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SpeakerClock 1.3.0 | Cocoanetics


I’ve been busy since I utterly rewrote SpeakerClock in SwiftUI. That was model 1.2.0.

The App Retailer gives an idea referred to as Common Buy, which is the place buying an app on one gadget additionally unlocks it on all different supported platforms. Within the earlier model I added a Mac model. This replace now provides the AppleTV model. Nonetheless a minor replace, as a result of the performance is similar, but all three variations profit from enhancements.

As on the opposite platforms I needed to maintain the UI similar, whereas optimising for the display screen dimensions at hand. The primary problem was that opposite to the direct manipulation on the opposite platforms (with finger or mouse pointer) you might be controlling give attention to Apple TV with the distant.

So my spherical LED buttons have a further white circle if they’re in focus. That didn’t look good for the LED digits nonetheless. So there I used the LED digits shadow to offer it a white glow. Whereas the timer is thus focussed you’ll be able to modify it by swiping horizontally in your Apple TV distant.

I needed to keep away from having the white glow being energetic whereas the timer is operating, it might quickly be annoying to the person. So in case you begin the timer through tapping on the distant, I place focus again on the at present energetic preset.

The second massive change for the Apple TV involved the person information which is proven through the button with the query mark. Since there isn’t any direct manipulation of a scroll view I experimented with having the person paragraphs be focusable. However that didn’t work out effectively.

In the long run I discarded the ScrollView and as an alternative put the person person information sections on separate tabs. Since there was a whole lot of empty house across the textual content, I added some eye sweet. A few of which is definitely interactive.

Lastly, the hidden bonus characteristic which probably solely builders would care about issues the a number of layers of the app icon. The icons are all generated with unique reside person interface parts from the app. The non-TV icons have been fairly easy to do like that. On TV nonetheless an app icon has a number of layers that are proven three-dimensionally floating in an superior parallax impact.

To realize this for SpeakerClock I divided the a number of layers such that you’ve got the inactive LED bars on the again, the energetic LED parts within the center and the site visitors gentle within the entrance.

Subsequent up I’ll be wanting right into a Watch app. Though there it’d make sense to attend for the iOS 15 characteristic the place you’ll be able to proceed to replace the display screen each second. Additionally it’s best to be capable to use the watch as distant management for SpeakerClock operating on another platforms.

If in case you have any concepts or requests or questions, please be at liberty to contact me by e-mail.



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Gmail’s new Gemini characteristic turns messy notes into polished emails in a snap

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What it’s good to know

  • Google’s new Gemini options are reside on Gmail for net, Android, and iOS, making it simpler to shine your e mail drafts.
  • The brand new “Polish” characteristic within the “Assist me write” software refines tough notes into formal emails with a single click on or faucet.
  • Gmail additionally now has shortcuts in drafts on Android and iOS to rapidly entry AI writing instruments.

Google’s newest Gemini options at the moment are reside on Gmail for net, Android, and iOS, with one spotlight being an AI software that makes sharpening your e mail drafts a breeze.

The search big has launched a brand new “Polish” characteristic within the Gemini-powered “Assist me write” software on Gmail for each cell and the net. This characteristic fine-tunes your drafts, making certain your emails are clear and polished, as per Google’s weblog put up.



iPhone 16 digicam specs & Seize Button particulars revealed

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New digicam updates updates coming to the iPhone 16 line


iPhone 16 digicam specs & Seize Button particulars revealed

Final up to date

Video: AppleInsider has realized unique new particulars concerning the upgraded digicam system and rumored seize button on the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Professional. Here is what that you must know.

Apple is extensively anticipated to announce its newest spherical of iPhones throughout an occasion happening on September 10. Whereas we await phrase on if that’s true, extra data continues to leak surrounding the gadgets.

Many others have claimed Apple can be introducing some massive adjustments together with a higher-resolution extremely broad digicam and a tactile seize button. Sources we’ve got labored with for years haven’t solely confirmed these particulars to AppleInsider, however added to them.

iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus cameras

Each the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus will retain a pair of shooters on the again. There would be the major broad digicam that gives a 1X and 2X zoom, and a secondary extremely broad digicam for the .5X zoom out.

As has been proven in lots of mockups and dummy items, these cameras will now be vertically stacked as an alternative of on a diagonal.

The first digicam can be staying the identical in 2026. It’ll nonetheless be 48MP with an f/1.6 aperture and optical high quality 2X telephoto capabilities.

The extremely broad although, will get a quicker f/2.2 aperture from the f/2.4 it had earlier than. This permits extra mild to hit the sensor, bettering low-light photographs.

Closeup shot of the vertically aligned cameras on a pink dummy iPhone 16

New extremely broad digicam will lastly assist macro pictures on iPhone 16

Non-Professional mannequin iPhones are additionally believed to assist macro pictures for the primary time.

iPhone 16 Professional and iPhone 16 Professional Max

The larger shift is coming to the 2 Professional-level telephones. They nonetheless have three cameras on the again — a large digicam, an extremely broad digicam, and a telephoto digicam.

Closeup on a dummy unit of an iPhone 16 Pro Max

The telephoto lens will come to each iPhone 16 Professional and iPhone 16 Professional Max

The first sensor is once more, staying the identical. It is nonetheless 48MP with an f/1.78 aperture that may additionally take 2X optical-quality 12MP telephoto photographs, and has 1.22 micrometer pixels.

Each fashions will get the 5X telephoto lens this 12 months as it is going to not be a Professional Max mannequin unique. This can substitute the 3X telephoto lens on the iPhone 15 Professional.

In any other case, the telephoto lens is similar with 12MP and an f/2.8 aperture.

Lastly, the extremely broad lens will balloon to 48MP and may have the identical pixel-binning function as the first digicam. It’ll have .7 micrometer pixels when taking pictures at full decision or 1.4 micrometer when used as a quad pixel.

Closeup on a dummy unit of an iPhone 16 Pro Max

The extremely broad lens can be upgraded to 48MP

We additionally anticipate customers will have the ability to shoot 48MP ProRaw pictures when utilizing this upgraded lens. ProRaw has essentially the most quantity of picture knowledge that enables for extra choices in publish processing.

Different digicam adjustments coming to iPhone 16

We heard two different small particulars about these upgraded cameras. Our sources say that Apple will assist a brand new picture format with the iPhone 16.

That new format is alleged to be known as JPEG-XL. It’ll sit alongside HEIF, JPEG, HEIF Max, ProRaw, and ProRAW Max which are supplied now.

We have additionally been advised that the 2 Professional fashions will assist 3K video at 120 frames per second with Dolby Imaginative and prescient. The iPhone 15 Professional and iPhone 15 Professional Max are anticipated to shoot 1080P at both 120FPS or 240FPS or 4K at 60FPS.

Seize Button for all

What we’re most looking forward to although, is the long-detailed seize button. We acquired affirmation on lots of the rumors and presumptions which were thrown round.

A hand pointing to the presumed capture button on the side of an iPhone 16 dummy unit

The rumored seize button on our iPhone 16 dummy unit

The Seize Button ought to be coming to all 4 new iPhone fashions. It will likely be situated on the lower-right nook, so when held in panorama, the digicam bump can be on high and your index finger will sit atop the brand new button.

This button is capacitive. This virtually means that you’ll want to make use of your finger to activate, so it will not be inadvertently triggered in your pocket.

It is designed for use unique by camera-specific apps. Customers will have the ability to dictate which digicam app it opens, be they Apple’s or third-party ones.

As soon as within the digicam app, it has a force-sensitive half-press that can be tied to a developer API. This might, for instance, lock the publicity and focus, earlier than you press all of it the best way to take the picture.

Since it’s capacitive, it is going to act as a trackpad of kinds. Sliding your finger alongside the button, which can also be tied to a developer API, can do totally different actions.

Holding the iPhone 16 Pro Max dummy unit in landscape

The seize button can be ultimate for taking pictures pictures and video

Our guess is Apple will use this to zoom out and in whereas within the inventory app. Different choices could also be to cycle by way of filters to use at time-of-capture, alter the publicity up or down, or perhaps alter the diploma of background blur on a portrait shot.

With this new button and iOS 18, customers can be lastly in a position to take away the digicam from their Lock Display screen and substitute it with this bodily management.

Coming quickly to an iPhone close to you

These options and extra are coming to the brand new 2024 iPhones very quickly. Keep tuned to AppleInsider for dwell protection of the occasion, and in-depth evaluation of the brand new {hardware} as we strategy iPhone season, and after launch.

A Danger to Australia’s Cybersecurity Panorama


A latest examine by Western Sydney College, Grownup Media Literacy in 2024, revealed worryingly low ranges of media literacy amongst Australians, significantly given the deepfake capabilities posted by newer AI applied sciences.

This deficiency poses an IT safety threat, on condition that human error stays the main explanation for safety breaches. As disinformation and deepfakes develop into more and more subtle, the necessity for a cohesive nationwide response is extra pressing than ever, the report famous.

As a result of AI can produce extremely convincing disinformation, the chance of human error turns into magnified. People who usually are not media literate usually tend to fall prey to such schemes, probably compromising delicate info or programs.

The rising risk of disinformation and deepfakes

Whereas AI presents plain advantages within the era and distribution of data, it additionally presents new challenges, together with disinformation and deepfakes that require excessive ranges of media literacy throughout the nation to mitigate.

Tanya Notley, an affiliate professor at Western Sydney College who was concerned within the Grownup Media Literacy report, defined that AI introduces some specific complexities to media literacy.

“It’s actually simply getting more durable and more durable to establish the place AI has been used,” she informed TechRepublic.

To beat these challenges, people should perceive tips on how to confirm the knowledge they see and tips on how to inform the distinction between a high quality supply and one prone to submit deepfakes.

Sadly, about 1 in 3 Australians (34%) report having “low confidence” of their media literacy. Training performs an element, as simply 1 in 4 (25%) Australians with a low stage of training reported having confidence in verifying info they discover on-line.

Why media literacy issues to cyber safety

The connection between media literacy and cyber safety won’t be instantly obvious, however it’s important. Latest analysis from Proofpoint discovered that 74% of CISOs think about human error to be the “most vital” vulnerability in organisations.

Low media literacy exacerbates this difficulty. When people can’t successfully assess the credibility of data, they develop into extra vulnerable to widespread cyber safety threats, together with phishing scams, social engineering, and different types of manipulation that instantly result in safety breaches.

An already notorious instance of this occurred in Could, when cybercriminals efficiently used a deepfake to impersonate the CFO of an engineering firm, Arup, to persuade an worker to switch $25 million to a collection of Hong Kong financial institution accounts.

The function of media literacy in nationwide safety

As Notley identified, bettering media literacy is not only a matter of training. It’s a nationwide safety crucial — significantly in Australia, a nation the place there’s already a cyber safety expertise scarcity.

“Specializing in one factor, which many individuals have, resembling regulation, is insufficient,” she stated. “We truly should have a multi-pronged method, and media literacy does quite a lot of various things. One in all which is to extend individuals’s data about how generative AI is getting used and tips on how to assume critically and ask questions on that.”

In line with Notley, this multi-pronged method ought to embody:

  • Media literacy training: Instructional establishments and group organisations ought to implement sturdy media literacy applications that equip people with the talents to critically consider digital content material. This training ought to cowl not solely conventional media but additionally the nuances of AI-generated content material.
  • Regulation and coverage: Governments should develop and implement rules that maintain digital platforms accountable for the content material they host. This consists of mandating transparency about AI-generated content material and guaranteeing that platforms take proactive measures to stop the unfold of disinformation.
  • Public consciousness campaigns: Nationwide campaigns are wanted to boost consciousness in regards to the dangers related to low media literacy and the significance of being important shoppers of data. These campaigns ought to be designed to succeed in all demographics, together with those that are much less prone to be digitally literate.
  • Business collaboration: The IT trade performs an important function in enhancing media literacy. By partnering with organisations such because the Australian Media Literacy Alliance, tech corporations can contribute to the event of instruments and assets that assist customers establish and resist disinformation.
  • Coaching and training: Simply as first support and office security drills are thought-about important, with common updates to make sure that employees and the broader organisation are in compliance, media literacy ought to develop into a compulsory a part of worker coaching and commonly up to date because the panorama modifications.

How the IT trade can assist media literacy

The IT trade has a novel accountability to leverage media literacy as a core element of cybersecurity. By creating instruments that may detect and flag AI-generated content material, tech corporations will help customers navigate the digital panorama extra safely.

And as famous by the Proofpoint analysis, CISOs, whereas involved in regards to the threat of human error, are additionally bullish on the flexibility of AI-powered options and different applied sciences to mitigate human-centric dangers, highlighting that know-how might be the answer for the issue that know-how creates.

Nonetheless, it’s additionally essential to construct a tradition with out blame. One of many largest causes that human error is such a threat is that individuals typically really feel frightened to talk up for worry of punishment and even dropping their jobs.

In the end, one of many largest defences we’ve in opposition to misinformation is the free and assured change of data, and so the CISO and IT workforce ought to actively encourage individuals to talk up, flag content material that considerations them, and, in the event that they’re anxious that they’ve fallen for a deepfake, to report it immediately.

Getting Worth Out of GenAI

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(OK-product-studio/Shutterstock)

Because the preliminary pleasure over generative AI begins to fade, some executives are starting to query whether or not it should pan out in the long term. Others, nevertheless, are nonetheless fairly bullish on GenAI’s potential to create worth, offered it meets a couple of key necessities.

Goldman Sachs turned some heads just lately with a report casting doubt on GenAI and elevating uncomfortable questions in regards to the potential for firms to see a return on their GenAI investments. Gartner additionally issued a report just lately saying 30% of GenAI initiatives might be deserted by 2025.

Whereas there are some points to be labored out round value, transparency, and one of the best ways to make use of it, there’s nonetheless an enormous  upside to GenAI, says Karthik Sj, the final supervisor of AI at LogicMonitor ,a supplier of IT observability and AIOps options.

“Placing in AI for the sake of AI, that’s one purpose why there’s a scarcity of adoption,” Sj says. “The trick is you need to slender it right down to the suitable use case, which is I might say, a high-value, excessive pain-point and likewise a high-volume factor, particularly in areas the place you’re seeing labor shortages, the place people simply don’t need to do issues.”

One such use case, it’s possible you’ll be stunned to be taught, is community and software monitoring. Every software is emitting its personal sign nowadays, Sj says, so there’s a plethora of alerts to take a look at. That may simply overwhelm human eyes.

“IT complexity has grown a lot,” he says. “At this time you’ve got professional NOC engineers who’re piecing this collectively and attempting to interpret what precisely meaning, and is that this one thing I ought to take note of or not? It’s actually laborious to maintain up.”

Firms should develop extra refined apps than Q&A chatbots to get actual worth from GenAI (sdecoret/Shutterstock)

As an alternative of asking the human NOC engineer to do the busy work of signing into a number of observability instruments, normalizing the information, after which determining how they relate, one might process a GenAI device with doing that work and setting the desk for the human engineer or analyst to take a look at the assembled information and decide.

Past Chatbots

Discovering the suitable use case is a vital first step for getting worth from GenAI. However finally, the potential to use GenAI past functions corresponding to chatbots and query and answering might be too laborious to withstand. The way forward for GenAI is enabling it to take actions, Kj says.

“The long run goes to be about taking actions, like what if I might let the AI autonomously repair my router downside? Why does it want to present me a step-by-step? Why can’t it simply go do it?” Kj tells Datanami in a current interview. “There might be a shift in the direction of automation. It’s not sufficient to simply give solutions.”

That’s finally the plan at LogicMonitor, Kj says. At this time it’s utilizing GenAI to help with summarization of log evaluation, however sooner or later, the objective is to allow AI to start to take some actions. The corporate will begin small and ultimately give clients the choice to allow AI to automate a small proportion of doable actions.

The adoption of recent know-how like AI will occur in steps. At this time, about 50% of LogicMonitor clients are utilizing GenAI for issues like log summarization. Buyer sentiment to this point is optimistic, which supplies the corporate the inducement to maintain investing in it.

“One of many issues we’re getting rather a lot is, give me a possibility to present suggestions and use that [human] suggestions within the loop,” he says. “[Another is] are you able to have a look at extra information? I don’t simply have a look at my observability information, however have a look at [other data]. So that they need to go large and likewise go deep.”

GenAI is one device within the toolbox for firms like LogicMonitor and the shoppers they serve. GenAI could also be good for summarization now and probably taking some extent of autonomous motion sooner or later, nevertheless it’s not the end-all, be-all. As an illustration, discovering correlation between a number of information units could also be finest completed with a traditional machine studying algorithm, so integration with different types of AI may even assist clients finally get extra worth out of GenAI.

“You don’t want LLMs for every thing. I feel the LLMs actually are efficient in [generating] human-readable summaries,” Kj says. “The opposite stuff that you simply want like correlation and all that, you don’t want generative AI for that. You may completely get the work completed with, you recognize, causal AI or simply statistical AI. That’s ok. It will get the job completed.”

Taking the Lengthy View

The hype round GenAI has led to distortions within the market. As an illustration, there was a run on high-end GPUs which are crucial for coaching and working the most important LLMs, which has resulted in a Nvidia attaining a $3 trillion market cap. Through the run on GPUs, many massive firms have hoarded GPUs to forestall their rivals from getting their fingers on them. In addition they will be costly to hire within the cloud.

“There’s undoubtedly numerous shelfware,” Kj says. “There’s numerous AI washing going round and I feel you’ve received to dig below the covers and say, hey, what’s the AI you’re utilizing? How are you utilizing it? Many firms declare being AI powered simply by calling it GPT, and that’s not AI-powered. AI-powered [refers] to this new class of functions which are constructed from the bottom up.”

Adopting new know-how like GenAI doesn’t eradicate the necessity to thoughts the small print. Firms should get a return on their AI investments, or the {dollars} might be invested elsewhere. Finally, automation through AI will save hours’ price of labor per week, whether or not it’s in AIops or advertising and marketing or copywriting, Sj says.

How a lot time, precisely, will GenAI save firms within the brief run? “I don’t assume it’s 5%. I feel that’s too pessimistic,” he says. “I’m completely positive it’s greater than 5%. Is it 50%? In all probability not. However I feel at the very least it is going to be within the excessive vary 15% to twenty%. That’s what I’m seeing.

“So long as you possibly can present ROI and this can be a excessive pain-point downside,” he says, “you undoubtedly are seeing worth.”

Associated Objects:

Is the GenAI Bubble Lastly Popping?

Gartner Warns 30% of GenAI Initiatives Will Be Deserted by 2025