Apple's iOS 8 Released With New Features

Provision with Tips & Tricks for iPhone/iPad

Apple has granted access to Touch ID with its latest iOS with third party apps such as 1Password which could take advantage over the fingerprint reading hardware. With the preparation of the iOS 8 release, Apple has provided a set of tips with tricks to help users of iPhone and iPad enabling them to take advantage of the new functions and features offered in the latest development of mobile OS.

The much awaited feature rolled out in iOS 8 was initially introduced along with the iPhone 5s which had been opened only to developers. It has the ability to swap out keyboards for third party solution and though earlier Apple had restricted users to the main iOS soft keyboard because of security issues, now with iOS 8, users can download and check out custom solutions like SwiftKey and Fleksy.

In iOS 8, users can access few more features on a locked phone if one intends to do so. They can toggle on the Today and Notification view screens for Notification Centre. With Apple’s iOS release, its privacy expands and diversifies and this new entry is not exception where its biggest addition to privacy settings screen is in the Location Services sub menu. You have a new subsection on sharing the location with more refined control for the apps as well as new system services toggles.

Option to Permit Third Party Apps Access

Moreover in iOS 8, users also have the option to permit third party apps access to Camera, HomeKit, Health as well as Motion Activity data and the apps enabled would appear in new Privacy menu which has been named after each of these features.

The Usage as well as the diagnostics submenu which appears at the bottom of the privacy screen has a new toggle like Share with App Developers and if turned on, it enables third party developers to see anonymized crash data and the statistics on the usage of the apps.

From the point of view of app, Apple’s first party titles have updated features such as in Messages section, quick image and audio/video sharing together with deep email management in the Mail section. Besides this, Apple has also made some more addition of new Camera features enabling the world’s popular shooter up-to-date inclusive of time lapse functions, advanced exposure controls and shutter timers,

iOS 8 Features Siri

The iOS8 also features Siri which has been improved to a great extent with the virtual assistant presently supporting `Hey Siri’, hands free operation when it is plugged into a power source. While audio response has been tweaked to sound more natural, the backend is enhanced with HomeKit integration in order to control smart home products.

Besides Siri, they can also customize Notification centre with widget which have been created by third party app developers and powered by corresponding app, widgets could enable information displayed in Notification centre with the lock screen, from surf reports to sports scores which can be done with a swipe.

With the release of OS X 10.10 very soon, iOS 8 would be able to integrate through `continuity’ features namely answering the calls on their Mac, continue with text conversations as well as open Web pages and documents through Handoff with Apple’s iOS 8 now being available as a free over the air software update.

Apple and U2 to Team up for the Launch of Free U2 Album

It was reported that Apple and U2 planned to team up for the launch of Songs of Innocence with Apple’s recent product launch event and announcement of the new iPhone, the Apple Watch and a free U2 album for each iTunes user naming it Songs of Innocence.

A surprise appearance was made by U2 at the event, with a performance of a new single from the album, The Miracle, of Joey Ramone. There was a mixed up review for the free album with several iTunes users stating that they preferred to have it permanently deleted from their device and Apple has launched a tool to remove the album due to these complaints.

In order to delete U2 album, the user needs to visit https://itunes.com/soi-remove and after clicking on `Remove Album”, a confirmation for the removal will be asked. When the album has been deleted from the account, the same will not be available for download as an earlier purchase.

Should the user decide to download the album, then you would have to get it again which is free for everyone till October 13, 2014. Guy Oseary, Manager of U2 had stated that it’s a gift from Apple and if they do not like the gift, the same can be deleted. Apple has mentioned in its support page that thereafter it needs to be purchased if the need arises.

Ten Year Anniversary of U2’s iPod Commercial

Songs of Innocence, was considered to be one of the biggest albums launched in history since iTunes users had crossed about half a billion ownership on the first day of its release with Apple giving U2 huge blanket royalty fee with provision of marketing budget which was worth $100 million to give the album to all iTunes users.

U2’s thirteenth full length album is the Songs of Innocence and is the first after `No Line on the Horizon’, in 2009.This free album has been celebrating its ten year anniversary of U2’s iPod commercial and it is said that U2 plans to collaborate with Apple for the next few years and transform the way music is heard. U2 was aware that the free album would not be welcomed easily by everyone and the Irish rock band also posted a blog which said, `What a mind blowing head scratching 21st century situation.

33 Million iTunes Users

Over 500 million people which makes a billion ears and for people, who have no interest in checking us out, look at it this way.. the blood, sweat and tears of some Irish guys are in your junk mail’.

According to the Associated Press, it was noticed that over 33 million iTunes users had accessed the latest U2 album during the first six days of the release. Eddy Cue, Apple Senior Vice President was heard commenting that the figure was record breaking which included customers that had downloaded the album from iCloud or had used iTunes Radio in order to stream it.

Consumers are now not only doing away with the ownership to which they once were very close but are also openly rejecting it.

Apple Pay – Transaction Secured and Easy

Apple’s next focus on how we pay for things, end number of times, is aiming on cash and credit cards as well as online shopping. Apple Pay utilises NFC – near field chip to correlate with payment sensors at store checkouts which works on Touch ID.

This is a system built in updated iPhone which uses the fingerprint as a pass code. Apple Pay intends to make the transaction much more secured when major retailers like Target and Home Depot have reported huge breaches on the payment systems. A visit to Cupertino, California was undertaken by Gwen Stefani, Dr Dre and Stephen Fry together with a team of experts from fashion and technology to see Tim Cook, executive of Apple, unveil his latest products.

Their attention was drawn towards Apple Pay wherein Tim Cook made a statement saying `it’s all about wallet and that their vision is to replace it’. He then showed a video presentation wherein a woman was found fumbling for her card at a till, rummaging through her bag before swiping and then walking out with her goods.

According to him, Apple would make the entire process a lot quicker by simply pulling out your phone, tap the register and you’re done. This made sense to him since most of the shoppers tend to move around with phone in their hands.

Helping Consumers to Travel Lighter

To get started, Apple is on its way targeting the plastic which fills the pockets where shoppers make around 200m transactions daily with their cards and Apple is keen on helping consumers to travel lighter.

Apple Pay compatible devices are the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus and owners of any of these devices could hold their card details in a digital wallet and pay for goods by tapping at the till. Apple does not seem to be discouraged with its past failures and is not a stranger to upsetting expectation.

Past experience which had occurred four years ago, when Steve Jobs, the chief executive then, had met with some universal criticism when he had set up the new iPad range where tablets were already available and consumers had rejected them.Apple proved the critics wrong and their devices with 170m units were sold while ecosystem of cheaper tablet had made their appearance.

Businesses/Consumers to Accommodate Apple Pay in their Plan

Recently, Tim Cook got his first opportunity to make his mark. After the death of Mr Job, the Apple Watch is the first new product line to be announced and the company’s step in the payment world would depend on how the present boss settles a legacy.

According to market survey it is considered that the new devices are the most anticipated and consumers would need to upgrade their iPhone 4 and 4S models which presently are the most preferred models. Apple’s iTunes platform is where users would have to sign up for Apple Pay, has over 800m users already.

Businesses as well as consumers are now looking forward to accommodate Apple Pay in their plans and Apple has gone ahead and signed up with some large names for its US launch this coming October which includes Disney, Starbucks, McDonald’s and Whole Foods.

Tim Cook’s Interview with Charlie Rose

In a recent interview with Charlie Rose, Tim Cook, Apple CEO discussed several current product lineup of the company like Apple TV, Beats and Steve’s legacy and hinted at latest products of which no one had any knowledge.

Cook admitted that there were a number of things which the company was interested in but their focus on execution prohibited the number of devices on which it could work on at any point of time.According to him there were products that they were working on and which no one was aware of with no rumours about the same.

With regards to the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus being the latest handsets, he was all praise about the Retina HD displays, its speed and thinness. He had also stated that some of their products would be great Apple products while the others would probably end up being shelved. He further added that they had been trying around with lot of things internally and if one would take each of their products made by Apple they would probably fit on a small table.

Google – Company’s Biggest Rival

At the time of the interview he was heard stating about his interest in TV which he said is `stuck back in the 70s’, and TV is the one thing they continue to have interest in and that there are plenty of areas that Apple is interested in but they have opted not to work on them.

Cook named Google as the company’s biggest rival which he observed enables most of the other hardware competitors, including Samsung.With regards to Beats, Cook stated the acquisition was more than talents and made a reference to music of Jimmy Lovine and Rap star Dr Dre. He touted the firm’s Beats Music stating the streaming service’s human curated playlist provided a different feel when compared to competing services.

Twitter and Facebook are more of partners than competitors according to him and that Apple has no plans to get into social networking business. He further added that Amazon is a product company even if it manufactures some tablets and phone which is not seen in many places. He went on to talk about Steve Job’s legacy and Apple’s acquisition of Beats.

Changes with regards to User Experience

Cook was asked whether Apple had any catch up plans with Samsung in releasing its new 4.7 inch and 5.5 inch models to which he was heard answering in the negative stating that they could have created a larger iPhone earlier and that it was not about just making larger phone but with intent and purpose to make better phone in every single way.

Cook also spoke about Apple TV stating that television was an area of great interest for the company. Cook revealed only a few things which he would like to change with regards to user experience and did not share much in details.

At the end of it all, Cook made a comment during his interview with ABC News, David Muir, about Steve Jobs, Apple co founder saying that he thought of him every day. Besides, another interesting news revealed was that Job’s office had remained untouched at Apple’s headquarter in Cupertino.

Apple’s Updated iCloud Storage Plans

At the recent iPhone’s launch event, Apple has updated its iCloud page reflecting its price changes trimming the prices on iCloud storage plans and the top level being offered is 1 terabyte of online storage for $19.99 per month or £14.99 in UK.

At the WWDC event 2014, Apple debuted iCloud Drive, which is a cloud storage service and one can back up any kind of file with the capability of accessing it from anywhere through the internet connection. The service is built in Mac OS X Yosemite and iOS 8 wherein the iCloud Drive enables the user to back up important files, documents, photos which can be accessed from Mac computer, iPhone, iPad or PC.

Besides Apple, there are others who have been offering cloud storage. iCloud users will now get the opportunity of paying less on Apple’s online storage with the recent development of Apple’s updated iCloud page mentioning its price changes which are as follows:

- 5 gigabytes – free

- 20GB – 99 cents or 79p per month

- 200GB- $3.99 or £2.99 per month

- 500GB - $9.99 or £6.99 per month

- 1 terabyte - $19.99 or £14.99 per month

iCloud – Easiest Direct Choice of iOS Users

The earlier plans were offered at four levels with the 5GB being free while 10GB was $20 per year, 20GB for $40 per year and 50GB for $100 per year.For an abounding storage plans, Apple should be competitive in order to convince iTunes users to take advantage of the same though there are better deals through other storage sites.

 Sarah Mitroff, associate editor of CNET has made her comparison on storage plans with examples wherein Google Drive has been providing 15GB of free storage with charges of $9.99 per month for 1TB. Microsoft on the other hand offers 15GB for free with charges of $2.50 per month for user for 1TB though iCloud seems competitive when compared to sites like Amazon Cloud Drive and Dropbox.

iCloud seems to be the easiest direct choice for iOS users intending to store their content in the form of movies, music or any other files in the cloud which can easily sync their content with multiple iOS devices taking care that the contacts, appointments, reminders, photos, mail together with other items does not get disturbed across their iPhone and iPad.

iCloud to be More User Friendly 

Recently, iCloud got a black mark with the revelation that hackers had accessed certain accounts, releasing a number of nude photos of celebrity and though there was a denial from Tim Cook that poor online security was the outcome of the photo leak, the company did promise to improve iCloud’s security by sending alerts to users, should someone try to change their password or log into their account from any unrecognized device.

Apple on its part is striving to make iCloud more user friendly with a new iCloud Drive feature which will be working similar to Google Drive with same services as complete cloud storage site enabling the user to access directly in order to save as well as retrieve files, from and to the iOS device, a Mac, and Window PC which will probably be launched as part of iOS 8 on 17 September this year.