staff: Show off your likes and followsYou are a person of...

staff:

Show off your likes and follows

You are a person of remarkable taste. Make this taste known to all mankind.

How? Display the posts you like and the Tumblrs you follow right at the top of your blog.

How how? Go to your blog, poke the palette button, and you’ll see some new switches. 

When? This is rolling out over the next week or so. 

Tips? Yes! Go look at other Tumblrs that are showing their follows and likes. Learn about the millions of corners of Tumblr you didn’t even know existed. Become brilliant. Fall in love.

This is a terrible idea for mobile.

via Tumblr http://bit.ly/23j8XYr

iheartapple2: iOS 9.1 New Emojis(via The Loop) This is why...

iheartapple2:

iOS 9.1 New Emojis

(via The Loop)

This is why you’ll want to update.

via Tumblr http://bit.ly/1QL8U0i

techcrunch: A majority of iOS device owners have upgraded to...

techcrunch:

A majority of iOS device owners have upgraded to iOS 9, according to Localytics. The report pegs iOS 9 adoption at 55%. That’s a slight climb from the 50% adoption rate Apple officially announced last month, less than a week after the software had been released, and the 12% adoption rate seen within the first 24 hours. The rapid upgrades from the user base had already seen iOS 9 claiming the fastest adoption rate in Apple’s history.

However, the new report indicates that now, adoption is slowing down and says early bugs could be to blame.

Read more about this report here. 

This stands in stark contrast to Android.

via Tumblr http://bit.ly/1NHTALJ

Apple "Spring Forward" Event Reactions

My immediate reactions to the news of the Apple event that happened today, 3/9 happened over on Twitter, because that's where I was getting the news from (I had class during the event). I compiled them here for your perusing, including links to the tweets. Be sure to check out my full Twitter feed for all of my retweets as well.

Apple Watch is going to be important for the future of #Apple, smartwatches, and tech in general. #SpringForward
— Erik Peterman (@InternetOfErik) March 9, 2015

In typical fashion, Apple's defining a category: "Brands had no interest in smartwatch apps until the Apple Watch" http://t.co/A3mF6xsf0g
— Erik Peterman (@InternetOfErik) March 9, 2015

Apple Pay is spreading to Coca-Cola vending machines, and that's awesome: http://t.co/gRqmNnITpX
— Erik Peterman (@InternetOfErik) March 9, 2015

The new MacBook looks awesome and I want one in space grey: http://t.co/1V4BErFmSa
— Erik Peterman (@InternetOfErik) March 9, 2015

RT @sokane1: "TIL lots of people didn’t read this: "What the Tech World Doesn't Understand About Fashion” http://t.co/6DgdNMctkM"
— Erik Peterman (@InternetOfErik) March 9, 2015

The MacBook port fiasco strikes me as the same chirps we heard about the missing optical drive on the original Air. Who uses disks now?
— Erik Peterman (@InternetOfErik) March 9, 2015

To be fair, Apple's past dropping of I/O's have come earlier than others, but in every case they have been right in predicting market trends
— Erik Peterman (@InternetOfErik) March 9, 2015

We're 1, maybe 2 years away from basically only needing physical I/O for power. In the meantime, it's still very much a power user feature.
— Erik Peterman (@InternetOfErik) March 9, 2015

Let's not forget that Apple sells a laptop for people who *need* a portable notebook with more power and more ports - the 13" MacBook Pro
— Erik Peterman (@InternetOfErik) March 9, 2015

Even if you don't like Apple, you have to admit that ResearchKit is bold, innovative, and incredible. http://t.co/7j37fo8wCI
— Erik Peterman (@InternetOfErik) March 9, 2015

In case anyone cares, my Apple Watch will be the Sport variety and have a neon green band.
— Erik Peterman (@InternetOfErik) March 9, 2015

It's not that I think the others are too expensive, I just prefer my watches to have a matte finish, and I like the fluoroelastomer band.
— Erik Peterman (@InternetOfErik) March 9, 2015

I don't like the look of yellow of rose gold on myself. But I definitely see Edition being worth it to people who can afford it & like gold
— Erik Peterman (@InternetOfErik) March 9, 2015

I'm totally digging the drop in Apple TV pricing. Wonder whether it means a future update or if it's to better compete with Roku/Chromecast
— Erik Peterman (@InternetOfErik) March 9, 2015

Either way, Apple TV is now an even more compelling offer if you own even 1 Apple device. Or if you want HBO without a cable subscription.
— Erik Peterman (@InternetOfErik) March 9, 2015

Let me know what you thought of the event in the comments. Also, let me know if you like this kind of post, or if I should go back to longform writing.

Also, I will leave you with this:

Hashtag can’t innovate anymore, my ass
— Marco Arment (@marcoarment) March 9, 2015

Apple needs to overhaul Apple TV in 2015

Here it goes - I'm calling it:

This year, 2015, we have to see an update to Apple TV. This update must be both in hardware and in software. 

The hardware can come either in the form of an updated set top box, or our can be the long rumored full-on Apple Television we've been hoping for. What it looks like essentially doesn't matter. What matters is that it will have an A8 system on a chip and 1-2 GB of RAM minimum. The A8X from iPad Air 2 wouldn't be a bad thing, though. 

The software could definitely use a more modern face-lift, but that's not the most important thing for now. What we absolutely need to see is an App Store so that developers can take advantage of the space. What makes any product, but Apple products in particular, great is what they enable you to do with them. An app ecosystem open to developers is vital to this, and is the biggest reason we've seen iOS and Android take off in recent years. And yes, this App Store likely means games on Apple TV (because it certainly means the potential for games: and where there's potential, there are apps taking advantage of that potential). 

The only way around these upgrades is for Apple to do something like they are doing with CarPlay, where the device responsible for AirPlay-ing to Apple TV handles the processing, and Apple TV just acts as a wireless display adapter. Or, Apple could come up with some other crazy, Apple-style optimizations and blow our minds. Essentially, the hardware needs to get more powerful, the OS needs to get easier to run, or our iPhones/iPads/Macs need to be offloading the computing from the device.

But of course, it's possible none of these update will happen. The consequence for these updates not happening is that Apple TV will fail to remain relevant in the streaming/set-top-box world. Playing the AirPlay card to justify Apple TV's superiority has worked so far, but Android 5.0 has achieved this ability with Chromecast, so it's not as cut and dry of an argument as before. 

So, I'm calling it: we will see a major update to Apple TV this year, or it will fade into obscurity. Apple TV can no longer afford to be Apple's hobby device.

Do you think we'll see an Apple TV update this year? How will that manifest? Do you even care about Apple TV anymore? Do you even care about set-top boxes or streaming devices anymore? Let me know in the comments. 

Waze is mimicking some Google Now features in the iOS 8 notification panel

Finally, a developer is actually trying to do something useful with the notification center widgets in iOS 8.

Waze just released an update that includes a widget which can be added to the "today" view of the notification panel in iOS 8. The widget will show estimated travel time to two different locations, which are pre-set as "home" and "work." The widget is also a quick trigger to launch into directions to either location. 

Waze is a mapping service which uses crowd-sourced routes and live, crowd-sourced traffic information. It's always played second fiddle to Google Maps and Apple Maps, but it's still a useful service.

This is a pretty cool use of the today view, but Waze definitely borrowed this feature from Google Now.

Google Now has been displaying cards with directions to frequent locations since its inception, and this predictive information is a big part of what made it unique and useful.

But hey, I'm not complaining. Useful features are useful.

I just think that it's interesting that widgets have been on Android for a years, and there has been an incredible demand for them by consumers, yet developers seem slow to really adopt them. I mean, how many truly useful widgets have you actually found on iOS? To me, it seems like iOS 8 is one of the slowest adopted iOS versions by developers.

Are you using Waze? Will you try it out now that it has a cool widget? Are you an Android user still laughing at iPhone users who are thrilled about finally getting widgets? Let me know what you think in the comments.