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Daily Update for June 24, 2013
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen. Subscribe via RSS
Siri can learn how to pronounce your name in iOS 7
I've become a big Siri fan lately. After not quite getting the service when I first bought my iPhone, I've started using it to send a text without typing, grab quick driving directions and check the weather forecast. I just wish Siri loved me as much as I love her: Whenever she says my name, she always tells me, "Mike, scram!" My name is actually pronounced as "Sh-," like "Shramm," but Siri's never asked otherwise. Fortunately, in iOS 7, that won't be the case. The latest version of Siri, currently in beta and arriving with the rest of the new iOS this fall, will allow you to tell Siri when she's mispronouncing something, and even correct her pronunciation, or choose from a few different options. A 9to5Mac reader spotted the feature in the beta, and you can see the interface above. It's currently possible to correct Siri's pronunciation with phonetic spelling, but this way seems much, much easier. It'll be nice to have Siri call me by my name in the right way. This is just one of the new tricks she's picked up in iOS 7, too: Apple has also promised a clearer voice (that can be male if you so choose), more sources for content and new functions like returning calls for you, controlling the new iTunes Radio service and more. We can't wait to see and hear it.
iOS 7 beta 2 released, brings its magic to iPad
We got to see quite a bit of iOS 7 back at WWDC 2013, but we only saw it working on an iPhone. Well, we've got some good news for big screen Apple devs, as a new iOS 7 beta's been released OTA and it now works on the iPad. Of course, the new beta also brings the usual nebulous "bug fixes and improvements" for all devices, and among those improvements is the addition of the Voice Memos app and Siri's new voices in English as well. It's available now, so if you're in the beta, you best get to downloading!
Flipside controller tries again, thanks to iOS 7
The Flipside iPhone game controller was a Kickstarter project that began last year with an ambitious goal of US$135,000, raising only about $10k of that before getting canceled due to lack of interest. Things have changed since the project was shut down in January, however. Apple has announced iOS 7, and with it, a set of official SDK hooks for game controller support, which means we're going to see a resurgence in third-party controllers like this one. Now the Flipside is back, restarting its campaign on Indiegogo for a more reasonable $40,000. For $60, you can pick up an early founder's deal on the controller, which is set to be ready for use sometime next year. So far, the Flipside isn't exactly raking in the dough (it's earned about $300 as of this writing), but maybe the second time will be the charm. This definitely won't be the last we see of third-party controllers getting a big boost out of Apple's iOS 7 game controller hooks. Once the operating system is ready and out in the public's hands, we'll see many more of these units become available. Who knows -- maybe if Apple sees a market for controllers like this, we'll eventually see an official controller designed in Cupertino. It would certainly be a great way to kick off the market for apps on the Apple TV.
iOS 7 beta 2 available for developer download (Updated)
The second beta of iOS 7 has just made it to the Apple Dev Center, hopefully bringing some new features and bug fixes to the iPhones of developers worldwide. This release goes out two weeks to the day after iOS 7 first became available to developers. The beta is available by going to Settings > General > Software Update on devices running the current iOS 7 beta. According to developers who have reached out to TUAW with information about the new beta, it contains the usual "bug fixes and improvements." A document outlining the changes is available to developers at http://developer.apple.com/ios7/release-notes/, although several devs reported that the page is currently offline. Update: Developers are also noting that the update is available for iPad now, marking the first time that iOS 7 will appear on Apple's tablet. Update 2: We're now hearing that the Voice Memo app has reappeared in iOS 7 with a new icon and completely redesigned user interface.
Switched On: Touchy subjects
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. In 2002, the first LCD-based iMac succeeded the translucent PowerPC G3-based models that the original Bondi Blue iMac begat. The new generation was much more striking than the one that had placed Apple on the comeback trail. The iMac G4 mounted the display on a balanced arm similar to a Luxo lamp while the motherboard resided in a hemispherical base. This allowed the display to be adjusted to a wide range of heights and angles and each of the two main sections to be "true to itself." Alas, the design had its limits. It's difficult to imagine today's ample 27-inch iMac displays balancing off such a mount. Furthermore, after the switch to Intel, processor thermals improved to help enable the slim iMac of today. The idea of efforts being true to themselves (at least until nearly compromise-free convergence is possible), however, has stayed a hallmark of Apple. For example, the company would resist adding video to the iPod for years after competitors had the feature.
Play around with iOS 7 in your browser (Updated)
OK, so you're not an iOS developer and you're not particularly interested in possibly borking your one and only iPhone, but you'd still like to try out some of the features of iOS 7. Well, the folks at Recombu have created an "Interactive iOS 7 Demo" that you can play with and fantasize about that day later this year when your iPhone will be running the new OS. As our very own Dave Caolo noted, "It's extremely limited. Essentially a bunch of static photos. But still, you can poke around." At least it gives muggles (non-developers, in this case) a facsimile to play with without causing a potential disaster. Those static images show what some of the new built-in apps look like as well, even to the point of letting you use the built-in FaceTime HD camera on your Mac to play with the revised Camera app. The parallax view that's visible and so enthralling in the real iOS 7 beta isn't possible with the interactive demo, so that's one item you'll just have to wait for. [via 9to5Mac] Update: Well, apparently someone at Apple wasn't too happy with Recombu's nifty iOS 7 simulator, as it has been shut down. There's a nice video from the Recombu folks explaining why it's not up and running, as well as a link to Apple's iOS 7 preview page.
Apple updates Siri to help those considering suicide to get help
GigaOM noticed that Apple quietly released an update to Siri that offers to put a user in contact with the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, should he or she mention suicide. Should the person decline the offer, Siri then brings up area suicide prevention centers in a second attempt to provide resources. As GigaOM notes, Google has had this search since 2010. Apple noted in its customer privacy statement on Tuesday that among the most common requests from law enforcement are ones from police hoping to prevent suicide. There's a lot of useful and even more silly ways to take advantage of Siri, but having a proactive response to a serious issue is a wonderful thing to have in the program.
Prototype Logitech MFi game controller pics surface on web
During last week's WWDC 2013 keynote address, support for MFi -- Made For iPhone / iPad / iPod -- game controllers at the iOS SDK level was quickly noted on one slide. Since that time, TUAW has discussed why this is so important to not only game developers, but Apple as a whole since a combination of an iOS device, a MFi controller and an Apple TV could easily make dedicated gaming consoles a thing of the past. Now 9to5Mac and several other websites are showing an image of a prototype MFi game controller from accessory manufacturer Logitech. The rather blurry image showed a Logitech controller on top of a glass surface. Fortunately, 9to5Mac commenter "clstr0ud" had a much clearer image taken from a slide from the WWDC "Platforms State of the Union" session. As noted on that image (seen above), developers had an opportunity to test out these prototypes during lab sessions. The fuzzier anonymous photo shows that the controller is designed to work with a newer, Lightning adapter-equipped iPhone or iPod touch. No date has been set for release of the device, nor is there any assurance that this is Logitech's final design for the controller.
The Weekly Roundup for 06.10.2013
You might say the week is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workweek, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Weekly Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past seven days -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
The After Math: E3 2013 and WWDC 2013
Welcome to The After Math, where we attempt to summarize this week's tech news through numbers, decimal places and percentages. It was a week where Engadget somehow managed dueling liveblogs. Apple revealed its new mobile operating system, while Microsoft revealed more of its plans for the Xbox One, kicking off a week of gaming news from E3 2013 in LA. Sony soon followed, showing off its console for real, and pricing it a hundred dollars less than Microsoft's next-gen console. Sure, the war isn't over yet, but Sony can arguably claim victory at this year's Los Angeles battle. So let's talk numbers, right after the break.
iOS 7 Clock app icon shows the current time... to the second
As more and more developers are getting their hands on the iOS 7 beta, we're starting to hear about some rather interesting little touches. The latest? The iOS 7 Clock app icon shows the current time, complete with moving second hand. This is according to an unnamed developer who sent in the above image and who is probably breaking the developer NDA... The clock is synchronized to the device's time, so that the red second hand reaches 12 just when the time indicator in the status bar changes to the next minute. Previous versions of the Clock app simply showed the clock stuck at 10:15 -- now the icon is dynamic. Perhaps we'll begin to see more dynamic icons coming from Apple and third-party developers in the future. There's also been some discussion over at iDownloadBlog.com about a page on the Apple website that shows somewhat different icons for some apps than what are seen in the current beta. Whether those are indicative of past or future designs is unknown. As one of our bloggers so succinctly put it, "BREAKING: Beta software contains icons that may be a work in progress (developing)."
iOS 7 video zoom feature demo
Have you ever wanted to throw your iPhone or iPad to the ground in frustration while capturing video because the built-in app couldn't zoom in on a detail? One of the features announced for iOS 7 during Monday's keynote was a video zoom control. TUAW received a short video from an unnamed developer that shows the feature in action. Third-party apps have had video zooming for some time now, but some of them require post-processing of the video and none are built into the lock screen for instant video capture. The video capture function appears to zoom in to about 2x or 3x, and the video is saved immediately to your device photo library for sharing and viewing.
Susan Kare likes iOS 7's icons
Susan Kare may not be a household name, but her work has likely graced your computer at some point in time. Though she is best known for her icon design work on the original Apple Macintosh computer, she has also designed icons for other well-known companies like PayPal, Facebook and Microsoft. As a pioneer in the field of computer iconography, it's not surprising that Kare would have her own opinion about the UI changes in iOS 7. When asked by NetworkWorld what she thought about this new look and feel, Kare was upbeat and said: Generally a good direction -- am a fan of simple, meaningful symbols that fill a space, such as Music and Weather. It's better -- more iconic, less illustrative. Her response is far better than some of her contemporaries, who have been critical of iOS' new look calling it "immature" as well as "ugly, poorly balanced and of an unattractive color palate." Whether you like the new look or not, it's safe to say that this is a topic that will continue to generate controversy as iOS moves through its beta stage and onto its final release.
PSA: If you're not a developer, don't install developer betas on your iPhone
We warned you two years ago in the months before iOS 5 went live. Some of you didn't listen. Actually, if the TUAW inbox over the past few days is any indication, a lot of you didn't listen. It seems a review is overdue. Answer these two questions really quickly: Are you a developer? Are you running the iOS 7 beta? If you answered no to the first question and yes to the second, then this post is meant for you.You are doing it wrong, and on behalf of everyone everywhere, please stop. We've been receiving tons of messages every day from people reporting bugs and other odd behavior in the iOS 7 beta. Pundits and other persons of questionable intelligence are excoriating Apple for the iOS 7 beta's performance issues and tendency to be crash-prone. Just stop. Stop. Non-developers shouldn't be toying with iOS betas. Apple's beta software is really, really beta. I've installed and run beta versions of iOS every year since 2009, and let me tell you, it's an eye-opener to spend roughly three months each year having your iOS devices crashing left and right, with many third-party apps completely broken -- including some you've come to depend upon. If you're used to the usually rock-solid performance of IOS and OS X, running a developer beta on your device is a sobering peek into the world of Apple software before it's deemed ready for prime time. What Apple calls "beta" is what most other developers would call "alpha" -- software never intended for use by the general public, released only to small numbers of (hopefully) knowledgable people for testing purposes. If you want to look for an Apple example of "beta" software as almost everyone else defines it (including Google), look at the public release of just about any brand-new version of OS X. The 10.x.0 release of OS X is almost always riddled with bugs, inconsistencies, etc., and Apple usually pushes out a 10.x.1 update within a few weeks to address those. More cautious/paranoid Mac users often avoid upgrading to the next version of OS X until the .1 release for that very reason. The iOS x.0 public release software is usually pretty stable, but that's only because it's been preceded by months of testing on millions of units. iOS betas themselves, especially the first few releases, are often about as stable as a drunken unicyclist. Sometimes this goes beyond app crashes and general instability -- sometimes, iOS betas can be so bug-riddled that the basic, core functionality of the device simply doesn't work worth a damn until the next release comes out. Developers know and understand these perils of beta software. Non-developers usually don't, so support forums get flooded with messages from irritated-to-irate users wondering why their formerly rock-solid device is suddenly crashing every time they try to load more than three tabs in Safari, or why the Music app crashes and burns every five minutes. Then there's the people who flood the App Store with negative ratings for apps that are "broken" in an iOS beta. App Store reviews aren't the place to file bug reports, and developers can't be expected to know beforehand whether beta software -- which no one leaving App Store reviews should be running in the first place -- will break their apps. Your negative reviews on the App Store are hurting the very developers whose help you're demanding. Stop it. Now an admission: I'm not an iOS developer, but I'm running the iOS 7 beta on my iPhone. Even though I'm not actively involved in writing apps, however, I still paid the $99 fee and installed the beta because I have an excuse -- it's my job to know what Apple's up to, even if the NDA prevents me from telling the rest of you about it until the official launch. That said, I also go out of my way to educate myself about the potential pitfalls of running beta software on my equipment. After running betas of iOS 3, 4, 5, and 6, I knew full well what to expect in iOS 7. When my iPhone spontaneously reboots every five minutes after enabling a panoramic wallpaper, or when some of my favorite apps just flat out do not work after installing the beta, I shrug it off and hope the bugs are addressed in the next beta version. I don't pester third-party app developers, I don't inundate Apple's support forums whining about how my iPhone is suddenly about as stable as the average Windows machine, and I definitely don't write a brain-dead article about how Apple has lost its edge in software development because its beta software is buggy. I know you non-devs are curious about trying out the new features in iOS 7, especially since it's such a radical design change from iOS 6. I sympathize. I also know at least some of you are motivated by the "first kid on my block to have it" mentality. But you know the old saying about curiosity killing the cat? Running iOS beta releases on your hardware won't kill your cat, but it'll make it seem like the thing is running all over your house with a string of cans tied to its tail -- for three months. If your livelihood doesn't depend on running the iOS 7 beta, then for your own sake and ours, just let it be. If you don't know how to restore your iPhone or iPad's firmware without looking it up on Google first, just don't do it at all. If you're not prepared for a subpar experience involving bugs, crashes, app incompatibilities, weird UI behaviors, unfinished or even half-baked features, and truly terrible battery life, then give iOS 7 a miss until the public launch, when Apple will (hopefully) have all the bugs squashed. If you don't understand the concept that iOS betas have an expiration date, and you must keep pace with the current betas if you want your hardware to continue functioning, then don't run iOS 7. In short, if you're not prepared for your Apple hardware to behave in a very un-Apple way for months at a stretch, then in the name of all that is holy, leave the betas alone. NB: This post is a slightly reworked version of an earlier post from 2011. Given the general uproar over the iOS 7 developer beta, it seemed like a re-post was in order.
Wired on Jony Ive, iOS 7 and the future of design
John Maeda took issue with Jony Ive's recently unveiled design scheme for iOS 7 in a Wired post this morning, and it's apparent that the writer -- a well-known academic in the design world -- isn't happy with the new, flatter iOS or the direction in which Apple seems to be pointing the world of user interface design. As Maeda points out up front, much of the buzz around the design changes in iOS 7 has been positive, noting that "skeuomorphism teaches by analogy" and that "it's time to remove the 'training wheels'" since most people now understand how a smartphone is supposed to work. Maeda, however, thinks that "design should boldly go where no user or interface has gone before," and that in the world of "infinitely available and infinitely malleable" pixels, designers "should focus on setting them free." Ive and crew, in Maeda's opinion, are "hindering innovation" by sticking "to the dangerously reductionist, technology-usability centric view of design that surfaced in the discussions about flat design versus skeuomorphism." With all due respect to Maeda, who is a graphic designer, computer scientist, president of the Rhode Island School of Design, artist, former associate director of research at MIT Media Lab and "one of the 75 most influential people of the 21st century according to Esquire" (which apparently forgot that there are still 87 years left in the century), the Wired guest editorial does nothing to say what direction UI designers should be heading in. Sure, Maeda suggests that Apple and other companies should be moving in the direction of Oblong (co-founded in 2006 by the "chief computer visionary behind the film Minority Report") or Berg (makers of the playful, yet ridiculously expensive Little Printer), but offers nothing concrete in terms of where he thinks the device UI design movement should head next. Using those two particular companies as positive examples of the design seems awkward -- the "waving your arms around like an idiot" UI of Minority Report makes no sense in a mobile world, and Berg's latest product is priced out of mass-market reality. Maeda doesn't seem to acknowledge the fact that iOS 7 isn't the final generation of Apple's vision for device interfaces; it's just another step on the long road towards a UI that will be constantly evolving with technology and what the public expects and desires. Certainly the Apple designers have a vision for the future and are working towards that, but is it really going to do any tech company any good to introduce a user interface that is ahead of its time? I'm sure that Maeda's article is one of the first that we'll see in a long parade by design experts. When one of the experts finally comes up with concrete ideas for a next-generation UI that balances ease of use, user acceptance and device power requirements, then it will be time to start paying attention. In the meantime, posts by the design community either praising or defiling Apple's latest work are, in the words of Shakespeare's Macbeth, tales "full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."
TUAW TV Live: Much ado about WWDC 2013
Welcome back to another hour of mirth and merriment with me and my co-host Shawn "Doc Rock" Boyd! Today we have one topic in particular to discuss -- WWDC 2013 -- and a lot of subtopics dealing with the minutiae that have been leaking out from developers. There are some fascinating things to see in both iOS 7 and OS X Mavericks, and we'll talk about what we've heard from our "feet on the street" in San Francisco. To join in to watch the live feed and participate in the chat, just click here. You'll join us on the AOL On Network. If you can't watch the entire show today, come back to this page within 24 hours to see the video or visit http://tuaw.com/tuawtvlive to see the latest show.
Daily Update for June 12, 2013
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen. Subscribe via RSS
Jon Rubinstein: OS X and iOS 7 borrow features from webOS
You might remember Jon Rubinstein as the Apple executive turned Palm CEO who helped spearhead development of the short-lived Palm Pre, a device which many initially thought might put Apple on the defensive. The way things played out, however, couldn't have been more different. Since the Pre first launched in 2009, Apple has gone on to sell millions upon millions of iPhones while the Palm Pre, not to mention Palm, are now all but non-existent. Nonetheless, some of the UI features introduced by the Palm Pre and the webOS that powered it have lived on and are now being incorporated into Apple's own software. Notifications and multitasking are two examples that come to mind. Naturally, this wasn't lost on Rubinstein who, in an interview with FierceWireless, couldn't help but insinuate that Palm's webOS was ahead of its time. FierceWireless: It seems like iOS 7 is taking lots of multitasking cues from webOS. How do you think that platform, webOS, influenced other mobile platforms? Rubinstein: It's not just mobile platforms. If you look at the notifications on Mac OS X, it looks just like webOS, too. We did a lot of things that were very, very innovative. Obviously, multitasking, notifications, Synergy, how we handled the multiple cards. There's a long list of stuff we did that has been adopted by Microsoft, Apple and Android. Our over-the-air updates and mechanism has been updated by everybody. Our whole Synergy concept is now becoming much more common. I don't think anyone has implemented it as well as we did yet, but clearly they're all heading down that direction. The entire interview is worth checking out as it touches on a number of subjects, including why the Palm Pre was exclusive to Sprint upon launch and why Rubinstein feels that selling out to HP was a waste.
The Engadget Mobile Podcast iOS 7 edition, live at 4PM ET!
As if there could be any doubt, the introduction of iOS 7 at this week's WWDC will likely take up a significant portion of our podcast today. There may be some talk of a Galaxy S4 zoom -- as if you could even try to keep Myriam from talking about it -- and a few other miscellaneous pieces of mobile news as well, so this is definitely a podcast worth tuning into. Join us at 4PM ET! June 12, 2013 4:00:00 PM EDT
