Apple Announces iPhone 5S, 5C
Legions of the tech-savvy flocked to Cupertino, California today like Dorothy and friends traveling the Yellow Brick road to Oz to find out what CEO Tim Cook and the team had up their his sleeve this time. With murmurs of 5S and 5C, not much was due to change, but folks showed up and logged on in droves to get the news of the latest products to don the iconic bitten apples logo. With all the rumors of a lower-end plastic version and even a fully gold-encased version, the announcements were a bit closer to the chest, tinkerings with earlier versions and a reason to have a bunch of people over for a show.
Highlights from the announcements included talks of the latest operating system, IOS 7, which Craig Federigh, Apple's senior vice president of Software Engineering said would "quickly become the world's most popular operating system" and included a new home and lock screen as well as a swipe feature from the bottom of the phone that brings up a new control center. Siri got a male voice upgrade and ability to do Wikipedia searches. Playing on the Instagram craze, the camera will feature built-in features and new ways to group your pictures by year/location. As one of the nearly 200 new features in IOS 7 has to be iTunes Radio, which premieres on the new operating system available for free September 18 that Federigh described as "getting a whole new device."
The New Leica C by Audi Design
Some new photos have surfaced of the new Leica C camera that has been designed by luxury car brand Audi Design. The new Leica C is a compact point and shoot camera with the very slick design that Audi Design is known for, and it's an equivalent to the Panasonic Lumix LF1. There is no price set for the camera yet, but you can expect to pay somewhere in the range of $700-800 when it releases. When you purchase the camera, you'll also receive Adobe Photoshop Light Room included with it, which is cool. There's no firm release date, but it's expected to be released sometime in October. For more about the specifications of the new Leica C and photos check them out below.
[Via Phoblographer]
Design by Audi Design
Based on the Panasonic Lumix LF1
12.1MP 1/1.7? sensor
7.1x zoom, Leica DC Vario-Summicron f2.0-5.9/6-42.8mm ASPH. lens (28 – 200mm equivalent)
EVF
WiFi / NFC connectivity
Comes with Adobe Photoshop Lightroom
New accessories for the Leica C will be available
Size: 103 × 63 × 28mm
Weight: 195g weight
Philips M1X-DJ iPad Dock and Mixing Deck
So your turntables are in the shop, you lost your phone, your laptop has crashed, and now you're left with only your iPad. Thanks to Philips, you're still able to listen to all of your favorite tracks and even test out your mixing skills. The M1X-DJ is a portable DJing gadget that can connect to your iPad and iPhone 5 and is controlled via the DJ 2 app. It features 80 watts of power, professional-grade platters, and other controls including cross faders; it also has Bluetooth capabilities if you want to connect other devices. Look for the M1x-DJ to be released sometime in November.
[Via Highsnobiety]
Microsoft buys Nokia's phone division for $7.2 billion
Microsoft's presence in the phone industry is about to increase. Earlier today, it was announced that the company has bought out Nokia's handset division for 5.44 billion Euros (roughly $7.2 billion). What this means for Microsoft is a much larger stake in the phone industry currently dominated by Apple and Samsung. Nokia's boss, Stephen Elop, will be rejoining Microsoft after initially leaving the company to help run Nokia back in 2010. It's rumored that he will be groomed to become Microsoft's CEO after current Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announced his intentions to retire after 12 months.
The news comes with a bit of sadness as Nokia hasn't had much of a hold on the phone industry they once were atop of. As recently as 2013, the company had a 40% market share, but that percentage has dwindled to a lowly 15%. The Finnish company will focus their attention on their "networking equipment unit, navigation business and technology patents."
Such is the fate of many technological businesses unable to adapt within an industry full of technological advances everyday.
[via Yahoo]
Rumored photos of iPhone 5S, iPhone 5C leaked
With rumors of a gold iPhone 5S set to release next month, more purported pictures of the new variant have come out. Mashable, via a Japanese website, shared the purported images of the new iPhone 5S models, which you can see below. Also below are purported images of the iPhone 5C, which is a lower-cost iPhone 5 model that will replace the current iPhone 5. So, just so we're clear: The current iPhone model, iPhone 5, will be replaced by the iPhone 5C in addition t0 the upgraded model, iPhone 5S. The iPhone 5C will be encased in plastic and will have some modest tech upgrades, but no concrete details have been announced.
The first group of photos are of the iPhone 5C, while the second group are of the iPhone 5S. Word has it that an official announcement will be made on or around September 10 in regards to the next iPhone models, so we only need to wait a few more weeks to find out how the future of the iPhone models will shape out.
[via Mashable, Mobilissimo]
Italian iWatch prototype is looking sexy
For awhile now, rumors have spread around about Apple's interest in creating an "iWatch" device of sorts. Since the initial rumors spread, various design companies have created their own concept art and prototypes envisioning what a potential iWatch would look like. Italian designer Federico Ciccarese has shared his vision of the iWatch. The prototype is very modern and sleek, appearing to be very thin around the wrist. However, I'm not sure exactly how comfortable it would feel when worn, unless the curves on the "back" of the watch were padded. It all depends on the material used, of course.
As always, these images are just concept art from an artist's own vision; these aren't official images commissioned by Apple. In fact, Apple has been tight-lipped about their venture into the "wearable technology" trend, despite Samsung's announcement of a "Galaxy Gear" watch and Pebble's own watch device finding success on Kickstarter. However, it's been reported that fitness consultant Jay Blahnik, who helped Nike develop their FuelBand, has been hired by Apple.
You can check out the rest of Ciccarese's concepts below.
[via Mashable, ciccaresedesign]
http://youtu.be/LE4JAAPV3IM
[Video] Stussy x YO! MTV Raps Documentary + Collection
Streetwear brand Stussy and YO! MTV Raps recently linked up for a dope collaboration that included a t-shirt collection and a documentary on the show's impact throughout the rise of Hip Hop's mainstream profile during the late 80s and early 90s and how it pioneered fashion in the genre. Directed by Adam Weissman, the Stussy team included the likes of Alchemist, Bill Adler, Ed Lover, Evidence, MC Lyte, DJ Premier, Rakim, ?uestlove and more.
http://vimeo.com/71934383
http://vimeo.com/71973078
[Video] Kids Use Hip-Hop As A Way To Understand Science
Dr. Christopher Edmin a professor of education at Columbia University's Teacher College has gone a different route in hopes of influencing public school children to learn about science through hip-hop. What Edmin ended up creating was a program called, "Science Genius which is part of a national push to try and influence minorities into taking interest in science." This program eventually in true hip-hop fashion birthed a competition where the kids battled it out on the mic with lyrics centering around the topic of science. Titled B.A.T.T.L.E.S. (Bring Attention to Transforming Teaching, Learning and Engagement in Science) the students performed to a panel of judges that included the Wu Tang Clan’s GZA. Looking back it just seems right to have a member of Wu Tang on the panel because there had to be at least one reference to science in every Wu track. It's refreshing to see alternative ways to teaching the youth of this country and if hip-hop can help do that I don't see why more educators wouldn't want to explore it as an option. Check out the video below and see what the kids learned and who took home the trophy.
[Via Frank151]
[iframe id="http://www.npr.org/templates/event/embeddedVideo.php?storyId=207348197&mediaId=" mode="normal" align="center"]