Apple Highlights Best ‘Shot on iPhone XS’ Photos

Apple this afternoon shared several of the best “Shot on iPhone” photos that it’s seen on Instagram and Twitter from customers who have purchased one of the new iPhone XS or iPhone XS Max devices.

The photos were collected from Instagram and Twitter users who included the hashtag “#ShotoniPhone” alongside their photos, with images showcasing Portrait Mode, Smart HDR, more advanced bokeh, Depth Control, and other features introduced with the iPhone XS and XS Max.

Image via Instagram user garethsingham
Apple’s new iPhones continue to offer the same 12-megapixel dual-lens telephoto and wide-angle camera system introduced in the iPhone X, but multiple upgrades result in pictures that are better than ever before.

More straight out of camera #iPhoneXS #ShotOniPhoneXs #shotoniphone pic.twitter.com/EzDNOjB9xw

— Andrew Kearns (@andrewtkearns) September 27, 2018

The iPhone XS and XS Max are equipped with an improved wide-angle image sensor that’s 32 percent larger than the sensor in the iPhone X and twice as fast for better image fidelity, greater color accuracy, and improved performance in low light conditions.

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A post shared by Austin Mann (@austinmann) on Sep 26, 2018 at 8:39pm PDT

A new image signal processor and second-generation Neural Engine included with the A12 Bionic chip allow Apple to process photos in a new way, using a Smart HDR feature for better dynamic range. The new hardware also powers Depth Control and better bokeh when using the iPhone’s Portrait Mode for artful background blurring.

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A post shared by Katy Morgan (@katypotaty77) on Sep 23, 2018 at 11:16pm PDT

The full range of Instagram photos highlighted by Apple can be seen in the Apple Newsroom feature.

Related Roundup: iPhone XSTag: Shot on iPhoneBuyer’s Guide: iPhone XS (Buy Now)
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Apple’s Greg Joswiak Speaks About Screen Time in New Podcast

Greg Joswiak, Apple’s VP of iOS, iPad, and iPhone Product Marketing, recently sat down with Arianna Huffington on the Thrive Global Podcast to discuss the new Screen Time feature that Apple implemented for the iPhone 5s and later in iOS 12.

According to Joswiak, information is the “cornerstone” of what Apple is doing with Screen Time. The company’s goal is to provide people with information about how they’re using their apps so they can come to their own conclusions about whether they’re happy with their usage statistics.

If you ask people how much they’re using their devices, they can only guess. If you ask them how much they’re using a particular app or category of app, they can only guess. I almost guarantee you their guesses are wrong. So what we wanted to do was provide people with the real information about how much they’re using devices, apps, categories of apps, and how many notifications they’re getting. These things are very measurable.

With Screen Time, built into iOS 12, users can get a complete overview on how much time is spent on each of their devices on a daily or weekly basis, with Apple offering up a weekly report. Joswiak says Apple wanted to make it as easy as possible, which is why iOS 12 asks people to opt in at sign up and delivers automatic reports each week.

Apple is hoping people will be “more cognizant” of what they’re doing on their devices, using the Screen Time information to make better choices. Joswiak believes the vast majority of people will turn Screen Time on and will use the information to regulate behavior. That’s how he uses Screen Time – awareness without imposing limits.

For me, I couldn’t imagine leaving my home in the morning without my iPhone. I think like most people. I still found it fascinating to be able to open up the Screen Time app and see where I was spending my time. […] That information was useful for me to regulate myself a to the behavior that I want. I didn’t need limits, I just needed that information.

Even with children, Joswiak thinks parents will benefit most from being able to have an “intelligent conversation” about device usage with real data usage rather than implementing parental controls, but the controls are there for parents who need them.

Because of Apple’s focus on user privacy, no data about Screen Time or app usage information is sent to Apple or any third party. Apple can tell who has Screen Time enabled and who doesn’t for users who send diagnostic information to the company, but data is otherwise “available only to you.”

Joswiak also highlighted iOS 12’s features for cutting down on notifications, such as Instant Tuning, which lets you quickly turn off notifications for a particularly bothersome app without having to dig into the settings. Do Not Disturb has also been expanded in iOS 12 with new options that let it be turned on for an hour or a critical event.

Apple was not concerned with people using their devices less as a result of Screen Time, because it aims to provide the best usage experience, not the longest. “We don’t need to make you use it every minute of every day,” said Joswiak. “Our business model doesn’t depend on how much you use your devices.”

Screen Time was not developed because of the well-known shareholder’s letter that called on Apple urging Apple to do more to protect children from smartphone addiction. Screen Time was conceptualized well over a year ago with the idea that Apple “wants to empower people with Apple.”

“It’s not a kids thing,” explained Joswiak. “It’s an everybody thing.” Apple didn’t set out to create a solution for parents to lock down their children’s devices, it was created to give everyone information on how devices are being used. “Apple is not reactionary,” said Joswiak. “We bring out features we think are going to help people.”

Screen Time is available for all devices starting with the 2013 iPhone 5s, and bringing these kinds of new features is to millions of iOS users is something that only Apple can do, according to Joswiak. He says that soon, 80 percent of the user base will be using the latest version of iOS 12, which is “staggering.”

Joswiak says that Apple has “lots of ideas” on how to take Screen Time further in the future. “We know there’s lots more we’ll want to do over time,” he said.

Related Roundup: iOS 12Tag: Greg Joswiak
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HP tries out a new premium laptop look with the leather-clad Spectre Folio

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HP has a new idea for what a premium laptop should look and feel like and it’s one made of something you might not expect: leather. The newly debuted Spectre Folio is a powerful, convertible laptop that doesn’t utilize a leather sleeve or skin; the full-grain leather is bonded to the aluminum and magnesium frame. It has color-coded hand-stitching that accents the main leather panels and even the touchpad has the same coloring, giving a uniform, unique look and feel to HP’s new notebook.

When you think of premium materials in the electronics market, you might think of exotic metals required for their construction. You might think of tempered glass, carbon fiber, or brushed aluminum, far different elements and compounds than those you find in furnishings or fashion. But HP’s Spectre Folio brings the worlds of classic and modern design together with what it has used to create the Spectre Folio, making something that has an old-world feel to it, with modern hardware under the hood.

Able to seamlessly snap between three distinct usage modes — laptop, tablet, and somewhere in between for media viewing and creation — the Spectre Folio has a choice of three configurations using Intel’s Y-series CPUs. The first offers an eighth-generation, dual-core i5-8200Y, starting at $1,300; the second, is a dual-core (with hyperthreading) i7-8500Y, priced at $1,500, and the third offers the same CPU, but without the built-in LTE Advanced data connectivity, for $1,400.

Each configuration will come with 8GB of DDR3 memory, 256GB of NVMe M.2 SSD storage, and a 13.3-inch 1080P, IPS display. HP claims that a 4K model will be made available at some point in the future. Port wise, it offers a pair of Thunderbolt 3 connectors, a single USB-C 3.1 connector, and a standard headphone jack. The battery is 54.28 watt-hours and we’re told it will be good for anywhere up to 18 hours of battery life in ideal scenarios.

The Spectre Folio lives up to its moniker in that it will be entirely silent, featuring no fans — exhaust holes wouldn’t exactly gel with a leather-clad exterior — but there is a slight gap behind the hinge, which adds a little bit of passive airflow to aid in cooling.

The leather-bound HP Spectre Folio will go on sale on October 29 at Best Buy in the Core i7 configuration, with additional models appearing on HP’s web store.

Can’t wait for that? These are our favorite laptops available right now.

Editors’ Recommendations

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• HP Spectre 13 (2017) review
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• Qualcomm’s push against Intel worked, and we’re all reaping the benefits

Google Maps adds new features to help make your commute less dreadful

Regardless of how close you live to your office, commuting is never fun — there’s always either an unexpected delay, traffic jam, or accident. That’s why Google is attempting to make your commute a bit more enjoyable, with new features to Google Maps that help you navigate disruptions to your commute ahead of time.

When you open the app, you’ll now see a tab dedicated specifically to commutes. This will provide you with access to traffic and transit information in real time, depending on where you’re headed. Google Maps will let you know if you’ll need to leave earlier than usual, and will also notify you about alternative routes to help you get to work on time. Those with an Android, will receive notifications for any delays or commute disruptions on their route straight to their device.

Another new feature provides support for those who have mixed-mode commutes. For example, if you drive to the train station and then hop on public transit, the app will give you updates for each part of your trip. You’ll know if there’s traffic getting to the station, when the next train will arrive, and how long it should take you to get to the office once your train reaches its destination.

Those who rely on the subway know that trains are often unpredictable, and that delays are common. To make your commute easier, users will have access to live updates of where their train or bus is on the map. For users in Sydney, Australia, Google’s partnership with Transport New South Wales also shows how full the next bus or train is. The feature will also be coming to more cities around the world soon.

Commutes can be made more tolerable with one thing — a good playlist. You’ll now have the ability to control Spotify, Apple Music, or Google Play Music right from Google Maps rather than having to switch back and forth between apps. Android users can also look through songs, podcasts, albums, and playlists on Spotify through Google Maps.

The new Google Maps update is rolling out on Android and iOS this week — and you’ll be able to find it via the Google Play Store or Apple App Store.

Editors’ Recommendations

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Apple Music and ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ Partner on New Season of ‘Up Next’ Performances Featuring Emerging Artists

Apple Music is partnering with ABC’s late night show “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” for a series of live performances by emerging artists, as part of a second season of its “Up Next” program introduced last year, according to Variety.

“Up Next” artist 6LACK performs on The Late Late Show with James Corden
In addition to the live performances on the Jimmy Kimmel Live! show, the partnership will include the creation of a custom content package for each emerging artist or group, including production of a live EP and a filmed interview with DJ Zane Lowe for Beats 1, the official radio station of Apple Music.

The first group to be featured will be K-Pop dance act NCT 127, who are scheduled to perform next Monday, October 8.

As part of its “Up Next” program, Apple has highlighted one emerging artist per month with a featured banner in the “Browse” tab of Apple Music. Promoted content has ranged from short videos and documentaries to playlists and EPs. The video content is usually promoted on YouTube and Twitter as well.

The first season of “Up Next” featured Grammy-nominated artists Khalid, 6LACK, and Daniel Caesar, in addition to Latin sensation Bad Bunny, Aria-winning Amy Shark, Billie Eilish, Greta Van Fleet, Stefflon Don, Sigrid, and others. Some of the artists performed live on The Late Late Show with James Corden.

Tag: Apple Music
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Steve Wozniak’s ‘Woz U’ Institute Faces Blowback, Former Student Calls it a ‘$13,000 E-Book’

One year ago Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak backed a new online learning institute that is aimed at educating users in coding and other digital skills. Called “Woz U,” the subscription-based platform is now facing blowback from participants who cite a lack of quality in the courses and experience offered.

CBS News spoke to one student, Bill Duerr, who said that he expected quality from the $13,200 program (which lasts 33 weeks), but faced ongoing issues. Duerr said the system was full of problems, like live lectures coming pre-recorded and out of date, unqualified mentors, frustrations with typos while coding, and sometimes completely missing instructors for certain courses.

Duerr compared Woz U to a “$13,000 e-book.”

“I feel like this is a $13,000 e-book,” Duerr said. While it was supposed to be a program written by one of the greatest tech minds of all time, “it’s broken, it’s not working in places, lots of times there’s just hyperlinks to Microsoft documents, to Wikipedia,” he said.

“When you’re doing code and you’re following along, and there’s a typo, and you get an error, you don’t have any idea why you got the error,” Duerr said. “And you’re like how can – did somebody not proofread this? Did somebody not make sure it worked?”

Besides Duerr, CBS News interviewed more than two dozen current and former Woz U students and employees, all referencing similar complaints. One employee was Tim Mionske, an “enrollment counselor” who sold Woz U to prospective students. Even when he began to have second thoughts about Woz U and its validity, the company was focused intently on driving as many sales as possible.

CBS News asked Mionske if he regrets his time with Woz U, and if he felt like he had to do something that wasn’t right.

“I regret in the aspect to where they’re spending this money for, it’s like rolling the dice. … But on the reverse side, I have to support my family.”

“In this case, do you feel like you had to do something that wasn’t right?” Dokoupil asked.

“At times I did,” Mionske responded.

Wozniak responded to Business Insider in an email, claiming he had not seen the CBS News report and that he is “not involved in any operations aspects” of Woz U, and as such could not answer any questions. Woz U president Chris Coleman said in a statement that the company is aware of certain errors in course content and that it has implemented a quality control system to catch them. He denied students being pressured to enroll and claimed that Wozniak reviews all of Woz U’s curriculum.

In Woz U’s original announcement, the platform was billed as a way to get people into the workforce quickly and affordably. At launch and shortly after, programs trained users in computer support, software development, data science, mobile application development, and cybersecurity. Woz U is an online learning course with an app and website, but the institute said last year it plans to open physical campuses in more than 30 cities across the United States and around the world.

Tag: Steve Wozniak
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Verizon’s $50 5G Home Internet Service Launched Today

Verizon’s 5G home broadband service is today launching in parts of Indianapolis, Houston, Los Angeles, and Sacramento, Verizon announced this morning.

Verizon began accepting pre-orders for the 5G Home service on Thursday, September 13, and customers who signed up will now be able to access their 5G connections.

“The world’s first commercial 5G service is here,” said Ronan Dunne, President, Verizon Wireless. “We’ve formed incredible partnerships with many of the world’s leading technology companies, the international technical standards bodies, public officials, developers and our own customers to drive the 5G ecosystem forward, faster than most had predicted. And now, actual customers. It’s been an incredible journey…and we’re just at the starting line.”

New Verizon customers were provided with the option to receive a free Apple TV 4K in lieu of a traditional cable box, along with free YouTube TV service for three months.

5G Home is built on Verizon’s Ultra Wideband 5G network and it is the first commercial 5G service to launch in the United States.

Verizon’s 5G internet service will be priced at $50 per month for customers who are also Verizon Wireless customers, and $70 per month for those who are not already Verizon Wireless customers.

The monthly fee includes all taxes and other fees, and there are no hardware charges or annual contract. According to Verizon, 5G Home customers will see typical network speeds of around 300Mb/s and depending on location, peak speeds of nearly 1 Gig. There are no data caps.

Following the initial rollout to Houston, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, and Sacramento, Verizon plans to rapidly expand its coverage area. Customers can visit the 5G Home website to receive updates on when the service will be available in their area.

Tag: Verizon
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Google Pixel Slate — the first detachable Pixelbook 2-in-1

Google Pixelbook in tablet mode

Google’s long-rumored convertible Pixelbook finally has an official designation. We’ve been calling it by its code name, Nocturne, for months, but its official name, the one you’ll see on the box, is said to be Pixel Slate. Technically not a Pixelbook but certainly part of the Pixel line of Google products, the Pixel Slate will be Google’s first Chrome OS tablet and will have a detachable keyboard, making it super lightweight and portable in tablet mode.

The Pixel line of Google hardware has always been iconic. Its smartphones debuted with great cameras, the Chromebook Pixels had unique input features, and the Pixelbook was the first truly premium Chromebook. A long-rumored second-generation of Pixelbooks has been speculated about for months and was slated to launch in two guises. One of them will likely be the Pixel Slate.

The news of the tablet’s title comes from Android Police’s David Ruddock. Although he claimed that the title wasn’t a big surprise, it’s still the best source of this information that we’ve heard so far. It’s not an official confirmation, but he claims that the source is trustworthy enough that it’s worth taking seriously.

Google Pixel Slate is the name of Google's first Chrome OS tablet. This name has been offered up so many times as a possibility I don't even think it's worthy of a story, but this is from a source I trust.

— David Ruddock (@RDRv3) September 27, 2018

The big selling point of the Pixel Slate is that like great 2-in-1s such as the fantastic Surface Book 2, its keyboard is detachable. That makes it both light and portable in tablet mode, and also potentially aids battery life. That detachable keyboard is internally code-named “Whiskers,” by the way.

However, that’s not the only exciting potential feature of the Pixel Slate. 9to5Google claims that it may also be able to dual boot Chrome OS and Windows, if not at the device’s launch, then further down the line. That would make the convertible tablet an impressively capable device with access to a much wider range of software than its Chrome OS-limited contemporaries.

But the Pixel Slate is just one of two new Pixelbook devices that are expected to debut at the #madebygoogle event taking place on October 9. The other device, code-named Atlas, seems most likely to be a true Pixelbook successor in that it will operate as a laptop, rather than a convertible tablet. Rumored features include a 4K display with much thinner bezels surrounding it, a processor updated to Intel’s eighth-generation CPUs, better touchscreen support for fingers and Pixel Pen with Google Assistant, and the introduction of new biometric security options for facial and fingerprint recognition.

We may see integrated LTE data connectivity too, potentially natively, if Google chooses to opt to use one of Intel’s new Y-series processors.

Some of these features may make their way into the Pixel Slate, too, but we’ll need to wait until the devices are debuted to find out for sure.

Editors’ Recommendations

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• Google Pixelbook review

Apple’s Free ‘Everyone Can Create’ Music, Drawing, Photos, and Video Guides Now Available on Apple Books

Apple today announced that its Everyone Can Create curriculum is now available in English on Apple Books for Mac, iPad, and iPhone. Apple says additional languages will be available by the end of 2018.

Everyone Can Create is designed to allow teachers to easily incorporate creativity into their existing lesson plans in any subject, including language arts, math, science, history, social studies, and coding. The series of guides teach students to develop ideas through drawing, music, video, and photos on iPad.

Apple’s marketing chief Phil Schiller:

We believe Apple technology can help unleash every child’s creative genius. Working closely with teachers, we have built the Everyone Can Create curriculum to help bring creative expression and the arts into the classroom, and to help students stay engaged through creativity and ultimately be more successful.

Apple says that, since releasing a preview of Everyone Can Create in March, more than 350 schools around the world have adopted the curriculum.

Apple Stores are also using Everyone Can Create in their Teacher Tuesday sessions. 504 stores in 24 countries have already taught over 5,000 hands-on Teacher Tuesday sessions on topics including coding and app design, video and music creation, and creative visual presentations, according to Apple.

Everyone Can Create includes four student guides for drawing, music, video, and photos, available for free in Apple Books. A companion teacher guide helps bring these projects to life, with 300 lesson ideas across media, projects, and subjects.

Tags: education, Apple Books, Everyone Can Create
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Google Maps on iPhone Getting New Commuting Features and Apple Music Integration This Week

Google Maps will soon feature an all-new Commute tab that provides one-tap access to live traffic and transit information.

The new tab will tell you if your commute is going to be a normal one, or if you’ll need to budget extra time due to things like an accident or heavy traffic. Google is introducing support for mixed-mode commutes that involve both driving and public transit, with helpful information along each leg of the trip.

In addition, transit riders in 80 regions worldwide will be able to see exactly where their bus or train is in real time on the map. Starting in Sydney, Australia, Google Maps will also indicate how full the next bus or train is. Google says the latter feature will be coming to more cities around the globe soon.

Last, Google says it is making Spotify, Apple Music, and Google Play Music playback controls accessible within Google Maps.

The new features will start rolling out globally on iOS and Android this week.

Tags: Google Maps, Apple Music
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