Here shortly, Apple will officially end support for the original Apple Watch apps, and apps put together with the original watchOS SDK.
Late last night, Apple officially
announced that, beginning June 1, all new applications developed for the
Apple Watch must use the watchOS 2 SDK (or later) to be supported by
the wearable. This is a way to set a minimum standard moving forward for
all apps on the Apple Watch, and, for users of Apple’s most personal
device to date, it should hopefully mean faster apps on the device
across the board. Original Apple Watch apps use the connected iPhone to
handle all of the computational muscle, and then stream those results
over-the-air to the Apple Watch, causing a bit of a delay.
Apple’s announcement includes the addition that all Apple
Watch apps need to be developed with the watchOS 2 SDK or later, which
is fitting considering the company’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) is scheduled to run between June 13 and June 17, where it’s expected they will unveil watchOS 3, which should include plenty of additional improvements.
Are you still using your Apple Watch?
[via Apple]
The second courtroom battle between the U.S. Justice Department and Apple over the unlocking of an iPhone in a New York drug deal case
has ended in the same way as the first one. The government dropped the
case on Friday and said in the courtroom that it managed to unlock the
iPhone “late last night” by the passcode that it had obtained from one
of its sources.
Since the iPhone is now unlocked, the government no
longer needs Apple’s help in this matter and is thereby dropping its
case. For safety reasons, the U.S. law enforcement agency will not be
revealing the name of the source who provided them with the passcode.
“As we have said previously, these cases have never been
about setting a court precedent,” Emily Pierce, a Justice Department
spokeswoman, said in a statement. “In this case, an individual provided
the department with the passcode to the locked phone at issue.”
Apple had last week refused from helping the Justice Department in
unlocking the iPhone in the Brooklyn case. It claimed that the
government had not yet tried all other means of unlocking the iPhone,
and that the government did not provide enough evidence to confirm that
the method used to unlock Farook’s iPhone 5c in the San Bernardino
shooting case did not work on the iPhone in question.
Had the case gone ahead, the Justice Department would have likely
lost since the 50-page ruling by the magistrate judge supports Apple in
the encryption debate.
This is the second time that a showdown between the Apple and the
U.S. government has ended with the latter backing out at the last
moment. If anything, it is leaving a bad impression of the U.S.
government in the public eye.
[Via Bloomberg]
This year, following the launch of the iPhone 6s in 2015, Apple is expected to launch a new iPhone, rumored to be called the “iPhone 7,” and, if history is any indicator, the device should feature a physical redesign and new features.
Unfortunately for those trying to read
the tea leaves months before Apple gets around to announcing their new
flagship smartphone, the expectations are beginning to look a bit dour.
At least that’s how it’s beginning to look to KGI Securities’ analyst
Ming-Chi Kuo. According to a recent research note the analyst has
published, Kuo believes that Apple’s 2016 could be less-than-great, and
it’s possible the Cupertino-based company could ship fewer iPhones this
year than the company did in 2014.
Specifically, in the “worst case scenario,” Apple could
ship “only” 190 million iPhones this year. That would be lower than the
193 million that the company shipped back in 2014. However, in the “best
case scenario,” Apple could ship 205 million iPhones this year.
It’s probably worth noting that other analysts have predicted Apple will ship between 210 and 230 million iPhones this year.
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the research note is that Kuo
believes Apple will not feature “many attractive selling points” in the
iPhone 7. Kuo has echoed that he believes that while Apple will have
some form of a redesign in 2016, it will probably not be a big one. And,
indeed, early renders of the iPhone 7 suggest Apple is simply moving the antenna bands, but keeping the overall design the same.
More to that, Kuo has previously said that he believes Apple will launch an all-glass iPhone, with an AMOLED display, in 2017. That would coincide with another analyst’s claim that Apple has plans to launch an “iPhone 8,” instead of an “iPhone 7s,” in 2017, which will feature wireless charging (something folks are looking for), OLED display, and no physical Home button.
It’s sounding more and more like Apple is holding off on a major
redesign, with plenty of new features, until 2017. Are you okay waiting
another year and a half for a truly redesigned iPhone?
[via 9to5Mac]
Never is a strong word, but apparently not strong enough to actually
ring true when it comes to Kanye West and his newest album, “The Life of
Pablo.”
Back in February, West released his
latest album through the streaming music service, Tidal, of which he’s a
major partner and public-facing figure. While Tidal was able to rocket
up the App Store charts following the album’s release, it looks like
West has “seen the light,” and decided that allowing even more people to
listen to the album, and even buy it, is a good thing.
And sure enough, “The Life of Pablo” is now available
through Apple Music, Spotify, and Google Play Music. What’s more, if you
want to buy it, that’s now a possibility, too. The trick is you’ll have
to head over to West’s official site to do that, because it’s not
available for purchase through iTunes or other digital storefronts just
yet. No, there isn’t any indication that West plans on adding the album
to other storefronts to buy, but considering how this all went down, it
doesn’t seem like it’s an impossibility, either.
The fact that “The Life of Pablo” is now available to buy, and
through Apple Music, means that West completely reversed his position on
this. Back in February, when the album dropped, West tweeted
out that the album would “never never never be on Apple Music,” adding
that it would “never be for sale,” too, just for good measure.
Basically, West was drumming up support for Tidal — at least trying to,
anyway. That started to change when, recently, West released a single track from the album on Apple Music, signaling this eventual outcome. Kanye West’s “The Life of Pablo” on Apple Music
For many Major League Baseball teams, it’s Opening Day, which means
the brand new season is about to get underway. Just in time for the
first pitches, Siri‘s baseball knowledge has expanded in a big way.
As first reported by The Verge,
Apple has officially updated Siri to answer even more of your detailed
baseball-specific questions. That even includes asking the digital
personal assistant queries that date back to the sport’s beginning. Siri
will now offer up answers for career statistics of specific players,
like Babe Ruth, and Siri can now give you feedback on 28 other leagues,
including the Minors, too.
Apple expanded Siri’s functionality with sports scores way back in 2012, with the release of iOS 6.
However, for the true fans of a particular sport, just asking what the
score is probably isn’t enough. Apple giving Siri the ability to pull up
records that go back many, many years is pretty great, and for anyone
caught with a particular baseball trivia question, it sounds like Siri
could come to the rescue.
However, as the original report notes, some of Siri’s responses are
still not as full-fledged as others. For example, asking the digital
personal assistant, “When was the last time the Yankees had a perfect
game?” only brings up a general search query about the team in question,
and not an actual answer. There’s still some work to be done, it seems,
but Apple’s continuously working on improving Siri. In fact, the
digital personal assistant is said to be a major tentpole feature in an upcoming version of OS X.
And this isn’t the first big news for Apple and MLB, as it was reported recently that Apple will supply team managers in their dugouts with iPad Pros.
[via The Verge]
In a new note issued to investors by KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi
Kuo, Apple will keep the dual-lens camera system exclusive to the bigger
5.5-inch iPhone 7 Plus.
Reports about Apple employing a dual-lens camera system on the iPhone
due to be released later this year have been circulating since the last
few months.
With iPhones now trailing Android smartphones in camera
performance, Apple really needs to step up its game in the regard. The
dual-lens camera system might just allow the company to do so, and make
the iPhone a leader in smartphone camera performance once again.
The only difference in terms of camera between the iPhone 6s and
iPhone 6s Plus is the lack of OIS on the former, but the lack of a
dual-lens camera setup on the smaller iPhone 7 might force consumers to
shift to a larger iPhone this year.
Ming-Chi Kuo says in his note that many other Android smartphones
that will be launched before the iPhone 7 Plus this year will also
feature a dual-camera system, though their first impressions might be
underwhelming.
A report from February from this year claimed that Apple had already started receiving dual-lens camera components from its suppliers for testing.
Reports surrounding the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus indicate that both
handsets will sport a waterproof design. To make the handsets even
thinner, Apple will also be ditching the 3.5mm audio jack from them and
instead present Lightning port as a replacement for it.
[Via MacRumors]
The 9.7-inch iPad Pro went on sale in quite a few markets of the world last week, and today, courtesy of iFixit, the
first teardown of the tablet is now live. The teardown reveals quite a
few interesting tidbits about the smaller iPad Pro from Apple.
Just like its elder brother and unlike the iPad Air lineup, the
9.7-inch iPad Pro makes use of EMI shielding to protect the logic board
from any unregulated radio interference. Apple has also used new antenna
interconnect boards to provide further rigidity to the display of the
new iPad Pro.
The iFixit team also notes that majority of the
area inside the 9.7-inch iPad Pro is occupied by its 27.91 Whr battery,
which is just a wee bit larger than the 27.52 Whr battery found inside
the iPad Air. On the 12.9-inch iPad Pro, the four stereo speakers
occupied the most area.
In the end, the iFixit team gives the 9.7-inch iPad Pro a
repairability score of 2 out of 10. This essentially means that carrying
any in-house repair on the tablet is a recipe for disaster. The iFixit team
notes that the fused front panel on the 9.7-inch iPad Pro dramatically
increases the cost of a screen repair, and the chances of damaging the
LCD when opening the tablet. Plus, the copious amount of adhesive used
by Apple to hold everything in place does not help matters either.
[Via iFixit]
HP will announce its next laptop on Tuesday, and the company is
confident that fans will love it. In fact, it thinks it’s so good that
it will replace Apple’s MacBook as “the driver of innovation.”
Speaking to The Wall Street Journal ahead of its event
tomorrow, HP PC chief Ron Coughlin said that “for years, Apple has been
seen as the innovator and the driver of innovation.” But with its new
premium notebook, “HP is really taking over that mantle.”
Given how popular Apple’s laptops are — and the critical
acclaim they get for being the best in the business in almost all areas —
that’s a big promise to make. Not only will HP’s new notebook have to
be prettier than Apple’s, but it will also need stellar battery life and
premium features.
For years, Apple’s machines have been praised for their displays,
keyboards, trackpads, and battery life. They’re also terrific
performers; even the new MacBook with its fanless Intel Core M chip is
capable of fulfilling the needs of most consumers.
HP has been following Apple’s laptops closely for a number of years.
Some of its more recent releases — such as the Elitebook Folio that was
announced at CES back in January — are very close to being straight up
MacBook clones.
HP’s new machine is expected to be even thinner than that Elitebook
Folio, which measures less than half an inch thick, and will cater to
consumers who just want a laptop that’s a laptop — not a laptop/tablet
hybrid like the Microsoft Surface Pro.
We’ll be keeping a close eye on HP’s event on Tuesday, and we’ll let
you know whether we think HP really can take down the MacBook with its
next notebook.
[Wall Street Journal via The Verge]
iPhone SE may look identical to 2013’s iPhone 5s,
but its body has one big improvement. Like Apple’s latest iPhones, the
new 4-inch model is made out of Series 7000 aluminum that should make it
more durable. Does it work? Find out in the gruesome hammer and knife
test below.
Serial smartphone destroyer TechRax wasted no time in subjecting
Apple’s latest iPhone to a series of painful torture tests right after
unboxing it. In the hammer and knife test below, he attempts to find out
how well the Rose Gold model copes with impact and scratches.
TechRax starts by stabbing the device with a knife,
leaving gauges in its aluminum unibody and smashing its sapphire crystal
camera lens. The iPhone SE obviously doesn’t do too well in this test,
but it does surprise us in the hammer test.
It takes dozens of blows and a fair amount of force to shatter the
iPhone SE’s Gorilla Glass display. Being smaller, it’s obviously not as
fragile as larger smartphones, which means you’re less likely to breat
it when you drop it on the ground. It’s clear it’s not too difficult to
damage its pretty Rose Gold finish, though, so we still recommend a
case.
Apple’s bid to increase its success in India by selling used iPhones
hasn’t been well-received by local companies, who are concerned that
the move will increase the amount of electronic waste and jeopardize
their future. Industry executives are now fighting Apple’s plan.
Apple wants permission from the Indian government to import and sell
used phones in the country. If it is granted that permission, it will be
the first company that has been allowed to do business this way in
India. But local mobile companies are hoping Apple won’t get its wish.
“A growing number of industry executives are fighting the
move, warning government officials in private that it’ll open the
floodgates to electronic waste, jeopardize local players, and make a
farce of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Make in India program to
encourage local manufacturing,” reports Bloomberg.
Sudhir Hasija, chairman of Karbonn Mobiles, which sells around 1.7
million phones a month in India, says “Make in India could turn into
Dump in India.”
Apple has become increasingly interested in selling the iPhone in India,
the world’s second-largest mobile population, as growth slows in the
U.S. and China. In fact, India has become a top priority as the
Cupertino company looks to open its first retail stores there.
But locals are fighting to make things harder for Apple and prevent a
potential threat to Indian companies. The Mobile and Communications
Council, the main representative body for India’s electronics industry,
is now opposing Apple’s application to sell used devices.
“Why even consider allowing import of used phones when import of
other used goods such as cars are precluded by 300 percent duty levies?”
asked chariman Ravinder Zutshi.
Apple has already had its application rejected once
— back in 2015. But it is now under review again after the company
resubmitted it with more details on its plans. As things stand, the
application has gone to inter-ministerial discussion.
“That adds a layer of bureaucracy to a process that’s far from certain,” adds Bloomberg. “The
government could go either way, though it’s encountering far greater
local opposition than the first time around. The company declined to
comment.”
One of the biggest concerns is that Apple’s plan will result in a
deluge of used electronics imports, which would go against the prime
minister’s localization drive. It could also have an environmental
impact. “When destroyed, phones product toxic materials that India isn’t
equipped to deal with.”
Apple already sells new iPhones in India through
third-party retail partners, and although they’ve been doing okay, the
company’s high price tags mean that it’s difficult to make a real
footprint. Apple currently holds less than 2 percent of Indian
smartphone market share.
Selling used devices could allow Apple to better compete with more
affordable smartphones. Four-fifths of those sold in India cost less
then $150 each, but despite that, Apple CEO Tim Cook still sees India as
an “incredibly exciting” prospect.
[Bloomberg]
Like it happens with every new iPhone release, the iPhone SE
has also been subjected to a waterproof test. Yes, Apple does not
mention anywhere that the iPhone SE is a waterproof or a water-resistant
phone, but that did not stop YouTuber Zach Straley from conducting a
waterproof test.
For comparison, Zach also conducted the same test on the iPhone 5s and the iPhone 6s
alongside the iPhone SE just to show how much waterproof Apple’s latest
4-inch iPhone is compared to its predecessor and Apple’s flagship
4.7-inch iPhone.
All the three phones were submerged in three different boxes filled
with water and their timer was switched on to time the whole process.
The iPhone 5s was the first iPhone to actually exhibit water damage
around the 5 mins mark, but the iPhone 6s and iPhone SE continued to
work fine even after being submerged in water for more than 15 mins.
Interestingly, the iPhone 6s and iPhone SE continued to work fine
even after being submerged in water for an hour. The speaker on the
iPhone SE did sound a bit muffled, but that was likely due to some water
being present inside it, which should eventually automatically drain.
Now, the video above does not prove in anyway that the iPhone SE or
the iPhone 6s are waterproof or water-resistant, so don’t go about
dunking your new 4-inch iPhone in water. It should, however, give you
some peace of mind to know that next time you accidentally spill some
liquid on your iPhone SE, the phone should emerge unscathed from the
accident.
And it’s just as good on the Baby Pro as it is on the bigger iPad
Pro. And thanks to the Baby Pro’s smaller form factor, you’ll be able to
sketch comfortably even when there’s not enough space around.
12. USB 2.0 Transfer Speeds
At the event, Apple made a big deal about the Lightening to USB Camera Adaptor
that lets users both charge the iPad and use a USB accessory at the
same time. It’s a great accessory for photographers who want to use the
iPad to edit photos and videos.
The only problem is that the new, 9.7 inch iPad will transfer files
at USB 2.0 speeds while the faster 3.0 speeds are reserved only for the
bigger 12.9 inch iPad.
But first, Do You Need An iPad Pro?
This article is quickly turning into a comparison between the Baby
Pro and it’s big brother. So before going any further, let’s take a step
back and decide, do you even need an iPad Pro? And if you do, what role
will it fulfill?
First, if you’re looking at the iPad Pro as a replacement for your
Mac, you’re mostly going to be disappointed. Not because it’s impossible
to get work done on the iPad (far from it), but because iOS just
doesn’t allow for the same flexibility as OS X. There’s no file system.
So you’ll have to fake one by using Dropbox or iCloud Drive. This also
makes transferring files between apps harder and computers. And
depending on what your work is, you just can’t get some dedicated Mac
and Windows apps on the iPad.
I for example, can’t get Sketch or Adobe’s upcoming XD app
on the iPad Pro. While I’d love to switch to the iPad Pro as my primary
computer (the Pencil for designing is really tempting), I just can’t,
because the software isn’t there.
But that doesn’t rule out everyone. If you’re lucky enough that your
work life depends on generic, barebone apps, you can certainly pull off
the iPad Pro lifestyle. If all you’re going to be doing is answering
email, doing research, writing, managing Excel spreadsheets or even some
light video editing and some niche professional drawing/illustration
work, the iPad Pro might be for you.
And its simplicities, in both the software and the hardware will free
your mind and help you focus on more important things – like working.
So Which iPad Pro Is For You?
Now that you’ve read the above features and you know the differences
between the 12.9 inch iPad Pro and the 9.7 inch version, you might be
wondering, should you go with the smaller one? And looking at the
features alone, it’s not an easy choice. So let’s look at it from the
use case perspective.
If you’re going to be using the iPad Pro as a laptop replacement –
your primary computer – I think you should go for the bigger iPad Pro.
The extra screen real estate is great for multi-tasking, the extra
performance will come in really handy as well.
If you’re going to use the iPad Pro more as a tablet, then you should
opt for the smaller iPad Pro compared to the 12.9-inch iPad Pro, it is
not only more portable, it is significantly lighter (437 grams vs 713
grams 12.9-inch iPad Pro) which will make it a lot easier to hold for a
long time.
Instead, if you’re not sure if the iPad Pro is going to be your only
companion, and you just want to test the waters. Maybe try and shift
some of the work to the iPad, bit by bit, the Baby Pro is the best way
to do it. Pick the base model, the Pencil and Smart Keyboard if you can,
and give it a shot.
Twitch is a well known live streaming video platform that allows
anyone to set up their own channel and start streaming a game they are
playing. If you use the Twitch iOS app regularly to watch live streams,
you might have encountered some aspects of the app that annoy you. Twitch++ is a newly released jailbreak tweak
that enhances the Twitch app by bringing a range of new features and
getting rid of some limitations. With this tweak, you have the freedom
to play and pause a live stream whenever you want, watch multiple video
streams at once, get rid of all video ads as well as view the chat
window even when in landscape mode.
To get started, you’ll first have to download the tweak from Cydia. It can be found in the following repo: http://beta.unlimapps.com/. After you’ve added the new source, search for Twitch++ package and install it on your iPhone.
Once done, you can launch the Twitch app and start enjoying the new
features that the tweak provides. It also provides a settings pane which
can be accessed from within the Twitch app. Open the sidebar and tap on
the settings gear icon located in the top left corner. This opens the
tweak’s preferences pane where you can enable or disable the features
that it provides.
When watching a live stream, you’ll notice that there’s a new pause
button in the bottom left corner of the video that allows you to
play/pause the live stream whenever you want. You can also view live
streams in landscape mode while having a view of the chat window.
To watch multiple live streams at once, you’ll first have to open a
live stream. You can then tap on the button shown in the screenshot
below.
This causes the video to be detached into a separate floating window
which can be moved around freely. You can then switch to a different
live stream and detach that one as well using the same method.
Twitch++ is a solid tweak for adding new features to the official
Twitch app that you’ll find useful. If you’re interested to give it a
try, it is available as a free package on UnlimApps repo. Make sure to
let us know what you think about it in the comments section.
Leading into the weekend, some iCloud users are experiencing some downtime in services attached to Apple’s cloud platform.
Some users have begun voicing their dissatisfaction with the downtime on Twitter
and other areas, but, as it stands right now, Apple has not yet updated
its system status page to reflect any type of outage in any of its
services. For those affected, it seems to branch out into iMessage, as
well as those that use iCloud email as well.
It’s worth noting that the developer behind Fantastical, the popular
calendar app, Flexibits, tweeted out not too long ago that they’re aware
of the outage, warning users that they might see a “status code 400” as
a result.
Are you experiencing any kind of downtime?
[via 9to5Mac; Apple]
Speaking to Texas Tribune editor Evan Smith at SXSW,
President Obama said that smartphones cannot be allowed to be “black
boxes” that are not accessible by the government. He said that tech
companies should work with the government to solve such issues, instead
of leaving the matter for Congress to solve.
Obama further said that one cannot take an “absolutist
view” on this issue, and that having strong encryption on your phone “no
matter what” does not “strike the kind of balance we have lived with
for 200,300 years.” After all, there are many places where American
citizens have created a balance by trading their privacy for better
security, like by allowing law agencies to use of warrants to search
homes etc.
“The question we now have to ask is, if technologically
it is possible to make an impenetrable device or system, where the
encryption is so strong there’s no key, there’s no door at all, then how
do we apprehend the child pornographer? How do we solve or disrupt a
terrorist plot?” Obama said. “If in fact you can’t crack that at all,
government can’t get in, then everybody’s walking around with a Swiss
bank account in their pocket.”
President Obama also said that leaving this matter with Congress and
other lawmakers will not be the right thing to do, as the end result
would be “sloppy and rushed and it will go through Congress in ways that
have not been thought through.”
The president further adds that a compromise between Apple and the
government is definitely possible, and the two just need to figure out a
way to make sure that the encryption and the key to unlock it remains
as strong as possible, with access to the latter being given to a very
few number of people.
Apple has received a lot of flak from government agencies for not
following the court order and its fight against the FBI. The Department
of Justice even accused Apple of being “false” and “corrosive” in its motion.
[Via Bloomberg]
The battle between Samsung and Apple continues, as the former of the two levies its one last attempt to avoid paying out any damages.
According to a report published by Re/code,
Samsung has appealed to the Supreme Court in the United States to take
on the patent case it has been locked in with Apple for quite a stretch
of time now. In the appeal, Samsung states that there’s an overarching
problem with patent cases in general, especially when it comes to
information provided to jurors, and that in its specific case, not
enough information was provided to the jury for them to make an educated
determination — because they couldn’t understand the patents.
“Samsung is escalating this case because it believes that
the way the laws were interpreted is not in line with modern times,” it
said in a statement. “If the current legal precedent stands, it could
diminish innovation, stifle competition, pave the way for design patent
troll litigation and negatively impact the economy and consumers.”
It’s an interesting step, but not all that surprising. Samsung, for its part, is simply making an attempt to get the money back it has already agreed to pay Apple
in the beginning of December, which should be delivered to Apple at
some point today, December 14. If the Supreme Court does grant Samsung’s
appeal, and the decision goes in Samsung’s favor, then Apple would need
to repay that $548 million back to Samsung.
So while it looked like it all might be coming to an end earlier this month, the case continues to rage on.
[via Re/code]
At its Nexus launch event in late September, Google announced that it would be bringing ‘Shared Albums’ feature to Google Photos
later this year. True to its words and just before the holiday season,
the company has started rolling out the feature to iOS, Android and web
version of Google Photos.
The steps are pretty simple. You create a shared album, send the link
to your friends and loved ones, they join the album and then they can
start adding their own photos to it. Once new photos are added in an
album, other people who have joined that album will automatically
receive a notification about it.
Photos added by someone else in a shared album can also be added to your own Google Photos library.
Shared albums start rolling out on Android, iOS and the web for all Google Photos users starting from today.
[Via Google]
The iPad is a powerful tool, especially when it comes to education,
and a new proposal in the United Kingdom suggests prisoners should be
taking advantage of the mobile devices.
According to a report published by The Telegraph,
an adviser to the Ministry of Justice in the United Kingdom has made it
clear that iPads should be a tool used in the prison system to help
those detained with literacy and numeracy. On top of that, the prisoners
should be able to keep in touch with their families from within their
cells, utilizing things like FaceTime or Skype to “video chat their
families.”
According to the former head of the prison service,
having iPads in cells could make the time that prisoners spend within
them more constructive:
“Prisoners spend a lot of time in cells, and we need to
make that time more constructive. They should be meeting a tutor once a
week, but doing work on literacy and numeracy on their own. We could
look at giving prisoners iPads to work on in their cells.”
At the same time, Dame Sally Coates, a former headteacher in the
area, is also conducting a review of education within the UK prison
system, and is also considering the proposal. Coates says that if a
prisoner doesn’t have the necessary skills to get a job after a stint in
prison, then they are more likely to reoffend.
At the time of publication, Justice Minister Michael Gove is looking over the proposals, but a decision has not been made yet.
[via Gizmodo UK; The Telegraph]
As Apple’s A-branded processors continue to get attention as
high-powered chipsets in mobile products, another chip could be getting
some of the limelight soon.
According to a new rumor, Apple has
reportedly been working on its own in-house graphics chip for quite some
time. Many years, in fact, and is still hard at work on developing its
own GPU for its mobile devices. The report indicates that Apple has
already been working on the GPU for several years now, but there’s no
clear indication when, or even if, a finalized product ready for
installation in iPhones and iPads will see the light of day anytime
soon.
As it stands now, Apple utilizes a variety of PowerVR
graphics chips that are designed by Imagination Technologies. If Apple
can get its own in-house GPU off the ground and in its devices, it would
mean Apple would not have to rely on IT from that point forward.
The report indicates that this new GPU will probably not be ready by the unveiling of the iPhone 7 in 2016.
[via GforGames; Fudzilla]
GoPro is one of the go-to brands when it comes to recording just
about anything, especially when it comes to outdoor activities, like
skateboarding. And now it’s getting even better.
Recently, GoPro updated its mobile app
to support the Apple Watch, and bring with it some interesting use case
features to the wearable, making it even easier to get that perfect shot
without having to rely on your iPhone. GoPro officially showed off the
new features in a video starring Mikey Taylor, a pro skateboarder, which
you can watch below.
With the Apple Watch app, you’ll be able to Start/Stop
recording, add “HiLighted” moments to your recorded clips, and even
review clips. Users will also be able to preview an active camera angle,
making it possible to double check an upcoming recording session’s
angle before it kicks off right from your wrist.
The iOS app has also been updated to make it easier to pull still
images from a recording, and even better filtering options as well.
