MacRumors

Energy technology group Intelligent Energy Holdings today announced the retail launch of the Upp in the United Kingdom. The Upp device is a portable power solution driven by a hydrogen fuel cell that is used to charge USB-compatible devices.

A rumor this past summer claimed Intelligent Energy was partnering with Apple on a patent acquisition and to potentially produce fuel cell technology for future Macbooks and other portable devices. It is unclear if this Upp sales deal is related to that rumored partnership, but Apple patent applications have revealed the company's interest in fuel cell technology over the years.

Using miniaturized hydrogen fuel cells, Upp can deliver instant energy boosts to any USB-powered technology such as smartwatches, phones, portable gaming handhelds, e-readers and digital cameras.

The Upp uses snap-on refillable cartridges, providing a charge which is equivalent to "the same speed as plugging it into the wall." The product can be purchased in a starter pack that comes with the Upp Fuel Cell and one Upp Cartridge for £149, or around $230.

“Upp represents the start of the next generation of energy devices, a signal to the portable electronics market that customers are ready to adopt transformative technologies," Intelligent Energy’s Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Henri Winand said about the device. "Consumers want energy independence as the demand and reliance on portable devices accelerates.”

The company promises that one cartridge will last for about a week. When in need of one, users can use the Upp smartphone app to find a local Upp Cartridge exchange, hand in the used cartridge, and purchase a new one for £5.95, or about $9. That week of power on average equates to about 900 additional hours of standby or 32 hours of call time, 26 hours of video, or alternatively an extra 40 hours of web browsing.

Pocket-lint went hands-on with the Upp and discovered a few minor caveats to the Upp's design, calling it a "weighty and large beast" and that it "lets out a weird hissing sound and faint odor" when charging up a device. They also pointed concern towards the small number of retail vendors offering cartridge trade-ins at the moment.

It's also worth noting that it's a fledging technology that will no doubt get better over time - hopefully lighter at least - and more widely supported. For now though, if you plan a long trip up a mountain or something, you might find the £149 starter pack (Upp cell and cartridge included) a useful addition to your gear.

The Upp also comes with a downloadable app that displays usage statistics, power levels, Upp Cartridge exchange locations, FAQs, and customer support and can be downloaded from the App Store. The Upp can be purchased at Apple Stores in the UK or on Upp's official website.

Apple today revamped its online store and sent out emails to customers in preparation for the upcoming holiday shopping season. The new holiday promotion emphasizes gift ideas with a focus on iOS devices, Macs and Beats audio hardware.

Immediately below the tagline "From one gift come many," Apple places its focus on its iPad line of tablets, which recently were refreshed with the iPad Air 2 and the iPad mini 3. The company promotes the utility of the devices, noting how people can use the tablets to complete a variety of tasks, including choreographing a recital or exploring the North Pole.

Apple next highlights the Mac with an advertorial that entices people to create the next holiday classic in a subtle reference to last year's award-winning "Misunderstood" holiday commercial. Other showcased products include the Apple TV, new Apple Store gift cards, the iPhone and Beats by Dr. Dre audio accessories.

Apple traditionally offers a Black Friday sale to kick off the holiday shopping season with modest discounts on its product lineup. Apple has yet to announce its 2014 Black Friday promotion, but the company last year offered Apple Store gift cards with the purchase of select items including iOS devices, Macs and various Apple-related accessories.

Apple is not planning to abandon its now-defunct Mesa, Arizona sapphire facility, reports Bloomberg. The company has told city officials that it remains committed to bringing jobs and manufacturing to Mesa, Arizona, following the bankruptcy that caused hundreds of GT Advanced employees to be laid off.

"They've indicated their commitment to us: They want to repurpose that building and use it again," Mesa City Manager Christopher Brady said in a recent interview. Apple has said it's focused "on preserving jobs in Arizona" and promised to "work with state and local officials as we consider our next steps."

Back in October, Apple confirmed in a statement that it would look for other ways to utilize its Mesa, Arizona facility, stating that it "remained committed to the city" and planned to help GT Advanced employees who had been impacted by the bankruptcy to find new jobs.

Apple initially chose Mesa, Arizona as the site for its sapphire facility after city officials agreed to expedite permitting approvals, build out power infrastructure, and cut property taxes. Apple insisted on 100 percent renewable energy for the facility, which required the city to construct a new power substation.

"Apple could've invested in a facility literally anywhere in the world," said Mesa Mayor John Giles, who is planning to visit Apple's headquarters in Cupertino, California, to show the city's support. "There's a reason they came here, and none of those reasons have changed."

Apple and GT Advanced reached an agreement to end their partnership back in October, and under the terms of the deal, GT Advanced will wind down operations at the sapphire plant in Arizona before officially closing up shop in December. At the current time, most of the company's employees have already been laid off, while remaining staff cleans and decommissions sapphire furnaces to be sold.

It is unclear how Apple will repurpose the facility, but the company has been working hard to bring more Mac production to the United States. Apple's Mac Pro, released in late 2013, was the first Apple product line to be assembled in the United States as a result of the company's efforts to bring manufacturing jobs back to the country.

Apple may introduce its "biggest camera jump ever" in the next-generation iPhone, according to Daring Fireball's John Gruber (via The Tech Block). In a recent episode of his podcast The Talk Show, Gruber said that he heard "from a birdie of a birdie" that Apple is working on major camera improvements.

The specific thing I heard is that next years camera might be the biggest camera jump ever. I don't even know what sense this makes, but I've heard that it's some kind of weird two-lens system where the back camera uses two lenses and it somehow takes it up into DSLR quality imagery.

Gruber says that he's heard that Apple's rear camera could incorporate a two-lens system, which sounds somewhat similar to the Duo Lens camera that was introduced with the HTC One M8. In the One M8, a standard sensor is combined with an "Ultrapixel" sensor that lets in much more light to improve image quality. The secondary lens in the M8 is used to provide additional image information to the first lens, which also lets the focus be shifted.

Another two lens system that hints at what a two-lens setup in the iPhone might be capable of is being developed by Corephotonics. Corephotonics' system takes advantage of two lenses with separate focal lengths, switching between lenses to magnify distant subjects without the need for a traditional zoom.

Given the fact that there's little information on what Apple's actually working on for its next-generation iPhone, it's hard to say whether a potential two-lens system would work in the same way as the above examples, but two-lens cameras are a new frontier that manufacturers are exploring in order to improve image quality while keeping devices slim.

Apple's iPhone has long been the most popular camera choice on image sharing site Flickr, and over the years, Apple has embraced iPhone photography. Each new iPhone iteration includes significant camera improvements, with its "S" upgrades often bringing the biggest improvements. With the iPhone 4s, for example, Apple introduced an improved 8-megapixel camera that marked a large jump in quality over the iPhone 4 camera, and with the iPhone 5s, Apple included an improved sensor, an aperture of f/2.2, a True-Tone flash feature, better autofocus, and a new "Slo-Mo" mode.

Apple introduced some impressive camera improvements with the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, including a new Apple-designed image signal processor with Focus Pixels, but it's possible even better camera improvements are being saved for the introduction of the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus in 2015.

Just yesterday longtime Apple supplier Sony unveiled a new 21-megapixel "stacked" sensor with ultra fast autofocus and 4K HDR video. While the 21-megapixel version is unlikely to make its way into iOS devices, it's possible that Apple's next iPhone could incorporate an upcoming Sony 16-megapixel sensor that includes the same impressive features.

With the WatchKit SDK now in the hands of developers, some new information about Apple's wearable device is coming out, including its display resolution, which was not previously disclosed by Apple.

According to Apple's human interface guidelines, the two separate Apple Watch models have different screen resolutions. The smaller 38mm Apple Watch has a resolution of 272 x 340, while the larger 42mm Apple Watch has a resolution of 312 x 390. In the WatchKit documentation, Apple refers to the Apple Watch display as "Retina," and instructs developers to use 2x image assets.

Apple directs developers to provide image assets for different screen sizes "as needed." Developers can use the same image resources as long as they "look good on both screen sizes," but if not, developers will need to provide separate image resources for both devices. Content displayed on Apple Watch "should be the same regardless of the device's screen size," and Apple says developers should "let items expand or contract naturally" to fill available space.

Icons on the Apple Watch will have variable sizes based on screen size and type. For example, the Notification Center icon should be 29 pixels for the 38mm Apple Watch, and 36 pixels for the 42mm Apple Watch. A home screen icon on the smaller device should be 172 pixels, while a home screen icon for the larger Apple Watch should be 196 pixels.

In addition to unveiling information on the device's resolution, Apple's WatchKit guidelines give some insight into how Apple views the device. Apple asks developers to be mindful of certain concepts when creating content for the Apple Watch, including its deep personalization and connection to people via heart rate and activity monitoring.

According to Apple, the Apple Watch aims to "blur the boundaries between physical object and software" through the Digital Crown navigation tool, the Taptic Engine for subtle alerts, and Force Touch, a new touch control system. Thoughtful design, says Apple, "should contribute to this experience of hardware and software feeling indistinguishable."

Apple suggests that all content created for the Apple Watch should be "lightweight," as the device is designed for simple interactions that are "accessible and dismissible quickly and easily, for both privacy and usability." Apps must "respect the context" in which the user accesses them, "briefly, frequently, and on a small display."

Apple's WatchKit development software became available earlier today, as part of the iOS 8.2 beta. The beta can be downloaded from Apple's developer site, and developers are able to immediately begin creating actionable notifications, Glances, and iPhone-driven apps for the Apple Watch. Apple says that developers will be able to create "fully native" apps "later next year."

Apple today announced that its set of WatchKit development tools are now available for developers, allowing them to begin creating apps and software for the company's upcoming Apple Watch.

"Apple Watch is our most personal device ever, and WatchKit provides the incredible iOS developer community with the tools they need to create exciting new experiences right on your wrist," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. "With the iOS 8.2 beta SDK, developers can now start using WatchKit to create breakthrough new apps, Glances and actionable notifications designed for the innovative Apple Watch interface and work with new technologies such as Force Touch, Digital Crown and Taptic Engine."

WatchKit is being released as part of the iOS 8.2 and Xcode 6.2 beta, both of which have been made available to developers today.

Both the iOS 8.2 Beta with WatchKit and the Xcode 6.2 beta can be downloaded from Apple's developer site, which also has Apple Watch development resources for developers. WatchKit can currently be used to create Glances, actionable notifications, and Apple Watch apps that are powered by the iPhone. Many Apple Watch apps will be driven by code that runs on the iPhone, with a UI that displays content on the watch itself. According to Apple, "fully native" Apple Watch apps can be created "later next year."

As described by Apple, actionable notifications are notifications that allow users to take an action or respond directly from their wrists with the Apple Watch, turning off the lights when they've left the house, for example, or accessing flight information at an airport. Glances are somewhat simpler, aiming to give users quick information at a glance like news, weather, sports scores, and more.

In its press release, Apple highlights several developers who have already begun working with WatchKit, giving some additional insight into how the WatchKit tools can be used. The ESPN app for Apple Watch delivers live scores and information on teams, according to ESPN VP John Kosner, and it offers snapshots of live games through Glances and alerts on score changes through actionable notifications.

Instagram has used WatchKit to develop actionable notifications that let users instantly like a photo or respond with an emoji, plus there's an Instagram news and watch list to let users see their friends favorite photos and get an overview of likes and comments. American Airlines has used Apple Watch to create pre-trip notifications, updates for gate changes, gate connection information, and alerts when a flight begins boarding, all of which can be accessed directly from the wrist.

In addition to sharing these use cases for the Apple Watch, Apple has also created a dedicated Apple Watch site for developers, outlining the difference between full apps, Glances, and actionable notifications, offering download links to the iOS 8.2 beta with WatchKit SDK, and providing design guidelines and templates.

Apple has said that its Apple Watch will be released in "early 2015," but an exact launch date remains unclear. At the lower end, the device will retail for $349, with estimates placing pricing for the higher-end solid gold version at thousands of dollars.

Apple is cracking down on Notification Center widgets in iOS once again, this time telling Neato that its note taking widget is unacceptable and will need to be removed due to the fact that it includes a keyboard.

First launched in early November, Neato installs a quick note taking widget in the Notification Center, letting users type directly in the widget. Notes can be sent instantly to either Evernote or Dropbox. As a widget-focused app, Neato has no other functionality, which means the removal of its keyboard will essentially kill the app.

According to the developers behind Neato, who spoke to Gizmodo, Apple contacted the company after it became popular, hitting the top 10 business list in more than 65 countries.

We were expecting Neato to be featured by Apple but instead Apple called us on Nov 10th, and we were told that: "Neato does not comply with one or more App Review Guidelines". They required us to remove the keyboard from the widget. But Neato without the keyboard is nothing, and like a limp horse.

The company attempted to appeal, but Apple stuck with its decision to force Neato to remove the keyboard, stating that its position on the app had "not changed" and that an update removing keyboard functionality would need to be submitted within two weeks.

Apple appears to be having some difficulty deciding on what constitutes acceptable use of the Notification Center as app developers come up with clever ways to take advantage of widget functionality. In late October, Apple told PCalc's developers that the PCalc calculator widget would need to be removed as Notification Center widgets were not allowed to perform calculations, but a day later, the company reversed course and allowed the calculator widget to remain in the App Store.

Another app, Launcher, wasn't quite as lucky. Introduced shortly after iOS 8 was released to the public, Launcher installed a Notification Center widget that provided access to quick actions like making a phone call, opening a pre-defined Maps route, or sending a tweet. Launcher was only available for a few days in the App Store before Apple opted to pull it.

According to Apple's App Extension guidelines, Notification Center widgets should have a "simple, streamlined UI," a limited number of interactive items, and are prohibited from creating "a mini version" of an app. Apple has run into several apps that, like PCalc, were not expected widget use cases and are not outlined in the widget guidelines, leading to apps that are accepted and then later rejected as Apple further defines how it wants the Notification Center to be used.

Neato can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]