Apple made a secret trip to CES to talk AR glasses, says report

Apple typically doesn"t bother attending CES – preferring instead to host its own product launches throughout the year – but according to a report, Apple representatives were at the show in Las Vegas this week, and they were speaking to parts suppliers for AR glasses.

In a lengthy report on AR and VR at the Consumer Electronics Show, Bloomberg says Apple was in talks with other companies about building some augmented reality specs. The same suppliers apparently also spoke to the likes of Facebook, Google, Snap and Xiaomi, so expect a flood of devices to show up in the near future.

Sources speaking to Bloomberg say that almost everyone in the tech business is exploring the possibility of building some AR glasses, and a few sets have already been unveiled – we got to try the Alexa-powered Vuzix Blade at CES this year, for example (see the photo above).

Gazing into the future

Bloomberg"s report makes only a passing reference to Apple, and doesn"t give us any more details on what it might be prepping, but we can fill in a lot of the blanks. Apple has been rumored to be working on something like this for a long time, and recently introduced some extra AR smarts to iOS.

Some sources say these iGlasses could be with us as early as this year, but Apple boss Tim Cook has gone on the record to say the technology isn"t ready yet: "Today I can tell you the technology itself doesn’t exist to do that in a quality way... the field of view, the quality of the display itself, it’s not there yet."

Cook didn"t confirm or deny that some Apple AR glasses were in the pipeline, but we"ve heard rumors from suppliers as well as media reports that they"re on the way. And if you spotted someone at CES with an Apple badge on, now you know why.

Apple Exaggerates MacBook Standby Battery Life, Owners Report

The last six months haven’t been particularly kind to Apple. The company’s decision to throttle its phones to preserve battery life without ever telling users it did so. Now it’s under fire for allegedly false claims about the standby time and overall power consumption of its MacBook Pros. And, as has become typical, it’s not doing anything about it.

Multiple Mac users have reported that the standby power consumption of MacBooks and MacBook Pros is much higher than it ought to be, a problem that persists across models and operating systems. VentureBeat rounded up some examples of user complaints, with some people reporting drains of up to 6 percent per day when the laptop is literally shut down and 15 percent per day if left in standby with the lid closed. This is far higher than would be expected for a device of this type, and Apple’s messaging, so far, has been “working as intended.” One Apple Genius told a user that the issue represented “normal behavior with the new hardware generation.”

“Up to 30 Days”

Multiple MacBook and MacBook Pro users are unhappy about the situation, particularly since Apple doesn’t appear to be offering any kind of help. It also isn’t honoring requests for a new battery for devices under warranty if its own tests show the system battery is fine. Of course, most people can’t just leave a laptop sitting at their local Apple Store to trot back in a week later and inquire as to the status of the battery.

Apple changed Mac battery design back in 2012. It’s easy to remove — provided your species naturally exudes certain types of solvents.

The typical response to this kind of issue would be to flag the “up to 30 days” Apple quotes for standby time. But these sorts of claims are commonly understood to reflect ballpark estimates (if best-case ones) and to be at least approachable.

Apple’s, as of this writing, don’t really seem to be. It would be one thing if this was an isolated incident, but it fits a pattern we’ve been seeing. Apple apologizes for crippling phones, but won’t quit. Apple removes a critical backplate from the iPhone 6 Plus, but refuses to acknowledge that “touch disease” caused so many problems and only offered to fix devices for $149. Granted, the company has a reputation for ignoring the negative experiences of its customers — Steve Jobs’ “you’re holding it wrong” is sort-of Exhibit A for this kind of thinking — but it certainly feels as if we’re seeing more of these incidents lately. And iOS 11 is still bedeviled by issues according to general reports, despite having been out in the wild for months now.

In short, this refusal to address the situation and turning people away at Apple Stores may reflect Apple’s awareness that standby time on its more recent Macs is nothing like it promised. It may alternately reflect that the company doesn’t care.

London was top destination for tech funding in 2017: Report

LONDON: London was the top city in Europe for technology investment last year, with more funding going into companies in the British capital than into firms based in Paris, Berlin and the next seven cities combined, data showed on Friday.

Tech firms in London attracted 2.45 billion pounds ($3.3 billion) in venture capital funding in 2017, about 80% of the 2.99 billion pounds invested in Britain as a whole, according to data compiled by funding database PitchBook for London & Partners.

Eileen Burbidge, partner at Passion Capital, said it was no surprise to see London - and Britain - leading the pack because it has both the talent and investor capital needed.

"It"s a testament to our exceptional entrepreneurs that the UK tech sector continues to produce companies that are leading in the development of cutting edge technologies such as artificial intelligence and fintech," she said.

Fintech, or financial technology, was the most popular segment for investors, attracting a record 1.34 billion pounds in venture capital, the data showed, led by major rounds for TransferWise, Funding Circle and Monzo.

Artificial intelligence (AI) was another growth area, with UK-based AI firms raising 488 million pounds, double the amount a year earlier, the data showed.

Other big deals last year included a 391 million pound investment into Improbable, whose software creates large-scale simulations in the cloud; 364 million pounds for food delivery company Deliveroo; and 255 million pounds for mobile phone firm Truphone.

Burbidge said the biggest threat to Britain"s leadership was any restrictions in its ability to attract the best talent after the country leaves the European Union next year.

"Access to talent is critically important," she said.

"Being able to attract EU talent has been a huge advantage for the UK in the last few years. For the UK to look like a welcoming place is really important."

Index Ventures partner Jan Hammer also said any post-Brexit restrictions on EU citizens movement would be detrimental.

"Protecting the talent inflow is the key source of growth of start ups," he said.

At the moment, however, London was setting the standard both in breadth and quality of start-ups, he said, noting that the city was home to role models such as Just Eat, King, a gaming company acquired by Activision Blizzard for $5.9 billion in 2015, and TransferWise.

"In our portfolio roughly 50 companies of the 150 companies we have are headquartered in London, and there are about another 25 foreign companies that have set up in London," he said.

Apple files patent for long-range wireless charging: Report

SAN FRANCISCO: Apple has filed a patent application with the US Patent and Trademark Office that will reportedly let the user set up wireless charging transfers in a particular order so that their iPhone gets power first, followed by Apple Watch and then the iPad.

The Radio Frequency (RF) based long-range wireless charging is on the lines of wireless power developer Energous that has been recently granted consumer safety certification for its wireless charging technology by the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

"The US Patent and Trademark Office published a pair of patent applications from Apple that relates to wireless power transfers and a unique scheduling system," Patently Apple reported on Friday.

"Apple"s patent notes that the system is "configured to wirelessly transmit power over the wireless power transfer link"," the report added.

However, it is unclear whether this is the equivalent to "over-the-air" wireless transfer.

Wireless power developer Energous and the Cupertino-based giant have been working together on wireless charging technology since 2014, according to tech website VentureBeat.

Meanwhile, earlier in November, Apple filed a patent application for a yet-unnamed foldable device that can be "opened and closed like a book".

"An electronic device may have a flexible portion that allows the device to be folded. The device may have a flexible display. The flexible display may have a bending region that allows the display to bend along a bend axis when the device is folded," said a patent application published by The US Patent and Trademark Office.