• apple,  apple watch,  appletv,  ios 9,  ipad mini,  iphone 6s,  iphone 6s plus,  pencil,  smart keyboard,  tvos,  watchos

    Apple “Hey, Siri” Special Event Wrap Up

    September 18, 2015 /

    Apple has unleashed new Apple Watches, iPads, an all new Apple TV and, yes, even the new iPhones 6s and iPhone 6s Plus on the world.

    If you haven’t had time to sit through the two and a half hour presentation, here’s everything you need to know about Apple’s newest gear.

    Welcome and Opening Remarks from Tim Cook

    Tim started off by saying that we have “monster updates across multiple product lines” and he wasn’t kidding.  As with the last keynote, the usual “How are we doing?” state-of-the-state slides were cut.

    Apple Watch

    After stating that Apple Watch customer satisfaction was at 97%, Tim turned over the Apple Watch section to Jeff Williams, Apple’s SVP Operations.  I don’t recall seeing Jeff up on stage so I’m glad they are giving him time in the spotlight.

    • Time Transit and 3rd-part complications in watchOS 2.0
    • Transit information is coming to Apple Maps to help you find public transit
    • 10,000 watchOS apps in the App Store today
    • New gold and rose gold color options for Apple Watch Sport (available now)
    • New Apple Watch stainless with new band options
    • 16 fluoroelastomer Sport bands, including a new (Product) RED band 
    • Hermes bands and new signature watch faces, available at select stores

    I like the new watch bands, but was not blown away with the new colors.  I’ll likely buy one ore two more fluoroelastomer bands before I upgrade my Sport edition watch in the future.

    The AirStrip third-party demo seems like an amazing convergence of medical and digital technology. Apple is really showcasing their work with partners in the health and fitness fields.

    watchOS 2.0, a free upgrade, arrives Wednesday, September 16.

    iPad Pro

    Turns out the rumors about a larger iPad were true and that device is called the iPad Pro.  The iPad Pro is clearly targeted at business professionals and not the typical iPad owner.  According to Tim Cook, “iPad is the clearest expression of our vision of personal computing.”  “We’re partnering with the world’s leading enterprise companies, IBM and Cisco, to redefine and transform the way people work in the enterprise.”

    To introduce the new iPad Pro, Apple played a video with the solar system and the sun. Let’s just
    get to it already.  I don’t want to see a simulated product showing a simulated solar system.  My first impression of the iPad Pro (during the video): “It’s nice.  I don’t need it.”

    Then then video ended and Tim Cook came out holding the deice and things turned around quickly for me.  My second impression of the iPad Pro (while Cook was holding it): “I bet it’s close in size to a standard format US magazine – I read a lot of content on my iPad Air today.  EW, Time and others, please for the love of God…please…please use retina assets.”

    • 12.9″ diagonal screen more than enough for holding a “printed” magazine page
    • 2732 x 2048 (horizontal), 2x the resolution as the iPad Air/Air 2 standing tall
    • 5.6M pixels being pushed around the display
    • More pixels than a 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display
    • Variable refresh rate display (dynamic power savings)
    • iPad Pro is powered by the third generation 64-bit A9X chip
    • 1.8x faster than the iPad Air 2 A8X chip, 2x flash storage performance
    • 2.0x fater GPU performance (great for games and pro media apps)
    • Still maintains the iPad’s 10-hour battery life target
    • 4x speaker audio system (one speaker at each corner of the device)
    • iPad Pro is 6.9mm thick compared to iPad Air 2 6.1mm
    • Smart Keyboard case with woven fabric key caps (no screen scratching)
    • Smart Connector carries power and data with a magnetic connection
    • Smart Connector does not rely on Bluetooth or peripheral batteries
    • iPad Pro will be available is white/sliver, white/gold, black/space grey
    • 32GB Wi-Fi $799, 128GB Wi-Fi $949, and 128GB Wi-Fi + Cellular $1,079
    • iPad Pro begins shipping this November

    I also really like the full size soft keyboard, especially with iOS 9 upper and lower case key caps.

    So, how do you get a thinner MacBook or MacBook Air? Ditch the entire bottom half of the notebook.  That’s the iPad Pro.  I think “Road Warriors” (is that still a ‘thing’?) should really
    like this for it’s extreme portability.  There was no discussion about an Apple Smart Cover or Smart Case.  I would think that with a full size soft keyboard, you could get by without buying a keyboard accessory to save money.

    Can the iPad Pro be a compelling alternative to MacBook, MacBook Air?  Assuming you purchase the mid-tier iPad Pro, a Smart Keyboard and a Pencil, your out the door cost is $1,200 for the 128GB Wi-Fi iPad Pro.

    Apple Pencil

    Apple Pencil is the stylus that God did’t give you and is a much more refined writing experience over today’s stylus.  I’m guessing that the people at 53, who make that cool Paper app, are really pissed about the new stylus and it’s name.

    • When using Pencil, iPad Pro digitizer is scanning 2x as fast to collect more data
    • Can use both touch and Pencil input at the same time (ruler and pencil example
    • Tracks position, force and tilt of Pencil as you use it
    • Promises low latency to better replicate the feel of writing/drawing on paper.  This is a big one for me since I take notes on iPad Air with Jot stylus
    • Pencil charges off of iPad Pro Lighting port (first Holy $#!+ moment)
    • Pencil working with built in apps looks like Microsoft Surface stylus done right
    • Into video showed hand firmly resting on the display and not interfering with Pencil input.

    Improving the experience of note taking on the iPad looks to be greatly enhanced with the new iPad Pro only Pencil stylus.  Overall, it looks like a better experience of using my iPad Air and Bluetooth Jot stylus.

    Professional Productivity on iPad Pro

    Playing word association with the term “Professional Productivity” does not conjure up images of “Microsoft”.  Adobe is the first word that comes to mind.

    Admit it, Microsoft Office on iPad Pro with Pencil and Split Screen is incredibly cool!

    Adobe’s up next with their Com page layout software and Photoshop Fix apps.  Photoshop Fix offers real-time dynamic photo re-touching on an iPad.  This took forever on my 1992 Macintosh IIci desktop.  Now I can do that work from a tablet in real-time.

    I was glad to see Irene Walsh from 3D4Medical on stage to show off her company’s anatomy app.  That demo looked pretty impressive.

    iPad mini 4

    • iPad Air 2 hardware reconfigured into the mini’s format
    • Like iPad Air and iPad mini 3 both have A7
    • iPad mini 4 starts at $399

    The iPad mini 4 only received a passing mention during the event.  Aside from putting the iPad Air 2 guts into the iPad mini 3 case, there’t not much new there.

    I wonder what this means for iPad Air 9.7-inch line.  Seems like many people are opting for the iPad mini.  iPad Pro is clearly aimed at professionals. Is this a way to boost margins on iPad line? Is Apple just keeping the iPad Air around because people still buy it?  This feels a lot like the MacBook (One) being out, yet Apple still continues to sell the MacBook Air.

    Apple TV, Forth Generation, and tvOS

    Tim Cook started off the Apple TV potion of the keynote by stating that “The future of TV is apps,” and with the new Apple TV, there will be plenty of apps to go around.  The new Apple TV, as Apple likes to say, will be instantly familiar, but new.   The new Apple TV looks very similar to the second and third generation Apple TVs we have now.  With the new Apple TV, the box will be slightly taller than before.

    The software that drives Apple TV has been updated too.  tvOS, a variation on iOS – just like watchOS is also a variant of iOS – has gotten a new flat, clean ascetic.  With the integration of Siri, you are now able to use the new Siri remote for Apple TV to speak commands such has “So me movies with Robert Downey, jr”, “What was the score from last night’s Yankees game”, or “What is the weather forecast for later today?”.  That’s a pretty cool feature…if it works reliably.

    With the Siri Remote, better remote control navigation, Bluetooth communication, apps, a redesigned UI and Universal Search the new Apple TV is a worth while upgrade for existing Apple TV owners and people looking to add “smart” features to their TV.  My initial reaction to Apple TV was that Apple has caught up to where everyone else is.  But the story does quite end there. If you squint when you look at Apple TV, you can see where Apple plans to go in the future, so I’m holding out hope that Apple TV and tvOS will have a more compelling reason to buy one over it’s competitors in the future.

    To introduce the new Apple TV, Tim brought out Jen Folse from the Apple TV engineering team to demonstrate some of the new features.

    The new Apple TV, forth generation features:

    • Redesigned hardware, including the new Siri Remote
    • Redesigned UI/UX: GUI, glass touch interface on remote, Siri voice controls
    • Siri Universal Search for content across iTunes, Netflix, Hulu, HBO and Showtime
    • HD video screen savers that look so amazing that I want to have them running all the time
    • Apple TV now includes Apps, App Store, and full integration with Apple Music and Beats 1
    • A8, Bluetooth 4, 802.11ac Wi-Fi with MIMO
    • 10mm taller than Apple TV 3rd gen
    • Siri Remote charges via Lightning Cable and is good for 3 mo on a single charge
    • TV volume control, on off TV/receiver control
    • Available in two models: 32GB $149, 64GB $199
    • Apple TV 3 lives on at the existing $69 price point
    • Apple TV 4 ships in late October

    tvOS

     Apple TV’s operating system received an official name this year, and it is “tvOS”.

    • New software that drives Apple TV and is based on iOS
    • Think of tvOS in the same way that watchOS is a “derivative” of iOS
    • tvOS uses all of the same foundations as iOS, easy to move iOS apps to tvOS
    • Multiplayer game support, mixing Apple TV remote and iPhone, iPad or iPod touch as extra controllers.
    • Apple TV remote also can interact with apps like a Wii Remote does
    • Support for three additional iOS controllers for a total of four players
    • Universal apps now span iOS for iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and tvOS
    • Support for game progress saves, continue playing where you last left off
    • Developers have access to tvOS now – developer.apple.com/tvos

    iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus

    At about 83 minutes, gets to the part of the presentation we have all been waiting for: iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus.

    With so much packed into this presentation, you will recall that Apple chose to cut out all of the status updates.  Still, Tim Cook still found the time to take a jab at all of the Apple naysayers by pointing out the iPhone has grown 35% year-over-year.  Boom!

    The new iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus will have bodies constructed with Apple’s 7000 series aluminum and come in a new rose gold color in addition to silver, gold and space grey.  Being an “s: year, Apple has chosen to keep the same display sizes: 6s 4.7-inches and the 6s at 5.5-inches.  The bodies are slightly larger than the previous year, however, Apple’s website still shows that iPhone 6-series and iPhone 6s-series phone will be able to fit into existing cases.

    So of the new features about the new iPhone that I really like are:

    • iPhone 6S/Plus includes to Multi-Touch interface called 3D Touch
    • Peek and Pop Force Touch gestures for navigating and controlling iPhone
    • Tactile feedback is provided to the display via a Taptic engine
    • New 3D Force gestures for Peek and email are going to be a big time saver for me
    • iPhone 6S/Plus is powered by the new A9 processor
    • Desktop and console grade graphics – games look great on Metal for iOS
    • M9 motion coprocessor has now been moved directly into the A9 CPU
    • Apple gets points for a 12MP iSight camera; 5MP FaceTime camera (screen as flash!)
    • New Live Photos feature works across OS X El Capitan, iOS 9 on iPhone iPad and watchOS 2

    In addition to the specs, Apple has made some changes to the hardware line up.

    • iPhone 6S/Plus will keep the same price configurations
    • iPhone 5S is free on contract
    • iPhone 5C is out (say goodbye to the last non-TouchID device)
    • You can now purchase your iPhone directly from Apple on a payment plan called iPhone Upgrade Program, which includes AppleCare+

    The iPhone 6S/Plus go on sale Sept 25.  Pre-orders, the only humane way to order on iPhone, will be available with free shipping to your home or in store reservations.

    There’s a lot to digest with the Hey, Siri event and I’m looking forward to getting my hands on the new hardware and software as soon as possible.

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  • amazon,  apple,  kindle

    Higher E-Book Prices Turn Out to Not Be Popular with Consumers

    September 6, 2015 /

    Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg writing for the Wall Street Journal:

    “When the world’s largest publishers struck e-book distribution deals with Amazon.com Inc. over the past several months, they seemed to get what they wanted: the right to set the prices of their titles and avoid the steep discounts the online retail giant often applies.”

    The world’s largest publishers were forced to turn to Amazon after the US government successfully sued Apple for conspiring to inflate e-book prices by establishing “agency model” pricing for the iBook Store.  Amazon, got by without at second glance.

    Let’s see how things are going:

    “The new business model for e-books is having a significant impact on what [the big] publishers report,” said one publishing executive. “There’s no question that publishers’ net receipts have gone down.” 

    On Thursday morning, there wasn’t a single title priced at $9.99 among the top 20 titles on the company’s Kindle best-seller list. Last summer, Amazon offered the digital edition of James Patterson’s thriller “Invisible” for the bargain price of $8.99. Mr. Patterson’s newest tale of suspense, “Alert,” went on sale Aug. 3 on Amazon for $14.99, a price set by Hachette, Mr. Patterson’s publisher. The unit sales for Mr. Patterson’s e-books weren’t available.

    Sounds like there’s trouble in paradise.

    [Via The Wall Street Journal…]

    Read More
  • blackberry,  good technology,  rim

    Backberry to Acquire Good Technology

    September 6, 2015 /
    Blackberry, makers of the same named smartphones, is acquiring mobile device management mainstay Good Technology.

    Waterloo, Ontario and Sunnyvale, Calif. – BlackBerry Limited (NASDAQ: BBRY; TSX: BB), a global leader in secure mobile communications, today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Good Technology for $425 million in cash.
    The acquisition of Good is aligned with BlackBerry’s strategy to offer customers the most complete, end-to-end solution that secures the entire mobile enterprise, across all platforms. Enhanced by Good, BlackBerry will expand its ability to offer a unified, secure mobility platform with applications for any mobile device on any operating system – supported with security that has been certified by governments around the world embedded in every component of the mobility infrastructure.     

    Good will bring complementary capabilities and technologies to BlackBerry, including secure applications and containerization that protects end user privacy. With Good, BlackBerry will expand its ability to offer cross-platform EMM solutions that are critical in a world with varying deployment models such as bring-your-own-device (BYOD); corporate owned, personally enabled (COPE); as well as environments with multiple user interfaces and operating systems. Good has expertise in multi-OS management with 64 percent of activations from iOS devices, followed by a broad Android and Windows customer base. 

    “By acquiring Good, BlackBerry will better solve one of the biggest struggles for CIOs today, especially those in regulated industries: securely managing devices across any platform. By providing even stronger cross-platform capabilities our customers will not have to compromise on their choice of operating systems, deployment models or any level of privacy and security,” said John Chen, BlackBerry Executive Chairman and CEO. “Like BlackBerry, Good has a very strong presence in enterprises and governments around the world and, with this transaction, BlackBerry will enhance its sales and distribution capabilities and further grow its enterprise software revenue stream.”


    With this acquisition, CEO John Chen is shoring up his company by safe guarding it from a future where Blackberry devices may no longer exist and has to focus on security and backend device management software.  Good Technology has been around for a very long time.  I recall attending webcasts  demonstrating their secure email technology for Palm OS devices like the Palm Tungsten C.

    In an article for the Wall Street Journal (subscription required) Ben Hummett writes:

    “BlackBerry last November introduced the latest version of its mobile device management software, which works across mobile operating systems, including Google Inc.’s Android operating and Apple Inc.’s iOS. But analysts have questioned demand for the software, dubbed BES12, after the company surprised the market in its fiscal first quarter ended May 30 by including revenue from technology licensing as part of total software sales. That move raised concerns about overall sales of BES12.”

    “BES”, is short for the Blackberry Enterprise Server, the software that has long driven the secure backend communications of Blackberry smartphones.  As demand of Blackberry smartphones has declined, so has sales of BES.  With BES12, Blackberry tried to make the software more attractive to companies who have Blackberry smartphones deployed by also adding support for Apple’s iOS and Googles Android devices.  With the Good acquisition, Blackberry has legitimized their leadership position at the mobile device management (MDM) for fleets of mobile devices.

    Many have written Blackberry off after a cataclysmic sales implosion following many failed attempts to out do the iPhone.  Untimely, Blackberry faltered by misunderstanding the powerful allure of the “prosumer” market who gobbled up iPhones and Android devices by the millions.

    John Chen was appointed Executive Chairmen and CEO after his major turn around of Sybase, a once popular enterprise database software company.  Sybase was sold to SAP for 12bn.

    While readers of this blog know that I’m a fan of Apple.  With the fate of Palm OS/webOS unknown, I have to keep rooting for Blackberry to make some sort of comeback.  Mobile needs to be more than a two horse (iOS and Android) race.

    You can read the full press release on the Blackberry website.

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  • apple,  apple tv,  iphone

    What I’m Hoping for From Apple’s Sept. 9 Event

    August 31, 2015 /


    In just about nine days from now, Apple will be holding their September media event.  Scheduled for Wednesday, September 9 at 1:00pm eastern (10:00am pacific), Apple will be introducing what it has in store of us in the run up to this year’s holiday shopping season.

    It’s a pretty safe bet to expect the new iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus to be introduced at this event.  The same goes for iOS 9.  I expect both of the iPhones and iOS 9 to arrive in our hands no later than Sept. 25.  (Betting money is by Sept. 18.)

    I like to have a little bit of delighted surprise when I watch the Apple keynote addresses so I really try to avoid all of the leaks in the month running up to the event.  So without getting into any leak rumors, here’s what I’m hoping to see on Sept. 9.

    iPhone 6 Remixed

    It’s virtually impossible to open a browser to a tech blog and not be assaulted by the screaming “The Latest Leaked iPhone 6S Thingamabob Will…” headlines, but I do think the next iPhone will have a Force Touch display.  The new MacBooks and MacBook Pros have Force Touch track pads.  The Apple Watch has a Force Touch display.  It’s only natural to assume that it will be in the next flagship iPhone.  I’d take this upgrade even if the phone will get slightly thicker.

    I would also like to see an upgrade to the camera.  With the iPhone being such a popular point-and-shoot camera, it’s time to upgrade that 8MP iSight camera.

    Make it thicker.  If the iPhone camera lens protrudes, now is the time to add thickness and level everything out on the back again.  If the phone gets thicker from the inclusion of a Force Touch screen, then there should be space for the entire camera assembly to be contained inside the case.  Oh, and make the battery slightly thicker.

    I also expect the A9 processor to be a thing, but since this is an “S” year, I think the processor, camera and display to be the hardware upgrades.

    iOS 9

    The public betas being what they are, available to the public, they really aren’t too ultra-secret any more.  I expect ad blockers to be big.  I’m hoping to just have more control over what ad networks are able to glean about me from scanning my device after running some sketchy ad code when I visit my favorite blogs and websites.  Many people will likely go with a default option and just block all ads entirely.

    I’m also looking forward to the end of Newsstand to make it’s exit with iOS 9.  It was a great idea back in the spring of 2010 when the band new iPad first appeared with the $1.00/wk The Daily newspaper.  But now, with apps getting all the love, Newsstand seems almost forgotten. On my iPad, you will find three lonely icons for the Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker and Forbes.  I’d love to have those apps in a standard app folder on my iPad.

    Lastly, I’m hoping for some more control over music with explicit lyrics to be added either to the Music app or to the iTunes control panel.  If these options exist today, I sure has heck can’t find them.

    And speaking of searching, being able to search for preferences in the Settings application is a big win in my book.

    Apple TV

    There’s been a lot to do about Apple TV rumors this past weekend of which I won’t get into here.  For me, I’m looking to upgrade my two third generation Apple TVs to a new version that has some kind of wireless headphone support.

    I’d also like to see some improvements to HomeKit that will get me excited enough to go out and buy some “smart plugs” for my “dumb” lamps around the house.  I really see a refreshed Apple TV being the hub for all of my in-home Internet of Things (IoT) gadgets.  And I want to play with some new toys this winter.

    watchOS 2

    I was lucky enough to get my Apple Watch on launch day.  I’ve worn it every day since then.  Now that all my debit and credit cards now fully support Apple Pay. it’s super easy to buy things with my Watch.  I’m looking forward to seeing the loyalty card support found in iOS 9 make the jump to watchOS 2.

    I’m also looking forward to the new apps that developers will cook up for us with the new version of WarchKit.  I think with native apps running on the Watch, some of the lag-tastic delays we’ve seen with the “projected” Watch apps will go away.

    So this is what I’m hoping for come Sept. 9.  I think that the release of Mac OS X 10.11 El Capitan and any new iPad devices will be held of an October event.  This September will be all about the iPhone, iOS and Watch OS.

    [Apple Sept. 9 invitation art via VersedTech.com…]

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  • apple tv,  editorial,  google chromecast,  streaming

    On Apple TV Losing Ground to Other Media “Pucks”

    August 23, 2015 /

    Analyst firm Parks Associates has released a new report (available for purchase) titled “The Streaming Media Device Landscape”.  According to the paper’s abstract, the Apple TV has now slipped down to 17% behind the Roku, and Google’s Chromcast.

    This really shouldn’t come to a surprise to anyone.  The Apple TV 3 was introduced in March 2012 and has remained essentially unchanged aside from a minor specs bump to add support for 1080p video in March 2013.

    Since then, there really hasn’t been a compelling reasons to purchase one over the Ruko or the wickedly inexpensive Google Chromecast stick.  To be honest, I really like the Ruko feature that allows you to listen to your video over the wireless remote with a pair of headphones.  I almost purchased one for my bedroom over the Apple TV just so I don’t wake my sleeping wife.  In the end, the stickiness of Apple’s ecosystem won out as I have tons of content that I’ve purchased from the iTunes Store since it’s launch back in the early 2000’s.

    Home automation with HomeKit, apps, games, or whatever Apple has planned for the rumored refresh coming this fall will be a welcomed update by many Apple fans.  My kids can’t wait for the new Apple TV to drop just so they can get my two Apple TV 3 boxes.  For me, I’d just love to have the ability to stream the audio over Bluetooth to my wireless Beats earbuds.

    You can read the full Parks Associates abstract on their website.

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  • android,  apple,  galaxy s6,  google,  iphone,  samsung

    Samsung Galaxy “Ultimate Test Drive” for iPhone Switchers

    August 23, 2015 /

    Last week, Samsung launched the “Ultimate Test Drive” promotional website to entice customers to ditch their iPhones in favor of Samsung’s cheap imitation iPhone clones, namely the Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 edge+ or the Galaxy Note5.

    Did I mention all of those devices run the less secure and less frequently updated Google Android OS?
    Like I would ever give up my iPhones for an Android device.  Least of all a Samsung Android device.
    The program works like this:
    1. You go to the promo site.
    2. Pick out the new Galaxy phone you want
    3. Take a 30-day test drive (after handing over your credit card information)
    4. Buy the phone or send it back.
    So, here’s the kicker.  The site went live late last week.  When I visited the site on Sunday morning, I was greeted by a message at the bottom of the page that reads:
    “Thank you for your interest. Due to the overwhelming demand, we are temporarily out of test drive phones. Please keep checking back for available phones.”
    Huh.  I thought that Samsung was having a hard time selling Galaxy phones after Apple launched the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6+ last September.  You’d think that Samsung would have piles and piles of Galaxy phones in warehouses all over the place after reports from earlier this month that price cuts are going into effect.
    The Samsung Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge+ go on sale in the US on September 21.
    Read More
  • apple,  ios 8,  ipad,  iphone,  ipod touch,  update

    Apple Releases iOS 8.4.1 Update for Apple Music

    August 13, 2015 /

    Today, Apple released iOS 8.4.1 for all current model iPhones, iPads and iPod touches.

    Apple’s release notes for iOS 8.4.1 appear below.

    This release includes improvements and fixes to Apple Music.
    • Resolves issues that could prevent turning on iCloud Music Library
    • Resolves an issue that hides added music because Apple Music was set to show offline music only
    • Provides a way to add songs to a new playlist if there aren’t any playlists to choose from
    • Resolves an issue that may show different artwork for an album on other devices
    • Resolves several issues for artists while posting to Connect
    • Fixes an issue where tapping Love doesn’t work as expected while listening to Beats 1
    For information on the security content of this update, please visit this website:
    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1222

    The iOS 8.4.1 release is available now as an over the air (OTA) update from your devices.  Just go to:
    Settings > General > Software Update to begin the install.

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  • content server,  document management,  enterprise connect,  microso,  records management,  windows

    Troubleshooting Enterprise Connect Client Issues

    July 23, 2015 /

    Earlier today I was asked to help troubleshoot an OpenText Enterprise Connect client issue in a pre-production quality assurance environment.  It appears that testers were experiencing issues trying to open or edit documents stored in Content Server with the new desktop client.  Today, the QA team was testing Enterprise Connect 10.5.2.178 with Content Server 10.5.0 and Enterprise Connect module 10.5.2.

    The error being raised was:

    Method ‘PrepareEditOpen’ not implemented for repository ‘CSTest2’

    There was no problem accessing the test documents from the Content Server 10.5.0 web UI or via WebDAV.

    Since the issue was showing up on the clients, I decided to turn on error logging in Enterprise Connect

    Enabling Enterprise Connect Logging

    1.Right-clicking the Enterprise Connect desktop icon.

    2. Choose “Options” from the pop-up contextual menu.

    3. When the Options window appears, click the “Logging Options…” button.

    4. On the Logging Options page, check “Log Enabled” and select “Error” from the “Apply to All” drop down menu.

    5. Set the “File Location” field to which ever folder works best for you.

    6. Click the “Apply” and “Exit” buttons.  Close the Options window.

    7. Logout of Windows and login in again to activate logging.

    At this point, I reproduced the error trying to view a document in Content Server using the Enterprise Connect client.  when the error was reproduced, go back into the logging options and disable logging.

    On my test machine, three logs were created: uc_explorer.log, uc_ucscore.log and uc_ucsync.log.  Open the uc_ucscore.log file in your favorite text editor.  I suggest Notepad++ over Notepad.

    Scroll down to the bottom of the log to see the errors.  I found the following:

    08:15:18.41 [UCSCORE    ](4588): ERROR: Could not get service.
    08:15:21.58 [UCSCORE    ](4588): ERROR: Can’t query Office Editor Documents: Could not find a part of the path ‘C:\Users\[WindowsAccountName]\AppData\Roaming\OpenText\OTEdit\[CSInstanceName]\c2149\’.
    .
    .
    .
    08:16:27.62 [    ](4588): ERROR: WebEditRequest.GetDocumentInfo: exception.type=System.NotImplementedException; exception.message=Server not capable of Webedit.Unreserve;

    During my investigation, I noticed that the \c2149\ folder was not created on my client.  Don’t get fooled by that error message.  The real clue was the next line:

    exception.message=Server not capable of Webedit.Unreserve;

    This error says that the Content Server webedit module can’t do it’s job.

    To verify the problem was with the Content Server instance and not the Enterprise Connect client installed on the PC, I added another URL connection string to Enterprise Connect for a disaster recovery instance and tested the ability to open documents.  Enterprise Connect was able to open a copy of a test document that was in the DR instance just fine.  So, the problem was at the QA Content Server.

    Taking a look at the installed modules, I quickly discovered that the OpenText Enterprise Connect, Email Services and Content Server Web Edit modules where all at version 10.5.0.  The Enterprise Connect client being tested as 10.5.2.

    To finally resolve the issue, I backed up the OTHome directory (the path Content Server is installed into) and the SQL database and performed the upgrades to each of the modules to bring them up to version 10.5.2.  Once that was complete, the QA test clients were able to open, edit and update documents without further trouble.

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  • apple,  ios 9,  ipad,  iphone,  ipod touch

    Thoughts Regarding the iOS 9 Public Beta

    July 13, 2015 /

    It’s that special time of year once again where we have been shown all of the wonderful software enhancements that Apple is cooking up for us this fall.  It is also the time when we, the brave nerds, install not quite fully finished software on our iDevices and Macs.  All of this is done in the name of being nerdy.

    Actually, what I’m talking about is the pre-release public beta versions of Apple’s upcoming operating systems: iOS 9 and Mac OS X El Capitan 10.11.

    Both of these new operating systems are still under development so it’s not fair to judge either of them on their technical merits, stability or performance.  The completed versions of both iOS 9 and El Capitan are due out “this fall.”  What I want to talk about here are some of the user facing enhancements in iOS 9.

    Keyboards

    Last year, one of the big ticket items in iOS 8 was Apple allowing third-party keyboards to be installed on iOS.  While having alternate keyboards available was fun, I dumped all of them inside a week.

    This year, I’m far more interested in the tweak Apple has baked into the iOS 9 public beta: changing keyboard key cap states.  With iOS 8, I could never keep the Shift key state straight in my head: What was the CAPS mode icon state again? Solid white?  Or was that grey?  I can’t remember.  Better keep mashing the Shift key and retyping.  At least half the time while I was banging out a long text in Messages, a tweet in Twitter or a long email in Mail, I would get the state wrong.  So annoying!

    In iOS 9, now the key caps change state depending on whether or not Shift is engaged or not.  Below is a sample of iOS 9 Public Beta 1 running on my iPhone 5S (left) and iOS 8.4 running on my iPhone 6 (right).

    I think I really like that enhancement.

     News and iCloud Drive

    After installing iOS 9, you will get two new stock apps: News (as featured in the WWDC June 8 keynote) and iCloud Drive.

    News appears to be everything Apple showed in the keynote.  I was really excited about News when is was unveiled during the keynote address.  As I said in my summary post on this year’s WWDC keynote, I think this will be a worthwhile feature for both the iPhone and iPad.  With Apple’s focus on user privacy, I think this could become the go-to alternative for things like Facebook Instant Articles.  The beta apps has lots of great articles from across the spectrum of publishers and topics.  I think the biggest challenge users will face is taking the time to fine tune their news feeds.

    iCloud Drive, in my opinion, is a new iOS client app to help round out the features of iCloud document storage that launched as part of iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite last year.  With iCloud Drive, you now have access to the folders and documents that you have stored in iCloud.  iCloud Drive works similarly to Microsoft’s OneDrive or Google’s Drive iOS apps.

    On the left, you can see the top level folder view for iCloud Drive.  On the right, you see the list view of the contents of the Keynote folder.  It’s pretty basic stuff to be sure, but is also a utilitarian feature that Apple needs to gain parity with Google and Microsoft.

    iOS 9 will be released later this year and is expected to run on any iOS device that is already running iOS 8.

    For more information about iOS 9, check out Apple’s iOS 9 preview website.

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  • apple,  ios 8,  ipad,  ipad mini,  iphone,  ipod touch

    Apple Rolls Out iOS 8.4 with Apple Music, Beats 1 Radio

    July 1, 2015 /

    At 11:00am EDT this morning Apple released iOS 8.4 bringing a redesigned Music app, launching the new Apple Music service with Beats 1 24/7 live radio and updates to the iBooks apps.

    Below are the release notes for iOS 8.4.

    iOS 8.4 Release Notes
    This update introduces Apple Music—a revolutionary music service, 24/7 global radio, and a way for fans to connect with their favorite artists—all included in the redesigned Music app. iOS 8.4 also includes improvements for iBooks and bug fixes.
    Apple Music
    • Become an Apple Music member to play from millions of songs in the Apple Music catalog, or keep them offline for playback later
    • For You: Members can see playlist and album recommendations, handpicked by music experts
    • New: Members can find the latest, greatest new music available—direct from our editors
    • Radio: Tune in to music, interviews, and exclusive radio shows on Beats 1, play radio stations created by our editors or create your own from any artist or song
    • Connect: See shared thoughts, photos, music, and videos from artists you follow, then join the conversation
    • My Music: Play from all of your iTunes purchases, songs from Apple Music, and playlists in one place
    • Completely redesigned music player that includes new features such as Recently Added, MiniPlayer, Up Next, and more
    • iTunes Store: Still the best place to buy your favorite music—one song or album at a time
    • Availability and features may vary by country
    iBooks improvements and fixes
    • Browse, listen and download audiobooks from inside iBooks
    • Enjoy the all-new Now Playing feature, designed specifically for audiobooks
    • Books that are Made for iBooks now work on iPhone in addition to iPad
    • Find and pre-order books in a series right from your library
    • Improves accessibility of widgets, glossary and navigation in books made with iBooks Author
    • New default Chinese font
    • New setting to turn off Auto-Night theme in your library
    • Resolves an issue that may have prevented Hide Purchases from working
    • Resolves an issue that may have prevented downloading books from iCloud
    Other improvements and bug fixes
    • Fixes an issue where receiving a specific series of Unicode characters causes device to reboot
    • Fixes an issue that prevented GPS accessories from providing location data
    • Fixes an issue where deleted Apple Watch apps could re-install
    For information on the security content of this update, please visit this website:

    iOS 8.4 can be installed on any current model iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.

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