Cable industry veteran and former CableLabs executive Jean-François Mulé became an engineering director at Apple last month, and he’s hard at work on “something big.” His appointment comes just weeks before Apple is expected to unveil its latest Apple TV, and at a time when the Cupertino company has been working hard to improve the $99 set-top box.
But is Mulé part of something a little more exciting?
FaceTime just keeps getting better. The recent addition of audio calls in iOS 7 is great news, right? Well, sort of.
There are plenty of apps in the App Store that let you make calls over your data connection rather than through the carrier’s phone network.
FaceTime audio calls are great — something that Google+ Hangouts have had for a long time. (Hangouts actually lets you add a voice call to a group video Hangout.) They enable free international calls, for starters. The protocols underlying FaceTime enable high-quality audio calls.
More importantly, they give users one more reason to get into the FaceTime habit.
Unfortunately, FaceTime has a fatal flaw. It’s still — inexplicably — an exclusive phone system for Apple customers to call each other. What kind of phone system is that?
This is the Cult of Mac’s exclusive column written by an actual Apple retail store genius. Our genius must remain anonymous, but other than “Who are you, anyway?” ask anything you want about what goes on behind that slick store facade.
Answers will be published first in Cult of Mac’s Magazine on Newsstand. Send your questions to news AT cultofmac.com with “genius” in the subject line.
1. How much do you get paid, what hours do you work and how much continual study is required?
I get paid about $14 an hour. Pay ranges anywhere from $10-$20 an hour in the retail stores depending on position, hours, and performance. I work about 30 hours a week because I am part-time, usually on the shy side so I can keep my part-time status. My hours vary but they always fit my personal schedule because each employee submits their hours of availability and is scheduled accordingly, after approval.
As far as training goes, Apple actively trains its workforce. We are trained before we begin the job to deliver superior service and we are trained on new systems, products and software as they become available. If you are looking to advance, Apple will help train you to be ready for any future positions. I was surprised by the non-technical nature of training when I started at Apple. Most of the training I received was customer-service oriented and the technical training I needed for the job was either previous experience or was gained as I encountered issues and sought out a solution.
2. The modem of my TV cable company sits next to my TV. My new iMac is on the upper floor where I receive half the speed using a Wi-Fi connection.
To boost my Wi-Fi signal to the upper floor, do I need to buy two Apple extreme products? One connected to the router of my cable company using ethernet? And the other as a repeater via Wi-Fi?
Wi-Fi signal issues can be pretty complex. Performance will vary greatly depending on your network configuration and type as well as your household size. The simple answer is no, you do not need two AirPort Extremes.
Depending on your household size, you may be able setup one Airport Extreme next to your TV and it might just work for the whole house as it usually performs better than your typical cable company-issued wireless router. Another option would be to continue with your current setup and extend your wireless network upstairs using an Airport express. This relays the signal from your router downstairs and boosts it to reach your devices upstairs. It’s a pretty simple setup for both when using the AirPort utility on your iMac.
If you really want to get two devices to have a speedy connection anywhere in the home, get yourself an Extreme downstairs and extend the network upstairs with the Express.
3. I have AppleCare+ and want to get my iPhone 5 replaced so I can resell it for more money, but it doesn’t have any major problems nor a broken screen.
Will Apple replace it for me for $49 if it’s not really broken?
You need a damaged iPhone for a replacement. The protection plan is for accidental damage. If Apple can repair it they will, rather than replacing it, even if the customer wants the replacement. It’s up to Apple to determine whether it’s covered by the AppleCare Terms and Conditions. If it can be repaired, they are supposed to just put a new display on. So if you want a whole new iPhone 5, it has to be damaged beyond repair or suffer from water damage. It also has to be accidental — so don’t tell them you put it in water if you just want a replacement.
Samsung, the Korean company that makes TV ads mocking Apple fans for waiting in lines, sent its own employees to the Apple Store for today’s iPhone 5s/5c launch. A Samsung video crew was spotted at the iconic Fifth Avenue Apple Store in New York City by CNET.
The reason for the espionage? Understanding why Apple generates so much hype for product launches.
Kids: Love ’em or hate ’em, they’re here to stay (unless they stop being born in some kind of Children of Men nightmare world). And one of the things we love and hate most about kids is that they are drawn to our iDevices like a hooker is drawn to dangerous situations.
Now, these monsters get their own section in the app store, which means that you should probably consider visiting the Restrictions section in your iPhone’s settings and switching off the store.
Apple has started airing its first TV ads for the iPhone 5c following the availability of pre-orders over the weekend. This particular ad, “For the colorful,” features the 5c forming in different colors out of liquid. It could easily be confused with a candy commercial at first, but it turns into a classic Apple ad about halfway through.
The 5c hits shelves this Friday alongside the 5s.
Thanks: Sean
Thanks to all of Jony’s changes with iOS 7, every app developer in the world is hurrying to finish their iOS 7 overhaul. Twitter is busy at work on their update too, except rather than just making everything flatter with shimmering gradients, Twitter plans to introduced a new feed dedicated to everything about TV, according to AllThingsD.
Twitter’s not just focusing on aesthetics for the iOS 7 redesign, as the company wants to make its mobile apps more appealing for casual users. According to AllThingsD, the new TV feed will become a big part of Twitter’s pitch to connect to new users:
Earlier today, we told you about a new video from Microsoft that attempted to bash Apple’s latest iPhones. It was poorly done, not funny, and just genuinely awful. The clip was actually part of a seven-part group of videos that made fun of Apple employees(?) of some kind making ridiculous, cliche pitches for different features, like the 5s’s fingerprint reader, in a generic boardroom. Each video was posted under Microsoft’s official Windows Phone YouTube channel.
It only took a few short hours for Microsoft to realize that these videos were total duds, and they’ve all been taken down.
Why did these videos exist in the first place? We’ll probably never know. Someone at Microsoft thought they were a good idea, but a quick scan of the YouTube comments while the videos were live proved otherwise. The videos weren’t really put together like TV ads, so maybe Microsoft hoped they’d go viral? Better luck next time.
Source: YouTube
It’s been only a couple hours since the keynote ended, but Apple has already made today’s event available for streaming on its website. The video will probably hit Apple’s event podcast feed later tonight. Readers are noting that the keynote is also available for streaming on the Apple TV.
Make sure to check out our roundup of everything Apple announced today.
Source: Apple
If you were hoping to spend some cash on the Apple online store this morning, you’re going to have to wait a little while. It’s just gone down ahead of today’s press event in Cupertino, and when it comes back up, we expect it to be populated by at least two new iPhones, and possibly new iPods and a new Apple TV as well.