Apple Watch Recreated in 800-Brick Nanoblock Sculpture [iOS Blog]

With just under a month until the April 24 launch date of the Apple Watch, internationally renowned Nanoblock artist Christopher Tan has re-created the Apple Watch in block form in anticipation of the wearable’s release next month.

As Tan notes, the sculpture is a 2.6x scale model of the 42mm Apple Watch created from over 800 pieces of Nanoblock, which is a popular building block product in Japan, akin to LEGO. Tan says he’s “been a long-time Apple fan” and is “eagerly anticipating the Apple Watch.”

Tan has been creating Apple-related Nanoblock structures for a while now, last year debuting a 2,000-piece structure of the Fifth Avenue Apple Store, complete with the iconic glass cube entrance and descending spiral staircase. Tan’s creations have earned him spreads in magazines and even award recognition in the Nanoblock company’s own spotlight of the best creations and creators using the product.

Check out the rest of Tan’s Nanoblock creations on his blog.

Apple’s Tim Cook calls state discrimination laws ‘dangerous’

A number of tech executives have decried state laws that promote discrimination against the LGBT community by allowing companies to refuse service on religious grounds, but Apple CEO Tim Cook is taking his opposition to the next level. The executive has written an editorial for the Washington Post that says it’s “dangerous” to enact these laws, which include Indiana’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act and Arkansas’ tentative HB1228. To him, these measures not only “rationalize injustice” against fellow human beings (including himself), but are “bad for business” — they could stifle employment and corporate growth.

Cook stops short of taking direct action. He’s not closing retail stores or otherwise scaling back operations in states where these laws exist. However, a mix of cities and companies (including tech outfits like Salesforce and Yelp) have already said they’ll either avoid doing business in Indiana when possible, or shift their growth elsewhere. The editorial shows that there’s potential for more dramatic reactions — it isn’t far-fetched to see Apple, Google or others refusing to set up data centers and offices in states with laws that restrict civil liberties.

Filed under: Misc, Apple

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Source: Washington Post

Leaked Images Provide First Look at Purported Rear Shell of ‘iPhone 6c’

Chinese parts supplier Future Supplier (via Nowhereelse.fr) has posted leaked images of what it believes could be the rear shell for the so-called “iPhone 6c.” The rear housing looks similar to the plastic iPhone 5c, with two notable differences being a pill-shaped LED flash cutout and two rows of speaker grilles on the bottom of the smartphone. The size of the rear shell indicates that the device’s screen size could fall within the 4-inch range.

The pill-shaped LED flash design and two rows of speaker grilles are also found on the iPhone 5s, indicating that the iPhone 6c could have the same internals as the two-generations-old smartphone with a plastic shell. The smartphone would likely be positioned at the low end of the iPhone lineup as Apple’s free smartphone, alongside the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus and next-generation iPhones released later this year.

Apple did not refresh the iPhone 5c when it launched the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus last year, leading to speculation that the plastic smartphone might be discontinued from the smartphone lineup.

Tim Cook Calls ‘Religious Freedom’ Legislation ‘Very Dangerous’

Apple CEO Tim Cook has called recent “religious freedom” legislation passed in Indiana and Arkansas “very dangerous” in a public op-ed letter published by The Washington Post. Cook argues that there are nearly 100 pro-discrimination bills in the United States that “go against the very principles” the country was founded on and “have the potential to undo decades of progress towards greater equality.”

Cook’s letter comes in response to Indiana governor Mike Pence passing the controversial Religious Freedom Restoration Act last week, following intense opposition from opponents that believe the bill supports discrimination, particularly against gays and lesbians. The bill, based on the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act, signed by President Bill Clinton in 1993, takes effect July 1st.

“America’s business community recognized a long time ago that discrimination, in all its forms, is bad for business,” said Cook. “At Apple, we are in business to empower and enrich our customers’ lives. We strive to do business in a way that is just and fair. That’s why, on behalf of Apple, I’m standing up to oppose this new wave of legislation — wherever it emerges. I’m writing in the hopes that many more will join this movement. From North Carolina to Nevada, these bills under consideration truly will hurt jobs, growth and the economic vibrancy of parts of the country where a 21st-century economy was once welcomed with open arms.”

Cook believes that the recently passed legislation in Indiana and Arkansas, and similar bills being considered in other states, draw comparisons to the days of segregation in the United States, adding that Apple will never tolerate discrimination regardless of the laws passed. “This isn’t a political issue. It isn’t a religious issue,” he said. “This is about how we treat each other as human beings.”

“Our message, to people around the country and around the world, is this: Apple is open. Open to everyone, regardless of where they come from, what they look like, how they worship or who they love. Regardless of what the law might allow in Indiana or Arkansas, we will never tolerate discrimination.”

Cook tweeted last week that Apple is “open for everyone” and “deeply disappointed in Indiana’s new law,” calling on Arkansas to veto its similar HB1228 bill. Indiana has received a lot of backlash for signing the bill, with several organizations and companies throughout the United States vowing to stop supporting the state.

Around the world, we strive to treat every customer the same — regardless of where they come from, how they worship or who they love.

— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) March 27, 2015

Cook has remained committed to equality in the workplace as chief executive at Apple. In November 2013, he publicly supported the U.S. Employment Nondiscrimination Act, legislation proposed to prohibit many civilian, nonreligious employers from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity for the purposes of hiring or other employment practices.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

FDA Taking ‘Almost Hands-Off Approach’ to Regulating Apple Watch and Similar Wearables [iOS Blog]

As Apple and other companies create products capable of providing more and more detailed health-related information, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has decided to give the companies creating these devices breathing room to manufacture the devices free, for the most part, from the scrutiny of the agency (via Bloomberg Business).

The FDA’s associate director for digital health, Bakul Patel, noted that while the agency will be more lenient on devices aimed at simply improving the lifestyle of its customers, more health-invasive features, like a glucose monitor app on the Apple Watch, will continue to be reviewed by the FDA.

“We are taking a very light touch, an almost hands-off approach,” Patel, the FDA’s associate director for digital health, said in an interview. “If you have technology that’s going to motivate a person to stay healthy, that’s not something we want to be engaged in.”

The rule of thumb released in a few guidelines by the agency highlight that the FDA’s focus will be on devices and software that are attempting to replicate, or mimic, the functionality of a medical service or device. Basic heart-rate and step-counting aspects of these wrist-worn devices will receive little-to-no regulation from the FDA.

Marketing will also be a factor for the agency, according to Patel. If a company is attempting to promote a product as being able to assist doctors in making medical decisions, “it will require more oversight.” This is a concern not aimed currently at Apple’s own Apple Watch and HealthKit, due to both’s minimally invasive health-related functionality, but could become a concern in the future as Tim Cook himself echoed hopes of both platforms helping to pinpoint diseases and cancers in the near future.

“We have to be confident in what we are getting,” Patel said. “The trajectory is there and all signals are headed that way, but by the same token the research and science should get us that confidence. It boils down to will it work or not.”

“The FDA has a role to play for providing patients and consumers a level of confidence that they can use it,” he said.

With a focus “only on the higher end of technology”, Patel notes that the agency asks itself what kind of harm a user may face if the product fails, and uses that answer as a springboard into regulation of the product as a whole. The new laid-back angle is in stark opposition of how the tech world views the FDA, with most startups listing regulation by the agency as one of the biggest risks to a business “even when scrutiny is unlikely.” Patel, and the FDA, knows of the issue and plans to hire new staff in assisting to “improve relations with technology companies” in the future.

Although the FDA’s new lax approach to basic fitness-tracking will give companies more room to operate on their own terms, as technology for the smart wearables category moves forward, we’ll no doubt see more and more glucose- and blood pressure-tracking applications in the future. Apple itself has met with the FDA several times in the past few years, with most recent discussions centering around the functions and regulations of the Apple Watch.

Apple Won’t Allow Swapping of Bands at Apple Watch ‘Try-On’ Appointments

The Apple Watch will be available for in store previews and Try-On appointments starting on April 10th. The Apple Watch comes in a variety of sizes, colors, and band-types which can make the decision of how to pick a band and Apple Watch combination complicated.

Apple has a number of recommended combinations highlighted on their online store, but also sells bands separately, allowing customers to potentially mix and match between the various Apple Watches and bands. Some combinations could yield a mix of materials that readers feared may not look natural together, such as an aluminum Apple Watch Sport and a stainless steel accented band. The stainless steel Apple Watch is the most cosmetically versatile but carries a $200 premium over the aluminum Apple Watch Sport.

Apple, however, will not allow customers to try arbitrary mix and match options during their Apple Watch Try-On appointments, presumably in the interest of time and simplicity. According to retail training materials MacRumors received, Apple specifically states that they “will not size links or swap bands” at the Try-on table or Try-on cases. Try-on appointments for non-Edition Apple Watches are meant to last only 5-15 minutes. Apple will have 18 specific Apple Watch combinations on display at their Try-On tables and 10 specific combinations at their Try-On cases.

Apple Watch pre-sales and try-on appointments start on April 10th, and the official launch of the Apple Watch is April 24th.

Apple Watch for Sale in Retail Stores by Reservation Only, No Walk-In Sales

As the Apple Watch launch approaches, details have been leaking out about how Apple will be handling sales of their new device. According to leaked Apple documentation, the company will not be selling the Apple Watch to walk-in customers at launch.

Apple will begin offering online pre-sales of the Apple Watch starting on April 10th, with the first deliveries occurring on April 24th, the official Apple Watch launch date. During those two weeks, customers will be able to have hands-on “try-on” appointments at Apple retail stores in order to help make up their mind.

However, according to training documents that MacRumors has received, Apple is not allowing any walk-in retail purchases for the Apple Watch at launch. Instead customers must make an online “Product Reservation” to hold a specific Apple Watch model at a retail store. This new “Product Reservation” system is used instead of Apple’s “Personal Pickup” system for Apple Watches. Apple’s retail training documents indicate that “If a customer walks in and wants to purchase a watch, offer the option to try on a watch. Then help them place an order online or through the Apple Store app.”

Apple seems to expect low inventory for the Apple Watches, and notes that “try-on” appointments also do not reserve a specific Apple Watch for purchase. Apple expects to eventually allow walk-in purchases, but not until the initial wave of demand has passed.

‘Wunderlist’ for Apple Watch Brings To-Do Lists, Agendas and Reminders to Your Wrist

Wunderlist has provided a closer look at its Apple Watch companion app, which appeared on the App Store on Thursday ahead of the device’s launch next month. The app is designed with a unique Home View that provides access to your most important items first, with four buttons that display a bird’s eye view of your to-do lists, agenda and reminders on your wrist.

Wunderlist for Apple Watch delivers a hand-free experience in situations where you might normally use your iPhone, such as while shopping at a supermarket and checking items off your grocery list, or when using smart voice input to add to-dos for an upcoming meeting. The combination of Glances and real-time notifications ensure that you will stay up to date with important things during your day, be it during your morning commute, at the office or at home.

“As you move through the day, you won’t even have to open Wunderlist on your Watch to get stuff done. Just take a look at our Glance during breakfast to review your most important to-dos for the day. Thanks to Wunderlist’s real-time notifications, a subtle tap on your wrist will let you know what your colleagues are working on during your morning commute, and remind you to pick up the milk on your way home from work.”

Wunderlist for Apple Watch features custom animations for interacting with the app, and its developers have carefully considered which font sizes, layouts and interactions would work best with limited screen real estate. The result is a design that was inspired by Wunderlist’s brand-new colorful sidebar icons, with the majority of the user interface consisting of white text on a black background.

Ultimately, the developers behind Wunderlist for Apple Watch wanted to create software that gets out of your way, all the while providing multipurpose functionality for managing your day-to-day life. Apple Watch, and by extension the wrist, provides a more natural setting for to-do apps such as Wunderlist and Todoist, so it will be interesting to see how developers build upon these apps in the future.

Wunderlist [Direct Link] is free on the App Store for iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch.

Apple Hasn’t Approached NBC Over Content Deal for Upcoming Streaming TV Service

Over the past couple of weeks, rumors have leaked pointing towards an Apple-branded streaming television service that could include 25 channels for $30 to $40 per month with partners like CBS, ABC, and Fox. NBC and parent company Comcast are not part of the negotiations, and according to a new report from Re/code, that’s because Apple has not approached Comcast about a partnership.

Earlier rumors about the streaming television service suggested NBC’s absence from the upcoming package was due to a falling out between Apple and Comcast, but on Thursday, Comcast said that wasn’t true in a letter that it sent to the Federal Communications Commission. Comcast’s letter was a response to a filing from Stop Mega Comcast, a group that’s opposed to a Comcast-Time Warner merging, and in it, Comcast said Apple had not even approached NBC for a content deal.

Stop Mega Comcast’s note, filed on Wednesday, said, “Comcast may be withholding affiliated NBCUniversal (“NBCU”) content in an effort to thwart the entry of potential new video competitors.” The note cited a recent Wall Street Journal report that said Apple wasn’t talking to NBCUniversal because of a “falling-out between Apple and NBCUniversal parent company Comcast.”

That’s a bit right but mostly wrong, Comcast attorney Francis Buono wrote to the FCC: “Not only has NBCUniversal not ‘withheld’ programming from Apple’s new venture, Apple has not even approached NBCUniversal with such a request.” I’ve asked Apple for comment.

It is not clear why Apple has not approached NBC about a possible content deal for its most recent streaming television efforts, but Apple and Comcast have attempted to negotiate a deal in the past, which didn’t pan out. The Wall Street Journal has suggested that earlier talks failed to establish a deal due to Comcast’s focus on its own X1 web streaming platform.

As noted by Re/code, Apple could initiate talks with NBC in the future or potentially take advantage of a clause in the contract that was established when Comcast and NBC merged several years back, which would force NBC to license its content to Apple if Apple were able to establish deals with the company’s competitors.

Apple may be planning to debut its streaming television service at this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference in June. Many of the details about the service remain unknown, including the channel lineup Apple is aiming for, but the company is said to be in talks with ABC, CBS, Fox, Disney, ESPN, Discovery, and Viacom, which would give Apple access to channels like Animal Planet, TLC, MTV, Comedy Central, and Nickelodeon.

The streaming television service may be accompanied by a revamped set-top box, rumored to include an A8 processor, expanded storage, an App Store, and Siri support.