Apple adds Force Touch to 15-inch MacBook Pro, cuts 5K iMac prices
Now that the people are used to the pressure-sensitive trackpads in the new MacBook and smaller MacBook Pro, it’s high time that the 15-inch model joined the party. That’s why Apple has revealed that it’s bringing Force Touch to the larger of its pro laptops. It’s not just the user interface that’s been tweaked, since there’s faster flash storage, a further hour of battery life and AMD’s new discrete graphics hardware tucked inside. At the same time, the company has managed to get the base price for its 27-inch Retina Display iMac down to $1,999 by sacrificing the Fusion Drive. Even better, however, is that the top-line 5K iMac with a 3.5GHz chip will now set you back $2,299, at least before you pick some build-to-order options, obviously. Both devices are available from today at the company’s online and retail stores, as well as authorized resellers.
Source: Apple (BusinessWire)
Apple and Google push Obama to prevent encryption backdoors
Apple, Google and other major tech companies have urged President Obama not to give the FBI backdoor access to smartphone data, according to the Washington Post. The publication obtained a letter signed by no less than 140 major tech players, security specialists and privacy groups stating that “strong encryption is the cornerstone of the modern information economy’s security.” All of the players feel that it’s impossible to build a backdoor for governments in email, cellphone encryption and other communications without creating vulnerabilities that can be exploited by hackers or hostile nations. Obama previously said that while he’s in favor of stronger encryption, “the only concern is our law enforcement is expected to stop every (terrorist) plot.”
The letter is a direct response to FBI Director James B. Comey, who demanded access to user data after Google and Apple said they were going to create unbreakable encryption. He said, “there’s no doubt that all of us should care passionately about privacy, but we should also care passionately about protecting innocent people.” He added that the FBI and DoJ support encryption, as long as officials also get access to communications. However, the letter is also signed by three out of five members of an Obama-appointed review group, one of whom declared “if they couldn’t pull it (backdoor access) off at the end of the Cold War, they sure as hell aren’t going to pull it off now.”
If they couldn’t pull (backdoor access) off at the end of the Cold War, they sure as hell aren’t going to pull it off now.
Paul Rosenzweig is another letter signatory and normally a national security stalwart, according to the Post. But he said “if I actually thought there was a way to build a US-government-only backdoor, then I might be persuaded. But that’s just not reality.” Ronald L. Rivest, the ‘R’ in RSA encryption, feels that while standards can be tweaked for law enforcement, “you’ve done great damage to our security infrastructure if you do that.” Instead, the privacy activist who organized the letter, Kevin Bankston, said “it’s time for America to lead the world toward a more secure future rather than a digital ecosystem riddled with vulnerabilities of our own making.”
Filed under: Cellphones, Internet
Source: Washington Post
WSJ: Apple shelved its HDTV plans last year
Ever wondered what happened to that Apple HDTV we’ve been hearing rumors about for years ? According to The Wall Street Journal, those rumors weren’t baseless speculation, as the company did work on a television set for nearly a decade. Unfortunately, you won’t be seeing one anytime soon: the project’s reportedly been shelved since last year, because Cupertino couldn’t come up with anything to make its television different enough from competitors’. Apple apparently toyed with the ideas of 4K TVs, using a transparent laser-powered display and even adding sensor-equipped cameras that can move to capture the speaker’s face during FaceTime calls. In the end, none of those seemed “compelling enough” for the company’s bigwigs.
At the moment, Apple’s concentrating on giving the Apple TV box a slimmer design and creating an online TV service, the WSJ said. Cook and cohorts are already talking to people to offer TV channel bundles, which could be announced as soon as June and launched this fall. Despite the publication’s report, billionaire investor Carl Icahn, one of Apple’s largest shareholders, has published an open letter to Tim Cook that forecasts a “push into the TV market” for 2016. Whether Icahn’s prediction comes true remains to be seen, as Apple didn’t completely kill its TV dreams — it just put them on hold for now.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD, Apple
Source: The Wall Street Journal
Apple Nixed Plans for Apple-Branded Television Set ‘More Than a Year Ago’
Apple shelved plans to introduce a full-blown television set more than a year ago reports The Wall Street Journal, citing sources with knowledge of Apple’s plans. The company reportedly spent more than a decade researching the possibility of releasing an ultra high-definition television set before deciding to nix the project because it couldn’t find untapped features that would give it an edge in the television market.
Apple had searched for breakthrough features to justify building an Apple-branded television set, those people said. In addition to an ultra-high-definition display, Apple considered adding sensor-equipped cameras so viewers could make video calls through the set, they said.
Ultimately, though, Apple executives didn’t consider any of those features compelling enough to enter the highly competitive television market, led by Samsung Electronics Co.
One of the technologies Apple investigated in the mid-2000s was a transparent display that used lasers to display an image, but it used too much power and resulted in poor image quality. Another potential feature Apple explored was video calling similar to FaceTime, but it ultimately “didn’t seem compelling enough” for Apple to enter the television market.
The Wall Street Journal‘s report comes following comments from investor Carl Icahn, who today shared a letter covering on products he believes Apple will introduce over the course of the next several years. Icahn suggested Apple will dominate both the television and automobile markets, introducing 55 and 65-inch television sets in 2016 and a car in 2020.
Rumors about an Apple-branded television set have circulated for many years, but picked up in 2011 after the launch of Walter Isaacson’s Steve Jobs biography where Jobs’ interest in the television industry was highlighted. “I finally cracked it,” Jobs was quoted as saying.
Rumors continued through 2012 and 2013, pointing towards television prototypes in Jony Ive’s studio and work on television designs, but rumors died down in late 2013 as a product failed to materialize. Focus turned instead to Apple’s ongoing content struggles and its efforts to release a new set-top box, with the television team being disbanded and sent off to work on other projects. The television set project was not, however, officially “killed.”
Apple is expected to unveil a new Apple TV and a new streaming television service at its upcoming Worldwide Developers Conference, set to begin on June 8, but according to The Wall Street Journal, the status of the announcement hinges on the completion of Apple’s deals with media companies.
The new Apple TV is said to include a full App Store, Siri support, additional storage, and a redesigned form factor. The television service may feature a bundle of approximately 25 channels priced at $30 to $40 per month, with programming beginning in the fall following the prospective June announcement.
Starbucks Partners With Spotify for Interconnected Loyalty Programs, In-Store Song Picks [iOS Blog]
Longtime iTunes partner Starbucks today announced a brand new music partnership with music streaming service Spotify. Starbucks members will have access to in-store music within the Starbucks app powered by Spotify, and Spotify users will have opportunities to gain Starbucks rewards points.
“We plan on building one of the most robust digital ecosystems of any retailer in the world. Given the evolution of the music industry and the proliferation of streaming technology, it was natural that we would partner with Spotify in offering our customers a new way to engage with their favorite music,” added Kevin Johnson, president and coo of Starbucks.
The coffee company’s 150,000 U.S.-based employees will receive a free Spotify Premium subscription and will be able to use Spotify to influence in-store playlists. Those playlists will then be available to stream within the Starbucks app. Spotify users will also be able to gain rewards points for the Starbucks app and will be able to listen to the in-store playlists within the Spotify apps.
It’s unclear whether Starbucks will continue its music partnership with Apple’s iTunes. The two companies first established a partnership in 2007, allowing iPod users to figure out what was playing in Starbucks stores. Later, the coffee company began giving away free iTunes songs, which can still be accessed within the Starbucks mobile app. In 2011, Starbucks and Apple extended their partnership to the App Store. More recently, the two companies began teaming up for (Product) Red iTunes / Starbucks gift card combinations.
The new partnership will roll out to the U.S. later this year, with Canada and the United Kingdom to follow thereafter.
How to Use Siri on iPhone and iPad [iOS Blog]
Siri is a workhorse of a virtual assistant for iOS, but I rarely see anyone actually using the feature on the iPhone. Maybe it is because most people don’t know all of the amazing things she (or he) can do. Siri’s improved a lot over the past several years and there’s now a long list of tasks she can accomplish, so if you haven’t been using Siri it might be time to give it another look.
Siri can schedule appointments, call your friends, read your text messages to you, play back your music, and much more. Apple recently updated Siri’s webpage with more details on the different commands. Today, we’ve got a quick set up guide for using Siri, plus a list of features that Apple’s virtual assistant can perform if you already know how to use it.
Set up Siri
- Open the Settings app.
- Select General from the menu.
- Select Siri from the list of available options.
- Turn the toggle switch on.
- Optionally, turn on the toggle switch for “Hey Siri” to use the feature hands-free when it is connected to a power source.
- Select “My Info” to add your contact details to Siri’s database.
Once activated, to use Siri, simply hold the Home button on the iPhone (or iPad) until the microphone icon appears, or simply say, “Hey Siri” when your iPhone is connected to power. On the Apple Watch, you can hold the Digital Crown to bring up Siri, or just say “Hey Siri” immediately after raising your wrist or tapping the screen to wake up the watch.
Siri can perform a variety of tasks to make your life easier. Below is a list of phrases that you can use to make the most of your virtual assistant
Read more 
Apple’s billion dollar patent victory over Samsung gets partially overturned
Apple and Samsung’s legal back-and-forth has been going on for years, with the original case resulting in Apple winning over 1 billion dollars in damages. Over multiple appeals and retrials, the settlement has been notched down just over $900, but according to the most recent ruling, it looks like Apple will only end up winning it’s design patent claim, but not the trade dress claim. That ruling should knock the total damages down nearly $400 million for Samsung.
Apple originally argued that many of Samsung’s devices, including the Galaxy S and Nexus S, copied the iPhone design by having rounded corners and a rectangular shape. It was a miracle that Apple managed to convince anyone that they owned the rights to rectangle smartphones at the time, so maybe having that ruling overturned shouldn’t come as a surprise. It’s good news for Samsung, but they’re still likely going to be on the hook for the design patent infringement.
However things eventually end up playing out, Samsung and Apple’s legal teams are the real winners here.
source: Reuters
via: Engadget
Come comment on this article: Apple’s billion dollar patent victory over Samsung gets partially overturned
‘Audiobooks for Audible’ iOS App Gains CarPlay Support [iOS Blog]
Popular audiobooks service Audible today announced CarPlay support for its iOS app, allowing iPhone users who have CarPlay to listen to their Audible audiobooks in their vehicles. Audiobooks for Audible is the second audiobook app available for CarPlay, following in the footsteps of Audiobooks.com, which added CarPlay support to its iOS app back in March. Apple will also be introducing its own Audiobooks app for CarPlay with the debut of iOS 8.4.
With the addition of CarPlay support, Audible becomes one of a handful of third-party apps to work with Apple’s in-car infotainment system. Apple has maintained strict control over CarPlay apps due to safety concerns, allowing only certain audio-based apps to work with the feature. Other available CarPlay apps include iHeartRadio, Rdio, Spotify, Overcast, Stitcher, AtBat, CBS Radio, and Umano.
CarPlay availability remains limited as many automobile manufacturers have yet to introduce the system into their vehicles, though many have pledged to debut support in 2015/2016 models. CarPlay is mainly accessible through third-party infotainment systems from companies like Alpine and Pioneer.
Along with CarPlay support, today’s Audible update also brings design changes and feature improvements to the iPhone and iPad apps.
– Lock Screen/Control Center – Previously, the Lock Screen/Control Center buttons were always chapter forward/back, even if your settings were for 30-second forward/back. Now, your lock screen/Control Center will feature the correct icons.
– Sleep Timer – There is now a “Reset Timer” option after the sleep timer ends, reducing the number of taps from 4 to 2.
– Sleep Timer – The fade-out returns.
– Discover – On iPhone, we’ve updated the visual design by removing the dark overlay and going to a grid.
– Discover – On iPad, we’ve replaced “Discover” with a true browse experience (it used to just be search). It should now mirror the iPhone version.
– When you sample a book from a book detail page in “Discover” or search, it now plays in the player. This allows you to leave the detail page and still listen to the sample.
– New Tab Bar – We moved Settings into the main navigation and created an overflow menu (on iPhone) for the items that no longer fit on the main tab.
Audiobooks from Audible can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]
Video Review: Pronto Turns Your iPhone Into a Smart Universal Remote [iOS Blog]
Pronto is a small hub that’s able to turn your iPhone into a universal remote, allowing it to control a range of electronics and devices within your home using 360 degree infrared. The Pronto connects to your iPhone via Bluetooth and works with an accompanying Peel Smart Remote app, which provides the remote interface and lets you see what’s on television through an included guide.
As you can see in our video review below, the Peel app and the Pronto work together well, and with the included IR extension cable, you can put devices out of sight without losing the infrared connection.
Pronto is compatible with a huge number of televisions, Blu-ray players, DVD players, and set top boxes. It can connect to and control almost any television set, and it works with the Apple TV, Roku players, and more. Compatibility information is available on the company’s website.
The Peel app includes simple controls for all devices and it makes it easy to switch between each one. There are also profiles available for different rooms, so the iPhone and Pronto pairing can essentially replace all of the remotes in the house.
Smart remotes have been around for ages, and many technology companies already offer apps allowing the iPhone to control things like televisions and media players, but the Pronto goes one step further and lets you control all of your devices with one app. It’s quite similar to Logitech’s line of Harmony smart remotes, but without some of the bells and whistles and with a lower price.
The Pronto can be purchased from Best Buy or NewEgg for $49.99.
The top 15 smartphones you can buy right now
It’s been a while since we took time out to list our favorite smartphones, which means we’ve had to make more than a few updates to our buyer’s guide. Big players like LG, HTC, Samsung and Motorola have unleashed a flurry of updates to their previous lines, and in most cases the devices are better for it. The G Flex2 has restored our confidence in LG’s curvacious form factor, piling on strong internals and improved specs. Samsung stepped up its game for the with the gorgeous Galaxy S6, while HTC built on the success of its One line to bring us the M9. Motorola added LTE to the Moto E for 2015 and partnered with Google to launch the super-sized Nexus 6. There are plenty of options for all budgets and power requirements, so cruise through the gallery or head over to our buyer’s guide for help picking out your next daily driver.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Apple, Samsung, Sony, Microsoft, HTC, Nokia, Google, LG
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