Apple's iPhone 5se Due to be Revealed on March 15

Apple’s new iPhone 5se to be launched on March 15

As per reports, Apple’s new iPhone 5se is expected to be launched at an event on March 15. The 4-inch handset would be revealed at a spring event together with iPad Air as well as some new Apple Watch straps, according to sources. The iPhone 5se would come with new features comprising of an ungraded camera, Apple Pay and Live Photos providing customers who may be unconvinced by the 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch displays which had been introduced in September 2014 with the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.

In the past, Apple was under stress in selling more affordable smartphone and had responded with the iPhone 5c that had a brightly coloured plastic case though did not feature fingerprint verification technology Touch ID. With the introduction of the latest iPhones, the 6s and 6s Plus last September, it had been quietly discontinued. 9to5Mac reporting the name informed that the employees had been referring to the `se’ as `special edition’ or as an `enhanced version of the 5s with the new model, possibly in order to avoid comparisons with the 5c and would be called the 5se instead of the 6c.

The phone was said to be revealed in March and would go on sale probably by the end of the month or in April.

Apple Watch Anticipated to be showcased with iPhone 7 in September

Apple had held a press conference to unveil officially the Apple Watch last year in early March and could use the springtime to revive the smartwatch again though reports have recommended that this could be delayed. The next generation of Apple Watch is anticipated to be showcased together with the iPhone 7 in September. According to sources the new device is basically the 2013 iPhone 5s with substantial internal hardware and software upgrades.

The case maker source informed that the product’s dimensions are vague from the iPhone 5s which means that the new device would fit inside the existing iPhone 5s cases. The systematics tends to show some changes for instance the sleep/wake/power button that has been relocated to the inside.

Apple is doubtful in offering pre-orders for the new devices as per sources who has cautioned that the plans could still change. 9to5Mac noted that it would be the first revamp to the iPad Air since October 2014, while the iPad mini got an improvement last autumn together with the unveiling of the iPad Pro.

March Event – First Event since September 2015

According to rumours the iPad Air 3 would be having a rear-facing LED flash wherein users would be capable of taking improved photos in low light as well as better speaker frills for enhanced audio.There is a possibility that the tablet would also work with the Apple Pencil that was initially intended to be working with the iPad Pro. The super-sized tablet that had been launched in November comes with a 12.9-inch screen together with 5.9 million pixels and tends to weight about 1.57 lbs – 712 grams and its thickness is 0.3 inch.The March event would be the first event of Apple since its September 2015 conference wherein the unveiling of the iPad Pro, the new TV of Apple together with the iPhone 6 and 6s Plus would take place.

New Apple Headphones Release Date and Connectivity Rumours

Apple to Launch Its Line of Beats Brand Lightning Headphone

The announcement of Apple’s Beats acquisition and Lightning module lead to assumption regarding the new headphones. On investigation the clues propose that Apple would launch its own line of Beats brands lightning headphone together with the iPhone 7. The iPhone 7 would be the next generation smartphone of Apple and would possibly be released somewhere in September 2016.

 It was reported last week that Apple may lose the Lightning port and instead would be using a USB-C port. Besides that, the unclear rumour also mentioned that the iPhone 7 would have dual cameras as well as a Touch ID which would be integrated in the display.

 It has also been reported that it would be waterproof having at least 3GB of RAM. However, another rumour indicated that the company probably would get rid of the 3.5mm headphone port in order to make the iPhone 7 much thinner. The 3.5mm headphone port is presently on every iPhone and also the iPod Touch, the iPad, MacBooks, etc. Being the standard audio port which all devices require, one can connect the headphones to go hands-free or even listen to music.

Getting Rid of 3.5mm Headphone Port

According to Macotakara, the Japanese website, Apple would remove the 3.5mm headphone port on the iPhone 7 to reduce it to few millimetres from its thickness. The headphones would have to be connected to the Lightning port or the USB-C port instead. No USB-C headphones are seen yet, but a few Lightning enabled headphones.

 The reasonable solution would be wireless headphones with Bluetooth connectivity. The website is also of the belief that Apple would have a redesigned EarPod which would have Lightning plug with analog to digital converter. Should Apple get rid of the 3.5mm headphone port on the next iPhone it would mean that the user would not be able to use their regular headphones. Several of the users tend to prefer having a different headphone while listening to the music on their iPods or iPhone.

Though many have been presuming that Apple would bundle a pair of wireless EarPods with the iPhone 7, it may not be so. In one of the note of Barclays investor obtained by Business Insider, analysts Blayne Curtis and Christopher Hemmelgarn states that Apple would be shipping the iPhone 7 with Lightning enabled EarPods instead of totally wireless headphone.

Not Purchased the Rights to Cirrus’s Noise Cancelling Technology

Further on, the note also claims that Apple had not purchased the rights to Cirrus’s noise cancelling technology which is essential though the company is said to be considering in going wireless with the iPhone 7s headphones. The Lightning headphone module had first been unveiled at the WWDC session for the developers which had been titles `Designing Accessories for iOS and OS X’.

 Apple’s manager of platform accessories, Robert Walsh had explained during the session that there were many advantages of utilising the Lightning connector instead of the 3.5mm audio jack. It provides richer controls for playback and volume with more bandwidth together with other benefits. Walsh had informed developers that if the headphone supports for instance, the noise cancellation, one can suggest an app on the device which communicates with the headphone that controls its operations.

Apple Pay Officially Launches in China

The Launch of Apple Pay in China

Apple Pay that offers great prospects though some substantial challenges has now landed in its fifth country. Apple has recently announced on its Developer page as well as through the Weibo account of CEO Tim Cook, the launch of Apple Pay in China. The Chinese consumers would now be capable of utilising the service in purchasing items at supported retailers by using their iPhones and Apple Watches.

The potential to pay for goods through a smartphone has been around for some years particularly in China. Apple Pay, launched in 2014, helped in arousing consumer interest in the concept. Apple had faced competition from Samsung Pay as well as Google’s Android Pay besides banks like JP Morgan and retailers like Walmart, who also intend to join in the mobile payment bandwagon.

Apple Pay is already being utilised in US, UK, Canada and Australia and in order to gain more foothold, the service is required to extend to additional countries. China tends to represent a main achievement since it is the largest smartphone market in the world and Apple’s second largest market with regards to revenue.

Encounter Key Challenges in Winning Chinese Consumers

Apple Pay seems to encounter key challenges in winning over Chinese consumers where several of them already pay for products through their phone by using services offered by one of the country’s two main online companies namely Tencent Holdings and Alibaba Group.

Towards the end of last year, around 358 million Chinese paid for goods through their smartphones, according to Reuter’s reports that cited data from the Chinese Internet Network Information Centre. Moreover, Apple Pay needs retailers to furnish their point-of-sale terminals with NFC or near-field communication technology that tends to communicate with equally equipped iPhone of Apple Watch.

According to BBC News, Alipay system of Alibaba tends to conduct transaction by displaying quick response - QR codes that can be read by more phones and also supports both iOS as well as Android devices. One retailer who refrained from being named for fear of harming business prospects informed Reuters, that`with 100% saturation of local payment systems, none have been demanding for Apple Pay in China’.

Apple Pay – Solution in Need of a Problem

`Presently all have a local payment option on their phone and so Apple Pay is a solution in need of a problem’. In order to compete with Tencent’s Tenpay service as well as Alipay, Apple had been in partnership with UnionPay, which is a bankcard association, dominating the credit and debit card processing market of the country.

Apple Pay is presently supported by 19 various Chinese banks as well as lenders meaning that the service can work with about 80% of credit and debit cards of China, according to Vice President of Apple Pay Jennifer Bailey, who informed Reuters. To make in-store transactions, Apple Pay needs to work with the iPhone 6S, iPhone 6S Plus, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus together with Apple Watch.

The service works with all those devices and with the iPad Air 2, iPad Mini 3, iPad Mini 4 and iPad Pro to make in-app purchases. No comments had been done by Apple to a request for comment.

GPS Tracking Down to the Centimeter

GPS Tracking with a new level of accuracy

GPS Tracking can be defined as the surveillance through the use of a GPS (Global Positioning System) in order to trace the location of an object or an entity in a remote way. The details that a GPS system can provide are the latitude, longitude, the ground speed and of course the direction of movement.

The basics of a GPS: The need for better accuracy

A GPS is basically a constellation of twenty four satellites placed at certain points in space orbiting the Earth. It enables people on the ground to pinpoint on a specific location that is picked up by the satellites. The accuracy of the location that is indicated is somewhere close to 10 – 100 meters for most of the GPS devices. In case it is military grade equipment, the accuracy of the spot increases to 1 metre or less. The use of GPS has increased and has become low cost as well. People who own a smartphone, tablet or a GPS navigation system has access to and can make use of this modern technology.

The GPS technology is very valuable for the police, fire brigade, defense units and transportation or courier businesses. Other uses of this system can be the GPS guns that can fire a GPS tracker to avoid a dangerous pursuit by shooting at an escaping or a moving target by law enforcers. Other variants of this domain could be GPS dust that again comprises of tiny trackers. This method has also been employed for tracking employee locations.

However, the common concern regarding the GPS technology irrespective of its use has always been the accuracy of the location. In this regard, researchers at the University of California have come up with a new data processing method that has led to an increase in the accuracy of the transmitted position. This new system can now provide data that would be within the range of a few centimetres. This new development will be incorporated in the aviation, automobile and the naval systems apart from other precision technologies. The same accuracy can be achieved on mobile devices as well and the best thing would be that it is not going to increase the power consumption rate.

How did it all happen?

This new breakthrough was achieved after a reformulation of a series of equations which is the core of the process that determines the location of the GPS implant. The main driving force that led to this progress was the strong need of a system that would be beyond the metre level accuracy, especially in the case of autonomous cars and precision farming that need a higher level of accuracy.

In the case of cars, the applications controlling the safety system not only needs to know in which lane is a car running, but it also needs to know where exactly it is in that lane. Also, the information has to refresh at very high speeds as well as high bandwidth. Hence, GPS data along with from an IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit) were combined using INS (Internal Navigation system).

Apple TV Is Getting Voice Dictation to End Your Typing Woes

Apple TV –Dictation/App Store Search for Siri

With the updated Apple TV, typing has been a strain; however text input could get a lot better with its next software update. Presently out for developers in beta form, the next tvOS 9.2 will add dictation as well as App Store search for Siri enabling users to contribute text through voice commands.

One can also spell passwords out loud instead of doing things the hard way with the remote. Voice search works the way one would expect on the App Store permitting users to ask Siri to access assured categories or apps. The update is said to introduce Live Photos as well as iCloud Photo Library support, enhanced folder organization together with a revamped App Switcher.

As per MacRumors, the next instalment of tvOS 9.2 would be released to all users in spring officially together with iOS 9.3 for iPhone and iPad. One of the biggest complaints at launch, with the fourth generation Apple TV was the text entry. Considering that the video streamer supported Siri, though did not support dictation for quick search box completion, user account entry became unusual and also seemed unavoidable.

Voice Dictation Feature

The Siri Remote which comes with the new Apple TV enables Siri based voice search and the company is attempting to bring Siri search support on the Apple TV for Apple Music. The tech giant company has sown tvOS 9.2 beta 3 to developers and besides other features it has a voice dictation feature.

On enabling dictation in Apple tvOS 9.2 beta 3, one can speak in the Siri remote and enter text in any field which earlier needed a slow and awkwardseries of swipes and clicks on a horizontal row of letters. Dictation tends to aid the spelling of user names as well as password, besides quick word entry in search boxes. The update has also introduced the potential of searching the App Store from anywhere in the Apple TV interface on holding the button of Siri and speaking commands such as `Search the App Store for Plex’ or What games are in the App Store?”

The update also remedies other complaints on adding support for Bluetooth keyboards, Live Photos, iCloud Photo Libraries as well as introduces the ability to group apps in folders on the home screen of Apple TV like iOS.

Feature Not Available for General Public

Apple TVs will probably receive the tvOS 9.2 update in spring with an official date is rumoured to be announced at the March 15thevent where it is also likely to launch the iPad Air 3, iPhone 5se as well as the new Apple Watch models and bands.

The feature has not been made available for the general public and Apple is expected to include all of the features to users with tvOS 9.2, public rollout. It is strange that Apple has taken sometime in bringing such features to its tvOS platform considering that the feature had been on iOS as well as OS X for quite a long time. Taking into account that tvOS tends to make good use of text input system, it leaves one to consider over its apparent reasons.

We would be seeing at least one more beta before tvOS 9.2 is rolled to all across the world. Considering the fact the Apple is adding new features with every release of pre-release software for Apple TV 4, there is probably likelihood that the final build would bring surprises not seen or heard earlier.