Former Apple ad guru Ken Segall says company is losing touch with its heritage of simplicity
Ken Segall, the former Apple ad consultant who coined the iMac name, wrote the copy for the famous ‘Think different’ campaign and authored the book Insanely Simple, says that Apple is beginning to lose touch with its heritage of simplicity. He gave his assessment of Apple’s ‘state of simplicity’ in a piece for the Guardian.
Though Apple’s customers remain fiercely loyal, the natives are getting restless. A growing number of people are sensing that Tim Cook’s Apple isn’t as simple as Steve’s Apple. They see complexity in expanding product lines, confusing product names, and the products themselves.
While the Guardian‘s headline makes the piece seem entire critical, it’s actually very balanced …
Filed under: AAPL Company Tagged: AAPL, Apple Inc, Insanely Simple, Ken Segall, simplicity, Steve Jobs, Tim Cook
Food delivery apps Grubhub and Seamless now accept Apple Pay for faster checkout
If you’re of the view that life’s too short to fetch your own take-out food, you’ll probably appreciate anything that speeds up the ordering process too – which is why Grubhub and Seamless now offer Apple Pay in the iOS apps. TechCrunch estimates that using Apple Pay instead of a credit card will save you about a minute per order …
iTunes 12.4.1 now available with VoiceOver improvements, other bug fixes
Two weeks after the release of iTunes 12.4, Apple this evening has pushed an updated build of the software bringing it to version 12.4.1. Apple says the update addresses a “number of problems” concerning VoiceOver working properly with iTunes.
Unicode Consortium officially approves 72 new emoji, including bacon, selfie, and a clown face
It’s been essentially confirmed in the past, but today the Unicode Consortium officially unveiled the 72 new emoji that will be made available in Unicode 9. The latest batch of emoji include a variety of new foods, faces, objects, and sports. Unicode 9 is set to be released on June 21st, which means we may see these new emoji in iOS 10 when it ships to the public this fall.
Filed under: iOS Devices Tagged: emoji, iOS
Opinion: Is the iOS vs Android battle headed down the same path as Mac vs PC?
Yesterday, well-respected venture capitalist Mary Meeker released her annual Internet Trends Report. Inside the over 200 slide PowerPoint were some interesting numbers relating to the continuing battle between iOS and Android. As we reported last night, Meeker’s report showed iOS continue to decline in marketshare, while Android continues to gain. In many ways, the current split between Android and iOS in terms of market share and unit shipments is very similar to the split between Mac and PC shipments and marketshare. And it’s been a long time coming for Apple.
App Store, Apple Music, iTunes and other iCloud services currently unavailable for some users
As noted by Apple’s system status page, a multitude of Apple services are currently experiencing instability and downtime for some users. The affected services include the App Store, Mac App Store, Apple TV services, iTunes In The Cloud and the Volume Purchase Program. We have also had a few reports of Apple Music downtime, seemingly repeating the outage yesterday, but Apple’s official status report does not mention any problems with Apple Music at this time.
Filed under: AAPL Company, Apple Music, iOS, iOS Devices, Mac, Tech Industry Tagged: App Store, iOS, Mac App Store
Opinion: Apple’s Back to School 2016 promotion is latest signal for future without headphone jack
Earlier today Apple announced the start of their annual Back to School promotion for 2016. This year eligible purchases of a Mac, iPad, or iPhone will come bundled with a pair of wireless Beats headphones. This is reminiscent of last year’s Back to School promotion, save for the fact that during this year’s promotion for the wireless headphone is the default and doesn’t require an extra $100 expense. The small, but obvious connectivity choice signals a new direction in which Apple wants its customer to think.
Filed under: Opinion Tagged: Apple, Back to School
Review: Speck iGuy case is a must-have when kids inherit iPads
It happens all the time. Parents upgrade old iPads with new ones and lucky kids inherit magical (and expensive) tablets. But kids aren’t nearly as careful with pricey pieces of glass and somehow always messy hands. That’s what happened in our house late last year, and Speck’s iGuy case for iPad has made a world of difference.
Filed under: iOS Devices, Reviews Tagged: iPad, Speck
Apple not unveiling new or updated external display at WWDC, announcements will focus on software
Apple won’t have a new external display to show off at its WWDC 2016 event later this month despite limited inventory as the company plans an event that will mostly focus on new software, according to sources.
Filed under: Mac
Apple re-releases iOS 9.3.2 for iPad Pro after previous version bricked some devices
Apple has re-released last month’s minor iOS 9.3.2 software update after pulling it due to customer complaints of bricking iPad Pros. The updated version features build number 13F72 and is available through official channels now.
Filed under: iOS, iOS Devices