News on the sidelines for the week of March 24 - 30

The US Drug Enforcement Administration uses AirTag instead of GPS to track a drug dealer, releases the iOS 15.7.4 update for old iPhones, Apple tries mixed reality glasses, and iPhone 15 without a SIM card in this country, and Apple acquires WaveOne, and the return of talk about AirPower charging dock and other exciting news on the sidelines…

iPhone 15 Pro features multi-use buttons

The upcoming iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max models may contain customizable buttons. These buttons will replace or may be an addition to the mute and volume up and down buttons, and can be assigned to a variety of system functions for quick access, similar to the Apple Watch Ultra. Examples of possible functions include silent and un-silent mode, torchlight, screenshot, and low power mode , switch to dark mode or not and much more. The source also claimed that the buttons will work for certain functions even when the iPhone battery runs out.

Allow Tabtic buttons to work when the iPhone is turned off or the battery is dead

An anonymous source claims that the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max models will feature a new ultra-low-power processor that allows certain features, such as buttons to continue to perform certain tasks even when the iPhone is turned off or the battery is dead. This new chip replaces Ultra Low Power Mode, enabling functions such as Bluetooth and Ultra-Wideband technology. The source also mentioned that its insider had seen two functions of the new volume button during tests. It is expected that the new features will be exclusive to the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max models.

Siri can start screen recording in iOS 16.5

Apple is testing a new feature in the beta version of the iOS 16.5 update that allows Siri to start recording the screen on the iPhone by saying, “Hey Siri, start recording the screen.” Recording stops when you tap on the screen or ask Siri to stop recording. It is important to note that the wording of the command must be specific, so that Siri does not take a screenshot instead. Previously, Siri wasn't able to start a screen recording, and instead would perform a web search or say no such app was installed.

Although AirPower was canceled four years ago, it's still possible

Apple has eliminated the charging mat AirPower Four years ago, which was announced in 2017, and was supposed to charge the iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods simultaneously and when placing them anywhere and in any direction, due to technical problems such as overlapping charging files, which in turn led to a rise in temperature. .

Dan Riccio, Apple's former hardware engineering chief, said they had to cancel the project because it did not meet their high standards. Despite the cancellation, a similar accessory is still believed to be on Apple's map. Mark Gurman said last October that an AirPower-like accessory would eventually pay off, but it could take years. Meanwhile, prepare the charger MagSafe Duo, which only works with two devices at once and has a fixed charge mode, is the only multi-device charging mat Apple sells.

Twitter prevents unverified accounts from appearing in recommended Tweets

Starting April 15, unverified accounts on Twitter will no longer appear in "For You" feeds, which suggest tweets to users based on their activity on the platform, such as who they follow, likes and retweets, and other interactions.

This means that only Tweets from paid Twitter Blue accounts will be included in recommended Tweets. This step is designed to prevent fraud, fake accounts and bots. Additionally, Twitter Blue subscribers must now verify their phone number and undergo account review to get a blue tick next to their name.

However, this new Musk policy faced fierce criticism from users, and as a result, Elon Musk retracted his announcement regarding the conclusion of the platform's "For You" algorithm. In a later tweet, he stated that accounts the user follows directly will still appear in the feed, even though there is no blue verification badge or a paid Twitter Blue account. Musk added that this change was made because users explicitly requested it.

The Apple Pencil team reveals upcoming Hover Mode features

Apple added new functionality to the hover feature in the Apple Pencil with iPadOS 16.4, which now includes support for tilt and angle detection, or what Apple calls "azimuth."

This feature is designed to allow the user to view a drawing marker from any angle even before it is displayed on the screen, meaning that the user can see exactly where the marker will appear on the drawing board before he or she scribbles, making the iPad more useful than ever for drawing. .

The new feature works in third party applications such as Procreate. The hover feature is exclusive to the iPad Pro M2.

Apple acquires WaveOne

According to TechCrunch, Apple has acquired WaveOne, a California-based startup that was creating AI algorithms for video compression. Although Apple has not confirmed the acquisition, former WaveOne CEO Bob Stankosch confirmed that the sale to Apple was completed earlier this year. In addition, the WaveOne website was taken down around January, and some of the company's employees are now working at Apple in various machine learning teams.

WaveOne has been working on content-sensitive video compression algorithms without compromising its quality, through AI-powered scene and object detection. This allowed their technology to "understand" the video frame and prioritize certain elements, such as faces, to reduce the size of video files. It is not known how much Apple paid for the acquisition or when WaveOne technology will be integrated into Apple's software and applications.

iPhone 15 will not contain a SIM card tray in this country

According to a French website called MacGeneration, the iPhone 15 models due to be launched in France this year may not come with a physical SIM card, which means that the devices will only work with eSIMs. And if the SIM card tray is removed in France, it is likely that other European countries will follow suit, as Apple usually sells the iPhone model with the same specifications in most parts of Europe.

In the US, Apple has already removed the SIM tray from all iPhone 14 models, forcing customers to use an eSIM instead. The use of eSIMs is expanding rapidly, and Apple even promotes eSIMs as being more secure than a physical SIM card because it cannot be removed from a lost or stolen iPhone.

Tim Cook pays tribute to the late Intel founder Gordon Moore

Gordon Moore, co-founder and former president of Intel, has died at the age of 94. Many have paid tribute to him on social media, including Tim Cook. Best known for Moore's Law, Moore observed that the number of transistors on a processor would double every year, resulting in an exponential increase in computing power. He later revised that forecast to a doubling every two years, which had held for several decades and became a guiding principle for the semiconductor industry.

This observation led to the start of the process of integrating silicon with integrated circuits at the hands of Intel, which contributed to the revitalization of the technical revolution in all parts of the world.

He co-founded Intel with Robert Noyce in 1968. He served as CEO of Intel for eight years and his partnership with Apple lasted for 15 years until it turned into Apple Silicon in 2020.

Apple demoed mixed reality glasses last week

Apple showed off its mixed reality headset to its top executives at the Steve Jobs Theater, a major milestone ahead of its planned announcement this June, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Despite the excitement around the device's launch, there are many potential issues, including the starting price of $3000, lack of a clear application, uncomfortable design, and limited media content. Apple executives are said to be realistic about the capabilities of the device and expect it to follow a similar path to the Apple Watch, and become a successful product over time.

Miscellaneous news

◉ Apple launched the first beta version of iOS 16.5, iPadOS 16.5, macOS Ventura 13.4, tvOS 16.5 and watchOS 9.5 updates for developers.

◉ Apple released the iTunes 12.12.8 update for Windows, the update came with security improvements and support for new devices.

◉ A sports tab has been added to the Apple News app in the beta version of the iOS 16.5 update.

◉ iOS 16.4, iPadOS 16.4, macOS Ventura 13.3, and tvOS 16.4 add support for the PlayStation 5 DualSense Edge wireless controller, allowing it to be used with Apple devices.

◉ In addition to iOS 16.4 and iPadOS 16.4 updates, Apple has released iOS 15.7.4 and iPadOS 15.7.4 updates, which is available for older devices, and should be updated as soon as possible, as it includes important security fixes.

◉ Apple is said to have made progress with its self-driving system and is expanding testing, with heavy reliance on LiDAR sensors. Recent reports indicate that Apple has scaled back its initial vision for the car and it is now expected to have a more traditional design with limited self-driving capabilities, and is estimated to be launched in 2026 at a price of less than $XNUMX.

◉ It is said that Samsung Display will start manufacturing OLED screens for the iPhone 15 series a month earlier than planned in May, due to production issues with BOE. And it was contracted with BOE to manufacture OLED screens for the standard model of the iPhone 15, but it was dispensed with after light leakage problems, and therefore Samsung took its place, and LG Display will produce OLED screens for higher models with ProMotion support.

◉ Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said that Apple has no plans to release a new version of the third-generation AirPods with a USB-C port, but plans to release a revised version of the second-generation AirPods Pro with a USB-C port later this year.

◉ Last year, the US Drug Enforcement Agency used AirTag to track a batch of illicit drug-making equipment sent from China to a drug dealer in the US. An AirTag was placed inside the package to track its movements and provide accurate location information to investigators. The AirTag may have been chosen because of its reliability and because of past failures of other GPS devices used by the police. AirTags did the job and the package was successfully tracked.

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