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In MobileViews 627, Jon Westfall, guest panelist Sven Johannsen, and I convened to discuss our initial impressions of new Apple releases, emerging hardware, and developer updates. We started off discussing Googlebook pre-orders starting on Sept. 21 with rumored prices of $1,000 to $2,000, as well as the new Gemini desktop app for Windows. I noted my interest in the Boox Note Mini C running Android 16 with its powered InkSight stylus, while Jon and Sven discussed using their Kobo and Kindle e-readers for portable reading. Jon also shared ongoing challenges with university students misidentifying professor names and miskeying booking email addresses, prompting him to start building a Copilot Studio scheduling chatbot integrated with Microsoft Teams.
Apple's latest hardware lineup was up next as I shared my experience with the new Apple Watch Series 12 with its included magnetic band and the iPhone 18 Pro, highlighting its identical 4x optical zoom compared to the 5x available in the older 15 Pro Max model. Sven shared his purchases of the Apple Watch Ultra 4, AirPods 5, and an iPhone 18 Pro XL for his wife, while Jon showcased his Apple Watch Ultra 4 with its flexible translucent ocean band and custom ChatGPT-designed watch faces. On the software side, I praised iOS 27's video frame extraction tool and custom EQ settings on AirPods Pro 3, while Sven noted Google's "made you look" external animation feature for entertaining children during photography on foldables.
We then learned about the extensive development and accessibility update that Jon and his AI developer assistants made for his Podium classroom platform, completing a real VPS deployment spanning 88 commits and 91,000 lines across 115 files that added live polls, an audio mixer, and ambient pre-lecture music with Claude acting as a virtual sysadmin. We also touched on cellular options, comparing a secondary $10 Google Fi data line with AT&T's unrestricted roaming in Mexico. Finally, Sven highlighted Meta's initiative providing free Ray-Ban AI glasses to blind veterans to read notes and select clothing, leading into a discussion on AR glasses featuring built-in diopter adjustments for prescription-free use.
