Bring On the New Apple TV - Streaming Service or Not

I've been waiting for a new Apple TV from Apple for years, and I've been disappointed each time a major Apple event came and went without one. Plus, I've been waiting for Apple to come along and disrupt the cable/satellite TV bundling status quo with some sort of a la carte streaming service, also to no avail. Now I don't think that second wish -- some sort of vastly improved and less-expensive TV service -- matters much at all. I think the time for it has passed. Here's why: Our TV and media consumption habits are now irreparably fractured.

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Microsoft Aims to Meet Gamers' Great Expectations

Microsoft on Tuesday launched the Rare Replay collection -- the best games lineup in Xbox History, according to Xbox Chief Phil Spencer -- at Gamescom in Cologne, Germany. Even some loyal Xbox fans might disagree with that proclamation, but Microsoft attempted to back up its assertion with a content-rich presentation bedazzled with exclusive games. With more than 400,000 gamers and developers and other industry players in its ecosystem, Microsoft has been trying to be the Microsoft people expect it to be, Spencer said.

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Autodesk's Stingray Gets Into Video Game Guts

Tired of serving as just a pretty face, Autodesk on Monday announced that it's putting its muscle into the business of making video games. The new Stingray engine pulls together Autodesk's efforts in the games space. Autodesk later in August will offer Stingray worldwide for $30 a month -- and it will make the game engine available to Maya LT Desktop Subscription customers before the summer's close. Stringray is a cross-platform engine that supports Xbox One, PlayStation 4, the Oculus Rift, Windows, Android and iOS.

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OS X Zero-Day Exploit Threatens Massive Mac Attack

Mac users, beware -- the ads you see on the Web could let hackers hijack your device. Malwarebytes has discovered a new zero-day exploit in OS X that lets apps bypass passwords during installation to get root permission through a Unix shell. A new adware installer downloaded by a Malwarebytes researcher modified his sudoers file -- a hidden Unix file that controls access to root permissions. The script exploited the DYLD_Print_To_File vulnerability publicized last month by German security researcher Stefan Esser.

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Hey, Siri - Get Out Your Steno Pad

Apple reportedly is working on a service that will enlist Siri to transcribe voice mail messages for iPhone users. Employees are testing the service in preparation for a 2016 rollout, possibly as a new feature in iOS 10. When a call is placed to a phone that has iCloud Voicemail enabled and you don't answer it, Siri will pick it up. Depending on who the caller is, Siri may provide information about where you are and why you can't answer the call. If your caller leaves a voice message, Siri will notify you and send you a transcription.

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Windows 10: Changing the Apple vs. Microsoft Dynamic

What I find most interesting about Windows 10 is that if Apple wanted to knock Microsoft off the desktop, then it -- not Microsoft -- should have released a product like this. When I say "like this," I mean one that could transform a smartphone into a PC. My reasoning is that Microsoft is relatively weak in smartphones, and Apple currently is kicking Google all over the market. Given Google's power, that's pretty impressive -- of course, it is also largely Google's own fault. Granted, Apple would have to lead with iOS, not OS X.

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Gadget Ogling: Useful Smartwatches, Orbital Cameras, and an Un-Procrastinator

Dot is a smartwatch that may have life-changing implications. Rather than trying to convey information through tiny text on a small screen, Dot intends to provide visually impaired wearers with notifications through Braille. Four sets of the six dots that signify characters in the Braille system raise and lower as quickly as 100 times per second to denote four characters simultaneously, though users may opt to slow the watch down to a single character per second.

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