Why Apple killed the floppy disk and headphone jack before you were ready to give them up - CTV News

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Why Apple killed the floppy disk and headphone jack before you were ready to give them up – CTV News

Published

4 years ago

December 23, 2019

Harry Miller

From the floppy disk to the headphone jack, Apple has a history of removing ubiquitous technology from its gadgets before people think they’re ready to give them up.

In some cases, Apple’s changes have been about making devices faster, more functional, thinner, or less tied down by a tangle of wires. In other instances, Apple pushed industry standards for technology in a new direction.

Now, Apple could be ready to take the next big leap with a wireless iPhone.

Here are a few major examples of Apple ditching tech.

A wireless iPhone?

Top Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, of TF International Securities, released a report earlier this month predicting that Apple will remove the lightning cable port from high-end iPhone models in 2021. That would create a wireless version of the iPhone that Kuo said would help to differentiate the more expensive iPhone models and boost sales.

Kuo’s forecast isn’t a certainty and Apple declined to comment on it. But if the predictions are borne out, it could be a sign that Apple will move toward killing the lightning charger altogether.

Apple already sells wireless charging docks that work with the iPhone 8 and later. But it’s not clear consumers are clamoring for a fully wireless iPhone just yet.

For one thing, wireless charging is just not as fast as traditional, wired charging yet. The 18-Watt wired charger was a major selling point for the iPhone 11 because of its rapid charging speed, according to Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives. By contrast, the fastest wireless chargers offer only 7.5 watts.

There would be other challenges, too. Customers would have to toss their wired headphones and chargers and buy new ones. And many older cars enabled with CarPlay — Apple’s technology that lets users see Apple Maps, Music and other apps on their car screens — require a plug for the feature to work.

Death of the disk drive

With the 1998 release of the iMac, Apple did away with the floppy disk drive, leaving only a rewritable CD drive.

That lasted about 10 years, and then Apple killed the CD drive, as well.

The MagSafe charger

This popular charging technology disappeared from Apple laptops with the 2015 MacBook Air and 2016 MacBook Pro. It was a controversial decision — the magnetic charging cable was popular because if it was unexpectedly yanked on (say, by tripping over the cord), the charger would easily disconnect rather than pulling the laptop down to the ground.

Those Macs also did away with the traditional USB port. The USB port and MagSafe charger were replaced with a USB-C port that doubles as a charger and a way to quickly transfer data to and from the computer.

The switch allowed Apple to make a thinner, lighter computer but it meant that users who still used the larger USB drives had to buy adapters to connect them to their new computers.

The 30-pin charging cable

In 2012, Apple switched to the lightning cable, and Apple customers said goodbye to the larger 30-pin charging port, which had been used in iPhones, iPads and iPods for a decade.

But the company has slowly been phasing the lightning cable out of its iPad designs. And the lightning cable doesn’t plug into most Apple computers these days.

Goodbye, headphone jack (hello, AirPods)

The iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, released in 2016, got rid of the headphone jack, instead featuring just one USB-C port that could be used for headphones and charging (and requiring customers to buy new headphones or an adapter in order to use them with the new phone).

Separately, this new model also got rid of the physical home button on the front of the phone, opting instead for a virtual button with haptic feedback, which simulates the feel of pushing the home button. The home button went away entirely with the debut of the iPhone X in 2017. This year, Apple made no new iPhones with home buttons.

Touch ID vs. Face ID

Many users were skeptical when Apple introduced Touch ID, its fingerprint sensor unlocking technology, for iPhones in 2013. But privacy and security fears surrounding the use of biometric data didn’t stop Apple from removing Touch ID and replacing it with Face ID, facial recognition unlocking technology, with the iPhone X in 2017 (users opt-in to use the tech).

When it announced the iPhone X, the company said the new unlocking technology was significantly more secure than Touch ID — the odds of someone wrongly gaining access to a phone with Face ID is one in 1 million, Apple said, versus the one in 50,000 change with Touch ID.

The “butterfly” keyboard saga

But such changes have not always stuck.

The 2015 MacBook Air also came with a new kind of keyboard, called the “butterfly,” replacing the old “scissor” style keyboard. The update was another way of making its laptops thinner, and the keys require less forceful tapping in order to work.

But the butterfly keyboard has not been well received by customers, even after two redesigns. Many complained about the keys sticking or malfunctioning, and Apple publicly apologized earlier this year.

In November, Apple released a new MacBook Pro that reverted back to the old (though slightly updated) scissor keyboard. And Kuo predicted in a note earlier this year that Apple’s other computers will soon get the scissor keyboard back, too.

Speaking of keyboards…

This getting rid of standard technology thing dates all the way back to Apple’s very first Macintosh computer in 1985.

Unlike the early Apple 1 and Apple 2 computers — and other companies’ models at the time — the Macintosh came without arrow keys on the keyboard to train early personal computer customers how to use a mouse. It turned out, though, that people wanted both a mouse and arrow keys, so Apple reinstated the arrow keys, which have remained ever since.

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New EV features for Google Maps have arrived. Here’s how to use them. – The Washington Post

Published

42 mins ago

April 17, 2024

Harry Miller

Google has announced new features in its Maps app designed to help electric car drivers find a charge.

The updates include a tool to help drivers find nearby chargers with real-time information about availability and charging speed, the ability to find charging stops on longer road trips and more detailed instructions about how to find chargers within parking lots and garages.

Google expects to start rolling out these features “in the coming months,” according to a blog post. Some will come first to people who drive a car that comes with “Google Built-in,” the company’s driver-assistance software. Google updated its other route-finding app, Waze, with information on EV chargers last month.

The update addresses one of Americans’ top concerns about owning an electric vehicle: finding a place to charge. Range anxiety remains a significant barrier for EV sales — especially for drivers who don’t own a house. Among people who don’t drive an EV, roughly half say they think finding a place to charge would be “extremely” or “very” difficult, according to a 2023 Washington Post-University of Maryland poll.

EVs make up roughly 7 percent of new U.S. car sales, which some experts believe is a tipping point at which electric cars will quickly become popular and take over the market. But lately, the EV market appears to be cooling off. Sales slowed in the first quarter of this year.

In addition to building more charging stations, companies can make driving an EV easier by building apps that help drivers find chargers, said Stephanie Valdez Streaty, director of Industry Insights at Cox Automotive. “That could be really helpful with mitigating some of those concerns about charging anxiety,” she said.

Find available EV charging stations

For electric-car drivers who need a last-minute charge, Google is developing a feature that can find nearby chargers with updated information about how many ports are available and their charging speed. The company says this feature will eventually be available to all drivers but will be available first for drivers with Google Built-in.

Plan a road trip with EV charging stops

The Maps update will allow EV owners with Google Built-in to plan where they can power up when taking long trips with multiple stops, such as a cross-country road trip. The feature will access information about your car’s battery life to suggest the best places to charge up.

The company also announced a search feature that allows travelers to look for hotels with electric car chargers.

Locate hard-to-find EV charging stations

Some EV chargers are tucked in hard-to-find corners of parking garages. The Maps update will crowdsource information from Google reviewers to generate more detailed instructions about how to get to a charger. According to the company’s blog post, the instructions might read something like, “Enter the underground parking lot and follow the signs toward the exit. Just before exiting, turn right.”

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Cytiva Showcases Single-Use Mixing System at INTERPHEX 2024 – BioPharm International

Published

3 hours ago

April 17, 2024

Harry Miller

The Xcellerex magnetic mixer, single-use mixing system was designed to address challenges in large-scale mAb, vaccine, and genomic medicine manufacturing processes.

Cytiva unveiled the Xcellerex single-use magnetic mixer at INTERPHEX 2024 in New York City on April 16, 2024. The single-use mixing system was designed to combat challenges in large-scale monoclonal antibody (mAb), vaccine, and genomic medicine manufacturing processes. The mixer is offered in 2000 L and 3000 L capacities and can be configured in several ways to accommodate diverse mixing processes. Its compact size benefits facilities with space constraints or complicated installation of large-scale consumables.

According to the company, minor leaks may cause significant delays and losses. “When dealing with a 3000 L batch of cell culture media, the estimated financial loss can cost between $60k to upwards of $100k” (1). The system helps prevent expensive leaks with a novel mixer biocontainer that incorporates user-centered design elements to improve durability and ease of use. The design provides enhanced safeguards and added protection from leaks that may occur during shipping, storage, and operation.

Time taken to mix batches can inhibit product development times, specifically the challenge of mixing floating powders such as cell culture media. Current systems have underpowered impellers with circular or cubical shapes that make producing large volumes challenging, according to Cytiva. This new single-use system “has a powerful impeller that when combined with the mixer’s hexagonal shape creates a vortex, enhancing the interaction at the liquid surface. This vortex effectively pulls down the floating powders into the main body of the liquid to allow for a more efficient and shorter mixing process,” the company stated in a press release.

“We’re tapping into our differentiated portfolio to solve a wide range of challenges for our customers. Our new magnetic mixing system is flexible and capable of meeting the many demands and constraints during buffer and cell culture media preparation,” said Amanda Halford, president, Bioprocess at Cytiva in the release. “By reimagining the design, we’ve tackled some of the biggest obstacles to downtime.”

Cytiva is also working to advance messenger RNA (mRNA) manufacturing. In an interview with Pharmaceutical Technology EuropeTM , Scott Ripley, general manager, Nucleic Acid Therapeutics and Precision Nanosystems at Cytiva, discussed technology that enables the “democratization” of mRNA manufacturing (2). Many mRNA therapies and other types of genetic medicines in clinical development are designed to be delivered with the help of lipid nanoparticles. One such platform is Cytiva’s Precision Nanosystems NanoAssemblr microfluidic-based nanoparticle manufacturing platform, which enables the development of genetic medicines with potentially increased stability, efficacy, yield, and quality of non-viral genetic medicines, according to Ripley.

Ripley was enthusiastic about this platform’s ability to “democratize” the good manufacturing practice (GMP) manufacturing aspects for advanced therapies, while managing to cope with the increased molecular diversity of the molecules being handled.

“For example,” Ripley says, “the mRNA platform is unique in that, on one end of the spectrum, it is vaccinating the planet, on the other end, it’s personalized cancer vaccines.”

Reference

1. Cytiva. Cytiva Unveils Latest Innovation for Large Scale Mab, Vaccine, and Advanced Therapy Manufacturing Processes–The Xcellerex Compact Single-Use Magnetic Mixing System. Press Release. April 16, 2024.
2. Spivey, C. Democratizing GMP Manufacturing for the New Therapeutic Pipeline. PharmTech.com. Nov. 21, 2023.

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Nintendo Indie World Showcase April 2024 – Every Announcement, Game Reveal & Trailer – Nintendo Life

Published

4 hours ago

April 17, 2024

Harry Miller

Image: Nintendo Life

Nintendo’s April 2024 Indie World Showcase was a 20-minute presentation of games from independent developers coming to Switch sometime in 2024, with several previously announced games getting release dates.

It was a fairly low-key showcase overall, although there were definitely some choice nuggets in there.

Below you’ll find the video of the full Indie World Showcase April 2024 presentation, plus every individual game announcement with a trailer, a date, and a link to our more detailed coverage.

Nintendo Indie World Showcase April 2024 – The Whole Presentation

First, the presentation itself if you want the whole thing:

Every Switch Game Announcement & Update

And now every trailer for every game from the April 2024 Indie World Showcase, plus some blurb and a link to our coverage if there is one:

Little Kitty, Big City – 9th May 2024

Will you make your way home or will you explore what the big city has to offer first? I mean, getting home is obviously your main priority. Obviously. Well, it’s one of your priorities. Maybe more of a guideline… It’s definitely on your To-Do list somewhere! But first? Exploration!

Yars Rising – 2024

Play as the young hacker, Emi Kimura, as she starts to uncover the dark secrets of mysterious corporation, Qotech. In this brand new side-scrolling Metroidvania from acclaimed developers, WayForward, take the Yars universe to a whole new level and unlock something hiding deep inside of you.

Refind Self: The Personality Test Game – Summer 2024

Games can really show someone’s personality, don’t you think? By way of a simple exploration-based adventure, this data-science game analyzes your actions to estimate your personality.

Sticky Business – 17th August 2024

Sticky Business is a creative relaxing 2D game developed by Spellgarden Games. Players will create stickers, pack orders, and listen to the stories of customers. Sticky Business is available now for Nintendo Switch, Mac, and PC alongside its DLC.

Antonblast – 12th November 2024

ANTONBLAST is an explosive, action-packed retro platformer featuring a destructive twist to classic gameplay and a lovingly hand-animated pixel aesthetic inspired by the Game Boy Advance, blown up and reimagined for the modern era!

Silky smooth 60fps action platforming and explosive escapes combine in a bombastic adventure. Blast through buildings, fight your demons, and explore wonky worlds in ANTONBLAST!

Valley Peaks – 2024

The mountains are calling! In this ribbiting first-person climbing platformer, each mountain is like a puzzle, and it’s your job to make your way to the top of every ridge to place radio towers for the froggy inhabitants of Valley Peaks.

Lorelei and the Laser Eyes – 16th May 2024

A woman, summoned by an eccentric man to participate in a project in an old hotel somewhere in central Europe, becomes embroiled in a game of illusions, increasingly dangerous and surreal.
Now you are invited to fall into the same rabbit hole, in a non-linear mystery with an immense amount of handcrafted puzzles, constantly presenting you with new riddles to solve, each leading you closer to deciphering the enigma of Lorelei and the Laser Eyes.

Europa – 2024

On the moon Europa, a lush terraformed paradise in Jupiter’s shadow, an android named Zee sets out in search of answers. Run, glide and fly across the landscape, solve mysteries in the ruins of a fallen utopia, and discover the story of the last human alive.

TMNT: Splintered Fate – July 2024

Join the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as they rescue Splinter from the clutches of the Foot Clan amidst chaos in NYC. Experience fast-paced, roguelike action with unique powers for each Turtle. Team up with friends for co-op gameplay, explore iconic locations, and face classic TMNT foes. Don’t miss the adrenaline-packed adventure in this FIGHT, ADAPT, REPEAT portal loop! Subscribe now for updates and get ready to restore peace to the city!

Cat Quest III – 8th August 2024

Ahoy, ye brave buccaneers and fearless feline adventurers!
Prepare to weigh anchor on August 8th as Cat Quest III hoists its sails! 🏴‍☠️😸 Embark on a voyage through the Purribean and clash swords with the notorious Pi-rats. There is no better way to celebrate International Cat Day.

Take command of yer own sea vessel, meow-ster the waves, and plunder yer way through this swashbucklin’ catventure! Join forces with yer matey for local co-op play, and together, turn the tides of fate!

Will ye be the one to discover the mythical North Star? Set paw on the path to glory!

stitch. – Today (17th April 2024)

Stitch. is a casual puzzle game with embroidery on a numbered grid. The main objective is to fill in the levels’ areas with no gaps to complete Hoops.

Stitch. lets you create beautiful embroidery patterns, by solving levels and Hoops of various difficulties and sizes. It’s easy to learn, but hard to master!

Stitch up all the beautiful landscapes, plants, animals, objects, and more.

BZZZT – Summer 2024

Become a tiny ZX8000 robot and begin your journey through a beautiful, pixel-art world inspired by games iconic to the platformer genre. Follow a surprising story, upgrade your skills, beat challenging levels, and compete with other players for the fastest speedrun!

SCHiM – 18th July 2024

Embark on a playful journey in SCHiM and get ready to jump from shadow to shadow. This 3D platformer integrates light, shadow, and animation into its gameplay.
Interact with the shadows you visit in a colorful environment and be part of the stories that unfold. Every object, living being, and thing has a “schim”. You play as a schim who becomes separated. Can you make it back to your human and help others along the way?

Animal Well – 9th May

Hatch from your flower and spelunk through the beautiful and sometimes haunting world of ANIMAL WELL, a pixelated action-exploration game rendered in intricate audio and visual detail. Encounter lively creatures small and large, helpful and ominous as you discover unconventional upgrades and unravel the well’s secrets. This is a truly unique experience that can make you laugh in fear, surprise, or delight.

Duck Detective: The Secret Salami – 23rd May 2024

Solving crime is no walk in the pond. You are a down-on-his-luck detective who also happens to be a duck. Use your powers of de-duck-tion to inspect evidence, fill in the blanks, and bust the case wide open, in a narrative mystery adventure where nothing is quite as it seems.

Another Crab’s Treasure – 25th April 2024

In a vibrant undersea kingdom on the verge of collapse, a hermit crab embarks on a treasure hunt to buy back his repossessed shell. The second game from AGGRO CRAB.

SteamWorld Heist II – 8th August 2024

Get ready to join Captain Leeway and set sail on the Great Sea in this turn-based strategy game. Bullets ricochet with deadly precision as you go on heists to find epic loot, whilst trying to figure out just what is causing the water crisis. Put together your rag-tag Steambot crew and sail across the sea to uncover the mysteries that surround you!

Let us know below what you thought of the latest Indie World Showcase by voting in the polls below and dropping us a comment.