Year: 2019

 Apple takes flight on American Airlines

Apple Inc January 30, 2019 0

Apple Music Subscribers can Stream Over 50 Million Songs, Playlists and Music Videos on US Flights

Starting Friday, Apple Music subscribers can enjoy their access to over 50 million songs, playlists and music videos on any domestic American Airlines flight equipped with Viasat satellite Wi-Fi with no Wi-Fi purchase required. American Airlines is the first commercial airline to provide exclusive access to Apple Music through complimentary inflight Wi-Fi.

“For most travelers, having music to listen to on the plane is just as important as anything they pack in their suitcases,” said Oliver Schusser, vice president of Apple Music. “With the addition of Apple Music on American flights, we are excited that customers can now enjoy their music in even more places. Subscribers can stream all their favorite songs and artists in the air, and continue to listen to their personal library offline, giving them everything they need to truly sit back, relax and enjoy their flight.”

“Our guests want to make the most of their time when flying us. That’s why we’re investing in faster Wi-Fi, a variety of entertainment options, and why we’re so excited to introduce Apple Music to more of our customers,” said Janelle Anderson, vice president of Global Marketing at American. “Providing customers with more ways to stay connected throughout each flight is one way to show we value their business and the time they spend with us.”

Apple Music subscribers on American Airlines flights can enjoy the world’s most exciting new music and unique city-themed playlists for their journey, in addition to exclusive content such as in-depth artist interviews and today’s hottest sounds on the Beats 1 global livestream. To enjoy Apple Music during flight, customers on Viasat-equipped aircraft can connect to Wi-Fi at no cost and log in with their Apple Music subscription. Customers who don’t already have an Apple Music subscription can get Apple Music, sign up onboard and receive free access for three months. Apple Music is available on iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Mac, Apple TV, PC, Android, CarPlay, HomePod, Sonos and Amazon Echo.

Visit applemusic.com/americanairlines to learn more and listen onboard starting February 1.

Apple loves music. With iPod and iTunes, Apple revolutionized the music experience by putting a thousand songs in your pocket. Today, Apple Music takes this to the ultimate with over 50 million songs, thousands of playlists and daily selections from the world’s best music experts including Beats 1 Radio, a global live stream. Since 2015, Apple Music has welcomed tens of millions of subscribers in 115 countries. Streaming seamlessly to iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Apple TV, Mac, HomePod and CarPlay, Apple Music is the most complete music experience on the planet.

Apple slapped with lawsuit over FaceTime Bug

Dan Uff January 30, 2019 0

Well, that didn't take long. Apple has been slapped with a lawsuit related to the recently announced FaceTime bug that allows someone to listen in to a person's phone call. The suit was filed less than 24 hours after the mainstream media announced the bug.

The suit was filed in a Houston, Texas court by a lawyer claiming that the glitch enabled an unknown party to listen in on a client while conducting legal business.

According to court documents, Larry Williams II said the intrusion occurred as he was taking sworn testimony during a client deposition. Further details were not offered by the report, though it is presumed Williams received a call as he conducted the deposition via FaceTime.

Williams claims negligence, product liability, misrepresentation and warranty breach in his suit against Apple. He is seeking unspecified punitive damages, according to the Bloomberg report.

 Apple announces new ‘Today at Apple’ Sessions

Apple Inc January 29, 2019 0

Cupertino, California — Apple today announced a new Today at Apple release with sessions in three new and expanded formats — Skills, Walks and Labs — which offer hands-on group sessions focused on photography, video, music, coding, app development, art and design and more. The new sessions are free at every Apple Store worldwide and allow visitors to find the right session for their interests and skill level in order to unlock their creativity, inspire learning and encourage connection.

Since the launch of Today at Apple in 2017, Apple has held over 18,000 free sessions a week attended by millions of participants around the world. This newest release expands on the most popular types of Today at Apple sessions, Walks and Labs, providing visitors even more opportunities to get more out of their products, find inspiration in their community and discover guidance from world-class creators.

“Since the beginning, Today at Apple has been about educating and inspiring the communities we serve. These new sessions are an opportunity to unlock the creative potential in all of our customers,” said Angela Ahrendts, Apple’s senior vice president of Retail. “There is a session for everyone at Today at Apple and we can’t wait to see what you will create.”

Three Today at Apple session formats facilitate learning and creativity:

Skills are meant for those interested in learning new creative techniques to go further with our products, such as making a quick video with the Clips app or editing photos on iPhone. New Skills sessions include Notes and Chords with GarageBand, Sketching Ideas in Notes, Photo Editing Techniques and more.

Walks invite customers to venture outside of the store with a Creative Pro, where they will explore their surroundings, connect with their community and put new skills to use across passions like photography, music or health. New Walks include Capturing Cinematic Shots, Creating Soundscapes with GarageBand and a Health and Fitness Walk, Staying Motivated co-created with fitness expert Jeanette Jenkins.

Labs help customers experiment with creative techniques and complete the session with the beginning of a project. Many Labs have been co-created with world-renowned artists and makers. Building on the success of Labs with Florence Welch and photographer Chase Jarvis, skilled customers can find inspiration in new Labs like Beat Making with Swizz Beatz, Small Screen Magic with Zach King and Drawing Treehouses with Foster + Partners.

Today at Apple is also a great resource for families and kids of all ages interested in photography, coding, art and design and more. Labs like Fun Family Portraits, the Sphero Robot Obstacle Challenge and Make Your Own Emoji are built specifically to educate and spark creativity in younger visitors.

Today at Apple includes sessions designed specifically for educators so teachers can learn new ways of bringing technology into their classroom, with Labs like App Design and Prototyping and Class Projects with Clips, based on the Everyone Can Code and Everyone Can Create curriculums.

To further enrich the Today at Apple experience in every store, Apple is upgrading the existing fleet of stores with design elements that greatly increase the store’s Today at Apple sessions and capacity. These upgrades include the addition of The Forum, an area of the store with a large video wall and seating, serving as a meeting place for the local community and home for Today at Apple. Some stores will add Avenues and, where possible, a grove of trees with integrated seating.

To find and register for a new session, visit www.apple.com/today or the Sessions tab in the Apple Store App.

Apple Patients “Swift”

CompuScoop Staff January 29, 2019 0

This may be a storm in a teacup, or it may be a typhoon massing off the port bow. Apple has applied for a patent that appears to cover the whole idea of the Swift language.

Apple is either an innovator that open source can trust or the worst exploiter of other people's ideas on the planet. After all, what was the Mac other than a Xerox Star reimplemented.

What I'm trying to convey is how you view the news that Apple has just been granted a patent on what seems to cover the whole idea of Swift depends on how you feel about Apple. Notice I say "how you feel" as there isn't too much hard fact to go on.

This all started about two weeks ago when the Swift forum started to worry about Swift's status as open source and patent free. Then a few days later a bigger fuss started when it was discovered that Apple had been granted a patent on what sounds like Swift:

Programming system and language for application development

Abstract

In one embodiment, an improved programming system and language for application development is provided that combines elements of the C and Objective-C languages without the constraints imposed by a requirement to maintain compatibility with the C language. The language provides the functionality of the C language compatibility in certain areas to improve the inherent safety of software written in the language. The new language includes default safety considerations such as bounds and overflow checking.

After reading the patent through, I have to admit that I cannot figure out exactly what it covers. It does seem very specific in many places:

Additionally, an embodiment of the new language introduces advanced types not found in Objective-C. These types include Tuples and Optionals. Tuples enable a developer to create and pass groupings of values.

and

In one embodiment, an optional type is provided that handles the absence of a value. Optionals are a way to say either “there is a value, and it equals x” or “there isn't a value at all.” Optionals do not exist in C or Objective-C.

They may not exist in C or Objective-C, but optional types certainly exist in other languages, C#, Kotlin, both before and after Swift. And so it goes on with specific descriptions of language features which are not part of C or Objective-C, but are certainly not novel in a wider context.

The patent was granted.

Should Swift users and contributors be worried? The forum discussion where all of this came to light seems to be partly worried and partly reassured by the fact that Swift is open sourced under an Apache license which has a patent clause. This basically says that if you contribute to Swift then you are granting any patents you hold that might be infringed by your code. This is reassuring some because it is interpreted to mean that Apple can only use its patents against patent trolls. That is, Apple has patented Swift to keep it safe and open.

However, there is still a dark and lurking fear that there might be other ways in which Apple holding a patent on the language might be used, should it ever be necessary. It is the lack of clarity that is causing the doubt, and also the recent experience with Oracle and Java patents.

Perhaps the solution is for the patent office to not grant patents on such broad claims and for it to take its obligation to find prior art more seriously.

Via: I-programmer.info