Tag: apple

Merging 3.5mm audio jack with the lightning port could be a disaster in iPhone 7

The internet world is on fire with the rumors of Apple giving away the headphone jack to create a thinner version of iPhone 7. There are already many news in the media about Apple filing a patent for a headphone jack that is D-shaped. Also, there have also been rumors surrounding a lightning connector that serves the dual purpose of being used for charging as well as serving as a headphone jack.

Apple giving away its 3.5mm jack

With the growth in the trend of using Bluetooth headphones these days, the change in the headphone jacks would impact quite a few users. The thickness of the current iPhone 6s is 7.1mm.The 3.5mm headphone jack would be too round if Apple plans to bring down the thickness of its upcoming model.

Image Credit: Buamdesign

Surprisingly, Apple is planning to ditch its 60-year-old innovation. The next generation device of Apple, iPhone 7, would be thinner than the current model by 1mm. The super slim design of the anticipated iPhone 7 would require Apple to get rid of its 3.5mm headphone jack. The rumors surrounding the use of a multipurpose lightning slot as a charger as well as a headphone port have already triggered anger amongst Apple users. There are also reports stating that Apple may start selling a converter that would let the users plug in their old headphones into their newer devices.

The latest smartphone from Apple, the iPhone 6s, is 7.1mm thick and features a jack of 3.5mm. Apple plans to reduce the device’s size by 1mm in its upcoming model by avoiding this jack. This change would also imply to those stereo headphones that are larger and those, that run on an internal battery would be able to draw power from the iPhone and other devices. Less signal interference or crosstalk would be experienced with the use of lightning-based headphones.

Third party manufacturers already sell lightning-connected earphones. Apple would want to monopolize the market by launching its accessory for its upcoming device. The company has the record of previously ditching its software and hardware support once they were believed to be obsolete.

Apple has plans to release Ear pods that are lightning-equipped. They may be included along with the accessories being offered with iPhone 7. It would also be sold separately for using with other iOS devices. If this rumor turns out to be true, this decision by the company for using a single port for charging as well as for audio output will trigger a controversy.

Ditching the 3.5mm jack would mean killing its history of 60 years

Killing the iPhone headphone jack in its upcoming new model would imply that the company is planning to ditch its history of 60 years. In the pursuit of thinness, the company is planning to lose its history. The 3.5mm jack has been there for as long as the transistor radio (which was developed during the mid-1950’s). Apple previously ditched its 30-pin connector in 2012 to bring in its the then brand new lightning plug. That shift resulted in the old charging cables not working with the new device and triggered anger among the iPhone users.

The change that is being planned by Apple with its upcoming device may also trigger the same response. Running audio through the same port as lightning implies that the users may have to purchase new headphones. Once the new device is out, we would be aware of Apple NIL the actual changes in its latest device that has already managed to create headlines.

Cover Image: Gigaom

December 12, 2015
Apple – The latest entrant in the Electric Car segment

After Google and Tesla, Apple has shown keenness in joining the electric car segment. For the last one year there were speculation about the company launching its car. It was rumoured that Apple might launch the car by 2020. Now, a Wall Street Journal report has stated that the company is planning to introduce its electric vehicle in 2019.

It has also been reported that the project has been titled Titan and comprises of 600 employees. The numbers will increase in near future when the actual prototyping and testing begin. There are still lots of speculations about the very nature of the car. It’s unclear whether Apple will begin its own production or would partner with an existing car manufacturer.

Apple has limited experience in the automobile industry. Apple’s CarPlay is a car infotainment system capable of connecting to the internet through an iPhone. Building an infotainment system is one thing, but developing a car is something totally different. Apart from CarPlay, Apple has some exposure to developing sensors and batteries. Building an entire car is a giant leap for this industry giant. However, Google is a precedence that Apple can follow.

It is still uncertain whether the Apple’s electric car will be autonomous or would need a driver. Companies like Google and Tesla are already working on technology that will make autonomous cars a possibility. Large car manufacturers including Audi, BMW and Daimler-Chrysler are also working on similar technology. It will be interesting to see what Apple plans to do with its electric car. Apple has hired autonomous car experts and hence it is safe to assume that with the technology already at its disposal, Apple might want to launch a driverless car.

An autonomous car will allow the company to incorporate some of its existing technology in a new way thereby giving it a competitive edge over traditional car manufacturers. Despite this, the autonomous car market seems cluttered. Google already has plans to introduce its autonomous car for commercial sale in 2017 and they also have the early entrant advantage.

However, the demand for autonomous cars powered by clean energy is already being felt and it seems that Apple has gauged it well. The rising pollution levels and controversies such as the recent Volkswagen emission norms scandal will give a fillip to the demand for electric cars.

Technology plays a key role in every industry and automobile industry is no different. BMW and Mercedes-Benz car will soon have remote controlled parking systems. There are several other technological breakthroughs and introduction of a fully autonomous cars is the next step.

Whether Apple’s decision will yield positive results for the company cannot be determined at the moment. Autonomous cars still largely remain within the realm of conceptualization and the technical or commercial viability of such cars remains vague. Only time will tell whether Apple becomes a major force to reckon with in the car segment or it ends up as an “also ran”.

September 23, 2015
Apple TV will support 3rd party controllers, but is it enough? [Discussion]

Apple unveiled feature rich, successor of its existing products and announced some new services during the annual Apple event — some with new exciting features and others that are just a iteration of predecessor with minor tweaks; while some of them are simply an innovative rip off. For better or worse, that’s what we are going to get this year from the big Apple.

First of all, let me confess that I am not a big fan of Apple products, and none of my work system includes anything that has unfinished ‘Apple’ logo on it — and, I am referring to natural fruit here. My laptop runs Linux Ubuntu 15.04, a notebook has Windows 10, and my PC is powered by Kali 2.0 (which is another Linux distro); Hell even this website is powered by one of the Linux distro. So, before you start calling me a Windows fanboy, I wanted to put myself in the safe zone.

Of all the new gadgets and smartphones unveiled during the event, Apple TV was something that drew attention. The iPhone 6S, iPhone 6S Plus, and iPad Pro was expected to debut at the event and I was like – Meh!, but when it comes to the Apple TV, we weren’t sure what it is going to serve on the table and when they finally did, I was stumped. If Apple TV powered by the whole new ‘tvOS’ can deliver 50 percent of what they demonstrated during the event, I am sold. For more insight information, I will let Apple brag about it.

Now you must be thinking why I am leaning towards Apple when I hate it so much? — First, I don’t hate it, and second, it is just a troll, shelling the old hardware into a new shiny box. The Apple TV is a bad product at so many levels, and I will let you know about it in my upcoming article. Regardless, of these bold references, I know thousands of people will have this Set-top-box in their living room because one thing that we could figure out so far is that Apple is really good at selling products to people who don’t actually need it.

It isn’t entirely a new concept, but it certainly is a better way to intrude in your living room than any other existing competitors. The streamlined features and ability to integrated benefit of integrated system is welcome addition to other features it offers, but the unique remote that allows you to talk directly to your TV and play native iOS games, is just amazing — this is where the fun part ends.

The tvOS was emphasized for its ability to play native iOS games and being able to interact with Siri; I can vouch for it because they did demonstrated Crossy Road (by Hipster Whale) and Beat Sports (by Harmonix) during the event, which certainly looked fun to play on large screen with your friends and family. This makes it even better when you don’t really have to stick out a controller everytime you want to play these interactive games. Apple says you can use your iPhone to make them work just like the Apple TV remote for multiplayer gameplay.

There’s little doubt that navigation will be much smoother and more intuitive compared to existing Smart TV devices. From a gaming perspect, clearly cues have been taken from the Wiimote in terms of the waggle factor, courtesy of its accelerometer and gyroscope. And what it lacks in terms of useable buttons, it attempts to address with a smooth, glass trackpad. Now, the gamers who are personally attached to the console controller will find it hard to adapt with this new instrument to interact to the game, but again, most of the hardcore gamers will probably refrain themselves from playing the iOS games anyways. So, it basically targets the casual mobile gamers, who can dwell into the time killer device, which makes sense as they would feel much comfortable with the touch navigation offered b the remote.

Fortuantely, Apple is also accepting third-party controller who can qualify their MFi program. The bad news is that it’ll limit your choices. Steelseries controllers are shown twice on Apple’s gaming page for Apple TV, but it’s not clear just how many others are MFi certified. The good news is that you have options — and likely more as time goes on. Apple TV gaming is pretty impressive and has us all interested… but playing a first-person shooter with a TV remote is a bit too weird for me.

What do you think?

Can Apple TV remote replace your standard controller, and become a first successful set-top-box and a micro-console – a jack-of-all-trades product, which other competitors has failed miserably so far? Let’s bring it on in comments.

September 13, 2015
10 things an Apple fan would say about Your Android

There’s a certain bitter rivalry between iPhone and Android fans – so much so that getting an iPhone user and an Android user in the same room together alone is probably a bad idea. Below I’ll be listing 10 of the kind of things you’d expect to hear from an Apple fan in regards to your Android smartphone.

Android is Too Complicated

Apple seems to pride itself on it’s simplicity and the iOS operating system is supposed to be easy to use, easy to adapt to and super straight forward. If you were to compare an old Android operating system like Gingerbread to iOS then this argument would certainly be valid, but Android has become a much better OS since.

In fact even Samsung’s TouchWiz, one of the most bloated Android UX’s to date now looks super clean and it’s fairly straight forward to get used to.

iTunes is Better than Google Play

iTunes used to be the place to get music, games apps and more entertainment but it’s now rivalled with the Play Store which also provides great deals on apps, games, eBooks, movies, music and more.

Which one is truly better now only comes down to personal preference.

iOS Gets More Apps

For the most part, this is something that has remained true for most of Android’s life. Even now, when app market share has never been more even, apps like Fallout Shelter and Telltale Games story titles are getting released to iOS months before the Android versions.

iOS Gets Quicker Updates

Once again, this is something that iOS does take a winning point for. iOS usually gets a yearly update and iPhones can be updated as soon as the update is available. For Android, the update rollout process is very complicated and lengthy as the update gets pushed from Google, to the manufacturers and then to the network carriers.

iPhone is a Better Brand

This is hardly a point worth arguing about but you may hear it being brought up every now and again. Some iOS fans have a sense of pride when using Apple’s products, but it’s hard to call it the better brand. Apple is certainly known worldwide, but so is Samsung, especially thanks to their recent marketing efforts that have cost them billions.

iPhones are Safer (Viruses, Malware)

It is possible to get malware, adware and dodgy apps on your Android smartphone, mostly because Android’s app screening process is a lot simpler than Apple’s. Apps on the iTunes app store must be checked out and tested before going live.

The trouble is that iPhones aren’t without their vulnerabilities though. In fact, recently a text message was discovered that could shut down the recipient’s iPhone remotely. Something similar has been found for Android recently too, so it’s clear that both operating systems have their security flaws.

Each New iPhone is Significantly Better than Last Year’s

Whilst all manufacturers point out how their new smartphones are significantly better than last year’s model, Apple seems to do an extra special job at convincing Apple fans how important this all is. Mentions of 40% performance increases and 20% extra battery capacity are usually thrown around near a new iPhone launch, but the same stuff happens on Android.

The iPhone Camera is Amazing

For a long time, the iPhone was the smartphone camera king, but this is no longer so true. Android manufacturers are now being very competitive with their camera offering and, as a result, most Android flagships like the Galaxy S6 and the LG G4 produce results that can rank up against the iPhone 6’s camera.

iPhones have Retina (or Retina HD) Displays

A retina display is the term Apple has adopted to explain the high resolutions on their iOS devices. Recently Apple has adopted the Retina HD term, which has an even higher resolution than the standard retina.

Whilst a retina HD display is quite decent, it doesn’t actually compare very well to Android flagships. In fact, most Androids have far superior screen resolution. For example, the iPhone 6 pixel density is 326 pixels per inch, whilst the LG G4 has a pixel density of 538 ppi and the S6 has a pixel density of 577 ppi.

Siri is Amazing

Apple fans just can’t get enough of Siri. Videos get posted online all the time about various interactions with the personal assistant and it just seems that Siri makes every Apple fan’s day better. Personal assistants on other mobile operating systems may not seem as ‘cool’ or personal as Siri, but they’re still great at helping people out with everyday tasks.

Image credit: Apple.com

August 16, 2015
What is Airplay and how does it Work?

But there are certain limitations as you can stream media from Apple to Apple device only like iPod, iPhone or iPad. You can even use itunes to configure your computer with an airplay speakers set, Apple TV or a receiver. But the great thing is about wireless technology as you will be performing all this with wireless technology.

The wireless has the power to operate within the range of several hundred square feet. So, let suppose that you own an airplay speakers set and you want it to set these at one end of your house. The second speaker set has been idealized for the other end. You just have to configure both these speaker sets with your iPhone and you can play a single song at both ends while sitting in your living room.

It hasn’t yet finished here as you can derive more benefits out of Airplay, if you are using online media streaming. Suppose if you are enjoying a movie on your iPhone but you feel the sound little depressed then you can boost the sound with the help of airplay technology and get the real sound out of your airplay speakers.

While considering about the compatibility of airplay speakers and airplay software, you should not forget that you can even configure your airplay software with third party speakers. Although it may not be an easy job at first hand but with little effort you can configure the airplay technology with third party speakers. Many third party manufacturers have been granted with Apple license and they can use their software while making compatible with Apple software.

It is not a difficult job to connect your device with Airplay speakers and you can broadly use two methods. The first and one click method will be using your wireless router for creation of home network. You just have to connect your speakers with the router and then connect your device with wireless network to enjoy the fun.

While the second method will require Apple airport express to connect your airplay speakers and your device. You can find a quick guide on the brochure and start making fun. Good luck!

June 24, 2015
12-inch MacBook by Apple, whats changed in a decade (2005 to 2015)

Apple has unveiled its all-new 12-inch MacBook for 2015, simply called MacBook rather than MacBook Air or MacBook Pro – creating a new (or resurrected, perhaps) line of laptops to add to its expanding range.

You’ll immediately notice the bright, vivid and detailed Retina display on the new MacBook.

It’s 12 inches (diagonal), and has a resolution of 2304×1440, which equates to 226ppi (the current Retina 13-inch MacBook Pro has a resolution of 2,560 x 1,600 and a pixel density of 227ppi).

Apple has reduced the size of the bezel around the screen, too, bringing it much closer to the edge-to-edge design we’d ideally love to see.

April 6, 2015