MacRumors

Last year Google launched an app called Motion Stills that fixed a lot of issues that users had -- and still have -- with Apple's new Live Photos feature introduced in the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus. With the new update, Motion Stills now lets users customize the displayed frame that appears automatically in the camera roll of the iOS Photos app.

The intent is to display more clearly what the Live Photo image is composed of, particularly when the frame displaying the content is taken from a blurry or unclear segment of the Live Photo. Now, users can cycle through any frame from a Live Photo in Motion Stills, choose a new image, and export it back out to the iOS Photos app with the new frame. This exporting process keeps the Live Photo in Apple's custom 3D touch looping format and not the GIF format of Motion Stills.

As The Verge pointed out, there is a catch in the basic function of Live Photos that could result in a customized frame appearing lower-resolution in the Photos app.

There is a catch. For space reasons, Live Photos only save the primary frame in full 12-megapixel clarity, with the other frames handled as lower-resolution video; choosing one of these frames will therefore result in a photo with less detail than the original. But since the vast majority of Live Photo viewing probably happens on phones, this may not be a major issue for you.

Other than the new frame feature, Motion Stills as a whole lets users turn Live Photos into easily shareable GIFs. The app also uses Google's video stabilization technology to smooth out jittery images and freeze backgrounds, giving an overall improvement on Apple's basic Live Photos. Motion Stills can be downloaded for free from the iOS App Store. [Direct Link]

Swatch is developing its own operating system for an all-new smartwatch intended to compete directly with Apple Watch and Android Wear, according to company CEO Nick Hayek (via Bloomberg). The new smartwatch will be an addition to the Tissot brand, a subsidiary of The Swatch Group, and is set to launch towards the end of 2018.

With its debut so far out, details remain scarce on both the watch itself and the Swatch-made user interface, but Hayek mentioned that the technology will require less battery power and will "protect data better." According to Hayek, the company's strategy will give Swatch the chance to become a worthy competitor to Apple and Samsung wearables because of its focus on a beefy battery which wouldn't require users to charge the watch every day, or every other day, like Apple Watch.

Swatch’s approach will work better because it’s trying to “think small” as one of the biggest problem for wearable devices is battery drainage, Hayek said, speaking at the Biel, Switzerland headquarters of Omega, another of 18 brands that Swatch produces.

“There’s a possibility for wearables to develop as a consumer product, but you have to miniaturize and have an independent operating system,” the CEO said.

Luca Solca, an analyst who follows the luxury watch industry, pointed out that Swatch's own-made OS could be the company's first mistake. “People use smartwatches expecting to use the same apps they have on their mobiles," Solca explained. "A proprietary operating system defeats the object.” Swatch said it is willing to give its OS to third parties for the creation of apps, and about half of the parties interested originate from small companies in Silicon Valley who "don’t want to be dependent on Android and iOS."

The Tissot brand is set to launch its first smartwatch (seen in the image above), called the Tissot Smart Touch. The watch was announced a year ago and was set to launch in 2016, but it never appeared for users to order. When it does, Smart Touch will be a solar-powered wearable able to connect to iOS and Android smartphones, and include abilities like leading users to lost keys.

The Smart Touch will also include accessories like a standalone weather station that connects to the wearable and offers "hyper local weather information" like temperature, humidity, and air quality. With a debut so far out, it's unclear whether Swatch's new smartwatch will include any of the Smart Touch's features, or even what it might look like.

Although some smart wearable companies, like Fitbit, are facing troubled waters in the market, Apple Watch has become a "magnificent success" for Apple thanks to a boost in holiday sales in 2016. If the Swatch smartwatch debuts in late 2018, it would likely enter the market as a competitor to the Apple Watch Series 4.

Right now, rumors are understandably focused on the 2017 Apple Watch Series 3, with some suggesting the line's first major form factor change, and others theorizing that the wearable will see yet another iterative update this year with feature additions including cellular connectivity and the expected under-the-hood performance enhancements.

Netflix announced yesterday that it will replace star-based user reviews in its content library with binary thumbs up and thumbs down ratings over the coming weeks.

Previous star ratings given by users will be used to personalize their Netflix profiles, but the ability to rate a TV series or movie by awarding stars is set to disappear altogether, according to Variety.

Netflix VP of Product Todd Yellin told journalists on Thursday during a press briefing at the company’s headquarters in Los Gatos, Calif., that the company had tested the new thumbs up and down ratings with hundred of thousands of members in 2016. "We are addicted to the methodology of A/B testing," Yellin said. The result was that thumbs got 200% more ratings than the traditional star-rating feature.

According to Netflix, at one point subscribers had awarded over 10 billion 5-star ratings and more than half of all members had rated more than 50 titles. However, the company eventually concluded that star ratings had become less relevant, with some users giving documentaries 5 stars and silly movies just 3 stars, even though they would watch the silly movies more often than the highly rated documentaries.

"We made ratings less important because the implicit signal of your behavior is more important," Yellin told journalists.

In addition to the binary rating scheme, Netflix is also bringing a new percent-match feature to its interface that shows how good a match any given show or movie is for an individual subscriber. If a movie or TV show fits very closely with a user's taste, it may get a high percentage match, although shows with less than a 50 percent match won't show a match rating.

Netflix said the changes will roll out globally within the next month or so.

ColorWare today introduced a customized iPhone 7 Plus Retro Edition that resembles the appearance of a vintage 1980s-era Macintosh for $1,899. It is a SIM-Free model with 256GB of storage, which normally retails for $969 in the United States. Orders are currently estimated to ship in 2-3 weeks.

The design includes a multicolored Apple rainbow logo and dark beige edge stripes painted over what is originally a Black colored iPhone 7 Plus. ColorWare said the iPhone 7 Plus Retro Edition will be available for a limited time only, and the first 25 sold will include a number of authenticity.

Details about the customization process:

At ColorWare, the product goes through a labor intensive process of disassembly, cleaning, masking, painting and inspection. Then, the product is buffed and reassembled. The product goes through final inspection and is packaged into the original packaging.

iPhone 7 Plus Retro Edition includes EarPods, a Lightning to USB Cable, a USB Power Adapter, and documentation in the box.

Amazon today announced that it will introduce its Siri competitor, Amazon Alexa, directly into the company's iOS app over the course of the next week (via VentureBeat). With the addition of Alexa, users will now be able to ask questions about the status of their orders, use their voice to initiate searches, play music, and start audio books from Audible.

Alexa's powers go beyond Amazon's shopping features -- users will also be able to use the voice assistant to search current news stories, check the weather, and even control smart home products. This means that iOS users who don't own any Amazon hardware can now gain access to Alexa's growing list of skills, which let users easily link multiple services together for quick voice control interactions.

Some users will begin seeing the Alexa update in Amazon's iOS app [Direct Link] starting today, but the rollout is expected to reach everyone on iOS by next week.

Headphone jack controversies aside, Apple's cord-free AirPods have contributed to a recent surge of interest in "truly wireless" earphones, with several companies vying for a piece of the market.

Denmark-based audio outfit Jabra has embraced the freedom-of-movement appeal of wireless buds more than most with its Elite Sport headphones ($250), which it calls "the most technically advanced true wireless sports earbuds" around. Boasting a number of features such as in-ear coaching and heart-rate tracking, they're an intriguing prospect for fitness-focused headphone users frustrated by flailing cords.

While Jabra claims the Elite Sport buds improve your workouts while providing great sound, $250 is a lot to pay for a wireless headset. We checked out a pair to see if they deliver on their promises.

➜ Click here to read more...

The iMessage App Store turned six months old this week, and the app analysts at Sensor Tower have decided to see where Apple's miniature app store stands among users and developers following an initial launch rush last year. According to Sensor Tower, more than 5,000 apps have either added iMessage features, or launched exclusively on the text message-based App Store.

Unfortunately, while the growth is noticeable -- and on par with the original App Store in 2008 -- it has begun subsiding on a month-to-month basis, with Sensor Tower noting it is "seeing signs that the initial rush of excitement over iMessage apps is fading among developers." From September to October the number of iMessage-enabled apps grew 116 percent, from 400 to 1,100. By the end of November, the iMessage App Store had grown 108 percent to include around 2,250 apps.

Things began slowing down in December where growth was marked at 65 percent, with 3,700 iMessage apps stocking the App Store worldwide. As 2017 began, the iMessage App Store hit its slowest growth period yet: it saw an 18 percent increase from December to January, and a 9 percent increase from January to February.

Sensor Tower points to confusion over the iMessage App Store's UI and app discovery that could be leading to an overall lack of user interactivity with the apps, and subsequently resulting in developers' fading interest. The analysts still look forward to the iMessage App Store's "real test" of growth down the line as iOS 11 approaches later in the year.

Any new platform will see an initial surge in offerings due to the aforementioned excitement, rallying cries from the platform holder, and the associated rush by developers to ensure that they’re capitalizing on (what they hope will be) the next big thing. The real test for the iMessage App Store’s catalog will be how its growth looks for the rest of its first year.

Still, consumer platforms such as Apple’s latest are driven by the steady availability of compelling software, and the cadence of releases can say a lot about developer confidence—which, in turn, is reflective of what and how much users are consuming.

Games are the most popular of the iMessage apps, and the category includes regular apps that create iMessage versions with sticker compatibility without any specific gaming features. Following games are Entertainment, Utilities, Social Networking, and Photo & Video apps.

In a bid to bring more awareness to iMessage apps -- and stickers specifically -- Apple this week launched a new ad to promote the wide array of stickers that users can download and share within Messages. The live action commercial featured people running around and sticking colorful, animated stickers, including some from Disney and Family Guy, on everything from other people to food.

iLuv today announced its first Apple HomeKit certified device called the "Rainbow8," an IoT connected smart lightbulb system that includes Siri compatibility and Wi-Fi connectivity so users can interact with their lights from an iPhone or iPad. One of the distinctions between Rainbow8 and Philips Hue is that iLuv's product doesn't require a central, router-connected hub.

To get started the company said that "all you have to do is simply plug in," and Rainbow8 will search for a nearby smartphone with the company's app. Once it's set up, users can set up schedules and geo-fences that activate and deactivate based on their location. Custom lighting scenes can be created and with the addition of HomeKit support, users can ask Siri to turn them on and off.

As an improvement on the company's Rainbow7 Bluetooth smart bulb, the Rainbow8 includes over 16 million color options, has a dimming feature, offers 800 lumens of brightness, and will last for a lifespan of over 20,000 hours.

This user friendly smart bulb is now brighter and longer lasting, saving you money in the long run. "iLuv is very proud of the direction we are going," said Jason Park, head of marketing at iLuv.

"The Rainbow8 is not our first smart product, but it is definitely one of our most impressive ones. Unlike most smart bulbs on the market, the Rainbow8 does not require a hub. All you have to do is simply plug in and get started. Once set up, users can do everything from schedule their lighting to setting triggers that control the lights based on their location. You can also create your own customized lighting scenes and use Siri to turn them on."

iLuv's Rainbow8 smart bulb is available for $49.99 from Amazon, "and other select retailers," beginning today. At the time of writing, only 10 of the bulbs were left in stock on Amazon's U.S. store.

Netflix is planning to offer HDR quality mobile content for viewing on supporting devices because of an increasing mobile subscriber base and the company's belief that the format will eventually be universally adopted on mobile platforms.

The comments were made yesterday by Netflix executive Neil Hunt during a briefing with journalists, as part of a two-day event at Dolby Laboratories and Netflix headquarters in San Francisco. Hunt made the remarks as the two companies prepare to launch new Netflix series Iron Fist, which is being shot natively in HDR.

HDR stands for high dynamic range, meaning a display supporting the standard is capable of reproducing a wider and richer range of colors, brighter whites, and deeper blacks. HDR content is already available on Netflix and Amazon Video, but only for streaming to televisions that support the standard. However, Hunt and Dolby executives told The Verge that HDR is about to make the leap from big-screen to mobile, with Netflix aiming to be at the forefront of a global transition.

It's been about a year since Netflix became available globally — with the exception of a few markets, including China, and since then it has seen mobile usage soar. In established markets like the US and Canada, most Netflix watching still happens on TVs, Hunt said; but in some Asian countries, especially India, "mobile screens are the majority consumption device."

Both Netflix and Amazon are said to be gearing up to stream HDR content on mobile devices, possibly as early as April this year, although a specific date from either company has yet to be confirmed. Samsung's recently announced Tab 3 with AMOLED display is the first tablet to support videos with greater dynamic range, while the LG G6 is the first phone to support both HDR10 (the 10-bit open standard) and Dolby Vision HDR.

Apple is expected to announce new iPad models soon, possibly as early as next week, but apart from plenty of speculation regarding screen sizes, no rumors have mentioned the display technology that could feature. The same can't be said for Apple's rumored "iPhone 8", which will reportedly have a Samsung-supplied OLED display, making it more likely to support the HDR10 standard.

In addition to the mobile HDR announcement, Netflix said it was considering the idea of streaming mobile-specific cuts of its original movies and TV shows.

"It's not inconceivable that you could take a master [copy] and make a different cut for mobile," Hunt said. To date, Netflix hasn't been delivering different cuts for different viewing platforms, Hunt said, but "it's something we will explore over the next few years."

According to The Verge, the idea would be to create a version of the content with scenes or shots that are more easily visible or immersive on a mobile phone, given that certain shots can be hard to see or can appear diminished on a relatively small phone screen.