Category: Apple Insider

Wearable devices like the Apple Watch and Internet of Things hardware could have an easier time connecting to iPhones and other devices in the future, with Apple coming up with multiple ways to deal with inter-device connectivity, including the ability to make a wide-area network where Internet access isn’t available.

Communications between an Apple Watch and iPhone could be improved if Apple adopts its communications ideas in future products

The increase in the number of devices in the world is producing new challenges relating to connectivity. Users are carrying more connected devices about their person than ever before, and with there being more network-connected hardware in homes and businesses, including smart home devices and those classified as part of the Internet of Things, the sheer quantity of potential connections could make things hard for devices to discover each other, or even to connect at all.

As part of a solution to this, Apple has filed three patent applications with the US Patent and Trademark Office suggesting slightly different ways to establish and operate a connection between pieces of hardware.

The first patent application, “Control and Shared Channels in Device-to-Device Communication,” handles how narrowband connections between devices can be handled. In short, it suggests a device can go through device-to-device (D2D) discovery once it has synchronized as part of a group, then establish initial resources for control with a second device it needs to communicate with.

The first device transmits control information to the second, as well as indicating a buffer status, and awaits a signal from the second control to acknowledge the indication and to start a transmission. To make the connection more robust, it is advised the first attempt at establishing communications uses a “multi-tone transmission configuration,” before switching down to a “single-tone” version if that fails.

The first patent application’s illustration of an “exemplary cellular network supported device-to-device communication architecture”

The control information could include various bits of data, including a frequency hopping pattern, transmit power, and the transport format. Periodically, the resources can also expire in terms of availability between the two devices, with the system re-initiating D2D discovery in those cases.

The second patent application, “Synchronization Sequence Design for Device-to-Device Communication” handles the same narrowband communications subject, but instead deals with synchronization sequences.

On establishing a connection with another device, the first sends a preamble of an initial synchronization sequence, which includes a number of repetitions of “orthogonal frequency division multiplexing” (OFDM) symbols. Namely this is a system where data is split into multiple sub-signals and sent simultaneously, speeding up overall transmission times.

It is suggested the synchronized sequences can be transmitted with a gap between each individual sequence, sent cascaded, or via a number of different sequence methods, such as a “Zadoff-Chu” sequence.

An example of “possible timings” of a preamble-based narrowband device-to-device communications framework

The third, “Off Grid Radio Service System Design” is actually quite similar to the second, dealing with the use of synchronization signal repetitions for a transmission. This synchronization signal can be generated a few ways, with root index values based on the number of repetitions or a value for a Zadoff-Chu sequence.

A secondary synchronization signal is then able to be generated, with the value again able to stem from a Zadoff-Chu sequence, or even the device identifier for the transmitter, with the synchronization signal able to include details of a physical broadcast channel with frame number and subframe number.

Again, characteristics of a transmission based on repetitious synchronization signals can be used by the receiving device for establishing the connection, including the signal strength and quality, and the number of repetitions.

The D2D synchronization preamble could also be set to be transmitted at a time and frequency maintained by a local clock on a device, which would most likely be synchronized with the clocks of other devices or under universal time (UTC.) Knowledge of the timing would help with being able to monitor for transmissions especially when attempting to re-establish an expired or failed connection.

While the time clock drift between devices communicated with each other, it is suggested that the devices could be synchronized by using the time received by a GPS system, which one device can potentially receive, correct itself, then synchronize with others in the area.

Though the patent applications largely deal with wireless communications that do not necessarily involve human interaction, like an Apple Watch maintaining a connection to an iPhone for example, it may also work in other ways.

One extreme example could be a natural disaster that knocks out or overloads cellular networks in an area. By being able to establish connections between mobile phones without relying on the cellular network, this could allow there to be a mesh-style network running between all of the devices, allowing some level of communications through.

Apple files numerous patent applications with the USPTO on a weekly basis, but it isn’t a guarantee the technology brought up in the filings will make its way into future products or services. The filings do however reveal areas of interest for the company.

By Roger Fingas
Wednesday, March 20, 2019, 12:50 pm PT (03:50 pm ET)

Mac buyers can now get AppleCare+ coverage in several more markets, two of the biggest additions being Spain and China.

The warranty is now also available in Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand. Chinese coverage includes the “special administrative regions” of Hong Kong and Macau.

AppleCare+ extends Mac warranty coverage to three years, offers priority phone/chat support, and reduces repair costs for two incidents of accidental damage. In the U.S. that brings screen repair down to $99 before tax, and all other repairs to $299. Desktops can even be fixed on-site in some cases.

The above markets did previously have access to basic AppleCare, which omits accident benefits. Below this is Apple’s default warranty, limited to one year in total and just 90 days of “complimentary” support.

AppleCare+ for Mac is available in a range of markets. Others on the list include: Austria, Canada, Mexico, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, Switzerland, the U.A.E., the U.K., and the U.S.

Apple has come under fire for failing to pay artists taking part in the Apple Store’s Today at Apple sessions in San Francisco, after it was discovered participants were offered a free Apple product instead of receiving an appearance fee from the retail outlet.

The Today at Apple sessions provide a way for visitors to the Apple Store to see performances and discussions by artists and creative individuals. While potentially offering a number of benefits to those taking part, some artists are dissatisfied at their treatment by the iPhone maker, especially concerning how they are compensated for their appearance.

Artists taking part in the in-store events are not paid, according to a report from KQED, with eleven artists confirming no monetary compensation is offered by Apple at all for events in San Francisco. Compensation was provided, but in the form of goods, with the choice of AirPods, an Apple TV, or an Apple Watch Series 3 on offer.

It is thought that the practice has been occurring for quite some time, as Counter Culture Group founder Victor Valle advised of two artists who performed at the Union Square store in 2017, in exchange for an Apple Watch. At the same time, Valle believes the opportunity is good for artists at first glance. “This may feel like it’s going to be the break for you, like, ‘Oh man, we’re doings something with Apple!” suggests the creative agency founder.

Valle declined further offers from Apple to book clients, noting there is “no return” for artists spending time and money making a show in that situation. “You take a hit financially trying to get a band together, pay your members, pay your way out to the store or even park in the ares,” he adds.

The relative lack of promotion of an artist’s event by Apple itself is also considered a problem for those taking part. The lack of official Today at Apple social media accounts and the simple listing of upcoming events on the Apple Store’s page offers little marketing, but while Apple does provide digital assets in the form of “Instagram-ready flyers” the artists could post to their own social media accounts, the flyers also reuse the artists’ existing promotional images.

A lack of a photographer to document one poetry reading was also seen as a misstep by playwright Ayodele Nzinga, who suggests the addition would have made working for trade a more worthwhile prospect for the event.

Vanessa Nguyen, a visual artist and producer known as Besame, enquired with Apple about potential monetary compensation, but was informed “all they could do was give product out.” In that event, her creative collective Le Vanguard received a number of Apple TVs and an iPad.

Most of the artists contacted for the report believe Apple should pay for artistic labor if it truly values it, or to provide a sufficient level of promotion for the artists.

Apple was recently criticized for seemingly taking advantage of creative work, in its “Shot on iPhone” challenge. The original terms of the competition had Apple using winning images on billboards and in stores, but only offered exposure as the prize, a mistake Apple rectified quickly by offering to pay a licensing fee to winners.

By Roger Fingas
Wednesday, March 13, 2019, 12:57 pm PT (03:57 pm ET)

Apple on Wednesday confirmed its recent takeover of Laserlike, a Silicon Valley startup that applied machine learning to content discovery.

The firm was actually absorbed sometime last year, The Information said. It’s not clear what the terms of the deal were, or why exactly Apple would want the business.

Laserlike was active for four years and concentrated on an “interest search engine” that could fetch news, video, and general Web content relative to each user. A key assumption was that people may want to know about things that don’t necessarily pop up in their usual sources, such as a car recall or an upcoming music festival. The app for the engine is no longer available.

A possibility is that Apple will use Laserlike’s technology and/or staff to boost its own machine learning efforts. Siri, for instance, has been criticized as weaker than rival AI assistants from Amazon and Google, which have the advantage of being hooked into massive amounts of cloud data. Apple’s privacy stance has siloed Siri in many cases, and wherever possible it relies on on-device processing.

The technology could also be applied to services like Apple News. A paid subscription option, Apple News Magazines, should be announced at a March 25 press event alongside a video streaming service, which itself will need recommendations to spur viewing.

The Laserlike crew has reportedly joined Apple’s AI division, led by John Giannandrea, who was hired away from Google in 2018. His unit oversees the strategy for AI and Machine Learning across all Apple products, as well as the development of Core ML and Siri.

More recently Giannandrea kicked Bill Stasior out of Siri development, allegedly to steer work towards research and away from evolutionary upgrades. It’s unknown if Stasior has been replaced.