Apple Formally Introduces In-Car iOS Integration: CarPlay

Sounding more like a Google offering than one from Apple, the iPhone maker formally announced “CarPlay.” The service was previewed last year and is being rolled out in vehicles from Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo at the Geneva International Motor Show this week.

Other car makers that are part of the program include BMW, Ford, GM, Honda, Hyundai Motor Company, Jaguar Land Rover, Kia, Mitsubishi, Nissan  and Toyota among a few others.

CarPlay is built around calls, messaging, music and maps currently. Siri is the eyes-free/hands-free controller of the overall CarPlay experience, although touch-screens are also part of CarPlay:

Once iPhone is connected to a vehicle with CarPlay integration, Siri helps you easily access your contacts, make calls, return missed calls or listen to voicemails. When incoming messages or notifications arrive, Siri provides an eyes-free experience by responding to requests through voice commands, by reading drivers’ messages and letting them dictate responses or simply make a call.

CarPlay makes driving directions more intuitive by working with Maps to anticipate destinations based on recent trips via contacts, emails or texts, and provides routing instructions, traffic conditions and ETA. You can also simply ask Siri and receive spoken turn-by-turn directions, along with Maps, which will appear on your car’s built-in display.

As indicated, not all apps or iPhone functions will be available through CarPlay though the list will expand and there will likely be new apps or new versions of familiar apps developed specifically for CarPlay. The service will be available on 2014 models. But users will need an iPhone 5 or higher to access the service.

Google has a competitive “connected car” initiative modeled on its successful “Open Handset Alliance,” launched to promote Android. Google’s “Open Automotive Alliance” is being supported by Audi, GM, Honda and Hyundai so far. Others will likely join the list. Microsoft is behind Sync, which is used by which by Ford and Toyota.

Guide To Transform OS X Notification center into an RSS Feed Reader Via an App

The OS X Mountain Lion operating system has brought many more very newly features to the masses and yet it remains to be basically just one of the much most popular OS’s of overall the time. If there are developers in this whole world like a Peter Kalman, we can push out the OS X Mountain Lion’s potential above its limits. He has recently developed “Reader Notifier” free app which lets you use the notification center as a news feed/reader.

This lets you get News for a free without having you have to pay out for News experts services. And yet any another very great benefit of Reader Notifier is that it has a Google Reader assistance as well as the application will display you a notification when you get unread items in your Google Reader box.

The only thing that I don’t like about this app is that it floods your inbox with entries if you’ve subscribed to a very big number of feeds. To make that up, there should have been a regulator to be handle these of entire entries. Nevertheless, it is still a handy application that is worth downloading.

If you have a Mac running OS X Mountain Lion, you should give this app a try out by downloading it from [Mac App Store]. It is readily available for free and also yet it gives you a overall whole lot of benefit of reading news directly at your desktop.

Smartwatch – the increase associated with wearable devices.

Conversation devices are proceeding towards the scenario of ” Stylish, Portable, Accurate and Easy” in which the portability is gain access to the some of outstanding recognition in the masses. Upcoming cutting edge technological innovation is generally provided the catering to this in the form of a very new inventions and gadgets by provided birth to wearable devices and wearable computing.

Wearable devices like smart watches, glasses, fitness trackers and any of the others have started out to go through the human society beyond movies as well as Hollywood.

Mobile companies are using these third generation devices as a concentration stage to be staying out ahead with their innovation.

Nevertheless, Google glass may not be for the masses, a very new class wearable computing device which is creating a sense to be consumed Smart Watches, that is expected to basically create a very new milestone in the stream of wearable computing over and above the era of a tablet and Smartphones.

Smartwatch is generally Computerized Wrist watch with its a very higher characteristic are compared to PDA Smartphones. Sony has released a version of Smartwatch that is around 6 years back at a price of $150.

Sony has come up with Smartwatch-2 with functions of water and NFC resistant capability. It requires a constant Bluetooth connection with an Android phone and also can display Twitter feeds, SMS among any other elements.

In according to Bloomberg around 1.2 million smart watches will be distributed in 2013 which is producing $370 million in sales. ABI Research that is approximated in May that sales could jump much more than 20-fold by 2015.

The SmartWatch war has currently started out with overall whole world’s top rated premier leading giants Google, Samsung and Apple fight to be gaining access to the very first place in the market place. Apple Inc. that was recently attempted to the trademark its much speculated Watch in Japan.

On the other hand, the device is still reported to be in advance  mode. And also the latest rumors of Microsoft coming soon with its Surface Watch in 2014.

Smartphone leader Samsung is also generating a move into the SmartWatch market place after filing a trademark for “Samsung Gear” which is estimated to be operating as a companion to tablet or phone.

While the giants are busy searching out for the very best possible SmartWatch, a startup Pebble Technology which is creating  its SmartWatch debut on July 7, 2013.

Pebble SmartWatch arrives with the capability of Instant color changes using “outdoor-readable electronic-paper” along with GPS feature and water resistant. It also offers incorporation with both Android and iPhones Smartphones using Bluetooth, to be established alerts about emails, messages and incoming calls.

Pebble SmartWatch with its exclusive features is now on sale for $150 at a local Best Buy store.

A very new Smartwatch ‘Android’ is in reports, made by a group of Indian students that is declaring it to be the overall whole world’s very first smartwatch to have full Android features such as built-in with some of an extra features like GPS, Phone, Bluetooth, Camera and Wi-Fi.

Apple may focus on health with iOS 8

NEW DELHI: iOS 7 ushered in a major revamp of Apple’s mobile operating system last year, introducing some features that its rival Android already had. And it seems that Apple may up the ante with iOS 8 this year.

According to reports, the company is going to focus on health and fitness with the next iteration of iOS. Technology website 9To5Mac has reported that Apple is currently readying a new app called Health book, which will be the key feature of the upcoming operating system.

This app “will be capable of monitoring and storing fitness statistics such as steps taken, calories burned, and miles walked. Furthermore, the app will have the ability to manage and track weight loss.” Other features likely to be included are ability to track blood pressure, hydration levels, heart rate etc.

If users provide information about the medication prescribed to them, the Health book app will remind them of taking the same at the scheduled time.

This report is backed by a New York Times story on Apple’s top brass meeting the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the government body responsible for public health. Though the details of the meeting are not yet known, the report said that Apple is either trying to expedite a pending approval, or the two parties are working on a new generation of medical devices.

Michael O’Reilly – the former chief medical officer of patient monitoring device maker Masimo Corp – joined Apple’s ranks recently. He is also said to be among the Apple employees who met the FDA executives.

It actually comes as no surprise that Apple’s next generation operating system would focus heavily on health. The company last year launched iPhone 5S with a special M7 core that only tracks the health and fitness of the user. While introducing this core in its A7 chipset, the iPhone maker had said it will create the path for the next generation of health and fitness apps.

These reports of a health-optimized operating system also give credence to the rumors of an Apple smart watch that is focused on health and fitness. The rumored iWatch will be the company’s first wearable device and would be crucial for a firm whose fans and investors are clamoring for a new generation of gadgets.

According to a Bloomberg report, Google is also in talks with FDA over some medical devices.