06

Extending the Battery Life of Your Portable Apple Devices

PRO TIP – Extending Battery life

There’s nothing worse than being out in the wild, far from a power supply, when you notice the battery icon on your portable device going into the red…notifying you of your impending doom while being disconnected from the outside world…as you drift off into space. Okay, maybe it’s not that bad. But we here at tekwerx wanted to recommend some tips about extending the battery life of your Apple products via some quick tweaks that will surely maximize performance while you’re on the go. Instead of reinventing the wheel, please visit this link directly from the source: https://www.apple.com/batteries/maximizing-performance/

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06

Highlights from WWDC 2015

Highlights from WWDC 2015

WWDC is Apple’s worldwide developer’s conference where Apple’s developer community comes together to learn about the future of IOS and OS X. Members of Apple’s all-star-staff reveal new products and services that will roll out to the public during the course of the next year. So many announcements were made, we thought it would be a good idea to highlight key points while linking out for more information below.

An Improved OS X, El Capitan

OS X 10.11, otherwise known as El Capitan, is more about tweaking the OS X experience and improving performance than redesigning the whole interface. Safari, for example, now allows you to “pin” sites, so they’ll load instantly from the landing page. It also lets you mute audio in tabs without entering specific pages. Spotlight allows you more extensive and integrated search capabilities: you can look up sporting event tickets, weather, and upcoming events using natural language. Improved windows management means that you can automatically split your screen between apps and store multiple desktop layouts in a navigation bar on top. And Metal, the optimization tool Apple first introduced for mobile processors last year, will supposedly now give El Capitan a performance boost.

http://www.apple.com/osx/elcapitan-preview/

Introducing iOS 9

Much like the new version of OS X, iOS 9 is less about radical change than making refinements. The Notes app is gaining more functionality (like drawing!), while Passbook has become “Wallet.” Newsstand has become “News.” HealthKit tracks more data, including UV exposure and menstrual cycles. iOS 9 is supposed to even take up less space on your iPhone, and it offers a “low power mode” to squeeze three extra hours out of the battery. The iPad, meanwhile, has new productivity options — among other things, users can open two apps side-by-side on a single iPad Air 2. Developers can get their hands on all the new features when Apple drops the public beta — its first ever for iOS — in July. The final version will be available in the fall.

http://www.apple.com/ios/ios9-preview/

Say Hello to watchOS 2

Less than two months into its life, the Apple Watch has a new operating system: watchOS 2. It has some more options for watch faces, including the cutely named “Time Travel,” which gives you an overview of upcoming events in addition to what’s going on at the moment. There’s a little bit more interactivity overall — you can, say, reply to emails instead of just reading them. Developers will have more control; they can make apps that play back video and audio using the watch speakers, and there’s full support for HealthKit and HomeKit. Naturally, some of the latest improvements to iOS 9 — like transit directions in Maps — cross over to the Apple Watch as well. Developers have access to the latest watchOS today; like iOS 9, it’s coming to consumers in the fall.

http://www.apple.com/watchos-2-preview/

One More Thing… Welcome to Apple Music.

Apple saved its new music service for the end of its keynote, and even dusted off the Jobs-era saying for its debut. At first blush, it sounds like Apple Music has all the necessary features. You can stream your favorite artists, watch music videos and exclusive clips in HD, and listen to curated playlists. There’s also a feature (called “Connect”) that lets unsigned artists upload their music. Apple’s even created a global radio station called Beats 1 and hired Zane Lowe to run it. You get all that for $9.99 per month, and there’s also a $14.99 family plan option that lets you share Apple Music with up to five other people. That gives Apple a slight edge when it comes to pricing, but Jimmy Iovine, Drake, and Tim Cook didn’t mention much else that sounds all that different from the services Apple Music will compete against. It will be available on iOS starting June 30th and — maybe most importantly — it’s also coming to Android this fall.

http://www.apple.com/music/

 

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