ResearchKit given to developers

Apple excited many when they announced ‘ResearchKit’ at their recent special media event, and now the crowd-sourced medical research software has been made available for developers and medical researchers around the world.

The software allows users to send their medical data to researchers, giving them for the first time a massive amount of important data to analyze in their efforts to eradicate disease and improve health on a grand scale. Since it was announced, 60,000 people have sent their data to research facilities such as Stanford and UCLA for the 5 medical apps that were in ResearchKit from the get go: asthma, breast cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and Parkinson’s disease.

ResearchKit apps use iPhone sensors such as the accelerometer, gyroscope, microphone and GPS to track a user’s activity levels, motor impairments, memory and more. The research apps, available on the App Store in the United States, are compatible with the iPhone 5, iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus and fifth-generation iPod touch.

ResearchKit is now, as of yesterday, open source, which means anyone can design apps and conduct studies using the software and available data. Apple have created a blog on ResearchKit on Github, that will provide researchers and engineers all over the world with a simple forum for sharing tips on how to take advantage of the ResearchKit framework.

From the sauce, Jeff Williams, Apple’s senior vice president of Operations:

 
“We are delighted and encouraged by the response to ResearchKit from the medical and research community and the participants contributing to medical research. Studies that historically attracted a few hundred participants are now attracting participants in the tens of thousands. Medical researchers all over the world are actively exploring how ResearchKit can help them study even more diseases, and we believe the impact on global understanding of health and wellness will be profound.”

Apple has said that they will be introducing the open source medical framework in other countries soon.

How will April 10th work?

Looking to buy an Apple watch? Or simply to go have a gander at them? Starting April 10th, you can do just that (although you won’t be able to take one home until the 24th, only pre-ordering starts on the 10th).

So how will it work? Well, it’ll be really, really busy. Think your average Apple store experience, with about 100 more people. That’s totally  a guesstimate, and we’re also guesstimating that the numbers will go up in the days following the 10th with people who are trying to miss out on the starter crowds. Sneakers!

So: busy. If you want to try on an Apple Watch, you’re looking at making and holding a personal 15 minute appointment with an Apple store employee, where they’ll presumably go through a bunch of questions about what style watch and band you want. Supposedly, they’re being trained to look at your style, what you do for a living, your lifestyle, etc and use that information to recommend the perfect Apple watch for you.

If you’re looking at buying the super fancy Gold Apple Watch Edition, you’re looking at a whole 15 minutes more than the rest of us plebs. That’s right, you get half an hour! And you’ll also get attended to by a specially trained employee. So that’s pretty special.

Apple Watch Edition will however only be available in select stores. The other Apple Watch options will be available to try on  in all Apple retail stores from the beginning of store hours on April 10th. The stores will be transformed overnight to and the watches themselves will be placed in glass display tables surrounded by try-on tables.

There will also be pop-up stores for the fancy Edition Apple Watches, although we haven’t heard of any in the states yet. So far we’ve heard mentioned The Wonder Room in Selfridges, the Galeries Lafayette in Paris, and the Isetan Department Store in Tokyo.

Will you be going to try on an Apple Watch on April 10th?

Stockmarket news for Apple

Now for some more Serious Saturday news. Or Something.

Apple will be joining the Dow Jones Industrial Average at the close of trade on March 18th. Apple will be replacing At&T on the 30 member stock market measure.

From the Sauce:

“Apple is the clear choice for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the most recognized stock market measure.” Explains  David M. Blitzer, chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices.

The Dow Jones is used to give insight into how the stock market is trading, by averaging out 30 significant stocks which are traded on the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq. Other members of the Dow Jones include big names like American Express, Boeing, Coca-Cola, Disney, Exxon Mobil, Goldman Sachs, IBM, Intel, JPMorgan and Chase, Microsoft, Verizon and Visa.

Apple is currently the worlds most valuable company with a market cap over $735 billion. Dollars. Apple is currently listed on Nasdaq with a pre-market share price hovering around the $126 mark.

Happy Saturday!

Apple announces Special Media event on March 9th

Good news!! One of those things we all love – Apple special media events – has just been announced!

Come March 9th (that’s in just 11 days people!) Apple will be sharing some special news with us at a media event held at 10:00 AM P.S.T at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco.

What the news? Well, we’re not 100% on that, but that’s of course not unusual for an Apple media event. Here’s what we do know:

The event is named ‘Spring forward’.

Apple will be live streaming the event from it’s website as well as making it available on Apple TV via a dedicated channel.

It is assumed that the event will focus mainly on the imminent release of the much anticipated Apple Watch, including specific price, battery life, accessory and release date details.

There is a rumor that Apple will also talk about a 12-inch Retina Macbook Air as well.

Other than that we’ll just have to wait and see! We will of course keep you up to date with the rumor mill as the event gets closer!

Apple ordered to pay $532.9 Million in patent lawsuit

Uh oh-Spaghettios.

The day after celebrating what would have been the late Steve Jobs’ 60th Birthday,  a federal jury in Texas has found that Apple infringed on Texas based patent licensing firm Smartflash LLC’s patents relating to digital rights management, data storage and managing access through payment systems.

The infringement exists in relation to iTunes and the jury has hence ordered Apple to pay up – not the original $852 Smartflash was originally after, but $532.9 million big ones. Apple will be appealing the findings of course, saying that Smartflash is exploiting the patent system to seek royalties for tech Apple invented.

From the Sauce, Apple spokeswoman Kristin Huguet:
“Smartflash makes no products, has no employees, creates no jobs, has no U.S. presence, and is exploiting our patent system to seek royalties for technology Apple invented,” said Kristin Huguet, an Apple spokeswoman. “We refused to pay off this company for the ideas our employees spent years innovating and unfortunately we have been left with no choice but to take this fight up through the court system.”

In what seems like an expensive (or lucrative) year for Smartflash, they are also suing Samsung in a lawsuit that will begin after the Apple trial is complete, as well as against HTC Corp and Google.

This case is Smartflash LLC v. Apple Inc., 13-447, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Texas.

Apple testing driverless car?

So there’s been a Dodge caravan minivan driving around Concord, CA, and it’s got all kinds of weird things on top of it. Naturally, because of it’s close location to the wonder that is Silicon Valley (the place… not the TV Show) people got suspicious.

Turns out, the van is leased to Apple. THE MYSTERY DEEPENS to pretty much where it was expected to go. Apple hasn’t made any comment yet, but it appears that the car has a bunch of super nice cameras on top of it, leading many to speculate that the car is being used either to improve their mapping technology, or to test driverless vehicle technology.

Unlike our friends at Google, Apple isn’t actually licensed  for testing driverless cars, however that wouldn’t stop them from having a partnership with one of the manufacturers who does.

Check out pics of the Van here at Claycord.com

Have you seen the mystery van around? Got any clues? Drop us a line!

Apple earnings call & Apple Watch release update

Tim Cook has had a busy day. But – a pretty good one by all accounts. He had to make the earnings call which covered the first fiscal quarter of 2015. In it, he told financial analysts and investors that not only did Apple sell about 9 million more iPhones than what was expected and forecast, but that they also had reported earnings of $3.06 per share on revenue of $74.6 billion which is way more than anyone was expecting.

According to a consensus estimate from Thomson Reuters, analysts had actually expected Apple to report earnings of about $2.60 a share on $67.69 billion in revenue.

Yeesh.

The iPad was the only soft note in the earnings call, with sales hitting a quieter 21.4 million units instead of the 22.2 million unit estimate. However, Apple’s cash rose to almost $178 billion, up 15 percent from the prior quarter.

Again – Yeesh.

So – to the best news! Straight from the Sauce, Mr Cook himself –

“Development for Apple Watch is right on schedule, and we expect to begin shipping in April… My expectations are very high on it. I’m using it every day and love it and can’t live without it.”

Bam. Bam. Bam. April. Early April, Apple Watch, tech we apparently can’t live without. Excellent! And with a battery that can be charged just by thinking good thoughts. Right Tim?

Apps(s) of the week! Beer Edition!

Beer es gut, ya?

Yeah. Beer’s good. So here’s some Apps to get the most out of your beer imbibing experience.

*Beer App.  This is an App that sends your friends one message. The word Beer, with a question mark. The easiest and best way to invite your friends to join you for a beer.

Beer?

Free from the App Store. 

*Elixer.  A drinking community! Take a photo of your drink, use the optional filters, upload & share it, rate it, discuss it, browse where and what your friends are drinking, discuss that. Also good for making more permanent memories of where you were and what you were doing if you happen to drink a little too much. Free from the App Store. 

*NextGlass.  Kind of like Pandora for your beer-loving taste buds.  Scan the label from within the App, and it will tell you an estimate score of how much you’ll like it based on your previous activity with the App. Then once you rate it from how you actually feel about it, it’ll use that to recommend what you should drink next!

Next Glass has developed a scientific method to choose a drink based on the chemistry behind your taste. Using science and machine-learning you can determine if you like a bottle before you ever taste it. Nifty, eh? It’ll also tell you all the important info about the drink such as calories, carbs and ABV! NIFTIEST!

Free from the App Store. 

*Taphunter.  See what cocktails, specialty spirits and tasty brew are being offered up where and when with this handy app. With a list that includes restaurants, bars and liquor stores, see rankings, menu’s, drink information  and wish lists.

Free from the App Store. 

Happy Weekend! Get some beer in ye.

Check out “Hour Of Code” December 11th

Code.org is a non-profit website which has a variety of tools for programming and coding education. Each year, during Computer Science Education Week (Dec 8th through 14th) they host what they call the “Hour Of Code”  which aims to reach millions of students and teach them basic programming techniques.

Apple has announced that they will be joining Code.org, hosting free, one hour lessons on basic programming for kids at their Apple Stores on December 11th. In select cities, Apple will also be providing special events and workshops with engineers and developers throughout the week that support Code.org’s mission and the ethos of Computer Science Education Week.

The Apple Store in Soho, New York will be starring the team behind Hopscotch, and the Apple Store on Regent Street in London will star NaturalMotion.

Check it out here to see if it’s going on in your local store!

Apple will live stream upcoming Media Event!

Apple’s next big special media event is coming up fast – 10am on Thursday the 16th October is not too far away! On that note, we have some good news for you! A special secret source that spoke to the good guys over at Macrumors has confirmed that Apple will indeed be live streaming the event on both Apple Tv and the Apple website.

We’re expecting to see updated iPads (both Air and mini), possibly a new 12 inch iPad, a final look at OS X Yosemite before it’s public launch, and the possibility of new Mac Mini’s or something completely unexpected but awesome! ( C’mon, it’s possible…)

We’ll be watching the live stream and keeping you updated! Hopefully we won’t have to brush up on our Mandarin for this one…