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Wednesday, May 13, 2015

A Closer Look at Apples A7 Chip from the iPhone 5s

Earlier this week, Canadian firm Chipworks released some photos showing the interior of Apples new A7 chip from the iPhone 5s, as well as the new M7 "motion coprocessor" and other components.

The firm has now had a chance to look at the A7s transistor die photo in detail and make a preliminary effort at identifying the various components of the chip. Chipworks stresses that the identifications are still tentative pending full circuit analysis, but that most of the identifications appear to make sense.

We publish this with the caveat that these are best guesses – we have not done any real circuit extraction to confirm them. The dual-core CPU and cache make up ~17% of the die area, and the quad-core GPU and shared logic about 22%. The CPU itself is not packed the same way as the A6 (see below), it looks much more like a conventional automated layout; although Linley Gwennap thinks that it’s still Apple designed, not the first ARM A53/57 usage.

The analysis identifies the CPU portion of the chip as being at the lower left of the image, with the quad-core graphics located at lower right. Previous work by AnandTech has identified the graphics as Imagination Technologies PowerVR G6430 configuration, a member of the new "Rogue" series of GPUs from the company.

Also of interest is a large block of static RAM (SRAM) located along the right edge of the chip just above the graphics cores. Chipworks says that based on its size it represents approximately 3 MB of storage and that it could be the "secure enclave" used to house data associated with the Touch ID fingerprint sensor found on the iPhone 5s. No equivalent SRAM block is included on the previous-generation A6 chip from Apple.

The A7 is otherwise a fairly standard chip compared to Apples previous designs, measuring only slightly larger than the A6 but offering significantly greater performance.

Data source: via MacRumors (By Eric Slivka)

Apples home automation tech taps iPhone Mac hardware for intelligent user tracking

Many believe home automation is the next tech frontier; a marriage of hardware and software that can make an incredible impact on our daily lives. Already, companies like Nest and Philips are automating tasks with their respective Nest Learning Thermostat and Hue light bulb products.

Source: USPTO

While some firms offer all-encompassing home management solutions that can control everything from turning on lights, to remotely closing a garage door, these systems usually require some type of user interaction. Apple is looking to take user input out of the equation, to be replaced by an intelligent system that uses a persons location and habits to automatically control at-home appliances.

As published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Apples U.S. Patent No. 8,577,392 for a "System and method of determining location of wireless communication devices/persons for controlling/adjusting operation of devices based on the location" describes a system that uses data gathered by static and mobile devices, along with wireless communications tech, to determine a users current and guessed future location. Based on these observations, certain preset functions in the home can be activated or deactivated remotely and automatically.

Apples invention is rooted in location data. A users position can be obtained from any number of outlets, including a computer login, an iPhone transmitting GPS coordinates and cell tower triangulation, among others. These so-called "first devices" are integral to the automation process as they act as triggers for the control of "second devices," like televisions, lights and more.

In some embodiments, the first devices are tasked with feeding location data to relay servers when a predetermined condition is met. For example, an iPhone can provide GPS information every five minutes, or when it connects to a new cell tower. In other cases, the system can randomly query devices to save battery life.

Alternatively, devices in a fixed position can be used to relay information on a users activities. Examples include ID badge swipes, credit card use and logging into a social networking site from a desktop computer.

Further, a users location can be categorized much like Apples current geo-fencing technology. For example, a user can define a "work" and a "home" zone, with the system able to activate tracking when they leave or arrive within a predetermined fence.

By aggregating and processing this constant flow of location data, relay servers can estimate a users current and future position to within a certain degree of accuracy. This is important for the operation of certain at-home devices, like a garage door or an alarm system. Precise location data can also be used to trigger events. For example, if a user is on their home street, the system can turn on exterior house lights as they approach.

After processing, the relay servers push a signal out to second devices, instructing them to commence an operation or change operational states. Second devices can be any number of products. Examples given include washing machines, ovens, lights, power strips, lights, climate control systems and more.

Second devices can also be monitored to determine whether they are already on or off, as well as other modes of operation, before the system sends a control signal.

While first devices can communicate wirelessly, second devices may be attached to the relay system via USB or some other physical means. It should be noted that some type of communications protocol is required, whether it be Wi-Fi, Ethernet or cellular, to connect with relay servers.

More than one user can be associated with a given home automation system, which means relay servers would have to parse data and check rulesets for both.

Finally, Apples invention works not only in long-distance applications, such as work-to-home, but from within the house itself. In this way, lights can be turned off when a user leaves for a certain amount of time, or heaters can be turned on or off depending on activity levels.

Although Apples current hardware lineup can handle the inventions requirements, a number of hurdles stand in the way of its deployment, not the least of which being infrastructure costs to the consumer.

Apples location-based home automation patent was first filed for in 2012 and credits Raghunandan K. Pai and Timothy S. Hurley as its inventors.

Data source: via AppleInsider (By Mikey Campbell)

Image source: TC

Will Apples Digital Wallet Kill the Card Swipe

Apple wants the plastic credit card to become as rare as the paper check.On Tuesday, the company announced Apple Pay, a digital payment system that lets people pay for retail store purchases using their phones rather than cash or credit cards. The service, which will work both with iPhones and Apples new Watch, is backed by a host of big retailers, along with most major banks and credit card issuers, including Visa, MasterCard and American Express.

So-called contactless payment isnt new. Starbucks, McDonalds, PayPal, Google and Square offer their own services, but only a small portion of customers use them. Some experts believe Apple Pay —with its presence on millions of iPhones and its advanced security features— could be the service that leads to widespread adoption of the digital wallet.

Citi Investment Research analyst Mark May believes the sum total of mobile payments could grow from $1 billion in 2013 to $58.4 billion by 2017.

Payment digitization paints an enticing vision of shoppings future: simply tap your device against a checkout screen and walk away with your new shoes.

But despite the flashy Apple Pay launch, Apple faces challenges making that vision a reality. The company and other digital wallet providers must convince shoppers that the transactions are safe —especially in the wake of recent high-profile data breaches at Home Depot and Target. Meanwhile, the company must also make a case to retailers that its worth it for them to invest in new point-of-sale systems.

Many U.S. merchants still arent sold on the idea. About 220,000 stores are set up to accept Apple Pay. Thats only 5.5 percent of the 3.6 million retail locations in the U.S., according to the National Retail Federation. The biggest U.S. retailers, including Wal-Mart and Best Buy, are not participating in Apple Pay.

The main reason is cost. Each point-of-sale device, which uses something called near-field communication technology, costs hundreds of dollars, plus hours of worker training. And theres been little customer demand for the systems.

That may change now that Apple has entered the arena, says Gartner analyst Avivah Litan.

"Theres no doubt young people want to use phones to make payments, but they have to have a place to pay," says Litan. She predicts bigger retailers will see how well Apple partners like McDonalds do before they move into mobile payments.

"If it goes well at other retailers, Wal-Mart and other companies may break down and start taking it," Litan says.

In countries such as Canada and the U.K., contactless point-of-sale systems are widespread, and as a result, such payments are far more common. In Canada, for instance, about 20 percent of transactions at registers processed by MasterCard are completed by contactless payment, according to MasterCard.

"What you learn from that is when consumers start tapping two or three times, they never go back to their old behavior at that merchant. ... Its just a much better experience," says Ed McLaughlin, chief emerging payments officer at MasterCard.

One of the strengths of Apple Pay is its security. Its system uses the companys Touch ID fingerprint technology, a secure chip, and payments that require a one-time security code

Exploring the Split Screen Multitasking Feature in iOS 8 on Apples iPad

In the first edition of iOS 8 beta, that was announced a couple of days ago, allows split screen multitasking on iPad, Earlier reported by 9to5mac, now he has hacked the iOS 8 code to work on the functionality, but only partially.

Recently, Troughton-Smith has released a video demonstrating how the iPad split screen functions on iOS 8 showing the simulation working on the iPads split screen.

Check-out This Video for More Information on Split-Screen Feature of iOS 8

As you can see in the video, there are two panels in the screen, one screen has Safari running on it, and other panel is blank. The blank panel is likely for other app to be loaded, but the simulator is still functioning to enable two panels working side-by-side on a single screen.

Another feature that you can see in the video is two finger swipe functionality to control the visible size of either apps in the split screen mode and that can also be adjusted according to the screen.

This split-screen feature for iPad was rumored one month ago, and it was also much expected to be an attraction at WWDC, a few days ago. The feature is still in progress, and thus it was not previewed by Apple in the developers conference.

About Anna Harris:
Anna Harris working as web content writer and a strategist for a major IT firm specialized in various mobile application development services for iOS, Android, Windows Phone and other operating systems.

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