Friday Morning News

Originally published at: http://appletalk.com.au/2016/10/friday-morning-news211016/
18700-18018-161020-keyboard-lIn an interview with Vanity Fair, Apple’s SVP of Internet Software and Services Eddy Cue referred to existing television interfaces as “pretty brain dead”. Cue went on to say that there’s plenty of channels, but nothing to watch due to how difficult it can be to find something to watch, blaming interfaces for making it impossible to find content. Cue hopes that as content companies get more comfortable with emerging technology, we’ll see television improve gradually.

In case you were wondering, Apple will be live-streaming their “hello again” event next week. You can watch it live on the Apple website or via the Apple TV client. The event will start at 4AM AEDT on the 28th of October, meaning that this time next week we’ll have plenty of new Macs to talk about.

Potential names for the multi-purpose OLED function row on the new MacBook Pros include “Magic Toolbar”, “Control Strip”, or “Touch Bar”, depending on which of a dozen trademarks Apple decides to go with. Apple could go with a Magic-based moniker in order to keep it in line with their Magic line of accessories, but otherwise there’s plenty of other names.

Speaking of patents, Apple’s latest replaces mechanical key mechanisms with proximity sensors. There’s a lot to digest in the patent for “depressible keys with decoupled electrical and mechanical functionality”, but what it boils down to is the ability to sense when a key has been deliberately pressed, or just brushed up against.

Apple’s decision to use modems from Intel and Qualcomm results in a performance gap between the two, with the Qualcomm LTE modem yielding better performance results than the Intel in one test. Data throughput on the Intel modem was significantly lower than the Qualcomm model, with the difference being north of 30% in some cases.

The unveiling of a near-final one-handed mode for the iOS keyboard prompts questions about why Apple hasn’t released this as a feature, especially on larger devices which could use advantages in terms of one-handed usage. It’s definitely an interesting possibility, whatever the answer.

There’s a new beta out for developers, and it’s the fourth beta of tvOS 10.0.1.

There’s now an AirServer app for Xbox that you can download that lets you use the Xbox as an AirPlay target, if you just happen to have an Xbox One but not an Apple TV.

Macworld’s Kirk McElhearn says setting up Apple’s two-factor authentication can be a little bit of a nightmare, especially if you were already using the similar two-step authentication.

Artist Kanye West has blamed conflicts between Apple Music and Tidal for missing projects. In comments at a Seattle concert, the rapper said Drake’s song Pop Style with verses by himself and Jay-Z didn’t make it onto Drake’s album because of issues between Tidal and Apple Music, an argument that will likely be used against streaming music exclusives by music execs in the future, I’m sure.