Apple Continues to Refresh Its Product line. Today its Air Pods 2

On Monday Apple refreshed its budget end iPads, Tuesday Apple gave its iMac line up a spec bump, and now today, on Wednesday, Apple is finally announcing Air Pods 2nd generation.

Air Pods have quickly become one of Apple’s most popular accessories. As lightweight truly wireless headphones, its users truly feel like they are living in the future. Air Pods introduced the W1 chip which was a controller for the Bluetooth chip, which help the headphones seamlessly connect to iOS devices. The hardware and software integration between Air Pods and iOS devices is what sets them apart from other wireless headphone options.

Today Apple plans to continue pushing their hardware forward with the introduction of Air Pods 2nd Generation. The 2nd Generation of Air Pods features an upgraded chipset. The W1 chip has been updated to the H1 chip (Headphone chip). With this new chip, the Air Pods can more reliably connect to iOS devices and now supports hands-free Siri activation.

There is still good news for early adopters of the original Air Pods. While the new Air Pods can ship with a wireless Charging case, the new wireless charging case can be bought separately and used with the original Air Pods.

The new Air Pods were rumored to come in a new matte black color, but unfortunately, that didn’t happen. Also, the new Air Pods also didn’t receive a significant design change, actually the only thing that changed was the internals to accommodate the H1 chip.

Undoubtedly, Air Pods will continue to be popular and sell millions of units, the mystery is, however, what Apple product will they refresh next? Rumblings around the internet suggest that the iPod touch is next, but only time will tell.

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Apple Quietly Refreshes iPad Air & iPad mini Ahead of March 25th Event.

Apple usually rolls out the red carpet when it intends to introduce new hardware to its customers. It is clear, however, that Apple’s focus isn’t on hardware. Apple has its sights clearly locked on to its new services. These new services will undoubtedly be unveiled during their keynote event on March 25th. As services will be the star of this event, Apple felt the need to go ahead and announce refreshes its iPad line.

iPad Air
The new iPad Air, not to be confused with the device of the same name that was released by Apple back in 2013, is a massive improvement over its predecessors. For starters the new iPad Air features a larger display, measuring 10.5” giving it the largest display of a non-pro iPad. Even though this iPad Air lacks the “pro” moniker, it is certainly packed with pro-level specs. This iPad Air is fitted with the A12 Bionic processor, the same processor in the latest iPhone XS and XS Max. In comparison, the newest iPad Pros have the A12x Bionic, which is just an A12 processor with a bit more power for pro users. Apple is also adding support for the first generation Apple Pencil and it also supports the Smart Keyboard as well. Consumers can get almost all of the benefits of an iPad Pro without the hefty price tag that comes with the “pro” name. The New iPad Air starts at $499 USD for a 64GB model and $649 USD for a 256GB model.

iPad mini
The iPad mini is no stranger to multiple refreshes, but thankfully this time Apple has made additions to this small device that bring it up to modern standards. Like the new iPad Air, this iPad mini is granted support for the first generation Apple Pencil. Apple clearly believes that all of its modern tablets should support its stylus and now they all do. The new iPad mini’s processor is just as powerful as the new iPad Air. Both devices are equipped with the A12 Bionic chip. This processor is perfect for multitasking and new advancements in Augmented Reality.

Everything isn’t New
Though these iPads are sporting new processors and have access to accessories like the Apple Pencil and Smart Keyboard, they aren’t fitted with Apple’s top of the line technologies. Instead of Face ID, which is featured on the newest iPad pros, the new iPad Air and mini both still feature Touch ID and a home button. These iPads do have Retina displays like most Apple products, but they don’t have the Liquid Retina displays or curved corners like iPad Pros and the iPhone XR. Omissions like these were likely needed to keep costs low for Apple and their consumers.

Coming Full Circle
Apple is releasing these high tech budget friendly iPads with no ulterior motives. Apple is set to unveil its new streaming service on March 25th, and people will need devices with beautiful displays to consume this new content with. Apple has its eyes on the bigger picture, more Apple devices mean more subscribers to their various services.

Apple’s World Wide Developers Conference Will begin on June 3rd

 

WWDC, Apples World Wide Developers Conference, will be held this year on June 3rd, 2019. If you are unfamiliar with Apple’s WWDC event, it is a showcase for Apple’s upcoming software releases. Most notably Apple will be revealing the new features coming in iOS 13.
Viewers should also expect an update to MacOS, WatchOS, and TvOS.

The tagline for this year’s event is “Write code. Blow minds”. Apple’s cryptic tagline usually is a hint to a talking point of their presentation. I think this particular phrase is hinting at providing development tools across its range of devices. Apple famously addressed rumors at last year’s WWDC that they “Are Not” merging MacOS and iOS. They did, however, announce that they will start development on apps that function across platforms. I believe that Xcode, Apple’s programming app, will be coming to iOS this year. In particular, I believe the iPad Pro will be the first iOS device to receive Xcode.

Apple does not usually release hardware during WWDC, though they have in the past. Apple has a fair number of upcoming products in the pipeline, including its previously teased modular Mac Pro. Perhaps their new Mac Pro will get its debut during WWDC this year.

iOS users especially will be excited to see what changes are coming to iOS 13 as the software has virtually kept the same design language since iOS 7 and most users are itching for a change in the user interface.

With less than 3 months until WWDC, the wait won’t be long to see the future of Apple’s various software platforms and potential new devices.

Apple Announces Surprise Event for March 25th

In a cryptic press release, Apple confirms what many tech analysts had predicted. There will be a March Keynote.  The tagline for their press release says “It’s Show Time”. Analysts predict Apple will finally be revealing its long-rumored streaming TV platform to rival Netflix and the like. If this is true Apple has managed to keep a tight seal on any exclusive deals and or partners to help bolster their launch. 

Apple is also expected to offer a paid version of its News services. Apple is doing this in an effort to streamline monetization of news and written media from various outlets across its platforms. 

As for hardware, Apple is rumored to have some products in the queue for Q1 of this year. It is, however, unclear if Apple will risk overshadowing their services announcement by announcing new products.

Air Pods 2, Air Power wireless charger, a new iPod touch, and a refreshed iPad are all expected to be announced or quietly released during this event or shortly followed after at a later date. 

With the decline of iPhone sales and the slowing of annual upgrades, Apple is betting on a new line of services to bring in new streams of revenue. 

Samsung Announces Four Versions of Galaxy S10

 

During Samsung’s “Unpacked” event this morning, the company officially announced 5 new phones. This first to be announced was the radically designed Galaxy Fold (https://iphonetennismatch.com/2019/02/20/samsung-unveils-insanely-expensive-galaxy-fold/).

Samsung then announced their newest model or should I say, models of their flagship smartphones, the Galaxy S10. Due to numerous leaks and pure speculation most people expected the Galaxy S10 to be announced today. Most people, however, didn’t expect so many variations of the Galaxy S10 to be available.

The Galaxy S10 & S10 Plus

Though its design isn’t as radical as the Galaxy Fold, the S10 boasts a new design as well. The Galaxy S10 is the first of Samsungs phones to feature its “Infinity-O” display. The Infinity-O display is Samsungs answer to having a full display on the front of the phone. Instead of Apple’s “notch” the Galaxy S10 will have a cutout in the display that has been precisely cut by a laser to accommodate the front-facing camera. 

S10 Screen size: 6.1 inches

S10 Plus Screen Size 6.4 inches

The Base version of the Galaxy S10 will have a perfectly circular cutout for its front-facing camera. This is because there will only be one camera on the front of the device. This is in contrast to the Galaxy S10 Plus, which will have a more pill-pill-shaped cutout to accommodate two front-facing cameras. The two cameras on the front of the S10 Plus should make it possible for users to take portrait photos that exaggerate the depth of field.

On the rear of the Galaxy S10 & 10 Plus, both phones are identical in the camera department. Both phones are equipped with a triple lens camera set up. Each phone has a 16 MP wide-angle lens, a basic 12MP lens, and a telephoto lens with an optical zoom of x2.

What you will no longer find on the rear of the S10 & S10 Plus is a fingerprint scanner. The fingerprint scanner has finally found its way onto the front of the device. Only this time it isn’t a physical button, but it is seamlessly embedded into the display itself. Samsung uses ultrasonic technology to map a 3-D model of your fingerprint while it rests on the screen. 

The Galaxy S10 & 10 Plus can be configured with up to 12 GB of RAM and a TB of onboard storage with a micro SD slot for even more storage. 

One of the most innovative additions to the Galaxy line up is the addition of the “Wireless Power Share” feature. This feature functionally turns the back of the Galaxy S10 into a wireless charger. The charger uses the QI standard which means in theory this feature could be used to wirelessly charge an iPhone that supports wireless charging. Though that would probably be jarring, Samsung probably expects its users to use this feature to charge the various branded accessories they also announced today. Some of these accessories include the Galaxy Buds which have a charging case that supports wireless charging, and Samsung’s pair of new smart and fitness watches, the Galaxy Watch Active, and the Galaxy Fit.

The Galaxy S10e

Samsung also revealed the Galaxy S10e, which is an entry-level version of their latest flagship phones. These phones are meant to compete directly with Apple’s iPhone XR. Unlike the XR and the S10, the S10e has a dual camera set up on the rear which is a step up from Apple’s offering but a camera shy of its bigger brothers. The S10e also losses support for the new Wireless Power Share feature. The Galaxy S10e will, fortunately, come at a more affordable price than its bigger brothers as well.

Pricing for the S10(s)

 S10e will cost you $749 *Starting 

S10 will cost you $899 *Starting 

S10 Plus will cost you $999 *Starting 

These prices are $100 cheaper than what Apple is asking for its starting prices, except for the 10e. Samsung is clearly trying to undercut Apple by offering cheaper flagship phones. This pricing quickly changes as buying a full loaded 1TB 12GB RAM S10 Plus will cost you $1600, more than Apple’s fully loaded iPhone XS MAX.

5G is Here 

As for the fourth version of the Galaxy S10, Samsung gave us a taste of the Galaxy S10 5G. 

The 5G as the name implies will support the upcoming 5G cellular connectivity, which is rumored to be a significant improvement over 4G LTE. Also, the S10 5G would be even bigger than the S10 Plus. It is going to feature a screen size of 6.7 inches, and a 3D sensing camera on the rear for advanced AR capabilities. No release date was given for this phone.

Release dates were however given for the other S10 models. Pre-orders will go live on February 21st, and devices will ship on March 8th. 

Samsung clearly wants to lead the pack in the smartphone market and with its current lineup, it seems to certainly have the momentum. 

Privacy Killing FaceTime Bug Has Now Been Squashed By Apple in New Update

 

Apple has finally released iOS 12.1.4. This update should have been introduced with little coverage as it adds no significant new features. However, iPhone users are heavily encouraged to install this update because it fixes the infamous FaceTime security bug.  If you missed the media frenzy you can read our coverage of the security flaw Here (https://iphonetennismatch.com/2019/01/29/facetime-bug-allows-unsuspecting-users-to-be-spied-on/)

Apple released a statement last week apologizing for the bug and vowed to swiftly address the issue “ We have fixed the Group FaceTime security bug on Apple’s servers and we will issue a software update to re-enable the feature for users next week. We thank the Thompson family for reporting the bug. We sincerely apologize to our customers who were affected and all who were concerned about this security issue. We appreciate everyone’s patience as we complete this process. We want to assure our customers that as soon as our engineering team became aware of the details necessary to reproduce the bug, they quickly disabled Group FaceTime and began work on the fix. We are committed to improving the process by which we receive and escalate these reports, in order to get them to the right people as fast as possible. We take the security of our products extremely seriously and we are committed to continuing to earn the trust Apple customers place in us.”

Thankfully iOS 12.2 is on the way and it actually brings some new features to iOS devices. Stay tuned for future updates on iOS, iPhone, and all other things tech!

iOS 12.2 Beta Brings Some Wild New Animoji

 

Photo by Apple

Apple is pushing its iOS software forward with a Beta release of iOS 12.2. This version of iOS will bring fun new animals to Apple’s “Animoji” feature for iOS devices. If you are unfamiliar with Animoji, as its name implies it is simply animal (and one robot) emoji that you can control with your face. Due to Apple’s implementation of a 3D sensing and depth camera on the front of iPhones and the new iPad Pro your face can be tracked, mapped, and mirrored onto the face of various Animoji. Currently, Animoji features a monkey, a cat, a dog, a fox, a pig, a panda, a rabbit, a chicken, a lion, a bear, a tiger, a koala, and a T-rex. It also has some mythical creatures such as the alien, a unicorn, a dragon, and a ghost. The three odd-ball Animoji include a robot, a human skull, and the poop emoji…. So yeah

With iOS 12.2 Apple is adding to this already exhausting list by including a giraffe, a shark, a warthog, and an owl. We aren’t sure who at Apple is deciding on these animals but they sure are cute, and more practical than a talking pile of poop. 

iOS 13 May FINALLY Bring a Dark Mode to iPhone & iPad

A Bloomberg report released today details the eventual adoption for a system-wide “Dark Mode” for iOS devices. This report is likely true due to Apple bringing a dark mode to MacOS last year in its Mojave release in the fall. This can be seen as an effort to align features across MacOS and iOS. Dark Mode has been a highly requested feature amongst iOS users some users have resorted to Jailbreaking their device to achieve this.

Don’t hold your breath for an official statement from Apple on this matter as they tend to hold back any concrete information regarding future versions of iOS, MacOS, or their upcoming features.

Though June is five months away, Apple typically holds its World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC) during that month. At this event, Apple debuts its upcoming software for its various devices. If a dark mode is indeed on its way to iOS devices we will certainly find out at this year’s conference in June.

Samsung Plans to Kill the Notch With the Galaxy S10

In 2019 Samsung (SSNLF) plans to take its Infinity Display technology to the next level by achieving a very coveted higher screen to body ratio.  Samsung plans to do this by reducing its top and bottom bezels on their flagship phones. When reducing or removing bezels, phone manufacturers have been plagued with the task of figuring out what to do with the largely essential front facing camera. 

As Selfies are still very much in vogue, phone users still demand that their devices are equipped with a high-quality camera to take selfies with. Those photos are taken the easiest when there is a camera on the front of the device. 

The solution up to this point has primarily been the “notch”. The notch is a blacked out segment of the display. This segment houses the front-facing camera, earpiece, and other sensors depending on the phone. Phones, like the iPhone and Google Pixel 3XL, weren’t first to feature the notch, but they have brought this design choice into the mainstream. For the iPhone specifically, its notch houses its front-facing camera and Face ID sensors.

Smartphone companies like Apple and Google have gone all in on the notch hoping their design choice will appease the majority of users. Customers can enjoy more screen than ever before while still keeping their front-facing camera. The only problem is that notches aren’t exactly aesthetically pleasing to the eye. In fact, some people are so repulsed by the notch they have vowed to not upgrade to a newer phone until technology eliminates the need for it.

Public perception of the notch divides people into two camps. The first group is those who tolerate the notch and eventually get used to it, and then there are those who abhor the notch, and the design choices phone manufacturers are making in pursuit of nearly all-screen displays on phones. 

Samsung’s approach is to forgo the notch all together. Their next line of Galaxy phones is set to offer various cut-outs or “hole-punches” in their displays for their front-facing cameras to be placed. This approach is vastly different from Apple and Google’s notches which are rather large and obtrusive. While Samsung’s solution is by no means perfect, these hole-punches are going to be much smaller than most notches and probably easier to forgive by users.

Even with these new designs that are admittedly intriguing, the smartphone market has plateaued across the board. Phone manufactures feel that adopting radical designs needs to be considered to stay relevant and help rekindle demand. 

Samsung Galaxy S10 is set to be revealed next month on February 20th and only then will we see if this new hole-punch design will be embraced by the masses. Unfortunately for Samsung, the company Honor has beat Samsung to the punch by releasing their own hole-punch display phone the “View 20” giving us a taste of what Samsung has in store for its user base. 

Should Journalist Let Apple Set the Script When Reporting?

Large Tech Companies like Apple do their best to keep a positive public perception of their products and their band, as they obviously should, but does Apple provide a platform for those in the news media to be critical of their platforms. Apple Executives, like CEO Tim Cook, rarely give televised or recorded interviews, and when they do one might get the impression that questions for the company have been screened, approved, and only have scripted answers intended to leave the brand with a coat of polish. I understand this is business as usual, however, marketing and promotion disguised as a candid interview are no longer fooling the masses, and in the age of social media customers feel empowered to demand answers even from brands as iconic as Apple. 

Apple along with other tech giants are realizing that ominous silence in the face of mounting criticism is no longer a viable option. They have however yet to strike a balance of providing adequate answers to customers and not being too available for comment. As a result, they tend to only speak up only as a last resort. Of course to maintain their brand prestige they must give the impression that they always know what’s best for their company and the customer thus not needing to explain themselves to anyone (Unless customers discover their iPhones are being throttled due to battery issues). Unfortunately, at this time Apple is in a Scramble to decipher where their shortcomings in their business are hiding. Falling stock prices, weaker than expected iPhone demand, legal disputes with Qualcomm, and a myriad of product blunders, the latest being the iPad Pro #BendGate, are all plaguing the tech giant and has Apple doing damage control.

With all of this on Apple’s plate, you would think prominent news outlets would be pressuring Apple for a comment on these matters, there is however radio silence from the majority of the largest media companies. Apple did, however, respond to the Verge on the matter of the bending iPad after being pressed by the publication and the backdrop of public outrage. Apple added insult to injury by stating “iPads meet or exceed quality standards” and that slight bends in the iPads casing are “normal”. There is no accurate estimate of how many iPad Pros are affected by this, but to suggest that bends in the premium-priced iPad Pro are normal is alarming, to say the least. Customers are demanding clarification on this matter and it seems nobody with the proper authority is stepping to be a proxy between them and Apple. The Verge should be commended for reaching out for comment from Apple. The Verge and other prominent media outlets in the press should press Apple harder to hold them accountable and stop allowing Apple to set the rules on the questions they are asked and to what conclusion. 

I’m not naive, Apple is one of the most recognized brands in the world with unparalleled power and influence. Crossing Apple isn’t in the interest of any tech publication, as coverage of Apple products and news is an enormous source of readership from their respective sites. Pressing Apple too hard could result in being cut off from working relationships with them which is never ideal. Apple knows they are at the head of this power dynamic and uses it to their advantage.  As readers of these publications connect with other people online and discuss their concerns with Apple or other large companies they will look to these publications to ask the tough questions on their behalf. If not readers will consume content elsewhere, where the content creators don’t allow themselves to be pushed in a corner.