Apple

Right to repair is important, but we should be designing for repair instead

Post published:February 3, 2020
Post author:philip

We live in a world today that more and more items we buy are either intended to be disposable, or we are culturally influenced to make them disposable. In years past it was much more common to get your shoes repaired instead of buying new ones. When was the last time you went to a cobbler? I suspect many people wouldn't even know where to find one. Readers of a certain age are probably looking up the definition of cobbler (hint: not the pie). We buy electronics that work for a couple of years and then get tossed, sometimes ending up in African e-waste dumps, where at the risk to their health locals strip the electronics of precious metals, and burn insulated wires to get to the copper inside, released toxic fumes. Just think how many charging cables you've thrown out because they were worn out or just simply stopped working. Burning sheathed cables to recover copper at the Agbogbloshie e-waste landfill near the center of Accra, Ghana's capital city (Wikimedia Commons) Just this week the European Parliament voted to have the EU Commission establish a single charger standard (i.e. not Apple's Lightning) for all mobile devices. One argument they…

Who watches the watchmen? Apple vs. The FBI

Post published:February 23, 2016
Post author:philip

The confrontation between the FBI and Apple over decrypting an Apple iPhone 5C used by Syed Rizwan Farook, one of the San Bernardino terrorists, who murdered fourteen and injured twenty two more on December 2, 2015, is a very interesting story. At first blush the story seems quite simple. The FBI clearly wants to know what is on Farook's phone, as it could potentially tell them if the terrorists had accomplices, as well as if they were in touch with other potential terrorists before the attack. Everyone involved (other than perhaps their accomplices if they exist) wants the FBI to get the information on the phone. In fact, Apple assisted the FBI in getting all the information backed up to iCloud, and offered advice on how to retrieve the data from the locked iPhone. That advice was simply to plug in the phone in the presence of a known WiFi network, which might have triggered an automatic backup to iCloud of the more recent data. This would not have been affective if Farook had disabled backups, but otherwise would have sent a backup to iCloud that Apple would have been able to provide the FBI. The reason this method didn't…

What if Apple made watch movements instead of watches?

Post published:October 12, 2014
Post author:philip

ETA A07-211 Movement

I've written what features I think future all-in-one wearables will have, took a second look at that on the eve of the Apple Watch launch, and had some questions about what Apple left out of their presentation after they launched. All things considered, if you look at what features I think need to be in a smart watch, and what Apple delivered, there are some gaps. Most important to me are the following: Battery life needs to last longer. Battery charging needs to be simpler. Real water resistance would be nice. More health sensors are needed to replace the need for a separate fitness band. There are definitely improvements possible in the looks department. Let's take a look at these in turn: Battery Life Until the watch launches early next year we won't know for sure, but it seems clear the battery life of the Apple Watch is not particularly good. Apple reps have mentioned charging overnight, meaning the battery likely doesn't last more than 24 hours (and possibly not even that long). Considering fitness bands generally last a week or more, and that some people want to monitor their sleep patterns, this is particularly annoying. Not that one can…

What was not said about the Apple Watch

Post published:September 9, 2014
Post author:philip

So the keynote just ended. The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus were about as expected. Other than the obvious screen resolution and battery differences, it seems the only functional difference between the two is Optical Stabilization for photography in the 6 Plus. Apple Pay is a great solution for payments that Apple has already gotten many large retailers on board for, something it seems they are uniquely capable of doing. I don't remember other companies getting that kind of traction from the stay with a new payment method. The real announcement of the event was, however, the Apple Watch. Some things about the watch which are interesting: The Digital Crown is a great user interface coup for Apple. Being able to navigate through some features without ones fingers blocking the screen is important for such a small screen. There is some intelligence in the messaging app that allows it to suggest answers to texts which is really interesting if it works. i.e. if You receive a text asking 'Do you want to get Sushi or Burgers for lunch?' it should be able to suggest Sushi and Burgers as quick-response options. Apple is clearly leading in physical options for their watch.…

On the brink of an Apple wearable

Post published:September 9, 2014
Post author:philip

Asus ZenWatch and Sony SmartWatch 3

Back in April I wrote a post titled One Wearable to Rule Them All? Not likely. predicting where I thought the wearable market was heading. My basic idea was that there are essentially three types of wearables – the all-in-one, the single-purpose, and the multi-position. The all-in-one is where the smart watch category is headed. These wearables will look like watches, have sensors to track many different health issues (steps, motion, heart rate, temperature, blood oxygen, etc.), and be able to assist in authentication and commerce. This is in addition to an array of information-realted apps, and an optional link to your smart phone. The single-purpose is best represented by fitness bands that track health data or bands like the nymi that can be used for security applications. These bands are almost always worn on the wrist, and are focused on a single application. These wearables can be wholly replaced by an all-in-one wearable. The multi-position is a variation on the single-purpose, is usually focused on health, but can be worn in several positions, such as your wrist, your ankle, etc. and be used for many sports such as running, biking, swimming, etc. The best example of this is the Moov, although…

Samsung looking to Israeli tech to compete with Apple’s iBeacon

Post published:April 4, 2014
Post author:philip

A couple of months ago I tweeted about an Israeli startup named ShopCloud that was showing off some fairly amazing retail technology: https://twitter.com/trauring/status/431121027528015872 https://twitter.com/trauring/status/431121374594080770 The interesting thing to me was that it enabled much of the functionality of Apple's iBeacon technology, without the need for physical iBeacons to be in place. It seems this fact wasn't lost on Samsung, which is now rumored to be trying to buy ShopCloud for about $80-90M. This was originally reported by the Israeli tech blog Geektime, and followed up by Israeli business news site Globes. This is particularly relevant if you look back at my post Who do you trust with your identity? which among other things looks at how Apple is using iBeacons to position itself as the preferred partner for mobile payments in the future. It's a smart strategy, giving the retailers powerful technology to engage their customers, while at the same time giving Apple access to those same customers. Google and various other companies have tried to use NFC to similar effect, but these efforts have largely failed. ShopCloud could allow Samsung, or whomever ends up purchasing it, an end-run around iBeacons and NFC. ShopCloud's INSIDE technology allows malls and store to map…

UX Note: Apple needs to get in sync

Post published:February 3, 2014
Post author:philip

Apple IIe (Wikimedia Commons)

Apple IIe (Wikimedia Commons) The first computer I used was an Apple II in a computer lab in my elementary school. My first computer was an Apple IIe. I am forever thankful to my father who convinced me that replacing it with a Mac SE was the smarter move than getting the Apple IIgs. Except for a few companies that had me working on Windows machines, and some development on Linux boxes, I've been using Macs ever since. I've been on the iPhone since the first one in 2007. I love Apple and most of their products (the Mac Portable should never have come out, and the Pippin...let's not go there). I love that their products 'just work' and are consistent in design (due to their 'Human Interface Guidelines'). That's why it pains me when they don't work. Some things should work better, and just don't (and don't get fixed). In particular, I've found that Apple has a problem keeping things in sync with their iTunes/iCloud services. Let me just preface this with saying technically there are no iTunes accounts and iCloud accounts, there are really just Apple IDs that are associated with iTunes or iCloud. I understand this, but…