The best feature of the new iPhones is something Apple calls Smart HDR, which isn't a terrible marketing name, except for the fact that most people don't understand what dynamic range is and why it matters.
In short, the iPhone XS is the best iPhone by far at approximating what you'd see with your own eyes. And most of the time, isn't the ultimate goal of photography to capture something we've seen and keep it forever?
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The result is staggering. On the iPhone XS, you can shoot directly into the sun and, other than a little lens flare, you will get usable shots. I took my phone on an afternoon walk on a forest trail and was able to shoot items in shadow while all the brightly lit items also remained in view. I was able to shoot into shadow so deep that I couldn't see anything with my own eyes, and the iPhone camera could pick out images.
However, on occasion, users plugging the phone will neither get a charge symbol, nor the noise that the device plays when it begins charging. Some users were able to get the phone to begin to charge by plugging it in, waiting between 10 and 15 seconds, and waking the phone —but not necessarily unlocking it.
"If i haven't interacted with the phone for some time, it becomes unresponsive to a charger being plugged in," said one user. "But if unplug then lift it and start using it, it will recognize the charger."
This looks exactly like what HDR does to some pictures of faces. It’s why I have HDR enabled but set to keep both the HDR and non-HDR versions. Sometimes HDR really helps, and sometimes it produces unnatural, plasticky results like this.
Desktop Stacks, Dark Mode, and new applications (Stocks, News, and Home) are clearly the headline features of Mojave. But there's lots more under the hood if you know where to look.
We've been digging through macOS 10.14 since the first beta dropped in June, and here are 10 features that will will make all the difference in your Mac experience.
But in reality, the message has been delivered. If you've got an iPhone or iPad, you'll see in the iOS Messages app there that it did go through.
When the recipient replies, they don't appear on the macOS Messages app, but they do on the iOS version.
One of the Apple Watch Series 4’s most noteworthy features is one you hope to never use: fall detection. After sensing a person has fallen, the device checks if the person actually fell, if he is OK, and if he needs emergency services. It’s the 21st-century version of Life Alert but built into a popular piece of hardware. It’s a step beyond Apple’s SOS feature, which makes the Watch useful in emergency situations, but fall detection is still limited. Falls are a specific type of event, and the Watch’s detection feature isn’t automatically enabled unless you’re over 65.
The Apple Watch’s use of the technology drew headlines, but other companies have been working on similar ideas. Some are attempting to go far broader and cover an array of situations. While 3 million adults are treated for fall-related injuries each year, more than twice that number are involved in automobile collisions—and that’s not to mention bike accidents and scooter incidents. A smartphone-based alternative with a more comprehensive approach to accident detection is a personal safety app called Noonlight. It aims to account for all these types of crashes and connect you with emergency services whether you’re on foot, two wheels, or four when an accident happens.
If you want the best email app for macOS, and you want more features than Apple Mail, I would have to recommend Spark for Mac. It has a great design, a broad feature set, and a clear business model. If you hate your email, Spark claims you’ll “Love your email again” with their apps. If you already love the Mac version, be sure to check out the iOS app.
My first desk had an inert hand grenade in one corner and a notebook in another.
As a public relations assistant to Kathy Hochul, the Erie County clerk at the time, my job was to make the office (and by extension, Ms. Hochul) look good. The grenade reminded me that it took decisive confidence to do that well. And the notebook contained advice on how to develop that, much of which I’m still learning.
When Ms. Hochul gave me my first real job, she also taught me how to function in an office. She coached me on how to make myself heard in a roomful of older, more experienced professionals. As I leaned over her shoulder, she edited the materials I wrote for her, honing and sharpening my voice. And when I left her congressional campaign before the election to take a job as a newspaper reporter, she championed my decision.
The big challenge Apple faces in its service business is not that it doesn't offer a bundle of them, but that many of the services it does offer don't match up well with those of its rivals.
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Why would someone pay for an inferior service, whether it comes in a bundle or not?
In 2014, in a bid to replace the more than 11,000 aging payphones scattered across New York City’s pedestrian walkways with more functional fixtures, Mayor Bill de Blasio launched a competition — the Reinvent Payphones initiative — calling on private enterprises, residents, and nonprofits to submit designs for replacements.
In the end, LinkNYC — a plan proposed by consortium CityBridge — secured a contract from the city, beating out competing proposals with electricity-generating piezoelectric pressure plates and EV charging stations. The plan was to spend $200 million installing as many as 10,000 kiosks, or Links, that would supply free, encrypted gigabit Wi-Fi to passers-by within 150 feet. They would have buttons that link directly to 911 and New York’s 311 service and free USB charging stations for smartphones, plus wired handsets that would allow free calls to all 50 states and Washington, D.C. And perhaps best of all, they wouldn’t cost the city a dime; advertising would subsidize expansion and ongoing maintenance.
The British telephone box is not dead yet. In parts of central London, a box stands sentinel every 100 feet — and if phone companies got their way, they’d plant one every 50 feet.
But these are not the red cast-iron cubicles that for generations were emblems of Britain. Instead, critics say, they are eyesores, covered in digital ad screens and capable of being turned into surveillance posts.
Worst of all, perhaps, some are being imported from New York.
Today, I've updated my MacBook to Mojave without any problems (so far). I'm happy.
So far, two phones, one tablet, one laptop, and one television have all being updated without problems. I think I can trust Apple and turn on automatic operating-system updates.
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I'm also using the dynamic wallpaper. I wonder how long before I'm sick of this desert, and revert to an all-black wallpaper.
Has anyone reverse-engineered the macOS dynamic wallpaper yet? Or will this feature follow iOS' lead and have no new dynamic wallpapers from now till eternity?
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Many people are having problem pronouncing the new iPhones as ten S, what with that big letter X staring them in the face.
I am having the problem speling Mojave, on the other hand. Kept wanting to spell it as Mohave.
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Thanks for reading.