Interesting Links

Third week in a row with a four day work week. Looking to keep the streak going next week. Here are some links to close out Friday. Enjoy.

• The iOS 9.1 beta revealed NEW EMOJIS!!!! Included are the taco, the burrito and the middle finger. Yes the middle finger. As One Foot Tsunami points out, what a time to be alive. 
• One of the apps I have been begging for in the new Apple TV is an official Plex app. IT World confirmed via email that Plex is currently working on a new app.
• If you want to read an in-depth review of iOS 9 checkout Macstories' Federico Viticci's 48,000, 23 page review. Yes you read that correct.
• Content Blockers are the new hot app for iOS 9 which allows you to block ads and trackers. Peace was launched by Overcast developer Marco Arment. It's one of my favorites. 
• Thom Yorke released an eight minute epic track called Villain. A mix of IDM with vocals provided by Brooklyn Youth Chorus. Check it out at Consequence of Sound.

iOS 9 Tips and Tricks

This will be a multi-part post as I continue to explore iOS 9 and find new features. I plan on addressing iPad specific tips and tricks in a separate post.

iOS 9 is here and while at first glance it may appear not much has changed there are plenty of new features and goodies buried into the operating system that you may not know about. Here I will break down some of the more useful features to optimize your iOS 9 experience. 

Enable iCloud Drive App

When iCloud Drive was introduced I was excited about an integrated cloud solution for documents on iOS. What I was disappointed in was the fact Apple did not offer a native iCloud Drive app and you were forced to look for third party workarounds or just access your iCloud Drive through the web interface or finder in OS X. iOS 9 finally brings the app to reality.

To enable the iCloud Drive app open Settings and navigate to iCloud>iCloud Drive and toggle Show on Home Screen. Your iCloud Drive app will immediately appear.

Enable Low Power Mode

iOS 9 out of the box features some improvements to battery life which Apple claims will give you an additional 1 hour of battery. If that is not enough and you are running low with no access to power you can always turn on Low Power Mode. Low Power Mode works two ways. You can manually toggle this feature on at any time by going to the Settings app and navigating to Battery and toggling Low Power Mode on. You will know Low Power Mode is enabled because your battery color will turn yellow. If Low Power Mode is not enabled when your battery hits 20% Low Power Mode will remind you it's available and ask if you want to turn it on.

Enable Wi-Fi Assist

Buried at the bottom of the Cellular section of the Settings app is a new feature called Wi-Fi assist. You have most likely jumped onto a poor, public Wi-Fi network only to experience less than optimal speeds. Typically you would toggle off and on the Wi-Fi radio to re-establish a better connection. No longer is this necessary. Wi-Fi assist will automatically use your cellular data if it feels your Wi-Fi connection is struggling. Users with data caps need to be wary of this feature as to ensure you are not going over your monthly limit.

Enable Wi-Fi Calling

This feature is near and dear to my heart considering my line of work involves improving indoor cellular reception. If you are now in an area or building where signal is poor and you are unable to make phone calls you can toggle on Wi-Fi calling (if supported by your carrier). With this enabled you can now make and receive calls over Wi-Fi with your carrier account. To enable this setting open the Settings app and navigate to Phone>Wi-Fi Calling and hit the toggle. 

Apple Music High Quality Audio Over Cellular

Apple quietly added a new setting within Apple Music to allow for higher quality audio over cellular. Again use this with caution if you are on a limited data plan as this can quickly kill your cap. Since I've been able to hold onto my unlimited data plan since 2007 this feature is welcomed. Using Spotify for years I got used to the Extreme quality setting not just on Wi-Fi but also cellular. This brings Apple Music up to speed a bit. This can be enabled by opening Settings and navigating to Music.  Hit the High Quality Over Cellular toggle.

Proactive / Siri

Siri received an update that makes him/her much smarter than she has ever been. First thing you should try is the new Spotlight search. You can access this by swiping on the home screen to the right. This will bring up a search that also includes recently used contacts, apps, locale shortcuts and news. I've been using this a lot since upgrading to iOS 9. It's fantastic. One of the great features of Spotlight search is the ability to search within apps without actually opening said apps. For example, 1Password received an update yesterday that includes Spotlight search integration. You can now search for password entries which you can tap and dive right into within the app. 

Siri allows you to be proactive and tell her to perform actions about an app that you are currently working in. For example let's say you are reading a website within Safari and you want to set a reminder about what you are viewing. Simply invoke Siri and ask her to "remind you of this" and she will set a reminder for that webpage. This works within most of Apple's native apps and will be supported by third party apps once the developers provide updates.

To learn more about what Siri can do for you simply ask her to tell you. 

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So far I am really enjoying iOS 9. I've noticed a few bugs which I'm sure will be cleaned up with the next .1 update. If I find any more useful tips I will make sure to share them in a separate post. If you have discovered anything neat and useful that I didn't mention please leave a comment.

Enjoy. YMMV.

Portfolio Blog on Apple News (Update)

iOS 9 is and here with that comes Apple News. As I've written before I submitted this blog to be included in Apple News a little over a month ago. 

You can now locate me on Apple News by clicking on this link and adding me to your list of sources by hitting the plus sign. You can also find me on Apple News by doing a search for Jonathan's Portfolio. 

Please keep in mind this only works on iOS 9.

I hope you enjoy. 

DOOMSTARKS - Lively Hood

NEW DOOMSTARKS!!! Appears on the upcoming Adult Swim "Singles" series. Stream and download below.

Weekend Vibes #5

Big Grams - Fell in the Sun

Big Boi and Phantogram, otherwise known as Big Grams, dropped their lead single off the collaborative project EP this week and it's a banger. The EP is due out September 25th through Epic Records.  

Pre-order here and check out the full tracklisting for the EP.

Have a great weekend.

2015 Apple Event Wrap Up

Another September, another interesting Apple Event. September has become known in the Apple universe as the busiest month of the year. This is where all the hard work from the previous year culminates into some pretty large announcements. Let's break down everything that was announced and all the key features for each product. 

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iPad Pro

The iPad Pro has been rumored for years now and it finally became a reality. I'm actually surprised it's taken Apple this long to embrace the productivity side of the iPad. Due to the price point of this model and how close it gets to the Macbook line I would prefer to upgrade my Macbook before owning an iPad Pro. Here are the features and specs:

• Color Options: Silver, Gold, Space Gray
• Pricing: Wi-Fi Models - 32GB, $799 / 128GB, $949 Wi-Fi + Cellular Models - 128GB, $1079
• Wi-Fi Models: 32GB, 128GB
• Wi-Fi + Cellular Model: 128GB
• Weight: 1.57 pounds (Wi-Fi Model), 1.59 pounds (Wi-Fi + Cellular Model)
• Dimensions: 12 inches long, 8.68 inches wide, 0.27 inches thick
• Display: 12.9" Retina Display, LED backlit. 2732-by-2048 resolution at 264 pixels per inch
• Fingerprint Resistant, Fully laminated display, Antireflective coating
• A9X chip with 64-bit architecture, M9 motion coprocessor
• Back Camera: 8MP iSight Camera, Autofocus, 2.4 aperture, Five element lens
• FaceTime Camera: 1.2MP, 2.2 aperture, 720p HD video
• Video: 1080p HD video at 30FPS, Slo-mo, Time Lapse
• Wi-Fi: 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, dual channel
• Cellular: UMTS/HSPA/HSPA+/DC-HSDPA, GSM/EDGE, CDMA, LTE
• 10 hour battery life
  
  Check out a promotional video highlighting all the iPad Pro features here.

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Apple TV

It's been years since the Apple TV received any type of major overhaul as we've only seen small refreshes here and there and actually saw a model lose features. Apple revealed the next iteration of the Apple TV and while it adds features that were already available on competitor devices it's nice for people who are in the Apple ecosystem to enjoy things such as universal search and an App Store. While not much was said at the event I was hoping to gain more information on home integration. Here are some features and specs:

• Capacity and Price:  32GB, $149 / 64GB, $199
• Siri Remote: Bluetooth 4.0, IR Transmitter, Accelerometer and gyroscope, Lightning connector, months of battery life
• Ports: HDMI 1.4, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, 10/100 BASE-T Ethernet, USB-C
• A8 chip with 64-bit architecture
• 1080p, 60fps

Check out a promotional video highlighting all the Apple TV features here.

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iPhone

The new iPhone, like all "S" upgrades, received some minor spec bumps in the processor, camera and GPU. The key attraction to the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus has to be the new 3D Touch (think Force Touch) which allows for deeper menu integration and functionality of iOS. Here is a breakdown of all the features:

• Color Options: Silver, Gold, Space Gray, Rose Gold
• Capacity Options: 16GB, 64GB, 128GB
• Weight and Dimensions: iPhone 6s - 5.44 inches long, 2.64 inches wide, 0.28 inches thick, 5.04 ounces / iPhone 6s+ - 6.23 inches long, 3.07 inches wide, 0.29 inches thick, 6.77 ounces
• Display: iPhone 6s - 4.7" Retina HD with 3D Touch, 1334-by-750 resolution at 326ppi / iPhone 6s+ - 5.5" Retina HD with 3D Touch, 1920-by-1080 resolution at 401ppi
• A9 chip with 64-bit architecture, M9 motion coprocessor
• 12-megapixel iSight Camera, Live Photos, Autofocus with Focus Pixels, True Tone Flash
• 4K Video recording at 30fps, 1080p video recording at 30 or 60fps, 720p video recording at 30fps
• FaceTime HD Camera: 5-megapixels, 720p HD video, Retina Flash, 2.2 aperture
• Touch ID

Check out a promotional video highlighting all the iPhone features here.

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Peripherals

Apple introduced a few accessories to go along with the new iPad Pro including a new smart keyboard and Apple's custom stylus called Apple Pencil. The pencil is a pretty neat piece of tech and includes a hidden lightning connector under the cap so you can recharge the pencil with the iPad Pro. 15 seconds of charging gives you a mind blowing 30 minutes of battery life. You read that correctly. If only they could figure out a way to make this happen with the iPhone. Watch the Apple Pencil video here and check out the details of the smart keyboard here. Apple also introduced some new watch bands and new colors for the sport version of the watch. Apple announced a partnership with Hermes to bring some new, designer bands and watch faces. 

Availability

Here is when you can expect to get your hands on all these awesome pieces of technology.

• iPad Pro - November
• Apple TV - Coming Soon
• iPhone - Pre-order 9/12/15, Available 9/25/15
• Apple Pencil - November
• Keyboard Case - November

If you missed all or any part of the keynote you can now watch it on Apple's website here.

Big Boi/Phantogram "Big Grams EP" Tracklist

I've been waiting a while for this project. Well I've been waiting for any output from Big Boi for a while. A tracklist has been revealed for the "Big Grams EP" which is due out on September 25th. Pleasant surprise as Run the Jewels is a featured guest.  Check out the tracklist below.  

1 - Run for Your Life
2 - Lights On
3 - Fell In The Sun
4 - Put It On Her
5 - Goldmine Junkie
6 - Born To Shine [ft. Run the Jewels]
7 - Drum Machine [ft. Skrillex]
 

Weekend Vibes #4

Mos Def & Ski Beatz - Sensei On the Block

I wasn't really feeling Yasiin Bey's recent release "Basquiat Ghostwriter" but he's back under his old moniker Mos Def and teamed up with Ski Beatz for "Sensei On the Block". This is some of the best stuff I've heard from Mos in a while.

Have a great weekend. 

Interesting Links

Some interesting links to help you close out the week and enjoy an extended holiday weekend.

• An unexpected announcement came from Google this week as Engadget reports that Android Wear, the watch operating system for Google, now works with iPhones. 
• Tons of rumors came out this week regarding Apple's event that is scheduled for next week. Apple TV specs, iPhone specs, a "planned" iPad Pro announcement and Cult of Mac sharing a photo of the Force Touch sensor in the iPhone 6s.
• The Dolphins made a roster move that some weren't happy with. Long time punter Brandon Fields was released and lost his job to rookie Matt Darr. Palm Beach Post has the story.
• MacRumors reports that CBS Sports will expand its streaming NFL coverage on the Apple TV to include Super Bowl 50 as well as other NFL games for free.
• One of the new features in iOS 9 are content blockers. This is one of the biggest features I am looking forward too. The mobile web has become a landmine field to navigate. iMore has an article discussing how content blockers will work with the new OS.

Jamie xx - BBC Radio 1Xtra Carnival Guest Mix

Jamie xx put together a mix inspired by Carnival for BBC Radio 1Xtra. Key tracks included in the mix are his remix of Adele's "Rolling in the Deep" and a dancehall remix of "Good Times". Check out the tracklist below.

Enjoy.

Tracklist

Adele - Rolling In The Deep [Jamie xx Remix]

Yellowman - Nobody Move Nobody Get Hurt

Toots & The Maytals - 54-46 Was My Number

Big Youth - Screaming Target Eek A Mouse Smuggling

Ini Kamoze - Trouble You A Trouble Me

Mungo’s Hi Fi - Babylon

The Bug - Skeng ft Flow Dan & Killa P

Mala - Jah Power Dub

Beenie Man - Who Am I

Jamie xx - Good Times Remix ft Popcaan, Kranium, Assassin, & Konshens

Popcaan - Everything Is Nice Remix ft Mavado

Jamie xx - Far Nearer

Ragga Twins - Hooligan 69

Mavado - Never Believe You

Steel An Skin - Afro Punk Reggae Dub