Year: 2022

Pluto TV now available in more countries

Dan Uff May 18, 2022 2

Early Wednesday, Paramount Plus sent out a Tweet announcing that Pluto TV is now available in more countries as it tries to expand its availability.

The Tweet said:

.@PlutoTV is now available in the Nordics—including Norway, Sweden and Denmark. The FAST service features more than 70 unique and locally curated channels in each country. More on the global expansion.

Apple introduces new professional training to support growing IT workforce

Dan Uff May 18, 2022 2

New online courses and certifications for Apple device support, deployment, and management prepare workers for in-demand careers

Demand for skilled support and technical staff within the enterprise is growing, with jobs in computer and information systems in particular projected to grow faster than the average for all occupations from 2020 to 2030.¹ As companies expand their use of technology, employees are demanding to use iPhone, iPad, and Mac at work, resulting in an increased need for IT professionals skilled in supporting and managing Apple products.

To help meet this growing demand, Apple today launched updated professional training and certifications for IT support and management. The training has been completely redesigned and moved to an online, self-paced format. Users can demonstrate their competency with two new exams and earn certification from Apple.

“More people than ever are using Mac, iPad, and iPhone to do their best work, and the demand for Apple-certified IT professionals has never been greater,” said Susan Prescott, Apple’s vice president of Enterprise and Education Marketing. “Apple Professional Training helps anyone with an interest in technology — whether they are changing careers or upping their skill set — pursue high-paying IT jobs with certifications that will stand out to potential employers. We believe deeply in inclusion in technology, so the new courses are self-paced and freely available, and we are working to ensure ability to pay isn’t a barrier to earning Apple certification.”

Two new Apple Professional Training courses — Apple Device Support, and Apple Deployment and Management — are available today on training.apple.com. The courses are sequential, and build on skills and concepts as the user progresses. At the completion of each course, new certification exams are available to demonstrate competence achieved at each level with corresponding digital badges from Apple. Each exam costs $149, and certification can be displayed on resumes, online profiles, and job boards, enabling users to stand out in job searches — and employers to find qualified candidates.²

Apple device management and security company Jamf reported that its community of professionals who manage Apple products at work has grown by more than 150 percent since 2017 to more than 100k members.³ And companies like Ford are seeking to hire talent to manage their Apple products.

“Transforming Ford and delivering great value to our customers is being fueled by technology — including enabling our people to do their best work with the best tools as we create the digital factory of the future,” said Mike Amend, Ford’s chief enterprise technology officer. “As part of that process, we’re rolling out Mac as a choice for our employees. Apple’s new professional training certifications will help us attract highly talented IT people and see that they’re successful carrying out our Ford+ growth plan.”

Apple’s new IT training series begins with the Apple Device Support course. Through articles and guided exercises, the course covers the tools, services, and best practices used by a help desk professional, technical coordinator, or service provider for an organization’s Mac, iPhone, and iPad users. After completing an estimated 14 hours of learning content, users can take an exam to earn the Apple Certified Support Professional certification.

MacBook and iPhone screens show Apple’s updated professional training and certifications for IT support and management.

The second level of training in the IT series is the Apple Deployment and Management course, which covers how to configure, manage, and secure Apple products using mobile device management (MDM). Through an estimated 13 hours of content, users will cover developing a deployment strategy, using Apple Business Manager and Apple School Manager, and configuring devices with an MDM solution. Upon successful completion of the exam, users will receive the Apple Certified IT Professional certification.⁴

To help those entering the workforce or changing careers, Apple is partnering with community colleges and universities to offer on-campus prep courses for the Apple Certified IT Professional badge. Through its Community Education Initiative (CEI), Apple will provide scholarships to cover the cost of the exams for participating students at its CEI partner institutions. Apple first worked with Austin Community College in Austin, Texas, to offer the Apple deployment course in early 2020, and is expanding to Maricopa Community Colleges in Chandler and Mesa, Arizona, this summer, with additional CEI schools to be announced. Ed Farm, an education nonprofit based in Birmingham, Alabama, will also offer prep courses for Apple’s certification exams this summer through the nonprofit’s ongoing partnership with Apple.

Apple has also partnered with the Mac Admins Foundation to ensure additional access to the new Apple exams. With underwriting from Apple, the foundation will offer vouchers to applicants with financial need. As a new 501(c)(3) organization, two key tenets of the Mac Admins Foundation are making a welcoming and accessible organization to expand the profession, and maintaining affordable access to all community resources. For more details and to apply, visit macadmins.org.

“There’s a lot to like about the all-new Apple Professional Training courses, which give users a solid grounding in the concepts and theory around supporting and deploying Apple products,” said Tom Bridge, the Mac Admins Foundation’s co-chair. “Furthermore, both Apple exams are fully representative of the depth and breadth of skills needed for success. This is an important milestone for the Mac Admins community — which has grown 48 percent since 2019. We’re excited to work with Apple in our new chapter as a 501(c)(3) and ensure that the certification is available to anyone with the passion to take a new step forward in their career.”

Apple Professional Training courses are available now at training.apple.com.

Apple Previews Accessibility Tools for Navigation, Health, Communications, and more

Dan Uff May 17, 2022 1

Apple today previewed innovative accessibility software features that introduce new ways for users with disabilities to navigate, connect, and get the most out of Apple products. These powerful updates combine the company’s latest technologies to deliver unique and customizable tools for users, and build on Apple’s long-standing commitment to making products that work for everyone.

Using advancements across hardware, software, and machine learning, people who are blind or low vision can use their iPhone and iPad to navigate the last few feet to their destination with Door Detection; users with physical and motor disabilities who may rely on assistive features like Voice Control and Switch Control can fully control Apple Watch from their iPhone with Apple Watch Mirroring; and the Deaf and hard of hearing community can follow Live Captions on iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Apple is also expanding support for its industry-leading screen reader VoiceOver with over 20 new languages and locales. These features will be available later this year with software updates across Apple platforms.

“Apple embeds accessibility into every aspect of our work, and we are committed to designing the best products and services for everyone,” said Sarah Herrlinger, Apple’s senior director of Accessibility Policy and Initiatives. “We’re excited to introduce these new features, which combine innovation and creativity from teams across Apple to give users more options to use our products in ways that best suit their needs and lives.”

Door Detection for Users Who Are Blind or Low Vision

Apple is introducing Door Detection, a cutting-edge navigation feature for users who are blind or low vision. Door Detection can help users locate a door upon arriving at a new destination, understand how far they are from it, and describe door attributes — including if it is open or closed, and when it’s closed, whether it can be opened by pushing, turning a knob, or pulling a handle. Door Detection can also read signs and symbols around the door, like the room number at an office, or the presence of an accessible entrance symbol. This new feature combines the power of LiDAR, camera, and on-device machine learning, and will be available on iPhone and iPad models with the LiDAR Scanner.

Door Detection will be available in a new Detection Mode within Magnifier, Apple’s built-in app supporting blind and low vision users. Door Detection, along with People Detection and Image Descriptions, can each be used alone or simultaneously in Detection Mode, offering users with vision disabilities a go-to place with customizable tools to help navigate and access rich descriptions of their surroundings. In addition to navigation tools within Magnifier, Apple Maps will offer sound and haptics feedback for VoiceOver users to identify the starting point for walking directions.

Advancing Physical and Motor Accessibility for Apple Watch

Apple Watch becomes more accessible than ever for people with physical and motor disabilities with Apple Watch Mirroring, which helps users control Apple Watch remotely from their paired iPhone. With Apple Watch Mirroring, users can control Apple Watch using iPhone’s assistive features like Voice Control and Switch Control, and use inputs including voice commands, sound actions, head tracking, or external Made for iPhone switches as alternatives to tapping the Apple Watch display. Apple Watch Mirroring uses hardware and software integration, including advances built on AirPlay, to help ensure users who rely on these mobility features can benefit from unique Apple Watch apps like Blood Oxygen, Heart Rate, Mindfulness, and more.

Plus, users can do even more with simple hand gestures to control Apple Watch. With new Quick Actions on Apple Watch, a double-pinch gesture can answer or end a phone call, dismiss a notification, take a photo, play or pause media in the Now Playing app, and start, pause, or resume a workout. This builds on the innovative technology used in AssistiveTouch on Apple Watch, which gives users with upper body limb differences the option to control Apple Watch with gestures like a pinch or a clench without having to tap the display.

Live Captions Come to iPhone, iPad, and Mac for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Users

For the Deaf and hard of hearing community, Apple is introducing Live Captions on iPhone, iPad, and Mac.3 Users can follow along more easily with any audio content — whether they are on a phone or FaceTime call, using a video conferencing or social media app, streaming media content, or having a conversation with someone next to them. Users can also adjust font size for ease of reading. Live Captions in FaceTime attribute auto-transcribed dialogue to call participants, so group video calls become even more convenient for users with hearing disabilities. When Live Captions are used for calls on Mac, users have the option to type a response and have it spoken aloud in real time to others who are part of the conversation. And because Live Captions are generated on device, user information stays private and secure.

VoiceOver Adds New Languages and More

VoiceOver, Apple’s industry-leading screen reader for blind and low vision users, is adding support for more than 20 additional locales and languages, including Bengali, Bulgarian, Catalan, Ukrainian, and Vietnamese.4 Users can also select from dozens of new voices that are optimized for assistive features across languages. These new languages, locales, and voices will also be available for Speak Selection and Speak Screen accessibility features. Additionally, VoiceOver users on Mac can use the new Text Checker tool to discover common formatting issues such as duplicative spaces or misplaced capital letters, which makes proofreading documents or emails even easier.

Additional Features

• With Buddy Controller, users can ask a care provider or friend to help them play a game; Buddy Controller combines any two game controllers into one, so multiple controllers can drive the input for a single player.

• With Siri Pause Time, users with speech disabilities can adjust how long Siri waits before responding to a request.

• Voice Control Spelling Mode gives users the option to dictate custom spellings using letter-by-letter input.5

• Sound Recognition can be customized to recognize sounds that are specific to a person’s environment, like their home’s unique alarm, doorbell, or appliances.

• The Apple Books app will offer new themes, and introduce customization options such as bolding text and adjusting line, character, and word spacing for an even more accessible reading experience.

Celebrating Global Accessibility Awareness Day

This week, Apple is celebrating Global Accessibility Awareness Day with special sessions, curated collections, and more:

• SignTime will launch in Canada on May 19 to connect Apple Store and Apple Support customers with on-demand American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters. SignTime is already available for customers in the US using ASL, the UK using British Sign Language (BSL), and France using French Sign Language (LSF).

• Apple Store locations around the world are offering live sessions throughout the week to help customers discover accessibility features on iPhone, and Apple Support social channels are showcasing how-to content.

• The Accessibility Assistant shortcut is coming to the Shortcuts app on Mac and Apple Watch this week to help recommend accessibility features based on user preferences.

• This week in Apple Fitness+, trainer Bakari Williams uses ASL to highlight the features available to users that are part of an ongoing effort to make fitness more accessible to all, including Audio Hints, which are short descriptive verbal cues to support users who are blind or low vision, and Time to Walk and Time to Run episodes becoming “Time to Walk or Push” and “Time to Run or Push” for wheelchair users. Additionally, Fitness+ trainers incorporate ASL into every workout and meditation, all videos include closed captioning in six languages, and trainers demonstrate modifications in each workout so users at different levels can join in.

• Apple Maps features a new guide from the National Park Foundation, Park Access for All, to help users discover accessible features, programs, and services to explore in parks across the US. Guides from Gallaudet University — the world’s premier university for Deaf, hard of hearing, and Deafblind students — feature businesses and organizations that value, embrace, and prioritize the Deaf community and signed languages.

• Users can explore accessibility-focused apps and powerful stories from app creators in the App Store; check out the Transforming Our World collection in Apple Books, featuring stories by and about people with disabilities; and learn about creative ways technology is advancing accessibility in Apple Podcasts.

• Apple Music will highlight the Saylists playlists, a collection of playlists that each focus on a different sound. Choosing one and singing along is a fun and engaging way to practice vocal sounds or speech therapy.

• The Apple TV app will highlight the latest hit movies and shows featuring authentic representation of people with disabilities. Plus, viewers can explore guest-curated collections from the accessibility community’s standout actors, including Marlee Matlin (“CODA”), Lauren Ridloff (“Eternals”), Selma Blair (“Introducing, Selma Blair”), Ali Stroker (“Christmas Ever After”), and more.

Create a Quick Note from anywhere on iPad

Dan Uff May 17, 2022 0

Quick Note allows anyone to jot down a quick note from almost anywhere on the device. It can be enabled with the below quick flip of your finger.

While in an app, take your finger and swipe up from the lower-right of the screen.
When finished, tap DONE.
The note will be saved in the NOTES app.

For more information, watch this YouTube video from TheMacUdotcom.

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