Year: 2019

Pixelmator app for iOS gains support for new iPad Pro and the new Apple Pencil

CompuScoop Staff February 12, 2019 0

Pixelmator has been updated with support for the new iPad Pro and Apple Pencil.

Pixelmator is a powerful, full-featured, layer-based image editor that lets you touch up and enhance images, sketch, and paint, as well as create advanced image compositions on iPad and iPhone alike.

What's New In This Version:
This update adds support for the new iPad Pro and Apple Pencil and brings a number of fixes.

• The Pixelmator interface has now been optimized for the newest iPad Pro.
• The double-tap gesture of the new Apple Pencil is now supported.
• Wherever possible, Pixelmator will respect your global settings for the double-tap gesture.
• The Noise, Hue, Miniaturize, and Hue effects were not working in the Photos extension. Fixed.
• The canvas was being incorrectly centered in both the app and the Pixelmator Photos extension. Fixed.
• After making a selection and moving it, tapping a part of the selection outside the bounds of the original layer would deselect the layer. Fixed.

You can purchase Pixelmator from the App Store for $4.99.

Via: iClairified.com

Apple taps internal exec to be first head of Augmented Reality

Dan Uff February 12, 2019 0

Apple assigned a longtime iPhone executive as its first head of marketing for augmented reality, demonstrating the importance of the technology to the company’s future,” Mark Gurman reports for Bloomberg. “Frank Casanova moved from leading iPhone marketing for wireless carriers into the new role this month. On his LinkedIn profile, Casanova said he’s now ‘responsible for all aspects of Product Marketing for Apple’s Augmented Reality initiative.'”

“Casanova has worked at Apple for about 30 years, and was key in launching the original iPhone, striking deals with carriers to promote the handset, and developing older Apple products like the QuickTime video player,” Gurman reports. “The decision by Apple to name its first head of product marketing for AR underscores the technology’s importance to the company’s quest for major new products.”

Gurman reports, “‘There’s now a name and face on Apple AR efforts and a person with a track record of working on advanced technology projects at Apple,’ said Michael Gartenberg, former senior director of marketing at Apple. ‘Frank is the ideal person to lead Apple’s efforts in AR.'”

Read more in the full article here.

 Apple announces Heath Records data coming soon for Veterans

Apple Inc February 11, 2019 0

Working with the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Apple announced that the Health Records on iPhone feature will be available soon to veterans. For the first time, American veterans receiving care through the Veterans Health Administration will be able to securely view their aggregated health records directly in the Health app on their iPhone.

“We have great admiration for veterans, and we’re proud to bring a solution like Health Records on iPhone to the veteran community,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “It’s truly an honor to contribute to the improved healthcare of America’s heroes.”

With Health Records on iPhone, veterans across the US will be able to see medical information from participating institutions — including the VA — organized into one view all in the Health app. Health records data includes allergies, conditions, immunizations, lab results, medications, procedures and vitals, and is displayed along with other information in the Health app like Apple Watch data. This means VA patients will get a single, integrated snapshot of their health profile whenever they want quickly and privately. All Health Records data is encrypted and protected with the user’s iPhone passcode, Touch ID or Face ID.

“When patients have better access to their health information, they have more productive conversations with their physicians,” said Jeff Williams, Apple’s COO. “By bringing Health Records on iPhone to VA patients, we hope veterans will experience improved healthcare that will enhance their lives.”

“Our goal is to empower people to better understand and improve their health, enabling them to view their medical information from multiple providers in one place easily and securely,” said Kevin Lynch, Apple’s vice president of Technology. “We’re excited to bring this feature to veterans across the US.”

Health Records on iPhone will be the first record-sharing platform of its kind available to the VA, which is the largest medical system in the United States providing service to more than 9 million veterans across 1,243 facilities.

Star Trek: Section 31 – What the heck is it, and why does it appear in Star Trek: Discovery?

Dan Uff February 9, 2019 0

If you've watch the previous week's Star Trek: Discovery's episode called "Point of Light", you may have noticed a new ship and badge at the end of the episode. The ship and badge are from a less-known non starfleet organization called Section 31.

What IS Section 31?

Section 31 is an officially non-existent autonomous intelligence and defence organization. It is presented as a special security operation, manned by Federation citizens, that is not subject to the normal constraints of Starfleet ethical protocols.

The organization is introduced to canon in Deep Space Nine, with appearances in additional episodes of Deep Space Nine, as well as episodes of Enterprise and Discovery, and the 2013 film Into Darkness.

In the Star Trek storylines, Section 31 operated separately from and usually without the knowledge of Starfleet Intelligence. It dealt with threats to Earth's and, later, the Federation's security. Its operating authority stems from a provision of the original Earth Starfleet charter—Article 14, Section 31, from which its name is derived—that makes allowances for "bending the rules" during times of extraordinary threats.

Unlike other secret police organizations in the Star Trek universe, such as the Romulan Tal Shiar and the Cardassian Obsidian Order, Section 31 is not an actual branch of government. Accountable to no one, Section 31 focuses on external threats, and pursues those it identifies by whatever means it sees fit.

Little has been shown in the Section 31 world. But that will hopefully change with the recently announced spin-off featuring Star Trek: Discovery's Michelle Yeoh playing as Philippa Georgiou.

Additional Source: Wikipedia