Apple

Apple’s next big thing: Augmented Reality

Written by

Mark Gurman, writing for Bloomberg:

Investors impatient for Apple’s next breakthrough will be happy to know that Cook is very serious about AR. People with knowledge of the company’s plans say Apple has embarked on an ambitious bid to bring the technology to the masses—an effort Cook and his team see as the best way for the company to dominate the next generation of gadgetry and keep people wedded to its ecosystem.

Apple has built a team combining the strengths of its hardware and software veterans with the expertise of talented outsiders, say the people, who requested anonymity to discuss internal strategy. Run by a former Dolby Laboratories executive, the group includes engineers who worked on the Oculus and HoloLens virtual reality headsets sold by Facebook and Microsoft as well as digital-effects wizards from Hollywood. Apple has also acquired several small firms with knowledge of AR hardware, 3D gaming and virtual reality software.

And:

Building a successful AR product will be no easy task, even for a company known for slim, sturdy devices. The current crop of AR glasses are either under-powered and flimsy or powerful and overwhelmingly large. Apple, the king of thin and light, will have to leapfrog current products by launching something small and powerful.

Adding AR features to the iPhone isn’t a giant leap. Building glasses will be harder. Like the Watch, they’ll probably be tethered to the iPhone.

And:

In 2015, Apple recruited Mike Rockwell, who previously ran the hardware and new technologies groups at Dolby, the iconic company known for its audio and video technology. Rockwell also advised Meta, a small firm that makes $950 AR glasses and counts Dolby as an investor.

Rockwell now runs the main AR team at Apple, reporting to Dan Riccio, who’s in charge of the iPhone and iPad hardware engineering groups.

Read the whole thing. I can’t wait for Apple’s take on AR. This is a gigantic problem, combining the difficulties of crafting brand new, power hungry hardware with sophisticated, layered, ground-breaking software. To me, this is way bigger than the Apple Watch, a much harder nut to crack.

Will Apple start with vertical applications, designed for a specific space like, say, construction, or home design? Or will they try to craft a killer AR app usable by the masses?

Will Apple bring Siri into the mix? If so, how deeply? And, if so, how will they leverage Susan Bennett’s voice? At some point, doesn’t Siri need some backup talent in case Susan is unavailable?

Nine accessories for charging Apple devices

Written by

Julio Ojeda-Zapata, writing for TidBITS, digs into the morass of charging accessories for Apple laptops, tablets, phones and watches, presenting nine that made the cut. Spend a few minutes scanning through these, see if any fill a need for you. Good stuff.

Watch Beats 1 Creative Director Zane Lowe give SXSW music keynote

Written by

[VIDEO] Zane Lowe is the creative force behind Beats 1 Radio. Watch the video embedded in the main Loop post for his SXSW 2017 keynote. If nothing else, click to about 5:48 in to hear Zane talk about his father and his role bringing rock to New Zealand.

How the AirPods show Apple’s frustrating and delightful quest for simplicity

Written by

Jason Snell, Macworld:

Tap-tapping your earbud and asking your phone out loud to turn the volume up doesn’t seem simple—but would a complex series of gestures really help?

As Jason points out in the quote above, how do you raise and lower the volume in a device with no dedicated volume buttons? A bit of a conundrum. And as the AirPods evolve as a product line, as they become capable of more complex behavior, will Siri be the solution?

Interesting post on the quest for balance between simplicity and complexity.

Apple launches #MusicForEveryMinute Apple Music ambassador program

Written by

Neil Hughes, AppleInsider:

Starting Thursday, Apple Music launched a new user-driven promotional program on Twitter with the hashtag “#MusicForEveryMinute”, promoted by student ambassadors who will be rewarded with an extra three months of free subscription.

Here’s an example:

https://twitter.com/tbhtxm/status/842421155776593920

Smart marketing on Apple’s part.

The little known Mac dock “suck” effect

Written by

This window minimization effect has been around since the beginning but, since there’s no option for it in the dock interface, it rarely sees the light of day.

Watch the video to see the suck effect at work, then, if you like it, follow the directions to enable it.

Nice re-find by Rob Griffiths.

Apple adds Apple Park details and satellite imagery to Apple Maps

Written by

Fire up Apple Maps, switch to satellite (on the Mac, it’s the tab in the map window’s upper right corner, in iOS, the tab is hidden behind the info icon), then type Apple Park in the search box. You’ll want the Apple Park in Cupertino, CA. Fun exploring the map this way, though I’m looking forward to the finished product.

White hat hackers use Safari to pwn MacBook Pro, display message on Touch Bar

Written by

Tim Hardwick, MacRumors, on the CanMacWest security conference and the Pwn2Own hacking contest:

Independent hackers Samuel Groß and Niklas Baumstark landed a partial success and earned $28,000 after targeting Safari with an escalation to root on macOS, which allowed them to scroll a message on a MacBook Pro Touch Bar.

Check out the picture in the post. Imagine seeing a message like that crawling across your Touch Bar. On the positive side, these exploits have been turned over to Apple so they can be patched before the exploits are made public.

Apple is underpricing AirPods and Apple Watch

Written by

Neil Cybart:

After using AirPods for the past three months, one takeaway relates to pricing. It is clear that Apple is underpricing AirPods. While this statement may sound outlandish considering that a pair of EarPods is included in every iPhone box, AirPods are not just any pair of headphones.

Yes, I do think the statement sounds outlandish. But reading the post, I do think Neil is on to something here (as he usually is). Apple seems to be shifting away from their typical high margin Apple Tax strategy, at least when it comes to AirPods and Apple Watch.

Contrary to the conclusions found in most headphone buying guides, AirPods should not be compared to lower-priced, wired headphones. These buying guides not only lean on sound quality to unfairly shortchange truly wireless headphones, but also misidentify why consumers want to buy wireless headphones in the first place. AirPods’ primary value proposition isn’t found with sound quality but rather with not having any wires. Accordingly, the product should be compared to other truly wireless headphones.

And those products are almost universally priced higher than $159. Same holds true for Apple Watch. Nice analysis here.

Rare working Apple I heading to auction

Written by

[VIDEO] MacRumors:

In 1976, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak designed and built the Apple I, or Apple-1, the company’s first computer. Of the 175 sold, only 50 to 60 or so remain in existence, including just eight functioning ones, making the iconic machine a rare collector’s item worth significantly more than its original $666.66 price.

This one is coming up for auction in May. Click through to the main Loop post for a video showing the Apple I at work.

Apple Watch shines in Cleveland Clinic heart rate study

Written by

Science Daily:

Researchers at Cleveland Clinic put five popular wrist-worn fitness trackers to the test to find out how accurately they gauge heart rate across several types of exercise and intensity levels.

And:

The devices chosen for testing (Apple Watch, Fitbit Blaze, Garmin Forerunner 235, and TomTom Spark Cardio) were based on their popularity and sales figures. Researchers then recorded volunteers’ heart rates at rest and after light, moderate and vigorous exercise across three types of activities, including the treadmill, stationary bike and elliptical (with and without hand levers). Measurements on the wearable devices were compared to readings from the chest strap and EKG.

And:

While the watch-style heart rate monitors may accurately report heart rate at rest, and most were acceptable on the treadmill, they were fairly inaccurate while bicycling or using the elliptical. Of the wrist-worn heart rate monitors, only the Apple Watch provided accurate heart rate readings when participants switched to the elliptical trainer without arm levers; none gave correct measurements when they used arm levers. The wrist and forearm monitors also became less accurate the more intense the activity levels, with the exception of the Apple Watch.

Interesting about the arm levers. Seems to me, this should be part of Apple’s Apple Watch heart rate testing. But still, a solid result.

Ugreen Apple Watch charger, no cable required

Written by

Jeff Benjamin, 9to5Mac, reviews a portable Apple Watch charger stick that not only comes with a built-in magnetic Apple Watch charging bubble, it also comes with a built-in USB-A port so you can top off your iPhone charge at the same time as you charge your watch.

Great concept. Wish all chargers had this. I’d never need to travel with that single-purpose Apple Watch cable again.

iOS 11 lock screen concept

Written by

Matt Birchler:

iOS 11 will all but surely be revealed at WWDC in June this year, and I would expect something to change on the lock screen there. So before Apple shows us what we’re getting in iOS 11, I decided to design my own new lock screen for iOS.

Matt has some excellent ideas here, designed to wring some usefulness from the lock screen, beyond checking the data and time and seeing notifications that have occurred since your last unlock.

I’ve long felt we should have the ability to fine tune what shows up on the lock screen and that Apple should open up the lock screen to developers. For example, I’d love to see the current temp/weather, along with my next appointment, on my lock screen.

Great writeup, worth reading.

33 photos of the rise and fall of Apple

Written by

This is a collection of photos that take you from the birth of Apple, through their early successes, then through the dark days leading to the return of Steve Jobs in 1997. Nice little one page walk through history.

One side bit of trivia: Gil Amelio, the CEO who brought Jobs back, was on the team that first demonstrated the charge-coupled-device, the hardware that made digital cameras possible.

The little-known iPhone feature that lets blind people see with their fingers

Written by

David Pogue:

A few years ago, backstage at a conference, I spotted a blind woman using her phone. The phone was speaking everything her finger touched on the screen, allowing her to tear through her apps. My jaw hit the floor. After years of practice, she had cranked the voice’s speed so high, I couldn’t understand a word it was saying.

And here’s the kicker: She could do all of this with the screen turned off. Her phone’s battery lasted forever.

Ever since that day, I’ve been like a kid at a magic show. I’ve wanted to know how it’s done. I’ve wanted an inside look at how the blind could navigate a phone that’s basically a slab of featureless glass.

This week, I got my chance. Joseph Danowsky offered to spend a morning with me, showing me the ropes.

Fascinating video, terrific article. A nice, detailed day in the life with VoiceOver.

New rev of LG 5K UltraFine Display solves problem working near routers

Written by

Zac Hall, 9to5Mac:

Earlier this year we reported issues with using the LG UltraFine 5K Display with new MacBook Pros near wireless access points including Apple wireless routers. LG acknowledged issues caused by poor shielding, inventory was pulled from Apple Stores, and revised hardware with proper shielding is now shipping and should be in Apple Stores soon. This week we got our hands on one of the new models with shielding improvements to put to the test and see if the issues have really been resolved.

A rare third party product that has become critical path for Apple. An important problem to fix.

Apple finishes first in undercover tech support showdown list

Written by

Laptop Magazine:

Not every company offers first-class tech support for its laptops. With confusing web resources, unhelpful social media accounts and clueless phone reps, many brands put a lot of unnecessary obstacles between consumers and the help they need.

That’s why, for over 10 years, Laptop Mag has published its annual Tech Support Showdown, in which we go undercover to test and grade the most popular laptop brands.

Apple has Apple Stores combined with excellent phone support. Over the last year, they’ve supplemented this approach with the excellent @AppleSupport Twitter account. Sure, there are stumbles, but Apple remains strong in this area, even as they grow in size and in product lines they have to support.

Conan: Introducing Apple Healthcare

Written by

[VIDEO] Click through to the main Loop post for Conan’s take on Apple Healthcare. Some thing you just can’t unsee.

Indie game promotion takes over the iOS and Mac App Stores

Written by

John Voorhees, MacStories:

The App Store looks a little different today. If you opened it and thought you accidentally landed on the Games category page, it would be understandable. But that’s not what’s happening. Instead, Apple has launched a major promotion of the finest indie games available on iOS. According to the App Store Games Twitter account, the promotion is running for the next twelve days.

Lots of great games.

Beta of the iPad’s new floating keyboard

Written by

Back in January, developer Steve Troughton-Smith discovered a new one-handed keyboard embedded in an iOS 10.3 beta. And because he’s a nice guy genius, Steve went ahead and built a Swift playground so you can play with it, too.

Here’s Steve’s tweet, with a link to the playground:

https://twitter.com/stroughtonsmith/status/840170036786524160

And here’s a post by Ben Lovejoy, with a bit of background.

WikiLeaks: We’ll work with tech firms to defeat CIA hacking

Written by

Associated Press:

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange says his group will work with technology companies to help defend them against the Central Intelligence Agency’s hacking tools.

In an online press conference, Assange acknowledged that companies had asked for more details about the CIA cyberespionage toolkit whose existence he purportedly revealed in a massive leak published Tuesday.

Assange said Thursday that “we have decided to work with them, to give them some exclusive access to some of the technical details we have, so that fixes can be pushed out.”

The CIA has so far declined to comment on the authenticity of the leak.

How Siri learns a new language

Written by

Stephen Nellis, Reuters:

There is at least one thing Siri can do that the other assistants cannot: speak 21 languages localized for 36 countries, a very important capability in a smartphone market where most sales are outside the United States.

Microsoft Cortana, by contrast, has eight languages tailored for 13 countries. Google’s Assistant, which began in its Pixel phone but has moved to other Android devices, speaks four languages. Amazon’s Alexa features only English and German. Siri will even soon start to learn Shanghainese, a special dialect of Wu Chinese spoken only around Shanghai.

And:

At Apple, the company starts working on a new language by bringing in humans to read passages in a range of accents and dialects, which are then transcribed by hand so the computer has an exact representation of the spoken text to learn from, said Alex Acero, head of the speech team at Apple. Apple also captures a range of sounds in a variety of voices. From there, a language model is built that tries to predict words sequences.

Then Apple deploys “dictation mode,” its text-to-speech translator, in the new language, Acero said. When customers use dictation mode, Apple captures a small percentage of the audio recordings and makes them anonymous. The recordings, complete with background noise and mumbled words, are transcribed by humans, a process that helps cut the speech recognition error rate in half.

Fascinating.

TouchRetouch Review: Removing unwanted objects from photos

Written by

Jake Underwood, MacStories, shows off TouchRetouch, an iOS app that makes it easy to remove objects from photos.

This is like magic to me, removing an object from a photo and using context to replace background in the photo that the camera cannot see.

Tech firms rush to assess damage from CIA leak

Written by

Wall Street Journal:

Just after 8 a.m. on Tuesday morning, mobile phones belonging to executives on Apple Inc.’s security team began to ring. WikiLeaks had just published a massive trove of documents, purportedly taken from the Central Intelligence Agency, that described the spy agency’s intrusion capabilities for computers and other gadgets, including iPhones.

Apple engineers quickly began calling colleagues to bring them up to speed on the data dump and to coordinate the company’s response to this new security threat, according to a person familiar with the situation.

WikiLeaks dumps, the rest of the world jumps.

Netflix adding tech that lets you edit storylines with your remote

Written by

Daily Mail:

Whether you love happy endings or a harsh blast of reality in TV dramas, you could soon be able to decide what you get. Netflix, the TV-streaming company behind hit shows such as The Crown and House Of Cards, is working on ways to give viewers control of key plot decisions.

Some of the storylines will be simple and linear, like the Choose Your Own Adventure books many grew up with.

For example, viewers might decide whether an inmate in the prison drama Orange Is The New Black joins a gang or not.

This is a fascinating development. Imagine a future where you can steer movie plots based on your preferences. Or, perhaps, an AI in your Apple TV could know you well enough to choose and customize content for you. The future!

Searching your Mac and iOS photo library

Written by

If you’ve never tried doing a search in your Mac or iOS photo library, check out this post for Mac and this post for iOS. There are some searches you can do without any prep work on your part (search for “cat” or “water”), but some searches do require some effort on your part (search for a particular person, for example).

I do wish there was a way to run a search on all images on my device, rather than just the images that have been imported into Photos. I suspect that eventually, images on our devices will all be tagged in some way, all backed up, and all searchable, whether we created them or not.