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This week Federico and Myke talk about Lego Dimensions, the new Guitar Hero, Pokemon Rumble World and whether Apple Watch games make sense.
Even if you don’t play videogames much, I’d recommend listening to this week’s Virtual for the smartwatch section and how game developers are approaching Apple Watch. You can listen here.
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In an update released today, Google has added a widget and new gestures to Chrome for iOS, making it easy to open links from other apps and manage tabs on the iPhone. I’ve been testing this new version of Chrome for the past couple of weeks, and I think Google is bringing some interesting ideas to the table.
As with every product we make, we want as many people as possible to enjoy using Apple Watch. That’s why it’s designed with assistive technologies and features that make it easy for people with disabilities to use. Accessing them is also simple, either through Settings on the device itself or through the Apple Watch app on your iPhone.
Apple launched a new webpage for Accessibility in Watch OS last night, highlighting different accessibility features that will be available in the first version of Apple Watch. As Steven Aquino wrote last month, the Taptic Engine could play an important role for the accessibility community.
Since their release in February, IFTTT’s Do apps have become some of my most used utilities for one-tap commands triggered from my iPhone. Today, IFTTT is extending the Do line to the iPad, and, more importantly, they’re bringing the power of web automation to Apple Watch.
Fascinating read by Jenna Wortham on The Shade Room, an Instagram-first publication:
Angie explained to me that Instagram perfectly suited her vision for The Shade Room: image-centric and interactive. For her purposes, Instagram was the equivalent of WordPress. When she started the feed a year ago, her goal was to accumulate 10,000 followers in the first year. She accomplished that in only two weeks. Angie started by posting about people at the bottom of the celebrity hierarchy (minor reality stars, mostly) and worked her way up to bigger names, building her loyalties slowly. Eventually, readers started sending her tips and videos via Instagram’s direct-messaging feature. Now, The Shade Room has more than half a million followers on Instagram alone.
I wouldn’t recommend Instagram over WordPress to anyone, but it’s interesting to see how a business has been built on top of this.
Bani McSpedden (watch editor of the Australian Financial Review and watch-next.com) has a fascinating take on Apple Watch from the perspective of a watch expert and wearer (don’t miss the video).
This point about bands stood out to me:
Even little details like strap changes have been addressed in an ingenious way. The straps on Apple’s watch – in four styles from silicon to fine leather and metal versions – slide into the case rather than loop around a spring bar, making switching from one to another as simple as pressing a recessed button.
Why traditional watchmakers haven’t come up with something like this after all these years – well, a century – is a mystery.
David Chartier made a similar argument earlier today:
When I think about the innovative ease of swapping bands and Apple’s surprisingly low prices, I won’t be surprised if the bands become a sleeper hit of the Apple Watch. These deeply personal, and now incredibly useful, devices will finally join the rest of your wardrobe in being nearly effortless to adjust and re-personalize on a daily basis. That’s going to be powerful, convenient, and appealing.
I can’t wait to see which companies will get into the business of third-party Watch bands. Fortunately, it sounds like it’ll be easy to switch between multiple bands, which should help swapping them on a daily basis. John Gruber writes:
At first, I found swapping watch bands to be a bit fiddly. I can see why Apple wasn’t allowing anyone to do so in the hands-on areas at the press events. But once you do it a few times, you get the hang of it. They really are rather easy to remove, yet they feel very secure once clicked into place. My advice: pay attention to the angle of the slot as you slide them into place.
See also: CNET’s video on swapping bands.
Just a few years ago, there was a sharp divide between fans of Microsoft and fans of the iPhone. But in this “mobile first, cloud first” world, it’s now possible to combine Apple’s iPhone hardware with Microsoft’s best-in-breed productivity apps and not feel terrible about yourself. Things really have changed, and for the better.
Paul Thurrot as a good rundown of Microsoft’s apps for iOS. I remember a few years ago when it seemed unthinkable to have full Microsoft and Google ecosystems on iOS, and today not only is that completely normal – people expect Microsoft and Google to release their apps on the App Store. How things change.
The practice of sharing ‘textshots’ – screenshots of text, as they’re often referred to – has taken off among certain tech niches for two reasons. First, turning text into a static image is a primitive but effective workaround to circumvent Twitter’s 140-character limitations. But more importantly, humans have a natural tendency for convenience and visual feedback, and these two aspects are combined in the art of well crafted textshots: they save you a click, and they make shared passages of text more visually appealing. There are several reasons as to why textshots are working well for some Twitter users, but the underlying idea is extremely simple: images can add flair to a tweet in a way that plain text can’t.
Wikipedia is hoping that this concept will also apply to their app, which, following a rollout on Android, is getting the ability to share facts as ‘cards’ on iOS today. I tried a pre-release version of the app, and, while far from Instapaper’s surprisingly advanced textshot implementation, the Wikimedia Foundation has put some nice touches in this feature.
LinX Imaging is the latest in Apple acquisitions, as reported by MacRumors:
Apple has purchased Israeli camera technology company LinX Imaging for approximately $20 million, reports The Wall Street Journal. LinX specializes in creating multi-aperture camera equipment for mobile devices and it’s possible that Apple will use the company’s technology in upcoming iOS devices.
Reading through what LinX Imaging had developed, there’s lots of interesting possibilities for the future of iPhone cameras.
The simple truth is that Apple thinks portable cameras can still aspire to higher degrees of quality and convenience, edging towards SLR-like photos without the complexity, cost, and additional hardware of SLR cameras. The iPhone’s camera is one of the features that is improved every year, and it sounds like we’re going to see notable breakthroughs over the next iPhone iterations.
