S1: Hello everyone. Welcome to Talking Tech. This edition available from
S1: June the 11th, 2024. I'm Stephen Jolly. Great to have
S1: you with us listening perhaps through Vision Australia radio associated
S1: stations of RPA Australia or maybe the Community Radio Network.
S1: There is also the podcast. To catch that, all you
S1: need to do is search for the two words talking
S1: tech and Dana can all come usually on a Tuesday
S1: afternoon just after it's been produced. Another option is to
S1: ask your Siri device or smart speaker to play Vision
S1: Australia Radio talking tech podcast Vision Australia Radio talking tech
S1: podcast with me, someone who can explain all this tech
S1: stuff really well. Vision Australia's national advisor on access technology
S1: David Woodbridge David's been working very hard from early this
S1: morning because this is the week of the Apple Worldwide
S1: Developers Conference. The keynote address taking place around 3 a.m.
S1: in Australia on Tuesday. David, welcome.
S2: Hello. Hello, hello. I'm I'm I'm still, still bright eyed
S2: and bushy tailed, which is actually quite amazing.
S1: So tell us about the event. What's your overall impression
S1: of the presentation?
S2: Well, as usual it was an excellent event. Again, Apple
S2: did it because it's all, you know, pre-packaged up in
S2: in a video presentation all done online. And of course
S2: that meant also that it was all audio described. So
S2: whenever they talked about certain things or certain things were
S2: happening that didn't have any talking over it, it was
S2: all audio described. It was absolutely fantastic. As with all
S2: Apple keynotes, you can just sit back and relax and
S2: take in both what they're talking about and also the
S2: audio description.
S1: Over the next little while, we'll take you through what
S1: was covered and to put it into context, these are
S1: really announcements for the interested public and for software developers
S1: that we really won't see for some time.
S2: So the thing to remember is that the initial stuff
S2: coming out this week is for developers only. So if
S2: you have a developer account, you can get access to
S2: all the different operating system betas straight away. If you're
S2: a developer, the public betas, which is for the rest
S2: of the general public, they don't become available until next month,
S2: and then quite a few of the features won't become
S2: available until the spring out time. So whilst they did
S2: make these announcements, not all the functionality they talked about
S2: will be actually coming out in beta one, beta two,
S2: beta three, etc. so this is all the stuff that
S2: got planned. That does not mean it's going to be
S2: available straight away.
S1: So let's go through Apple Vision Pro, Apple iOS 18,
S1: the watch OS 11, the iPad OS 18, the new
S1: Mac operating system. And then we'll talk a very interesting
S1: topic towards the end, Apple intelligence. Let's go back to
S1: the Apple Vision Pro. What's news there.
S2: So it's basically now going to be Vision Pro two.
S2: Remember I say these versions are all beta. And with
S2: the vision Pro of course which is a virtual headset.
S2: It's not smartglasses. Uh they updating stuff to do with
S2: spatial video, spatial photos. Um, they're also bringing up more
S2: gaming spatial applications for it as well, including video and
S2: audio spatial stuff. And one interesting thing which I thought,
S2: I wonder what the difference is. So when you're in
S2: an aircraft, there's a mode called airplane mode, which is
S2: you can watch, you know, a movie in front of
S2: you on your supposed big screen, but it's really the
S2: Vision Pro. Well, they've also got one called Train Mode
S2: coming out. So I'm just wondering, I wonder what the
S2: difference between between the actual airplane mode and the train
S2: mode will be. So, uh, stand by for that one. But, um,
S2: that was the main stuff to do with the Vision
S2: Pro itself.
S1: Just as an aside, Apple Vision Pro is coming to
S1: Australia fairly soon.
S2: July 12th and listen to next week's show, because I'm
S2: really going to go into the fact the differences between
S2: what's an AR VR headset, which is what the Vision
S2: Pro is, and smart glasses, they're completely different systems. So
S2: if you think your Vision Pro is going to do
S2: certain things, it may not.
S1: For iPhone people, the new operating system, iOS 18.
S2: So with iOS 18 there's a lot of updates to
S2: the home screen. Um, so you can change the look
S2: at look of it quite dramatically. There's a lot more
S2: controls available that you can add to the control panel, um,
S2: which is actually really amazing. And they've done a lot
S2: more with messages. So you can do things like you
S2: can generate your own. I think they call them gen emojis,
S2: as in generated emojis based on stuff in your own
S2: photo library. And you can do all sorts of weird
S2: and wonderful things. They've also updated stuff to do with
S2: what stuff is shared. So normally when you use an application,
S2: you've got to actually say what's going to be shared. Well,
S2: now you've got more control over that. The other big enhancement. Course,
S2: as far as I'm concerned to do with iOS 18
S2: is the fact that you will now, as in the
S2: iPhone 14 Pro and above, be able to send messages
S2: or SMS messages via satellite. So that's actually pretty amazing. Um,
S2: and the other one that stood out for me was
S2: the mail categorization. So it will try and put your
S2: mail messages in the categories. And also it will try
S2: and do a digest, which means it'll group all the
S2: same emails from the same company all together, so you
S2: don't have to go and find them. So they were
S2: the main ones that stood out for me for iOS 18.
S1: And like with emails, you'll now be able to schedule
S1: messages for a particular time.
S2: That's actually quite a good one. I like that one
S2: because sometimes I remember, oh yep, it's so and so's
S2: birthday tomorrow, uh, or anniversary. So you can schedule that
S2: to pop out the next day or whenever it might be.
S1: So that's iOS 18. Let's talk the watch now, watch
S1: OS 11 G. They put a lot of emphasis on health,
S1: don't they?
S2: They do. I get a bit annoyed sometimes because they're
S2: always talking about the elite sports, the runners and high
S2: end people that training all the time. I just wish
S2: they would make it for us. You know, general plebby
S2: type people that do general exercise. But I think for me,
S2: the main thing that stood out for me about watch
S2: 11 is the fact that, uh, it's got a new
S2: app in it called vitals. So what that will do
S2: is it will actually try and put all the stuff
S2: to do, because we've still got it here in Australia. Uh,
S2: your heart rate, um, your calorie intake, your exercise. And
S2: it will keep generating summaries based on your past activities
S2: and that sort of stuff. So it's sort of like a,
S2: like a more simplified version of the health app on
S2: your iPhone. Um, but it looks really interesting. So for me,
S2: that was probably the main thing that stood out for
S2: me the most on, uh, watch OS 11.
S1: So that's the watch iPad OS 18.
S2: So the thing to remember about iPad OS is that
S2: it's actually really an updated version of iOS 18. So
S2: iPad OS 18 has all the things in it. Of course,
S2: that will be on your iPhone. The calculator will be
S2: coming to the iPad, which they made a big deal about,
S2: and of course this new thing called smart handwriting mode.
S2: So if you use an Apple Pencil to write on
S2: the iPad, it will tidy up your handwriting and make
S2: it look like your own handwriting. So I thought that was, um,
S2: was pretty nifty as well. And lots of other stuff
S2: to do. Like I've already mentioned with iOS 18. So again, um,
S2: incremental improvements and it's always moving on to, you know,
S2: what they're trying to achieve with these operating systems.
S1: The big announcement with the Mac, the name of the
S1: new operating system, Sequoia.
S2: I know I had to actually use my autocorrect to
S2: actually find out how to spell that. I wish they'd
S2: stop using weird names that nobody else knows how to
S2: spell outside the US. But at any rate, I talked
S2: about Safari and they talked about photos, and they talked
S2: about maps and they talked about messages and everything else.
S2: But the really cool thing for me in particular, which
S2: I found extremely interesting, was the thing about the continuity
S2: feature where you can control or access stuff from your
S2: Mac to your iPhone, and I thought, that's going to
S2: be looking very nice when I get my hands on it.
S1: So the operating system, Sequoia, Sequoia, there's a lot about
S1: connectivity across the Apple devices that continues, doesn't it?
S2: That's right. That's when they mentioned the continuity stuff to
S2: do with controlling your iPhone from your Mac. And they
S2: also had another little feature, which I don't know where
S2: it's going to be accessible for blind people in particular,
S2: but it's you can remote into somebody's iOS device. Now,
S2: they did mention the iPad, not the iPhone, and you
S2: can circle with your Apple Pencil on the screen about
S2: what the person needs to pay attention to. Or you
S2: can completely take control over that person's remote iPad and
S2: assist them in doing certain things, like adding a widget
S2: to the desktop and that sort of stuff. So I
S2: thought that was also quite remarkable as well.
S3: Um.
S1: And I guess the one that the tech media are
S1: really going to talk about is Apple intelligence.
S2: Isn't it lovely that the I just happened to mesh with, um,
S2: Apple intelligence rather than artificial intelligence? So the way they
S2: presented this was a very deep integration across the operating
S2: system itself and across all your applications. So not just
S2: Apple apps, but across all the applications. And there were
S2: very much focusing on, uh, language processing, um, text transcribing
S2: and image processing. So they went into sort of quite
S2: depth about all three of those, the tech stuff. People
S2: might remember the stuff in particular to do with ChatGPT.
S2: So you can do things like you can rewrite something,
S2: you can proofread something, you can ask it to summarize something. Um,
S2: you can get it to generate images based on what
S2: you type in, uh, because it's got a new app
S2: called Image Play. So you can actually. Creating your own
S2: images from typing in text. Um, it will do a
S2: lot of stuff privately, locally on your device. It will
S2: not go out to the internet, uh, only in certain situations,
S2: but your privacy will be absolutely maintained. Uh, so they
S2: were very careful to point out that, you know, it's
S2: all integrated. Siri, of course, will be using Apple intelligence,
S2: and you'll be able to actually have context when you
S2: talk to Siri now. So rather than it not knowing
S2: what you just talked about, you'll be able to have
S2: conversations with it. So they have done a lot to
S2: do with it. But again, it was a bit weird
S2: because it's all in built in, you know, it's machine
S2: learning in the background. I guess it wasn't so exciting
S2: as the Lawrence of, you know, ChatGPT or Gemini or
S2: those sort of ones that we've previously seen.
S1: But really the biggest change for Siri since it first
S1: came out in 2011. Yep.
S2: So it's probably about time it got updated. Um, it's
S2: been around for a long time, so hopefully it'll be
S2: it'll be up and running. But again, this integration of
S2: AI across the Apple operating system and applications is one
S2: of the things that's not going to be available to
S2: spring our time. And right at the end of the keynote,
S2: they did say they will be able to integrate it
S2: with ChatGPT. So if you want to get a menu
S2: or a story idea, you can ask Siri and then
S2: Siri will go, well, I don't know about that. I'll
S2: then go and launch ChatGPT with your permission and get
S2: that information and give it back to you.
S1: And this Apple intelligence stuff will roll out progressively over
S1: the year, won't it? We won't be hit with everything
S1: at the start.
S2: No, they didn't mention exactly when stuff will be coming out,
S2: but they did say welcome to the new age of AI.
S2: I have a fun time with us on this journey,
S2: at least over the next 12 months or so.
S1: What phones will you be able to get it all on?
S2: As far as the AI is concerned, um, it has
S2: to be the A17 chip and above. So that's the
S2: iPhone 15 and above or anything else with an a
S2: Apple silicon chip in it. So that's the M1, the M2,
S2: the M3 and M4. Um, so if you've got those
S2: types of devices, you'll be fine. Uh, but unfortunately, if
S2: you have an iPhone 14 Pro, you won't be able
S2: to use the AI stuff.
S1: One more thing I'd like to ask you about Apple AirPods.
S2: Yeah, this was actually really, really cute. And I'm assuming
S2: it's going to be the AirPods Pro second edition, because
S2: what it was was if you have an incoming call,
S2: you can either nod to answer the call or shake
S2: your head to dismiss or hang up the call. And
S2: I just thought, now that's really, really cool because what
S2: they said, sometimes it's been embarrassing. If you have to
S2: try and fumble for your phone and get it out,
S2: or try and say to the person, you can't talk now,
S2: or you need to do now when you get a
S2: phone call is even. Like I said, nod to answer
S2: it or shake your head to actually dismiss it. Pretty,
S2: pretty cool.
S1: So you'll be looking at this stuff over the next
S1: few months and telling us about it. As you progress.
S2: I will, um, I do have a developers account, so
S2: as soon as I get an email from Apple saying
S2: the developer stuff is ready to get downloaded, I'll be
S2: jumping straight in.
S1: There's other good material available for people to find out
S1: more about the event today, the Tech Doctor Podcast, and
S1: also the Living Blind, fully from Jonathan Mohsen.
S2: And also if you want a good summary of it, uh,
S2: if you go to Apple.com, don't go to the Australian one.
S2: At the moment at least. Apple.com also has a really
S2: good rundown of all the major features across what they
S2: talked about in WWDC today.
S1: So we'll be talking more about these new features in
S1: the Apple products over the coming weeks, and look forward
S1: to telling you about the new hardware when it gets
S1: announced in September. Indeed, before we go, a reminder of
S1: whether the details of what we've been talking about in
S1: this and previous editions of the program.
S2: As always, you can check out my blog site, which
S2: is David Wood Itbayat podbean podbean.
S1: Com David Wood budget podbean podbean. Com to write to
S1: the program, you can.
S2: Write to me at Vision Australia where I work, which
S2: is David Dot Woodbridge how it sounds at Vision australia.org.
S1: David Woodbridge at Vision Australia. Org this has been talking
S1: tech with me has been Vision Australia's national advisor on
S1: access technology David Woodbridge I'm Stephen Jolly take care. We'll
S1: talk more tech next week. See you.