iOS

Good news and bad news for Tesla Model S owners: the iOS and Android apps have been updated to allow you to start the car without a key – but the matching firmware update needed by the car hasn’t yet arrived.

Version 2 of the iOS app also provides support for the new calendar function, where the car can pull in data from your iPhone calendar and offer to navigate you to the location – as well as providing several new alerts … 
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The fact that Apple was working on a smartwatch may have been one of the worst-kept secrets in the world, but the company did at least manage to keep us guessing about the form it would take – right down to whether the form factor would be square or circular.

Was a square format the right choice? To help us form a view, UX/UI designer Alcion has put together a series of renders showing what the Apple Watch would look like with a round face … 
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As we always do, we’ve compiled a list of the best iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus cases already available to order. With preorders for the device kicking off this Friday through most carriers and major retailers in launch countries, a number of great case makers have already started selling accessories. We’ve stuck to reputable case makers and cases that you can order today. A few might not ship until the end of the month or early next, but Apple isn’t expected to ship the iPhone 6 & 6 Plus until September 19th. We’ll add more to the list as we find them.
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SwiftKey has long been known as one of the most popular third-party keyboards for Android, but the company kept no secrets earlier this year in announcing that the app would be making its way to Apple’s platform with the release of iOS 8. Today, the company has shared some more details about its features, and given us a first-look at the swipe-to-type entry method running on the latest build of iOS.

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Now that the iPod classic, the last of Apple’s legacy clickwheel iPods, is no longer for sale from Apple, this might be your last chance to get your hands on the device. While you can’t get one from Apple, there are still a few spots to purchase remaining stock:
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Re/code is reporting that Apple is currently seeing about a day’s worth of battery life. The company was notably sheepish to mention anything specific, but internally Re/code says Apple’s current marketing strategy is that users charge it over night to get full use during daylight hours.

Interestingly, the report notes that Apple is unhappy with current performance and the situation is very much still in flux. Apparently, Apple is doing many different things to improve battery longevity, by the time the device launches in ‘early 2015’.

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When Apple quietly created a new MFi spec for headphones, allowing them to connect via the Lightning port rather than the headphone jack to deliver higher-quality audio, everyone expected Apple-owned Beats to be first to take advantage of it. But instead Philips has, ah, beaten them to it … 
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Jonathan Zdziarski, who flared up the initial round of iOS surveillance claims a couple of months ago, is now reporting that some of these flaws have been rectified with iOS 8. Apple said that these services were used for debugging purposes, and had no connection to government agencies. It then proceeded to detail these processes in a support note.

Zdziarski’s post explains that many issues have been addressed, particularly with File Relay. Before, this service blindly sent data from the device to an external source, without authentication. In iOS 8, he says that the service has been disabled. It seems that data is no longer available either through physical connection or wirelessly. Zdziarski notes law enforcement will not be able to use current tools to access any of this previously-exposed information.

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Apple tried to get social with the iTunes Ping network in 2010. Things didn’t work out so well. (Image via Wired)

Apple and social networking don’t have such a great history, but the Cupertino tech firm is ready to give it another go, if new rumors regarding a potential acquisition of the Path social app are true. According to PandoDaily, Apple is already in talks with the mobile social network and the merger is “essentially a done deal.”

Path, for the uninitiated, is a mobile-only social networking app launched in 2010 that features photo sharing, private messaging, and other features you’d expect from a basic social service. It isn’t as widely popular as something like Facebook or Twitter, but it’s estimated to have somewhere around 25 million users and could provide Apple with a decent platform to create its own network.

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The day we’ve all been waiting for is finally here. Apple has officially introduced its new iPhone lineup and announced an entirely new product in the wearables department. There was quite a bit of information between most of the major announcements from today, and because of that, we thought it would be helpful to condense the “need to know” information into a short video…

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One feature that Apple didn’t spend time showing off on stage is a rumored one-handed mode for the new larger iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus displays. Apple is calling it “Reachability” and with it allows users to double tap the Home button to shift the entire UI down to put UI elements at the top of the display in thumb’s reach (as pictured above). How Apple would address the problem of a larger iPhone causing usability issues was a big question leading up to today’s event and now we have our answer. Samsung and others with large smartphones offer similar features that scale the screen to one side or corner to make the device easier to use with one hand.
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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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