Apple’s iOS 11 upgrades for the iPad are all about productivity

With Apple’s new iOS 11, the company not only introduced a brand new mobile OS for iPhones, it completely revamped the experience for iPads as well. Indeed, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Software Engineering Craig Federighi said this is the “largest iOS release for iPad” yet.

For one thing, the dock now holds way more apps than before, and you can hide and reveal it much like you can with the dock on macOS There’s even a little predictive area on the far right that guesses what app you’re likely to launch next. What’s more, you can pull an app from the dock directly to the screen to have it appear in a Slide Over split screen windowed view. This, Federighi said, could be useful for multitasking.

Another handy feature is a new app switcher, which lets you not only swap out apps faster and easier by dragging and dropping, but also lets you see previews of each app, much like you can on macOS. What’s more, you can also flick on keys to access number and punctuation for even faster typing.

Also, you know that rumored Files app for iOS? It’s live here, on the iPad. You can access all of your iPad’s files on here, including nested folders and tags. Oh, and it even supports third-party storage folders from the likes of Dropbox and Google Drive.

The drag-and-drop functionality is improved as well. Now you can drag and drop a URL from Safari right into an email, and images too. Indeed, you can actually drag and drop multiple images into a single selection, by using one finger to hold the lot and the other finger to add to it. Also of note: If you added a folder to the aforementioned dock, you can tap and hold it to get access to recent files within the folder.

Last but not least, Apple also added more functionality to Pencil. For example, now when you screenshot something, that image will appear in a little thumbnail on the bottom left. Tap it, and it’ll zoom open, letting you instantly mark it up with Pencil. This is handy especially if you need to make quick notes to a photo or a drawing.

Another cool feature is something called Instant Notes. All of your handwritten notes are now text searchable and you can also do inline drawings right in regular documents too. Notes also now has a built-in document scanner — simply take a picture of the document with your camera, and you can start marking it up right away with Pencil. You can also open Notes directly from the Lock Screen by tapping Pencil on the display.

Developing…

Get all the latest news from WWDC 2017 here!

Apple’s iOS 11 upgrades for the iPad are all about productivity

With Apple’s new iOS 11, the company not only introduced a brand new mobile OS for iPhones, it completely revamped the experience for iPads as well. Indeed, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Software Engineering Craig Federighi said this is the “largest iOS release for iPad” yet.

For one thing, the dock now holds way more apps than before, and you can hide and reveal it much like you can with the dock on macOS There’s even a little predictive area on the far right that guesses what app you’re likely to launch next. What’s more, you can pull an app from the dock directly to the screen to have it appear in a Slide Over split screen windowed view. This, Federighi said, could be useful for multitasking.

Another handy feature is a new app switcher, which lets you not only swap out apps faster and easier by dragging and dropping, but also lets you see previews of each app, much like you can on macOS. What’s more, you can also flick on keys to access number and punctuation for even faster typing.

Also, you know that rumored Files app for iOS? It’s live here, on the iPad. You can access all of your iPad’s files on here, including nested folders and tags. Oh, and it even supports third-party storage folders from the likes of Dropbox and Google Drive.

The drag-and-drop functionality is improved as well. Now you can drag and drop a URL from Safari right into an email, and images too. Indeed, you can actually drag and drop multiple images into a single selection, by using one finger to hold the lot and the other finger to add to it. Also of note: If you added a folder to the aforementioned dock, you can tap and hold it to get access to recent files within the folder.

Last but not least, Apple also added more functionality to Pencil. For example, now when you screenshot something, that image will appear in a little thumbnail on the bottom left. Tap it, and it’ll zoom open, letting you instantly mark it up with Pencil. This is handy especially if you need to make quick notes to a photo or a drawing.

Another cool feature is something called Instant Notes. All of your handwritten notes are now text searchable and you can also do inline drawings right in regular documents too. Notes also now has a built-in document scanner — simply take a picture of the document with your camera, and you can start marking it up right away with Pencil. You can also open Notes directly from the Lock Screen by tapping Pencil on the display.

Developing…

Get all the latest news from WWDC 2017 here!

Facebook is bringing gaming videos to the living room

Facebook is determined to become a destination for gaming videos, and that includes when you’re lounging on the couch. It’s adding a dedicated gaming tab to its TV app that will highlight videos from the games, developers, eSports teams and personalities you like on Facebook. If you want to catch a tournament highlight or a new game trailer, you won’t have to pull out your phone or leave the living room.

The social network tells us the gaming section will be available June 10th on Amazon’s Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV and Samsung Smart TVs. This probably won’t be your first choice for gaming videos, but consider this: some platforms (most notably Apple TV) don’t have great choices for gaming-centric videos. Unless you’re content to search YouTube, this may be your best bet for gaming videos if you don’t have access to the likes of Twitch or Mixer.

Facebook is bringing gaming videos to the living room

Facebook is determined to become a destination for gaming videos, and that includes when you’re lounging on the couch. It’s adding a dedicated gaming tab to its TV app that will highlight videos from the games, developers, eSports teams and personalities you like on Facebook. If you want to catch a tournament highlight or a new game trailer, you won’t have to pull out your phone or leave the living room.

The social network tells us the gaming section will be available June 10th on Amazon’s Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV and Samsung Smart TVs. This probably won’t be your first choice for gaming videos, but consider this: some platforms (most notably Apple TV) don’t have great choices for gaming-centric videos. Unless you’re content to search YouTube, this may be your best bet for gaming videos if you don’t have access to the likes of Twitch or Mixer.

NASA wants to make autonomous planes a reality

Self-driving cars are quickly becoming a reality, but self-flying planes? It might seem far off, but NASA wants to make them happen. Today, three different aeronautics teams received the go ahead to explore projects related to unmanned autonomous aircraft.

The first study explores “safe inclusion and certification of autonomous systems in aviation” — or, to the rest of us, self-flying aircraft. This project will focus on the algorithms necessary for machines to make safe decisions on their own, without human input. We need to have confidence that a self-flying plane will make prudent choices, after all.

NASA also green-lit a project that will autonomously verify that a drone is fit to fly before it takes off. If the program senses an anomaly (such as damage to a system or hacked software), the drone will ground itself. Finally, the third team will research advances in quantum computing in order to better regulate and monitor the many drones that fly each day.

While all of these advances are certainly interesting, the prospect of a self-flying plane is the most intriguing. Sure, we have a long way to go before they’re used commercially, but self-flying planes could make air travel cheaper (though not necessarily any less demeaning) for everyone.

Source: NASA

NASA wants to make autonomous planes a reality

Self-driving cars are quickly becoming a reality, but self-flying planes? It might seem far off, but NASA wants to make them happen. Today, three different aeronautics teams received the go ahead to explore projects related to unmanned autonomous aircraft.

The first study explores “safe inclusion and certification of autonomous systems in aviation” — or, to the rest of us, self-flying aircraft. This project will focus on the algorithms necessary for machines to make safe decisions on their own, without human input. We need to have confidence that a self-flying plane will make prudent choices, after all.

NASA also green-lit a project that will autonomously verify that a drone is fit to fly before it takes off. If the program senses an anomaly (such as damage to a system or hacked software), the drone will ground itself. Finally, the third team will research advances in quantum computing in order to better regulate and monitor the many drones that fly each day.

While all of these advances are certainly interesting, the prospect of a self-flying plane is the most intriguing. Sure, we have a long way to go before they’re used commercially, but self-flying planes could make air travel cheaper (though not necessarily any less demeaning) for everyone.

Source: NASA

Apple WWDC 2017: By the numbers

It was an enthralling, albeit bladder-bursting, 2.5 hours at Apple’s 2017 Worldwide Developers Conference in San Jose on Monday. The company announced a slew of upgrades, redesigns, added features and new products during the widely-anticipated keynote address. Numbers, because how else does one keep a press conference from running long?

Get all the latest news from WWDC 2017 here!

Apple WWDC 2017: By the numbers

It was an enthralling, albeit bladder-bursting, 2.5 hours at Apple’s 2017 Worldwide Developers Conference in San Jose on Monday. The company announced a slew of upgrades, redesigns, added features and new products during the widely-anticipated keynote address. Numbers, because how else does one keep a press conference from running long?

Get all the latest news from WWDC 2017 here!

The iMac Pro puts a darker spin on a familiar design

The cylindrical Mac Pro was a gorgeous feat of engineering, but that beautiful design also made it tough for Apple to update it regularly with fresh components. No wonder Apple essentially ditched it — with the newly announced iMac Pro, the company squeezed seriously high-end components into a familiar body. The company has gone as far as calling it the “most powerful Mac” ever, which seems at odds with the iMac Pro’s classic, consumer-friendly aesthetic. After all, aside from the space gray finish, the iMac Pro looks a lot like a machine that would set you back less than $2,000.

That is, until you see it in person. You won’t be able to get an iMac Pro of your own until this December, but Apple had one setup waaaaay in the back corner of its WWDC demo area. Unfortunately, the spot where Apple installed the machine was almost as dark as the iMac Pro was. We couldn’t touch it — or even touch the table it was on, for that matter — but the sleek, dusky design does wonders to make the iMac Pro seem distinct from the rest of Apple’s desktops. Go on, take a closer look:

Get all the latest news from WWDC 2017 here!

The iMac Pro puts a darker spin on a familiar design

The cylindrical Mac Pro was a gorgeous feat of engineering, but that beautiful design also made it tough for Apple to update it regularly with fresh components. No wonder Apple essentially ditched it — with the newly announced iMac Pro, the company squeezed seriously high-end components into a familiar body. The company has gone as far as calling it the “most powerful Mac” ever, which seems at odds with the iMac Pro’s classic, consumer-friendly aesthetic. After all, aside from the space gray finish, the iMac Pro looks a lot like a machine that would set you back less than $2,000.

That is, until you see it in person. You won’t be able to get an iMac Pro of your own until this December, but Apple had one setup waaaaay in the back corner of its WWDC demo area. Unfortunately, the spot where Apple installed the machine was almost as dark as the iMac Pro was. We couldn’t touch it — or even touch the table it was on, for that matter — but the sleek, dusky design does wonders to make the iMac Pro seem distinct from the rest of Apple’s desktops. Go on, take a closer look:

Get all the latest news from WWDC 2017 here!