Microsoft announced a slew of new goodies at its Windows event in New York. Catch up on everything from the Surface Studio all-in-one to the Windows 10 Creators Update here.

Microsoft’s big event in New York on Tuesday included plenty of new Surface hardware, but nevertheless, it’s easy to see why the company called this a Windows event rather than a Surface shindig.

Windows and devices chief Terry Myerson kicked things off with a tantalizing glimpse of the features that will debut with the new Windows 10 Creators Update, scheduled to release in the spring. The rest of event was dedicated to new Surface gear designed specifically to marry powerful, thoughtful hardware with the best of those new software features. But don’t take my word for it! Here’s everything Microsoft announced at its October 26 Windows event.

 

Windows 10 Creators Update

As I said, the freshly revealed Windows 10 Creators Update, scheduled to arrive in early 2017, kicked off the show. The update’s built around three key pillars: the creation and manipulation of 3D content, sharing your Xbox Live gaming experiences, and easily communicating with others—hence the name.

 

Surface Studio

Microsoft’s first-ever desktop PC is the paragon for all those Windows ideals. The Surface Studio all-in-one mixes stunning physical design and impressive internal hardware, focused on creating the best experience possible for professionals and content creators. From an ultra-slim 4,500×3,000-resolution screen with “True Scale” 1:1 image recreation, to the ability to lay at a 20-degree angle for natural positioning while sketching, to the 6th-gen (Skylake) Core i7 CPU and Nvidia GPU powering it all, the Surface Studio is laser-focused on helping you get things done. (And showing off Windows in the best possible light, naturally.)

These tidbits are just the tip of the iceberg. If you like what you see, the Surface Studio starts at $3,000 and is available for preorder now.

 

Surface Dial

The Surface Studio’s content-friendly design and Windows 10’s new content creation tools are amplified by the Surface Dial, a radical puck that can control Microsoft’s new PC. It’s primarily designed to work in conjunction with Microsoft’s Surface Pen. Priced at $100, you can preorder it now.

The Surface Dial doesn’t have any buttons of its own. Instead, using it reveals an interface wheel customized for specific applications, with selections occurring as you twist the device back and forth. You may cycle through tool-tip brushes in an image editing app, for instance, or rewind and fast-forward through written notes in Office. A virtual version of the Dial appears even if you don’t place the puck directly onscreen, letting you zoom, scroll, and adjust various options like screen brightness and volume. Mark Hachman’s Surface Dial hands-on explains it all.

Support for the Surface Dial will be baked right into Windows 10, and the accessory will be compatible with the existing Surface Pro 3, Surface Pro 4, and Surface Book.

 

Surface Book i7

Handily enough, Microsoft also revealed a newer, more powerful version of the Surface Book, the aptly named Surface Book i7. The Surface Book i7 swaps in a sixth-gen Skylake Intel Core i7 processor and an Nvidia GTX 965M GPU to deliver twice the power of the most potent original Surface Book, and (Microsoft claims) three times the power of the beefiest 13-inch MacBook Pro—though Apple’s expected to roll out new Macs tomorrow.

Microsoft also managed to up the Surface Book i7’s battery life to a claimed 15 hours, despite the additional firepower, thanks to a redesigned cooling system and, well, more batteries. The Surface Book i7 starts at $2,400 and is available to preorder now.

 

Paint 3D

Windows’ venerable Paint app is being dragged into the 21st century. The Windows 10 Creators Update adds Paint 3D, a Windows Store app designed from the ground up to create 3D images even out of 2D pictures.

Paint 3D includes numerous tools for editing three-dimensional images. It also integrates with a new Windows 10 3D-scanning app dubbed Windows Capture 3D, which allows you to digitize real-world objects. Microsoft plans to introduce a “community” hub on Remix3D.com for shared 3D images, plus it’ll let you drag your creations out of Minecraft. Microsoft Office applications will also support 3D images after the Windows 10 Creators Update rolls out.

You have to wonder how many non-professionals are interested in 3D image creation, but there’s no doubting that Paint 3D looks mighty nifty—and like a perfect match for the Surface Studio and Surface Dial’s capabilities.

 

Windows Holographic VR headsets

You’ll be able to view those 3D creations through Microsoft’s own HoloLens, or via an onslaught of Windows Holographic-compatible VR headsets apparently coming from Dell, HP, Lenovo, Asus, and Acer.

“These headsets will be the first and only to ship with inside-out, six-degree-of-freedom sensors,” said Microsoft’s Terry Myerson. “Unlike every other VR headset on the market today, this means there will be zero need for a separate room. Zero need for a complicated setup.”

 

My People

Microsoft wants to make your friends the center of your Windows experience with My People, a feature that borrows from Android and iOS. In the Creators Update, five important contacts will appear as profile images in your taskbar. You’ll be able to drop files onto these contacts to immediately share items, or click the contact to interact in a specific app like Mail, Skype, SMS, or Xbox Live. Handy!

 

Live PC game streaming

Microsoft’s muscling in on Twitch. The Windows 10 Creators Update adds the ability to easily start broadcasting your Xbox Live games via the operating system’s Game DVR toolbar, sending notifications out to your pals and fellow club members to let them know when you’re online. Once they hop into your stream they’ll be able to chat with you, as with every other streaming service out there.

The service is powered by Microsoft’s recent Beam acquisition and looks dead-simple to use. It’s easy to envision Windows 10 Game DVR livestreaming becoming popular on consoles, but Microsoft faces an uphill battle on PCs, where Twitch and tools like Nvidia Shadowplay and OBS already enjoy massive, entrenched user bases.

 

Custom tournaments and fancy audio

Microsoft’s tying console and PC users closer together with custom tournaments powered by Xbox Live’s Arena platform. Next year, you’ll be able to create your own custom gaming tournaments, controlling everything from the games, to the rules, to the players, to the start times. Previously, Area tournaments were only created by Microsoft and its official partners.

The Xbox One S, which is itself powered by Windows 10, is adding support for bitstreaming Blu-ray audio pass-through and Dolby Atmos. Soon, those 4K videos and games will sound just as glorious as they look.

 

Surface Mouse and keyboards

The niche Surface Dial isn’t the only Studio peripheral Microsoft announced today, though none of the others made it onto the stage during the big event. Microsoft quietly launched a Surface Mouse and a pair of desktop Surface keyboards—one standard, the other ergonomic—to complement its premium all-in-one PC. All three match the gray aesthetic of Microsoft first-ever desktop PC. The Surface Studio includes a Surface Mouse and basic Surface Keyboard, however.

You can preorder all three on Microsoft’s Surface accessories page, with shipments scheduled for early November.

Have questions?

Get answers from Microsofts Cloud Solutions Partner!
Call us at: 856-745-9990 or visit: https://southjerseytechies.net/

South Jersey Techies, LL C is a full Managed Web and Technology Services Company providing IT Services, Website Design Services, Server Support, Network Consulting, Internet Phones, Cloud Solutions Provider and much more. Contact for More Information.

To read this article in its entirety click here.

Dial-up internet

The tech world moves fast, but not always as fast as you think. Obsolete technology has a tendency to hang on, and hang on strong. Here’s a list of 10 pieces of obsolete technology that are still alive and kicking, starting with a surprising one: dial-up internet.

Everyone remembers that screeching sound, followed by “You’ve got mail.”

The days of connecting to the internet with a 56K modem are over for most of us, but approximately three percent of Americans are holding out–that’s about 9.5 million people. Who are they–and do they know they could get online faster?

Image: iStock/Alexey Vedernikov

Dot matrix printers

The use of dot matrix printers goes hand in hand with carbon-free, triplicate, continuous-feed paper. Both still have a use in the business world, which is why both have survived well past their point of obsolescence.

Image: iStock/sewer11

Fax machines

Find me a person who likes using a fax machine and I’ll show you someone who’s at least a bit insane.

Why the world still relies on paper faxes when digital scans are available is beyond my understanding. They aren’t more secure, they aren’t tamper-proof, and they’re just a waste of paper. Down with the fax!

Image: iStock/HSNPhotography

CRT screens

Encountering a CRT screen in the wild is kind of surprising, but it happens. They’re becoming harder and harder to find, and it’s nearly impossible to uncover a new one on the internet.

Maybe the next generation of youths will begin a CRT renaissance. After all, who doesn’t love vintage tech? For now, however, CRTs are just holding on in the dark corners of the world, silently (or buzzingly?) waiting for death.

Image: iStock/Sidney de Almeida

Floppy disks

When it came out in May of this year that the Pentagon is still using floppy disks in computers that control nuclear ICBMs people laughed. When we then learned they were eight-inch floppy disks people were shocked.

If anyone would be using computer technology from the 1970s in 2016 it’s the government, right? What’s worse is that they spend billions a year operating and maintaining those systems. Let’s hope for a modern replacement before the outbreak of nuclear war.

Image: iStock/hroe

Cash registers

The modern cash register is a bit more advanced than its early 20th century predecessor, but not by a lot. With the advent of iPads as POSes the cash register is facing extinction.

Some of the hippest, newest businesses are only armed with an iPad and a cash drawer, and those new systems are working great. Maybe in the next few years cash registers will be relegated to the same corners of the world where you now find CRTs.

Image: iStock/ivansmuk

Telegrams

You can still send a telegram in 2016. It’s not cheap, either: $18.95 gets you 100 words that will be hand delivered within three to five business days.

Telegrams may have been advanced in 1844, but in 2016 it’s hard to see a practical use for them. Sure, it’s more personal for a stranger to hand deliver a letter than it is to send a faceless email, but with the speed of the modern postal service you can just send a handwritten letter in the same amount of time.

Image: iStock/Larasoul

Beepers

I know a few doctors, and some of them still carry beepers. Cell phones replaced beepers for most of us, but the medical community is still hanging on. An estimated 85 percent of hospitals still using the old black boxes, and they have their reasons.

Pager signals are stronger than cellular, the batteries last for weeks, and satellites beam pages to multiple towers, guaranteeing doctors get notified in emergency situations. Beepers will probably go away someday, but not until we figure out how to improve cellular reception.

Image: iStock/koyjira

Magnetic tapes

Believe it or not, the sale of audio cassettes is actually increasing. I don’t see a reason to use a cassette in the age of digital media, but apparently lots of people do.

In the business world the debate still rages over the relevancy of tape backups. Cheap cloud storage is raising the question of tape practicality, but it will likely be awhile before they’re gone completely.

Image: iStock/BigJoker

COBOL

The COmmon Business-Oriented Language was invented in 1959, and it has been in use ever since. More efficient programming languages have come and gone since COBOL entered the world, yet it is the one performing over 70 percent of global business transactions in 2016.

Image: National Museum of American History

Have questions?

Get answers from Microsofts Cloud Solutions Partner!
Call us at: 856-745-9990 or visit: https://southjerseytechies.net/

South Jersey Techies, LL C is a full Managed Web and Technology Services Company providing IT Services, Website Design Services, Server Support, Network Consulting, Internet Phones, Cloud Solutions Provider and much more. Contact for More Information.

To read this article in its entirety click here.

Mattel’s ThingMaker 3D Printer and ThingMaker Design App is expected to ship later this year. Could a $300 3D printer capable of making hundreds of parts that can be assembled into toys finally place the technology next to the inkjet printer in the home?

The consumer 3D printer market, which has even tried to connect itself to video gaming, still seeks ‘killer app’

While 3D printer sales will experience healthy growth over the next four years, consumer machines remain a technology in search of a purpose, according to researcher IDC.

3D printers, materials and services in the U.S. grew by almost 20% in 2015 compared to the year before, representing $2.5 billion market. And 3D printer shipments are expected to experience a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of more than 16% through 2020, according to IDC’s U.S. 3D Printer Forecast, 2016-2020.

Revenue from 3D printing hardware alone is expected to grow from $815 million last year to $1.96 billion in 2020.

The largest technology segment within the 3D printing market is fused filament fabrication or fused deposition modeling (FDM/FFF). Last year, FFF or FDM printers made up 76% of the 3D printers shipped in the U.S.

While the majority of those printers are at the low end of the market, the consumer segment “has clearly not materialized as many had predicted,” IDC said. That’s pushing many 3D printer makers to shift toward producing higher-end machines aimed at the education and professional prototyping markets.
Shipments in the very low-end, where 3D printers sell for below $1,000, are still projected to grow more than 12% annually through 2020. But the market remains relatively small.

Where’s the killer app?

“I know it is a bit of a cliché, but I believe the ‘killer app’ that would drive 3D printing in the consumer space has not materialized yet,” said Tim Greene, research director for IDC’s Hardcopy Solutions. “Already the 3D printer mix in the U.S. has changed over the last 12 to 24 months. While there are still a lot of shipments into the DIY/consumer market, tremendous growth remains in the segments with a more professional and manufacturing orientation.

Simply put, 3D printers have yet to find their spot next to the inkjet printer in the home.

The sub-$1,000 3D printer category is the slowest-growing segment based on the reduced demand for consumer-type 3D printers in the U.S. market, IDC found. Many of the suppliers of lower-priced machines have added features and capabilities to their printers to move up into higher-priced hardware.

Printers in the sub-$1,000 price category are expected to go from just over 49,900 shipments in 2015 to over 90,750 printers in 2020. That’s a five-year annual growth rate of 12.7%.

In its report, IDC said it “has never been a big believer” in the consumer 3D printing market.

“This is being borne out somewhat with many of the suppliers in that segment recognizing that the consumer segment has materialized differently than expected. While some suppliers continue to sell very low-end 3D printers at prices below $300, many have recognized that consumer users will not run enough material, or won’t buy the materials from their printer manufacturer, to make up for selling printers at such low prices,” the report said.

In the hunt for the “killer application,” many 3D printer manufacturers have attempted to link the machines with video games, enabling players to print characters and scene-setting models.

“Which certainly eventually could happen, but we don’t see it in the near term,” Greene said. “So, while I’d never say never, I think the lack of the real ‘gotta have it’ application for consumer 3D printing limits the potential for the consumer side for now.”

Terry Wohlers, president of Wohlers Associates, an independent consulting firm, said the consumer 3D printer market is hampered more by a reason to exist and less by a lack of affordable technology.

“You could give away a free 3D printer to average consumers, but I doubt it would motivate them to use it. They’d give it a try, but then it’d collect dust. It’s just too difficult for them,” Wohlers said. “Heck, they don’t even want to print pictures at home because they don’t want to mess with it. A 3D printer is an order of magnitude more involved.”

Mattel to the rescue

“I would argue that a consumer 3D printer does not yet exist,” Wohlers continued. “This could change when Mattel introduces its new ThingMaker later this year.”

In February, Mattel announced it had reinvented its iconic ThingMaker at-home toy-making device, this time as a 3D printer that will cost $300.

Mattel unveiled its plug-and-play 3D printer at the New York Toy Fair, and it is already taking pre-orders for the machine, which will be available Oct. 15. (See Amazon.com pricing).

After downloading the ThingMaker Design App, which is based on software from Autodesk, families can browse through toy templates or build their own creations from hundreds of parts also offered in loadable files. Designs get uploaded from the files to the ThingMaker 3D Printer, which prints parts in batches for assembly via ball-and-socket joints.

The ThingMaker Design App allows you to download files to iOS or Android devices and then upload them to the 3D printer to create toys.

“For 15-plus years, I’ve believed that children could become a large market because they are creative, like to make objects, and entertain themselves,” Wohlers said. “New software tools for creating 3D content, coupled with products for children, such as the ThingMaker, could change the landscape some.”

Meanwhile, Wohlers said, most consumers will purchase 3D-printed parts and products online and at shops and stores — products designed by professionals on industrial-grade machines.

In addition to a lack of use cases, the consumer 3D printer has become a low-margin product, as Chinese equipment and filament manufacturers have combined with multiple distribution channels (including Amazon.com) to create a segment where it is really hard to achieve profit margins, Greene said.

“In turn, this has made companies like 3D Systems and Ultimaker re-think some of their product and areas of focus,” Greene said. “Furthermore, there is a growing number of online 3D printing services like Sculpteo [and] Shapeways…that make it so fast and easy for consumers to get their stuff 3D printed that it seems like consumers don’t need their own 3D printer.”

In May, Ultimaker and Ultimaker added the Ultimaker 2+, which sports a price tag  more than twice the original $999 Ultimaker.

“And in a hallway conversation at a recent trade show, one of their guys told me they are ‘less interested’ in slugging it out with the other vendors in the sub-$1,000 price category,” Greene said.

3D Systems shifts gears
3D Systems is also less interested in the consumer 3D printer market, which it entered into in 2011.

At the end of 2015, 3D Systems announced the end of its $999 Cube consumer 3D printer line and said it would also shutter its Cubify.com consumer printing platform by January 31.

“We still have the Cube Pro printer — that’s sub-$5,000, but that’s kind of our entry level now on the desk tops for applications like education and desktop engineering,” said Timothy Miller, 3D Systems’ director of corporate communications.

“We’re focusing on manufacturing and the professional customer because that’s where we see near-term opportunities,” Miller added.

3D Systems was among the first 3D printer manufacturers when it was founded in 1984; its CTO, Chuck Hull, was one of the inventors of the 3D printing technology and created the widely-adopted STL (stereolighography) file format used by machines today.

Over the past two years, however, 3D Systems’ stock has dropped precipitously from a high of about $97 per share in 2014 to a low of $6.29 in May. Today, it’s trading for around $12.

And, in April, 3D Systems replaced its interim CEO with Vyomesh Joshi, the former vice president of imaging and printing at HP who is credited with doubling profits there.

Miller said while the company is will soon announce a new long-term strategy, it has already shifted toward producing more professional machines aimed at up-and-coming markets, including 3D printers for production.

Wohlers said 3D Systems’ financial issues have less to do with the industry’s downward trajectory and more to do with the company’s lack of focus and increased competition.

In 2011, for example, 31 companies worldwide produced and sold industrial 3D printers — those priced at more than $5,000. Five years later, that doubled to 62 companies, according to theWohlers Report 2016.

As with the beginning of the 3D printing industry, the highest growth markets for the technology continues to be automotive, healthcare and aerospace. However, along with rapid prototyping, 3D printing production parts is beginning to take shape.

Where the market is headed

According to IDC’s report, the fastest-growing segment in the 3D printing industry is in the $25,000 to $100,000 price category — printers that use a mix of technologies for both plastic and metal printing for use in markets including dental, medical, automotive and aerospace.

Last year, for example, HP announced it would enter the 3D printed parts manufacturing space with a machine aimed directly at production, not the consumer market. HP’s machine, a ink-jet like “materials jetting” system, is part of a market expected to grow faster than any other, according to IDC.

“As applications become more advanced and complicated, people don’t just want a prototyping printer, but a solution they can build into their workflow,” Miller said.

For example, Align Technology 3D prints 175,000 Invisalign dental braces every day.

Earlier this month, 3D printing service provider Sculpteo released its annual State of 3D Printing report, which collects survey responses from the general public from late January to late March 2016.

This year, Sculpteo received more than 1,000 respondents.

The survey found that the primary uses for 3D printing remain prototyping (50%) and proof of concept (30%), with manufacturing production coming in third (20%). Companies responding to the survey revealed that 93% of organizations believe 3D printing gives them a competitive advantage, and the top priority for professionals using 3D printers is faster product development.

“People and companies that are adopting 3D printers are routinely realizing the tremendous time and cost savings in their product creation and development cycles,” Greene said. “As printer speeds increase and the range of materials expands, a growing number of products and parts, and therefore markets, will be impacted by 3D printing/additive manufacturing.”

Have questions?

Get answers from Microsofts Cloud Solutions Partner!
Call us at: 856-745-9990 or visit: https://southjerseytechies.net/

South Jersey Techies, LL C is a full Managed Web and Technology Services Company providing IT Services, Website Design Services, Server Support, Network Consulting, Internet Phones, Cloud Solutions Provider and much more. Contact for More Information.

To read this article in its entirety click here.

The new iPhone doesn’t come out until September, but that won’t stop the rumor mill from churning at a furious pace.

Now that WWDC is over, the iPhone 7 rumors are getting even louder, since its expected unveiling in September is probably the next time we’ll see Tim Cook on stage. Yes, that’s still a good while from now. To help keep track of all the scuttlebutt, we’re collecting every rumor we’ve heard so far—and every new one that crops up between now and the day Tim pulls the new iPhone out of his pocket. Then we’ll assess whether each rumor seems legit or absurd, and we’d love to hear your thoughts too. Sound off in the comments.

What’s the latest?

The rumor: Pricing specs for the upcoming iPhone 7 have allegedly leaked on Weibo, according to 9to5Mac. If believed, the specs show that Apple is looking to release a 256GB model of the iPhone 7 that will be the same price as the 128GB model of the current generation iPhone 6s. Furthermore, Apple would drop the meager 16GB models, offering instead 32GB, 64GB, and 256GB for the iPhone 7 and 32GB, 128GB, and 256GB for iPhone 7 Plus. And that’s not all, the rumor on Weibo has it that Apple is gearing up an iPhone 7 Pro line. This Pro model would be the only one to offer the dual-camera system that’s been rumored before, and a Smart Connector for accessories similar to the iPad Pro.

Plausible: Generation after generation, Apple has mostly retained the same pricing for iPhone models, so the fact that the 256GB iPhone 7 would cost the same as the current 128GB wouldn’t be unheard of. However, we’re a little skeptical that Apple would get rid of the 16GB base models, especially since iOS 10 seems to have been designed to optimize storage. And the Pro line would be an interesting addition, and would certainly make up for the fact that the iPhone 7 is rumored to be almost-identical to the 6s models. Apple is also making some strides in enterprise software, so an iPhone Pro would be a logical next-step.

Headphone jack after all?

The rumor: Via Engadget comes some component photos from Rock Fix, a smartphone repair shop in China. They allegedly show a dual-SIM tray, another shows a dual-lens camera for the larger Plus model, and curiously, there’s even an Lightning assembly that still has the headphone jack attached. People who need a lot of storage will be pleased to hear another photo shows SanDisk memory ships up to 256GB, which would be the most storage Apple’s ever offered in an iPhone.

Plausible? It’s hard to give much weight to photos of components, and as reported in the same Engadget article, conflicting rumors about the dual-lens camera surfaced within days. But it is plausible that these components could be for the iPhone 7—and we know plenty of people who would be thrilled if the new phone had a headphone jack after all.

New colors?

The rumor: It’s not easy being green, and iPhone owners might be starting to get envious of how many colors you can get an Android phone in. iPhones used to be pretty monochromatic, until Apple added gold and then an even brighter splash of color with last year’s rose gold hue (OK, OK, it’s pink). Japanese blog Macotara is reporting that Apple is switching it up this year, swapping the space gray color for navy blue instead.

Plausible? This is absolutely plausible. Apple’s iPhones have never been colorful, but the iPod touch comes in beautiful colored aluminum, and Apple has also set a tradition recently of switching up its Apple Watch bands to fit the season. One of the latest additions is a handsome navy Sport Band, and the Classic Buckle, Leather Loop, Modern Buckle, and two of the Hermès bands come in navy too. Navy looks great on both men and women, but we can’t help being a bit surprised it’s the “basic black” space gray color that’s rumored to be replaced.

A flat Home button?

The rumor:  Blurry, possibly fake spy photos from mobipicker (via 9to5Mac) seem to show a very flat-looking Home button. As in, maybe it’s not a button, maybe it’s just a touch-sensitive place you touch (and/or 3D Touch) instead of physically clicking it.

A fully flat Home button could have 3D Touch potential too.

Plausible? The Touch ID button got a lot faster between the iPhone 6 and 6s, but any button that physically clicks is another opportunity for hardware failure. With the rise of installment plans and the iPhone Upgrade program, we expect Apple to keep making little tweaks that make its phones more durable, so they’re turned in good enough shape to be possibly refurbished and resold. So yes, this is very plausible, and we think Apple could pull it off where the experience is the same, perhaps even using a little haptic feedback to make it feel like the button is clicking but it’s not—just like the Force Touch trackpad.

What about storage size?

The rumor: Apple is ditching the 16GB base model iPhone at long last, at least according to an IHS Technology analyst. The analyst posted on Chinese social media that the base model iPhone 7 will start at 32GB of storage space and 2GB of RAM, based on supply chain research.

Plausible? We sure hope so. Long-time Apple watchers have criticized the company for years over refusing to drop the 16GB model and forcing buyers to choose between the paltry base model and a 64GB option, with no 32GB in between. This is a tale as old as iPhones. In fact, when iOS 8 was released two years ago, many 16GB iPhone owners had to choose between offloading some of their apps, photos, and other files to upgrade to the space-hogging new version or hold off. Apple made iOS 9 a smaller, smarter upgrade, with temporary app deletion making the process easier. But apps easily eat up storage space, and Apple has improved its camera with Live Photos and 4K video-recording, both of which create large files. Sure, you can accept reality and choose the 64GB model, but it’s a lot more expensive. A 32GB base would hit the sweet spot and show Apple can change with the times.

Leaked photos show conflicting design tweaks?

The rumor: Forbes reported on leaked photos that allegedly depict the iPhone 7 chassis. First posted on French tech site NowhereElse.fr, the photos suggest that Apple’s forthcoming iPhone with have double speakers on the top and the bottom, created quad array audio experience similar to the iPad Pro. The photos also seem to confirm, yet again, that the iPhone 7 will not have a headphone jack. Lastly, this iPhone 7 chassis has the flash repositioned underneath the camera, instead of right next to it.

But hold on… according to another recent iPhone 7 photo leak picked up by 9to5Mac, the flash will remain where it is on the 6s. So now we have conflicting rumors. Both sets of photos, however, do show that Apple has redesigned the antenna lines. Instead of horizontal lines, the antenna lines on the iPhone 7 will allegedly be traced along the top and bottom edge of the device.

Plausible? These conflicting Apple rumors could mean a few things. Either both leaked photos are fake, one of them is fake, or both of them are real. According to Forbes, Apple is known for creating several different prototypes of its upcoming products to test, so these photos could both be depicting early but different iterations of the iPhone 7. That both of them would leak, however, seems unlikely.

Smart connector?

The rumor: New images and renderings have surfaced allegedly depicting the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus models. Quoting the Japanese site Mac Otakara, MacRumors reported that these images could be the “real thing.” The leaked image of the iPhone 7 Plus shows a Smart Connector, hinting at the possibility of a Smart Keyboard. While the Mac Otakara report seems to confirm previous rumors the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus will have a similar design to the current generation 6s and 6s Plus, the website also contests previous reports. Most notably, Mac Otakara now refutes the rumor that these new iPhones will have a second speaker to create stereo sound.

Plausible? Apple has been releasing a lot of accessories in the last few months, especially for the iPad Pros. It’s possible the company wants to continue this trend and adding Smart accessories to the 7 Plus. However, a Smart Keyboard suggests that the larger iPhone could have some Pro-style features, and we’re not sure if Apple would want to have it compete with the just-released 9.7-inch iPad Pro.

No headphone jack, really?

The rumor: Here it is: a leaked iPhone 7 case… allegedly!9to5Mac reported the leaked images as first posted on the@OnLeaks Twitter account. The leaks seem to corroborate a few other rumors about the iPhone 7. For example, the case has no slot for a 3.5mm audio jack, signaling that Apple might be pushing for only Bluetooth and Lightning-connected headphones. The case also has two equally sized speaker grills on each side of the Lightning port slot, confirming that the iPhone 7 will be the first to sport two speakers for stereo sound. Other than that, the purported case points to an iPhone 7 hardware design that’s nearly identical to the iPhone 6s.

The no-headphone-jack rumor has been around for a while, previously reported by Fast Company and others. Apple is said to be developing wireless EarPods to be sold separately, alongside the iPhone 7. The premium EarPods will reportedly support Siri and wireless phone calls and ship with a carrying case that doubles as a charger.

Plausible? The larger design of the iPhone 6 and 6s lines have proven very successful for Apple, so we can see why the company would want to play it safe design-wise with the iPhone 7. But this similar design may not offer enough reasons to upgrade as we’ve seen with previous numbered upgrades—and if the major innovation requires a lot of people to ditch their 3.5mm headphones or use an adapter, get ready to hear some major griping.

This is the most controversial iPhone rumor in years, even more than the change of sizes with the iPhone 6. Some people love the idea. Others hate it. There’s even a petition to convince Apple that people still love the headphone jack. That petition has just over 300,000 signatures.

How does the dual-lens camera work?

The rumor: We previously reported on the rumor that Apple is looking to bring a dual-lens camera to forthcoming iOS devices. Based on LinX camera technology that Apple acquired last year, the dual-lens incorporates a wide-angle lens and a telephoto lens. According to MacRumors, a recent Apple patent shows for a a split-screen viewfinder where users can see the full image in the wide-angle lens and zoom in with the telephoto lens. The camera will be able to take two separate pics, or use one of the lenses to shoot video and the other to take stills. More impressively, the camera could also implement LinX’s technology to stitch it all together into one really crisp image.

Plausible? The race for bringing DSLR-quality cameras into smartphones is on. Samsung’s recently-unveiled Galaxy S7 garnered rave reviews for its use of Duo Pixel Technology to take photos. Apple may be feeling the heat to create an equally-stunning photo experience to the iPhone 7. If the dual-lens technology as outlined in this patent comes to fruition, it would help the iPhone regain its reputation as the best camera phone on the market.

How thin will the iPhone 7 be?

The rumor: Macotakara reported this week that the iPhone 7 will be 6.1mm thick. That’s one whole millimeter thinner than the current iPhone 6s, which measures 7.1mm. This new thinner model will be accompanied by a flush rear camera (so not protruding) for a design that’s sleeker overall.

Plausible? If this rumor is true, Apple seems to be under the impression that thinner is better. Apple has already made a device that measures just 6.1mm: the iPod touch. So it makes sense that the company would want to try to make the newest iPhone be just as thin. Hopefully, the iPhone 7 won’t be affected by any “Bendgate” issues because of this thinner design.

Will the thinner Lightning port mean I have to get new cables?

The rumor: In addition to getting rid of the 3.5mm headphone jack to achieve this new thinness, the iPhone 7 is rumored to integrate a thinner Lightning port. This will not affect the actual Lighting cables, however, so you won’t have to get all new connectors for the iPhone 7. What Apple is doing is simply making the cutout around the port smaller, so it should only affect case-makers, according to 9to5Mac.

Plausible? If Apple is already going insofar as to removing the headphone jack, which has already sparked plenty of controversy, then a slight redesign of the Lightning port doesn’t seem like a big deal. Especially if our current Lightning connectors will still be able to hook up to it.

Camera differences between the 7 and 7 Plus?

The iPhone 7 Plus might have the most amazing smartphone camera ever.

The rumor: The iPhone 7 Plus will have a better camera, to the chagrin of small-handed amateur photographers around the world. According to MacRumors, the 7 Plus may have a dual-lens camera with optical zoom, which means this phone will take better photos than many traditional cameras. Instead of pinching to zoom in digitally, which usually results in a terrible grainy photo, the 7 Plus camera will have an optical zoom. That’s where the second camera lens comes in: It’s essentially a zoom lens.

Plausible? Yes. The iPhone 6s and 6s Plus have most of the same features, but the larger phone has a small but key difference: optical image stabilization. That feature uses the Plus’s gyroscope and camera array to steady your photos even if your hand shakes. The 6 and 6s rely on camera software to achieve the same effect, though the resulting images aren’t quite as clear. If the 7 Plus has a dual-lens camera with optical zoom, it would be a huge differentiator—the Plus could become the phone to beat for serious photographers.

Is that unsightly camera lens bulge going away?

The rumor: Apple redesigned the 6 and 6s models to be thinner and lighter than ever before, but there’s one big problem: The rear-facing camera lens juts out of the body, so the phones won’t sit flat on a surface. For a company that’s all about the details, this seemed like a strange design decision. The iPhone 7 is reportedly getting a camera that sits flush against the phone, according to MacRumors, so your eyes won’t be offended any longer.

Plausible? We sure hope so. That camera protrusion had to happen for a reason, but even Apple design chief Jony Ive is not a fan.

Will the iPhone 7 be waterproof?

The rumor: Making the iPhone thinner than ever and adding a DLSR-quality camera aren’t game-changing enough for Apple, apparently, so the company is reportedly working on ways to waterproof the iPhone 7. Ambitious? Yes. Possible? Definitely. Without a headphone jack to trap water, Apple could coat the iPhone with a waterproof coating and make those third-party rugged, waterproof cases obsolete.

Plausible? Actually, yes. Apple took several steps to waterproof the iPhone 6s without actually calling it waterproof, as detailed here, and word on the street from people who have accidentally submerged a 6s indicates that those techniques worked. All Apple needs is some waterproof buttons (which it’s reportedly working on), and they’re set.

Next year’s iPhone

Yes, you read that right. In this craziest of iPhone rumor cycles, we’re been reading rumors for the 2017 iPhone mixed in with rumors of the iPhone that should come out in September of 2016. Just to keep them all straight, here are the things we may have to look forward tonext year.

An OLED screen and glass on both sides

The rumor: Remember the iPhone 4, encased in glass on both sides, so you’d have twice as many surfaces that could shatter every time it slipped out of your hand? Apple might bring back an all-glass design in 2017. Hopefully it’s a bit more durable this time.

KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo thinks that Apple is planning a major iPhone redesign for 2017—not this fall. In a note to investors, he predicted an iPhone with a 5.8-inch OLED screen that’s encased in glass on both sides, yet smaller than the current iPhone 6s Plus, meaning Apple would be looking to eliminate as much bezel and “chin” as possible. DisplayMate President Ray Soneira echoed Kuo’s OLED predictions in a recent report, citing the “rapid improvements” in OLED performance over the last six years.

“Apple simply has no choice in switching,” Soneira said, because OLEDs are thinner, lighter, more responsive, and can be curved or bent in ways that LCD displays just can’t.

Kuo also predicted the all-glass 2017 iPhone would have wireless charging, and some kind of biometrics, like face recognition or iris scanning. The Home button takes up a lot of space on the current iPhones, and replacing it with other biometrics for login and Apple Pay (along with deep-touch gestures for exiting apps) could let Apple expand the screen.

Plausible? In Apple’s usual “tick-tock” cycle, the 2016 iPhone would get a redesign, since the current iPhone 6s and 6s Plus are upgrades to the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus designs that launched in 2014. But if Apple really is switching to OLED, that’s a major shift that might need more time to perfect. It’ll be interesting to see what innovations Apple can add in 2016 to make the iPhone seem exciting even if the overall design stays the same—a better camera and a Smart Connector are a start.

More evidence of OLED

The rumor:  According to a recent Bloomberg report, Applied Materials, an Apple supplier, has received almost four times the amount of orders for its display-making machines. This jump is linked to Apple retooling the iPhone manufacturing process to include OLED screens in the fall of 2017.

Plausible? We’ve already bought into the general rumor that Apple would switch to OLED, and this report supports the 2017 timeline—according to Applied Materials, it takes about 3 quarters for their machines to be build, delivered, and installed.

Have questions?

Get answers from Microsofts Cloud Solutions Partner!
Call us at: 856-745-9990 or visit: https://southjerseytechies.net/

South Jersey Techies, LL C is a full Managed Web and Technology Services Company providing IT Services, Website Design Services, Server Support, Network Consulting, Internet Phones, Cloud Solutions Provider and much more. Contact for More Information.

To read this article in its entirety click here.

PHILADELPHIA – Wawa began offering free WiFi Tuesday for customers at its 700-plus stores.

The service is available through a collaboration between the retailer and Philadelphia-based Comcast, the companies said.

To access the free service, Comcast said, “customers should log on to the ‘xfinitywifi’ SSID in the list of available networks on their devices.”

The service includes public Xfinity WiFi for Wawa customers and private access WiFi for employees and vendors.

Wawa stores operate across the tri-state area, as well as in Maryland, Virginia and Florida. The firm’s WiFi service will be available outside of Comcast’s traditional service areas, the companies said.

Wawa noted it needed “a fast and reliable WiFi solution to enable a consistent in-store experience for its mobile application.” It also said the service allows customers “to take advantage of a free connection without having to rely on their cellular service.”

Bill Stemper, president of Comcast Business, said WiFi has become a vital service for companies looking to improve “the customer experience at their branch locations.”

Have questions?

Get answers from Microsofts Cloud Solutions Partner!
Call us at: 856-745-9990 or visit: https://southjerseytechies.net/

South Jersey Techies, LL C is a full Managed Web and Technology Services Company providing IT Services, Website Design Services, Server Support, Network Consulting, Internet Phones, Cloud Solutions Provider and much more. Contact for More Information.

To read this article in its entirety click here.

Step aside, Apple, there’s a new watch in town. At CES 2016, Fitbit unveiled the Blaze, a smartwatch that does things the Apple Watch can’t, and at a lower price point.

The new Fitbit Blaze is a smart fitness watch unveiled at CES 2016. Image: Fitbit

The basic utilitarian look of Fitbit is so last week, with today’s CES 2016 debut of Fitbit Blaze, a smart fitness watch with a color touchscreen that heralds in the next generation of the company’s popular fitness device line.

Fitbit Blaze does many of the same things as more expensive smartwatches, such as the Apple Watch, but it does it at a lower price point. The basic Fitbit Blaze comes with an elastomer band and will be available for retail sales in March 2016 with a $199 price tag. It tracks fitness and sleep stats and provides notifications for calls, texts, calendar alerts and music control. It’s compatible with Windows, iOS, and Android platforms.

One of the main features of the watch is how the bands are interchangeable to go from the gym to the office and out for the evening. Accessories will include additional elastomer bands for $29.95 each, leather bands for $99.95 each, and a steel link band for $129.95 each. The device is available for presale beginning today at Fitbit.com and tomorrow at various major retailers. For those who want to see the watch in person before ordering, on February 20 customers can go into Best Buy to try on the watch and pre-order.

“The product is about the balance of fitness and style. While it may look like a smartwatch, we think we’ve gotten it right. It has a distinct focus on fitness. That’s why we’re calling it a smart fitness watch. It puts fitness first,” said James Park, CEO and co-founder of Fitbit, at the CES 2016 press conference.

Fashion and style have long been a sore spot in the world of wearables and smartwatches. Because, even if a device has a stylish appearance, oftentimes it’s not feasible to wear the same product 24/7 for every occasion. The Fitbit Blaze eliminates this issue with the range of affordable interchangeable bands.

Fitbit Blaze includes many of the same features as previous Fitbit wearable fitness devices, such as all-day activity stats, but it also includes a color touchscreen, along with a partnership with FitStar for an onscreen workout. It also includes connected GPS for real-time exercise stats and PurePulse wrist-based heart rate tracking, which the company introduced last year.

The watch has a substantial battery life, lasting up to five days and nights, according to Fitbit Chief Business Officer Woody Scal.

Park said the Fitbit Charge, which was introduced last year, is the number one selling activity tracking device in North America, and the Fitbit Surge is the number one selling GPS tracking watch. On Christmas Day and the day after, Fitbit was the number one free app download.

“We are one of the larger technology IPOs of 2015. We are still trading about offering price which we think is rare. We’re pretty proud of that,” Park said.

Park took the opportunity at the press conference to point out how Fitbit is mentioned in the media, such as numerous photos with President Obama wearing a Fitbit Surge.

“For me it’s been really fun to see Fitbit mentioned on popular TV shows such as Big Bang Theory,” he said.

One of the biggest challenges that Fitbit faces is that its products have a 50% abandonment rate, compared to 6% for the Apple Watch. That makes the Blaze a strategically important move for Fitbit. The early reaction to the Blaze has been mixed as Fitbit’s stock dropped 13% following the announcement.

Have questions?

Get help from IT Experts/Microsofts Cloud Solutions Partner
Call us at: 856-745-9990 or visit: https://southjerseytechies.net/

South Jersey Techies, LL C is a full Managed Web and Technology Services Company providing IT Services, Website Design Services, Server Support, Network Consulting, Internet Phones, Cloud Solutions Provider and much more. Contact for More Information.

To read this article in its entirety click here.

Just five years after the first 4G smartphone hit the market, the wireless industry is already preparing for 5G.

Each of the four nationwide cell phone carriers, as well as smartphone chipmakers and the major network equipment companies are working on developing 5G network technology for their customers.

There are many significant hurdles that all the industry players have to clear before you’ll see a little 5G symbol next to the signal bars on your smartphone screen. For example, it has yet to be determined what 5G even means, let alone what it will look like and when it will get here.

But as consumers use up rapidly growing amounts of 4G bandwidth watching streaming videos on their phones, 5G will soon become a necessity. As telecom engineers work furiously to develop 5G technology, we’re getting a clearer picture of the who, what, where, when and why of 5G.

What is 5G?

The “G” in 3G, 4G and 5G stands for “generation.” So 5G will be the fifth generation of wireless network technology.

The standards for 5G have not yet been set. According to Bill Smith, president of AT&T’s (T, Tech30)network operations, 5G will likely be defined in 2018, and the standards for 5G will codified sometime in 2019 by the standards-setting International Telecommunication Union, a branch of the United Nations. The standards will determine which wireless technologies can be called “5G,” as well as what its characteristics must include, such as how fast it will be.

Still, it’s possible to make a very educated guess about what 5G will look like based on the emerging 5G technologies that the wireless industry is experimenting with.

Here’s the elevator pitch: 5G will be faster, smarter and less power-hungry than 4G, enabling a slew of new wireless gadgets. 5G will let us have faster smartphones, more smart-home devices and longer-lasting wearable gizmos.

How fast will 5G be?

5G has the potential to offer speeds up to 40 times faster than 4G — fast enough to stream “8K” video in 3-D or download a 3-D movie in about 6 seconds (on 4G, it would take 6 minutes).

Unfortunately for consumers, there’s a difference between lab experiments and reality. Peak speeds are fun to dream about, but in the real world, actual speeds are much slower than promised.

Nokia (NOK), one of the biggest 5G players, believes that its 5G technology will allow for real-world speeds of about 100 Megabits per second when the network is most congested — that’s about four times faster than 4G’s top speed.

Another characteristic of 5G is that it will have ultra-low latency, meaning that it could drastically reduce the amount of time it takes for the network to respond to your commands. That could give the appearance of much faster loading websites, apps, videos and messages.

How will it work?

A lot of the wireless companies’ 5G experimentation is taking place in super-high frequencies — as high as 73,000 MHz. Today’s cell phone networks broadcast signal in a range of 700 MHz to 3,500 MHz.

The advantage of high-frequency signals is that they’re capable of providing significantly faster data speeds. The disadvantage is that they travel much shorter distances and they can’t easily penetrate walls. That means thousands — perhaps even millions — of mini cell towers, or “small cells” would need to be placed on top of every lamp post, every building, inside every home and potentially every room.

That presents a host of problems. How can cell phone companies possibly process all that data? There are companies, such as Google’s recently acquired Alpental, that are working on those “backhaul” issues. But they’re not so close to a solution, according to Akshay Sharma, wireless infrastructure analyst at Gartner.

That’s why 5G might complement 4G, rather than outright replace it. In buildings and in crowded areas, 5G might provide a speed boost. But when you’re driving down the highway, 4G could be your only option — at least for a while.

When is 5G coming?

None of these questions are going to be answered any time soon. The industry’s consensus is that it will run 5G experiments in South Korea during the 2018 Winter Olympics, with mass deployments beginning sometime in 2020.

Yet Verizon (VZ, Tech30) has said that it is working on 5G technology with the aim of bringing it to market much sooner — as early as 2017.

With all the questions surrounding 5G and all the wrinkles that need to be ironed out, it’s exceedingly unlikely that anything Verizon does will be widely deployed. For example, the smartphone makers will need to develop chips that are capable of sending and receiving 5G signal without driving costs significantly higher.

Have questions?

Get help from IT Experts/Microsofts Cloud Solutions Partner
Call us at: 856-745-9990 or visit: https://southjerseytechies.net/

South Jersey Techies, LLC is a full Managed Web and Technology Services Company providing IT Services, Website Design Services, Server Support, Network Consulting, Internet Phones, Cloud Solutions Provider and much more. Contact for More Information.

For the fourth generation Apple TV, the possibilities are endless

Update: The new Apple TV is finally here and available to buy right now in all Apple Stores. Here’s the final pricing: $149 and $199 pricing for the 32GB and 64GB versions in the US respectively, £129 and £169 in the UK, while in Australia the cost is AU$269 and AU$349 for the different versions.

Original story below…

Three years of waiting for a major upgrade and six months of rumors have lead to this point: the new Apple TV, announced earlier in September at the company’s iPhone 6S event.

When it came time to think about the upgrade to the Cupertino company’s seminal streamer, it seems one Steve Jobs-ian point made it through the chopping board: the new Apple TV needs to be just as smart if its predecessor and just as easy to use. It needs to offer a slew of contemporary features but still remain relatively clean looking.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the new Apple TV is all of those things.

Now, before you go down into the comments and leave a nasty retort, we know that “new Apple TV” is a fairly confusing name. But Apple bows to no numerical and/or logic system, and since the Apple TV has yet to see a true sequel until now, instead receiving iteration after iteration of internal upgrades, this is just the way the Apple peels.

It’s been about two years since the last minor change to the Apple TV and three since the last major one. Which, for a company that’s bound and determined to release a new iPhone every 12 months, seems a little strange that Apple’s popular streamer has been MIA since the iPhone 5.

But our patience has been rewarded, and Apple has delivered the next iteration of a great streaming device. It packs a faster processor than its predecessor, a great-looking UI, too. It has an all-new remote that comes with a built-in microphone and works with Siri, not to mention the fact that it doubles as a Wii-like motion game controller.

It has a sharp new OS – a hybrid of OSX and iOS – and comes with a loaded app store that Tim Cook says will usher in a new age of television. It’s ostentatious and bold vision packed into a tiny box. But that’s Apple for you.

When WWDC 2015 came and went without an Apple TV announcement, we were a little disappointed. But when rumors started to circulate about the Cupertino company’s September 9 event, our hopes and dreams for a brand-new set-top box started to solidify into reality. It turns out it wasn’t all wishful thinking, either. Rumors of Apple’s next set-top box practically boiled over until most, if not all, of the Apple’s big secrets saw the light of day before the 9th. (You can find the key points highlighted in bold!)

New Apple TV user interface

User interfaces are absolutely crucial, and Apple built its reputation on putting together some of the sleekest, most easy-to-use pieces of software on the market. The new Apple TV harnesses that long tradition of doing things right and wildly improves the old model’s layout into something more modern.

The new UI is purposefully flat, with top-level boxes for music and movies on the iTunes store, your most used apps like Netflix and Hulu, as well as the recently added App Store – which is like to pack TV-optimized games alongside Apple Music and its music-streaming kin.

It’s all built on top of a new OS called tvOS that works like a hybrid of iOS and OSX. There are 11 million developers on the platform according to Apple senior vice president of Internet Software and Services, Eddy Cue, which means you can expect a ton of third-party apps available on the first day.

tvOS will support Siri and include universal search results that enable searches across multiple streaming video services as well as Apple’s iTunes Store. That means instead of searching for a movie on each individual app, you’ll be able to see a select number of services in every search (think Netflix, Amazon Prime Instant Video, Hulu, YouTube, Vimeo, etc).

New Apple TV remote

Also, we know that the New Apple TV will include an updated remote control (goodbye, boring aluminum IR remote) that operates over Bluetooth and features a mix of physical buttons and a touchpad.

Inside the remote, Apple looks to be packing in some Wii-esque motion sensors, which would make playing games on the App Store that require tilt easy. Speaking of Bluetooth, we’ve heard whispers that you might be able to connect any console-style controller made for iOS to the Apple TV if the new remote doesn’t do it for you.

Of course the remote will include an internal microphone so you can chat withSiri, meaning that the new Apple TV might be fully operable just with your voice.

Apps shown off so far that use the remote are a new-and-improved Crossy Road, Beats Sports – a Wii-like game from the Rock Band developers, MLB At Bat andApple Music. And for fans of the old-fashioned Home Shopping Network, Gilt will allow you to shop for deals from the comfort of your couch.

There are thousands more apps in the works, and techradar has confirmed with a handful of developers that even though the store looks sparse, many more apps are right around the corner.

New Apple TV hardware

But like my mama always said, it’s what’s on the inside that counts. And inside the New Apple TV is packing a 64-bit A8 processor, currently found in the iPhone 6 Plus. It’s several times more powerful than the current Apple TV, and gives it the necessary horsepower to truck through the latest wave of graphically intense games. Does this mean that your Apple TV will become the premier spot to play the latest Call of Duty or Madden game? Most likely not. But for fans of casual or semi-casual gaming, the New Apple TV will be a pretty mean gaming machine.

It will support Bluetooth 4.0 (necessary to work with the all-new Siri remote),802.11ac WiFi with MIMO and come with either 32GB or 64GB of internal flash storage. None of this, however, is going to come cheap.

New Apple TV price

As expected, the 32GB will cost $149 (£129, AU$269) while the 64GB version will come in at $199 (£169, AU$349). It’s about three times the cost of the current Apple set-top box, but that price feels justified with all the new bells and whistles.

The only thing that would’ve sweetened the deal? A subscription to the purported cable alternative Apple has been working on for the past few months. This feature is likely to be coming, but we can now confirm that it missed the Apple TV announcement on September 9.

New Apple TV release date

So when can you get it? Apple launched the new Apple TV in over 80 countries on Monday October 26, and will expand to over 100 by the end of 2015.

New Apple TV competition

Looks like the new Apple TV isn’t the only shiny new set-top box on the market this holiday season. Recently Amazon launched a 4K version of the Amazon Fire TV, while Google has recently shipped out a Chromecast 2.

Finally, after techradar caught wind of the new Roku 4 thanks to a filing with the FCC in late September, Roku launched its stellar new streaming box at the tail end of October.

So far the consensus among reviewers is that the Chromecast 2 offers a faster response time and extremely affordable price tag if you can stand living without a user interface, while the the 4K Amazon Fire TV is great, but ultimately too dependent on a Prime subscription to do much good.

Conversely, the Roku 4 brings one of the best operating systems and universal search functions to the table, however the unit is noticeably louder and hotter than the Roku 3.

The first rumors of an Apple owned and operated cable service was given life on the web around the same time Sling TV made a splash in the US. The only problem with this plan is that Apple would need a lot of partners – FOX, NBC, ABC, Viacom, etc… – within a short time period.

The potential package in question would have a number of channels you know and love from cable but streamed over your Internet service for a lower monthly cost than traditional vendors like Sky, Virgin, Verizon or Time Warner Cable.

A service like that, exclusive to Apple TV, could be a huge differentiator and killer app for Cupertino. Whether Apple’s TV streaming dreams come to fruition – or actually exist at all – however, remains to be seen.

Apple pulls the plug on TV

After 10 years of research and development, Apple has officially stopped working on the fabled Apple television set, according to The Wall Street Journal.

According to a source familiar to the situation, because it was unable to add anything new to the world of flat-panels and 4K Ultra-HD TVs, Apple has thrown in the towel once and for all.

Apple is still expected to release both an updated version of the traditional set-top box as well as an over-the-top streaming service like Sling TV at its World Wide Developers Conference which starts on June 8.

The history of Apple TV

The first Apple TV launched back in 2006 and stuck out from the crowd by boasting its own hard drive and composite cables to hook up to then-new SD TV sets. It had a measly Intel Crofton Premium M processor and 256MB of DDR2 memory.

Version 2 ditched the internal storage for a better 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi antenna, upgraded Apple A4 processor and favored streaming media over anything stored on physical drives. While some lamented the disappearance of a HDD, some appreciated the Apple TV’s smaller size as a result of the change.

Launching in 2012, Apple TV Version 3, the latest version of the Apple TV, didn’t offer much of an upgrade over its predecessor. It still streamed media and had a streamlined user-interface based on iOS (at that time it was iOS7). Of course the processor got a bump to the A5 to handle 1080p video and it finally doubled down on RAM to a solid 512MB.

Starting on March 9, 2015, the currently available Apple TV will drop to $69 (about £45, AU$90) and has first-dibs on HBO’s new standalone streaming service, HBO Now.

Have questions?

Get help from IT Experts/Microsofts Cloud Solutions Partner
Call us at: 856-745-9990 or visit: https://southjerseytechies.net/

South Jersey Techies, LLC is a full Managed Web and Technology Services Company providing IT Services, Website Design Services, Server Support, Network Consulting, Internet Phones, Cloud Solutions Provider and much more. Contact for More Information.

To read this article in its entirety click here.

Xbox One can be pre-ordered starting today for the release date in November 2013.  Microsoft has created an All-In-One entertainment system.  Xbox One is more than just a gaming console; it can be used for movies, music, gaming and the ability to connect set-top boxes using HDMI.

This All-In-One system is built with 8GB GDDR3 RAM, 8 Core Microsoft Custom CPU and 500GB Storage.  Connections include Gigabit Ethernet and IEEE 802.11 b/g/n WiFi.  Also built-in are USB ports, Optical Output and HDMI input and output.

Kinect 2 has a 1080p camera and can process 2GB of data per second.  Kinect 2 has “Unparalleled voice, vision, and motion technology lets you reach into games and entertainment like never before.”

Microsoft Smart Glass App is a secondary screen allows you to interact with your Xbox while watching movies, listening to music, surfing the Internet or gaming.  Smart Glass App is available for both Microsoft and Android users.

Above all, the wireless controller is new and improved.  Haptic technology is used to enhance the controller triggers.  Also improved are the thumb sticks and D-Pad.

TECHIES is a full Managed IT Services Company headquartered in Marlton, New Jersey for over 20 years with a new location opening soon in Wilson, North Carolina. TECHIES provides Managed IT Services, Cybersecurity Solutions, Website Design Services, Dedicated Server Solutions, IT Consulting, VoIP Phone Solutions, Cloud Solutions, Network Cabling and much more.