Apple’s First Foray Into Original TV Is a Series About Apps →

March 25, 2016 · 08:48

Emily Steel:

Apple announced on Thursday that it was working with the entertainer Will.i.am and two veteran TV executives, Ben Silverman and Howard T. Owens, on a new show that will spotlight the app economy.

Whenever I see Will.i.am next to a technological topic, I cringe.

Mr. Cue said that the new series did not signal a broader ambition by the company to greatly bolster its presence in original productions and streaming video. Last year, Apple was rumored to be exploring options for original programing and held talks with a number of big TV companies about offering a streaming television service.

“This doesn’t mean that we are going into a huge amount of movie production or TV production or anything like that,” Mr. Cue said. He added that the company would continue to explore exclusive projects similar to the series about apps or its push into music programming.

Still, I wonder if Apple (or the people in charge of the project) will contact “normal” developers to get their stories, instead of celebrities.

iPhone SE — Better Battery Life Than a 6S →

March 25, 2016 · 07:58

Geoffrey A. Fowler:

The standout news is battery life. Unlike many other recent Apple products, the iPhone SE’s is a significant improvement over its predecessors’. In my lab stress test, which cycles through websites with uniform screen brightness, the SE lasted 10 hours—more than two hours longer than both the iPhone 6s and iPhone 5s, and nearly three hours longer than the Galaxy S7.

This is huge! I’m so tempted…

San Francisco in the Great Depression: Photos by Dorothea Lange →

March 25, 2016 · 07:57

Michael Zhang:

In 1918, photographer Dorothea Lange left New York on a trip to travel the world. That ambitious trip was cut short by a robbery, and Lange ended up settling in the San Francisco Bay Area and opening a studio there. During the Great Depression, Langue took her camera out of the studio and onto the streets to document the country for the Farm Security Administration.

ColorSync Is Supported on iOS 9.3 →

March 24, 2016 · 22:28

Craig Hockenberry on Open Radar:

Additionally, starting with iOS 9.3 ColorSync support was added to UIKit.

I’ve noticed that it works correctly for both UIColor in a UILabel and with a UIImage in a UIImageView. Are there any other places where ICC profiles are used?

In a conversation with Apple engineers, I also learned that some older devices do not match color. That’s fine, but devices should be listed so our apps can adapt gracefully to this situation.

iOS is catching up, but it needs to speed things up considerably. Some basic OS X features are still missing. And while external keyboard support for my iPad Pro has improved, it’s not yet on par with Apple’s desktop OS.

Best iPhone Tripods and Mounts for Photographers →

March 24, 2016 · 20:27

Allyson Kazmucha:

Over the past several months I’ve been milling around Amazon looking for the best iPhone tripods and mounts I can find. I’ve ran several through their paces and I’ve made my final decisions.
When it comes time for our trip, these are the tripods and mounts that will make it into my (very light) gear bag alongside my Olloclip and a few other travel accessories.

A nice list of decent smartphone mounts. I think I’ll get the Shoulderpod myself.

A Discussion About the Breaking of the Internet →

March 24, 2016 · 12:38

Mike Roberts:

Kik has been around for a while and we thought that the name “kik” on Azer’s NPM package could have caused confusion. In fact, once Azer had made it clear that he wasn’t going to change the name, we decided to use a different name for an upcoming package we are going to publish to NPM. We did hope that Azer would change his mind, but we were proceeding under a different package name even when we were told we could have the name Kik.

They reached out to Azer, using extremely friendly wording in their email:

We don’t mean to be a dick about it, but it’s a registered Trademark in most countries around the world and if you actually release an open source project called kik, our trademark lawyers are going to be banging on your door and taking down your accounts and stuff like that — and we’d have no choice but to do all that because you have to enforce trademarks or you lose them.

Yeah, I don’t take lightly to threats either.

15 Year Zoe Olson Uses Her iPad Pro and Apple Pencil to Illustrate a Book; Tim Cook Complements Her Work →

March 23, 2016 · 18:14

Zoe Olson:

Before getting my hands on the iPad Pro and Apple Pencil, I didn’t even know that I wanted to be a professional artist! Real paints were too messy and frustrating, and a Wacom Cintiq was too bulky and expensive for a career in art to be worth it to me. The iPad Pro has eliminated all excuses. It is the best of both worlds.

Her skills are amazing!

A Look Back at the Events Held in Apple’s Town Hall →

March 21, 2016 · 08:20

Jason Snell and Stephen Hackett:

Located at 4 Infinite Loop on Apple’s main campus, the Town Hall conference center was probably designed more for in-company meetings than for major events covered by worldwide media. And yet on numerous occasions over the years, it’s been exactly that.

Monday’s event in Town Hall could very well be the last hurrah for the old 300-seat venue, given that Apple is constructing a 1,000-seat auditorium in its new campus, due to open next year. Before it goes, here’s a look back at key public events in Town Hall, starting in late 2001.

App Store Deals — 20/03/2016 — Tweetbot and Affinity Photo

March 20, 2016 · 13:22

Of the four programs listed below, I (will) use three. Affinity Photo will be my Photoshop replacement right after I finish posting this (and I already have Affinity Designer [App Store], which I consider to be better for my needs than Illustrator), Tweetbot is simply the best there is, and Screens VNC helps me access my Mac in case I need to. I highly recommend all three.

★ Affinity Photo – Mac – Photography – €49.99 > €39.99 →
★ Lost Socks: Naughty Brothers – iOS – Games – €4.99 > €2.99 →
★ Screens VNC – iOS – Utilities – €19.99 > €9.99 →
★ Tweetbot 4 – iOS – Social Networking – €9.99 > €4.99 →

Sony Is Working on a PS4 With 4K Output →

March 19, 2016 · 07:20

Patrick Klepek:

Sony is currently planning a new version of the PS4 with increased graphical power and games running at 4K resolution, developer sources tell Kotaku.

We don’t know whether current PS4 owners will be able to upgrade or if they’ll have to buy an entirely new device to benefit from this power boost, but from what we hear, Sony has started briefing developers.

Based on conversations with developers who have spoken with Sony, this ‘PS4.5’ will include an upgraded GPU both to support high-end 4K resolution for games and add more processing power that can enhance the games supported by PlayStation VR, the headset Sony will launch this fall. It’s unclear if ‘PS4.5’ is an official name or just a nickname that developers have been using. One developer jokingly called it the ‘PS4K’ while telling me about the device.

Will games that are enhanced for the PS4K scale down their graphics gracefully for the PS4 or will there be a break in compatibility? What about PS VR? And since this would require the GPU to push four times the pixels, would it still have similar performance to a 1080p PS4?

I still have a 1080p plasma, but is the first reason I would consider using to upgrade to a 4K TV.

iPhone SE Design ‘Identical’ to 5S, Will iPhone 6S Camera →

March 18, 2016 · 19:19

Mark Gurman:

Checks with additional sources indicate that the iPhone SE, to be launched at Apple’s March 21st event next week, will look “almost exactly the same” as the iPhone 5s…

This means the phone will include a boxier, not curved, design complete with rounded volume buttons, a power button on the top, a headphone jack, speaker, and microphone on the bottom, and a back with a metal center and a glass bottom and top. We previously reported that the only easily apparent difference would be the product’s edges. There have been mixed reports regarding the look of the new edges, and sources say that while the front edges could be “very slightly” curved, the potential change is not noticeable. Regardless, the iPhone SE’s edges will be less shiny and likely lose the shiny mirror finish that helped make the iPhone 5s prone to scratches.

The other hardware differences are internal: an A9 processor, an M9 chip for always-on “Hey Siri” support, an NFC chip for Apple Pay, and upgrades to the cellular and WiFi hardware. We have now also learned that the device’s rear camera system will match the system found on the iPhone 6s: the iPhone SE is said to include a 12 megapixel camera and 4K video recording support like the upcoming smaller iPad Pro. We previously reported the ability to take Live Photos is also in the mix.

What I don’t understand is how the camera system can match the 6S if the lens will be flush with the case. I assume it will be ‘close enough’ but slightly inferior… unless they managed to make a huge jump in lens design.

However good or bad the camera in the SE will be, I wonder how Apple will word it.

Apple to Hand iCloud Encryption Keys to Users →

March 18, 2016 · 19:12

Wayne Rash:

According to a number of press reports, Apple is in the process of revamping its iCloud storage service to increase security by divesting itself of the task of keeping users’ encryption keys.

Currently Apple keeps the keys to access iCloud accounts, which means, among other things, that Apple can provide information to authorities when presented with a warrant. The company provided such information from the iCloud account of Sayed Farook, the terrorist who killed 14 county employees late last year in in San Bernardino, Calif. Apparently that’s now about to change. If the reports are correct, Apple is planning to offload the storage of encryption keys so that users control their keys, and they’re accessible only through a password.

This way, even Apple cannot gain access to your encrypted data, no matter how much it may want to and no matter how many government subpoenas it receives. It can’t honor court orders to provide the data because the company has no way to decrypt it.

This is to be expected. I’d like to think that Apple would have gone down this route without the current FBI fiasco taking place, but perhaps the latest events have just accelerated their plans.

Apple Encryption Engineers, if Ordered to Unlock iPhone, Might Resist →

March 18, 2016 · 19:07

John Markoff, Katie Benner & Brian X. Chen:

Apple employees are already discussing what they will do if ordered to help law enforcement authorities. Some say they may balk at the work, while others may even quit their high-paying jobs rather than undermine the security of the software they have already created, according to more than a half-dozen current and former Apple employees.

Among those interviewed were Apple engineers who are involved in the development of mobile products and security, as well as former security engineers and executives.

I can’t help but wonder how far this will go.