Slow down, Apple: Perfect your iOS apps before moving to Android
Apple CEO Tim Cook let an intriguing bit of news slip earlier this week at a town hall meeting with the company’s employees. Apple Music for Android was apparently just a first step: The company is considering bringing more of its software and services to Google’s mobile OS.
It sounds a little crazy, as Apple’s message for decades has been how well its software and hardware work together. But both Google and Microsoft are infiltrating iOS with their own excellent apps, pushing many of Apple’s services to the side. Cook may feel he needs to fight back and bring more Apple apps to Android — but he first needs to make sure the company’s software runs better on its own hardware than it currently does.
It’s a refrain you’ve likely heard already. Many of Apple’s apps and services have become too buggy to recommend using full time, or they’re entirely outclassed by what Google offers. Raise your hand if you have a folder on your iPhone full of native Apple apps you never use … yup, that’s a lot of you. Now raise your hand if you use iCloud email, iCloud Drive or the default iOS Notes or Reminders apps instead of third-party options like Gmail, Dropbox, Wunderlist, Evernote and so on. Not nearly as many of you are raising your hand this time.
I don’t want to wax hyperbolic and say that Apple’s software is irrevocably broken and not worth using. I actually use nearly all of its services pretty extensively, and when they work well they are absolutely better at working across multiple Apple devices than a lot of third-party options. ICloud Calendars, Notes, Reminders and even Apple’s email app with iCloud Mail work fine if your needs are basic, and the way they integrate between iOS and OS X is a killer feature. But, true to form, there isn’t a lot of customization or flexibility there.
Apple’s apps have become either too bloated and complex or too basic with key features missing.
And if the app isn’t too basic, it’s too overwrought and complex. The greatest examples of these problems are illustrated in iTunes, which has grown into an unwieldy, bloated monster doing too many things at once, and Apple Music, which is powerful but not terribly intuitive. The company’s new Photos app for the Mac and corresponding iCloud Photo Library for iOS are more examples; once you take the time to figure out how they work, they’re a solid, sometimes excellent solution. But at first glance, understanding how your photos are backed up and synced through iCloud is not at all clear.
Then there are the bugs. I frequently have an infuriating time making AirDrop work. My first experience with the company’s new Music Memos app led to song sketches disappearing and reappearing at iCloud’s whim. And too often I find that the App Store isn’t downloading updates for me, even though I have auto-update turned on. None of these are dealbreakers per se, but I wager that most iOS users have their own list of bugs that pop up from time to time with no apparent explanation.
That’s not to say that the competition is perfect, either. No software works flawlessly all the time, and Apple does a lot of things right. Continuity and Handoff between the Mac and iPhone are great features, and iMessage for Android would be an absolutely killer app. But it would be even better if Apple tightened up its software ship first. I get excited every year when Apple shows off upcoming iOS and OS X updates at WWDC, but things rarely play together as well as they do in the company’s expertly managed demos.
That doesn’t mean there isn’t an upside for Apple here: Cook is clearly looking at the success Google and Microsoft have had bringing their services to iOS lately. Microsoft has been unable to get people to buy its phones, but under CEO Satya Nadella, the company now offers Office, Bing and even Cortana on the screens people use the most — that’s iOS and Android. And for years now Google has put nearly all of its often-excellent services on Apple’s platforms. (The less we talk about the one notable exception, the abominable Gmail for iOS, the better.)
Apple might try the “put your apps where everyone is” strategy that Google and Microsoft have used.
Historically, Apple has resisted this strategy, refusing to bring its software to platforms it doesn’t control. ITunes and now Apple Music have been the notable exceptions, and both served an obvious purpose. ITunes for Windows helped accelerate iPod sales, and the dominance of the iTunes Store eventually made it easier for everyone to buy an iPhone back when you needed iTunes to manage your phone. And mobile is probably the most important place a streaming service needs to be; not having Apple Music on Android would make it near impossible to compete with Spotify.
The case for bringing other services to Android is a little murkier, but basically it comes down to the same “put your software where users are” strategy that Google and Microsoft already follow. Android won the market-share battle, and that’s not going to change anytime soon. But having access to services like iMessage, the iCloud suite, the iTunes Store and Apple’s new photo-syncing solution would make using an Android phone with a Mac (or an iPad) a lot easier. And Apple made it clear last week that it will rely on its growing services business to drive revenue in the months to come.
If Apple can simplify its more complex apps while adding a few features to its more basic offerings, a cross-platform Apple app suite would be a lot more appealing. There’s a middle ground that the company has had a hard time hitting lately in software design and functionality. But if it can get back there, Apple will have a chance of making some inroads on Google’s home turf.
Bing’s big mobile search update comes to Android
Last fall, Microsoft rolled out a major update to its Bing app for the iPhone. The big change was the realization that searching on a smartphone usually means you want immediate answers to questions while you’re out and about, so Bing put all the data from its Knowledge and Action Graph right up front. In our testing, it felt like a superior search experience and something comparable with what Google’s doing with its own mobile app. Now, Microsoft has pushed that new experience to Android phones with the new Bing app that just hit Google Play. Whether or not you’ll want to switch it up from the default Google search experience remains to be seen, but it’s an app that’s at least worth taking a look at.
The app is essentially identical to its iPhone counterpart: it understands natural language queries like “what is the population of New York City?” and gives you an answer without you having to dig through a list of links. Searching for a city brings up local info, travel tips, nearby news, and a list of apps that lets you perform actions you might be interested in taking (like booking a hotel through Expedia or Hotels.com). Voice search is right up front, and there’s plenty of one-touch access to local points of interest around you like restaurants, movies and various things to do.
It remains a very solid search experience, and Microsoft rolled out a few new features today that weren’t present in the earlier iPhone app. When you tap the “gas stations” button in the “near me” section of the app, you’ll see gas price data from GasBuddy. Once you find the cheapest local option, you can just tap and get directions in Google Maps (or in Apple Maps on the iPhone).
Microsoft also added a bar code scanner so you can do on-the-spot comparison shopping to see if you can find an item cheaper online, something sure to infuriate local retailers who catch you doing it. On the iPhone 6s or 6s Plus, you can access the barcode scanner via 3D touch on the home screen icon; a long press on the big search icon inside the Bing app will get you there on Android, and older iPhone users will find it under the new “deals” menu.
Speaking of the deals section, you can go there to find… well, deals for stores near you. Your phone will use your current location to find retailers that are in the area and pull up any ways for you to save money right there. For iPhone users, none of today’s changes are all that radical, but it’s an entirely new and improved experience if you’re on Android. If you want to give it a shot, the update is available for both platforms now.
Source: Bing
Microsoft Band 2 gets better battery life with new GPS mode
Despite its flaws, the Microsoft Band 2 is an improvement from Redmond’s first attempt at wearables. With an update, the version 2.0 is getting a fix for one of our biggest gripes with the device: battery life. Thanks to a new GPS Power Saver mode, you can extend your tracking time by up to four hours, according to Microsoft. The option tells the wearable to nab your GPS location in intervals rather than monitoring your movements continuously. Power Saver mode is ideal for activities like running and bike riding, and the Microsoft Health app will still map your course on both mobile and the web.
Speaking of the Health app, it’s getting a new feature, too. With a weight-tracking tool, you can keep tabs on how much you’ve lost and get an approximate BMI reading. After entering your weight on a regular basis, you can view your progress in charts for 1-month, 3-month and overall timelines. Both the Microsoft Band 2 update and the weight-charting feature in the Health app are rolling out now.
Via: The Verge
Source: Microsoft
Microsoft buys popular Android keyboard Swiftkey
Microsoft has confirmed that it has agreed to buy London-based Swiftkey. Shortly after, the popular AI based Android keyboard was swift to confirm that it would be joining the Microsoft family. The deal is reported to be worth $250m, although financial terms were not disclosed by either company.
Swiftkey was started in 2008 by co-founders Jon Reynolds and Ben Medlock. The two have grown the company into a monster both on Android and iOS, after taking in only $20m in funding over the course of the company’s lifetime, a relatively small amount. The co-founders, who own “substantial minority stakes” will each make about $30m each.
“This acquisition is a great example of Microsoft’s commitment to bringing its software and services to all platforms. We believe that together we can achieve orders of magnitude greater scale than either of us could have achieved independently.“
While Swiftkey is huge among third party keyboards on iOS and Android, it’s not currently available on Windows phones. The Windows first party keyboard does emulate some of the same features, but it’s now seemingly inevitable that Swiftkey will be a big part of Windows going forward.
Already installed on 300m devices worldwide, Swiftkey has continued to innovate despite the lack of a solid business model. Swiftkey Neural, which is currently in Alpha, “is an experimental keyboard app that uses artificial neural networks to predict and correct your typing.” The company has also developed a language model that helps astrophysicist Stephen Hawking communicate.
There’s no word on how this will affect the Android application and keyboard in the short term, but this is another in a long list of acquisitions from Microsoft, many of them Android apps. In a little over a year, Microsoft has purchased Wunderlist, Acompli, and Sunrise.
I’m personally a user of Sunrise, and I’ve seen nothing but positive things from the app since the Microsoft purchase. The app still continues to work perfectly and new features like subscribable interesting calendars have been expanded.
While this isn’t concrete proof of the future of Swiftkey, it’s hard to believe that Microsoft would do anything to alienate its largest group of users, Android phone owners.
Sources: Swiftkey, Microsoft, Financial Times
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Microsoft buys SwiftKey in latest mobile acqusition
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Microsoft has been doing a pretty spectacular job recently of getting its tendrils into the Android (and iOS) world, whether it be via first-party developed apps or purchasing well-established companies to compliment its existing capabilities. In the latest example of this, Microsoft buys SwiftKey in an acquisition that allegedly saw $250 million change hands, though there’s been no official confirmation on the amount involved. Regardless of the financial details, Microsoft gets one of the most popular keyboard apps on Android and iOS and suggests it will “integrate SwiftKey technology with our Guinness World Record Word Flow technology for Windows,” though exactly how they’re going to do that is to be determined.
Across the pond at SwiftKey, the founders wrote an impassioned post that thanked its workers for getting them to where they are now, and that they would continue to be supporting their Android and iOS apps going forward. We’re guessing for the foreseeable future that nothing will change with either company, though expect this to change in the long term as Microsoft starts influencing SwiftKey’s development direction.
What do you think about Microsoft buying SwiftKey? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Source: Microsoft Blog, SwiftKey Blog via Android Police
The post Microsoft buys SwiftKey in latest mobile acqusition appeared first on AndroidSPIN.
Microsoft is officially acquiring SwiftKey
The rumors were true. Keyboard app developer SwiftKey has been swooped up by Microsoft for an undisclosed fee. The company stresses its apps will “continue to be available on Android and iOS,” although as we’ve seen with Microsoft’s other acquisitions — namely Acompli — there’s a good chance it’ll eventually be rebranded or folded into another service. For instance, Microsoft’s says it’ll be exploring “integration of the core technology across the breadth of our product and services portfolio.” That means it’s interested in the underlying smarts — the predictive word suggestions and drag-to-type interface — as well as the app itself.
Microsoft isn’t hiding this fact. In a blog post Harry Shum, executive vice president for technology and research, confirms that SwiftKey’s technology will eventually be integrated with Microsoft’s Word Flow keyboard. Yep, the same keyboard that won a Guinness World Record for speed typing (it was later broken by Fleksy.) The acquisition is, therefore, another move by Microsoft to make sure it has competitive productivity apps on mobile. Along with Sunrise, Accompli and Wunderlist, it’s gathered a powerful set of tools to compliment Office. They’re also cross-platform, which is notable as Microsoft further embraces Android and iOS.
Microsoft to buy Swiftkey
Microsoft is reportedly buying the artificial intelligence-powered predictive keyboard, Swiftkey.
Sources close to the deal say that Microsoft will pay about $250 million for Swiftkey and that Swiftkey founders Jon Reynolds and Ben Medlock will pocket around $30 million each.
Swiftkey is available for Android and iOS devices, but not for Windows Phone–yet.
Swiftkey initially sold for $4, but became free in 2014. Its Android keyboard supports over 100 languages and the company developed a special language for the keyboard attached to acclaimed physicist Stephen Hawking’s wheelchair.
The London-based Swiftkey has more than 150 employees in London and many are expected to join Microsoft Reseach, sources said.
Swiftkey’s artificial intelligence analyzes users’ writing styles to predict what word is likely to come next. Additionally, the app can learn slang and nicknames.
Source: Financial Times
Come comment on this article: Microsoft to buy Swiftkey
Microsoft reportedly acquires SwiftKey
In what may be bad news for Android users who are fans of one of the world’s most popular virtual keyboards, Microsoft is acquiring SwiftKey to the tune of $250 million. It seems that Microsoft wants to use the keyboard, which has been installed on over 300 million devices, as well as SwiftKey’s artificial intelligence research to bolster their slipping foothold in both the mobile market and the burgeoning AI field.
While many people think of SwiftKey solely as a predictive keyboard, if a sometimes unsettlingly prescient one, the company also has quite a bit invested in adaptive learning and AI algorithms that allow human behavior to be accurately predicted. Stephen Hawking’s current language assistance program, after all, was designed by SwiftKey, and the company is developing tools to help other communicatively disabled people engage in the world around them via their Symbols app.
Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft
The 150-employee company is based out of London, and its co-founders Jon Reynolds and Ben Medlock both can expect to make over $30 million individually from Microsoft’s buyout. Acquisition of AI frontrunners is something of an arms race in Silicon Valley right now. Google seems to be leading the way with their far-reaching DeepMind research (a company they acquired in 2014), but apple isn’t far behind with VocalIQ, an AI software set with natural applications for Siri.
Acquiring SwiftKey accomplishes two objectives for Microsoft. Recently, the Windows creator has been buying up mobile tech left and right in an attempt to push their way back into a game that has become overwhelmingly Android/iOS dominant. Meanwhile, although they have been pursuing AI in smaller avenues, Microsoft hasn’t had any big-hitter that could attempt to rival DeepMind.
No word yet on how this will affect the SwiftKey keyboard – which is not available on Windows phones – on Android and iOS. Neither Microsoft nor SwiftKey have elected to comment on this matter as of yet. Hopefully our beloved keyboard will not meet the same fate as Sunrise, a calendar app that was gripped, stripped, and digested whole by Microsoft like a bacterium in the grip of mighty amoeba last year, only to be assimilated entirely into Outlook.
What do you think is going to happen with SwiftKey? Let us know what you think in the comments below!
Microsoft is reportedly buying SwiftKey
Microsoft has made a habit out of acquiring significant mobile app makers, but its next deal may cut particularly close to the bone for smartphone fans. The Financial Times‘ sources understand that Microsoft is on the cusp of acquiring software keyboard maker SwiftKey for $250 million. The exact intent isn’t clear — Microsoft isn’t commenting. However a more advanced input method may be only part of why it’s interested.
SwiftKey’s keyboards have long had a good reputation thanks to their prediction algorithm, which is both smarter than most and optionally taps into your own email and social networks for help. Microsoft could use that to boost its Word Flow keyboard. However, SwiftKey’s prediction recently got much smarter: the company has been trying out neural network technology to better understand what you want to write. For Microsoft, acquiring SwiftKey could help implement artificial intelligence (currently all the rage among rivals) into its products.
This may not be very reassuring if you like SwiftKey, though. Microsoft tends not to discontinue acquired products right away, but their long-term fates vary. Acompli’s email app eventually became Outlook Mobile, but Sunrise Calendar? That’s being discontinued as Microsoft folds its features into Outlook. It’s easy to see SwiftKey surviving due to sheer popularity, but don’t be shocked if you eventually have to look at Swype or other alternatives.
Source: Financial Times
Microsoft shows how NFL fans could use HoloLens in the future
It’s going to be a while before HoloLens, Microsoft’s newly developed augmented reality headset, will become a mainstream product. But since its debut last year, the tech giant has been teasing the potential for HoloLens across different categories, including video games and as a tool for businesses. Now, Microsoft is expanding on that, revealing a fresh concept based around the NFL — just in time for Super Bowl 50.
The video (below) shows how football fans could one day use the device to enhance the game-day viewing experience, right from their living room. One scene, for example, gives us a glimpse at someone wearing HoloLens and using gestures to bring up a 3D hologram of a stadium, which shows detailed information such as attendance and weather.
Then, you can see another user who, as a game is happening on TV in the background, sees live fantasy football stats complete with motion graphics. You also get a hologram of Marshawn Lynch running through the wall, similar to Microsoft’s Project XRay mixed reality title — but here it’s about showing you the player’s height, weight and more.
Keep in mind this is only a concept at the moment, and Microsoft says there are no specific plans to turn it into a reality. But one can still hope.
Source: Microsoft
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