A Simple but Fun Trick to use: New iOS14 Markup feature: Drawing Perfect Shapes
iOS 14 is out and probably on your phone by now. If not, it likely will be soon. Sometimes with a big, new, update like this, feelings of excitement and joy can be mixed with the fog of navigating a virtual environment where many things have changed, even while some remain familiar.
Sometimes a great way to get some immediate satisfaction is to choose a simple new and improved feature and then master it, just to associate a feeling of confidence and accomplishment to the mix.
Apple picked the new markup features as one to introduce to new iOS 14 and iPadOS 14 users right away via the notification in the new widgets area. It’s simple and fun, and especially for people who are not great at drawing with fingers, can be very useful to emphasize areas in photos and screenshots. I use this daily as a way to communicate, rather than just text and email.
In this short 2 minute tutorial Wiley Simms, staff-writer and videographer on loan from our sister-site InforMinx.com, shows how it’s done. First getting easily into Markup Mode by clicking “edit” then the small circle with 3 dots – then from the drop down menu choosing “markup”.
Once in markup mode the markup pallet appears with various markers. There’s a new “selection pen” but the rest should be familiar, if you are a previous markup user. The simple trick is to draw a shape, say, for example, a star. Even if you draw a pretty rough version of the star, as long as you hold still and do not remove your finger from the screen at the end of the star – the software will figure out what you are trying to draw and “correct” or “perfect” your rough drawing into a perfect shape.
This works for stars, circles, ovals, squares, hearts and straight lines. With this group of common shapes you can do a lot of interesting compound drawings and illustrations. In particular, the straight line correction feature is very useful to build shapes that are not on the main list.
This limited 2 minute tutorial is meant to help to get a jump on learning the hundreds of new features in iOS 14 and thanks to Wiley for the video demonstration.
All-in-one subscription bundle for Music, TV Plus, and more
In a press release on Tuesday, September 15th, Apple Inc. announced the creation of a new single-plan platform for consumers to access all of their services via one subscription. Appropriately, it is titled Apple One.
Amidst the present age of competitive streaming services and warring tech conglomerates, such a service from Apple is rather expected. Apple One is the company’s own version of Amazon Prime— a single monthly fee for all of its music, video, gaming services, and more bundled into one. For Apple, that means offering Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, Apple News+, Apple Fitness+, and 50GB of iCloud storage all at once.
Each of these apps are available for separate costs on all Apple devices, but with Apple One, users will get them all for the lower monthly total of $14.95. Apple One will also offer a Family Plan at $19.95 per month—allowing six members on the plan with 200GB of iCloud storage altogether. Additionally, a Premium Plan will be available for $25.95. This will accommodate six family members as well, but comes with 2TB of iCloud storage.
Although Apple One is not yet available—the press release only states “Coming This Fall”—the plan has already garnered some criticism. For starters, some features of the bundle are far more desirable than others. Apple Music and iCloud, for example, are big hits with consumers and bode well against the competition. Apple TV+, on the other hand, is still developing, and is not as praised of a video streaming platform as Netflix, Amazon, or Disney+. Some are concerned that Apple One is a cheap way to get consumers paying for unwanted apps and becoming tethered.
On that same token, Apple Fitness+ is an entirely new feature, designed for Apple Watches to give users workouts and fitness routines throughout the day. This is a new and creative endeavor for Apple, but there is no guarantee that it will be worth the additional expense of Apple One. After all, many of the people who prefer spending copious time binging Apple TV+ might not care for this new exercise-focused development.
Many competitors— most notably Spotify in the music streaming world and Peloton in the fitness world—also fear that Apple One demonstrates the company’s ultimate leap towards social and corporate hegemony. Like Amazon, Apple has grown into much more than a one-purpose business over the years. It now offers something for everything and everyone around the globe. If it continues down this path, it will brutally outrun the competition. Already, some are starting to whisper the dreaded A-word that these conglomerates have been evading for decades—“Antitrust.”
For now, though, Apple One is yet to come out, and once available, users will have a thirty-day free trial to figure out weather or not the bundle is worth the price. According to an article from Fast Company.com, Apple One’s Individual Plan can save users up to $5 per month, while the Family Plan can save one $8 per month, and Premiere, $25. This is compared to the total cost of paying for each app or feature individually.
Still, it is unclear how likely users would be buying everything featured in this bundle to begin with. Also, Apple One’s $14.95 per month cost comes out to nearly $180 for the year. This is much steeper than Amazon’s $119 annual cost for Prime, and its features are not as reliable in this early stage.
At the same time, though, bundling is probably the future for many companies focused on tech and entertainment. If Apple wants to compete with Amazon and others, they need to mix their resources together or consumers will turn away. Why pay for everything separately when the best deals come in packages? Even if those packages sometimes arrive with superfluous materials that keep us chained.
The writing is on the wall – but it’s about to collapse: privacy wars 2021
While Apple apparently agreed to delay the surveillance-blocking privacy tools for iOS 14 and iPadOS 14 until 2021, not so apparently for Safari and Big Sur. The tracker is amazing. The system is fully automated at launch of the browser and immediately blocking tons of nasty data thieves from the jump.
I surfed about 10 minutes and it blocked 69 trackers. It has a button to allow you to check each web site and see what it is doing with your data and also a continuously updated full report screen where you can see who they all are. Surprise ! They are mainly Facebook, Google, Amazon and companies that are affiliated with or in competition against these big three.
Safari Privacy Screen from the Privacy Report Pop-up window
Although income for News Orgs like Lynxotic might be negatively affected initially the adjustment is history in the making and there will be no going back. The old way was wrong. Your data belongs to you. Period. You shouldn’t have to mess around with external ad-blocking software and plug-ins.
Why there was never any privacy protection built into the internet before now, one day will be seen as a mystery
The future is that you will be automatically protected (within the Apple ecosystem, at least), and, in you choose to be tracked and surveilled so that Mark Z. can get richer, you can opt in. (Wanted by nobody, ever).
We have been warning about this for months – here are a few articles with some more in depth information about the situation:
Apple’s billion users would need to allow their data and browsing habits to be monetized by those massive ad built eco-system killers. A lot has also been discussed about how this new regime change by Apple could negatively affect publishers, like Lynxotic, but this is a case of seeing the big, long term benefits, such as an internet where the users and netizens, and not Zuckerberg, are finally in charge. This goal is lofty and honorable and long overdue. Therefore, any adjustments needed to be made by publishers business models is well worth it.
That’s not all, in iOS 14 and iPad OS14 searches will default for “best for user” rather than automatically being diverted to google or any other “search engine”. If you are searching for a news article or information about an apple product, for example, the search will offer you results, within the global search on your device rather than in a browser, and this will direct you to your Apple News App or to Safari, landing directly on a web site, as appropriate. https://www.youtube.com/embed/2e2iZa3G9_0?feature=oembed
Along with watchOS7 it’s all new with 100s of features to learn
2020 has been one hellava year so far. The fires, political chaos, pandemic lockdowns, economic depressions are all still evolving. Finally, some better news. Over the last several months the stability of the beta versions of the new operating systems became far better. In order to stay ahead of the curve we tested some of the most interesting new features including these 5.
iOS 14 and iPad OS 14 will be available on September 16th to download on your iPhone and iPad. This is a major update and includes a lot of changes to your world.Now you will be able to add widgets to your home screen, find apps easier with the App Library and there are many new features in iMessage.
There are also, digging a little deeper, hidden gems like the Apple Translate App. in the video above we demonstrated an interesting difference between the Apple software and the well known Google Translate. This feature, called “Conversation Mode” foreshadows what we believe is going to be the hallmark of all Apple Software upgrades going forward: machine learning and built in AI for the OS and apps.
In conversation mode the voice recognition engine is able to recognize what language it is “hearing” and then translate into the other language, based on the selected pair, in this case English and German. It can also recognize slang and alternate vocabularies and even some dialects and accents, such as UK vs American English.
At first blush this may seem like it is too deep into the detailed function of the app to be significant, after all for the most part we just need to know what a phrase means in an alternate language. But, in typical spectacular fashion, this feature is an example of something you don’t realize you need until you have it – then you can’t imagine you ever lived without it. Ultimately a conversation could be translated “live” without having to stop each time to let the app know who is speaking which language – making the flow of the conversation remain intact while the app “just works”.
Also in typical Apple fashion, it will probably take an iPhone 12 Pro, a 5G connection and a few months of machine learning to make that scenario a reality, but it would be an interesting experience nonetheless, when it is finally a reality.
Apple News goes Audio: Built in articles out loud
Apple News + might get a boost with the new Apple One bundle, also revealed in the Apple September 2020 keynote event. Those who opt for “Premier” will get Apple News+ access bundled in. Even without the News+ upgrade all users get access to audio stories released periodically “Apple News Today”, somewhat like a teaser sample pack to let you try out with your AirPods and see if the additional audio, including sync with text version and Apple Car Play might entice you to become a News+ subscriber ($5 per month without the bundle).
Privacy features delayed due to Facebook being terrified but coming soon
Although delayed, these features are some of the most important in the new OS versions. Just ask Mark Zuckerberg. The gist of the situation is that Apple is finally asserting it’s rightful place in the internet ecosystem: users should be allowed to opt in to surveillance by advertisers and predatory juggernauts like Facebook and Amazon, rather than be surveilled automatically and then have to jump through hoops (and potentially add blockers and plug-ins to escape).
Apple’s billion users would need to allow their data and browsing habits to be monetized by those massive ad built eco-system killers. A lot has also been discussed about how this new regime change by Apple could negatively affect publishers, like Lynxotic, but this is a case of seeing the big, long term benefits, such as an internet where the users and netizens, and not Zuckerberg, are finally in charge. This goal is lofty and honorable and long overdue. Therefore, any adjustments needed to be made by publishers business models is well worth it.
That’s not all, in iOS 14 and iPad OS14 searches will default for “best for user” rather than automatically being diverted to google or any other “search engine”. If you are searching for a news article or information about an apple product, for example, the search will offer you results, within the global search on your device rather than in a browser, and this will direct you to your Apple News App or to Safari, landing directly on a web site, as appropriate.
Searches might finally find what you want, coming soon
As many have noticed Google has been diverting searches to Google hosted pages rather than offering results that take you directly to the web site that published the information. This practice is the reverse of what Apple is trying to do. Google want to “hold” you in Google “territory”, just as Facebook tries to block you from leaving its ecosystem that you are logged in to. Apple, on the other hand, is set up to send people directly to the source of the information, such as news web sites, etc., albeit via Safari or the Apple News App.
This will all continue to be a contentious issue going forward as it is akin to a war between Apple, Google, Amazon and Facebook (!), so we will be following this closely and will continue to report, ahead of the fact in many cases, in an ongoing fashion.
iPad 8th Gen Announcement from the Sept. 15, 2020 Apple Event Today the details are announced of the new 8th Generation iPad (and in our next video the new iPad Air). Along with the new Apple Watch Series 6 it’s an active day – obviously leading up to the iPhone 12 reveal (likely in early October) this already debuts some interesting new features.
Apple announced the eighth-generation version of its 10.2 inch iPad for $329 and $459 for Wi-Fi+ Ceullar model (students and teachers are able to get a discounted price of $299).The iPad will be available in space gray, silver and gold with 32GB and 128GB configurations. You are able to apple.com starting today with the available purchase date on Friday, September 18, 2020.
“With its beautiful 10.2-inch Retina display, the performance boost from the A12 Bionic, great cameras, and so much more, the new iPad is an incredible value at a time when, more than ever, our customers need powerful and versatile ways to work, play, learn, and connect with loved ones.”
Greg Joswiak / Apple Senior VP of Worldwide Marketing
The tablet has been given a power boost (40% faster GPU) and features the A12 Bionic chip with Neural Engine, a much faster processor than the A10 Fusion used in the prior model. Additional, the new model will still fit existing cases, keyboard cases as well as the first generation Apple Pencil.
Better, Faster, yet still Affordable
The iPad will run on iPadOS14 and give users tons of features, according to Apple include the following:
All-new compact designs for incoming FaceTime and phone calls, Siri interactions, and Search to help users stay focused on the task at hand.
Universal Search to quickly find practically anything, from locating and launching apps, to accessing contacts, files, and information, to getting answers to common questions about people or places.
New sidebars for many apps including Photos and Files, and streamlined toolbars that consolidate controls into a single place, making them more useful than ever.
Beautifully redesigned widgets that present timely information at a glance right on the Home Screen.
Finally here! Although we will all have to wait for the iPhone 12 announcement (October!), today we are getting Apple Watch Series 6 and the new iPad! Here’s the first, most exciting new feature of the Series 6 – the Blood Oxygen Sensor in detail.
The latest version of the Series 6, as many had anticipated took center stage at Apple’s September 15, 2020 event to showcase its hardware reveal. Apple dominates the smartwatch competition.
The new built-in sensor, which is the biggest addition to the latest model, is capable of measuring the color of one’s blood to determine your oxygen level, all in under 15 seconds. This is a helpful standalone feature, however its also helpful instrument for our current COVID-19 situation. The ability to bring attention and alert the wearer of any symptoms (i.e. low oxygen levels) is huge.
The watch is currently available for pre-order only and will be available for purchase on Friday, September 18, 2020 at the starting price of $399. In addition, Apple will be launching the Fitness+ subscription service, which will offer workout videos via Apple TV.
We all constantly interact with our iPhone in a myriad of ways. We use our phones for directions, searching for information, snapping a photo, communicating with work-family-friends-lovers, buying (drunk-dailing), accessing our financial data, enter and compiling health data…. the list goes on and on!
Apple’s newest ad highlights how important our privacy really is. Although funny, the ad also depicts what the worst case scenario could look like.
Privacy is extremely high on Apple’s list
No one would knowingly would scream out their password, but through this clever comedic device the video spotlights the scary truth that if your valuable information were to be shared continuously, the situation would be grave, indeed. Apple wants to make it clear that privacy should be a “given” and that they have taken extra steps to ensure users information will be safe.
Apple News Plus Audio features may remove “boring” from the aggregator
Among the many announcements anticipated for the September 15, 2020 Apple Watch and iPad virtual event: “Time Flies” there will surely be a lot of new iOS and iPad OS features revealed. Some are already available for testing in the iOS and iPad OS beta versions.
Once such already known feature are the expanded capabilities and features for audio in the Apple News App. Particularly interesting are the free stories daily – and the ability to sample narrated content. By using the new audio tab (that looks like a pair of beats headphones) any available audio features are curated for you, even if you don’t subscribe to Apple News +.
“Apple News Today”, which is a kind of teaser in a sense, is free to all users and will initially feature a “daily top stories” roundup of sorts which will be narrated and available in the audio tab.
“Audio Stories” is a more extensive collection of narrated content. These are automatically available for all Apple News + Subscribers. At $9.99 per month this is a welcome expansion of the existing perks.
The software features of the audio library are possibly the most interesting part. A “mini-App” similar to the familiar Music app controls the usual parameters. Additionally, there’s a great feature where you can seamlessly jump from listening to the audio version of a story and then pick up reading, or vice versa. Sometimes reading can be faster or maybe you want your ears free.
The best software feature of all though is the ability to sync the audio playlist and resume wherever you’ve left off (as per Netflix also etc) including….in your car with Apple Car Play. That has to be the most useful – being able to be reading on the train to your parked car and then switch seamlessly to audio mode as you begin the drive to your final destination…
New features create a more streamlined travel experience & totally new functionality
During the WWDC virtual event, Apple previewed the latest version of its upcoming desktop operating system – macOS Big Sur. There are so many new features, it is easy to get lost in all the detail. One highlight that stands out is the updated version of the Maps app. MacOS Big Sur is set for release next month for fall, there is, however a developer beta version currently available for download if you want a sneak peek before the official release date. Since this is beta (beta 4) and meant for developers, it is best only to download and test on a machine that you do not depend on as bugs are to be expected until the final official release (at least).
We have tested this and compiled features from what information Apple has released so far. The completely redesigned version of the app makes it even easier to find your navigation essentials. The new interface will be a more streamlined experience including: “Favorites” like home or work , “My Guides” where you can plan a trip or save places of interest you want to one day visit, and will also save your “Recent Places.”
Another new feature on the Mac is the ability to see the ETA from friends or family members that shared their routes with you. In this sort of hybrid with the features of “find friends”, now within maps, you will be able to see the current location of friends who have shared a route, and then you can monitor the progress as they journey towards their destinations.
The Maps app in Big Sur will also include all the newest features of Maps that will be included in the newest iPhone update iOS14 as well which will include: Guide, Cycling and EV routing.
Recommendations from top travel resources coming now with “My Guides”
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Maps will offer all new tools and features that will elevate travel and planning your next exploration of the world. Through Guides, you can discover new places as well as events and activities to participate using trusted sources.
Apple is said to be working with top companies like Lonely Planet, Zagat, and AllTrails to give you the best information. You can also customize your trip with all the places you want to visit (ex: shops, restaurants, parks, historical landmarks, etc) and share with your family and friends. To start, Guides will be available for cities including San Francisco, New York, London and Los Angeles, with plans to expand many more cities options.
The new Maps will make more countries available to view that will include Canada, Ireland and the UK. Then using the “Look Around” feature will allow you a 360-degree view of a destination (which is extremely cool on the big screen of your Mac). You can scroll through streets and get closer to a realistic taste of what to expect; giving rich detail of roads, buildings, parks, beaches and much more.
Apple will also make navigating within airports and shopping centers a little less stressful with detailed views of its indoor maps.
Bike riders and electric vehicle excursions are one of the cool new features
Need to get to a destination and you want to take your bicycle? No problem. Your cycling trips can now be routed from your Mac and then sent directly to your iPhone when you are on the go. Maps will provide routes for cyclists to find bike lanes, paths or bike-friendly roadways to reach your desired location. There will also be the ability to preview the elevation of the roads and have the option to avoid routes that have steep inclines or stairs that will make for an easier and smoother ride
Apple will also be utilizing EV routing for those that want to plan a trip using their electric vehicles. EV routing will help take into account your electric vehicle’s route (highlighting weather, elevation and locations of charging stations). When you add your electric vehicle to your iPhone, the Maps app will keep track of your EV’s current charge level.
Photo / Apple Maps for Cycling
Since there are so many features coming in macOS 11 Big Sur and many of those will now be even more integrated with the carious iOS, iPad OS, watch OS and so forth, it’s a great idea to keep tuned in as we will continue to produce updates on all the features, tips and tricks for all your Apple devices.
Custom personalization, Face sharing and, yes, Dance…
At WWDC 2020, a first ever Apple virtual special event, the company officially announced the next update to the Apple Watch operating system called watchOS 7, which will have many new changes including custom personalization along with health and fitness features. The update is expected to be available to the public (for free of course) later this year, most likely around September, which is when the iPhone 12 is also anticipated to be released. The WatchOS 7 update has been confirmed to be functional on the Apple Watch versions 3, 4, and 5. Which means if you have the earlier versions like Apple Watch Series 1 or 2 you will not be able to retrieve the update.
One of the features includes big new upgrades to the Workout app which is one of Apple’s most popular and most used apps on the smartwatch, according to internal analytics, presumably. Running, swimming, rowing, cycling and more are some of the current commonly used workouts that can be tracked on the Apple Watch. Now, four completely new workouts will be available – Dance, Core Training, Functional Strength Training and Cool-down which will offer custom-built motion algorithms and heart rate sensors to best track your movements.
Pre-loaded styles and intelligence can set you free
Dance is set to be added as a total body workout and will have the ability to track movements from a handful of the most popular dance styles that includes Hip Hop, Latin, Bollywood, and Cardio Dance (see video, above). Getting accurate tracking and credit for dancing previously proved challenging since dancing is not always repetitive and rarely has synchronized arm and leg movements like running and walking often do. With the newest update, Apple is using advanced censor fusion that will combine data from the heart rate sensor, accelerometer and gyroscope to get a better full body reading (movements in your arms and legs ) that will generate a more accurate ‘calories burned’ calculations for dance movements.
The OS7 will also track accurate calories for: Core Training, Functional Strength Training, & Cooldown. Core training where exercise is primarily focused on abs and back. Functional Strength Training is a workout type that helps you get stronger and move better for everyday activity. And Cool-down which can be added onto various workouts is when you want to continue with easy movements and stretches to bring heart rate and breathing back to normal.
Not bad. Sounds like very little new on paper, but if you use the workouts, like I do, these small changes represent more freedom to do what you want, and add a more natural feeling to your routine.
All your workouts can be tracked extensively with tons of precise data within the Activity App which is completely redesigned in the new update. The redesign has a new summary tab system to allows seamless switching between the Activity, Workouts, Awards and Trends views, all within one tab. The Activity App has also received a new moniker – and will be called simply: “Fitness”.
EXCERPTS FROM APPLE PRESENTATION FOR PRIVACY SETTINGS FROM WWDC 2020
Apple features expose the worst of predatory surveillance by Facebook, Amazon and Google
While wrong is wrong regardless of the perpetrator, when it comes to gargantuan tech behemoths, a company with a clearly defined mission such as Apple or Tesla are in a different category than Amazon, Facebook and Google.
While Tesla’s stated mission is to “accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy” and Apple’s original mission statement, written by Steve Jobs was “to make a contribution to the world by making tools for the mind that advance humankind”, predatory vultures hide behind ridiculous slogans like “aim to be Earth’s most customer centric company” (while decimating partners and competitors by any means necessary) and “don’t be evil” (don’t get caught) and “to give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together” (…all while stealing data for profit from every person on earth).
It’s just not the same – particularly as Steve Jobs, while at Apple, pushed himself and his company to invent and build many powerful examples of “tools for the mind” and Elon Musk’s Tesla brought the electric car back from the dead (after it was nearly snuffed out by big oil) and is making incredible headway in revolutionizing battery and solar technology, all with a view to literally save the planet from a climate catastrophe.
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Bezos? Became the richest living human via the destruction of millions of small business and jobs all while undercutting competitors by selling virtually anything he got his hands on at a significant loss; simply to cause the demise of any competitor or partner that might threaten his rise to idiotically massive personal wealth.
Zuckerberg? Pioneered ways to suck data from virtually every human with a view to monetizing every living soul exclusively for himself and his company. Illustration? Dividing Facebook’s market cap by the number of employees it has yields the sum of $14,906,500.00 per employee. Macy’s? That’d be $16,829. (Thanks to Scott Galloway for the numbers)
Google merely owns (91.75% as of June 2020) the search entryway to all web sites. It decides if you should or should not find them. If it can boost profits by hiding one and featuring another, either through “paid search” or by pointing you toward its own properties while hiding competitors from you, it will do exactly that. Ask the European Union’s anti-trust investigators. For them, this company is a convicted law breaker.
Announced at WWDC 2020, Apple is adding serious features to its various new operating systems. One big feature in Safari is the ability to track, and block as desired, all manner of data intrusions. These are not only identified, but shown and tracked and analyzed with a kind of professional dashboard, showing just how invasive and persistent these invisible spies are.
Apple is big, with more than 1.4 billion devices. Starting in around 2021 they will all be able to identify and block data surveillance by Amazon (the largest of all spies), Google and Facebook, among others. Thanks that’s not a big deal? Think again.
…the overall stance being taken regarding online tracking and surveillance should be seen for what it is: the first step to correcting the mistake of history that allowed the internet to be kidnapped and held hostage by a handful of companies that pretend to be “free” or “customer obsessed” while they are, in fact, Robber Barons that make the Standard Oil monopoly look like Santa Claus.
– D.L.
Tracking the Trackers will Change Your Life
Tracking the trackers is a clear and aggressive privacy stance, taken by the one company among the big four, that does not have a huge stake in you being the victim of online surveillance and tracking.
Not to say that Apple is blameless. Many are complaining about its fee structure for software sold by third parties via the app stores. While this issue is certainly a valid one, the overall stance being taken regarding online tracking and surveillance should be seen for what it is: the first step to correcting the mistake of history that allowed the internet to be kidnapped and held hostage by a handful of companies that pretend to be “free” or “customer obsessed” while they are, in fact, Robber Barons that make the Standard Oil monopoly look like Santa Claus.
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A greatly improved audio experience is about to get even better..
Apple announced during the first ever virtual WWDC 2020 event that there will be some significant updates to the AirPods and AirPods Pro that will further enhance the audio experience for the Apple headphone user. The iOS 14 update is expected to be available to the public later this year, most likely around September, which is when the iPhone 12 is also anticipated to be released. If you practically live with your AirPods in your ears, these two big features will make you happy.
Another small but appreciated update will offer a battery status update, which will notify users when it is time to charge your headphones. No more totally dead AirPods – hooray! Click here to see Apple Watch deals on Amazon.
AirPods are currently pretty simple and easy to pair to any Apple device, just open the battery case near your iPhone and done. With the new update, the pairing will be even easier, with the new feature called “Seamless Switching”, this is where you will be able to switch between your different Apple devices (iPhone, iPad, Mac or Apple Watch) without having to manually switch or connect. For example if you have your AirPods connected to your iPad while watching a TV show, but during that time you get a phone call on your iPhone, your AirPods will know and automatically switch accordingly, then can switch back to your iPad. This is major if you have multiple Apple devices. The Seamless Switching feature will work with AirPods Pro, AirPods (2nd generation), Powerbeats, Powerbeats Pro, and Beats Solo Pro. In order for the feature to work you will have to have an active iCloud account.
Spatial Audio is another major feature that will be available on AirPods Pro as part of the iOS 14 update which is set to be released in the fall. Unfortunately Spatial Audio will not be available for regular AirPods but for the Air Pods Pro exclusively. The feature creates an immersive surround-sound experience much like that of being in the movie theaters.
How are they able to create theater-like surround sound? Apple will be utilizing data from the AirPods Pro accelerometer and gyroscope to detect any movement from both headphone and device. This means that the sounds will stay consistent and in sync and allow the sound to come from all angles: left, right, front, back, and even above, mimicking what happens when you move your head while sitting in the movie theater. If you are watching a movie and you turn your head with your Pros on, the audio perspective will adjust to your movement maintaining the illusion of “place” and creating a strong sense of directionality. If you accidentally move the device, such as an iPad, on which you are viewing film, the movement will be detected and, again, the source directionality of the sound will automatically adjust accordingly.
Apple will also be updating the audio sharing features on AirPods’ with Apple TV to allow two users to watch a TV show or a movie together. The sharing capabilities will require the new tvOS update – tvOS 14. With all original televisions shows, new monthly additions, and new originals coming in the future, streaming using Apple TV with a partner will make the experience sweeter and more in sync.
In addition to the upcoming new features, Apple also has a new AirPods Pro firmware available which should automatically download. The previous version, 2D15 will be replaced with the newest version 2D27 and marks the 4th update since the AirPods Pro launch. If you are curious what version of firmware your device currently is set to, go to the Settings App on your iPhone, select General, then About, then AirPods Pro.
Plenty of reasons for Pessimism but Huge Sudden Changes are where we’ll find the greatest Opportunities
The film clip above, featuring the Steven Spielberg directed film based on the sci-fi book by Ernest Clines, is built on a fairly familiar and, lately, believable premise. In the year 2045 (or sooner from the looks of things) all our human foibles and follies have devastated the world landscape, both physically and economically. Global warming has taken a toll and disasters we now know so well, such as pandemic outbreaks and economic catastrophes, are recent history and shape the reality at hand.
The story takes place in the world of young virtual reality explorers. And from there the plot is a pretty standard fantasy exploration of the potentials and drama that this backdrop produces.
This and other dystopian works of fiction are suddenly ringing true in a new way, and on different levels, since the world has been on lock-down as we battle the novel coronavirus. There is a feeling of a world on the verge of collapse, with an unknown and very uncertain future, and talk of an economic malaise with almost no historical precedent about to unfold, if you accept worst case scenarios.
Yet, using wild flights of imagination and optimism there are hidden bright spots and silver linings that might arise, not accounted for in this film or other works of dystopian art.
“Ready Player One” promo still image / Warner Bros.
An Idea so Big and Radical it is Hard to Wrap our Heads Around it no matter how hard we try
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What if the twin terrors of the covid-19 Pandemic and the possible economic collapse that may follow are actually a kind of gift to the world and humanity? What if this is the mother of all opportunities, like some wildly fantastic movie plot, where the wake up call from the cosmos comes at exactly the perfect moment to, well, wake us all up?
It’s easy to forget that, before we all became consumed in pandemic survival mode, there were already enormous changes and challenges afoot, a they were not small potatoes.
Global warming and climate related disasters were beginning to take center stage in political and social thought. Greta Thunberg was Time’s Person of the Year, and, for the first time, climate deniers (generally paid shills for the oil industry) were no longer being taken seriously.
All that now seems like a distant memory, but what has changed? A lot and also nothing. The threat of global warming and the urgency to stop carbon emissions and begin a transition to sustainable energy is no less pressing, regardless of our current preoccupation with stopping the pandemic.
Skys around the world have turned blue and clear while traffic is a fraction of the previous norm
Though many have warned the pollution and carbon burning will resume with a vengeance, once the quarantines are lifted, there is nevertheless a psychological effect of seeing and experiencing the beauty of clean air and reduced traffic that is fascinating. Eerily similar to scenes in the film 12 Monkeys, wild animals roam freely in urban centers.
Like a good omen or an invitation to positive change, the idea that nature can bounce back so quickly could be seen as a clarion call to change. Of course, a year from now we could see a world where fossil fuels are even more entrenched, due to economic desperation, where societies take great strides backwards in the ability to communicate and all the problems from the past and present accelerate into a final snowball bound for hell.
But what if something else happens?
What if the drastic measures, like the world wide lock-downs, and the economic stimulus actions attempting to stave off the potential economic catastrophe, indicate the potential for entire nations and even the entire world to work together in times of great need?
Virtual and Enhanced Communication as Tool for Crisis Adaptation
One of the interesting and unforgettable earmarks of the current crisis lifestyle is the switch in our lives from “real” lives to internet lives and virtual meetings and events. TV shows are staging networked broadcasts using FaceTime and Zoom, with the various actors and talking heads streaming from their private quarantine stations. We communicate with each other privately using the same technologies and non-contact methods.
What if this foreshadows a revolutionary change in how we use technology to improve our lives, accelerate communication, increase productivity and prevent the future from being an ecological disaster of biblical proportions?
What if all of us learning to adapt to a life with less unnecessary travel, while at the same time studying and inventing solutions for those problems is exactly what we need to be doing? What if we all need to collaborate on ways to stop the spread of disease, certainly, but also need to find ways to seamlessly transition to solving the bigger underlying pre-existing issues in order to save ourselves and our planet?
What if we were all forced to stay inside and use our computers to communicate. And what if we were forced to learn new “jobs” and ways to survive financially? And what if we could engage people around the world to work from home solving the real problems facing humanity, instead of flying and driving around, burning carbon, chasing the latest greed-driven suicide gold rush?
Ideas like universal basic income will not be optional when 50% of the world is unemployed. But if the income generated by the robots and the energy produced by solar, wind and other clean, sustainable energy sources are available and not in the hands of corrupt politicians, Bezos and Zuckerberg, and the fossil fuel companies, then why not?
These kinds of “radical” solutions will have all sorts of political and greed-driven opposition, of that you can be sure. But, as with the coronavirus, when faced with an insurmountable obstacle, like a rapidly spreading deadly virus that does not spare victims just because they have money or power, things change fast. Really fast.
I have always said, climate change deniers will stop trying to convince people it’s a hoax once Miami and New York are underwater. In a different way, we are already there. What we are living through is like a test run and a wake up call that can help us to prepare for the real and necessary changes to come.
Having the Future Thrust Upon you is not as bad If you Look Forward to Change
So why not make the most of it? Many people are. Reading books, particularly serious books for learning new ideas and thinking outside the box, are having an online sales boom. People are using the time and freedom to set their own schedule and goals, and considering career paths and constructive engagement in ways they might have never otherwise even considered.
In this scene from the original “Matrix” film the writers sub-consciously show us the horrors of the future – but instead what they show is a symbolic representation of the present and the past. Humans are imprisoned for life in “farms” and live only to produce energy – the food fed to babies locked in pods is a sticky black goop said to be the liquified remains of the dead, but is, clearly just a very familiar substance already enslaving us all: crude oil.
Perhaps, looking back from a better future made possible by this pandemic, we can see a reality where the greatest obstacles to change were the addiction to failed behaviors, failed infrastructures and suicidal greed that was considered “normal” in a dying world. If a larger force makes those things impossible or less viable then it should be welcomed with open arms.
There is an existing world infrastructure based on fossil fuels and greed that has been artificially propped up by political and economic forces for far too long. Now that entire system is collapsing on itself. The coronavirus is just a pin prick to the bubble of stupidity and greed that has been there all along.
Those of us that can see and imagine a future, not built around and based on that failed system, will have the opportunity to use our computers and virtual communication systems, primitive as they are at this stage, to communicate with one another and discuss ways to find a new beginning. That new beginning is already starting with blue skys and clean air across the world. Leaders not motivated by greed and yet wielding power like Elon Musk are putting enormous energy into solving the carbon burning dilemma and replacing it as quickly as possible with sustainable energy.
The economic upheaval to come must be seen as an opportunity to replace the old structures with new and better solutions. The recent extreme acts of the government show at least a willingness to try things never before attempted. Many will not work. Meanwhile, enormous, radical change is no longer a science fiction dream but an unavoidable reality.
Let’s embrace the dream and face the future with the wildly optimistic idea that changes for the future do not have to be dystopian. They can be Utopian. Why should we settle for anything less?
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