Space Javelin
472 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 2 years ago - ★★★★★ - 53 ratingsInsight and analysis of Apple-centric topics of the week from the previous MacNN team, published weekly. Space Javelin's team has well over a century of Mac and Apple experience divided between them.
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Episodes
SJ144: Apple makes a lotta moves, SprinTMob may happen, the Galaxy Fold returns, Rumor Report, more
July 29, 2019 01:30 - 1 hour - 70 MBApple releases a basket full of updates (and even some for owners of older equipment), buys Intel's 5G modem business, turns on ECG for Apple Watch owners in Canada, prepares to launch the Apple Card in the US, and poaches a Tesla VP -- that's what we call an Apple (story) a day, cadets! Elsewhere, the DOJ gives the "new T-Mobile" a lifeline, the House passes an anti-robocall bill, LG catches HomeKit fever, and it's rumor season once again -- and that's not all! There's also the behind-the-s...
Space Javelin HammerCast ep 90: Space Stations, Tentacles & Bears
July 27, 2019 13:06 - 32 minutes - 30.4 MBFallout & Anthem woes persist. EVE Online shakes up PvP. Destiny 2 revamps armor. Plants vs. Zombies 3 is coming! Show notes: https://hammercast.fm/90/
SJ143: 5G a hot mess, Apple Card, MacBooks reviewed, assault on batteries, Linus’ Mac Faux, more
July 24, 2019 03:59 - 1 hour - 74 MBSorry about the 40-hour delay, cadets, but we accidentally divided by zero or something in plotting our latest course and time folded in itself, so Mike's knot-untying skills were put the test in getting our edit back. This week your trusty co-Cap'ns anticipate the arrival of Apple Card (maybe soon in Canada?), plug AI's review of Sky: Children of the Light, congratulate Apple on yet more (commercial) Emmy awards, figure out how to live when your Mac or iOS device doesn't have a lot of storag...
SJ142: Apple giveth and taketh away, Google eavesdrops, Facebook gets fined, & even Stranger Things!
July 15, 2019 01:02 - 53 minutes - 61.5 MBWe’re back from shore leave, and the Canada/USA holiday weekend turned out to be a great time to take a little break, but of course the shenanigans started up right after that, cadets, so Capn’s Mike and Charles return with a roundup — including new MacBook Airs and Pros (but a retired MacBook), new iPads coming in the fall, a couple of proactive security moves by Apple, new adapters for Lightning, and of course the other big tech news of the week, such as Facebook shrugging off a $5B fine, G...
Space Javelin HammerCast ep 89: Some People Juggle Geese
July 12, 2019 23:17 - 35 minutes - 33.3 MBA short one this week as Duane, Joe, and Todd discuss the Switch Lite, game studio crunch, and a missing Pokémon card worth more than your car! Show notes: https://hammercast.fm/89/
SJ141: Jony Ive heads out, acqui-hires are in, Intel throws a fit, Facebook pouts, & we take off eh!
July 01, 2019 02:09 - 48 minutes - 55.5 MBIt's now liberty hall for the crew of the good ship Space Javelin, thanks to the double-header of Canada Day and the Fourth of July, so there won't be an episode next week ... but just like the war of 1812, Sir Jony Ive generously did his bit to liven up an otherwise low-key news week by generously surrendering (his job at Apple) so that US and Canadians alike could take a week off. Mike and Charles note some other big changes at Apple, including new recruits as well as old hands getting pro...
Space Javelin HammerCast ep 88: Emergent Weirdness
June 28, 2019 21:16 - 48 minutes - 44.8 MBEpic Games insists exclusivity is all that matters, D&D Beyond dishes on alignments, and TaleSpire might reinvent virtual tabletop. Show notes: https://hammercast.fm/88/
SJ140: Tablet wars, phablet bores, Adobe under attack, batteries under recall, new games & much more
June 24, 2019 09:47 - 53 minutes - 60.9 MBThe forthcoming iPadOS isn't even out yet, and it has already claimed its first victim, cadets -- Google is jettisoning its attempts to compete and leaving the USS iPad and the CCCP Surface to battle it out for not-quite-a-laptop supremacy! Apple has grown its sales in China again, updated its old AirPort base stations and recalled batteries, and as a result remains officially the most efficient and productive ship in the fleet! New challengers have arrived in orbit to challenge the Adobe hom...
Space Javelin HammerCast ep 87: Too Many Diglets
June 21, 2019 21:45 - 41 minutes - 38.4 MBWe wave goodbye to ThinkGeek, raise eyebrows at Twitch's lawsuit against Artifact trolls, and consider Starbase and other games with programming inside them. Show notes: https://hammercast.fm/87/
SJ139: Child privacy, USB4, Pixel 4, RX5700, Goldman Sachs, PBS, Sprint/TMob, & Folding Phone fail
June 17, 2019 05:32 - 59 minutes - 68.7 MBSome nice surprises this week, cadets, such as news on the distant-but-foreseeable USB4 standard; expansions for Apple Pay, Apple Wallet, and Apple Card; deets on the Radeon RX5700; a possible Mac Pro and Pro Display XDR release month; a long-overdue update to iCloud for Windows; a look at some cool new hardware, and our very first mention ever of mass spectrometry! Of course, to keep the anti-matter supplies fed, there's also a festering pile of fail to go through — such as Google, Amazon, ...
Space Javelin HammerCast ep 86: E3 2019
June 14, 2019 21:06 - 1 hour - 71.4 MBIt's E3 2019! Mike, Todd and Duane talk about all the things... Show notes: https://hammercast.fm/86/
SJ138: iTunes not killed, Mac Pro in-depth, fave new OS features, and Samsung copies Apple (again!)
June 10, 2019 10:25 - 1 hour - 71.2 MBThe big media sites (bigger than us Apple-specialist sites, we mean) often get stories about the tech world wrong, cadets, but this time they really blew it: iTunes isn't dead, it's just been rearranged and feng shui'd a bit. Your stuff is safe, on iOS very little changes, on Mac we now copy what we were doing on iOS, and for Windows literally nothing at all changes. Mike and Charles delve into some of the main features of this fall's new OS versions, name their favorite new arrivals, explore...
Space Javelin HammerCast ep 85: The D'Fashion 2
June 08, 2019 14:41 - 43 minutes - 40.2 MBPokémon, Baldur's Gate, The Division 2, Minecraft and more keep us busy as we warm up the E3 engines for takeoff! Show notes: https://hammercast.fm/85/
SJ Special Report - WWDC 2019 and beyond!
June 04, 2019 07:38 - 30 minutes - 35.2 MBWe're officially in orbit around Planet Dub Dub, cadets, and Monday was a big day for the Mothership! In this Special Report, Mike and Charles focus (almost) exclusively on the big announcements from the WWDC keynote, the press releases that didn't get mentioned on stage, some interesting implications from all that has or is about to change, and give their first impressions on Cheese Grater II: Expensive Boogaloo, the Apple Pro Display XDR, the forthcoming four OS releases this fall, and ster...
SJ137: OMG AirPort (?!), RIP Back to My Mac, LOL Qualcomm, new MBP & iPod Touch r0x, Flipboard sux0r
June 02, 2019 02:16 - 32 minutes - 37.4 MBSo we could better focus on Monday's WWDC keynote announcements with a Special Report, cadets, we've opted to give you the rest of the notable news from the TechSphere a day or so early in a shorter episode, but tune in Tuesday for the low-down on Planet Dub Dub and what it all means for you. In the meantime we have good news and bad news: the iPod Touch is back, your old AirPort router is up for an update, and the monolithic iTunes for Mac is getting an iOS-like multi-app breakup. The bad ne...
Space Javelin HammerCast ep 84: Strap In/On
May 31, 2019 18:07 - 55 minutes - 51.5 MBWe start ramping up to E3 2019. Pokémon made us GO, now they want us to Sleep. Twitch battles a hive of scum and villainy. Old Man Wuerthele tears into Intel over the 10nm saga. Show notes: https://hammercast.fm/84/
SJ136: Huawei, Qualcomm, Instagram, Snap, new MBPs, Canada gets an ECG, Playdate, Tesla, & much more
May 27, 2019 08:48 - 1 hour - 69.6 MBWe appear to be in orbit around the planet Loser-palooza this week, cadets, despite the surprise update of the MacBook Pro line, a delightful new handheld gaming device from Panic, Health Canada approving ECG on the Apple Watch up there, more pre-WWDC hype and speculation, and the return of Google Glass ... not sure how good that last one will be, but hey a surprise beats bad news every time. Meanwhile, it was a bad week if your name was Huawei, Qualcomm, Snap, Instagram, Sprint, T-Mobile, Li...
Space Javelin HammerCast ep 83: Fluffer Nutter
May 24, 2019 23:43 - 55 minutes - 51.3 MBWoW Classic proves the past is more complex than our nostalgia. Sony and Microsoft team up to take on Google Stadia. Minecraft Earth, Destiny nerfs, Division 2's raid, and Todd starts running D&D. Show notes: https://hammercast.fm/83/
SJ135: To the moon! The missing (Steam) link, a parade of fail, Space Pirates, zombieloads, and more
May 20, 2019 09:17 - 1 hour - 69.7 MBThe astro-glide must be flying the ship too close to the sun, cadets, because it is getting kinda Steam-y in here! Monopoly overreactions, the FTC, Huawei, Intel, and Ted Cruz are all blowing up and generating a lot of hot air! Your trusty command crew are fighting back with cool tips on guarding your privacy from Google, Facebook, and your own cell carriers; throwing cold water or rumors and dumb theories, fanning Steam Link's long awaited arrival, and icing the flaming Pixel 3a hype by poin...
Space Javelin HammerCast ep 82: First-Person Shooter Roulette
May 17, 2019 16:55 - 37 minutes - 34.7 MBThe trade war threatens tabletop gaming. Monster Hunter's expansion gets a release date. Casual vs. Hardcore is sooo 2014. KFC throws shade and gets fried. Show notes: https://hammercast.fm/82/
SJ134: WWDC leaks, Intel 10nm peeks, Pixel 3a ain't so cool, Google must think we're fools, & more
May 13, 2019 07:34 - 59 minutes - 68.1 MBWhat the Fail returns for its second installment, cadets, because wherever there’s some wool, there’s Facebook and Google trying to pull it over our eyes. Carriers get sued for selling your location data, YouTube and Google haven’t attracted that many paid subscribers to their music services, and Mike and Charles take a closer look at the Pixel 3a and find it wanting — even for a midrange smartphone. Intel gets to 10nm a mere three years late, Apple Watch wins Display of the Year, and we’re s...
Space Javelin HammerCast ep 81: Dad Jokes With My Dentist
May 10, 2019 15:34 - 43 minutes - 39.9 MBWe say goodbye to Peter Mayhew, cackle at China's Game for Peace, chide Bethesda's TTRPG plagiarism, and marvel at CRYTEK's software ray tracing. Show notes: https://hammercast.fm/81/
SJ133: Apple’$ earning$, What the Fail w/IDC, GT Advanced, and Adobe, Samsung, 5G vs mmWave & more!
May 06, 2019 08:11 - 59 minutes - 68.5 MBThere was so much fail this week, cadets, that even a space whale is inadequate to convey the amount. Oh sure, Apple did pretty well -- but IDC and other analysts, Facebook, GT Advanced, Samsung, Qualcomm's caving (as it turns out), the FCC investigating carriers for selling your location data, the death of two Right to Repair bills, the just-plain-death of Anki, Adobe's attempt to pull a fast one -- and that's not even all of it! This week we're calling it all just "What the Fail?" because o...
Space Javelin HammerCast ep 80: Rebelling Space Monkeys
May 03, 2019 13:41 - 1 hour - 92.4 MBDuane, Brian and Old Man Wuerthele hold court on Borderlands 3, the Valve Index, Chinese game censorship, the Epic Games Store, the TTRPG renaissance, and more. Show notes: https://hammercast.fm/80/
SJ132: Facebook, Galaxy Fold is terrible, 5G gotchas, Amazon, Apple, Intel, Beyonce & more
April 29, 2019 09:42 - 59 minutes - 68.5 MBWe toyed with just calling this episode "the (JC) penny drops," cadets, because of the sheer amount of "oh, didn't we tell you?" going around in the news this cycle. Facebook's in hot water with both the FTC and Canada's government, the full horror of Samsung's #galaxyfoldgate is revealed in a teardown, August halts sales of its defective View doorbell, the heads of every major US carrier unveil a slew of limitations and price hikes to go with the speed of 5G (when it really arrives), and eve...
SJ131: News overload! Apple-Qualcomm truce, Fold-gate, Insta-FAIL, Wisconsin wants out, & much more
April 22, 2019 07:36 - 1 hour - 69.1 MBSo much news, cadets ... blacking ... out! The Apple vs Qualcomm trial and war is over, and Charles and Mike go over the chain of events and the deal they worked out, as well as Intel's exit (stage left) from the 5G modem business. As usual, Facebook has to own up to yet another security breach, this time affecting scores of millions of Instagram users -- so this seems like the perfect time to announce their own voice spy -- we mean, assistant, right? Amazon and Google kiss and make up, and o...
Space Javelin HammerCast ep 79: Weird Flex, But Okay
April 19, 2019 19:45 - 57 minutes - 53.2 MBBlack holes, real and digital. Sony teases the next PlayStation. The Minecraft movie, Division 2 patches, and ATLAS' long-delayed 1.5 update. Show notes: https://hammercast.fm/79/
SJ130: Foxconn-job, Alexa spies, iTunes splits, YouTube TV hikes, lawsuit crap, & a Space Grey Hole
April 15, 2019 03:47 - 57 minutes - 66.5 MBCo-Cap'n Mike is back from sickbay, and that means the return of the Engineering Report to this all-new episode, cadets, along with a slew of rather remarkable stories! Amazon owns up to what we've all suspected -- Alexa devices record a lot of what you say, and they listen in to the good bits. Even better, they appear to have no real privacy or security policies in place for this sort of thing! Just what you want in a smart speaker. But wait, there's more! Is iTunes gonna get broken up? Is ...
Space Javelin HammerCast ep 78: A Soup Sandwich
April 13, 2019 21:57 - 52 minutes - 48.6 MBBorderlands 3 is coming in the fall. EverQuest turns 20. EVE Online accomplishment and intrigue. BioWare goes astray. Show notes: https://hammercast.fm/78/
SJ129: Spring forward, FAIL back! A week of wins, Air-Lexa-Pods, iPhone scams, older-user tips, more
April 08, 2019 03:14 - 1 hour - 69.8 MBIt's springtime on the Space Javelin, cadets, and there are two ways you can tell: a visit to the blooms in the hydropods, and the sounds of sneezing and general misery from the allergy victims in sickbay, which once again includes co-Cap'n Mike. Thus, once again Admiral William Gallagher of space station AI has shuttled over to help Charles pilot the ship through two mirror universes: FAIL and WIN. In the former reality, Samsung nosedives, Facebook faceplants, Microsoft takes its books and g...
SJ128: AirPower-Down, ECG Europe, Swift 5 released, Qualcomm, FTC, Apple Card, Roku, Samsung, & more
April 01, 2019 05:03 - 1 hour - 70.4 MBIf the ship seems a little wobbly this week, cadets, it's because we lost our AirPower superiority as well as Cap'n Mike to sickbay, but happily Admiral William Gallagher answered our distress call with aplomb and a plum (and some tea!). Apple's ECG technology has expanded outside the US, the Texture digital-mag service will be shutting down to become Apple News+, Swift 5 was released, Apple Music is hitting moderately deep into new territories, and Qualcomm's legal fight at the US ITC is tie...
Space Javelin HammerCast ep 77: A Chorus of Clapping
March 29, 2019 18:14 - 1 hour - 59.6 MBEA continues the layoff waves. Gearbox is going back to the Borderlands. China burns Cthulhu RPG rulebooks. Jeremy and Joe get their Overwatch on. Show notes: https://hammercast.fm/77/
SJ127-b: Apple Week 2: Eclectic Boogaloo! Apple TV+, Apple News+, Apple Card, Huawei ❤️s Apple, more
March 26, 2019 21:34 - 45 minutes - 52.5 MBSo late Saturday night the crew put out the first half of this special two-part episode, cadets, detailing everything that came out during Apple's Hardware Week (and the one thing that still didn't -- coughAIRPOWERcough). On Monday, Apple hosted a morning meeting that brought new services galore to the table, including some Captains Mike and Charles didn't think would be ready. This second half goes over Apple News+, Apple Arcade, Apple TV+, Apple Card, and the resulting round of macOS/iOS/tv...
SJ127-a: Santa Cook and Apple-mas came early! New Macs, iPads, AirPods, a preview of Monday, & more
March 24, 2019 10:34 - 34 minutes - 39.5 MBBecause Apple is doing a big event on Monday, your trusty Space Javelin co-captains decided to throw you cadets a curveball -- which is especially tricky to do in zero-gravity -- and do a shortened "Part 1" version of episode 127 that's out *before* the event. This way, Mike and Charles can cover all the new Apple hardware, OS updates, more stuff coming soon and of course a short preview of what they expect from the Monday "Show Time" Apple event, alongside a few non-Apple scandals and tidbit...
Space Javelin Hammercast ep 76: Battle Clowns
March 22, 2019 20:45 - 40 minutes - 37.5 MBGoogle gets into game streaming. Oculus announces a new VR headset. Nvidia to shoehorn ray tracing onto old cards, and Old Man Wuerthele gets skeptical. Show notes: https://hammercast.fm/76/
SJ126: Apple wins/losses, new events, mo money, mo problems, tech breakups, Maxell, Corel Draw, more
March 18, 2019 09:18 - 1 hour - 70.1 MBIt's a bit of a whacky week as Cap'n Mike returns to the bridge, cadets: a very mixed bag of tech news, wins, losses, price hikes, exciting new events, Spotify whines, and the return of a couple of names you haven't heard in a very long time. Qualcomm manages a small patent win and a big-dollar loss, the March 25th "Show Time" event and this year's WWDC dates have been announced, the AirPods are officially a massive hit, and Apple finally (finally!) launches a privacy-focused ad campaign. Th...
Space Javelin HammerCast ep 75: A Tritium Tangent
March 15, 2019 17:08 - 49 minutes - 45.9 MBMicrosoft brings Halo to the PC once again. PC memory prices are dropping. Fortnite enables cross-play by default. Show notes: https://hammercast.fm/75/
SJ125: The score stands at USB 4–Thunderbolt 3, plus Qualcomm-edy, The Purrs, Tim Apple and more
March 11, 2019 07:42 - 58 minutes - 67.6 MBA rather unusual episode this week, cadets, and not just because Co-Cap'n Mike is confined to quarters with the Space Sinus! Cap'n Charles and Admiral William Gallagher from AppleInsider fall into a bizarre alternate universe where Thunderbolt is USB (and vice versa!), Huawei prosecutes the US government, and teenagers give Apple details of security issues with no hint of an expectation of a reward. Not only that, but in this strange dimension videogame APIs are anti-malware tools, and CEOs a...
Space Javelin HammerCast ep 74: Fix A Lot of Early Sins
March 08, 2019 22:46 - 46 minutes - 42.4 MBEarly Access comes to bite ATLAS players. Fortnite players beware the Fork Knife. Games should probably stop dropping non-delta patches. Gearbox is bringing big things to PAX East. Show notes: https://hammercast.fm/74/
SJ124: USB 3.2 Live Crew, gotta know when to fold ‘em, Cellbrite-shun, dial 0000 for Comcast, & more
March 04, 2019 10:22 - 58 minutes - 67.4 MBThere wasn't that much news this week, cadets, but what there was was mind-numbingly dumb. The USB overlords have lost their minds, phone-hacking boxes were found on Ebay, New York is investigating apps that leak data to FaceBook, Apple shareholders never tire of pointless proposals that go down in flames, Comcast phones fail basic security, and Bloomberg is still lying about compromised servers, four months later. Huawei watched Samsung introduce an overpriced toy for way too much money and...
Space Javelin HammerCast ep 73: Such An Enduring Cathedral
March 01, 2019 20:54 - 51 minutes - 47.4 MBPokémon's Generation 8 is coming in 2019. The Division 2 is weeks away. Destiny 2's next season brings big changes. Bowser now runs Nintendo of America! Show notes: https://hammercast.fm/73/
SJ123: Shamebook and scandals, Samsung's S10 line, Apple's roadmap, Intel, Adobe, a Grammy, & more
February 25, 2019 09:31 - 59 minutes - 68.5 MBThanks for coming back from shore leave, cadets, but this may be our last one for a while: you turn your back for *one second* and every tech company out there gets into legal hot water! Facebook, already trying to fight off a record-setting, multi-billion dollar fine from the FTC, has been caught bribing developers to give it *incredibly* sensitive data from the apps you use without telling you. An iOS app was discovered peddling hard drugs, Google "forgot" to tell you that your Nest device ...
Space Javelin HammerCast ep 72: Demand More
February 22, 2019 21:43 - 56 minutes - 52 MBGame industry workers flirt with unionizing. Star Citizen throws shade on ray-tracing. Jeff Kaplan didn't foresee "maining." Old-man Wuerthele has opinions. Show notes: https://hammercast.fm/72/
Space Javelin HammerCast ep 71: The Cantakerous Weirdo
February 15, 2019 18:16 - 50 minutes - 46.9 MBActivision Blizzard makes layoffs while posting record revenues. The Steam Award winners are weird. Abuse allegations roil TTRPGs. Todd builds a new computer. Show notes: https://hammercast.fm/71/
SJ122: Arrivederci Angela, Glassbox scandal, GAFA, the FCC, Roku, the Galaxy S10, iPhone X, & more
February 11, 2019 05:42 - 1 hour - 69.2 MBThe Group FaceTime bug is fixed and the finders got a reward, Apple throws stones at developers who live in Glassboxes, the company loses a Dame but gains a Dierdre, France to levy special taxes at the big tech companies, Qualcomm loses in court and is about to lose big with Apple, the FCC fails to make their case, and a rundown of the forthcoming Galaxy S10 and its chances of selling better than the poor-performing Galaxy S9, and that's just scratching the surface of this week's news, cadets...
Space Javelin HammerCast ep 70: All These Games I Don't Play
February 08, 2019 13:31 - 42 minutes - 39.6 MBAnthem's public demo sucked a little less. Apex Legends makes a splash. Machinima closes its doors. Duane gushes about WarGroove. Show notes: https://hammercast.fm/70/
SJ121: FaceTime! Facebook! Google! Apple! Apple's Q1! Aetna! Huawei! Industrial espionage, and more!
February 04, 2019 08:20 - 59 minutes - 68.1 MBIt was a real shenaniga-looza fest this week, cadets, with plenty of bad news adjacent to or directly involving Apple and most of the other big tech firms, Microsoft (somehow) excepted. Apple played hardball with both bugs and business partners, Facebook got caught, Google fessed up, and the FBI had to get real on an industrial spy. Speaking of spying, people were freaking out about a possible FaceTime bug, but ordering a copy of the Amazon Echo Show that does exactly the same thing ... and s...
Space Javelin Hammercast ep 69: A Very Nice Show
February 01, 2019 13:46 - 43 minutes - 40.5 MBNintendo restarts Metroid Prime 4 development. Anthem has a rocky private demo weekend. Metro: Exodus defects to Epic. Todd builds an ATLAS server. Show notes: https://hammercast.fm/69/
SJ120: New iPads & AirPods? Plus iPhone XR rules, red (faced) Apple, & now you SE them now you don't
January 28, 2019 06:58 - 1 hour - 69.8 MBIt’s the Mac’s 35th birthday (and the iPad’s 9th!), cadets, so we light some candles and curse the darkness of possible new iPads, AirPods, and maybe even a new iPod Touch on the way. AirPower and the long-awaited wireless AirPods case were invited, but we can't be sure they’ll show up in time. The iPhone SE returned briefly and went away again — just like twerking! — and the iPhone XR was, no surprise, the best-selling new iPhone. Foxconn is hiring, Apple is (finally) paying winners, and Off...
Space Javelin HammerCast ep 68: Grind For Your Wood
January 25, 2019 12:40 - 47 minutes - 44 MBATLAS mania continues. Farming Simulator gets an esports league. Google is training Skynet on StarCraft 2. The Division 2's Dark Zones look interesting. Show notes: https://hammercast.fm/68/