For Dillon, and other educators like him, it's not just the new iPads themselves that have him intrigued. It's also the seemingly little things, like the ability for a school to set up hundreds of Apple ID accounts in less than a minute. Or for students to quickly log in to shared iPads by tapping a picture of their face and entering a passcode. Or for teachers to control all devices in the class at one time, automatically opening them to the same lesson and locking them so students can't turn on sounds or use apps they shouldn't be using. The teachers can easily monitor the progress of students and see if some kids are falling behind.
Apple is "going in the right direction," Dillon says in between creating soundtracks with GarageBand and coding with Swift Playgrounds. "They're listening to us and taking action."
Matt Wdowiarz, a fifth grade teacher in Winfield, Illinois says an iPad helps him save time from grading, returning papers, and printing papers. Still, the school uses Google Classroom as a management software and iPads for hardware. When Winfield Central School, where Wdowiarz teaches, started using iPads, it enabled him to quickly show his students excerpts from a British history textbook while teaching the American Revolution.
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iPads have also been useful for special education teachers working with children who might need more accommodation. Lauren Holloway, a special education preschool teacher at Booth Elementary in Elmira, NY says, “The iPad is portable, durable, and conducive to activities where just a pointer finger is used.” She adds that, “The inherent interactive features of an iPad are far more likely to engage both students who have an aversion to more traditional teaching methods, and those with attentional difficulties.” The backlit screen also allows visually impaired students to better see classroom materials.
Yes, there are little compromises here and there: The screen isn’t as nice as that of the iPad Pro, the speakers aren’t as loud, and you’ll have to settle for a Bluetooth keyboard if you’re planning to get any work done. But for all of the most common reasons you may want an iPad, Apple’s new model checks all the right boxes.
Put simply, I barely notice any difference between the two while using most Pencil-compatible apps. If anything, the Apple Pencil feels as though it delivers slightly smoother performance in the Notes Plus app on the new 9.7-inch iPad compared to the older Pro. (I also put a brand-new nib on my older Apple Pencil for a more even comparison.)
In apps such as Notability, Apple’s Notes, and Procreate, though, the writing experience feels remarkably similar. I’d even go so far as to say that there’s no difference at all, but I’ll wait until I’ve conducted more “scientific” tests for the full review before making that kind of judgment.
It seems Apple has dialled back the bass somewhat during music playback, while mid-range sound is more prominent. Some users aren’t pleased, saying it sounds dull, while others seem to think bass is more nuanced as a result of the update.
Want to see the results of you last Vitamin D test? Show the date of your last tetanus vaccine to someone in the ER? If your doctor is aligned to one of 39 hospitals in the U.S. including Cedars-Sinai, Johns Hopkins Medicine and Vanderbilt University Medical Center, you'll be able to open up the Health app on your iPhone, click Health Records and see that information right there.
NumPad essentially turns your iOS device into a virtual numeric keypad for your computer. This is especially useful for Mac users, who usually don't have a numeric keypad built into their keyboards. [...]
TouchPad, on the other hand, is an entire virtual keyboard and trackpad in one easy-to-use interface. It even features navigation keys and built-in media remote, so it's not only perfect for casual control of your computer, but also for presentations and movie nights.
Starting today, Apple will supply tools to developers to allow users to both export and then delete user data stored in iCloud. This will be done by new native App and Web APIs.
Apple will also be giving developers tools to restrict data. This means that when a user temporarily disables their Apple ID, no new data can be sent to iCloud, and the user’s account will be locked.
”We want to move from people needing Windows to choosing Windows, to loving Windows. That is our bold goal,” said Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella three years ago. At the time, Microsoft was unveiling more details about Windows 10, and surprising people with technologies like the HoloLens headset. It was an exciting time of opportunity and optimism that had Microsoft betting on people loving Windows so much that Windows 10 would be running on 1 billion devices within three years. Neither wager worked out — which is fine, because Windows as we know it is no longer critical to Microsoft’s future success.
Microsoft announced a new reorganization yesterday. It’s the fourth major shuffle inside the company over the past five years, and the most significant of Nadella’s tenure. Microsoft is splitting Windows across the company, into different parts. Terry Myerson, a 21-year Microsoft veteran, is leaving the company and his role as Windows chief. The core development of Windows is being moved to a cloud and AI team, and a new team will take over the “experiences” Windows 10 users see like apps, the Start menu, and new features. There’s a lot of shuffling going on, but Nadella’s 1,300 word memo leaves little doubt over the company’s true future: cloud and AI.