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Software firm Jamf recommends iOS for enterprise use in new ‘mobility in healthcare’ report

A new independent report titled ‘A Pulse on Mobility in Healthcare’ has been published by Apple device management software firm Jamf, who also commissioned the survey. Not surprisingly, the global survey of 550 IT decision makers found that security is the number one concern for healthcare systems who manage mobile devices among other details.

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Filed under: Apple

Evernote’s privacy policy allows its employees to read your notes, and you can’t opt out

Not interested in potentially sharing the content of your Evernote notes with the company’s employees? Then your only option will be to leave the service, because you can’t opt out. Although it appears that this particular policy has already been in place for some time, an upcoming January update to the privacy policy has shed additional light on the issue. more…

Filed under: Apple

Apple’s partner LG will have a 32-inch 4K USB-C monitor alongside new MacBook displays at CES

Ahead of CES, LG has revealed two new monitors with a couple of features that are bound to attract the attention of prosumers and gamers alike. First up is the 32-inch 32UD99 that offers HDR10 support and USB-C connectivity alongside an IPS 4K panel. With Apple discontinuing its Thunderbolt Display, LG’s latest creation is likely to be a notable alternative for Mac users. USB-C ports bring single cable connectivity that can charge your MacBook and add additional ports thanks to the built-in hub. This 34-inch display is a follow-up to the LG’s first USB-C offering that was released last spring (review).

Today’s news also brings the Chromecast-enabled 34UM79M 21:9 UltraWide display that is said to be the first of its kind to offer Google’s streaming platform built-in. FreeSync technology and 1ms response times will makes this 34-inch monitor a notable release for gamers. The UltraWide layout will offer enough room for two different sources to be shown at once. This feature will be extra attractive to avid streamers and those invested in Google’s ecosystem. Final pricing has yet to be announced on either of LG’s newest releases. Look for these new LG monitors to draw a lot of attention amongst content professionals at CES this year, where additional details are expected to be shared.

Source: LG

Filed under: Apple

1Password 6.5 for iOS introduces native Apple Watch app, and a better on boarding experience

1Password, a longtime favorite password manager of the 9to5Mac team, has just released the latest update to their iOS apps. The usual bug fixes are included, but most importantly is the inclusion of the newly updated and native Apple Watch app, and an overall better first time experience. Previously 1Password’s watchOS app required the Watch and iPhone to be paired in the moment to view your stored passwords, but today’s update allows it to work separately.

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Filed under: Apple

Apple rolling out macOS 10.12.3 beta 1 to developers now

Just a day after the public release of macOS Sierra 10.12.2, Apple has begun rolling out macOS 10.12.3 beta 1 to developers. Sierra 10.12.2 brought in new emoji, wallpapers, graphics & System Integrity Protection fixes, and the removal of the system battery’s estimated ‘time remaining’ feature.

This initial seed of macOS Sierra 10.2.3 beta 1 weighs in at 1.04 GB, and is most likely a bug-centric release fix.

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Filed under: Apple

Apple releases iOS 10.2.1 beta 1 for developers

Apple has just dropped iOS 10.2.1 beta 1 for developers. The contents of the update are currently unknown. The update swiftly follows the public release of iOS 10.2 on Monday. iOS 10.2 included new redesigned emojis, the TV app for US users, a couple of new screen effects in Messages, amongst other changes.

The first seed of iOS 10.2.1 weighs in at 1.82 GB for developers over-the-air.

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Filed under: Apple

9to5Toys Lunch Break: 27-inch 5K Retina iMac $200 off, Beats Tour2 Earbuds $50, 20000mAh Lightning Power Bank $30, 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:

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B&H offers up to $200 discounts on Apple’s latest 27-inch Retina 5K iMac, prices from $1,630 shipped (Tax in NY only)

Apple’s 12-inch MacBook is up to $200 off right now at B&H (Tax NY only) and Amazon, prices start at $1,199 shipped

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Daily Deals: Beats by Dr. Dre Tour2 Headphones $50, Logitech MK270 Wireless Keyboard and Mouse $15, more

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Smartphone Accessories: Aukey QC 3.0 20000mAh Power Bank w/ Lightning Input $30 Prime shipped, more

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9TO5TOYS PRODUCT OF THE YEAR 2016: Amazon’s Echo Dot changes your life for $40

Amazon drops its entire Echo lineup back down to Black Friday pricing: Dot $40, Tap $90, Echo $140

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Cross that iPad off your holiday shopping list: iPad Air 2 $300 (Reg. $399), 9.7-inch iPad Pro from $450 (Reg. $599)

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You clearly need more goats in your life this holiday season, so grab Goat Simulator on iOS while it’s free (Reg. $5)

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9to5Toys Gift Guide: ideas for Music Makers – pocket synths, headphone accessories, DIY kits and more

9to5Toys Gift Guide: ideas for the Techie Traveler – best messenger bags, Bluetooth gear, accessories and more

MORE NEW GEAR FROM TODAY:

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Bring TiVo’s impressive Bolt+ 4K DVR home this Christmas – 6 tuners, 3TB hard drive, more: $362 shipped (Reg. $500)

MORE DEALS STILL LIVE:

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SanDisk’s iXpand Lightning Flash Drive: $50 shipped (Reg. $60)

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Great stocking stuffer! Caseology cases for iPhone 6/s/7/Plus, Pixel, and more from $4 shipped

Pick up a new Spigen iPad Pro Smart Cover-Style Stand/Case: 9.7-inch $6.50, more

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Filed under: Apple

Apple’s Luke Tristram demonstrates in-depth Final Cut Pro 10.3 workflow at LACPUG [Video]

Back in April of 2011, Final Cut Pro X was previewed at the Los Angeles Creative Pro User Group meeting, or LAFCUG, which occurred during NAB2011. This preview happened several months prior to the official debut of Final Cut Pro X later that summer, which was a drastic departure from the previous Final Cut Pro 7.

Final Cut Pro X has evolved immensely since its debut release, reacquiring many of the features that were dropped from Final Cut Pro 7, and adding a ton of additional features along the way. The latest version of the app, version 10.3, is arguably the biggest update of the software since its debut.

During a November, 2016 LAFCUG meeting, just after the announcement and subsequent release of Final Cut Pro 10.3, Apple representatives demonstrated the latest version of the video editing software in a much more in-depth fashion than what we saw on stage during the product’s October release in Cupertino. more…

Filed under: Apple

Apple TV’s universal search feature now supports over 50 channels including Apple Music, TBS, & more

Apple has steadily been gaining new partners to its universal search feature on the fourth-gen Apple TV since its launch last fall, and this week the number of compatible channels in the United States has topped over 50. Several new additions including Apple Music, Animal Planet, Discovery, TBS, and TNT all now work with search.

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Filed under: Apple

Twitter adds livestreaming into iOS app, start broadcasting video from the compose tweet view

Twitter is rolling out a new feature into its native client app for iPhone and iPad. From today, users will be able to start video live stream broadcasts from within the Twitter app courtesy of a new integration with Periscope, which Twitter acquired in 2013.

To start a live video, open the tweet compose screen and tap the new “Live” button. You can frame your shot and then press Go Live to start broadcasting to the world. The feature is rolling out gradually over the next few days.

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Filed under: Apple

Get prescription lenses for your Snapchat Spectacles for $29, no mail-in required

When Snapchat Spectacles were first announced, the question of prescription lenses came up early on for anyone that already wears glasses. The Spectacles seemed great, but wearing regular glasses underneath them would just be absurd. Snapchat’s recommendation was to consult an optician to get the lenses replaced. Today, GlassesUSA.com is announcing the availability of Rx single vision lenses for the Spectacles, with no mail-in required.

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Filed under: Apple

Opinion: Here are three ways Apple could fix its MacBook Pro battery life estimate

Following widespread complaints that the remaining battery life estimate was wildly inaccurate on the new MacBook Pro models, Apple acted swiftly to resolve the issue. Unfortunately, that action was not to fix the estimate, but rather to remove it altogether. As John Gruber put it, ‘this is like being late for work and fixing it by breaking your watch.’

I do appreciate the challenge Apple faces with providing accurate battery-life estimates with the new machines. I’ve heard from multiple sources that the Skylake CPUs used in the new machines are extremely responsive in the way they ramp Turbo Boost up and down to provide the optimum balance of power and energy-efficiency for each given task.

That means that the amount of battery power being consumed can vary dramatically within the course of just a few seconds. Given that macOS seemingly estimates battery life on a second-by-second basis, the combination of the two things is clearly going to result in the kind of wild fluctuations and inaccurate estimates we’ve seen.

But it’s surely not beyond the wit of Apple’s software engineers to change the way the estimate is calculated … ?

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Filed under: Apple

Inbound Marketing’s Second Act: 4 Things Every Inbound Marketer Should Do in 2017

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2016 marks HubSpot’s 10th anniversary. When my co-founder Dharmesh Shah and I first started talking about the concept of inbound marketing, it wasn’t an evolution — it was a revolution. Instead of big brands beating small companies with expensive TV commercials, massive billboards, and other types of outbound campaigns as a foregone conclusion, content and search marketing equalized the playing field. Marketing became much more about the width of your brain than the width of your wallet.

Fast forward to today. While the fundamental tenets of inbound marketing still ring true, many of the specific channels and methods prospects are using to find, evaluate, and purchase products are different than 10 years ago.

Even the supply and demand dynamics have changed. In 2006, prospects had an average of four to five choices for any product or service they were looking to purchase. In 2016, I’ve found that that number has spiked to approximately 14 or 15 different vendors — and this holds among most industries. Choices that once occupied a few inches on a shelf at a retail store now expand endlessly on the infinite shelf of ecommerce sites.

Supply is way up, and demand is relatively flat. The increased competition means understanding how your prospective buyers research and buy is even more critical.

I’ve spent the last year studying the changes in prospect behavior, and I’ve come to the conclusion that we’re looking at another revolution — which heralds the second act of inbound marketing.

Here’s what that means for you, your prospects, your business, and your 2017 marketing plan.

The Second Act of Inbound Marketing

How to Get Found in 2016 (or, Why Google Is Now Ask Jeeves)

Back in 2006, Google helped buyers find the answers to their questions by serving up links to relevant information. Increasingly today, there’s no click needed — Google just gives searchers the answer directly through a rich answer box. The numbers vary on this but research has found that between 20 and 35% of searches performed today result in a quick answer box populated on the SERP itself.

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Need an answer fast? Just ask. That’s right, Google has finally fulfilled the original Ask Jeeves promise. In our own research we’ve found that clickthrough rates from these answer boxes are also higher than traditional links. RKG Merkle saw a 516% increase in sessions when a client’s page captured the snippet box.

To adapt, companies should start to create content not just intended to rank in search, but also to be pulled into Google’s quick answer box, and educate your buyer directly on the SERP. Here’s a blog post on how to do this.

Quick answer boxes are not the only way Google is changing. Ten years ago, paid AdWords results took up about 50% of the screen “above the fold.” Today, because of a layout shift Google introduced earlier this year, AdWords ads have moved from the right column to the center and take up nearly 100% of the “above the fold” space on both desktop and mobile.

All of which means: If you have the budget, it’s worth integrating ads into your inbound strategy. But how do you run ads in an “inbound” way? Well, bad ads are still useless. If you have a piece of content, however, that’s taken off organically, that’s a good indication it could be even more useful if amplified by some paid budget. I’d suggest using your ad budget to boost quality content that has already done well on social media.

Speaking of social media, Facebook’s Lead Ads product, which enables buyers to complete a form directly in their newsfeeds, is opening up new opportunities and levels of transparency into an ad campaign’s effectiveness. Whereas once we had PPC, we’re now seeing the early days of PPL: Pay Per Lead.

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The ad industry is at a significant precipice. On the one hand we’re seeing a drastic rise in usage of ad-blocking technology; according to the 2016 State of Inbound report, mobile ad blocking has increased 90% year-over-year. On the other, ads are getting more space in search engine results and offering better clarity around their cost per lead ratios. All of this will inevitably influence the way prospective customers find your company.

How to Create Compelling Content in 2016 (or, Why the Silent Movie Is Back)

The way people find answers and discover companies is changing, but so is the format of content itself. Here’s what I’ve noticed about the types of content working well today.

In short: Reading is out, watching is in. Ten years ago, the power content marketing move was search + written content. Now, it’s social media + video content.

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And these aren’t the hyper-produced, long-form videos from years past. The marketing teams winning the video game today are mastering live, off-the-cuff video. Additionally, Charlie Chaplin would likely raise an eyebrow to learn we’ve tƒurned away from talkies: A full 85% of videos today are watched without audio.

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Increases in mobile usage have fueled much of this growth in video popularity. For content marketers, the takeaway here is simple. While text is still important, you may want to stop looking for that next blogger, and start looking for a video producer. At least 50% or more of your marketing content next year should be in video format, either hosted natively on social or created with social distribution in mind.

The other thing to know about content consumption is much of it is now happening away from the bounds of your website on social media. Social media has evolved from a promotion channel alone to a platform for content. Buyers aren’t just stopping by social media sites during work breaks anymore — they never leave.

Facebook in particular has started to dominate how we spend our free time. Four of the apps consumers use most — Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp — are owned by Facebook. Today’s buyers are plugged into Mark Zuckerberg’s universe all day long. If you’re not meeting them there, you risk losing them.

How Buyers Buy in 2016 (or, Why Uber Wrecked Your Website)

Ten years ago, your website augmented your sales rep. Buyers would browse the website to get the basics, and then hop on the phone with a salesperson to get into the nitty gritty.

Today, it’s the opposite: Your sales rep augments your website. Buyers want a self-service experience, making a purchase directly onsite or contacting Sales when they’re ready, not the other way around. Indeed, only 19% of buyers in a HubSpot Research study said they wanted to talk to a salesperson during the “awareness” stage of their purchase process.

And the website of 2006 won’t cut it. Your prospects have been trained in every industry to expect automation, personalization, and self-service. They have been spoiled by Uber to expect a consumer-grade, on-demand buying experience. A website that doesn’t enable viewers to get on-demand information or instantly chat with Sales or Support frustrates your buyers and will send them into the arms of your competition.

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Throughout the entire buying process — from your ads, to your website (mobile and desktop), to your live chat service — buyers expect personalization. They expect you to remember them, give them fantastic service, and enable them to serve themselves through automation.

My Advice For Marketers in 2017 and Beyond

Here are the four things I think every marketer should do next year:

  1. Invest in video. Diversify your content playbook to include social + video in addition to text + search.
  2. Live in social. We’re not B2B or B2C marketers — we’re business to human marketers. Humans live in Snapchat, Instagram, Messenger, and a host of other social apps. Find them there.
  3. Accelerate your content. Combine content marketing and paid marketing. Repurpose your most successful content for multiple channels and boost it with budget.
  4. Automate your buying process. Buyers expect to be able to buy on their timeline with either minimal or no human contact.

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2017 marks the second act of inbound marketing. Are you ready?

get the free 2016 state of inbound report