Thursday Morning News

Originally published at: http://appletalk.com.au/2018/03/thursday-morning-news010318/

Apple’s latest press release says the Apple Watch Series 3 can now track skiing and snowboarding activity, a feature that’s been available since the launch of watchOS 4.2, but is enabled by the GPS and altimeter found in Series 3 hardware. Updates to popular snow-activity tracking apps now let them track total vertical descent and horizontal distance, average and maximum speeds, amongst other metrics.

Consumer Reports has listed their top ten smartphone cameras. It should probably come as no surprise that the iPhone X takes out the top spot, followed by the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus (in that order, interestingly enough), with Apple devices taking six of the top ten placings, with the other four spots going to various Samsung Galaxy devices. That’s also interesting, given that a lot of people are saying Google’s Pixel devices give the iPhone a run for its money, as far as camera quality is concerned.

For some reason, Apple is launching its own series of medical clinics for its employees. AC Wellness is the newest Apple subsidiary that we know about, and they don’t try to hide their affiliation with Apple nor their goal, which is to deliver the world’s best healthcare experiences for Apple employees. TechCrunch speculates that AC Wellness, which officially starts operations later this year, will become a testbed for new health devices and services from Apple.

Apple’s as-yet-unknown video streaming service is getting another series. This time around, it’s a straight-to-series thriller from none other than M. Night Shyamalan, who will executive produce a psychological thriller, directing the first episode. It’s said 10 half-hour episodes have been ordered, with the series being Shyamalan’s second foray into episodic TV.

9to5Mac covers analysts claiming that battery replacement times for devices are worsening. Average wait times in the surveyed stores within the US come in at 3-4 weeks, with the worse case being 9-10 weeks. Keep in mind that Australian battery replacement turnaround times are probably much better.

Apple has been granted a patent which allows a hinged OLED display to be used as a keyboard for a potential future Mac or iOS device. This dual-display setup would be eschewing physical keys for a virtual representation, which would also allow the second screen to be removed and used separately. The futurist in me is already imagining a dockable iPad that you can use with your Mac, despite the trend appearing to be people wanting to use real keyboards with their iPads.

Another Apple patent application tells us about a charging case for the Apple Watch, which also has the ability to hold and charge special Apple Watch bands. It seems like an accessory that would get more usage in Apple Stores than in the homes of consumers, but it’s an interesting concept nonetheless.

MacRumors explains how to use the Apple TV remote found in iOS 11’s Control Center. There’s a quick setup process, but once you’re done with that the easily-accessible Apple TV remote may be easier to use — and find — than the Siri remote that comes with your Apple TV.

Dr Drang compares the three alert types — timers, alarms, and reminders — across Apple’s products. Even between what you might consider a relatively simple feature, there’s a lot of disconnect between Apple’s hardware, with some capable of supporting different ways of measuring time, and others not.

Apple’s latest tutorial videos advertise the telephoto lens, providing advice on how to compose with the longer lens, as well as how to frame shots when you’re close up.

Cheaper for them as they control the supply chain (funder/provider) and insurance side, and also free source of research participants for health IT experiments.