Apple might not be done killing ports yet, Lightning next on the chopping block?

We’re still reeling from Apple’s decision to remove the 3.5mm headphone jack from the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus in favour of using the Lightning port for connecting headphones instead. But just two weeks after the new iPhones were released, Apple has filed a patent describing a new system that would see data transferred through an optical interface.

• Apple iPhone 7 review: Refining the design rather than ripping it up and starting again

The patent, which has been picked up by Forbes, says the device – it doesn’t refer specifically to the iPhone – would send and receive “optical signals through openings or perforations formed at an external surface.”

“These openings can be sized such that they are not visible or not easily visible to with the naked human eye”.

If Apple were to remove the Lightning port in favour of this new connection system, it would make the iPhone completely port free and possibly even thinner. It would also mean future iPhones would have to come with wireless charging as its only means of drawing power, unless Apple produced a mains-powered accessory.

Just how wireless charging in this new way would work in something like a car remains to be seen. Although, Apple has also previously filed patents for a magnetic charger that would connect to the Apple logo on the back of the iPhone.

And what about data transfer? With no means of physically connecting to a computer and an iTunes account, Apple may force customers to sign up to iCloud storage, although we doubt this will happen.

• Apple iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus: What’s the story so far?

Having said that, the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus could be launched next year, 10 years since the original iPhone launched and skipping the traditional ‘S’ incremental model. They’re expected to introduce curved OLED screens for the first time on the iPhone and could theoretically represent a complete redesign of the phone. Would that include losing the Lightning port? We shall see.

We’re very dubious here at Pocket-lint that Apple would actually remove the Lightning port, after all, it’s only a patent, it doesn’t mean it will actually happen.

We wouldn’t be surprised if Apple eventually switched the Lightning port out for USB-C to standardise connections with the MacBook, but as for actually removing the port altogether? We’re not convinced.

Garmin Vivofit Jnr fitness tracker encourages your kids to keep active

Garmin has added a new activity tracker to its line-up, but this time it’s strictly for kids.

The Garmin Vivofit Jnr is a fitness tracker designed to encourage children aged from four to nine to keep active, with different fun-looking models that are durable and even swim friendly, thanks to waterproofing.

The tracker also has a one-year battery life so it can be worn 24/7.

It tracks steps, sleep and kids’ activities, encouraging them to play for a minimum of 60-minutes each day. There are challenges that can be set, and fun, educational mobile adventures to be undertaken.

The Vivofit Jnr works with a parent-controlled mobile app, so grown-ups can set challenges themselves and offer rewards for meeting them.

• Garmin Vivoactive HR with GPS and Vivofit 3 are here to make activity tracking smarter

“We’re excited to announce our first wearable just for kids,” said Andrew Silver, Garmin’s senior product manager for fitness.

“It was designed with kids and parents in mind, from its durable and comfortable band to its engaging app that motivates kids to get moving, while keeping parents involved.”

Coming in several styles, including plain black, broken lava, digi camo, purple strike and real flower patterns, the Vivofit Jnr costs £79.99. The included band fits wrists up to 145mm, while an XL band will be available separately for wrists from 146 to 170mm. Existing Vivofit 3 accessory bands also work with the device.

Simple unveils a smarter spin on shared bank accounts

Simple’s online-first approach to banking has been a breath of fresh air for a typically conservative industry. Now, it’s hoping to shake things up again with Simple Shared, it’s own take on joint bank accounts. Just as usual, it allows two people to access and contribute to a single account with two debit cards. But Simple adds an additional layer of transparency, so that you can actually see who made what purchases (yes, figuring that out is actually a problem among married folks). And of course, the Simple Shared accounts also have access to all of the company’s existing saving and planning tools.

Most intriguingly, Simple isn’t just targeting married couples and longterm couples. Any two people can create a shared account for managing their finances, which could be useful for roommates or friends traveling together. Both customers will also get individual accounts from Simple, which they can swap between the joint account easily in the company’s apps.

As you’d expect, you can also sign up for Simple Shared accounts easily online. That’s a big change from traditional banks, which typically require you and your partner to appear, fill out lots of forms, and prove your relationship.

Simple is keeping its shared accounts in beta testing for now, and it plans to have an official launch once it sees how people use the accounts. That might sound worrisome, but it makes sense for Simple to take things slow, after it faced some serious technical issues years ago which required a hefty infrastructure revamp. The company eventually bounced back, but it seems to have learned its lesson about moving too quickly without enough testing.

Source: Simple

Sierra Nevada is taking the United Nations to space in 2021

Sierra Nevada’s Dream Chaser might not have won NASA’s space taxi contract, but at least it’s taking the United Nations to orbit. The spacecraft, which resembles NASA’s old Space Shuttles, will launch the UN Office for Outer Space Affairs’ first actual mission in 2021, 59 years after the division was established. It’s meant to give developing nations without a space program the chance to send experiments and other payloads outside our planet, though any UN member can apply for a spot on the vehicle. UNOOSA will even offer technical assistance to countries that have no experience developing microgravity payloads.

UNOOSA director Simonetta Di Pippo said in a statement:

“One of UNOOSA’s core responsibilities is to promote international cooperation in the peaceful use of outer space. I am proud to say that one of the ways UNOOSA will achieve this, in cooperation with our partner SNC, is by dedicating an entire microgravity mission to United Nations Member States, many of which do not have the infrastructure or financial backing to have a standalone space program.”

The UN will choose submissions in 2018, and countries whose projects are selected will have to pay part of the mission’s total bill. Sierra Nevada officials said poorer nations will likely a get a price break, though. Plus, the Office for Outer Space Affairs is currently looking for sponsors to ensure participants will pay the least amount possible.

Via: Space

Source: Sierra Nevada Corp

Surgeons could use these fake elastic bones to fix injuries

A team of American scientists have developed a 3D-printed bone biomaterial that can coax your own skeleton to grow and fix injuries on its own. They haven’t tested it on humans just yet, but they were able to use their creation to repair a monkey’s skull and to fuse rat spines. The synthetic material called “hyperelastic bone” is primarily made of ceramic and polymer and can be manufactured using an expensive but commercially available 3D printer. It’s dubbed hyperelastic, because unlike other bone graft materials, which are typically brittle, it’s flexible, strong and not prone to chipping or breaking.

More importantly, it remains porous and absorbent even if it’s crammed into a small space. Those properties are significant, because your biological materials, such as your blood vessels, need to be able to infiltrate the materials to regrow real bones. Adam Jakus, one of the the team members from Northwestern University, said their hyperelastic bone is “purely synthetic, very cheap and very easy to make.” Since it can also “be packaged, shipped and stored very nicely,” he hopes it can be used even in developing nations.

That won’t be anytime in the near future, though, since the material has to undergo further testing before any hospital starts using it to mend fractures and other bone injuries. The team is pushing for human trials within five years’ time, but it’s worth noting that the FDA has yet to approve a 3D-printed regenerative bone material for testing on actual patients.

Via: Reuters, IEEE

Source: Science Translational Medicine

‘Fuze’ Case for iPhone 7 Aims to Bring Back the 3.5mm Headphone Jack

A new iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus case launched recently on Indiegogo, called “Fuze,” with the explicit goal of providing an integrated 3.5mm headphone jack directly into the body of the protective case. With an integrated Lightning adapter that plugs into the iPhone 7, the Fuze case provides users with the ability to charge their new iPhone and listen to music simultaneously without the need of a dongle or adapter.

As a bonus, Fuze also provides extra battery life to the iPhone, and is rated for 2,400 mAh for the 4.7-inch iPhone 7 and 3,600 mAh for the 5.5-inch iPhone 7 Plus. As a comparison, Apple’s Smart Battery Case for the iPhone 7 is rated for 2,365 mAh. Fuze said its own case provides “a doubled battery life,” with sync-through charging so users can charge their iPhone, the case’s battery, and listen to music at the same time.

Fuze restores 3.5mm audio jack for iPhone 7 and 7 Plus. It delivers a doubled battery life as well as scratch and shock protection, all while maintaining the iPhone’s compact profile. We need your help to bring back the jack. When you purchase Fuze, you purchase the freedom of choice.

The company said that its case is made out of durable TPU and ABS plastics, which Apple uses in its first-party battery case, to provide protection against drops and scratches. Fuze also lacks the “chin” of Apple’s Smart Battery Case, “adding only 5mm (.2 inches) to the overall thickness of the phone.” The case weighs 2.9 ounces as well, which the company equates to less than a deck of playing cards, so Fuze in total “keeps the slim design the iPhone is known for,” without unnecessary or bulky additions.

The campaign has a goal of $60,000 over the next month, with the first “super early bird” perk priced at $49 for one Fuze case, going to a basic early bird level at $59, and landing on the predicted retail price of $69 once the first two tiers sell out.

Users can choose from white, black, gold, rose gold, and blue colors for the case, and the company is currently claiming that the first units “should arrive before December 23” of this year. All the same, potential backers should note the sometimes disappointing nature of crowdfunding campaigns, which could lead to schedule postponements, design alterations, or cancellation.

Related Roundup: iPhone 7
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Apple and George R.R. Martin Debut ‘A Game of Thrones’ Enhanced Edition iBook

Apple today launched an “Enhanced Edition” for A Game of Thrones [Direct Link], the first book in George R.R. Martin’s fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire (via The Guardian). The new digital edition marks the 20th anniversary of the release of the novel, and its four subsequently published sequels are also coming soon in the new remade format: A Clash of Kings (October 27), A Storm of Swords (December 15), A Feast for Crows (February 2), and A Dance with Dragons (March 30).

The enhanced editions offer interactive maps, author notes from Martin, glossaries, family trees, and illustrations that “add to the adventure, whether you’re new to the books or speak fluent Dothraki.” For fans still waiting for the sixth book in the series, The Winds of Winter, each enhanced edition comes with an excerpt from the upcoming novel that was previously published on Martin’s website.

“We’re now entering a new period in the history of publishing,” said Martin, announcing the new edition. “The digital book gives readers the ability to experience all this rich secondary material that had not been possible before. These enhanced editions, available only on iBooks, include sigils and family trees and glossaries. Anything that confuses you, anything you want to know more about, it’s right there at your fingertips. It’s an amazing next step in the world of books.”

In a video on the iBooks page for the new collection, Martin calls his partnership with Apple “an amazing next step in the world of books,” thanks to the interactivity infused in each edition that can help explain the sometimes overwhelming nature of his novels. Fans interested can purchase A Game of Thrones for $8.99 today [Direct Link], and pre-order the other four books for $11.99 each.

Tag: iBooks
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2017 iPhone to Feature Glass Design With Stainless Steel Frame on High-End Models

KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has outlined further predictions for next year’s iPhone lineup, claiming the popularity of Jet Black models will encourage Apple to return to glass casing for 2017 models, as the material tends to have a higher gloss finish than metal.

While a glossy finish is possible for metal casing, we identify two prerequisites for the 2017 new iPhone to be competitive in terms of casing design, considering competitors will definitely launch smartphone models with glossy metal or glass casing prior to Apple’s launch: (1) adoption of a glossy finish design; (2) enhanced productivity and higher yield will prevent a supply shortage, as has happened with jet black casing, which is manufactured at an unsatisfactory yield rate of 60-70% due to the metal material; and (3) better scratch resistance will improve user satisfaction. All things considered, we see glass casing as the only option.

Kuo believes Apple is more likely to stick with slightly curved 2.5D cover glass on the 2017 iPhone, as used on iPhone 6s, rather than adopt a fully curved 3D design, in light of mass production considerations and drop test performance. Kuo previously said Apple will launch a 5.8-inch iPhone with a curved OLED display and glass casing next year, which a subsequent report said will be a high-end model. The other models would retain LCD displays with 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch screen sizes.

Kuo said the new glass casing will be reinforced by an aluminum metal frame, while stainless steel will be used for high-end models.

Metal frame can be stainless steel or aluminum, with former more likely for high-end models. As all-glass casing is not possible at present given technological bottlenecks, a metal frame surrounding the edge is necessary for reinforced structure design. As stainless steel has a better look than aluminum and costs more, we expect only high-end new iPhone models to come with a stainless steel frame next year.

The analyst believes Foxconn will be the sole supplier of high-end iPhone models next year as the exclusive manufacturer of the new stainless steel frame. Meanwhile, glass material supplier Corning and glass casing makers Lens Technology and Biel Crystal are said to be beneficiaries of the new glass design.

Related Roundup: iPhone 8 (2017)
Tags: KGI Securities, Ming-Chi Kuo
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