Android 8.1 Developer Preview

Android 8.1 is official: you can download the first preview for developers

A few months ago we finally met Android 8.0 Oreo with all its novelties and, with this new version, the manufacturers began to announce as quickly as possible the terminals that would see that update and the approximate time. With the arrival of the Pixel 2, in addition, Android 8.1 was expected to come with some new features, but finally it was not like that.

However, Google announced that the developer preview of Android 8.1 can now be downloaded in compatible devices and, in addition, the final version we would see in December of this year. If your phone meets the requirements and you are brave enough, we explain how you can have Android 8.1 in its first previous version.

Just a few weeks after the introduction of the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL, and exactly two months after the announcement of Android Oreo, Google today made official the new version of its operating system: Android 8.1 Oreo.

This new edition corresponding to API 27, is available from today in the form of Developer Preview, and will receive updates within the beta program until the final version, which should arrive next December according to the statements of the great G.

Do not miss our analysis: Android 8 Oreo, in-depth analysis and opinion

The first previous version of Android 8.1 can now be downloaded as a factory image from the official website for Android developers. Google, as always, indicates which devices are compatible with this version:

Nexus 5X
Nexus 6P
Pixel C
Pixel
Pixel XL
Pixel 2
Pixel 2 XL

Those users who are already part of the Android Beta Program - of which Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL still do not benefit - will receive the update via OTA in the coming days. The rest, they will have to install the update package manually, as long as they have an unlocked bootloader. The second preview will arrive in mid-November, and the final update of Android 8.1 is scheduled for next December.

At the moment the list of changes to the full that comes with this update is unknown. However, it is expected that Google has finally enabled the co-processor Pixel Visual Core integrated into their new pair of devices, responsible for enhancing-even more-their photographic capabilities.

Since it is a previous version, it is possible that operating errors could arise. Therefore, only the installation of this update is recommended for advanced users, and on devices that are not used as primary. Anyway, if you want to proceed with the installation of the new version, it is advisable to back up all the data in case something goes wrong.

Apple Earnings: X Things to Watch

The share market is currently seeing Apple reaching an all-time high as the iPhone manufacturer gets ready for its quarterly results and the launch of its newest product, the iPhone X. As a reminder to the readers that Apple wants the iPhone X to be pronounced as “iPhone ten” instead of the incorrect “iPhone ex”, listed below are X things to lookout for in this week’s results.

1. Everyone is looking forward to the iPhone sales, obviously. The September quarter ending typically showcases the year’s largest iPhone launch. This year’s schedule that was split meant that only the usual iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus models were launched before the quarter-end. A few analysts have heard news that the iPhone 8 has not sold as well as it was anticipated. The cause could be that customers were waiting for a November launch or maybe because they were reluctant to buy a wireless charging phone or also maybe because the iPhone X has a delicate glass back that is expensive to replace. Apple’s figures showing the unit sales will help provide an answer. Wall Street is analysed the results and came up with the conclusion that approximately 46m iPhone sold in the span of the quarter, with just 1 percent increase every year, with an amount of $50.7bn total revenues and $1.87 earnings.

2. As far as the iPhone X is concerned, the big question at the moment is the supply and not the demand. The latest OLED screen technology and the camera with 3D depth sensors are both proving to be a hold-up in the supply chain. The time durations for shipping have remained stable at 5-6 weeks since the time the pre-orders for the iPhone were opened last week, which is more than what a few forecasters had expected. It is likely that analysts will question the Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook about how realistically the company will be able to meet this requirement of holiday sales.

3. Talking about holiday sales, the entire focus will be on the December results. Wall Street consensus is expecting 84m iPhones that will generate revenue of $85.8bn.

4. The vital clue to the answering the question about the iPhone sales figure derived from Apple’s revenue viewpoint is finding out this device’s average selling price, which considering the minimum starting price is $999, is on the rise. However, for the present quarter, the ASPs might see a dip due to the steady demand for the iPhone 7 at a lower price, which was launched last year.

5. Another critical issue in making the latest iPhones a hit is China, where Mr Cook has maintained his stand as relentlessly bullish, even though the region has seen sales falling to over 10 percent overall in the last quarter. After seeing a decline in six quarters back to back, Canalys analysts are of the opinion that Apple’s iPhone sales have increased 40 percent in China in the last quarter, growing to 11m from last year’s 8m.

6. Although majority of the focus is on the iPhone, Apple has been actively promoting its services business since the last year or so. This particular aspect has seen a strong performance, with a growth of 22 percent and helped Apple rise more than expectations in the last year.

7. The launch of Apple Watch Series 3 in September generally received positive feedbacks, even though it faced an early hitch over the issue of wireless connections that were dropped. Apple did not increase the sales for Apple Watch and instead grouped it in the category of “other products” along with headphones, iPods and other accessories. Most of analysts have raised their estimates for Apple Watch sales in the past few weeks, with the latest LTE cellular wireless connection seen as a specific approach. Neil Cybart of Above Avalon, who is Apple specialist analyst, considers that the revenue from these “other products” would amount to $3.0bn which would comprise of 2.9m from the Watch unit sales alone.

9. The Mac has not been one of the favourites among the loyal Apple users, the reason being the rising number of dongles needed to plug into the reducing number of USB ports of the Macbook and the actually troublesome keyboard of this compact laptop. This quarter appeared to the second strongest for the Apple Mac as a result of the back-to-school season and thus RBC is expecting Mac Unit sales to rise to approximately 5m.

10. Even with the above nine items, the X factor that establishes the stock price in the direct outcome of Apple’s earnings is generally one thing specifically: will it meet or not meet the predictions of the iPhone unit sales made by Wall Street? In the past seven quarters we have seen that it has missed thrice, met the expectations three times and just once hit straight down the centre. Its performance against the ever-increasing expectations of the investors will be disclosed this week.

iPhone X Review By Macmyth.com

The news and doubts raised by the new iPhone X, the leap forward of Apple for cell phones

Even if you change your hairstyle or wear glasses, the creators of the new iPhone X ensure that with your facial recognition system you can start your mobile.

The flagship product of Apple, presented on Tuesday in California, comes with an end-to-end screen and no start button. iPhone X is built with steel and glass and will be available in two colors: black and silver.

Face ID in iPhone X is a new form of access to the mobile phone based on the facial recognition of the users and which represents an evolution with respect to the tactile Touch ID method.

In the iPhone X - as the number of years since the first model of this cell phone came out - the frame is barely visible, except for a small part that houses the headset and the front camera.

The most expensive

The screen of the iPhone X - which is expected to cost US $ 999 in its most basic 64 GB model - will also have OLED technology on its screen (organic light emitting diode).

In contrast, Note 8, Samsung's new phone, is on the market at US $ 930 with a similar capacity of 64 GB.

The iPhone 8 has a size of 5.8 "inches (14.7 centimeters) and is provided with a higher resolution.

With a finger upward movement on the screen goes to the mobile home considered as the most advanced and expensive Apple smartphone- that will go on sale in the US. on November 3.

Why so expensive? 

"The new design of iPhone X is likely to be the standard for the new generation of iPhone models, but Apple will have to face the challenge of getting enough pieces," said Geoff Blaber, analyst at CCS Insight Consultancy.

Another expert described as "legendary" the ability of the company to make users spend more on their cell phones than those of rival companies.

"There may be an element of price increases to control demand and generate a balance in relation to the number of mobile phones they can produce," said Neil Mawston of Strategy Analytics.

"I suspect that Apple always wanted to sell an iPhone for US $ 1,000. We have seen how prices have risen year after year and there is a lot of pressure from shareholders, "he added.

Fears of the users

Apple acknowledges that users may have concerns about using facial recognition as a method of verification of purchases via Apple Pay or to access the device.

To address that resistance the company said that facial recognition present in iPhone X was safer than fingerprinting. So much so that, theoretically, the possibility of another person stealing the user's identity is one in a million.

It will be necessary to see if indeed this function delivers the expected results.

On the other hand, some analysts have criticized that the iPhone X has not maintained the fingerprint as a second alternative.

"This is the biggest obstacle they have for now in iPhone X," said Carolina Milanesi of Creative Strategies.

"Many consumers will be a bit reluctant to use facial recognition in iPhone X until it is proven to be safe," he added.

Although the iPhone X stole the attention, the company also presented on Tuesday Apple Watch Series 3, Apple TV 4K, iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus.

Apple iOS 11.0.3 Angers Users Two Weeks Later

While everyone is waiting for the thrilling possibilities of iOS 11.1 the sad truth remains that Apple iOS 11.0.3 is creating a lot of problems for its users. And now even the most faithful followers of Apple have begun to recognise this.

Famed ally AppleInsider wrote addressing this topic, stating that, problems such as battery life and instability propagate through social media and Apple support forums and many of these problems don’t seem to have a common origin and are neither solved easily. More relevant to the point, AppleInsider points out postings where users have bombarded Apple with many complaints.

Apple’s Official Support Communities forum shows a post where multiple reports of problem with iOS 11.0.3 have been made but in particular, the really terrible battery life has more than 1200 endorsements proving to Apple that “I have this question too”.

A post on Reddit by one owner describes how his iPhone’s performance has gradually gone downhill after upgrading to iOS 11.0.3 and this post has over 400 comments, where almost all relate with the poster. And this only worsens from here on. A second Reddit thread describes a drop in performance and stability problems and the poster asks how common other users are finding this. This received over 2000 comments in support to the problem described.

Temper levels are also on the rise. Users that are affected are arguing that it’s a disaster and unaffected users are contradicting that saying they are unaffected and that there is absolutely no problem. However, neither of the viewpoints is useful. It is clear that each and every single iPhone, iPad or iPod touch is not affected, but it is also equally clear that a considerable number are.

AppleInsider itself clarifies this point saying that it has observed iOS 11.0.3 running well on a pair of iPad Airs, iPhone 7 Plus and an iPhone 6S that it has but other iPads and iPhones are facing problems which includes an intense effect on its battery life. This issue of battery life specifically seems to be a very dreadful problem for many.

A simple search on Twitter shows thousands of complaints pertaining to only iOS 11.0.3 battery life and the software, not the hardware, appears to be the cause of the problem. AppleInsider studied the data set gathered from Genius Bars since the 2016 ‘Touch Disease’ problems and concluded that authorised hardware repairs saw no significant increase and thus there had to be a problem with iOS 11 itself.

There is good news is that there may be hopes for battery life in particular as the latest betas of iOS 11.1 are showing huge improvements. But this is just one particular issue and notes that have been released so far alongside the iOS 11.1 betas did not show it will make the truck-load of fixes in demand by many, at least officially.

Apple iOS 11.1 will be likely to be launched in the next 1-2 weeks, but it would be beneficial to sign up for the Apple Beta Program if one can’t wait. For the moment, Apple needs to keep in mind that even though they are very focused on the super smart iPhone X, the company cannot risk leaving behind their faithful customers who are still using older models.

Apple Leak Reveals Massive iPhone Feature Cancelled

Widely known as the planet’s best Apple analyst on the planet, Ming-Chi Kuo, a KGI Securities analyst is back in the news again, with the revelation that Apple will be making a huge deletion in the new iPhones to come in 2018.

A Macrumors report stated that Apple has made a decision to “abandon” the very famous Touch ID fingerprint sensor and it will not be seen in any of the future generation of iPhones. Kuo states that as an alternative Touch ID will be completely substituted by Face ID, a thrilling yet polarising technology that involves facial recognition which will make its first appearance in the upcoming iPhone X. The logic that Apple applies behind this is that it firmly believes it will gain an advantage competitively via differentiation, according to Kuo, who said it will take many years for the Android-based competitors to match it.

Nonetheless, this is a huge risk that Apple is taking, especially when the Face ID has not yet appeared on the market and this is likely to be a controversial move for many reasons. First and foremost, even if it works as efficiently as the Touch ID, there are many cases where the physical activity of phone unlocking by looking at it will not be as seamless or subtle as utilising your fingerprint. This comprises of almost everything from trying to align your face to the camera and screen while running or walking, utilising Apple Pay while checking out or even discreetly browsing your phone under the table while stuck in a dull meeting.

Secondly, while Apple commits to not accessing your data, Face ID works on the principle of building a thorough 3D model of your face for recognition purposes. So if the concept of your phone gathering your fingerprints was unsettling, then swapping that feature for a digital record of the exact features of your face will not be appealing enough.

Thirdly, biometrics works best when used in combination. For example: using a fingerprint sensor while your face is being scanned. Hence Apple’s decision to substitute one with the other does not do much to enhance security over Touch ID, as tests have proved.

Face ID is surely a very thrilling technology and in the case of the iPhone X, it facilitates a few great secret features, but there’s no solid reason to completely dismiss the idea of Touch ID. It can be included into the power button, the rear of the phone or maybe even beneath the display and having both the options of Face ID and Touch ID being made available to owners to choose from.

Still Apple attempts at thinking different and Kuo says 2018 iPads will see the addition of Face ID but there is no word on it being included on MacBooks and Macs yet. Also, history shows us that Apple is pretty ruthless when it comes to replacing the older technologies with the new and it’s not surprising as these replacements are always justified in the long-run. But while Face ID may match Touch ID in terms of accuracy and speed, there is no solid proof to show that looking at your iPhone to unlock it is quicker or more convenient than using our fingers to do the same.