Category: Technology

Apple Unveils Bigger iPhones at Higher Prices, and a Heart-Tracking Watch

appleApple has long had a playbook for iPhones, its most important product: Keep rolling out bigger, faster and more expensive models.

On Wednesday, it repeated that strategy by introducing another round of iPhones that are — you guessed it — bigger, faster and more expensive. The model with a 6.5-inch screen, the iPhone XS Max, is Apple’s biggest iPhone ever and will start at $1,100. (And, yes, its name is a mouthful.) Last year when Apple debuted its iPhone X, the starting price was $1,000.

More notable, perhaps, was how much Apple is now evolving its smart watch into a clearly health-related device. The company showed off a new Apple Watch with an electronic heart sensor approved by the Food and Drug Administration. That could lead to new implications for health care — and prove to be a major selling point for a device that has played second fiddle to the iPhone.Apple on Wednesday unveiled the iPhone XS, a premium model with a 5.8-inch screen, and the iPhone XS Max, with a 6.5-inch screen, its biggest-ever smartphone. The company also showed the iPhone XR, an entry-level model with a 6.1-inch screen.

The XS models are generally sped-up versions of last year’s iPhone X. Apple emphasized the phones’ advanced processor, durable glass and so-called Super Retina OLED display with a wide color gamut.

The iPhone XR will come in white, black, red, blue and yellow, and is just as fast as the XS models. It has a single-lens camera, unlike the XS models, which have dual-lens camera systems. And it uses LCD, a less expensive screen technology than the OLED used for the XS, and the casing is made of aluminum, unlike the stainless steel that the premium phones are composed of.

It’s obvious why Apple and other phone makers like Samsung keep enlarging their phones: Phones with bigger screens are selling well. When presented with the choice between a small phone and a bigger one, most people will go with the latter. That’s similar to how just about everyone wants a big-screen TV.But for mobile phones, there are trade-offs. For one, the larger phones are more difficult to use with one hand. With last year’s 5.8-inch iPhone X, it was difficult to reach your thumb across the screen to type a keystroke or hit a button inside an app.

The larger screens raise an important question about design. Will Apple do much in the near future to improve one-handed use?

When Apple’s screen sizes started growing with the iPhone 6 in 2014, the company released a software shortcut, called Reachability, through which users can tap the home button twice to lower the top of the screen and make it easier to reach buttons up there. That feature still exists for the new iPhones, but the lack of a home button makes it more difficult to use — instead of double tapping the home button, now you swipe down from the bottom of the screen.

READ MORE:https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/12/technology/apple-event-live-iphone-watch-ios12.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage

How Microsoft Has Become the Surprise Innovator in PCs

27STATE1-superJumboWhen Microsoft unveiled the first Surface tablet five years ago, it was a spectacular failure. At the time, the Apple iPhone was well on its way to conquering the technology industry, and the iPad appeared set to lead an even more devastating invasion of Microsoft’s office-worker kingdom. Microsoft conceived of Surface, an innovative laptop-tablet hybrid, as a way to show off the versatility of its software. Windows machines, it argued, could work as phones, personal computers and tablets. And didn’t everyone love Windows?

Nope. Microsoft soon took a $900 million write-off for unsold Surfaces. Another effort to break into the hardware business, its acquisition of the limping phone-maker Nokia, dug a deeper river of red ink — a $7.6 billion write-off. By the summer of 2015, Microsoft’s hardware dreams looked crushed. Even today, the Xbox One, Microsoft’s latest gaming console, is losing to the Sony PlayStation 4.

Still, Microsoft persisted — and today, the company is making the most visionary computers in the industry, if not the best machines, period. In the last two years, while Apple has focused mainly on mobile devices, Microsoft has put out a series of computers that reimagine the future of PCs in thrilling ways.

Yes, Apple loyalists, that’s just my subjective view. And yes, Microsoft’s latest financial results aren’t exactly on my side here — the company announced last week that though its cloud software business is growing rapidly, revenue for its Surface division declined by 2 percent over the last year (because of changes it made in its launch schedule).

Microsoft, of course, makes most of its money from the PC business by licensing Windows to other computer makers, and it says that part of its goal in building hardware is to inspire and guide those companies’ designs. But it also wants the Surface line to sell — and although the division has grown enormously in the last few years, becoming a critical part of Microsoft’s overall business, Surface is still far smaller than Apple’s Mac or iPad line.

‘Assassin’s Creed 3: Liberation’ Pushes the PS Vita to its Limits (Review)

ImageThe PS Vita’s hardware is impressive, but tons of gamers are nevertheless still waiting for a must-have game to justify the purchase of Sony’s latest handheld. Today, I must regretfully report that Assassin’s Creed 3: Liberation is probably not that game.

Developer: Ubisoft
Publisher: Ubisoft
Release date: Oct. 30
Price: $39.99

✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✩✩✩ Score: 7/10

I wanted to love it. I really did. I already love the way the PS Vita feels and looks, the way its dual sticks allow for decent controls, and the way its touch mechanics can be subtly integrated with traditional controls. And I love the Assassin’s Creed series—including Assassin’s Creed 3, my review of which is coming later this week. Liberation isn’t a bad game. Aesthetically, it’s superb, for a portable. And it’s got plenty of good ideas. But many of them, like the “personas” system, are marred by major flaws. As a result, it’s just not the best game that it could have been. Continue Reading…

 

Today’s Newsheadlines 10.03.12

NATION
Interior approves first section of 146-mile power line
The Obama administration says the project will improve the grid; environmentalists say it will harm public lands.
( by Darryl Fears , The Washington Post)

Duncan reaches out to teachers
The education secretary said the Obama administration understands many educators feel besieged.
( by Lyndsey Layton , The Washington Post)

Md. liposuction investigation expands
The state is working with federal, Pa. and Del. officials to probe infections at a Baltimore Co. center.
( by Lena H. Sun , The Washington Post)

Border Patrol agent killed in Arizona
FBI is investigating shooting that killed one agent, wounded another; manhunt is underway in desert.
( by Sari Horwitz , The Washington Post)

‘Give me your tired’ but . . .
COLUMN | When it comes to entrepreneurial talent, America is experiencing a persistent immigrant brain drain.
( by Vivek Wadhwa , The Washington Post)

More National: Breaking National News & Headlines – Washington Post

LOCAL
Gray to unveil city playoff plans
D.C. will spend up to $76,000 per Nationals game for more police, traffic officers and inspectors.
( by Nikita Stewart , The Washington Post)

Md. governor to seek utility surcharge
Plan would add “a dollar or two” to bills, allow companies to charge in advance for serious maintenance.
( by Aaron C. Davis , The Washington Post)

Officer hurt by car
An off-duty Montgomery County police officer was trying to help motorists involved in two crashes on a slippery road when a third car crashed into him, authorities said.
( by Martin Weil , The Washington Post)

Congress financial reports up
Stock Act discloses lawmakers’ financial reports online.
( by Eric Yoder , The Washington Post)

Parents protesting policy that requires more students to walk to school
Some Arlington parents are getting signatures on a petition to let their children ride the bus again.
( by Susan Svrluga , The Washington Post)

More Post Local: Washington, DC Area News, Traffic, Weather, Sports & More – The Washington Post

POLITICS
Gray to unveil city playoff plans
D.C. will spend up to $76,000 per Nationals game for more police, traffic officers and inspectors.
( by Nikita Stewart , The Washington Post)

Md. governor to seek utility surcharge
Plan would add “a dollar or two” to bills, allow companies to charge in advance for serious maintenance.
( by Aaron C. Davis , The Washington Post)

Congress financial reports up
Stock Act discloses lawmakers’ financial reports online.
( by Eric Yoder , The Washington Post)

Republicans jump on Biden ‘buried’ remark
“We agree,” Ryan says after VP says those in middle class have been “buried the last four years.”
( by Rachel Weiner , The Washington Post)

Judge halts Pennsylvania voter ID rule
A judge orders the state not to enforce the controversial requirement in this year’s elections.
( by Robert Barnes , The Washington Post)

More Post Politics: Breaking Politics News, Political Analysis & More – The Washington Post

STYLE
Moving on
Her boyfriend isn’t making progress toward their planned move. What now?
(, The Washington Post)

Moderating presidential debates: harder than it looks
Moderators have to be part inquisitor, part referee, part timekeeper and part wallpaper.
( by Paul Farhi , The Washington Post)

Singing shows as ad ammo?
“The X Factor” and “The Voice” are down in the ratings, but networks rely on such DVR-resistant reality hits.
(, The Washington Post)

Rock climber, 11, hits new heights
For Annandale girl, rock climbing is like a roller coaster ride.
(, The Washington Post)

New York’s wheely big idea
City wants to build world’s biggest Ferris wheel on Staten Island.
(, The Washington Post)

More Style: Culture, Arts, Ideas & More – The Washington Post

BUSINESS
In fund industry, a ‘like’ can be trouble
Companies eager to use Facebook, Twitter and other social media shy away because of federal regulations.
( by Theresa Hamacher and Robert Pozen , The Washington Post)

After election, how will Wall St. react?
For investors with angst about Nov. 6, an idea: Don’t worry about it. (But good luck with that.)
( by Cezary Podkul Special to The Washington Post , The Washington Post)

Internet companies oppose update of child privacy law
Facebook, Twitter and Google are protesting an update of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998, written before a majority of U.S. youths owned smartphones, apps began tracking locations and Facebook’s “like” button was ubiquitous on the Web.
( by Cecilia Kang , The Washington Post)

Decline in immigrant entre­pre­neur­s could harm economy, study warns
The proportion of new firms founded by the foreign-born is falling, and a bitter partisan divide over visa changes is blocking a remedy.
( by J.D. Harrison , The Washington Post)

The growing burden on caregivers
In the battle to contain health-care costs, more caregivers perform tasks usually left to medical staff.
(, The Washington Post)

More Business News, Financial News, Business Headlines & Analysis – The Washington Post

SPORTS
TV and radio listings, October 3

( , The Washington Post)

No letup for Nats
One night after clinching NL East crown, the Nationals moved a step closer to claiming the best record in the National League, relying on a patchwork lineup for a 4-2 win over the Phillies.
( by James Wagner , The Washington Post)

O’s keep title hopes alive
Chris Davis’s homer in the fourth provides the decisive run in Baltimore’s 1-0 victory, sending AL East race to the season’s final day.
( by Eduardo A. Encina , The Washington Post)

A manager’s winning ways
Davey Johnson, 69, has finished first six times in an impressive career. “It never gets old,” the skipper says.
( by Adam Kilgore , The Washington Post)

Harper comes of age when it counts
OPINION | During the stretch run, no Nat has been more valuable than the team’s 19-year-old wunderkind.
(, The Washington Post)

More Sports: Sports News, Scores, Analysis, Schedules & More – The Washington Post

TECHNOLOGY
Internet companies oppose update of child privacy law
Facebook, Twitter and Google are protesting an update of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998, written before a majority of U.S. youths owned smartphones, apps began tracking locations and Facebook’s “like” button was ubiquitous on the Web.
( by Cecilia Kang , The Washington Post)

Facebook launches new Help Center
The social network aims to clarify privacy settings and point out new features.
( by Hayley Tsukayama , The Washington Post)

Google, Microsoft in close race for second most valuable tech company
Google briefly passed Microsoft, but fell to third again in Monday trading.
( by Hayley Tsukayama , The Washington Post)

Samsung can sell Galaxy Tab 10.1 again
If you were looking to pick up a Galaxy Tab 10.1, then there’s some good news for you.
( by Hayley Tsukayama , The Washington Post)

Which ISPs are capping your broadband, and why?
Rise in caps has let ISPs influence the internet in subtle ways — most of which seem harmful to innovation.
( by Stacey Higginbotham | GigaOM.com , gigaom.com)

More Technology News – The Washington Post

WORLD
A central banker’s rebellion
Germany’s Jens Weidmann is using his influential pulpit to combat the European Central Bank’s bond-buying efforts to stem the debt crisis.
( by Michael Birnbaum , The Washington Post)

Libyans say few questions being asked about attack
The investigation into the attack that killed the U.S. ambassador has started slowly.
( by Michael Birnbaum and Anne Gearan , The Washington Post)

Border Patrol agent killed in Arizona
FBI is investigating shooting that killed one agent, wounded another; manhunt is underway in desert.
( by Sari Horwitz , The Washington Post)

Georgia votes opposition in
Mikheil Saakashvili’s ruling party loses election after years of reform and unchallenged authority.
( by Kathy Lally , The Washington Post)

Syria’s Kurds plan for post-Assad life
The minority group has been quietly laying foundations for what it hopes will be an autonomous region.
( by Loveday Morris | Financial Times , The Washington Post)

More World: World News, International News, Foreign Reporting – The Washington Post

EDITORIAL
The Zinger candidate
From Romney, it’s all sugary platitudes, no protein.
(, The Washington Post)

The ‘99 percent’ debate
Let’s ask questions that actually reflect Americans’ concerns.
(, The Washington Post)

The Nats take the East
And baseball delirium returns to D.C. after 88 years.
(, The Washington Post)

A Catholic in favor of Question 6

(, The Washington Post)

A McGovern poster whose time has come again

(, The Washington Post)

More Opinions: Washington Post Opinion, Editorial, Op Ed, Politics Editorials – The Washington Post

LIVE DISCUSSIONS
Free Range on Food: Apples, cider, poaching eggs and more
Have cooking questions? We have answers. Ask us now.
(, vForum)

Celebritology Live
Join Celebritology blogger Jen Chaney to gab about the latest celebrity gossip and pop culture news making waves across the Web.
(, vForum)

The Web Hostess: What you’re missing (or not) on the internet
Web Hostess Monica Hesse sifts the Internet so you don’t have to, searching for meaning, manners and the next great meme.
(, vForum)

The Reliable Source Live
Amy Argetsinger and Roxanne Roberts discuss your favorite gossip, celebrity sightings and their recent columns.
(, vForum)

Ask Boswell: All things Washington sports
Sports Columnist Tom Boswell answered reader questions about the Redskins, the Capitals, the Nationals, baseball, the NFL and more.
(, vForum)