Smashing News

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The ongoing conundrum of smartwatches and battery life continues. According to 9to5Mac, a source involved in the development of the Apple Watch has revealed that Apple is targeting up to 19 hours of battery life under light to heavy use. Before you prepare for your full-day-Apple-Watch-Angry-Bird sessions, there is a caveat. “Heavy use” or “active application use” will be limited to somewhere between 2.5 and 4 hours.

This leak comes after Tim Cook mentioned on WSJ stage last October that the device would likely need to be charged every day due to the “profoundness” of the device. Profoundness in this statement is likely referencing the depth of activities which you can achieve with the device. However according to 9to5Mac’s inside source, with very minimal use you may be able to get up to 3 days out of the device:

As of 2014, Apple wanted the Watch to provide roughly 2.5 to 4 hours of active application use versus 19 hours of combined active/passive use, 3 days of pure standby time, or 4 days if left in a sleeping mode. Sources, however, say that Apple will only likely achieve approximately 2-3 days in either the standby or low-power modes…

The battery life challenge is no doubt due to the technical innards of the device. The Apple watch touts the S1 chip processor which is on par with the A5 processor found in the iPhone 4 and the iPad 2. Also carrying a retina class display (i.e. – pixel density so high that they are not visible to the naked eye) it’s no wonder that Apple is struggling to find room for a large enough battery to last longer than a couple of days.

While some may consider 4 hours of active use as too low, you must consider that smartwatches were created to be a relatively passive experience. If you want to play games or heavily surf the web, you’re likely to pull out your phone or tablet due to screen real estate. The Apple Watch was designed to be used in quick burst such as using Apple Pay to make a payment, making a phone call, viewing a text, or even fitness tracking. Most of these activities are background activities or will likely rely on your smartphone to do the heavy lifting; such as calling and texting. 

The Apple Watch’s battery life is on par with what consumers have come to expect with smartwatches that have come before it. Both the Moto 360 and the LG G Watch R average between one and two days of moderate use. The Pebble is currently the strongest battery life contender at 7 days of battery life, though that comes at the cost of using a less than desirable E-Ink screen.

Apple is purported to use Magsafe technology to charge the watch. Magsafe charging is available on a number of Macbook devices and involves delivering a charge simply through contact without the use of ports which allows the device to be completely sealed. It will be interesting to see if Apple is able to innovate on this technology further to simplify the daily charging process of our phones, tablets, Macbooks, and now smartwatches. There are only two outlets per socket, they’re going to need a solution if they want to dominate the electronic ecosystem of an individual. 

What are your thoughts on the Apple Watch’s battery life? Do you think up to 18 hours of battery life is too low? Or does the benefit of a smartwatch by Apple outweigh another device to charge? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below

If you are looking for a great deal on a smartphone this Black Friday, you do not need to search long. Microsoft has dropped the price on their AT&T%20Nokia Lumia 635 – No Contract GoPhoneNokia Lumia 635 from $99 to an amazing $39. What makes this an even greater deal is, this is a non-contract price meaning you do not need to use your upgrade to get in on this great deal.

Currently Microsoft’s website is showing the Nokia Lumia 635 “Out of Stock” but a Microsoft spokesperson told CNET “While we are currently sold out on MicrosoftStore.com, we encourage customers to go to their local Microsoft Store where the 635 is in stock. We will also have additional stock for Black Friday in stores and online, but…we expect them to go quickly.”

Best Buy will be selling the Lumia 635 for $40 through AT&T’s GoPhone plan as well. This sale will start on Black Friday and will continue until they run out of phones. 

Here are the specs of the Nokia Lumia 635 for those of you asking:

The AT&T%20Nokia%20Lumia 635 – No Contract GoPhoneNokia Lumia 635 is not the sleekest, nor does it have the specs of some of the other higher end phones out there, however, with the $39 price tag the Nokia Lumia 365 is the best bang for your buck, and would be a great smartphone for your kids this holiday season.

You tell us, would you spend $39 on the Nokia Lumia 635? Is the phone worth the price? Let us know in the comment section below. 

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Weeks after T-Mobile announced their “Data Stash” program which provides select data plans the ability to rollover, or “stash” data when unused. AT&T just revealed that they will be offering rollover data to their Mobile Share Value Customers. The Mobile Share Value plans allow multiple devices to share a pool of data ranging from 300 MB to 100 GB. AT&T’s Rollover Data does not apply to individual device plans.

There are some additional caveats to AT&Ts Rollover Data options. Rollover data is only good for one billing cycle. This effectively means that if you’re a data hungry family sharing 100 GB and you happen to have 1 GB left at the end of the pay period, the next month the family will share 101 GB. However, if that extra GB of data is not used during the next pay period, it will expire.

This plan does not offer near the flexibility of T-Mobile’s Data Stash program which not only can apply to individual lines on select plans, but also the “stash” of data is valid for up to a year before it expires; putting them light-years ahead of the competition. You can read more about T-Mobile’s Data Stash plans in their initial announcement. (We even have the first physical evidence of what the Data Stash physically looks like. Take a look!) It’s interesting to note a quote originally posted by CNET from industry analyst, Dawson, about some positive differences of AT&T’s Rollover Data versus T-Mobile’s Data Stash program:

AT&T’s version differs significantly from T-Mobile’s version. It’s less generous, with a single month of rollover rather than twelve months, but that should make it both easier for customers to keep track of and more manageable from a network load perspective. T-Mobile’s plan risks creating a situation similar to airline miles, where customers have a hard time keeping track of which miles (or Gigabytes of data) expire when.

It’s quite clear, however, that T-Mobile is quite confidence in their “Data Strong” network. By allowing unlimited music streaming and rollover data that doesn’t expire for a year, it appears that T-Mobile is prepared for a large influx in data use by their customers. While we’ve received no reports of network slow-down on T-Mobile’s network, time will tell whether this actually impacts their ability to manage network bandwidth.

AT&T’s new Data Rollover option will go into effect for both existing and new Mobile Share Plans starting January 25th.

What are your thoughts on AT&T’s rollover data plan? Do you think it’s overly stingy? Or are they just better planners than T-Mobile from a network bandwidth perspective? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

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A report from Re-Code indicates that Apple may have another card up its sleeve for its rumored upcomingonline television service. Apple is purportedly in discussion with television networks to offer local television programming across the internet. Apple wants to offer both on-demand and live/local content to gain a competitive advantage over the likes of Sling TV and Playstation’s recently in beta Playstation Vue. However, such ambitions may come at the cost of a delay to the service’s release.

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Re/Code is quoting inside executives familiar with Apple’s plan. Apparently, gaining such rights to stream local content is not a simple process. Per Re/Code:

Clearing the rights to show local programs and commercials takes some time — ABC, for instance, spent two years getting the rights to show live programming via its Watch ABC app, and its livestreams remain limited to viewers in eight cities. Also, some executives say that providing digital feeds of the programming from dozens of affiliates will also require the broadcasters to build new streaming infrastructure.

As a result, it seems unlikely that the service will be announced at Apple’s World Wide Developer’s Conference on June 8th as was previous rumored. Hopefully the popularity and monetary power of Apple will enable a faster turn around time than ABC’s two years. Re/Code also reports that television networks are more comfortable with the service as it provides a better alternative to the “Pay-TV bundle” as opposed to doing away with it altogether. Offering such a service through Apple could find the happy medium to the current streaming versus live television conundrum. 

Streaming Versus Cable/Satellite TV

Streaming has been poaching on cable and satellite’s territory for a few years now. Since the advent of Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Instant Video, and a number of other services; many people are cutting their cords for on-demand content. However, these services lack a number of options such as live sports, news, and the ability to flip through channels to discover content. While it may seem dire for cable companies, statistics still show strong demand for live television networks. 

According to a poll performed by Harris Interactive last year, 77% of adults say they still watch television content regularly via cable or satellite, while 43% regularly watch streamed content.  Below are some of the other interesting statistics from the study:

• Millenials stream content more than any other group at 47%
• 40% would be willing to pay extra if they could pay extra to stream the content on-demand without advertisements
• “37% would pay more for a streaming service that allowed them to temporarily download TV episodes, for when they’re away from an Internet connection”

While it’s clear that streaming is on the rise, especially with the newer generation, Apple wants to do what they do best and offer a service that appeals to the masses, even if that means providing a viable service to those more interested in live local content. Re/Code confirmed this when they quoted one of the inside executives as saying, “this is supposed to be for 30 million people,” 

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Apple has some large ambitions for their television service. Hopefully this won’t mean we have to wait years for its release. Rolling out in iterations could be another approach that Apple takes to begin growing its subscriber base at an earlier date. Time will tell.

What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments below

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Talk of Apple developing a car  has died down over the last few weeks. That is, until Apple’s operations chief Jeff Williams dropped a line that will get a few people excited. While at Code Conference, Jeff was asked, “are you guys going to do something with your $100 billion or are you just going to keep buying back shares?” His response: “Well the car is the ultimate mobile device, isn’t it?”

Let the rumors continue! Many of us have heard the talk of Apple possibly getting into the automotive industry, whether that is partnering up with automotive manufactures or creating their own car, Apple certainly has some level of interest in the car business. Jeff continued to explain that Apple is not necessarily looking to get into an industry where they feel they can make the most revenue, but the industries that Apple feels they can “make a huge amount of difference.”

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The auto industry might just be what Apple is looking for if they are looking to try and make a “huge” difference. We’ve already seen some major developments with self driving and electric vehicles, but there is plenty of room for improvement and innovation.

Apple has already taken a step in the right direction by introducing CarPlay, a service that will allow Apple users to access Apple services, and third-party apps such as iHearRadio, MLB At Bat, Audiobooks, and other music/podcast apps while driving. First announced last year, there are a number of automotive manufactures already planning on implementing CarPlay in their vehicle lineups. Some major manufactures include Audi, Chrysler, Dodge, Ford, Jeep, Kia, Land Rover, Toyota, BMW Porsche, Jaguar, and Mercedes-Benz. For those of you who already own a car you love, or simply can’t afford a new car anytime soon (like me), you will be able to utilize an aftermarket system by Alpine or Pioneer to bring CarPlay features to your existing vehicle.

CarPlay has the potential to put Apple over the top when it comes to the never-ending Apple vs. Android battle. If CarPlay become standard in popular cars, it may entice Android users make the switch. That is, unless Google plans on creating something that can compete with CarPlay themselves; though there are already Android stereos (albeit unpopular) on the market. For those of you who are getting  excited about CarPlay, keep in mind that you need to have an iPhone 5 or 6 in order to take advantage of it.

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Check out this video Volvo created that depicts the look and feel of Apples CarPlay:

Apple has not announced an official release date for CarPlay, but it is rumored to hit the market later this year. Keep your eyes peeled for more news on this when it is officially announced. 

What are your thoughts? Should Apple manufacture their own car, or develop technology for other car manufactures? Will CarPlay entice Android users to make the switch? Let us know what you think in the comment section below.

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Apple has been praised for the sleek & sexy designs of their products. I have known many people who have purchased Apple products only because they continually lead the industry on creating great looking products. To show their appreciation for helping design a number of products, Apple has decided to promote Jony Ive from Vice President of Design to Chief Design Officer. 

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Jony Ive has been responsible for the hardware and software design of Apple products since 1996. During this time, Ive has acquired 5000 design and utility patents which are currently in his name. As Chief Design Officer, Ive will be focusing on the look and feel of Apple retail stores, product packaging, as well as Apple’s new campus in Cupertino. In addition to the design of the buildings, Ive will be in charge of what’s in Apple’s offices, including the chairs and desks the employees will be using.

So who will be taking Jony Ive’s place as Vice President of Design? In an email to Apple employees, Tim Cook sheds light on this question by explaining that Richard Howarth will take over the roles of Vice President of Industrial Design, while Alan Dye will be appointed to Vice President of User Interface Design.

In their previous roles, Richard has helped work on the design of each iPhone generation, while Alan played a major role in the UI design of iOS 7, iOS8, and the Apple Watch. Richard and Alan have some big shoes to fill as Ive has been an industry leader when it comes to designing top of the line products. Luckily, Ive will still be in charge of the design teams as Richard and Alan take over the day-to-day operations. It will be exciting to see what’s to come with future Apple products as these leaders in design take on their new roles.

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What are your thoughts? Do you think that Richard Howarth, and Alan Dye will be able to fill the shoes of Jony Ive? Will Ive be able to fully hand off the reigns to his successors? Let us know what you think in the comment section below.

Here is the full email Tim Cook wrote to his employees, originally published by 9to5mac. 

Team,

I have exciting news to share with you today. I am happy to announce that Jony Ive is being promoted to the newly created position of Chief Design Officer at Apple.

Jony is one of the most talented and accomplished designers of his generation, with an astonishing 5000 design and utility patents to his name. His new role is a reflection of the scope of work he has been doing at Apple for some time. Jony’s design responsibilities have expanded from hardware and, more recently, software UI to the look and feel of Apple retail stores, our new campus in Cupertino, product packaging and many other parts of our company.

Design is one of the most important ways we communicate with our customers, and our reputation for world-class design differentiates Apple from every other company in the world. As Chief Design Officer, Jony will remain responsible for all of our design, focusing entirely on current design projects, new ideas and future initiatives. On July 1, he will hand off his day-to-day managerial responsibilities of ID and UI to Richard Howarth, our new vice president of Industrial Design, and Alan Dye, our new vice president of User Interface Design.

Richard, Alan and Jony have been working together as colleagues and friends for many years. Richard has been a member of the Design team for two decades, and in that time he has been a key contributor to the design of each generation of iPhone, Mac, and practically every other Apple product. Alan started at Apple nine years ago on the Marcom team, and helped Jony build the UI team which collaborated with ID, Software Engineering and countless other groups on groundbreaking projects like iOS 7, iOS 8 and Apple Watch.

Please join me in congratulating these three exceptionally talented designers on their new roles at Apple.

Tim

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Apple and Tim Cook have made it exceedingly clear that they are on a quest to improve our country’s perceived challenges with inclusion. Between their published diversity report initiative and Tim Cook’s public dissatisfaction with anti-gay laws, the company is using their corporate muscle in an attempt to make an impact on the acceptance and inclusion of all different types of people. One subtle effort was made today in Apple’s latest update to their iOS software for iPhones, iPod Touches, and iPads. 

Aside from a variety of bug fixes and software optimizations (outlined below), the company added a slew of racially diverse Emoji’s for use when expressing how you feel through faces. Interestingly enough, these new Emoji’s are not backwards compatible. While likely unintentional, some of the non non-Caucasian Emojis come through as potentially and offensively different Emoji faces on non-updated devices. The following is an example of a Tweeter in shock regarding the Emoji backward compatibility issue as initially reported by Mashable:

ChasityKnight@ChassiNyaisha

So if alien in a box pop up when using a ” black person ” emoji is Apple trying come for us? are they trying to say we look like aliens?!10:04 PM – Apr 8, 2015Twitter Ads info and privacySee ChasityKnight’s other Tweets

While such a crude conversion is borderline offensive, something to consider is that the old software does not have the new images to pull in when someone sends a new Emoji. In this process, Apple did a complete overhaul of their Emoji library and likely did away with many of the older less-used Emojis; such as the alien. (Let’s be honest, when was the last time you were wanting to express your alien emotions in a text?) As a result, it seems the new and old database references were poorly and unintentionally. I’m sure we can expect a public apology from Apple in the coming days for their mistake. 

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Additionally, Apple’s effort to squash software bugs were not minimal. Check out all of the improvements they are making in this update per Apple’s website:

Improved performance for:

    •    App launch

    •    App responsiveness

    •    Messages

    •    Wi-Fi

    •    Control Center

    •    Safari tabs

    •    3rd-party keyboards

    •    Keyboard shortcuts

    •    Simplified Chinese keyboard

Wi-Fi and Bluetooth fixes

    •    Fixes an issue where you could be continuously prompted for login credentials

    •    Addresses an issue where some devices disconnect intermittently from Wi-Fi networks

    •    Fixes an issue where hands-free phone calls could become disconnected

    •    Fixes an issue where audio playback could stop working with some bluetooth speakers

Orientation and rotation fixes

    •    Addresses an issue that sometimes prevented rotating back to portrait after having rotated to landscape

    •    Improves performance and stability issues that occurred when rotating the device between portrait and landscape

    •    Fixes an issue where device orientation appeared upside down after pulling the iPhone 6 Plus from your pocket

    •    Resolves an issue that sometimes prevented apps from rotating to correct orientation after switching apps in multitasking

Messages fixes

    •    Address issues that caused group messages to sometimes split

    •    Fixes an issue that sometimes removed the ability to forward or delete individual messages

    •    Resolves an issue that sometimes prevented a preview from appearing when taking a photo in Messages

    •    Adds the ability to report junk messages directly from the Messages app

    •    Adds the ability to filter out iMessages that are not sent by your contacts

Family Sharing fixes

    •    Fixes a bug where certain apps would not launch or update on family members’ devices

    •    Fixes a bug that prevented family members from downloading certain free apps

    •    Increased reliability for Ask to Buy notifications

CarPlay fixes

    •    Fixes an issue where Maps could come up as a black screen

    •    Fixes an issue where the UI could be incorrectly rotated

    •    Fixes an issue where the keyboard could appear on the CarPlay screen when it shouldn’t

Enterprise fixes

    •    Improves reliability of installing and updating enterprise apps

    •    Corrects the time zone of Calendar events created in IBM Notes

    •    Fixes a problem that could cause web clip icons to become generic after restarting

    •    Improves reliability of saving the password for a web proxy

    •    Exchange out-of-office message can now be edited separately for external replies

    •    Improves recovery of Exchange accounts from temporary connection problems

    •    Improves compatibility of VPN and web proxy solutions

    •    Allows use of physical keyboards to log into Safari web sheets, such as for joining a public Wi-FI network

    •    Fixes an issue that caused Exchange meetings with long notes to be truncated

Accessibility fixes

    •    Fixes an issue where using the back button in Safari causes VoiceOver gestures to not respond

    •    Fixes an issue where VoiceOver focus becomes unreliable in draft Mail messages

    •    Fixes an issue where Braille Screen Input cannot be used to type text in forms on webpages

    •    Fixes an issue where toggling Quick Nav on a Braille Display announces that Quick Nav is off

    •    Fixes issue keeping app icons from being moveable on home screen when VoiceOver is enabled

    •    Fixes an issue in Speak Screen where speech will not start again after pausing

Other improvements and bug fixes

    •    Introduces a redesigned Emoji keyboard with over 300 new characters

    •    iCloud Photo Library has been optimized to work with the new Photos app on OS X 10.10.3 and is now out of beta

    •    Improves the pronunciation of street names during turn-by-turn navigation in Maps

    •    Includes support for Baum VarioUltra 20 and VarioUltra 40 braille displays

    •    Improves the display of Spotlight results when Reduce Transparency is turned on

    •    Adds Italic and Underline format options for iPhone 6 Plus landscape keyboard

    •    Adds the ability to remove shipping and billing addresses used with Apple Pay

    •    Additional language and country support for Siri: English (India, New Zealand), Danish (Denmark), Dutch (Netherlands), Portuguese (Brazil), Russian (Russia), Swedish (Sweden), Thai (Thailand), Turkish (Turkey)

    •    Additional dictation languages: Arabic (Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates) and Hebrew (Israel)

    •    Improves stability for Phone, Mail, Bluetooth connectivity, Photos, Safari tabs, Settings, Weather and Genius Playlists in Music

    •    Address an issue where Slide to Unlock could fail to work on certain devices

    •    Addresses an issue that sometimes prevented swiping to answer a phone call on the Lock screen

    •    Addresses an issue that prevented opening links in Safari PDFs

    •    Fixes an issue where selecting Clear History and Website Data in Safari Settings did not clear all data

    •    Fixes an issue that prevented autocorrecting “FYI”

    •    Addresses an issue where contextual predictions did not appear in Quick Reply

    •    Fixes an issue where Maps did not enter night mode from hybrid mode

    •    Resolves an issue that prevented initiating FaceTime calls from a browser or 3rd-party app using FaceTime URLs

    •    Fixes an issue that sometimes prevented photos from properly exporting to Digital Camera Image folders on Windows

    •    Fixes an issue that sometimes prevented an iPad backup from completing with iTunes

    •    Fixes an issue that could cause Podcast downloads to stall when switching from Wi-Fi to cellular networks

    •    Fixes an issue where remaining time on timer would sometimes incorrectly display as 00:00 on Lock screen

    •    Fixes an issue that sometimes prevented adjusting call volume

    •    Fixes an issues that caused the status bar to sometimes appear when it shouldn’t

That is quite the list of bugs. I don’t know what I’m more impressed by, the number of bugs they fixed or the fact that they had that many bugs to fix in the first place. Regardless, iOS is a better place now as a result. 

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What are your thoughts on Apple’s new update and Emojis? Are you glad Apple is supporting diversity? Or  are you frustrated that they might be intentionally (or unintentionally) insulting certain races with their crude conversions? Let us know in the comments below.