understandable

0:18:24.200 --> 0:18:28.720
<v Speaker 1>and justifiable. Some groups are already expressing concerns about issues

0:18:28.760 --> 0:18:33.919
<v Speaker 1>like privacy or potentially with hackers, so there are legitimate

0:18:34.080 --> 0:18:37.520
<v Speaker 1>objections to this. Uh, the questions would I use this

0:18:37.600 --> 0:18:42.760
<v Speaker 1>kind of process, I mean probably, I've used similar processes

0:18:42.760 --> 0:18:45.520
<v Speaker 1>for lots of other stuff, like when I travel on airlines,

0:18:45.560 --> 0:18:48.720
<v Speaker 1>for example. But that's me, and that's my personal choice.

0:18:48.720 --> 0:18:52.359
<v Speaker 1>I wouldn't blame anyone else for saying, yeah, I'm not

0:18:52.480 --> 0:18:55.440
<v Speaker 1>comfortable doing that, And I think that's you know, a

0:18:55.520 --> 0:18:59.880
<v Speaker 1>valid response and it comes up to individual preference. Finally,

0:19:00.320 --> 0:19:02.760
<v Speaker 1>some of you gamers out there might be fans of

0:19:02.800 --> 0:19:06.359
<v Speaker 1>an old game called Cotour a K Nights of the

0:19:06.440 --> 0:19:11.639
<v Speaker 1>Old Republic. This is an action RPG games set in

0:19:11.680 --> 0:19:15.119
<v Speaker 1>the Star Wars universe. The story takes place thousands of

0:19:15.240 --> 0:19:17.840
<v Speaker 1>years before the events of the film franchise, so it

0:19:17.840 --> 0:19:21.000
<v Speaker 1>doesn't involve any of the characters from the Star Wars movies.

0:19:21.320 --> 0:19:24.600
<v Speaker 1>The original game, produced by BioWare, published way back in

0:19:24.640 --> 0:19:27.320
<v Speaker 1>two thousand three, and now it sounds like there is

0:19:27.359 --> 0:19:31.120
<v Speaker 1>a remake in the works held by a Spear Media.

0:19:31.359 --> 0:19:34.679
<v Speaker 1>That company is best known for producing ports. So in

0:19:34.680 --> 0:19:38.280
<v Speaker 1>the video game world, developers frequently focus on making a

0:19:38.320 --> 0:19:43.720
<v Speaker 1>specific game for a specific platform like Windows, PCs or

0:19:44.119 --> 0:19:46.919
<v Speaker 1>the PlayStation or whatever, and they spend a lot of

0:19:46.960 --> 0:19:50.200
<v Speaker 1>time and money and other resources to make the game.

0:19:50.640 --> 0:19:53.600
<v Speaker 1>But of course, there are lots of platforms for games

0:19:53.640 --> 0:19:56.520
<v Speaker 1>out there, and most of them are not compatible with

0:19:56.600 --> 0:19:59.240
<v Speaker 1>the other ones. So if the company wants their game

0:19:59.320 --> 0:20:03.000
<v Speaker 1>to be available across all platforms, they have to port

0:20:03.359 --> 0:20:08.080
<v Speaker 1>the game over, essentially rebuilding the game for other platforms. Now,

0:20:08.119 --> 0:20:11.240
<v Speaker 1>sometimes that can be done without having to recreate lots

0:20:11.520 --> 0:20:15.320
<v Speaker 1>of the game other times, it's a more involved process,

0:20:15.359 --> 0:20:17.880
<v Speaker 1>and many game studios don't have the time to do

0:20:17.960 --> 0:20:21.359
<v Speaker 1>all of this internally, so they contract that work out

0:20:21.400 --> 0:20:25.479
<v Speaker 1>to other studios like Asper Media. But this sounds like

0:20:25.520 --> 0:20:28.280
<v Speaker 1>it's not just a port to let players run the

0:20:28.320 --> 0:20:32.240
<v Speaker 1>game on modern hardware. This sounds like Asper Media is

0:20:32.280 --> 0:20:36.600
<v Speaker 1>actually going the extra step to remake the game, presumably

0:20:36.880 --> 0:20:39.639
<v Speaker 1>so that the effects and gameplay are brought up to

0:20:39.720 --> 0:20:43.119
<v Speaker 1>speed with more recent trends in the video game space.

0:20:44.000 --> 0:20:47.000
<v Speaker 1>I'm pretty excited about this. Nights of the Old Republic

0:20:47.200 --> 0:20:50.199
<v Speaker 1>was a game I really enjoyed. I liked how the

0:20:50.240 --> 0:20:53.359
<v Speaker 1>game asks you to make various judgment calls, and based

0:20:53.359 --> 0:20:56.560
<v Speaker 1>on your decisions and gameplay, you might find yourself becoming

0:20:56.760 --> 0:21:01.760
<v Speaker 1>an enlightened Jedi master or a vicious and ruthless Sith warrior,

0:21:02.080 --> 0:21:05.119
<v Speaker 1>or perhaps something in between. So I'm really looking forward

0:21:05.119 --> 0:21:10.159
<v Speaker 1>to seeing the outcome. Well that's a selection of stories

0:21:10.280 --> 0:21:15.240
<v Speaker 1>for Thursday, April twenty one. A reminder out there that

0:21:15.320 --> 0:21:18.000
<v Speaker 1>if you have any suggestions for future topics that I

0:21:18.000 --> 0:21:20.159
<v Speaker 1>should tackle and tech Stuff, reach out to me and

0:21:20.240 --> 0:21:22.359
<v Speaker 1>let me know. The best way to do that is

0:21:22.400 --> 0:21:25.520
<v Speaker 1>on Twitter. The handle for the show is tech Stuff H.

0:21:25.800 --> 0:21:29.440
<v Speaker 1>S W and I'll talk to you again really soon.

0:21:34.320 --> 0:21:37.360
<v Speaker 1>Text Stuff is an I heart Radio production. For more

0:21:37.440 --> 0:21:40.840
<v Speaker 1>podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app,

0:21:40.960 --> 0:21:44.119
<v Speaker 1>Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.