software

Although Apple usually updates its iOS adoption statistics on a fortnightly basis, the company had strangely stopped updating its iOS chart last month. As iOS 9 growth appeared to have stalled, perhaps the numbers simply didn’t change significantly in that time. However, this week Apple has updated the chart with a significant jump, now reporting iOS 9 was seen on 84% of active devices as of April 18th. With iOS 10 set to be announced in June (and internal testing gradually ramping — see below), it appears iOS 9 will end up peaking around the 90% adoption mark in line with previous versions.

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[UPDATE: Apple has confirmed what Siri told us earlier today. The company has now issued a press release in which it says that WWDC will be held from June 13th through June 17th in San Francisco. The same lottery process applies to getting tickets this year as in previous years. Developers can apply for tickets via the WWDC website now through Friday, April 22 at 10:00 a.m. PDT.

In a change from traditional years, the Monday keynote will be held at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, not Moscone West. All other conference sessions will take place at Moscone, though. The annual Bash will also be held at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium.]

In an unusual chain of events, it appears Apple is announcing the WWDC dates through Siri. Although the Apple website has not been updated with any new info, Siri is proudly proclaiming that WWDC 2016 will indeed be held in San Francisco from June 13th to June 17th. Although Siri didn’t explicitly say, it is almost certain that WWDC will once again be held at Moscone West, simply because it’s the best choice of venue for an event like this in San Francisco. This is an unusual announcement nonetheless, it being the first time Apple has used Siri as the primary announcement vehicle for one of its events. WWDC is expected to feature the unveiling of iOS 10, OS X 10.12 and more …

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Nuance, the voice recognition and productivity software company behind the iOS keyboard’s Dictation feature, today has revealed a series of updates to its applications and a new cloud-based synchronization service at the core. Nuance provided us with a demonstration last week of the new iOS and Mac apps, and we came away impressed with the accuracy, speed, and capabilities of the upgraded platform.

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Following on from the Apple Watch native apps hack, Steve Troughton Smith has also found that the keyboard view in iOS 9 has much better adaptability support on Apple’s latest operating system. As shown by the screenshots, at larger resolutions, the iPad keyboard rearranges itself to make use of the space. Tab and Caps Lock keys are notably added onto to the left side as well as an entirely new top row of symbols.

This new row reflects the symbols normally found on hardware keyboards above the number keys: @ # $ % ^ & * ( ) _ +. Next to the ‘p’ on the first row, the keyboard also gains curly braces and a pipe symbol.

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At WWDC, Apple has officially announced the new version of its mobile operating system, iOS 9. The update will be available in the fall for free. iOS 9 runs on iPad, iPhone and iPod touch.

Developing. Follow our liveblog here.

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Apple Watch is finally available to preorder, but if you missed the mark at 12:01 a.m. you might be waiting quite a while to get your hands on one. Luckily, Apple is providing try-on appointments that will allow you to get a taste of the experience and feel one out for yourself. Recently, we took that opportunity to get our hands on a few and offer some initial impressions on the hardware and software…

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Apple has just lifted the embargo on the Apple Watch for reviewers, allowing the technology press the to give their verdict on the device ahead of Watch preorders on the 10th. The device will actually be available to the public on the 24th. The Apple Watch is a huge release for Apple, its first new product category under Tim Cook. The anticipation for Apple Watch has been simply immense. The pricing model alone is a huge step for the company, entering ‘high-end’ luxury for the first time with the Apple Watch Edition … and a price tag in the $10,000 range. These reviews are our first glance at whether Apple succeeded in making the next hit product.

Reviewers got a demo of the entire Apple Watch buying process, from the initial Apple Store try-on experience right through to handling the device for a few days. Reviewers got to choose their watch-band combination, although the Edition was not available for reviewers (although you can see what Pharell thinks about it of course)

Read below for our roundup of the reviews from a handful of publications:

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CBS has updated its Radio News application with support for Apple’s CarPlay interface. The new UI allows users to browse and play the network’s library of on-demand shows such as the CBS Evening News and 60 Minutes. Users will also find that the Now Playing screen presents them with their local weather conditions.

Also included in the new update is a set of bug fixes for issues such as two audio tracks playing back at once for some users. There is also a new introduction screen that walks users through the functions of the app. CBS News also rolled out a channel for the Apple TV earlier today.

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Update: Microsoft has now announced the Microsoft Band, a $199 fitness band that does everything described below. It goes on sale Thursday.

Microsoft hasn’t officially announced its wearable device, but it seems the company has accidentally published its desktop syncing client to the Mac App Store early. Whoops. The device is called the Microsoft Band (possibly Lumia Band, according to some currently non-functional support URLs) and sports a 310 x 102 resolution display.

The Microsoft privacy policy for the app lists some of the Band’s features: “Microsoft Band sensors help you keep track of things like your heart rate, steps, calories burned, and sleep.” Links in the document claiming to lead to a page with additional data, such as a list of sensors, currently lead to a 404 page.

Other key feature include the ability to get phone notifications on the Band, create reminders using Cortana, and more:

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Microsoft has pushed out updates for its OneNote client on both iPhone and iPad, adding support for new features added in iOS 8 and a design that’s optimized for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.

Users can now password protect sections of documents directly from mobile devices (a feature that used to require a Windows PC). Those with an iPhone 5s or newer will also find that they can now unlock password-protected sections of documents using Touch ID. That feature isn’t mentioned in the iPad change log, so users on the iPad Air 2 or iPad mini 3 might need to wait for a future update to enable it.

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[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=savBvN9Jz5g]

Earlier this month, 2K Games announced that it would be bringing its landmark horror-shooter BioShock to the iPhone and iPad. Tonight, the game finally arrived on the App Store in most of its original glory. The story, game mechanics, level design, and audio have all be ported to the mobile devices, though the graphics have been toned down to make it run on phones and tablets.

BioShock is set in the underwater would-be utopia of Rapture, which has been overrun by its own psychotic, drug-addled citizens on one especially-unfortunate New Years Eve. Players take on the role of Jack, who arrives in Rapture after a plane crash that leaves him stranded in the middle of the Atlantic, and must utilize a selection of upgradable weapons and genetic enhancements to track down Andrew Ryan, the madman running what’s left of the city.

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Earlier today, Apple released iTunes 12 to developers with a new design to fit in with OS X Yosemite. We’ve taken a look at the new player and below is a gallery of what end-users can expect to see come fall:

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Skype has announced that it will discontinue support for older versions of its desktop clients, including Skype for Mac.” An exact date for the change hasn’t been given, but the company says it will happen “over the next few months.” Mobile clients like Skype for iPhone won’t be affected by the change.

The specific versions being phased out are 6.14 and older (the current version is 6.18). The change is being made to ensure feature compatibility across the versions of the software in use and enable the developers to continue building on that foundation. The current version of Skype offers several features not provided in older versions, such as the option to send messages to offline users.

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