Apple Airs New iPad Pro Commercial, Asks “What’s a Computer?”

By Federico Viticci

Apple posted a new iPad Pro commercial today, highlighting the nature of the device as a new kind of computer.

The ad follows a simple model: it showcases common usage of an iPad Pro with accessories, apps, and system features that aren’t available on traditional computers. The video jumps from showing the Apple Pencil to mentioning the iPad’s touch screen, the detachable Smart Keyboard, and apps like Office and Procreate that offer unique functionality on iOS 9. At the end, iMessage in Split View and Picture in Picture (also two features of last year’s iPad-focused iOS 9 update) make an appearance.

In the narration of the ad, Apple explains:

Just when you think you know what a computer is, you see a keyboard that can just get out of the way. And a screen you can touch and even write on. When you see a computer that can do all that, it might just make you wonder – “Hey, what else can it do?”

The video closes with the tagline “Imagine what your computer could do if it was an iPad Pro”.

The iPad Pro’s new commercial comes at an interesting time for Apple. The company announced its latest iPad, the 9.7-inch iPad Pro, as the “ultimate PC replacement” for Windows switchers, but its upcoming iOS 10 update only includes minor iPad changes – a departure from iOS 9’s iPad breakthroughs. On the other hand, the iPad line recently returned to revenue growth after several quarters, likely thanks to the iPad Pro and its higher selling price.

Explaining to consumers how an iPad can be a PC replacement and, at the same time, a new take on desktop computing has always been one of Apple’s toughest propositions. This new iPad Pro commercial seems to start from the basics again, asking what a computer truly is and how it can be different. It’ll be interesting to see if a wider marketing campaign and more commercials will follow.

You can watch the video below.

Collecting Siri’s Supported Commands →

Linked By Federico Viticci

Useful site by Sandro Roth (via Six Colors) to browse every command supported by Siri in Apple’s apps. I almost wish iOS had a similar interface to explore commands. I wonder if we’ll start seeing more sites like this pop up after iOS 10 and SiriKit.

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Consolidating 10 Years of Photos

By Federico Viticci

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Scrivener

By Federico Viticci

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App Debuts

By Federico Viticci

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An Ode to the iPod Classic →

Linked By Federico Viticci

Lindsay Zoladz, writing for The Ringer, has a great story on the role of the iPod Classic in today’s music streaming landscape. I understand where she’s coming from, and I found this passage on the paradox of choice particularly accurate:

“When I’m searching for something to listen to on Spotify, I feel like I end up listening to the same albums and artists again and again,” my friend Becca wrote in an email, after I asked a handful of acquaintances about their post-iPod listening habits. “My brain by itself isn’t good at cataloguing everything I love.”

The psychologist Barry Schwartz has written (or, if you don’t have too much time on your hands, has TED-Talked) about a related phenomenon he calls “paradox of choice” — the notion that, although we tend to think of freedom of choice as an inherently good thing, too much choice can leave us feeling paralyzed and anxiety-ridden. “With so many options to choose from,” he says, “people find it very difficult to choose at all.” I personally have proven this theory many times over in the past few months, when I’ve stared for a few moments at the infinite void that is the Apple Music search bar and decided, “I guess I will just listen to Pablo or Lemonade again.” Another friend I emailed summed up the Paradox of Digital Music Listening succinctly: “With device-bound listening, I absolutely feel limited by [storage] space. With streaming, I feel limited by my own memory.”

This is why I often buy videogames from a small shop in my hometown. I could open the App Store, or the eShop, or the PlayStation Store, and buy anything I want. But there’s just so much stuff. There’s too many games and too many reviews and too many Let’s Plays to choose from. Sometimes, it’s nice to have fewer options.

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Bluetooth Headphone Revenue Overtook Non-Bluetooth for the First Time in June →

Linked By Federico Viticci

Interesting data from NPD:

According to The NPD Group’s Retail Tracking Service, Bluetooth headphone revenue overtook non-Bluetooth for the first time in June accounting for 54 percent of headphone dollar sales and 17 percent of unit sales in the U.S.

And:

Beats and LG have led the Bluetooth headphone market throughout the first half of the year, accounting for approximately 65 percent of dollar sales.

Not necessarily a direct indication of decline in wired headphones, but a sign that, as average prices of Bluetooth headphones go down, consumers may prefer wireless.

Removing the headphone jack from the next iPhone will be annoying; at the same time, limitations notwithstanding, I can’t deny how nice it is not to deal with wires anymore.

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Apple Maps vs. Google Maps vs. Transit →

Linked By Federico Viticci

Concise, well-illustrated comparison of transit maps from the developers of Transit for iOS:

Transit maps are hard. Really hard. Even for Apple and Google. Piecing a transit map together, city by city, agency by agency, stop by stop, without it turning into a hairy mess is INCREDIBLY difficult. So far, no one (not even Apple or Google) have been able to create a transit map that is both automatically generated and well designed. Why is that?

As Apple outlined at WWDC, their approach to transit takes a long time because it involves manually curated details (things like signs, directions, and cultural conventions that match the real world), which wouldn’t be possible with an algorithm alone.

That said, I can vouch for Transit in Rome. The app is excellent. Well designed, with some clever interactions (such as an “arrive by” option to plan a trip on a timeline), and a joy to use. It’s also the only decent transit app that combines public transit with local car sharing services on the same map.

I wish Apple Maps transit data was a) available in Rome and b) as flexible as Transit.

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Remaster, Episode 14: Pokémon Go →

Linked By Federico Viticci

This time the guys discuss why Pokémon Go has been so successful, and what this means for Nintendo.

If you haven’t had enough of Pokémon yet, this week’s discussion on Remaster tries to understand the phenomenon through the lens of how smartphones changed society and how the App Store can still generate overnight successes. You can listen here.