Tag: iOS

Article

How Microsoft Is Bringing Windows 10 Features, Including Cortana, To Android And iOS | Lifehacker

Microsoft furthers Android, iOS integration push in Win10 | ITNews

From the horse’s mouth

Microsoft Windows

Blog Post

Video

My Comments

They now can work together

Manufacturers and platform vendors live in a dream world where customers will have their phone, computer and tablet all on the same or related platforms.

But the reality is that most people will have a personal computing environment based on two or three different operating systems. Typically this is an iPhone or Android smartphone working alongside a regular computer running Windows or MacOS X and, most likely, an iPad or an Android or Windows tablet.

It leads to problems associated with data interchange between the various devices and may require you to use cloud services or folders on a NAS, along with software import / export abilities to exchange the data. Even keeping your phone book or contact list in sync amongst devices of the various platforms can be very difficult.

But Microsoft has taken off from where they have built developer tools to allow you to quickly have apps ready-to-deploy for iOS, Android and Windows. They have taken this further by providing iOS, Android and Windows 10 apps that interlink and share data between your computer, tablet and smartphone. It may go against the dream held by Apple and their fanbois that once you have an iPhone, you progressively move towards an all-Apple computing environment with your regular computer being a Macintosh.

The first of these is the Phone Companion. This determines the corresponding apps you need to download from the iTunes App Store (iOS) or Google Play (Android) to interlink your phone with our Windows 10 computer on an application level.

These apps make use of Microsoft’s Windows OneDrive as a transfer point between your smartphone and your Windows 10 computer. For example, one of the apps provides a “hook” for your phone platform’s camera app to transfer photos to OneDrive so they show up on your computer.

There is also the XBox Music app which allows you to store your music on OneDrive and stream it to your iOS or Android smartphone while notes you create with OneNote on either your computer or smartphone show up on the other device. Microsoft is even making sure that if you modify a document on its Office mobile applications, the changes are reflected on your Office desktop applications.

Both the main smartphone platforms have their own integrated voice-driven personal assistant software in the form of Siri for iOS and Google Now for Android. But Microsoft has written a gateway app for each of these platforms so you can use Cortana as your voice-driven personal assistant. They are pushing the idea that, with Windows 10, Cortana will work across your smartphone and your regular computer in a platform-agnostic manner instead of just working with your smartphone or tablet..

A situation that can arise with any interoperability solution is that the solution can be engineered to be the hub of your computing life and not work tightly with the other platforms. For example, you may not be able to link your iOS or Android contacts function tightly with Windows nor would you be able to exchange photos between your device’s native photo storage and your computer’s photo collection smoothly. This can be of concern for, say, iOS users who make the Camera Roll serve as their handheld “brag-book” even though they have a PC or Mac having its own photo store or a cloud service like Dropbox being a photo exchange.

It is a step in the right direction to ensure data interoperability across the different mobile and desktop platforms when sharing data between devices along with satisfying the multiple-platform computing reality that affects most people.

Articles

How Microsoft Is Going To Port Everything To Windows | Gizmodo

Android applications will be able to run on Windows 10 | Android Authority

From the horse’s mouth

Microsoft

Welcome speech for Build 2015 – Blogging Windows

My Comments

This game has been the test-bed for porting to Windows 10

The Web has been awash with rumours about Microsoft allowing Android apps to run on Windows 10. The image projected by these rumours underscored ideas of users running Android APK program files in the Windows 10 environment or a gateway to Google Play on this operating system.

But Microsoft announced at Build 2015 conference a very different scenario that is more about developers being able to easily port iOS and Android apps to Windows 10 Universal Apps. It is part of a simplified code-porting mechanism that will come with this new operating system.

As you already know, a Windows 10 Universal app is designed from the outset to run on a regular desktop / laptop computing environment, a tablet or 2-in-1 in “tablet mode”, a smartphone or even the XBox One games console.

The process of “porting” an app to run on different computing platforms is about making sure that the program conveys a user experience that doesn’t differ no matter the platform that you are running it on. Rather it takes advantage of the bouquets that the platform provides like improved sound or graphics and is something I have seen in action through the late 1980s with games written by the likes of Sierra and Broderbund. In that era, there were a few different home / desktop computing platforms in circulation ranging from the IBM PC (MS-DOS) platform, Apple’s Apple II and Macintosh platforms, to Commodore’s legendary C64 and Amiga computer platforms and anyone who wanted to cover a large market with a games title had to port these titles across the different platforms.

Now easier to port from mobile platforms to this platform

Take for example “Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego” which I had played on an Apple IIe and on an IBM-compatible running MS-DOS 3.3 . These games were ported in a way to take advantage of the graphics abilities the different platforms offered and were worked to give the same smooth operating environment for the platform you bought it for. If I had played that game on a Commodore Amiga, it would have come through with graphics and sound performance appropriate for that platform such as sharper graphics with many different colours along with a richer music soundtrack.

If you were to port an application or game to a different platform, you had to rewrite the program code from the ground up to target that platform. As well, you had to re-engineer all of the resources like the graphics and sound for that platform. This became a costly affair because you had to hire programmers who were conversant with your native computing platform and the target platform to do this job and make sure they run as expected on that platform. In some cases, the software may not run exactly as required nor would it properly take advantage of the platform’s assets.

Microsoft has made this process simpler courtesy of the Project Islandwood and Project Astoria software-development kits which simplify the process of porting iOS or Android apps to Windows 10 Universal Apps. These would allow the developer to reuse the iOS Objective C or Android Java/C++ code as the mechanism for the program and allow them to tweak the code to run smoothly in Windows 10, taking advantage of its assets like Cortana, Live Tiles, XBox Achievements and the like where appropriate.

They worked with King.com to use the new software-development kits to port Candy Crush Saga to Windows, having the gameplay experience on a Windows Phone similar to what was expected out of an iPhone.

What does this mean? It could allow a software developer to target iOS or Android for their programs then have it ready for the Windows platform very shortly after that without it being a costly affair..Who knows when a game like Candy Crush Saga could appear on the XBox One as a “quick-play” game to play on your TV?

Article

So What Ever Happened To Post-PC? | Gizmodo

My Comments

What was the “Post-PC” vision?

Samsung Galaxy Note 4 – an up-and-coming Android smartphone

The 2000s era saw the use of larger computers for regular Windows-based or Macintosh-based computing. Steve Jobs who was Apple’s visionary leader talked of the “Post-PC” era with computing centred around mobile devices such as the iPad and iPhone and “cloud+app” services which benefited from data held at one or more data centres and accessed using a lean client-side app running on the mobile device.

Current trends

Mobile-platform tablets

But current trends are leading towards mobile-platform devices like the recent iPads and Android tablets having the increased capability, and running more of the native apps with increased local functionality. Some of these apps can even run under their own steam without the need to regularly gain access to data.

Regular-platform computers being more compact, powerful and portable

9mm fanless tablet concept with regular computing power

The regular-computer scene is heading towards equipment that is more compact, powerful and portable such as an increased variety of portable form-factors like the Ultraboooks and the convertibles or detachables. Even the desktop computers are becoming more compact with baseline equipment that is the size of a large book or an increasing number of “all-in-one” computers where the computing power is located in the monitor like the iMac.

Gaming laptops and mobile workstations

Some manufacturers have released laptop computers that are best described as either “gaming laptops” or “mobile workstations”. These have been highly optimised for performance and highly-responsive graphics that is required of highly-advanced graphics software or “full-on” games. Previously, this class of performance was only relegated to desktop computers but is showing up in the portable class of computers.

Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro convertible as a tablet

It is augmented with steps being taken to improve quality control when it comes to writing games for regular-computing platforms. This was because of issues relating to games studios turning out inefficiently-coded games that needed more to run or Apple and Microsoft not becoming proper gatekeepers for quality-control logos that affect game software.

A return to the late-1980s multiple-platform computing era

What was the late-1980s multiple-platform computing era?

The late 1980s microcomputing era saw the presence of multiple computer platforms in wide circulation: DOS/Windows/OS2 (IBM Compatible), Apple Macintosh, Commodore Amiga, Apple II and Atari ST. Different people preferred the different platforms for particular applications like having DOS/Windows for business-information-handling, the Apple Macintosh for desktop-publishing and the Commodore Amiga for gaming, desktop-video or interactive-user-interface design.

The multiple platforms that exist nowadays

Dell Precision M2800 – an example of a mobile workstation

Now, we are starting to see the same number of regular and mobile computing platforms in circulation: Microsoft Windows, Apple Macintosh, Linux, Google Chrome OS, Apple iOS, and Google Android. The mobile platforms, especially Google Android, are being implemented in a desktop-style user environment with, for example, Philips releasing monitors that can run as standalone Android computers. Similarly, the Apple iOS and Android tablet platforms are appealing as platforms for baseline secondary computing tasks through people equipping tablets with USB or Bluetooth keyboards.

As for the hardware, we are seeing equipment that is based on the Intel x86/x64 microarchitecture or the ARM RISC microarchitecture with some specimens of both microarchitectures moving towards 64-bit variants of that microarchitecture. Some of these platforms are even showing up with hardware that has impressive graphics and gaming prowess such as the NVIDIA Tegra processors and the newer Apple processors for the mobile platforms along with Intel and AMD integrated-graphics systems that can stomach intense graphics work for the regular computing platforms.

Philips Android-driven monitor

It is becoming increasingly common for households to become less “pure-play” when it comes to choosing the platform they use for their computing devices. For example, I have seen an increasing number of households use a Windows-based desktop or laptop along with an iPad and either an iPhone and/or an Android smartphone.

Business computing is facing this reality with having to implement “BYOD” (Bring Your Own Device) information-technology solutions and utilise “mobile-device-management” solutions and “corporate app stores” to assure that these devices are working to spec for secure computing in the workplace. It is also a challenge that is facing schools, airlines, hotels and others who are providing computer resources for the general public.

I do see it as a pity that Apple doesn’t seem to play properly and smoothly with other platforms, rather users either load up their Apple devices with apps that “bridge the gap” by offering DLNA functionality for example, or work around the various incompatibilities by using cloud services for example. Similarly, peripheral designers have to make sure their devices do pair properly with the Apple devices along with the Windows or Android devices that may support advanced paring techniques like NFC.

Conclusion

It is so easy for one computer visionary to determine what is to be the “status quo” but as the industry evolves with different computer devices and platforms and makes these devices and platforms more capable, it is hard to really determine what is to happen for consumer and business IT.

Article

Microsoft’s Universal Keyboard has an Android home button, no Windows logo in sight  | Android Authority

From the horse’s mouth

Microsoft Hardware

Universal Mobile Keyboard Product Page

Press Release

Video clip

My Comments

Microsoft Universal Mobile Keyboard

Microsoft have designed a Bluetooth keyboard that is intended for use with smartphones and tablets that run on the three main mobile platforms: Android, iOS and Windows 8. This is to cater for a reality where people may operate different computer devices on different platforms.

Microsoft have achieved a universal layout with platform-specific keys for Android and iOS, like the Command (snowflake) key that the Apple platforms need. The Windows or Android modes could work with devices like games consoles or Smart TVs that implement Bluetooth Human Interface Device Profile in the context of a full keyboard for text entry. What could this mean for using your smart TV’s social-network or content-search functionality without “hunt-and-peck” operation.

But you can select between the different operating systems and keyboard layouts using a three-position hardware switch. As well, the keyboard remembers Bluetooth pairings with 3 devices of the different platforms.There is even a rest for your tablet or smartphone so you can see what you are typing and this works as a lid for the keyboard.

Of course, it can run from its own battery for 6 months but can allow you to quickly charge the keyboard to gain 8 hours extra runtime.

But most of us who use keyboards with tablets typically head for those keyboards that are integrated in a case for the tablet and Microsoft could do better to offer this as a case for most 10” tablets.

Articles

Apple to unveil iPhones with 4.7in and 5.5in screens on September 9 | The Australian

Apple sets Sept. 9 for new iPhone debut, report says | CNet

My Comments

Apple now has intentions to supply a smartphone as large as most desirable Android smartphones

Personally, I have noticed Apple iPhone users become enamoured over the larger screens offered by the recent crop of Android-based high-end phones like the Samsung Galaxy S and Note series. For example, a friend of mine liked the fact that my Samsung Galaxy Note 2 had a large screen and thought that this could be a mobile phone solution for her older mother-in-law if this was available in the iPhone range because of the iOS platform being the preferred operating environment for that family.

Apple is feeling worried that the competition are offering better devices than them and the rumour mill that floods the American tech press started to flow with talk about an upcoming iPhone to be launched this year. This has been augmented with Apple having the iOS 8 nearly ready to release at effectively “8.0.0”, which tends to lead to talk of a major revamp for at least one iOS-based product range, usually the iPhone rather than issuing one or more variants or product refreshes. As well, the press were running reports about the manufacturing plants being required to start manufacturing runs of at least 70 million units long, if not 80 million units.

At the moment, the report reckons that September 9 will be the time Apple premieres this product range with typically 2 weeks later being the time that the faithful can line up outside the Apple Stores and mobile phone resellers to get their claws on these devices. Questions I often think of are whether Apple will provide a large lineup of these devices to suit different user needs and requirements.

What I like of this news is that the large-screened phones are becoming available in all of the smartphone operating platforms rather than some of these platforms. It may also be a chance for Apple to answer the wishes of their faithful who have been pining at the larger-screen phones offered by the competition and allow these people to stay loyal to the Apple ecosystem while satisfying the large-screen desires. Could I also see this as a chance for Apple to investigate the idea of touch-screen computing for the Macintosh platform and make computers and displays that have the touchscreen interface.

Articles

Apple Remembers That The Apple TV Still Exists | Gizmodo

My Comments

What is the Apple TV device?

This is a very small set-top box offered by Apple that connects to your TV and stereo system. But it is typically used for its AirPlay video playback abilities, especially when people are renting or buying video content through the iTunes platform and want to view it on their favourite large-screen TV set. Here, people use the iTunes software on their Macintosh or Windows computer to procure the video content with the payment card and/or iTunes voucher and simply “throw” the content to the TV using this device, perhaps using its remote control to pick content or control its playback from the couch.

What was going on with the Apple TV?

Apple had been focusing their operating-environment software development efforts on the iOS mobile-device and the Macintosh regular-computing environments while forgetting about the Apple TV’s operating environment and user interface. This is although a trickle of apps, typically “on-ramp” interfaces for various IPTV and video-on-demand services, was being developed for the Apple TV platform.

The improvements about to take place

Luckily Apple had “woken up and smelt the coffee” when they saw competitors, including TV manufacturers, work on and build up smart-TV operating environments that appeal to the 10-foot “lean-back” operating experience. Now they are working on a software redesign for the Apple TV firmware to bring the user experience up-to-scratch and in line with the latest iterations of the iOS mobile platform.

There is the increased focus on having apps being delivered to the Apple TV platform in a similar way to what has happened with the iOS platform. But I hope this isn’t carte blanche for substandard “junkware” to fill the iTunes App Store. More likely, it would become an increasing number of “10-foot” on-ramps for various online services and that any existing apps targeted for this device are refurbished for the new firmware. There is also the idea of implementing the same kind of colour improvements to the user experience as what has been experienced on iOS devices.

Like all Apple devices, the improved Apple TV will be designed to work tightly with the rest of the Apple ecosystem at the expense of other common industry standards. But I would at least like to see Apple work on the Apple TV and their ecosystem to provision “core-quality” video games that can compete with the Xbox, PlayStation and Wii platforms instead of that computer name being sidelined when it comes to gaming and interactive activities. For example, they could work on multi-screen games that allow iOS devices to serve as “second-screens” or just simply use the iOS devices as game-control surfaces.

Who knows what this could mean for Apple to make their whole ecosystem become more “firm” and “across the board” like what Google and others have been working on with their ecosystems.

It may come to a point where a USB charging device offered by a stranger may be treated with distrust

I have seen some recent press coverage generated especially by the security-software industry about the concept of USB-based charging devices stealing data from smartphones and tablets that normally charge from these devices. This issue was brought to public attention at the start of the World Cup 2014 where the fear that an increased number of travellers pouring in to Brazil for the soccer may be a breeding ground for threats to the safety of personal and business data kept on mobile devices owned by these visitors.

The devices that are being considered of concern are “walk-up” charging facilities installed in commonly-accessible places or made available for everyone to use. The concern was brought about with a laboratory experiment involving a small “homebrew” computer circuit connected to an iPhone running iOS 6 and this computer discovering the data on that device. They said that this device could be concealed in a box the size of a “wall-wart” or built in physically or logically to a “walk-up” charging facility. Here, the device could gain access to your data on an iPhone or iPad running iOS 6 or earlier because those earlier iterations of the iOS operating system don’t indicate in a user-facing manner what kind of host device you are connecting your mobile device to.

USB symbol that indicates that your Android device is connected to a computer device

Android user are luckier because all of the iterations of that operating system indicate whether your mobile device is being plugged in to a computer device rather than a power-supply device and tell you how they are presenting themselves to the host device i.e. a “Media Transport Protocol” device, a “Picture Transport Protocol” device or a “Mass Storage” device.  You have the ability to determine how your device presents itself by tapping on the “Connected as” message in the Notification Screen which will show the possible modes. As well, you will see the USB trident symbol in the Notification Bar at all times while the connection is active.

The “Media Transport Protocol” mode primarily exists to allow the host access to the media content on your device and may be exploited by entertainment setups like home AV devices, in-vehicle infotainment setups and airline in-flight entertainment screens for playback via the device’s screen and speakers or headphones. On the other hand, the “Picture Transport Protocol” mode allows access to the pictures and videos in the default folders on your device and is exploited by PictBridge-capable printers and printing kiosks for “walk-up” printing of digital pictures. As well, the “Mass Storage” device mode presents your device to the host as a USB “memory key”.

USB device type notification on Android

iOS users can protect themselves by bringing their iPhones, iPads and iPod Touches up to date with the latest version of that operating system. Here, iOS 7 and newer versions will pop up a dialog box asking whether the user trusts the computer device that they are plugging in to and if they don’t assent, the Apple connection port just becomes a power-and-audio port rather than a power-audio-data port.

Device types supported on your Android device

Other suggestions to deal with this issue include properly shutting down your mobile device when letting it charge up at a public charging facility or someone else’s computer, or charging it from an AC charger or external battery pack that you own and bring with you. Even ideas like being frugal with the way you use your mobile gadgets in order to “spin out” their battery runtime like cutting back on multimedia or gaming, or turning off functions like Wi-Fi and Bluetooth unless you actually are using them have been put forward.

New iOS 7 dialog box that identifies if the other device is a computing device

The main issue here is keeping your mobile devices on the latest version of their operating system and paying attention to situations where your mobile device identifies that what is ostensibly a charging device is infact a computer device and the host device doesn’t come clear on its functionality.

Personally, it could become the time for the USB specification and other host-peripheral connection specifications to be revised to factor in “privilege levels” and trust ecosystems when it comes to device connectivity. This could mean that a connection may only be a “battery charging / power delivery” connection unless a level of trust is established between both devices as regards their functionality and it could even just lead to a removal of the “plug-and-play” features of these systems.