Apple Context Machine

Tech Industry leaders are pushing the White House to curb NSA surveillance, Apple is ready to unleash the redesigned Mac Pro, and Beyonce proves the iTunes Store is a big player in the music industry. As if that isn't enough to keep Jeff and Bryan talking, they also take a look at Apple's 64-bit chip launch that blind sided its competition and Samsung's early moves to copy Apple in the retail space.

One analyst thinks Apple and Microsoft will have to merge into a single company to fight off Google and Facebook, so Jeff and Bryan take it upon themselves to explain why he's flat-out wrong. They also dive into Apple's iBeacon deployment, the call for NSA reform, the media calling out Judge Cote in Apple's antitrust case, and whether or not it's time to cut the cable cord.

Apple's ongoing legal antitrust fight in the United States is starting to look like a battle between the company and Judge Cote how oversaw the trial and now the monitor that she ordered to make sure there aren't any more shenanigans. Jeff and Bryan take a look at that, plus Apple's proposed sanctions for Samsung's confidential document leak, Thanksgiving and Black Friday iPad sales, and Bryan manages to sneak in a little Bitcoin talk, too.

Jeff and Bryan put together their shopping guide for 2013, and it turns out they've been looking at some fairly expensive gifts. They have awesome desktop speakers, cool stands, leather iPad Air cases, quality iPad styluses (or stylii, as Bryan insisted on calling them), fitness stuff, stuff for the house, and an expensive game for your iPad. Giddy-up, pretend that you're thinking about shopping for someone else, and enjoy.

Apple may be buying the company behind Microsoft's Kinect motion tracking, but not so you can practice your dance moves in front of your TV. Rumors say your next iPhone will be bigger, Coin is aiming to change how you use your credit cards, and speaking of credit cards, Jeff and Bryan share a couple cool products that'll make you whip out your plastic.

Apple released the iPad mini with Retina Display-without a launch event-and Jeff Gamet and Bryan Chaffin talk about what they think that means. Some new additions to iBooks also got the boys thinking about how far Apple will go to make iBooks competitive. The squeezed in thoughts about Apple v. Samsung, Apple's donation service for Haiyan Typhoon, and...Bitcoins?

Apple speaks up about equal rights for the LGBT community and details, as best it can, how many government requests it gets for our personal information. There's also plenty for Jeff and Bryan to say about the brand new iPad Air, the feature-poor versions of Apple's iWork apps, and Apple's new sapphire business.

In this year's special Halloween edition of the Apple Context Machine Jeff and Bryan take a look at Apple's nightmare scenarios. Their interns, Sierra and Aynseley, find a way to get in on the action, too, or at least into Jeff and Bryan's candy stash.

Apple conveniently scheduled its media event yesterday, which means that Jeff Gamet and Bryan Chaffin get to talk about all the cool new products that were announced. There are new Mac Pros, new iPads, and we squeezed in a little chat about the new MacBook Pros, too. Plus, Bryan is all hopped on on iced latte's, so all kinds of fun ensues.

It took a year, but Apple finally found someone to fill the roll of retail chief with the hiring of Angela Ahrendts from Burberry. We're the new marketing system for Google ads, and our faces will show up as product endorsements. That gets Bryan all fired up, and Jeff isn't too pleased, either. They also talk about HTC's entry into the smartphone fingerprint scanner game, and a memoir about Steve Jobs from his first girlfriend.

In this week's episode of The Apple Context Machine podcast, Jeff and Bryan talk about what's in store for Apple's rumored October 22nd media event. They also dissect Microsoft's plans to bring Office to the iPad (two years too late) and look at Microsoft's prospects in the tablet industry. Rapid Fire topics include the Nest Protect, Qualcomm's mea culpa about Apple's A7 processor, and the new Samsung Galaxy Round. Good stuff!

Samsung's courtroom and marketing shenanigans have Bryan all fired up this week, Carl Icahn wants Apple to buy back more of its stock, and Apple has boat loads of cash to the tune of 10 percent of the non-financial corporate cash stash. Jeff and Bryan also take a look at what purchasing Cue means for Apple and Siri, and they both spend far too much time fighting with technology.

Apple released the iPhone 5s over the weekend, and Bryan Chaffin and surprise cohost Dave Hamilton get down and dirty with it. They also dig into Touch ID, Apple's fingerprint-based biometric authentication system that is part of the iPhone 5s. A workaround has been found, but should you be worried? They walk you through the pertinent information.

Apple ships the iPhone 5c and iPhone 5s on Friday, and Jeff and Bryan want to know who should buy which phone? They look at the ins and outs of both models, and talk about what kind of users will value the different features each has. They also talk about Apple's new "Plastic Perfected" commercial and the fact that the iBooks app was updated for iOS 7, and it's still skeuomorphic.

Apple just announced the long-rumored iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c. Jeff and Bryan talk about naming conventions, which device they like, and they both want to know why Apple bothered with the 5c when it costs so much. Speaking of much ado about nothing, they're also curious about Apple's so-called media event in China. Better yet, Melissa Holt surprises them with a Quickie tip.