Kibbles & Bytes Blog

Apple news, tech tips, and more…

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  • iOS 9.3

    It’s hard to tell in advance whether or not a new iOS release will get me excited. With iOS 8 I was really excited about Continuity, and I always like the addition of Safari improvements. In iOS 9, we got proactive assistance so spotlight and Siri were more context sensitive. I think I was most excited by slide over, split view and picture-in-picture. Those features seemed to really solidify how Apple was going to be handling multitasking in iOS going forward.

    So when I started hearing rumors about what would be included in the latest iOS 9.3 update, I was immediately pretty excited. Now that it was released earlier this week, I’ll go over the new features here and give my impressions.

    Night Shift

    Admittedly, this was the most interesting thing to me. I hear a lot of complaining (from my mom mostly) about how I shouldn’t be reading/watching movies/web browsing in bed on my iPad. Most modern displays, especially on mobile devices are notoriously “cool” meaning they tend to be towards the blue end of the color spectrum. This helps the displays to be brighter in direct sunlight, and also more vibrant, but if you’re in the dark, getting ready for bed, it’s not so great. The brightness and the “cool” tint sends signals to your brain that mimic sunlight. It’s basically telling your brain, “hey, the sun’s up, it’s time to get active.” Night Shift helps to correct that problem. It re-tunes the display to exaggerate “warmer” tones in the spectrum like red and orange. With iOS 9.3, you can turn it on manually, or on a schedule. You can also specify how much or how little “warmth” you want to use. It looks weird at first, but after as little as 15-30 seconds, you’ll adjust and won’t be able to tell the difference.

    Notes

    I’ll admit I’ve started using Notes a lot now that you can have checklists, formatting, drawing and more. In iOS 9.3 Apple added secure notes. You can secure notes using a password or Touch ID. This is great if you have some confidential information you want doubly protected both by your device’s PIN and Notes itself. I haven’t had a use case for this yet, but I expect I will very soon.

    I think Night Shift and secure Notes are the most notable changes in iOS 9.3 for me, but other additions included improved personalization in the News app, more information about third party apps in the Health app, and additional 3D Touch context menus. I’m particularly fond of the menu on the Settings app which allows me to quickly jump to bluetooth, wifi, or battery settings in one quick motion.

    One last thing to note is that the Night Shift feature isn’t available on every single device. While it is supported all the way back to the iPad 4th generation, the original iPad mini does not support it. The performance of the original iPad mini isn’t quite enough to allow for Night Shift without reducing performance and stability on the rest of the device.

    Overall, I definitely give iOS 9.3 my seal of approval.

  • Ick, it is tax time and while I love Turbo Tax, I hate doing taxes. It is not that I have a problem paying taxes, especially when I see my tax dollars doing things for the public good but it always alarms me to see how much I am paying for unnecessary wars and an ineffective congress. Grace stays far away as I work on the taxes as I grumble and fret.

    It looks like it might be a rainy weekend here in Key West so I can work on that and do some much-needed motorcycle maintenance. I can’t wait to get my hands on one of the new iPad Pros to compare with its big brother. I don’t know if it will turn around the decline in Apple’s iPad sales but it does represent a new powerful digital tool.

    Thank you for reading this issue of Kibbles & Bytes!

    Your Kibbles & Bytes Team,

    _Don, Emily & Hadley_

  • “!http://blog.smalldog.com/images/4684.png!”:http://www.smalldog.com/springfever/spring-fever

  • iOS 9.3

    It’s hard to tell in advance whether or not a new iOS release will get me excited. With iOS 8 I was really excited about Continuity, and I always like the addition of Safari improvements. In iOS 9, we got proactive assistance so spotlight and Siri were more context sensitive. I think I was most excited by slide over, split view and picture-in-picture. Those features seemed to really solidify how Apple was going to be handling multitasking in iOS going forward.

    So when I started hearing rumors about what would be included in the latest iOS 9.3 update, I was immediately pretty excited. Now that it was released earlier this week, I’ll go over the new features here and give my impressions.

    *Night Shift*

    Admittedly, this was the most interesting thing to me. I hear a lot of complaining (from my mom mostly) about how I shouldn’t be reading/watching movies/web browsing in bed on my iPad. Most modern displays, especially on mobile devices are notoriously “cool” meaning they tend to be towards the blue end of the color spectrum. This helps the displays to be brighter in direct sunlight, and also more vibrant, but if you’re in the dark, getting ready for bed, it’s not so great. The brightness and the “cool” tint sends signals to your brain that mimic sunlight. It’s basically telling your brain, “hey, the sun’s up, it’s time to get active.” Night Shift helps to correct that problem. It re-tunes the display to exaggerate “warmer” tones in the spectrum like red and orange. With iOS 9.3, you can turn it on manually, or on a schedule. You can also specify how much or how little “warmth” you want to use. It looks weird at first, but after as little as 15-30 seconds, you’ll adjust and won’t be able to tell the difference.

    *Notes*

    I’ll admit I’ve started using Notes a lot now that you can have checklists, formatting, drawing and more. In iOS 9.3 Apple added secure notes. You can secure notes using a password or Touch ID. This is great if you have some confidential information you want doubly protected both by your device’s PIN and Notes itself. I haven’t had a use case for this yet, but I expect I will very soon.

    I think Night Shift and secure Notes are the most notable changes in iOS 9.3 for me, but other additions included improved personalization in the News app, more information about third party apps in the Health app, and additional 3D Touch context menus. I’m particularly fond of the menu on the Settings app which allows me to quickly jump to bluetooth, wifi, or battery settings in one quick motion.

    One last thing to note is that the Night Shift feature isn’t available on every single device. While it is supported all the way back to the iPad 4th generation, the original iPad mini does not support it. The performance of the original iPad mini isn’t quite enough to allow for Night Shift without reducing performance and stability on the rest of the device.

    Overall, I definitely give iOS 9.3 my seal of approval.

  • Apple TV and Apple Watch

    This week I’ve been testing out some of the new features on the Apple TV and a bit on the new watchOS. You can now get an Apple Watch for $299.99. The release of watchOS 2.2 was a minor bump in improvements, including the ability to pair more than one Apple Watch to one iPhone, additional browsing options in Maps, improvements to tracking your pulse and a few other minor updates. Unlike past revisions and improvements to the watchOS this one has left me feeling a little underwhelmed. While the software updates weren’t particularly robust, I was excited to see that the Apple Watch now has even more watch bands to choose from. I’ve had my watch for about six months now and have noticed its getting a bit dingy, so now might be a good time to get another band! There are new sport band colors to choose from including a bold new yellow and a new woven nylon option. For those seeking a more traditional style band, the woven nylon might be just what you are looking for, this band features a standard watch buckle style clasp.

    Apple TV got some updates this week and just in time for the NCAA Championship. With the latest software release for Apple TV you can now get the latest NCAA games with an added feature of having two games display on your TV side by side! In addition to being able to watch the latest games, you now have approximately 5000 apps to choose from, including new workout apps. Siri now works better when searching for content, even in the App Store, and you can access your iCloud Photo library. Starting to feel like your apps are getting too cluttered? Easily create folders by dropping app icons onto of each other just like you do on your iPhone or iPad. Dictation, another added feature that can really speak up your search process. Rather than typing through letters one at a time when searching for something specific, you can now use dictation by selecting the Siri button in the search field. I will note, you do have to be in the specific search field, you can’t just use it from the home screen. My favorite updates, one of which works with both the Apple TV and the Apple watch, is the remote app. You can now use your Apple watch to navigate through the options on the Apple TV, a feature that might seem silly to some, but with a small and easily misplaced remote this is bound to be an incredibly valuable new feature. Think the watch is too small to use for a remote? Hook up your Apple bluetooth keyboard! That’s right, you can now use your standard sized keyboard as well.

    I should note, that some of these updates, like the NCAA games, do have additional fees. More and more of us are swaying away from traditional TV and with more options coming to the Apple TV and choosing your content, we are getting closer and closer to paying for only what we want.

  • The Little Guy(s)

    You know I am a rabid Boston Celtics fan, and I have been since I was a child listening to games on my transistor radio, searching for the gravely voice of Johnny Most. These days our All-Star and team leader is Isiah Thomas who NBA hall of famer, Tommy Heinsohn, always refers to as the “little guy”. We have been thinking of changing our dog, Max’s name to the little guy as a result.

    It was little iPhone and little iPad Pro day at the Apple event. Apple introduced the 4-inch iPhone SE and the iPad Pro 9.7-inch tablet. In other hardware announcements, there were new watch bands for the Apple Watch and a new Lightning to USB 3 camera adapter. The original iPad Air is now discontinued and the iPad Air 2 with a more limited selection becomes the entry-level 9.7-inch iPad.

    I have gotten used to the size of my iPhone 6 but there are many people that want a smaller iPhone. Having a big iPhone 6 or 6+ sticking out of your back pocket is an invitation to theft and they do get a big bulky in the front pocket of your jeans. The iPhone SE uses the iPhone 5 form factor, with a 4-inch screen and aluminum case. The iPhone SE is not crimping on power though, as it meets almost all of the specifications of the iPhone 6s. It fails to match up to the current iPhone lineup only in the lack of the 3D Touch technology, the Taptic Engine that provides feedback you can feel, and slower wireless networking. It’s either $399 or $499, with 16 GB or 64 GB of storage, and comes in the same four colors, Silver, Space Gray, Gold and Rose Gold. We have found that most cases for the iPhone 5 should work with the iPhone SE. These are shipping on March 31.

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    The 12.9-inch iPad Pro, introduced last year with the Apple Pencil and Smart Keyboard, has enjoyed some moderate acceptance as a productivity device. I can see how for some, it might be their only device. And for artists, architects and others the iPad Pro is a digital drawing board like no other. But it is 12.9 inches and that is just a bit large for some. Apple introduced the 9.7-inch iPad Pro to meet this need, which meets or exceeds many of the larger model’s specs.

    For instance, the smaller model’s screen can display more colors and adjusts its white balance to match the ambient light in the room. Its cameras are notably better — the rear camera is 12 megapixels instead of 8 and has a True Tone flash, while the front camera is 5 megapixels instead of 1.2 and can use the screen as a flash. Plus, the new iPad Pro can record 4K video instead of just 1080p. I assume we will see these upgrades to the 12.9 inch iPad Pro in the future but the smaller version is a powerhouse.

    The 9.7-inch iPad Pro’s A9X chip is somewhat slower, it has half the RAM, and its Lightning port transfers data at only USB 2 speeds. But if the size is right for you, prices start at $599 for 32 GB of storage and go up to $899 for 256 GB. It will be shipping on March 31 in four colors: silver, gold, space gray, and rose gold. Cases and accessories designed to fit the iPad Air 2 should work with the 9.7-inch iPad Pro. We have our orders in with Apple and should have stock by the launch date. I think this new iPad Pro is going to be the iPad of choice for a lot of people.

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    Apple also introduced the $39 Lightning to USB3 camera adapter. It is much more than a camera adapter though and opens the Lightning port to a lot of USB devices. With the Lightning to USB 3 Camera Adapter, it’s easy to transfer photos and videos from your high-resolution digital camera to your iPad Pro.
    If you connect with a USB Power Adapter, you can connect USB peripherals like hubs, ethernet adapters, audio/MIDI interfaces, and card readers for CompactFlash, SD, microSD, and more. This is a new and important step by Apple in making the Lightning port much more versatile.

  • _Dear Friends,_

    I tuned into the Apple special “Let Us Loop You In” event on my Apple TV. We will talk about the new hardware and software but there were a few things that caught my attention that really help to define Apple as a truly different company.

    The first was Apple’s environmental commitment. They now boast that 90% of their operations, worldwide, are powered by renewable energy and 100% in the USA. This is a unique accomplishment that is made even more remarkable by Apple’s size. While Small Dog Electronics is proud to power our Waitsfield headquarters and S. Burlington store by solar energy, we have not yet reached the point of powering all our operations which is something Apple has done both by purchasing renewable energy and installing large scale solar arrays at their locations both in the USA and China.

    Their environmental commitment goes further with an awareness of the impact their products have on the waste stream. They made a point to describe the materials used which have lower impact and talked about their recycling program, too. The robot, Liam, that disassembles iPhones into its component parts was very cool and is a further demonstration of Apple’s leadership in environmental stewardship.

    The other part of the announcement that caught my eye was the extension of Apple’s altruistic Research Kit tool that has helped researchers gather data on several chronic diseases. CareKit takes that a step further, offering tools that help patients and their medical providers manage those chronic diseases. They already have several new apps in development, including one that provides post-surgical care monitoring and another for diabetes monitoring. Research Kit and CareKit are both open-source software that do not necessarily provide any revenue stream for Apple but provides the tools to improve health. I am very proud of Apple for its initiatives in these areas.

    This week’s Kibbles & Bytes exclusive is a “**home and away USB charger bundle.**”:http://www.smalldog.com/wag900002185/home-and-away-usb-charger-bundle-one-for-the-car-one-for-home This features the Hammerhead 2-port USB Automotive charger and the Hammerhead 2-port wall charger. Both have sufficient power to charge both an iPhone and iPad. If you are like me, you can never have too many chargers and this bundle is a great way to get a spare for you home and car! Normally, this bundle is $34.98 but exclusively for Kibbles & Bytes readers this week, it is $10 off at “**$24.98!**”:http://www.smalldog.com/wag900002185/home-and-away-usb-charger-bundle-one-for-the-car-one-for-home

  • It is getting quite warm down here and I have had to fiddle with my solar heating system for the pool to get it turned down so I don’t have a hot tub instead of a refreshing plunge pool. One thing that is surprising here in Florida in my estimation is the lack of solar energy installations. Seldom do you see solar PV arrays either on rooftops or as a solar farm and even my rudimentary solar heating system for my pool is somewhat unique. You would think with all the sun down here…

    I am doing some upgrades and maintenance on the motorcycles this weekend. I do enjoy motorcycle mechanics, well, most of the time. It may seem frustrating to some but freeing a stuck bolt or troubleshooting that backfiring is actually relaxing for me even as I sweat it out. Anyone need a really clean 2009 S150 Vespa?

    Thank you for reading this issue of Kibbles & Bytes!

    Your Kibbles & Bytes Team,

    _Don, Emily & Hadley_

  • New Urbanears Active Headphones

    So by now, it might be clear that I am a bit of a headphone junkie. I’ve come to the conclusion that I can collect and use headphones like I do bags and purses! In my world I can never have enough, so I jumped on the opportunity this week to test our the new “**Hellas**”:http://www.smalldog.com/wag900002177 and “**Reimers**”:http://www.smalldog.com/wag900002181 from Urbanears.

    The Hellas are an over the ear bluetooth headphone. It took a few minutes to get them paired with my computer. My only complaint about these headphones is that I found the touch-less buttons to be a bit clunky to use. The sleek design means you can’t physically see the buttons, so it take some practice and time to learn where the buttons are. However, there are a ton of other features with these headphones that make them extremely appealing. They are incredibly lightweight, comfortable to wear and they have good sound to them. I think my favorite feature about these is that the fabric on the headband and the earpieces are machine washable. You can actually wash the fabric and return your headphones to new condition. As I just started to use these the other day I have not actually tried to wash the fabric, but as more and more people are working out with over the ear headphones this is a huge selling point. Another hidden feature is that there is a built in microphone, so if you are using these with your iPhone, you can take calls without having to remove your headphones.

    Also part of the active line are the Reimers. They deliver on fit and comfort while providing some great sound! I am impressed with how far ear buds have come over the years. What’s interesting about these headphones is that while they are in the active category, they are actually a wired set of headphones. However, Urbanears added several great features to ensure these headphones can stand up to the intensity of any workout. They have two clips for securing them to your clothing and they feature reflective cabling to light up during early morning or late evening runs. They use a new earlock technology that ensures they stay in during your workout, so no more fears of them falling out during sit-ups, push-ups and the like. I admit I am just a runner, so some of the more intense workouts I’ve not tried these, but judging by how well they stayed in for runs I am confident in saying they will stay put! Last but not least, they feature standard iOS controls we have all grown to expect out of headphones.

  • _Dear Friends_,

    It was a long trip up to Daytona using the “avoid highways, avoid tolls” feature of Google Maps. I was using my Blue Ant Pump Lite Bluetooth earbuds connected to my iPhone in my pocket. I not only got the turn-by-turn directions from Google Maps but also some great tunes from my playlists. I even was able to take a phone call, although I pulled over both for safety reasons and so I could hear better. We travelled through Florida’s farm belt, orange groves (hey, their trees are full of oranges!) and Lake Okeechobee before we headed towards the coast.

    It is official, Apple has sent out notices for the special “Let Us Loop You In” event on Monday. It is expected to see some new iPhones and iPads and perhaps other announcements. For those of you with a 4th Generation AppleTV there is a new app called “Apple Events” that you can download for free to watch the event which starts at 10AM Pacific time. The live stream will also be available on Macs and iOS devices through Apple’s event website. iOS 7 or OS X 10.8.5 with Safari 6.0.5 or later is required. We are excited to hear about the latest from Apple!

    I am going to talk about Time Machine and Time Capsules a bit in the article below, however, this week as a Kibbles & Bytes exclusive, I am featuring the Apple factory reconditioned 2 and 3 TB Time Capsules. You can save a bunch on these Time Capsules that have a 1-year Apple warranty. Normally, the 2 TB Time Capsule, new is $299.99 and the 3TB Time Capsule is $399.99. With $20 off for Kibbles & Bytes readers, the “**2TB Time Capsule is only $159.99**”:http://www.smalldog.com/wag900002182/save-20-on-an-apple-factory-refurbished-2tb-time-capsule and the “**3TB is $259.99!**”:http://www.smalldog.com/wag900002183/save-20-on-an-apple-factory-refurbished-3tb-time-capsule This is a great way for you to have automatic wireless backup and the superior Apple Airport Extreme wireless access point!