Author Archives: todd

MobileViews Podcast 513: AI Ghost Voices; Acer Stereo Camera; catching up on recent tech announcements


In this podcast, Jon Westfall and I catch up on announcements from the recent Apple, Google, and Microsoft events. We also discuss:

  • The announcement of the Acer SpatialLabs Eyes stereo camera
  • First AI hallucinations. Now, AI Ghost Voices?
  • Looking forward to Apple WWDC next week
  • Jon’s recent Apple Store repair adventure
  • Jon’s rant: Why is Apple & Google Maps’ GPS routing still so bad (compared to the Google owned Waze maps)?

The Adobe Podcast Enhance tool does a great job of cleaning up the podcasts I’ve recorded in some challenging environments – such as restaurants. I’m planning to record some outdoor walk-and-talk tech vlogs was hoping to avoid using wireless lav mics when recording with an Insta360 X4. So, I’ve been testing recording under a variety of ambient sound conditions. The wind tunnel-like Hawaii State Capitol, however, pushed this AI service’s beyond its capability. In this A-B example, you can hear the original recording with my voice sounding faint and distant in windy conditions in the first section. The second section lets you hear the same clip processed by Adobe Podcast Enhance. It appears to have interpreted the wind sounds as human voices and tried to “enhance its speech” leading to what I’m calling “AI Ghost Voices”. It looks like I need to plan to use wireless lav mics after all 🙂

Available via Apple iTunes.
MobileViews YouTube Podcasts channel
MobileViews Podcast on Audible.com

MobileViews 512: Microsoft Copilot+ PCs – talk me into or out of buying one

Screenshot

I’m joined by Steven Hughes, Sven Johannsen, and Don Sorcinelli for this podcast. We mostly discuss a single topic: The recently announced Microsoft Copilot + PC concept. We also briefly discussed Windows AutoPilot V2 and .NET/Developer announcements.

My 2012 Surface RT still boots. But, there is some kind of biology experiment going on the surface of its keyboard

Available via Apple iTunes.
MobileViews YouTube Podcasts channel
MobileViews Podcast on Audible.com

Apple Pencil Pro: 3 things no one has mentioned (that I know of)

Like most people (not among the elite reviewers :-), I received my M4 iPad Pro and Pencil Pro on May 15. Here’s three things I noticed that I have not yet seen reviewers mention

  1. Find My needs to be turned on manually for the Pencil Pro. Other Apple products, so far, have been “findable” by default using Apple Find My
  2. The Pencil Pro is automatically detected at pair with the M4 iPad Pro after Airplane Mode is turned off. The first and second generation Apple Pencils need to be either plugged into a Lightning port (1st gen) or magnetically attached (2nd gen)
  3. No “drawing” apps that I use (about a dozen) supported the new Pencil Pro features (barrel roll, squeeze for a menu, tactile feedback) when I took delivery of my M4 iPad and Pencil Pro on May 15, 2024. This includes Procreate which was prominently featured during Apple’s May 7 product announcement event. The only drawing app (that I use) that has gained Pencil Pro support since then is ArtStudio Pro.

MobileViews Podcast 511: New Apple Gear; OpenAI ChatGPT 4o, Google I/O

Jon Westfall and I are joined by frequent guest panelists Sven Johannsen and Don Sorcinelli for this podcast. We discuss:

Available via Apple iTunes.
MobileViews YouTube Podcasts channel
MobileViews Podcast on Audible.com

MobileViews Podcast 510: Apple May 7 event announcements discussion



Jon Westfall and I are joined by Sven Johannsen for this post-May Apple 7 product announcements discussion.

  • SimCity inducted into the World Video Game Hall of Fame
  • Email from Google saying Find My Device network will be fully launched on May 13
  • Products that we hoped Apple would announce but did not: iPad Mini, iPad speaker dock (similar to Pixel Tablet dock), AirPods Pro 3 with more biometrics, Colorimeter built into the new Apple Pencil Pro
  • Apple surprises: iPad Pro lost the wide angle camera lens, the iPad Pro is too thin – would have preferrred large battery with longer battery life
  • Things we’re looking forward to at the June Apple WWDC event: A “smarter” Siri; iPad OS 18 gaining a “real” file system
  • Google I/O will be on May 14. No new hardware products expected (or already announced). So, will this be an all-AI/only-AI event?
  • Sven’s new gadgets: OSMO Pocket 3 Desktop Stand, Pocket 3 Microphone Stick; Belkin iPhone MagSafe Mounts for MacBooks, Desktop/Displays, and Apple TV 4K; USB Conference Speakerphone

Available via Apple iTunes.
MobileViews YouTube Podcasts channel
MobileViews Podcast on Audible.com

MobileViews Podcast 509: BASIC turns 60; Randy Travis AI-voice; AI gadgets


Jon Westfall, Don Sorcinelli, & Todd Ogasawara


Jon Westfall and I are joined by Don Sorcinelli for this podcast. We discuss:

Available via Apple iTunes.
MobileViews YouTube Podcasts channel
MobileViews Podcast on Audible.com