Yelp’s Amazing Features – An Update to its iOS

Recently, Yelp has come up with an update to its iOSapp which would now enable users in uploading short video clip of duration of 12 seconds long together with written reviews and pictures. Yelp has introduced thisamazing feature which would now help users to add short videos showing off aspects such as lighting, ambiance, noise level together with other features of local businesses which are not easily captured in photographs and this feature is made available to all users across the globe.

Photos add a great deal of visual element to reviews and Yelper uploads over 23,000 of them each day from mobile apps. Visuals are of great importance to Yelper as they spend around 2.5 times longer on business pages with images instead of those without them and with the use of the iPhone, Yelp app cannow take around 3 – 12 second videos on favourite local businesses and capture the details better than photos.

Yelp’s new function of version 8.1 has brought about a new dimension to crowd sourced business as well as restaurant guide enabling users to post review videos within 3 to 12 seconds duration. Earlier user reviews were limited to pictures and text.

App with Minor User Interface Tweaks/Bug Fixes

The video review tool could also be accessed from the main page of the app via the central button which when selected, passes out into Check in, Review and Photo or Video options.

Users can switch from still shots to video with dedicated toggle button through the photo or video screen and the new function has given rise to new review possibilities Yelp users who can now describe products in a better way, take note of restaurant’s ambiance or add short videos with narrations to their reviews.

The updated Yelp app also comes with minor user interface tweaks and bug fixes along with the new video capabilities and Yelp is available as a free 30.7 MB download from App Store. The short videos are good in conveying the atmosphere of a business helping others in anticipating their experience like viewing the images of delicious dishes but not being able to convey if the ambiance is more of a date or night or family friendly.

Real Life Consumer Experience 

Yelp states that a video are not meant to be video reviews but snippets to embody the atmosphere of a place. It can show the size and space of a hotel room and the way a chef places the assembled dishes or a layout of a retail shop.

Yelp video helps to convey more details regarding the same. Yelp helps to see what a real life consumer experience looks like without editing or narration; it could be an extension of the visual experience. Together with various rich local reviews, consumers are relying on the Yelp community’s suggestions, business attributes, photos and video to enable them in making better decision on their expenditure and which local businesses they would want to support.

Users could make use of the video feature by opting for Yelp which conveys more through its feature showing the size and space of an atmosphere.

Apple’s MacBook Pro with 16 GB RAM

It was recently rumoured that Apple’s MacBook Pro line-up is likely to receive an update and a leak suggesting that all 15 inch models will be standard with a 16 gigabytes of RAM.

 As per French website MacG citing confirmation from a reliable source, the new 13 inch MacBook Pro with the Retina display is presumed to be identified as `J44a’, model while the new 15 inch model is said to be as `J45a’.

Beside this no other information has been on the new high end MacBook Pro modes though in-store signage from China was rumoured, that the new 15 inch models will have slight increase in CPU speed which comes with 16 gigabytes of RAMs in all the models.

The advertisement also conveys that the models would be coming at the same price as the prevailing offerings. This update on a scale from mild to wild is on a mild side wherein the clock speed is improved by 100 MHz to 1.4 GHz giving it a negligible and a modest performance.

 The overall performance of graphics remains the same,though the Intel i5 processor which is used by Apple in the refreshed MacBook Air has similar graphics which operates at the same earlier speed.

Broadwell CPU to hit the Market

Other specification remain unchanged namely Thunderbolt, USB 3.0, 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0. With regards to memory and storage it remains the same and the MacBook Air accommodates 4 GB RAM as well as 128 GB flash storage in its base configuration.

The battery life is at an estimated nine hours between charges for the 11 inch model, while the 13 inch model remains at12 hours. Apple states that the power efficiency for iTunes movie playback has done good improvement with the updated CPU. Intel has promised its first Broadwell CPU will hit the market before the end of the year but speculations are on whether they would be arriving in time or in enough capacity in order to power any new Macs.

Apple had launched a new $1,099 Mac in June and had reached a new price point with low end processor. Moreover the company had also dropped the price in April on its MacBook Air range with a new entry price of $899, with an increase on the speed of its processor by 100 megahertz.

Redesigned MacBook Air

With plans to debut the new 12 inch MacBook model this year together with Retina display it is suggested that this model could be a redesigned MacBook Air and also the first to feature a pixel packing screen while others are of the opinion that Apple could be waiting for Intel’s Broadwell CPUs to be launch the said updated model.

The codename `Broadwell’, is used to refer a 14 nanometer die shrink of Intel’s previous 22 nanometer Haswell architecture and according to Intel it is a new smaller design, bringing about a 30 percent cut in power consumption and simultaneously offering the same horsepower.

The Retina MacBook Air of 12 inch model is rumoured to sport a fan less design that may need cooler with efficient CPUs. It is also expected from Apple to achieve an exceptionally thinner version design along with new click less trackpad and few inputs and outputs.

Apple’s First Beta of OS X Yosemite

Apple’s first public beta of its forthcoming OS X 10.10 software update known as Yosemite will be available for download on July 24th this year for testing in advance of its schedule release till fall. Developers have been speculating with the beta of this software since Apple had announced the operating system at WWDC earlier in June. Users who have signed up for Apple’s public OS X Yosemite beta program, can access the beta without the need of a developer account.

 It works when a user signs up with Apple ID on the beta program website, they in turn receives a mail with a link along with an activation code to download the updated Yosemite build and while developers get updates to their beta versions once in every two weeks, members of public beta will be receiving only a few updates till Yosemite launches it in fall while users’ versions will speed up with the final release version, then. This means that the user will not have to wipe the system and re-install the final release when it will be made available, but will already be in possession of it.

OS X Beta Program at Official Site

Users can take the opportunity to sign up for the OS X Beta Program at its official site, once launched which will enable them to install, test and also provide feedback.

The launch of Yosemite public beta was first announced on Wednesday by Jim Darlymple of the Loop. Users on signing up with their Apple ID will use a redemption code in order to download and install the OS X Yosemite Beta from Mac App Stores and if they tend to encounter any problem, the same can be addressed directly to Apple with the built-in Feedback Assistant application.

Users are also cautioned by Apple that some new features may be unavailable which may include phone calls, SMS, Instant Hotspot, Handoff and iCloud drive while Spotlight suggestions are currently for U.S. only. Some of the services and applications may not be compatible at present with Yosemite.

Focus on Continuity between OS X and iOS

Upgrade may need a Mac running OS X Mavericks that is available at no cost on the Mac App Store and it is recommended by Apple to install the OS X Yosemite Beta on a secondary Mac because the software is in its pre-release testing stage and may have certain issues. The first announcement by Apple regarding its Beta Seed Program was done in April, opening its OS X beta testing process to willing participants of Mac. Users could test pre-release maintenance and security updates to OS X 10.9 Mavericks this year, but the new launch will mark the first time that OS X 10.10 Yosemite would be made available for officially test for non-developers.

Apple now have their focus on continuity between OS X and iOS with its next updates since users will be in a position to hand off content with ease from their iPhone or iPad to their Mac whenever they are within the range. Besides this, user would also be capable of answering and placing calls or responds to text messages via Bluetooth to an iPhone.

Apple’s New Swift Programming Language

As disclosed to analysts, Tim Cook, Apple’s chief executive informed that the company’s new Swift programming language would be a huge leap forward for the iOS ecosystem and an excellent contributing means to the company’s new partnership with IBM targeting enterprise app development.

Cook started off his opening remarks stating Apple’s `best ever’ Worldwide Developer Conference had attracted a new record audience of twenty million people across the world watching their keynote, where the company had introduced Swift together with iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite.

With regards to Swift as an innovative programming language for iOS and OS X, Tim Cook noted that Swift was the result of the latest research on programming language accompanied with decades of experience in building Apple platform.

This makes writing code, interactive and fun, eliminating the whole class of unsafe code and generating apps which run lightning fast according to Cook. It makes learning easy, enabling more people to dream big thereby creating whole new categories of app.

 His belief is that with the new OS release and with the combination of Swift, a huge leap forwards for the Apple ecosystem will take place and that they are anxious to see what developers will create with Yosemite iOS 8 together with Swift.

Forged Relationship with IBM

Cook has further described Apple as extending iOS in more directions, outlining the company’s plans for CarPlay which is safe together with intuitive user interface at the time of driving, besides HealthKit integration along with medical providers and fitness sensor makers.

HomeKit as described by Cook is a way to control lights, doors, thermostats together with other connected devices all over the house with the help of Siri.

Cook has further stated that in the enterprise market they have forged a relationship with IBM in delivering new class of mobile business solutions to enterprise customers all across the globe and are striving to provide companies with access to the power of big data analytics on every employee’s iPhone or iPad.

With the use of Swift, Apple will be collaborating in bringing over 100 MobileFirst app to enterprise consumers where each can address a specific industry opportunity or need.

Open Large Market Opportunities 

Cook states that this will open a large market opportunity for Apple and a radical step for enterprise and a great opportunity for productivity and creativity for enterprise customers. He concluded stating `from the pocket, to the car, to the workplace, home and gym, they have a very large vision of what iOS could be and are incredibly excited about their plans.

Apple has paid its App Store developers over $20 billion which is nearly half of what was paid over the last twelve month. Cook added stating that in China, Apple’s iTunes software and services inclusive of the Apple Store has been increasing year after year.

Relating to enterprise app, Cook informed that Apple and IBM both envisage `mobile in enterprise seems to be an enormous opportunity and later responded to queries regarding Apple whether it would continue to take a cut of enterprise app which would be sold through iTunes, to which he stated that there were no plans to change the rules with enterprise.

Apple Granted Patent for Wrist Worn Wearable

Apple has been working on a smartwatch device and the Cupertino Company has been granted a patent by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for the wrist worn wearable electronic device with strap capabilities, support for arm and wrist gestures together with advanced proximity sensing circuitry and much more features for the consumers. The device has been dubbed `iTime’ and fits appropriately with speculation regarding the so called iWatch smartwatch.

The claim of its creation as the title indicates, relates to a wrist worn devices which can be connected to other portables such as the computers, iPhone and even the watch’s straps which can integrate sensor with other circuitry to improve the device performance.

This new invention pertains to a convertible type of smartwatch which incorporated with a central electronic devicethat can be removed and secured to an advanced strap system and the idea is liken to Apple’s sixth generation iPod nano which spawned a cottage industry for ad-hoc solution and turned the media player to a wrist watch style device.

Potential Inclusion – GPS Module/Accelerometers/Wireless Communication Packages

With regards to operation, the system is based on converting the square shaped iPod nano into a smartwarch. Initial claims that the media play can be inserted in specially made straps which integrate several electrical components to enhance the capabilities of the device.

Besides, the document mentions sections like GPS modules, accelerometers, and wireless communication packages with haptic feedback mechanism as potentials for inclusion in the advanced strap structure.

Apple gives a briefing on how this `piconet’, works, wherein through either wired or wireless communication protocols, the wristwatch is operational by connecting to a cellular or internet connected device, Information can then be exchanged from iPhone to watch or from the watch to iPhone on user’s request or automatically.

In a single embodiment, the watch is capable of receiving notification which could be initiated from a nearby phone, thereby alerting the user either via audio, visual or vibration.

Once the user has been alerted, he has the option to take out the iPhone or check the notification from the watch which could be in the form of onscreen, audio output like system speakers or headphones.

Contingency for Arm and Wrist Gestures 

Several embodiment enable incoming phone calls, text messages together with social and news network feed besides other information which can be displayed on the wristband’s display.

The app can tap into the functions providing their own notifications probably through iOS APIs and data is pushed to the wearable though users will be able to handle the information directly by inter-acting with the device source.

Moreover the wristband can also be linked to an iPhone to alert the user when left behind by mistake, or stolen or out of range and though not mentioned in the IP, appropriate communications protocol for this function would be Bluetooth4.0 which supports proximity based operations.

Apple is considering a wristband based remote input and output interface enabling a high level control for mobile phone which is known as a smartwatch.There is a contingency for arm and wrist gestures instead of controlling the smartwatch with the use of fingers and users would be able to bounce, shake, tap of interact with the device through physical movements.