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The Real Use of Augmented Reality

Posted on July 10, 2019 by admin Posted in Business, Hardware, Medical, User Interface Leave a comment

What it is: Apple filed a patent for a unique use of augmented reality that warps images so they can be seen in a person’s blind spots.

Look at any technology and it’s only as useful as the problems it solves. One huge reason why virtual reality hasn’t taken off is because it doesn’t solve a pressing need.

People adopted mobile phones and dumped land lines because mobile phones offered far greater convenience. People adopted cars because cars are easier to use than horse and carriage. People adopted electricity because it’s easier than lighting lamps with kerosene.

Right now, augmented reality has mostly been used for games and entertainment, which is fine because that’s how people experiment with new technology. However, eventually there must be a practical use for technology or else it simply fades away, much like 3D TV never went anywhere.

Apple’s latest patent points out how augmented reality could be used to help people with poor vision. Many partially blind people cannot see in certain areas of their eyes, creating blind spots. Apple’s patent points to warped images that allows augmented reality to display the areas that a person’s blind spot might be blocking, thereby granting them full and complete vision.

Augmented reality is more than just games. It’s a technology to enhance vision and correct faulty vision whether it’s just in people who need corrective lenses or people who are partially blind.

By using augmented reality to solve real problems, augmented reality will be far more useful than virtual reality. The future is augmented reality and Apple appears to be leading the way.

To learn more about Apple’s latest augmented reality patent, click here.

Competing Against Apple

Posted on July 3, 2019 by admin Posted in Business, Software Leave a comment

What it is: Apple adds new features to macOS all the time, and many of those features compete against third-party developers.

If you’re an independent developer, how do you compete against Apple? The simple answer is how you compete against any bigger company. You offer a better product.

The latest macOS Catalina will offer a feature called Sidecar, which will allow a Macintosh to use an iPad as a second screen wirelessly. This directly competes against a product called Duet Display, which also lets you use an iPad as a second screen for a Macintosh.

So how can Duet Display compete against the free Sidecar feature? The answer is easy.

Sidecar only works with the latest macOS Catalina and with the latest iPad models. If you have an older version of macOS or an older version of an iPad, then you won’t be able to use Sidecar.

In addition, Sidecar only works with the latest Macintosh models. If you have an older Macintosh, you won’t be able to use Sidecar either.

So Sidecar is a great feature but only for those with the latest equipment. That’s where a product like Duet Display can offer more features.

First of all, Duet Display works by connect a USB cable between a computer and the iPad, which makes a wired connection less convenient (because you need a cable) but also faster and more reliable.

Second, Duet Display can work with older versions of macOS and older Macintosh models. Duet Display can even work with Windows PCs so you can use your iPad as a second screen for a Windows computer.

Even better, Duet Display works with older iPad models. That means Duet Display offers compatibility with more devices than Sidecar while offering a faster and more reliable connection through a cable (at the expense of needing a cable).

Some people might be perfectly happy using Sidecar but Sidecar won’t necessarily displace Duet Display or similar products. Apple has no interest in supporting older Macintosh models or iPad models, nor do they care about supporting Windows PCs either.

Duet Display is like Sidecar but with more options. So if you ever want to compete against a big company like Apple, simply offer more features to reach a broader market.

Sidecar may be free, but if you don’t meet those exact requirements to use Sidecar, you’ll have no choice but to rely on Duet Display or a similar product.

It’s easy to compete against larger companies as an independent developer since you just need to go deeper in features than the larger company may wish to do.

Competing against larger companies may not be easy, but it’s not impossible. Sometimes a free option like Sidecar can actually promote greater awareness of a competing product.

Once people realize what Sidecar can do, they may find they can’t use it or that it’s too limited for their purposes. Then they may find a product like Duet Display is better.

If you’re a third party developer, just focus on making the best product possible. Chances are good you’ll have a product someone will be willing to pay for. If not, then you’ll still have plenty of experience creating something worthwhile.

To learn more about Duet Display, click here.

Adobe Alternative

Posted on June 20, 2019 by admin Posted in Business, Software Leave a comment

What it is: Affinity Publisher is a low-cost but highly capable desktop publishing program that rivals Adobe InDesign.

Adobe sells some of the best graphics and desktop publishing programs in the world. Unfortunately, Adobe products are also expensive and require a subscription service. For anyone who wants the results that Adobe products can create but without the expense of buying an Adobe subscription, look at Affinity Designer, Affinity Publisher, and Affinity Photo instead.

Affinity Designer is a vector graphics program similar to Illustrator while Affinity Photo is similar to Photoshop and Affinity Publisher is similar to InDesign. Best of all, each program costs around $40-$50 with no ongoing subscription fee. Once you buy it, it’s yours to use for as long as you wish without paying any additional fees.

Naturally, if you’re already familiar with Adobe products, you may not want to switch to a rival product. However, if cost is a major factor, Affinity’s product line can easily replace Adobe’s products for all but the most sophisticated users.

One particularly useful feature of Affinity Publisher is its live link option to Affinity Photo and Affinity Designer. This means that if you need to edit a graphic image within Affinity Publisher, you can access Affinity Designer or Affinity Photo right within Affinity Publisher.

With Adobe products, you might be editing a graphic image in InDesign, which would require you to load Illustrator or Photoshop, and then edit that graphic image. Then you’ll need to add that edited graphic image back into InDesign again. By eliminating this process, Affinity Publisher makes it easy to edit graphics without leaving your desktop publishing document in Affinity Publisher.

Although Affinity products are much less expensive than Adobe’s products, they offer the features most people need, even experienced graphic designers. Before spending money on Adobe, take a close look at Affinity product line to see if they might match your needs instead.

For anyone learning graphics and desktop publishing on a budget, Adobe’s products are out of reach so look to Affinity’s product line instead. Once you understand the basics of using Affinity’s products, you can easily apply those same principles to using Adobe’s software if you wish.

The bottom line is that Adobe’s software is just too expensive for most people, even professionals. Look at Affinity’s products. They may be all that you need after all.

To learn more about Affinity Publisher, click here.

iPadOS Means the iPad is the New Personal Computer

Posted on June 10, 2019 by admin Posted in Business, Hardware Leave a comment

What it is: Apple announced that they’re splitting iOS and coming out with a special version of iOS just for the iPad.

Back in the days of laptops, the netbook briefly caught on as a small, lightweight, inexpensive alternative. Netbooks cost a few hundred dollars and ran Windows XP or Linux. The problem was they ran slow processors and the keyboards we’re cramped and tiny.

When Apple introduced the iPad, they killed the netbook market. Today, you can’t find a single manufacturer of netbooks even though Dell, Hewlett-Packard, and other major computer companies once sold netbooks.

Now the iPad is taking on the traditional laptop market. Right now, most laptops are expensive, heavy, and lacking long battery life. The iPad is still more expensive than many laptops, but the iPad is far lighter with a longer battery life.

Even better, the processor in the iPad is getting more powerful, rivaling even Intel’s processors. When the iPad processor consistently runs noticeably faster than Intel’s processors, that’s when the iPad will truly take over the laptop market.

What has held the iPad back for years was its reliance on iOS. Originally, iOS was designed for tablets like the iPad. Then Apple show an opportunity to enter the smartphone market and they created iOS based on OS X, the Macintosh operating system.

When Apple introduced the iPhone, it took over the smartphone market. Later, Apple returned to their tablet designs and released the iPad, which killed the netbook market.

Yet for years, iOS has to be designed for both the iPhone and iPad, despite the larger screen of the iPad. Now Apple has created a version of iOS specifically for the iPad called iPadOS, which means they’ll likely rebrand iOS as iPhoneOS soon just to remain consistent.

By creating a separate iPadOS, Apple can optimize the operating system just for tablets, which they couldn’t do with iOS. That means the iPad will gradually get more unique features to make advantage of its touch screen interface and its larger size. This will likely give the iPad custom features that are unique to the form factor of the larger screen of tablets.

As the iPad grows in capabilities, that means fewer people will rely on laptops just as the iPhone helped reduce people’s dependency on access to a PC at all times to send messages or browse the Internet. Essentially, the iPad will help reshape the mobile computing market.

The world of PCs will always be around, but mobile computing (smartphones and tablets) are taking over. For many people, all they need is a smartphone and a tablet to do all of their computing needs.

iPadOS is just apple’s first step to making the iPad a full-fledged computer. Today’s generation might still cling to the familiar mouse and pull-down menu interface, but tomorrow’s next generation will be comfortable with touch screens. That means computing is shifting to the mobile market.

By creating a special iPadOS, Apple can optimize the operating system for the iPad. That’s good news for everyone, except any computer still trying to sell laptops in a world that’s embraced mobile computing.

To learn more about iPadOS, click here.

The iPad as a Second Display or Digital Stylus

Posted on June 3, 2019 by admin Posted in Hardware, User Interface Leave a comment

What it is: Apple announced at their Worldwide Developers Conference a new feature of macOS 10.15 Catalina called Sidecar, which lets you use the iPad as a second screen or stylus.

Any time you develop a useful feature, Apple may take it over. At one time, iPhone flashlight apps were popular until Apple incorporated that feature in iOS. Today, many apps let you connect your iPad to your Macintosh and use the iPad as a second display.

Now the latest macOS 10.15 Catalina offers a feature called Sidecar, which lets you do exactly that. Prop your iPad next to your Macintosh and use it as a second display. You can connect the iPad wirelessly or with wires.

More amazing is that you can also use the Apple Pencil with the iPad to turn the iPad into a stylus so you can draw on it and have your drawing appear directly on the Macintosh screen. In the past, you needed a specialized digital stylus tablet from Wacom or other companies. Now you can get that same feature just by using an iPad and an Apple Pencil.

For many people, this won’t be a crucial feature but others will likely adopt it just for the extra monitor screen alone. Rather than buy a second monitor, it’s cheaper and easier just to use an iPad.

Even better is that with the Apple Pencil, you can draw directly on the iPad, which is far easier than trying to draw using the mouse or touchpad.

The future of the Macintosh looks bright. Expect the latest version of macOS to leave behind older Macintosh models so you’ll want to get the latest version of a Macintosh you can afford along with the latest version of an iPad you can afford. If you need both a Macintosh and an iPad, and you need a second display or a digital stylus for drawing by hand, then you’ll be able to justify getting an iPad to go along with your Macintosh capable of running macOS 10.15 Catalina.

To learn more about the latest Sidecar feature in macOS 10.15, click here.

Apple Acquires Asthma Startup

Posted on May 27, 2019 by admin Posted in Business, Hardware, Medical Leave a comment

What it is: Apple recently acquired Tueo Health, a startup focusing on an app for dealign with asthma.

Tueo Health is a startup that was developing an app to help parents monitor asthma symptoms in sleeping children. The app works with commercial breathing sensors that can send an alert to a parent if a child’s breathing changes in the night.

Now the big question is what will Apple do with this acquisition? Will they continue selling this device or will they incorporate it into a new product in the future? Perhaps Apple might just be interested in the people behind the company and not the actual product itself.

Whatever happens, it’s clear that Apple is aiming for the real-time health monitoring market. While Google makes its money from Android through tracking users’ activities, Apple is focusing on privacy, and nothing requires more privacy than personal health data.

That’s going to be the growing difference between Google and Apple. Android’s entire business model revolves around lack of privacy, which makes it hard for people to trust Android for collecting their health data.

Apple’s iOS business model revolves around privacy, which makes it easy for people to trust Apple for collecting and storing their health data. The future of the mobile and wearable market will boil down to privacy.

If you don’t mind not having privacy, you can exchange your data in return for lower price products. If you do want privacy, then you need to pay for it through products that don’t profit from your personal data.

Apple will never shift to Google’s Android model and Google can’t afford to shift Android to Apple’s model. That means while Google will continue cleaning up by monetizing other people’s data, Apple will slowly make inroads in the health field until they gradually come to dominate, not through superior technology but through the simple act of protecting your privacy as much as possible.

As profitable as Android might be for Google now, it won’t seem so profitable in the future when Apple gobbles up the lucrative health care market all to themselves.

To learn more about Apple’s latest acquisition, click here.