Apple

Watch new ARKit demos: Minecraft and measuring tape

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 26, 2017

The website madewitharkit.com dedicated to highlighting cool apps made with Apple's new ARKit framework, was updated today with a pair of new video demonstrations showing off some of the augmented reality possibilities coming to iPhone and iPad with iOS 11 this fall.

The first demo has the user selecting two spots in the real world, as viewed through an iPhone's lens, to calculate the distance between them, transforming the device into a working tape measure. That's a great example of the power of the ARKit framework.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7DYC_zbZCM

The app was built by Laan Labs and, like other ARKit-enabled apps, uses an iOS device's camera along with sensor data to precisely find horizontal planes in the real world, such as tables, floors and other objects.

You can beta-test the app by signing up at armeasure.com.

Measure distances with your iPhone. Just because you can. Clever little #ARKit app by @BalestraPatrick https://t.co/b2mXe2FS84 pic.twitter.com/pyoHp99Yts

— Made With ARKit (@madewithARKit) June 25, 2017

Laan Labs has other examples of proof-of-concept apps built using ARKit on their Twitter, like the following example of impressive 3D drawing in augmented reality.

https://twitter.com/laanlabs/status/878692051889655808

As for an AR-enabled Minecraft, we don't know if Minecraft creator Mojang is working on one, but that didn't stop developer Matthew Hallberg from recreating Minecraft in AR using the ARKit framework and the Unity engine.

By superimposing Minecraft building blocks on top of the real-world, and taking advantage of ARKit's super accurate tracking, the user is able to walk around their environment and place Minecraft blocks at arbitrary spots. “I love that you are able to place life size objects because the tracking with ARkit is so good,” Matthew said.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFGx9QcE5Gk

Apple is also using ARKit tracking for an impressive virtual reality mode in Apple Maps on iOS 11. The Cupertino giant is even helping Ikea build an ARKit-powered app which will let you try out virtual furniture at home before purchasing it.

ARKit requires a device with an Apple A9 or A10 chip because those processors deliver “breakthrough performance that enables fast scene understanding and lets you build detailed and compelling virtual content on top of real-world scenes,” as per Apple.

How do you like the aforementioned ARKit demos? Are you looking forward to augmented reality-enabled apps, and why? Chime in with your thoughts in the comments section.

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Video: former Apple executives recount original iPhone creation

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 26, 2017

Apple earlier this year celebrated the tenth anniversary of the original iPhone's unveiling. And as we approach the tenth anniversary of the handset's June 29, 2007 debut, Christopher Mims of the Wall Street Journal sat down with the original iPhone team members who recounted designing the handset's touchscreen interface and more.

Running nine minutes long, the interview features former iOS chief Scott Forstall, former Vice President of Human Interface Design Greg Christie and the iPod “Godfather” Tony Fadell.

Fadell's team was tasked with the development of a device that was basically an iPod with a phone. It featured a clunky hardware keyboard and ran a version of the iPod interface.

“We tried 30 or 40 ways of making the wheel not become an old rotary phone dial and nothing seemed logical or intuitive,” said Fadell. “To actually dial a real number, it was so cumbersome.”

It was 2005 and Jobs was displeases with the direction of “Project Purple”.

“We’d been doing a lot designs which weren’t quite there yet. It didn’t feel complete. And Steve came to one of our design meetings and he said, ‘This isn’t good enough. You have to come up with something so much better. This is not good enough'”, Fadell recounted.

“Start showing me something good soon or I’m going to give the project to another team,” Christie paraphrased Jobs. According to Forstall, Jobs gave the team two weeks to come up with something special.

“So we went back to the drawing board and Greg assigned specific ownership of different pieces of the design to different people and that team worked 168 hours per week for two weeks. They never stopped,” said Forstall. Eventually, Forstall and Christie's vision for the user interface of the original iPhone, based on OS X code, prevailed over Fadell's click-wheel design.

Christie reflected on how their early iPhone interface designs blew Steve Jobs away:

The first time he saw it he was completely silent, he didn't say a thing. He didn't say anything, he didn't gesture, he didn't ask a question.

Then he sat back and he said, 'Show it to me again.'

And so we go through the whole thing again and Steve was pretty much blown away by the whole demonstration. It was great work.

It took them nearly two and a half years to turn that demonstration into a shipping product.

A ping pong table sized demo had a projector that was beaming a Mac interface on it, allowing engineers to use their whole hand to touch different things on it. “It was literally a ping pong sized multi-touch display,” said Tony Fadell.

And now, watch The Wall Street Journal's full video, titled "How The iPhone Was Born: Inside Stories of Missteps and Triumphs”.

According to Fadell, back at the time sales of the iPod music player accounted for half of Apple's total sales so they wondered about iPod's success long term and kept asking themselves what will cannibalize sales of the music player.

“And one of the biggest concerns was cell phones,” said Fadell.

The three former Apple execs also talk about pinch to zoom, rubber-band scrolling and more. Be sure to watch the whole thing, it's definitely worth ten minutes of your time.

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First “Assembled in India” iPhone SE units go in sale, but don’t carry lower price tag

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 26, 2017

First iPhone SE units assembled in India have gone on sale in many cities in the country, including the city of Bangalore near which the handset is being assembled in a facility operated by Apple's contract manufacturer Wistron.

The Indian Express reported today that the iPhone SE units manufactured in India don't carry a lower price tag because they are made locally due to Apple's policy of keeping the pricing more or less the same across the globe. In fact, these phones are “priced the same as other models manufactured in China,” according to The Indian Express.

Currently, a small trial run of limited iPhone SE units has been produced. Although the handset is now selling in many Indian cities, customers interested in the handset may not be able to get their hands on one until Wistron ramps up production.

These phones have “Designed by Apple in California, Assembled in India” printed on their back.

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Sean Combs’ documentary “Can’t Stop Won’t Stop” debuts exclusively on Apple Music

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 28, 2019

As promised back in April, the hip-hop documentary “Can't Stop Won't Stop: A Bad Boy Story” has made its exclusive debut on Apple's music-stremaing service.

Directed by Daniel Kaufman and available for streaming to all Apple Music members, the documentary chronicles the precipitous rise of Sean “Diddy” Combs aka Puff Daddy and his record label in the mid-90s to the top of the music business.

To watch the documentary, fire up the Music app on your iPhone, iPad or Apple TV, then enter the Browse section and tap TV & Movies and find the movie listed there.

Jimmy Iovine, Apple Music chairman and CEO, said:

I went to the Bad Boy Reuion concert and thought it was incredible. I think Puff and Bad Boy’s story is incredible and one that a lot of people can relate to in any genre or in any business. His story is powerful. He really overcame a lot to get to where he’s at today and the documentary shows that.

Here's Apple Music's official blurb:

In 1993, Sean "Diddy Combs, a.k.a. Puff Daddy, founded Bad Boy Records and changed popular culture forever. In 2016, the Bad Boy Family reunited in Brooklyn, New York for the biggest homecoming in hip-hop history. Can't Stop Won't Stop: A Bad Boy Story explores the passion and personalities behind the empire, and goes inside the making of a movement and the staging of an unprecedented musical event.

This is an intern-to-CEO story -- a raw behind-the-scenes look at the legacy of Bad Boy through a complex portrait of its mastermind as Combs reunites the Family over a frantic three-week rehearsal period. The film traces the label's emergence in Harlem and Brooklyn, follows its meteoric rise, reflects on the tragic killing of Biggie Smalls, and celebrates Bad Boy's influence -- all while reveling the love and commitment that binds every member of the Family together.

The film covers the trials and tribulations that Combs faced in putting together last year’s 20th anniversary Bad Boy reunion shows in two weeks time, with artists who hadn’t performed in years. Apple Music will have the exclusive rights to the documentary for at least the next year.

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Apple Park sunset footage shows entrance to Steve Jobs Theater with its lobby lights on

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 26, 2017

Drone pilot Duncan Sinfield last Saturday published new aerial footage of the 175-acre Apple Park site on his YouTube channel, offering a glimpse at the entrance into the Steve Jobs Theater with its lobby light on.

“Opening day is getting closer at Apple Park, landscaping and road-striping are not the only things wrapping up,” reads the video's description.

Located atop a hill at one of the highest points of the upcoming campus, the Steve Jobs Theater sports the world's largest freestanding carbon-fiber rooftop.

Featuring glass staircase spiraling downward to an underground 1,000-people auditorium, the Theater will be used for corporate meetings and Apple media events, meaning the unveiling of iPhone 8 will most likely take place there.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgzZnfAqLW8

“Steve’s vision for Apple stretched far beyond his time with us. He intended Apple Park to be the home of innovation for generations to come,” said Tim Cook in April.

The video revels significant progress being continually made on the main ring-shaped building, offering a nice look at the main atrium with its floor-to-ceiling glass doors.

Landscaping work will continue for a few months after offices in the main ring-shaped building are completed. Since April, employees have been gradually moving into Apple Park.

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iOS 11 Maps has crazy cool VR mode that lets you move around by walking

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 24, 2017

Apple Maps on iOS 11 beta 2 features a great new virtual reality (VR) mode that takes advantage of Apple's new ARKit framework to let you move around in 3D by walking.

This unapologetically cool feature seems to be tied to Flyover, which replaces satellite imagery with three-dimensional buildings, landmarks and other points of interest.

The new VR mode on iOS 11 Maps was highlighted yesterday by Twitter user @StijnDV, but it appears to have been originally discovered by Tweetbot developer Paul Haddad on Wednesday.

To try it out yourself, open Maps on iOS 11 beta 2, switch to 3D mode by tapping “3D”, then use the search field at the bottom to find a place that has Flyover.

On the place card, tap the Flyover button and move the device around to rotate the view. Better still, why don't you actually move forward, backward or side to side to explore the map in VR?

Mind blown.

So, how do we know this nifty feature actually uses ARKit? Because it displays a message when you cover the camera, just like any ARKit-powered app does, saying you should aim the device at a different surface because “more contrast is required”.

As a quick backgrounder, ARKit analyzes live camera feed in real-time, using computer vision to find horizontal planes in your real world, such as tables and floors. I was able to successfully test the feature on my iPhone 6s running a second beta of iOS 11. Because I don't currently own an iPad, I couldn't test VR mode in Maps on the Apple tablet.

WOW There is an VR mode in Apple maps on iOS 11! It seems to use ARKit for positioning! pic.twitter.com/IdXiGoed26

— Stijn (@StijnDV) June 24, 2017

At any rate, this appears to be the default mode for Flyover now, not a special setting. But don't you worry, there's the option to switch back to the old Flyover mode where you rotate and zoom your Flyover view using touch interactions.

This is honestly one of the coolest features in iOS 11! pic.twitter.com/Zjr6RRkKHk

— Stijn (@StijnDV) June 24, 2017

This is a wicked cool feature and I cannot help but wonder how it might look like when experienced through Apple's rumored digital glasses that, as per Robert Scoble, should use optics by German lens specialist and optical instruments maker Carl Zeiss.

You can actually move around by walking! This is crazy cool! pic.twitter.com/ttR6RaAo7D

— Stijn (@StijnDV) June 24, 2017

Some people couldn't get Maps' new VR mode to work, but I suspect it may have something to do with their hardware. Maps' VR mode uses ARKit, which tracks your actual position in the real world with the camera but requires newer hardware.

Holy Flyover Magic Window batman. pic.twitter.com/Fb8nPeLT5J

— Paul Haddad (@tapbot_paul) June 22, 2017

According to Apple, ARKit runs on the Apple A9 and A10 processors. “These processors deliver breakthrough performance that enables fast scene understanding and lets you build detailed and compelling virtual content on top of real-world scenes,” says the company.

In other words, anything older than iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, the 9.7-inch iPad (early-2017 model) or iPad Pro won't be able to run iOS 11 Maps' VR mode.

So, is this cool or what?

We'd obviously love to hear your thoughts and predictions regarding iOS 11 Maps' new VR mode and what it might signify in terms of possible new VR hardware from Apple.

Do us a favor and chime in with your thoughts in the comments section.

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Instagram testing private sharing feature

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 23, 2017

Photo-sharing service Instagram on Friday kicked off a small test for a new private-sharing feature. Called Favorites, it should roll out to all users over the next few months.

Instagram's product lead Robby Stein told The Verge that they've been working on the new private-sharing feature for more than a year.

Privately shared content is denoted by a green Favorites badge on the post.

By hand-picking followers for the new Favorites section, users can easily create a more limited group of the closest friends with whom they can privately share posts and Story updates.

Anyone not in the Favorites list won't be able to see your privately shared posts.

You'll be able to browse all the non-ephemeral posts you’ve shared to your Favorites over time by tapping a new Favorites tab on your Instagram profile.

According to The Verge:

No one gets notified when you add or remove them to the list. They’ll know they’re your favorite only when they see a green Favorites badge at the top of your posts. They can’t request to be added to your list through the app.

And if you remove them from your Favorites, they lose access to all of your private posts. If they visit the Favorites tab in your profile, it will appear to be empty.

There is currently no way to share Instagram posts with select friends only.

You can set your Instagram account to private at any time to personally approve follow requests from a handful of your closest friends, but that approach has many flaws of its own.

According to Stein, people with private accounts often approve hundreds of follow requests due to social pressures and are using Instagram less as a result. “People are trying to hack Instagram to create smaller audiences, and we’re trying to recognize that,” said Stein.

It remains to be seen if Instagram Favorites will come to all users. Given they've been working on this feature for more than a year, I'll be surprised should they decide to pull it.

Will you use the Favorites feature when it rolls out, and why?

Do chime in with your thoughts in the comments section!

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Gmail will stop scanning your emails for ads personalization

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 23, 2017

Google's pledged to stop scanning users' emails in Gmail for personalized ads. The important change, coming later this year, will bring personal Gmail accounts in line with Google's business-focused G Suite Gmail service which does not scan emails for ads personalization.

“Consumer Gmail content will not be used or scanned for any ads personalization after this change,” Diane Green, Senior Vice President of Google Cloud, announced Friday in a post on the search giant's official blog.

Ads you see across Google properties and on websites that use Google ads are still going to be personalized based on other factors, including users' settings at myaccount.google.com.

“Users can change those settings at any time and disable ads personalization,” Green said.

Gmail is the world’s preeminent email provider with more than a whopping 1.2 billion users.

“G Suite customers and free consumer Gmail users can remain confident that Google will keep privacy and security paramount as we continue to innovate,” reads Green's post.

Google's ad-driven business model is notoriously reliant upon the company's ability to personalize ads to your interests. The company uses many signals and various tracking techniques to collect anonymized data, which is then fed to its machine learning and artificial intelligence systems to derive useful intelligence for ads personalization.

On the flip side, Gmail scanning has been a common point of contention among privacy-minded users who dislike having their Gmail scanned for advertising purposes. Given that more than three million paying companies currently use the paid G Suite service, Google can certainly afford to stop scanning personal Gmail inboxes for ads personalization.

Apple's iCloud Mail service has never scanned the contents of users' inboxes because the entire iCloud suite of apps and services is 100 percent free of advertising, in line with Apple's commitment to protecting the privacy of its users.

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Edge-to-edge dummy offers best look yet at rumored iPhone 8 design

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 23, 2017

iPhone 8 is expected to have a nearly full-screen front face with a 5.8-inch edge-to-edge OLED panel and no “chin” at the handset's top and bottom. Benjamin Geskin has now combined the leaked parts in a dummy unit showing off what iPhone 8 might look like at launch.

The prolific smartphone leakster put a printed image of iOS 10.3.3's beach-themed wallpaper under a glossy screen protector to simulate edge-to-edge display design. He also posted a video on his Twitter account to show off the assembled dummy in motion.

I think this is our best glimpse yet at what iPhone 8 might look like.

#iPhone8 Hands-on Video (sort of)

(Dummy + Printed Picture + Screen Protector) pic.twitter.com/gkKjWH0tLe

— Benjamin Geskin (@VenyaGeskin1) June 23, 2017

My only gripe with this Frankenstein iPhone dummy is the top area with a cutout for the front-facing FaceTime camera, the speaker and the phone's various sensors—it just doesn't look right to me. Now, Apple is said to have tested ten different iPhone 8 prototypes.

That said, there's still a chance we might see a fully bezel-less iPhone 8 come this fall rather than this nearly bezel-less appearance. But even if it does end up having that cutout at the top of the OLED display, the sensor dip may not be visible at all.

That's because OLED technology provides deep blacks, thereby making it difficult to tell where the edge of the screen really is, as readily apparent by the OLED screen on Apple Watch.

As the rendering above indicates, Apple could update iOS's status bar at the top so that the icons appear on the left and right side, without the current time being shown in the middle.

That would actually be a smart approach to concealing that sensor dip as much as possible.

Thoughts?

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Satellite time-lapse chronicles nearly two years of Apple Park construction progress

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 23, 2017

Apple Park began construction in 2014. A new time-lapse video based on high-resolution photos by satellite imaging provider Planet Labs has condensed nearly two years of work on the main ring-shaped building in an 18-second time-lapse video. Uploaded Tuesday to Planet Labs' YouTube channel, the clip was shared yesterday by Business Insider.

Aside from the main ring-shaped building, the video also depicts construction progress on Apple's twin research and development buildings, the 1,000-seat Steve Jobs Theater, a wellness facility for employees and more.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCZZXOmC-J8

For those wondering, they used the high-resolution imaging SkySats constellation to capture the construction of Apple's new Cupertino campus.

If the Planet Labs name rings familiar to you, that's because Google recently sold its previously acquired satellite-imaging startup Skybox Imaging to Planet Labs.

The search giant acquired Skybox Imaging in 2014 for a reported $500 million.

That startup was founded by Michael Trela, who was a spacecraft engineer at John Hopkins University, and John Fenwick, who served in the U.S. Air Force. Both men joined Apple this April following Planet Labs' acquisition of Skybox from Google.

As part of the acquisition, Planet Labs now has seven satellites and plans to sell high-resolution aerial imagery starting next year.

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Roof of Apple’s new flagship store in Chicago looks like MacBook Air lid

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 23, 2017

Apple is putting finishing touches on a new store on Chicago's North Michigan Avenue and one particular design detail immediately jumped out at us: an Apple logo on the top center of the building, making the flagship store look as if a massive MacBook Air just landed.

“Our store on North Michigan Avenue has welcomed more than 23 million customers since it opened in 2003,” said Apple spokesman Nick Leahy in 2015. “We're now creating something even more remarkable for Chicago.”

As reported by Chicago publication DNAinfo, less than an hour later crews rolled up the logo and took it away. The logo did not appear on store renderings dated 2015.

It's unclear whether it will be reinstalled.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmzPr106E7U

The upcoming 20,000-square-foot flagship outlet was designed by London-based Foster+Partners. As evidenced by the video, it consists of a huge glass box stretching from Pioneer Court to the riverfront.

Located on Pioneer Court, 401 North Michigan Avenue, the new store will, when complete, replace Apple's existing outlet on 679 North Michigan Avenue.

The Chicago store's attractive roof design reminds me of Apple's awesome-looking 20,000 square-foot retail outlet in Istanbul, Turkey, which too features a striking all-glass exterior with an Apple logo on its rooftop, as seen above.

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