Technology - Google News

iOS 14 first take: Apple launches a new iPhone home screen, Siri, widgets, picture-in-picture video and more - CNET
Do Apple's new Mac chips mean ARM has won? - Engadget
Microsoft’s Mixer streamers are sad, angry, and moving to Twitch - The Verge

iOS 14 first take: Apple launches a new iPhone home screen, Siri, widgets, picture-in-picture video and more - CNET

Posted: 23 Jun 2020 07:01 AM PDT

ios14pic2 — During a keynote at WWDC, Apple announced the next iPhone operating system: iOS 14.
Celso Bulgatti/CNET

During an online-only keynote for Apple's annual Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC), the company launched iOS 14. The new iPhone OS is a follow-up to last year's iOS 13, which initially had a rocky start with numerous software updates at its launch. The preview of iOS 14 includes a major redesign of the iPhone home screen, picture-in-picture video, better widgets, a new way to automatically organize your apps called App Library and a new Siri interface. These features come alongside a new Translation app and the ability to unlock your car with your iPhone.

Main features of the iOS 14 are largely focused on the home screen, the Today View and notifications. Interestingly enough, the very idea of an app is changing. Prior to iOS 14, there were already apps as well as widgets that are based on your installed apps and available on the Today View page. Now, there is a third form called App Clips for when you need the functionality of an app that you don't have.

Now playing: Watch this: First take: iOS 14 and all its new features

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A developer version of iOS 14 is currently available to download, with a public beta launching in July. A final version of iOS 14 will be released in the fall, likely alongside with the rumored iPhone 12, which will the first new iPhone since the iPhone SE launched in April. iOS 14 runs on the same iPhones that are supported in iOS 13 -- specifically, the iPhone 6S and newer.

Now playing: Watch this: Apple iOS 14 brings new ways to organize your home screen...

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iOS 14 App Library makes your iPhone's home screen more manageable

Since it launched in 2007, the iPhone's home screen has largely remained the same aside from aesthetic changes. In iOS 13, organizing and moving apps around can be quite tedious with the way the iPhone forces apps to fill in from the top-left side of the screen.

The App Library in iOS 14 is a new page on the home screen that automatically organizes all of your apps into one view. This is perhaps my personal favorite iOS 14 feature because it gives you several different ways to group and navigate your apps beyond the current magnetic app layout.

apple-ios14-app-library-screen-06222020 — This is the new App Library page on the iOS 14 home screen.
Apple

Smartly, the App Library bundles your apps into group apps by categorizing them. For example, apps like Facebook and Twitter would be grouped into a folder called social apps. If you're not interested in using the App Library page, you still have access to the current way you have your apps organized. This solution feels like a "have your cake and eat it, too" answer to app organization.

Also worth noting: You will be able to hide pages of apps, which can be nice for grouping those apps that you use infrequently all into one place.

Widgets in iOS 14 can be pinned, resized and stacked

With iOS 14, Apple redesigned widgets currently found in the Today View on iOS 13. Now you can pin widgets on your home screen and resize them to your liking. This is something Android has had for a while, but in a typical Apple twist, iOS 14 can automatically creates a Smart Stack of widgets based on which apps you use frequently and during what time of day. You simply swipe the widget stack to bring different widgets to the top.

Widgets can be pinned to your home screen and resized to your liking.

Apple

The new widget design definitely shows some influence from Apple WatchOS and its complications.

App Clips show a small part of an app for fast functionality

An incredibly well-thought-out addition to iOS 14 is App Clips. Let's say you're in a coffee shop and you want to use the rewards program from the shop's app, but you don't have it installed. Using a QR code or NFC at the shop's register, a square card will pop up on the bottom of the screen (similar to when you have AirPods connected to your phone). The card gives you direct access to functionality chosen by the app's developer. The idea is you don't need to download an entire app to access a feature, especially if it's a one-off kind of use.

App Clips is all about speed and convenience. When you really need access to an app you don't have, you no longer have to find, download and wait for an app to install.
Apple

App Clips don't stay on your home screen and you have access to them for as long as you need them. Even better, App Clips can be connected to Apple Pay to provide you with a fast payment experience, too. This seems like an incredibly useful feature, and I'm excited to see it roll out with iOS 14 in the fall.

Set an app to be your default email and browser

With iOS 14, you can set a third‑party app as the default email or browser app systemwide. This means the Gmail app could be your default mail app, or Firefox can be your default internet browser on your phone. This feature has been in high demand from iPhone users for years.

Picture-in-Picture video comes to your iPhone home screen

Like iPadOS and MacOS, iOS 14 now lets users have picture-in-picture video on their home screen. This will allow you to watch a video while also interacting with everything else on your iPhone.

Picture-in-picture video comes to your iPhone.
Apple

The feature even works when you're on a phone call or FaceTime call. That said, if it's like the version found on iPadOS 13, you won't be able to have YouTube videos play (aside from the audio) on your home screen.

iOS 14 Messages lets you pin conversations

Similar to what you can do in other messaging clients like Slack and What's App, you can specify a person in a group message thread by typing their name. You can even customize a group thread so that you only receive notifications when your name is mentioned. iOS 14 also lets you pin conversations at the top of the Messages app.

iOS 14 gives Siri an overhauled interface and knowledge

Currently when you trigger Siri, the entire screen goes black, hiding everything else. When you activate Siri in iOS 14, there is a small animation at the bottom of the screen that appears, minimizing any visual limitations.

According to Apple, Siri knows over 20 times more facts than it did just three years ago. Also the audio messages feature in the Messages app can be accessed directly from Siri.

Memoji get more customizations including a face mask

Memoji will get a slew of new customizations. Apple added 20 new hair and headwear options as well as new age options. There are three new Memoji sticker actions: hug, fist bump, and blush. One of the more telling additions is the ability to put a face mask on your Memoji. Quite relevant to our current times.

Memoji get new actions including a fist bump.
Apple

Siri can now translate text and dictation via the Translate app

One of the cooler features is a new app that lets you translate text or dictation. It's similar to the Google Translate app. The Translate app in iOS 14 is designed for conversations and uses the iPhone's onboard Neural Engine which means you don't have to be online to use it and your privacy is protected.

You can trigger the app with Siri and have the app automatically detect the languages. There is a helpful conversation mode that turns on when you rotate your iPhone into landscape. Each side of the screen shows the translation from the other person, making a conversation easy to follow.

At launch the Translate app will support 11 languages:

English
Spanish
French
German
Italian
Japanese
Russian
Korean
Arabic
Portuguese
Mandarin Chinese

Cycling directions comes to Apple Maps

One missing feature from the Maps app in iOS 13 is the ability to get directions for cycling. iOS 14 can show you route options for bike lanes, paths and roads as well as give you heads up on elevation changes, busy streets and stairs.

Maps now has directions for cycling.

Apple

Call notification windows get small

Similar to how iOS 14 now minimizes the Siri interface, incoming calls will no longer take up your entire iPhone screen. Instead, apps that can receive calls will have a petite notification window at the top of the screen.

iOS 14 and CarPlay get digital car keys

Think of this feature like an Apple Wallet for your car. You will be able to lock, unlock and start your car with your iPhone or Apple Watch instead of a physical key. The feature uses NFC and lets you share keys with friends or family. These digital car keys will be available next year.

You can unlock your car with your iPhone... next year.
Apple

iOS 14 app and feature potpourri

There are of course a bunch of other small, yet significant upgrades like:

The Home app now supports "adaptive lighting" that lets you change color temperature over the course of a day.
Sleep mode turns your iPhone into a Do Not Disturb alarm clock.
The Camera app has faster shot-to-shot performance and a new exposure compensation control, that lets you lock an exposure without adjusting the focus.
Voice Memos get audio enhancements.
Sleep in the Health app can help you track and attain goals for sleeping.
The app store will let you know what information and privacy practices an app has before downloading it. This is huge.

Now playing: Watch this: WWDC 2020's biggest announcements

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Do Apple's new Mac chips mean ARM has won? - Engadget

Posted: 23 Jun 2020 08:42 AM PDT

At WWDC, Apple announced a radical change to its computers. The company is dropping Intel as its CPU provider, and will be transitioning its laptops and desktops to custom Apple-designed chips over the next two years. These new processors will be based on Apple's current smartphone and iPad chips, and they're launching a development platform that is essentially a mac mini with an iPad Pro's A12Z crammed into it.

The business side of this is big, Apple is a major customer for Intel, but it's also important from a computing perspective. Apple's chipped are based on the ARM architecture, a RISC design. ARM underpins pretty much every smartphone and mobile device in the world, but in the last 15 years it's struggled to gain traction in high performance computing.

RISC stands for "Reduced Instruction Set Computing," and it was developed in the early '80s to fix a lot of the problems in early processors. As chips got more complex, they also became harder to program for, more error prone and less efficient. RISC tried to streamline chip design by simplifying the instructions — the most fundamental operations a chip can perform. A RISC instruction, which could be an operation like loading values from the memory and adding or multiplying, was designed to execute in a single clock cycle.

At the beginning, RISC chips could perform the same work as a traditional chip (later labeled "Complex Instruction Set Computing" or CISC) in less time, were easier to design, and cheaper to manufacture. Throughout the '90s, both architectures were widely used, but CISC chips like those from Intel and AMD gradually dominated more and more of the market, with RISC chips like ARM relegated to low-powered, battery dependent devices.

But as smartphone performance has exploded, it's ignited a debate over whether RISC might actually be a superior design, and Apple's decision might seem to confirm that. But it's a little more complicated. Apple's chips may indeed prove to be excellent performers, but that might not have a lot to do with being based on ARM. Check out the video for the full story, and more info about the history of RISC and CISC.

In this article: RISC, Mac, AMD, ARM, x86, WWDC, CISC, Intel, Apple, engadgetupscaled, feature, gear

All products recommended by Engadget are selected by our editorial team, independent of our parent company. Some of our stories include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

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Microsoft’s Mixer streamers are sad, angry, and moving to Twitch - The Verge

Posted: 23 Jun 2020 06:12 AM PDT

Microsoft's surprise closure of Mixer sees the company working with Facebook Gaming to transition streaming partners over to Facebook. It sounds like an easy win for Facebook Gaming, letting it obtain streamers who will help boost its streaming service, but it's difficult to find many Mixer streamers who are willing to move to Facebook instead of Amazon-owned Twitch.

I spent three hours last night hopping into a variety of Mixer partners' streams, from ones broadcasting to thousands to those who have just started out streaming to a handful of loyal fans. After speaking with at least 30 Mixer partners, I only found a single person who has committed to switching to Facebook Gaming.

The vast majority of Mixer streamers I spoke to are planning to switch to Twitch, and they were unhappy with the way Microsoft handled the announcement. "I found out about this happening literally when I was live," says PumpkinKitty, who was streaming live to hundreds of people while trying to understand the news. A viewer alerted him to the Mixer closure. He said he was "leaning towards Twitch" before making it official hours later. Mixer's biggest streamer, Ninja, even stopped by PumpkinKitty's chat to donate $250 and briefly hosted his stream to boost viewers.

Microsoft's Mixer announcement caught the majority of partners by surprise, with many finding out through Twitter or in their own live streams about the fate of their channels. That surprise has morphed into both anger and despair from Mixer streamers.

Lindsy Wood, a Mixer partner from Minneapolis, Minnesota, was visibly distraught during a stream last night. "All of the amazing things that Mixer has allowed me to do and participate in, I'm not going to have that anymore," said Wood, while crying at the news of the Mixer shutdown. In a message to The Verge, Wood says she isn't considering Twitch and isn't sure what she's going to do. "My life feels like it's shattered."

That sadness is mirrored across the Mixer community. "I'm trying to pick up the pieces and move on with some positivity," says ConcealedBones, a Mixer and Discord partner. "It sucks. I'm upset, it's pretty devastating, but it'll take a couple of days to figure out where I'm going to go."

Facebook's legacy of privacy issues is one of the big turnoffs that seems to be keeping many Mixer streamers away.

"Facebook is archaic," says Mixer partner DM21Constellation. "Their desire for all the data from their users is absolutely absurd. A lot of people don't want to have to create a brand new page just so they can chat on a stream. The interface is absolutely terrible. It's kind of like the same thing when it comes to YouTube, they don't care about their streaming platform and I really don't get the feeling Facebook cares about their streaming platform at all."

Most Mixer partners I spoke to had decided to move to Twitch or were leaning that way, despite Facebook reportedly offering a one-time $2,500 sign-up bonus to Mixer partners who choose to move. Most simply feel like Twitch is the bigger platform and that Facebook is too personal, with a lack of anonymity for viewers or streamers.

Johnny and Heidi, a husband and wife singer and songwriter duo, say they're still weighing up a decision on a move. "We're still looking into everything," says Johnny. "Twitch is obviously one of the places we're leaning heavily towards. We've been in similar situations in the past, and we're trying not to do knee jerk decisions." After the news hit, Joel Zimmerman, better known as DJ Deadmau5, dropped into their chat to discuss Mixer closing.

Some in the Mixer community are branding the closure as the "Twitchover" as hundreds of streamers have started promoting their Twitch links and are actively moving to Amazon's streaming service. For others, there's a real unease about moving to Twitch after years of inconsistent action against sexism, racism, and sexual harassment.

Variety streamer ChicaDeAwesome is one of the few Mixer partners I spoke to who is leaning toward Facebook Gaming. "As a victim and survivor of sexual assault and rape, it chills me to my core that I will be among predators [at Twitch]," says ChicaDeAwesome. "I don't feel safe, so that's my number one concern. I feel like that Twitch ain't home to me, I don't wanna go to Twitch."

Twitch CEO Emmett Shear has said Twitch is looking into a number of sexual harassment and assault allegations against Twitch-affiliated individuals that emerged recently. Twitch may ban or remove partnership status for those involved, but the company is refusing to "share details of everything we're doing out of respect for the privacy of the individuals involved." Shear says Twitch is taking the allegations "very seriously," but some have claimed Twitch has laughed these matters off previously.

Mixer was also facing calls to investigate claims that a Mixer manager referred to partners as "slaves," branding themselves as a "slave master." Milan Lee, a former community acquisition manager at Mixer, went public with concerns over the Mixer manager just days before Microsoft's big announcement. Microsoft's gaming chief, Phil Spencer, scheduled a call with Lee yesterday, but the company's partnership with Facebook has left many wondering if the underlying issues will even be resolved as some Mixer employees will remain at Microsoft.

While many smaller Mixer partners contemplate their future, Microsoft's big Mixer streamers haven't fully committed just yet. Microsoft signed stars like Tyler "Ninja" Blevins, Cory "King Gothalion" Michael, and Michael "Shroud" Grzesiek over the past year. Blevins even left Twitch for a contract reportedly worth between $20 and $30 million. Facebook Gaming isn't offering up exclusive contracts to these stars, meaning the top Mixer streamers are free to return to Twitch. Gothalion has committed to Facebook Gaming, but the rest of the Mixer stars haven't announced their plans.

Microsoft's big Mixer experiment might be over, but Facebook Gaming now faces a battle to convince existing Mixer partners that it has a solid platform and commitment to game streaming for the future. Otherwise, Microsoft's Mixer closure sure looks like a big win for Twitch.

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