Wednesday, 22 October 2014
Apple could turn iPhones into remote controls for cars
In the future you may start your car, regulate the temperature or lock and open car doors with your iPhone
Only a day after the first customers began using Apple pay, Apple has been granted a patent which could turn future iPhones into remote controls for cars.
In September, the technology company launched Apple Pay which enables clients to pay for items just by holding the iPhone near contactless readers with your finger on the Touch ID. Clients started making payments on Oct. 20.
Turning the iPhone into a remote control for cars could be a future step for Apple, but it is known that being granted a patent does not necessarily mean that the concept will be applied in the real world.
The United States Patent and Trademark Office, an Agency of the Department of Commerce, granted Apple the “accessory control with geo-fencing” patent on Tuesday.
The patent's abstract says that the vehicle accessory can transmit a signal to your mobile device, which will monitor the phone's location as well as the location of the vehicle.
“Upon determining that a location-based criterion has been satisfied, the mobile device can transmit a second signal to the vehicle accessory indicating that a function of the vehicle is to be controlled," the abstract says.
“Thus, for example, the mobile device can activate or de-activate vehicle features (e.g. door locking, vehicle defrosting etc.) in a manner that capitalizes on efficient signal transmission,” it continued.
Tuesday, 21 October 2014
iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus may be tough to find through the holidays
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The result: the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus may continue to be a tough device to find through the holidays.
While Apple's suppliers have ramped up production of the new iPhones, Cook said the available supply of iPhones isn't even close to meeting customer demand. "We're not even on the same planet," he said on a conference call to discuss the company's fiscal fourth-quarter results.
The comments further illustrate the continued strength of the iPhone franchise, which got a boost after Apple adopted a larger screen size -- 4.7-inch for the iPhone 6 and 5.5-inch for the iPhone 6 Plus -- and introduced new features such as its Apple Pay mobile payment service. The demand has driven Apple to sell 39.3 million units in the fiscal fourth quarter, propelling the company's revenue and earnings past Wall Street expectations.
"We're selling everything we're making," he said.
Cook declined to provide any details on the mix between iPhone 6 and the larger iPhone 6 Plus, noting that it's unfair to look at the mix because everything is selling out. He noted that Apple saw an improvement in demand from every country, which he called unusual.
Monday, 20 October 2014
Android Silver on hold due to resistance from handset makers
It seems Android Silver, Google's often talked about plan to develop premium, high-end Android device branding, has been put on indefinite hold. While Android Silver was never officially confirmed, Google has apparently run into a number of road blocks in the form of handset manufacturers who don't want to cooperate due to the required reduction of fragmentation
With a said goal of eventually replacing both the Nexus and Google Play Edition lines of hardware, Android Silver was to be a new take on offering users a stock version of Android, and reducing the growing fragmentation across the platform. As with the currentNexus line, Android Silver would require device OEMs to sacrifice any of their customizations to the operating system.
Understandably, manufacturers were displeased with the idea of further reducing the presence of their own branding, but more so with potentially having to share the Android Silver name with other rival manufacturers. The whole reason the Android platform is popular with device makers is because they can differentiate themselves from rivals, as well as optimize the software for their specific hardware.
While Android Silver may not be officially dead, it's clear that we won't be seeing its release anytime soon, especially with a new line of Nexus devices just announced. However, Android Silver could certainly be a solution to a number of the platform's problems. Not only would users get a more consistent experience, but app developers would have a much easier time getting their software to run on one version of Android, instead of the alarming number we have today. Let's all hope Google will continue to make efforts towards such a solution.
Saturday, 18 October 2014
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