11 things to know about Google Photos

Hands-On With the New Apple TV: An Overview of Siri and Search

Along with an App Store, Siri voice integration and universal search are important software-based features available on the new Apple TV. With Siri voice integration, it's possible to search for content and control video playback, while universal search allows users to look for movies and TV shows across a range of different apps.

In the video below, we went hands-on with the new Apple TV to give MacRumors readers an in-depth look at how the new Siri and universal search features work in person.


Siri is linked to universal search, as the main (and simplest) way to seek out television shows, movies,

Chrome OS Is Dead, Long Live Chrome OS?

Google is two years into a plan to consolidate the Chrome operating system -- which it uses as the platform for a series of stripped down, low-cost computers -- and the Android mobile OS, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.

Google officials quickly pushed back against the WSJ report, which claims that the company, now a subsidiary of the newly formed Alphabet conglomerate, plans to roll out a combined OS in 2017.
Chromebooks running the Chrome OS -- Acer's C910 is pictured above -- have gained adoption as entry-level computers for students and as a low-cost option for a growing number of corporate customers.

Shortly after the WSJ report appeared, Hiroshi Lockheimer, senior vice president at Google, tweeted a response:

Yamaha robot rides high-speed racing motorcycle

Yamaha Motors has revealed it is developing a robot designed to ride any racing motorbike at high speeds.

The Japanese company unveiled a prototype at the Tokyo Motor Show.
At present it is reliant on human operators, but in time the firm plans to have the android make its own decisions about the best course and speed to achieve the best race time around a track.

British police have arrested a 28-year-old man following an international series of raids over smartphone malware called DroidJack.

The UK's National Crime Agency (NCA) confirmed the arrest after it was reported that raids took place in five European countries and the US.
DroidJack allows criminals to spy on smartphone data traffic, eavesdrop on conversations and hijack the camera.
No further arrests have yet been reported.
"I can confirm that the NCA arrested a 28-year-old male from Carlisle under suspicion of computer misuse act offences," an NCA spokesman told the BBC.
The spokesman said the arrest was made in connection with the international DroidJack operation and added that the suspect has been bailed for six months.
Officers in the UK, Germany, France, Belgium and Switzerland raided several properties connected to suspected users of malware known as DroidJack.
The searches were reported by the AFP and Reuters news agencies while Europol also say that raids were conducted in the United States.

A total of 13 homes were raided in Germany according to the local prosecutor's office, while news agencies also reported a single raid in Switzerland.
The German suspects were aged between 19 and 51.

Apple Car Apple's electric vehicle project

The Apple Car is what the media has taken to calling the electric car project that's rumored to be in development at Apple under the code name "Project Titan."
Apple is said to have hundreds of employees working on creating an electric vehicle at a secret location near its Cupertino headquarters. Little is known about the car, but sources have suggested it may resemble a minivan. The car may or may not include self-driving technology -- rumors have thus far disagreed on this point, but the latest news suggests the first version will not be autonomous.
The Apple Car is in the early stages of development, and Apple is still in the process of recruiting people for the project and meeting with car makers and automotive suppliers. The project is being led by Steve Zadesky, VP of Product Design, who has Cook's permission to recruit thousands employees, many from within Apple.
In September of 2015, the Apple Car was upgraded to "committed project" status, meaning Apple will focus even more attention on development. Hiring for the project is expanding to 1,800 employees ahead of a 2019 target completion date.
Apple has also been searching for a place in the area where it can begin testing vehicle prototypes, another signal that suggests Apple's interest in cars is serious.
We don't know what the Apple Car will look like, but based on Apple's existing product line and its desire to expand iOS beyond the iPhone and the iPad, we can assume that any Apple-produced car will integrate deeply with the iPhone.

Apple Car History

In early February, a mysterious van leased to Apple was spotted driving around Bay Area streets. The van had a camera rig attached to it with multiple cameras, leading to speculation that Apple was using it to develop a product similar to Google Street View. More outlandish speculation ranged towards the possibility of a self-driving vehicle, but it was later determined that the vans have drivers.

One of the mysterious vans driving around the Bay Area Just days after the van was first spotted, an Apple employee emailed Business Insider, suggesting Apple was working on a project that would "give Tesla a run for its money." The source said that Tesla employees were "jumping ship" to work on a project at Apple that was "too exciting to pass up."
That tantalizing hint led several media sites to dig deep into Apple's plans, and in mid-February, Financial

4K and 5K iMacs Support 10-Bit Color Depth on OS X El Capitan

Apple's latest 4K and 5K iMacs support a 10-bit graphics driver on OS X El Capitan, allowing for smoother color transitions, according to German website Mac & i. The 10-bit color output enables 1024 gradations per color channel, a significant increase from 256 with 8-bit depth on previous iMacs.


30 bit pixel depth — 10 bit for each RGB color (Image: cinema5D)
Digital filmmaking news website cinema5D explains the technical benefits of 10-bit color depth for professional colorists, photographers and editors:

Professionals know that 10-bit screen color is the desired color depth for serious color correction. When you work in 8-bit you often see banding artefacts and lose detail on soft gradients which makes editing harder and less accurate.

This is not to be confused with the bit depth of your source files. We all know that working with video DSLRs or other heavily compressed video footage that is limited to 8 bit color depth gives you less options during grading and 10 bit, 12 bit or even 16 bit color photos and videos are better. On the screen side 10 bit is the desired depth to let you view the end result without gradation steps.

Apple Stores and Best Buy Begin In-Store Sales of New Apple TV

Apple Store and Best Buy locations have begun selling the new fourth-generation Apple TV in the U.S. and first wave launch countries. Apple is also offering Personal Pickup in the U.S., while Best Buy is allowing customers who pre-ordered for in-store pickup to pick up their set-top boxes starting this morning as the stores open up for the day.

While Best Buy began accepting pre-orders for the new Apple TV on Monday, it originally listed November 4 as the date when customers would be able pick them up in stores. Several MacRumors readers who pre-ordered began receiving notices on Thursday night letting them know their purchases would be ready for pickup today, nearly a week early.


Apple retail stores around the world will also be offering the Apple TV, and in countries where October 30 has already rolled around, stores are already selling the new set-top boxes. Stores in the United States have been revamped overnight to feature advertising for the new Apple TV to coincide with the in-store launch.

Apple Opens Cryptographic Libraries to Third-Party Developers to Encourage Security

Apple announced yesterday that the company has opened up its cryptographic libraries so that third-party developers can build more "advanced security features" into their apps (via VentureBeat). The cryptographic libraries being opened to developers are the same ones Apple uses to protect iOS and OS X, as Apple notes on its updated site.


Developers will have access to two of the company's advanced security features, including Security Framework and Common Crypto. Security Framework gives developers tools for organizing certificates, public and private keys, and trust policies, ensuring that all sensitive information is stored privately in a "secure repository for sensitive user data." Common Crypto library provides additional support for symmetric encryption, hash-based message authentication codes, and digests.

Apple's Culture of Secrecy Slowing its Artificial Intelligence Development

Apple's strict adherence to an environment of secrecy and privacy in regards to its software and hardware development has been suggested as a major blow to the company's potential for growth in the field of artificial intelligence. In a new article by Bloomberg, Apple was noted as a non-attendee at the Neural Information Processing Systems conference, an annual confluence of companies including Google and Microsoft where researches get together to discuss the progress and development of AI technologies.


In years past, Apple has attended the conference, but its emissaries were known to keep "a low profile" during the proceedings. In the midst of a mass sharing and celebration of discoveries and findings in the world of AI, many remain unsure of the Cupertino company's continued success in such departments if it remains attached to such strict secrecy rules. “They’re completely out of the loop," said Richard Zemel, a professor in the computer science department at the University of Toronto.

iPad Air 2 and iPad Mini 4 Now Available on T-Mobile JUMP! On Demand

T-Mobile has announced that the iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 4 are now available through its JUMP! On Demand upgrade program, enabling qualified customers to purchase either tablet on an 18-month lease and upgrade to a newer tablet up to three times per year. The program breaks down the price of each iPad into equal monthly payments starting at $22/month with $0 due upfront.

Apple and Huawei Close Gap on Samsung in Global Smartphone Market

The latest numbers from research firm IDC show that Samsung and Apple continue to lead the worldwide smartphone market, but Chinese handset maker Huawei is placing increasing pressure on the industry giants after experiencing strong 60.9% growth compared to the year-ago quarter.


IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker reveals that Samsung continues to be the top smartphone vendor with 23.8% market share, shipping an estimated 84.5 million smartphones in the third quarter of the calendar year, compared to 23.9% market share and 79.6 million smartphones shipped in the year-ago

Trillions of Facebook posts added to search results

Facebook has indexed almost two trillion posts put on the site by its members to make it easier to find them.

The change means that many older posts will now be added to results when people search for news or information.
The move is being seen as part of Facebook's attempts to keep people on the site rather than go elsewhere to keep up to date with events.
It said options were available for people that did not want their older posts to be more widely accessible.

 

Bigger audience

Tom Stocky, Facebook's head of search, said in a blog post that many people already turned to Facebook when trying to find out how friends and family were reacting to world events. About 1.5 billion searches are carried out on Facebook every day, he said.
The changes that Facebook has introduced will mean members of the social network will now also see posts by strangers alongside those from news organisations and people closest to them.

Apple Watch Now Available at Target in Stores and Online

Friday October 23, 2015 8:33 AM PDT by Joe Rossignol Target has delivered on its plans and is now selling the Apple Watch in U.S. stores and online (via The Loop). The large retailer is carrying both Apple Watch Sport and Apple Watch models with the same pricing as Apple.

'Steve Jobs' Earns $2.6 Million in Limited Release, Opens Wide Today

Friday October 23, 2015 5:59 am PDT by Mitchel Broussard

Steve Jobs has been out in limited release for two weeks now, meaning fans in New York, Los Angeles, Toronto and select other locations in the U.S. and Canada have been able to see the Danny Boyle-directed film about the former Apple CEO ahead of today's official wide release. Since its debut on October 9, the movie has grossed $2,601,320 as of Wednesday, October 21.

Tesla self-drive mode filmed 'endangering passengers'

 

Image caption The autopilot mode combines sensors, cameras and mapping data to work out the car's position.

Videos posted online appear to show Tesla's new self-drive mode causing its cars to drive dangerously and speed.

One appears to show a car suddenly swerving off the road after exiting the motorway in the US city of Portland.
Another appears to show a Model S Tesla

Autopilot takes over driving functions such as steering and changing lane.
But Tesla said: "The driver cannot abdicate responsibility for driving."

7 Ethernet Switch Series

7 Ethernet Switch Series

Series 7 Golden Combination 4+1

CCTVTECH series 7 Ethernet Switches using industrial grade 3 standard, is specially designed for project. With excellent stability, good heat dissipation, high quality processing chip and other advantages, they are widely used in HD IP video surveillance systems

New Study Finds Siri More Distracting Than Google Now While Driving

PDT by Joe Rossignol

Siri and other voice-activated systems can cause potentially unsafe mental distractions lasting several seconds while driving, according to a new research study by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. Siri's score of 3.4 on the five-point scale is considered more distracting than Google Now's 3.0 score, but less distracting than Microsoft Cortana, which received a 3.8 rating.


AAA's mental distraction rankings also included vehicles, ranging from the least distracting Chevy Equinox at 2.4 to the Mazda 6 at 4.6, which is nearly the highest level of cognitive distraction. The study found that mental distractions can persist for as long as 27 seconds after using hands-free or voice-activated systems, as drivers readjust to the task of driving.

H.265

What is H.265 ?

H.265 is a new generation video compression standard, a successor to H.264, also known as High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC)

Why we need H.265 now ?

With the explosive increasing of camera resolution from D1 to 720p,1080p, then 4K in the future , the H.264 compression capacity is far left behind the market need .

How to transfer and store UHD images effectively without increasing storage device and internet expenses ? People do need a more efficient compression format . Then H.265 comes just at the right time.

H.265 advantages

1. It is approximate 2 times as effective as H.264.
2. Reduces file size up to 50% with the same quality.
3. Supports resolution up to 7680 × 4320 (8K).
4. Reduces video noise and increases dynamic range.
5. Extend far greater video quality experience compared to H.264

MonoDevelop Roadmap

As stated on our public roadmap, we are shipping MonoDevelop-Unity 5.9 with Unity 5.3 in December. MonoDevelop-Unity 5.9 is at the time of writing the latest stable version of MonoDevelop and includes many improvements and fixes over MonoDevelop 4.0.1.

We have added a new workflow improvement to MonoDevelop-Unity 5.9. The target selection list is now populated with Unity targets, highlighted with an orange outline in the screenshot. MonoDevelop-Unity will now attach to the selected target with a single click on the “Run” button so you can avoid multiple clicks in the “Attach to Process” dialog when starting a debug session.

HTC Says 'It's Apple That Copies Us' After One A9 Called iPhone Lookalike

HTC has denied claims that its new flagship One A9 smartphone copies the iPhone. At a press briefing in Taiwan, company executive Jack Tong said that "it's Apple that copies us" in terms of antenna design—the Taiwanese handset maker was first to release a metal unibody smartphone nearly three years ago.

SMA FM Ogun State CHANGED THEIR FREQUENCY

S.M.A FM, IJAGUN-IKOFA Lagos Nigeria changed their radio frequency from 106.7 to 104.9
 
S.M.A FM, IJAGUN-IKOFA changed their radio frequency from 106.7 to 104.9
 Enjoy the news, Sports and Progrmmes 

Griffin Launches New Combination Apple Watch and iPhone Charging Station

Third-party accessory manufacturer Griffin today announced a new combination Apple Watch and iPhone charging stand called the "WatchStand Powered Charging Station." The dock takes the original design of the company's WatchStand dock and adds on a new section that acts as a landing pad to charge an iPhone or iPad next to the Apple Watch.


The new version of the WatchStand comes with a built-in power supply and two dedicated USB charging ports so the cable clutter is visually reduced trailing out from the back of the dock. The WatchStand's underside provides multiple cable management opportunities to ensure that the cords for the Apple Watch and iPhone don't become unruly when both are placed on the stand.

iPad Pro and Apple Pencil Pass FCC, Smart Keyboard Limited to U.S. Layout at Launch

Apple received final approval from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission on October 15 for the iPad Pro and Apple Pencil ahead of their November launch. FCC regulatory documents show that Apple filed applications for both LTE and Wi-Fi models of the upcoming 12.9-inch tablet, as noted by G4Games.


There are still at least two weeks remaining until the iPad Pro and Apple Pencil are released, but FCC approval is typically one of the final requirements leading up to a new product launch. The new Magic Keyboard and Magic Mouse 2, for example, received FCC approval in August prior to their release this week.

iPhone 6s Launches in India and 6 Other Countries, Coming to Thailand October 30

Friday October 16, 2015 7:51 AM PDT by Mitchel Broussard

After a large second launch wave earlier in October, the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus today have expanded to seven new countries: India, Kazakhstan, Macedonia, Malaysia, Malta, Montenegro, and South Africa. The launch follows the announcement of Apple's partnership with India-based retail chain Croma, which will see the tech company test out a few store-within-a-store locations in the country starting in November. Until the Apple Shops open, customers can purchase a new iPhone 6s or iPhone 6s Plus at any Apple Authorized Reseller or local carrier in India and other launch countries.

iFixit Tears Down Magic Keyboard, Magic Mouse 2 and Magic Trackpad 2

Friday October 16, 2015 8:08 am PDT by Joe Rossignol

iFixit has published detailed teardowns of the new Magic Keyboard, Magic Mouse 2 and Magic Trackpad 2, providing a closer look at the internal design and several matching components inside the trio of accessories.

The teardown experts first pried through the Magic Keyboard's adhesive to uncover its logic board, rechargeable 793 mAh lithium-ion battery, Lightning connector cable and honeycomb-shaped spacer layer. iFixit also removed the keycaps to reveal Apple's new scissor mechanism.


The Magic Keyboard logic board contains a Broadcom Bluetooth transceiver, ST Microelectronics microcontroller, NXP charging IC and Texas Instruments battery charger:

Apple TV 4 and iPad Pro Pre-Orders Begin at Select Authorized Resellers in Europe

Friday October 16, 2015 9:24 am PDT by Joe Rossignol

Just weeks before the Apple TV 4 is expected to be released worldwide, select Apple Authorized Resellers in Europe have begun accepting pre-orders for the new set-top box. The Apple TV 4 is officially slated to launch in late October, but the majority of orders are unlikely to be fulfilled until November.


Electronics retailer Elgiganten, equivalent to Best Buy in the Nordic Region, is accepting Apple TV 4 pre-orders in Denmark and Norway with expected delivery in November. The 32GB and 64GB models are listed for 1,399 and 1,849 Danish kroner and 1,749 and 2,299 Norwegian kroner respectively.

German electronics retailer Cyberport has also listed the Apple TV 4 and iPad Pro for pre-order on its website. The authorized reseller lists the 32GB and 64GB Apple TV 4 for €179 and €239 respectively, which could be indicative of broader European pricing, although prices in other countries will likely vary depending on local taxes.


iPad Pro prices range from €899 to €1,229, compared to between $799 and $1,079 in the United States.

Cyberport advertises that the Apple TV 4 will be available from November 5, and lists the iPad Pro as not yet available. Apple has not provided a specific release date for either product beyond late October for the Apple TV 4 and November for the iPad Pr

EU Court Decision Threatens US Cloud Dominance

The European court's decision is not the way to address privacy concerns, maintained Daniel Castro, vice president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation. "It will disrupt not just the thousands of U.S. and European companies that currently depend on the Safe Harbor to do business across the Atlantic, but also the broader digital economy."

Edward Snowden's legacy gained another chapter last week when the European Court of Justice rejected an agreement between the United States and European Union that created a Safe Harbor for U.S. companies handling personal data of overseas citizens.

In essence, the agreement provided that a U.S. company's word that it had adequate safeguards in place to protect the data of Europeans was all that was needed to permit overseas data transfers to American service providers.
The agreement was a convenient way for the European Union to accommodate the discrepancy between its strong privacy protections and the much weaker ones in the United States.
In light of Snowden's revelations about massive, indiscriminate collection of people's data and snooping on cloud service providers by U.S. intelligence agencies, the Safe Harbor protections were no longer good enough, the European court ruled.
The Safe Harbor framework that was designed to protect the data of European citizens could be ignored by government authorities in the United States, the court said. Moreover, neither individuals nor privacy authorities in Europe had any recourse to challenge actions by U.S. government agencies.

OS X El Capitan 10.11.1 Public Release Coming Soon With Fixes for Office 2016, Mail, and More

The upcoming OS X 10.11.1 El Capitan release, which is expected to be released in the very near future, will include a compatibility update for Microsoft Office 2016 to fix ongoing crashing issues, MacRumors has learned. Since OS X El Capitan was released in late September, some Office 2016 users have found the software to be nearly unusable due to frequent crashes or an inability to open the Office apps at all.

Microsoft informed customers it was aware of the problem nearly two weeks ago and said it was "actively working with Apple" on a fix, hinting the problem was on Apple's end and wasn't something Microsoft could fix alone.


Microsoft did update Office 2016 earlier this week, adding new features and security enhancements, but admitted it did not fix any El Capitan bugs in an accompanying support document. At that time, Microsoft said it was working with Apple to "ensure resolution with the next update of OS X 10.11 El Capitan."

Apple's most recent OS X 10.11.1 beta for developers and public beta testers was released Wednesday afternoon, with Apple asking developers to focus on Mail and Office 2016. The upcoming OS X 10.11.1 release will also fix several issues with Mail regarding missing server information and a bug that prevents the display of messages and mailboxes within the app. The update also includes dozens of new emoji from Unicode 7 and 8, including taco, burrito, cheese wedge, unicorn head, middle finger, popcorn, and more.

Office 2011 users were also experiencing issues with crashing and with a non-functional Outlook app, but Microsoft was able to fix those bugs with an Office 2011 update that was released on October 7.

Google Removes 'OK Google' Search Activation in Latest Chrome Update

Earlier this week, Google released Chrome 46 with a long list of bug fixes and feature improvements to improve memory and power usage, but unmentioned was the removal of "OK Google" voice-based search activation.

As noted by VentureBeat, it's no longer possible to use the "OK Google" phrase to trigger a voice search, which has been a feature built into the Chrome browser since May of 2014. "OK Google" was removed from the Chrome browser on Windows, Mac, and Linux, but is still available on Chrome for mobile devices and Chromebooks.


Image via VentureBeat
Google removed the feature because it wasn't heavily used, and its deletion should help save power and speed up browsing as the Chrome browser will no longer need to continually listen for voice commands.

"OK Google" search activation is just one of the lesser-used features that Google removed this week. Also being nixed is the notification center, which Google says "few users" visited on a regular basis. It will be removed with the next iteration of Chrome.

ConnectSense HomeKit-Compatible Smart Outlet Available for Pre-Order

 Now that HomeKit has been available for several months, additional HomeKit-connected products are beginning to trickle out. ConnectSense is the latest company to announce a launch date for HomeKit-compatible product, and its Smart Outlet was today added to Apple's list of HomeKit products.

Priced at $79.95, the Smart Outlet plugs into an existing outlet and offers two Wi-Fi connected sockets that can be controlled independently using Siri or an accompanying ConnectSense app. Like the Elgato Eve Energy, the Smart Outlet also includes tools for monitoring the power usage of connected appliances.

AT&T Delays Wi-Fi Calling Support Amid Wait for FCC Waiver, Calls Out Sprint and T-Mobile

Originally tested in an iOS 9 public beta back in August, AT&T ultimately held back on a wide public release for Wi-Fi calling due to its decision to wait for an FCC waiver that would temporarily relieve the carrier of needing to offer support options for deaf and hard-of-hearing people. The Federal Communications Commission's rules state that all calling services need support for a teletypewriter (TTY) service for the deaf, but AT&T wants the old-fashioned TTY replaced with real-time text (RTT) support instead.