Apple releases iOS 10.1, macOS Sierra 10.12.1, watchOS 3.1 and tvOS 10.0.1 with bug fixes and improvements!

 

Apple on Monday pushed out the iOS 10.1 software update for iPhone and iPad. The release comes after more than a month of beta testing, and it includes various improvements and one major new user-facing feature: Portrait mode, which is exclusive to the dual-camera iPhone 7 Plus.

First introduced at Apple’s iPhone event in September, Portrait mode is a new setting in the stock Camera app that uses the 7 Plus’ wide angle lens to gather perspective data for a photo. This allows the handset to take photos with a depth-of-field, or ‘bokeh,’ effect with blurry backgrounds.

In addition to Portrait mode, iOS 10.1 also includes the ability to reduce motion while retaining the various iOS 10 iMessage features. The new toggle labeled “Auto-play Message effects” can be found in General > Accessibility > Reduce Motion. You’ll also see a new Replay option in Messages.

iOS 10.1 also comes with transit directions for users in Japan.

Rounding out the update is the usual stack of bug fixes and improvements. To install the update, open the Settings app and select General > Software Update.

iOS 10.1 full release notes

Camera and Photos

• Introduces Portrait Camera for iPhone 7 Plus that creates a depth effect that keeps your subject sharp while creating a beautifully blurred background (beta)
• People names in the Photos app are saved in iCloud backups
• Fixes an issue where opening the Camera app would show a blurred or flashing screen for some users
• Fixes an issue that caused Photos to quit for some users when turning on iCloud Photo Library
• Improved the display of wide color gamut photos in the grid views of the Photos app

Maps

• Transit support for every major train, subway, ferry, and national bus line, as well as local bus systems for Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya
• Sign-based transit navigation including layouts of all underground structures and walkways that connect large transit stations
• Transit fare comparison when viewing alternative transit routes

Messages

• New option to replay bubble and full screen effects
• Messages effects can play with Reduce Motion enabled
• Fixes an issue that could lead to contact names appearing incorrectly in Messages
• Addresses an issue where Messages could open to a white screen
• Addresses an issue that could prevent the report junk option from displaying with unknown senders
• Fixes an issue where videos captured and sent in the Messages app could be missing audio

Apple Watch

• Adds distance and average pace to workout summaries in the Activity app for outdoor wheelchair run pace and outdoor wheelchair walk pace
• Fixes issues that may have prevented Music playlists from syncing to Apple Watch
• Addresses an issue that was preventing invitations and data to appear in Activity Sharing
• Fixes an issue that was allowing Activity Sharing to update over cellular when manually disabled
• Resolves an issue that was causing some third-party apps to crash when inputting text

Other improvements and fixes

• Improves Bluetooth connectivity with 3rd party accessories
• Improves AirPlay Mirroring performance when waking a device from sleep
• Fixes an issue where playback would not work for iTunes purchased content when the “Show iTunes Purchases” setting is turned off
• Fixes an issue where certain selfie apps and face filters used with the FaceTime HD Camera on iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus did not display a live preview
• Fixes an issue in Health where individual strokes are converted to separate characters when using the Chinese handwriting keyboard
• Improves performance of sharing websites from Safari to Messages
• Fixes an issue in Safari that caused web previews in tab view to not display correctly
• Fixes an issue that caused certain Mail messages to be reformatted with very small text
• Fixes an issue that caused some HTML email to be formatted incorrectly
• Fixes an issue that in some cases caused the search field to disappear in Mail
• Fixes an issue that could prevent Today View Widgets from updating when launched
• Fixes an issue where Weather widget sometimes failed to load data
• Fixes an issue on iPhone 7 where Home Button click settings would not appear in search results
• Fixes an issue that prevented spam alert extensions from blocking calls
• Resolves an issue that could prevent alarm sounds from going off
• Fixes an issue where audio playback via Bluetooth would cause the Taptic engine to stop providing feedback for some users
• Resolves an issue preventing some users from restoring from iCloud Backup

iOS 10.1 is compatible with iPad 4 and above, iPhone 5 and above, and iPod Touch 6G.

In addition to iOS 10.1, Apple on Monday released updates for its other 3 growing software platforms. After a month of beta testing, macOS Sierra 10.12.1, watchOS 3.1 and tvOS 10.0.1 are now available to the public and can be installed via their respective over-the-air Update mechanisms.

Unlike iOS 10.1, these updates don’t include any significant user-facing features or changes. They’re mostly focused on “bug fixes and improvements,” with tvOS patching a coloring issue with the “Hold To Dictate” text, and macOS Sierra 10.12.1 bringing about fixes for a number of known bugs:

– Adds an automatic smart album in Photos for Depth Effect images taken on iPhone 7 Plus

– Improves the compatibility of Microsoft Office when using iCloud Desktop and Documents

– Fixes an issue that may prevent Mail from updating when using a Microsoft Exchange account

– Fixes an issue that caused text to sometimes paste incorrectly when using Universal Clipboard

– Improves reliability of Auto Unlock with Apple Watch

– Improves security and stability in Safari

It’s also been discovered that macOS 10.12.1 includes support for new Mac hardware, which Apple is expected to unveil at its October 27 event, so stay tuned for that.

Source

Here’s how Siri sounds in Arabic! Coming soon in iOS 9.2!

Apple has released iOS 9.2 as a Public Beta, and one of the features alongside the bug fixes and installed extensions for safari tabs in third party apps, is that Siri now understands the Arabic Language and it replies in Arabic too!

Here’s a video that demonstrate this feature:

The final version of iOS 9.1 was only sent out to the public last week, so you should probably expect a few more betas before iOS 9.2 is finished.

Samsung’s latest earnings report reveals declining profits!

Samsung released its earnings report for Q4 of the fiscal 2014. The Korean giant posted operating profit of 5.29 trillion won ( about $4.87 billion) from revenue of 52.73 trillion won ($48.6 billion).

The results show a decline from the same period a year ago by over a third. Samsung posted operating profit of 8.3 trillion won last year from 59.28 billion won of revenue. The company’s net income has now declined on an annual basis for four straight quarters.

Samsung’s mobile division posted 26.29 trillion won of revenue and 1.96 trillion won of profit for the quarter thanks to strong sales of Samsung Galaxy Note 4. The profit is down by more than 60% from 5.47 trillion won ($5.09 billion) a year ago.

The company expects its mobile business to grow throughout 2015 in emerging markets such as India and China. Expansion of 4G LTE services globally will also help its cause.

Samsung will also focus on “new materials, innovative design and differentiated features” in order to make its future devices stand out from the crowd. The newly launched Galaxy A series of smartphones will drive the company’s performance over the next quarter until the launch of Samsung Galaxy S6.

On the tablet side of the business, Samsung will focus on both premium and affordable devices. The company will continue to push forward in the market for wearables as well.

The manufacturer’s processor and RAM businesses unsurprisingly did well during the quarter. Considering Samsung’s plans to utilize its own silicon in future products, expectations point at a strong year ahead for the units.

Source

Nokia X Android phone gets closer in latest leaked shot !

This recent press image leaked by evleaks seems to put the Nokia X name into concrete. The device was code-named Normandy thus far and appears a low-end Android device bound for the Asha lineup next month.

The specs are expected to be a 4″ WVGA display, dual-core 1 GHz Snapdragon chip (perhaps Snapdragon 200), 512 MB of RAM, 5 MP camera, dual-SIM support and a 1,500 mAh battery.

Nokia would desperately need to win over developers if their Android phone is to succeed. Rumors so far have it that the phone is based on the Android source code but it won’t have any of Google’s services built in. This means there is no Play Store, so Nokia must create its own application repository. Nokia will also be substituting Google’s services for its own HERE Maps location services and Microsoft’s Bing, Outlook and Skype.

We last heard that a dev-version of the Nokia X is already being shipped to devs in India.

Two new Apple iPhone models coming next quarter, Samsung Galaxy Note 3 to launch as soon as July?

Apple CEO Tim Cook appeared at D11 on Tuesday night and gave an explanation why Apple doesn’t release more than one variation of the Apple iPhone each year. On the other hand, the executive seemed to open the door a little, to the idea that more than one version of the phone could be launched at the same time.

Nonetheless, we suggest that you grab your salt shaker and take with a grain of salt the report from those all-knowing industry sources in Taiwan. These guys are saying that Apple will be launching not one, but two Apple iPhone models in the third quarter of this year.

The phones could be launched as early as next month and will include “a revised version” of the Apple iPhone 5 (which would probably be called the Apple iPhone 5S) and a low cost model of the device. The latter would have hardware specs similar to the Apple iPhone 4S, but with a lower resolution screen and a less powerful processor.

Shipments of the new Apple iPhones are expected to peak in August and September after starting at the end of June. All together, 100 million to 120 million units of all iPhone models are forecast by these industry sources to ship in the second half of 2013. If Apple is indeed this close to launching two new versions of the iPhone, we are surprised by the lack of any leaked photographs of either or both devices. No one has left a prototype in a bar for some time, although it did happen to the Google Nexus 4 last year.

And with that segue to Android, the same report says that Korean OEM Samsung could be looking at aJuly-August launch for the Samsung Galaxy Note 3. Considering that Samsung’s J.K. Shin has stated that the phablet would not be introduced until September’s IFA show in Berlin, we would tell you to start shaking that salt. The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 is rumored to have a 13MP rear-facing snapper with OIS support. There is also speculation that Samsung has reduced its target of shipping 70-80 million smartphones in the current quarter although it might hit the higher figure by the end of the next quarter

15 interesting points from Tim Cook’s D11 interview

• Apple sold 85 million iPhones and 42 million iPads in last two quarters
• iOS devices account for 59% of mobile web usage
• It’s sold more than 13 million Apple TVs all together—half of that came in the last year
• Cook thinks Apple has “incredible ideas” and has “several more game changers” in it
• When pressed about Apple’s plans for the living room, Cook said “there is a grand vision.”
• Cook said he sees wearables space as “a very important branch of the tree,” and thinks Apple will be “very involved” in it
• Jony Ive is in fact working on iOS 7 “We recognized Jony had contributed significantly to the look and feel of Apple over many many years, and he could do that for our software as well.”
• On making multiple iPhones at different price points, Cook said “we haven’t [done it] yet, but that doesn’t shut it out for the future.”
• On the idea of an iPhone with a larger display, Cook said “a large screen today comes with a lot of tradeoffs” and Apple won’t go that route while those tradeoffs still exist.
• iMessage delivers 2 billion messages per day.
• Cook said rumors of Apple making a bid for Waze were vehemently false
• Apple has acquired 9 companies since last October—typically does 6-7 per year
• On major acquisitions, Cook said “We’re not currently looking at a big one, but we’re not opposed to doing that.”
• Apple will soon be opening up much more of its iOS API to developers
• Cook said Apple has ‘no religions issue’ with porting its apps or services to Android