AppleMagazine #170

Satellite TV provider Dish Network made a splash this month when it unveiled an online alternative with fewer channels and a lower price tag than its regular service. The Sling TV option is aimed at people who have dropped their cable or satellite packages or never had either. Based on a few days of viewing, Sling TV comes across as a good stopgap for those who don’t already pay for cable or satellite - but it’s not compelling enough for most people to cut the cord. And that’s the point: Dish wants to win over the pay-TV holdouts without cutting into its existing customer base. On Tuesday Sling TV will start opening the service to those who had requested invites. A full launch is expected in about two weeks. THE…

Herding cattle. Counting fish. Taking an animal’s temperature. Applying pesticides. When it comes to drones, “your imagination can go pretty wild in terms of what would be possible,” says Roger Johnson, president of the National Farmers Union. This month, the Federal Aviation Administration issued the first permit for agricultural use of unmanned aerial vehicles. Steven Edgar, president and CEO of ADAVSO, says his Idaho-based business will use a lightweight, fixed-wing drone to survey fields of crops. Drone technology, already used in other countries, can make farmers more efficient by helping them locate problem spots in vast fields or ranchlands. Increased efficiency could mean lower costs for consumers and less impact on the environment if farmers used fewer chemicals because drones showed them exactly where to spray. The Association for Unmanned…

WAR DRAMA SPARKS POLITICAL SKIRMISHES To say that Clint Eastwood’s latest biographical war drama film has been a commercial success would certainly be quite the understatement - in fact, it’s already booked its place as a cultural phenomenon, and by some distance. The story of the late Chris Kyle, the deadliest marksman in U.S. military history, has certainly captured audience imaginations - not to mention causing more than a little political controversy. Based on the 2012 book American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History, the film sees Bradley Cooper cast as Kyle, a man who racked up 255 kills, 160 of those being officially confirmed by the Department of Defense. Sienna Miller also stars, as Kyle’s wife Taya, to say nothing of such other…

Motorola unveiled three smartphone models on Monday for its return to China following a two-year absence from the most populous mobile phone market. Motorola was a mobile phone pioneer in China but pulled out in 2013 after its acquisition by Google Inc. Computer maker Lenovo Group bought Motorola last year as part of its effort to become a global competitor in wireless devices. “This is a day of rebirth,” said Liu Jun, Lenovo’s executive vice president, onstage at a Beijing conference center to unveil models for China. In a crowded market, Motorola is trying to set itself apart by allowing buyers of its flagship Moto X to customize their phones. Buyers can pick colors, features and exterior materials that include leather and wood, said Rick Osterloh, president of Motorola. The…

Apple had another blowout quarter thanks to its new plus-sized iPhones, which helped the company smash sales records for the holiday season. Apple said Tuesday that it sold 74.5 million iPhones during the three months that ended Dec. 31, beating analysts’ expectations for the latest models of Apple’s most popular gadget, introduced in September. The surge in iPhone sales drove the company’s total revenue to $74.6 billion, up 30 percent from a year earlier. CEO Tim Cook said on a call with analysts that demand for the phones was “staggering,” and noted that results would have been even higher if not for the impact of the strong dollar on overseas sales. Net income rose 38 percent to $18 billion, as Apple reported earnings of $3.06 a share. Analysts surveyed by…

A PROMISING NEW COMPONENT OF WINDOWS 10 We may have already known that Windows 10 was coming, but further details on the latest installment of Microsoft’s so-long iconic operating system were always going to be welcome, and sure enough, we got some at an event in Redmond on Tuesday, January 20 that also brought rather less expected news... that of a new addition to the headset market, HoloLens. Before we go any further, though, we should stress that HoloLens isn’t strictly a virtual reality headset; it is instead an augmented reality one, with a version of Windows 10, Windows Holographic, having even been created around it. HoloLens doesn’t immerse you entirely in a virtual environment, instead using transparent lenses to project images into your existing world. It creates holograms, in…