Showing posts with label iOS. Show all posts
Showing posts with label iOS. Show all posts

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Google Calendar is all new with Material Design, Coming soon to iOS

Google’s Material Design is making its way across all Google apps for most devices running Android Jelly Bean. Recently, Google Play Movies was updated to give the look and feel of the material design and today we are seeing a whole new Calendar app.
Google has totally reworked the Calendar app for its new version of Android, making the app smarter, more colourful, and all-around more helpful. The new version of Calendar takes on the playful Material Design style that's working its way across all Google apps. That's going to make browsing your calendar a lot more pleasant, but the biggest features in this revamped app are all about making adding and viewing events much easier. For one, Calendar will automatically pull events, such as booked reservations, flights, or concerts, out of your inbox and add them to your calendar. Calendar will also help you enter events by automatically filling in information as you type, such as your contacts and nearby locations. 
Calendar’s new Schedule view includes photos and maps of the places you’re going, cityscapes of travel destinations, and illustrations of everyday events like dinner, drinks and yoga. These images will bring a little extra beauty to your day, and make it easy to see what’s going on at a glance—perfect for when you’re checking in from your phone or tablet. 
The new Google Calendar will work on all Android 4.1+ devices. It’s available today on all devices running Android 5.0 Lollipop, and you’ll be able to download the update from Google Play in the coming weeks. And an iPhone version of the app is also in the works and this is the first time Google has actually released a proper Calendar app for iOS. For now, Google hasn't given an estimate on when it'll be released. 
Source: Google, Calendar

Saturday, October 18, 2014

iPad Air 2 and iPad Mini 3 Pricing Announced

After announcing the latest iPads, iPad Air 2 and iPad Mini 3 on 17th October, Apple announced the prices for them in India today. 




iPad Mini 3 is almost the same as of its predecessor but with the Touch ID. Even the processor is the same. Apple (very quickly) introduced the iPad mini 3 during the event because it was almost the same as the iPad mini with Retina display that was released last year. Looking at the device straight on, you'd be hard pressed to spot any major differences Apple's latest 7.9-inch tablet - aside from the Touch ID home button, its identical: a Retina display up front, chamfered edges, and an aluminium rear shell. 





Also it’s available in Gold. As for the pricing the Wi-Fi model will cost you `28,900 for 16GB, `35,900 for 64GB`42,900 for 128GB and Cellular model is for `38,900 for 16GB, `45,900 for 64GB and `52,900 for 128GB. 


iPad Air 2 was where the main focus was. The new tablet has the same look as its predecessor but is only 6.1mm thick — down from 7.5 mm. Apple claims it to be the “world’s thinnest” tablet and we couldn’t agree more as the new iPad Air is less than half thickness of the original iPad. The Air 2 has the same 9.7-inch display size but with an anti-reflective coating on the glass that it says will reduce reflections by 56 percent, making it much easier to read in daylight. This is the first time that Apple has put Touch ID on a tabletApple also says that Touch ID on the iPad Air 2 will let you use Apple Pay for purchases. The camera jumped up to an 8 megapixel sensor with 1.12 micron pixels and a lens with an f2.4 aperture. It's able to record 1080p video and slow-motion video, camera panoramas, take photos in burst mode or time lapse mode 

The Air 2 is powered by the new A8X processor which is specifically designed for the iPads. It's a 64-bit chip and Apple says it's "40 percent faster" than the original iPad Air, which was running on the A7. The new tablet is also said to have 180x the graphics performance of the original iPad. Apple's M8 motion coprocessor, which can track your steps and other movement, also makes the jump from the iPhone 6 into the iPad Air 2. With a battery life of 10hrs it seems that upgrading to Air 2 is not a bad idea. Also it’s available in Gold (just like iPad Mini 3). As for the pricing the Wi-Fi model will cost you `35,900 for 16GB, `42,900 for 64GB, `49,900 for 128GB and Cellular model is for `45,900 for 16GB, `52,900 for 64GB and `59,900 for 128GB. 
Source: Apple

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Apple's new iPhone, Apple Watch and Apple Pay is here: A round up of what happened at the Apple Event

The big star-studded event at Cupertino saw many new things that Apple introduced to the Apple fans all around the world. These were the new iPhone, Apple watch and Apple Pay. Apple introduced 2 new iPhones – a 4.7” iPhone 6 with a 750p display and a 5.5” iPhone 6 Plus with 1080p display. Both are equipped with NFC giving them the ability to use the Apple Pay “tap-to-pay” system. And lastly the new Apple Watch is there to give a competition to the existing wearables in the market. 
Let’s have a quick recap of all the important announcements from the Apple Event yesterday. 
First here is iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. 
A beautifully redesigned device. 
From the time when the first iPhone sat on the shelves to the current iPhone 6 there has been quite many variations to the design. From the round-back to the flat design in iPhone 5S, iPhone 6 for the first time saw 2 different sizes in the same device. But now the glass front melts into the curved all-metal sides on both models, and they’re thinner than previous iterations, with a significant size bump for even the small model. A camera protrudes slightly from the back, and the display is supposed to be stronger, with a higher resolution. 
Apple into the Phablets 
With the iPhone 6 Plus, Apple ventured into a new area of phablets which was earlier left untouched. iPhone 6 Plus comes with an amazing 5.5” 1080p Retina HD display. The keyboard now carries a few extra keys, including dedicated buttons for cut, copy, and paste. The Plus also gets a new gesture, called reachability: double-tap the home button and the top of the screen scrolls down, letting you reach elements at the top of the screen without reaching with your thumb. Its available starting from $299 on a 2-year contract. 
The new iPhone 6 
Speaking truthfully, it’s a larger than the previous iPhone 5S but still keeps it from the flagship segment of the Android and Windows smartphones which now mostly have a 5” screen size with 1080p resolution. iPhone 6 has a screen resolution of 1334x750. It’s bigger from its earlier brother. Also the new A8 chip gives improved battery life and will be running the latest iOS 8. Its available starting from $199 on a 2-year contract. 
New processor means new powers with A8 
The new iPhones are powered by the new 64-bit A8 and M8 co-processor chips that provide a lot more benefits over the A7. It’s supposed to be 50 percent more efficient with 25 percent faster than A7 and is also smaller in size. Meanwhile, the M8 chip is a huge improvement over the movement-tracking processor Apple unveiled last year with the iPhone 5s.The new version can identify what type of physical activity you’re doing at a given time and even measure elevation thanks to a barometer. 
New Camera 
The iPhone 6 is also getting a slight boost in the photo department thanks to its new iSight 8-megapixel camera. That’s still the same number of megapixels, but Apple says it should still take better pictures thanks to an improved sensor, digital image stabilization and f/2.2 aperture. The company claims you’ll be able to focus in and snap a photo twice as fast as you can with the iPhone 5s. One can now shoot panorama upto 43MP and shoot 1080p at 30fps and 60 fps. Also slo-mo video can now be shot from 120fps to 240fps. iPhone 6 Plus has optical image stabilization in which camera can move up and down instead of just left and right and works in tandem with the gyroscope to get perfect snaps. 


iOS 8 is available on September 17th 
Apple didn't spend much time talking about any new features in the latest version of its mobile operating system, iOS 8, but did announce that it will be available as a free upgrade on September 17th, two days before the launch of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. 

Apple Pay 
The iPhone 6 is also one of three Apple devices that will have access to the company’s new mobile payments service, called Apple Pay, thanks to a built in NFC antenna. Along with the iPhone 6 Plus and Apple Watch, the iPhone 6 will let you store credit card data and pay at tons of different stores. You’ll also start seeing Apple Pay buttons pop up on mobile websites all over the place to let you do everything at stores like Disney, Macy’s, Walgreens, Staples, Subway and even in Drive-thru McDonalds. Apple also stressed how safe the new app is thanks to a new secure element that protects your identity and data. Apple will start off in US with American Express, Visa and Mastercard. 



And the most awaited Apple Watch 
It’s a smartwatch with inductive charging, a square face, sapphire glass, swappable bands, a heartbeat sensor and a rotating digital crown. Users will be able to choose between six different straps, including a sport band, a leather loop, a classic leather buckle and a stainless steel strap that is easily adjustable. The watch will come in two different sizes and three different collections: Watch, Watch Sport and Watch Edition. It’s compatible with the iPhone 5 and onwards. 


The Digital Crown 
The interface makes full use of the digital crown, and developers will be able to use it for their own apps. The Apple Watch will also be using voice input through Siri. Apple built a cool way to see your photos. You start out zoomed out, with all of your photos showing as minuscule thumbnails. Then you use the crown to zoom in. Pushing it returns you to the device’s home screen. The interface is designed to minimize the hassle of using a small screen – the included messaging app lets you respond using canned replies or spoken ones that you dictate, and the communication system gets its own little dedicated button under the crown. 
Availability 
The new iPhones will be available in India starting from 17th October with the price of the unlocked version still un-announced. The Apple Watch will debut next year but the date is still in folds. Keep an eye on the further updates coming your way.
Explore Further: Apple(India) 

Tuesday, August 5, 2014

Apple releases iOS 8 beta 5 update

Now iOS 8 Beta 5 update was released to the developers this morning. This update like the previous ones brings bug fixes and performance improvements to the beta software that released on June 2. This is the build 12A4345d which is 269MB in size which is available OTA and can also be downloaded from iOS Developer Centre. Currently this update is only available to the registered developers. 


This update brings improved integration with the OS X via Continuity, changes in Health app and a lot more. Health app is updated with new icons for Body data and Data exporting. "Spirometry data types are now available in HealthKit", according to the iOS 8 beta 5 release notes. iCloud received new set of icons in setting and now your iPhone can be used as relay for other iPhones to access SMS messages. There is also a new Health panel in Privacy settings. 
The recent reports indicated that iOS 8 beta 5 may be the final in the beta testing process but nothing can be said for sure. Apart from the iOS 8 beta 5 update, Apple also released an update to Apple TV with a UI overhaul bringing it closer to iOS 7. 

Apple TV update brings a new UI


This week witnessed a lot of updates from Apple. With the iOS 8 beta 5 to OS X Yosemite Developer Preview 5th update and now a brand new update for Apple TV. The earlier updates to Apple TV provided nothing much than support for Family Sharing and iCloud but the latest update bring a whole UI change. The new UI looks a lot more like iOS 7 creating a uniform style across various Apple platforms. So Apple TV is finally catching up with the iOS. 

This new update is only for developers at present and there is whole change in the font giving the operating system a more flat design. Although the applications are still listed under the banner of content that can be streamed on the Apple TV. However third-party applications are still holding back to their old design which kinda looks creepy with the Helvetica Neue interface. 


The update comes after some of the major apps like Fox Now and CNBC which were added last week and ahead of the rumored NFL Now app which is rumored to be launched this week. Perhaps this redesigned update is an indication of some major changes coming in the near future. 
Source: 9TO5Mac 

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Apple once again in Limelight for compromising privacy


Apple’s been like all about iOS security and user’s privacy at all fronts. But they themselves have engineered surveillance backdoors into the iPhones. This was recently revealed by a highly skilled hacker, Jonathan Zdziarski (aka NerveGas) who presented his paper “Identifying Backdoors, Attack Points, and Surveillance Mechanisms in iOS Devices” at the recently held Hacker On Planet Earth conference in New York.
In making the iOS more secure against typical attackers they have just made easier for the Law Enforcement Agencies who with the help of right tools can easily get anything they want from your iOS device even at a routine traffic stop. His investigation into the coding behind iOS revealed that the seemingly user-friendly system, which is used on hundreds of millions of Apple iPhones, contains a number of "undocumented high-value forensic services" and "suspicious design omissions," both of which make it relatively easy for private data to be extracted from users' phones. NSA even developed a program to gain full access' to iPhone.
“In December 2013, an NSA program dubbed DROPOUTJEEP was reveled by security researcher Jacob Appelbaum that reportedly gave the agency almost complete access to the iPhone", as written by ZDNet.
These iOS tools that facilitate spying are not for iTunes or Xcode (quite clever), the Genius Bar/Apple Support, developers or engineers, and the code discovered in iOS versions isn’t something Apple forgot about as years passed. “Apple has been maintaining and enhancing this code, even with iOS 7; they know it’s there,” the researcher wrote.
He pointed that applications using file relay, pcap or house arrest assist in collecting your information. ITunes for which they are quite careful do not use any file relay or pcap. Although it uses house arrest but only for accessing Documents. But maybe the data is collected for folks at Genius Bar or Apple Support? No. Data is too raw to be of any use to tech support and cannot be in anyway put back on phone. Another theory can be for Debugging but 600Million devices need not have debugging always on.


“Well they could have also forgotten that old debug code was there. But over the time the code has been modified and enhanced and that’s true for even iOS 7. They know about it”, were his thoughts. He even contacted Apple’s CEO’s Steve Jobs and Tim Cook regarding the issue but returned empty handed.
“Overall, the otherwise great security of iOS has been compromised… by Apple… by design” he concludes his presentation.


Source : BGR, ZDNet, Zidziarski