Apple Pulls iFixit's App After it Tears Down the New Apple TV

Apple Banned iFixit Developer Account

After the announcement of Apple TV recently, Apple had provided developers with Apple TV Developers Kits for use in the creation of tvOS apps for the device. Teardown site iFixit had taken apart one of Apple TV units which was meant for the developers and had faced some consequence in doing so. The team at iFixit is learning a lesson on the importance of abiding developers’ agreements.

Apple it is said had banned iFixit developer account the repair-it-yourself outfit in violating a re-release Apple TV sent out to the developers and its terms and conditions.According to a post on the iFixit blog, the teardown that had unveiled the internal components of the new Apple TV had violated the terms and conditions of Apple resulting in iFixit’s developers account being banned resulting in the removal of the iFixit app from the App Store.

With the new Apple TV, iFixit revealed a few interesting changes, like the USB-C port towards the back, an Apple A8 processor and 2GB of Hynix RAM and 32GB on integrated storage. The power supply was changed from 1.75A at 3.4V to .917A at 12V. However the amazing part is that iFixit is of the belief that the current drawn is transmitted to the logic board through its screw terminals, eliminating a small tangle of wire.

iFixit Ignored Fine Print

Moreover, they also engaged in the 4th generation Apple TV’s new remote. The iFixit’s Apple TV unit had been sent from Apple directly with similar restrictions that were applicable to Apple TV units sent to the other developers.

However, iFixit choose to ignore the fine print. The blog post read, `we weighed the risks, blithely tossed those risks over our shoulder and tore down the Apple TV anyway. Some days later we had received an email from Apple informing that we had violated their terms and conditions and the offending developers account was said to be banned.

 However, the app of iFixit was linked to the same account and hence Apple pulled the app also. Their reasoning was that we had taken action which could have stalled the performance or intended use of the App Store, B2B Program or the Program’.

iFixit app being removed from the Apple Store is instead planning to restore its mobile website with no plans to rewrite the app. The decision to aim on the iFixit mobile site came up prior to the app being pulled by Apple and hence not a big loss to iFixit. iFixit’s Chad Wien does not seem to be upset about the app being pulled.

He stated that it was out-dated and the company would be more focused on developing their mobile website. However he seemed to be upset or confused with Apple’s reason of sending a new Apple TV to iFixit if they had no intention of tearing it down.

They presumed it to be a part of some plan marked in Cupertino or someone needed Wiens and his crew to tear down the device to get it banned. The site has informed that the app seemed to be out-dated and damaged with bugs due to iOS 9.

After the release of Apple TV Developers Kits, several other developers shared featured titbits, photos etc. regarding the device. It is not known if Apple had got in touch with the developers regarding the non-disclosure violations.

Apple Imagines Animated 3D Maps with Rippling Water, Realtime Reflections

Apple’s Patent – 3D Animated Maps

If Apple intends to opt in integrating newly patented animation technology, which could add interactive animation to water, foliage as well as other dynamic objects based on touch, motion and sound, Apple Maps would seem to be more convincing.

Apple Maps may then extent to a new level of immersion. U.S. Patent and Trademark Office recently granted Apple U.S. Patent No. 9,146,286, details techniques in enhancing three dimensional photorealist maps, like Apple Maps’ Flyover features, by allocating animation assets to specific map element.

Apple has patented a new option wherein it could use 3D touch in the near future to bring about animated maps to life. The patent explains how the Maps service would display moving water, shorelines, foliage and much more.

The patent titled `Non-static 3D map views’, describes various ways wherein a variety of elements of 3D mapping imagery can be animated. Apple describes how it could animate bodies of water, reflection on building etc. in some embodiments.

Map Element React to Sound Captured by Microphone

Apple also explains how the animations can present differently depending on different kinds of device inputs like touch, gestures, motion and audio. For example, one could be viewing a map with water which seems still but on tapping the side of the device could cause it to ripple.

 Moreover blowing into the microphone could result in rolling waves. A blow or a motion could cause the wind to move foliage and trees. To improve the illusion, water with other map assets could be animated based on motion, with waves forming whenever a user tends to shift the position, orientation or tilt the iPhone. Apple has defined a system wherein map element tend to react to sound captured by an on-board microphone.

Moreover, on treating bodies of water as light source, the building as well as the surrounding static surfaces could come alive with real time reflections. Apple has also offered foliage as a second element rime for animation together with swaying trees and leaves which are activated by gestures, motion or any other input by the user.

Functional Add-Ons – Latest Transit Navigation in iOS 9

The manuscript provides details on technical consideration and the potential rollout scenarios utilising the prevailing hardware system. Apple’s plans in implementing a comprehensive Flyover animation engine, is not clear, a process which had been partly started with moving landmarks such as London’s Big Ben clock tower together with the nearby London Eye Ferris Wheel.

Presently it seems that the Maps development team seem to be focusing on functional add-ons, which is the latest transit navigation in iOS 9.Apple had patented a new system wherein it could use 3D Touch in the future and though it has not mentioned 3D Touch specifically, it is clear how the latest technology would enable this without doing away with the traditional single tap that would prevail in being used for other things.

Apple’s animated 3D maps patents were originally filed in March 2013 and credits Patrick S. Piemonte, Erik Anders Mikaeol Adlers and Christopher Blumenberg as its inventors. Just as the other patents, it should not be considered as a guarantee of things to come. But it seems like this would be an excessive enhancement to 3D Flyover and would be great with 3D Touch.

The Apple Car cometh

Apple’s Project Titan’

Apple has been the topic of many rumours that have been circulating for most of 2015 which has been ranging from advanced high tech interior systems to Apple Car. Now six months from the several rumours with regards to Apple upcoming `Project Titan’, it looks like it is surfacing though majority of these rumours tend to be unconfirmed.

 It is said that Apple’s Titan team has numbered around 600 individuals which is sizable by most standards and if the recent rumours are to be believed, is set to triple very soon. This would be putting a lot of stress on Silicon Valley automotive engineer employment pool.

 Those availing the facilities within a short drive from Apple’s Cupertino headquarters are Ford and many others.The manufacturing plant of Tesla Motors is around 30 minutes from the Highway 880 and has been the most exposed hiring source for Apple with the founder and CEO Elon Musk.

It is said that Apple would be offering $250,000 signing bonuses to entice employees, but it’s Mercedes-Benz that offers the highest profile new hire – Johann Jungwirth. Jungwirth had earlier been the boss at Mercedes Benz Research & Development in North America researching on how to make the car find out where one intends to go, without being told.

Apple – Out-dated Human Piloted Machines

Steve Zadesky of Apple, former Ford engineer who had joined Apple in1999 is the leader of the entire Titan strength and had a big role in the launch of the original iPod and till recently had supervised the iPhone design also. Earlier rumours and reports have fixed the Apple Car as being an autonomous thing but different from Google’s self-driving machines.

With reports regarding Apple meeting with California DMV related to securing autonomous registration for a vehicle, clearly indicates the autonomous competences for the vehicle. But the recent report show that Apple would be coming up with a more out-dated human piloted machines.

The same reports fixed 2019 as the probable date for a presumed Apple Car which will be four years from now and presuming that Apple has been working on it for about a year it would fall in-line with the usual five year vehicle cycle of production.

Volvo Partially Selling autonomous Cars - 2017

It is the cycle period which is usually perceived when a developer tends to release a new version of the prevailing vehicle. For instances the new version of Porsche 911 which had been unveiled recently in Frankfurt was in development for around five years and in the grand scheme of things, it was a comparatively trivial update with new engines, new suspension tunings in addition to Apple’s CarPlay.

But the things tend to change and the Ford CTs design cycle took around 14 months, from ideation to Detroit debut. It would then be another two years thereafter before the car would be made available in the market if Apple intends to unveil the car in 2019 which is said to be greatly optimistic for a fully autonomous machine to hit the streets of America. This would aim on the need of a driver for the Apple Car though not 100% of the time. Volvo would be partially selling autonomous cars by 2017.

Apple's Rapid iOS 9 Adoption Shows the Future of IT

Apple has released the latest version of its iOS named as iOS 9 just a few days back and it has seen an incredible adoption rate, which is unbelievable in itself. Within two days of its launch, more half the iOS users have installed the new iOS 9. These numbers are only expected to rise more steeply with the retail sale of the latest iPhone 6s from the Friday. This shows that Apple is simply causing a huge upside down in the technology industry and it is on its verge to dominate with a solid grasp. Apple marketing chief, Phil Schiller went on say that it is a never seen before adoption rate for new iOS in the Apple history.

The future of technology industry in next five years

Next five years will be crucial for the Apple and with the current rise in the technology market, it is widely expected that Apple will overthrow the Windows to dominate in both consumer and enterprise sector. iOS devices are already seeing better adoption rate among the younger generation and Apple is aggressively pushing its iOS devices in the enterprise sector with an aim of boosting its overall footprint.

Apple has created a robust ecosystem for its iOS platform, which features a wide number of devices from desktops, laptops, smartphone to tablets providing an opportunity to businesses to easily migrate to iOS 9.

Apple faces competition from others but keeps expanding its ground

In the wake of Apple continuous rise Microsoft is seen changing its business strategy to appear more appealing to the consumers and enterprise alike. Google on other hand is quite limited to online sphere and relies more on the advertisements. The percentage people accessing YouTube for watching videos via mobile has increased up to 50% which is an alarming sign for Google. On other hand iOS devices like iPhone and Macs are going through a boom period as more and more people are migrating to the Apple solutions and it is not far when business will also turn towards its side.


Microsoft does have a great influence over the businesses sector with a wide adoption rate but it should be noted that current millennial are expected to take reigns in future and they are happier with Apple devices at the moment. This simply translates that in future iOS devices will easily make their move in the business sector with ease and grace.

Beyond the future prospects of Apple iOS

Apple has built a robust and giant ecosystem of interconnected devices in a steady manner. More people are eagerly upgrading to its new devices such as iPhones, Macs, iPads and also happen to adopt the new operating system version quite soon than in any other platform. This shows the consumer trust in the Apple solutions and it even reveals the digital transformation, which it is carrying out in technology market.

iOS has kept the security and privacy at its heart which ensures high quality remarkable products which are not so prone to hacks than other devices. Furthermore, Apple is also aggressively setting its print in the Internet of Things segment, which will ensure a range of smart devices in ever widening iOS ecosystem.

The Best iOS 9 Features You don't Know about Yet

Best Features of iOS 9 – Unknown

Apple has recently released its big software update for the iPad, iPhone and iPod with a lot of changes being done in iOS 9. Besides enhancing Siri and battery life, Apple has also upgraded on how one would interact with third party apps which supports `deep linking, apps. Deep linking enables apps to coordinate with one another and to the rest of iOS in way which was earlier not possible.

In-app Search

The built-in search tool, `Spotlight’ of Appleenables access by swiping down from any home screen or towards the top of the new Siri screen, has some new features for iOS 9. The most substantial one is the ability to navigate within third party apps which makes it easy to locate content.

When an app is updated to support the search function of iOS 9 one can type in searches quickly from any location and the in-app result will indicate alongside the standard web search results of Apple. Various app like Outlook, Dropbox, etc. have been updated already to aid the feature with expectations of many more to follow.

Phone Number Lookup 

The iOS 9 iPhone can pull data from natural Mail app to recommend who could be calling whenever an unknown call may come through and the same can be done for outgoing calls too.

Searching Settings

A quick swipe down from the top of the setting menu enables the user to locate anyone from the numerous settings which means that one could get back to scrolling through Twitter of texting much faster.

W-Fi Assist

If within the range of a free Wi-Fi location, the phone tends to ignore a Wi-Fi connection that may slow you down and will fall back to cellular which tends to be on, by default.

Bring back the all-cap keyboard

One of the greatest features in iOS 9 is the mixed case keyboard which has been introduced for the first time in the history of iPhone. However, should the user prefer to go back to the days of moving the thumb to interpret the state of the shift key, then is possible though you should not. You could go to Settings: General: Accessibility: Keyboard and even turn off the key that may popup in Settings: General: Keyboard: Character Preview.

View selfies or screenshots at once

In Photos, one will find two new sections namely selfies and screenshots wherein the selfies folder could be amazing to browse through, though it is the screenshots section which could be important for tech enthusiasts. The need to navigate through the complete photo stream to locate and accidental delete or old screenshots is not essential. You could swipe over them all and delete which is another new photos feature.

Headphone smart

When a pair of headphones or earbuds is plugged in, a new icon tends to appear towards the lower left of the iPhone/iPad lock screen. iOS 9 is now aware that the presence of the headphones indicates that the user intends listening to music and automatically recommends the app used recently.

Double tap for Apple Pay

Earlier the physical button for Apple Pay was not available. In iOS 9, one can double tap on the home button without the need of a passcode or fingerprint recognition and you can arrive instantly into Passbook with Apple Pay. However, to process the payment, fingerprint would be essential. The option of turning it off in the Settings panel under Wallet and Apple Pay could also be used if this seems like an unwanted security risk.