With the teaser headline, What happens next? Click and hold to find out!, Tumblr brought Apple’s Live Photos format to the web.
Whenever you see that famous Live Photo icon, click and hold to make them swing.
Tumblr was the first third-party app to support Live Photos—you could even GIF ’em. Now we’re the first to support them on the web. And! We’re open sourcing the javascript library for any webmaster to use: GitHub and npm.
Also interesting:
We’re also working on an Android version for you.
From Apple’s email this afternoon:
As of September 25, 2016, iTunes S.à r.l. will complete its merger with Apple Distribution International in Cork, Ireland and will relocate its business from Luxembourg to Cork in early 2017.
Apple has been operating in Ireland since 1980 and now employs nearly 6,000 people. As we continue to expand our operations in Cork, we are moving our iTunes business there and will support content stores for more than 100 countries from our campus at Hollyhill.
This move was originally announced back in June. From this 2012 article in the New York Times:
Luxembourg has just half a million residents. But when customers across Europe, Africa or the Middle East — and potentially elsewhere — download a song, television show or app, the sale is recorded in this small country, according to current and former executives. In 2011, iTunes S.à r.l.’s revenue exceeded $1 billion, according to an Apple executive, representing roughly 20 percent of iTunes’s worldwide sales.
Obviously, that information is dated, but it gives a sense of the importance Luxembourg operations have to Apple. Not clear how this will impact Apple’s current tax negotiations with the European Commission.
The most bullish note today is from John Donovan and Steve Mullane of BlueFin Research Partners, who had written on the topic a week ago.
The authors today write that Apple is “frantically asking component suppliers to pull in deliveries in a mad rush to deliver incremental iPhone 7 units by year end,” citing higher-than-expected for the new device.
From the referenced BlueFin report:
Demand for the jet black model has been red hot, with speculators in China paying as much as $2,300 according to our checks. Last week we mentioned an almost TMZ-like reporting environment surrounding the Samsung Note 7 saga. The videos of autombiles catching fire while airports and TSA posting warnings about the Galaxy Note 7 will not fade from consumers memory anytime soon, in our view. AAPL is primed to swoop in and take full advantage and is pressuring the entire component base in an effort to ensure product is at the ready.
Samsung’s stumble, the double camera, and a hot new jet black finish created a perfect storm for Apple.
Juli Clover, writing for MacRumors:
Many customers who pre-ordered a Jet Black iPhone 7 Plus received shipping estimates ranging into October and November, but it appears Apple is working hard to overcome supply constraints and get shipments out earlier than expected.
Starting this morning, MacRumors began hearing reports from customers who originally had deliveries scheduled for a month or two out but will now be receiving their devices over the course of the next few days.
No early delivery love for my iPhone 7 Plus, at least not yet. Holding out hope, though. Glad to see this bit of news.
Andrew Leavitt, writing for 17 Orbits:
Starting in 2010 Mobile Me enabled you to hunt down your missing iPhone (or iPad) with the Find My iPhone app. In 2011 OSX Lion added ‘Find My Mac’ to the mix. Beginning this week watchOs 3 enables iCloud to locate your misplaced Apple Watch.
And:
Until now real-time geolocation was only possible if your missing Apple Watch and iPhone were in Bluetooth range or on the same WiFi network. Since the watch does not have its own cellular signal that would seem to limit location tracking to within 10 meters or your home WiFi. Once out of range, however, iCloud now kicks in and reports the watch’s present location by GPS or WiFi triangulation. If the watch is turned off the last known location is reported. Accuracy is enhanced because the Apple Watch can still connect to previously known WiFi on its own (even when phone is physically far away).
Read the post and give it a try. You can track your Apple Watch (along with all your other Apple devices) and play a never ending (until you tap Dismiss) sound on your Apple Watch. Great for finding it when it slid between the couch cushions or when you are challenged, unwillingly, to a morning game of find your gear.
Theoretically, sometime later today, Apple will officially release macOS Sierra. One way to tell is to fire up the Mac App Store. I suspect Apple will make it big and obvious, with macOS Sierra presence right there on the front page. You can also type macOS Sierra in the search field or tap on the Updates tab to see what’s new.
[Read the main post for thoughts on getting ready…]
Jean-Louis Gassée, writing for Monday Note:
For months, tech bloggers declared that the upcoming iPhone 7 would be boring, lacking creativity, a flop waiting to happen. “So unless something crazy happens in the next few months, the iPhone 7 will look and feel a lot like the 6s.”
Steve Kovach, The iPhone 7 is going to be boring, Tech Insider
And:
Unprayed for but a godsend nonetheless, the months of deprecation lowered expectations for the unborn iPhone 7. One could say that the pundits did for Apple what the company should have done on its own: Underpromise as an easy path to overdelivery.
With this response to Steve Kovach:
Yes, something crazy did happen, and it was right under your nose: The widely rumored dual camera. Apple did underpromise and overdeliver, after all…
Great piece by Jean-Louis, covering Steve Jobs’ rollout of the original iPhone, the resulting devastation of the camera market, and other musings.
[VIDEO] This is a pretty cool test. No spoilers, save to say that the phones were dropped several times, at successive depths, until the final drop to 35 feet. Suffice it to say, this is way more water exposure than most folks will subject their phones to, but good to know how they fare.
Stephen Hackett, writing for 512 Pixels:
As my iPhone 7 Plus was restoring from iCloud, I thought I noticed some sound. After picking the device up from my desk, it was clear the sounds are coming from back of the phone, possibly from the CPU. It seems to get worse if the iPhone is under load. It’s loud enough to be heard even if the iPhone is just sitting on the table. I don’t have to put it up to my ear to hear it.
Follow the link if you want to hear the hissing for yourself.
I’ve heard from several other people with similar experiences, and others who are saying past iOS devices have displayed this issue. I’ve handled more devices than most, and haven’t come across this.
I’m not saying this is some widespread problem; I just wanted to share my experience with others who may be having it too.
I’ve never heard of this sort of thing before. The only self-moving part inside the iPhone is the taptic engine, and that wouldn’t make a hissing noise. Is this a big deal? Definitely for Stephen, since he’s got to jump through the hoops to replace his phone.
For the rest of us? I don’t get the sense this is a widespread issue. And if it’s true that this has happened with previous models, sounds like a manufacturing defect, a sporadic issue at best.
As to me? I’ve still got my phone on order, not changing a thing.
Bizarre.
Juli Clover, writing for MacRumors:
In recent weeks, Apple has been sending out surveys to users asking about MacBook Pro features, most notably the headphone jack. A survey question shared by MacRumors reader Blake asks “Do you ever use the headphone port on your MacBook Pro with Retina display?”
There are several other reports on Twitter from users who have been asked similar questions about the headphone jack, suggesting Apple is exploring the removal of the headphone jack in a future version of the MacBook Pro.
If there is a MacBook Pro update coming this year, I suspect it will have a headphone jack. This sort of market research would typically be done during the design phase, not in preparation for product rollout. I suspect the headphone jack will, ultimately, go away, as wireless becomes the standard. On the iPhone 7, waterproofing and case real estate are often quoted as two driving reasons for the removal of the headphone jack. Neither of these is a big issue for the MacBook Pro.
CNET covers Apple’s iPhone 7 launch at various locations around the world. Even with the news that there would be no iPhone 7 Plus and no iPhone 7’s in Jet Black, there were still plenty of people in line, perhaps hoping against hope that those shortage announcements were not true.
As to the shortages, there seems to be two complementary explanations: One is due to the extra time required to achieve the jet black finish using a technique Jony Ive refers to as “rotational 3D polishing.”
The second issue is apparent supply chain constraints for the iPhone 7 Plus dual camera, which requires more precision and calibration during assembly.
Mustafa Al-Bassam tweets:
Yesterday I almost had a heart attack when I entered McDonald’s and I had a notification on my phone asking me to install their app.
And:
It seems that with the latest versions of Android, Google Maps is on 24/7, waiting to send you notifications, with no way to disable it.
And:
Even if you uninstall Google Maps, Google Play’s background service is tracking your location 24/7.
As proof, that last tweet includes some screen shots with the details.
Is this a bug? Intentional? Is this info saved on your phone? Does your location data ever leave your phone, headed for Google’s servers?
On the flip side, Apple exposes Location Services with a switch in Settings > Privacy > Location Services. That switch controls location data for my iOS device and my tethered Apple Watch. According to Apple, if that switch is off, the only time my location is used is when I place an emergency call.
Interestingly, the tweet above was retweeted by Edward Snowden.
17 Orbits:
Tonight’s Thursday Night Football game features the Buffalo Bills hosting the New York Jets at 8:25 Eastern time. For the first time you can watch an NFL game on Twitter via Apple TV (4th gen) or other set top box.
And:
Just yesterday the Twitter app became available for Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and xBox. The app does not require an account and therefore no log in is necessary. It allows one to view the original CBS broadcast of the game alongside curated Tweets – but you cannot Tweet, Like, Follow or view your own timeline. Its like a “second-screen experience” without the second screen.
The cord-cutting wheel is turning.
In the middle of Jason Snell’s iPhone 7 and Apple Watch Series 2 writeup is this nugget:
One pulled tab and the plastic wrap around the iPhone box unravels. Inside there’s a little paperboard package that features the shockingly tiny Lightning-to-3.5mm adapter, pinned like it’s smiling at you, and on the flip side of the same bundle, your Lightning EarPods. It’s adorable, compact, and plastic free.
Follow the link (Jason’s writeups are always worth the trip), check out the image. Just look at that packaging design. And it’s all made out of recyclable cardboard. Apple is the Steph Curry of packaging.
Someone better go let all those folks camped out in front of the Apple Store know. And if someone paid them to camp out, do they still get paid?
Apple’s official statement:
We couldn’t be happier with the initial response to iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, and we are looking forward to beginning sales through our retail stores and partners around the world.
Beginning Friday, limited quantities of iPhone 7 in silver, gold, rose gold, and black will be available for walk-in customers at Apple retail stores. During the online pre-order period, initial quantities of iPhone 7 Plus in all finishes and iPhone 7 in jet black sold out and will not be available for walk-in customers. Availability at partner locations for all finishes may vary and we recommend checking directly with them.
Customers can continue to order all models in all colors on apple.com. We sincerely appreciate our customers’ patience as we work hard to get the new iPhone into the hands of everyone who wants one as quickly as possible.
I can’t ever recall Apple releasing such a statement before an iPhone launch. Walk-in stock was always limited, but I don’t remember there being zero stock in the most popular models. Wonder if this is the new normal. It certainly will drive a lot of on-line orders as word of this gets out. And that will give Apple a lot of valuable sales information.
Josh Centers digs into the latest tvOS release. One notable addition:
Those of us blinded by the bright-white look of tvOS 9 will appreciate the new Dark mode, which you can enable in Settings > General > Appearance. Dark mode not only turns the Home screen dark, but also darkens the user interface elements of many apps.
I’ll definitely be switching to Dark Mode.
Callblock represents the start of an interesting new app category. Apple supports something called CallKit, similar to the content-blocking API that allows ad-blocking in Safari. CallKit allows you to build filtering rules to block calls by name and number.
The team that built Callblock spent most of their development time compiling a directory of telemarketers and setting up the infrastructure to keep the directory up to date.
So far, since I’ve had this installed, I have not gotten a single telemarketing call. Coincidence? Perhaps. But I’ll keep Callblock enabled, just in case.
Serenity Caldwell presents her list of under-the-hood iOS 10 features. Worth a look.
My review of Just Press Record. Read the review, try out the app. I think it’s a fantastic app.
[VIDEO] This is a bit of a departure for Apple. The ad does a lot of visual hinting, without being specific. More of a dark, impressionistic painting than their usual bright, airy on-the-spot ads.
See for yourself.
Yesterday, I posted an article about the cellular radios inside the new iPhone 7 and 7 Plus and the fact that there are two distinct models (Intel and Qualcomm) with two different sets of capabilities.
This article from iMore digs into this from a slightly different angle:
The iPhone 7 now supports maximum speeds of up to 450Mbps, which is a 50% jump over the iPhone 6s. Specifically, the new iPhone is a Category 10 device, which means that in addition to being able to reach those astronomical speeds of 450Mbps in the downlink (downloading data from the internet), it is able to reach speeds of 100Mbps in the uplink.
To reach these speeds, the iPhone uses a technology under the LTE standard called carrier aggregation, which combines several wireless channels, or bands, to transmit data to and from a phone. The iPhone 7 supports 3x CA in the downlink — up to three distinct bands carrying data — and 2x CA in the uplink. Unfortunately, those uplink speeds can only be achieved using a combination of Band 7 and Band 41, which currently precludes all U.S. carriers, since none of them currently operate on Band 7.
And:
Oh, and another thing: it is expected to be revealed (through upcoming teardowns) that this year’s iPhone has a baseband chip designed and manufactured by Intel, a company that has been trying to get its components into Apple’s smartphones for some time. While Qualcomm is still likely designing the baseband inside the CDMA variants of the iPhone, due to ongoing patent exclusivity, the GSM variants of the phone have likely transitioned to its Portland-based rival.
Bottom line, the value in getting the Qualcomm chip only arises if you plan to switch carriers.
CNN Money:
“If a customer is going out to buy a phone, they’re going to buy an iPhone 7, not a Note 7,” said Mark Newman, a Bernstein analyst who covers Samsung. He pointed out that the Note 7 was launched before the iPhone 7 and received better reviews.
Not sure I agree on the better reviews things, but keep reading:
Samsung’s Note 7 storm will “most likely blow over in a couple of months,” he said. “Longer term, Samsung is a strong brand with great products. Most of them don’t explode.”
And there it is. The Galaxy Note 7 killer feature. Not newsworthy, I know, but I just loved the quote.
Click the headline link to jump to a chart showing Mixpanel’s take on iOS 10 adoption. As of this writing, iOS 9 has 83.86%, iOS 10 has 11.09% and older has 5.06%. Those are remarkable numbers, especially when compared to Android’s fragmented adoption rates.
It’ll be interesting to see that iOS 10 number in about a week.
I found this a fascinating read. Lots of back story on the very first days of Amazon.
Aaron Pressman, writing for Fortune:
Apple made several choices in the wireless capabilities of its new iPhone 7 that could complicate life for some of the phone’s owners.
None of the new iPhones will be able to go online using a spectrum band known as AWS-3, according to Apple’s specifications page. Carriers spent almost $45 billion last year at a federal auction for the rights to use the AWS-3 band, also known as LTE band 66, and are starting to put it in service. The carriers all also operate on other high-speed bands that will be iPhone 7 compatible, but they won’t be able to connect to the new phone with the additional AWS spectrum.
Here’s a link to Apple’s iPhone 7 specs page. Scroll down and see for yourself.
Continuing:
For consumers, that means their new iPhones may not be able to jump onto a band that is apt to be less crowded, and possibly faster. And Apple also made a choice that limits the ability of some new iPhone 7 models to connect to all four major carriers.
That’s because Apple split the manufacturing of iPhone modem chips between suppliers Intel and Qualcomm. Modems from the two companies aren’t interchangeable, effectively eliminating the ability of some iPhone 7 models to connect to all four major carrier networks. Although the two modem chips have many of the same features, Intel’s chip can’t connect to older CDMA wireless networks still in use by Verizon and Sprint for voice calling.
And:
The problem caused by the split between Intel and Qualcomm can be avoided by savvy phone shoppers. Customers who want to be sure that their iPhone 7 will work on any of the big four networks, preserving their ability to switch carriers, should opt for a phone with a Qualcomm chip, which encompasses the models being sold on the box as Verizon or Sprint compatible. They are labeled as models A1660 for the 4.7-inch iPhone 7 and A1661 for the 5.5-inch iPhone 7 Plus.
Is this much ado about nothing? Is this only an issue if you intend to unlock your iPhone 7 or 7 Plus and switch carriers? Hard for me to get my head around this issue. It’s certainly interesting. Just not sure how big an issue this is for consumers. If you’ve got a detailed understanding of this, please ping me. I’m all ears.
Nice, image heavy (which is the way I like it), detailed review from BirchTree.
Jeff Benjamin, writing for 9to5Mac:
Let the deluge begin… Not long after the Super Mario Run iMessage sticker pack was made available to iOS 10 users, Apple has unleashed the entire iMessage App Store. The iMessage App Store, which is available for iOS 10 users, features sticker packs from companies like Disney, Bandai Namco, Sanrio, and others.
In addition to the sticker packs, the iMessage App Store features full-fledged iMessage apps and games. Several of the apps that were demonstrated during the WWDC 2016 keynote are here, such as Square Cash, OpenTable, and JibJab.
I’ve been seeing a steady stream of new iMessage content, similar to what we saw when Apple opened up the Apple Watch to third party complications.
I found this interesting:
Some of the apps are standalone iMessage apps, while others are extensions of already existing apps in the main App Store. You can tell which apps are extensions when the regular app is downloaded on your Home screen. Standalone apps have no primary app, and live solely in the iMessage App Store.
Time will tell if the iMessage app store catches on, gets the same kind of traction as the regular app store. The iMessage App Store will go mainstream when Apple rolls out iOS 10 to the public this afternoon (should be around 1p PT).
Chris Welch, writing for The Verge:
Twitter is about to make a big change to the way that tweets work, The Verge can independently confirm. Beginning September 19th, the company will cut down on exactly which types of content count toward the platform’s 140-character limit. Media attachments (images, GIFs, videos, polls, etc.) and quoted tweets will no longer reduce the count. The extra room for text will give users more flexibility in composing their messages.
It will be nice to have this breathing room. Bravo.
CPSC:
Lithium-ion batteries pack a lot of power into a small package. When these batteries overheat and burst, the results can be serious. This is why the U.S Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is urging all consumers who own a Samsung Galaxy Note7 to power them down and stop charging or using the device.
For your own safety, order an iPhone immediately.