Apple patents glass coating technology to make iPhones more durable

Apple patents glass coating technology to make iPhones more durable

Apple has patented a new glass coating technology intended to make electronic devices more durable

The new patent registered is with the USPTO (United States Patent and Trademark Office) of reinforced glass to increase its resistance.The ‘Spiral Grain Coatings’ could also account for anti-scratch and anti-reflection benefits.

As per the patent, the coating layers applied on the glass structure of a device would be formed with polycrystalline materials, in which the grains will be implemented in an   interlaced spiral format.

It also envisions a stronger cover glass coating that will offer many benefits, such as adding anti-scratch, anti-reflective properties, and more

However, there is no confirmation about Apple actually using this technology, as Apple files many patents, and some of them never make it to the market.

Apple, Google release technology for pandemic apps

Apple, Google release technology for pandemic apps

Washington: Apple and Google on Wednesday released long-awaited smartphone technology to automatically notify people if they might have been exposed to the coronavirus.

The companies said 22 countries and several U.S. states are already planning to build voluntary phone apps using their software. It relies on Bluetooth wireless technology to detect when someone who downloaded the app has spent time near another app user who later tests positive for the virus.

Many governments have already tried, mostly unsuccessfully, to roll out their own phone apps to fight the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of those apps have encountered technical problems on Apple and Android phones and haven’t been widely adopted. They often use GPS to track people’s locations, which Apple and Google are banning from their new tools because of privacy and accuracy concerns.

Public health agencies from Germany to the states of Alabama and South Carolina have been waiting to use the Apple-Google model, while other governments have said the tech giants’ privacy restrictions will be a hindrance because public health workers will have no access to the data.

The companies said they’re not trying to replace contact tracing, a pillar of infection control that involves trained public health workers reaching out to people who may have been exposed to an infected person. But they said their automatic exposure notification system can augment that process and slow the spread of COVID-19 by virus carriers who are interacting with strangers and aren’t yet showing symptoms.

The identity of app users will be protected by encryption and anonymous identifier beacons that change frequently.

User adoption is key to success and we believe that these strong privacy protections are also the best way to encourage use of these apps, the companies said in a joint statement Wednesday.

The statement Wednesday also included remarks from state officials in North Dakota, Alabama and South Carolina signaling that they plan to use it.

“We invite other states to join us in leveraging smartphone technologies to strengthen existing contact tracing efforts, which are critical to getting communities and economies back up and running, said North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, a Republican.

North Dakota had already launched a location-tracking app that about 4% of state residents are using, higher than other U.S. states with similar apps but falling far short of the participation rate that experts say is needed to make such technology useful.

Tim Brookins, the CEO of ProudCrowd, a startup that developed North Dakota’s app, said Wednesday that North Dakotans will now be asked to download two complementary apps his model, to help public health workers track where COVID-19 patients have been, and the Apple-Google model, to privately notify people who might have been exposed to the virus.

Covid-19: Tech giants Google and Apple makes face shields to help protect healthcare workers

Covid-19: Tech giants Google and Apple makes face shields to help protect healthcare workers

Technology giant Google and Apple has started making its own face shields to help protect healthcare workers against Covid-19.

Google has donated around 49,000 face shields that was designed and assembled by the Google engineers. Sources claim, the face shield was created by Google after consulting physicians and nurses at the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center Hospitals & Clinic

However,  Apple after its introduction of its own version of face shield, also revealed more details about the new face shields.

The tech giant illustrates how the face shield can be adjusted by pulling the straps on either side of the headset. The face shields are also designed to be sterilized and reused. Apple provides guidelines for cleaning and maintaining them.

Apple claims, it’s safe to clean them with chemicals such as 70%  ethanol, 70% isopropyl alcohol, 6% bleach, and 3% hydrogen peroxide.

In addition to designing and producing face shields, Apple said it would also donate 20 million protective face masks to health care workers in the US.

Apple rolls out cheaper iPhone as pandemic curbs spending

Apple rolls out cheaper iPhone as pandemic curbs spending

New York: Apple is releasing a new iPhone that will be vastly cheaper than the models it rolled out last fall at a time when the economy was booming and the pandemic had yet to force people to rethink their spending.

The second-generation iPhone SE introduced Wednesday, April 15 will sell for as little as $399, a 40% markdown from the most affordable iPhone 11 unveiled last year. Higher-end versions of the iPhone 11 sell for more than $1,000. Online orders for the iPhone SE will begin Friday, with the first deliveries expected April 24.

Even before the pandemic, many people had begun to balk at the substantial price tags for smartphones that weren’t that much better than the ones they already owned. That pushed Apple to step up its emphasis on music and video services to the more than 1 billion people who carry around at least one of their internet-connected devices.

High-priced gadgets are expected to become an even tougher sell as the economy plunges into its deepest downturn in more than a decade.

Apple maps out its products many months in advance and the new iPhone SE isn’t a direct response to the economic meltdown hatched by the pandemic. Even though the iPhone SE will sell at a price that seems right for the tough times ahead, it is an extraordinarily difficult time to introduce a product, said Wedbush Securities analyst Daniel Ives.

Apple faced a tough decision to make and ultimately decided to release and green light this smart phone to the market in hopes of gaining contained success out of the gates,” Ives wrote.

New iPhones are typically released with much fanfare at a Silicon Valley theater named after Apple founder Steve Jobs, who revolutionized the market when he introduced the first iPhone in 2007. The springtime event never happened this year because of the pandemic.

Even before the rapidly spreading coronavirus forced most states to order lockdowns, Apple had been hit hard by efforts to contain it in China.

Besides being its third largest market behind the U.S. and Europe, China is also where Apple makes most of its iPhones. With both its factories and stores in China shut down for several weeks this year, Apple issued a warning two months ago that quarterly sales will fall short of previous projections. The Cupertino, California, company is scheduled to release its result for the quarter later this month.

The new iPhone SE is an update to another low-cost model that Apple released four years ago. Apple stopped selling the original iPhone SE in 2018.

The updated Phone SE is essentially the same as the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus, which came out in 2017. The iPhone SE won’t share the same displays and cameras carried by the newer iPhone 11 models. But it will be powered by the same A13 processing chip that’s inside the more expensive iPhone 11.

The original iPhone SE was was a hit with budget-conscious consumers or those who preferred a smaller, 4-inch screen as newer phones grow increasingly large. The new model is slightly larger than the original, with a 4.7-inch screen.

In what could be another popular twist, the new iPhone SE brings back the home button. That’s a notable change from the iPhone 11 line, which ditched the once-familiar button to accommodate larger screens that can handle the highest-quality video and photos.