Yesterday was Apple’s September event. Given the length of Apple’s keynote, I opted to break up the two into articles. Yesterday’s <a href=‘https://www.waynedixon.com/2015/09/09/apples-epic-keynote-part-1/'>article covers the first two products, Apple Watch and iPad. This article will provide information about the last two items, Apple TV and iPhone.

Apple TV

Hardware

Siri Remote

tvOS

Gaming

Pricing

Final Thoughts on Apple TV

iPhone

New iPhones

Camera

Colors

Pricing

Upgrade Program

AppleCare+

Other iPhones

Conclusion

Today was Apple’s September event. It is not surprising that Apple has announced some new devices. What is surprising, is the number of items that Apple has announced. For this article, we will only cover the first two, Apple Watch and iPad. Let us look at each one of these.

Apple Watch

Apple did not announce a new watch, but reiterated some of the features of watchOS 2. Some of the features of watchOS 2 includes new watch faces, third party complications, and time travel. One of the features of watchOS is the ability to have native applications. Apple highlighted some of the companies whom will be bringing applications to the Apple Watch. These include Facebook, Go Pro, iTranslate, and Airstrip.

Hermes Collection

One of the ways of grouping watches is by collections. Apple has announced a new collection called the Hermes collection. This collection features a stainless steel Apple watch paired with different bands. These bands are all leather. The watch faces for the Hermes collection uses the same design as their traditional watches.

The leather bands that are part of the the Hermes collection are one of three styles. Cuff, Tour, or Double Tour. The Cuff band only comes in the 42mm size. The Cuff has been customized to allow the heart rate sensors to remain in contact with the skin. The Cuff will cost $1500.

The Tour band comes in both 38mm and 42mm varieties. The Single Tour comes in three colors. The first is a brown leather. The second is a Noir leather. The Noir leather is black in color. The last color is only available in 38mm and is the Cupcake Leather band. It’s a bright red band. The single Tour has a double-clasp and looks similar to a classic leather band.

Similarly, the Double Tour comes in a variety of colors, but only in the 38mm variety. The four bands are Fauve Barenia Leather, Etain Leather, Capucine Leather, and Bleau Jean leather. These four colors are brown, gray, red, and blue. The difference between a Single Tour and a Double Tour is that the Double Tour is designed to wrap around a wrist twice, with part of the band being off to one side as to not obstruct the heart rate sensor.

The Single Tour will begin at $1100 and the Double Tour will begin at $1250. All of the Hermes collection will be available in October 2015.

The collection is not the only addition to the Apple Watch family. Apple also added a couple of new colors. The colors Rose Gold and Yellow gold. These are both aluminum, but have a new finish. The availability of these is today, starting at $349 for the 38mm and $399 for the 42mm.

The last change that Apple made is to add some additional band colors. The new sports band are lavender, antique white, stone and midnight blue, as well as new (PRODUCT)Red sports band. The Apple Watch Sport silver aluminum is also now available with new orange or blue Sport Bands.

The stainless steel Apple Watch also received a new option, the Black model can now be ordered with a black sports band.

A new Apple Watch Edition was also introduced, an 18-karat rose gold with a midnight blue Classic Buckle.

The addition of the Rose Gold and Yellow Gold aluminum Apple Watches are a nice change. The addition of a new collection may just be signaling the beginning of how Apple will expand its Apple Watch to appeal to more individuals.

iPad

One of the things that Apple has done over the last five and a half years since the introduction of the original iPad in 2010 has been have a new release of an iPad just about every year. The original iPad had a 9.7-inch screen, and Apple introduced a new screen size, a 7.9-inch when they introduced the iPad Mini in October of 2012. Well, today Apple has introduced a third screen size for the iPad, 12.9-inches. This screen is on the iPad Pro.

iPad Pro

The iPad Pro, as stated sports a 12.9-inch display that is 2732 pixels by 2048 pixels. The 2048 pixels is the same size as the landscape orientation of the iPad Air 2. The iPad Pro also comes with an A9X processor that has a built-in M9 motion co-processor. The iPad Pro has dual microphones, which is also the same on the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. Yet, the iPad Pro has one feature that is not available on other iOS devices, four speakers. Sound coming out of the four speakers will automatically change based upon the orientation of the iPad Pro. The iPad Pro also comes with a Touch ID Sensor, up and down volume control and even a 3.5mm headphone jack. There is a new connector for the iPad Pro, the Smart Connector. The Smart Connector does not replace the lighting adapter but is a new connector that allows bi-directional data and power to any compatible devices. The Smart Connector will allow 3rd party devices.

There are a couple of accessories specifically for the iPad Pro. The first one adds some benefits of the device. The accessory is a stylus, called the Apple Pencil.

Apple Pencil

Many people would think that a stylus would not be needed, and they do not have to purchase it. The Apple Pencil is a $99 option. The Apple Pencil is designed to be paired with the iPad Pro. The Apple Pencil allows a user to choose how much pressure they wish to apply. The more pressure applied, the thicker the line will be. The Apple Pencil can get down to a single pixel, if that is what is desired. One of the most interesting aspects of the Apple Pencil is that if a user wants to put some shading effects onto a drawing, they can simply tilt the Pencil and the proper amount of shading will be applied. The Apple Pencil does require some charging, however, the connector is a Lightning connector. The Apple Pencil can charge from the iPad Pro and can get a 30-second charge in 15 seconds. So you can quickly charge the Apple Pencil and get back to work.

Smart Keyboard

The iPad Pro also has another accessory, the Smart Keyboard. The Smart Keyboard is a keyboard and cover. The Smart Keyboard will allow someone to plug their iPad Pro in to the cover. The Smart Keyboard works well with the Smart Connector to provide power and data to the the keyboard. The Smart Keyboard will cost you $169 when it is available.

The iPad Pro comes in three models, 32GB Wi-Fi only, 128GB Wi-Fi only, and 128GB LTE model. The prices for these three models are $799, $949, and $1079 respectively. The iPad Pro will be available for pre-order in October and will be available in November.

iPad Mini

There was another iPad that received an update, the iPad Mini 4. The iPad Mini 4 received a slight upgrade to an A8 Processor, and the M8 co-processor. The capacities have remained the same at 16GB, 64GB, and 128GB. The iPad Mini 4 comes in the same colors as before, Silver, Gold, and Space Grey.

There has been no change to the 9.7-inch iPad Air line. It remains the same as it was before the keynote.

The prices of the iPad line has changed. The complete line up of the iPads is now iPad Mini 2, iPad Mini 4, iPad Air, iPad Air 2, and iPad Pro. The prices start at $269, $399, $399, $499, and $799 respectively. The iPad Mini 4 is available for order today. The iPad lineup is now all A7 or newer, but all of the iPads have Retina-level graphics.

Apple made a couple other product releases that Apple has done today. Given how long the keynote was the remaining updates will be covered in another story tomorrow.

This is quite good, and definitely worth the view.

Just as with the last year, I have a new e-book available for pre-order. The title of this e-book is iOS 9 for Users and Developers.

The book comes is available in two versions from Apple. The first is ePub and the second is the iBooks edition. Both are priced at $4.99.

You can also purchase it from Amazon as well for $4.99.

Apple has officially announced their September 9th event for 10AM Pacific at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco. The tagline is "Hey Siri, give us a hint". More on the tagline in a bit. But first, the rumors.

Rumors

I have been reading the rumors of what will be announced. It is widely expected that new iPhones will be announced. They are presumed to be the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus. This would not be a stretch to expect these two items to be released. Some of the items rumored for this new phone is Force Touch. Force Touch is currently found on the Apple Watch as well as the trackpad in the 2015 MacBook Pros and the 2015 MacBook.

There seems to be a number of people who question what benefit Force Touch would bring to a phone. While others have touted potential benefits, it would seem that Apple would want to bring the technology to all of their devices. This could possibly come to fruition when paired with the rumored new Magic Mouse and keyboard. There has been no mention of a standalone trackpad, but one could easily see that coming in the future.

The second feature is a better camera, in particular a 12 Megapixel camera. The camera is one of the main features that many users, including myself, use to determine which iPhone to purchase. For me, since the iPhone is my primary camera, I want the best one possible. The second rumored feature for the camera is that it may be capable of shooting 4K video. 4K Video would absolutely be a benefit for the iPhone. While it would not be the first phone to be able to shoot 4K video, it would be the first iOS device to have this capability. Having the capability of shooting 4K video would mean that users would need a way to not only process the 4K video on a Mac, but also be able to show off the 4K video. A new Apple TV would be ideal for this task.

Apple TV

The second possibility for a new product is a new Apple TV. It was rumored that Apple would release a new Apple TV, completed with an App Store and Software Development Kit (SDK) for developers, at its 2015 World Wide Developer Conference (WWDC), which was held in June. This did not happen. The rumored features, besides an App Store and SDK, for the Apple TV has been 4K playback and a refreshed User Interface.

While 4K has been rumored, others have quashed the idea that a new Apple TV would be capable of playing back 4K Video. However, if the rumors of 4K video on an iPhone are true, then it would only make sense to have an Apple TV capable of displaying 4K content. Even if it only a user's own generated 4K content. If Apple does not release an Apple TV with 4K display capabilities, it may limit the allure of being able to shoot 4K video on an iPhone, for most individuals.

There will definitely be a segment of the population that would shoot 4K video on an iPhone and then process it and use it for more than just showing off to friends and family. I could easily see a show like House of Cards using an iPhone Video shot in 4K in one of their episodes as a plot point. Even if the video was only to make sure it was not grainy when streaming in 4K.

4K iMac

It is not likely that Apple will announce a 21.5" iMac that has a 4K monitor at the September 9th event. Instead, that could be announced at an October Event with the iPad. However, there are rumors that a 21.5" iMac with a 4K monitor will be released. To go with the idea of releasing 4K capabilities on a number of Apple's devices.

Siri

The tagline of "Hey Siri, give us a hint". Is a good one. It is possible that Apple may unveil the capabilities for Siri to do more with iOS 9. Even if Siri does not do a lot more, they are using it to get some to use Siri on their iOS device and ask "Hey Siri, give us a hint". When you do this, you may get a range of responses. Below are some of the ones that I have received.

Overall

Regardless of what Apple announces on September 9th, it will be something. Once we know, we will have all of the details. Until then, we will just keep speculating.

This is a long segment from John Oliver's Last Week Tonight about Televangelists. It is definitely worth watching the entire thing. Also, follow the instructions as given, it will be a great result.

A bunch of fans have done something huge to try and get the band Foot Fighters to play in Italy.

Source: The BBC.

One of the features of iOS 8.4 and iOS 9.0 is Apple Music. There are many features to the Apple Music service. This article will cover a number of features of the Apple Music service, but there are a few areas that are not covered. The ones not covered within the article are iCloud Music Library, and iTunes Match. Another aspect that is not within this article is my thoughts about the service. This article will only cover different aspects, and a couple of tips, for the Apple Music Service. That will likely be another article entirely. Before we delve into the Apple Music service itself, let us look at some history of music and radio.

History

During the mid and late 20th century, users became enamored with the radio. For a significant portion of the century it was the primary means, for many, to discovery new music. As the century continued, the popularity of traditional radio began to wane. A more famous lament of this is "The Last DJ" by Tom Petty. The lament in the song is due to the corporatization of radio, where a handful o companies owned all of the stations and individual music choice by a DJ became non-existent.

While the consolidation of radio was occurring another technology was emerging, Tape Decks. Tape recording made it possible to create a custom mix of songs for yourself or others. The problem with this approach was that you had to listen all day to hear a song that you wanted to add to your mix tape. Tape Decks were replaced with personal CD players, burning CDs to create custom CDs; which progressed into the rise of MP3 players and adding your own music to an MP3 player. The practice of listening to the radio all day to hear your favorite song quickly disappeared. From 2000 to 2004, I used to use (I still have the actual MP3 Player) a 32GB Diamond Rio MP3 player. It would hold approximately 12 MP3 songs encoded at 64Kbps. This was perfect for putting the songs of Lucky Boys Confusion on playing the album on my way to school.

The rise of MP3 players allowed many individuals to obtain the music that they wanted and no longer required them to purchase a CD to be able to listen to the one song they wanted. The emergence of the iTunes Music Store allowed this trend to continue even more.

With users purchasing individual tracks, it became harder to find new music. Music recommendations would come from friends, the top selling tracks, and even the radio. As wireless became more ubiquitous it was only a matter of time before streaming music services, like Pandora, Rdio, and Spotify would allow music listeners to no longer need to purchase music and have all of the music available in one place.

One of the benefits of streaming services is that they can personalize music to your tastes. This takes a lot of back-end technology to make it worthwhile. Even with personalized music profiles, it is possible to miss some new music.

This is where Apple wants to take Apple Music. A significant portion of modern music is U.S. centric. While The U.S. may be a portion of the world, it is only 4.4% of the world's population. This means that 95.6% of the world is not covered. In an effort to bring music to more people, Apple has created a radio station named Beats1.

Beats1

Beats1 is Apple's introductory foray into what could be considered traditional radio. Beats 1 is a "World Wide, Always On" streaming radio station. There are many unique programs that Beats1 has on the service. There are three headlining radio talents, Zane Lowe, Ebro Darden, and Julie Adenuga. Lowe is based in New York City, Darden is based in Los Angeles, and Adenuga is based out of London. Each of the DJs brings their own personality and musical tastes to the stream.

Worldwide. Always On.

Worldwide. Always On. is the tagline for Beats1. While this is true, it is always on, it is not always live. That is not necessarily an issue. With Beats1 being a worldwide radio station, it is not conceivable to retire all users to listen to the same show at the same time. To accommodate the difference in time zones, Apple has created a schedule page on Tumblr. Typically, shows are aired twice a day. One in the morning and twelve hours later.

Beats1 Features

While listening to Beats1, there are a number of actions that you can take. The first is you can "Love" the song that is playing. This is easily done by tapping on the heart that is next to the song. There is a caveat for this. If the song is not available in the Apple Music catalog, you cannot "Love" the song.

If you are on the lock screen of an iOS device, you can love a song by tapping on the heart.

The second thing you can do is "Share Station" or "Start a Station". To do these of these tasks, simply click on the ellipses "..." that in the lower right corner. Alternatively, you can "Share the Station" by clicking on the share icon in the lower left corner of the screen.

If a song is in the iTunes Music store, you can do a few tasks, in addition to sharing the song. You can "Add to My Music", "Show in iTunes Store", or "Add to a Playlist". If you tap on "Add to My Music", the song will be added to your music library. If you click on "Show in iTunes Store", you will brought directly to the iTunes Store page, so you can buy the song, or add it to your wishlist. If you click on "Add to a Playlist", you will be able to add it to a playlist.

Beats1 Tips

While listening to Beats1 you may want to add the song to a playlist. Sometimes, You can do this, only if the song is in the Apple Music library.

One tip I have, is to create a new playlist, just for songs that are played on Beats1. To create a playlist, perform the following:

On an iOS device

1. Open the "Music" application.

2. Click on "My Music".

3. Click on "Playlists" at the top.

4. Click on "New" on the right, beneath "All Playlists".

5. Enter in a title for the playlist. I called mine "Beats1".

6. Click on the "Done" button in the upper right.

On a Mac or Windows PC

1. Open iTunes.

2. Click on the "Music" icon in the toolbar.

3. Click on "File" -> "New" -> "Playlist".

4. Enter in a title for the playlist.

5. Click away to save the playlist.

Now that you have created a playlist, you can add any songs that you hear to your Beats1 playlist. I use this as a mechanism for reminding me to go and check out the song again. Alternatively, if you want, you can see all of the song that are played on Beats1 without needing to create a playlist. You can follow a Twitter account named Beats1Plays. This is not an officially sanctioned Twitter feed. It will show ALL songs played. If the song is in the iTunes store, it will contain a link to the song/album.

Now, what do you if you hear a song you like and you cannot add the song to your Beats1 Playlist. If you are on your iOS device, you can just take a screenshot of the Music app while the song is playing to capture the information about the song. It is not ideal, but it is a method of capturing the song.

There is one last thing to note about Beats1 streaming. It is a “clean” radio station. That means that you will not hear any curse words. This also means that you will hear the clean version of songs, and not the explicit version. The reason behind this choice is to accommodate the largest number of listeners.

Connect

Apple Music connect is not Apple's first attempt at creating a music-based social network. Their first foray, Ping, did not end very well. Connect is Apple's second attempt at creating a place for artists and listeners to connect.

One of the issues with Ping was that it was yet another destination and another place for artists to have to post items to. Additionally, there was limited backend options for artists.

After the failure and removal of Ping, Apple decided to take a new approach to connecting musicians and listeners. That new service is called Connect.

When you first look at Connect, the service will take a look at all all of the artists who exist in your iTunes music library, and will automatically follow them in Connect, if you so choose to do so. There is also an option for not automatically following new artists.

Connect is more than just getting the same updates that exist on other social networks like Facebook and Twitter. With Connect, artists can choose to post exclusive content to Connect. This may include new songs, music videos, or even behind the scenes content.

Besides just artists, you can also follow Apple Music editors. Apple Music editors will publish new playlists or songs that they think people will like. An example is the Apple Music Pop editors recommended the song "That's How You Know" by Nico & Vinz (feat. Kid Ink & Bebe Rexha. While it may not be to everybody's taste, they are highlighting new material.

Trial

It is typical for any new service to offer a free trial. Usually a trial lasts two weeks, as is the case with the old Beats service, but more commonly it is a full one month trial. The idea behind this is to get a user accustom to using a service and thereby having them realize that they need the service. Apple has done more than just a one month trial. Instead, it is a three month trial.

With a month trial, it is possible for a user to not integrate the service into many aspects of their life and therefore not subscribe to the service when the trial ends. However, with a three month trial, it is more likely that a user will become so used to the service being a part of their life that they will subscribe.

There are two different tiers for Apple Music. The single user subscription and the family plan. The single user subscription is $9.99 US/£9.99 per month, and the family plan is $14.99/£14.99 per month. The family plan allows up to six individuals to all use. The caveat with the family plan is that all six of the members must be using Family Sharing.

The trial is a full-experience one. Every aspect of Apple Music is available to users who are on the three month trial.

Before your three month trial has ended, you will need to make the determination of whether to renew the subscription or not. If you do not renew, you will still have limited access to some features of Apple Music. The features that are available to all users are:

Free Features

• View Artist feed
• Follow artist on Connect
• Listen to Beats1
• Listen to Apple Music stations[footnote]Limited Skipping[/footnote]
• Love, comment and play Connect content or radio songs

With an Apple Music subscription you gain these features:

• Listen to Apple Music Stations[footnote]Unlimited Skipping[/footnote]
• Save Connect content
• Enjoy unlimited listening from the Apple Music library
• Add Apple Music content to your library
• Save for offline listening
• Get expert music recommendations

As with any technology race, the first race was to service could have the highest number of songs in their catalog. And as with all technology races, it becomes less about raw numbers than quality of the service. Even though Apple Music has over 30 Million songs available in Apple Music, it ultimately becomes about finding the content that you will enjoy. This is where the “For You” section comes in.

For You

As mentioned above, the race for users is not merely about the number of songs. Instead, it is about which service can best provide music to you that you will like. Apple's attempt with this is embodied in the "For You" section of iTunes.

The For You section takes into account your purchased music, artists you follow in Connect, and songs you "Love".

An example of this is when "For You" recommends an "Introduction to..." playlist for an artist. This playlist is hand-crafted by the Apple Music editorial teams. An example of this is "Introduction to Cold Play", which was recommended for me. Besides introduction playlists, there are also playlists that contain deep cuts.

Streaming

With Apple Music, you have a full access to the all of the music in the Apple Music library. You do not have to download all of the music that you want, you can stream it from Apple's servers.

If you like a song, you can hit the heart next to the song. This will tell the Apple Music service that you like the song. The service will take this into account when it recommends songs to you.

Playlists

One aspect to any music service is the idea of playlists. Playlists can revolve around a mood, an artist, or even just a collection of songs that you want to add. Sometimes though, you want to learn more about a particular artist. This is where the Apple human curated music can come in handy.

There are editors for all genres, Hip-Hop, Country, Pop, Classic Rock, and more. There are even some playlists created by curators. Some of these curators include the Grand Ole Opry, GQ, Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, Shazam, and Vice, among others.

Tips

With the integration of Apple Music directly into your iTunes Library, it may be hard to determine what music is from Apple Music, versus the items that you have purchased. This is extremely problematic if you do not renew your Apple Music subscription.

There are two different tips. The first is to how to show which music is Apple Music, versus music you have purchased. To show which content is Apple Music, do the following:

1. Open iTunes on your Mac or Windows PC.

2. Click on the "Music" button in the toolbar.

3. Click on "My Music".

4. In the upper right click "Songs" if it is not already selected.

5. Right Mouse, or ctrl-Click on any of the column headings.
6. Select "iCloud Status". The status of each song should now be visible.

By adding the "iCloud Status" to each of the songs, you can now easily see the status of the song when browsing songs. You can also sort your library by the iCloud Status and see which songs are Apple Music.

While it may be nice to see the status, it doe not necessarily show them all in one place. To be able to differentiate your music, simply create a playlist. Not just a regular playlist, but a Smart Playlist. To create a smart playlist specifically for your Apple Music, perform the following steps:

1. Open iTunes on your Mac or Windows Device.

2. Click on the "Music" icon in the toolbar.

3. Click on "File" -> New -> Smart Playlist.

4. Under "Match the following rule:", change "Artist" to "iCloud Status".

5. Under "Matched", change it to "Apple Music".

6. Verify "Live Updating" is checked.[footnote]Live Updating should be enabled by default[/footnote]

7. Click "OK".
8. Enter in a name for the playlist. I called mine "Apple Music"

If you have Apple Cloud Music Library enabled or an iTunes Match subscription, your playlist should synchronize between devices. This will allow you to easily see what music you have added to your library.

Feature Requests

One of the things I do with songs is listen to them on repeat. Sometimes, for many hours in a day. With that, there is a feature that I would love to see. If I listen to a song that I have not purchased more than 100 times in a month, add it to a shopping cart, or my wish list, so I can buy the song.

The second feature I would like to see, is a way to signify to Apple that you would like to be able to purchase a song that is not currently available. It could use the same "Love" mechanism that is used for songs that are in the iTunes Store. Alternatively, it could show a "Plus" sign to indicate that you want to have it added to the store.

Final Thoughts

Apple Music is a great effort by Apple to bring music to the entire world. The use of knowledgeable DJs in their Beats1 Worldwide radio station will help expose music to people who have not heard certain genres or may have never heard of artists. There have been a couple of songs that I would not have known about except through listening to Beats1.

The Apple Music Connect service will allow artists, from the popular like Taylor Swift, Eminem, and Demi Lovato to the lesser known artists, like Airplane Mode, Thomas Rhett, or even Tim Minchin. These artists will be able to better connect with their fans. Combine this with Apple's recommendation engine with "For You", it is possible that artists will be able to maintain a closer relationship with their fans by keeping them up to date with some behind the scenes content.

Recommendations by Apple's algorithms will allow individuals to find new music that fits their existing interests. This won't necessarily just give users the same artists, but will find them similar artists. Additionally, it will provide playlists of songs that they may enjoy.

Overall, Apple Music is a good start into creating a streaming music service. While there are definitely issues that are out there, when it works, it does work. Apple Music will not be for everybody, but it is an interesting service that shows where Apple is hoping music is headed in the future. If you have not yet checked it out, you can give it a try for free for three months, just backup your music library first.

I'm not sure what the title, nor what this song is, but I like it. Only thing I don't like is how it is filmed in portrait orientation.

George Carlin is very prescient. Always was, it's sad he's no longer around. I'd love to hear what he has to say about all of the things going on.