Soli

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Username: Soli
Joined: December 2015
Visits: 174
Last Active: March 3
Roles: member
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Posts: 10,038

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iPhone X took over two years to develop, marks new chapter in iPhone design, says Jony Ive...

Soli

October 2017

AuthenTec before Apple made it into Touch ID

PrimeSense before Apple made it into Face ID
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Simple hack bypasses iOS passcode entry limit, opens door to brute force hacks [u]

Soli

June 2018

applemagic said:

Soli said:

Use the full keyboard for your passcode! Even add a simple long press character to make it crazy hard to crack without
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2016 MacBook Pro butterfly keyboards failing twice as frequently as older models

Soli

April 2018

I have an Apple Store appt. this week for my MBP keyboard. Not sure if it’a a swollen battery pressing up, a bad mechanism, or just something caught underneath the space bar. I’m both … (more)
Privacy not absolute: US among consortium of nations calling for encryption back doors

Soli

September 2018

These people deserve a swift kick in their back door.
iPhone X impresses Windows executive, Android fans but bitter bloggers still hating

Soli

November 2017

ktappe said:

This may be a bit unpopular, but I need to say Diaz has some points. When he says "battery life that lasts for more than a few hours of usage, materials that
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iPad cellular signal crucial to rescue of family stranded after plane crash

Soli

November 2021
Nice! That's got to be scary at any age. I hope the 13yo doesn't get a fear of flying after this experience. I'm guessing it doesn't have a modern ELT (emergency locator transmitter) … (more)
in it if they had to rely on cellular-based device for location. Less likely, but still possible, is their ELT failed.

I had an Artex 345 installed because even if I wasn't injured from the crash itself, the time between the crash occurring and being rescued could be the difference between life and death. The archaic location system that came with the plane only pinpointed a very large area (and I'm not even sure it would've done that if you read the link I posted below), which means search and rescue would have to navigate an excessively large grid looking for wreckage—782 square miles. For the price of a new iPhone it seemed worth it to get an upgrade that increases the accuracy to 339 square yards. I hope I never have to use my ELT.

The Cessna 150 was produced from 1958 until 1977. This Cessna 150 is from 1967 with tail number N6714S (not the same plane in the photo, which is a CA plane built in 1969).

Neat stuff in that article:
https://www.duncanaviation.aero/intelligence/2015/December/the-advantages-and-benefits-of-a-406-mhz-elt
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Is Apple getting Siri-ous in the face of Amazon's Alexa Echo?

Soli

January 2017
applesauce007 said:

Amazon echo is over rated. I think it will fade in time.
Amazon people who have never used voice assistance will be impressed for a while with Alexa.
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Time will tell.

I've been using Siri from the start. I currently use Siri and voice dictation with my Mac, iPhone, Watch, and have used Siri in the past with an iPad.

I've also had an Amazon Echo since it first came out. I was quite lucky with their lottery and got the very first shipment of the Echo. I was impressed then and I still am today. As Ttollerton states, the HW is more extensive, which probably means the far-field microphones can do a better job, but its excellence as a product and service far exceeds that one aspect.

Alexa is amazingly fast. It feels like it's processing its answer before you even finish speaking so it can reply with a cadence that would impress a Gilmore Girl. It also never seems to misunderstand a single thing I say and never seems to have to "think about" what I asked, unlike Siri. With Siri it feels like it it's querying a server for a reply, but with Alexa it all feels localized even though it's not. Same WiFi network and same broadband connection.

All these services have pros and cons—most of which are the same—but Alexa has 3 great features I wish Apple had brought to Siri from the start:

I can look at any previous Alexa request in my history in the Alexa app on on Amazon.com. I can then let Amazon know how well the service did in understanding my voice (voice-to-text) and/or parsing my query. If Apple had this I believe they could've made Siri much better, much faster.
I can load Skills into Alexa. These are 3rd-party apps for Alexa. Whatever abilities the Alexa service comes with out of the box, telling Alexa to add a Skill shores up pretty much anything you can think of. I think Apple just opened up Siri to 3rd-party developers with APIs for iOS 10 but I honestly can't recall because of the way Apple seems to treat Siri like the M[achi]n[e] in the Iron Mask.
I get emails from Amazon letting me know what new features were added to the Alexa service. They list many example commands and major new Skills and I'm often willing to try them because they are usually pretty nifty. I know Apple has added new features to Siri—which oddly seem to come with iOS updates—but I couldn't tell you any of its newer features to enrich my life because of how they market the service.

I'm sure Siri is world's better than it was when it originally came out on the iPhone 4S in 2011, and I'm sure that many of the questions I've asked in the past and got poor to no answer probably work great now, but I don't go to the trouble of writing down all the failed queries, wait a year, and then try them again. This is not uncommon and Siri has spoiled for many Apple customers except for the most basic requests. Apple needs to find a way to reinvigorate Siri.

PS: I'm remodeling my home and when my bedroom is finished I'll be going "electronics free" in the bedroom (mostly) with the intention of it leading to better sleep habits which will hopefully result in more productive waking hours. That means no iPhone or Watch will charge in the room on the nightstand. No entertainment in the bedroom (meaning no Mac, no TV, and no book reading). Not even a traditional alarm clock will be used because of the light from the clock can have a negative effect, according to some studies. Instead I'll have an Amazon Dot ($49) which will allow me to voice activate setting an alarm and asking what time it is as its primary use. I tested this with my Echo, but I'd rather keep that in the kitchen/dining area because of its great speaker and its benefits when cooking.
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Latest Apple Park drone video shows completed Steve Jobs Theater ahead of Sept. 12 event

Soli

September 2017

I wonder if the above ground area would be a good place for showcasing new products. Events typically start at 10am and so there would be plenty of natural light from 360° shortly after … (more)
Apple buys AR headset lens maker Akonia Holographics, fuels 'Apple Glasses' rumors

Soli

August 2018

I have no idea how effective this market will be after Google tainted the tech eyewear market and other AR glasses seem to limited in scope to gaming that I don't think it's a market … (more)
Watch: iPhone X takes on Samsung's Galaxy S9+ in benchmarking bonanza

Soli

March 2018

The iPhone X on the other hand, has a 6-core A11 Bionic processor with two high performance cores and four efficiency cores.
I think it's worth noting that the A11 Bionic … (more)