There are a wide range of Made for iPhone Apple-certified controllers on the market these days, but the Gamevice is unique because it turns the iPad mini into a portable gaming console. The controller fits on either side of the iPad mini, plugging directly into the Lightning port for a lag-free, reliable gaming experience.
There are several similar controllers for the iPhone, but the Gamevice is the only option that lets you hold the iPad mini while playing, so there's no need for a stand or a flat surface to rest the tablet on. I went hands-on with the Gamevice to see how it compares to more standard controllers on the market, and while I wasn't impressed with the size, I did enjoy the gameplay experience.
Design
The Gamevice consists of two halves of a controller that are held together with a soft, flexible piece of rubber. The left side of the controller has an analog stick, a d-pad, and a power button, while the right side of the controller has a second analog stick, a pause button, and four action buttons in a familiar ABXY Xbox-style layout. There are also two sets of trigger buttons on each side of the controller. Design wise, the Gamevice looks like the product of a mating between the Xbox One controller and the Wii U GamePad.
Made of a lightweight matte black plastic, the controller exterior feels a bit cheap, but if it were made of a heavier material, it would be too heavy to hold for long periods of time. Materials wise, I'd say it's on par with many of the other Made for iPhone game controllers on the market, but the buttons/analog sticks are superior quality and feel much better underhand. In fact, I'd suggest this is the MFi controller with a feel closest to the Xbox One controller because of how much it borrows from Microsoft.
The analog sticks are smooth and easy to use, reminiscent of the analog sticks on an Xbox One controller, and they have rubber around the top for a solid grip. The action buttons also reminded me of an Xbox controller, and while they sound very clicky when pressed (as do the triggers), they're smooth and easy to press with no sticking. The d-pad is a standard four-direction pad and not one of the circular directional pads that are on many other similar controllers.
Microsoft today released updates for each of its Office 2016 apps, introducing feature improvements, security enhancements, and bug fixes to Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint, and Word. All apps have been updated with a security fix for vulnerabilities that could allow remote code execution should a user open a specially crafted Office file.
All of the apps have also gained new Chinese and Japanese default fonts and improvements to the Visual Basic Editor that allows users to add modules and references and use debug shortcuts. Other fixes and improvements are listed below:
Outlook - Improved VoiceOver support for weather in the Calendar feature. - Email address is now included in the default message attribution when you reply and -forward. - Message list is now displayed correctly when you switch folders by having the Reading Pane turned off. - Improved Reminders functionality to reduce CPU consumption. - Improved use of advanced search operators for non-English languages.
Word - Ribbon extensibility. Use ribbon customization XML to customize the ribbon the way that you want it. - Custom paper sizes in Page Setup are now supported. - Find/Replace is corrected to move to the next matched word when Track Changes is turned on. - Fixed crashes that occur when you use Mail Merge together with Outlook. - Headers/Footers: Page numbering: Number of Pages option is corrected to display numbers greater than two digits.
Excel - Ribbon extensibility. Use ribbon customization XML to customize the ribbon the way that you want it. - Improved support for pasting from external applications. - Scroll bars now correctly respect OS X scroll bar settings
PowerPoint - Ribbon extensibility. Use ribbon customization XML to customize the ribbon the way that you want it.
It is not clear if today's Office 2016 update fixes problems that Office users have been having with Office 2016 and OS X El Capitan, as Microsoft does not outline specific fixes for those issues in the software release notes. Problems with Office 2016 and OS X El Capitan include frequent crashing, inaccessible email, and an inability to open some apps.
Microsoft has also released an update for Office 2011 that preserves ribbon customization in documents and allows calendar events with online meeting details to be edited in Outlook for Mac and opened in Outlook for Windows. Microsoft previously released an Office 2011 update that fixed issues users were having with OS X El Capitan.
The updates can be downloaded through Microsoft's AutoUpdate tool which is available within each app. The updates are available for OS X Yosemite and later.
Update October 14 11:18 AM: Microsoft has posted a support document acknowledging that this update does not address the crashing issues under OS X El Capitan and suggesting the fixes will require an update to El Capitan itself.
On October 13, 2015, we released an update to Office 2016 for Mac containing great new features, security fixes, and stability improvements. This update doesn’t address the issues experienced by Office customers with OS X 10.11 El Capitan. We are actively working with Apple to ensure resolution with the next update of OS X 10.11 El Capitan.
Just one month before Apple Pay is rumored to launch in Canada, large bank TD Canada Trust briefly provided evidence of the forthcoming launch by prematurely listing the iPhone-based mobile payments service as a method of payment on its website, as spotted by blog iPhone in Canada. The link has since been removed.
Apple Pay was briefly listed under "Ways to Pay" at the bottom of TD Canada Trust's website, but the link now leads to a blank page. When it was live, the page said that Apple Pay will soon support TD Canada Trust debit and credit cards, with purchases subject to a $100 transaction limit like other contactless payments in Canada.
In April, The Wall Street Journal reported that Apple was in negotiations with the Royal Bank of Canada, TD Canada Trust, Scotiabank, Bank of Montreal, CIBC and National Bank of Canada about a potential November launch of Apple Pay in Canada. The six financial institutions combined account for more than 90% of Canadian bank accounts.
Apple Pay launched in the United States last October, and expanded to the United Kingdom in July.
TD Canada Trust has around 11 million customers in Canada.
The charging stand has been one of the most popular and ubiquitous third-party accessories for the Apple Watch since the wearable device launched in April. A handful of well-known manufacturers have launched their own versions of a charging solution for the Apple Watch, including Pad & Quill with its Luxury Pocket Stand which debuted alongside the new Apple wearable earlier in the year.
Pad & Quill has now expanded its lineup of Apple Watch accessories with two new charging cradles -- the Timber Catchall and Timber Nightstand -- that hope to provide simple daily solutions for users to rest and charge their Apple Watches. Not only that, but each stand also offers a little extra space to store an iPhone and even the extra bands Apple Watch fans may have accumulated over the past few months.
Timber Nightstand
Pad & Quill sent me a Timber Nightstand in the lighter American Cherry color option, and the $89.95 stand is crafted with the company's usual care to detail and sturdiness. The back of the Nightstand includes an indentation designed to cradle an extra Apple Watch band or two, while the front is meant for the Apple Watch itself. The Nightstand's biggest feature is that it's designed to support the Apple Watch in Nightstand mode, which displays the time and any alarm set in a sideways nighttime-friendly green display.
The Timber Nightstand is also available in a darker American Walnut variety, but that option will cost users $119.95. Both versions function identically, requiring a separate Apple Watch charging cable to be threaded through to the bottom portion of the stand so the inductive charging puck can rest inside of the Timber Nightstand. There's also a small rubberized strip placed right below the carved out portion on the front of the stand so that the Apple Watch's stainless steel or aluminum won't directly come in contact with the Nightstand's wood and get scuffed or scratched.
Dutch electro-house DJ Hardwell, one of the most popular EDM artists worldwide, has announced on Twitter that he will be talking about his career and performing a special live set at the Apple Store in Amsterdam on Thursday, October 15 at 7:15 PM local time.
Hardwell's set will be recorded for broadcast on Beats 1 radio on Apple Music. Apple is accepting a limited number of reservations for the free performance on its Dutch website. You must have an Apple ID to make a reservation.
Apple Stores often hold free events with authors, actors, musicians, filmmakers and other notable individuals. Hardwell will be one of the more famous guests, with more than 2.4 million Twitter followers and his debut album United We Are peaking at No. 2 on Billboard's electronic music charts.
Apple has updated its website with a wealth of new information following its announcement of new 4K and 5K iMacs and a new Magic Keyboard, Magic Mouse 2 and Magic Trackpad 2. Here are some of the more interesting tidbits that have been overshadowed by the larger announcements.
New iMacs
Then and Now — Apple has published a new "Then and Now" page that compares the 1998 iMac G3 with the 2015 iMac, showing the progress that has been made over the past 17 years. The new iMac has 14 million more pixels, 62,000 times faster graphics, 366 times more processing power, 1,000 times more RAM and 750 times more storage.
5,400 RPM 1TB Hard Drive on 4K iMac — The new 21.5-inch 4K iMac's standard configuration for $1,499 includes a 5,400 RPM 1TB Serial ATA hard drive, which is considered long obsolete for a 2015 desktop computer. Upgrades to a 1TB or 2TB Fusion Drive are available for $100 and $300 respectively.
Fusion Drive Changes — To allow for lower prices, Apple's 1TB Fusion Drive is now a 1TB hard drive paired with a 24GB SSD. Previously, a 1TB Fusion Drive was a 1TB hard drive with a 128GB SSD. Mac users looking for 128GB of flash storage will need to upgrade to a 2TB or larger Fusion Drive. 256GB and 512GB all-flash storage options can also be ordered.
Magic Accessories
Automatic Pairing — The new Magic Keyboard, Magic Mouse 2 and Magic Trackpad 2 have a new automatic pairing process with Mac using a Lightning to USB cable. Each accessory is also charged via Lightning to USB.
2-Minute Fast Charging — The new Magic accessories each take about 2 hours to reach a full one-month charge via Lightning to USB, but early reviews found the Magic Mouse 2 can fast charge for nine hours of battery life in just two minutes.
Magic Mouse 2's fast charging is useful, since its bottom-facing Lightning port renders it unusable while charging. Magic Keyboard and Magic Trackpad 2 both have Lightning ports on the rear, meaning both accessories can still be used while charging.
Magic Trackpad 2 Requires Bluetooth 4.0 — Magic accessories connect wirelessly with a Mac via Bluetooth for a secure connection up to 30 feet away. For the Magic Trackpad 2, Apple requires a Bluetooth 4.0-enabled Mac. Magic accessories are also only compatible with Macs running OS X 10.11 or later.
First introduced at CES, the Kevo Plus is a new product that accompanies the Kevo, a popular Bluetooth-enabled smart lock. The Kevo Plus adds online connectivity to the Kevo, allowing for remote access for the first time.
With the new Kevo Plus, it's now possible for Kevo users to lock and unlock their doors from anywhere in the world, in addition to unlocking them when close by with Bluetooth. Kevo Plus connectivity is enabled through a Bluetooth-enabled gateway that plugs into the router with an Ethernet connection to form a secure interaction between the Kevo and the Kevo Plus Gateway.
The Kevo Plus Gateway
To get remote access, existing Kevo users will need to upgrade their accounts to Kevo Plus, paying a one time upgrade fee of $69.99 on the Kevo website. After paying the fee, they'll receive the Kevo Plus gateway, which will be able to receive remote commands when a user is away from home and communicate those to the Kevo via Bluetooth. A single Kevo Plus Gateway is able to connect with and interact with multiple Kevo locks.
To support the new remote access functionality, the accompanying Kevo app has been updated. In addition to support for the Kevo Plus gateway, the update adds InHome Locking and Unlocking, letting users lock and unlock the Kevo with an iPhone if they're within Bluetooth range. This new feature does not require Kevo Plus.
Recently, Apple let Mediumbehind the doors of its Input Design Lab while the company was in development for the new set of iMacs and accessories that just launched today. While visiting the lab, journalist Steven Levy got some behind-the-scenes glimpses of the "fanatical" production process taken by the team at Apple, and even discussed topics -- like the iMac's relevance -- with a few Apple executives.
Highlighting Apple's laser focus on details, Levy relates a story of how the Magic Mouse 2 initially "stirred consternation and late nights" among its creators due to the sound it made as it was moved around being "not right." While the team had kept the overall look and feel of the mouse the same as its predecessor, the internal changes had altered the amount of friction between the device and a table, thereby changing the sound it made.
“When we did the previous mouse we spent so much time dialing those feet, the material, the geometry, everything, so that it sounds good and feels good when you move it on the table,” says John Ternus, whose title is VP for Mac, iPad, Ecosystem and Audio Engineering. “But then you change the mass of the product and you change the resonant frequency of the product and all of a sudden the feet that we loved weren’t great anymore. They weren’t what we wanted.”
With the impending launch of the iPad Pro and the growing reliance on mobile computing over heavy desktop use, Levy also brought up the topic of the iMac line and its relevance in 2015 with Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior VP of Worldwide Product Marketing.
Schiller explained Apple's products as a continuum, where you use the "smallest possible gadget to do as much as possible before going to the next largest gizmo in line." Starting with the Apple Watch, to the iPhone, iPad, and so on, he states that users shouldn't frantically try to use all of the company's products at once, but do as much on one at a time before needing to pick up another.
"...The job of the iPad should be to be so powerful and capable that you never need a notebook. Like, Why do I need a notebook? I can add a keyboard! I can do all these things! The job of the notebook is to make it so you never need a desktop, right? It’s been doing this for a decade. So that leaves the poor desktop at the end of the line, What’s its job?”
“Its job is to challenge what we think a computer can do and do things that no computer has ever done before, be more and more powerful and capable so that we need a desktop because it’s capable,” says Schiller. “Because if all it’s doing is competing with the notebook and being thinner and lighter, then it doesn’t need to be.”
When asked about the possibility of introducing an iOS-like multitouch display into the iMac line, the team behind the desktop computers remained adamant against such a move. Schiller reiterated that any input on a desktop that sits above keyboard level feels "uncomfortable" and that the iMac was built from the ground up with a cursor input in mind.
“iOS from its start has been designed as a multi-touch experience — you don’t have the things you have in a mouse-driven interface, like a cursor to move around, or teeny little ‘close’ boxes that you can’t hit with your finger. The Mac OS has been designed from day one for an indirect pointing mechanism.
These two worlds are different on purpose, and that’s a good thing — we can optimize around the best experience for each and not try to mesh them together into a most-common-denominator experience.”
The entirety of Medium's report from the Input Design Lab at Apple is well worth a read, as it goes far more in depth with topics like the new iMac's color spectrum and even the technology, design, and instrument testing that resulted in the new Magic Mouse 2, Magic Trackpad 2, and Magic Keyboard.
Apple today launched new 4K and 5K iMacs alongside the Magic Keyboard, Magic Mouse 2 and Magic Trackpad 2. The refreshed all-in-one desktop computers feature faster processors and graphics, two Thunderbolt 2 ports and more affordable Fusion Drive storage upgrade options.
Following the announcement, several media outlets have published hands-on reviews and first impressions of the new iMacs, including Ars Technica, CNET, Engadget, Macworld, Mashable, Tech Insider and The Wall Street Journal. Many of the reviews also provide a closer look at the new Magic accessories.
The early reviews of the new iMacs are generally favorable, with high marks awarded to their improved displays with wider color gamut. The 2015 models are widely considered among the best desktop computers available, but some critics view the lack of USB-C and base configuration of 5400 RPM hard drives as shortcomings.
Then there are the frustrating choices Apple has made across the lineup: No Thunderbolt 3 or USB Type-C even though those technologies are apparently ready to go, and no standard Fusion Drive or SSD in any but the top-end 27-inch iMacs. At $100, the jump to a Fusion Drive (albeit a smaller one than in years past) is cheaper than ever, but Apple could really afford to stick that 24GB drive inside every single one of these iMacs to alleviate the unmitigated misery that is using a 5400RPM hard drive in a $1500 desktop computer in this the year of our Lord 2015.
If you're OK with the list of omissions and you can spring for the storage upgrade, the 4K iMac gets you a great professional-quality screen and a powerful quad-core processor for a pretty reasonable price. The 27-inch iMac is the computer that most blurs the line between consumer all-in-one and high-end workstation, but as long as you aren't gaming you can get some pretty serious work done on the 21.5-inch iMac. But if Apple can make Fusion Drives and 4K screens standard on all iMacs when the Skylake refresh comes around, we won't have much left to complain about.
For everyone else, even if you don't regularly view 4K content, a sharp-looking Retina-level display is one of those things that's nearly impossible to give up once you get used to it, and the new 4K iMac is competitively priced with the handful of 4K-display Windows PCs we've reviewed.
If you have a model from the past few years, this isn't a must-have upgrade, but it may certainly be worth picking up the new keyboard and mouse or trackpad to give your older iMac a facelift.
The iMac is still the best all-in-one, with an attractive (if predictable) design, near-standard 4K and 5K screens, and even better color accuracy than before. The 21.5-inch version is in some ways the more interesting of the two models, as this is the first time the smaller Mac has been offered with a Retina display. […]
As you can see, then, the iMac mostly hits the right notes, although I wish Apple were more generous with the other specs -- besides display quality and resolution, that is. The 21.5-inch version is no longer offered with discrete graphics, not even on the 4K edition, which seems like a mistake. Meanwhile, hybrid Fusion drives only come standard on machines priced from $1,999.
When four pixels are doing the work that only one used to do, the El Capitan interface really shines. Everything’s sharper. Photos look startlingly real, almost like they were printed on paper. And then there’s text, which looks razor sharp like it just rolled out of a laser printer. Even toolbars and Dock icons are more pleasant because all the on-screen graphics have added subtle details that were impossible at lower resolutions. […]
The base storage configuration of the 4K iMac is a 1TB, 5400rpm hard drive. It’s been a few years since I regularly used a Mac with a spinning disk as its primary hard drive, and man, did it feel slow. Starting up was slow. Launching apps was slow. Everything... just... took... longer. It’s disconcerting to take a brand-new, top-of-its-line Mac out of the box and be disappointed by how sluggish it feels, but that’s what I experienced, and it’s pretty much down to that slow hard drive.
Apple did change how the Fusion Drive works in 2015. To allow for a lower-cost Fusion Drive option, Apple paired a 1TB hard drive with a 24GB SSD. In the past, the 1TB Fusion Drive matched a 1TB standard hard drive with a 128GB SSD. Now, if you want the 128GB SSD, you'll need to have a 2TB or 3TB Fusion Drive offering.
The upside of the new Fusion Drive configuration is that it makes the feature — and its faster response times — affordable for anyone. The downside is you don't see speed improvements of documents and apps offloaded to the SSD as much because the cache is smaller.
It’s not just about resolution though. The new iMac screens can show color better too. […]
But the average person probably won’t notice. I had to look at side-by-side comparisons to really see what has changed. This feature is better for photo and video professionals, not necessarily regular users who just want to do some light editing of photos they took with their iPhone. Just know that you’re getting a really nice screen and that Apple took the extra step to make sure it keeps getting better. Nothing wrong with that.
When you look at these new iMac screens, reds and greens in particular look brighter or more vibrant, like somebody cranked up the saturation dial to 11. With 25% more colors to work with, there’s also more detail because the monitors aren’t eliminating certain hues.
With an old and new iMac side by side, I could spot the difference on some photos, but not all. One problem is that many of our photos—including ones taken with the latest iPhone 6s—are saved in a reduced color palette called sRGB. To take advantage of the new screens, you need images or video saved in a format called DCI-P3. (Not coincidentally, the Mac’s Photos app can now save to that format, but you’ll have to start with high-quality images, like from a DSLR.) […]
Amid this flurry of iMac improvements, two mysteries remain. First, amid the rabbit warren of ports at the back of the iMac, Apple didn’t include a port called USB Type-C—used on the new MacBook laptop (with some controversy) for charging and input alike. Not including USB Type-C on the iMac sends an odd message about Apple’s commitment to that burgeoning standard.
Magic Keyboard, Mouse 2 and Trackpad 2:
I haven’t had a chance to test how long the batteries last, but Apple reports all three can go for about month on a single charge, and the mouse can give you a nine-hour day’s worth of pointing and clicking with a two-minute charge.
Apple's new 4K and 5K iMacs, Magic Keyboard, Magic Mouse 2 and Magic Trackpad 2 are available today.
Along with the release of the new line of iMacs, Apple also announced an update for iMovie, going live today. The new 10.1 version of the video editing software introduces 4K video editing along with 1080p HD video that runs at 60 frames per second "for smoother, more true-to-life action."
What's New in Version 10.1 • Create and share movies at stunning 4K resolution (3840 x 2160) on compatible Mac computers (1) • Create and share movies with 1080p HD video at 60 frames per second for smoother, more true-to-life action • Import movies and trailers from iMovie for iOS (version 2.2 and later), so you can start editing on an iOS device and finish on your Mac • Redesigned Media view lets you see more of your library while browsing videos and photos • Projects view makes it easy to find and open your movies and trailers • Tabs in the Browser give you faster access to titles, backgrounds, transitions, and music while editing a movie • Option to hide Browser while editing a movie • 10 additional video filters from iMovie for iOS • View pixel-for-pixel 4K video while editing a movie on iMac with Retina 5K display
Elsewhere, the 10.1 iMovie update introduces a handful of minor overhauls to the user experience, including a redesigned media browser, a new Projects view, and the ability to start editing on iMovie for iOS and continue the same project on an iMac. Those interested in iMovie can download the app for $14.99 from the Mac App Store [Direct Link].
Apple today announced that it has updated its iMac lineup, introducing new 21.5-inch iMac with Retina 4K Display and 27-inch iMac with Retina 5K Display models.
The all-new desktop computers feature faster processors and graphics, two Thunderbolt 2 ports and up to 2TB of Fusion Drive storage for stock configurations. The 4K 21.5-inch iMac has a 3.1GHz Core i7 Broadwell processor and integrated Intel Iris Pro Graphics 6200, while the 5K 27-inch iMacs have 3.2GHz to 3.3GHz Core i5 and i7 Skylake processors and dedicated AMD Radeon R9 GPUs.
“From the first iMac to today, the spirit of iMac has never wavered — deliver the ultimate desktop experience with the latest technologies, gorgeous displays and cutting-edge designs,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “These are the most stunning iMacs we’ve ever made. With our gorgeous new Retina displays, more powerful processors and graphics and all-new Magic accessories, the new iMac continues to redefine the ultimate desktop experience.”
Apple has also launched all-new Magic accessories, including the Magic Keyboard, Magic Mouse 2 and Magic Trackpad 2.
The new Magic Keyboard, $99, features Bluetooth for wireless connectivity and a built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery that charges fully in about two hours using a Lightning to USB cable. The redesigned keyboard has a reengineered scissor mechanism with 33% more key stability and a lower profile for more precise and comfortable typing.
The new Magic Trackpad 2, $129, features Force Touch and a larger edge-to-edge glass design with 29% more surface area. The new Magic Mouse 2, $79, also has a built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery and redesigned internal structure that includes fewer moving parts. The trio of new wireless accessories are available through Apple and resellers today.
The new 4K 21.5-inch and 5K 27-inch iMac are available today through the Apple Store, Apple Online Store and select authorized resellers, with pricing starting at $1,499 and $1,799 respectively. Apple will also continue selling the non-Retina 21.5-inch iMac in two models starting at $1,099 and $1,299.
The new iMacs include a Magic Keyboard and Magic Mouse 2 in the box.
The U.S. Justice Department yesterday recommended that the court-appointed monitor placed on Apple during the price-fixing e-book case that began two years ago does not need to be extended (via Bloomberg). The Justice Department said that it's largely satisfied with Apple's response of reforms and compliance with the antitrust laws, even though it believes the Cupertino-based company had internal fights with the monitor assigned to them -- Michael Bromwich -- to ensure the sale of e-books went as the court appointed.
The government on Monday recommended that the monitoring not be extended. In a letter to the Manhattan federal judge who found in 2013 that Apple illegally conspired with publishers to set e-book prices, the U.S. said Apple has “now implemented meaningful antitrust policies, procedures, and training programs that were obviously lacking at the time Apple participated in and facilitated the horizontal price-fixing conspiracy found by this court.”
Apple admitted that the interactions between the company and its monitor were "rocky at times," but disagreed with the Justice Department's claim of being uncooperative. Apple ultimately feels committed to seeing the case through to the end, stating in a joint letter to U.S. District Judge Denise Cote that “Over the past two years, Apple has developed and implemented a comprehensive, engaging, and effective antitrust compliance program.”
Apple in May lost its legal challenge to the appointment of monitor Michael Bromwich, a former Justice Department inspector general. The relationship between Apple and Bromwich was contentious from the start, with Apple claiming the monitor asked prematurely to interview Apple directors and submitted excessive bills. Bromwich complained of foot-dragging and lack of cooperation from Apple executives.
The case began back in 2013, when a court ruled that Apple conspired to artificially inflate e-book prices on its own iBooks store, with an estimated $500 million fine. The most recent development in the trial came in June, when Apple lost an appeal it filed last December and was fined a total of $450 million by federal judge Debra Ann Livingston.
Last week Apple addressed concerns over battery life discrepancies between the TSMC and Samsung A9 chips used in the iPhone 6s and the 6s Plus, suggesting a real world battery life difference of only two to three percent between the chips despite Geekbench battery tests that had pointed towards a bigger gap.
Ars Technica has now conducted controlled battery life tests on two iPhone 6s models, one with a TSMC chip and one with a Samsung chip, and its findings line up with Apple's statement. The site used two AT&T models, both with SIM cards removed and screen brightness set at the exact same level.
In Wi-Fi browsing, WebGL, and GFXBench tests, there were performance differences mostly in favor of the TSMC iPhone, but the variation between the two phones was slight. There was a more significant performance difference on the Geekbench 3 test, but as has been covered earlier, that test is not reflective of real world usage.
Aside from the Geekbench test, which saw a battery life difference of 28 percent between the two devices, the TSMC iPhone and the Samsung iPhone scored within two to three percent of each other. In Ars' opinion, in the real world, there's going to be little difference between a Samsung iPhone and a TSMC iPhone.
So there are definitely circumstances under which the TSMC phone will last longer than the Samsung phone, but it's not a universal problem. A Samsung chip that's mostly idling or even one under modest CPU and GPU load, though, is going to behave in just about the same way as a TSMC chip. And the kinds of CPU-intensive work that the Samsung chip seems to struggle with just aren't that common on smartphones. Most of the time, iPhone 6S battery life should be similar no matter which chip your phone is using.
According to Apple, the comparison of just two devices is too small of a sample size to make meaningful predictions about the performance between iPhones with Samsung chips and those with TSMC chips. As Ars points out, no one but Apple has the resources to collect enough data from enough devices to get an accurate picture of performance.
Ars Technica's findings do line up with what Apple says it has seen in both lab testing and data gathered from hundreds of thousands of customers. Apple has said the variation between the TSMC and Samsung chips it has observed is "well within its manufacturing tolerances" and is a level of variation that can be seen between devices that have the same chip.
SAP and the One4 Project today announced a partnership with the band Imagine Dragons and Apple that aims to provide support to the UN Refugee Agency as it addresses the refugee displacement crises occurring in Europe (via Forbes). The new single by the band, called "I Was Me," is out now on iTunes for $1.29, and both Imagine Dragons and Apple have confirmed that all proceeds from its sales will go toward relief efforts.
SAP, the corporation supporting One4, has also announced it will donate 10 cents for each of the first five million purchases of the new single. Each member of the project hopes the funds not only aid in providing relief for the refugee crises, but bring the international issue into the public eye.
Apple has already been supporting the relief efforts, opening up iTunes Store donations to the American Red Cross last month to help those displaced from their homes due to violence and forced to migrate across the Mediterranean Sea and into Europe. Those interested in supporting the cause can purchase "I Was Me" on iTunes right now.
Note: Due to the nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.
Apple today seeded the fifth beta of iOS 9.1 to registered developers and public beta testers for testing purposes, one week after seeding the fourth iOS 9.1 beta and two weeks after releasing iOS 9.0.2, the second minor bug fix update to iOS.
The new iOS 9.1 beta, build 13B137 (13B5137 for public testers), is available as an over-the-air update and through Apple's Developer Center. There's a second build, 13B139 (13B5139 for public testers), that's unique to the newly released iPhone 6s and 6s Plus.
iOS 9.1 offers new features and compatibility updates for upcoming Apple products like the new fourth-generation Apple TV and the 12.9-inch iPad Pro. The iPad Pro ships with two accessories, the Smart Keyboard and the Apple Pencil, both of which are deeply integrated into the operating system.
The update includes Unicode 8, adding support for emoji like the taco, burrito, cheese wedge, middle finger, unicorn head, and more, along with a new Messages option in the Settings app, allowing users to disable photos for their contacts.
It is not yet known when iOS 9.1 will be released to the public, but it's likely it will come in late October, coinciding with the launch of the new Apple TV. iOS 9.1 is required for setting up the new Apple TV through an iOS device.
Last year, popular accessory company Sanho and its HYPER brand launched the iStick, a flash drive with both USB and Lightning connectors to make it easy to transfer files between iOS devices and computers. A Kickstarter campaign for the iStick raised over $1.1 million, with the device coming in capacities ranging from 8 GB to 128 GB.
Building on the success of the iStick, HYPER by Sanho has worked with Taiwanese firm iCirround to bring a next-generation version, the MFi-certified iShowFast, to the United States. By upgrading the USB connectivity to USB 3.0, the iShowFast is up to 14 times faster than the iStick and SanDisk's similar iXpand flash drives, offering read speeds of up to 140 MB/second over USB and 30 MB/second over Lightning.
As it has done with a number of its other products, HYPER by Sanho is launching iShowFast via an Indiegogo campaign, but backers shouldn't expect an extended production timeline with potential stumbling blocks pushing delivery out even further than anticipated. iShowFast is already in production and ready to go, with HYPER by Sanho set to start shipping orders out as soon as the $50,000 Indiegogo campaign ends next month.
We've had a few days to play with an iShowFast stick, and while it's a pretty straightforward product that operates essentially identically to the iStick, it was good to see the device is indeed ready for launch in its retail packaging and to be able to try it out with its companion app for managing files on iOS devices.
India-based consumer electronics chain Croma has announced a new partnership with Apple to introduce a few store-within-a-store locations in the country. Croma will host the Cupertino-based company's products at six of its retail locations as a test for the partnership, with hope to expand in the future (via The Economic Times).
"We are proud to partner Apple to launch the Apple Store in India and extremely bullish about it," said Avijit Mitra, chief executive officer of Infiniti Retail, which owns Croma. "These stores will be modeled on the global design and will offer the best experience to consumers, showcasing the entire range of Apple products."
Five of the Croma locations introducing Apple support will be in Malad, Juhu, Oberoi Mall, Phoenix Mall and Ghatkopar, all located in Mumbai. The sixth, in the city of Bangalore, will be found at the Croma location in Jayanagar. All of the locations are expected to open by November 11 and will be between 400 and 500 square feet in size.
Due to India's strict real estate investment laws for foreign companies, Apple has yet to build one of its own full retail stores in the country, so the Croma partnership gives it a good opportunity to get a foothold in India's retail space without needing to build an entire location of its own. Apple CEO Tim Cook recently discussed expansion possibilities with India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, including new manufacturing plants, Apple Pay, and the upcoming release of the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus in the country, on October 16.
Only a limited number of fans have been able to see Steve Jobs over the weekend, thanks to its initial small scale release in only Los Angeles and New York on October 9. Despite that limited run, the Danny Boyle-directed film has debuted with impressive numbers, making $521,000 in its first weekend with a per-theater average of $130,250 (via Variety).
Although those numbers landed the movie well below any top-earning spot for the weekend box office at large (it placed sixteenth overall), that per-theater average places Steve Jobs as the fifteenth highest PTA figure in film history. As the rollout for the film expands -- 25 new markets and 60 theaters on October 16, and then 2,000 theaters on October 23 -- Universal has doubled down on its release strategy, believing the slow trickle to wide release will help generate positive word of mouth.
“By holding back and platforming it in this way, we let the public know what this movie is all about and we generate a hotter ‘want to see’ among audiences,” said Nick Carpou, head of Universal’s domestic distribution operation.
Universal hopes these limited release numbers translate into bigger returns when Steve Jobs debuts in wide release next weekend, aiming for a similar trajectory as The Social Network's $97 million overall domestic haul. Current analysts predict at least a $20 million opening wide release weekend for the new film, pointing to the ubiquity of Apple products, largely positive early reviews, and the audience's hunt for "prestige movies" at this time of year as the main factors for its potential success.
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The U.S. Justice Department yesterday recommended that the court-appointed monitor placed on Apple during the price-fixing e-book case that began two years ago does not need to be extended (via 
