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OS X El Capitan 10.11.6 officially available via Mac App Store
After several weeks of developer and public beta versions, Apple today has officially released OS X El Capitan 10.11.6 through the Mac App Store for all users. The latest software update to OS X El Capitan will likely be the last before Apple releases macOS Sierra 10.12 with new features including Siri later this fall.
Filed under: Apple
Apple releases iOS 9.3.3 with bug fixes for iPhone and iPad
Apple has just released iOS 9.3.3 for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. The new software update is by no means as interesting or as feature-rich as iOS 10, due to be released publicly in the fall, but it includes some important bug fixes and performance improvements for iOS users.
The minor 9.3.3 software update went through a lengthy beta process, spanning five betas. As always, we’ll let you know about any surprises associated with the iOS 9.3.3 update.
Filed under: Apple
tvOS 9.2.2 update is now available for Apple TV
Apple has been testing tvOS 9.2.2 with developers since late May, and today the latest software update for the Apple TV has been released to all customers. tvOS 9.2.2 is a minor release for the fourth-generation Apple TV as new features and big enhancements are coming later this year with tvOS 10.
Filed under: Apple
Apple releases watchOS 2.2.2 for Apple Watch with various bug fixes
Apple has released watchOS 2.2.2 for Apple Watch, the latest iteration of the smartwatch operating system. We’ll update the post if we see anything new but it appears to be a standard maintenance update with a handful of bug fixes and stability improvements.
To download the new watchOS software update, use the Apple Watch app on the paired iPhone and check for Software Updates. The Apple Watch needs to be connected to the charger for the update to complete.
Filed under: Apple
Apple seeds watchOS 3 beta 3 for Apple Watch to developers
Apple has begun rolling out the third watchOS 10 beta to developers today. Those looking to update can head to the Watch app on their iPhones, select General and Software Update. watchOS 3 beta 3 is available to download as a Configuration Profile from the Apple developer center for newer users looking to test out the upcoming system. Release notes are not yet available, but should be up soon.
Filed under: Apple
Apple seeds tvOS 10 beta 3 for Apple TV to developers
Apple has just started seeding out the third beta for tvOS 10 today to all current testers and developers. To update, check through the Software Update section on the Apple TV, or grab the Configuration Profile from Apple’s Developer center if you’d like to install it for the first time.
Filed under: Apple
Apple issues iOS 10 beta 3 for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch to developers
Apple today issued the third iOS 10 beta for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch for developer testing since WWDC 2016. iOS 10 brings a refreshed look to Apple Music and News plus loads of new features to the platform. The software update will be ready for everyone later this fall, and we’ll dig through the third developer version of the iOS 10 beta below.
Filed under: Apple
9to5Toys Lunch Break: $100 iTunes Gift Card $85, Logitech Bluetooth Keyboard $22, iPhone 6/s Wallet Case $7, more
Keep up with the best gear and deals on the web by signing up for the 9to5Toys Newsletter. Also, be sure to check us out on: Twitter, RSS Feed, Facebook, Google+ and Safari push notifications.
TODAY’S CAN’T MISS DEALS:
Get a $100 iTunes Gift Card with email delivery from PayPal for just $85 (15% off)
Your choice of highly-rated Logitech Bluetooth keyboards for Mac/PC, iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, more from $22 (MX Master Mouse for $70 shipped too)
Smartphone Accessories: 1byone Genuine Leather Wallet Stand Folio Case for iPhone 6/s $7, more
Get Macphun’s Creative Kit w/ 6 awesome photo editing apps & plugins for Mac $79 (Reg. $340)
App Store Free App of the Week: the highly-rated Super Sharp offers over 100 unique puzzles to solve (Reg. $2)
Grab the best Mac app from 2015 Affinity Photo for $40 (Reg. $50)
Apple offering free download of sketching app Procreate via Apple Store app
Review: The JBL Charge 3 is the perfect summer Bluetooth speaker thanks to its rugged design [Video]
Here are the best ways to play classic Nintendo, Sega & Atari games, starting under $20
Roundup: Always have a Lightning cable nearby with one of these handy keychains
MORE NEW GEAR FROM TODAY:
This APC UPS will keep your Wi-Fi running during storms: $60 (Reg. $90)
- Here’s a pair of powerful Sony Bluetooth Speakers: SRSX5 $80, SRSX9 w/ AirPlay $280
- Yamaha Gold Box: Amazon’s #1 Acoustic Guitar $100, Keyboard sets starting at $145, more
- Jump into VR with the View-Master Starter Kit for iPhone or Android: $13 (Reg. $18+)
- Games/Apps: Hitman $38, Just Cause 3 $30 or less, Street Fighter V CE $45, more
- Daily Deals: Bose SoundLink Mini Bluetooth Speaker (Refurb) $140, more
- Unlocked Moto G4/Plus available on Amazon with free $50 Amazon gift card
- Tommy Hilfiger’s End of Season Sale takes 40% off already reduced styles
- You can grab a highly-rated Philips Sonicare Rechargeable Toothbrush for under $20 (Reg. $30+)
MORE DEALS STILL ALIVE:
Apple’s Thunderbolt Display is dead but this 34-inch LG UltraWide option will do the trick for $500 shipped
Turn outlets into a 6 AC + 2 (2.1A) USB surge protector for under $10 Prime shipped
Filed under: Apple
$AAPL stock tops $100 ahead of fiscal Q3 earnings next week
Apple’s stock price $AAPL is back into triple digits, breaking the $100 mark for the first time since June 6th. The rise doesn’t seem to be tied to any particular news event but AAPL stock has rallied through the second half of last week. The recorded high for today is $100.13 although naturally stock prices vary all the time.
Eyes are on Apple’s earning results, due July 26, to see if the company can meet expectations after ending its 13-year record revenue streak last quarter.
Filed under: Apple
Latest alleged iPhone 7 spy shot shows 7, Plus, and ‘Pro’ models
In the latest round of alleged leaked shots spotted on Weibo (via iPhoneabonnementen), a three model lineup is shown consisting of iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, and iPhone 7 ‘Pro’…
Filed under: Apple
Pokémon Go launch in France delayed ‘as a sign of respect’ following attack in Nice
While Pokémon Go has been successively rolled out to a growing number of countries, there’s one country that won’t be seeing it for a few days at least: France. In a brief statement, Niantic told IGN that the French launch would be delayed as a sign of respect following the terrorist attack in Nice.
As a sign of respect for the French people in this time of national mourning, the release of Pokemon Go is postponed. Our thoughts and prayers are with France and the victims affected by this terrible attack.
The game had originally been set to launch in France on Friday. It’s not known when it will now launch, but a possible reason for delaying it in response to the Nice attack is that there may be Pokémon to be collected on the Promenade des Anglais, where the tragedy took place.
Via CNET. Photo Colorimages.fr.
Filed under: Apple
Just How Important Is Gratitude To Your Team?
Just How Important Is Gratitude To Your Team?
By Jim Anderson
As an IT manager, it is your job to motivate your team to accomplish great things! The big question that you have to answer is how to use your IT manager skills to get your team to work together. You have a lot of tools at […]
from Project Management Articles – PM Hut http://ift.tt/29PCou0
via pmhut.com
A year after announcement, first big pharma ResearchKit study goes live
It’s almost exactly a year since we learned that Apple was making ResearchKit available to big pharmaceutical companies and GlaxoSmithKline would be using the platform to carry out clinical studies. GSX has now announced the first of those studies.
The study will use the GSK PARADE iPhone app to conduct surveys and use iPhone sensors to collect and track common symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis: joint pain, fatigue, and mood. It will also track activity and quality of life measures for 300 patients over a three-month period.
The company says that it sees significant benefits by collecting data via ResearchKit …
Filed under: Apple
Behind the scenes of human curation at Apple Music, as company ups the ante on licensing
Buzzfeed is provided an almost-Beats-produced behind-the-scenes look at the human curation element of Apple Music, including the surprising facts that the service already has almost three times as many playlists as Spotify, and that it has only around a dozen full-time employees generating them.
Despite Spotify’s nine-year head-start on Apple Music, the long-form piece reveals that it has only around 4,500 playlists, compared to Apple’s 14,000. Apple Music also beats out its rivals when it comes to the types of playlists offered …
Filed under: Apple
Apple chip designer ARM set to be acquired by Softbank; suggestion Apple may bid
ARM, the British chip designer responsible behind the A-series processors used in Apple’s iOS devices, looks set to be bought by Japanese telecoms company Softbank.
The deal will need to be approved by shareholders, but with ARM recommending it and a valuation 43% above last week’s closing price, it looks likely to go through. It is, however, possible that other companies may make their own bid for the company.
Both Intel and Apple have been suggested as potential bidders …
Filed under: Apple
12 of the Best ‘Contact Us’ Page Examples You’ll Want to Copy
When you think of great website design, you probably think about a website’s homepage, or their blog, or their product pages.
But what about a website’s ‘Contact Us’ page?
Far too many website designers put contact pages near the bottom of their priority list in terms of copywriting and design. Think about how many contact pages you’ve stumbled upon that look like they were built in the 1990s, even if the rest of the website is beautiful and updated.
That, my friends, is a huge mistake. Your ‘Contact Us’ page is one of the top four most important pages on your website. For most companies, it’s typically one of the most-visited site pages.
So, what do great ‘Contact Us’ pages look like?
Typically, the best contact pages …
- Explain why someone should contact them, and describe how they can help solve their visitors’ problems.
- Include an email and phone number so visitors can quickly find the right information.
- Include a short form using fields that’ll help the business understand who’s contacting them.
- Include a call-to-action to keep people on their website — and provide them with another option if they don’t want to complete the form.
- Showcase the company’s thought leadership, whether that’s by including a list of recent blog posts or articles about the company in the press.
- Link to active social media accounts like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn to give visitors a way to engage with the business.
- Redirect to a thank-you page that explains when and how you’ll be contacting them.
Ready to get inspired? Below, we’ve curated 12 examples of some of the best ‘Contact Us’ pages out there. Check ’em out — and think about how you can incorporate some of these ideas into your own contact page design. (To browse more ‘Contact Us’ pages, check out Crayon’s ongoing collection of contact page designs here.)
12 of the Best ‘Contact Us’ Page Examples
1) Tune
There’s a lot going well for Tune’s contact page: the beautiful design, the calls-to-action, the clearly displayed contact information, and the form below the fold for visitors who want to get in touch with specific inquiries.
What I love the most about their page, though, is how welcoming they are. With copy like “We’re Here to Help!” and “Reach out to us anytime and we’ll happily answer your questions,” it makes visitors feel like they’re being taken care of. Many business’ contact pages are rather cold — but the more friendly you make your page’s copy, the better you’ll make your visitors feel. After all, you should want them to contact you so you can help them and start building a relationship.
[View the full ‘Contact Us’ page here.]
2) Achieve3000
Like many businesses out there, Achieve300 has a lot of different types of people visiting their website — and what these people want to contact them about can vary widely. That’s why they’ve decided to go deeper than the one-size-fits-all approach.
Below that nice hero image and a few words explaining what visitors will get when they contact them, you’ll find three options: You can request a demo, you can reach out to a sales rep, or you can get in touch with customer support. Each one of these options leads to a separate landing page, like the one I’ve included below this screenshot. What a great way to cater to the most common needs of your various web visitors.
[View the full ‘Contact Us’ page here.]
Here’s the landing page form made specifically for customer support inquiries:
3) Choice Screening
Hands down, the best thing about Choice Screening’s ‘Contact Us’ page is their copy. It doesn’t get much better than this — all starting with that concise, delightful “Talk to a Human” header.
Following all that great copy is a well-organized page with contact information including emails for every different department, followed by a form. The form’s a little lengthy for most businesses, but for a business that runs background checks of all kinds, the form fields are likely necessary to help them organize all their inquiries.
When considering how long your own forms should be, think about whether you’d rather have more inquiries coming in, or higher quality inquiries coming in. As long as you have other, easier avenues for folks to contact you, a longer form can be OK for some businesses.
[View the full ‘Contact Us’ page here.]
4) Atlas 1031 Exchange
At first glance, Atlas 2031 Exchange’s contact page doesn’t have the sexiest of designs. But when you look closely, you’ll realize that it has every single aspect of a great ‘Contact Us’ page — and that starts with functionality.
The page explains thoroughly how responsive they are to questions: “We are incredibly responsive to your requests and value your questions.” Then they actually list out what people will get when they ask a question, including a promise for a short response time of 12 hours or fewer. The page also includes easy-to-read contact information, social media buttons, links to offers, and even a list of recently published blog posts. Well done.
[View the full ‘Contact Us’ page here.]
5) Morroni
Let’s be honest … these days, most people would much rather fill out a form than get on the phone and talk to someone. When choosing what to ask people in your forms, make sure you choose ones that’ll help your specific business understand the person contacting you — and even help you qualify them as a potential lead.
Of course, some people do like picking up the phone … hence the delightful quip before the phone number. We also like Morroni’s challenge-response test to figure out whether visitors are human: “How’s your math? 2+6 = ?.”
[View the full ‘Contact Us’ page here.]
6) Dubsat
“How can we help you?”
That’s a classic customer service question — and if you think about it, isn’t a contact page kind of like a place to offer great customer service?
That’s how the folks at Dubsat frame their contact page. Below the nice hero image is that simple question, followed by a dropdown menu to help personalize the experience. If visitors choose to talk to sales, they’ll see one form show up below the fold. If they choose to get support for one of Dubsat’s specific services, they’ll see another one show up.
They also show their general contact information in a fun way, too. Keep scrolling and you’ll find a visual list of the cities where they have locations. Hover your mouse over those cities, and the image changes to that location on a map, along with all the necessary contact information. Very beautifully and cleverly designed.
Here’s what the whole page looks like:
[View the full ‘Contact Us’ page here.]
7) Pixpa
You’d be surprised how many ‘Contact Us’ pages don’t include a call-to-action. Although the main purpose of your contact page is to help people get in touch with your company, there’ll always be folks who land on the page and don’t want to fill out the form. That’s where a little secondary CTA can fit in nicely.
It can be as simple as a button leading to your blog. Or, it can lead people to demo your product, download a how-to guide, or watch a video. The folks over at Pixpa chose to add a CTA at the bottom of their ‘Contact Us’ page for a free trial. That way, they’re providing value to the folks who land on the page and really just want to talk to a sales rep directly.
[View the full ‘Contact Us’ page here.]
8) PeopleMetrics
Sometimes, the simplest approach is the best approach. PeopleMetrics’ contact page is clean, well written, and does exactly what it’s supposed to do. They know that most of the people who land on their contact page are scanning for the easiest and best way to get in touch, so they didn’t let any heavy design get in the way.
To make people’s lives even easier, they let you use your Facebook or Google Apps login, shortening the conversion path even further. Plus, we love how conversational and fun the copy is: “Feeling formal? Then fill this out and we’ll get back to you.”
[View the full ‘Contact Us’ page here.]
9) Legalia
Here’s another contact page with a clean, functional design. All the information you need to know, including a short form, is consolidated into a smaller space that doesn’t feel crowded. One way they accomplish this is by changing those large images of the building into maps of the locations — which you can do by clicking the “voir le plan” (“view the map”) button below the address.
I’d also like to point out a small but important detail for businesses who have international customers. Check out how Legalia included the prefix for their country’s code when listing their contact phone number. Many people overlook this if they aren’t used to dialing international prefixes themselves, but it’s really helpful for your international colleagues and clients to have it right on there. Here’s a list of country codes if you don’t know yours.
And here’s what the whole page looks like:
[View the full ‘Contact Us’ page here.]
10) Elluminati
The folks at Elluminati focus their page on location, starting with the hero image at the top — which is actually an embedded Google Map of their location. Users can click on the map, zoom in and out, and search for directions from the Google Maps app right from that embedded map — which is helpful for everyone, including mobile users.
And while white text can be a bit jarring in some cases, it works well against the eye-catching, block color background. We also love the more subtle, very smooth-looking design elements they’ve included, like the social media buttons that fill in with color when you hover your mouse.
Here’s what the whole thing looks like:
[View the full ‘Contact Us’ page here.]
11) Weifield Group Contracting
With the continuing rise of mobile web browsing and Google heavily favoring mobile-friendly websites on their search engine results pages, it’s important that all pages on your website — including your ‘Contact Us’ page — are mobile-friendly.
This includes simplifying your navigation, keeping forms short and sweet, including large CTA buttons that are easily tappable with a thumb, and large form fields that make it easy for folks to fill it out on their mobile devices instead of having to pinch and zoom.
The Weifield Group’s contact page is a great example of one that is mobile-friendly and responsive. Check out the desktop version of their contact page first, followed by their contact page on mobile — and note how they’ve optimized every part of their page for mobile. The text is large, the form fields are easy to fill out, and their CTA button is large and easily tappable, making for a much more seamless mobile experience.
Here’s the desktop version:
[View the full ‘Contact Us’ page here.]
And here’s the mobile version:
HubSpot Customers: If your website is on the Content Optimization System (COS), then your site is already mobile-friendly from a technical point of view. The HubSpot COS uses responsive design to adapt to any mobile device and fully passes the sniff test on Google’s new algorithm.
12) Survicate
Survicate’s contact page is another example of a beautifully simple layout combined with friendly, welcoming copy. I love the subheader below the fold and just above the form, which reads: “Let’s talk about your project.” That kind of conversational, colloquial language is exactly the kind of copy that makes visitors feel closer to a brand.
The form itself is simple, with large form fields and CTA buttons — making it very mobile-friendly. Below that, they’ve laid out all the typical contact information — office address, phone number, email, hours of operation, etc. — in a way that’s easy to read and scan.
Finally, I love that their icons and primary CTA reflect the same color yellow as their logo. All of these simple touches make for a clean, visually appealing design.
[View the full ‘Contact Us’ page here.]
So there you have it: a list of some of the best ‘Contact Us’ pages out there. Take a look at your business’ contact page and see how it stacks up — or if there are any changes you can make to give your site visitors a better, easier, and more enjoyable experience.
Which great ‘Contact Us’ pages have you found that are worth adding to this list? Share with us in the comments below.
Pokémon Go launches in Canada, servers fall over as a result
Good news for Pokémon Go fans in Canada: the game has officially rolled out to the country. Bad news for fans of the game everywhere: the extra load seems to have killed the servers again.
Niantic made the Canadian announcement on Twitter and on the game’s official Facebook page, but so far the company hasn’t responded to complaints that users are again unable to login. It did acknowledge the server problems experienced over the weekend …
Filed under: Apple
Apple reportedly dropping Samsung for not only A10 in iPhone 7 but also A11 in iPhone 8
While Apple’s orders for the A9 chip in the iPhone 6s/Plus were split between the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company and Samsung, we heard back in February that TSMC was to be the sole supplier of the A10 chip in the iPhone 7. A new report from Korea claims that the same is true of the A11 chip destined for next year’s iPhone.
The report appears in the Chinese-language Economic Daily News, via Digitimes.
TSMC is already the exclusive manufacturer of Apple’s A10 chip which will power the upcoming iPhone series slated for launch in September 2016. The Taiwan-based foundry will continue to be the sole supplier of Apple’s next-generation A11 processor that will be built on a 10nm FinFET process, the report indicated, without citing its sources.
TSMC is believed to have a technological edge on its Korean rival, beating Samsung in the race to develop 10-nanometer processes …
Filed under: Apple