Apple’s Trade Up Plan Moves into Conquest Sales; Amazon Expands Flex Delivery
Posted: February 18, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Amazon, Android Trade Ins, Apple, Flex, iPhone, Prime Now, Private Drivers, Trade Up with Installments Leave a commentApple has introduced Trade Up with Installments, which lets you put the price of a trade-in towards payments on a new iPhone, with payments down to as low as $15 a month. This is on top of your phone plan, of course, but the interesting thing noted by techcrunch.com is that Apple will take non-Apple trade-ins. Android users can get up to $300 for their used devices…like a Samsung Galaxy S6 in good condition will net you $290 towards the purchase of a new iPhone. Apple basically gets you and writes a mini-loan through Citizens Bank. If you like to trade more than every 2 years, this might be the deal. Apple is cleverly stealing the concept of conquest sales from the auto business, which has done this as well as loyalty discounts for decades.
Amazon has had Flex, and Uber-like home delivery service for Prime Now customers. The retail giant is now working to contract with private drivers to take even standard packages to customers’ doors, cutting out UPS, FedEx, and the Post Office more than ever. According to geekwire.com, the program is in effect already in part of Texas. They are reportedly paying drivers $18 an hour, and shifts can be scheduled 8a to 4p 7 days a week. Considering that Amazon has been working on leasing over 20 planes from Boeing, and flying out of a center formerly used by DHL, it sure looks like they are moving full force into doing their own logistics.
Apple Opposes Court Order for Backdoor to iPhone; Superman Memory Crystal for Long Term Digital Storage
Posted: February 17, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Apple, Backdoor software, FBI, iPhone, Long term data storage, Secure Enclave, Superman Memory Crystal, Tim Cook Leave a commentApple CEO Tim Cook has posted a letter to customers online, stating Apple’s opposition to creating backdoor software to iPhones. The demand for the back door was issued by a federal magistrate yesterday, to get the FBI access to the San Bernardino shooter’s iPhone 5c. Cook points out that such software doesn’t exist, and were Apple to create it, it would act as a master key, making every iPhone owner’s private info available…not only to law enforcement and governments, but to hackers and thieves. It’s important to note that iPhones with Touch ID have the Secure Enclave…a separate, walled off processor, and even Apple can’t create a way around its protections at this point. We’ll be watching…as will Apple customers, other manufacturers, governments and no doubt thieves around the world…to see how this unfolds.
Scientists at the University of Southhampton have demoed new tech nicknamed the Superman memory crystal at a conference in San Francisco. Mashable.com says it uses lasers and nanostructures to record enormous amounts of data onto tiny glass discs. Back in 2013, they were able to load 300 KB of text on a disc. With advancements, they can now store 360 TB on a disc. The most amazing thing is the lifespan…they estimate data on the discs will survive 13.8 billion years at room temperature! The next step is designing a way to write the data without very expensive lasers. It does take a polarizer and optical microscope to read it, too.
Apple May Have Added 2nd Supplier for 4 Inch iPhone; Zillow Ups Game for Video Walkthroughs of Homes for Sale
Posted: February 16, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Apple, Foxconn, iPhone 5se, iPhone 7, Pegatron, Trulia, Video walkthroughs, Wistron, Zillow Leave a commentApple has been using 2 suppliers for iPhone 6S production, and it looks like they are doing the same for the upcoming 4 inch iPhone 5se. Foxconn, Apple’s long time main supplier will build the new small model, and Wistron will make some as well. Apparently Apple started working with Wistron in February of 2015 on this. Bgr.com says that Wistron will join Foxconn in building the 5.5 inch iPhone 7 Plus this fall, while Foxconn and Pegatron will crank out the 4.7 inch iPhone 7 models.
Zillow Group has announced a new feature to apps that lets agents and homeowners shoot and post video walkthroughs. According to geekwire.com, the idea is to make video walkthroughs more common on its Zillow and Trulia sites, in addition to the photo galleries posted with home listings. Agents can shoot and upload videos through the Premier Agent App. There’s no sound in the 2 minute clips, and they plan to add baked in video stabilization for smooth, consistent videos. Homeowners and photographers can create video walkthroughs via the Zillow Real Estate App, for approval by the agent before uploading. No word on when the video feature goes live yet.
4 Inch iPhone & iPad Air 3 On Sale March 18th; Mattel To Sell 3D Printer-Kids Can Make Own Toys
Posted: February 15, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 3D printer, Amazon, Apple, iPad Air 3, iPhone 5se, Mattel, ThingMaker Leave a commentApple has an event March 15th, where it’s widely anticipated they will introduce the 4 inch iPhone 5se and iPad Air 3. 9to5mac.com says there’s an interesting wrinkle…apparently, instead of a couple weeks of preorders, Apple will just start selling both in stores and online on March 18th. Production of the fresh 4 inch iPhone started in January. The new phone will sport Apple’s latest A9 and M9 processors, an NFC chip for Apple Pay, support for always-on Siri activation, the iPhone 6’s camera system, and the ability to take Live Photos. It will feature the same color options as the 6S: gold, rose gold, silver, and space gray.
Mattel is going back to the future, re-introducing the old ThingMaker at the New York Toy Fair. It will be a quantum leap from the past ThingMaker, though…Fortune.com reports this one will be a 3D printer that will let kids print action figures, jewelry, and wearables at home. It won’t be out until fall, but preorders are open now on Amazon for $299. A large figure will take about 10 hours for the device to generate, so kids may want to fire it up before bedtime, and could have the toy or jewelry by morning.
Smarter, Thinner, Always-On Smartwatches; Apple Dumps Samsung for Next Gen iPhone Chips; Tesla Model 3 Deposit News
Posted: February 11, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: A10 chips, Always on smartwatch, Android Wear, Apple, Deposit, Elon Musk, iPhone 7, Qualcomm, Samsung, Snapdragon Wear 2100, Tesla Model 3, TSMC Leave a commentQualcomm has developed a new processor it has dubbed the Snapdragon Wear 2100 that it says will enable ‘always on’ smartwatches that are smarter and thinner than the current ones…and don’t need to be tethered to phones. 9to5google.com reports that there are actually 2 versions…one for tethered and one free range, so to speak. The chips are much more efficient and 30% smaller. Look for them in the next generation of Android Wear smartwatches.
Speaking of chips, Apple has finally jilted frenemy Samsung. TSMC of Taiwan will build all the A10 chips for the upcoming iPhone 7. 9to5mac.com says TSMC made all the chips for the iPhone 6 series, but Samsung was brought back in to produce part of the chips for the 6S and 6S Plus. Benchmarks have showed that the TSMC chip ran cooler and had better batter life than the Samsung version of the A9.
Elon Musk tweeted last night that the Tesla Model 3 won’t have a Signature Edition, and that you can preorder (with $1000 deposit) at Tesla stores starting March 31st and online starting April 1st.
iPhone and Others May Get Sony Dual-Lens Cameras; Google Baking VR Into Android
Posted: February 9, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Android, Apple, Cardboard, Facebook, iPhone 7, KGI Securities, Oculus, Sansung, Sony, Virtual Reality, VR Leave a commentWe’ve reported earlier that Apple was testing a dual lens camera for the iPhone 7. Highly reliable KGI Securities says the top iPhone 7 will get the next gen camera, which will have dramatically improved image quality and optical zoom, plus other features. Now, macdailynews.com says a Sony report confirms that their dual lens camera system will be out in iPhone and 3 other unnamed smartphones, and they expect it to be widespread by 2017. Other vendors, including the one that supplies 60% of iPhone camera lenses, have sent dual lens camera samples to Apple. It isn’t much of a reach to think that Samsung is one of the 3 makers besides Apple that will bow these vastly improved cameras.
Facebook has Oculus, and we know Apple has a division working on virtual reality. Google has had a VR division too, and now comes word that they…as Apple…are working on more than just a Rift or Gear-like VR headset. Google is reportedly working on Android VR. According to 9to5google.com, Google plans to bake VR software right into Android….where the current Cardboard is just an app. This means latency would be decreased, and users could spend significantly more time in VR without getting queasy. It looks like they and Apple are working towards eventually making VR essentially an operating system. Google may show off it’s latest VR for Android at Google I/O in May.
Apple Next Big Thing- VR; Your Twitter Timeline Isn’t Changing
Posted: February 8, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Apple, Augmented reality, Chronological, Dual lens camera, iPhone 7, Stanford, Twitter, Virtual Reality, VR Leave a commentEver since Steve Jobs left the mortal world, there’s been fairly continuous hand-wringing about what Apple’s going to do when they run out of his clever ideas. Now, it appears Apple’s next big thing may well be virtual reality. What could be bigger than a powerful computer in your hand? How about dropping you into a totally computer generated world of VR, or assisting you with amazing augmented reality? Business insider.com points out that Cupertino is already staffing up, and that a division has been building VR prototypes for months, and that Apple has purchased at least 4 startups in related tech. Then, there’s the fact that Apple-ites hadn’t set foot in Stanford’s VR lab for 13 years…until lately. Now, they’ve dropped in 3 times in the last 3 months. Finally, think about the dual lens camera Apple has been placing large orders for…as we’ve reported, to go into the iPhone 7. Besides shooting stills and video at the same time, and multi focus adjustable pictures, a dual lens is good for augmented reality.
After a major freakout that Twitter was going to kill the chronological timeline, CEO Jack Dorsey had to come out over the weekend and say ‘it ain’t so.’ Dorsey says such a change was never planned, and in fact Twitter hopes to make your timeline feel more…not less…live. As engadget.com notes, the chronological feed is the feature that separates Twitter from the other social networks…and despite out of order features like ‘while you were away,’ it will continue to be a firehose of breaking news and fresh information.
Facebook Killing Medical Pot Pages; Apple Patents Way to Share Touch ID
Posted: February 4, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Apple, Facebook, Friends Day, iPad, iPhone, Medical Marijuana, Pot, Touch ID Leave a commentFacebook is deleting pages for medical marijuana dispensaries in New Jersey and other states where they’re legal. Businessinsider.com says a dispensary got a popup on login that said ‘We remove any promotion or encouragement of drug use.’ On Facebook’s ad policy page, it does day the site also won’t allow ads that ‘promote the sale of prescription pharmaceuticals.’ Ironic that this story is out on Facebook’s 12th birthday, when they’re offering up cheery ‘Friends Day’ videos to users.
According to 9to5mac.com, Apple has a patent for additional functionality for the Touch ID home button…allowing different actions for different fingerprints. The patent application is mind numbingly technical, but looks like a way to give temporary access to an iPhone or iPad with only specific apps available….useful for letting kids use your device. The function would also limit the time the guest could use the iPhone or iPad. No word on when, or if, Apple will actually bake this feature in.
New Details About iPhone 7 Leaked; Zagg Buys Battery Phone Case Maker Mophie
Posted: February 3, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Antenna bands, Apple, Camera bump, Dual lens camera, iPhone 7, Juicepack, Mophie, Zagg Leave a commentIf rumors are true, the iPhone 7 due out in September will lose its camera bump on the back, as well as the unsightly antenna bands across the back. Macrumors.com reports that a thinner camera module, made possible by a patented curved portion, yields the flat rear surface. Apple has ordered dual lens camera modules from a supplier in addition to single lens ones, so the iPhone 7 Plus may get the duel lens camera that can shoot snapshots and HD video at the same time.
I have used Mophie’s Juicepack battery cases since the iPhone 3, and find their doubling of battery life invaluable for travel. Engadget.com says Zagg has swallowed up Mophie for a cool 100 million. It should be a good marriage…Zagg makes all kinds of mobile accessories from keyboards to screen protectors and cases, while Mophie has focused on battery cases and added memory cases for iPhones and Androids and stand alone battery packs. Yes, I’ll probably buy another Juicepack when the iPhone 7 rolls out…you can’t do a road trip without one.
March 15th Rollout for iPhone 5se, iPad Air 3, & Apple Watch Update; 2nd Tesla Powerwall Coming This Year
Posted: February 2, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Apple, Apple Watch, Elon Musk, Home battery, iPad Air 3, iPhone 5se, Powerwall, Tesla Leave a commentApple plans to unveil the new 4 inch iPhone 5se, as well as the iPad Air 3, and new band options for the Apple Watch at an event currently scheduled for March 15th. The small iPhone will be powered by the current 6S A9 chip, have better cameras, and run Live Photos and Apple Pay. The iPad Air 3 will feature better speakers and a Smart Connector, and likely a better than Retina screen. New bands will be showed off for the Apple Watch, including an entirely new one fashioned from a new material.
At a speech in Paris last week, Elon Musk said V 2.0 of the Tesla Powerwall home battery will likely be out in July. According to Gizmodo.com, it will get at least a bump in capabilities, but mainly that they will build enough that you might actually have a chance to buy one. No price point has been given yet for V 2.0, but the original ran $3500, and was about 7 grand installed with power inverter to hook it up to your home power system. A video of the Musk speech is up on YouTube.
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