by admin | May 25, 2021 | Branding, Markets, Technology
San Francisco : In a bid to shut the controversy around the bent 2018 iPad Pro, Apple has published a support page detailing the device’s manufacturing process, the media reported.
The page is titled “iPad Pro unibody enclosure design” and starts off by saying that Apple’s latest tablet is “strong, light, and durable”, the Verge reported on Saturday.
The new support page focused mainly on the Wi-Fi plus Cellular iPad Pro, which is the model reportedly affected the most by the alleged bending issues.
The tech giant noted that the new design has flat edges “instead of the curved edges found on previous-generation iPad models”. The new iPad’s flat edges and antenna line might make slight bends more visible, the report said.
According to the tech giant, the slight bends are a result of the iPad Pro’s manufacturing and cooling process.
The company also seems to suggest that so long as any “subtle deviations in flatness” are not perceptible during normal scenarios — meaning when you’re facing the iPad head on and actually using it — they should not be a concern to customers, the report noted.
“These precision manufacturing techniques and a rigorous inspection process ensure that these new iPad Pro models meet an even tighter specification for flatness than previous generations. This flatness specification allows for no more than 400 microns of deviation across the length of any side – less than the thickness of four sheets of paper,” Apple said in a statement.
Apple has also urged anyone who believes their iPad Pro enclosure has a warp or bend beyond 400 microns to contact the company’s support channels, and also reminds customers of its 14-day return policy, the report said.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Corporate, Corporate Governance, Markets, Networking, Technology
New Delhi : The Indian government asked Apple to provide information regarding 27 devices and 18 accounts in the January-June 2018 period, with the company providing data in most of the cases owing to an iTunes Gift Card fraud investigation.
The number of requests from India — in various formats such as subpoenas, court orders, warrants or other valid legal requests — also included 34 financial identifiers and three emergency requests, Apple said in its bi-annual transparency report released late Monday.
For device requests, Apple provided data to the Indian government in 63 per cent of cases and 85 per cent in the cases related to financial identifiers.
“The high number of financial identifiers were specified in requests predominantly due to an iTunes Gift Card fraud investigation,” said Apple.
“One request may contain one or multiple identifiers. We count the number of identifiers identified in each request and report the total number of identifiers by type (Device, Financial Identifier, Account),” the company added.
For account requests, Apple provided data in 78 per cent of cases and for all the three emergency requests.
In the July-December 2017 period, Apple had provided data in 14 out of 27 requests (52 per cent) to the Indian government.
Keeping with the global trends where several tech giants, including Facebook and Twitter, release bi-annually transparency reports, Apple has now launched a new transparency report website which makes it easier to scan data requests from various governments.
Globally, the company received 32,342 demands from governments to access 1,63,823 devices, with 80 per cent of the requests granted.
In total, the Cupertino-based iPhone maker approved more than 25,000 government requests to access customer data in the first half of 2018 – an almost nine per cent rise in demands in the July-December 2017 period.
“Apple is committed to your privacy and being transparent about government requests for customer data globally. This report provides information on government requests received,” said the company.
The governments around the world sent requests for device information on 29,718 Apple devices, with India asking for 27 device requests in the July-December 2017 period. Overall, the data was provided in 79 per cent of cases globally.
“Apple regularly receives multi-device requests related to fraud investigations. Device-based requests generally seek details of customers associated with devices or device connections to Apple services,” said the Cupertino-based company.
Apple requires government and private entities to follow applicable laws and statutes when requesting customer information and data.
“We contractually require our service providers to abide by the same standard for any government information requests for Apple data. Our legal team reviews requests received to ensure that the requests have a valid legal basis,” the company has said earlier.
“When we receive an account request seeking our customers’ personal information, we notify the customer that we have received a request concerning their personal data except where we are explicitly prohibited by the legal process, by a court order Apple receives, or by applicable law,” it added.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Markets, Social Media, Technology, World
San Francisco : With efforts to reform a European Union tax law not bringing the desired results, France is going to introduce from January 1, 2019 a digital tax on technology giants such as Google, Facebook, Apple and Amazon, the media reported.
The French government’s “GAFA” tax” is being introduced to combat attempts by the firms to avoid paying what is considered a “fair share” of taxes in the country, by taking advantage of European tax laws, Appleinsider reported on Monday.
The new tax regime is expected to bring in an estimated 500 million euro ($570 million) to the country’s cofferes for 2019, according to French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, The Local Fr said in a report.
Major technology companies have come under the scrutiny of lawmakers in countries like France and Britain for allegedly routing profits through operations in countries with extremely low tax rates or other arrangements.
Earlier this year, the European Commission published proposals for a three per cent tax on the revenues of major tech companies with global revenues above 750 million euro a year and taxable EU revenue above 50 million euro, the BBC reported.
But to become law, EU tax reforms need the support of all member states. And some countries, including Ireland, the Czech Republic, Sweden and Finland are yet to come on board to bring the reforms.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Branding, Business, Markets, Sales, SMEs, Technology
By Nishant Arora,
New Delhi : Three years is enough time for a flagship consumer electronics device to don a new avatar and the new Apple iPad Pro (2018) has done just that — it is far superior to the first iPad Pro that came into existence in 2015. (The first iPad arrived eight years back.)
Smartphones have begun to rival tablets today and tablets have decided to go the laptop way — at a time when fixed office spaces are shrinking and professionals and frequent travellers are looking to create, work and enjoy from anywhere, everywhere.
With the all-screen iPad Pro, Apple has introduced the future of mobile computing that has the potential to outperform a traditional PC.
The new 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pros are available in silver and space-grey finishes in 64GB, 256GB and 512GB configurations as well as a new 1TB option (which we reviewed).
The 12.9-inch iPad Pro starts at Rs 89,900 for the Wi-Fi model and Rs 1,03,900 for the Wi-Fi + Cellular model. It is just 5.9 mm thin — the thinnest iPad design ever.
Let us see what went into making iPad Pro so that it can take on a laptop.
Once you own an iPad Pro, invest further in buying a Smart Keyboard Folio, encompassing a full-size keyboard that never needs to be charged or paired (the space grey Folio will cost Rs 17,900).
Now is the time to get the second-generation Apple Pencil that will cost another Rs 10,900.
Once the ecosystem is complete, sit back and witness new levels of precision and productivity with the iPad Pro.
The Apple Pencil magnetically attaches to the device for pairing and wireless charging. It became even more powerful and intuitive as we began selecting tools or brushes — with just a simple double tap.
The new touch-sensor built onto the Apple Pencil detects taps, introducing a new way to interact within apps like Notes.
If you are working in creative streams and love to multi-task, the Smart Keyboard Folio features a streamlined design that’s adjustable for added versatility.
The device packs creative apps from Adobe, Autodesk and Procreate (remember that Photoshop CC from Adobe is coming to iPad Pro next year).
Another noticeable thing for creative professionals is a high-performance USB-C connector that brings a whole new set of capabilities.
You can now connect iPad Pro to cameras, musical instruments, external monitors, even docks, and get data transfer done in a jiffy. This is important for creative pros whose workflows require high bandwidth.
The battery is great and gave all-day support during gaming and streaming movies.
For those familiar with iOS 12 on iPhone X and iPhone XS, the iPad Pro provides a similar experience, including tap to wake and swiping to go home, access Control Centre and for multi-tasking.
The new Shortcuts app will help you link together automated workflows for photo editing, video editing and file and asset management.
Improvements to Photo Import and support for native RAW image editing give photographers efficient ways to work on the device.
For a day-to-day user at home, iPad Pro is packed with fun features.
Group FaceTime now makes it easy to connect with groups of friends or colleagues at the same time.
Participants can be added at any time, join later if the conversation is still active and choose to join using video or audio from an iPhone, iPad or Mac.
With the new Animoji and customisable Memoji, you can take advantage of the large screen on iPad to add more personality to photos and videos in Messages and FaceTime.
iPad Pro features edge-to-edge Liquid Retina display with rounded corners. The A12X Bionic chip with next-generation Neural Engine outperforms most devices. The device offers Gigabit-class LTE and up to 1TB of storage to enable mobile workflows.
Face ID, the most secure facial authentication system in any tablet or computer, is now available on the iPad for the first time.
A seven-core, Apple-designed GPU delivers up to twice the graphics performance for immersive AR experiences and console-quality graphics.
What does not work?
Well, there are some limitations when it comes to a true laptop experience. If Apple decides to run macOS on iPad Pro in the near future (the hardware is ready for that), it will become a perfect laptop for sure.
Conclusion: Those on the iPad Pro ecosystem must go for the device as it has never-before-seen improvements, at both the hardware and the software fronts. For working professionals, switching to the iPad Pro will take a bit training time, but the experience is simply out of the world. For the rest, it is an iPad Pro anyway!
(Nishant Arora can be contacted at nishant.a@ians.in)
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Branding, Business, Markets, Sales, Technology
By Nishant Arora,
New Delhi : If you skipped buying luxury Apple iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max simply because your pocket did not allow, here comes iPhone XR in India that starts from Rs 76,900 and houses most of the Next-Gen features available in the costlier iPhones.
Top analysts have claimed that Apple is likely to sell its cheaper iPhone XR faster than iPhone XS and XS Max globally, and India is no different.
iPhone XR that went on sale from October 19 will be available at the Apple authorised resellers in India from October 26 in 64GB, 128GB and 256GB models in black, white, blue, yellow, coral and “(Product)RED” colours.
With all-screen glass and an aluminium design featuring 6.1-inch display which is touted as “the most advanced LCD in a smartphone,” the XR houses A12 Bionic chip with next-generation “Neural Engine”, which unlocks new experiences for immersive augmented reality (AR), games and photography.
Let us find out why iPhone XR is an easy upgrade from iPhone X or older Apple variants.
The display has rounded corners that follow a beautiful curved design. According to the company, the device has the most durable front glass ever in a smartphone along with a colour-matched, aerospace-grade aluminium band.
The new back-light design allows the display to extend into the corners, enabling a larger LCD than ever before in an iPhone.
“True Tone” technology uses an advanced ambient light sensor to subtly adjust the white balance onscreen to match the colour temperature of the light around us.
Result? Images on the display looked as natural as on a printed page, thus reducing eye strain.
The largest LCD ever in an iPhone has a footprint that falls between iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus.
In the camera section, the iPhone XR with 12MP rear camera produced much better low-light performance than older iPhones. The rear camera supports three lighting effects: Natural, Studio and Contour.
The 7MP front camera also delivered advanced Portrait mode with sophisticated “bokeh” and “Depth Control” for stunning portraits. The “Smart HDR” feature brought more highlight and shadow detail across images.
The “Depth Control” feature lets users adjust the depth of field both in real-time preview and post-capture.
The iPhone XR is water resistant, with a rating of IP67, and protects against everyday spills including coffee, tea and soda.
For music lovers, iPhone XR delivers wider stereo sound for an immersive cinematic experience. It uses the four built-in mics to record stereo sound.
The glass back of iPhone XR allows faster wireless charging and improved off-axis performance even when your iPhone is off-centre on a wireless charging pad.
iPhone XR shoots good-quality videos, with better low-light performance and extended dynamic range in video modes up to 30 fps.
The A12 Bionic chip with the next-generation “Neural Engine” uses real-time Machine Learning (ML) to transform the experience of photos, gaming and Augmented Reality.
If you want to experiment with new apps on XR, try “Memrise” — an app that features more than 200 courses teaching Chinese, Spanish, Arabic, Italian, and more.
Point your iPhone at an object, take a photo and “Memrise” will identify it in your chosen language.
“Brainapse” is another informative learning app which helps in exploring the anatomy, structure and functions of the human skull and brain using AR.
Users can explore the external and internal parts of skull, brain and brain cells, learn about the functions of brain cells, and experience how our brain communicates with the five senses.
Conclusion: At this price point, iPhone XR will give you a near identical performance of an iPhone XS or XS Max. Those outside of the Apple ecosystem can also try this variant to enter the iOS family.
Aim to buy the “(PRODUCT)RED” variant as a portion of your purchase will go to the Global Fund to fight AIDS in Africa.
(Nishant Arora can be contacted at nishant.a@ians.in)
—IANS
