Update: You can download the iOS 9.3 update to experience the following new features on your iPhone and iPad.

iOS 9.3 is the biggest incremental iPhone and iPad update in several years, as Apple has new software features that go as far as changing your sleeping habits.

That's right, it has the long-sought-after iPhone Night Shift feature, which controls the blue light levels emitted from your screen, and it's finally out of beta so that everyone can download it today.

Plenty of other useful features are here, too: multi-user support for students, Apple Notes locked behind a password (or Touch ID) and tweaked News, Health and Apple CarPlay apps. In the US, Verizon gains Wi-Fi calling - finally.

All of this is coming to devices that currently run iOS 9 as well as a new phone and tablet, iPad Pro 9.7 and iPhone SE, which launch March 31 in the 13 countries including the US, UK and Australia.

It's not without iOS 9.3 problems, like authentication issues for iPad 2. But there are speedy fixes and now everyone can enjoy the following iOS 9.3 features.

Night Shift

I've read dozens of news stories that tell me I shouldn't go to bed staring at myiPhone 6S Plus, my iPad Air 2 or my new MacBook, but do I follow those wise instructions? No.

Night Shift is the iOS 9.3 solution I've been waiting for, because it won't require me to change my nighttime reading and working habits. It automatically tints my screen to warmer colors.

"Many studies have shown that exposure to bright blue light in the evening can affect your circadian rhythms and make it harder to fall asleep," according to Apple.

What's neat is that iOS 9.3 uses the clock and geolocation to determine the sunset, and the screen becomes progressively more orange-tinted throughout the night, exactly like f.lux on Macs and Reader's Edition on Amazon Kindle HD 8.

The completely optional Night Shift mode is found in Settings > Display and Brightness > Blue Light Reduction, with a slider bar to control how orange or blue it looks, and to adjust the schedule.

Apple's swipe-up-from-the-bottom Control Center overlay menu adds Night Shift to the bottom row of quick settings. It's flanked by flashlight and timer on the left and calculator and camera on the right. That's how important this feature is for the new update.

It's all designed to allow your eyes to relax so that falling asleep is easier, and when it's time to wake up, the screen color shifts back to normal.

Multi-user user support... kind of

Buried in the iOS 9.3 release notes is the first sign of multi-user support, only it's strictly for classroom iPads right now.

Apple calls this new app suite 'iOS in Education', and the highlight is the fact that it enables students to log into any iPad in any classroom and pick up where they left off.

This makes a lot of sense for a school's shared iPad experience, and it comes with Photo IDs to denote profiles and simple passwords for younger students.

iOS in Education also includes three other apps meant for teachers and school officials: a new Classroom app for teach-guided lessons that ensures the students follow along, and Apple School Manager and Managed Apple IDs for consolidated admin portals.

Even if you're not going to school, the simple fact that Apple has built one form of a multi-user login experience should give you high hope for a similar iOS 10experience in a few months.

Apple Notes password protected

Before the new iOS 9.3 arrived, keeping confidential information in Apple Notes could be a little risky. Anyone could nab your unlocked iPhone and scan the secrets you jotted down.

Thankfully, the power of Touch ID and passcodes are now a part of Apple Notes. Far too many people (read: parents) keep all of their financial data, medical information and passwords in this not-so-secret app.

iOS 9.3 allows your vulnerable folks to protect certain notes under lock and fingerprint for extra security. It also lets you sort everything by date created, date modified and alphabetically now.

Continue reading

Share:

Able to make the internet run 100 times faster and produce flexible, super-thin, almost invisible wearables - you've probably heard of something many are calling a 'wonder material: graphene.

It's certainly different from the boring old silicon we're used to - after all, one million sheets of graphene are just a single millimetre thick. Many think we could be on the brink of a new industrial revolution.

The first truly two-dimensional crystal, graphene is the thinnest, strongest, lightest, stiffest material ever made. It's transparent, flexible and it conducts both electricity and heat very well.

So, as you can see, if it lives up to its potential it could change pretty much everything we use and need each day - but how realistic are the claims?

Why is graphene so exciting?

Graphene can do almost anything that makes technology brilliant - and do it better. Want lithium batteries to last ten times longer, but take only a few minutes to recharge? Graphene can do that. Want to make bendy touchscreens, or print solar cells, or make something harder than diamond?

Or make thin, light structures that are 200 times stronger than ones made from steel? Graphene's good for all that too. It can even be used to create motion-sensing windows that read gestures, nano-sensors that detect breast cancer and smartphone batteries that recharge in just a few minutes.

Sticky tape and pencils

Graphene was discovered – via some Sellotape and the graphite in a pencil, no less – in 2004 by Sir Andre Geim and Sir Konstantin Novoselov at the University of Manchester – both of whom earned a Nobel Prize for Physics in 2010 as a result.

Speaking at the Mobile World Congress in February 2016, Novoselov explained why the world was so excited about his discovery rather succinctly: "All the carbon atoms are arranged in a 2D frame, one atom thick fabric.

Continue reading

Share:

We've heard plenty of rumours about what's coming down the line with the iPhone 7 later this year, but there's now speculation about the next phone after that - the September 2017 handset, which presumably will be called the iPhone 7S.

AppleInsider reports on a note to investors from KGI analyst Ming-Chi Kuo that states next year's iPhone will come with curved panels on the front and back. What's more, Apple will make the switch to the AMOLED display technology favoured by Samsung.

Both AppleInsider and Ming-Chi Kuo are among the more reputable sources of information from inside Apple's Cupertino headquarters, so these rumours do have some weight to them - although a lot can change in 18 months.

Continue reading

Share:

Samsung answered the call of many by releasing the Galaxy S6 Active. It's an improvement on an already-winning formula, adding a rugged and waterproof build to last year's powerful flagship. So, it's by no means a shock to hear that it might be releasing a tougher version of the Galaxy S7.
The Samsung Galaxy S7 Active seems slated for release, or that's what one of Samsung's own apps would indicate. Sam Mobile discovered the unannounced smartphone in a list of supported devices for Samsung Level, a companion app for its own line of headphones.
While this leak appears to confirm the existence of the device, we don't know when it will be announced, or frankly, what purpose it holds. The Samsung Galaxy S6 lacked dust and waterproofing, so the Active made plain sense on paper. On the other hand, both the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge and S7 proper feature an ingress protection rating of IP68, which means that they are both waterproof and dustproof

Continue reading

Share:

The Right SSD for Data Center Use Cases Deploying solid-state drives (SSDs) in the data center is a great way to boost application responsiveness and remove I/O bottlenecks in the storage layer. But today’s data centers face a mixed bag when it comes to storage workloads, and the answer isn’t always as simple as “add more speed.” There are different kinds of speed to consider, namely sequential read/write and random read/write. And what’s more, data centers also need the endurance to handle tens of thousands (potentially millions and billions) of I/O transactions daily. So when you’re looking for the right storage device for your data center, the best-fit solution really depends on the type of workload. To help us sort through the options, let’s examine a few specific use cases in data centers today: retail databases, online analytical processing (OLAP), virtualized servers, and machine-generated data. • Online retail sales databases help businesses deliver a seamless experience for customers while driving profitable e-commerce, tracking inventory, and forecasting sales trends. More and more consumers are making their purchases online, which ultimately drive demand for greater storage performance with heterogeneous read/write workloads. • And then there’s big data analytics, which has been making waves in tech blogs for the past few years. Here’s a simplified description for the unacquainted: big data is the process of deciphering massive volumes of data in search of insights and previously unconsidered correlations that could lead to new efficiencies, process improvements, and even more competitive business models. Online analytical processing (OLAP) supports big data by enabling IT managers and data experts to answer multidimensional queries quickly and efficiently. Naturally, high volumes of data mean heavy workloads that put a lot of strain on storage. • Let’s not forget cloud computing and the innovation that made it possible, virtualization. Virtualized servers run a single hypervisor that controls multiple simulated server environments, commonly referred to as virtual machines (VMs). IT managers can provision multiple VMs per physical server, making it possible to support multiple business units with varied needs. The challenge lies in staying nimble – the more VMs there are, the harder it is for storage to keep up. • Finally, let’s consider machine-generated data. This is data that originates from any source without human intervention. It could derive from sensors in an electrical grid, manufacturing equipment on the factory floor, or log data from web servers and financial transactions. What do all of these use cases have in common? When it comes to storage demands on the underlying hardware, they all generate mixed read and write-intensive workloads. In order to scale performance to meet growth or spikes, the storage layer needs to deliver both greater read and write speeds, not just one or the other. Intel has developed a family of data center SSDs that are tailored to meet the needs of specific use cases like the ones we’ve gone over. Now data centers get exactly what they need out of their investments, and they don’t end up spending CAPEX on features and capabilities they may never use. For instance, the Intel® SSD DC S3610 Series delivers the performance needed to match mixed read/write intensive workloads – up to 550/520 MB/s sequential and 84,000/28,000 IOPS random read/write throughput across a 6 GB/s SATA connection.1 With the Intel® SSD DC S3610 Series, data centers also get the storage endurance they need. This SSD supports up to three drive writes per day, up to 10.6 petabytes written over the lifetime of the drive.2 Not only is it a good match for the examples discussed above, but it also features end-to-end data protection with 256-bit encryption and power loss data protection.3 Making the jump to SSDs is a big step, and a positive one for enhancing performance, but it can be a little nerve-wracking trying to find the best SSD for your workload. That’s why the lineup in the Intel® SSD Data Center Family is so great – it takes the anxiety out of choosing the right SSD. We’ve already done the legwork for you.

Continue reading

Share:

Apple just announced that it has sold 13 million iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus devices over its first weekend. It’s a new record for the company as it sold 10 million units last year, and 9 million units in 2013.

Compared to last year, Apple released the iPhone 6s in 6s Plus in China on day one. It took a couple of weeks last year before the company released the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus in China. But in 2013, the iPhone 5s and 5c were available in China on launch day, meaning that it still represents a big improvement compared to two years ago.

To give you a bit of perspective, over the past three days, Apple has sold 3,000 phones per minute, or 50 devices per second. This is a massive number. Apple didn’t break out sales numbers under the new iPhone Upgrade Program, which lets you buy a phone as a service. It’s a 24-month payment plan with an option to upgrade for a new iPhone every year that starts at $32 model for the lowest iPhone 6s model.

Apple also announced that the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus will be available in 40 additional countries on October 9, starting with Italy, Mexico, Russia, Spain and Taiwan. Overall, Apple will sell the new iPhone devices in 130 countries before the end of the year. Previously, the company had already announced that it was on track to beat last year’s record given the number of pre-orders.

As a reminder, the iPhone 6s brings many under-the-hood improvements. It comes with a much better camera, a significantly faster chip, snappier Touch ID, and 3D Touch. In particular, 3D Touch is a technology that has been 5 years in the making and maychange the way you use your iPhone.

Continue reading

Share:

Motorola essentially invented the cell phone, but it stumbled coming into the smartphone era. It has been making some great phones in the last few years, though, and the new Moto X Pure is the latest example of that. With a competitive price and attractive features, this phone might offer a good alternative to the market leading (and more expensive) Samsung Galaxy S6. Let’s see how they compare.

Design and display

The Galaxy S6 is sleek and very clean in design, but it also looks like a lot of other phones — particularly the iPhone 6. The Moto X is more distinctive, but still recognizable as a Motorola phone. It has the same curved back and prominent front-facing speakers, whereas the GS6 has a completely flat back that doesn’t fit as nicely in your hand. It also has just one speaker on the bottom edge.

The Pure is also mildly water and dust-resistant with an IP52 rating. The GS6 doesn’t have any liquid ingress protection. I bet it would survive a quick dip, though, as it lacks a removable back panel for battery access. The Moto X is also completely sealed, but it has a microSD card slot on the SIM tray, which the GS6 lacks.

Motorola offers a wide selection of plastic, wood, and leather back panels, along with tinted metal accents, so you can design a phone in the Moto Maker online tool that looks just the way you want. The Galaxy S6 is all metal and glass, but it only comes in a few colors. These are both beautiful phones in their own way, but the Moto Maker customizations really set the Moto X apart. This is definitely one of the main selling points. If you don’t mind the glass construction, the Galaxy S6 is a much lighter phone. It’s only 132g to the Moto X Pure’s 179g.

The Moto X is much heavier because it’s simply a bigger phone. The display is 5.7-inches on the Pure, a substantial increase compared to last year’s Moto X. The Galaxy S6 is a much more modest 5.1-inches, but the size isn’t the only thing that sets them apart. Samsung uses Super AMOLED panels, and this one is fantastic. The GS6 has a 2560×1600 resolution AMOLED with very high brightness, perfect viewing angles, and vibrant, yet accurate colors. The GS6 and Note 5 have the best displays you can get on a smartphone.

I don’t think anyone was expecting the Moto X Pure to match the Samsung Galaxy S6 in the display department, but the company did something odd this year. The last few Motorola flagships have had AMOLED panels, but this year they switched to 1440p LCDs. This might be a cost-saving measure, but the display still looks good, though not as good as the GS6 obviously. The brightness is good enough for use outdoors and the viewing angles are above average. It reminds me very much of the LG G4’s LCD, but a bit brighter and not curved. The Moto X’s screen is bigger than the GS6, so the pixel density is lower, but both are crisp enough that you’ll never notice any difference.

Part of the Moto X’s screen real estate is eaten up by the on-screen navigation buttons. I prefer this setup personally, but there are many who swear by the physical buttons you get on the Galaxy S6. There’s also a handy fingerprint scanner in the GS6’s home button. The Moto X doesn’t have one of those.

Internals and battery life

The Moto X and Galaxy S6 are both powerful phones, but when it comes to pure horsepower, the GS6 runs away with it. This device has an octa-core Samsung Exynos 7420 system-on-a-chip (SoC) with four (LITTLE) Cortex-A53 cores and four (big) Cortex-A57 in a big.LITTLE configuration. Unlike the similarly specced Snapdragon 810, this chip manages eight cores well without aggressive thermal throttling. Motorola went with a more modest SoC, the Snapdragon 808. This is a hexa-core chip with four Cortex-A53 cores and two Cortex-A57 in a big.LITTLE configuration. The two faster cores produce less heat, so the chip doesn’t have to throttle like the more powerful 810.

In daily use, the difference in SoC power is negligible, although the GPU on the Exynos chip is faster than the one on the 808. However, the Snapdragon 808 is less power-hungry than the Exynos. Both phones also have NFC chips. It used to be that you didn’t need to specify that, but we live in interesting times (looking at you, OnePlus).

The GS6 and the Moto X Pure both have 3GB of RAM, which is plenty to keep apps running in the background. The Motorola device has typical RAM usage for an Android device, but Samsung has insisted on tuning the system a bit differently. The GS6 will only keep a few apps in memory, then it ends the background process. It’s not the sort of thing everyone will notice, but if you’re hopping quickly between a number of apps, you might notice they need to reload too often. The Moto X doesn’t do that.

As mentioned above, both phones have sealed-in batteries, but the Motorola’s is a bit Larger at 3000mAh. The Galaxy S6 is only 2550mAh, but the screen is more efficient to make up for it. The Moto X will probably get slightly better battery life under mixed use, but screen time will be roughly the same. This is assuming the GS6 doesn’t have some sort of software glitch that screws up the battery life, which owners seem to complain about often. Both phones support quick charging, which can completely fill a drained battery in around an hour, but only the GS6 has wireless charging built-in.

Cameras

Motorola’s previous Android phones have had bad cameras. They might have been okay in some circumstances, like bright outdoor light, but The Moto X had a lot of room for improvement. Luckily, the Pure has a vastly improved 21MP image sensor with an f2.0 aperture. It doesn’t have optical image stabilization (OIS), but the software stabilization is surprisingly good. A bit of jostling won’t screw up a photo taken in medium or bright light.

Continue reading

Share: