July, 2016 | CompuScoop.com

Apple & Donate Life America Bring National Organ Donor Registration to iPhone

Dan Uff July 5, 2016 0

DonateLifeLogo Cupertino, CA and Richmond, VA — July 5, 2016 — Apple® and Donate Life America announced today that, for the first time ever, iPhone® users will be able to sign up to be an organ, eye and tissue donor right from the Health app with the release of iOS 10. Through a simple sign up process, iPhone users can learn more and take action with just a few taps. All registrations submitted from iPhone are sent directly to the National Donate Life Registry managed by Donate Life America. The ability to quickly and easily become a nationally-registered donor enables people to carry their decision with them wherever they go.

“On average, one person dies every hour in the United States waiting for an organ transplant because the demand for lifesaving transplants far exceeds the available supply of organs — and one donor can save as many as eight lives,” said David Fleming, President & CEO of Donate Life America. “By working with Apple to bring the National Donate Life Registry to the Health app on iPhone, we’re making it easier for people to find out about organ, eye and tissue donation and quickly register. This is a huge step forward that will ultimately help save lives.”

Over 120,000 Americans are currently waiting for a lifesaving transplant — and every 10 minutes, a new individual is added to the national transplant waiting list. Each organ donor can save as many as eight lives and heal many more through the gifts of tissue and eye donation. In the absence of donor registration, families are left to make the decision about donation in what is often the worst moment of their lives, the sudden and unexpected loss of a loved one.

“Apple’s mission has always been to create products that transform people’s lives. With the updated Health app, we’re providing education and awareness about organ donation and making it easier than ever to register. It’s a simple process that takes just a few seconds and could help save up to eight lives,” said Jeff Williams, Apple’s chief operating officer. “Together with Donate Life America, we’re excited to deliver this new feature to iPhone users in the US with iOS 10.”

The Health app on iPhone provides a complete view of your health and fitness data all in one place. The app includes Medical ID, which makes critical health information available in case of emergency to first responders and is accessible from the iPhone lock screen. Medical ID can display categories like medical conditions, allergies, medications, blood type and emergency contacts. And with iOS 10, Medical ID offers the ability to register as an organ, eye and tissue donor with Donate Life America.

Availability
The developer preview of iOS 10 is currently available to iOS Developer Program members at developer.apple.com, and a public beta program will be available to iOS users this month at beta.apple.com. iOS 10 will be available this fall as a free software update. For more information, visit apple.com/ios/ios10-preview.

Donate Life America is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit alliance of national organizations and state teams across the United States committed to increasing organ, eye and tissue donation. Donate Life America manages and promotes the national brand for donation, Donate Life, and assists Donate Life State Teams and national partners in facilitating high-performing donor registries including the management of the National Donate Life Registry; developing and executing effective multi-media donor education programs; and motivating the American public to register now as organ, eye and tissue donors. For more information, visit DonateLife.net.

Apple revolutionized personal technology with the introduction of the Macintosh in 1984. Today, Apple leads the world in innovation with iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Apple TV. Apple’s four software platforms — iOS, macOS, watchOS and tvOS — provide seamless experiences across all Apple devices and empower people with breakthrough services including the App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay and iCloud. Apple’s 100,000 employees are dedicated to making the best products on earth, and to leaving the world better than we found it.

Press Contacts:
Hilary Czarda
Donate Life America
hczarda@donatelife.net
(804) 377-3584

Jacqueline Roy
Apple
jacqueline_roy@apple.com
(408) 862-4386

Apple, the Apple logo and iPhone are trademarks of Apple. Other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Siri

Siri is crucial to Apple’s future

Dan Uff July 5, 2016 1

“Apple has been working on speech and voice AI solutions for decades,” Tim Bajarin writes for TIME Magazine.

“Only in 2011 did Apple believe the iPhone had enough horsepower to deliver the first generation of Siri. (Apple acquired the company behind Siri in 2010),” Bajarin writes. “Since then, Apple has been using new forms of AI and machine learning to expand that knowledge base. It has also tapped into other data sources to give Siri a much larger base of info to pull from when answering questions. The iPhone’s increasing processing power and Apple’s growing expertise at quickly answering questions have meant Siri has become smarter and faster with each passing year.”

“In Apple’s case, AI work is vital to the company’s long term success,” Bajarin writes. “Apple will deploy Siri across its myriad platforms, turning voice into an important new form of user interface.”

Read more in the full article here.

Major Windows 10 Update coming in August

Dan Uff July 5, 2016 0

MicrosoftLogo On August 2nd, Microsoft Windows 10 users will have a new major update to download and explore. The update will contain the following enhancements:

-- Microsoft Edge: The browser will be updated to use less memory and power. There will also be better features for people with disabilities, such as a high-contrast mode and screen readers. And for the first time ever, users can also use biometrics through Windows Hello to authentic their identities on certain websites.

-- Xbox One: Buy a game once and play it on a console or Windows 10 computer with shared game progress. Students can also save $300 if they buy an Xbox One and a Surface together before August 14. Strategically, Microsoft has timed its new smaller Xbox One S to launch in August, starting at $300.

-- Cortana: The virtual assistant is getting smarter, according to Microsoft, with features that help the program save, recall and synchronize data across devices, including, for the first time, the Xbox.

-- Windows Defender: Users will have the ability to schedule automatic and periodic anti-malware scans of their computers, and receive reports about threats.

Users can use Windows 10's built-in software update to download the new features starting on said date.

How to Kill Safari from the Command Line

Dan Uff July 3, 2016 2

Usually, Safari is a good and stable web browser for surfing the web. But sometimes, it can get 'stuck' on loading a web page and then that damn beach ball comes up. Sure, you can wait and see if it resolves itself but why when you can stop the beach ball icon sooner rather then later.

People may not know that you can close most Mac apps via the Terminal. But one has to do this only when there isn't any other way, as it may damage some necessary files that could render an app unusable the next time you want to use it. Anyway, here's how to terminate a locked Safari window: