Apple

Details on the changes that came with iOS 7.1

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Nice writeup by the Andrew Cunningham at Ars Technica. This is definitely worth a read. One thing that struck me was the big overall benefit that came from subtly speeding up various animation elements from 7.0.x to 7.1. Watch the first video to get a sense of this. iOS 7.1 is on the right side.

iOS 7.1 puts an end to nested folders

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Nested folders — or folders-within-folders — were a long-standing bug that Apple conveniently ignored for some time. It was a fantastic hidden feature that I’ve personally become dependent on. Having a perfectly clean home screen with a single folder used to house all my different app categories was a dream come true, but reality has now smacked me in the face.

Hold on now. If this is a bug, why complain if it gets fixed?

The evolution of the Digital Hub

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Ben Thompson makes the case that the Digital Hub is a moving target, starting with the TV, then moving to the iPhone, then, possibly the iWatch, presuming such a thing exists.

The post is thought provoking, absolutely worth reading, though I do disagree with a premise here or there.

Speeding up your Mac

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Mac consultant Adam Rosen talks you through his approach when a client complains about a slow Mac.

iOS 7.1 a noticeable speed improvement on iPhone 4

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Lots of little fixes that will make life on an iPhone 4 better. In addition to all the items covered in the linked article, I also found Bluetooth syncing to be much more solid on our test phone. For example, with iOS 7.0.x, the music app in a Bluetooth connection stuttered frequently. With iOS 7.1, things are noticeably better.

Mac market share breaks 8%, Windows falls below 90%

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It’s been a slow and steady fall for Windows, for as far back as NetMarketshare has been collecting this data. And for the Mac, the reverse is true. Mac market share was 4.58% back in February 2009 and has steadily climbed to its current share of 8.16%.

Apple releases iOS 7.1 – Carplay support, new Siri options and bug fixes

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Re/code:

Apple on Monday released iOS 7.1, its first major update to the software that powers the iPhone and iPad since it released iOS 7 last year.

The new update, a free 280-megabyte download, adds some new options for Siri, improved fingerprint sensing with Touch ID and aims to fix an irksome bug that caused some users to have their iPhones spontaneously reboot during use.

As always, make sure you have a recent backup before applying the update.

Apple’s view of the future from 1995. Here’s what they got right

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[VIDEO] Interesting find.

In 1995, Apple was looking at the world ahead and released a promotional video to educators laying out its vision for how students would be learning one day. It’s been 19 years since this video was produced and some of its predictions have become everyday realities. Here’s what Apple got right about the future, even if they weren’t the company to bring the changes about in some cases.

Watch the video, then read the article.

How to create a data recovery external drive

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We’ve all had that sinking feeling when we realize we might just have lost all our precious data.

I knew something was wrong when I booted my 2012 MacBook Pro, walked away to get coffee and returned to find the computer had turned off. When I booted again, the grey screen appeared and the MacBook Pro booted part way before powering down. An attempt to boot into Safe Mode revealed that the CPU was halting, killing the processes, then shutting down.

If you own a Mac, there’s certainly a good chance this will happen to you someday. Read the post, and don’t forget to do a backup. Apple really makes it all so very easy.

Apple TV Updated with Revamped Channel for this week’s iTunes Festival at SXSW

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In preparation for this week’s iTunes Festival at South by Southwest (SXSW) 2014, Apple has expanded its Apple TV lineup to include a revamped iTunes Festival channel that allows users to live stream the concert’s shows as well as view lineups and artist information.

The channel showcases artists who will be performing at the festival such as Kendrick Lamar, Coldplay, and Keith Urban, complete with artist bios and concert showtimes. Direct iTunes links to artist albums are featured as well, along with full details on opening acts.

Nice.

Samsung files appeal against first patent trial verdict

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With surprising speed, Samsung has now officially filed a notice of appeal over the final judgement in the first Apple vs. Samsung patent trial from 2012. The last ruling in the case was handed down yesterday, when Judge Lucy Koh ruled in Samsung’s favor that sales injunctions on the products it was found guilty of infringing Apple patents with were not warranted in the interests of competition. Apple is likely to appeal that portion of Judge Koh’s rulings.

In the original trial (and the limited damages retrial), none of Samsung’s original counter-claims against Apple were given the time of day by the two juries in the case; all were dismissed due to prior art, while Apple won judgements against Samsung to the tune of nearly $1 billion in penalties against the Korean electronics firm (originally Apple was awarded just over $1.05 billion, but a portion of the damages was re-calculated in a juried damages retrial, with the result being $929 million instead).

Will this never end?

The case for Apple to buy Nintendo

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This case has been made before, but this article does a good job of analyzing all the moving pieces.

In my view, access to the Nintendo game catalog on iOS would strike a major blow to Samsung. Having Pokemon, Mario, Zelda, and their many friends exclusively tied to iOS would likely provide the most significant point of software differentiation between the two rivals.

[Via a free reg-wall]

Track your luggage using an iBeacon

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[VIDEO]This is a brilliant app idea, assuming it works. Put an iBeacon in your luggage, get notified as your luggage arrives at baggage claim. Genius!

Steve Jobs monument in Chinese ghost city

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Embedded in the long linked blog post about Kangbashi, China’s so-called Ghost City that was built for a population of one million people but is largely uninhabited, is a monument to Steve Jobs.

The sculpture, a hexagon containing the outline of an apple and Jobs’ face, is not that strange in itself. What’s strange is that it is located behind an apparently unused school, in the middle of hundreds of thousands of vacant apartments in the Kangbashi New Area of Ordos, a shining metropolis built by China in Inner Mongolia that has been called the world’s biggest ghost city.

Apple’s new San Francisco store wins final approval to demolish and build

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All obstacles have been cleared, and the long-planned Union Square flagship Apple Store has finally received final clearance from the San Francisco City Council to demolish the current standing building and begin renovations and construction on the new store. The new building will be a two-story structure with an all-glass frontage facing Union Square, utilizing a cantilevered design that features a patio and waterfall behind the store.

Yet another reason for me to make the trip out to San Francisco. Can’t wait to see this store.

Samsung escalates patent arms race

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One of the latest signs that there’s an escalating “patent arms race” between Apple and Samsung is that Samsung in record filing more than 10 times as many European patents as rival Apple in 2013.

This is just unfortunate, a bad trend.