AWT News Update: October 12, 2017

Tablet drivers, Beats Academy, and the Tim Cook Euro tour are all topics today on the Apple World Today News Update Podcast:

• Interested in AR? Check out the free AR Tape Measure app from this month’s sponsor, It’s About Time Products.
• Wacom releases High Sierra-compatible drivers for its broad line of graphics tablets
• Apple executives Jimmy Iovine and Andre “Dr. Dre” Young break ground on a new USC academy that will bear their names
• Tim Cook visits Sweden, says students should learn to code, and cuts down the tallest tree in the forest…with a herring (apologies to Monty Python)

The text version of the podcast can be read below. To listen to the podcast here, click the play button on the player below. Apple News readers need to visit Apple World Today in order to listen to the podcast.

Text Version

This is Steve Sande for Apple World Today, and you’re listening to the AWT News Update podcast for October 12th, 2017. Our sponsor this month is It’s About Time Products, and this week we’re focusing on a free iOS app that takes advantage of Apple’s ARKit framework and iOS 11 — it’s called AR Tape Measure, and it lets you measure distances, angles and areas directly from your iOS device. Check out the sponsorship post on Apple World Today for more information.

When it comes to drawing tools for graphic designers, Wacom still rules the roost for macOS users with its line of graphics tablets. The company finally released updated drivers for its tablets today that will let designers upgrade their Macs to High Sierra without fear of losing use of their beloved Wacom tablets. Wacom Driver 6.3.25 requires macOS El Capitan, Sierra, or High Sierra, and works with the Cintiq 12WX, 13HD, 21UX 2, 22HD, 27QHD, Cintiq Pro, Intuos 4 and newer, and One by Wacom tablets. The new tablet drivers are available directly from the Wacom website. 

Been wondering what the founders of Beats have been up to since they became Apple executives? Nobody really knows what Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young — AKA Dr. Dre — do at Apple, but their connections have apparently helped Apple Music get to its current 30 million subscribers. Well, the two execs recently helped break ground for a new academy that is being built at the University of Southern California known as the Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young Academy for Arts, Technology, and the Business of Innovation (quite the mouthful — why didn’t they just call it “Beats Academy”?). The academy offers courses in art and design, communication, engineering, computer science, and business and venture management in an interdisciplinary approach. It will open officially in the fall of 2019, although some classes are being held in other USC facilities and 114 students are expected to graduate in May 2018. Iovine and Young donated $70 million towards the construction of the academy in 2013, the year before selling Beats to Apple.

Tim Cook is still on the road in Europe, this time in Sweden where he visited Apple’s offices in Stockholm. Cook gave an interview while in Sweden, once again reiterating statements he’s made at other stops on this trip about augmented reality. Cook doesn’t believe that ARKit apps will impress people or drive revenues at launch, but he pointed out that the App Store didn’t do either when it was launched. Cook has also made a point emphasizing that students should learn to code but don’t necessarily need to become computer engineers. He believes that learning to code teaches critical thinking and demonstrates an avenue to reach other people. Finally, Cook visited the forests of northern Sweden and packaging manufacturer Iggesund Paperboard. The company has partnered with Apple to create the innovative and sustainable packaging that Apple is known for. 

That’s all for today; I’ll be back tomorrow afternoon with another edition of the AWT News Update.