tvOS 9.1 Code Hints at iOS-Like Folder Support for New Apple TV

Yesterday, Apple seeded the first beta of tvOS 9.1 to developers, the first software update to tvOS 9.0. While the release notes didn’t indicate any big new features, developer Steve Troughton-Smith has explored the code and found that HeadBoard, tvOS’ UI, includes support for folders.

Image via Steve Troughton-Smith

Folders on tvOS currently work in a similar way to iOS, notes Troughton-Smith. A user would just have to drag one app over the other to create a folder. Users would also have the ability to rename folders. Troughton-Smith was able to activate the folders using the LLDB software debugger. The folders appear to use a 3 x 3 layout and sit alongside apps on the Apple TV’s home screen, just like folders do in iOS.

Oh hey. Nailed it. 😎 pic.twitter.com/Be1Oc7SbaU

— Steve T-S (@stroughtonsmith) November 5, 2015

http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

In recent days, Apple has been updating the Apple TV’s new App Store with Top Charts and Categories for better discoverability. However, those updates were server-side updates that didn’t require users to update their software. Folder support would require a software update, but it’s unclear which software update Apple would enable it in. Last year, iOS 8 code pointed to split-screen multitasking, but the feature didn’t become official until iOS 9 almost a year alter.

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Apple May Build Massive 4.15 Million Square Foot Campus in North San Jose

Apple is hoping to sign an agreement with the city of San Jose that would allow it to build a massive campus in the northern part of the city, reports the Silicon Valley Business Journal. Apple is in talks with city officials over a development agreement that would lead to a campus up to 4.15 million square feet, larger than both its existing Infinite Loop campus and its second Apple Campus under construction in Cupertino.

The draft agreement, which is not yet completed, will come before the city’s Planning Commission later this month, officials said. It would lock in development rights — and expectations for both sides — for the next 15 years in an area that sprawls across 86 acres north of Highway 101 across from the Mineta San Jose International Airport.

Apple has already bought or leased much of the land that would house the campus in a series of real estate deals that have happened over the last few months. Apple purchased a 296,000 square foot research and development building in May, and it leased a 43-acre development site in August, which is approved for up to 2.8 million square feet of office space. Apple has also leased a nearby 202,000 square-foot office building. The agreement covers all three of these sites.

According to the Silicon Valley Business Journal, the development agreement is not the same as a concrete project and gives no guarantee that Apple will build on the space, but given Apple’s land grab in the area, it seems the company has plans for something big.

Along with its expansion into North San Jose, Apple has also purchased or leased office space in other Bay Area locations. In early October, Apple signed a deal for a 770,00 square foot campus in Sunnyvale, and back in June, it leased 76,000 square feet of office space in the popular (and pricy) South of Market (SoMa) neighborhood in San Francisco.

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Siri’s Initial Eight-Country Limitation on New Apple TV Due to Pronunciation Training

Despite Siri’s availability on iOS in over fifteen different languages and over thirty countries, the voice assistant’s support on the new Apple TV has remained limited to eight countries: Australia, Canada, Great Britain, United States, Germany, France, Spain, and Japan.

In a new report by MacPrime [Google Translate], the importance of “film and television content” — including altering the phonetic pronunciation of movie titles and actor names — was given as the main reason behind this initially small Siri support on the new Apple TV.

The explanation: Siri on Apple TV is different in large parts of Siri on iOS. The voice control of the set-top box Apple had to put a special focus on television and film content. These include in particular film titles and names of actors, directors, producers and the like. Apart from the various translations of movie titles, the pronunciation of titles or name differs depending on the country or region.

Specifically, examples for film titles like “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” and the actor Matthew McConaughey were given as the most different from the way Americans tend to say them. Since the new Apple TV is fueled by an extensive Siri voice search functionality, Apple feared that releasing the feature to a more global audience, who may run into problems and become frustrated, would dilute its overall appeal.

The project managers that MacPrime spoke to noted incoming support for more countries and languages, although the company has yet to give an exact date to the expanded regions that will gain Siri functionality on the Apple TV. Those areas that still received the fourth generation set-top box at launch, but are without Siri, were given a remote that looks identical to the Siri Remote but has been dubbed the “Apple TV Remote” due to its lack of full voice control capabilities.

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Classic Andy Warhol ‘Macintosh’ Painting Could Fetch $600,000 at Auction

Sotheby’s will soon be auctioning a contemporary Macintosh painting by the late Andy Warhol, a successful artist known for his paintings of iconic American objects like Coca-Cola and Campbell’s Soup and celebrities including Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley and Muhammad Ali.

The acrylic and silkscreen canvas painting is part of Warhol’s “Ads” suite from 1985, one year after the original Macintosh launched. The painting, which features Apple’s old rainbow logo sandwiched between the words Apple and Macintosh, is estimated to receive between $400,000 and $600,000 U.S. at auction.

“We went into Sean [John Lennon’s son]’s bedroom–and there was a kid there setting up the Apple computer that Sean had gotten as a present, the Macintosh model. I said that once some man had been calling me a lot wanting to give me one, but that I’d never called him back or something, and then the kid looked up and said, ‘Yeah, that was me. I’m Steve Jobs.’ And he looked so young, like a college guy. And he told me that he would still send me one now. And then he gave me a lesson on drawing with it. It only comes in black and white now, but they’ll make it soon in color…I felt so old and out of it with this young whiz guy right there who helped invent it.” — Andy Warhol

The starting bid for the Macintosh painting will be $280,000 U.S. when the eBay auction starts on November 12 at 9:30 AM Eastern. The painting is in very good condition overall based on the Sotheby’s report, with only light wear and handling along the edges, minor hairline craquelure, possible retouching and a few other blemishes.

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Apple thought about making a car back in 2008

The possibility of an Apple-made car isn’t anything new — as it turns out, it’s practically old news. iPod co-creator (and Nest CEO) Tony Fadell tells Bloomberg that he and Steve Jobs had “multiple” discussions about a car in 2008. They asked each other high-level questions, such as what the dashboard would look like and what the power plant would be. The idea didn’t progress beyond that point due to a combination of tight resources and a lousy economic climate. Apple was swamped with iPhone work, and the American car industry was “almost dead.” Why get into cars at a time when the field’s heavyweights were asking for bailouts?

Via: The Verge

Source: Bloomberg