So all the rage today is going to be about the iPhone 6. I know it, you know it, but fret not, ye who are not eligible for an upgrade on their iPhone 5S, it’s not all that bad. ?iOS 8 is here for all iPhone models. I am currently downloading it for my iPhone 5s, and I am boiling with excitement. Honestly the only difference that we are going to see between my old iPhone and the new iPhone 6 is the better camera, the fact that the screen is bigger, thinner and it has an optional 128 GB HDD. Other than that, my phone will still have the camera improvements, Quicktype keyboard, Health App, Spotlight and Mail improvements, a newly renovated Siri along with map improvements and of course the most important upgrade of all BUG FIXES. We here at Computer Geeks?have compiled a list of all of the iOS 8 upgrades for you to peruse and check out. Make sure you go on your phone and download the new iOS 8 and have a blast with it!
If you are thinking of buying the new iPhone 6 you can read our iPhone 6 launch blog?and check out all the cool features.
?iOS 8 Message improvements
o??? Smart editing tools to adjust light and color with a swipe
o??? Fine-tune controls?to adjust exposure, brightness, contrast, highlights, shadows and more
o??? Search by date, location, or album name or use smart suggestions
o??? Smart albums for Slo-mo videos, Bursts, Panoramas, and Time-lapse
o??? Third-party photo filters and editing tools supported directly in Photos
o??? Your photos and metadata from iPhoto will be migrated to Photos. Books, Journals and Slideshows will be converted to albums containing only photos.?iPhoto for iOS is not supported on devices running iOS 8 or later.
Camera improvements
o??? Time-lapse mode
o??? Capture timer
o??? Adjust exposure with a simple nudge to lighten or darken a photo prior to capture
o??? Burst mode on front facing camera on iPhone 5s
o??? Panorama for iPad Air and iPad mini with Retina display
QuickType keyboard
o??? Predictive typing personalized to your writing style, and customized based on the recipient and the app
o??? Predictive is available in English (Australia, Canada, UK, US), French (Canada, France, Switzerland), German (Germany, Switzerland), Italian, Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish, Thai
o??? Third-party keyboard support
iOS 8 Health app
o??? New Health app with easy-to-read dashboard of health and fitness data
o??? Ability to share health data with apps to provide a more comprehensive way to manage your health and fitness
o??? Add a Medical ID with information about allergies, medical conditions, and more with the option to make accessible from the lock screen
o??? Available on iPhone and iPod touch
Family Sharing
o??? Share iTunes, iBooks, and App Store purchases with up to six members of your family.
o??? Pay for family purchases with a single credit card and approve purchases by children with Ask to Buy
o??? Easily share family photos, a family calendar, locations and more
iCloud Drive
o??? Store all your documents in iCloud and access them from your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac, or PC
o??? Share the same file across multiple compatible apps
o??? Edits you make on one device update on all your devices automatically
Continuity features so your iPhone, iPad, and Mac work together more seamlessly
o??? Handoff to continue what you?re doing as you move from one device to another
o??? Make and receive calls and send and receive SMS or MMS messages on your iPad or Mac
o??? Instant Hotspot to automatically use your cellular connection to get online with your other devices
o??? AirDrop compatibility with OS X Yosemite
o??? Available on iPhone 5 or later, iPad (4th generation), iPad Air, iPad mini, and iPod touch (5th generation)
Spotlight improvements
o??? Displays suggestions from Wikipedia entries, places nearby, movies (US only), popular web sites, App Store, iTunes Store and iBooks Store
o??? Safari also supports Spotlight suggestions alongside Top Hit and search suggestions
o??? Supported for local languages in US, UK, Austria, Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland
Mail improvements
o??? Easily jump between drafts and your inbox with a simple swipe down on the draft
o??? Intelligent suggestions for Calendar events and Contacts
o??? VIP threads
Siri improvements
o??? Improvements to responsiveness, reliability and accuracy
o??? ?Hey, Siri? option to initiate Siri using just your voice when your device is plugged in
o??? Streaming voice recognition
o??? Works with Shazam to answer ?What song is playing??
o??? Purchase content from iTunes Store
Safari improvements
o??? DuckDuckGo search engine support
o??? Private browsing per tab
o??? Subscribe to RSS feeds in Shared Links
o??? Use Camera to scan and enter credit card info
Maps improvements
o??? Flyover city tours
o??? Maps place cards in Phone and Contacts
o??? Inline map view and travel time notifications for Calendar events
App Store improvements
o??? New Explore tab for easier category browsing
o??? Top trending searches displayed in Search tab
o??? Scrolling search results
o??? App video previews
o??? Expanded data protection to Calendar, Contacts, Messages, Reminders, and Notes in addition to Mail and 3rd-party apps
o??? Per message S/MIME email controls
o??? Improved UI to make it easier for users to understand the remote management of their device
o??? Automatic reply for Exchange
o??? Free/busy lookup for Calendar invitations
o??? MDM Managed books can be automatically pushed to users
Accessibility?features
o??? Redesigned Zoom with one-handed control and multiple zoom modes including picture-in-picture
o??? Built-in timer and Touch ID support for Guided Access
o??? Speak Screen to read out contents of the screen via gesture or Siri command
o??? VoiceOver improvements including Alex voice option and Braille input support
o??? Multi-device support for MFi hearing aids to seamlessly switch from one paired iOS device to another
From here on out, when a purchase is made through an iPhone via debit or credit card, they get a cut from the banks and credit card makers. That way, they get their cut for the ever increasing market of smartphone purchasing. The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus will feature Apple Pay. That mean iPhone 6 users can pay with the swipe of their fingers. This can be done because major banks like Bank of America, Citigroup and JP Morgan are merging their cards into their system. I should note these terms aren’t official or public yet, but but this deal alone can give Apple a huge chunk? of the $40 billion a year made in mobile phone purchases. By 2017, that number is expected to balloon to $90 million. Apple Pay insists shoppers or merchants won’t be charged for this service. Although I do find it ironic neither Apple, Citigroup, Bank of America or JP Morgan refuse to talk about Apple Pay.
Why does this Apple Pay strike me so much? The way this industry is going today, paying with a smartphone is going be a more common aspect of daily life. I witnessed this myself when paying for cab fare, the driver hooked up his credit card reader to his iPhone and emailed the receipt to my phone. I could go on and on about the Apple Watch and the minimum $349 price, but stay tuned for that one. Do you think this potential Apple Pay system will make the new iPhones more or less attractive?
You hear it out there in the wind every time a new iPhone is coming out, “it’s gonna have a bigger screen!” In the end, Apple makes the screen .01 inches bigger and tells you that it is because the measurements are ideal to fit in your hand. The iPhone6 comes with the same rumors, BIGGER SCREEN. But we have an image of claimed Foxconn schematics of the iPhone6 with a 4.7 inch screen. This makes it far more comparable to the HTC One M8?and the Galaxy S5. The picture below shows the comparable rumored size courtesy of another tech blog.
Although it will still be slightly smaller than those two, we here at our Boston office are a mixed bag of iPhone, HTC and Galaxy users, each one claiming superiority. But the one constant has been that the iPhone always had a tiny screen, now the difference is fairly insignificant, that argument will be out the door with the iPhone6. Not only will the iPhone6 apparently have a larger screen, but should end up 1mm thinner than it’s competitors giving it a more dynamic feel.
Now I will warn everyone not to get too excited, as we have been duped before. I know I was excited about the iPhone5 only to find out the major revelation was that they put the headphone jack on the bottom so I can’t use my Beats By Dre headphones without breaking my Otterbox on the bottom or buying an extension (thanks for nothing Apple) We will all have to wait for the rumored September 9th press conference where we are assuming they will unveil the new iPhone6 and all our prayer can be answered, or all our hopes and dreams crushed like we were 5 year olds who were jilted by Santa…..
For many sports fans, it’s the most wonderful time of the year: the beginning of the NFL football season. You’ll be seeing new things on the sidelines this season, and I’m not talking about a new Washington Redskins mascot.
Starting this season, NFL teams will use tablets and a digital video system to study opponents. If successful, this will replace printed photos. It’s called the Sideline Viewing System and it’s an alliance between Microsoft and the NFL. These tablets are the first time players and coaches are using computer technology devices for football purposes. The Sideline Viewing System will make it’s debut tonight, August 3, 2014, at the Hall of Fame game between the New York Giants and Buffalo Bills. Let’s look at how teams used to study fields and opponents:? There were printed photographs to learn how opponents set up defenses before the offense snapped the ball. Then coaches used Polaroid shots. And in recent years, they used faxes and fiber optics.
It’s going to be interesting to see teams study tablets. But one thing I’m worried about is security, equality, and integrity of the game. Apparently, they have that covered too. Each team will get equal amount of Microsoft Surface tablets. These tablets are owned by the NFL. They will be locked up between games to prevent any fraud, cheating or manipulation. Well, that’s a good start. But what about hacking? I can picture someone hiring a hacker to break into an opponent’s tablets, stealing all their information and using it against them. What’s going to stop that? I guess we’ll see. Are these tablets the perfect marriage between sports and technology? Or is this just a scandal waiting to happen?
Samsung is losing ground. It’s reporting their first quarter year-to-year drop in almost three years, thanks to intensifying competition. Investors are selling off their stock. What to do?
Build, promote, and sell new smartphones. Samsung is planning the launch of not one, but two new phones in the next six months. One model is expected to have a large screen, while the other model is said to have “new materials”, whatever that means. Could it mean bendable screens? Ironically, Apple is expected to launch a new iPhone similar in size soon. The other model will be lower brow, but still have cool models and features. Their goal is to produce high class phones but sell them at a reasonable price. Hopefully, people will buy lots of these and Samsung will make a good profit.
But is selling two new brand of phones within a few months a good idea? It sounds like Samsung is struggling with the products it has already. During this borderline disastrous quarter, Samsung shipped 74.3 million phones. That sounds great, but they were expecting to ship 90 million. The launch of Galaxy S5 didn’t help matters much. Now it’s banking on two new phones the public knows little about to bail them out. I think they should take some time to find out what went wrong this quarter. Yes, competition is intensifying, especially in Asia, but that’s just one factor. What if these two phones are complete flops and Samsung digs themselves into an even deeper hole? Is this double launch a good idea or is it bound to backfire?
In business, sometimes you have to gamble. They’re banking their next batch of iPhones will be the best sale ever. It better be.
Apple iPhone ?is calling on suppliers to produce 70 to 80 million units of future iPhones with either 4.7 inch or 5.5 inch screens. All these units are to be made by December 30, 2014. This is the 20 million more than what was called for with the iPhone 5S and 5C. It’s rumored Apple is working feverishly to launch iPhone 6. Usually they launch either a new phone or device in September, at the beginning of an academic/work year, and not far from the holiday shopping season.
I must say, calling for this many units seems like a huge gamble for Apple to make. During the first quarter of 2014, Apple shared 18% of the smartphone share, compared to 29% of Samsung. I’m sure this factor was in their mind. But what if the sales are disappointing. But then I remember Apple has a partnership with China Mobile, which started selling the iPhone in early 2014. So to have one of the most powerful technical companies in one of the fastest rising economical companies in the world as an ally is a good move. To sale these between the two biggest times of the year is another good move. So is making up to 80 million iPhone devices a gamble or great business sense?
