Alleged photos of Apple iPhone 6s display emerge depicting Force Touch implementation

Photos and some specs of the next upcoming iPhone, the iPhone 6s have been circulating for quite some time. iPhone 6s is said to be coming with the Force Touch feature where users can interact with the screen differently by using varied pressure. This feature is currently used in Apple Watch.

A set of photographs have been posted on Chinese repair firm GeekBar’s Weibo account showing the front and back sides of a display unit allegedly belonging to the next iPhone iteration, the iPhone 6s. There are no significant changes to the outside of the unit compared to the current iPhone 6 handsets. The new photos show the same general shape with similar rounded glass edges and the same positioning of ear speaker and camera as well.

The backside of the alleged iPhone 6s display unit is covered by a metal shield obscuring the LCD module and some of the other features but some changes are apparent. One change that catches the eye immediately is the rectangular cutout present on the top left side of the screen. Some component is seen sticking out through it but can’t be identified due to the poor quality of the image. Considering its relative position to the expected layout of the handset’s logic board and battery, it is speculated that the component could be the grounding insert.

Another big change seen is that Apple seems to have discarded the usual screws and clips as the shielding of the display unit shows riveting on all the four sides. It is speculated that the black dots seen on all the sides could have something to do with the Force Touch technology Apple is supposed to be using on the new iPhone 6s. The rivet fixing could compensate for the heavier touch. With Touch Force, user’s regular touch and heavy touch will trigger different actions on the iPhone.

It is said that manufacturing of components for the Force Touch feature has begun. iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus are expected to be launched at a special event by Apple next month.

Alleged photos of Apple iPhone 6s display emerge depicting Force Touch implementation

This iPhone charging cable comes with 128GB of built-in storage

Smartphones have become such an essential part of us that we can’t even imagine what it would be like without it. While using it, we are perpetually running out of battery or storage capacity. A lot of external storage options are available but what if you can charge your phone and increase your storage capacity at the same time? The PhotoFast MemoriesCable for charging iPhones does just that. This charging cable charges your iPhone and at the same time provides you with additional huge storage capacity of 128GB.

The PhotoFast MemoriesCable is like the regular Apple charging cable that can charge your iPhone or iPad or sync it with other devices such as your computer. It also packs an additional storage feature. Using the PhotoFast app will allow you to store 128GB of content such as photos, videos, music, movies, eBooks, files and other data in it. Another advantage is that it is very secure. You can use TouchID fingerprint authentication feature in the app to keep your content safe.

The MemoriesCable appears to be a little thicker than other regular cables because it sports a standard USB connection, a lightning connector and also a128GB of built-in storage. The length of this iPhone charging cable is 130mm and it weighs only 9.4 grams which makes it lightweight and easily portable.

The PhotoFast MemoriesCable is yet to hit the market but when it does, it will be available in two variants – 128GB and 64GB.  There is no word on its pricing yet.

iPhone owners, are you looking forward to owning this MemoriesCable?

This iPhone charging cable comes with 128GB of built-in storage

Apple iPod is back – New iPod Touch launched with A8 Chip, 8MP Camera and Apple Music

So the rumors were true after all! Apple has brought back a refurbished iPod touch with a variety of colors, a faster processor, better cameras, fitness tracking capabilities and Apple Music. You can say that the new iPod is an iPhone minus the phone capability.

The iPod touch is available in several colors including silver, gold, space gray, pink and blue, all looking fabulous with their PVC-free aluminum body. Under the hood is the 64-bit A8 processor, the same that has been used in the iPhone 6. It also has M8 motion coprocessor that takes care of the fitness tracking.

The new iPod touch has a 4-inch (diagonal) retina display with 1136 x 640 pixels and 326 ppi resolution, an 8MP iSight camera with f/2.4 aperture, autofocus and 1080p HD video recording capability. There is a 1.2MP FaceTime HD front-facing camera with f/2.2 aperture and 720p HD video recording capability. Apple has added popular features such as slo-mo and burst mode to give improved photo and video quality.

Apart from this there’s the fingerprint sensor, Siri intelligent assistant, Wi-Fi and Apple Music. Apple claims a battery life of up to 40 hours for audio playback and up to 8 hours for video playback. The device runs iOS 8.

Apple Music is available through the Music app and Apple is offering 3-month free trial to the users. After that, they will have to pay a $9.99 per month membership fee for individual accounts and $14.99 per month for a family plan with up to six family members.

It is obvious that Apple has revived its iPod line because it wants to popularize its new music service. The iPod touch is available since Wednesday from Apple’s online store as well as its retail stores and authorized resellers with prices starting from $199. The lowest 16GB version costs $199, the 32GB version costs $249, the 32GB version costs $299 and the top-end 128GB model costs $399. The 128GB version and the (PRODUCT) RED model will be exclusively sold through the Apple store.

Apple iPod is back – New iPod Touch launched with A8 Chip, 8MP Camera and Apple Music

Payments through Facebook Messenger now available to users in the US

In March this year, Facebook had announced addition of a new payment feature in its Messenger by which users could send and receive money between family and friends in an easy and secure way. Moreover, it is free. The social networking giant has now announced that the “Messenger person-to-person payments” will be available to all the users in the US. They just have to add their debit card and the payment can be made in a few clicks.

When you want to make payment, just click on the dollar icon “$” in the Messenger conversation. Enter the amount you want to pay and click on the “Pay” icon on the top right hand corner. The money is transferred from your account to the recipient’s account within one to three working days depending on the bank.

You can check out the Messenger payment process through the following pictures or the video at the end of this post:

Before making the payment, users have to register with their Mastercard or Visa debit cards. Users receiving the money for the first time will also have to register their debit cards before they can accept the funds.

Facebook assures the users such payments made through the Messenger are secure as all the information is encrypted. Facebook says that they have been handling payments by advertisers and game players since 2007 and processes over 1 million transactions daily.

They say,” We use layers of software and hardware protection that meet the highest industry standards. These payment systems are kept in a secured environment that is separate from other parts of the Facebook network and that receive additional monitoring and control. A team of anti-fraud specialists monitor for suspicious purchase activity to help keep accounts safe.”

Facebook Messenger is now an independent service as even non-Facebook users can sign up for it. Currently, Facebook Messenger has about 700 million users behind only to WhatsApp which has also been acquired by Facebook now. This new money transfer facility through Messenger to family and friends would be a very easy and convenient feature for its users.

The new payment feature in the Messenger is rolling out now in the US across desktop, Android and iOS devices.

Check out the video here:

Messenger P2P PaymentsWe’re happy to announce that Messenger person-to-person payments are now available to everyone in the U.S.! Add your Debit Card and pay anyone on Messenger in a few taps. Money goes straight from your checking account to the recipient’s checking account. Easy and safe. As always, give it a try it and let us know how we can make even better for you!

Posted by David Marcus on Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Payments through Facebook Messenger now available to users in the US

Facebook introduces Moments App to share photos privately with your friends

Facebook has introduced a new photo sharing app Moments that enables smartphone users to share photos of an event privately with friends who are in those photos and also get photos of themselves from their friends’ mobiles easily.

Almost everyone has a smartphone these days and it has become easy to capture important moments of our lives on phone. In an event or a group outing, we see that everyone tries to capture the same group pics in their respective phones to have a copy for themselves otherwise they face the tedious task of contacting friends separately and take photos from them. And even if they do manage to get copies of some pics from friends, they find it difficult to organize these photos at one place in the phone. Now Facebook’s creative labs have come up with Moments, a standalone photo sharing app that makes all this easy and offers “A private way to share photos with friends.”

Moments app offers a quick and easy way to share photos using facial recognition technology to find who is in which photo and then groups them accordingly. It then allows you to sync the photos with those friends privately. Similarly, you can get back your own photos from them. On top of it, these synced photos get organized making it easy to search through them for specific photos.

Initially, Facebook has launched the Moments app only in the US but has plans to roll it out in other countries soon. The app is available for both Android and iOS devices and can be download from Google Play Store and iTunes respectively.

    

Facebook introduces Moments App to share photos privately with your friends

Apple Music Streaming Service launched, Beats 1 to be its first radio station

Apple had revolutionized digital music with its iTunes and iPods, providing stiff competition to the CD industry. Now the company is joining the new age of subscription music by jumping into the music streaming bandwagon. Apple announced Apple Music, its music-streaming app, at the WWDC with the tagline, “All the Ways You Love Music. All in One Place.”  Music downloads, streaming music and radio have all been combined into a single app.

Apple’s new music streaming service will take on existing providers like Spotify with ambitious plans to get at least 100 million global subscribers. Currently, Spotify dominates the market with more than 60 million users of which about 15 million are paid subscribers.

Apple will transfer users of the existing Beats Music streaming service over to Apple music service. Also, when you are buying albums or songs from iTunes, you will get an option to subscribe to the Apple Music streaming service. The existing iTunes radio has been rebuilt to a live radio station and the company has roped in well known music artists such as Zane Lowe, Dr. Dre, Pharrell, will.i.am, Drake, Muse and David Guetta as DJs.

Apple’s first radio station will be Beats 1 and it will be broadcast in more than 100 countries 24×7. The creative minds behind the Beats 1 radio are Zane Lowe, Ebro Darden and Julie Adenuga. Check out the video ad below:

As the earlier leaks suggested, the music app has been totally revamped. A mini player is constantly present at the bottom of the screen showing you what is playing at the time but you can remove it with a swipe if you don’t want it. There is new album artwork which can also be swiped away. It also has a For You section, which shows curated suggestions after the app has learnt about your music tastes.

There will be thousands of HD quality music videos, which you can run directly from there. There will also be a feature called Connect in the new app that allows artists to have a social network page where they will be able to upload music, photos, videos, messages and status updates. This page can be shared with their fans.

As for charges, the Apple Music streaming service will cost $9.99 a month as was rumored earlier. A family plan for up to 6 members will cost $14.99 but for this, you must have iCloud family sharing to be active. However, you can listen to Beats 1 radio, follow your favorite artists on Connect or tune in to ad-supported stations even if you don’t have a subscription.

Apple Music Streaming Service launched, Beats 1 to be its first radio station

Microsoft"s Cortana Will Be Available For Android and iOS Soon

Cortana, which is basically a Microsoft’s very own voice assistant, is soon to be available for Android and iOS, announces Microsoft. This news is true as Redmond’s Joe Belfiore disclosed it in his recent video promo. Cortana is essentially a “phone companion app” and will be assisting both Google’s Google Now and Apple’s personnel assistant Siri which are the main features of Android and iOS respectively.

It looks like Cortana will be offering mostly the same features to iOS and Android which it is already offering to Windows phone consumers. But it will act as a standalone app partly due to its limitations and also because it is not integrated into the corresponding operating system.

It will work as you expected – you can make whatever queries you want. Other features include location based reminder for iOS and Android system. Cortana will also make interaction with the OneNote, OneDrive and other Microsoft’s own applications.

Comparison of Cortana with Siri and Google Now showed that it is the perfect combination of real usefulness and personality. Not only in Android and iOS, Cortana will also be debuted in Windows 10 PCs this year. This means that Cortana is truly a digital voice assistant of different platforms.

The company has not provided any particular date for the launch of the Cortana on the Play Store and App Store. However, it is assumed that company will present this voice assistance with the launch of Windows 10 for phones, which is expected later this year.

Microsoft"s Cortana Will Be Available For Android and iOS Soon

Microsoft working on OneClip, a cross-platform cloud clipboard app

Microsoft is said to be working on a new virtual clipboard app called OneClip and as its name suggests, it will allow the user to copy stuff on to a clipboard and then access it on any other device running on any platform- Windows, Windows Phone, iOS or Andrroid.

OneClip is currently being tested internally by Microsoft in Beta and its versions for Windows and Windows Phone have been leaked out by WalkingCat (@h0x0d) on Twitter.

According to WalkingCat, you can copy any stuff you want on the clipboard like a phone number, an address, a screenshot or any text that you have come across and want to save. Then OneClip will make all the copied stuff available to you on all your devices, whatever platform they may be running on.

Microsoft OneClip, the cross-device cloud clipboard for Windows/WindowsPhone/Android/iOS pic.twitter.com/HdlY8iZ6y6

— WalkingCat (@h0x0d) May 22, 2015

The beta version of the app that has been released internally, has bagged a 5-star rating from 12 reviews on Windows Phone Store. It is not known when Microsoft will be releasing the OneClip app for the general public but in view of the high rating, it may be quite soon.

Since people are increasingly using multiple devices these days and often move between devices, OneClip looks like a very useful app to have in your device.

It is interesting to note that Microsoft has been using ‘One’ branding for its cross-platform products – OneDrive, OneNote and now OneClip. Microsoft has also recently released Microsoft Office preview apps for Android.

Microsoft working on OneClip, a cross-platform cloud clipboard app

Dinner Plate Which Lets You Know How Much Calorie You Are About To Consume

SmartPlate is hardware in a form of a plate which analyzes whatever the food that is put on it.  It is invented by a Philadelphia-based startup Fitly and it is currently being crowd funded in Kickstarter. The goal is to collect a funding of $100,000 before it is released to the market. You can pledge a piece for $149 whereas the retail price will be $229. If everything is going as per plan, it will start shipping in summer 2016.

The device comes with three digital cameras and image recognition technology which is able to identify the object which is placed on top of it. Furthermore, it transmits data to the corresponding apps installed in the Android OS or iOS. The data is transmitted by using Wi-Fi or Bluetooth.

The difference of this product with the available apps in the market today such as MyFitnessPal is that this product collects the data automatically and accurately too. For example, when an apple is placed on top of SmartPlate, the details were shown on the apps almost automatically, including the weight and the ingredients inside the apple. It is displayed that the apple weighs 7.16oz, 21 grams of sugar, 106 calories and 28 carbs. Therefore, as a comparison, somebody weighs an apple on a weighing machine separately and it is shown as 7.2 oz.

The SmartPlate is coming with a variety of colors such as purple, fuschia and teal.

Dinner Plate Which Lets You Know How Much Calorie You Are About To Consume

iOS hacker gets a web browser running on Apple Watch

The days are not far when you can browse the internet directly from your wrist. An iOS developer and jailbreaker Nicholas Allegra, popularly known  by his handle comex, has shown a web browser running on the tiny 1.5-inch screen of his Apple Watch. “I always wanted a web browser running on my wrist” he tweeted.

comex successfully hacked the Apple Watch OS and managed to get a web browser running on it. He has posted a short 15-second video on mobypicture in which he taps and zooms on the Google homepage on the Apple Watch’s screen. Naturally, its functionality is limited due to the tiny screen and absence of a keyboard. Comex hasn’t given any details about how he did it but he has been able to run the Safari browser on the Watch even though Apple has not included the Safari browser app in it.

comex has also posted a picture of the Apple Watch showing the iOS dictionary view on Twitter.

 

Bonus pic. pic.twitter.com/9iDhtn2chb

— comex (@comex) May 10, 2015

  Some people doubt comex’s feat and speculate that the browser demo is “just an app” but he denies it.  

Heh, a lot of people on Reddit think my demo is “just an app” which is easy to write. No, that’s not how WatchKit works. — comex (@comex) May 10, 2015

 

Comex may be working on Apple Watch jailbreak to break Apple’s restrictions and use unsupported software. Apple has announced earlier that it was working on a native SDK which will be available later in the year. It will enable developers to create apps that could run code on the Watch OS itself. Currently, the apps are loaded through iPhone as Watchkit extensions via Bluetooth.

Comex is known for releasing JailbreakMe, a  one-tap jailbreaking tool in 2011 for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.

 

iOS hacker gets a web browser running on Apple Watch

How to boost your smartphone’s Wi-Fi signal strength

Wi-Fi has become very common in homes, offices and even public places these days. Wi-Fi is wireless local area network which is used by several devices including smartphones. These devices can connect to the internet through the wireless network access points called hotspots. The range of these Wi-Fi hotspots depends on various factors such as the power of transmission, type of antenna, location and the environment.

Today, millions of people in the world are using Wi-Fi and wish to have fast internet speeds and long range. However many of them face performance issues with their Wi-Fi networks due to either the poor performance of the router or the poor WI-Fi antenna of their smartphone. There are several reasons for poor connectivity such as the position of the router or what is sitting near the router or even the materials used in the walls. Fortunately, there are many ways to strengthen it too.

There are many Wi-Fi optimizer apps available on the net but all are not reliable. So instead of wasting time in checking them one by one to see if they are effective, you can adopt the following sure shot way for getting a good Wi-Fi signal on your smartphone at home or at work. The best part is that this method works on any smartphone you have – Android, iOS, Windows Phone or any other.

Here are the steps you need to follow:

1. Access your router’s web interface

For accessing your router’s web interface, you need to type in the router’s local IP address into the browser’s address bar. It is usually 192.168.0.1 but sometimes the default gateway may be slightly different say 192.168.1.1 or even 192.168.2.1.

You can find it out easily on your Windows computer if it has the same network connection as the router. Click the start button located on the bottom left hand side of the window and type cmd and then click on cmd.exe. If it is a higher Windows version, you can find it on the sliding panel on the right side.

2. Find the default gateway

When the cmd.exe loads, a black rectangular window will appear. Type in ipconfig in it and among other things, your default gateway will appear. This is your router’s local IP address which you can note down.

3. Accessing router’s settings

You can now switch over to your smartphone. Open the browser and enter the router’s IP address. You will get a pop up window for entering User Name and Password. The User Name is usually admin and the password is either admin or password. However, if it doesn’t work, you can easily find it through Google search once you give the router’s make. Once you type out the correct User name and Password combo, you will be able to log in.

4. Going to wireless settings

After logging in, you will see a web interface which is different for routers of different brands. There you will find the option wireless, then go to wireless settings or something similar. The image below shows the interface for TP-Link router.

5. Wireless channel

Once you go to wireless settings, you will find the channel option. This will show you the frequency at which the router is transmitting the Wi-Fi signal. You can speed up the Wi-Fi signal by changing your router’s channel. You will have to choose the channel with least interference to get a better signal.

6. Choosing the right channel

If many nearby networks are using the same channel, there will be more interference and the signal will be weak. To analyze the interference, you can use Wi-Fi Analyser for Android or inSSIDer utility for Windows. It will scan the nearby networks and find out the best channel that will give you minimum interference.

The most commonly used router is the old 2.4GHz one which has up to 14 channels to choose from depending on your area. Each channel is separated only by 5MHz of spectrum so there is a lot of overlap between nearby networks. You will have to choose the best one out of them which gives you the optimum signal strength.

How to boost your smartphone’s Wi-Fi signal strength

Google acquires Timeful, plans to integrate it into Inbox and Calendar

Google announced on Monday that it has acquired Timeful Inc., a startup that has made the Timeful time management app for iphone. The mountain View giant will be integrating this app into its products like Inbox, Calendar and others to “make our life easier”.

Timeful received funding from Khosla Ventures, Kleiner Perkins, Data Collective, Ashton Kutcher’s AGrade and others, and the app was launched in July last year. The Timeful app was released only for the iOS platform and will continue to be available to users for download and use. However, after the acquisition, active development for iOS will stop and the team will focus on developing new projects for Google only.

The Timeful Calendar app analyses your schedule and helps you to fulfill your tasks by suggesting free time slots. Your tasks could be anything from visiting the bank or going to gym. It is different from other calendar apps. After registration, it asks you what kind of things you would like to do and then tries to fit them into the free slots in your schedule. It gives equal priority to both your personal and professional work and will also add things like spending time with kids or helping them with homework to your schedule apart from the work stuff.

Alex Gawley, director of product management at Google writs in his Gmail Blog:

“The Timeful team has built an impressive system that helps you organize your life by understanding your schedule, habits and needs. You can tell Timeful you want to exercise three times a week or that you need to call the bank by next Tuesday, and their system will make sure you get it done based on an understanding of both your schedule and your priorities. We’re excited about all the ways Timeful’s technology can be applied across products like Inbox, Calendar and beyond, so we can do more of the work for you and let you focus on being creative, having fun and spending time with the people you care about.”

Google acquires Timeful, plans to integrate it into Inbox and Calendar

5 interesting Facebook tricks you should know about

Facebook is one of the most popular social media networks that allows us to easily connect with our family and friends residing in any part of the world. We can share status updates, photos and videos as well as comment on their posts and chat with them.

However, there is a lot more to Facebook than doing just that. Here are 5 Facebook features that might interest you:

1. Facebook tells your friends your location

You can share so many things on Facebook with your friends – your news, events,thoughts, photos and videos. You can now also share your location using the ‘Nearby Friends’ feature. It is an Android and Facebook app that alerts you when any of your friends is nearby.

This app is presently available in select areas only and to check if ‘Nearby Friends’ is available in your area, you can open Facebook in your phone and click the icon having 3 horizontal lines present in top right corner in Android phone and bottom right corner in iPhone. Then select ‘Nearby Friends’ and then ‘Turn On’.

You can also choose who all can see your location. By default, only your friends can see it, not everyone. You can select a list like family or any list of friends you have created and only the people in that list will be able to see your location. You can also share your location temporarily with anyone you wish to. For this, go to Nearby Friends, find the friend you want on the list, click the arrow icon in front of their name and then choose how long you would like to share your location with them.

2. Facebook allows you to use emoticons and stickers

Facebook has hundreds of emoticons which you can send to friends via comments or chat. Apart from the usual smileys and hearts, these emoticons include emojis for so many other things like flowers, vehicles, professions, food, buildings, holidays etc.  Facebook has now added stickers too. If you want to send an emoticon or sticker to a friend, click the smiley in the comment or chat window. It will show you some default emoticons and stickers from which you can choose. If you want more options, there is a sticker store. To download more sticker packs, you can click the blue plus sign shown on the sticker window’s top right corner.

These smiley faces and emojis look cute but sometimes when you see a lot of them everywhere, they can be annoying. You can remove these stickers by using browser app ‘Unsticker Me’ for Firefox and Chrome. It will convert the sticker images to say [sticker].

3. Facebook tracks you but you can stop this tracking

Facebook shares your information with advertisers and marketers and in turn gets from them whatever information they have about you. This way, your detailed profile is built by them that includes your likes, dislikes, choices, browsing habits etc. and it helps them to target you with relevant ads. Advertisers are raking in millions this way.

You can escape from this tracking by opting out of the ad network. Facebook and several other companies have formed a Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA). There is a tool available on the DAA website by which you can opt out of the advertising network. You can choose Facebook and/or other companies where you do not want to see targeted ads. You can even choose all the companies participating in the network.

4. Facebook allows you to check your privacy settings

Online privacy is extremely important and Facebook has introduced a Privacy Checkup tool for it. Many people don’t know about it but if you want to find it, click the ‘lock’ icon on top right corner and then click Privacy Checkup. You can now choose who can see your posts, your personal info and manage your installed apps.

5. Facebook spills your secret

When you open a Facebook message, you will notice a text saying ‘seen at’. It tells the sender that the recipient has seen the message and when they have seen it. If you don’t respond immediately to it, it might cause a misunderstanding because the sender might think you are ignoring them.

Chrome browser has an extension ‘Facebook Unseen’ by which Facebook will not know when you have seen the message. For Android and iOS, Privy Chat or Unread could be used.

5 interesting Facebook tricks you should know about

Microsoft makes it easy to port Android and iOS apps to Windows 10

Microsoft has been steadily losing ground due to its “app gap” and software developers have been moving towards the more accommodating Google Android and the Apple iOS. Windows store comes a poor third after the big two. App gap is the main reason why Windows Phone is not able to grow its market share.

Although Microsoft has claimed that it is a non-issue, it is now working hard to address the issue and get software developers interested in the Windows platform. The company plans to overcome the app gap this year with its universal Windows 10 platform by making it easy for developers to run their Android and iOS apps on Windows and fill up its mobile app store.

Microsoft announced at its BUILD 2015 developer conference, that their new technology will allow developers to re-work their Android or iOS apps with just a few simple lines of code and make them work with Windows 10. Developers will be able to take their Android apps written in Java/C++ code or iOS apps written in Objective C and port them over easily to Windows universal apps that will work on Windows 10 phones, by using Microsoft SDK. They will not have to rebuild their whole apps for the Windows platform.

Microsoft’s Operating Systems Group President Terry Myerson told The Verge, “We want to enable developers to leverage their current code and current skills to start building those Windows applications in the Store, and to be able to extend those applications,“

Developers will also be able to easily integrate their Windows projects with Windows extensions and services like the navigation buttons, virtual keyboard or the location API. The modified Android apps would run in a safe Windows security container that will offer better security.

Microsoft has been testing its new tools with some major developers, for instance King, the developer of the famous ‘Candy Crush Saga’. They have successfully ported the game on Windows phone by converting it’s iOS code using Microsoft’s new technology and with very little modifications. On the stage, the company also showed the Android app for Choice Hotels working well on a Windows Phone with only some minor tweaks.

Well, this is only a beginning and we may soon see Microsoft’s app store filling up and bridging its app gap with two major competitors, Android and iOS.

Microsoft makes it easy to port Android and iOS apps to Windows 10

Have a look at the new Windows 10 phone interface, may release in September 2015

In its lengthy Keynote at the BUILD 2015 developer conference, Microsoft gave a detailed presentation on the new cross-platform Windows 10 operating system which will run the same app on different devices like the smartphones, tablets, laptops, desktops and TVs. Only the interface will have some changes.

The details disclosed in the keynote included info about Microsoft Edge, the successor to Internet Explorer, as well as demos about assorted HoloLens gear for Mocrosoft’s Windows Holographic augmented reality experience which it is building into Windows 10.

There were quite a few mobile-related announcements too. Microsoft has opened up the Windows platform and made porting of Android and iOS apps to Windows easy. Continuum for Phones was also demonstrated which can transform your smartphone into a desktop when connected to a bigger screen and where you can start apps like PowerPoint, Excel or Outlook from your smartphone and then continue to work on them on larger screens. The Interface adapts to different input methods and the transition between devices is seamless.

However, during the Keynote, Microsoft’s Windows Phone chief Joe Belfiore didn’t show anything much about the actual interface we will have on our Windows 10 phone when it hits the shelves in a few months. But no worries, this deficiency has been removed by a separate official Windows Blog Post explaining the design in detail and demonstrating it with several pictures.

For the design, they have taken an approach similar to the one used for designing a city, first creating a foundation or a grid which maintains the order and standards to make it work and is also flexible enough to allow expression.

Well as for the design, first off there’s the Hamburger control or the Menu icon on the top left corner which is the main navigation element. This position is somewhat unusual as most of us are right handed and hold the phone in our right hand. The Hamburger icon is used as the ‘home’ for an app. Microsoft may allow both hamburger and pivot controls in an app but promises to “display the right control at the right time on the right device.”

The three dots context menu is located on the right hand corner at the bottom. Microsoft has not yet decided whether to arrange the “recent apps” in the taskbar switcher from right to left or the opposite. In a PC, the task order is from left to right while in phones it has traditionally been from right to left. The company is collecting feedback for this before taking any decision about it.

Albert Shum, Design Team lead at Microsoft’s Operating Systems Group says in the blog,” Windows 10 is just the start of a new way of designing and operating. Keep in mind, we’re thinking of Windows 10 “as a service” with a plan to provide ongoing updates and improvements. In particular most of the apps we talked about here will be getting regular updates through the store so you’ll see refinements continue to happen after our broad public availability.”

What do you think of the new Windows 10 interface? Of course we will get to know more about it when the Windows 10 phone actually gets into our hands. The date in the Calendar pic shows September 2015, so this might be the month when it actually hits the market.

Have a look at the new Windows 10 phone interface, may release in September 2015

Reuters: Microsoft Cortana to arrive as a standalone app on iOS and Android

Based on the recent reports published by Reuters, Microsoft seems to be planning to bring its digital private virtual assistance Cortana on iOS and Android platforms. For the moment, this is available only as a beta version of Windows Phone 8.1 devices in few selected regions and a global roll-out can be expected later in 2015. The reason behind this rumor that Cortana could feature on Apple and Google platforms is basically due to the fact that Microsoft seems to be planning to expand the user base for its software products.

In this field of digital personal assistance, three big tech giant namely Apple, Google and Microsoft have tried their hands with their own Siri, Google Now and Cortana. However, Cortana seems to be having an edge over its other two rivals and is surely ahead of the pack. Once Cortana would find its way to Apple and Google platforms the competition is going to get even more stronger and Apple and Google will really have to work-out to put in line its Siri and Google Now respectively to be equally competent enough with Cortana.

source: Reuters

Reuters: Microsoft Cortana to arrive as a standalone app on iOS and Android

Apple plans to launch public betas for iOS 8.3 and iOS 9 to fix bugs prior to their release

Last year, Apple had successfully launched the public beta for OS X Yosemite and based on this success, Apple plans to release public betas for the upcoming versions of its iOS operating system. Multiple sources say that the Cupertino company wants to get rid of bugs before the iOS 8.3 and iOS 9 versions are launched for the public.

This would be the first ever public beta release for the iOS because prior to this, Apple’s iOS beta versions were released only to registered developers and the general public never had access to any of the iOS beta builds. Some did manage to sell beta versions downloaded from developer accounts but their success was limited. Greg Joswiak, VP of iPhone & iOS marketing at Apple had earlier expressed concern about this unauthorized business saying that the company would fight it in future.

Apple’s iOS 8 faced several bugs and stability issues and the company has received much flak for it. This may be the reason why Apple wants to release public beta versions of iOS 8.3 and 9 so that most of the issues could be resolved before their official release. However, sources say that the public beta program would be limited to only 100,000 people in order to maintain some level of exclusivity. Apple has begun to rope in retail employees for this.

iOS 8.3 is codenamed Stowe and it was released to developers in the beginning of this month with some enhancements for Emoji keyboard, Siri, wireless CarPlay support and simpler Google services login. Second beta for it will probably be released next week. Public beta for iOS 8.3 (which will be 3rd for developers) will be out in mid-March.

iOS 9 is codenamed Monarch will supposedly focus more on bug fixes, stability and optimization and will officially debut at Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference in June. Its public beta will be released in summer and it will be finally launched in the fall.

 

Source 9To5Mac

Apple plans to launch public betas for iOS 8.3 and iOS 9 to fix bugs prior to their release

Apple’s iOS 9 running on iPhone 6 gets benchmarked

As we know, Apple’s new mobile operating system iOS 9 is coming soon. Google Analytics found Apple already testing this new version. Now the iOS 9 has popped up in the Rightware benchmark database showing iPhone 6 running it.

So it seems that Apple’s upcoming iOS 9 is being tested in its latest iphone. Apple’s CEO Tim Cook has already gone on record saying that the company will try to release a new version of iOS and Mac OS every year. The Google Analytics findings and the Rightware benchmark database indicate that Apple is moving in that direction and will probably be ready with a developer preview by June when the company holds its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC).

While it is still not clear what changes iOS 9 is going to incorporate, we can get an idea about it if we check the benchmark results. The Basemark OS II test results are available for iPhone 6 running iOS 8 and iPhone 6 running iOS 9. If we compare both the test results, we can see that there is only little difference between the two.

However, it is very likely that the iOS 9 version tested here is just a preliminary build that is being tried out and the actual final product will be much different with some major enhancements over the earlier version.

Via PhoneArena

Apple’s iOS 9 running on iPhone 6 gets benchmarked

Apple Watch battery life targets revealed, to have a powerful CPU and Retina-class display

Tim Cook announced Apple Watch in September 2015 and since then everyone is curious about what Apple’s smartwatch would really be like. The phone’s battery will reportedly last only for a day and it will need charging every night. This has been mentioned by the Apple’s CEO himself but there is no mention about how long the battery will actually last.

9to5Mac has got information about specific performance targets that Apple is keen to achieve regarding the Apple Watch battery, but it remains to be seen how Apple actually fares. According to sources, Apple has opted for a powerful processor and a high quality screen in its smartwatch but both would need more power. The Apple S1 chip in the Apple Watch runs SkiHill, a stripped-down version of iOS. Its performance is quite close to that of Apple’s A5 processor used in iPod Touch. The watch screen is “Retina-class” color display updating at 60 FPS. It is obvious that both will drain out the battery quickly. However, when the watch screen is not in use, the display turns off, saving power.

Apple has been stress-testing the watch’s battery life with various applications. Apple is targeting 2.5 hours of heavy app usage such as gaming; 3.5 hours of usage for standard apps; 3 hours for clock face display and watch-ticking animations; 4 hours for fitness tracking; 2-3 days for low-power or standby modes and 4 hours for sleeping mode. Apple is targeting 19 hours of mixed (active/passive) usage per day but it may not achieve this target in the first version of Apple Watch.

Apple has been concerned over the short battery life and this is one of the reasons why Apple has pushed back the retail launch of Apple Watch from 2014 to early 2015. Latest reports suggest that Apple’s smartwatch will now start shipping only in April. Meanwhile, the company has circulated around 3,000 units of the watch to test its real-world performance.

Source 9to5Mac

Apple Watch battery life targets revealed, to have a powerful CPU and Retina-class display

Microsoft officially launches Outlook for iOS Android, it is actually a rebranded Acompli

Looks like Microsoft is unleashing one app after another on iOS and Android phones and tablets in a bid to push its apps beyond the Windows Phone. After making its popular Office freely available for the two platforms, the Redmond-based giant has released its Outlook app for  iOS and Android devices.

The app is available for iOS on iTunes and as a preview for Android on Google Play. You can download and use this email service for free. Microsoft had acquired the popular email app Acompli in December last year and has quickly turned it into an Outlook app for iOS and Android.

“We have been and we’ll continue to update the app weekly,” Julia White, Microsoft’s general manager of Office told The Verge. “So in a very short period time you’ll start to see variance from the Acompli app that will not be updated after that point.”

As some may have expected, Microsoft has not removed the integration of Acompli with Google Drive and Dropbox, but has retained them. Another important feature of Acompli is that you can swipe to quickly archive or delete emails and you can even schedule the messages to a convenient time when you can come back and read them or send a reply. The inbox removes clutter and surfaces emails that are important.

The Outlook app gives you quick access to contacts, mail, calendar and files. Outlook for iOS and Android will support Outlook.com, Office 365, Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, Exchange and other major email services.

Via The Verge

Microsoft officially launches Outlook for iOS Android, it is actually a rebranded Acompli