Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Outdoor Tech Chips Helmet Headphone


Outdoor
Outdoor Tech Chips Headphones – Reliable & Durable/Easy Controlling

An updated version of a well-designed simple solution in is the offering for enhanced wireless connectivity to your helmet, which could be helpful for snowboarders and skiers interested in listening to music and stay connected during their expedition on the mountain. The new invention has been designed for winter mountain sports wherein the Outdoor Tech Chips are compatible on any helmet which features an audio enabled liner while the headset are compatible with Siri.

 It features an integrated microphone for the purpose of dictating commands as well as making calls. Both the left as well as the right earpieces of the Chips headphones are essentially giant buttons and one cannot miss them while pressing on them even if one is warmed up with ski gloves. This season, the Outdoor Tech Chips had been tested by AppleInsider on a ski trip to Utah which was very impressive. Though a bit higher on the cost, the headphones tend to be reliable and durable with an easy of controlling the iPhone without the need of taking it out of the pocket or even exposing the hands in the cold mountain air.

Simple Design – Two Earpieces/Flat Cord – Giro Helmet

It features a simple design comprising of two ear pieces having a flat cord which connects the two and fits perfectly in a Giro helmet. It also has additional cord to provide free space ensuring that the ear pieces are located in a proper position. Once the same is dropped in the helmet and placed on the head, the button on the left has the capabilities of controlling the volume while the button of the right earpiece could be used to play or pause the music or answer call and hang up.

It is easy to press on the ear to activate these if the helmet tends to have soft ear-pads with space for headphones. The two buttons come with a little bit of learning curve, typical for Bluetooth headphones and on the left ear, it could press the button once to increase the volume while a double press could decrease the volume. This system works well when the need to lower the volume is to be done quickly since multiple presses could reduce the volume.

Best of Both – Personal Audio Choices

With regards to the right ear, on holding down the button it turns on the unit and a one press will start the music while another tends to pause it. If a call comes in, one press can answer the call and another will hang up. The use of both buttons is essential for activating Siri by pressing and holding the left button and then pressing the right button for Apple’s voice driven personal assistant. The Chips also tend to feature a headphone jack in particularly welcome inclusion in order that they could be used as wired to iPhone or otherwise according to one’s choice.

Thus the Chips provide the best of both for personal audio choices. Moreover the 3.5 mm headphone jack also serves as the charging port; where for recharging the Chips, it needs a unique headphone to USB cable.With regard to the sounds, the Chips are quite audible and can be heard even while flying down the mountain, though users are cautioned to listen to the music at reasonable level keeping in mind the surrounding on the mountain which is a matter of importance with regards to safety.

Friday, March 6, 2015

Apple Researching Device Waterproofing


Apple
Waterproofing – Future iDevices 

It was revealed that Apple has been researching on various ways to successfully waterproof the future iDevices somewhere in March 2012 where a silicon rubber seal was discovered. In 2013 the company revealed another creation related to waterproofing, using nano coatings.

Apple was granted the patent for waterproofing in 2014 which covered the use of glass filled nylon and today a new waterproof patent application from Apple was published by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office covering the use of a hydrophobic conformal coating designed to increase moisture resistance of electrical components, a feature which at times is attributed to active smartphone models that are marketed by competing manufacturers of smartphones.

Apple’s filing, as published by U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for `Methods for shielding electronic components from moisture indicates a process for covering sensitive device components with the use of advanced vapour deposition technology together with protecting solder leads with silicone seals.

Devices not adequately Sealed/Mitigating Water Entry

In the present scenario, electronic devices have been taking priorities in the daily performances with the majority of the people relying on these devices for every function and carrying them along to locations where there could be instances of damages one of which could be damage through excess moisture especially during the monsoon season.

Most of these devices are not adequately sealed and could have chances of mitigating water entry through the openings which do not have a protective case to protect the device. The focus of Apple is in improving the moisture resistance of an assembled printed circuit board wherein in one embodiment, a system is set for applying a hydrophobic conformal coating to a printed circuit board or PCB.

This could include a way of depositing a hydrophobic conformal coating over an exterior surface of the electromagnetic interference –EMO shield together with the PCB by chemical vapour deposition – CVD operation. The EMI shield could also have openings on top of an electrical component over the PCB and thus the hydrophobic conformal coating could move through the openings to be received by the electrical component.

Hydrophobic Seal Around Electrical Connector 

Apple has come up with a method in creating a hydrophobic seal around an electrical connector on PCB which includes a way of configuring a silicone seal over the PCB in order to frame the electrical connector on the PCB so that the silicone seals shields a soldered part of the electrical connector. Besides this, the silicone seal also has an opening for the electrical connection placed inside.

As per the application it states that the layer could be in the thickness of one and ten microns, an advantage for small form factor portable devices with less internal space. It is yet unclear whether Apple would be employing a more aggressive moisture protection for future iDevices though as the company moves in the direction of wearable devices with the Apple Watch, users would be expecting some amount of waterproofing from the devices.

As CEO Tim has revealed recently that the Apple Watch has been designed with the least minimal level of splash resistance, it could be worn even at the time of taking a shower.

Wednesday, March 4, 2015

How to Transfer Any Media File to Your iOS Device



iOS
Waltr – New Mac App - Softorino

More progress and headway in technology has given rise to the use of Mac app Waltr wherein the user can now transfer any form of video or music file to an iOS device without the use of another iOS app. Waltr is a new Mac app from Softorino whichhas been designed for easy upload and conversion of any music or video file to an iPad or an iPhone format for the purpose of native playback that supports a large options of media file forms.

 This includes MP3, MP4, AVI, WMA, CUE, M4R, M4V, AAC, FLAC, ALAC, KUV and much more. It also lends support to file type which is not usually compatible with iOS4 and includes AVI, MKV, FLAC and CUE and these could be played in native Movie as well as Music apps on iOS. Operating Waltr is easy and simple.

On closing iTunes the user could plug on to the iPhone or iPad in a Mac and then open the Waltr app where the iOS device along with its storage space which is available is portrayed at the top of the app wherein files could be dragged over to the blank space in the app to be transferred to the iOS device. As soon as the file is dragged and placed in the Waltr app, the upload gets started most of which is very quick, probably a few seconds.

App - Possibility of Transferring any Form of Video/Audio File

When the file has been transferred to the iPad or the iPhone, it can be accessed in the native Music or Movies app on the device. The overall Waltr process is quite simpler than converting through a separate app and then again uploading through iTunes.

Waltr is an amazing app with the possibility of transferring any form of video or audio file irrespective of its format to an iOS device having playback of the file in Apple’s Video and Music apps when compared to similar apps which may need the installation of a companion iOS app on a device, it has limitation to access of files within the app – and limiting access to features in some cases like AirPlay.

Result of Technique Used – No Quality Loss

On completing the download of the app, the user is then asked to disable iTunes’ automatic sync feature and once done the only thing needed is to get connected to the iOS device to Mac through USB. Thereafter, the drag and drop approach is taken by Waltr in order to transfer the content to the iPhone of iPad and on dropping a file, irrespective of its format, the Waltr app makes the file compatible with iOS and then uploads the same to the device.

Assurance has been provided by the marketing manager, Josh Brown, that the results of the technique used by the company, is no quality loss. Waltr is now made available as an online download for OA X 10.9 or new with a free trial of 14 days and thereafter it will prompt the user to purchase a license for an amount of $29.99. Users of Windows could sign up for an opportunity to take part in the beta of Waltr for Windows.

Saturday, February 28, 2015

Three Tips to Get You Started With Workflow 1.1


workflow
Workflow Update with New Features & Actions

The most popular iOS automation app has a large update with new added features and actions and Workflow is an app which is used first on startingan iOS device. The latest update to Workflow has the addition of new features and actions which has enhanced the app in the most amazing way. With over fifty new actions, improvement are being made to the earlier existing action though missing out from the app’s offer is the capabilities toback up and sync action utilising iCloud.

Favorite an Action

At the time of building workflows, one tends to access the same action often and the search bar provides an easy and quick option to locate an action and with the latest updates, one can have favorite action to access with ease. On tapping on an action in the editor it will indicate its description together with a button to favorite it and after adding an action to the favorites, one could tap on the Favorites option in the editor for the purpose of easy access.

Run Workflow from Main Grid

Earlier version of the Workflow needed to launch the app, by tapping on the workflow and then tap on the play button in order to run a workflow in the app. The process of running a workflow from the main grid is a simple asdouble tap on a workflow’s icon in the latest update.

Duplicate Workflows

According to some, one of the favorite things about Workflow is the community of users who tend to share a variety of workflows together with ideas though not every workflow which is created and shared could fit the exact needs. For instance, customizing a workflow could mean tampering with a copy of the workflow which works. On tapping and holding on any workflow in the main screen till it is highlighted where in the top right corner of the screen a duplication icon will appear. This will enable the user to make changes to any workflow without any cause for worry about ruining on the work already available on the workflow.

New Features 

These tips are just scratching the surface to what has been added to Workflow 1.1 though they seem to be more than enough for getting started with this new feature. The new feature includes –quickly running workflows from My Workflow by double tapping on them, use of selected text from Safari as input to action extension workflow, actions to filter and obtain details of all the content on the device, duplicate workflow to make own versions, create custom home screen icon for workflow utilising photos from one’s library, access for VoiceOver users, added apps section for easy discovery of action which interacts with other apps, added ability to mark actions as favourite to use them quickly later on, improved Workflow URL scheme and improved overall responsiveness, launch time and speed.

Bug Fixes

Noteworthy bug fixes include - decimal numbers can correctly be handled in international locales, issue can be fixed where action extensions that cause a workflow to be emptied of its action, issue can be fixed where action could disappear while scrolling through long workflows, when importing workflows, prevailing workflows with same name are not overwritten, keyboards provide `Done’ buttons for easy dismissal, special characters in workflow names are not handled properly, imported workflows ask for user permission prior to running for the first time, app badge is removed to reduce confusion, issue is fixed where output of a workflow would not be displayed and much more.

Thursday, February 26, 2015

Apple Patent Outlines Mobile App Data Sharing and Collaboration Over Facetime


Apple_Patent
Apple’s U.S. Patent for `Interactive Application Sharing’

Though screen sharing for collaboration is a popular function on desktops, it is yet to make its way to mobile devices and as assigned by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Apple’s U.S. Patent for `Interactive application sharing’, comprises of provisions which enables multiple users in sharing as well as collaborating on project in app such as Google’s Web based productivity services.

Apple is making headway in video conferencing capabilities though making it a more personal collaboration tool. Apple’s patent indicates that the company is working towards a new screen and data sharing method for iPad and iPhones. The patent outlines a method wherein several users could share their screens as well as app data while working on iOS devices.

It was acknowledged by Apple that the users of iPhone and iPads have been sharing data and states that the existing solution like sharing of documents by email would not be efficient and the company has come up with a system which enables users to share document data in a common app in real time on several iOS devices in some cases with media and screen sharing or live video as well.

Interactive Application Sharing 

As per Apple’s invention, the user initiates a collaboration session with at least another device which accepts the wireless connection and the initiating device could host the session with screen as well as data updates to the second device across a suitable wireless communication The system enables interactive application sharing that transfers specific app data to and fro across an established wireless bridge where a standard user interface is not described.

 The Patent indicates app data can be overlaid over a FaceTime image and vice versa. The video feed in some instances could serve as a background for the iOS Spring-Board before the selection of a common app for sharing. An illustration indicates what appears to be a mother reading `Winnie the Pooh’ to their child from what is presumed to be a remote location, though no mention is made in the document text and the scene is a reminder of Apple’s fire FaceTime TV commercials which attempted the ability to connect remotely to family from a distant.

Security – Set Privacy Designators – Private/Public

Users could opt to share data in some embodiments, only when another option of communication takes place between two devices such as a host device could opt to limit data sharing to FaceTime calls, a protocol which needs adequate bandwidth capacity. For the purpose of security, users could set privacy designators to indicate data as private or public.

Moreover the user could also choose to share available times with another user while leaving event specifics, concealed. Rest of the patent provides detail pertaining to the proposed system’s user interface, communication backend and operating workflow, besides other details.

FaceTime collaboration Patent of Apple was filed first in January 2012 and credits go to Brandon Joseph Kieft and Catherine Rose Grevet as its inventors. It is unclear whether Apple has intentions of bringing the version of present day’s invention to market though competitors such as Google are already striving on similar technology of real time collaboration.