iPhone 13 vs the Pro/Pro Max

A quick rant.

Before the announcement, I had a hypothetical thought: Were I to upgrade my iPhone this year, which I won't because it's really expensive and my Xs is still working fine, I would get the iPhone 13. Not the Pro/Pro Max version.

BUT! But Apple had to put in this really cool macro function into the Pro/Pro Max ultra wide camera and make the lens brighter... gosh! This is a deal killer for me because I love macro shots!

iPadOS 14: Widgets, Scribble, Notes and Some Qualms

This year’s iPadOS 14 is quite exciting with the introduction of, among other things, Widgets (finally!) and Scribble. To Android users it is nothing new at all but to Apple users, widgets had always been something of a wishlist. The ones that appeared on the iPhones and iPads several iOS versions ago felt half-baked because they do not appear on the Home Screen. Finally, in iOS 14 things are once again moving in the right direction. Widgets can appear alongside icons, seamlessly on the Home Screen. However, the Widgets will most likely need several iterations before getting close to Android levels of interactivity and functionality.

I wrote the above paragraph with the Note app using Scribble on iPad Air 2019 (and the first generation Apple Pencil). It’s refreshing to literally write instead of type. Here are my brief experiences:

***Before starting it’s important to watch the brief pop-up tutorial when you first launch Scribble. Otherwise, like me, I’d thought it doesn’t work in Notes. If you missed it, you can always go to "Settings > Apple Pencil > Try Scribble” or search YouTube for more in-depth tutorials. Here's one that might help:

1. To Scribble on Notes, you will have to select the new pen with an alphabet on it (the first pen from the left).
2. It’s obvious I’m not writing on paper but glass so the feeling is still a bit off. I guess this is as good as it gets.
3. The handwriting recognition is pretty good. It recognised most of my scribbles save for some.
4. The difficulty comes when I try to make corrections such as capitalisation, delete alphabets, etc.
5. I still do not know how to place a full-stop at the end of a sentence unless I included it along with the last word (I don't seem to face any issues with a comma). Whenever I try to separately place a dot, a floating comma appeared instead.
6. When I try scribbling in tight spaces such as between lines of text or paragraphs, my actions will often be detected as an “insert” or the cursor might end up somewhere else.

It’s pleasant to be able to hold the Apple Pencil and use it to perform most functions while using the iPad. There is less necessity to put the Pencil down, use touch to perform some functions and then pick Pencil up again. This is something that people who frequently switch between Pencil and touch-only apps will really appreciate. Besides that, this implementation (kind of) solves the argument where handwriting is more beneficial to our well-being compared to typing. Unfortunately, the issues that I've pointed out above can be frustrating so I wouldn't write an essay this way. I would stick with typing for long-form writing. Scribble in its current young age is more suitable to fill in short phrases in forms and cells.

The upgrading of the iPad Air to the beautiful iPad Pro form factor effectively increased the price of the device by a hundred dollars. For people like me on a tight budget, the Air loses some of its shine as the middle sibling that balances between computing power and price. The more convenient Apple Pencil 2 that just attaches to the side of this new form factor for easier transport, charging and pairing, is also more expensive than the original version. Besides that, the new iPad Air now only works with the more expensive Smart Keyboard Folio and the much more pricy Magic Keyboard.

To be fair, Apple still sells the cheaper iPad (with upgraded internals) and the once again ignored iPad Mini, both which still support the first Apple Pencil.

Ultimately, Apple’s technological progress comes with a high price tag. Users will have to decide to stick to the lower models or pay more for ecstatics and convenience.

Grapes vs Strawberries

Anyone seen these kind of grapes before? Look at how they all lump together and looks strange when placed next to strawberries.

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Holy weird grapes, Batman!

A post shared by Adrian Tan (@ionbuck) on Jul 29, 2019 at 9:25pm PDT

My Little Winged Dinosaur

My first sketch drawn with Paper by WeTransfer with an Apple Pencil (first generation):

3D Touch and then without

I’m truly saddened by the omission of 3D Touch from Apple’s iPhone XR. It’s worse than losing that telephoto lens. Can’t have beautiful curves anymore without 3D Touch. :(

MacBook Pro with Touch Bar - Bright Future

You've pretty much read about the new MacBook Pros with Touch Bar and Touch ID on every corner of the web so lets not get there. I've had no intention to write anything about it but this Cult of Mac post sure peaked my interest! A modified version of watchOS is actually powering the Touch Bar and Touch ID independently under the hood. I suppose this makes sense why the price of the new laptop got to be more expensive than it already was.

What's even more interesting was that this revelation prompted me to revisit the post "Here’s why Apple will never give MacBook a touchscreen" that I've read moments before the one mentioned above. Sir Jony Ive:

“In our view this is a big, big step forward. It is a new system architecture, and it allows us to then create many things to come, things that we can’t envision yet.”

It's integration of macOS and watchOS (and to a certain extent, iOS) but not in the way that boring companies would do. Dual boot is so yesterday! I'm excited all over again about the future of the Mac (and for that matter, iOS devices) indeed!

Happy New 2016!

Happy New Year from me... and a panda of mine - created using Procreate Pocket. Why particularly Procreate Pocket? I would've used Paper (by FiftyThree) if I could but I wanted a fluffy one so I had to search for an alternative (there is no doubt better artists could do it with Paper). Coincidentally, I came across Apple's ad campaign "Start Something New" and quite a number of the inspirational stuff were created using Procreate. The iPad version is expensive so I settled for the US$0.99 phone version.

Sausages on Paper

I was wondering if FiftyThree will ever add 3D Touch sensitivity to Paper's drawing tools and was I glad that they did! The pen, marker and water colour produce wider strokes on a deeper touch. A neat trick for the pencil - light touch gives light strokes while deeper touches produce darker ones. I did the sausages above with the marker: Thinner lines with a typical touch while the sausages were created with a deeper touch - all done without lifting my finger.

I was also glad that they did away with the restrictive two step zoom and replaced it with a continuous mechanism (this feature along with the next one was introduced prior to the recent 3D Touch update).

Paper's "Undo" had gone through a few iterations - from spinning two fingers anti-clockwise to just tapping the undo button to the current (which I think is its best yet!) tapping with two fingers. Continuous tapping will further undo more steps.

Paper is still by far my favourite sketching app (despite my poor skills). However, one big complain from me would be the sync capability between devices. At this current advanced stage of cloud storage I don't see why the Paper in my iPhone can't sync with the Paper in my iPad.

On my wish list would be giving non-Pencil (FiftyThree's own stylus is called Pencil - not to be confused with Apple's version) users blending capability and the ability to zoom in further won't hurt at all. Besides that how about the capability to choose canvas size?

My 5 Seconds with the iPad Pro

My moment with the iPad Pro was really brief but it left quite an impression. It was huge but it was light, almost like a toy. The screen was like anything Apple - great. Unfortunately, the price also had Apple's DNA built-in: Premium.

Another Day, Another 4" iOS 9 Device Rumour

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We've heard it before - a 4" version of the latest iPhone way back when the iPhone 6 was THE phone. Now, we're hearing it again - a 4" version of the 6s (without 3D Touch) and it will come as an upgraded iPhone 5s. Maybe this time it WILL happen because the prediction is coming from Ming-Chi Kuo, analyst with a high success rate of Apple predictions. Or maybe because of the appreciating US dollar which is turning even contracted iPhones in Malaysia to cost more than a Dell laptop.

I wonder if the smaller phone will go the way of the 5c because people are already used to the larger 4.7" but it's hard to say, especially when it comes in a cheaper package during these difficult economic times.

While we're at it, why not rumour about the 7, too? A10 processor with a bigger differentiating factor between the 7 and 7 Plus by RAM - 2GB and 3GB, respectively.

via MacRumors.

My 2 Minutes with the iPhones 6S and 6S Plus

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What can one do when one craves for a iPhone 6S but holding back because of the high price courtesy of weakening Ringgit and introduction of GST? Well, one would visit a reseller and at least hold the phones for a few moments!

Besides holding and admiring the rose gold 6S and silver 6S Plus, the other thing I did was to test out 3D Touch. The expected Haptic feedback was really solid. A little of peek and pop here and there. The next thing I tried was to switch between apps using 3D Touch by pressing deeper on the left of the screen. First time didn't work but the second time it happened. Not 100% intuitive, then, but good enough to spawn rumours that the home button is on its way out.

I had to hit myself when I realised that I've forgotten to test out how deep pressing would turn the software keyboard into a trackpad (similar to touching the keyboard on the iPad with two fingers). Unfortunately, I was already miles away from the store. Another time, then.

Concluding: While I was all excited over how Apple introduced 3D Touch during the keynote, I left the store feeling both Apple and developers have yet to squeeze out the technology’s full potential. There are still some ways from "cool to have" to a "must have". But don’t get me wrong. If I have got the money, I’d get one and being masculine and all, I’d get the rose gold one. :P

Shivers, Batman - First Impressions of Paper by 53 for iPhone

Was shivering from fever and guess what came to mind? Drew this with the newly released iPhone version of Paper by 53. Don't laugh! It's a big deal for me to be able to draw a Batman lookalike!

I was thrilled when I heard a iPhone version was on the way because up until now I've still not found the ideal drawing app for the small screen. If anyone can, I guess 53 could. They did a great job with the iPad version.

First impressions were it is still difficult to draw on the small screen. Probably that's why iPhone 6 Plus exists. The worse part was the iPhone version does not sync with the iPad app. That was kind of disappointing. However, all the drawing tools were the same and I like the undo better than the iPad one where you need to go in circles with two fingers. And now it's possible to take photos or import one in to doodle on.

What I didn't like the most was the zoom. There was just one level of zoom. If you wonder how it works with the Pencil, well, I don't know. I don't got no money to own one yet. :(

Note: The halftone dots were done using the Halftone app.

Balloon Weightlifting

Inspired by today's event, I'd say if you leave it to kids, weightlifting balloons will become an official sport. A game changer in the Olympics even.

Drawn with the iPad app Paper. I'm glad that such an app exists. Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to share my thoughts graphically through my limited drawing skills. I'm fascinated that the previously iPad only app will be coming to the iPhone soon. It would be interesting to see if the developers could make the app work as well as it did on the iPad.

Siri vs Google - The Jicama Wars

I interrupt your daily reverie to report that today, when I asked “Siri, define jicama”, Siri searched the web for "G" instead. After some light cursing, I launched the Google app for iOS and asked to “define jicama”. The correct results came flooding in.

It means:

ji·ca·ma

hikəmə,ˈhē-/

noun
the crisp, white-fleshed, edible tuber of a Central American climbing plant of the pea family ( Pachyrhizus erosus, family Leguminosae ), cultivated since pre-Columbian times and used especially in Mexican cooking.

Let the truth be told, Siri lost not because it didn’t know what jicama was but because I’d pronounced it wrong in the first place. It’s “hic-ca-ma” and not “g-ca-ma”. Google won because it actually knew that “g-ca-ma” was the wrong pronunciation of jicama and yet gave me the right results.

Well, there has to be a reason why Google is where it is today, right? :)

View image | gettyimages.com

Samsung's Latest S6 Ads Standing on Edge

View image | gettyimages.com

I get it if fans of certain products get angry offended whenever a rival comes out with ads that criticise specific features while showing off their superiority. Samsung is one that's synonymous with its ads against Apple.

I am amazed, though, that Samsung's recent couple of ads showcasing the company's S6 wireless charging and curved screen technologies received quite the backlash. If the rumours are true that the S6 phones are not selling that well, I guess it's high time Samsung REALLY change tactics and focus.

Rumour: Light at the end of the tunnel for the 3rd generation iPad with iOS 9

While I sulk over the imminent demise of my third generation iPad (the first with Retina display running on A5x), MacRumors bring hope:

Apple is also said to be optimizing iOS 9 to better support older hardware, with the report claiming that even legacy A5-based devices including the iPhone 4s and original iPad mini will be compatible with the upcoming software update. The three-year-old iPad 2 and fifth-generation iPod touch, released in March 2012 and October 2012 respectively, are also powered by Apple A5 chips.

A Hibiscus and its Reproductive Organs

Here you go, a macro shot of the hibiscus' reproductive organ where both male and female parts are. It's not easy to focus this close with the iPhone. Took me lots of attempts. Wonder if the iPhone 6 (Plus) are any better.

It won't be "Apple forever", just like how IBM never was.

View image | gettyimages.com

Interesting read from The New York Times - a reminder that no company thrives infinitely and, in the business world, enemies don't stay as enemies forever - putting the world's largest company in the spotlight and comparing it with its once behemoth of a nemesis, IBM.

With hindsight, it’s clear that IBM’s Olympian status was part of its problem. In the 1980s, at the height of its powers, it continued to come up with scientific breakthroughs and ultrafast computers, but its focus on its own product lines and customer service flagged. IBM “naïvely” handed over crucial parts of the computer business to companies like Microsoft and Intel, while its own profit margins began to erode, D. Quinn Mills, a professor at the Harvard Business School, has written.  

... 

For decades now, IBM has engaged in a sometimes painful transition, and as it revealed in its quarterly earnings report last week, it is still hurting: Its revenues have declined and it has endured wrenching business shifts. My colleague Steve Lohr wrote last week that IBM has been getting out of slow-growing old businesses, like personal computers, disk drives, low-end server computers and chip manufacturing — but its new initiatives in fields like data analytics, cloud computing and mobile apps for corporate customers haven’t entirely succeeded yet. 

In a turnabout, IBM’s mobile app strategy relies on a partnership with the current giant, its old nemesis Apple. IBM is leveraging its prowess with supercomputers and artificial intelligence with a new initiative, Watson Health, that includes Apple. That alliance could help both companies grow — in Apple’s case, by ensuring that its products work more seamlessly in corporate environments where IBM is deeply entrenched. 

Rapid growth, after all, isn’t a sure thing, especially when you’re already the biggest company in the world. IBM has proved that. Sooner or later, Apple investors will have to take that lesson to heart.

Snapseed 2.0 for iOS Update

At last, Google's Snapseed is able to do what I had always hoped it could with its latest iOS 2.0 update (along with a whole new interface), especially the highlighted one below:

• Stacks allow you to re-edit any image
• Copy your edits from one image to another
• 5 new filters including Lens Blur, Tonal Contrast and Glamour Glow, previously a premium feature
• Lens blur that’s adjustable in all directions
• Brush tools to apply effects to sections of an image
• Spot Repair for detailed editing, healing, and retouching
• Transform adjusts perspective across vertical and horizontal axes, then fills in empty areas after rotations

I had always longed for one single photo editing app on mobile that can do everything. Perhaps this could be it.

And it's got a nice new app icon, too! 

via App Store.

Spring Forward with Apple

View image | gettyimages.com

Another keynote, another hope for surprises. What interested me were:

• ResearchKit - that's a great thing for medical research. A right step forward indeed. 

• MacBook (from RM4,499) - the long rumoured 12" is finally announced. What a name. It's not a MacBook Air. It's simply called MacBook. Sounds like Apple is calling it THE MacBook. It's fanless, has Retina display, Intel Core M with 8GB RAM, starts with 256GB SSD, re-engineered full size keyboard, Force Touch trackpad and it's super thin. There's also the new USB-C standard where everything goes into this (one and only) port including power, USB 3 and video out. New battery design plus efficient processor brings up to 9 hours of battery life. It comes in silver, space grey and gold. Truly for the mobile user, IMHO. And going around with a gold MacBook? Woooohooooo!

Although the Apple Watch was the main attraction in this keynote, it isn’t really my cup of tea. I'm not going into specifics here because by now you would've read all about the watch. I don't have that feel for having an advance watch on my wrist, because I'm not exercising (uh oh! Maybe I actually need it to remind me to stand up more!). It certainly didn't have that impact on me like what the calculator watch of yesteryears.

It would be great if the third party apps such as WeChat and Instagram will use the same bubbly thing as its home screen to present their emoticons and photos. Heck, it would be great if Apple’s own Photos app did that. I was also hoping that there is some Wii functionality when combined with the Apple TV (now cheaper), will bring a new gaming experience. Perhaps in the future, then. It’s too early to tell how successful the watch will be but pundits seemed very positive. So it’s going to be the next big thing, but I will just wait patiently for the WWDC and iPhone/iPad keynotes for now.