There are several Apple rumors and confirmations of earlier rumors out. First, theverge.com reports that KGI securities is now saying iPhone 7 will have a touch sensitive home button. The flush button will be capacitive, and provide vibrating haptic feedback to the user. The larger iPhone Plus or Pro dual camera setup will allow for the two sensors to capture color differently and simultaneously take pictures that are then merged into a single photo. The net will be to improve brightness and detail in photos, and sharpen photos taken in low-light scenarios. The Plus or Pro is also expected to have better zoom thanks to the dual camera sensors.
We had reported on an earlier rumor that there would be an OLED touch screen with function keys above the keyboard on upcoming MacBook Pros. Now, 9to5mac.com says expect a Touch ID power button, too. This would secure the MacBook much like Touch ID does for iPhones now. Fresh MacBook Pros should be out 4th quarter.
The Apple Watch 2 apparently won’t be thinner, but will have upgraded components. According to the verge.com, it will have the previously rumored thinner single glass screen, upgraded processor, and also include GPS and a barometer. All that will take a bigger battery, so no thinner Apple Watch for you! There may be a smaller upgrade to the Watch, with the lesser model getting a price cut. It looks like no LTE wireless capability now until 2017.
We had seen reports that the home button on the iPhone 7 would have haptic feedback. Now, a new wrinkle picked up by business insider.com says it will be a new Force Touch home button, and won’t be a moving, physical button…adding credence to the phone being more water resistant. The new home button will sit flush with the face of the phone, and a Force Touch motor inside the phone will provide the sensation that the button is being physically pushed. The home button has been one of the most common failure points on iPhones, and by ditching a physical button this year, it sets up the rumored ‘single sheet of glass’ iPhone 8 Jony Ive is wanting to release for the 10th anniversary next year.
Amazon says they are going to start offering Prime members what they call ‘significant discounts’ on certain Android phones…the trade-off being the ability to pre-install Amazon apps and show more lock screen ads on the phones. According to theverge.com, so far just the Motorola Moto G and Blu RD1 HD will be in the program, with more to be added later. You have to figure in the 100 bucks you’ve dropped for your Prime membership, but on the Moto G, the ads will cut the price on the unlocked phone from $200 to $150.
In a report from the Telegraph picked up by thenextweb.com and others, Google is rumored to be designing its own Android phones for release later this year. While they do now have a hardware division being run by a former president of Motorola, this would really be a curve ball to other Android makers…especially LG, Huawei, and HTC, which have built the Nexus phones for Google. It’s not clear how an in-house designed phone would be more perfectly optimized for pure Android than the ones they already specify for their partners making the Nexus…stay tuned.
A report from an unconfirmed source (but one physically near Apple HQ in Cupertino) says iPhone 7 will come in a ‘Space Black’ color similar to the Apple Watch…no deep blue color. 9to5mac.com also reports that the Home button will include haptic feedback to simulate a click, like Force Touch. As for the Apple Watch, the version 2.0 may have GPS for accurate workout logging, and along with cellular would drop the need to carry an iPhone, and would gain the ability to track swimming…indicating a high level of waterproofing.
We’ve heard a lot about the ‘boring’ iPhone 7, which won’t change on the outside and won’t have a new, killer feature. Now comes a sketchy rumor out of China that it will have a flush, touch sensitive home button and waterproof, dustproof case. 9to5mac.com says Apple would use haptic feedback to make a flush, capacitive area act like the physical home button. A new, flat black case may join space gray and the golds for a new color choice that echoes of the old iPhones.
Speaking of old iPhones, another Apple product…the Apple Watch…has apparently sold twice as many units as the original iPhone did its first year. Bgr.com reports that a consensus of analysts is that Apple has pushed out between 12 and 13 million Apple Watches. That’s not only twice as many as the original iPhone sold in a year, it’s 61% of the global smartwatch market. Not bad for a flop.
Screen shots posted on Reddit Sunday indicate that the Google Play Store and millions of Android apps may be headed to the Chromebook and Chrome OS. According to cnet.com, arstechnica.com was able to replicate an option in settings on a second generation Chromebook Pixel that says ‘Enable Android apps to run on your Chromebook,’ which shows momentarily, then disappears. No response from Google, of course.
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