Meet Siri

Is it weird that millions of people around the world know this lady’s voice, and that they communicate with her, sort of, every day without her knowing anything about it?

It’s weird, right?

It’s Susan Bennett’s life. She’s a voice over actress from Atlanta, and has for the first time been publicly identified (by CNN) as the voice behind Siri.

Probably.

“I’m the voice actor who provided the voice of Siri,” Bennett told CNN in an interview, although Trudi Muller, a spokeswoman for Apple, declined to comment.

CNN said an audio-forensics expert “has studied both voices and says he is ‘100 per cent’ certain the two are the same.”

Hi Siri! Thanks for letting people record your answers to our stupid questions from the future!

Super nice of you.

Image courtesy of eonline.com

Thanksgiving yaya!!

Brace yourselves: Thanksgiving is coming!

You guys probably don’t really need to brace yourselves though, cos thanksgiving means yummy foods and cool leaves and family (maybe brace yourselves a bit).

It also means holidays! And this year, like many in the past, Apple employees are in for extra special thanksgiving- with extra days off to be thankful for!

Thanks Tim Cook! (Is what we’d say if we were given days off for thanksgiving. And we worked for apple).

Apple employees all over the world get the entire week of thanksgiving off WITH pay. WHHHOOOOOOOP!

Peeps who work in retail and customer service, as well as those for whom thankgiving means, well, not a lot, i.e. those in other countires, can take those paid days leave at other, convenient, staggered times.  Whoop.

Here’s the email Tim Cook Sent to his loved and thankful staff regarding the extra paid days off, thanks to 9to5mac.

Team-

It’s been an exciting summer. For the first time, we’ve launched two new iPhone product lines. iOS 7 was created from a deep collaboration between our design and engineering teams, bringing to our customers a stunning new user interface and amazing new features. We unveiled OS X Mavericks and the most powerful Mac ever. The App Store celebrated a new milestone — 50 billion downloads. And we continued to express our love for music with iTunes Radio and the iTunes Festival.

I had the opportunity to visit a few of our stores during the iPhone launch. There is no better place to see and feel why Apple is special. The best products on Earth. Energy. Enthusiasm. The best customers in the world. Passionate team members focused on enriching people’s lives. Innovative products that serve humanity’s deepest values and highest aspirations.

And I am proud to tell you that Apple is also a force for good in our world beyond our products. Whether it’s improving working conditions or the environment, standing up for human rights, helping eliminate AIDS, or reinventing education, Apple is making a substantial contribution to society.

None of this would have been possible without you. Our most important resource is not our money, our intellectual property, or any capital asset. Our most important resource — our soul — is our people.

I realize many of you worked tirelessly to bring us this far. I know it required great personal sacrifice. In recognition of your incredible efforts and achievements, I’m happy to announce that we’re extending the Thanksgiving holiday this year. We will shut down with pay on November 25, 26, and 27 so our teams can have the whole week off.

Retail, AppleCare and a few other teams will need to work that week so we can continue to serve our customers, but will receive the same number of days off at an alternate time. Please check with your manager for details. Our international teams will schedule the vacation days at a time that is best suited for their specific country.

I hope you find the extra time restful and relaxing. You deserve it. Details will be available on AppleWeb soon. I am exceedingly proud of all of you. I am in awe of what you’ve accomplished and couldn’t be more excited about the future.

Enjoy the time away!

So that’s cool. But hey, even if we’re not Apple employees and aren’t getting more full paid days off over Thanksgiving, at least we’ve got Captain Halloween to look forward to.

And, if you guys are anything like us, lots to be thankful for.

Shenanigans!

Shenanigans!

Yes, we really like that word, but also, Samsung and others are totally participating in SHENANIGANS! And so we thought we should tell you about them. The SHENANIGANS!

The smart phone market is one wrought with lawsuits, competition edging on plain schoolyard bullying and lots and lot of money. Hence, the top competitors in the smartphone industry put a lot of work into making their product seem the best.

‘Seem’ being the operative word.  Sometimes, the competitors just wanna make sure it seem like their product is doing really well. Take Samsung, who recently have been caught artificially increasing the CPU speeds on it’s Galaxy Note 3 smart phone when benchmark apps are running. 

Benchmark apps are apps that measure the performance of your device and compare the scores with similar devices, in this case, other smartphones.

Ars Technica have found out that inside Samsung’s operating system on their smartphones sits a special little code. this little code identifies when benchmarking apps are being used, and in turn boosts CPU clock speeds and prevents CPU cores from entering low-power modes.

They’re big fakers, basically. In this specific case, anyway. Allegedly. And stuff.As a result of this special code, the Galaxy Note 3 benchmarks report CPU performance roughly 20 percent faster than most apps will experience on the device.

According to the guys at Ars:

“The difference is remarkable. In Geekbench’s multicore test, the Note 3’s benchmark mode gives the device a 20 percent boost over its “natural” score. With the benchmark boosting logic stripped away, the Note 3 drops down to LG G2 levels, which is where we initially expected the score to be given the identical SoCs. This big of a boost means that the Note 3 is not just messing with the CPU idle levels; significantly more oomph is unlocked when the device runs a benchmark”.

AND HERE”S THE BEST BIT:

According to Apple exec Phil Schiller via Twitter-

“shenanigans”.

Awesome.

Now… Anandtech has published evidence suggesting that nearly all mobile manufacturers, WITH THE EXCEPTION of Apple and Motorola, use CPU/GPU optimizations to game benchmark tests.

WHAAAAAA? IT’S ALL A LIE!

“With the exception of Apple and Motorola, literally every single OEM we’ve worked with ships (or has shipped) at least one device that runs this silly CPU optimization. It’s possible that older Motorola devices might’ve done the same thing, but none of the newer devices we have on hand exhibited the behavior. It’s a systemic problem that seems to have surfaced over the last two years, and one that extends far beyond Samsung.”

Way to destroy our trust and beliefs everyone except Apple and Motorola. What else can we believe in if not technical benchmark data? At least we have Captain Halloween coming soon. Gosh we love Captain Halloween. You know, the guy.

You know the guy.

Image courtesy of gsmnation

Virgin offering shiny new iPhones at shiny new prices!

Virgin Mobile USA, a subsiduary of Sprint Mobile, has begun selling the shiny new iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C!

And here’s the extra good bit- the pre-paid brand are offering a$100 discount from the normal (unsubsidized) pricing!

Sahweeeeht!

The 16Gb phones will be available both online and in retail stores whilst the 32 GB and 64 GB iPhone 5s and 32GB iPhone 5c are only available at Virgin Mobile’s website.

As is to be expected, stock is somewhat limited, especially on the gold iPhone 5s and the yellow 16Gb iPhone 5C models.

Another Sprint subsidiary, Boost, is expected to be offering a similar deal in the weeks to come.

Yay for Virgin!

Image courtesy of 9to5mac.com

How many people have upgraded to iOS 7?

iOS 7 has been out for just over two weeks and although there have been some bugs surrounding the software upgrade (hi iMessages and Mail), and despite some of the media beating up on it, the general consensus is that iOS 7 is a good thing.

With the help of the guys over at Mixpanel, we can track the the number of people who have upgraded their devices to iOS 7.

The number is currently sitting at just over 65% and is still rising, which is much greater than the uptake of iOS 6. Maybe those media beater upperers had a plan…

Anyway, Apple is fixing the bugs that came along with the release and millions of people using it, and a new version of iOS 7.0.3 is due next week.

Have you upgraded? Check out this link to see the status of how many people have upgraded their devices ( it’s updated by the hour).

https://mixpanel.com/trends/#report/ios_7

Image courtesy of Cult Of Mac.

New Logitech iPhone controller sneak peak!

Gamers!

Hi!

You guys by any chance remember the leak about Logitech’s groundbreaking iOS 7 controller way back around WWDC in June? Ya? well it happened, way to be up to date so called gamers.

Just kidding. C’mon, smile! Here’s a leak of what the controller looks like!

Logitech appears to have left space for the camera, which means possible future augmented reality compatibility and games that allow for the use of the camera! Sweet!

Apparently there will be 2 types of game controllers offered for play in coordination with iOS 7 devices- the above form fitting controller where the iPhone slides right in snug as a big, and a second controller which is standalone and connected through bluetooth.

There will apparently be space allowing for joysticks, yay, but there is as of yet no hint about when these bad boys will be released, or how many bucks they’ll ask us to cough up.

It will be interesting to see how iOS 7 games will change with the increase of control these guys will allow, or if they will sell, even.

Hands up if you’d want/use/really really need one of these?

Image courtesy of Appleinsider.

So can we use our iPhones on planes now or wha?

Ok, so the advisory committee for the Federal Aviation Administration have come through with something that looks like it could be positive at some point in the future for most travelers.

The bird is not the word- Vague is the word! ( Just kidding, The bird is still the word )

Basically, this special advisory group made up experts within the industry have recommended that the rules regarding electronic device usage of commercial aircraft be relaxed, that passengers should be allowed to use personal electronic devices in all parts of flight, including taxi, take off and landing.

So that’s pretty cool.

The FAA does not, however, need to actually do anything about these recommendations at all. Some rules may be relaxed and some might not – so you might be able to use an e-reader on take off but not an iPhone unless it’s on flight mode. You might not be able to talk on the phone but you could use it to play a game or listen to music

They could decide to just leave everything as is, because it’s easier to control. If they do make changes, it will more than likely be a while before we as passengers see any change.

So for the moment, it’s all… up in the air…

p.s.

Image courtesy of sodahead.com

We might be able to do what on planes now?

There are three types of travelers in the world-

1, Those who turn their mobile devices off before they’re told to and place them neatly in their carry on bag with a smile.

2, Those who wait until the last minute to turn their devices off or (with a sneaky, guilty look) place them on airplane mode before ever so anxiously and reluctantly sliding them into their pocket.

AND

3, Those who smile as the flight attendant walks by, then checks their email whilst waiting to see when exactly during take off their phone will stop getting service, smiling calmly at anyone who looks in abject horror in their direction.

This, boys and girls, is because for, like, forever, everyone has had to turn off their phones and other devices capable of transmitting data during take-off and landing.

This is so that your device doesn’t interfere with the plane’s communication and navigation equipment.  These rules are, by all accounts, predominantly precautionary.

With the rise of portable devices and smartphone capabilities, there has been a similar rise in complaints from really busy business dudes and general everyday people that not being allowed to have their devices on is stupid and bad. Sometimes they even put it more eloquently.

Now some of the high up important people might have paid attention!

Smile! Because we might soon become one big happy flying family, friends! Except for the people who grab the top of your head from behind when they’re getting up or walking by. Or the people who steal your Apple juice AND blanket ( totally happened). God, those people. We’ll never be family.

Anyway.

By the end of next week, the FAA ( Federal Aviation Administration) will hear back from a panel of industry folk regarding the possible relaxation of the in-flight device rules. Um… AWESOME!

According to the FAA:

“The FAA recognizes consumers are intensely interested in the use of personal electronics aboard aircraft, that is why we tasked a government-industry group to examine the safety issues and the feasibility of changing the current restrictions. . . . We will wait for the group to finish its work before we determine next steps.”

( Statement was made to USA Today)

Well, independent panel of dudes from the flight industry, we eagerly await your results and suggestions!!

By the way, how awesome is this photo on a scale from 1-100?

Images courtesy of designboom.com, thesavoia.com & smh.com.au

What to do if you water, wine or vodka damage your iPhone!

Hey guys. So we seem to have been referencing getting your beloved shiny iPhone wet recently. Tackling the hard to talk about stuff, as per usual…

We understand that it’s not funny when someone accidentally drops their phone into a pitcher of beer, or falls into a pool, or does something to a person that gets them so mad they revenge pee on their phone ( happened to a friend of a friend of ours…)

Well, no, scratch that. That stuff is really  funny, as long as it’s not your phone, and if it is your phone, you usually get your sense of humor back if, IF you can rescue your wet wet iPhone.

Here’s what you should do to try rescue that poor wet puppy!

1, Don’t freak out. Crying will just bring more wetness. Duh. Your phone needs you to be strong, just like your Grandfather when he used to, like, walk all day in the snow to get to work and stuff.

2,  If the phone is submerged, unsubmerge it. Dry the surfaces real quick.

3, If the phone is still on, turn it off ASAP. If it’s already off, don’t try and turn the phone on RESIST THE URGE! Trust us. If your iPhone refuses to respond to your touch and refuses to turn off, well… no you can probably cry a little bit.

4, From here, it kind of depends on what stores you have at your disposal. The easiest helpful drying ingredient most people can get their hands on is Rice.  Put some rice in a ziplock bag or tupperware container – anything airtight- and completely envelop the phone within.

5, Rice is a great option, but what’s better is Silica Gel. Silica Gel is the stuff that’s inside those little packets of stuff you get in Beef Jerkey bags.

You can buy these at craft stores ( It’s intended use here is for flower drying). Again, submerge your phone in an airtight container full of the sachet’s.

6, If you have a good hardware store nearby, you could try to get DampRid.Works the same as the Silica Gel. Again with the airtight container, submerge, etc.

7, Place the container/ziplock bag in a warm dry place.

8, DON’T TOUCH YOUR PHONE FOR 24 HOURS! Even if you think it might really be ok, and you’re expecting the most important text ever, leave it in there. We would actually recommend leaving the phone for a full 48 hours, but the minimum has to be 24 hours to give it the best chance of surviving.

Poor little fella.

If all of this fails, send him on over to us, we’ll give you some CASHMONEY and make a nice new home for him out here on the farm.  You can do this HERE. 

Image courtesy of gameconsoleworld.com, robotroom.com & countrylife.co.uk

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New YouTube Mobile App feature!

Youtubers!

Good news! Very soon you will be able to download video using the mobile app on your phone or tablet AND watch said video later, when you’re offline for some weird reason.

Cool huh? Well, it’s like a 6 on coolness. Could definitely come in handy, definitely good for flights and camping and space flights.

But… some commercial partners, such as the music video service Vevo, have the option and are taking the option to not participate. Wah.

The service will still be free, still contain ads, won’t work for movies or TV episodes that it currently rents, and the downloaded video will work to watch offline for up to 48 hours.

Thanks, YouTube.

Image courtesy of YouTube.