Ed Hardy - page 255

Samsung’s new Galaxy S9 packs a heart-rate monitor that can also check blood pressure. It’s high time Apple added these features to the next iPhone.

Apple keeps ordering TV shows but hasn’t said yet what it will do with them. Whatever the company’s plans are, Cupertino will face heavy competition. All the big networks are expected to launch their own for-pay streaming video services soon.

Developers soon will need to get approval from Apple for the descriptions of software updates posted in the App Store. The goal seems to be to prevent unscrupulous devs from using this high-profile messaging area for nefarious purposes.

Viewing two applications at once came to the iPad way back in iOS 9, but the Amazon Kindle app only just now supports it. The new multitasking feature enables tablet users to have a book open while using another app.

And this isn’t the only notable improvement in the just-released update to Amazon’s Kindle app.

A new type of battery promises 20 percent to 40 percent more storage capacity. Even better, one of the companies behind the research has ties to Apple, so the improved lithium-silicon batteries are likely to show up in iPhone and iPad.

The number of MacBooks shipping in 2018 will grow by double digits, if a reliable analyst’s prediction proves correct. That would give Apple’s laptops stronger annual growth than iPhone or iPad.

A quick and reliable LTE connection is a necessity for any iPhone. Verizon and T-Mobile offer the best 4G performance, with AT&T and Sprint not able to keep up.

All four of the national carriers’ networks show improvement over 2017, but some haven’t yet recovered from the deluge of usage that came when they began offering unlimited data plans several years ago.

The image-identification technology in Google Photos is now in the iOS version of this software. Google Lens can find objects and text in pictures and then provide more information. For example, by examining a photo of a business card, the artificial intelligence can pull out all the contact information.

More details have come to light about the GrayKey iPhone unlocker, and it turns out it’s even more likely to fall into the wrong hands than first thought.

This tool is very expensive, and is intended for use only by law enforcement, but stolen units could someday be available on the black market where they would be a goldmine for identity thieves.

Apple engineers are looking into a laptop that uses a touchscreen in place of a keyboard. The second screen would be slightly flexible, allowing keys to depress. It would also be extremely customizable –basically like a giant Touch Bar.

iPhones already replace credit cards, and a pilot program is exploring the next logical step: a digital drivers licence.

Delaware just began testing a mobile driver license (mDL) with some state residents, checking if a smartphone application can be kept secure while offering real advantages over plastic cards.

Apple asked six filmmakers to create short videos that highlight the cababilities of the recently-released iMac Pro. The results debuted today: trippy, abstract films that are mesmerizing to watch.

All are quite short (under 30 seconds) and include a quick plug for the computer, and so could be turned into advertisements, either online on TV.

Siri is in trouble. Apple’s AI assistant is way behind the competition, and a new report indicates that Cupertino’s coders can’t agree on how to fix Siri — or even if it should be fixed.

Anonymous sources, supposedly from inside the Apple development team, say there’s no strong vision of what Siri should be.

Nearly a quarter of current iPhone users already plan to buy Apple’s next smartphone — even before they know what new features it will bring. That’s the most surprising finding from a new poll, which also shows demand for iPhone upgrades has stabilized at a high level.

Heavy demand for an unannounced product shows trust in Apple. That’s welcome, as the company’s reputation has slipped a bit.

Tim Cook won’t be at AltConf 2018, but then attendees of this alternative Apple developer conference will pay a wee bit less. The official WWDC is $1,599, while AltConf is free.

It will be held in San Jose near the official conference, and on the same dates as the WWDC: June 4-7.

ecobee began taking pre-orders for the Switch+ today. This smart-home light switch includes HomeKit support so it can be remotely controlled with an iPhone.

But it goes beyond that: with Amazon’s Alexa built in, this wall switch acts as a smart speaker all on its own.

Apple continues to improve the iPad Pro design, with a nearly bezel-less version reportedly in development. This could mean an 11-inch iPad the same overall size as the company’s current 10.5-inch tablet.

This will supposedly be the first iPad with Apple’s Face ID as the technology expands beyond the iPhone X.

Fitbit is stepping up to compete better with the Apple Watch with the Versa smartwatch. The new wearable looks similar to Apple’s watch, and offers music playback and other capabilities. Plus, it arrives at a lower price point — just under $200.

The Versa’s unveiling comes just after Apple surpassed Fitbit in the wearables market. Apparently, people want much more from their devices than just counting steps.

Anyone wanting to try out Google’s rival to Siri can now do so on their iPad: A version of the Google Assistant optimized for iOS tablets just debuted.

With the press of a button, the application will answer questions and retrieve information from the internet, but that’s just the start.

Almost 40 million people now pay to listen to Apple Music. That’s not bad for a service that was met with skepticism when it debuted back in 2015.

Apple Music still faces strong competition from Spotify and Google Play Music, but it’s growing strongly. And all those people putting down $9.99 a month adds significantly to Apple revenue as streaming services have become the top way to listen to music.

Watching golf is famously boring, but the just-announced PGA Tour AR app spices it up a bit. It brings a live, augmented reality view of golf games to iPad and iPhone, putting the tournament in users’ living rooms.

“Tapping into ARKit in iOS 11 allows us to showcase real-time data provided by ShotLink and CDW in a rich, visual way for fans,” said the PGA’s Rick Anderson in a statement. “The PGA Tour takes pride in bringing new technology to the sports world as a way of communicating to a large, diverse audience.”

Fans of Bob’s Burgers rejoice: Loren Bouchard, creator of the long-running animated comedy set in a diner, has signed a deal with Apple to create two seasons of a new series. Central Park will be the first animated showed purchased by the maker of Apple TV.

The action of the musical comedy will revolve around a family of Central Park caretakers whose adventures save not only the park and New York City — but also the world.

Apple users will soon receive operating system updates for phones and tablets, Macs and set-top boxes. Developers today received new beta versions for all these platforms

Anyone from the public who wants to beta test preview versions of iOS 11.3, macOS 10.13.4 or tvOS 11.3 can do so by signing up on Apple’s website. The newest developer versions should be available to public beta testers in a day or so.

Although people most often use Alexa to ask about the weather or play music, Amazon’s smart assistant is capable of much more, including connecting with friends and family.  A convenient Alexa calling feature is now available on a range of tablets, including the iPad. This allows the tablet to make voice or video calls to an Amazon Echo.

All that is required is the Amazon Alexa app for iOS (and giving Alexa access to your list of contacts).

Smart speaker sales have exploded, with 47 million Americans now using one, up from about zero two years ago. And Apple fans are leading the trend — they’re 22 percent more likely than Android users to own a smart speaker.