When I wrote last week’s opinion piece on five hardware lessons Apple could learn from Android manufacturers, a few of you wondered why I hadn’t added wireless charging to the list.

Those who know me might be especially surprised. I hate cables, and indeed went to the trouble of having a bespoke desk made so that cables could be rendered almost invisible. I’ve also been known to favor hi-tech approaches over low-tech ones just because I’m a gadget guy, so why wasn’t I calling on Apple to introduce wireless charging … ? 

It’s not because I don’t want wireless charging. I do. If I could remove all visible wires from my home, nobody would be happier than me. I look on the idea of having to tether a MacBook to power in much the same way most people would look at having to plug in an Ethernet cable to get Internet access.

But today’s wireless charging systems don’t get rid of wires. They replace a power cable running directly to a device with a power cable running to a charging mat. Either way, we get the cable.

There is of course one advantage to wireless charging: we don’t have to plug in the device, we can just put it down on the pad. I’ll admit that’s slightly more convenient. But only slightly. One of the things I love about MagSafe is there is no fiddling around with power cables, just hold it vaguely in the right area and it snaps neatly into place. Lightning doesn’t do that, but it’s at least much less fiddly that the old-style 30-pin connector.

A few manufacturers, like IKEA, are now building wireless charging pads into furniture. That is a vast improvement on standalone pads, enabling us to tuck the wires out of sight, but as yet, there are very limited options. I don’t want to be stuck with the few pieces of furniture that include it.

Realistically, we’re never going to get today’s wireless charging technology built into all the furniture we actually want to buy. The whole approach is no more than a stopgap, a dead-end. The very minimum we need is inductive charging capable of working through a thick desk or kitchen worktop, so the charging pads can be hidden away out of sight.

But what I really want is true wireless power. The kind of wireless power that enables a device to be genuinely liberated from power outlets. Where I can just use any portable device – be it an iPhone, iPad or MacBook – without having to worry about where it gets its power from.

There are two potential ways we could get that …

The first technology is fuel cells, which turn hydrogen into electricity. Using the same space taken up by today’s laptop batteries, fuel cells would power a laptop for several weeks.

Sure, we’d have to top up our devices from time to time, but a MacBook would become like a Kindle or a Bluetooth keyboard – something we have to charge maybe once a month. That’s well into ‘good enough’ territory for me.

The only downside is that when charging becomes that infrequent, it’s easy to forget about it completely. About the only device I use that I let go flat these days is the Brydge keyboard I use with my iPad, because it only need to be charged every 5-6 weeks and I have no routine for it. But that’s just about developing new habits.

Fuel cell technology is nothing new. It was first invented in 1838! NASA uses it to power satellites, and larger fuel cell systems are used in a number of industrial applications. But for some reason, it hasn’t yet made it into portable electronic devices – despite more than a decade of articles promising we’d have fuel cell-powered laptops any day now.

But I’m not giving up yet. Apple has a patent on using fuel cells in portable electronic devices, and has reportedly been working on it for some time. Intelligent Energy has even managed to squeeze fuel cells into the same space as an iPhone 6 battery and use them to power an iPhone for a week. This stuff works.

But the holy grail of wireless power is wide-area wireless charging. Many attempts have been made at this, most of them requiring huge amounts of power to charge even small devices – and also pumping out a great deal of electromagnetic energy, something which has health and safety implications.

But there’s one approach out there that has neither drawback: MagMIMO, a technology developed by MIT. This works in a similar way to advanced Wi-Fi routers: you blanket a room in signal, then when the router detects that a device is connected to it, it boosts power to the right directional antennas to reach that device.

MagMIMO does the same thing, but using magnetic fields instead of radio waves. An array of wire coils generates a magnetic field and when a phone disrupts that field, MagMIMO senses it and focuses on the phone by creating a slightly different field with each coil. The magnetic fields reinforce each other so as to maximise the strength of the overall field reaching the phone.

MagMIMO uses no more power than conventional charging, and the focused magnetic fields have no effect on human tissue.

MIT’s proof of concept operated over 30cm, but a company called WattUp has already demonstrated a range of 20 feet using exactly this type of focused-energy approach. The end goal is to have a network of power transmitters throughout a home so that any device can be remotely powered from anywhere inside the building.

This is what I want: not a wireless charging pad, but a wireless charging home. All our devices being charged all the time. No visible wires, no need to connect a device to anything or put it down anywhere in particular, just power constantly available to any device anywhere in the home.

Fit the same systems to offices, coffee shops, hotels, airport lounges and so on, and we’d never need to carry a charger ever again. That’s my idea of wireless power. And that’s why I remain entirely unexcited by charging pads.

Filed under: Opinion Tagged: iPad, iPhone, MacBook, wireless charger, wireless power

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Last week on our sister-site Electrek, we reported on Faraday Future (FF), a well-funded California-based startup looking to invest $1 billion to build an electric vehicle factory in the US. Due to the company refusing to disclose its CEO or investors, some media outlets have been reporting that it could be a front for Apple’s Project Titan.

But it isn’t likely for Apple to have any involvement with the company since everything points to it being backed by the Chinese technology company LeTV.

A few weeks ago, we wrote a profile of the company based on their recent hires, especially from Tesla Motors. Through our research for the profile, we found out that the company named Chaoying Deng as CEO on documents filed for incorporation in the state of California. Deng is listed on her LinkedIn profile as a Director at Le Vision Pictures, which is a subsidiary of LeTV.

Earlier this summer, Tesla officials said that LeTV is providing financing to Faraday, but at the time LeTV said it was only “speculation”.

LeTV is known as the “Chinese Netflix” and for making its founder, Jia Yueting, a very rich man. Earlier this year, Yueting sold $1.61 billion worth LeTV’s shares, $1.2 billion of which he loaned right back to the company to finance the several projects they are working on, including electric cars.

LeTV is leading its own effort to build an electric supercar appropriately named “Le Supercar” and they also invested in Atieva, another California-based startup full of former Tesla employees working toward making an electric vehicle.

Now everything points toward Faraday Future being the company’s third effort in the electric car market. It isn’t likely for Apple to have any involvement with FF, unless they have an undisclosed partnership with LeTV, which would be surprising at this point.

Nonetheless, Faraday should be interesting to follow considering they are well-staffed and well-funded, which is often the main problem in a capital-intensive industry like the automotive industry.

We’ll be following FF and most electric vehicle projects on our sister-site Electrek, make sure to follow us on your favorite social media to get our latest articles: Twitter, Facebook or Google+

Picture: Rear view teaser from Faraday Future.

Filed under: AAPL Company, Apple Car Tagged: Apple, Apple Car, Electric car, faraday future, FF, LeTV

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Expanding its suite of outstanding photo editing apps, Macphun today announced Aurora HDR, a powerful but easy-to-use tool for creating High Dynamic Range images. Co-developed by leading HDR photographer Trey Ratcliff, Aurora HDR automatically combines several exposures of the same image, bringing out bright colors and shadow detail that are lost by a single exposure.

Unlike typical HDR compositing, which yields a finished image that’s hard to meaningfully edit, Aurora HDR includes nearly 40 one-click presets to change the look of the image, including Signature Pro presets developed by Ratcliff. The app can be used in standalone or plug-in modes, and incorporates a large collection of detail, noise, and intensity adjustment tools borrowed from Macphun’s Creative Kit 2016 (reviewed here), notably including selective adjustment brushes.

Aurora HDR will be available in standard ($50) and Pro ($100) versions on November 19, with discounted $90 Pro pre-orders starting today from Macphun’s web site. Additional screenshots and details are below…

“Aurora HDR is like no software I’ve ever used and I think it’s gonna blow people’s minds,” commented Trey Ratcliff, founder of StuckInCustoms.com. “Over the past 10 years I’ve been trying to find the ultimate HDR software, and it wasn’t until Macphun came along in this amazing partnership that I was able to finally build my own. You can go from mild to extreme HDR, add special glow, use layers, and — even better — you don’t even need Lightroom or Photoshop!”

The Key Benefits of Aurora HDR

• Revolutionary HDR algorithms make possible the entire spectrum of HDR looks, from natural to highly stylized.
• Total HDR editing experience with the most complete set of tools available.
• Powerful one­click presets, including Signature Pro presets by Trey Ratcliff, yieldfantastic results instantly.
• Layers, masking and brushes provide the ultimate in selective editing.
• Unique Radiance controls and custom texture blending for creative versatility.
• Detail enhancement to increase drama in images.
• Extensive color and toning controls for vibrant color combinations.
• Approachable user interface makes for a comfortable, understandable experience.
• Built­in sharing supports popular photo communities and social networks.

• RAW, JPG, TIFF and other popular files support for the greatest flexibility.
• Workflow tailored to any style with support for using as a standalone app or as a plug­in to popular host applications.

Filed under: Apps Tagged: Aurora HDR, HDR, Macphun, Photo editing, photography, Trey Ratcliff

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A survey in which Siri, Google Now and Cortana users were asked to rate their satisfaction with their respective intelligent assistants found that Siri got the highest scores, with 81% of users declaring themselves satisfied compared to 68% for Google Now and just 57% for Cortana.

Survey participants were also asked to try out seven different requests and report on how well their service performed, as well as to note how many times they were asked follow-up questions. Siri had the lowest percentage of incorrect answers, and also asked fewer follow-up questions before it was able to carry out the task or answer the question.

Siri is definitely a feature that polarises users – some (like me) extremely satisfied with it, while I know others who report getting better results with Google Now. Microsoft is allowing a small number of iOS users to try out a beta version of Cortana for the iPhone.

Siri got the highest satisfaction score for setting an appointment, and the lowest for the question ‘When does Kung Fu Panda 3 come out?’.

You can see full details at the Experts Exchange site.

Siri’s latest trick is speaking Arabic, following the Apple Store openings in the UAE.

Filed under: iOS Tagged: Artificial Intelligence, Cortana, Google Now, Siri

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As we reported last week, Apple has announced that the iPad Pro will go on sale in 40 countries on Wednesday, November 11th. The ‘epic’ 12.9 inch device will also be available in Apple Retail Stores later in the week.

The iPad Pro costs $799 for the 32 GB base model and maxes out at $1079 for the WiFi + Cellular 128 GB version. The iPad Pro will be available to buy in 40 countries, including the US, UK, Canada, China and Japan …

The iPad Pro accessories, such as the Smart Keyboard and Apple Pencil stylus accessory, will also be available from Wednesday, November 11th. In a statement, Apple SVP marketing Phillip Schiller says early response to iPad Pro has been “incredible”.

“The early response to iPad Pro from app developers and our customers has been incredible, and we’re excited to get iPad Pro into the hands of customers around the world this week,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “iPad Pro is the most powerful iPad we’ve ever made, giving users the ability to be even more creative and more productive with the epic 12.9-inch Retina display, powerful 64-bit A9X chip and groundbreaking Apple Pencil and new Smart Keyboard. We can’t wait to see what they do with iPad Pro.”

The iPad Pro features a gigantic 12.9 inch Retina Display with 5.6 million pixels, a super-fast A9X processor whilst still providing all day battery life. The iPad Pro is specifically targeted at business, education and creative professionals thanks to the high-resolution pressure sensitive Apple Pencil stylus (optional accessory).

The Apple Smart Keyboard is Apple’s own interpretation of the myriad third-party iPad keyboard cases already available to buy for current iPads. As the iPad Pro is so large, however, it will be the first iPad keyboard case to offer a full size set of keys. The Smart Keyboard charges/pairs to the iPad via a new Smart Connector positioned at the bottom of the iPad Pro.

Expect many app updates from developers in the coming days as software is tailored to the additional screen real-estate offered by the iPad Pro Retina Display and the additional capabilities of the Apple Pencil stylus. Apple is currently promoting Paper, Adobe’s suite of Photoshop apps, Procreate 3 and UMake as examples of great iPad Pro apps.

The full list of countries for iPad Pro availability is Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Cayman Islands, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, El Salvador, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greenland, Guatemala, Hong Kong, Hungary, Ireland, Isle of Man, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mexico, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Russia, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, UAE, US, UK, Uruguay and the Virgin Islands.

Filed under: iOS, iOS Devices, Tech Industry Tagged: Apple Pencil, apple smart pencil, iPad Pro, keyboard case

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Swiss watchmaker TAG Heuer has announced that its Android Wear-based Carrera Connected smartwatch, launching today in New York, will have “almost the same functions as an Apple Watch.”

TAG Heuer CEO Jean-Claude Biver told Le Matin Dimanche that he didn’t want to reveal too much ahead of today’s official unveiling, which takes place at 11am ET … 

Our watch will have almost the same features as an Apple Watch, but I don’t want to say too much.

The watch, which is based on the company’s traditional Carrera watch (above right), is made from titanium and will offer a choice of six, brightly-colored wristbands. The company has so far revealed few details.

One interesting question will be whether the Carrera Connected can be called ‘Swiss made’: the law says that 50% of the components must be made within Switzerland to qualify, and TAG Heuer is buying in the smartwatch components from the USA.

Biver has previously suggested that the Apple Watch may get younger people used to wearing a watch and that they would then want “a real watch.” The company may have to work hard on its sales efforts after Apple last year poached its VP of Sales and Retail, but TAG Heuer seems to be aiming small, stating that just 1,000 units will go on sale in New York before the European launch later this week.

You’ll be able to watch a livestream of the event on YouTube.

Filed under: Apple Watch Tagged: TAG Heuer, TAG Heuer Carrera, TAG Heuer Carrera Connected, TAG Heuer smartwatch

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If you’ve ever been browsing Pinterest and spotted a lamp you really like in a shot of someone’s living room, or a bag you love in a street shot, the iOS app now has a tool designed to help. Just tap the search tool in the corner of the photo, highlight the object of interest and the app will search its product database to try to identify it … 

Pinterest says that it has so far indexed a billion of the 50 billion images posted to the service, and in time aims to index them all.

While the new feature will be useful to users, it’s of course also designed to help the company monetise the platform. It added Buyable Pins back in June, together with curated shopping lists for various product categories. The company also updated the app for iOS 9 in September, adding Spotlight search and support for 3D Touch.

Pinterest is a free download from iTunes, and the new version will be rolling out later today.

Filed under: Apps Tagged: Pinterest, visual search

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Nearly a year ago, a federal judge dismissed a class action lawsuit Apple employees filed against the company for wages they lost while standing in bag-check lines for 10 to 15 minutes before and after their shifts. The case, however, lived on in California. Until today, that is. According to a report out of Bloomberg, a San Francisco judge has today sided with Apple in the case, saying employees could have easily avoided the checks.

The case would have seen Apple compensating as many as 12,400 former and current employees across 52 retail locations a “few dollars a day” for the time spent undergoing bag checks. The employees argued that since the checks were mandatory, they should have been compensated for them. Estimates showed that Apple could have been on the hook for as much as $60 million.

The judge, however, sided with Apple and stated that the employees could have forgone the bag checks by not bringing bags with them in the first place. “It is undisputed that some employees did not bring bags to work and thereby did not have to be searched when they left the store,” U.S. District Judge William Alsup said today in the ruling.

Earlier this year it was revealed that Tim Cook was largely unaware of both the lawsuit and the policy of checking employee bags. When two employees complained directly to Cook about the issue, he forwarded the email to his HR executives, asking “Is this true?”

Following today’s ruling in San Francisco, the employees in the case said they are continuing to explore their options, but for now, it appears Apple will not be forced to compensate employees for the checks.

Filed under: AAPL Company Tagged: Apple, Apple Stores, Lawsuit, retail, Tim Cook

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Today we’re comparing the forth generation Apple TV to the NVIDIA Shield. These are quite possibly the two best set top boxes out right now. I won’t be going into every little detail here, but instead the things that are most important for myself. But before we get in-depth with either option, let’s take a look at specifications between the two…

Specifications

First up, we have the fourth generation Apple TV which packs a dual-core A8 processor, 2GB of RAM, either 32 or 64GB storage options, and also an HDMI 1.4 port (and yes that means no 4K video this time around, but maybe next year).

Next we have the NVIDIA Shield rocking a quad-core Tegra X1 processor, 3GB of RAM, either 16 or 500 GB storage configurations, and HDMI 2.0. So basically you have two options: either spend an extra $100 on the 500GB version, hook up an external drive to one of its two USB 3.0 ports, or use the Micro SD card slot on the back.

Check out our comparison video below:

One of the major “future proof” features the Shield has over the Apple TV is going to be 4K video support. Content may be limited for now, but it’s totally the future. I’m baffled by Apple’s decision to omit 4K video, because well.. even the freaking iPhone 6s shoots 4K. Both devices can also pair up with Bluetooth headphones for a private media experience, but overall in the specifications department, I have to give the win to NVIDIA.

Hardware

With the Apple TV you get the new Siri Remote that features a touchpad for navigation. You also have the ability to purchase an Apple certified third-party gamepad that will work with select games from the App Store, though all games support the use of the Siri Remote for playing, but we’ll get into that in a little bit.

The NVIDIA Shield is a bit opposite in the contents department. By default, the Shield comes with a gamepad instead of a standard remote. The remote can be purchased separately if you’re looking for something more traditional, but essentially, with both set top boxes, you’re getting everything needed to properly enjoy the experience.

Apple TV Software

There’s a lot of cool stuff here with tvOS, but the main additions we’ll focus on will be Siri support and the new App Store. Those are essentially the added benefits you’ll care about, aside from the redesigned look and feel. The interface is pretty damn smooth though. Siri support is awesome and you can easily take advantage of it by holding down the dedicated button on the remote. This will allow you to perform a variety of searches for things like movies, tv shows, actors, sports scores, team lineups, and more. It’s nice, but not nearly as extensive as Siri is on iPhone or iPad.

The App Store is a fantastic addition here, because instead of having a bunch of pre-loaded crap you might not use, you’ll have the ability to pick and choose. In the App Store you’ll find cord-cutting apps like HBO Now, Crackle, Netflix, MLB, NBA, and even Plex for playing content from a local media server. You can also AirPlay content from your iOS device or mirror your device’s screen.

Gaming on the Apple TV is pretty cool, but there’s nothing at this point early on that has blown my socks off. There’s also a lot of games available, but mostly large scale versions of apps you’ll find on iPhone and iPad. All games can be played with the Siri Remote and in some cases using it like a Wii Remote, which is nice, but you’ll need the controller for a more traditional gaming experience. Gaming here is nice and certainly a big selling point, but it’s far from a console-like experience.

NVIDIA Shield Software

If you’re familiar with Android TV, you’ll feel right at home here. It’s completely integrated with Google services. So you have the Play Store and any apps compatible with the TV platform. There’s also Google Search integration directly from the remote or controller via the built-in microphone. This is a far more extensive implementation than Siri in my opinion and will allow you to quickly search for content across the available services without sifting through different menus. There’s also Google’s Cast service which will allow you to cast movies, music, and other content from an Android or iOS device straight to the TV.

As mentioned the NVIDIA Shield features 4K/UHD support at 60 frames per second. That doesn’t change the fact that 4K content is super limited, but there are apps such as Netflix and YouTube that support 4K streaming. Like Apple TV, there’s a ton of app potential for cord-cutting here, but the Play Store currently has the advantage when it comes to the number of those kind of apps available.

The NVIDIA Shield is a gaming-first device. Aside from the small games you can get in the Play Store, you can truly have a light PC or console-style gaming experience. There are games here that work specifically with the Shield’s Tegra X1 processor. If you want to really step things up, the best move is to sign up for NVIDIA’s GeForce NOW cloud gaming service. Think of it like Netflix for gaming. This will allow you to stream PC games from the cloud to your TV at up to 60 frames per second in 1080p.

There are a ton of cool console-like titles and even some premium purchasable games like Witcher 3. The only downside is that GeForce NOW will cost ya $7.99 per month, but there is 3 month free trial available. I’m just not sure that expense is worth it, over playing on a traditional setup as the graphics aren’t on the same level as a PC or gaming console, but they may be close enough for some people.

Verdict

At the end of the day, we have two completely different platforms that certainly cater to different audiences. If you’re into gaming, chances are that NVIDIA Shield is going to offer a much better experience. The fourth gen Apple TV is coming along with its App Store, but no games there will match the gaming experience on the Shield. That being said, sometimes Android TV can be a little clunky and awkward to navigate when compared to tvOS. Apple has the smooth experience down and I’m a big fan of what’s happening here.

The Shield tops Apple TV in many departments, but Apple TV is cheaper with its base model running $149, while the base NVIDIA Shield will set you back $199. If you’re invested in the Apple or Android eco-system, the choice is obvious. If you are on the fence, choose your priority: 4K/gaming but clunky Android TV vs. overall smooth but experience on AppleTV.

What do you think? Let us know with a comment below.

Filed under: Apple TV Tagged: android tv, Apple TV, comparison, nvidia shield, set-top box, TV, tvOS, video

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If you are looking for some differentiation in your Bluetooth speakers, the JBL Pulse 2 ($199) and the Marsboy Orb ($30 after SPDJVX3R code) offer varying degrees of light show to accompany your music. While the JBL Pulse 2 is essentially a very good Charge 2+ with a light show wrapped around the outside, the Marsboy brings a base model Chinese brand speaker with a LED array strapped on. Is there any middle ground here?

As you can imagine, there is a huge disparity in quality of music and lightshow between these two speakers. I’ve reviewed JBL’s Bluetooth lineup on various occasions and they hang with the best $200 Bluetooth speakers out there.  The lightshow that JBL attached is no slouch either. There’s a variety of light shows and you can even snap a “photo” with an image sensor on the device and it will use the colors in the image as the light show. It can even use ambient sound to make its lightshow. The case is waterproof and the lights are very cool and wrap around almost 360 degrees.

The Pulse 2 has a 6000mAh battery but unlike the Charge 2, it can’t USB charge your devices. That huge battery is meant to power the lights which really do look impressive and are a significant upgrade from the Pulse 1.  Besides not having a USB out, the Pulse 2 is a bit on the heavy side and with a round body and drivers on each end, is confusing in how to set it down without distorting the sound. Most press images have it down on one end and it sounds great no matter how it is positioned but there is definitely some ambiguity.

The Marsboy Orb, as you can see in the images, is round and takes up about as much volume as the Pulse 2. It sounds pretty good for an inexpensive speaker and will definitely be great for kids and folks who aren’t super-picky about sound quality. It sounds a bit tinny like a $40-$50 speaker…which makes a lot of sense since that’s what this is.

The light show is also less nuanced (here’s a good video of the lights).  Instead of a grid, you are presented with a number of LEDs that look a bit like the old LiteBrite kids toy from the 80s. There’s a few different settings to choose from and the lights definitely correlate to the music but it isn’t at all ass fancy as the Pulse 2. It does have a MicroUSB Charging, 3000mAh battery that’s good for 10+ hours of playback and it looks very nice. You can also make speakerphone calls and do anything else a bluetooth speaker is meant to do. This one isn’t waterproof.

To wrap it up, these are both solid performers in the “Portable Bloothtooth speaker LED lightshow” space. If you want to impress people and maybe dress up a dorm room or party space, grab the JBL. It’s a great sounding speaker overall even without the light show.

If you want a light show speaker for the kids to rock out to or something to make your iPhone/iPad music a little more entertaining, the Marsboy Orb is certainly a good bet.  Marsboy Orb ($30 after SPDJVX3R code at checkout)

If you are looking for some nice middle ground here, JBL’s previous Pulse speaker is about $137.

Filed under: AAPL Company Tagged: Bluetooth, JBL, Light-emitting diode, Marsboy, Orb, pulse-2, Sound quality, Wireless

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