Showing posts with label hardware. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hardware. Show all posts
Saturday, November 26, 2016
No New Hardware Unveiling from Apple at WWDC 2017 iPhone to Feature Larger Screen with Touch ID Integration
No New Hardware Unveiling from Apple at WWDC 2017 iPhone to Feature Larger Screen with Touch ID Integration
While in between two jobs, reporter Mark Gurman appeared on the latest episode of The Jay & Farad Show podcast, where he shared more details about what we might see at WWDC this year, including new iOS features and design tweaks. Gurman also revealed more information about this year and next years iPhone models.
Gurman notes that Apple will not be launching any new hardware at WWDC this year, and instead, the company will focus on tvOS, iOS, OS X, and watchOS. Considering that WWDC is a developer-focused event, it does make sense for Apple to not unveil any new hardware at the event.
iOS, Security and Photos
For iOS, Gurman says that Apple will be making slight design changes to the OS, along with notifications getting a bit more colorful. Nothing too radical, but good enough to be noticeable. The Photos app will also be getting a major update and will gain annotation features like adding text captions, arrows, and more.
Apple will also be improving the encryption system it uses in iOS, though after the companys recent tiff with the FBI, this should not come as a surprise. Gurman also expects Apple to improve the lock screen on iOS to add functionality that will be similar to Glances or Complications on Apple Watch.
Lastly, if you were expecting iTunes to get a major UI revamp, then sadly that is not going to happen this year.
Apple Music, iMessages, and MacBook Pro
As rumored before, the Apple Music app will also be getting a re-design that will see it switch to a darker theme, similar to how Spotify looks. The New tab in the app will also be renamed to Browse to make it more clear which music is in the cloud and which is stored locally on the device.
Gurman believes that Apple will be adding the ability to transfer money over iMessage via Apple Pay. This feature has been rumored since long, but there have been no substantial leaks on that front to confirm that Apple is finally getting around to launching it.
As for the MacBook Pro, Gurman says that the new MacBooks with a secondary OLED display are not going to be unveiled by Apple before the end of this year. A leak from last month point towards the upcoming MacBook Pro coming with a secondary OLED screen that will replace the Fn keys. It will also come with Touch ID integration.
Gurman further adds that the MacBook Air lineup is essentially dead, and while it will still stay around for a few more years, its not going to be upgraded in any significant way.
The 2017 iPhone
Interestingly, Gurman said that 2017 might be one of Apples biggest years in terms of new products.
He believes that the three-year refresh cycle weve recently heard of has been misinterpreted, as he says Apple is more likely to move to a one-year cycle instead, with modest yet noticeable design changes year over year.
With the launch of the iPhone Upgrade Program last year, and with the constant claims that Apple isnt innovating fast enough, such a move would actually make sense. With the iPhone Upgrade Program, people have more incentives to upgrade their device every year because its part of the payment plan.
Gurman said that in 2017, Apple will hit the reset button when it comes to iPhone. Again, in line with rumors weve heard before, the device may lose extra space at the top, bottom, and on the sides. Removing the bezels will effectively make the device just a screen.

iOS, Security and Photos
For iOS, Gurman says that Apple will be making slight design changes to the OS, along with notifications getting a bit more colorful. Nothing too radical, but good enough to be noticeable. The Photos app will also be getting a major update and will gain annotation features like adding text captions, arrows, and more.
Apple will also be improving the encryption system it uses in iOS, though after the companys recent tiff with the FBI, this should not come as a surprise. Gurman also expects Apple to improve the lock screen on iOS to add functionality that will be similar to Glances or Complications on Apple Watch.
Lastly, if you were expecting iTunes to get a major UI revamp, then sadly that is not going to happen this year.
As rumored before, the Apple Music app will also be getting a re-design that will see it switch to a darker theme, similar to how Spotify looks. The New tab in the app will also be renamed to Browse to make it more clear which music is in the cloud and which is stored locally on the device.
Gurman believes that Apple will be adding the ability to transfer money over iMessage via Apple Pay. This feature has been rumored since long, but there have been no substantial leaks on that front to confirm that Apple is finally getting around to launching it.
As for the MacBook Pro, Gurman says that the new MacBooks with a secondary OLED display are not going to be unveiled by Apple before the end of this year. A leak from last month point towards the upcoming MacBook Pro coming with a secondary OLED screen that will replace the Fn keys. It will also come with Touch ID integration.
Gurman further adds that the MacBook Air lineup is essentially dead, and while it will still stay around for a few more years, its not going to be upgraded in any significant way.
The 2017 iPhone
Interestingly, Gurman said that 2017 might be one of Apples biggest years in terms of new products.
He believes that the three-year refresh cycle weve recently heard of has been misinterpreted, as he says Apple is more likely to move to a one-year cycle instead, with modest yet noticeable design changes year over year.
With the launch of the iPhone Upgrade Program last year, and with the constant claims that Apple isnt innovating fast enough, such a move would actually make sense. With the iPhone Upgrade Program, people have more incentives to upgrade their device every year because its part of the payment plan.
Gurman said that in 2017, Apple will hit the reset button when it comes to iPhone. Again, in line with rumors weve heard before, the device may lose extra space at the top, bottom, and on the sides. Removing the bezels will effectively make the device just a screen.
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Thursday, September 29, 2016
New software claims to bring 3D Touch to any smartphone no special hardware needed
New software claims to bring 3D Touch to any smartphone no special hardware needed
Apple brought 3D Touch into this world with the introduction of the iPhone 6s in September 2015. Fast forward nine months and Android competitors are still struggling to outfit their devices with an array of force-sensing display sensors.
Engineers at University of Michigan have developed a technology that would bring 3D touch-like features to most smartphones, without making any hardware modification.
Everything is just software
Dubbed ForcePhone, it works by using a phones microphone and speaker to create an acoustic detector, along with an accelerometer sensor to estimate motion and speed.
A smart algorithm combines the data to determine a force event on the display. Basically, a phone sends out inaudible tones at a frequency higher than 18 kHz, and then picks up how theyre reflected.
Although that frequency is outside the range of human hearing, an ordinary smartphone microphone can still pick up the vibration caused by the sound.
When a user presses on the screen or squeezes the phones body, that force changes the tone, researchers explain. The phones mic can detect that, and the software translates any tone tweaks into commands.
In the video below, Yu-Chih Tung, a computer science PhD candidate at University of Michigan, talks about the technology.

Everything is just software
Dubbed ForcePhone, it works by using a phones microphone and speaker to create an acoustic detector, along with an accelerometer sensor to estimate motion and speed.
A smart algorithm combines the data to determine a force event on the display. Basically, a phone sends out inaudible tones at a frequency higher than 18 kHz, and then picks up how theyre reflected.
Although that frequency is outside the range of human hearing, an ordinary smartphone microphone can still pick up the vibration caused by the sound.
When a user presses on the screen or squeezes the phones body, that force changes the tone, researchers explain. The phones mic can detect that, and the software translates any tone tweaks into commands.
In the video below, Yu-Chih Tung, a computer science PhD candidate at University of Michigan, talks about the technology.
Increasing the vocabulary between the phone and the user
You dont need a special screen or built-in sensors to do this. Now this functionality can be realized on any phone, they wrote. Weve augmented the user interface without requiring any special built-in sensors.
As fun as ForcePhone is, Im not entirely convinced that it can replicate the precision that only specialized hardware brings to the table. 3D Touch requires a hardware component to detect various degrees of pressure being applied to the screen.
With ForcePhone, a user can push a bit harder on a screen to unlock a menu of additional options, similar to right-clicking with a mouse, but thats about it.
Not only does Apples implementation of 3D Touch currently provides two pressure thresholds for Peek and Pop gestures, but also takes advantage of Taptic Engine to deliver haptic feedback during 3D Touch interactions.
Does it stand a chance of being successfully commercialized by Android smartphone vendors and was Apple right to implement 3D Touch features using an array of 96 specialized force sensors embedded into the iPhone 6s display?
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