3dTouch
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Instagram reportedly testing ads that use 3D Touch and Apple Pay (update)
Instagram ads have been around for some time now, but a new report claims the company is looking to boost the in-app shopping experience. According to Digiday, the photo-sharing app is testing 3D Touch and Apple Pay support for those ads from companies that are looking to sell you goods. With the former tool, a long press could give users access to multiple offers or items instead of just one from the Shop Now button Instagram added earlier this summer. The inclusion of Apple Pay will tack on a convenient method for handling payments for iPhone and iPad users. As is the case with any rumor, we'll have to wait and see when, or if, the test features make their way to the app. Update: Refuting the report, a spokesperson from Instagram told Engadget "this isn't something we are testing at this time." If you see anything different in your feeds over the weekend, let us know.
Flickr takes advantage of iOS 9 and your iPhone 6s
The pressure-sensitive touch on the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus was practically tailor-made for quickly glancing at photos, so wouldn't it make sense that major photography apps let you do just that? Flickr sure thinks so. It's launching an updated iOS app that takes full advantage of iOS 9, including 3D Touch on the iPhone 6s line. You can peek at photos, people and notifications with a firm push. It'll even flip through your camera roll if you swipe at the same time, giving you a quick way to share the right snapshot. As you might've guessed, that extra dimension also gives you home screen icon shortcuts that help you post photos that much sooner.
Apple Stores show off iPhone 6s 3D Touch with fancy tables
Apple is doing a new trick at its flagship San Francisco and New York Stores to show off the benefits of 3D Touch on the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus. A video from Grate App (below) shows the phones rigged up to a table that's actually a very large display. When you press on the iPhone's swimming fish screen-saver, it creates ripples in the screen around the phone, which vary in size depending on how hard you press. (The table itself doesn't appear to be force-sensitive, but rather just takes 3D Touch input from the phones.) It's a clever way to tout a feature that's a bit hard to grok, but there's no word on whether you'll see it in any other stores.
Facebook's iOS app uses 3D Touch to make short work of status updates
When you find yourself needing to post to Facebook quickly, the social network's app leverages tech on Apple's latest handsets to do just that. Thanks to the newfangled 3D Touch tool that arrived with the new iPhones, a press on the app's icon will reveal options for taking a photo/video, uploading a photo/video and composing a status update. With the addition, Facebook joins a collection of apps (like Dropbox) that have already taken advantage of the new iOS feature. If your trusty device hasn't alerted you to the update yet, nab it from iTunes via the source link below.
Dropbox for iOS just got a lot faster (and simpler)
When you're juggling a lot of files in the cloud, every little bit of time you save is a big deal... and Dropbox knows it. The online storage outfit has released an iOS app update that's all about speeding up and simplifying its core tasks. The centerpiece is a new action menu that sits next to every file -- tap it and you can modify or share that file without skipping a beat. If you're on iOS 9, you'll also see your recent and offline files in Spotlight searches. And if you're spending big bucks on an iPhone 6s or 6s Plus, you'll be happy to know that 3D Touch gives you both home screen shortcuts (such as uploading a photo) as well as peeks at files. Dropbox's upgrade is live as I write this, so you only need to visit the App Store to see what the fuss is about.
iPhone 6s and 6s Plus pre-orders are live
It's that magical time of year where adults sit awake at their computers in the middle of the night (or with an iDevice and the Apple Store app open) in an effort to snag the latest iPhones. Pre-orders have gone live for Cupertino's latest handsets, the 6s and 6s Plus, and if you're hoping to get one for that first-wave September 25th availability date you'd better act fast. After all, 3D Touch isn't going to wait around for everyone. So! Best to head over to Apple's website or the aforementioned mobile app and get to punching in your credit card info. The questions now are big or small; space grey, gold or rose gold and if you're going to go for Apple's Upgrade Program or not. Better make your mind up rather quick-like -- Fallout fans, at least, have one less decision to make.
Here's why the iPhone 6s has a smaller battery
Although the new iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus don't look all that different, Apple has sneaked in a few major hardware changes. 3D Touch was one of the big announcements, which allows the iPhone to determine how much pressure you apply to the screen and display shortcuts and other features accordingly. However, this enhancement appears to come at a small cost: battery size. In a video introducing the iPhone 6s family, Apple briefly flashes the battery capacity of the base model. Its 1715 mAh rating is a touch lower than the 1810 mAh battery in the iPhone 6.
Apple's iPhone 6s is here, and it's all about '3D Touch'
Apple just announced the iPhone 6s and... it's pretty much exactly what we expected. Staying true to tradition, the iPhone 6s looks practically indistinguishable from last year's device (there's a new iPhone 6s Plus as well). It's built out of the same 7000 series aluminum as the Apple Watch Sport (which should allay bending fears), and it includes an even stronger glass display. The iPhone 6s also brings over the Watch's "Force Touch" feature, except now it's called "3D Touch." It allows you to press down on the screen to open up new options throughout iOS 9, and it offers a bit of tactile feedback as well thanks to a revamped "Taptic Engine."
Microsoft app lets you take calls on your Lumia just by picking it up
We love the idea of orientation gestures (used by Samsung, HTC and Moto phones and apps like Tasker), but they aren't natively supported on iOS, Android or Windows Phone yet. Microsoft seems ready to buck that trend with the launch of a Gestures Beta app for WP8 Lumia phones. As shown below, it'll let you answer a call by raising the phone to your ear, listen on speakerphone by setting it on a table and mute the mic with a face-down flip. Microsoft planned to launch a similar feature for WP8.1 called "3D Touch" with other features like a grip sensor, possibly alongside the now-defunct McLaren phone. There's no sign that'll come anytime soon, but at least there's now an app -- just bear in mind that it's still in beta, and functionality is "limited" for the Lumia 530, 630 and 635.
Microsoft's next big Windows Phone may use Kinect-like motion gestures
Yes, the Lumia 930 and 1520 are fine Windows Phones, but where's the sequel to the fan favorite, the 1020? Apparently, it's coming -- and it's bringing a clever control scheme along for the ride. Sources for both WPCentral and The Verge claim that Microsoft's future Lumia hardware, nicknamed McLaren, will incorporate both a giant camera and "3D Touch" that uses motion gestures (some of them Kinect-like) to control the phone without poking at the screen. We've seen some of the rumored concepts elsewhere; you can cover the phone to mute it, or bring it to your ear to answer. Others, however, are unique. McLaren will reportedly react to your grip, and will let you see features 'hidden' inside a Live Tile (such as messaging in the Facebook app) by making a tapping motion that doesn't touch the glass.
The future of higher education: reshaping universities through 3D printing
Featuring four towering limestone columns and classic Flemish-bond brickwork, the century-old Mackay School of Mines Building at the University of Nevada, Reno, has long served as a bastion of Silver State history. Named after Irish immigrant and "Comstock Lode King" John Mackay, notable touches such as a cast bronze statue designed by Mount Rushmore sculptor Gutzon Borglum just outside the building helped it earn a spot in the National Register of Historic Places. Within its oak doors, however, are the makings of an intriguing experiment that's decidedly more new school. Like a mini museum, a collection of 3D-printed models are displayed within the building's sunlit, three-story atrium -- attracting a mix of students and teachers. Even more popular than the displays of plastic gears and molecule models, however, are the two 3D printers that made them: a professional-grade Stratasys uPrint SE Plus and a hobbyist 3DTouch machine by 3D Systems Corporation.
Motorola invests in Anywhere Multitouch technology
It's been awhile since we heard anything from Sensitive Objects, the French firm that developed Anywhere Multitouch, the platform that uses piezoelectric sensors to extend touch sensitivity beyond the display to the entire device. Well, we thought it was a pretty sweet idea -- and apparently Motorola did as well. According some spicy and exotic PR, Moto's investing some of its hard-earned cash in the company, which began as a project by the French Science National Research Center. As Reese Schroeder, managing director of Motorola Ventures, put it: "Natural user interface (NUI) and in particular interacting with a device through touch is an area of rapid development and great excitement. Sensitive Object provides an innovative and unique approach allowing new ways of interaction. We're most excited to be involved in their growth and success." One has to wonder what kind of new and innovative handset interfaces are coming around the bend -- and one has to wonder what kind of havoc it will cause when you put one of these "anywhere multitouch" phones in your pocket without locking it first. Luckily, the technology is said to be cheaper to implement than the other touchscreen solutions currently available -- so if these guys get their way, we might be accidentally calling our ex-girlfriends with the whole device very soon indeed. PR after the break.
