Fifty-nine new emoji with a large number of additional variations are coming soon…
Here, scattered across your screen, are Emoji that you will be living with starting with the release of iOS 13, in the Fall. Featuring diversity and fun new additions for already well populated categories, including animals, activities, food and, of course, smiley faces. When it comes to emoji, as the saying goes, more is better and better is just fine.
In an update that smiles on progressive ideas and openness, the “Holding Hands” emoji now sports any combination of gender, skin tone and even personalities, allowing the creation of up to 75 variations on the relationship and couples theme.
Based on a push from Apple, to add more emoji depicting disability themed icons, an ear adorning a hearing aid, a robotic, bionic-looking prosthetic arm and leg, wheelchairs, and a new guide dog will all be part of the new collection. Apple is dedicated to celebrating all forms of diversity and will take these steps to fill gaps in the current set of available emoji. Also exciting are the new animals: a flamingo, a sloth, a skunk and, likely to be a fan favorite, an orangutan.
Celebrating diversity in all its many forms with new emoji. Photo / Apple
“Many additional emoji categories are getting exciting updates with a new smiley face for yawning, a one-piece swimsuit, new food items including a waffle, falafel, butter and garlic, and new animals like the sloth, flamingo, orangutan and skunk.”
– APPLE PRESS RELEASE
In total, fifty-nine newly designed emoji will be included, after a free software update, on the iPad, iPhone, Mac and Apple Watch. These will be added to the thousands of emoji already available . These new designs are based on the approved characters in Unicode 12.0.
A Food lovers have more ways to communicate with the waffle, falafel, butter and garlic emoji. Photo / Apple
Apple releases 3rd in the “Experiments” series, this one by Donghoon Jun and James Thornton of Incite in collaboration with WET
The previous clip in the series was an excellent video showing what can be done using 32 iPhone XR cameras set up into a Bullet-Time” rig like the one used in “The Matrix”. As was the case with the previous release, a behind the scenes video is provided also, showing the techniques that were used to produce the effects in the main clip.
It can be seen immediately how much the lighting set up, creative experimentation and even the water resistant qualities of the iPhone XS all play a large role in finding the beautiful, mesmerizing, stylized results. The music, perfectly synchronized and a melange of watery sound effects and impressionistic electronica, is perversely flattering and enhances the visuals infintely. The water “rigs”, dry ice dispensers and various cylindrical plastic containers are, all by themselves, quite impressive and the art department that provided and produced those deserve much of the credit for the results!
All that being said, however, the quality of the images and versatility and range of the camera effects settings is impressive and hardly what comes to mind when one thinks of “smartphone” video.
(editor’s note: this is the opening salvo in our new :]FuturePast[: series: a look at the past through the eyes of future generations, re-immersion in events and feelings of other times and other worlds.)
George Orwell, author of “1984” – Montage / Lynxotic / Medium
Setting the Stage: 1983
It’s 1983. Cable TV is in it’s infancy. The Macintosh is still barely a glint in Steve Jobs’ eye. MTV is one-and-a-half years into it’s lifespan. FM Radio is the well established “4k of audio” and signals are received on home stereo systems (and in cars)…
Video of the original MTV countdown to launch from 1981. NASA public domain footage was used, partially for budgetary considerations…
A music video is in heavy rotation on the known but not yet omnipresent 24 hour “video jukebox”. Four odd scruffy characters buried under overcoats ride on horseback through a barren winter landscape as if on some 19th century scouting mission in a Scandinavian war. This is U2 1983, still not well known in the USA. That will change, as will so much else in the next 18 Months.
https://youtu.be/_LpIuPbUKvM
The clip played heavily on MTV in January, 1983 – U2: New Year’s Day
MTV began, in essence, as a way to produce low budget content, “promo videos clips”, paid for by record labels, and broadcast them to create the first ever TV-Radio fusion station.
In keeping with the FM Radio vibe, VJ’s like Nina Blackwell, Mark Goodman and Martha Quinn would introduce each clip, radio style, and each came mainly with a Radio-DJ background and experience.
Although the station was primarily oriented towards Hard Rock initially, which was also an FM Radio staple, things began to change drastically in 1983. For example, the video for Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean”, already a radio hit since its release in January, was also added into heavy rotation in late March 1983 on MTV.
Followed by “Beat It” which conveniently (for MTV audiences) featured a guitar solo from Eddie Van Halen, and the crossover into a broader music mix began.
“Every Breath You Take” from The Police was also in heavy rotation in 1983 leading the commercial wing of the post punk “New Wave”.
Prince’s “Little Red Corvette” along with videos from Eddy Grant (“Electric Avenue”), Donna Summer (“She Works Hard For The Money”) and Herbie Hancock (“Rock-it”) solidified the initial transition to a more inclusive music / video mix:
1984
By the beginning of 1984 MTV had already achieved a status of major music industry influence toward making and breaking the hits. Among the general public the station’s output was consumed almost as a first “National Radio Station” for the USA. A radio station that just happened to broadcast from your cable TV and included video clips along with the tracks.
More often than not, going to a party at that time meant MTV blasting at high volume from a stereo system (cleverly attached to the cable box’s output) with the videos unwatched somewhere on a connected TV. Although flat screens were still a distant future dream, projection TV could increase the screen size (though not the resolution) of the signal.
FM Radio playlists mirrored that of MTV and vice versa. From the peak in 1984 MTV maintained a video clip heavy playlist until 1995 when videos were gradually pushed out by “reality shows” and other programming.
After the success, in both unit sales and radio / MTV airplay, of Prince’s LP “1999”, released on October 27, 1982, his next project would fully integrate video and film with his songs and performances.
Price was about to explode onto the world stage in 1984. In collaboration with Albert Magnoli (director for the feature film “Purple Rain”), and even taking directing credits himself for his “When Doves Cry” video, a barrage of both traditional radio hits, a feature film and multiple music video promos were released in well timed succession.
At the peak in the summer of 1984, price had the #1 Movie (“Purple Rain”), #1 Single, (“When Doves Cry”) and #1 LP, (“Purple Rain”), simultaneously. A feat that no one has replicated before or since. His income that year was rumored to be in the fifty million dollar range.
By the end of 1984 three twenty-six year olds, Madonna, Prince and Michael Jackson had established themselves at the top of pop, in large part due to MTV exposure and hit videos.
Coming in the next :]FuturePast[: installment: On January 22nd, 1984 this little TV commercial was shown at Super Bowl XVIII, announcing an odd little machine with big ambitions:
ABOVE: Logic Pro X 10.4.5 shown onstage at WWDC 2019 running 2,000 audio and software instrument tracks on the new Mac Pro.
Logic Pro X, Apple’s high end music production software, now has more under the hood, particularly when used with the new Mac Pro, which will be available in the Fall. Announced at WWDC 2019, this update is all that was promised and shown in the demo (see video above).
Particularly interesting for future Mac Pro users, the new Logic Pro X supports up to fifty-six processing threads. Up to five times the number of real-time plug-ins will be supported when using the new mac pro with this new Logic Pro version, as compared with the previous Mac Pro (trash can) version. This will enable smooth operation even within the most challenging production situations.
With support for up to one thousand audio tracks and one thousand software instrument tracks, which adds up to more than four times the number of tracks available, as needed.
Additionally, the new version supports one thousand Aux channel strips, one thousand external midi tracks and up to twelve sends per strip.
“As someone who uses Logic for everything I create musically, I got a huge kick seeing all the performance tweaks coming in Logic Pro X 10.4.5. And the expandability of the new Mac Pro will give it longevity and a home in my studio for a long time to come.”
— Oak Felder, producer for Demi Lovato, Drake, Alicia Keys and Rihanna
While many music and sound producers until now have opted to use the Apple’s free GarageBand app, essentially a stripped down version of Logic Pro X, with these new features ( a free upgrade for current Logic Pro X users) the relatively low price tag may begin to entice a larger percentage to go for the upper tier software.
Naturally, for the top pro clientele for whom cost is less relevant, the combination of the new Mac Pro and this upgraded version of Logic Pro X may be more competitive in a market where other similar products such as Avid Pro Tools and Abelton Live remain very popular.
A t WWDC, alongside updates to Logic Pro X, Apple announced macOS Catalina, iOS13 and iPadOS all expected to be released in time for the availability of the Mac Pro in the Fall.
Other Apple software, such as Final Cut Pro should see big updates by that time as well.
Also announced at WWDC, large creative software companies such as Adobe, BlackMagic and others pledged their support for the Mac Pro and detailed plans for major updates intended to take full advantage of the additional power and possibilities.
“Logic is my primary creative tool for composing music, playing a key role in creating the scores for ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’ and ‘The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance’… I’m really excited to see the increased performance of Logic Pro X 10.4.5 along with the power, expandability and configurability of the new Mac Pro — together they will help me work even faster and let me focus more on being creative.”
— Daniel Pemberton, composer for “Black Mirror,” “Yesterday” and “Ocean’s 8”
Logic Pro X 10.4.5 is available now in the Mac App Store as a free update for all current users. For new users, the price remains a modest $199.99, which should be an enticement for many.
Additional new features in Logic Pro X 10.4.5, include:
The loop browser can filter by loop type and allows drag and drop of multiple loops into your project simultaneously.
The redesigned DeEsser 2 plug-in provides more options to reduce sibilance on audio tracks.
MIDI beat clocks can be sent to individual ports, each with unique settings like timing offset and plug-in delay compensation.
At the end of the day, regardless of whether it’s on a MacBook Pro, a Mac Pro or even an iMac, the improvements to Logix Pro X represent a welcome sight, showing that Apple is truly committed to pushing forward the tools, both hardware and software, that will enable creators across all classes and styles to do more than ever with less effort and cost.
Oddly fitting, it seems, to be writing this on the 75th anniversary of D-Day, and imagining a very different, yet strangely similar, world outcome at stake. As pundits and trolls debate prices and feature sets, something larger is happening just beyond the threshold of perception.
The superior ecosystem of integrated elements, conceived as a whole, is beginning to emerge after 35 years. And, as if rising from a fog, the outline of the way we will create and communicate via digital networks in the future, is getting clearer.
Beginning with a new Mac Pro featuring up to a 28-core, Xeon processor, and a new Pro Display XDR, a 32in, 6k Retina with a million to one contrast ratio and a billion colors, both announced along with macOS Catalina and iOS13, all due out in the Fall, there appears to be a pattern emerging.
“With overall improvements in connectivity coming with 5g, not to mention all the satellite systems being built, the trinity of hardware muscle, accelerated software evolution, and hi-speed networking will be the “one more thing” of the era to come”.
The real story is about the improvements in the creative and computational power coming together on three fronts:
“If you want to teach people a new way of thinking, don’t bother trying to teach them. Instead, give them a tool, the use of which will lead to new ways of thinking.”
― R. Buckminster Fuller
Powerful fast hardware (nobody is complaining about the speed and power of the new Mac Pro), extended functionality of software – whether embedded within macOS Catalina, or from third parties, and then, finally, the-up-and coming speed and low latency of 5G and satellite networks.
However, a fourth, and very important force, not to be forgotten, is user sophistication. Seldom mentioned, it is barely a ‘thing’, yet without this essential component, the adoption of new technologies and communication methods could not move forward.
The gradual evolution of user adoption and skill will always gradually follow where the tools lead. For example, the ‘Digital Hub‘ of 2001 was a mystery, at the time, to a public that had barely begun to adopt the digital camera, and yet is completely obvious in hindisght.There’s a battle here, but it’s not for the stock price, revenue targets or market share. It’s for hearts, minds and the fulfillment of a sacred vision of a young Steve Jobs. To build a set of tools, overtake the Condor and soar above the mundane.
This combination, the rapidly emerging four pillars, will be nothing short of a revelation for the ages, all at a time when Moore’s Law is said to be dead or at least dying. And I didn’t even mention AI or machine learning.
“What a computer is to me is, it’s the most remarkable tool that we’ve ever come up with, and it’s the equivalent of a bicycle for our minds.”
– Steve Jobs
“I think one of the things that really separates us from the high primates is that we’re tool builders. I read a study that measured the efficiency of locomotion for various species on the planet. The condor used the least energy to move a kilometer.
The rest of the quote above from Steve Jobs:
And, humans came in with a rather unimpressive showing, about a third of the way down the list. It was not too proud a showing for the crown of creation. So, that didn’t look so good. But, then somebody at Scientific American had the insight to test the efficiency of locomotion for a man on a bicycle.
And, a man on a bicycle, a human on a bicycle, blew the condor away, completely off the top of the charts.”
Mac Pro IMAGES:
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photos by Apple
THE SECOND WAVE STARTS WHEN THE FOUR PILLARS ARE COMPLETE
What shines through is the path that Apple has kept all throughout the years and into today. Steve’s continuing, guiding hand prevented the core value propositions and and underlying goals from changing. And hallelujah to that.
My understanding is that a great part, if not the greatest part, of that ethos, was that human creativity and communication are paramount. And that building tools, to enhance and engender those, are a scared quest, worthy of noble men and women.
Now, here we stand, in a world that cries out for, and is even in danger of perishing without, a new higher level of communication and creativity.
And the tools are arriving, hopefully in-time, so let us be thankful to Steve’s great legacy, to Apple’s perseverance, and now pull together – and get to work…
Pro Display XDR IMAGES
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photos by Apple
FROM WHENCE ALL WEALTH?
Much has been made of the high prices and perceived ‘lack of innovation‘ in this, most recent, stream of new products from Apple. One ‘Fair and Balanced’ news organization’s headline screamed that Apple was considered ‘criminal’ for charging $999 for a monitor stand.
Sometimes, information comes at us all so fast, our brains need some time to catch up to reality. T his year’s WWDC was a bit like that, an avalanche of updates and features, exploding from 90 foot screens.
“And whence will come the wealth with which we may undertake to lead world-man into his new and validly hopeful life? From the wealth of the minds of world-man — whence comes all wealth.”
– R. Buckminster Fuller
A thousand dollar stand? Horrors. 50k for the maxed out system, boo hoo. ‘You can buy a gaming PC for around the same as the stand’. So what?. Next we’ll see an article calculating that if you buy 10 Pro Display XDRs and 10 stands that’ll be over $60,000! And somebody groaned! Quel Scandale! Apple haters are still hating and if it bleeds, it leads. And missing the story like it was the the broad side of a barn.
As a species, Buckmintser Fuller probably also said, we have been on training wheels. Well, now they are coming off, and we will need every ounce of power we can get our hands on if we are going to innovate and communicate ourselves out the messes we’ve created in this world.
Are these the tools meant to help content creators contribute to Apple’s shift from primarily hardware profits to income from subscriptions and services? Yes.
They are also the tools to help creators, communicators and scientists to innovate and ideate our way out of a road to possible self-inflicted extinction. Oh, yea, there’s that.
So let’s stand up and cheer for the company that is trying, like Steve wanted, to give us the best tools. ‘Cause heroes are hard to find, these days. Hero companies? There’s only one, or maybe two.
Apple is leading the way with serious simultaneous improvements in 2 of the 3 pillars of the golden triangle: more muscular hardware such as the new Mac Pro and Pro Display XDR, shown here, and a new galaxy of capabilities that will grow out of iOS13 and macOS Catalina, both announced and showcased this week at WWDC.
Hiding behind the search for earth-shattering hardware improvements, the whole apple ecosystem, using a combination of incremental speed and power increases, coupled with major system software improvements, is the real emerging story to watch from this year’s WWDC
Before Mojave, the macOS version that began, in earnest, the process of integration with iOS apps and features, a simultaneous upgrade to iOS 13 and macOS 10.15 Catalina would have perhaps yielded a yawn.
With a new MacBook Pro featuring an 8-core, 9th generation chip, and a new iPod Touch with the Apple A10 processor and With a new Mac Pro likely to be announced this week, there appears to be a pattern emerging.
With iMacs upgraded in March and the Mac mini already last October, it seems the entire Apple inventory will be refreshed by the end of 2019.
The one missing piece to the puzzle could be software. And, as if on cue, WWDC this week is expected to drop news on a variety of projects, but perhaps the best will be the two system software upgrades for iOS and macOS.
‘ONE MORE THING’ SYNDROME?
Doesn’t it seem, at times, as if the magic of hardware advances and even inventions of previously non-existent technology were expected to be a “given”? Suddenly, the absence of astoundingly new devices, created from thin air, is treated almost as a failure.
Anyone who attended CES 2019 would have noticed that we are in an era of gradual, incremental change. Many decry the lack of “innovation” yet seem to miss where the real action is and, even more, where it likely will be.
Based on the various updates alluded to above, Apple has set the stage for a year of incremental hardware improvements.
The Mac Pro is expected to be a complete re-design, iPhones are always a mixed bag or upgraded with some new features. But what all of these share, is the dependence on, and ability to benefit from, improvements in system software and apps, both free from apple and at various cost from third parties.
THERE’S A REASON SYSTEM IS IN ECOSYSTEM
Quietly, almost imperceptibly, macOS has been improving in leaps and bounds. Mojave was the first version of macOS where many long evolving technologies began to ripen. One need only look at the iCloud saga to see an example. Born as “Mobile Me” almost 20 years ago (!!) only with the Mojave / iOS 12 partnership did it really begin to show its potential.
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photos by Apple
Naturally, the more machines and devices connected to the same iCloud account the more useful it is. But, in a small business setting, with a few computers, iPhones, and iPads, it really begins to shine and becomes more useful with each (free) upgrade.
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photos by Apple
A few items from the list of functioning features already present in the Mojave / iOS 12 iCloud system:
Synchronized Desktop and iCloud folders, accessible also on iOS
Synchronized and shared notes with virtually any content
Synchronized photos and videos across all devices
Synchronized passwords and usernames when using Safari on any device
AirDrop also between devices and machines in or out of the account
Hand-off between nearby machines and devices
Various app Sync and hand off features: Apple News, Books, GarageBand, Pages, Numbers, Keynote, Find Friends, and more
IS THAT ALL?
It’s not so much the length of the list but the way the depth of the functionality of each part of the software expands over time. Every function or app listed above was, admittedly, barely ready for prime-time when first released.
But, with each update, including the “minor” ones, the functionality increases and often new features are added. Sometimes one has to dig for them and other times they ‘just work’, only better.
The one caveat is that relatively ‘fast’ internet access on all devices at all times is mandatory. With overall improvements in connectivity coming with 5g, not to mention all the satellite systems being built, the triumvirate of hardware muscle, software sophistication and hi-speed networking will be the “one more thing” of the era to come.
Will it be sexy like the first photo-pinch on the first iPhone ? Perhaps not. But with layering software systems, S.a.a.S. for businesses and AI infusing more and more ‘everyday tasks’ (tasks that once required expansive hardware, software and a computer science degree) with a ‘wow’ factor as yet to be measured, the future might be sexier than you think.
HOW’S THAT FUTURE LOOKING AGAIN?
Apple is leading the way with serious simultaneous improvements in 2 of the 3 pillars of the golden triangle: more muscular hardware such as the new MacBook Pro and iPod Touch, shown here, and a new galaxy of capabilities that will grow out of iOS13 and macOS 10.15 Catalina, both announced and showcased this week at WWDC.
With all the amazing products and software updates unveiled at Apple’s WWDC 2019, you’d think the viral meme would be something related. You’d be wrong. The trending topic for the first several days was… the monitor stand.
More specifically, the price of the monitor stand. Before you get really confused, it’s more the fact that the price was quoted separately, not a usual thing in general for monitor pricing. But this is no usual monitor.
As the name implies: The Pro Display XDR is meant for professional use. Hence the fairly hefty 5k price tag. So far, no big deal, right? Had Apple just announced a professional monitor, comparable in specs to pro monitors costing upwards of forty thousand dollars for 6k$, we’d probably have seen articles lauding them for creating thirty-four thousand in “savings”.
Further, if they had announced that the $6,000 monitor could be purchased “sans stand” for only 5k$, again, it’s all good. Instead, it was accidentally implied that the average-joe (who wants to buy a professional stand) would have to pay 5k$ for the screen and then another 1k$ for the “optional” stand.
Once this was announced scribes and haters all across the land began to decry the injustice to the world that this “arrogant” company would have the nerve to charge “as much as an iPhone XS”for nothing but a chunk of metal.
The race was on to compile the most outrageous comparisons: “you can buy an entire gaming PC for the price!”, wrote one, “it’s everything wrong with Apple today“, screamed another. After many such articles, each more ridiculous than the last, the “grown ups” began to chime in.
Digital Deflation is a Tricky Business
Finally, it was pointed out that professional video or film editing businesses, the folks for whom this stand was designed and priced, tend to have studio edit bays custom built for the purpose of high end editing, processing and color correcting, among other professional activities.
These bays, generally designed by a high tech professional architect, who costs himself, many times the “outrageous” $999, and monitor screens (you know, those forty thousand dollar ones mentioned by apple in the presentation), are generally wall mounted or set up on proprietary house-owned stands that go for far more than $999. The bays also have professional lighting design (to prevent visual inaccuracies when evaluating high end content), and, more often than not, really cool (read: expensive), furniture.
The plot thickens…
So, wait, what was really announced is that those same pros described above could opt-out of a monitor stand they do not need and save the much whined about $999? You don’t say. How nice those Apple folks are. So thoughtful. Trying to help rich folks avoid paying $999 for a stand that will end up in a storage room.
Why so misunderstood then, if this is all so obvious? Digital Deflation. Yes, that nasty sounding trend that has changed the world around us for more than 25 years.
History of cost reduction to zero dollars
To make sense of this hilarious tale, it seems, we have to first go back. Waaaay Baaack. All the way to around 1996. At that time there was no 8k video to edit, let alone multiple streams of said 8k. Nevertheless, a professional workstation, absolutely necessary at the time to do any non-linear editing or EFX, would set you back around $100,000+. And those monitors? They’d likely be CRT and still cost 50k or some ungodly number.
Many of the processes that were routinely required in editing, color correcting and EFX generation could not be achieved on any computer or software alone. Everything had hardware add-ons, tally up another 50k here and 50k there.
So, once again, why the huge misunderstanding?
Fast forward to 2019. Your iPhone can shoot excellent 4k video anywhere, anytime, since it’s already in your pocket. Cost: zero additional dollars after owning the phone.
Add to that software, if you are on a budget you can forego the daunting challenge of coughing up a couple of hundred dollars to buy Final Cut Pro (there’s that pesky “Pro” again in the name), and go with Blackmagic Design’s “DaVinci Resolve” software, which happens to include excellent non-linear editing, EFX generation and management, color correction and much more. Price tag? For the functioning entry level version, zero dollars. For added professional functionality, a few hundred dollars.
Bottom line, if you already have an iPhone and some kind of Mac, zero dollars.
Tricky Business, Indeed
Here’s where it really gets crazy. Apple, and other tech companies, have, in essence, engendered this deflation by reducing the costs of everything needed for digital media creation, at a higher and higher level to, practically, zero$.
Great, right? Well, not entirely. It seems that when the cost of production nears zero, the monetization of the fruits of creation head south even faster. Translation? It’s damn hard to get paid if you are a freelancer producing and editing digital media products. Only the highest level creators (Hollywood Heavyweights, top of the charts, you get the idea) can garner much of anything, and, of course, they can afford many times that $999 for fruit toppings at breakfast.
Everyone else (a.k.a. “the rest of us”) live in side-hustle hell. Hence the moans, groans, and whining over the “dream” of having $999 to spare for a monitor stand.
So, to re-cap, the same people who were “gifted” by massive advances in technical capabilities spearheaded by apple, to the point where millions of dollars of production overhead for hardware was reduced to almost zero, were also victims of an unemployment epidemic, unleashed by the “barriers to entry” for their chosen profession being reduced to… wait for it… zero.
And, yea, by the way, all this applies double to writers working for digital media outlets. So let the angst flow freely next time an arrogant monolithic company has the audacity to release a pro product at a pro price. I feel ya, Dog, I really do.
New iPod Touch Released: Increased Power, Performance and Features –
Finally, a new iPod Touch release from Apple. Available immediately online (at Apple.com) and hitting stores later this week, with features like a speed bump, provided by Apple’s A10 Fusion chip. The added oomph will enable better gaming, group FaceTime and AR capabilities and a general performance increase. Soon, of course, the power under the hood will also have iOS 13, expected to debut in June at WWDC, to extend software quality and features as well.
With a lowest price of $199 and a max storage up to 256GB available (for an additional $200), the sleek beautiful form factor will be on a higher functional level than ever. So thin and light, due to the intentional omission of iPhone elements for telephony, on a trip to Europe people will think you have an iPhone 12 and beg you for a closer look!
Sometimes Less is More
It has been a closely held secret that the thinner form factor, lower cost and full software functionality are all a huge plus for anyone who wants to enjoy an iPhone-like computing experience without the cost and size of the real thing.
Now with the improved power of the A10 fusion chip and additional storage available, it’s an improved alternative, even if you have an iPhone and just want a thin, light non-phone device to surf news aggregators or check emails and add to notes, etc. With iOS 13 and full iCloud synchronization across all your devices, the usefulness of this new iPod is increased even more.
The new iPod touch also provides fun and productive AR experiences across gaming, education and web browsing. AR is even more engaging and immersive with the new capabilities of shared AR, persistent AR, which is tied to a specific location, and image detection, making it possible for the new iPod touch to magically bring to life 3D objects like toys and sculptures.
It is very good news that Apple made the decision, after several years without an update, to continue with the iPod Touch line, like they did by resurrecting the Mac mini last October.
After new iMacs, iPads and iPad pro, as well as AirPods, were released in March, and with the Mac Pro promised before the end of 2019, this might just be the year of Apple’s ultimate upgrade redemption. Great news for lovers of these special products, somewhat neglected and needing updates for so long. In this case we can agree with Greg:
“The ultra-thin and lightweight design of iPod touch has always made it ideal for enjoying games, music and so much more wherever you go.”
– Greg Joswiak, Apple’s vice president of Product Marketing
With Apple Music, subscribers can gain access to a catalog of over fifty million songs, Beats 1 Radio, thousands of playlists and daily selections from the world’s best music experts. Apple is offering the new iPod touch in Pink, (PRODUCT)RED, Space Gray, Silver, Gold, and Blue.
Pricing and Availability
The new iPod touch starts at $199 (US) for the 32GB model, $299 (US) for the 128GB model and $399 (US) for the 256GB model from apple.com, in the Apple Store app and Apple Stores, and is also available through Apple Authorized Resellers and select carriers (prices may vary).
The new iPod touch models are available to order starting today from apple.com and in the Apple Store app in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the UAE, UK and US.
Ad is an entertaining dramatization of their famous circular pizza box patent.
Still / Apple
The head of Apple’s food services team helped design a circular pizza box a few years ago. The next time you order a pizza at Apple’s Cupertino Campus – you’ll see one.
What makes it special, other than the circular shape and clean Apple-white aesthetic, are the holes that allow the steam to escape and insure that the pizza doesn’t get soggy. Looking as much like a UFO as the Campus looks like a Space-Ship is also somehow implied. The patent can be traced back to 2010.
https://youtu.be/G9TdA8d5aaU
The ad takes you through the adventure of invention, tracing the quirky, creative steps of these rag-tag designers.
Above all, it does an excellent job capturing the essence of the creative process, the near-neurosis of the design team, and all the hurdles life puts in front of invention.
Still / Apple
The spot also does an excellent job of showing how we could all use Apple products to scale those hurdles, much as our underdog heroes do. Finally we are along for the ride as these future design champs get the chance to make their big pitch.
Still / Apple
[ During the last shot as they board the elevator headed for the upper floors, I do wish they added an insert with someone pushing a circular elevator button (with the iconic Apple logo, of course), — Ed. ]
Performance Upgrades Galore Released Ahead of Streaming TV Launch
Updated AirPods are out – AirPods 2 is the catchy name for this iteration. They’re now powered by an Apple designed H1 chip. This chip was designed specifically for the new AirPods. The H1 is built to deliver higher performance, faster connect times, and more talk time. And, the new AirPods will be available with a wireless charging case (which also works with older AirPod models).
Shortly after the AirPod 2s were announced, new versions of the iMac All-in-one desktop computer also hit the street. As shown in the graphic below, 5 new variants, two 21.5 inch and three 27 inch Macs, each with slightly different feature upgrades are now available. The computers also have a new set of chips that will deliver twice the graphical and computational power.
All five models have intel processors and AMD Radeon Pro GPU’s. Users can expect to see up to 50 percent improved performance working with Photoshop projects, or the ability to create up to two times the amount of virtual instruments in Logic Pro X, or view up to 16 simultaneous multi-cam streams compared to the previous seven in Final Cut Pro X.
The lower end models keep their 4K Retina display. The bigger models feature the usual 5K screen. The computers range from $1300-$5000+ depending on size, specs and optional upgrades.
Apple hasn’t changed the iMac‘s iconic aluminum chassis or glass screen. They’ll have the same screen sizes and resolution, same brightness and wide (P3) color gamut, and same ports (two Thunderbolt USB-C, four USB 3, SDXC, Gigabit Ethernet, and headphone jack).
iPad Air is back and iPad mini too, with pencil. Both with a spec bump. Although the items are not “financially important” in terms of Apple’s overall bottom line, they serve as introductory Apple products. Popular gift items that can acclimate new users into Apple culture.
These new versions of established products are welcome news as the specs and value have improved.
Hardcore aficionados however, will be anticipating major upgrade news, such as the refreshed Mac Pro (not upgraded since 2013!) or iPhone 11, possibly in June and October, respectively.
The newest iOS fix for iPhone and iPad was released today and can be accessed via software update. Apple recommends that all users update immediately to install a patch that fixes the nasty bug that enabled eavesdropping via FaceTime.
The issue, where an iPhone microphone could become active without user consent or participation, appears to have been related to the new group FaceTime calling feature that was added late last year with the iOS 12 launch.
Stories documenting the problem have flooded the blogisphere lately and Apple was forced to temporarily disable the group FaceTime feature while the patch was being prepared.
Although it’s very likely that most of us have little to fear from anyone listening to our uneventful private conversations, the thought alone is enough to cause concerns.
As per the usual method, going to Settings>General>Software Update and then choosing “Update and Install” is highly recommended, just make sure you are either plugged into power or have at least 55% battery life (to be sure). Fortunately, with this update, the FaceTime bug days should almost certainly be in the past.
Above you can also see the “Behind The Scenes” clip, released along side the video above, which shows in some detail all that’s involved in setting up a “Bullet-Time” rig, other than acquiring 32 iPhones !
Services, Mac and Wearables Set New All-Time Revenue Records
Apple today announced financial results for its fiscal 2019 first quarter ended December 29, 2018. The Company posted quarterly revenue of $84.3 billion, a decline of 5 percent from the year-ago quarter, and quarterly earnings per diluted share of $4.18, up 7.5 percent. International sales accounted for 62 percent of the quarter’s revenue.
The 15% drop in iPhone sales. though no surprise, was coupled with a year over year annual revenue decline of roughly one-half of 1% which is the first yearly decline since 2001.
As has historically been the case with Apple, volatility and drama related to this earnings report will be soon washed away by many new innovations, scandals and continued excellence from the world’s foremost technology manufacturer.
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