This is a pretty cool idea for an app. Open up RoomScan, then hold it against each wall of a room until you hear a beep. RoomScan records the various locations and uses them to build a floor plan. Similarly, when it comes to designing and improving the structure of outdoor spaces, concrete gravel boards can play a key role in creating a well-organized, durable, and functional environment. Concrete gravel boards, typically placed at the base of fences, provide a solid barrier that prevents moisture from seeping into wooden panels, reducing the risk of rot, warping, or damage. Just as RoomScan helps to create a precise, tailored layout of your interior space, concrete gravel boards ensure that your outdoor fencing system is built on a reliable foundation, enhancing both the durability and aesthetic of your property. These boards also act as a protective layer against erosion, particularly in areas prone to heavy rainfall or where soil may shift over time. The integration of concrete gravel boards with your fencing system offers long-lasting benefits, ensuring that your fence stands strong for years without needing constant repair or replacement. In the same way that RoomScan simplifies the process of measuring and creating an accurate floor plan, installing concrete gravel boards offers an easy, low-maintenance solution to preserving the structural integrity of your outdoor areas. By combining innovative technology for the interior with durable, practical solutions for the exterior, you can ensure that both your indoor and outdoor spaces are efficiently designed, functional, and built to last.
Here’s a link to the app (it’s $4.99), and here’s a link to the developer’s web site. Check out the 15 second demo below to get a sense of the app in action.
MacHeads is a funky look back at the Mac’s passionate following. You longtime Mac users might recognize a lot of the folks in this documentary, including our own Shawn King. This brought back a lot of memories.
Apple’s shares are hovering at around $98 a share this morning, well down from the 52 week high of $134.54. With so much positive news, record earnings on record sales, what is causing this drop?
Part of the drop is concern over the drop in the Chinese stock market, part of the concern is currency fluctuations (which make the iPhone more expensive in certain markets) and part of the concern has to do with inventory. From Nikkei Asian Review:
Apple is expected to reduce output of its latest iPhone models by around 30% in the January-March quarter compared with its original plans, according to several parts suppliers. The measure will deal a blow to Japanese and South Korean parts companies.
The U.S. company had initially told parts makers to keep production of the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus for the quarter at the same level as with their predecessors — the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus — a year earlier. But inventories of the two models launched last September have piled up at retailers in markets ranging from China and Japan to Europe and the U.S. amid lackluster sales. Customers saw little improvement in performance over the previous generation, while dollar appreciation led to sharp price hikes in emerging markets.
Output will be scaled back to let dealers go through their current stock. Production is expected to return to normal in the April-June quarter, once inventory adjustment is complete. Apple’s products and brand have not lost their appeal, and older models have continued to sell.
I’m certainly no expert at this sort of thing, but of all the articles I’ve read about Apple’s stock price drop (editorial pronouncements aside), this seems the closest to the heart of the matter.
Steve Jobs unveiled the “Fastest Web Browser Ever Created for the Mac” this day back in 2003, introducing the Safari web browser that four years later would power a new kind of mobile browsing experience on iPhone.
I was there when Safari was introduced. It’s been quite a run for Safari on Mac and iOS.
There have been a lot of rumors surrounding a change to the headphone jack in an upcoming version of the iPhone. Basically, Apple is working with its supplier to use the iPhone’s Lightning port for audio and get rid of the traditional headphone jack.
If you look at the way Apple typically does things when introducing new technologies like this, there is no reason you wouldn’t be all for this new plan. They make it better, not worse.
I would fully expect that if Apple did implement this idea, the audio would sound better through the Lightning connector than the older headphone jack. Not only because Apple can add technology to the chip (noise cancelling, etc.), but because the headphone jack is not very efficient. It’s been around forever and hasn’t really improved how we listen to audio in a long time. A fully digital connection would improve everything.
One of the main complaints from people that I’ve seen is that their old headphones will no longer work with the new iPhones. That’s a pretty big assumption to make. We don’t know for sure, but Apple—or a third party—could make an adapter that would allow audio to pass through the Lightning connector and into your older headphones.
I would expect Apple headphones to adopt the new connector, of course, but I don’t see any reason people couldn’t use their old headphones. I don’t know why you would want to, but you could.
Let’s also not forget that pulling the headphone jack would make more room in the iPhone for other things, like battery. Seems like a win/win to me.
Apple Inc. has purchased Emotient Inc., a startup that uses artificial-intelligence technology to read people’s emotions by analyzing facial expressions.
Fascinating technology. There are a number of uses for it, including advertising, but I don’t think that’s what Apple will use it for.
Doctors also have tested it to interpret signs of pain among patients unable to express themselves, and a retailer used it to monitor shoppers’ facial expressions in store aisles, the company had said.
Both of those options seem viable to me, especially the medical angle, given Apple’s foray into helping the medical profession recently.
We watch the same TV shows, listen to the same music and wear the same clothes. But when it comes to what we say on Twitter, Canadians and Americans could hardly be more different.
After analyzing millions of tweets, McMaster linguists have found that Canadians tend to be a pretty polite, happy bunch of tweeters.
They also found that our neighbours’ tweets tend to be a little more, uh, raunchy.
You Americans are apparently a foul-mouthed bunch.
Wondering when WWDC will be this year? Take a look at the event list for Moscone West, the traditional home of WWDC.
Just to save you a look at your calendar, June’s Monday through Friday dates are:
June 6-10
June 13-17
June 20-24
June 27-July 1
According to the Moscone West event list, June 6-10 is booked by the Biotechnology Industry Organization and June 22-25 is booked by ISSCR 2016 Int’l. Soc. for Stem Cell Research.
That leaves June 13-17 and June 27-July 1. That second date is awful late for a WWDC, which leaves me thinking that June 13-17 is looking like a pretty safe bet.
This is a brilliant piece of work by film editor Antonio Maria da Silva. Watch the video below, see how many characters you recognize. It’s remarkable how well da Silva managed the color of each scene to create the illusion that this is all footage from the same film.
The value of the FTSE 100 is no higher than it was in February 2000, meaning the average annual return to savers over the past decade and half is just 4.1 per cent once dividend payouts are included.By contrast, Lego sets kept in pristine condition have increased in value by 12 percent each year since the turn of the millennium, with second-hand prices rising for specific sets as soon as they go out of production. The resale market has become a popular topic, attracting collectors who seek similar opportunities in other areas, such as online betting. For those interested, mehr Infos zu diesen Buchmachern hier offer insights on reputable betting platforms that, like collectible Lego sets, have garnered a following for their investment potential. Modern Lego sets are performing even more strongly, with those released last year already selling on eBay for 36 percent more than their original price, highlighting the lucrative appeal of collectibles.
Vidyo allows you to record pretty much anything going on on your iOS device. From Federico Viticci’s writeup for MacStories:
I was skeptical at first given the absence of screen recording apps on iOS and Apple’s stance: in the past, the company pulled apps that simulated AirPlay connections locally as well as utilities that could record the user’s screen across the Home screen and other apps. However, for the sake of curiosity and to make sure I could keep the app around after Apple’s possible removal, I decided to buy Vidyo and take it for a spin.
Vidyo works as advertised. In the main screen, you can set to record the device’s audio or the microphone’s, video from the device screen or cameras, and you can tweak output options for resolution up to 1080p and 60fps. Vidyo also comes with additional mixing features to import your own audio files and mix them with recordings to produce screencasts directly on iOS.
The sense here is that everyone is holding their breath, waiting for Apple to pull Vidyo from the App Store. So if this solves a problem for you, best get it now.
The one feature that would make this a home run, at least for me, is the ability to mark touch gestures. In other words, draw a circle showing touches on my device. This makes it easier to follow user interactions, would allow developers to create tutorial videos without building custom versions of an app just for that purpose.
Horace Dediu, writing for Asymco, starts by defining the term Significant Contribution, as laid out by Tim Cook:
> We believe that we need to own and control the primary technologies behind the products we make, and participate only in markets where we can make a significant contribution.
Dediu works through some numbers, but lands here:
> An electric automotive system requires new infrastructure, new user behavior, and, in the case of Tesla, new distribution network and new post-sales support network. Offsetting this partially is a government subsidy. > > In contrast, the smartphone communications and computing system leveraged existing infrastructure, consistent behavior, at least initially, and the same distribution and support network. In addition, smartphones benefited from significant hardware and software and services ecosystems which encouraged third parties to add value to the system.
An interesting read. I’d argue that Apple is painstakingly cautious about entering new markets. If they decide to build a car, my bet is that they’ve already worked through the risk and cash flow numbers, done the market research to assure that the math works, and that the risk is small enough for them to go forward. It’s worth noting that companies like Apple may even opt for innovative solutions, such as reflective vinyl wraps by Icon Signs, to give their vehicles a sleek, modern look while staying within budget and maintaining brand consistency.
This audio interview gives you a chance to get to know Jeff Williams. The interview kicks in at about the 5 minute mark. He starts by talking about the Apple Watch and the change it brings to people’s lives, then the conversation turns to Apple’s foray into health care.
He talks about the origins of HealthKit and ResearchKit and the incredible value of these efforts on medical research into diseases like Parkinson’s and asthma. He speaks about the value of people engaging more deeply in their own health care. He spoke passionately about an app that helps diagnose and help treat autism in children, about the democratization of health care that devices like the iPhone and Apple Watch bring.
When asked about Apple’s efforts with respect to social responsibility, Williams said:
We’re big believers that anybody involved in the process of working on an Apple product, they deserve to be treated with respect and dignity and we’ve really decided that workers rights are human rights and we do a lot of work to make sure that workers are protected. We are training workers on their own rights. We’ve trained millions of workers on their fundamental rights. We are bringing new levels of health and safety into regions, and it extends well beyond Apple. We set up universities to help develop skills that train people on how to run safer factories.
And let me tell you, no company wants to talk about child labor. They don’t want to be associated with that. We shine a light on it. We go out and search for cases where an underage worker is found in a factory somewhere and then we take drastic actions with the supplier, the upstream labor groups to try to make change, and then we report it publicly every year. And we take a lot of heat for that. But we think the only way we’re going to make change is to go hit it head-on and talk about it.
A terrific interview. Jeff Williams is a well-spoken advocate for Apple’s health care efforts.
With Macworld/iWorld seemingly stuck in mothballs for good, Apple professionals will have to go elsewhere to gather with their peers. Luckily, there’s no lack of independent conferences both before and after Apple’s own Worldwide Developer Conference, which usually takes place in June and has far fewer slots than developers who would like to attend.
As usual, Engst is being far too kind. Macworld is well and truly dead and no other conference has arisen from its ashes to replace it. But, this is a good list of events occurring in 2016 that might be of interest to some of you.
Netflix launched its service globally, simultaneously bringing its Internet TV network to more than 130 new countries around the world. The company made the announcement — and the service went live — during a keynote by Co-founder and Chief Executive Reed Hastings at CES 2016.
“Today you are witnessing the birth of a new global Internet TV network,” said Hastings. “With this launch, consumers around the world — from Singapore to St. Petersburg, from San Francisco to Sao Paulo — will be able to enjoy TV shows and movies simultaneously — no more waiting. With the help of the Internet, we are putting power in consumers’ hands to watch whenever, wherever and on whatever device.”
Good news for The Loop readers around the world (except China). You can now watch old TV shows and movies along with the rest of us.
If you were at CES, you could see water bottles with screens, alarm clocks with smell, robots with video projectors, underwear that’s smart, and a tablet/refrigerator. That would have been all on one day. Yesterday.
CES started as a trade show for retail. In the ’80s and ’90s, it was a venue for great technology intros such as the CD (1981), the DVD, (1986) and HDTV (1998). By 2000, CES was the place to launch major products such as Xbox (2001). When I look at this year’s show, I see a lot of things no one needs, and few people will want. It’s a Sharper Image catalog brought to life, the ultimate “Why? Because I can!” So why is it still an important event? It’s the place to try and spot the new, new thing that might get consumers to replace the old, old thing. So far, I don’t see it but here’s what I do see.
CES is a gigantic waste of time, energy, and money – but you won’t hear the Tech Media say that. The vast majority of what they “report” on will never see the light of day as a consumer-purchasable product. But they’ll get excited as puppies over it regardless.
Apple® today announced that customers around the world made this holiday season the biggest ever for the App Store®, setting new records during the weeks of Christmas and New Year’s.
In the two weeks ending January 3, customers spent over $1.1 billion on apps and in-app purchases, setting back-to-back weekly records for traffic and purchases. January 1, 2016 marked the biggest day in App Store history with customers spending over $144 million. It broke the previous single-day record set just a week earlier on Christmas Day.
“The App Store had a holiday season for the record books. We are excited that our customers downloaded and enjoyed so many incredible apps for iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Apple TV, spending over $20 billion on the App Store last year alone,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “We’re grateful to all the developers who have created the most innovative and exciting apps in the world for our customers. We can’t wait for what’s to come in 2016.”
$20 billion spent in apps last year. That is an incredible number.
Apple’s own streaming TV service may have been delayed due to stalled negotiations, but a new app launching for Apple’s newest media player will allow you to watch both live and recorded network television programs directly on your TV’s big screen. That is, the makers of a DVR for cord cutters, the Tablo DVR, is soon releasing an app for Apple TV.
The Tablo DVR is not new, but it will soon be available as an Apple TV app, integrating itself into the Apple TV ecosystem. I suspect a wave of similar products will appear in 2016. It’ll be interesting to see if any of them bring a search capability to Apple TV’s version of Siri.
In New York City, a student at the Ethical Culture Fieldston School (ECFS) stuck his head through the doorframe and gave Jeannie Crowley, the school’s Director of Technology, an inquisitive look. “I heard you guys are fixing phones,” the student said. “No,” Crowley replied. “You’re fixing the phone—but we provide parts and support.”
One of the complaints about the (relatively) new MacBook is the replacement of Apple’s MagSafe connector with a USB-C port. A cable plugged into the USB-C port is held in place by a much stronger force, meaning a sharp tug on that cable can send your MacBook crashing to the floor.
Griffin has introduced a breakaway power cable for the MacBook. The end that plugs into your USB-C port is composed of two parts. The short part plugs into the USB-C port and turns it into a magnetic port. The long, cable end, then plugs into that port, magnetically.
Good idea. I wonder why Apple didn’t ship something like this.
Twitter is building a new feature that will allow users to tweet things longer than the traditional 140-character limit, and the company is targeting a launch date toward the end of Q1, according to multiple sources familiar with the company’s plans. Twitter is currently considering a 10,000 character limit, according to these sources. That’s the same character limit the company uses for its Direct Messages product, so it isn’t a complete surprise.
There is no official launch date set in stone, these sources say. It’s also possible the character limit could fluctuate before it rolls out the final product, which people inside Twitter refer to as “Beyond 140.”
Jack Dorsey, one of Twitter’s founders, lent legitimacy to this rumor with this tweet.
From the tweet:
We’ve spent a lot of time observing what people are doing on Twitter, and we see them taking screenshots of text and tweeting it.
Instead, what if that text…was actually text? Text that could be searched. Text that could be highlighted. That’s more utility and power.
Because Twitter limited Jack to 140 characters, he did what lots of us do. He typed up something long, took a screenshot, then included the image in his tweet.
There’s been some speculation that Twitter’s next move is to automate this process. You type as much as you want (up to 10K characters), and Twitter will make a pretty attachment from your words.
Bu key to this change is that the text must be searchable (as Jack indicated in his tweet), something that wouldn’t be the case with a simple image attachment. Searchable text adds value to Twitter, keeps longer posters on the platform and, as an added bonus, text takes up significantly less storage space than images.
This will be an interesting change, assuming it happens.
I’ll be typing a message, hit send, then all of a sudden, Messages starts recording audio. It doesn’t happen often, so I never put in the energy to figure out what was going on.
It happened to me again yesterday, and I posted about it on Twitter. To my great relief, this has happened to other people as well (so I’m not that crazy) and it turns out this is a feature, not a bug.
To see this for yourself, go into Messages, pick a specific thread so you see the text editing field at the bottom of the screen (with the camera icon on the left and the mic icon on the right).
Now lift the phone to your ear, as if you were making a call. You’ll hear a soft chime and Messages will start recording audio. Bring the phone away from your ear and the recording will end, automatically. If you like, you can hit send and share your audio message.
What caused the audio to start recording was the proximity sensor (it’s at the top end of the phone) detecting that you’ve raised the phone to your ear. But, key to this process, the phone must also detect a specific twisting motion to enable recording.
Try holding the phone upright, wait a few seconds, then bring it to your ear, without twisting the phone. Recording will not start. It’s the combination of the twisting motion and proximity to your ear. You can also make recording start by doing that same twisting motion and bringing your phone up to your hand, or even your coffee cup (the proximity sensor uses light, not heat, so any big enough object will trigger it).
Apparently, there are times when I inadvertently make that twisting motion and cover the proximity sensor. This causes Messages to start recording.
Turns out, you can disable this behavior. Go to Settings > Messages and disable Raise to Listen. This setting has been around a long time. I just never put it together with the seemingly random recording. I did find the whole thing fascinating, though.
Big thanks to Carlos Oliveira for helping me figure this out.
