Apple today announced that it would be bringing three of its
entertainment services -- Apple Music, iTunes Movies and iBooks -- to customers
in China today. This marks the first time customers in China will have access
to Apple's entertainment ecosystem.
“Customers in China love the App Store
and have made it our largest market in the world for app downloads,” said Eddy
Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. “One of
the top requests has been more great content and we’re thrilled to bring music,
movies and books to China, curated by a local team of experts.”
Customers in China
will be able to sign up for the three-month free trial of Apple Music starting
on September 30. The service will include music from Chinese artists like Eason
Chan and JJ Lin in addition to international artists like Ed Sheeran and Taylor
Swift. Likewise, iTunes Movies will include movies from Chinese film studios in
addition to Hollywood blockbusters like Jurassic World and Avengers:
Age of Ultron. iBooks will include free and paid Chinese language books.
iFixit began its teardown of the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus
after the new smartphones became available last Friday, discovering the
specifics of the smaller batteries, Taptic Engine, and 3D Touch
display. After a few iPhone fans began extensive water resistance
testing over the weekend, iFixit decided to revisit its teardown
of the new devices with a renewed focus on components placed by Apple
that could point to the company's interest in a more liquid-proof
smartphone.
Twitter
is planning to introduce a new solution that will allow users to create tweets
that exceed 140 characters in length, reports Re/code. Twitter will implement longer tweets
through a new product, but it is not yet clear what that product will look like
or how it will work.
There are existing services designed to let users publish long-form content on
Twitter, like
TwitLonger, which directs users to a website to read a full tweet,
or OneShot, which lets users post images of text, but Twitter may have a better
solution in mind for its own product.
Teardowns of the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus have revealed two different A9 chips
inside the devices, one created by TSMC and one developed by Samsung,
which is slightly smaller in size, having been manufactured on a
14-nanometer process instead of a 16-nanometer process.
There was early some speculation that the chips were divided by model,
with the iPhone 6s getting the smaller Samsung chip and the iPhone 6s
Plus receiving the larger TSMC chip, but new data collected by an iOS developer suggests that is not the case.
Hiraku Wang has created an app that's able to determine whether an
iPhone has a TSMC chip or a Samsung chip, and has shared some data on
results gathered from users who have installed his app.
Apple yesterday seeded the second beta of an upcoming OS X El Capitan update to
developers for testing purposes, more than a week after releasing the first OS X 10.11.1 beta and one day before the
scheduled public release of OS X El Capitan on September 30.
The new beta is available through the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App
Store and
Apple Releases iOS 9 With Proactive Siri and Search, iPad Split-Screen Multitasking, Transit Directions, and More
Apple released iOS 9 to the public, making the download available to all users who have an iPhone 4s or later, iPad 2 or later, 5th-generation iPod touch or later, or any iPad mini. The update can be downloaded through iTunes or over-the-air by going to the Settings app and tapping General --> Software Update.
As with all major software updates, it may take a few minutes for the update to propagate to all users due to high demand. Some users are seeing "Software Update Failed" messages and may have better luck installing via iTunes.
Public beta testers who have the iOS 9 golden master installed will receive the release version of iOS 9 over-the-air.
iOS 9 builds on content introduced with iOS 8, bringing subtle design changes, refined features, improved functionality, and performance enhancements. From Apple's release notes:
Wednesday September 16, 2015 11:05 am PDT by Juli Clover
There are quite a few major changes in
iOS 9, like split-screen multitasking for the iPad, improvements to
search and Siri, under-the-hood performance boosts, and revamped apps,
but there are also dozens if not hundreds of lesser-known tweaks and
refinements that make the iOS 9 experience better than ever before.
We've had a lot of hands-on time with iOS 9, so we've rounded up a list
of the best hidden features in new operating system. These are great
little changes you're going to want to know about, so make sure to check
out the video and the list below.
Settings search - There's a new search bar in the Settings app
that lets you quickly locate a specific setting by typing in what you're
looking for. Want Siri settings? Search for Siri, and all the settings
options for Siri will be shown in a list.
Apple launched its iPhone Upgrade Program
today in the U.S., enabling customers to purchase the iPhone 6s or
iPhone 6s Plus with AppleCare+ coverage included for 24 equal payments
of between around $30 and $45 per month depending on the model. After at
least 12 monthly payments, the customer can upgrade to a new iPhone and
restart the 24-month payment cycle.
Apple stipulates that the iPhone Upgrade Program is available to
qualified customers only with a valid U.S. personal credit card, since
the program is based on a 24-month installment loan with a 0% APR from
Citizens Bank. For customers with good credit, most did not expect this
requirement to be an issue. But, as launch day unfolds, some customers
have had frustrating experiences.
We're well into the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus launch day, which means people all over the world are receiving their devices either via delivery or from Apple retail locations. On the MacRumors forums, customers who have an iPhone in hand have started sharing their first impressions of the device, giving us a look at release reactions from the general public.
We're highlighting some interesting tidbits and thoughts on the iPhones below, and we'll link to a number of forum threads that are well worth checking out.
iphone6sbox
Image via SmoveAL01
Initial reactions from customers receiving their devices are similar to the thoughts we saw in the first reviews. Customers are liking the new flagship feature, 3D Touch, and say Touch ID is a whole lot faster than it was on the iPhone 6. Some even think it's too fast. From MacRumors forum member Conan86:
iFixit is in the process of taking apart the brand new iPhone 6s. While the internals aren't arranged too differently from the iPhone 6, there are some major visual differences worth noting. These include the new Taptic Engine, a smaller battery and the 3D Touch display.
iphone6steardownr The most instantly recognizable difference is the smaller battery. While Apple's 3D Touch video previously confirmed that the iPhone 6s would carry a 1715 mAh batter, which is smaller than the iPhone 6's 1810 mAh battery, iFixit's teardown provides further confirmation.
Another major visual difference comes in the presence of the new
Last year, the iPhone 6 Plus had one camera feature the iPhone 6 did not: optical image stabilization for photos, which automatically adjusts the camera sensor to make up for any shakiness the camera may endure. With the iPhone 6s Plus, Apple has added optical image stabilization for video as well as still images. Tonight, Giga Tech has uploaded a new video that shows off the 6s Plus' optical image stabilization versus the iPhone 6s.
Apple has updated its regional websites for Belgium, Finland, Norway, Luxembourg and Poland to announce the Apple Watch will be available on October 9.
apple-watch-trio-new
Belgium, Finland, Norway, Luxembourg and Poland will be part of the sixth Apple Watch launch wave:
April 24: Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, U.K. and U.S.
Phone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus launch day has officially arrived in the United States and Canada as Apple Stores in eastern cities such as New York City, Boston, Philadelphia, Toronto and Washington D.C. have now opened at 8:00 am local time. The launch will continue westward across the U.S. and Canada over the next three hours.
Apple Stores will now begin fulfilling in-store reservations for the new iPhones and accepting walk-in purchases from the long queues that have formed at some locations.
BlackBerry AndroidBlackBerry today confirmed that the company will be making an Android-based smartphone, with a launch date aimed for the end of 2015, even as it reported a greater-than-expected annual loss (via Re/code).
The company reported that its latest quarterly loss was 13 cents per share on revenue of approximately $490 million, with analysts expecting 9 cents per share loss on revenue reaching closer to $600 million. Still, BlackBerry believes that its new handset, called the Priv, will boost its quarterly earnings as it heads into 2016.
As customers begin receiving the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus around the world, the smartphones have quickly been subjected to unboxings, drop tests, teardowns, bend tests and camera comparisons. The latest is a speed test between the iPhone 6s Plus and iPhone 6 Plus that confirms the former is faster than its predecessor.
A9-iPhone6s
YouTube channel Mad Matt TV tested the speed of the iPhone 6s Plus and iPhone 6 Plus side by side based on opening apps and loading websites in Safari on each device at the same time. The results show the iPhone 6s Plus is faster than the iPhone 6 Plus, but the difference was minimal for most tasks and equal for others.
LibreOffice 5.0 Is the Office Suite Champ libreoffice
LibreOffice 5.0, The Document Foundation's latest open source office suite, deserves to top the list of contenders for best performance in this category.
The Document Foundation last month released LibreOffice 5.0 for Linux, Mac OS X and Windows. It is the 10th major release since the launch of the project, and the first in the third development cycle.
The release coincides with the rollout of Windows 10 and positions the LibreOffice suite head to head with Microsoft Office. This is an important milestone for LibreOffice.
Apple's latest fourth-generation Apple TV includes a dedicated App
Store, which will allow users to access many apps and features that were
not previously available on the older Apple TV. Popular media streaming
apps Plex and VLC, for example, are both coming to the Apple TV, with tvOS versions already in the works.
The developers behind VLC announced
their work on a tvOS app this morning, though few details have been
given. "Some code to build VLCKit for the new tvOS was merged," reads a
blog post. "It's very early though, but we have video playback!"
NASA earlier this month entered an agreement with
Arx Pax to use its
Magnetic Field Architecture technology in hardware that will let
astronauts move tiny satellites without touching them.
Earlier this month, we reported that Apple may have acquired Swiss real-time motion capture firm Faceshift,
based on the company's corporate directors stepping down in August and
being replaced by Martin Frey, a mergers and acquisitions attorney at
Baker & McKenzie. Apple has frequently used Baker & McKenzie's
services around the world, including management of some of Apple's Swiss
trademarks.
Lending further credence to the rumor, Apple has posted a job listing
for a PhD-level Software Engineering position within its Camera and
Media Algorithms Group. The listing provides a generic location of
Apple's Swiss corporate headquarters at Löwenstrasse 29 in Zurich,
Switzerland, but the highly technical skills and experience required for
the job suggest it may be located at nearby Faceshift.
A new report today from Swedish news service Rapidus (via Tech.eu)
claims that Apple has been quietly increasing its presence in Lund,
Sweden with a focus on an "advanced mapping technology" that aims to
further improve Apple Maps . The company is reportedly working out of a
new R&D center in the city said to have launched last November.
Google will be coming
late to the publishing party, having failed to challenge Facebook with
its own social media platforms -- the short-lived Google Buzz and the
faltering Google+, noted SEO researcher Joshua J. Bachynski. Google's
inability to understand its user base has forced it to form an uneasy
partnership with Twitter and others, he suggested.
While the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus are designed with Series 7000 aluminum, which has a stronger and marginally thicker
composition compared to Series 6000 aluminum used on the iPhone 6 and
iPhone 6 Plus, the new smartphones weigh more primarily due to their 3D
Touch displays.
Apple published Environmental Reports for the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus that reveal the devices are about 11% heavier than their predecessors, as first noted by The Verge.
But the additional weight comes almost entirely from the 3D Touch
display, which weighs nearly twice as much as a regular ion-strengthened
display.
The material breakdowns for the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus list the
display weighing 29 grams and 40 grams respectively, while the iPhone 6
and iPhone 6 Plus displays weigh 12 grams and 19 grams respectively.
Apple has announced the grand reopening
of its Company Store at its One Infinite Loop headquarters in
Cupertino, California will take place on Saturday, September 19 at 10 AM
Pacific. The store has been closed for renovations since June 15.
The Company Store is
open to the public and sells Apple logo t-shirts, caps and accessories,
but unlike traditional Apple Retail Stores it does not offer services
such as the Genius Bar or sell products like Macs, iPhones or iPads.
Burberry is launching a curated channel on Apple Music, making it the first luxury fashion house to do so. The Burberry Apple Music channel
is listed under "Curator Playlists," which also includes content from
brands and media sites like GQ, Wired, Pitchfork, and Rolling Stone.
Content provided by Burberry includes selections from company's current
CEO, Christopher Bailey, along with music played on the Burberry runway
and a selection of emerging British talent.
Burberry is the first clothing company to debut an Apple Music channel, but it's not an unusual choice due to its Burberry Acoustic campaign,
which supports new British music talent and features acoustic tracks
recorded exclusively for Burberry. Burberry employs a full-time music
team that works on Burberry Acoustic and matches up artists with record labels.
iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s pre-orders began on September 12 at 12:01 AM
Pacific, with two options to receive your new smartphone: home delivery
or in-store pickup. Customers that do not place a pre-order or
reservation for in-store pickup can also try their luck by standing in
line at an Apple Store on September 25, but expect long lines. Most
retail locations will open early at 8:00 AM local time.
Reserve and Pick Up
The easiest and most convenient way to purchase an iPhone 6s or iPhone
6s Plus from an Apple Store on launch day is to make a reservation for
in-store pickup by September 25. Simply choose an iPhone model, color,
storage size and carrier on Apple's website and click on the "Reserve to
buy in store" button.
Next, sign in with your Apple ID and select an Apple Store near you. You
will then be required to text a code to an Apple number to receive a
unique registration code to enter on Apple's website. Then, select how
many iPhones you would like, choose a 30-minute time block for pickup,
verify your contact information and confirm your reservation.
Apple updated its Apple Pay participating issuers list
today with 46 additional banks, credit unions and financial
institutions supporting the contactless payment service in the United
States. Apple Pay now has over 500 participating issuers nationwide, and
several more plan to support the NFC-based mobile payment service in
the future.
Citizens Bank and E-TRADE Bank highlight the complete list of Apple Pay
participating issuers, although it's worth noting that some smaller
banks, credit unions and financial institutions listed may have already
had support for the contactless payments service and are only now being
reflected on Apple's website.
Apple last week introduced the iPad mini 4,
advertising the device as essentially a scaled down version of the iPad
Air 2, although the device uses a A8 chip rather than the A8X found in
the iPad Air 2. Ars Technica has now taken an early look
at the iPad mini 4, finding that the A8 runs at 1.5 GHz, slightly
faster than the 1.4 GHz A8 used in the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. Like the
iPad Air 2, the iPad mini 4 also carries 2 GB of RAM.
Having
a whole extra CPU core makes the 1.5GHz A8X in the iPad Air 2 about 50%
faster than the Mini 4, but we're still looking at a 20-or-so percent
improvement over the old Mini 2 and Mini 3. That extra RAM will be good
for more than just Split View multitasking, too—2GB iDevices need to
eject things from memory less often, cutting down on the amount of tab
reloading that Safari does and generally reducing wait times when
switching between different tabs and apps.
Apple is moving forward with plans to build a unified platform for
cloud-based web services such as iCloud, iTunes and Siri over the next
few years, according to The Information.
The new platform is based on Siri, which itself is powered by open
source infrastructure software called Mesos on the backend, according to
the report.
The system will be what’s called an
“orchestrated infrastructure” that has the ability, among other things,
to run Internet applications inside “containers,” which make it easier
to scale the apps and make changes to them on the fly, one of these
people says.
Apple is reportedly placing more emphasis on
open source software in an attempt to attract open source engineers that
can help improve its web services, but it remains to be seen how far
the company shifts away from its deep culture of secrecy.
Apple
sometimes requires engineers submitting code to open-source products to
do so through a third party rather than let Apple be affiliated with
the code. One person who’s been through the process says they felt that
submitting code to an open-source project like Mesos or Hadoop is
generally “frowned upon” by managers at Apple. But the process has
gotten easier over time, people who have participated in the process
say.
First released in 2012, Launch Center Pro
was one of the first quick action apps in the App Store, designed to
let users create shortcuts to features normally buried within apps, such
as opening up Instagram directly to the camera, or opening a specific
search within Yelp.
Over the years, Launch Center Pro has been updated several times with new features and while it has encountered some trouble with Apple, it continues to be a popular choice for users who are looking for a shortcut-based quick launch app. As of today, Launch Center Pro is getting a major update, which adds a new Notification Center widget.
With the new Notification Center widget, it's possible to add twelve of your favorite Launch Center Pro
actions for quick and easy access. You can do things like call a
specific person, add an event to a favorite calendar app, get directions
home, scan a QR code, send a group text, and more directly from the
Notification Center.
More complex actions, like controlling a Nest Thermostat from IFTTT,
scanning a barcode and searching Amazon, or taking a photo and messaging
it to an entire group are also supported by Launch Center Pro. Apps like Safari, Twitter, Facebook, and Google are all supported by Launch Center Pro, and today's update also adds support for more than 100,000 additional apps and iOS 9.
In the future, Launch Center Pro plans to support iPhone 6s
features, introducing 3D Touch-based Quick Actions that will be able to
be launched by using a force press on the Launch Center Pro app icon on the Home screen.
Launch Center Pro can be downloaded from the App Store for $3.99, a 20 percent discount from its usual price. [Direct Link]
MacUpdate
today launched its latest software bundle, offering ten Mac apps that
have a total value of $550 for a $49.99 purchase price. Several popular
Mac apps are included, with normal prices ranging from $15 to $149.
A full list of the titles included in the bundle, their value, and a software description is below:
- Toast 14 ($99.99) - There is no easier or faster way
to save, share, and enjoy your digital media on disc. Capture, convert,
copy, burn and share with Toast, the complete digital media toolkit for
your Mac.
Following last week's announcement of the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus,
Tim Cook has been paying unannounced visits to a few Apple Stores to
talk with the store's employees and take pictures with customers. During
a ride to the company's flagship 5th Avenue location in Manhattan, BuzzFeed
got a few minutes with the Apple CEO, where he discussed everything
from the privacy concerns of the new "Hey Siri" feature to whether or
not iPhone users will ever be able to delete those Apple-created stock
apps from their smartphones.
Directly addressing the privacy and safety concerns of "Hey Siri", Cook
mentioned that anyone who is fearful of such things can always turn the
feature off. Still, he described "the real answer" to be the fact that
any information collected by the feature remains on the iPhone, and
isn't sent to Apple or anyone else. On the lighter side, when asked
about the newest features coming to the next generation iPhones, Cook's
favorite appears to be 3D Touch.
Cook
is hot on all of this stuff; he describes Live Photos with near Jobsian
hyperbole — “I think Live Photos is a medium that hasn’t existed
before. It’s like discovering a new form.” But he’s most excited by 3D
Touch. “I personally think 3D Touch is a game changer,” he says. “I find
that my efficiency is way up with 3D touch, because I can go through so
many emails so quickly. It really does cut out a number of navigational
steps to get where you’re going.”
Muffled by the rumors Apple
TV had gone Hollywood and the giggles the Apple Pencil provoked, the
latest additions to Apple's core product line -- the iPhone 6s and 6s
Plus -- had to settle for a smaller share of the headlines coming out of
last week's Hey Siri event.
Although the iPhones received less media attention this year, it was
not due to any compromises over quality or lack of forward-facing
features.
When creating games and apps for the new Apple TV, developers are
required to build in support for the touch-based remote, making all
content accessible to all users without the need for additional
accessories like an MFi controller.
As noted by developer Dustin Westphal and shared by our sister site Touch Arcade, Apple's App Programming Guide for the tvOS says the following: "Your game must support the Apple TV remote. Your game may not require the use of a controller."
The new Apple TV works with third-party Bluetooth controllers, but
because they are an optional accessory, they are not allowed to be the
primary input method for a game. This requirement will force developers
who want to build games around controller use to also include a touch or
motion-based control scheme for use with the Apple TV remote.
As Touch Arcade points out, the requirement is bound to be a
hassle for developers, especially those with games that have complicated
control schemes.
There will be games that will have control
schemes that are too complicated for the remote, for sure. What if Apple
rejects apps that feature terrible controls for the remote, designed
only to achieve the bare minimum functionality? Or developers with
complicated controls decide to skip making their app compatible with the
Apple TV because it won't be worth it? Ideally, we don't want to get to
a point where games aren't coming to the Apple TV, or being actively
rejected, because they won't fit the remote.
As New York Fashion Week gets underway, designer Rebecca Minkoff has
debuted a new set of fashion-focused tech accessories for Apple's
iPhones and Apple Watch. The fashion brand teamed up with accessory
maker Case-Mate to create the new line of products (via Mashable).
Minkoff debuted a trio of new Apple Watch bands retailing from $80 to
$100. The first band is a snakeskin leather band, the second is a
leather double wrap and the third is a traditional leather band with
designs etched into it.
Despite not arriving until the end of October, YouTuber Andru Edwards
has gotten ahold of the fourth-generation Apple TV and unboxed it on
video. The video, which appears to be the first unboxing of the device,
offers a glimpse at the new packaging for Apple's new set-top box.
The new Apple TV's packaging is all-black and features a picture of the
top of the device on the top of the box. Once opened, the user is
presented with the Apple TV box and the brand new Siri Remote.
Underneath those are a Lightning cable to charge the new remote and a
power cable.
Pre-order supplies of the iPhone 6s and the iPhone 6s Plus in the United States are starting to dwindle a bit since pre-orders kicked off
at 12:01 a.m. Pacific Time, with several of the new iPhone models now
displaying shipping estimates of 2-3 weeks. Models in the new Rose Gold
color are the most heavily affected, particularly in the United States.
In the United States, Rose Gold T-Mobile iPhone 6s Plus models in 64 GB
and 128 GB capacities slipped to 2-3 weeks very soon after pre-orders
began, and more recently the following models have also moved to 2-3
weeks as of 2:00 AM Pacific Time:
Acer's modular Revo Build is "innovative, but
the glory days for the desktop PC are gone," said tech analyst Jim
McGregor. Most businesses "won't like the idea of having a PC in pieces,
and consumers have a plethora of other options -- and it's hard to beat
something that's mobile. Processors in the high-end smartphones will
probably offer similar or better performance and connectivity."
Acer last week announced the
latest in its family of Revo small-form-factor PCs at the IFA 2015 trade
show in Berlin. The Revo Build M1-601 consists of a cuboid base unit
with a footprint measuring about 5 inches square and a set of easily
attachable modules.
There are two versions -- one with an Intel Pentium processor and the
other with an Intel Celeron CPU. Both have integrated Intel HD graphics
and up to 8 GB of DDR4 RAM.
Acer plans to launch the Revo Build in Europe in October and in China
December. It has not indicated when it will be available in the United
States.
Pricing reportedly will be about US$220 in Europe and about $315 in China.
Easy to Build
Modular blocks for the Revo Build connect through pogo pins with
magnetic modules. The blocks can work independently or with other PCs.
A 500 GB/1 TB hot-swappable portable hard drive module will be available at launch.
Acer eventually will roll out a power bank for wireless charging, an
audio block that will incorporate speakers and microphones, and other
expansion blocks.
Been There, Done That
"IBM has tried to build a modular PC at least twice that I know of, and
neither made it to market," said Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group.
"Toshiba actually did create a modular desktop for business, but that
went so badly they exited desktop PCs altogether," he told
TechNewsWorld.
Enderle participated as a board member about a year ago, when IBM made its last attempt to revise the IBM modular computer.
"They wanted me as CEO, but I'm not that nuts," he said. "You have to figure out a way around the economics."
Acer has a line of Revo products, available at Amazon, eBay, NewEgg and elsewhere, though none is modular.
Will Acer's Revo Build Fly?
The Revo Build has had a mixed reception so far. Some people like it,
while others aren't sure where they stand. Several people have likened
it to Google's
Project Ara.
"It's innovative, but the glory days for the desktop PC are gone," observed Jim McGregor, principal analyst at
Tirias Research.
Most businesses "won't like the idea of having a PC in pieces, and
consumers have a plethora of other options -- and it's hard to beat
something that's mobile," he told TechNewsWorld.
"Processors in the high-end smartphones will probably offer similar
or better performance and connectivity," he suggested. "Who needs a
larger hard drive when you can connect to the Internet anywhere, any
time?"
Modular Computing's Godzilla
There are other modular computers on the market, however.
There's Razer's Project Christine, which has a PCI Express
architecture and lets consumers choose modules on the fly, in any
combination, and plug them in.
The modules are sealed and self-contained, and they offer active
liquid cooling and noise cancellation. Components can be overclocked
without voiding warranties.
Xi3 offers the X7A, which consists of a three-board system that can
handle three independent monitors. The X7A runs on 30 watts. Old I/O and processor boards can be swapped out for new ones.
The X7A has a quad-core AMD Trinity Series processor of up to 3.2
GHz, a Radeon HD 7660G GPU with 384 programmable cores, 8 GB of DDR3
RAM, an mSATA SSD of 64 GB to 1 TB capacity, two Mini DisplayPorts, one
combination HDMI/DisplayPort, and 12 other ports -- four each of
eSATAp-III ports (which also support USB 2.0), USB 2.0 ports and USB 3.0
ports. It also has one 1-GB Ethernet port.
The X7A measures 4.3 x 3.6 x 3.6 inches. It comes with a three-year
warranty and runs Windows 7 Pro, which costs $137 extra, or openSUSE.
The chassis is priced at $100 to $600, depending on the internal storage.
Zagg also announced the new line of keyboard cases for the new iPad Mini
4. The Slim Book with backlit keys will retail for $119.99 and be
available on September 15. Two Folio cases will be available on
September 25, with the backlit keys option available for $99.99 and the
non-backlit option available for $79.99.
The Slim Book Pro and Messenger Universal for iPad Pro will both be
available for purchase in November. Zagg also hints that it will offer a
full range of accessories for both the iPad Pro and iPad Mini 4,
including InvisibleShield screen protector and power and audio products.
Just a day after Logitech announced the first third-party keyboard case for the iPad Pro, Zagg revealed its
keyboard case lineup for Apple's newest iPad line. However, unlike
Logitech's keyboard, which was developed with Apple and utilizes the new
Smart Connector, ZAGG's cases require a Bluetooth connection.
The first keyboard case for the iPad Pro is the Slim Book Pro, which
will retail for $139.99. The iPad Pro's Slim Book is essentially a
larger version of the same keyboard case that's available for the iPad
Air and iPad Mini, which is a keyboard that comes with a detachable case
for the iPad. The second case is a new product called the Messenger
Universal, which will retail for $69.99. Zagg has not yet detailed how
the Messenger Universal works or what it looks like.
9to5Mac
reported similar information, claiming the iPad Pro will have expanded
Bluetooth keyboard support and that Apple is working on a new keyboard
accessory for the rumored 12.9-inch tablet, which could be released by
year end. The report also hinted at the possibility of new gold Apple
Watch Sport colors.
Last month, a new Apple Wireless Keyboard
with Bluetooth 4.2 and a rechargeable lithium-on battery was discovered
in filings with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission. Images of
an Apple Wireless Keyboard with backlit keys and a power button also briefly surfaced on the Apple Online Store in March.
MacRumors has also received information about Apple's plans to
release at least one new metal finish for the Apple Watch. KGI
Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo first noted the Apple Watch may gain additional casing options in March, and three months later said a yellow and rose gold Apple Watch Sport will launch in the fall.
Apple is also expected to debut new Apple Watch Sport bands at its September 9th media event, possibly with a focus on darker colors.
The passenger experience on the ground is increasingly being shaped by
technological developments. From the moment of booking to the
departures and arrivals experiences, new technologies are changing the
way airports interact with passengers, and simultaneously creating
operational efficiencies. FTE takes a look at five technologies that
should be on every airport and airline’s radar.
Biometrics
Facial
and fingerprint recognition technology is increasingly being leveraged
to expedite passenger processing, as is highlighted by the Aruba Happy
Flow project (left) and CLEAR security lanes (right).
Biometric technology – in the form of facial, iris and fingerprint
recognition – is now commonplace in many airports, ranging from
immigration e-gates and automated passport control kiosks to exclusive
fast-track lanes, and biometrics have now emerged as the most viable
enabler of a single passenger token. Aruba Happy Flow,
which is in operation at Aruba Airport and has been co-developed by
Schiphol Group, KLM, the governments of the Netherlands and Aruba, and
FTE Global exhibitor Vision-Box, provides the most convincing example
yet. Leveraging facial recognition technology, the project removes the
need for passengers to show their passport and boarding pass at multiple
airport touch points, and the stakeholders involved have told FTE that
the project could lay the foundations for the rollout of a wide-reaching European preclearance programme.
Elsewhere, Alaska Airlines has trialled the viability of fingerprint recognition technology as the cornerstone of a domestic single token
at San Jose International Airport. In Singapore, Changi Airport Group
last month announced that facial recognition technology will be deployed
throughout the new Terminal 4, which is due to open in 2017, as part of
the rollout of its Fast and Seamless Travel (FAST) programme.
While there is undoubtedly a long way to go before biometrics can
replace traditional passenger documents, these implementations suggest
that biometric technology is highly likely to be the enabler.
Robotics
Thanks
to a deal between Japan Airport Terminal Co., Ltd. and CYBERDYNE Inc.,
Haneda Airport will be a test bed for the latest robotics technology.
Self-service technologies have allowed airlines and airports to
automate certain elements of passenger processing for a number of years,
but robotics is set to enable the next level of automation, and some
examples can already be found. Geneva Airport was among the first to
pilot a customer service robot in its baggage reclaim area, but Tokyo’s
Haneda Airport is hoping to go even further, having committed to be a
test bed for the latest robotics technology.
Japan Airport Terminal Co., Ltd. last month signed a Memorandum of
Understanding with robotics and technology company CYBERDYNE Inc. The
deal will see a range of inventive solutions, such as the “Hybrid
Assistive Limb” and luggage transporting robotic devices trialled in the
airport environment. Three robot cleaners have also been deployed at
Auckland Airport to automate the cleaning process.
At FTE Global 2015,
Tina Bergsma, Vice President International Stations, Air France-KLM,
will outline how the carrier is leveraging robotics, as well as
biometrics, beacons and wearables, in a wide-reaching keynote address in
the ‘On the Ground’ conference.
Wearable technology
Copenhagen
Airport is among the airports to have already trialled smartglasses,
while Quebec City International Airport is using Apple Watch to create
operational efficiencies.
Since Virgin Atlantic launched its Google Glass and Sony Smartwatch
trial 18 months ago, wearable technology has become a buzzword among
airports and airlines. The likes of Copenhagen Airport have trialled the
use of smart glasses, Japan Airlines has equipped staff with smart
watches, and a long list of airlines have launched apps for the Apple
Watch since its launch in April.
What is becoming clear, however, is that wearable technology is not
just a fad. In fact, it offers significant operational benefits and
Quebec City International Airport’s use of Apple Watch provides a case
in point. By equipping its workforce with the devices, the airport has
been able to supply staff with real time alerts and notifications to
help drive operational efficiency by tapping into the airport management
system.
It may not be the most novel, headline-grabbing, passenger-facing
deployment, but it certainly shows the true potential value of wearable
technology from an operational standpoint.
Big Data and the Internet of Things
Dublin
Airport is making a significant investment in its IT infrastructure to
enable more effective data sharing to help create new efficiencies.
Airports and airlines have known about the benefits of making better
use of Big Data for some time; the problem is many have failed to work
out exactly how to do so. Among those that have made positive strides in
this space is Dublin Airport, which is working to bring together its various data silos
to create a more accessible, and far more useful, pool of data to help
drive operational efficiency by sharing relevant operational data with
its airline customers and using it to identify possible bottlenecks
before they become a problem, for example. Gatwick Airport has also
emerged as a leader in this space, as is highlighted by the
collaborative creation of the Mobile Host function for easyJet’s mobile app, which delivers timely, location-relevant data directly to passengers’ devices.
Now on the horizon is the Internet of Things, which will bring
further operational benefits to the industry by allowing almost
everything – from staff to physical assets in the airport – to be
connected and to connect with one another to share their statuses and
locations.
Dubai Airports CEO Paul Griffiths has gone on record to note the
“enormous potential” of the Internet of Things, and you can guarantee
that many other C-level airport and airline executives are playing close
attention to its game-changing potential.
Beacons
Google has made a major play in the beacons market with the launch of Eddystone, which will compete with Apple’s iBeacon format.
Beacons already feel like they’ve been around for a long time, but
airports and airlines are still trying to establish how to get the most
value out of the Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) devices. Myriad
organisations have already dipped a toe into the water – the likes of
Virgin Atlantic, easyJet and American Airlines, as well as Miami,
Orlando and Amsterdam airports are among the many to have deployed
beacons to date – but as Virgin Atlantic IT Innovation and Development
Manager Tim Graham recently told FTE, the industry is still searching for those “killer use cases”.
The sheer number of suppliers, airlines and airports that are
investing time and money to try to identify and create these use cases,
and Google’s big play in this space with the launch of its Eddystone beacon format, certainly adds weight to the theory that beacons are here to stay.
Zagg also announced the new line of keyboard cases for the new iPad Mini
4. The Slim Book with backlit keys will retail for $119.99 and be
available on September 15. Two Folio cases will be available on
September 25, with the backlit keys option available for $99.99 and the
non-backlit option available for $79.99.
