iOS

After the unveiling of Apple Watch during the Sept. 9 iPhone launch event, Apple announced WatchKit for Apple Watch. This is a new development kit will allow developers to create interesting and exciting ways to use the Apple Watch hardware and software in their apps.

WatchKit allows integration for Actionable notifications, WatchKit apps, and Glances. During the keynote, Apple demonstrated Facebook and Twitter functionality with Apple Watch along with other apps with the ability to unlock a hotel door, get transit directions, post to Pinterest, find your car, change the temperature with a Honeywell thermostat, and use Nike fitness features. All of these features and functionality will exist within individual Apple Watch apps.

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During the iPhone 6 launch event, Apple announced that the 1.3 million apps available on the App Store should “just work” on the new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus that are expected to be released soon. This is possible thanks to the Auto Layout that was introduced at WWDC…

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Apple has added the next-generation of motion tracking to its iPhone 6. The new device can measure elevation, such as tracking flights of stairs, using an inbuilt barometer. It works by analyzing relative air pressure.

All of this information will appear in the iPhone’s Health app, tracking how often you climb stairs and other related metrics. The chip can also differentiate between running and walking distances, as shown below.

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The same person who posted the original convincing videos of a working iPhone 6 is back with some more analysis, after having the device for a couple of days. In particular, zzray ran his device through Geekbench to try and find out some technical specifications. The supposed Geekbench results say that the device (with identifier iPhone 7,2) has 1 GB of RAM and an ARM processor clocked at 1.4 GHz.

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According to a report from BetaBoston, Apple’s team in Boston working on its Siri speech recognition technology looks to be expanding as the company reportedly leases a new 13,000 square foot office. The report, which cites real estate sources, says the new office at One Broadway is in the Cambridge Innovation Center where Apple currently has a small team occupying two smaller offices:
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The latest update to the popular, Facebook-owned WhatsApp Messenger app for iPhone hit the App Store with a long list of new features for users including the ability to share slow-mo videos from the iPhone 5s and trim clips down right in the app without having to edit the video in the Photos app.

Chatting with photos also received improvements with the ability to add captions and snap and share photos even faster added. Improvements and changes to location sharing, app wallpapers, and new notification tones are included. The latest version also allows users to move chat logs and contact groups away to an archive. Complete list of changes below…
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Vehicles with Apple’s new CarPlay functionality are starting to hit the roads with Ferrari announcing today that it’s delivered its first batch of Ferrari FF models equipped with the new feature.
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iGen.fr, who has proved reliable in the past with Apple launch dates, is now claiming that sources informed the site that the new iPhones will launch on the 19th. This is generally to be expected, following historical patterns. Apple traditionally puts new iPhones on sale the Friday the week after the announcement. This year, everyone seems convinced that the 4.7 inch iPhone 6 will be on sale then.

The release schedule of the 5.5 inch model is less clear. Some, citing supply constraints, have said that the 5.5 inch model (most recently dubbed the iPhone 6 Plus) will not launch for a couple more months. However, a consensus on this has not really been reached. iGen.fr says that the larger device will in fact launch on September 19th as well and is certainly still a possibility.

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Apple is now sending emails to users when they log in to iCloud.com. This is part of Apple’s latest security upgrades to iCloud, which Tim Cook announced late last week. In the interview, Cook said Apple planned to launch the feature within two weeks, but obviously it has been deployed much sooner. The notification is supposed to act as a warning for users, to detect account infiltrations as early as possible. Supposedly, these emails will only be sent once, the first time an account logs in to a particular device, so it shouldn’t spam your inbox with login notifications.

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While the 4.7-inch version of the upcoming iPhone 6 will seemingly function as a large version of the current iPhone interface, it appears that the larger model with a 5.5-inch display could run software in landscape mode with an iPad-like user interface (portrait views likely remain unchanged). Developer Steven Troughton-Smith altered the iOS simulator to run at 736 points x 414 points (1472 x 828 at 2x or 2208 x 1242 at 3x), the resolution we first reported was likely in the cards for at least one iPhone 6 model, and provided us with screenshots of the presented interface…

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Apple and longtime partner Disney this week are bolstering their stores with upgraded versions of iBeacon sensors and NFC readers, according to sources. Apple Stores have had iBeacons stationed throughout showroom floors for several months as a way to pinpoint exactly where a customer is within the store. This allows Apple to better serve customers by providing relevant sales information to their iPhones and iPads while in the store. The upgrades happening this week within Apple Stores place several new Gimbal Series 20 Proximity Beacons across stores to make location tracking within the store even more accurate.

In addition to providing relevant information for the Apple Store app, iBeacons can be useful for NFC mobile payment technologies as a form of authentication. If Apple knows where a customer is in the store to a precise degree, it can ensure that is it wirelessly connecting to the correct iPhone for mobile payments. As has been widely reported, the new iPhone 6 and upcoming Apple wearable device will include new wireless sensors (including a near field communication chipset) to conduct mobile payments with credit cards stored in an upgraded Passbook application.

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Apple’s upcoming wearable device, based on iOS, will run third-party applications and, furthermore, may come equipped with an App Store, according to two sources with knowledge of the new device. It is currently unclear if the App Store will be full-fledged, like on the iPhone and iPad, or if it will be a special section with in the iPhone App Store for apps that play nicely with the new wearable device.

A small handful of high-profile social network and services companies with apps on the iPhone and iPad App Store have already been seeded with a pre-release version of the Apple SDK (Software Development Kit) for wearables under strict non-disclosure agreements. One of the developers with access to the pre-release SDK is Facebook, according to a source. Facebook is also said to be finishing up work on an iOS 8-optimized version of its iPhone app with improved notifications. The social network is also experimenting with ways it can leverage the new Notification Center widget APIs.

The SDK was seeded “very recently” to these developers, and Apple likely wants to demonstrate some third-party wearable apps at Tuesday’s event, according to one source. Apple, in the past, has provided select developers with early versions of SDKs in order to boast new apps on the keynote stage. For example, several apps from companies like AOL were shown off with the first public demonstration of the iPhone SDK, fancy gaming and drawing apps were demonstrated alongside the first iPad in 2010, and the iPhone 4S’s dual-core A5 chip was launched alongside a graphics-intense video game…

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A user on Weibo has uploaded a set of photos and a video of what looks like a working iPhone 6 (update: Here’s a video review of what looks like the same phone). The device’s software does not have the same tells as the Android fakes seen many times before. It features a new looking Passbook icon, that adds a top red bar depicting a ‘credit card’ icon. Assumedly, this is linked to Apple’s widely-reported mobile payments initiative.

Further images of the device show that is running iOS 8 (build 12A365), a build of the operating system that is not available for developer testing. It is unclear whether this is the build number of the GM. More information below.

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Concept: jivaldi.com

A new report from The Information claims sources that have spoke with Apple employees say the company is setting low expectations for its upcoming wearable’s battery life. Little details have leaked out regarding specific specs or the design of the device, but today’s report from The Information claims battery life could be one area the iWatch disappoints:
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TestFlight is now appearing in the App Store, ahead of an expected launch later this month. The service will allow developers to easily share betas of upcoming apps with public testers. It was discovered Apple had bought TestFlight earlier this year and the company subsequently announced the integration of the service into its developer portal at WWDC.

Before Apple’s acquisition, TestFlight was not in the App Store itself as it violated app review guidelines. Being part of the App Store makes it much more accessible to the general public and should incentivize more beta testers to participate in general.

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Dell has just announced a brand-new 27inch external display with an insane resolution of 5120×2880. Pixel counts of this magnitude were thought to be several months out, stretching into mid 2015, so Dell’s abrupt announcement has come as a bit of surprise. In summary, the 27-inch panel has 14 million pixels across its surface, resulting in a PPI of 218. This is the same density as a 15inch Retina MacBook Pro, but obviously much much larger.

The monitor is expected to be available by the end of the year.

What’s notable about this resolution is it shows that a Retina iMac is now very feasible. 5120×2880 is exactly double 2560×1440, the resolution of the current 27 inch iMac, in each dimension.

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Ahead of its major media event next week, Apple has issued a significant update to its Apple Store shopping iOS app. The first addition is a complete redesign for the iPhone and iPod touch application’s interface. The new design is more in-line with the recently released iPad variant. Speaking of the iPad version, the tablet-optimized layout is now a universal bundle (single download) with the iPhone/iPod touch version, and it has also gained support for making Apple Store One to One reservations. The app also has a new Stores section to search for upcoming events at local Apple Stores. There is also a new icon. Perhaps the most significant new feature is support for synchronizing shopping between iOS devices and desktop computers. For example, you can start shopping on your Mac and continue via the app on your iPhone. Apple (rightfully so) doesn’t want to a miss a single iPhone 6 or iWatch/iBand sale.

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The New York Times is weighing in on Apple’s imminent iPhone event, corroborating past information as well as adding some new tidbits about Apple’s newest iPhones (the ‘iPhone 6’) and its brand new wearable (dubbed ‘iWatch’).

Most interestingly, it says that the iWatch will feature a flexible display. Assumedly, this will allow the product to morph to fit comfortably on user’s arms. KGI’s Ming-Chi Kuo predicted Apple’s use of a flexible panel in July. The screen is protected by sapphire glass. As 9to5Mac has reported countless times, the device will feature health and fitness tracking capabilities, for things like footsteps and heart rate. The report claims Apple has “put an enormous amount of time and money” to make the sensors track “much more accurately than existing fitness devices”.

In terms of software, the device will rely on HealthKit for health tracking and Handoff, one of Apple’s iOS 8 continuity features, to seamlessly share content between devices. Handoff could be used for sharing SMS texts between the phone and the watch, for instance. 9to5Mac discussed how Handoff might interact with Apple’s wearable a couple of months ago.

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