iOS

Image Credit: Christina Samuelson

Last week, the Silicon Valley Forum held a Visionary Salon Dinner event with Tony Fadell. Kevin Surace, Appvance’s CEO, interviewed Fadell on his past accomplishments and journey through technology. An edited transcript of the conversation shows just how in-depth the conversation went. Fadell’s interview is a personal look at what drove the creator forward while building the iPod, the iPhone, and the Nest Thermostat.

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Microsoft is currently running a new series of ads featuring ‘The Bug Chicks’, with each ad directly targeting a weakness in Apple’s Mac operating system. Kristie and Jess, curiously labelled as ‘real people paid for real opinions’, walk through several ways that Windows 10 helps them teach kids about bugs and the microscopic world.

The ad series focuses on several different competitive advantages Windows currently holds over OS X, such as touchscreen-equipped laptops for sketching and drawing, Cortana as a personal voice search assistant and face recognition for hands-free account login. Some of the things Microsoft highlights, like the absence of Siri on OS X are expected to be addressed by Apple later in the year, of course. Watch all four videos after the jump:

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If Apple hasn’t yet made the Ethernet network port on your Mac obsolete by not including it, as is the case with most Macs sold today, then it may have accidentally broke the port last week in an OS X kernel extension update. Many users complained about the issue online: they had randomly found their Macs no longer connecting to the Internet and their Ethernet port simply not working. Apple has now officially acknowledged the problem on its support pages. Luckily, the software problem isn’t permanent and the bug can, usually, be easily resolved.

Apple has already fixed the Ethernet software problem for users going forward. Here’s the fix if you were affected …

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Well-sourced Re/code is indicating that Apple’s media event and keynote announcement for spring will be held in the week of March 21st. In an independent report by Buzzfeed, John Paczkowski reports that the event will take place on March 21st itself and will be a ‘smaller scale event’, suggesting it will take place in Cupertino on Apple’s campus. The reason for the event’s delay, given Apple initially planned for a March 15th event, is also unclear. Too much executive time spent with the FBI? Maybe!

Korean media site underkg.co.kr suggested the delayed date earlier in the week, although the report was generally ignored given the unknown provenance. In contrast, Re/code has a far better track record with Apple reporting.

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Extensify is a highly anticipated app release from developers Majd Alfhaily and Kevin Ko that’s been in the works for quite some time. This weekend it will finally be launched as a part of a limited rollout.

Extensify is best described as a tweak store that allows you to change the properties of App Store apps. Unlike tweaks that require your iPhone to be jailbroken, Extensify works without needing a jailbreak. This is made possible by Apple’s decision to allow users to sideload iOS apps. Have a look at our hands-on video walkthrough inside for more details.
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In a research note for investors, KGI Securities has posted some interesting claims about the new 4 inch ‘iPhone SE’ coming from Apple in March, as reported by 9to5Mac. The iPhone SE is expected to be very similar to the iPhone 5s in appearance with slightly curved edges, but feature the latest processor internals, an A9 chip just like the iPhone 6s as well as Apple Pay and Live Photos.

KGI claims the phone will also feature a 12 megapixel camera, matching the latest iPhones in megapixels. KGI also believes the new 4 inch iPhone to sell between $400-$500 range. This would be a significantly cheaper phone than the current lineup: the year-old iPhone 6 starts at $549 …

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If you’re keeping score at home, add San Bernardino’s police chief as the latest to take sides in the ongoing battle between Apple and the FBI. Jarrod Burguan, the local police chief, joined NPR to share his views on the current FBI and Apple privacy battle. In the interview, Burguan admits that there is “a good chance that there is nothing of any value on the phone”, but believes there is the possibility that “maybe there was some information on there that would lead to a larger plot or larger network.”

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Following Apple’s filling earlier today in which it formally responded to the FBI’s court request to access date on a locked iPhone, the Wall Street Journal now reports that Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Twitter all plan to file court motions supporting Apple’s stance.

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Somewhat out of the blue, Apple has released a minor software update for the third-generation Apple TV. This is technically listed as iOS 7.2.1, the same version number as the previous public Apple TV operating system. However, the build number has been bumped up, indicating Apple has rolled in some minor bug fixes and improvements.

The update comes as a welcome surprise for third-generation Apple TV owners, who had felt somewhat abandoned ever since Apple released the brand-new tvOS-based Apple TV 4 last fall. The change in build number only means that it is unlikely for the update to include major new features.. Nevertheless, let us know in the comments if you notice any changes with the new update.

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In a conference call with reporters last week, an Apple exec said it was reasonable to expect the company to continue strengthening the security policies of its products in light of the Apple/FBI battle.

In complementary reports today, The New York Times and Financial Times are detailing that Apple engineers are now actively developing new encryption methods for iCloud backups and iPhone hardware, so that Apple couldn’t even hack itself … if it was asked to again like in San Bernardino iPhone backdoor/unlock case.

Not only would this counter the orders by the FBI in the current court case for future iPhone owners, it would also close a security hole in iCloud backups that various law enforcement institutions have exploited thousands of times before …

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Netflix today has updated its iOS app with a handful of new features and enhancements. The update bumps the app to version 8.0 and includes auto-play support for iPhone users, 3D Touch support, and iPad Pro display optimization.

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Multiple users of the iPad Pro Smart Keyboard have noted that a software update has begun rolling out to fix connectivity issues. As noted by iMore, Apple has posted a support document on its website detailing the update’s intended purpose:

According to a report from the Associated Press, Apple plans to file legal papers in which it will argue that its fight with the FBI of decrypting an iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino gunmen should be settled by Congress. This report follows Apple CEO Tim Cook’s letter to employees in which he stated that the government should withdraw its demands because they are invalid under the All Writs Act from 1789.

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Fabric, a subsidiary of Twitter, has today expanded its comprehensive platform for developers by releasing an iPhone app, Fabric for iPhone. The app lets developers monitor various analytics and diagnostics about their applications while on the go. Stats like current active users and crash rates are instantly visible from the dashboard.

Most notably, the app features push notifications for realtime updates about major issues. For instance, developers will get a push alert if their app suddenly starts crashing for a new reason.

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Apple has released the fourth iOS 9.3 public beta to non-developer testers today. iOS 9.3 public beta 4 follows this week’s fourth developer iOS 9.3 beta release as well. The latest beta cleans up issues introduced in the last version while adding some new features as well.

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Apple has added several new channels and cable internet services onto the new Apple TV universal search and Siri search today, following the addition of Fox and National Geographic earlier in the month. Today’s enhancements brings Watch ABC, Disney Channel, Disney Jr and Disney X.D into the mix allowing users to quickly search across these services in the Apple TV UI. As shown in the screenshot, Modern Family now lists ABC as a viewing option alongside Netflix, iTunes and Hulu. Selecting Watch ABC takes the user directly to the app with the show ready to watch.

Unfortunately, international Apple TV users continue to be left in the dark regarding ‘universal’ search. Outside of the US, a handful of countries get iTunes + Netflix integration in search results … the remainder only get iTunes.

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Apple has released the fourth iOS 9.3 beta for developers to test on iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. The first iOS 9.3 beta appeared in early January. Apple is expected to release the iOS 9.3 software update to all users around next month’s iPhone 5se/iPad Air 3 event. We’ll check out the latest beta version of the upcoming release and highlight any changes below.

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