Apple Reportedly Launching 8 GB iPhone 5c Tomorrow
Apple is planning to release a new 8 GB version of the iPhone 5c tomorrow, according to an alleged note to retailers from Vodafone’s O2 unit in Germany shared by Caschys Blog [Google Translate]. The legitimacy of the note is unverified, but German site iFun reported a similar tip [Google Translate] just a few minutes later and several tipsters have even reported to MacRumors that shipments of the new models have arrived at carrier stores in the UK.
Pricing on the 8 GB model has yet to be revealed, but one of the sources has indicated that the device will be available in all of the existing color options. All of the reports we’ve seen so far have come from Europe, but the device would presumably see a worldwide launch as there would seem to be little reason for Apple to limit distribution to Europe.
Apple’s iPhone 5c has seen lower than expected sales since its debut last September alongside the flagship iPhone 5s, with the iPhone 5c essentially representing an iPhone 5 repackaged in colorful new plastic shells and available in 16 GB and 32 GB capacities priced $100 below the corresponding iPhone 5s models. A new 8 GB model would allow Apple to bring the entry-level price for the iPhone 5c even lower, and while the capacity may not be enough for some users, many budget consumers may find it acceptable and Apple does currently offer an 8 GB iPhone 4s as its cheapest option in most countries.
     |
Apple’s Healthbook App for iOS Shown in Renderings with New Details
Apple’s rumored “Healthbook” app for iOS 8 may be the company’s first big push into the current health and fitness craze that is being fueled by wearable technology, and a new report from 9to5Mac offers a look at what users can expect from the app as well as a few renderings of the app said to be recreated from actual screenshots.
The renderings show a Passbook-inspired user interface with cards for different heath and fitness data points, with the app able to keep track of vitals mentioned in previous rumors such as heart rate, hydration, blood pressure, physical activity and more. Notably missing from the renders are parameters for other topic such as stress and pregnancy tracking, which had been suggested in a separate report from MobiHealthNews last month.
Each category of functionality is a card in the Healthbook. Cards are distinguished by a color, and the tabs can be arranged to fit user preferences. As can be seen in the above images, Healthbook has sections that can track data pertaining to bloodwork, heart rate, hydration, blood pressure, physical activity, nutrition, blood sugar, sleep, respiratory rate, oxygen saturation, and weight.
A big chunk of the Healtbook app will be dedicated to measurable health parameters such as blood sugar levels, oxygen saturation, bloodwork values and more. The blood sugar tracking would let diabetics enter their daily or weekly glucose levels and track changes over time, while the bloodwork tab would allow users to enter the results of routine bloodwork tests that are used to screen for overall nutrition as well as heart, kidney or liver disease. When combined, these parameters will provide the user and their doctor with a snapshot of the person’s overall health at any given time.
Another focus of the app is fitness, with the ability to track activity levels, nutrition, and weight changes over time. Data in these tabs would provide detailed analysis of calories burned, BMI, body fat percentage and more. This section, which also includes sleep tracking and hydration measurement, provides the user with an overview of their fitness and allows them to monitor any changes over time.
The mechanisms by which the app will retrieve this health and fitness data, especially the more difficult to measure vitals such as hydration and blood sugar, are not clear, although it is likely the app will utilize some combination of the iPhone’s M7 motion coprocessor, third-party devices, third-party apps and Apple’s own wearable devices such as the rumored iWatch.
Thanks to the capabilities of the iPhone 5s’s M7 motion co-processor, Healthbook could technically receive steps, miles walked, and caloric data from the iPhone itself. However, that is where the M7 stops being useful for Healthbook. Blood, hydration, and respiratory rate information would clearly need to come from other sources.
Apple has been hiring health and fitness experts to build out its iWatch team, and is rumored to be using this expertise in the development of its first wearable device. The iWatch is rumored to launch later this year, and Healthbook should debut as part of iOS 8 in a similar timeframe late this year.
| |
ACC and Campus Insiders Launch New College Sports Apple TV Channel
The Atlantic Coast Conference and college sports site Campus Insiders have teamed up to launch a new “ACC Sports” channel for the Apple TV today, offering video highlights, features, and other clips related to the conference’s 15 member schools. A separate Campus Insiders tab within the app includes a smaller amount of content from other college athletic conferences around the country.
The channel does not currently offer any live video content, although it is certainly possible such offerings could be added in the future.
Campus Insiders has agreements with a number of college conferences to offer live video streaming of certain competitions in a variety of sports through the firm’s website, and the launch of an ACC Sports channel for Apple TV could be a prelude to a broader effort by Campus Insiders that would be able to bring streaming of these events directly to Apple’s set-top box.
Today’s launch is the latest in a long line of new Apple TV channels introduced over the last months as Apple has worked to rapidly expand content available on the set-top box. New Apple TV 6.1 software released last week makes it easier for users to hide unwanted channels from the main Apple TV screen, helping them manage the growing number of available channels. Apple has also been rumored to be on the verge of introducing a revamped version of the Apple TV, perhaps opening it up to third-party developers to support games and other apps.
| |
Google helps devs create cross-platform Android and iOS multiplayer games
The annual Game Developers Conference descends on San Francisco this week, and Google’s wasting no time in sharing its news. For gamers, Mountain View’s said it’ll be launching a “game gifts” service for sending in-game swag to other players, and increasing the number of game categories in the Play store to 18 in the hope you’ll stumble upon titles you might like easier. More important, however, is what devs can do with the new features of Google Play game services, a backend tool for managing leaderboards, achievements and more in Android, iOS or web games. Multiplayer support has been added for iOS games, and via an update to the Unity plug-in, cross-platform multiplayer between Android and iOS devices is now possible. These features have to be implemented by developers, of course, but next time you see that friend who’s always arguing the merits of one mobile OS over another, you might just be able to settle the discussion in-game instead.
Filed under: Cellphones, Gaming, Tablets, Software, Mobile, Google
Twitch kicks off its mobile streaming service with Gameloft
Prior to its recent Xbox One launch, Twitch accounted for 1.8 percent of peak US internet traffic — and it doesn’t even do mobile streaming. That’s about to change, however, as Gameloft’s ultra-popular Asphalt 8: Airborne stunt and racing game is set to arrive on iOS with Twitch functionality. On top of broadcasting, sharing and archiving game play, you’ll be able to use your iOS device’s camera and microphone to stream video of yourself and monitor chat. To kick things off, Gameloft will host a 24-hour livestream today, replete with dev team interviews, giveaways and a walk-through of the options. The update arrives to the App Store soon, but you’ll need to implement Twitch service on a game-to-game basis. The new functionality is optimized for the iPhone 5S, iPad Air and iPad Mini with Retina.
Filed under: Gaming
Apple reportedly launching a cheaper 8GB iPhone 5c on March 18th (updated)
Apple doesn’t talk about how many iPhone 5c devices it sells, but the rumors are that it’s not doing as well as its two siblings. According to leaked documents from O2 Germany, Cupertino is looking to boost its middle child by launching an 8GB version that’ll retail for 60 euros less than the current 16GB model. What does this spell for the “bottom tier” iPhone 4S, which is currently offered to customers for free on two-year deals? We couldn’t possibly speculate, but if this trimmed-down hardware is appearing in Germany, it’s probably going to launch everywhere else in the world, too.
Update: A reader sent in a photo (below) of the 8GB 5c’s packaging, confirming that the device is in hand.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Apple
Source: Caschy’s Blog (Translated)
Titanfall graphics test highlights glitches on Xbox One (video)
If there was ever a game that could cope with a few graphical imperfections, it’d be a frenetic multiplayer shooter like Titanfall. But flaws do visibly exist on the Xbox One version of that game, and Eurogamer has highlighted them in a side-by-side video with the PC version. You can see the impact of the console’s lower resolution (1408 x 792) and weaker anti-aliasing, versus the 1080p experience offered by a mid-range Windows gaming rig (with a six-core AMD FX CPU and a NVIDIA GTX 760 graphics card). More noticeable than any of that, however, is the issue of screen tearing: Horizontal slashes that happen when the game drops below the holy grail of 60 frames per second that its creators intended. Like Eurogamer, we really don’t think this does significant damage to Titanfall‘s overall experience — we’re still glued to it — but this is one more notable instance of a mismatch between what developers wanted to achieve in a next-gen title, and what Microsoft’s console was able to deliver.
Filed under: Gaming, Microsoft
Source: Eurogamer
iRobot’s Ava 500 telepresence-on-a-stick is rolling out now (video)
There are plenty of telepresence robots on the market already, but iRobot’s new Ava 500 may just be the best option out there. The highlight here is that the device is completely autonomous, just like the company’s RP-VITA healthcare bot. Once it maps out your office during an “exploration phase,” you can schedule a conference to join via an iRobot app. When your meeting time comes around, you’ll be assigned an available Ava, which will wheel itself into position in the conference room, theoretically avoiding obstacles along the way.
Just like iRobot’s home cleaning tools, Ava returns to its charging dock between sessions, so it should be able to operate without assistance for quite some time. iRobot hasn’t shared pricing at this point, but we wouldn’t be surprised to see Ava priced in line with a small car, based on the RP-VITA’s jaw-dropping reported lease pricing of $4,000 and up per month. It includes the Cisco EX60 telepresence platform, which features a camera paired with a 21.5-inch HD display — that component alone retails for just shy of $9,000. It’s available now through select certified Cisco resellers.
Filed under: Robots
Source: iRobot
Google Play Games gets new features following Game Developers Conference
With Google highlighting that 3 out of 4 Android users now use their device for gaming, increased focus has been put on improving the experience for those users. Google has also said that the momentum of their Google Play Games service is continuing to grow, with approximately 4 times the amount of revenue paid to developers in 2013 when compared to 2012.
As part of this move to improve the Google Play Games experience is the launch of new features for the service during the Game Developers Conference (GDC) which is taking place this week.
The first change focuses around gamer engagement and discovery with the introduction of game gifts. This is a new service that lets players send virtual in-game objects to anyone in their circles or through player search. The Play Games app has also been updated to allow multiplayer invites to be directly sent, allowing your friends to discover and join your activity. This will be facilitated by the introduction of 18 new game categories to make it easier to find games that consumers want.
Perhaps one of the biggest introductions is the enhancement of the Play Games Unity Plug-in to support cross-platform mutliplayer services, meaning you can be on Android and participate in a multiplayer game against someone on iOS.
Futher improvements see enhancements brought to Play Games statistics on the Google Play Developer Console to provide analytics for developers and their games in the Google Play Store. This will include a dashboard to visualise player and engagement statistics for active users, retention analysis, and achievement performance.
Hopefully these enhancements to the Google Play Games services will entice developers to invest in the Android environment and see some great games brought to the platform. The end-user should also benefit from these changes by being able to engage with the community better, and also participate in cross-platform mutliplayer events.
Let us know your thoughts about these changes in the comments below.
The post Google Play Games gets new features following Game Developers Conference appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Moto X heading to Australia in the next few weeks
Great news for Australians who are still awaiting the launch of the Moto X since it seems Motorola have decided to release it down under in the next few weeks, a full seven months after the United States, and 2 months after the UK.
Motorola state that customers will be able to purchase either the black or white model for AUD$549 and will be able to run it on Telstra, Optus, and Vodafone, with more networks coming online shortly after release.
The handset will ship with Android 4.3 Jellybean out of the box, but Android 4.4.2 is available instantly for the device through an over-the-air update.
The Moto X features a 4.7-inch AMOLED 720p display, with a 2200 mAh battery, 2GB RAM, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon S4 Pro processor, 10-Megapixel rear camera, and a 2-Megapixel 1080p front camera.
If you want to get your hands on the Australian Moto X then click this link to register your interest.
The post Moto X heading to Australia in the next few weeks appeared first on AndroidGuys.
AIVAnet 