iOS 7.1 Beta 3 Tidbits: Revamped Keyboard, Darker Icons, New Phone Look, and More
Earlier today, Apple released the third beta of iOS 7.1 to developers, which included both bug fixes and a number of visual changes that give several aspects of iOS 7 an entirely new look and feel. For example, the Phone dialer has been revamped with new buttons and several icons have had their color toned down, making iOS 7 less neon.
We’ve rounded up all of the visual changes that have been found in the iOS 7.1 beta thus far, creating an overview of what iOS 7 might look like in just a few months if the revisions make it into the final public release.
Keyboard: The keyboard in iOS 7 has been slightly revamped, making adding a slight boldness to the font and a new design to the delete and shift keys. It also incorporates a somewhat darker, less yellow gray tone. Overall, the keyboard changes have the effect of adding contrast and making the letters easier to see.
iOS 7 keyboard on the left, iOS 7.1 keyboard on the right
Icons: The green color in the Phone, Messages, and FaceTime apps has been toned down and is now darker, especially at the bottom of the icons. This introduces a less neon coloration to iOS 7, cutting down on some of the operating system’s brightness.
Darker iOS 7.1 icons on the top, brighter iOS 7 icons on the bottom
Phone: The Phone app has seen the biggest changes, with a renewed focus on simple, circular buttons. The standard incoming call screen with rectangular buttons has been replaced with a black background and two round Accept and Decline icons.
New incoming call buttons
The “Call” and “End” buttons visible on the dialer have also been replaced with circular icons.
iOS 7 dialer on the left, iOS 7.1 dialer on the right
Wallpaper: When selecting a new wallpaper, users can now choose to turn the parallax effect on or off.
Shut down: The power off screen when shutting down the phone has a new look that does away with the red “slide to power off” and cancel tabs first introduced with iOS 7. The new design includes a power button icon at the top and a cancel icon at the bottom.
Slide to Power Off in iOS 7.1
Accessibility: A New option has been added in the Accessibility’s Contrast menu, allowing users to reduce iOS 7′s white point. This feature joins both the “Button Shapes” and Darken Colors options that were added in an older iOS 7.1 beta.
Music: The Music app has new shuffle and repeat buttons that are more prominent, and iTunes Radio has a revamped “New” button.
iOS 7 buttons on the left, iOS 7.1 buttons on the right
According to a recent report from BGR, iOS 7.1 may not make it to consumers until March, indicating that the software will see a lengthy beta testing period. Beta 3’s release notes indicated a number of known issues that remain with iOS 7.1, suggesting that the update is not yet ready for the public.
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CES 2014: OtterBox Introduces New One-Piece Symmetry Series Case for iPhone 5s and 5c [iOS Blog]
At CES today, Otterbox introduced a new series of iPhone cases that are some of OtterBox’s most minimalist yet. The one-piece Symmetry case is available in a number of different colors and graphic designs for both the iPhone 5s and 5c.
The cases leave the front of the iPhone completely exposed, but they protect the sides and back of the device — a very popular style of case. OtterBox also has the Commuter and Reflex series cases, but those use multiple pieces rather than the one-piece design of the Symmetry.
The OtterBox Symmetry Series is the culmination of over a year of design, testing and innovation. This slender, cleanly constructed protective smartphone case is molded into a single piece for ease of installation. A dual-material construction makes Symmetry Series one of the slimmest, most protective cases in its class and a raised beveled edge helps keep the touch screen safe. Internal synthetic rubber with honeycomb coring helps protect the device from drops and shock. A full spectrum of wraparound colors and graphics on the sleek exterior add seamless style that slides easily into and out of pockets.
The OtterBox Symmetry Series will be available for $40 and $45 depending on color. They should be available in early Spring of this year.
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Battery, Screen and Manufacturing Issues Plaguing Apple’s iWatch Development
Apple is experiencing multiple development issues with its iWatch, according to a new report from The Information (via Business Insider). The company is said to be facing challenges with screen technology, battery life, and manufacturing.
Multiple iWatch rumors have suggested that Apple is planning to incorporate an OLED display into its smart watch, but The Information notes that the company is actually having difficulties deciding on a screen technology for the device, primarily due to battery issues. For that reason, Apple considered new screen technologies to improve battery life late last year.
Reports of the iWatch’s poor battery life first surfaced in early 2013, indicating that prototypes of the watch were seeing just a few days of battery power before needing to be recharged, with Apple hoping to expand battery life to at least four or five days between charges. It appears that battery life is still a major issue for the device, which is said to utilize a 100mAh battery that is comparable to the 105mAh battery in the sixth-generation iPod nano.
Sixth-generation iPod nano with watch face
The Information’s report also appears to confirm a rumor from earlier this week, which suggested Apple was facing yield problems due to the finish treatments for the body of the device.
Apple reportedly shut down “advanced prototyping” of the watch with an unspecified manufacturer in late 2013, but it is unclear whether the shift was due to the developmental snags. In late 2013, rumors pegged Quanta as Apple’s iWatch manufacturing partner.
Along with manufacturing issues, iWatch development has also been somewhat impacted by the loss of a key team member, Bryan James, who recently left Apple for Nest. James, who previously worked on iPods, was a member of the iWatch team.
Despite the numerous issues Apple is facing with iWatch development, the company still has a “sizable team” working on overcoming the device’s problems. These snags are not expected to delay the iWatch, however, which still has a prospective release date of late 2014 according to the most recent rumors.
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Motorola announces January 14th event in UK, hints at Moto X in the invite
UK residents that liked the Moto G, but wanted the Moto X might not have to wait long. In middle of untold CES-based emails, rants and schedule updates, Motorola tells us that it’ll be holding a London event for a “new addition” to the Motorola family. Oh look, there’s a Moto X right in the photo. You can join the dots, right?
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Google
Live from the Engadget CES Stage: Mozilla COO Jay Sullivan
It’s true that CES is primarily a hardware show and Mozilla is primarily a software company, but the team behind Firefox no doubt has plenty to discuss — including, most likely, some hardware, too. Join us as we talk to COO Jay Sullivan about the browser wars, online tracking and Firefox OS’s place in the world of smartphones.
Follow all the latest CES 2014 news at our event hub, and check out our full stage schedule here.
Filed under: Cellphones, Software, Mobile
Oculus Rift’s latest prototype features positional tracking, an OLED screen, and kills motion blur (hands-on)
The newest version of the Oculus Rift headset is another major step toward the retail version promised for some point in 2014. It takes the existing HD headset we saw at E3 2013 and swaps an LED screen for OLED. It adds an external camera, and positional markers on the headset, to track your position depth-wise. Perhaps most importantly, it kills motion blur — one of the biggest issues with previous versions of Oculus VR’s incredible Rift headset.
The latest prototype, dubbed “Crystal Cove,” is here at CES 2014, and we’ve just gotten out of an EVE Valkyrie cockpit to tell you all about how much of an improvement this new guy is over the previous model.
Leaning forward in the cockpit of an EVE Valkyrie dogfighter, there’s readable text on a smattering of control panels. The forward thrusters, it turns out, are about to be engaged, hurtling us into space amongst a volley of other spaceships out for blood. Oculus VR director of dev relations Aaron Davies has us pause so that he can toggle one of Crystal Cove’s newest features: “low persistence.” We turn from left to right, unable to read the blurred text in front of us. He flips a switch, and voila: no motion blur. Well, very little. It’s a far cry from the first Kickstarter dev kit we used many moons ago and, despite the importance of positional tracking, makes a tremendous impact on the usability of the Rift.
In the same breath, let’s not discount how amazing it is to move our head forward and have that action replicated one-to-one in-game. This means that the gauges in our cockpit more than just window dressing: that’s the HUD. Another demo, specially made for Crystal Cove by Epic Games, had us sitting in the Unreal Engine 4 demo with the…er…magma lord (?) that previously terrified us at E3. Looking down between where he’s seated and our own position, a little world of creatures in a castle are available for torture should we push the face buttons. Push A, fire rains down and decimates the little guys. It’s a bit like The Seventh Seal, but less existential. Thus far, position tracking is handled by adding a camera to the equation which tracks a handful of sensors on the front of the Rift. CEO Brendan Iribe made sure to note that the camera is not final and may never ship with the final product. It’s just the easiest solution for now. See those little white dots all over the headset? Those are the sensors.
And all of this looked far, far crisper than previous units — that’s due to the new OLED screen inside and a 30 millisecond lag time (down by half from the previous dev kit). As far as when all these new bells and whistles will arrive in developer hands is another question altogether — we’re told by Oculus that the Crystal Cove prototype is just that: a prototype. With around 46,000 dev kits out in the wild already, it’s probably unfair to ask all those folks to re-buy kits. That said, we expect it won’t be long before new dev kits are available, and not long after that for the world of VR to expand dramatically. If 2013 was the year of proof-of-concept for Oculus Rift and modern virtual reality, 2014 seems poised to be the year when it comes into its own. With Crystal Cove, that possibility is greater than ever.
Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer’s CES 2014 keynote liveblog
No-one was sure what to expect when Google’s Marissa Mayer took over at Yahoo, but it’s clear that she wasn’t there for an easy ride. In less than two years, the company has bought a clutch of other outfits, including Tumblr for $1.1 billion, redesigned its logo and brought some much-needed love to Flickr. Now she’s here at CES, ostensibly to talk about the “next wave of innovation,” which we hope includes some dirt on Yahoo’s future direction. Care to join us for the play-by-play?
Filed under: Internet
Live from the Engadget CES Stage: Sony President Mike Fasulo
Mike Fasulo hasn’t been in his position for long, but Sony’s new president/COO knows a thing or two about consumer electronics, having previously served as the company’s CMO/VP. We’ll grill him on what the company is offering up year — or at least as much as we can fit into half an hour.
Follow all the latest CES 2014 news at our event hub, and check out our full stage schedule here.
Filed under: Cellphones, Cameras, Handhelds, Home Entertainment, Laptops, Tablets, Wearables, HD, Mobile, Sony
B&O’s Essence allows wall-mounted music control of your wireless streaming habits (hands-on)
Here at CES 2014, Bang & Olufsen is looking to make access to tunes as soon as you get out of bed “as easy as turning on the lights.” To do so, the high-end audio company has announced Essence: a circular music control dial that can be either wall mounted or fixed to a small metal plate for use around the house. The device features a rotating aluminum ring that doubles as a volume dial with track skipping, play/pause and power touch control on the face. In fact, it’ll pick up at the exact point you last listened. That bit of silver alongside minimal graphics and black accents keeps the unit inline with B&O’s upscale look. Measuring about two-inches across, the Essence is quite small and only extends a couple of inches off of the wall — when mounted in that fashion. Up to three of the controls can be used in a single room, if you’d like to spread out multiples.
In the event that you need that controller to be a bit more mobile, B&O had accounted for that. The company is calling it a “table-top” mount and it’s attached to a metal plate that’s about the size of an index card. As you might expect, the add-on keeps with the aesthetic while making the Essence a bit easier to keep track of. In order to connect to that gaggle of speakers — like the recently announced BeoLab 17, 18 and 19, for example — there’s a separate box that can remain hidden in a cabinet and connects to the controller via low-energy Bluetooth. In terms of compatibility, you can expect AirPlay and DLNA support as well as streaming from Spotify Connect, QPlay and a variety of internet radio providers at launch. It also plays nice with the BeoPlay smartphone app, too. Speaking of its arrival, the Essence will be available this spring for $995 and that so-called table-top option tacks on an additional $200. Despite showing off a smattering of color options for the back plate here in Vegas, we’re told only the dark grey option will be available at launch — which is a bummer, because the wood grain looks really nice. We’ve already had a look at the device for ourselves, so jump down in the gallery that follows for some snapshots.
Will Lipman contributed to this report.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Household
Live from the Engadget CES Stage: ARM CTO Mike Muller
Mike Muller isn’t just the CTO of ARM — he’s also a founder. Suffice it to say, the executive knows a thing or two about the mobile industry. We’ll be picking his brain tonight at 5PM ET.
Follow all the latest CES 2014 news at our event hub, and check out our full stage schedule here.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile
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