In this brief tutorial, we’ll show you how to see the current firmware version of your Apple Pencil using the Settings app on your iPad.
How to see your Apple Pencil firmware version
How to add Spotify controls to your Mac menu bar
Do you want to control your Spotify music playback from Mac's top menu bar? If yes, let me show you two easy ways to do that.
Make your Lock screen and Notification Center banners transparent with this tweak
One of the newest jailbreak tweaks to hit the Cydia store this week is TransparNC (iOS 10) by iOS developer FromDerik.
This tweak gives your inbound notifications on the Lock screen and in Notification Center a polarizing and fully transparent makeover, eliminating the background that generally sets your notifications apart from your background.
How to use one-handed left or right keyboard on iPhone
Learn about this quick tip that shrinks the iPhone keyboard onto the left or right side, making it easy to type while holding your phone with one hand.
Lightroom for iOS gains selective brush editing, all-new iPad interface & more
Adobe today updated Lightroom for iPhone and Lightroom for iPad on App Store with some key new features aimed at making editing on the go easier than ever. You can now use a new brush feature to selectively paint in enhancements to any part of your images.
The selective brush option extends to the eraser tool, allowing you to selectively erase both the linear and radial gradients. And if your device has 3D Touch, like iPhone 6s or iPhone 7, you can even vary the effect by just pressing softer or harder as you paint.
iPad Pro users working with an Apple Pencil get the same pressure-sensing to apply more or less of the effect. You'll also notice a new Details tab within the app where you can add the finishing touches to images by controlling noise and enhancing image details.
The in-app camera now supports a new Show Highlight Clipping feature that shows you the over-exposed areas prior to capture, which lets you adjust the exposure or composition in camera. Lightroom for iOS also packs in an improved virtual level via the in-app camera with haptic feedback and support for latest cameras and lenses.
Last but not least, Lightroom for iPad now features a revamped interface, shown top of post, designed for the tablet's larger canvas. According to Adobe, the app makes editing via iPad a serious option as a laptop replacement for any photographer.
Download Lightroom for iPhone and iPad free in App Store.
Affordable $99 Mira Prism headset brings augmented reality to iPhone
Why wait until 2018 or beyond for a rumored Apple headset when you can immerse yourself in augmented reality right now, and without breaking the bank? Meet Mira Prism, a new iPhone-connected headset that provides augmented reality experiences for just $99.
The product is standalone and requires no plugs, computers or wires.
You just side your iPhone into the headset to begin exploring the wonders of interactive holographic content. It should be mentioned that Mira Prism does not put your iPhone's screen right in front of your eyes, like Google's Cardboard does.
Instead, your iPhone faces the inside of the headset and the front glass lenses facing you basically reflect computer imagery projected onto their surface by a pair of mirrors. The accessory has a 60-degree field of view and supports a resolution of 1,334-by-750 pixels.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w76ESU3XHOg
While the headset only supports a small number of launch titles created specifically for it, they'll be releasing an SDK to let anyone create compatible augmented reality apps and games.
An accompanying app features spectator mode so those without a headset can see what others are seeing in augmented reality through the headset on their own iPhone or iPad.
Engadget took the gadget for a spin and came away impressed:
I played a holographic game that involved maneuvering a character through a maze, which relied on the controller’s motion controls.
Another game had me spinning around in my chair to destroy asteroids hovering all around me. I was particularly surprised how well Prism tracked virtual objects in augmented reality, even though it doesn’t have any spatial mapping technology like HoloLens and Meta.
Mira Prism ships with a remote control for motion-based games, a carrying case and a lens cover, and is compatible with any iPhone from iPhone 6s onward. The biggest drawback of Prism is the fact it won't work with any ARKit-optimized app, just stuff made specifically for it.
If you're interested in this product, pre-order it today for $99 from mirareality.com because it will retail for $150 once officially released in time for 2017 holiday.
Chinese analyst does not expect Apple to refresh iPhone SE anytime soon
iPhone SE is fifteen months old now, but don't hold your breath for any kind of hardware refresh to the smallest and most affordable Apple handset. That's according to Chinese analyst Pan Jiutang, who predicted Apple won't be refreshing iPhone SE because he doesn't think there's enough demand for the device since most consumers are looking for bigger phones.
The report should be taken with a grain of salt because Apple is now building “Assembled in India” iPhone SE models that it plans to eventually export. On top of that, the Cupertino tech giant is planning to expand local iPhone manufacturing in India.
In the US alone, more than five percent of the overall mobile phone sales apparently belong to iPhone SE. The 32-gigabyte edition of the device retails for $399 in the United States.
Powered by Apple's A9 chip, iPhone SE is compatible with iOS 11.
In my opinion, Apple would be wise to keep iPhone SE in its offering for another year or so in order to cater to the needs of people that prefer smaller, inexpensive handsets.
AirBar accessory that brings touch to your MacBook Air is now available
AirBar, a cool Mac touchscreen accessory that was announced at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January 2017, is now available to purchase for $99 at Fry's Electronics, Evine.com and other retailers in the United States, its maker Neonode announced Tuesday.
The product will also launch through Amazon, Best Buy, Staples and other online outlets.
AirBar is basically a touchscreen sensor in the form of a USB laptop dongle that brings familiar touch gestures to your thirteen-inch MacBook Air. It uses an invisible light field projected on the surface of the MacBook Air's display to detect objects like a finger or stylus.
When an object breaks the light, the accessory is able to detect its precise position and distinguish between gestures like tapping, swiping, scrolling and pinch-zooming.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-4fFaWLnlQ
Remo Behdasht, Senior Vice President of AirBar Devices at Neonode, said:
We’ve seen an overwhelmingly positive response from the Apple community since our big debut of AirBar for MacBook Air at CES this year. Other Apple devices, such as the iPhone and iPad, have helped consumers become accustomed to a range of touchscreen products for several years now.
It’s a natural progression for MacBook Air to have touchscreen capabilities, and we are thrilled to provide Apple enthusiasts with this completely new way to interact with their MacBook Air notebook.
Neonode’s patented zForce AIR technology lets you use anything from a gloved finger to a paintbrush to interact with the MacBook Air's screen, ideal for scrolling through emails, reading e-books, zooming in on images and more.
The product is plug-and-play though support for additional gestures requires the installation of the AirBar multitouch software. AirBar does not support other Mac notebook models because it needs 17mm of free space below the display.
For more information, visit www.air.bar.
Qualcomm CEO would like to settle with Apple out of court
Qualcomm's legal spat with Apple and toxic rhetoric regarding cellular technology licensing agreements has been raging on for six months, and it would seem that the war is now starting to hurt Qualcomm's business.
In an interview with Fortune, Qualcomm CEO Steve Mollenkopf suggested in a more conciliatory tone that his firm's dispute with Apple over potentially billions of dollars in royalties on mobile chipsets should be resolved via an out of court settlement.
“There's not really anything new going on,” he said of the Apple dispute speaking at the Brainstorm Tech conference in Aspen, adding that “those things tend to get to resolved out of court and there's no reason why I wouldn't expect that to be the case here.”
“I don't have an announcement or anything so please don't ask,” the CEO added.
Apple dual-sourced cellular modem chips from both Qualcomm and Intel in about half of new iPhones last year, instead of buying all its chips from Qualcomm.
The Cupertino company also stopped paying its iPhone manufacturers for royalties owed to Qualcomm in April 2017, arguing Qualcomm abused its dominant position for mobile communications chips to charge excessive royalties.
The companies sued each other and Qualcomm a few weeks ago filed a patent infringement lawsuit seeking to have imports of some iPhones and iPads that contain competing mobile communications chips banned from the US.
As that filing will take 18 months to work through the system, iPhones and iPads released this and next year shouldn't be affected.
Samsung could re-enter iPhone chip supply chain in 2018
Samsung Electronics has not been building Apple-designed mobile chips for iPhone and iPad for almost four years now, but the South Korean conglomerate is rumored to be sharing Apple orders with rival Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) from next year.
According to a report Tuesday in The Korea Herald, Samsung has invested in a new manufacturing facility for churning out chips fabricated on the more energy efficient seven-nanometer process technology solely for iPhone.
“Samsung plans to complete its own tests for the new chip-making machines soon and seek final approval from Apple for the chip production,” reads the report.
The company reportedly purchased extreme ultra violet lithography machines, the most advanced chip manufacturing equipment in the world, to use in iPhone chip production from 2018. Kwon Oh-hyun, one of Samsung’s three co-CEOs, apparently played a key role in securing the deal during his visit to Apple’s headquarters last month.
“The CEO could persuade Apple’s top brass taking advantage of their close ties on OLED,” said an industry source. Samsung, as you know, is also the sole supplier of OLED panels for the upcoming OLED-based iPhone model.
Rival TSMC also won a supply deal for next year’s iPhone and the reports said Samsung would share some parts of iPhone chip orders next year with TSMC.
Vigor brings useful new features to Home screen app icons
The iOS Home screen has always left a lot to be desired. Being nothing more than a wall of app icons, you really can’t get useful information on the Home screen without using a 3D Touch gesture or swiping over to the Today widget page.
A new jailbreak tweak called Vigor by the AtomDevTeam changes that by displaying useful information directly inside your app icons, making it easier to see at a glance.
SurpriseSelfie brings new security options to the Photos app
When you let someone hold your iPhone to look at a picture or two in your Camera Roll, do you ever get the voice of reason in your head that says, “I hope they don’t swipe into the rest of my photos?”
If you do, then you might want to try a new jailbreak tweak called SurpriseSelfie by iOS developer Frozen Penguin. This tweak provides management options for locking people out of the rest of your photos or to impose consequences if they try.