September 15, 2016
What’s new in iTunes 12.5 ∞
Kirk McElhearn on all the new shiny that came with iTunes 12.5.x. Solid list.
iOS 10 Messages: How to use stickers, iMessages apps, Digital Touch, rich links, and more ∞
Jeff Benjamin walks you through the brave new world of the iOS 10 Messages app. Lots has changed here, well worth the read.
Apple’s iPhone 7 will be super limited in stores and all jet black and Plus models are sold out ∞
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.
tvOS adds Dark Mode and more ∞
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: block calls from telemarketers ∞
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.
28 hidden iOS 10 features ∞
Serenity Caldwell presents her list of under-the-hood iOS 10 features. Worth a look.
September 14, 2016
A black gloss iPhone but no black Airpods? Why? ∞
Martin Hajek:
What if Apple had done the new AirPods in black too?
I modelled these earphones and rendered them in brand-new iPhone gloss black. You can’t buy these for real but you can download the 3D model of these AirPods.
Hajek screams in his piece, “SO WHY DID THIS NOT HAPPEN?” There are any number of reasons, most likely for simplicity’s sake in their first iteration. If they prove to be popular (and, even though I won’t be buying them, I think they will be), we’ll see colour matched AirPods in their next version. But, then again, there are no black EarPods so maybe we’ll never see them.
Good Morning America’s Tim Cook Interview
Complete fluff interview but you can’t expect in depth on morning television.
You can now request self-driving Ubers in Pittsburgh ∞
Buzzfeed:
Beginning Wednesday morning, Uber customers in the former steel town who’ve agreed to participate in the company’s self-driving car pilot program will have a reasonable chance of being picked up in an autonomous vehicle — albeit one carrying both a safety driver (ready to take the wheel during emergencies) and a co-pilot (to monitor the car and its route on a laptop).
Uber’s Pittsburgh pilot program is kicking off with just a handful of self-driving Ford Fusions, but will later expand to include an additional 100 self-driving Volvos. For now, the cars aren’t entirely autonomous. A human driver brings the car to the road before hitting the silver button that activates autonomous mode. This safety driver sticks around for the duration of the ride, ready to intervene should something go awry on the journey. Also aboard is a co-pilot in the front passenger seat, watching for glitches and anomalies and sending notes to Uber’s developers, who are refining the algorithms the cars use to navigate.
You can now travel the future in Pittsburgh.
iPhone 7 Plus camera review from Rwanda ∞
Austin Mann:
As many of you know, in the past I’ve created this review in Iceland (twice), Patagonia, and Switzerland, but this year I wanted to really change things up. With indicators pointing toward possibilities of optical zoom, I asked myself: Where’s the best place in the world to test optical zoom? Africa, of course.
So this year, in collaboration with Nat Geo Travel + Nat Geo Adventure, we’ve set out to get you the answers. I’m writing from deep in the Nyungwe rain forest in southwest Rwanda. We’ve been tracking gorillas in the north, boating Lake Kivu in the west, and running through tea plantations in the south — all with the iPhone 7 Plus in hand.
These are the kinds of reviews I’ve been looking for — from professional photographers. Definitely check out the video if only for the incredible images of the mountain gorillas. Thanks very much to Dave Mark and Brian Smith for the link.
Just Press Record
The Loop isn’t really an app or product review site. But occasionally, I run across a product that really clicks for me, enough so that I feel the need to share.
Just Press Record just hit version 2.0, and with this new version has really hit its stride. With versions for the Mac ($4.99) and iOS ($2.99), Just Press Record lets you quickly record messages for later retrieval.
Recording is one-tap simple (with widgets for the lock screen and notifications center), you get easily sharable speech to text transcriptions of your recordings, you can search your transcripts and, best of all, recordings are iCloud shareable across all your devices.
Fantastic.
Apple’s new iPhone 7 ad
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.
4 new accessibility features in iOS 10 ∞
Scan the article, pass these along. Also, here’s a post from a while back that talks you through launching iOS 10’s new Magnifier.
The iPhone 7 and cellular speeds ∞
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.
Samsung analyst on the Galaxy Note 7: “Most of them don’t explode” ∞
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.
[H/T Brandon Cosby]
Mixpanel’s up-to-the-minute numbers on iOS 10 adoption ∞
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.
Wired: Here’s what you need to know about ceramic, the fancy material in Apple’s fanciest watch ∞
God I hate these headlines. But. This is a solid article and ceramic is an interesting new direction for Apple. Lots to learn here:
“Ceramics are much more durable than metals,” says Julia Greer, a materials scientist at Caltech. To understand what she means, consider your MacBook. That anodized aluminum casing provides a handsome sheen, but drop it and you run a good chance of denting a corner. Stick it in your bag unprotected, and your keys almost certainly will scratch it.
And:
The back of each Watch uses zirconia ceramic where the magnetic charger attaches. Ceramics are non-conductive, and don’t interfere with wireless charging.
And:
Ceramics, on the other hand, are virtually scratch-proof. “They deform in an elastic way,” Greer says. “You’ll never see the deformation, until they crack.” Unlike an aluminum or a stainless steel case, a ceramic one can take a licking and keep on ticking. The rub with ceramics is that, while they’re tough to scratch, they’re more prone to cracking compared to metal.
Want the new gorgeous? It’ll cost you. The ceramic Apple Watch is the new high end, selling for $1,249 for the 38mm case and $1,299 for the 42mm case.
Review: Apple Watch Series 2
I can’t help but smile every time I think about how Apple Watch has helped me over the past year. I’m healthier, more aware, and I can communicate easily, all using one device strapped to my wrist.
The new white Apple Watch Edition, which may be adored by Utah watch experts, is stunning to see in person. I often talk about Apple’s attention to detail—this new ceramic watch epitomizes that. After inventing a new ceramic powder, this is how Apple describes the process of making the watch:
> More than 70 diamond-grit CNC cutters machine every Apple Watch Edition case—a process that takes up to six hours. Each case then undergoes two hours of polishing to increase strength and achieve its characteristic pearl-like finish.
I want this ceramic watch as much as I wanted the black iPhone—it’s gorgeous.
There are a couple of features of Apple Watch Series 2 that I was immediately interested in: GPS and using AirPods during my exercise. Both of these mean I don’t need to take my iPhone with me on my daily walk, which has given me a strange sense of freedom.
As I said in my iPhone 7 review, I didn’t use Bluetooth headphones before because every one I tried was horrible. This meant I needed to bring my iPhone to listen to music. The AirPods changed all that, allowing me to listen to a playlist on my watch and still have quality sound.
It seems odd to me that you can only shuffle songs when viewing the songs screen on your watch. If you’re in the Artist, Album, or Playlist screen you get to choose the source or Library view. Not a big deal, just weird.
Double-tapping on the AirPods allow you to play/pause the music, which is very handy. Unlike the iPhone, you can’t change the double-tap to control Siri on the watch.
Of course, having the phone with you also means you’re still available. I want my walk to be about my walk—nothing else. It’s easy to turn on Airplane Mode, but I always worry that I’m missing something at work, so I don’t bother turning that on. Without the phone in my pocket, I’m free to enjoy the music and a peaceful bit of exercise.
Having GPS allows the watch to sync my walk location to my iPhone. This gives me a map in the workout section of my daily activity, which not only shows where I walked, but also how I did.
If you look at the map, you can see it’s colored. Yellow is the average pace for this particular walk; Green is above the average pace; and Red is below the average pace.
This is tremendous information to have. I can look at my week’s walk and see where I am slowing down and try to figure out why. Is it the area? Traffic? To my surprise, my second mile is always faster than my first mile. Maybe I don’t need to figure out why, but I still like to have the information.
GPS is also available to a new set of exercise routines for swimmers. I know how to swim, but I don’t do it in my exercise routine. Apple Watch Series 2 is water resistant to 50 meters, the industry standard for swimmers. The swim workout can count laps, track average lap pace, and auto-detect stroke type to accurately measure active calorie burn.
That, folks, is wonderful attention to detail. That has Apple written all over it.
The attention to detail doesn’t stop there. The other feature they added for swimmers has to be the coolest feature of all.
When you swim, there is a good chance that the water will hit the screen causing accidental taps. However, when you start a swim workout, Apple Watch auto locks the screen to prevent accidental taps. When you are done the workout, just turn the digital crown and the screen will become active again.
There is one other problem Apple had to solve, and they did so brilliantly. Apple Watch has a speaker and in order for the speaker to work, it needs air. Apple allows water into the speaker cavity, but when you turn the digital crown at the end of your workout, it activates the speaker vibration to push water out of the cavity. It’s an amazing solution to the problem.
Information
For me, having a digital sports watch is all about information. My screen is set to the activity rings, so I see all day how I’m doing. That’s important to me.
When I first started using the watch, I was obsessed with closing all of the rings, but that’s changed a bit for me. Now I just want the information about how I’m doing.
I understand that there are consequences for not doing my exercise or for not moving as much as I did the day before. If the rings are hidden, I may not look at it on days that are really busy, but having it front and center means I see it all the time. I don’t want those reminders that some apps give you to get out and walk—I just want the information. I’ll make the decision to exercise on my own.
Important information isn’t just about fitness or closing rings. It’s whatever information is important to you—texts, emails, or other notifications that pop up on your screen.
This is where the Apple Watch becomes such a personal device. What’s important to me may not be important to you. That doesn’t matter though because the watch is so versatile, it can be a companion to both of us in different ways.
I use my iPhone differently because of my watch, and that will continue to happen thanks to GPS and AirPods. I’m already using it differently in the past week of using Apple Watch Series 2.
Performance, Battery, and Display
We all know that performance was an issue with the first Apple Watch. I would tap on the rings and the watch would think so long about whether to open or not that I’d just give up. That’s no longer the issue it was.
If you are opening an app for the first time, it will take a few seconds to open—certainly not as long as it did before, but it won’t be instant. Once an app is open, returning to it will be almost instantaneous.
This is fine for me because I don’t actually use that many apps on my phone. Music, Fitness, Workouts, Weather, Maps, all kinds of notifications, and Messages—things like that are main watch apps.
I put my watch on first thing in the morning and take it off when I go to bed at night. I’ve ever run out of battery on my old or new watch when I keep this routine. I always have plenty of battery left at the end of the day, even with GPS workouts running and listening to music on the AirPods.
I think Apple had a lot of battery power to play with when they added these new features, but it appears they are still using it wisely.
Apple says the Apple Watch Series 2 display is two times brighter than the previous version. I know this: when I go outside, I can now see the display perfect, even in sunlight.
I’m not sure what the specs are on that, but I know it works much better.
Bottom Line
For me, Apple Watch is about improving our lives and making us more efficient. It has done that for me many times over and Apple Watch Series 2 will continue that journey.
September 13, 2016
The year’s best new adventure camera? The Apple iPhone 7 Plus. ∞
Outside:
To review the camera in the new iPhone 7 Plus, I chased Outside editors up rivers, down dusty singletrack, through the woods, and into classic New Mexican burrito joints. Over four days of in-the-field testing, I’ve found it to be the best small, lightweight camera you can get for the money, ideal for shooting outdoor adventures when you don’t want to lug around pounds of heavy equipment.
First came Sports Illustrated and then ESPN with their results of using the iPhone 7 Plus to shoot images. These from Outside magazine might be the ones most reflective of the kind of shots we “ordinary” folks might expect.
iPhone User Guide for iOS 10 ∞
Apple:
Here’s everything you need to know about iPhone, in a handy digital format. Get to know iPhone and discover all the amazing things it can do, and how to do them. It’s the definitive guide for getting the most from your new iPhone, straight from Apple.
Straight from the proverbial horse’s mouth.
15 amazing entries from Nat Geo’s “Nature Photographer of the Year” contest ∞
Mental Floss:
’Tis the season for National Geographic’s annual nature photography contest, and some of the latest entries prove competition will be fierce. Take a look at a few of the best, and submit your own work until November 16 to win a trip to the Galápagos.
Number 4 and number 6 are incredible shots.
Eagles away! Dutch police unveil latest recruits against drones ∞
Yahoo:
Dutch police are adopting a centuries-old pursuit to resolve the modern-day problem of increasing numbers of drones in the skies, becoming the world’s first force to employ eagles as winged warriors.
“It’s a low-tech solution to a high-tech problem,” police spokesman Dennis Janus told AFP as officers and their feathered friends gave their first public demonstration of their birds’ prowess.
Well, that’s one way to solve the problem.
AC/DC rig rundown
This is great stuff.
Transformers, Nerf, & Bubble Wrap among finalists for The National Toy Hall Of Fame ∞
Consumerist:
Whether popping plastic packing material is your idea of a good time, or nailing your adversaries with a foam projectile is more your speed, both modes of entertainment have a chance at being inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame this year.
Twelve finalists will be duking it out for a place in the HOF, including that all-ages favorite, Bubble Wrap, and Nerf toys, The Strong museum, located in Rochester, NY, announced. In the end, only two or three of the nominees will make the cut and take up their thrones next to past inductees like Barbie, Atari, rubber duckies, chess, Rubik’s Cube, and Little Green Army Men.
Check out the list of the finalists. You can only pick three to be inducted. According to the induction criteria (“the toy’s icon status, its staying power over multiple generations, whether it fosters learning or creativity through play, and innovation”), who would you vote for? I’d pick Dungeons & Dragons, coloring books and the swing.
F-16 Autopilot saves unconscious pilot’s life ∞
Aviation Week:
This newly declassified video footage from the head-up-display of a U.S. Air Force Arizona Air National Guard F-16 records the dramatic moment when its unconscious pilot is saved from certain death by the aircraft’s Automatic Ground Collision Avoidance System (Auto-GCAS).
This is all kinds of terrifying and an amazing example of technology at work.
Apple confirms there was an iOS 10 glitch, but says the issue is resolved for those now downloading ∞
Recode:
Apple says it has identified and fixed a bug that caused some people to have their phones and tablets rendered unusable after updating to iOS 10.
“We experienced a brief issue with the software update process, affecting a small number of users during the first hour of availability,” an Apple representative told Recode. “The problem was quickly resolved and we apologize to those customers. Anyone who was affected should connect to iTunes to complete the update or contact AppleCare for help.”
It wouldn’t be Update Day without some issues that affect a small percentage of users. It brings home the point I’m constantly having to make – don’t update your device OS unless you have a recent backup of it.
Swift Playgrounds now available ∞
Apple:
Swift Playgrounds is a revolutionary new app for iPad that makes it fun to learn and experiment with code. You solve interactive puzzles in the guided “Learn to Code” lessons to master the basics of coding, while additional challenges let you explore code and create programs that are engaging and unique.
I’m actually looking forward to playing with this more than I am with iOS 10.
How to unlock the new magnifying glass in your iPhone ∞
Sal Conigliaro:
If you struggle to read small text, iOS 10 has a new feature to help you out. It’s called ‘Magnifier’ and it uses your iPhone’s camera to act as a magnifying glass and makes really small text legible. You can even zoom in using the slider to make the text even BIGGER!
You might be thinking “Why wouldn’t I just use my camera?” This magnifier feature focuses on items closer than the built-in camera app, that’s why!
Those of us with varying degrees of failing eyesight will greatly appreciate the new and improved Magnifier.
Adblock Plus is now going to sell ads ∞
Gizmodo:
Adblock Plus, one of the web’s most popular ad-blocking services, will soon begin selling its own ads—and taking a little bit of the cut as well. Seems counterintuitive, huh?
But it’s not entirely surprising. Adblock Plus has been positioning itself for a long time as a kind of online advertising firm. The company is now just making concrete what was originally read-between-the-lines ambiguous.
This was sadly predictable.
Fender stickers for iMessage ∞
Have fun with your friends and celebrate the awesomeness of some iconic guitars and basses with the Leo Collection. 50 different styles and colors available, rendered in beautiful detail. If you have friends who like music, they’ll love the amazing selection of electrics, acoustics, and basses. A quick tap on the orientation toggle, and you can even swap from right to left-handed models, for all the south paws out there.
Everyone needs some guitar stickers.