iOS 10 Brings Payments, Stickers, Games, and More to iMessage
Among many iOS 10 announcements made at WWDC yesterday, one notable update to Apple’s mobile operating system came in the form of third party developer support in Apple’s iMessage chat platform. With the new SDK, developers can create app extensions — similar to third party keyboard apps available now on the App Store — that let users interact with apps from directly within Messages.
Following its announcement at the keynote, the developer of Square Cash [Direct Link] shared a little bit more information about how their payments service works as an app extension for Messages. Once a user has Square Cash installed, they can find it with their other apps in the new iMessage “App drawer.” From there, “Just swipe up to pick an amount and attach it to a message. One tap to deposit it!” The iMessage App is still limited by Square Cash’s own restraints, however, so international payment transfers are unavailable as of now.
iMessage Apps for Square Cash (left) and Disney stickers (right)
During the keynote, Craig Federighi gave a demo of another iMessage app, DoorDash [Direct Link], collectively collaborating on a group lunch order without leaving Messages. Once he decided on his menu item and selected the quantity of the order, he shared his choice with a contact in Messages to add his lunch to the group ticket. Other entertainment-focused apps, like JibJab [Direct Link], grant users access to the iPhone’s camera to place their faces on GIF-like videos to share with friends.
Although not specifically detailed, the iMessage App extensions for already-existing apps, like Square Cash, will presumably be free upgrades for users who already own or have downloaded the base apps. On Apple’s developer site, a heavy emphasis is placed on the “purchase” of various sticker packs, however, suggesting that the various Disney and other brand-related stickers will not be free to download.
Help users express themselves in richer ways by providing stickers for purchase on the App Store for iMessage. Users can tap to send stickers in a thread, adjust their size, or place them on top of bubbles, other stickers, and photos. There’s no need for you to write code to create stickers — simply drag the images into the designated folder in Xcode.
Not many other iMessage Apps have been detailed by Apple and developers yet, but wording on the developer beta site mentions users will be able to “share content, edit photos, play games, send payments, and collaborate with friends.” While some might be similar in execution to third-party keyboards in iOS 9, now that Apple has granted developer access to its Messages platform, it’ll be interesting to see what new kind of shortcuts and message-enhancing features come out of the new App Store for iMessage.
Anyone who needs to catchup with the WWDC keynote — or if you just want a refresher — can do so by watching MacRumors’ 7-minute recap video. Likewise, our iOS 10 tidbits post has more information on iMessage updates, individual read receipts, the ability to remove pre-installed apps, and more.
Related Roundup: iOS 10
Tag: iMessage
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T-Mobile Expands ‘Binge On’ Free Video Streaming to PBS and More
T-Mobile has announced that its free unlimited video streaming program Binge On now supports over five additional video services, including Azubu, Dailymotion Games, Eyegroove, PBS, PBS Kids, and more. Binge On now supports nearly 90 video services in the United States.
Binge On enables customers on a qualifying Simple Choice plan to stream unlimited 480p video from dozens of partnered services, led by Netflix, HBO NOW, Hulu, and YouTube, without any of the data consumed counting towards their monthly data bucket.
T-Mobile expanded Binge On to thirteen additional video services in May, including NBC and video content from existing Music Freedom partners Google Play Music, Radio Disney, Spotify, and TIDAL, after adding 16 new Binge On and Music Freedom partners in April. YouTube, Google Play Movies, and others were added in March.
Tags: T-Mobile, Binge On, PBS
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Apple Confirms Rich Notifications Will Come to Devices Without 3D Touch
Despite only showcasing iOS 10’s new rich notifications feature on an iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus during WWDC, Apple has confirmed in beta notes that devices without the pressure sensing technology of the newest iPhone models will also be getting rich notifications. Still, the feature is relegated — and “optimized” — for the 6s and 6s Plus in the first iOS 10 beta, with full functionality coming to older-model iPhones in the future.
“Support for rich notifications is optimized for 3D Touch, and in iOS 10 beta 1 the feature is available only on iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus. Future betas will provide access to this functionality for users of iPhone models without support for 3D Touch.”
Rich notifications function as a way for users to pop into apps without needing to navigate through unlocking the iPhone and finding the app on their home screen. On the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, a simple 3D Touch can expand a Message with a full keyboard to type out a reply, or show a live broadcast of a sporting event. With no more descriptive information in the Apple beta notes for developers, it’s unclear how this feature will work on iPhone models lacking 3D Touch, although some form of long press is likely.
Similar iOS 10 tidbits have been emerging from WWDC following yesterday’s keynote, including new information on iMessage Apps and the potential removal of Game Center from the public release of iOS 10 this fall.
Related Roundup: iOS 10
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Motorola VerveLife headphones Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET
If you’re finding your regular headphones aren’t sturdy enough to handle your pavement-pounding, leg-flailing fitness regime, these orange-hued headphones might be up your alley.
If you’re wondering why a company primarily concerned with mobile phones has made some headphones, well, you’re right to wonder. In fact all these products are manufactured by Binatone, which owns the right to use the Motorola name on accessory products. In recent years we’ve seen Binatone build Motorola-branded pet trackers, among other things. This new slew of tech, however, is concerned with funnelling music into your ears when you’re working out.
VerveOnes and VerveOnes+
Andrew Hoyle/CNET
These chunky earbuds are completely wireless, not even attached to each other. Once secured in your ears, they offer Siri and Google Now support, and 12 hours of battery life. Arriving in a curious column-shaped storage device, prices for the VerveOnes start at a wallet-bruising £200. (We don’t have confirmed US or Australian prices yet, but that translates to around $285 or AU$385.) The VerveOnes+ variant is exactly the same but adds water and sweat resistance — ideal for those summer afternoon laps around the park.
VerveLoop+
Andrew Hoyle/CNET
These sweat-protected headphones consist of two earbuds, a connecting cable and an in-line remote. You’ll need to remember to charge them, but the touted 10 hours of battery life should be enough to get you around the track a few times. Prices start at £60, which translates to about $85 or AU$115.
VerveRider and VerveRider+
Andrew Hoyle/CNET
These earbuds are strapped to an orange collar that rests around the back of your neck. Expect 12 hours of battery life, and a built-in microphone for conducting important business calls on the go — nailing your 10-kilometre personal best is no reason not to win the big Henderson account, after all. As before, the “+” option includes water and sweat protection. Again, expect to pay from £60, which converts to $85 or AU$115.
All these headphones are compatible with Android phones and Apple iPhones.
Focal Listen Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET
You may not have heard of French company Focal, but it makes some very good sounding headphones, and this is its new Listen closed back over-ear headphone, which retails for $249. No word yet on an international launch, but that price roughly translates to £175 or AU$340.
Although this is a full-sized headphone, it’s designed for mobile use and works just fine with phones — it has a one-button remote and microphone integrated into the cord, which is detachable. The single button remote allows you to skip tracks forward and back, pause and play music, and answer and end calls.
Focal’s Listen headphone is an excellent sounding and comfortable full-size over-ear headphone that’s fairly affordable.
Sarah Tew/CNET
Although there are no volume controls on the cord, I like that Focal separated the microphone (a decent quality omnidirectional mic) from the one-button remote, which sits lower down on the cord and is easy to access.
The Listen may not look superstylish, but it is very comfortable, and is a better designed headphone than Focal’s earlier Spirit One, which we reviewed back in 2012. With plush earpads that do a good job sealing out ambient noise, it folds up to fit into an included neoprene case.
Focal Listen headphones (pictures)
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Both Steve Guttenberg, who writes CNET’s Audiophiliac column, and I really liked the way this headphone sounded. It offers well-balanced sound with excellent detail and potent, tight bass. It also sounds pretty open for a closed-back headphone, so the sound doesn’t get stuck inside your head.
I’m still comparing it to a few competing models and will deliver a full review soon, but my early impression is that it’s a strong contender in the sub-$300 price class.
No it isn’t cheap at $250, but Focal does make some very high-end models, including the new $4,000 Utopia and $1,000 Elear, and the Listen certainly is cheap by comparison. It’s a good deal for what it does offer at its price.
Specs:
- Price: $249 (£175 or AU$340 converted)
- 273 grams (0.6 pounds)
- Closed-back, around-ear design
- 40mm (1.6-inch) Mylar/titanium drive
- Impedence: 32 ohm
- Sound pressure: 122dB SPL at 1kHz -/1Vrms
- 15Hz-22kHz
- Cord length: 1.4 meters (4.59 feet)
- Carrying case included
- Microphone and one-button remote integrated into detachable cord
Zeiss Exolens review – CNET
The Good The Zeiss ExoLens series delivers excellent photo quality (for the iPhone), with no artifacts and great sharpness.
The Bad The screw mount can be awkward for quick swaps, the bracket mount blocks the camera’s flash and you’re bound to lose the tiny back caps. And they’re pretty expensive.
The Bottom Line The three Zeiss ExoLens’ for iPhone are fun to use and will improve your photographs, but not everyone will think they’re worth the money.
Visit manufacturer site for details.
Zeiss and Apple always seemed like a natural pairing, and now you can pop a Zeiss lens on your iPhone for a little variety in your angle of view. Like a lot of third-party lenses, they’re fun to shoot with, and they certainly deliver the build quality and clear, sharp photos and video you expect from Zeiss. But I’m less enamored with the little details.
Zeiss Exolens photo samples
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The product of a partnership between Zeiss and Fellowes — you know, the office supply company — Zeiss’ solution consists of the Fellowe’s mounting bracket and three of its own lenses: a 0.6x wide-angle, a variable angle-of-view macro, and a 2x telephoto.
The kit with the wide-angle lens is available now, though only through Apple’s online and brick-and-mortar stores. And it’s Zeiss, so expect to pay a princely sum: in the case of the wide-angle kit with mounting bracket, $200 (€250, AU$300). The other two lenses are slated to ship later this summer, with as-yet unknown prices.
As with a lot of add-on lenses, these are fun. Phone cameras have to compromise and pick a single focal length that will work in most settings; add-on lenses let you break out of the “normal” wide-angle view. The Zeiss’ are all sharp, with no light loss or color artifacts.
Nissan is working on the world’s first bio-ethanol electric car with 600km range
Nissan is working on a new fuel system that may replace petrol, pure electric and even hydrogen fuel driven cars. The Nissan bio-ethanol electric power system wants to change everything.
So what is this e-bio fuel cell driven car? It uses what Nissan calls a Solid Oxide Fuel Cell, or SOFC for short. Essentially this is a generator that turns bio-fuel into electricity which charges a battery – that battery then drives the motor. So it’s quite like a hydrogen fuel cell driven car then.
The advantages of this system are primarily that it’s more sustainable than petrol or diesel, it can be filled faster than pure electric using current pump systems and it uses a sustainable fuel that’s CO2 neutral. All that and it’ll offer an impressive 600km range on a tank.
The bio-ethanol can be made from corn or sugarcane and mixed with water making it safer than other fuels. That also means it can be transported easily and Nissan suggests it could be delivered to owners’ homes. Why the car battery can’t be plugged in and charged also, ideal for at home, is odd. Perhaps that will be a future development.
At the moment Nissan is simply working on the tech but we’d expect to see more advances soon.
READ: Electric car, with light aluminium-air battery, travels 1,100 miles on a charge
Volkswagen Amarok (2016) first drive: A tough toiler in smart trousers
Amarok is the Inuit word for wolf. We don’t speak Inuit, but you can see what Volkswagen is trying to achieve with its surprisingly luxurious pickup.
The canis lupus is a hardy creature, living its life in the wilderness, traversing all sorts of challenging terrain. Yet it remains mysterious, majestic and a damn sight more appealing that the bin-scavenging foxes that keep leaving chicken carcasses all over downtown driveways.
Volkswagen sees its robust pickup trick in the same light: capable enough to tackle the odd mountain, yet stylish enough to draw appreciative glances from passers-by. It doesn’t eat chickens though, only diesel.
VW Amarok review: The beating heart of the beast
The latest edition Amarok has improved on the “everyday usability” front with a new, more powerful engine, revised aerodynamics and suspension for a smoother ride, as well as a more familiar VW cabin – complete with the marque’s touchscreen infotainment system and smartphone tethering capabilities.
Pocket-lint
The 2.0-litre TDI unit that powered previous Amarok models was fairly weedy, developing either 138bhp or 178bhp. Customers quite rightly argued that such a mammoth machine deserved a larger engine – and VW listened. The latest generation now comes fitted with a powerful 3.0-litre V6 diesel (borrowed from the Audi Q7) that develops a thumping 220bhp and 550Nm of torque in the range-topping models.
This engine choice is instantly noticeable, with the new Amarok gathering pace at an impressive rate on the road. The 0-62mph sprint takes just 7.9 seconds, despite it weighing about the same as a small cargo ship. That extra torque is also a welcome addition, particularly when towing heavy loads and tackling serious off-road inclines.
Surprisingly, fuel consumption has been improved slightly and CO2 emissions are now down to 199g/km. This is due to some tweakery in the exhaust system, improvements in aerodynamics and the fact that the new V6 engine doesn’t have to strain as much to get this pickup truck moving.
Volkswagen also says that 160bhp and 201bhp versions of the same engine will come later in the year, alongside the option of a manual gearbox, but the 8-speed DSG box is silky smooth and that powerful engine is mightily addictive.
Pocket-lint
VW’s engineers claim that despite sharing many parts with the Audi Q7 and the VW Touareg, the Amarok’s engine has been tweaked for added robustness. It has undergone and extra 100,000km of testing for a start, plus it features protective cladding to ensure dust and dirt doesn’t clog up important parts.
Volkswagen Amarok review: The premium pickup
It’s highly likely that you’ll see an Amarok towing a speedboat to the lake rather than hauling hay bales from the farmyard. The Amarok keeps things equally upmarket in its cabin with the latest interior tech: leather and electrically adjustable seats are available, soft-touch plastics festoon the dashboard and the 7-inch touchscreen MIB infotainment system packs in DAB radio, sat nav, CarNet and App Connect systems (supporting Mirror Link, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto).
Exterior design has also been improved; with a sharper front grille and optional bi-xenon headlights giving is a menacing road presence. There’s also the option to add a “sports bar” at the back, which gives it a fastback look, as well as a set of lamps on the roof for the full mud-plugging package.
Pocket-lint
It’s a comfortable place to be behind the wheel and feels more like whiling away the hours inside a jacked-up Passat than it does a typical pickup, with only the whistling of wind noise from the large wing mirrors and tyre roar from the huge 20-inch alloy wheels occasionally creeping into the cabin at speed.
Neat touches, such as a rear-view camera and audible sensors make parking the monster much easier – but there are occasions when it becomes clear that this isn’t your typical road-going SUV. For example the suspension can be a bit unruly on scarred Tarmac and the Amarok’s mass reveals itself when a corner is taken a little too hastily. Parallel parking its 5.25m-long body is a challenge in busy areas, too, but that comes part-and-parcel with a vehicle that can shift over a ton of gear in its flatbed.
VW Amarok pickup review: A mountain-climbing maestro
The European-spec launch edition Amarok will come in a neat Aventura trim level, which includes those aforementioned alloy wheels, a matte grey or popping blue paint job and the premium finish interior, which makes it very tempting to bubble wrap the goliath and never take it near a puddle in its life.
Pocket-lint
But that would be a crying shame because the Amarok makes a pretty formidable off-road companion, particularly when it is specified with the clever 4Motion all-wheel-drive system (a 4×2 model is available for less demanding tasks) and beefed-up suspension system.
The model we drove came fitted with all of the above, as well as a mechanical differential lock for the rear axle, meaning it was happy tackling some serious articulation without breaking a sweat.
Unlike other off-road rivals, the Amarok appears pretty simple though. There’s no low-range gearbox to mess with, no terrain selection system or computer display wizardry. Instead, there’s simply a button labelled “off-road”, which automatically activates hill descent control (foot off the brake and let the car ease itself down steep declines) and the mechanical diff lock switch if this option is selected.
Expect to tackle 100 per cent inclines, slope angles of up to 45-degrees and water up to half a metre deep, with the clever 4Motion technology deciding where to send power for optimal grip at all times.
Pocket-lint
Plus, the added torque from that big V6 means the Amarok will even tow up to 3.5 tons of braked cargo in unfavourable conditions.
First Impressions
The improvements, both in terms of the new engine and the upmarket interior, are welcome additions and the Amarok can now truly claim that it is the only premium pickup truck in the segment to boast a diesel V6 and such a swanky interior.
Nissan’s latest Navara NP300 rival is arguably better on-road, as certain models feature a 5-link independent suspension system (as opposed to archaic leaf spring system found on most pickups) that makes it handle much better on the daily drive. Plus, Toyota’s all-conquering Hilux and Mitsubishi’s latest Outlander would arguably beat the Amarok in a true robustness test.
But that sort of defeats the point. Anyone looking to step out of an estate or premium SUV and into a pickup won’t be disappointed with VW’s latest Amarok, it’s a smart blend of capability with premium touches but it doesn’t come cheap, with an anticipated price of £35,000 with all the bells and whistles.
Sony PS VR Aim gun controller is here to make you feel like you’re carrying the real thing
Now that the Sony PlayStation VR virtual reality headset has a release date of 13 October and price of £350, it’s time to start thinking about gaming with it. To make first person shooters really immersive a new controller called PS VR Aim has been announced.
The PS VR Aim is shaped so the user can hold it like a rifle pulled into the shoulder or fire from the hip. The controller uses a similar system to the Move controllers meaning it will respond to movement in the real world by moving the gun in the game. So if you point the gun to the side it’ll move that way, independently of your head movements. So pulling off badass shots without even looking should now be a gaming possibility.
The Aim controller features a trigger for firing, stick and d-pad for movement and another front trigger.
Virtual reality game developer Impulse Gear has developed the first-person shooter, Farpoint, to work specifically with the Aim controller. The game is set on an alien world where your character has crash-landed and needs to keep moving and exploring to survive. Check out the trailer below to see more.
While the PS VR is available for pre-order now there is no sign of the VR Aim just yet. Presumably this will come in a bundle with the Farpoint game and, hopefully, be compatible with more games in the future.
READ: E3 2016: All the launches, games and consoles at the show
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