The iPhone 6 Should Make Mobile Ads a Bigger Deal

Marketers will keep close watch on Apple’s Sept. 9 event when it is set to introduce the iPhone 6, the next evolution of its phone that dominates the U.S. and is central to mobile advertising.

The Cupertino, Calif.-based tech giant is expected to make wide-ranging and far-reaching changes to its flagship product, which has been updated annually since launching in 2007. Leaked images and multiple reports show there could be two iPhone 6 models—4.7 inches and 5.5 inches—that are larger than the previous version. This change—with vivid viewing—would come just as mobile ad leaders like Facebook and Twitter are selling more rich media, video and in-feed promos.

“Folks gravitate to the larger screen, and some think ‘banner ad,’ but that’s outdated thinking,” said Gian LaVecchia, managing partner at MEC. “We’re seeing programming delivered through mobile feeds. And there’s going to be a new richness to the canvas.”

Facebook wouldn’t discuss its strategy for larger iPhone screens, but what’s clear is that it’ll offer a different experience when compared to other platforms like Android. Just last week, Facebook launched Hyperlapse, an Instagram companion app that uses Apple technology.

Indeed, any changes to the iPhone will affect more than 40 percent of smartphone users in the U.S., per comScore. From screen adjustment to policy changes around location tracking, there could be profound impacts on how marketers attack mobile going forward. And the latest operating system is reportedly more powerful, giving increased flexibility to developers. For instance, new services will allow users to monitor health signs, which marketing experts said could push pharmaceutical brands to engage more on mobile.

And that may just be the tip of the iceberg when it comes to consumer utilities. Reports indicate the iPhone 6 may have innovative abilities to sync up with wearable devices.

What’s more, Alan Simkowski, vp of mobile solutions at GMR, remarked that the in-store marketing technology called iBeacon—an area that Apple dominates—is just starting to take off.

The iPhone 6 could help perfect the iBeacon, he said, by limiting the amount of battery it drains when it uses Bluetooth to communicate with shoppers’ phones.

“We know pilot programs are taking place, and there’s a lot of activity testing going on with brands and the iBeacon,” Simkowski explained. To his point, marketers for Faberge, Tribeca Film Festival and the Orlando Magic have recently trialed iBeacon campaigns.

And Apple’s latest iOS 8 software, always released before the company delivers a new device, will likely emphasize how notifications appear via its phone. Notifications are a key part of the iBeacon experience because it is what alerts consumers to offers and promotions when they walk the aisles.

One rumor is that the Apple logo on the back of the iPhone will light up when notifications arrive, which would represent a small-but-nostalgic change—a glowing logo is a classic look in past Apple products.

“With enhanced notifications, it’s even better for brands and retailers,” Simkowski said. “On the brand side, there are opportunities to engage people based on their location if they opt in. Then it’s clear sailing.”

Endomondo releases an iPhone 5s app for tracking your daily activity

GPS fitness app maker Endomondo today released Endomondo Life, a new iPhone 5s app that taps the phone’s M7 motion processor to provide stats on your daily activity.

Similar to Runkeeper’s Breeze, Endomondo Life serves up attractive visuals that sum up your step count for the day. The app also estimates how many calories you’ve burned, based on what it knows about your body type.

  

The app gives you immediate access to data from the past seven days, which the M7 processor stores and makes available to new apps. You can run the app with an anonymous account if you don’t need to sync your stats, but if you want to switch devices, you’ll need to have a login. Your Endomondo Life data won’t be shared to Endomondo.com’s fitness-centered social network.

Endomondo Life comes a bit late, as the iPhone 5s has been out for almost a year now, but the app should offer a nice addition for existing Endomondo users. The M7 data also really only helps if you carry your phone on you at all times. Most of us probably do, but you’ll end up with inaccurate statistics if you like to go unplugged for your evening constitutional.

Expert Predicts Radical Resolution Solutions For Big Screen iPhone 6 And 6L Phablet

Leaked photos, back plates, bezels and case-maker “dummies” have given us confidence of dimensions and some of the design details of the next iPhones. As we move closer to September 9, it is an article of faith among Apple AAPL +0.24% watchers and the easily convinced general public that there will be two models, the 4.7″ iPhone 6 and the 5.5″ iPhone 6L phablet.

Information about exactly how many pixels those 4.7″ and 5.5″ screens will contain and how new and existing iOS apps will make use of the extra real estate has been far less certain. Two developments in that aspect of the story this week give us the most detailed answers yet to those questions. Along the way we have also discovered a possible bit of Apple misdirection designed to throw the faithful off course.

The first piece of the puzzle—and the source of the apparent head fake—emerged from deep in the bowels of the Xcode 6 Beta 6 release that third-party Apple developers, myself included, got access to last Monday. Hidden ten levels deep in the file hierarchy, 9to5Mac’s Mark Gurman discovered a file in the updated iOS Simulator called “DefaultIconState-414w-736h~iphone.plist.” Gurman understood that this was evidence of a new screen format. What exactly it specifies is a matter of debate. To understand the possible implications requires a little bit of geeky iPhone lore.

In the beginning was the iPhone, and it was small. The original iPhone, the iPhone 3G and 3GS possessed a mere 480 by 320 pixels. And then Jobs said, let it be retina! And it was, and it was good with twice as many pixels in the same 3.5″ screen size. The iPhone 4 and 4S had 960 by 640 pixels. Alas, Jobs passed on but, lo, the iPhone rose on high! The iPhone 5, 5S and 5C all have 1136 by 640 pixels. Stretching the iPhone 5 to a 16:9 proportion had a big impact on how app designers used the larger available space, but it was less of a conceptual leap than the pixel doubling of the iPhone 4. From that point on, Apple’s “retina” devices had 2x pixels multiplied by the base “points” of the native device. So up until September of 2012, all iPhones were designed on the basis of 480 by 320 point proportion, with graphics rendered at 2x resolution for the later models.



So in the lead up to the iPhone 6, many have wondered if the large screen 6 series would be the occasion of an historical tripling of the resolution based on the iPhone 5 proportions of 568 by 320 points. Gurman had based an earlier prediction on this premise and reported that Apple was testing iPhone 6 units with a resolution of 1704 by 960 pixels. Both of Gurman’s theories seemed to suggest that the two new iPhone sizes would have identical pixel counts, following the example of the iPad/iPad Mini lines.

Friday, a second puzzle piece clearly shows a different and more nuanced story thanks to John Gruber, the Apple blogger who writes under the moniker Daring Fireball. In his post, “Conjecture on Larger Screen iPhones,” Gruber wields some fearsome middle school math to show that Gurman’s own conjectures are either wrong or only partially true. My colleague Ewan Spence discussed Gruber’s conclusions in a post yesterday, so I won’t belabor the details. Bottom line, the Gruber conjecture is that the two devices will have both different pixel dimensions and different retinal multipliers. To quote Gruber:

4.7-inch display: 1334 × 750, 326 PPI @2x
5.5-inch display: 2208 × 1242, 461 PPI @3x

Yes, I know, Spence already brought this up in these pages, so what more is there to add? Actually quite a lot. Gruber may not be exactly right about the pixel counts, but the reasoning behind his calculations is knowing and on target. Gruber is a true Apple insider, but he goes out of his way to say that “No one who is truly ‘familiar with the situation’ has told me a damn thing about either device.” In the next breath, 0f course, he goes on to mention that, “I have heard second- and third-hand stories, though, that lead me to think I’m right.” Gruber is an engaging writer, but he is worth listening to because he has followed Apple so long and so deeply that knows what is “Apple-like” and what is not. He could rightly be called Apple’s Boswell .

Hardware specs aside, what is so right about the “Gruber Conjecture”? It obeys Apple’s first principles of user experience. Yes, keeping things simple for developers is nice, and yes, going from 640 pixels wide to 960 pixels wide has Pythagorean simplicity to it, but in the end the most important reference point is the physical fact of the user. Apple’s point proportions are based on the scale of the human finger and the minimum size of a touch point is defined as 44 points. On a retina 2x device that minimum will be 88 pixels, but it is still represented as 44 points. The second important human factor (as Apple’s design guidelines are known) has to do with the acuity of the human eye at the relevant distance at which a device will be viewed. Apple considers a device screen retina if the pixels are small enough at a normal viewing distance such that the individual pixels are not distinguishable by the naked eye. For the iPhone this was originally defined as >300 pixels per inch with a target of 326 pixels per inch. A device, like a desktop computer, that one may normally view from more than a foot away can have a lower density and still be technically retina, but 300 PPI is a widely respected standard.

First, it is worth saying that there are many people who really like the current form factor and will be curious to see if bigger really is better. But assuming you are actually interested in one of the larger iPhone models, one of the key questions has been how will the extra pixels most likely be used, to scale up touch targets or to add functionality? I asked this in another way last week in my post last week, “Will Big Battery In 5.5-inch iPhone 6L Buy Full HD Video Or Just Less Wall Hugging?” Gruber answers with a resounding BOTH! As devices get larger we expect larger touch targets but we also expect more content. And there is a ratio to these expectations that Apple strives to maintain as it has embraced three aspect ratios and two scaling multipliers among its growing fleet of iOS devices. Despite this apparent fragmentation, Gruber is adamant that what Apple has “ never done, and I believe never will do, is redefine the virtual point to something other than 1/44th the recommended minimum tap target size for every device.” All righty then!

But what about how the new larger devices will abandon the sacred Jobsian tenet of one-handed usage? Will this change cause a move away from top navigation in favor of bottom navigation, for instance? As a case in point, have a look at the way Internet Explorer 11 for Windows Phone renders websites with no top address bar. I asked designer Jeremy Olson at Tapity (maker of the Hours time tracking app that I reviewed recently) what he thought about this possibility. “That is a huge question,” he replied. “Apple’s main navigation paradigm is built around a bar at the top. The iPhone 5 already made it a bit of a stretch to reach that top bar with your thumb when you used the device with one hand. I use my phone with one hand all the time and I can’t imagine how I would navigate a lot of current apps on a taller screen. Apple, however, has already been educating developers to use things like optional gestures to help users navigate between views without having to reach up for that nav bar at the top. So even now, instead of reaching for back button at the top, you can swipe to the right to navigate back. I don’t think Apple’s top-bar dominated design paradigm is going away but I think more and more developers will need to augment it with optional gestures or bottom navigation to accommodate one handed use.”

There are several important points within Olson’s response. With all of these changes, Apple has been trying to move developers in the direction of gesture support and flexible sizing now for years. This year’s World Wide Developers Conference placed a lot of emphasis on the use of vector graphics and auto layout to make universal iPhone apps regardless of scaling. Gruber writes that:

Olson concurs that, “When talking to developers, it seems Apple has been going more and more for unification rather than fragmentation. I think marketing your app as ‘enhanced for iPhone x’ will be discouraged. Rather, I imagine that Apple would like to see developers use auto-layout (a tool that allows developers to make their apps mold to different screen sizes automatically) to ensure that their apps work really well on nearly any screen size. While Apple obviously didn’t confirm any rumors about new form factors during their latest World Wide Developers conference, they emphasized using auto-layout like never before.” Olson points out that this message, “was even more clear when developers opened up the latest version of Xcode to see that the default window for building interfaces is no longer a portrait iPhone, but a square. Apple no longer wants developers to stop thinking about designing apps at a particular screen size, and start to think how to make their interfaces size-agnostic. It even goes back to when Apple went away from rich, skeuomorphic interfaces and moved to a simpler design aesthetic. It is a lot easier to stretch a flat button than it is to stretch a button that looks like a physical object.” For a long time, iOS app developers had the luxury of fixed screen sizes, but now they find themselves in a world not dissimilar to their counterparts who make responsive designs for the web.

Another interesting point relating to number of pixels vs. battery size is relevant to Gruber’s proposal that Apple will handle the screen resolution of the iPhone 6L phablet in a radically different way than the now midsize iPhone 6. With the 6L Apple will buy both more-than-HD video and less battery-busting “wall hugging.” And all this at an “amazingly sharp” resolution of 461 pixels-per-inch. So there, Samsung! Gruber even says he’d wager that, “Apple comes up with a new marketing name for it: super-retina or something.” Meanwhile, the 4.7″ iPhone 6, which has a considerably smaller battery than the 6L, would maintain the current 326 PPI that has been Apple’s retina standard for the iPhone, but would add an extra 38% to the screen area of the current iPhone 5 line.

The 68% increase in screen real estate combined with a 41% increase in resolution—and maybe even a sapphire screen—should easily justify the rumored $100 up-charge that Apple is expected to levy on its iPhone phablet. The production demands of all that may mean that the 6L will be announced on September 9 with the 6, but the actual phones may not be delivered until later in the fall.

But wait, what about that devious misdirect that Apple may have foisted on developers in Xcode 6 beta 6? Well, you see, in the same iOS simulator directory that contains the 736 by 414 point format, there is also a file titled, “DefaultIconState-568h~iphone.plist.” This is the screen format for the existing 4″ iPhone 5 series phones. By placing the 736 by 414 pixel format in the iOS simulator, Apple would seem to be indicating that there will be only one additional format and that thus, somehow, the 4.7″ device will have a 2x resolution of 1472 by 818 pixels. Only half true according to Gruber! Yes, the 6 will be 2x, but based on a new 667 by 375 point format. And the 736 by 414 point format in the present Xcode release will be the basis of the 3x 6L, weighing in at 2208 by 1242 pixels. (We will be looking for evidence of that “DefaultIconState” file in the next release of Xcode!)

The reason why the 6L will not be, for instance, 1565 by 880 pixels, maintaining 326 PPI, is that on a larger device we want the touch targets to be bigger. The iPhone screen resolution equation is in fact a three-factor optimization, as Gruber lays it out here:

Content area: showing more points on screen.
Scaling factor: the number of points per inch.
Sharpness/quality: the number of pixels per inch.

As such, a simple linear solution will never be optimal. So for app developers, the challenge is to make use of the larger screen area afforded by the new iPhone models but to continue to base designs on established human factors. Designers will want to make expanded use of gestures, particularly as alternatives to out-of-reach top navigation. The “DefaultIconState” files are merely lists of default icons, and that list is the same for the current iPhone (586h) as for the new format (414w-736h), but they don’t specify how those icons will be arrayed on the home page (aka the springboard) of the 6 or 6L. Following the iPad’s lead, It is possible that that Apple’s human factors engineers have determined that four icons across is optimal for a mobile device in portrait mode, no matter the screen size. Although, by Gruber’s logic, the 6L could make the springboard icons both larger and more numerous, in terms of usability, more may not be more. As I wrote in a very popular post back in February, “Will Apple’s iPhone 6 Phablet Push The Usability Of iOS To A Breaking Point?,” even the existing amount of icons per screen leads to more hunting around and swiping for deeper screens than is ideal.

Instead of adding more clutter, app designers and Apple itself should use the growing need for flexibility between screen sizes to introduce new organizational and navigational paradigms that are more about immediate intuitive gesture than about more elaborate hierarchies or more crowded arrays. Even though Gruber’s predicted iPhone 6 height surpasses the 2x retina iPads, Apple is indicating that the phone experience and the tablet experience are unique. The 6L will obviously be pushing that boundary, and it is now up to developers, both inside and outside of Apple, to make sure that the new kid doesn’t, in fact, break the usability of iOS 8.

Developer discovers iPhone apps can be forced to place expensive calls

Ideally tapping on a phone number on your iPhone will prompt a pop-up asking whether you want to place a call, but one developer says he found a dangerous vulnerability in apps that don't ask first.

This security hole could let attackers force your phone to make a call when you click on a website link, potentially connecting your phone to expensive numbers without warning.

Developer Andrei Neculaesei of Copenhagen company Airtame described the issue on his blog, demonstrating how he created a web page with a link that opens a phone call automatically when accessed from certain native iOS apps.

It reportedly works because these apps, including Facebook Messenger, Apple's Facetime, Google+, Gmail, and others, don't issue a pop-up when users tap a phone number within them.

Hello Pretty!

Neculaesei says he used "some sneaky-beaky-like JavaScript" to make links embedded in websites click themselves. When those sites are accessed through apps other than Safari, the links automatically activate and the calls are placed.

He imagines even more severe dangers than being charged for expensive calls, like users accessing a link through Facetime and automatically transmitting a live video feed to attackers - a tactic he's named "Hello Pretty!"

"Facetime calls are instant," he writes. "Imagine you clicking a link, your phone calls my (attacker) account, I instantly pick it up and (yes) save all the frames. Now I know how your face looks like and maybe where you are. Hello pretty!"

He also warns that although this applies to far more apps than the four he mentions, it's not only Apple's fault, since third-party app developers can configure their software to prompt users when a phone number is tapped.

Many, including big names like Google and Facebook, simply choose not to, but that could very well change in light of this discovery. We've asked Google, Facebook and Apple for comment, and we'll update here if we hear back.

Use crowdsourced data to find out what’s draining your iPhone battery

A new app called Normal might help you finally get to the bottom of your iPhone’s disappointing battery life.

Unlike any other iPhone battery tracking app, Normal uses crowdsourced data from everyone using the app to provide personal advice on how to improve your battery. Once installed, Normal starts giving actionable suggestions like ‘kill Google to save 1 hour of battery life’ rather than just presenting you with stats.

The real beauty of Normal is being able to see if your battery drain is normal compared to others using the same model of iPhone. Each app listing tells you if your apps are draining battery more heavily than on average (which could indicate a problem) and how much more power you could get by avoiding particular apps altogether.

Normal is $0.99 on the App Store which is absolutely worth the price if you manage to squeeze a few more hours out of your iPhone every day. You need to consent to your anonymous battery data being used before you can open Normal, so make sure you’re comfortable before buying the app.

EXCLUSIVE - Apple iPhone 6 screen snag leaves supply chain scrambling

(Reuters) - Suppliers to Apple Inc are scrambling to get enough screens ready for the new iPhone 6 smartphone as the need to redesign a key component disrupted panel production ahead of next month's expected launch, supply chain sources said.

It's unclear whether the hiccup could delay the launch or limit the number of phones initially available to consumers, the sources said, as Apple readies larger-screen iPhones for the year-end shopping season amid market share loss to cheaper rivals.

But the issue highlights the risks and challenges that suppliers face to meet Apple's tough specifications, and comes on the heels of a separate screen technology problem, since resolved, in making thinner screens for the larger iPhone 6 model.

Cupertino, California-based Apple has scheduled a media event for Sept. 9, and many expect it to unveil the new iPhone 6 with both 4.7 inch (11.94 cm) and 5.5 inch (13.97 cm) screens - bigger than the 4-inch screen on the iPhone 5s and 5c.

Two supply chain sources said display panel production suffered a setback after the backlight that helps illuminate the screen had to be revised, putting screen assembly on hold for part of June and July. One said Apple, aiming for the thinnest phone possible, initially wanted to cut back to a single layer of backlight film, instead of the standard two layers, for the 4.7-inch screen, which went into mass production ahead of the 5.5-inch version.

But the new configuration was not bright enough and the backlight was sent back to the drawing board to fit in the extra layer, costing precious time and temporarily idling some screen assembly operations, the source said.

Output is now back on track and suppliers are working flat-out to make up for lost time, the supply chain sources added.

Japan Display Inc, Sharp Corp and South Korea's LG Display Co Ltd have been selected to make the iPhone 6 screens, the sources said.

Representatives for those three suppliers, and for Apple, declined to comment.

WIDER IMPACT

Apple is known to make tough demands on its parts suppliers for new iPhones and iPads as it competes to create designs, shapes, sizes and features to set it apart and command a premium price in a fiercely competitive gadget market.

This can cause glitches and delays, including screen problems that crimped supplies at last year's launch of a high-resolution version of Apple's iPad Mini.

It also highlights the danger for suppliers of depending too heavily on Apple for revenues, creating earnings volatility.

Earlier this month, Japan Display, said to be the lead supplier for the new iPhone panel, said orders for "a large customer" - which analysts said was Apple - arrived as expected, but shipments may be delayed in the July-September quarter.

Japan Display's reliance on Apple's cyclical business has spooked some investors. UBS Securities has forecast that Apple will contribute more than a third of the Japanese firm's total revenue in the year to March 2015. Japan Display's share price dropped to a 12-week low of 501 yen after first-quarter earnings on Aug. 7 lagged market expectations.

In Taiwan, home to several Apple suppliers and assemblers, export orders grew less than expected in July, even as factories rushed output ahead of new smartphone launches, reflecting the erratic nature of the business.

"Currently, there's a small shortage in supply of a specialised component for our communication devices," said a spokesman for Pegatron, which assembles iPhones. "This kind of problem regularly occurs and the impact on production is negligible."

Supply chain sources had previously said challenges with the new iPhone's screen in-cell technology, which eliminates one of the layers in the LCD screen to make it thinner, caused a delay in the production of the larger 5.5-inch version. One display industry source said the in-cell issues had now been resolved.

The pressure on Apple for stand-out products has increased as Samsung Electronics Co and, more recently, a clutch of aggressive, lower-cost Chinese producers such as Xiaomi Inc and Lenovo Group Ltd have eroded the U.S. company's market dominance.

The iPhone 6 unveiling has been widely anticipated to bolster momentum for Apple shares, which have risen by a third, to above $100 each, since the company posted strong first-quarter earnings in late-April.

Apple shares burst through the $100 barrier ahead of iPhone 6 launch

To make ends meet, Drake works as a part-time sales clerk at an Apple store. Photograph: Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images

Shares in Apple have jumped back through the $100 barrier to reach a new record of $100.53 as investors eagerly await the launch of iPhone 6 in September.

The previous peak for the shares was two years ago, just ahead of the iPhone 5 launch in September, when they closed at $702.10. This is equivalent to $100.30 when adjusted for share split in June. 

Apple shares from August 2009 until close of trade on 19 August 2014. 
Source: Thomson Reuters

Investors were given seven new shares for each one held, which brought the price down from the top-heavy $700 they had reached after several years of gains.

The shares were also boosted by tweets from activist investor Carl Icahn, who bought into Apple last autumn and added to his stake earlier this year.

He called his investment in Apple a “no brainer”.

Photo Sphere Camera app for iPhone released by Google

Google has already published a number of its apps on iOS, including Google Chrome and Gmail. Today the library of Google apps on iOS is growing once again with the arrival of Photo Sphere Camera.

Google today released Photo Sphere Camera into the Apple App Store. Just like on Android, the app allows users to create 360 degree images by snapping photos up, down and all around them and then letting the app stitch those pics together. After creating a Photo Sphere, you can publish the image to Google Maps or share it to Google+, Facebook, Twitter or an email contact.

Photo Sphere Camera is 18.7MB in size and requires iOS 7 or higher. It’s compatible with both the iPhone and iPad, though Google notes that the iPhone 4 cannot create photo spheres.

Photo Sphere support has been baked into Android for a while, so it’s nice to see the feature finally make its way to iOS. The app seems to work well enough in my testing on an iPhone 5s, giving you an orange circle to line up with, letting you move the camera in any direction and then giving you another orange circle to line up with.

Use crowdsourced data to find out what’s draining your iPhone battery

A new app called Normal might help you finally get to the bottom of your iPhone’s disappointing battery life.

Unlike any other iPhone battery tracking app, Normal uses crowdsourced data from everyone using the app to provide personal advice on how to improve your battery. Once installed, Normal starts giving actionable suggestions like ‘kill Google to save 1 hour of battery life’ rather than just presenting you with stats.

The real beauty of Normal is being able to see if your battery drain is normal compared to others using the same model of iPhone. Each app listing tells you if your apps are draining battery more heavily than on average (which could indicate a problem) and how much more power you could get by avoiding particular apps altogether.

Normal is $0.99 on the App Store which is absolutely worth the price if you manage to squeeze a few more hours out of your iPhone every day. You need to consent to your anonymous battery data being used before you can open Normal, so make sure you’re comfortable before buying the app.

How to stop iPhone apps from tracking your location without you knowing

How to stop iPhone apps from tracking your location without you knowing

Last week, The Wall Street Journal confirmed an earlier report shedding light on the fact that Foursquare’s iPhone app is constantly tracking users’ locations even when the app is completely closed. “Starting today, users who download or update the Foursquare app will automatically let the company track their GPS coordinates any time their phone is powered on,” the report noted. “Foursquare previously required users to give the app permission to turn on location-tracking. Now users must change a setting within the app to opt out.”

Opting out in the Foursquare app solves your problem there, but any other iPhone apps can potentially track your location without your knowledge while it’s closed. Luckily, stopping them from tracking you couldn’t be simpler.

Going into your iPhone’s privacy settings and revoking an app’s access to your location data is one solution, but that means the app won’t be able to see your location even when it’s open. As a result, apps like Foursquare become completely and utterly useless.

For these apps, there’s a better solution.

A recent post from Forbes notes that by revoking an app’s ability to refresh in the background, you can stop apps from accessing iOS’s location APIs and tracking your location without preventing them from accessing location data while they’re open.

It’s easy — just open the iPhone’s Settings app and tap General, then Background App Refresh. Then scroll through the list and toggle any apps to the off position if you want to ensure that they’re not tracking you in the background.

Google Cardboard works on the iPhone, too

You might recall that Google unveiled its Cardboard hardware at last month's Google I/O event. Literally made of cardboard, the company's remarkably low-cost virtual reality goggles combine a split-screen 3D image from a smartphone, delivering impressive graphics for the low, low price of almost free. Combined with positional sensor data from the phone, it's possible to look around a 3D environment with a high level of fidelity.

Google released Cardboard along with a set of demonstration apps (virtual reality YouTube and Google Earth, along with a charming VR animated cartoon and more) and the Viewmaster-like visor works with other 3D apps as well. The only problem? Google intended Cardboard for Android, so Apple iPhone users were shut out of the party. At least, that's the way it might have seemed.

It turns out that you can use Google Cardboard with a number of iPhone apps right now. The only requirement to experience the same 3D virtual reality that Android users have had since Google I/O is an app that displays 3D using a split screen display. And a handful of iOS apps do that.

One of the best examples of the genre is Dive City Rollercoaster. This app places you in a rollercoaster with loops, dives and corkscrews. The app takes advantage of your iPhone's accelerometer, so you can look around as you're riding; you aren't restricted to a straight-ahead view. If you have tried Google Cardboard on Android, this app might seem familiar -- there's a version of it in the Google Play store as well.

And there are others. Moorente is a virtual duck- hunt, where the sky is filled with dozens and dozens of 3D rendered birds. Move your head around and stare at them a moment, and your shotgun automatically fires, blasting them out of the sky. It's not much of a game, nor is it especially realistic. Instead, Moorente demonstrates the potential of virtual reality, and it's an amusing diversion to drive the point home.

Other options include The Height, a tech demo in which you walk around a very tall structure, and any number of 3D videos in YouTube. To find them, you can search YouTube for "3D split screen. "

If you're an iPhone owner and want to see what the fuss is about, you can always make your own Google Cardboard from Google's official plans, or you can buy a completed cardboard visor. Unofficial Cardboard, for example, now sells a visor that's ready to go for just $20, down from the $30 it was priced at a few weeks ago.

With Oculus Rift and a variety of virtual reality devices on the horizon, now has never been a better time to explore what the future of 3D and virtual reality has to offer.

Humin: A super-smart way to manage contacts on your iPhone, and it launches today

 We took an early look at Humin, an impressive contacts app for the iPhone, back in January this year. Finally, it’s launching onto the App Store in the US today and it’s even better than when we first tried it.

Humin works best when it’s placed in your dock in place of the default Phone app. It organizes your contacts in a smart way, replacing the normal alphabetized list with factors like your location and the day and time. Over time, the app learns which people are most relevant in a particular context and displays them first.

The search facility is just as impressive. It’s based on a ‘connection graph’ built up of data from Gmail, Facebook, LinkedIn and other sources. Our brains don’t organize the people we know in order of their surnames, but by arbitrary connections like ‘We met at a party in Paris’, ‘She works at IBM’, or ‘He lives in New York City’. Humin gets its name from a ‘human’ approach to search. When I enter ‘Works at The Next Web’, I get a list of all my colleagues. If I search for ‘lives in San Francisco’, I get a list of everyone in my contacts list from that city.

 

In the months since we first checked Humin out, the San Francisco-based team has been busy refining the product and now many people will be able to discard their default Phone app completely. The startup has arrangements with all major US carriers so that your missed calls and voicemail can be routed to Humin.

The app works well overall, aside from the odd minor bug here and there (the app insists that the company ‘The Next Web’ is called ‘Next Web’, for example, and former employees can show up in a company search, even if their data shows they’ve moved on).

  

Beyond these niggles that can be ironed out by the developers over time, the quality of the experience is only as good as the quality of the contacts data on your smartphone. To that end, there’s a feature that allows users to request updated contact details from people they know.

During the app’s beta period, it would mass-mail all contacts to request updated data, without it really being clear to the user that this is what would happen. Humin briefly developed a reputation as a spammy app among some early adopters, although CEO Ankur Jain says that the company learned from this experience. Now, requests are more granular, with users being able to select exactly who they want the app to contact. I can’t help thinking that FullContact’s API would be worth the company exploring for a smoother experience, though.

Jain sees Humin as a company built around “tech that thinks about people the way you do.” He describes the core technology underpinning the app as “like PageRank for contacts.” How this could be used beyond smartphones is intriguing. Jain mentions wearable devices and cars as markets the company is exploring, although I’m sure the enterprise market could find uses related to CRM too.

Humin is currently available in the US only but will open up to new markets over time, with a UK launch coming soon.

Ingenious new app is a dream come true for lazy stoners everywhere

College kids across America, rejoice — your already cushy lives just got even easier. A new app called Push for Pizza has hit the iTunes App Store and it’s just as stupidly simple as Yo while also being vastly more useful. As the app’s name suggests, it’s literally a way for you to order a pizza to be delivered right to your address just with the push of a button.

Essentially, the app has you enter in your address and credit card information and then lets you choose between ordering a plain or pepperoni pizza from the closest pizza joint. The app will even calculate the tip you’ll leave for the delivery guy when he knocks on your door and brings you a piping hot box filled with cheesy goodness. You can program multiple addresses into your phone as well so ordering pizza shouldn’t be a drag if you’re away from your house and/or dorm room.

ServiceMax Adds New iPhone App to Suite of Field-Ready Mobile Solutions

As Part of Summer '14 Release, ServiceMax Mobile for iPhone Puts Your Entire Service Process in Your Pocket

PLEASANTON, CA--(Marketwired - Aug 19, 2014) - ServiceMax, the field service management solution for a new era of business, today released ServiceMax Mobile for iPhone, providing field workers with full end-to-end field service capabilities in their pocket on an iPhone as part of the company's Summer '14 product release. The new native iPhone application is the only field service solution on a smartphone with full application functionality, even when disconnected from the Internet.

Designed with large touch targets and streamlined navigation to accommodate a technician's life in the field, ServiceMax Mobile for iPhone empowers field workers to successfully complete complex work orders, present service reports for customer signature, provide dynamic pricing of labor, parts and products in the field, and much more. Powered by the ServiceMax Infinity Framework, the app is also highly configurable so field service organizations can seamlessly integrate their unique service processes without requiring any custom code.

The app joins the company's award winning field-ready suite of mobile apps providing mobile access regardless of location or connectivity. In addition to native device-specific apps for iPhone and iPad, the ServiceMax suite is HTML5-based, making it accessible via browser from virtually any device.

"ServiceMax Mobile for iPhone was built based on ServiceMax's years of expertise developing the industry's most proven mobile application, ServiceMax Mobile for iPad, and deploying it successfully to hundreds of customers globally," said Dave Yarnold, CEO of ServiceMax. "Field technicians work in unpredictable and changing environments and the new iPhone app, along with our iPad app, are the only field service mobile solutions that provide flexibility and full functionality, even without connectivity, so technicians can provide the best possible service to customers no matter what conditions they are working in."

ServiceMax's Spring '14 release also includes:

• Updates to ServiceMax Mobile for Laptops and iPads;
• Scheduling enhancements with new dispatch console maps platform enhancements, including the ability to use Service Flow Manager to create scheduled, multi-source workflow actions and triggers; and
• Contract enhancements with GetPrice labor pricing.

ServiceMax Mobile for iPhone is available now on the Apple App Store. For more information about Summer '14 or how ServiceMax could be a fit for your company, please visit www.ServiceMax.com.

About ServiceMax

There are more than five million field service technicians in the United States alone, yet today there's no standard technology for managing the way companies of all types and stripes empower them to truly delight their customers in the field. ServiceMax is rethinking field service and delivering on the promise of cloud and mobile software, powering a new era of field service experiences for their customers' customers. The impact of ServiceMax is simple: lower costs, greater efficiency, happier customers; all while increasing revenue. ServiceMax has helped customers on average increase productivity through mobile by 26 percent, service revenue by 22 percent, and customer satisfaction by 15 percent. ServiceMax customers include large enterprises such as Tyco, Coca-Cola Enterprises, and Elekta, and smaller businesses like McKinley Equipment and Kinetico. Based in Pleasanton, California, they are a company of innovators, thinkers and doers who care passionately about changing the world of field service. To learn more, please visit www.ServiceMax.com.

All statements, assurances and the associated outcomes represented in this document are made by ServiceMax and not Apple. Apple, the Apple logo, FaceTime, iPhone, iPad and iPod touch are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. App Store is a service mark of Apple Inc.

The iPhone 6 Could Have A Protruding Camera Lens That Might Make It Easier To Attach Different Lenses

A protruding camera lens in the latest feature rumored to be on the iPhone 6, according to a photo on Taiwanese blog Apple Club first reported by 9 to 5 Mac.

The image purports to be a 4.7-inch iPhone 6 with a camera that extends 0.77mm from the phone itself.

It's unclear how a protruding lens would affect the camera's overall functionality.

We've previously reported that the iPhone 6's camera will be 10 megapixels, an upgrade from the iPhone 5's 8-megapixel camera.

A protruding lens could also make it easier for users to attach new lenses to the iPhone 6, enhancing the camera even further. Third-party camera lenses aren't new. A company called Olloclip has been making interchangeable lenses for the current generation of iPhones.

A patent application in March pointed to Apple working on a way for the iPhone camera to support interchangeable lenses. This recent iPhone 6 leak also appears to have a protruding camera lens.

As with all leaks and patent applications, take this one with a grain of salt.The iPhone is rumored to come out on Sept. 9. So we'll have to wait until then to find out what Apple has in store for the iPhone's camera.

First photos of purported 5.5-inch 'iPhone 6' rear shell compare part to 4.7-inch model

A batch of photos out of Asia on Wednesday supposedly reveal a rear shell bound for Apple's "iPhone 6" and show a direct comparison between another alleged handset part.



Purportedly coming from a source "deep within Apple's supply chain," the images posted toevasi0njailbreak.com are claimed to be some of the first to show Apple's 5.5-inch iPhone 6 aluminum chassis. Until now, most unconfirmed parts leaks have been related to the 4.7-inch next-generation handset. 

As seen in the photo above, which highlights the disparity the two "leaked" parts' sizes, Apple's "phablet" device design could resemble an enlarged version of the 4.7-inch iPhone revamp. The same hallmarks are present in both variants, including rounded edges, recessed volume controls, side-mounted sleep/wake button and thin profile. 

By itself, the alleged 5.5-inch iPhone 6 rear shell bears the same machining marks, anchors and screw bosses seen on previous parts said to be bound for the 4.7-inch version. The larger shell also features an Apple logo cutout that will presumably be filled with a radio transparent material for better signal transmission, an engineering design first seen in the iPad mini with Retina display.

   

Not much is known about the 5.5-inch iPhone 6, though recent reports claim the unit will sport a 2,915mAh battery to help power the larger display and advanced internals. In late July, a parts leak supposedly pictured the phablet's sleep/wake and volume control flex cables and offered a glimpse at the device's size. 

Apple is expected to unveil the next-generation iPhone at a media event on Sept. 9, though the date has yet to be confirmed by the company. Speculation has pointed toward the release of both 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch sizes, though recent rumors have said the larger version could be delayed due to production issues.

Two rumored developments about the larger of the two expected iPhone 6 models emerged this weekend. First, a 2915 mAh battery (85% larger than the one in the current iPhone 5S) was leaked that seems to fit with a previously leaked chipset that would fit the 5.5-inch form factor. Second, a Chinese website Apple Daily tipped that instead of being named the iPhone “Air,” the larger iPhone 6 will be dubbed the “6L”. If true, this information points to one under-explored issue about the new iPhones: screen resolution. Specifically, will the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 and the 5.5-inch iPhone 6L both have 960 pixels on the short side, or will the 6L bump up to the 1080 pixels required for 1080p HD video?

Back in May, Mark Gurman of 9to5Mac wrote a very convincing story about how the new larger iPhones would move from the 2x resolution of the retinal 4 and 5 series to a denser 3x resolution. According to Gurman, both new phones would have 1704 x 960 pixel screens, which works out to 416 pixels per inch on the 4.7″ model and 356 ppi on the 5.5″ model. His argument was that, like the iPad  and iPad Mini, these two different devices would share a common pixel count to make it easier for developers to deal with updating their apps for these new devices. So convincing was his story that little else has been said on the matter.

If we accept Gurman’s math, then the upsized battery on the 5.5″ 6L will serve to give it greater battery life (despite its larger screen size) than either the current iPhone 5S or the 4.7″ iPhone 6. And this would be a good thing because the primary activity of phablet users is watching video. So better battery life means more viewing time. And who doesn’t want that?

Just to play devils advocate for a moment, what if that extra screen size was used to make the 6L full 1080p HD? This would achieve parity with Samsung’s Galaxy S5 and Note 3. Most importantly, it would deliver full resolution for all of that video 6L users will be watching at a pixel density of 401 ppi, just under the 4.7″ model’s resolution. [An interesting side note, the next big Samsung smartphone is actually smaller than their current models with a lower pixel count. The just announced Galaxy Alpha will have a 4.7-inch screen with a pixel resolution of just 720 x 1280 pixels, 312 ppi.]

The power efficiencies of the new A8 chip in the iPhone 6 models should help offset the additional screen illumination and pixel computation demands. More importantly, changes in Apple's AAPL +1.38% best practices for building apps, including auto layout, multi-resolution mode and increased reliance on vector graphics should make the burden on developers far lighter if Apple were to introduce two new devices with different pixel dimensions.

The real issue is a three way optimization between how much better the user experience of full 1080p HD video is compared to the benefits of extended battery life compared to the benefit of larger touch targets on the larger screen. As with digital cameras, more megapixels don’t necessarily make better pictures. Undoubtably Apple has tested these variations and is confident that the iPhone 6L phablet lives up to its customers’ larger expectations.

UPDATE: I had a lively Twitter exchange with @GordonKelly this morning about whether Apple would really do this. Kelly tweeted “I can’t see Apple creating more confusion with 2 new resolutions.” The question for me is really “Confusion for developers vs UX for customers.” and it all comes down to, “how much better is 1080p on a phone?” At some point Apple will have to admit to the fragmentation of iOS and get beyond pixel multiples of the original iPhone screen, as conceptually neat as this may be. [3x is very different than 2x as far as conceptual neatness goes. 2x => 4x is easier for people to grok.] I contend that all of the pieces are now in place for iOS to size more dynamically, as Kelly points out Android has done for years. Could Apple make this shift now, with the 6L? Kelly tweets, “I don’t see it. Over complication (in this case with resolutions) is not an Apple trait.”

4.7-Inch iPhone 6 Screen Put Under Microscope as New 1472 x 828 Resolution Emerges

Amid rumors of both 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch versions of the iPhone 6, speculation about what resolutions Apple will use for the new devices has generated a number of different theories. The most concrete suggestion so far has been a 1704 x 960 resolution that could see the current "2x" Retina display move to an even sharper "3x" display. 

A new photo from Russian luxury modified iPhone vendor Feld & Volk [Instagram page] now shows the display of the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 under a microscope, with the firm tellingMacRumors the panel does indeed carry a resolution of 1704 x 960. 



The photograph posted by Feld & Volk does not, however, necessarily appear to agree with that claim, as it seems to show roughly 13 pixels per mm in the horizontal and vertical directions, while a 4.7-inch display at 1704 x 960 should be closer to 16 pixels per mm. The current iPhone 5s display is roughly 10.5 pixels per mm. 

A potential answer to this problem arrives in another report today from 9to5Mac, which has discovered references to yet another resolution of 1472 x 828 within recent Xcode 6 beta releases.

This particular file outlines for the system where icons, by default, will be placed on an iPhone’s Home screen. This particular file, which was added in Xcode 6 beta 5 earlier this month and still exists in yesterday’s Xcode 6 beta 6, is optimized for an iPhone with a resolution of 414 (width) x 736 (height). The iPhone SDK parses hardware resolutions via “point values,” so the actual “Retina” resolution is in fact double (or potentially triple) whatever numbers the SDK presents.

While analysis quickly becomes speculative, one way Apple could use both of these rumored resolutions would be to to launch a 4.7-inch iPhone at 1472 x 828 and a 5.5-inch model at 1704 x 960. In that scenario, both iPhone 6 models would have pixel densities of 355-360 pixels per inch. This translates to roughly 14 pixels per mm in each direction, close to what is seen in the Feld & Volk photograph. 

Depending on how the rumored 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch sizes have been rounded for convenience, the two iPhone 6 panels could actually offer the exact same pixel density, slightly higher than current iPhones and allowing for efficiencies in the manufacturing process if the same technologies and production methods are used in the two new models.

Apple is expected to introduce the iPhone 6 at a media event on September 9, but it remains unclear whether the company plans to show off both models at the same time, and even it does, there have been rumors that the larger model should ship up to several months later than the smaller version.