Jon Westfall and I are joined by frequent guest panelist Frank McPherson to reflect on Microsoft Windows CE’s 25th anniversary and Microsoft mobile journey over the decades.

We also discussed:

1. My $48 Bluetooth earbuds have two features my Air Pods Pro do not: (1) Over the ear “hooks” so they don’t fall out when walking and (2) a digital display on the charging case that shows the battery charge level for each earbud. It seems like a decent product so far. However, despite having “noise cancellation” in the product name, it does not have such a feature.
2. New this week: Apple pushes out AirPods firmware, enables “Conversation Boost” – “Apple says Conversation Boost is designed to help people with mild hearing challenges stay more connected in conversations. The feature uses the AirPods Pro’s beam-forming microphones to boost the volume of a person talking in front of you, making it easier to listen to a face-to-face conversation, and there is also an option to reduce ambient noise.” – How much longer until commercial BT headphones replace $$$ hearing aids? — Firware Version 4A400
3. Also, MacRumors has a massive iOS 15 tips/tricks document – some things I forgot about – drag and drop support greatly improved, square calendar widget (Month view!), iOS password manager now supports 2 factor codes, AR walking mode directions (would be great for cities), background sounds (e.g., rain, other ambient sounds to help improve concentration).

   And something I didn’t realize you could do – when sending a photo in messages, you can search by month/year. Really helps when you know you had a picture you took last March that you want to send someone now.

Available via Google Music Podcasts and Apple iTunes.