5 ms·

It seems to me the hint is in all the different sized squares. iOS is going variable screen resolution (which it already supports, only no-one really cares). Ma

It seems to me the hint is in all the different sized squares. iOS is going variable screen resolution (which it already supports, only no-one really cares). Mac OS X is probably going to let you treat any display like a Retina display (this kind of capability is already everywhere, but only available in certain contexts, e.g. when mirroring to a different resolution display). Between TVs, cars, 4K, big iPhones, and so on, Apple has to bite the bullet and just support arbitrary screen sizes. Incidentally, has anyone noticed that Apple's push towards simple geometric UI design in iOS7 has simultaneously reduced application sizes (less need for giant bitmaps), improved performance and battery life, and paved the way for more flexible screen resolutions. This also likely means we're finally going to see the Apple TV as a games console. This similarly means that third party TV apps will probably appear (and thus we'll get CBS, Showtime, etc. on the Apple TV itself). ( Obviously Amazon has beaten Apple to the punch, but I suspect the Apple console might have quite a decent launch lineup.

mmcconnell1618 13y ago
What about pressure-sensitive touch? There was a patent filed recently using IR light to detect how hard someone is touching a screen: http://appft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-adv.html&r=16&p=1&f=G&l=50&d=PG01&S1=(345%2F174.CCLS.+AND+20140403.PD.)&OS=ccl/345/174+and+pd/4/3/2014&RS=(CCL/345/174+AND+PD/20140403) http://appft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=H...
- amirmc 13y ago
  If so, I predict a demo with an iPad and a Piano app (playing soft and hard notes).
  - dreamfactory2 13y ago
    accelerometer already does this surprisingly well on ipad garageband
    - JohnBooty 13y ago
      whoa, I had no idea. that's cool.
      - sirkneeland 13y ago
        It IS cool. My housemate was the engineer behind it. He's cool. Also, a genius.
jamesrom 13y ago
I think you are drawing way too many conclusions from the rounded square (i.e., the app icon) motif used every year for WWDC since the iPhone.
- Tloewald 13y ago
  Of course it's more than possible that I'm jumping to wishful conclusions! But in previous years they either showed app icons, or any difference in icon size could be attributed to distance (i.e. the implication being the icons were all the same size, but different distances away). Anyway, we'll know soon enough.
- csixty4 13y ago
  That's the fun of Apple "Kremlinology", finding meaning in the smallest, stupidest details of their invitations. It's like when my friends and I would hang out in diners and try to prove the Discordian Law of Fives by finding relationships to the number 5 in the most mundane things. Packet of sugar? "Sugar" has 5 letters. Coca-Cola? Their slogan is "The Pause that Refreshes". Six syllables. Six is 2*3. 2+3 is 5. It's like, so deep, man.
smackfu 13y ago
> This similarly means that third party TV apps will probably appear (and thus we'll get CBS, Showtime, etc. on the Apple TV itself). On this point, it seems like we're already there. Apple seems pretty willing to let anyone with original video content have access to the Apple TV APIs and will distribute their app. Look at all the stuff they've added lately, that has pretty small audiences. The actual main obstacle is contracts that prevent the content providers from making their content available on set-top boxes at all, because it would compete directly with their existing distribution channels (broadcast affiliates.)
equalarrow 13y ago
"Obviously Amazon has beaten Apple to the punch" As for public skd, sure. But we've already been able to use AirPlay on games for a while. For years. It's obvious (for now) Apple's notion of a controller is the iOS device itself, vs. Amazon using a typical console controller. I've been waiting for years (like a lot of people I suppose) for Apple to spring the ATV sdk on the public. Every year, every WWDC, disappointment. This year I'm not holding my breath.
- simonh 13y ago
  > Apple's notion of a controller is the iOS device itself Apple introduced standards for console style iOS game controllers last year. A handful of compliant controllers have been available for a while.
- mitchty 13y ago
  Airplay on games is total shit. The amount of time it takes for the screen to get encoded, sent to the atv, then displayed on the tv, is really unnerving. Its like playing Counterstrike back in the 56k and >100ms ping days. Aka, not a twitch game. Might work for things like plants versus zombies or candy crush though. But things like infinity blade are not playable. I tried, and failed horribly and just ended up using the screen anyway. Would be cool if they opened up the airplay sdk and atv as well though. I do like my appletv in general but playing games from my ipad or iphone is... at best frustrating.
gress 13y ago
Sony and Microsoft beat Amazon to the punch. Whatever that means.
- Shivetya 13y ago
  I remember Apple being beaten to the punch on MP3 players. Being first sometimes just tells the other guys what doesn't work.
gurkendoktor 13y ago
> Incidentally, has anyone noticed that Apple's push towards simple geometric UI design in iOS7 has simultaneously reduced application sizes (less need for giant bitmaps), improved performance and battery life, and paved the way for more flexible screen resolutions. I have never seen numbers that indicate better battery life or performance on iOS 7, in fact the opposite has been measured on the iPhone 4: http://arstechnica.com/apple/2014/03/ios-7-1-on-the-iphone-4-as-good-as-its-going-to-get/ http://arstechnica.com/apple/2014/03/ios-7-1-on-the-iphone-4... Plus UIKit is still monkey-patched around fixed-height UITableViews everywhere. I have increased the font size in iOS 7.1 and see truncated text all around the OS (with no tooltips to save me), probably because implementing line breaks in lists is pretty painful. I don't really disagree, maybe Apple wants to release a larger-sized iPhone with an all-new resolution. But I don't think that iOS 7 has made resolution-independent app development any easier. (Xcode 5 has made AutoLayout a lot more bearable, though.)

mmcconnell1618 13y ago

What about pressure-sensitive touch? There was a patent filed recently using IR light to detect how hard someone is touching a screen: http://appft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-adv.html&r=16&p=1&f=G&l=50&d=PG01&S1=(345%2F174.CCLS.+AND+20140403.PD.)&OS=ccl/345/174+and+pd/4/3/2014&RS=(CCL/345/174+AND+PD/20140403) http://appft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=H...

amirmc 13y ago
If so, I predict a demo with an iPad and a Piano app (playing soft and hard notes).
- dreamfactory2 13y ago
  accelerometer already does this surprisingly well on ipad garageband
  - JohnBooty 13y ago
    whoa, I had no idea. that's cool.
    - sirkneeland 13y ago
      It IS cool. My housemate was the engineer behind it. He's cool. Also, a genius.

jamesrom 13y ago

I think you are drawing way too many conclusions from the rounded square (i.e., the app icon) motif used every year for WWDC since the iPhone.

Tloewald 13y ago
Of course it's more than possible that I'm jumping to wishful conclusions! But in previous years they either showed app icons, or any difference in icon size could be attributed to distance (i.e. the implication being the icons were all the same size, but different distances away). Anyway, we'll know soon enough.
csixty4 13y ago
That's the fun of Apple "Kremlinology", finding meaning in the smallest, stupidest details of their invitations. It's like when my friends and I would hang out in diners and try to prove the Discordian Law of Fives by finding relationships to the number 5 in the most mundane things. Packet of sugar? "Sugar" has 5 letters. Coca-Cola? Their slogan is "The Pause that Refreshes". Six syllables. Six is 2*3. 2+3 is 5. It's like, so deep, man.

smackfu 13y ago

> This similarly means that third party TV apps will probably appear (and thus we'll get CBS, Showtime, etc. on the Apple TV itself). On this point, it seems like we're already there. Apple seems pretty willing to let anyone with original video content have access to the Apple TV APIs and will distribute their app. Look at all the stuff they've added lately, that has pretty small audiences. The actual main obstacle is contracts that prevent the content providers from making their content available on set-top boxes at all, because it would compete directly with their existing distribution channels (broadcast affiliates.)

equalarrow 13y ago

"Obviously Amazon has beaten Apple to the punch" As for public skd, sure. But we've already been able to use AirPlay on games for a while. For years. It's obvious (for now) Apple's notion of a controller is the iOS device itself, vs. Amazon using a typical console controller. I've been waiting for years (like a lot of people I suppose) for Apple to spring the ATV sdk on the public. Every year, every WWDC, disappointment. This year I'm not holding my breath.

simonh 13y ago
> Apple's notion of a controller is the iOS device itself Apple introduced standards for console style iOS game controllers last year. A handful of compliant controllers have been available for a while.
mitchty 13y ago
Airplay on games is total shit. The amount of time it takes for the screen to get encoded, sent to the atv, then displayed on the tv, is really unnerving. Its like playing Counterstrike back in the 56k and >100ms ping days. Aka, not a twitch game. Might work for things like plants versus zombies or candy crush though. But things like infinity blade are not playable. I tried, and failed horribly and just ended up using the screen anyway. Would be cool if they opened up the airplay sdk and atv as well though. I do like my appletv in general but playing games from my ipad or iphone is... at best frustrating.

gress 13y ago

Sony and Microsoft beat Amazon to the punch. Whatever that means.

Shivetya 13y ago
I remember Apple being beaten to the punch on MP3 players. Being first sometimes just tells the other guys what doesn't work.

gurkendoktor 13y ago

> Incidentally, has anyone noticed that Apple's push towards simple geometric UI design in iOS7 has simultaneously reduced application sizes (less need for giant bitmaps), improved performance and battery life, and paved the way for more flexible screen resolutions. I have never seen numbers that indicate better battery life or performance on iOS 7, in fact the opposite has been measured on the iPhone 4: http://arstechnica.com/apple/2014/03/ios-7-1-on-the-iphone-4-as-good-as-its-going-to-get/ http://arstechnica.com/apple/2014/03/ios-7-1-on-the-iphone-4... Plus UIKit is still monkey-patched around fixed-height UITableViews everywhere. I have increased the font size in iOS 7.1 and see truncated text all around the OS (with no tooltips to save me), probably because implementing line breaks in lists is pretty painful. I don't really disagree, maybe Apple wants to release a larger-sized iPhone with an all-new resolution. But I don't think that iOS 7 has made resolution-independent app development any easier. (Xcode 5 has made AutoLayout a lot more bearable, though.)