Apple ‘Recapple’
Posted: September 10, 2015 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 3d Touch, Apple, Apple Pencil, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Hermes, iPad Pro, iPhone 6S, iPhone 6S Plus, Siri, Watch OS Leave a commentApple rolled through their product updates and introductions in a couple of hours yesterday at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco. Here are a few hi lights:
Apple Watch- Mainly about fashion band accessories, particularly from high end Hermes, and new colors of gold and rose gold. It was announced that Watch OS will drop on September 16th, and include messaging apps like Facebook Messenger and also tight third party integration with AirStrip.
iPad Pro- It’s huge, has a great 12.9 inch screen, and…gasp…a stylus, which Steve Jobs famously mocked years ago. The Apple Pencil will be a separate $99 option. That screen…it has a higher pixel density than a Macbook Pro Retina. Apple claims 10 hours of battery life. It has a keyboard cover that screams ‘Microsoft Surface!’ iPad Pro starts at $799, and will be out in November.
Apple TV- Apple says this will be a game changer…you may have seen a clip of Tim Cook repeatedly on TV by now saying ‘we think the future of TV is apps.’ Apple TV has tight Siri integration, a new remote with the top part being touch screen, and buttons for volume, activating Siri and on-off. The remote is Bluetooth, so you don’t have to point it right at the box. A couple of cool features include asking Siri what did they say, and it will rewind about 15 seconds and playback…with captions. Also, you can ask Siri to search for something, and it will search across all platforms…Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, etc. With the remote, it has gaming capabilities, but don’t look for it to displace gaming systems any time soon. Apple TV is $149 or $199 depending on memory, and out the end of the year.
iPhone- The iPhone 6S and 6S plus debuted, with the expected banner feature of Force Touch, which Apple has renamed 3D Touch for the phones. It recognizes 3 levels of finger pressure, and will call up different results…for example, menus, or when pressing an email, it will pop it open so you can read it, and return you to the previous screen when you lift your finger. The new camera is a big leap…up to 12 megapixels, and capable of 4K video and an new gimmicky feature that records a second and a half of video and sound before and after each picture. When you press the picture on the phone, it shows you that 3 seconds of motion. Hey Siri now allows you to just say that, and Siri will respond without having to press and hold the home button. There’s a new rose gold color (and it and the other gold will now be exclusive to the 6S and 6S Plus). iOS 9 will be available September 16th, and iPhones go on preorder this Saturday, with deliveries to start September 25th. Prices are the same as on the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, while those models will be dropped as has been Apple’s past practice…so the 16 gig iPhone 6S will start at $199 with a two year contract. Apple has also added a contractless payment plan like a couple of the carriers have, that starts at $32 a month…PLUS carrier service costs, of course.
Verizon To Test Insanely Fast 5G!
Posted: September 9, 2015 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 5G, Google, Google Express, Verizon Leave a commentLater this year, and into next, Verizon will be testing out 5G for mobile devices. It’s insanely fast! How fast? Faster than Google Fiber’s direct connection into homes. 30 to 60 times faster than 4G. For example, you could download ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ in 6 minutes over 4G, but with 5G, it’ll be downloaded to your smartphone in 15 seconds! Cnet.com says according to Verizon, some commercial deployment will start by 2017. All that blazing speed and responsiveness will become more important as we add to the ‘internet of things’ around the house and office, and more connected cars come online. South Korea and China are pushing to upgrade to 5G quickly, too…South Korea hopes to have it showing up by 2018, but Verizon may well beat them by a year.
Yesterday, Amazon announced they were rolling out restaurant food delivery via Prime Now, starting in Seattle. Google is jumping into food delivery, but fresh food and groceries, starting later this year through Google Express. According to bloomberg.com, they will begin trials in San Francisco and one other city to be named later. Whole Foods and Costco will be among the rollout partners for the grocery delivery service. Grocery delivery is already a space populated by Amazon Fresh, and startup Instacart. Note that they will be delivering fresh food…they won’t have the capacity for refrigeration to deliver refrigerated or frozen items. For those, you’ll have to drag yourself to the supermarket!
The iPhone 7 (It’s Never Too Early For Apple Rumors!)
Posted: September 7, 2015 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 4K, Apple, Apple Watch, Force Touch 3D, HTC, Huawei, iPhone 7, Mate S, Samsung Leave a commentWith the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus due out in just days, are you ready for a rumor about the iPhone 7…probably a year away? Appleinsider.com picked this up from usually reliable KGI Securities. the iPhone 7 will be between 6 and 6.5 millimeters thick. This would put it in the range of the iPod Touch and iPad Air 2, both of which are 6.1 mm thick. The present iPhone is just over 7 millimeters thick. In order to allow for Force Touch 3D, which needs a wafer thin circuit board under the touch pad, this probably means no 4K super high def iPhone 7…this is probably ok, since you eyes can’t tell the difference on that size screen anyway!
Samsung first exploded into the smartphone world back in 2010 by shamelessly copying Apple for it’s Galaxy S. Now, according to theverge.com, there’s a new, better copycat in town. Chinese manufacturer Huawei is not only pushing the limits of Apple intellectual property, it is lifting features, look and feel from a number of device makers. The 5.5 Mate S smartphone’s banner feature? Force Touch! Although already out on Apple Watch, Huawei has jumped ahead of Apple getting the feature to a smartphone. As for look and feel, when you first see the Mate S, a lot of what you see will make you think you’re looking at the HTC One M9! The motion gestures are borrowed from Samsung and HTC, and swiping down on the home screen brings up a dead ringer for Apple’s Spotlight.
Future Fuel Cell Powered Macbook Could Run Days or Weeks
Posted: September 4, 2015 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Apple, ComScore, Facebook, Fuel Cell, Google, Instagram, Macbook, Messenger, Pandora, Smartphones, Yahoo, YouTube Leave a commentWe just reported about 10 days ago about a British company called Intelligent Energy working with Apple on a fuel cell battery case that can keep your iPhone going for a week. Now, businessinsider.com says Apple has a patent for a fuel cell battery that could run some of its devices for days or even weeks. This one describes a “portable and cost-effective fuel cell system for a portable computing device,” and it joins others Apple already had on the books. This one seems to be aimed at MacBooks…the filing mentions the ‘MagSafe’ connector, but not the Lightening connectors used on iPhones and iPads. Apparently, you would just replace a fuel cartridge ‘detachably affixed to the fuel cell system’ when the fuel runs out.
It seems like everyone has a smartphone now…and that perception isn’t far from reality. According to an analysis by ComScore picked up by marketingland.com, US smartphone penetration hit 77% in July. In the social media race on smartphones, Facebook dominates more than ever. They stay #1, and Facebook’s freestanding Messenger app is now #2, bumping YouTube to third place. Don’t shed a tear for Google though…their apps hold down slots 3, 4, 5, and 6! Pandora radio, Gmail, Instagram, and Yahoo stocks round out the top 10.
When Will That ‘Baby Tesla’ Be Available?
Posted: September 3, 2015 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Intel, laptop, Model 3, Model S, PC, Skylake, tablet, Tesla Leave a commentElon Musk Tweeted yesterday that the Model 3, the smallest Tesla, will go into production in 2017. Silicon Valley Business Journal reports that pre-orders will start next March when the car is unveiled. It’s expected that the Model 3 will sell for around $35,000, nearly half the price of the current top line Model S, and have a 200 mile cruising range. Musk said the 2017 date is because demand for the cars will mean the giant battery producing factory will have to be up and running. It will come in both sedan and crossover suv models.
Intel has rolled out it’s new 6th generation core processor, Skylake. The advanced chip has 2-1/2 times better speed, 3 times the battery life, and 30 times the graphics power of an average 5 year old PC. According to businessinsider.com, it will enable cutting the weight and thickness of a PC in half, and for some laptops to go fanless…great news if you’re looking at a laptop, but a blow to the struggling tablet market. Expect the Skylake chips to start showing up in laptops late this year.
A Couple Things to Make Your Commute Less Painful
Posted: September 2, 2015 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Apple Maps, BMW iVentures, Google Maps, Parking, Stephen Colbert, Waze, ZIRX Leave a commentYou may use Google Maps or the vastly improved Apple Maps to get around…OR, you may be into Google’s Waze app, with it’s heavily crowd sourced information and whimsical emoji. Now, bgr.com reports they’ve added to Waze’s selection of celebrity guests. A NFL player and Neil Patrick Harris have been included, but the real ‘get’ is Stephen Colbert, who was quoted as saying “For years, I navigated the roadways using a compass, a sextant and the guidance offered by the stars, but now I can just listen to my own dulcet tones instructing me on Waze.” And you just heard that in your head in his voice, not mine!
The other help for drivers…particularly in parking deficient places like San Francisco…is from on-demand parking startup ZIRX. According to techcrunch.com, BWM i Ventures has signed on as a strategic investor. The car maker may be looking to integrate the service right into the dash of their cars, particularly electric ones…which may have a more limited range, and can’t circle around forever trying to find that parking spot. ZIRX customers can also get help finding car washes, oil changes, and gas stations. The plan to add finding smog checks, tire pressure checks, and tire changes soon. ZIRX is presently in San Francisco, San Diego, LA, Seattle, Washington, D.C., and New York.
Apple Eyes Jumping into Producing Original Programming
Posted: September 1, 2015 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Amazon, Apple, Lyft, Netflix, Original programming, Sharing economy, Top Gear, TV, Uber, Unions Leave a commentAs they showed when they came out with the iPod years ago, somewhat late to the mp3 player party, only to dominate that category, and later did with smartphones, Apple is eyeing getting into producing original programming. According to bgr.com, the Cupertino colossus has held early talks with Hollywood execs. It’s not known if they are looking to do TV series, movies, or both. What is known is that they’d be muscling in on the likes of Netflix and Amazon. Apparently, Apple bid on picking up the ‘Top Gear’ stars when they left BBC, but Amazon won the day, and Jeremy Clarkson, James May, and Richarad Hammond will be doing an automotive show for them. Some speculate at this point that Apple may build its own content capabilities, or even buy a studio outright.
Lately, radio commercials have been promoting Uber, and have featured people who drive for them singing the virtues of the flexible working conditions offered by being a contractor. A report in geekwire.com may point to why. A Seattle council member has introduced legislation that would let Uber, Lyft, and cab drivers unionize….gasp! That thought alone has sent chills through the so-called ‘sharing economy.’ The plan would allow drivers taking part in a minimum of trips to join a driver representative organization, and negotiate to make the $15 an hour Seattle minimum wage, plus other benefits.
4th Generation Apple TV Coming in October
Posted: August 31, 2015 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 4th Generation, Amazon, Apple TV, Google, Motion sensors, Qualcomm, Roku, Siri, Smart Protect technology Machine learning, Snapdragon 820 Leave a commentIt’s slightly bigger than the present hockey puck, but still has a small footprint. The 4th generation Apple TV is rolling out in October, and will sell for between $149 and $199, according to 9to5mac.com. This is a bump of $50 to $100 bucks, depending on Apple’s final decision, and a good deal more than Roku, Google, or Amazon. Apple will keep the 3rd generation at $69, which it’s been selling for since March. The 4th gen model will feature Siri and a new remote control with a touchpad on top, a microphone for Siri, and motion sensors. There will also be an App store. Apple plans to launch a cable replacing streaming TV service next year for $40 a month that bundles multiple TV channels. The cheaper 3rd gen model won’t have the fancy remote control or Siri support.
It’s a constant battle for computers and smart devices to try to keep up with malware. Qualcomm is taking a new approach with their upcoming new Snapdragon 820 mobile processor. Engadget.com reports the processor will use what they call Smart Protect tech, which uses machine learning to watch for possible security issues in real time, as opposed to relying on a list of threats. In addition the Snapdragon 820 will have faster graphics capability, and an API for security software makers to utilize the chip’s heightened awareness.
Apple’s Next Generation iPhone Cameras
Posted: August 28, 2015 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 12 megapixel camera, 4K video, Apple, Chrome, Flash, Google, HTML5, iPhone 6S, YouTube Leave a commentYou have probably heard that Apple is holding their rollout event for the new iPhones and more on September 9th. One of the marquee features, as reported by 9to5mac.com and others is a 12 megapixel main camera, and upgraded signal processor for larger, higher resolution pictures. 4K video is also in store on the 6S and 6S+…which a lot of people won’t need as they don’t have 4K TVs or monitors. One thing you WILL use is the upgraded front selfie cam with flash…no, there’s not a front-facing LED flash…Apple will flash the screen white when you shoot, like Snapchat and Photo Booth. The front cam is also likely to get panorama and slo-mo video, too.
In a move that will improve performance, Google’s Chrome web browser will start pausing Flash ads by default September 1st. The function has been in the beta version for a while now. By pausing auto-playing flash, Chrome users should see speed improvements and better batter life. Google, in addition to Apple, has been trying to get away from Flash tech for quite a while. YouTube switched over to streaming HTML5 video by default the first of the year.
clarkreid 
Recent Comments