Apple says the H1 chip in the new AirPods makes switching between the iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad, or Mac up to two times faster, and enables up to a 1.5x faster connection time for phone calls and up to 30 percent lower gaming latency.
Hands-free Siri allows AirPods users to say "Hey Siri" to change songs, make phone calls, adjust the volume, get directions, and more.
Hidden in the specifications for Apple's new AirPods is the fact they require macOS 10.14.4, iOS 12.2, or watchOS 5.2 — updates that are still in beta, therefore signaling their imminent public launch.
In Silicone cases for iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max you can now choose from Spearmint, Papaya, and Delft Blue. The iPhone XS Smart Battery Case is now available in a Pink Sand color option, after first launching in just White and Black.
Kaspersky argues that Apple uses its “position as platform owner and supervisor” of the App Store to prevent other developers from operating on equal terms as itself. Specifically, Kaspersky’s argument relates to iOS 12’s Screen Time feature.
[...]
The firm also doesn’t think it was merely a coincidence that Apple cracked down on the Safe Kids app shortly after it introduced Screen Time as a first-party way to monitor app usage.
“That’s not to say we would never do sports, because who the heck knows,” he said. “Never is a long time, but I don’t think that’s a problem right now.” Sports rights are deeply fragmented, with different owners split by platform and region. “You really can’t own all the rights, so therefore at some point you need to solve some other problems,” Cue said. “You can’t design for owning the rights because if that’s the only thing you’re doing you’re always going to be tiny.” And these days, Apple rarely does tiny.
[...]
In a world of infinite supply, Cue wants to be the middleman, letting fans know what’s worth watching and offering one-click access to action rather than worsening the fragmentation. For Apple, there are financial benefits there. The company takes a cut of sports subscription services purchased on iOS and, on a high-level, can leverage its exclusive software into hardware profits.
So what’s already bringing in all that services revenue, and how healthy are those businesses? Apple doesn’t break down how much money individual services make, so there’s a large extent to which we just can’t say. But we do know what businesses the segment is composed of, how much they charge, and whether they’re any good. With the services business entering a new era, here’s an overview of where it stands today.
Apple lowered the prices of building high-capacity SSDs into the latest MacBook Air and Mac mini models today, potentially saving buyers as much as $200.
The company may have gotten a deal on storage drives, as it also dropped the cost of top-tier SSDs in the MacBook Pro today.
In an email to existing business shoppers, Apple's business team informed shoppers that they can now download a specific Wallet pass for use in Apple Stores. When checking out, simply present the pass to the Specialist completing your purchase and it will be linked to your account and apply any discounts you are elligble for.
The connected paper tablet will allow creative professionals who enjoy the experience of drawing on paper to take advantage of the digital flexibility of working in Adobe Illustrator on the desktop.
The device itself feels solid in weight and build quality, and the silver matches my iPad Pro very nicely which adds to the aesthetics. The adapter shipped with a guide that allows it to sit flush on an iPad screen without a screen protector, it also includes another guide for devices that have been fitted with screen protectors, and a further cable to let you use the adapter with a Mac or other USB-C device.
The new release is light on new features, but heavy on delivering significant improvements across the browser. The big new addition is that websites will now automatically be blocked from playing sound -- however, the customizable feature won’t be immediately available to all users
There are two apps for each language: a specialized keyboard, which allows speakers to communicate via social media, email, and text message in their native language; and a dictionary app, which allow members of First Nations communities to record or learn vocabulary — in both written and audio form — which might otherwise be forgotten.
[...]
Apps like these are likely playing a part in an increase in the number of those who speak Aboriginal languages, as shown in Canadian census data: 260,550 people now speak one or more of these languages, which is a greater number than the 208,720 who report one or more Indigenous languages as their mother tongues. At the same time, the median age for the population that speaks Aboriginal languages is skewing younger and younger, indicating that new generations of speakers are choosing to learn them.
The purpose is to help developers find problems and thereby help us avoid issues. While apps will have been beta tested, it's when they are released to the potentially millions of users worldwide that issues may be found. This way, the developer has a chance to pause the release before a problem can affect everyone.
Successful applicants will get a ticket to the event, plus lodging and a free year of membership in the Apple Developer Program. Applications must be submitted by 5 p.m. Pacific time on Sunday, March 24.
Each of these nonprofits will receive support from Apple to help them further their media literacy goals. Apple CEO Tim Cook said that news literacy is "vital" to maintaining free press.
When you spend all your days observing what Apple does and wondering what they’ll do next, it’s easy to get impatient when Apple doesn’t immediately address obvious imperfections in its product line. But hardware design takes time, and even Apple’s design resources are limited. Turning around an entire product line—five products in all, count ‘em—takes time. As much as I’ve loved using the iPad the last few years, the product line was kind of a mess, and fixing it took waves of product releases that made things even messier for a while.
As of this week, it feels like Apple’s finally completed the turn of that the proverbially slow ship, and the iPad is finally cruising in the right direction. Sure, there’s always more to do—how long do we have to have two Apple Pencils kicking around?—but the iPad’s in the best place it’s been in some time.
"This stuff makes me angry," wrote Sinofsky. "No one who likes customers would do something like this."
Tech media veteran Walt Mossberg described Microsoft's tactic as "Outrageous".
I will gladly pay for a good Sudoku app that gives me the daily New York Times Sudoku puzzles. (Or am I just not searching the App Store hard enough?)
~
Why does the Toy Story 4 trailer look like a mash-up of all the movies that came before? Although I still have faith with Pixar, this is not a good sign...
~
Thanks for reading.