Last week, two of the biggest tech companies, Google and Apple, announced that they would be working together to help address the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, the companies announced a cross-platform API that would allow for better contact tracing. The companies also mentioned that they would be working with government bodies, non-government organisations (NGOs) and other orgranisations to develop the APIs.
That effort may have just hit its first snag in the United Kingdom (UK). in report published by The Guardian, the NHSX, the digitization arm of the National Health Service (NHS), and Google and Apple are at an impasse. The main issue seems to be related to the way data is collected and access to the data. In their announcement, the two tech companies were adamant that the development of their API will keep user privacy intact. This would mean that the data that is collected in a decentralised way; limiting what data is visible and what can be done with it. The NHS, however, is looking to collect data with a centralised database.
While the two approaches seem to a menial issue when it comes to the bigger picture, a decentralised approach to collecting data will allow better user privacy by limiting who has access to the data. Essentially, this will keep the data within the same device. However, using the NHS’s approach of having a centralised database, the data can then be viewed in aggregate. It also means that data is continuously communicated over the internet which can lead to more security concerns.
That said, with the new APIs begin developed by Google and Apple for Android and iOS, these contact tracing applications would be able to run in a more power efficient way. With the current restrictions on the way device features are used on the operating systems, the NHS’s app would be rendered near useless as it would need to be “active” to be able to use features like Bluetooth. This would mean that the apps would, in essence, force devices to maintain an open Bluetooth connection to help do the contact tracing. The fact that the app would need to be active to effectively contact trace, introduces a potentially huge backdoor for hackers and malefactors to take advantage of. However, using the approach being used by the APIs, this wouldn’t happen. It would use operating system access to trigger the Bluetooth when needed.
It seems that the NHS was hoping that these limitations would be eased up on for contact tracing purposes. However, Apple and Google are adamant in maintaining their limitations. In fact, Google has gone on record to say that the limitations are being maintained to prevent the abuse of functionality; in particular for surveillance purposes. On the other hand, the limitations also pose a data collection conundrum for bodies like the NHS. The extra data that they get from their approach would allow tracking of population flows, “near misses” and even contacts from those who have opted to share their data.
Malaysia and Singaore have released their own contact tracing apps in the Apple App Store and Google Playstore. The MySejahtera app and TraceTogether respectively have been deployed by the governments in those countries to help with managing the spread of the SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus causing the COVID-19 disease. However, the apps have seen limited adoption among the general public. The TraceTogether app is already known to use Bluetooth to Bluetooth communication to help with contact tracing. The data collected by the app is stored in a centralized server similar to how the NHS wants to implement its app. This could be one of the factors of the app’s limited adoption.
Apple has announced the latest addition to their iPhone line up, the new iPhone SE. Yep. It’s not the iPhone SE 2 or the iPhone SE 2020, the company has simplified things by just naming it the iPhone SE. The new affordable iPhone will be replacing the iPhone 8 which will be halting sales after the new smartphone hits stores.
Apple hasn’t compromised much when it comes to the new iPhone SE. The company is packing it with some of the latest technology that comes with iPhone 11 series; making the new SE one of the most feature packed offerings in the market for its price point.
The iPhone SE comes with the new A13 Bionic processor that the company launched with its iPhone 11. The SE also comes in a familiar package retaining the iPhone 8’s design and chassis. That’s not all that it retains, it also brings back the home button and Touch ID sensor that Apple’s iPhone flagships have done away with since the iPhone X. The iPhone SE is also smaller overall. It comes with 4.7-inch Retina HD display with True Tone which allows for a more comfortable experience with the smartphone. It has a resolution of 750 x 1334 pixels in a familiar 16:9 aspect ratio. The phone also comes with Haptic Touch which enables the Quick Actions functionality in iOS.
On the camera front, the iPhone SE comes with a single 12-megapixel sensor. The sensor has an f/1.8 aperture and is equipped with a wide angle lens. Apple is touting the SE’s single sensor camera as one of the best on an iPhone yet. It enables some of the most used camera features nowadays such as Portrait mode with Apple’s six Portrait Lighting effects and Depth Control using the Neural Engine of A13 Bionic processor. This also translates to the front camera of the iPhone SE. The single, 7-megapixel sensor is able to take portrait pictures using machine learning and also what Apple calls monocular depth estimation. The main camera supports 4K UHD video recording of up to 60 frames per second (fps) while the front facing camera supports up to 1080p.
The SE will be running iOS 13 out of the box and will also be able to support augmented reality (AR) experiences available on apps in the Apple App Store. It also supports eSIM and dual SIM functionality.
Pricing & Availability
The iPhone SE will be go on pre-order starting from 5 a.m. on April 17, 2020. It will be available in stores and via carrier partners starting April 24, 2020 in the U.S. an in 40 other countries.
Source: Apple
It will be retailing at USD$399 for the 64GB version, USD$449 for the 128GB version and USD$549 for the 256GB version. The iPhone SE will be available in White, Black and (PRODUCT)RED. Proceeds from the sale of the (PRODUCT)RED version of the iPhone SE will contribute directly to the Global Fund to combat COVID-19.
No official availability has been announced for Malaysia just yet. However, the iPhone SE is listed on Apple Malaysia’s Website. The official Pricing in Malaysia is as follows:
The COVID-19 pandemic has been taking the world by storm. It has had an unprecedented affect on every country in the world and the world economy. The world is also beginning to realise the value of front liners such as doctors, nurses, scientists and janitors. That said, Google and Apple and lending a hand in fighting the pandemic by working together.
The companies announced a joint effort to help with the current pandemic. The effort comes in the form an APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) which will help with contact tracing. Contact tracing is becoming increasingly more important in the battle against COVID-19 to help with the mitigation of the viral spread. Countries which have started or have been doing contact tracing have shown better disease control in the current pandemic.
Apple and Google are looking to assist with Contact Tracing by using Bluetooth on smartphones. The APIs will work with together with operating system level technology to allow the tracking of potential spread of COVID-19. Essentially, authorised applications will be able to use Bluetooth on both iOS and Android smartphones to help identify individuals who have potentially come in contact with infected individuals. As of right now, it seems like these APIs will be made available to government and public health agencies to help mitigate the spread of the pandemic.
Apple and Google have both stressed that user privacy, transparency and security will be central to the development of these APIs. They are looking into broader, more robust applications of the APIs being developed which allow more individuals to participate, should they choose to via an opt-in. These broader application are being explored in consultation with other interested stakeholders. The effort comes after a number of public health authorities, universities and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) around the world kick started an effort to develop opt-in contact tracing technology.
The APIs and its functionality will be rolled out in stages given the dire need for contact tracing in the current pandemic. The initial stage will be the rollout of the APIs in May which will enable interoperability between the mobile platforms. Official apps using these APIs will be available in the Google Play and Apple App Stores. After this, Google and Apple will be working to enhance and enable broader Bluetooth based contact tracing enabling more robust applications. The companies have stated that they will be openly publishing information their work to be analyzed by others during this process.
Malaysia is still under Restricted Movement Order (RMO), or Movement Control Order (MCO), or in other words, partial lockdown. We are just one step away from a national curfew or martial law. If you have been living under a rock and have not known what is happening outside your windows, we are under RMO/MCO/lockdown because of the COVID-19 situation which is worsening as the days go by. To be specific, we are under this condition to combat the worsening COVID-19 situation.
Why this is the best way to go? There are plenty of graphs
and what not to be shown, but we are not going to do that here. All you need to
know is it is very important that we practice social distancing and stay at home
as much as possible to limit infection rate and risks.
Staying at home can be a drag for plenty though. We can understand
that, especially for those social butterflies out there. We feel your pain, but
at the same time I personally like staying indoors anyway. Still, it does get
boring; you run out of games to play, run out of books to read, generally
running out of things to do eventually.
It is quite a simple fix though. You can order books online now and buy games digitally. You do not need to step out of the house for all these for a while now. You can even get a movie on your couch with Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, what not. Still, these things cost you money. There is something else you can do, for free – exercise.
The Right Tools Are Essential
We are saying that exercising can be fun, yes. Beyond that
though, in the days where you can barely step out of your home, it is always
important for you to keep yourselves active and healthy. By sitting around and working
all the time while watching YouTube recipe videos, you tend to get lazy, and
unhealthy.
We are pretty sure you have been eyeing those smartwatches and
fitness trackers for some time now. It is the in thing these days anyway. At
this time, you must be thinking; “maybe not now, maybe wait until this whole ‘stay
at home’ thing blow over”. We are telling you that is the wrong mindset, because
at this point the government is talking about extending the RMO/MOC/lockdown
for another two weeks. Even the Olympics committee is looking to postpone the
Tokyo Summer Olympics 2020 just to combat the pandemic that is the COVID-19.
Source: Garmin
Now is a good time as any to get a smartwatch or a fitness
tracker. If you are planning to get one already, Garmin makes some great stuff
(we can testify), and they are having some great promotions for their smart trackers
now. For example, the Garmin Forerunner 245 and 245 music (one of my personal favourites,
review coming soon) is on sale for MYR 1,299 and MYR 1,499 (originally MYR 1,450,
and MYR 1,699) respectively. It will last you up to 7 days in normal smartwatch
mode. It has GPS and built in music capabilities too. Be warned though, battery
will drain within 6 hours if you turn both on.
Source: Garmin
The Garmin Forerunner not your cup of tea? Need something more
basic? The Garmin Instinct would fit great with its ruggedness too. It is built
to the U.S. military standards 810G to ensure that it still works in the most
hostile environments. This would be perfect for you Spartan Challenge and Viper
Challenge junkies. It has a battery life of up to 14 hours. It has GPS too of
course, and that would last you u to 14 hours, 35 hours in UltraTac mode. You
can get it in its plain body form, or tactical form (ATACS camo) for MYR 1,299
and MYR 1,450 (originally MYR 1,450 and MYR 1,599) respectively.
Source: Garmin
Nope? Need something more smartwatch like? Need touch screen?
Something more elegant you can wear every day. There is the Garmin Venu, a
pretty looking thing that has all the great Garmin features with a pretty
AMOLED touch sensitive display. This smartwatch can last up to 5 days too, much
better than almost anything with proper smartwatch functionalities in the
market. Of course, the Garmin Venu also has GPS built into its svelte body and
music storing capabilities. With both on, you get 6 hours of battery life. But you
do not need more than that in your exercises. It is available now in plenty of
colour combination options for MYR 1,599 (originally MYR 1,799). My personal
favourite is the Blue Granite/Silver combination.
The Garmin smart trackers are on this discount until the 31st of March 2020, that is when the lockdown order ends too. All the promotions are also coupled by Free Shipping by Garmin with FREESHIPPING code from their local distributor. Well, because, you know, you cannot go out; and retails are not open. Visit their online store now.
Source: Samsung
Source: Samsung
You have the Samsung Galaxy Watch or the Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 that is now MYR 1,299 each. The Samsung Galaxy Watch, in my opinion, remains the best smartwatch that you can pair to your Android at this point. Of course they do not offer crazy one-week battery life. You get at most 3 days or so before needing a charge. Still, you get GPS, music storage, heart rate tracking, and activity monitor with them too. Plus, Samsung is participating in Lazada’s birthday promo on the 27th March 2020
Source: Apple
Or if you are an Apple user, you can always go back to the Apple Watch Series 5 currently. While we are not huge Apple fans, we have to admit that the Apple Watch has come a long way as a smartwatch option. The Apple Series 5 is a great smartwatch on its own with plenty of unique features like ECG monitoring, fall detection, and what not. Hey, it looks great too, in my opinion.
There are of course, plenty of options out there for you. There are more stuff in Garmin’s product range that might fit your preference better, or there are even great options from other people. There are also cheaper, more basic stuff out there. You just have to go into the interwebs and look.
Back to Basics
Back to keeping yourselves at home. There are plenty of
exercise videos you can actually watch from YouTube to keep yourself active. A search
of home exercises come up with a plethora of videos that might fit your needs
at home, so we are not going to feature any video here.
If you are not into the exercising videos or instructional
though, that is okay too. There are other ways to keep yourself active. Yes, we
try to do them too.
For one, you can just make sure you walk around the house.
While you might have set up your workstation at home to be as convenient as possible
for you work wise, you should separate all the living stuff and work stuff.
This ensures that you do not stay in one place for too long. Somehow this
forces you to get up and walk around the house to get water, or tea, or even food.
Maybe you should even put your smartphone further away from you so that you
will walk up to it to answer if there are any calls. I know I am doing that. Only
issue is, if you accidentally put it on silent or leave your headphones on. Of
course, check in from time to time.
Who says you need weights to keep yourself active at home? Keeping
yourself active at home can be just as simple as keeping yourself active in the
office. You have water bottles you can use as weight to do your weight-lifts
and what not. While it may not be as intensive or taxing on your body than those
crazy home workouts you see on YouTube videos, it is still something you can do
to keep your body moving.
Of course, since you actually have plenty of time at home
now, since you do not have to travel to work on a daily basis (you free up at
least an hour of your day, you have not considered the time you take to go out
with your friends, for meals). You have at least that one hour to get proper
exercises done. You can do your basic push-ups, sit-ups, crunches, and whatever
not. Of course, there are some more effective exercises you can find from
YouTube and what not.
Still do not want to do it in front of the TV? Garmin has
something called a Squad
Virtual Challenge. It is a community-based fitness and exercise program
that is now online. Obviously you have to be a Garmin owner to take advantage, hence the promotions. But you get new
regimes every two weeks from the Squad Virtual Challenge (for now), so you can
do something different every two weeks or so to keep your workout sessions more
varied.
There are also plenty of other workout regime subscriptions or community workout plans out there. Some are free, some are not. Some of them may work for you, some of them may not. It really depends on what you want out of your workout sessions too. So you should really look into it.
Going to the gym, or even going for an outdoor jog is not
really an option at this time. You really have to find the time on your own to
keep yourselves active. We also understand that it can get quite difficult
since you are just staying at home most of the time. It is important to keep
yourselves active though. An active lifestyle is a more productive lifestyle, trust
me.
The iPad Pro turned heads when it was first launched back in June 2017. Many were asking where this large tablet would sit in the continuum of devices that is available to the consumer. However, the iPad Pro became one of the most revered devices for creatives and those looking to be productive on the go.
The 2020 iPad Pro ups the ante with Apple’s new A12Z Bionic chip. The A12Z succeeds the A12X SoC (System on a Chip) which Apple introduced with the previous generation iPad Pro. The new processor comes with 8-cores; 4 of which are optimized for performance while another 4 are optimized for efficiency. Apple touts that this processor makes the new iPad Pro “faster and more powerful than most Windows PC laptops”.
The new iPad Pro is, once again, made for creatives looking to work on the go. Apple’s A12Z Bionic chip makes it possible to edit 4K video and design 3D models on the iPad. According to Apple, the chip also comes with enhanced thermal architecture and fine-tuned performance which allows it to handle larger workloads than previous iPads. The performance of the iPad Pro 2020 is enhanced further with the Neural Engine of the A12Z which allows next generation apps to run.
The display on the iPad Pro 2020 is a near bezelless Liquid Retina display. Both the 11-inch and the 12.9-inch iPad Pro will come with Apple’s most advanced display yet. The new display has support for the DCI-P3 gamut which makes colour reproduction more accurate than ever. This is enhanced with ProMotion technology which automatically adjusts the refresh rate up to 120Hz for smooth scrolling and better responsiveness.
The camera module on the new iPad Pro comes with a dual sensor setup. It is equipped with 12-megapixel, wide angle sensor with an aperture of f/1.8 and a 10- megapixel, ultra-wide sensor with an f/2.4 aperture and 125° field of view. The camera setup supports up to 5x Zoom, Smart HDR, Auto image stabilization and 4K video recording at up to 60 fps.
The biggest change on the new iPad is the inclusion of a LiDAR Scanner module. This module allows the iPad to measure the distance between it and surrounding objects for up to 5 meters. This will work both indoors and outdoors. The LiDAR sensor works in tandem with the cameras and motion sensor to enable a whole new level of AR experiences. Apple has announced that apps developed on its ARKit technology will automatically be able to make use of the sensors when the ARKit updates.
Apple also brings the iPad Pro one step closer as the rival to the Surface Pro from Microsoft with the addition of trackpad support. The support comes with an updated iPadOS and likely will make its way to older iPads. However, the new iPad Pro is the only iPad with a Magic Keyboard. The new Magic Keyboard has a unique floating design which allows the iPad to shine. It also comes with USB-C pass-through for charging. Like the Magic keyboard on the recently announced MacBook Air, the magic Keyboard comes with 1mm travel for a better overall typing experience.
Pricing & Availability
The new iPad Pro will be available in Space Gray and Silver starting today on Apple’s website. It will be available in stores starting next week in 30 countries including the United States.
The 11-inch iPad Pro will be retailing for USD$799 for the WiFi only model and USD$949 for the WiFi and cellular version. These prices are for the 128GB version of the iPad, there are options for 256GB (USD$899 WiFi; USD$1,049 WiFi + Cellular), 512GB (USD$1099 WiFi; USD$1,249 WiFi + Cellular ) and 1TB (USD$1,299 WiFi; USD$1,449 WiFi + Cellular ) of storage.
The 12.9-inch version starts at USD$999 for the WiFi only model and USD$1,149 for the WiFi and cellular model. As with its smaller sibling, the prices mentioned are for its 128GB version. There are also 256GB (USD$999 WiFi; USD$1,249 WiFi + Cellular), 512GB (USD$1,299 WiFi; USD$1,449 WiFi + Cellular) and 1TB (USD$1,499 WiFi; USD$1,649 WiFi + Cellular) versions.
Thin. Light. Long lasting. Those are the words that come to mind when one thinks about the MacBook Air. The laptop was one of the first that arguably changed the face and form factor of modern laptops. Come the new decade, Apple is announcing a long awaited refresh to the popular MacBook Air.
The 2020 edition of the MacBook Air will be equipped with the latest quad-core processors from Intel. However, the 10th Generation Intel Core i7 which sports this configuration will only be available on the highest end MacBook Air. Two other options will be made available, one equipped with a dual core Intel Core i3 and another with the quad core Intel Core i5. Apple claims that the new MacBook Air has double the CPU performance and 80% more graphics performance with the new Intel IRIS Plus Graphics.
One of the pain points of the previous MacBook air was the keyboard which came with Apple’s butterfly switches. That being the case, Apple has turned back to the tried and true scissor switches. Their new Magic Keyboard comes with 1mm of travel for a more comfortable typing experience. The company has made the arrow keys easier to find with their “inverted T” design.
The MacBook Air comes with a 13.3-inch Retina display with over 4 million pixels. The Retina dispaly is an IPS Display with a QHD+ resolution of 2560×1600 pixels. This gives it a pixel density of 227 pixels per inch (ppi). It has a 16:10 aspect ratio and supports True Tone technology for better colour accuracy.
Storage and memory wise, the new MacBook air is equipped with at least 8GB of LPDDR4X RAM which can be upped to 16GB. At the minimum, it comes with 256GB of onboard PCIe SSD memory. This too is upgradable to a maximum of 2TB SSD. Speaking of the storage, Apple’s T2 Security Chip is also on the new MacBook Air. It will scan the software loaded during boot to ensure that nothing has been tampered and also provides on the fly data encryption. However, to simplify the user experience, TouchID has also been incorporated so users can stay secure while keeping things convenient.
The MacBook Air 2020 is also the first of its series to support up to 6K output for external displays. It also has a 3 mic array for clear voice performance over FaceTime and is equipped with the large, Force Touch trackpad. I will also come with Thunderbolt 3 ports for data, charging and video output.
Pricing & Availability
The new laptop is available for order on Apple’s website starting today. It will be available in Space Gray, Gold and Silver. Prices start from USD$999 or, if you are buying under their education programme, it will be USD$899.
In Malaysia, the Core i3 and Core i5 versions have been listed on the Apple online store. However, they are not available for order just yet. The i3 version of the MacBook Air is listed at MYR4,399 while the i5 version is listed at MYR5,599.
The Week of March 9th was an eventful one with two big launches, two court cases and multiple events getting cancelled due to the COVID-19 outbreak. OPPO announced the official availability of the Find X2 series in Malaysia with prices starting at MYR3,999. Xiaomi announces the new Redmi Note 9 Pro Series. Apple seems to have cancelled the new iPhone SE 2 amidst the COVID-19 situation while other companies start working from home.
We had Adam Lobo (@adamlobotv) on our podcast last week! Do head to the link to give a listen. We are also excited to have Jason Goh of SmashPop (@Smashpop) over in our podcast in the coming week. Check out their YouTube link!
Our #podcast will be on every Monday and we are on all your favourite podcast channels! We are on Breaker, Anchor, Spotify, Google Podcast, and Apple Podcast as Tech & Tonic! Do check it out!Remember to give us a thumbs up for this video! We have plenty more videos like this on our channel so do subscribe!
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In this week’s Tech & Tonic Podcast, we have Adam Lobo of Adam Lobo TV! Adam Lobo is the lead vocalist in the rap metal band Dragon Red. Adam Lobo’s gift does not just stop at his voice though. He makes great looking contents on his YouTube channel too when he is not jamming out with the band. His love and passion in tech led him to create his own YouTube channel where he reviews the latest gadgets you can buy in the Malaysian market. If you want to see devices in 4K detail, you should definitely check out his channel.
Last week we saw big events in the tech industry being cancelled. We say that they are being cancelled, most of them have moved things online (as in livestreaming) instead. Microsoft’s MVP conference, Facebook F8 Summit, Adobe Summit, Google Cloud Next, Google I/O 2020 are just the few events that has been cancelled due to COVID-19 (there is a new official name now) concerns. How is this going to affect the tech landscape? What about other industries?
We also saw the most valuable brand in the world getting into some trouble with the law. Apple has been caught up in their #BatteryGate court battle for a while now and the court has decided that Apple should be fined and pay out almost half a billlion U.S. Dollars in compensation to the victims of their deliberate software throttling. As far as we know, this only applies to the U.S. market. There is more to this though.
Facebook has internally started this thing they call Project
LightSpeed. It is exactly what it sounds like. Its aim is to simply make everything
move faster. Faster for the users that is. Then again, the world today revolves
plenty on user experience.
While the world in 2019 and 2020 has been putting plenty of emphasis on user security and privacy (Facebook just had a Data Privacy brief with us two weeks ago), it does not mean that user experience in terms of the User Interface (UI) design, speed, and intuitiveness can be ignored. They are supposed to be developed hand-in-hand; they are supposed to move forward together.
Source: Facebook
Facebook understands that completely, and that is why they
are introducing a new faster, lighter Facebook Messenger specifically for iOS.
Before we go on, we did ask on the reason for the exclusivity. If you go on Google’s
Play Store on your Android smartphone now and search for Facebook Messenger,
you will notice two types of Facebook Messenger apps on the device. One of them
is the normal blue pop-up coloured Facebook Messenger, and the other one is a white-faced
pop-up called Facebook Messenger Lite. We can explain the differences in that
further in the future (comment if you want that!). For now though, that also
means that Android users get to choose between using the full beans and might
of the regular Facebook Messenger app or choose to keep their devices running
nice and quick with Facebook Messenger Lite app.
Let us get back to Facebook Messenger app for iOS. It will
be available as an app update in the App Store, so if you already have the Facebook
Messenger app there is no reason you need to download another one. It should be
an update anyway, who are we kidding.
In layman terms, Facebook says that the new Messenger is
supposed to load up or start up faster. While you may not notice too big of a
difference at first, Facebook says that the benefit is plenty more visible over
time. Thanks to simplified mechanics of the app, it is also a smaller app than before.
That also means it consumes less storage space in your smartphone, which also
means you get to take more photos. It is not just simplified mechanics though. Apparently,
the engineers in Facebook has also simplified the experience within the app to not
only ensure a lighter load on the device, but for its users too.
Now for the technical bits. It is actually simpler than you think, not as scary or overly complex. The headline figures are 1.7 million to 360,000. That is the amount of codes that were in the previous iteration of the Facebook Messenger for iOS app, and the amount that it is reduced to with the current iteration. That also means that they managed to shrink the amount of codes contained within the app by 84%. Less codes means less processing needed, and so you get faster load times. It also means reduced complexities and less maintenance needed from Facebook’s side.
Source: Facebook
What happened to the other codes that was not used in the current
iteration? Cloud happened. To be specific, SQLite happened. What they did with
SQLite, like plenty of modern mobile apps is to simplify processes and start putting
plenty of the database on SQL’s database instead of storing every command on
the device. That also means that instead of loading everything on your
smartphone, whatever interaction you have with the app is happening on SQLite
instantly. That also means that everything on the database is stored and worked
on in a server farm somewhere. Again, less load on the device.
You are not losing the experience of a feature packed app
like the Messenger with the new update though. In fact, you might be getting
more. With the changes, you are not completely using a completely redesigned UI.
It is just a small improved UI with better response time. The key here is to
not make any major UI changes to the new Messenger build. Instead, Facebook
still wanted that familiarity with their users. Like previously mentioned though,
instead of storing each interaction as a unique interaction within the device,
they moved that to a server with SQLite.
There is more to that though. Instead of storing or
processing each interaction as unique interactions, they group them together,
combine them and make them mere reactions from the database instead of completely
recoating the app whenever something changes. That also means that instead of
storing multiple different screens as unique screens, you are now only getting elements
of screens popping up as you go along your Facebook Messenger app. Yes, you never
noticed the transition. But imagine having to keep loading new screens whenever
you scroll through the app and layering them over the previous screen.
The new Facebook Messenger app for iOS with LightSpeed is available
for free on Apple’s ever-growing Apple App Store platform. For existing Facebook
Messenger app for iOS users, the fourth major iteration is available to users
as a simple app update via the Apple App Store as well. LightSpeed is also
coming to Android’s Facebook apps in time. For more information on Facebook
Messenger’s update and Project LightSpeed, you can visit Facebook’s news
release and their engineering
blog.
The development on the Novel Coronavirus of 2019, now more commonly known as COVID-19, is on every headline for the past month or so. If you have not heard, the Mobile World Congress 2020 (MWC2020) that is supposed to open its doors soon was shut down due to the large health concerns. They are not alone though. The F1 GP to be held in China in about two months time has been cancelled via the request of the local organisers. If you missed our news, Acer’s Predator League 2020 set to happen at the end of this month is also cancelled due to health concerns.
All these are quite expected, to be fair. What is even worse is that plenty of factories in China had to close down or stop operating for the time being thanks to the vicious spread of the virus. One of those affected manufacturing plants are Apple’s contractor, Foxconn. That also means there is currently a global shortage of Apple iPhones. Of course, that is going to hit the market and Apple’s earnings a little bit.
For good measure, for their investors anyway, Apple just predicted that their Q2 revenue will be lower than the expected US$ 63 to 67 billion. If you are thinking that it cannot be that much lower for Apple to make an announcement like this, it looks quite bad from Apple’s side. Their prediction also says that they will not even make the lowest mark of the revenue estimates for Q2 of 2020.
At this time Apple is predicting up to a 36% difference between the expected shipment for Q2 2020 and the actual shipment number. Optimistically they are expecting a 29% difference. Still, that big of a difference in shipments is going to be quite a big hit to their revenue numbers.
Apple did not mention how big of an impact the plunge in shipment will make though. At this time we cannot comment too much into their reduced shipments or even predict how much they will lose in revenue for Q2 2020. To be fair, even our attention is mostly fixed on the development on COVID-19.
