Apple’s Survey App Helps Venues Easily Create Indoor Maps

Apple’s Dedicated Indoor Positioning App - iOS

Apple had now launched a dedicated indoor positioning app on iOS, enabling business holders to map out their venues by utilising their iPhones. The Indoor Survey App was first noticed on the App Store by Steve Troughton-Smith, a developer and though it did not appear in search, it is effortlessly accessible through a direct link.

The app had been updated on October 27 and hence it had been on the App Store for a week before anyone had discovered it. Its description stated that an iOS 9 would be needed or later with iPhone, iPad and iPod touch compatibility together with an 18MB download size. Description on iTunes reads thus `enable indoor positioning within a venue using the Indoor Survey App.

By dropping points on a map within the Survey App, you indicate your position within the venue as you walk through and as you do, the Indoor Survey App measures the radio frequency – RF signal data combining it with an iPhone’s sensor data’.

 Apple had been building up its indoor mapping tools for a year now in silence. It had introduced iBeacons in 2013, small Bluetooth transmitters, which retailers as well as venue owners could utilise in delivering location specific notifications and alerts.

Mixture of Wi-Fi & Radio Signals – Track Positions

In the iOS 8 update last year, Apple had given the developers access to more comprehensible location data using the iPhone’s indication coprocessor. As noted by Apple Insider, the Indoor Survey App utilises a mixture of Wi-Fi and radio signals in order to track positions, like the technology created by Silicon Valley start-up,WiFiSLAM that was purchased by Apple in 2013, at a price of $20 million.

Apple had also launched in October, the Apple Maps Connect that invited business owners to submit their indoor mapping information. Though this was not for small corner shops, Apple specified that participating venues should be accessible to the general public offering Wi-Fi connectivity throughout and drawing over one million visitors yearly.

According to a report from 9to5Mac, indoor position, as of June last year was added to locations which comprised of the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco and the Mineta San Jose International Airport. There is a possibility that the Indoor Survey App could be beneficial in extending this availability and make it easy as App Store descriptions notes for venue holders to gather data without installing any special hardware.

Maps Connect

Apple’s mapping attempts was something that was needed in the past and the company had apologized for moving from Google Maps with iOS 6 in 2012. Since the failure, Apple had made several attempts in improving the quality of its maps and had launched the Maps Connect urging small businesses to improve their Maps selecting public venues with more than one million yearly visitors.

With iOS 9, Apple had extended its map offerings including transit directions and like the Indoor Survey tends to include navigation options for indoor locations. The company has made a limited quantity of iPhone apps available through its App Store and had only 16 apps shown on the store page at the time of writing.

Apple seems to have a history of bundling apps together with stock iOS should it feel that the functionality is crucial to a core iOS involvement. This had led to some complaints stating that the basic OS has too many additions.

Apple Updates iMacs with 4K and 5K Retina Displays

iMac Range – Latest Retina Display/Force Touch Capabilities

The iMac range with latest Retina displays as well as Force Touch capabilities has been updated by Apple due to its new line of wireless accessories. For the first time the standard iMac of 21.5 inch now tend to feature a Retina 4K displaywhile the 27 inch range is updated to sport Retina 5K displays.

Three wireless accessories had been released by the company, namely the Magic Keyboard, Magic Mouse 2 and Magic Trackpad 2. This was to bring its Force Touch technology to the desktop models. All three models tend to have rechargeable batteries with each new iMac would come with new Magic Keyboard together with Magic Mouse 2 as standard while the Magic Trackpad 2 would be sold separately. The new Retina displays would make photos and videos much more immersive and true-to-life due to its colour range as well as outstanding image quality.

The iMacs also features more commanding processors and graphics, with two Thunderbolt® 2 ports accompanied with new storage options which make the high performance Fusion Drive affordable. Philip Schiller, Senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing for Apple has commented that `for the first iMac till day, the spirit of iMac has not faltered, delivering the ultimate desktop experience with the latest technologies, gorgeous displays and cutting edge designs’.

Text Sharper/Videos Lifelike

He further added that `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. The text looks sharper than ever, with retina displays and the videos appear lifelike and one gets to view new levels of details in photos.

The 21.5 inch iMac is made available with all new Retina 4K display comprising of 4096 x 2304 resolution and 9.4 million pixels, which is 4.5 times more than the standard 21.5 inch iMac display. Each 27 inch iMac comprising of a Retina 5K display which, isthe highest resolution all-in-one display has 14.7 million pixels, which is 7 times more than an HD display. The Retina display on the 21.5 inch iMac and each 27 inch iMac, the iMac with Retina display is now much more affordable.

Wider P3 Based Colour Range

Moreover the new Retina displays tend to feature a wider choice of colour range which brings about brilliance and true to life colours to the desktop. The 5K and 4K Retina displays has a wider P3-based colour range providing a 25% larger colour space with more available colours where the images are more intense exposing great details.

The latest 27 inch iMac together with Retina 5K display tends to come with sixth generation Intel Core processors and the new AMD high performance graphics delivering around 3.7 teraflops of compute power. The new 21.5 inch iMac having Retina 4K display comprises a fifth generation Intel Core processor with improved Intel Iris Pro Graphics.

Two Thunderbolt 2 ports which are standard on all iMac tend to deliver around 20Gbps data transfer speed for external drives with great performance peripherals with three streams 802.11ac Wi-Fi enables iMac to support around 1.3Gbps wireless networking. The new Magic Keyboard, Magic Mouse 2 together with Magic Trackpad 2 seems to be more comfortable, proficient and environment friendly.

iCar Release Date Rumours

Apple Developing Electric iCar – Project Titan

Reports reveal that Apple is developing an electric iCar to compete with Tesla. It has been reported that Apple is negotiating with BMW and rustling Samsung employees, particularly battery specialist and reassigning many of the staff for its Project Titan.

There have been several reports since February that Apple has been working on a car which would give Tesla a run for its money, after an Apple employee had been informed by Business Insider having knowledge on the subject. This was related to the sightings of cars arrayed with sensors/cameras, registered to Apple.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the iCar project has been dubbed `Titan’, which initially stated that there were many hundred, Apple employees operating on the project. This has been backed by new report, claiming that the iCar would be released in 2019, will not be fully autonomous but will be fully electric with a few smart features like it would be complete with emergency braking, cruise control which will handle the accelerator and breaks on motorways and in traffic together with automatic lane changing system which will be activated by a flick of the indicator stalk.

iPhone Experience to Vehicle Through CarPlay

Tim Cook, CEO of Apple while speaking at Wall Street Journal’s WSJDLive conference at The Montage resort in Laguna Beach, California stated that the automotive industry seems to be close to massive change.

However, he refrained from commenting on whether Apple would lead part of the change which Cook forecasts would be seeing users move away from internal combustion engines to electrification. At the conference, Cook mentioned that itseems like there would be massive change in that industry. One may not agree with that but that seemed to be his belief.

This was followed by his refusal to respond to reports of Apple’s development of an electric car to be on sale by 2019. Instead he informed that the company has been working to bring the iPhone experience to the vehicle through CarPlay, Apple’s in-dash system which tends to permit users in accessing their iTunes music collections together with driving directions with the requirements of operating phones. According to the Guardian, Project Titan seems to be on its way, with the newspaper reporting that Apple has already developed its self-driving car and is need of testing.

Apple Interested in Carbon Fibre Reinforced BMW i3 Electric Vehicle

In contrast to several car makers like Google and Tesla, which are testing their self-driving cars on public road, Apple is keen on keeping a low profile. This indicates that the company is in need of some secured doors behind which it could test its private project.

Several outlets have revealed that Apple and the German automaker BMW have been coordinating with one another with Reuters reporting that Apple important person together with Tim Cook have been visiting BMW production facility in Leipzig.

Apple, in particular had been interested in the carbon fibre reinforced BMW i3 electric vehicle which was reported as the most energy efficient car in the US and is believed that the i3 would form the basis of the rumoured iCar, It has been further claimed that negotiations had started in autumn of 2014 between Apple and BMW and are now approaching a final deal. But it is worth mentioning that BMW had been the first carmaker to incorporate iPod facilities in its vehicles and it is entirely possible that Apple is simply looking to secure an agreement with the German company to move its CarPay project ahead.

Access Apple's Find My Friends app on iCloud.com

Apple’s Find My Friends App to Trace Friends/Family Members

Apple has recently added Find My Friends, its iOS utilised to trace friends and family members. Find My Friends service of Apple can now be accessed from any mobile device inclusive of Windows PC due to its debut on the iCloud.com portico. Initially spotted by 9to5Mac, this addition brings the feature to the computers for the first time.

Though for years, the Find My iPhone service was available from iCloud.com, Find My Friends tends to be limited to an iOS app. Find My Friends, also came to the Mac through a widget built in to OS X 10.11 El Captain, last month. However, users preferring to acess the Find My Friends service without the iPhone, iPad or a Mac will be unable to do so till the update.

Activating this service needs an iPhone or iPad that enables the service to track user’s current locations. The opt-in social networking feature permits friends to share their precise location on a map. Earlier in the year, Find my Friends and Find My iPhone became a more predominant part of Apple ecosystem when had become inborn, pre-installed apps on iOS 9. Formerly, to download the software, user had to access the iOS App Store.

Missing Potential to Set Alert/Edit Friends

Apple has included the find My Friends app in the operating system with the release of iOS 9, instead of making it an optional install as done in the past. With the addition of Find My Friends to iCloud.com, there is a possibility of gathering more information about friends’ locations from Mac as well as Windows. In order to view the location of your friends, users could visit Apple’s iCloud website and sign in with an Apple ID and when logged in, could locate and click on familiar Find My Friends app icon. List of friends tend to be displayed towards the left of the page with a map on the right. You could click on a friend in order to view their exact location. General functions are somewhat limited in comparison with the iOS app, but particularly missing the potential to set alert or edit friends.

Pre-Installed on Every iOS Device

Find My Friends links Find My iPhone together with many other iCloud apps which include Calendar, Contact,Mail, Photos, Notes, Reminders, iCloud Drive as well as the iWork suite of apps. The addition of Find My Friends to iCloud.com comes following its promotion to a default app in iOS 9 meaning that it comes pre-installed on every iOS device which cannot be removed. However, the app can be hidden though not totally removed from the device. The iOS 9 also comprise of a Find My Friends widget to equal the OS X Notification Centre widget but there is no dedicated, standalone Find My Friends app for OS X.

Consumers may tend to have different views regarding `Find my Friends’ app where some may consider it helpful and practical while others may find it disturbing. In any case, users will not be included to the app without their consent. Once you choose it, you will be included on the Apple map. A positive aspect of the app is for parents with the ability of tracking their children’s locations without the need of texting them.

Apple Clarifies How Wi-Fi Assist Works in Wake of Claims it Eats through Your Data

Apple’s Latest Mobile Operating System – W-Fi Assist

A new page has been created by Apple’s website clarifying that iOS 9’s Wi-Fi Assist should not show a substantial drain on data allowances. Presented by Apple, in the latest mobile operating system in mid-September, Wi-Fi Assist is one of the efforts to keep Internet connection alive when Wi-Fi coverage seems to be poor.

By default, the feature tends to switch to a cellar connection when it senses weak Wi-Fi signal. The company has explained the ins and outs of the feature wherein it claims that it should affect the data usage by a minimum percentage.

The new feature had been introduced in iPhone software update iOS 9 and is developed to switch the handset connection from Wi-Fi to cellular data automatically, when in a range of poor connection.

Some users had complained that they were being tricked into using more of the data allowance than they had expected when the feature was automatically turned on and the new software had been downloaded. In some of the phone contracts since the data allowances can be low as 500MB or 1GB, having activated the feature technically, would result in higher bills for the users.

Wi-Fi Assist A Source of Debate

The new support page read - `with Wi-Fi Assist, you can stay connected to the Internet even if you have a poor Wi-Fi connection. For example, if you’re using Safari with a poor Wi-Fi connect and a webpage doesn’t load, Wi-Fi Assist will activate and automatically switch to cellular so that the webpage continues to load.

You can use Wi-Fi Assist with most apps like Safari, Apple Music, Mail, Maps and more’. Wi-Fi Assist has become a source of debate after some users expressed concern with the feature which utilises mobile data – cellular data with their knowledge. This was a matter of concern for the users whose mobile plan permits only a small amount of data like 1GB per month while others have admired the feature stating that the feature’s mobile data usage tends to be small and comes handy in area where the Wi-Fi signal tends to be poor.

Apple has explained when and how the features tend to work in About Wi-Fi Assist page recently updated stating that-

• The feature would not switch to cellular if your data roaming and so you won’t have to pay additional charges if you are out of the normal coverage area
• Wi-Fi Assist only works with apps running in the foreground and won’t download content from aps in the background
• The feature does not go into effect with certain third party apps which stream audio or video and will not download large file attachments.

Cellular Data Icon in Status Bar – iOS Device

One will get to know when Wi-Fi Assist has been activated since one will observe the cellular data icon in the status bar on the iOS device.

Apple has informed on its webpage that since one stays connected to the Internet over cellular when they have poor Wi-Fi connection, they could use more cellular data and for most users, this should only be a small percentage higher than the earlier usage.