Weekly news recap – April 15, 2016
April 15, 2016
The latest news of the week. A round-up of the news over the past week so you can be sure of staying up to date with what’s happening in the world.
Apple will replace OS X name with MacOS
It seems that Apple’s desktop system will return to the origins. On the page dedicated to the popular questions about the corporation cares about the environment suddenly appeared mentions about MacOS instead of OS X.
Of course, the error was corrected as quickly as possible, but the fact remains – or the text was written by the old system user, or someone accidentally spill the beans. In late March of this year, developers have also found in the system folder of OS X El Capitan 10.11.4 an unused framework FlightUtilities with the file FUFlightViewController_macOS.nib, which was present in the operating system since August last year.
It has been rumored for long that Apple is preparing a big update for OS X and it is likely that the system will change the name to match the line of operating systems – iOS, watchOS, tvOS.
Three major announcement of the Facebook F8 conference
Yesterday at the annual conference F8, which holds Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg spoke about the future of Facebook and presented new tools for working with social network.
Before talking about the F8 announcements directly, let me recall that since April 12, Facebook opened an access to Instant Articles – tool, which allows users to make articles directly in the shell of the social network. In this case the user doesn’t need to move to a third-party website to read the material.
So, the three major announcement of the Facebook F8 conference:
Bots in Facebook Messenger
What has been spoken for several months now finally became a reality – bots appeared in the Facebook Messenger. Social Network presented a platform Messenger Platform, which adds another way to communicate with the client without need to download the application. In fact, it is a set of tools that allows you to engage in dialogue not only with text messages, but also with other units with information. It will not be communication with the bot, but with an employee who has more opportunities to provide the necessary information.
Facebook Live
Considering the novelty of the product, the social network is focused on the expansion of its capabilities. Recalling, Facebook Live – is live broadcast of videos directly to social networks (Periscope competitor). To simplify access to the stream, in Facebook application will appear a separate tab, where you will be able to watch your friends and of course celebrities.
In addition, Zuckerberg announced that the company has opened Live API for developers, and therefore it will be available to stream from any camera. Emphasis was placed on drones, as Facebook has recently partnered with DJI – one of the largest developers of flying drones.
A new way to login
Facebook finally allowed to login using your phone number. Currently it is only for developers, but in the nearest future it is planned to be integrated in all platforms. The procedure resembles the two-factor verification of access – you enter a number and in return you receive the code, which must be confirmed in a form that will appear on the site.
iPhone SE owners complain about the poor quality of the Bluetooth-connection
Since the release of iPhone SE passed a little more than three weeks, and the first problems have already begun. Some owners of small flagship phone saying that it is impossible to talk with someone via Bluetooth because of the very bad connection.
The problem affected many people. Multiple threads on the Apple support website are overwhelmed by reports of problem with Bluetooth. It is also interesting that a bug appears only when using the device for GPS navigation, voice calls, however the music streaming was not affected.
The problem doesn’t depend on the firmware version or the operator. Apple already aware of the problem and trying to solve it.
Apple will most likely present thin Apple Watch at WWDC
This year, analysts are not missing. Their first crazy prediction turned out to be true (talking about iPhone SE) and they began to anticipate further with double force. At this time, regarding the Apple Watch.
According to the predictions of Brian White, an analyst from Wall Street, we will see a new smartwatch not during autumn presentation along with the iPhone 7, but in the next 2-3 months. Considering that the next presentation is scheduled for June (WWDC), Apple is likely to present a new Apple Watch there, along with the updated MacBook.
If the smart watches will be presented, rumors saying that they will be 30-40% thinner than the first version. It is difficult to believe, as the main challenge for Apple was the battery life. And if the body is reduced by half, the corporation will clearly have to sacrifice functionality.
Worldwide Mac sales continue to grow amid the general PC market decline
Amid the global falling of PC market, Mac sales remain stable, according to experts from consulting company Garther. In the first quarter of 2016, Apple sold 4.6 million Macs around the world, winning 7.1% of the world market. Recalling that in the same period last year Cupertino delivered 4.56 million computers (6.4% of the market).
By the number of sold worldwide computers Apple took fifth place. The first position was taken by Lenovo (19.3% market share), followed by HP (17,6%), Dell (14,1%) and ASUS (8.3%). One of the main reasons for decline in demand for PC experts consider the fall of the national currencies against the US dollar.