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Apple Updates iCloud to Fix the Compatibility Issues with Windows

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Apple along with Microsoft had been working on the latest version of iCloud for Windows, and have just released the newest version of iCloud for Windows version 7.8.1. The Apple device users, having a Windows machine, had been complaining about the compatibility issues for a long time, for that Apple and Microsoft came together and started working to solve the issues.

The problem was occurring for most of the Windows 10 users when they were trying to install iCloud on it, they were getting an error message over the screen, with the failed installation. Also, the users who already had the software installed on their Windows machine were also facing problems with the Photos syncing and more.

Having received so many complaints regarding the compatibility issues of iCloud with Windows, earlier this month, Microsoft blocked its users from downloading iCloud for Windows. It had also noticed that the users were having a problem in updating the Shared Albums after they upgraded to Windows 10 version 1809.

Microsoft had earlier confirmed that it was working with Apple together, to resolve the issue, but, there has been no mention about the update of the iCloud for Windows from Apple. Yet it has listed some of the requirements for using the iCloud for windows on its support page: “iCloud for Windows 7.8.1 requires Microsoft Windows 7 or later; Outlook 2007 or later or iCloud.com (for Mail, Contacts, Calendar); and Internet Explorer 10 or later, Firefox 30 or later, or Google Chrome 28 or later (for Bookmarks).” The update on the iCloud support page has ensured that the problems that the users were facing earlier, won’t be there anymore, and they can now use the software on Windows machines without any difficulties.

Don Valentine : The Legendary Venture Capitalist of the Silicon Valley

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A start-up always is an unpredictable and a doubtful move for any of the founders as well as its investors. But taking risks is the key to innovations. To attract the investors the founders must have a convincing idea and a self-belief so that the investors can also trust them. Donald T. Valentine is one of the biggest venture capitalists in Silicon Valley, and the founder of Sequoia Capital, who has been the investor for various new ideas, resulting in the foundation of many famous multi-billion companies. According to Don, the start-ups are compelling, as the survival is the prime motivation for the people who are behind it.

Early Life

Donald T. Valentine spent his childhood in the suburbs of New York. He was born on 26 June 1932, in Yonkers, New York. His father was a minor official in labour unions in the Teamsters and worked all his life to earn his living. Donald joined a nearby Catholic school at the Fordham University, and himself is a Catholic. After completing the school, he entered the same university to pursue an undergraduate degree in Arts.

Founding Sequoia

In the early 50’s, Don got a chance to work for the military and was moved to California for some time. There he came to know the very first time that there are also some places in the world, where it did not snow. He liked the fact so much that he decided to move to such a place. After he was back in New York, he joined the Sylvania Electric, where he worked at various different projects. The company was the manufacturer of the cathode-ray tubes, semiconductor, and the vacuum tubes. Just after some time of working in the company, he was promoted to the sales engineering department and was transferred to California, the place, where he always intended to be.

Don Valentine
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In California, Valentine was introduced to a bigger industry and was convinced that there is much more than vacuum tubes, and the future is all about the semiconductor. In 1959, he joined the start-up company, Fairchild Semiconductor, in Los Angeles, as one of the first West Coast salesmen of the company. After working in Fairchild for seven years, he left the company and subsequently, switched between almost ten other companies, before joining the National Semiconductor, as the senior sales and marketing executive, in 1967.

Valentine founded a venture capital firm Sequoia Capital, in 1972. The company was focussed on the investments to small, risky tech companies. The firm’s first investment was to the startup company Atari (1975). Sequoia has financed probably six hundred different companies, including LSI Logic, Oracle Corporation, Cisco, Electronic Arts, Google, YouTube, etc.

Don has served as a member of the boards of dozens of those companies, for a long time. Also, Sequoia was one of the original investors of Apple Computer. Valentine met Steve Jobs when he was a line engineer at Atari and financed Apple Inc., with $150,000 as its capital investment, in 1978. He is the former Chairman of NetApp and Traiana. He was featured in the 2011’s documentary film Something Ventured. He has also been called the “grandfather of Silicon Valley venture capital”.

Walmart to Replace Apple as No. 3 Online Retailer in the U.S. by the End of 2018

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According to a report released on Friday, Walmart has overtaken Apple as America’s third-largest online retailer. Last year, Apple was at the third position, after Amazon and eBay in the list of the top retailers of the U.S. with 3.8% share in the total online sale (2017). Due to a decrease in the sales of Apple’s smartphones and electronic devices this year, Walmart was successful in surpassing Apple and taking over its position on the list.

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The eMarketers had estimated a boost in the sales of Walmart that it will have approximately 3.7% of the share in the online sales in the U.S., but as the Walmart’s online business is growing quickly, its share in the total online sales of the U.S., raised to 4 per cent. Apple managed to get only a per cent rise in its online sales from the previous year, i.e., 3.9 per cent. It is expected that the growth in the sales of Walmart would grow by 39.4 per cent, just behind the sales growth of Wayfair, that is expected to be 40.1 per cent, by the end of 2018.

The latest prediction by the eMarketers shows that by the end of the year Walmart will capture $20.91 billion online retail spending this year. Walmart, itself, had also reported its third-quarter profits with revenue of $124.9 billion, 1.4 per cent up from a year ago. The company has seen a rapid growth in its sales due to its efforts through every means.

Wallmart has adopted the right technology to ensure a better customer experience, providing them with an omnichannel platform to use all its services. The app provided by Wallmart helps in easy shopping as well as let them track their orders and locate the items in the store using digital maps. In the holiday season, it has also got rid of the $35 fees for its two-day delivery and has offered no-delivery charges for other delivery options. After Wallmart, the two-day delivery service has also been adopted by Amazon for its festive-season sales.

Walmart U.S. CEO Greg Foran said, “We can provide a much better customer experience because we are in stock of the right item, at the right time at the same time it is going to help us be much more precise.”

The tech giant, along with its online retail business, is also planning to raise outlook of its physical stores to increase up to 3 per cent share in its sales for the fiscal year 2019, targeting the same years earning up to $4.65 to $4.80 a share.

Apple Gadgets Receives the Much-Awaited Updates in Apple’s Hardware Event 2018

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First time ever, Apple’s hardware event held at the Brooklyn city, in New York. The event has just taken place after about a month of its previous hardware event held in this year. Apple during the event unveiled the refreshed version of its iPad Pro, MacBook Air and Mac Mini. For the past few years, the gadgets were getting only a few changes in their features. But this time the products have been redesigned, loading them with new air.

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The MacBook Air is now having a 13.3 inches screen and a narrow black glass bezel. After spending six years with the same high-resolution feature, the MacBook Air is now has got the Retina display with 4 million pixel resolution. The device is also equipped with the touch ID sensor, on the third-gen Butterfly Keyboard, with a larger trackpad. The device has been upgraded to the 8th Gen 1.6-GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor. The storage variant for different versions of the MacBook Air ranges from 128GB to 1.5TB, and the RAM size is between 8GB to 16GB. The MacBook Air also consists of two Thunderbolt 3 USB-C ports and 3.5 mm headphone jack. The device has got updates on its looks, too, and is available in Gold, Silver, and Space Gray colours.

Apple has also announced the redesigned iPad Pro, having two different screen sizes 11-inch and 12.9-inches, having a retina display. The new iPad Pro is solely inspired by the new iPhones. The home button is all gone and is replaced by the swipe up gesture. The iPad has got the face ID feature and black slimmer bezels. The iPad can be paired with the smart keyboard Folio and other Bluetooth keyboards, making it work as a laptop. The iPad also has got the stylus support with a second generation Apple Pencil that is enabled with the gesture control. Sadly, the new stylus is only compatible with the new devices and does not support the older ones. The storage available with the iPad ranges between 64 GB to 1 TB. The device comes with a USB-C port and no headphone jack.

The Mac Mini also gets its share of updates, after its launch with the iPhone 6, back in 2014. The Mac Mini is a small but stylish grey desktop PC, powered by the Intel Core i3 processor. The basic model of Mac Mini consists of 8GB of RAM and a 128 GB hard disk. The new Mac Mini is sleeker and has accomplished with more hardware facilities. The Mac Mini now does have the 4 USB-C Thunderbolt ports and two USB-A ports as well as the HDMI for displays.

Apple claims that the MacBook Air as well as the Mac Mini, both have been built with 100 per cent recycled Aluminium, costing $1,200 for the basic model of MacBook Air and $799 for the basic model of Mac Mini. The iPad Pro is at the higher end of the price, costing $799 for the 11 inches iPad Pro and $999 for the 12.9 inches iPad Pro. As the launch of the Apple gadgets has taken place before the starting of the holiday season, the availability of the same can be expected during the holiday season.

Skydio R1 Drone now will be Controlled by the Apple Watch

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Almost three years ago, a small startup company, Skydio, introduced its first autonomous drone, that was targetted to achieve the ‘sense and avoid’, feature. Most of the conventional drones have their own controllers or are operated through android or iOs apps, on the smartphones. This time the company has produced a drone without any controllers, that flies almost entirely itself, the Skydio’s R1 camera drone.

Skydio
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The drone company Skydio has joined its hands with Apple and has developed an app that can control the drone through Apple’s smartwatches. The app is equipped with almost all of the drone’s filming features, and you can easily control the drone through an Apple watch. Although the smartphones can still control the drone, the watch is going to be the most convenient for the purpose.

The new Skydio drone is a self-flying gadget, but, to add some variation to your film, the filming modes can be changed through the app. First, you need to set the subject on the drone and voila! It will follow the subject and will capture it from various directions. With thirteen cameras, a powerful computer brain and a whole lot of software smarts, it sees and senses its surroundings, and avoid any type of obstacles. The drone is powered by Nvidia’s Jetson AI hardware and an autonomy engine, that navigates itself in the real-time environment. The watch through the app is able to change flight modes, rotate the drone, end flights and shift the focus from the subject.

The people who want to film themselves, are going to love the new R1 drone, as it will not have any captures, in which the user is controlling the drone through a remote control or a smartphone. Just a few taps on the watch and the user will be able to film like a pro-pilot. The app has a great user interface and easy to use features, that avoid any type of complications.

Until now, Skydio has been selling its drones on its official websites. But soon the Apple stores in the US and Canada will also start selling them. The first drone from Skydio cost $2499, and the price of new Skydio’s R1 Camera drone will cost $1999.

Apple’s Next-Generation iOS 12 Available On the Latest iPhones

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Apple, on Monday, launched its iOS 12, two months later the announcement of its launch in June. The much-awaited Apple iOS 12 is out and is available for the iPhones and iPad released in 2013 and later. The new iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max and XR model will have this version of iOS inbuilt. Last year the release of iOS 11 was quite a disappointment as those flashy updates could not do any better for the iPhone’s performance, but slowing down the speed. After iOS 11, all the older users have been sceptical about the new updates as it had worsened the performance of their phones instead of making any improvements.

The iOS 12 has been pushed out with the claims of having better performance and new features added to it. It is good to know that this time Apple has put all its efforts in enhancing the performance of the iPhones, i.e. 40 per cent faster speed. Unlike the iOS 11, that just had a few flashy changes and redesigned the look and the appearance of the OS and the Apps.

Apple iOS 12
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In the earlier iOS versions, there used to be 10 different notifications for a single app at the same time. Now, iOS 12 has introduced group notifications for a single app. You can now manually turn off or mute the notification, for any of the apps, to avoid the disturbing notification sounds.

Like the new Android 9, Apple has also become considerate about the screen time of the user. The iOS 12 has provided an option for tracking and limiting the time the user spends on a particular app or on the phone. You can also set the time of sleep, and the app will notify you to stop using the phone and the screen will become grey. Although, you can still continue running the phone by changing the settings.

Also, the iOS has also updated its password management by providing two-factor authentication services. Similar to the iPhone X, now you can also swipe between the apps, notifications, and access the control centre, using the gesture navigation. You can also add your conversations and instructions to Siri with its new shortcuts.

The iOS 12 is also added with the feature for creating the Avatars, by mixing emojis and animoji, i.e., Memoji. You can create custom animated Animoji avatars that you can use in the real time on top of live pictures, messages and videos. The feature is currently available in the latest iPhone XS, XS Max, or XR models.

There have been many other changes as well, including easy photo sharing, easy photo searching, easy browsing eBooks, real-time object measurements, improved ARKit 2, Google Maps embedded to CarPlay, Group Video calls for up to 32 users. The group call feature has not been launched yet and will be available by the end of the year.

It is great that Apple has been thinking of improving its performance instead of the design of the iOS. And, the smaller iPhones and the older iPads will also enjoy these features without worrying about the poor performance.