Apple is planning to offer subscriptions to select streaming TV and video services through its dedicated TV app that's available on the iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV, reports Bloomberg.
The TV app already aggregates television and movie content from a range of different providers into one easy-to-access place, so offering subscriptions is a natural evolution of Apple's efforts to simplify and improve the television watching experience.
Right now, while you can access content from hundreds of apps and cable providers, many require a premium subscription that must be obtained directly from the provider. Services like HBO, Showtime, Starz, Netflix, and more, for example, all require subscriptions, which must be purchased from within a third-party app or website.
Apple is going to offer the TV app subscription options as an alternative to requiring customers to subscribe to various video services from multiple apps and content providers. It will streamline content acquisition for customers, but it will also bolster the company's rapidly growing services business.
Apple is said to be planning to introduce the new subscription feature "in the next year."
There's no word on how Apple's own original programming efforts will factor in to the subscription service. Apple has more than a dozen television shows in the works, and at the current time, it's still unclear whether Apple is building a dedicated service for the content or if it will debut on iTunes or Apple Music.
iPhone users who have been waiting to take advantage of Apple's discounted battery replacement offer may be in luck.
Apple has confirmed that "service inventory of all iPhone replacement batteries is now available without delay," in an internal memo distributed to Apple Stores and its network of Apple Authorized Service Providers on April 27. The document was obtained by MacRumors from a reliable source.
What this means is that Apple Stores and Apple Authorized Service Providers can now order iPhone replacement batteries from Apple and receive them without facing extended shipping delays, but that doesn't necessarily mean that every Apple Store or authorized repair shop will have supply available right away.
The information that Apple shared in this internal memo likely applies worldwide, but as with any supply-demand situation, availability of replacement batteries will likely vary by Apple Store and region. Apple's support website still notes that the replacement process may take up to five business days.
Apple previously said that replacement batteries for select iPhone models may be in short supply until late March or early April, and that certainly proved to be the case, as some but not all customers to date have been required to wait up to several weeks for their iPhones to be serviced and returned.
In fact, multiple sources have informed MacRumors that Apple hired third-party contractors, or reassigned existing AppleCare employees in some cases, to help clear the backlog of iPhone battery replacements at some of its stores.
Apple lowered its battery replacement fee to $29 in the United States in late December for the iPhone 6 and newer, as part of an apology over its lack of transparency about slowing down some older iPhone models to prevent unexpected shutdowns. The discount varies in other countries and is available until the end of 2018.
Valve today announced the upcoming launch of the Steam Link app, which is designed to allow Steam users to play Steam games on the iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV using either a 5GHz network or a wired Ethernet connection to a host PC or Mac.
Because of the requirement to stream via an Ethernet connection or a 5GHz network, it won't be possible to play Steam content on the go, but it will be handy for accessing a Steam library while at home on alternate devices or while at a friend's house or another location with a high-speed wireless connection.
Steam Link will launch during the week of May 21, and in addition to being compatible with Apple devices, it will also be available for Android devices that include phones, tablets, and Android-enabled TVs. Steam Link has previously been available for dedicated Steam Link peripherals and some Samsung TV sets.
The Steam Link app will include support for both the Steam Controller and Made for iPhone controllers.
Steam also plans to introduce a Steam Video app later this summer, which will let users play Steam movies and shows on their Android and iOS devices using a Wi-Fi or LTE connection. Valve has been offering movies and TV show purchases for some time now, and that content is currently not available on mobile devices.
Hulu today announced the launch of a Live TV Guide that's designed to allow subscribers to its live television service to access a dynamic list of the television programs that are currently available to watch.
Hulu first introduced a Live TV guide option on the web as a test project last fall, and promised an interface redesign with the Live TV guide back at CES in January. As of this morning, Hulu's new guide and dedicated live destination is rolling out to the fourth and fifth-generation Apple TV, the Xbox One, the Amazon Fire TV, and the Nintendo Switch.
On these devices, live TV subscribers will be able to instantly access live TV using the new lightning bolt icon that's located to the right of the home icon. Selecting this icon will bring users to live playback on their most recently watched channel.
While watching live programming, Hulu subscribers can access an enhanced guide with details on what's currently on and what's coming up next. Users can customize the look of the guide by choosing to sort via "All Channels" or "Recent Channels," which lists the last 10 watched channels.
Using the guide, subscribers are also able to record any live or upcoming programming or start a program from the beginning if it's available for DVR recording. Hulu has designed the guide to let subscribers navigate between watching now, browsing, or recording a show for later all with a few clicks.
Hulu says the live TV destination and guide will roll out to additional devices in the near future.
Apple's design chief Jony Ive, who is responsible for overseeing the creation and design language of almost all of Apple's products, even down to its stores and campuses, recently sat down for an interview with Benjamin Clymer, the founder of watch-focused site Hodinkee.
Ive shared details on the creation process behind the Apple Watch, some of Apple's inspiration for the device, and the experts the company consulted with, along with background on the first watches he purchased, Apple's focus on health, what he finds inspiring, and more.
Ive's first watch of note was an Omega Speedmaster, which he says he bought in 1992 on a trip to Kowloon. Ive says he was "utterly seduced" by its use in space exploration. "Somehow it epitomizes the optimism, ambition, and courage of invention," he said. Ive said he also admires the Nautilus by Patek Philippe, which he describes as a "bizarre, bizarre object."
According to Ive, Apple CEO Steve Jobs had no particular interest in watches, and so early discussions for the watch didn't take place until 2012, a few months after Jobs passed away. The death, said Ive, caused Apple to "think about where we wanted to go" and what trajectory Apple was on as a company. Apple was also exploring its contribution to its users. "I think, incontrovertibly, that Apple since the 1970s has made difficult-to-comprehend and inaccessible technology easy to understand and accessible."
The Apple Watch, with its focus on the personal, was the next logical step in device development, and its creation was different from many of the products that came before it because there were existing references. "Normally there are no parallel products from which to learn," said Ive. Given the historical context of the watch, though, Apple did something "highly unusual" and consulted a range of experts.
Ive says Apple asked seven experts for their assistance with the Apple Watch while it was still in development, and he provided details to Hodinkee. Apple consulted Will Andrewes (a horologist with 40 years of expertise), Jonathan Betts (Curator Emeritus at the Royal Observatory), Dominique Fléchon (a specialist in antiquarian horology), Grégory Gardinetti (Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie historian), Claudia Hammond (a writer and psychology lecturer), David Rooney (Keeper of Technologies and Engineering at the London Science Museum), and Chris Lintott (an astrophysicist at the University of Oxford). Marc Newson, who Ive said is his best friend, was also involved in the Apple Watch's development as he had designed several watches in the past.
Apple wasn't aiming to solve a particular problem with the Apple Watch, according to Ive. It was more so a "matter of optimization - of opportunity." In the vein of "opportunity" Ive also alluded to future Apple Watch development and how much more impressive the idea of opportunity is to him because he knows the technology Apple has in development.
You can look at Apple Watch in terms of trade docs - what it does, etcetera - or you can look at what would be possible if you knew that you had this much technology with you at all times. Many of us have our phones with us all the time, but they aren't connected to you. Imagine having something this powerful with you at all times, and what opportunities that might present to the user.
That the opportunity is phenomenal. Particularly when [you] don't understand just where we are today in terms of technology and capability, but where we are headed.
Despite the early input from horological experts and the storied history of the watch, Ive says there were no homages in the Apple Watch. "Everything served a purpose," said Ive. "Everything we did was in the pursuit of what we thought was the best solution." Ive used the digital crown as an example, which he said "took a modicum of courage" to implement with Apple's typical disposition towards "direct manipulation."
According to Ive, one of Apple's aims with the Apple Watch was to "broaden how relevant we were," which is why the company explored new materials like the gold and ceramic that's been used for higher-end Edition watches. Ive says that working in gold and ceramic was "purposeful" for expanding "who Apple is" and from a materials science perspective as it will help with the development of future products.
Health-based capabilities were "an early and significant focus" of the Apple Watch, and Ive says that feedback from customers who have had health benefits from the Apple Watch has been hugely motivating. In fact, he says that he finds customer feedback much more motivating than Apple's new position as the largest watchmaker by revenue.
I am honestly far more motivated by hearing from one customer who believes that the Watch has materially improved his or her life. It's a privilege to work on products that people develop an affection for and that become an important and positive part of their daily lives.
The full Ive interview, which goes into much greater depth on many topics surrounding Apple Watch development, can be read over at Hodinkee.
Signal's Mac app displays recently received messages in the Notification Center on macOS, and this feature could compromise a user's disappearing private messages, as discovered by security researcher Alec Muffett and reported by Motherboard.
One of Signal's main advantages is its ability to send disappearing messages, so that after a predetermined amount of time the message is deleted from the app.
Muffett pointed out on Twitter this week that Signal's default Mac app settings somewhat defy this security measure due to the way Macs handle notifications. So, even if you send a self-destructing message within the Signal app, the messages remain on the recipient's Mac Notification Center, displaying your name and message details. Muffett was running macOS 10.13.4 and Signal version 1.9.0.
#HEADSUP: #Security Issue in #Signal. If you are using the @signalapp desktop app for Mac, check your notifications bar; messages get copied there and they seem to persist — even if they are "disappearing" messages which have been deleted/expunged from the app. pic.twitter.com/CVVi7rfLoY
— Alec Muffett (@AlecMuffett) May 8, 2018
Mac security researcher Patrick Wardle then investigated the issue further, discovering that the "deleted" Signal messages that remain in the Notification Center are saved on the Mac's disk inside the operating system. While this is true of any app that displays notifications, it's particularly troublesome for Signal users in need of high-level security, like government workers or journalists.
Any malicious third parties would still need to get their hands on your Mac to get into your message history, so as Motherboard pointed out, "this is not a major threat for most people." Still, this could be a major security risk for high-level Signal users, since this means that any disappearing messages that popped up in Notification Center can be recovered later, "even after they are gone within the Signal app."
Wardle summed up his findings:
In short, anything that gets displayed as a notification (yes, including 'disappearing' Signal messages) in the macOS Notification Center, is recorded by the OS.
If the application wants the item to be removed from the Notification Center, it must ensure that the alert is dismissed by the user or programmatically! However, it is not clear that this also 'expunges' the notifications (and the their contents) from the notification database...i'm guessing not! If this is the case, Signal may have to avoid generating notifications (containing the message body) for disappearing messages...
Wardle said that Signal's iOS app does not appear to have a similar issue at this time, although the app "should be investigated." Of course, any Signal Mac user who is worried about potential privacy risks can navigate to Signal's Preferences menu on the top-left corner of the screen when the app is open, click Notifications, and "Disable notifications."
Apple has applied to participate in a pilot program that would allow the company to operate drones in ways that are typically restricted by the Federal Aviation Administration in the United States, according to Reuters.
DJI Mavic Air
The report states that the U.S. Department of Transportation will announce 10 winning state or local government bodies for inclusion in the program today, and each has partnered with companies who will play a role in the tests. At least 200 companies are said to be vying to be part of the program.
The initiative, introduced by the U.S. government last year, will allow for a larger range of testing, including flying drones at night, over people, and beyond an operator's line of sight, within the United States.
The list of winners, which appears to have been determined, is said to include companies that plan to test drones for delivering packages, environmental monitoring, precision agriculture, pipeline oversight, and for various uses at airports, but it's unclear what Apple's intentions will be if selected.
Update: The FAA has revealed the 10 government agencies who will conduct flight tests, including North Carolina's Department of Transportation. Apple will reportedly be a partner in North Carolina's program, and plans to use drones to capture aerial images to improve Apple Maps.
On the @Reuters wire now - Apple is a partner in North Carolina's drone testing pilot and plans to use drones to capture aerial images to improve Apple Maps. Apple will blur things like faces and license plate numbers to protect people's privacy, the comapny says. pic.twitter.com/nWmEpZTt2g
— Stephen Nellis (@StephenNellis) May 9, 2018
Yet another Unicode bug has been discovered that is capable of crashing apps and operating systems, ranging from WhatsApp on Android to iMessage on iOS. We won't share the exact string, to prevent it from spreading further, but it includes black dot (⚫️) and pointing left (👈) emojis plus other hidden characters.
Simply put, this particular Unicode string cannot be rendered properly and leads to system crashing. In general, when the bug affects iMessage, the issue can be resolved by deleting the conversation containing the problematic message. The following steps work on iPhone 6s and newer, excluding the iPhone SE:
Ask Siri to send a reply to the sender of the message as many times as necessary until the bubble containing the Unicode string is bumped off the visible part of the conversation.
Open the Messages app.
Tap on the back arrow in the top-left corner to return to the conversation list.
Tap on Edit in the top-left corner of the conversation list.
Tap the circle to the left of the conversation containing the problematic message. A blue checkmark will appear.
Tap on Delete in the bottom-right corner.
It may also be possible to delete the problematic message on another device running the iOS 11.4 or macOS 10.13.5 betas via Messages on iCloud.
While this latest Unicode bug was discovered last week, it is only now beginning to receive widespread attention in the Apple community, after it was highlighted on a few popular YouTube channels. We've elected not to provide any links, but the specific string is easily Google-able for those interested.
The bug affects both iOS 11.3 and iOS 11.4 beta, and many other software versions, platforms, and devices. Apple has yet to issue a fix, but it will likely release software updates to address the problem soon.
Jet.com today became an Apple Authorized Reseller, which allows the Walmart-owned marketplace to sell brand-new Apple products like the iPad, MacBook, Apple Watch Series 3, and much more (via Business Insider). In terms of prices, Jet isn't offering many notable discounts on Apple's devices, with most products -- like Beats headphones and 2018 iPad -- matching the original retail prices at Apple.com.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Jet.com. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running. However, Jet's entry into the Apple Authorized Reseller program comes with an offer of up to $200 off when you buy select Apple products and accessories together. The bundles are pre-made by Jet, and offer combos like a MacBook Pro (2.3GHz, 8GB RAM, 128GB HD), Beats Studio3 Wireless Headphones, and Magic Mouse 2 for $1,577.82, down from $1,727.95. One bundle climbs to $300 off a 15-inch MacBook Pro (2.9 GHz, 16GB RAM, 512GB HD) with the same accessories added in for $2,927.68, down from $3,227.95.
Apple Watch Series 3 models are bundled with PowerBeats3 Wireless Headphones, with offers like the 38mm GPS Aluminum Apple Watch and Powerbeats3 priced at $478.76, down from $528.95. Even with the bundle discount, it would still be cheaper to purchase the Apple Watch Series 3 and Powerbeats3 separately at places like Best Buy, where they are currently discounted to $279.00 and $119.99, respectively. All of Jet's bundle prices will last through May 23.
There are a handful of featured Apple deals matching discounts at other places, like the Apple Watch Series 1 for $149.00 in 38mm Aluminum and $179.00 in 42mm Aluminum, similar to the current prices at Jet's parent company Walmart. An iPad mini 4 (128GB) discount to $299.99 matches Best Buy and Walmart's current price, while a sale on the 5th generation iPad (32GB) also matches Walmart's price of $249.00, while beating B&H Photo ($269) and Best Buy ($314).
When ordering from Jet, the retailer offers 2-day delivery on thousands of items, and free shipping on orders over $35. Besides electronics, Jet features a wide variety of products, from groceries to household cleaners, patio and garden furniture, small appliances, and more. Jet launched in 2015, and in 2016 Walmart acquired the company and it became a subsidiary of Walmart later that year.
The Ralph Lauren Corporation today announced that it intends to add Angela Ahrendts to the company's Board of Directors this August. Along with Ahrendts, Qurate Retail CEO Michael George will be added to the board, bringing the number of directors to 13.
Ahrendts joined Apple as the Senior Vice President of Retail in May 2014, where she now spearheads the company's retail strategy, contributes to real estate and development areas, and oversees the operation of Apple's physical stores around the world. Prior to joining Apple, she was CEO of Burberry, Executive Vice President at Liz Claiborne, and President of Donna Karan International.
In joining Ralph Lauren's board, Lauren himself said one of the reasons the company chose Ahrendts was due to her "deep expertise in luxury retail."
“I am delighted to welcome Angela and Mike to the Board of Directors,” said Mr. Ralph Lauren, Executive Chairman and Chief Creative Officer. “Angela is an industry leader and innovator with deep expertise in luxury retail and an outstanding track record of growing global brands. Mike brings invaluable experience as a senior leader and board member, helping companies drive consumer engagement and growth. Their counsel will be incredibly valuable as we continue to build the future for our iconic brand.”
Ms. Ahrendts said, “I have admired Ralph and been inspired by his pure global lifestyle vision for many years. It is an honor to join this Board as he and Patrice continue to evolve and expand his incredible aesthetic.”
Last September, Ahrendts climbed to the 13th spot on Fortune's "Most Powerful Women" list for 2017, rising from 14th in 2016 and 16th in 2015. During her time with Apple, she has launched the company's new "Today at Apple" retail initiative, offering a range of classes on coding, art, music, design, and photography at Apple stores around the world. Ultimately, Ahrendt's goal with the new program is to change the perception of Apple stores as "forums" or "town squares," and not places where you go to just shop.
While George has been appointed to the board effective today, May 9, Ahrendts will be nominated for election at the company's annual stockholders meeting in August. Ahrendts will retain her duties at Apple following her appointment to Ralph Lauren's board.
Yahoo this week began testing a new messaging app on iOS and Android called "Squirrel," aimed at organizing private group chats with friends, family members, and work acquaintances. The app's main feature is that group access is private and people can only be added through invitation links (via TechCrunch).
Squirrel looks visually similar to apps like Slack and Discord, offering groups access to a "Main Room," where everyone can meet up and chat, and then there's an option to create side rooms for more specific topics. These can potentially include "Secret Rooms" for chats hidden from the main group and one-on-one threads. Users in all rooms can share photos, documents, or links in chats, as well as create custom reactions.
Users can mute rooms they don't have any interest in, and administrators can send "blasts" to all users that flag priority messages. Whenever someone mentions your name, a separate Activity view will accumulate these messages so it's easier to scroll through and get caught up with the conversation.
Yahoo originally debuted its Yahoo Messenger app on the iOS App Store [Direct Link] in April 2009, giving users the ability to instant message their contacts when away from their computer. In the years since, messaging apps like Apple's iMessage, Facebook Messenger, and others have surged in popularity and caused users to leave Yahoo's platform for ones more popular among their own friend groups. Today, Yahoo Messenger is #167 on the App Store's most-downloaded Social Networking app list.
According to Yahoo parent company Oath, one of the main reasons for Squirrel's creation is "improving group communication in everyday life."
“At Oath, we’re always looking for creative ways to add value to our members’ lives,” a spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “We listen closely and frequently test new product ideas based on research and feedback. Right now we’re experimenting with a new invite-only messaging app focused on improving group communication in everyday life.”
Since Squirrel is invite-only, to gain access you'll have to ask someone who already has it to send you an invite to a group. According to TechCrunch, "the ability to kick off a conversation group is also currently in invitation-only mode." The iOS app is compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch [Direct Link].
Apple has stepped up its policy of removing apps from the App Store that violate its guidelines by sharing location data with third parties without explicit consent.
As noted by 9to5Mac, Apple appears to have ratcheted up its software scrutiny in the last few days by informing affected developers by email that upon re-evaluation, their app violates two sections of the App Store Review Guidelines and will therefore be removed from sale:
Legal - 5.11 & Legal 5.1.2 The app transmits user location data to third parties without explicit consent from the users and for unapproved purposes.
Apple's contention is that the apps in question don't provide enough clear information to users regarding what their data is used for and how it's shared once it's been collected. There also seems to be concern that the data collection isn't specifically for improving the user experience or enhancing app performance.
The company's retrospective action is likely related to General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which sets the rules for how businesses manage and share the personal data of customers.
GDPR is a European Union rule to protect EU citizens, but as with its website cookie consent policy, basically every company with an online presence is affected by the law. An updated version of the GDPR goes into effect on May 25 to underline this applicability. Interested readers can find a summary of the key changes to the regulations here.
Stationery Pad is a handy way to nix a step in your workflow if you regularly use document templates on your Mac. The long-standing Finder feature essentially tells a file's parent application to open a copy of it by default, ensuring that the original file remains unedited.
Stationery Pad doesn't get much attention these days, but it's a neat alternative to repeatedly editing templates and using the "Save As..." command, which can lead to overwriting the original file if you're not too careful.
Almost any file type can be defined as a template with Stationery Pad – it could be used to streamline common Photoshop jobs, create skeleton HTML/CSS files, or help with Word document invoicing. To make use of Stationery Pad, create the file you want to use as a template, then follow the steps below.
Apple recently expanded the indoor mapping feature first introduced in iOS 11 to new locations, including the Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport and indoor malls located in Dallas and Houston, Texas. The additions were noted on Apple's Feature Availability page for iOS 11.
At launch, indoor maps were only available in a handful of airports and malls around the world, but Apple has been steadily adding additional mall and airport maps.
Indoor maps are now available in more than 35 of the largest airports in the world, while indoor mall maps are available in a select number of cities in the United States and Europe, including Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, London, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, San Jose, San Francisco, and Washington, DC.
Apple's indoor mapping feature provides full layouts of each mall or airport location with icons for restaurants, elevators, bathrooms, shops, and other notable landmarks. Different floors are clearly marked, making it easy to navigate through unknown areas.
At airports, Maps users can see the location of gates, terminals security checkpoints, check-in desks, and baggage claim areas, which can be helpful when in a new location. As for malls, stores can be filtered by categories like clothes, beauty, food, and shoes, making it quicker to find what you're looking for.
A full list of all of the airports and mall locations where the Apple Maps indoor mapping feature can be used is available on Apple's website.
Photographer Austin Mann, who is known for the in-depth camera reviews he conducts on each new iPhone iteration, this week shared his thoughts on the iMac Pro after using the machine to edit photos and videos shot with a Hasselblad camera after visiting South America and Antarctica.
Mann's review focuses heavily on the experience of editing with the iMac Pro rather than on raw speed and performance alone, making it an interesting look at how the iMac Pro performs on a day to day basis in a photography workflow.
According to Mann, without the power of the iMac Pro, he would not have been able to do certain things, like create the high-resolution multi-image panoramas featured in his review. A panorama composed of 14 images at 100 megapixels each would not even process on the MacBook Pro, he said, while the iMac Pro handled it with no issue.
Without the Hasselblad's ultra sharp clarity, I couldn't have captured the Superpano above, and without the iMac Pro, I simply wouldn't have attempted to assemble it. But now, informed by this gear, I'm asking myself new questions like, "Where could I install an extremely high-res, 30-foot panorama in print?"
For photographers, Mann recommends a 10-core iMac Pro with 128GB of RAM and a 4TB SSD to future proof the machine as it is not user upgradeable for the most part. "My advice when upgrading your machine at any time is to give yourself as much room to grow as possible," he said.
One of Mann's Antarctica shots, edited with iMac Pro
Mann said that his favorite iMac Pro features are reliable support for wireless input devices, which includes the Magic Keyboard and the Magic Mouse 2 (both of these can be charged via Lightning and don't require batteries), a swappable VESA mount for different workflows and conditions, and the FaceTime camera, which was much improved over the camera in his MacBook Pro. He did say, though, that he wished the Magic Mouse 2 was usable while charging and that he'd like to see more software that's optimized to take advantage of the machine.
Speed, while not the main focus of the review, was an important factor for Mann. The machine, compared to his in-the-field equipment that includes a MacBook Pro, was "insanely fast." Exporting 20 RAW images took 61 seconds, compared to 185 seconds on the MacBook Pro, while assembling an 8-image panorama took 33 seconds on the iMac Pro, compared to 357 seconds on the MacBook Pro. Mann describes how much time can be saved with the iMac Pro:
As a professional photographer, let's conservatively hypothesize you shoot and process 25,000 images a year. Let's say the difference of choosing the faster computer saves you one second per image. That's 25,000 seconds, which is 416 minutes, which is about 7 hours. Remember, this on the assumption of one second per image. As a creative pro, what's the time worth to you?
Mann also used an older 15-inch MacBook Pro for saving media while in the field, a 10.5-inch iPad Pro for in-field editing with Lightroom, and the iPhone X for quick shots and panoramas not captured with the Hasselblad H6D-100c or the Sony A9 that he also brought along.
A superpano assembled on the iMac Pro, with 100% crops from the panorama located underneath
Mann's full review, which also delves into his personal history with the iMac and traveling with the iMac Pro, will be of interest to photographers, videographers, and other creatives who are considering an iMac Pro desktop machine to bolster their workflows.
At the 97th annual ADC Awards, which honors the best work in design, advertising, motion, and other commercial creative arts, Apple's "Barbers" ad for the iPhone 7 Plus won a Best of Show award.
First introduced in May 2017, the "Barbers" ad features a barbershop where images captured with an iPhone 7 Plus are used to advertise the shop's skills. The attractive images, taken with the iPhone 7 Plus Portrait Mode, cause customers to line up out the door.
"Barbers" was just one of several ads that Apple used to show off Portrait Mode on the iPhone 7 Plus, which was the first device to offer the new feature. "Take Mine" and "The City" were two other major ads Apple shared to demonstrate Portrait Mode.
Portrait Mode uses the two camera lenses in the iPhone to create a DSLR-like depth effect to make portrait shots pop by blurring the background. The feature is now available on the iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X.
"Barbers" was awarded a 2018 Motion and Film Craft Gold Cube, a Black Cube for Best of Show, and a 2018 Advertising Merit Award. Furlined, the agency that produced the spot, also won Production Company of the Year.
Google today outlined several new features coming to Google Maps at its Google I/O developer conference in Mountain View, California this morning. First and foremost, this summer, Google Maps will be updated with a new personalized "For You" section that offers up recommendations based on your interests.
The Maps app is gaining a dedicated "For You" tab that is designed to "tell you what you need to know about the neighborhoods you care about." It will feature new restaurants opening nearby, trending spots, and more, based on places you've rated and places you've visited.
For You will be accompanied by a new "Match Score" that predicts which restaurants you're most likely to prefer based on your personal preferences, which is designed to help you to choose between multiple restaurant suggestions.
To facilitate making plans with others, Google Maps is gaining a feature that will let you long press on any restaurant or location to add it to a shortlist that can be shared with friends to get their input. Once shared, your friends can add additional suggestions to the list and vote on the place they'd most like to visit to find a group favorite.
Google also announced a new augmented reality feature that's coming to the Street View version of Maps for walking directions. When you're using Google Maps to find a location that you're walking to, you'll see an AR overlay with specific directions on which way to go and information on exactly what's around you, reimagining walking navigation.
Google says it is augmented GPS with VPS, or a visual positioning system meant to estimate a person's precise position and orientation using visual landmarks.
Google did not say when the augmented reality Google Maps features will launch, nor which platform they'll be available on, so it is unclear when and if we will see the augmented reality features in the Google Maps app for iOS devices. Given that most Google Maps features roll out to both Android and iOS, it's reasonable to assume that AR maps will come to iPhones and iPads.
Along with improvements to Google Maps, Google also announced changes coming to Google Lens, available in Google Photos and Google Assistant apps. Google Lens is gaining smart text selection, which will allow it to recognize text in the real world and then translate it to text on a device, so you can essentially copy and paste real world text.
Real-time functionality is coming to Google Lens, allowing it to proactively gather information about everything the camera is seeing to overlay live results directly on top of real-world items. A new Style Match feature will let Google Lens scan images and then find related items. So, for example, you can scan a lamp and find items in the same style, or scan an outfit and find similar clothes.
Google Lens is being integrated directly into the camera app on select Android smartphones like the Google Pixel and the new LG G7, which will give Android users quicker access to Google Lens functionality. All of these new features are rolling out over the course of the next few weeks.
At its Google I/O event taking place in Mountain View, California this morning, Google showed off features that are coming in Android P, a new version of Android that's set to launch this fall.
Google is focusing on three parameters for Android P: Simplicity, Intelligence, and Digital Wellbeing. Android P has a new gesture-focused interface, which is similar to the interface that Apple introduced for the iPhone X. "The new design makes Android multitasking more approachable and easier to understand," said Android Engineering VP Dave Burke on stage, after explaining that Google has been working on it for more than a year.
Android P does away with the standard three button home, back, and multitasking lineup that's been available on Android devices for the last several years.
Instead, As with the iPhone X, there's a little oblong navigation button at the bottom of the screen that enables several gestures like swiping up to access a card-like interface that displays a search bar and recently used apps. A single upwards swipe goes straight into the app overview, which includes a list of recently used apps as well as a search bar and five predicted apps at the bottom of the display. You can swipe through the apps to go forwards and back through them.
A second swipe up on the button icon opens up an All Apps screen where all of the apps installed on the device are located for quick access. "Architecturally, what we've done is combine the all apps and overview spaces into one," said Burke.
A walkthrough of the interface is available at 2:26:00
As might be familiar to iPhone X users, the swipe up gesture works from anywhere in the Android phone, no matter which app is being used, while a tap brings you to the Home screen. Swiping left or right in a "Quick Scrub" gesture lets you swap between your recently used apps, something taken directly from iOS.
All of these gestures look and feel a lot like the swipe-based gestures that are used on the iPhone X to do things like access the Home screen and switch between apps.
Google is focusing on digital health tools in Android P, which is something Apple is also expected to feature in iOS 12. There's a new Android Dashboard that's designed to let you know how much time you're spending on your phone and within individual apps to maximize for meaningful engagement.
The feature will let you set time limits on apps, and after a set amount of time is spent in a given app, the app's icon will be grayed out for the rest of the day to discourage you from continuing to use it.
Google is also introducing Do Not Disturb features to silence calls, notifications, text messages, and other alerts. Do Not Disturb can be enabled automatically through a new "Shush" feature that will activate whenever an Android smartphone is turned face down. This automatic activation silences all incoming alerts with the exception of starred contacts so you can still be reached by key contacts in the event of an emergency.
A new Wind Down mode is designed to help Android users prepare for bed. You can set a specific bed time, and when that time rolls around, Do Not Disturb will be enabled and the phone's entire interface will turn gray to discourage people from continuing to use their devices.
In addition to these features, Google is also introducing Adaptive Battery and Auto Brightness options based on personal preferences. With Adaptive Battery, an Android-enabled device predicts the apps that you'll use in the next few hours and expends battery life only on what you're going to use, restricting it from other apps. Google says testers have seen a 30 percent improvement in battery life.
As for auto brightness, it will adjust the brightness of an Android device based on personal preference. It learns how you like your brightness settings in given places and at certain times of day and it sets it for you.
App actions are being added to predict what users want to do in an app next, offering up shortcuts (another iOS-like feature) to help users do tasks like make a phone call or send a message more quickly. Google is also introducing "Slices," a new developer API that will let "slices" of an app be rendered into various parts of the UI.
Search will be the first implementation. So when a user searches for an app like Lyft, the search results will include a slice that displays the price for the ride and allows a Lyft to be ordered without having to enter the app.
Google also announced a new ML Kit feature that's similar to Apple's recently announced CoreML machine learning API. ML Kit will let developers access APIs for barcode scanning, landmark detection, smart replies, text recognition, face recognition, image labeling, and more. Developers will also be able to tap into Google's cloud-based machine learning technologies with several ready-to-use models available. ML Kit is cross-platform and available for both iOS and Android apps.
Dozens of other features are coming to Android P, like simplified volume controls, improved notifications, better screenshots, and more, which will be outlined by Google over the rest of the week.
Android P is available in a beta capacity starting today on the Google Pixel and several other flagship devices from various companies.
Valve today 
Stationery Pad is a handy way to nix a step in your workflow if you regularly use document templates on your Mac. The long-standing Finder feature essentially tells a file's parent application to open a copy of it by default, ensuring that the original file remains unedited. 
