S1: Hello everyone. Welcome to Talking Tech. This edition available from
S1: September the 19th, 2023. I'm Stephen Jolly. Great to have
S1: you with us. Listening may be through Vision Australia Radio,
S1: associated Stations of Australia or maybe the Community Radio Network.
S1: There is also the podcast. The way to catch that
S1: is to search for the two words talking tech and
S1: Diana can all come usually on a Tuesday afternoon just
S1: after it's been produced. Another option is to ask a
S1: Siri device or smart speaker to play Vision Australia Radio
S1: Talking Tech Podcast. Vision Australia Radio Talking Tech podcast. With
S1: me someone who can explain all this tech stuff really well.
S1: And he's been working very hard over the last week
S1: or so. David Woodbridge, Vision Australia's National Advisor on Access Technology. David,
S1: you were awake bright and early last Wednesday morning to
S1: follow the Apple event from Apple Park. So let's dissect
S1: a bit of that today. Firstly, what was your impression
S1: of the event?
S2: Well, first of all, the positive thing was the fact
S2: that again, again it was audio described which places like Microsoft, Samsung,
S2: Google and so on haven't decided not to do yet.
S2: So that was a good thing, a good plus. I
S2: think Apple sometimes gets a little bit too distracted on
S2: doing their, quote, cute little, you know, photography bits, filming bits,
S2: play bits. And I just got the funny feeling that
S2: the whole presentation went for roughly about 90 minutes. I
S2: reckon they could have done it in about 45 minutes
S2: because they had a lot of fill in stuff and
S2: some of the important stuff they sort of brushed across.
S2: And then some of the the non important stuff, at
S2: least for us, blind and low vision people, they spend
S2: a heck of a lot of time along. But I
S2: must say, Stephen, the thing that and I know you
S2: and I were joking about it before we came on here,
S2: but the environmental thing with, you know, Mother Nature coming
S2: into Apple Park and basically, you know, prove to me
S2: what you're doing. Apple In some ways I thought that
S2: was a complete waste of time. But in the other
S2: thing and what you said and it's probably true, I
S2: also started thinking of the environmental impact upon when we
S2: start making any type of technology and, you know, dragging
S2: stuff out of the ground, how to recycle it, how
S2: to produce better manufacturing techniques and everything else. So from
S2: one point of view, it was like, Oh God, no, really?
S2: Are we going we're going to go into a whole
S2: skit now? Are we versus Oh, that's right. I've got
S2: to keep remembering about environmental impact. Yeah, I.
S1: Thought it was pretty entertaining and it did make me
S1: think about it. It was rather innovative way to do it. Okay.
S1: So let's talk about what was put out to us.
S1: We'll start with the iPhones. Firstly, what are the models
S1: of the iPhones that they told us about the other day?
S2: So the new iPhones are the iPhone 15 and the
S2: 15 plus. So that's your 6.1 or 6.7 inch phones.
S2: And then you've got the pro versions of that. So
S2: you've got the iPhone, iPhone 15 Pro and the iPhone
S2: 15 pro max, and again, 6.1 and 6.7. So there
S2: were the four phones, the 15, the plus and the
S2: 15 pro and the we can't call it a plus.
S2: It's a max. So yeah, four phones.
S1: Okay. So tell us about the the design and the
S1: display of these devices, these iPhones.
S2: Well, in particular with the 15 they were talking about
S2: the fact that the color is now incorporated into the
S2: the metal when the phone's built. So it's actually part
S2: of the whole process of building the phone now with the, quote, metal, unquote,
S2: in the the bigger version, the pro version of the phone,
S2: if you like, it's titanium. So it's going to be
S2: a lot stronger. I still think the weakest part of
S2: the phone is actually at the back because when they
S2: talk about the gorilla, the gorilla glass at the front
S2: and other glass, I've actually managed to crack my phone screen.
S2: So and the back of it. So when they say
S2: it's really, really tough, it might be, but you can
S2: still break it. The other thing between remember, between the
S2: 15 and the pro versions of these phones is the
S2: 15 itself has still got this 16 chip, which is
S2: currently in the 14. The 14 pro the 17 chip
S2: is only in the pro versions of the phone. What
S2: they were also pointing out quite a fair bit was
S2: the you've got much more lenses to use wherever virtually
S2: if you like, or mechanically in the pro version as
S2: opposed to the 15. And of course the pro version
S2: being the pro version, it's got a lot more oomph
S2: in the actual processor. It's got more neural engines, it's
S2: got more cores. And also the fact that this might
S2: be good for low vision people. It's actually brighter in sunlight.
S2: So if you're out and about, you need to look
S2: at your phone screen. It's bright enough so that the
S2: daylight doesn't wash out the screen and you can still
S2: look at the screen. So that was actually pretty amazing.
S2: The thing that they slid over quite nicely, I thought,
S2: was the fact that both of these would say, let's
S2: just say the iPhone. Now the new iPhone is going
S2: to Usbc. So the lightning cables and the lightning connector
S2: is now gone. And supposedly you can now connect all
S2: sorts of wonderful usb-c things to your iPhone. Now, there's
S2: a slight difference between the 15 and the pro version
S2: of the 15, which I'm not really going to go into,
S2: but I would suggest moving forward with the usb-c cabling options,
S2: you need to be a bit sort of more definite
S2: about what cable you're using in a way because you've
S2: got data and data and charging and you've also got
S2: cables that are either usb-c two or Usb-c three. So
S2: lightning was good because lightning was lightning. I think we're
S2: now going to be entering into a bit of a
S2: maybe a learning period for maybe the next 6 to
S2: 12 months as we get used to what usb-c things
S2: work and what Usb-c cables work with the iPhone 15.
S1: On the iPhone 15 range. Tell us about the action switch.
S2: Quite simply, the the ring switch, which is what you
S2: used to use on the side of your phone to
S2: silence or unmute. If you like your phone call ring,
S2: This is now changed into the quote actions button, which
S2: is basically what is on the ultra Apple Watch and
S2: what you can do. There will be a certain number
S2: of features that you can associate with that action button
S2: that might be to, you know, run a shortcut to
S2: activate the camera app to do all sorts of things. Now,
S2: initially there's about 6 or 7 features that you can
S2: associate with that actions button, but I'm assuming moving down
S2: the track, particularly of shortcuts, you could assign any feature
S2: to that actions button.
S1: I get the impression this has been very much an
S1: incremental increase. The last really big development was probably with
S1: the iPhone 12. So people are still happy with say
S1: they're 13 and 14 and maybe even their twelves. Might
S1: it be a good idea to just hold back for
S1: 12 months.
S2: Look like I would, particularly if you've got an iPhone
S2: 12 Pro which has got the built in LiDAR in
S2: it because that's what quite a few of the accessibility
S2: options are built around. So I've still got my 12
S2: pro even though I do have a 14 pro max,
S2: but that's mainly for testing. But my 12 pro is
S2: perfectly fine. Okay, the battery is getting a bit worse
S2: for wear, but I'm quite happy to go and put
S2: a new battery if I have to in my 12
S2: pro or carry around a battery pack. So yeah, honestly,
S2: if you've got a 12 pro, a 13 or definitely
S2: a 14, there is absolutely no need to update to
S2: a 15.
S1: Just might have to replace your battery. Tell us about
S1: the new Apple watches the series nine and the ultra two.
S2: So yes so two brand new watches. The Series nine
S2: is an absolute update from the series eight. So it's
S2: definitely got a faster process because remember, the series eight
S2: in the ultra one had the same processing power. So
S2: now the Series nine has got a proper updated chip
S2: in it. And the ultra two it is main feature
S2: is that it's again a lot brighter in sunlight. Now
S2: I can't remember whether they said that applied to the
S2: series nine one or not, but the Ultra two was
S2: definitely an improvement for looking at in sunlight because you're
S2: really using it outdoors. And of course the major feature
S2: that I really liked to hear about was the double
S2: tap function where the double tap with your two fingers,
S2: which is really a double pinch. It would detect that
S2: movement through your wrist and do a default function. And
S2: the one that I think is quite amazing is that
S2: it would actually answer a call and hang up a call.
S2: So for me, if you've already had issues about using
S2: your Apple Watch to answer and hang up a phone call,
S2: this is a pretty major improvement. So that's why I'm
S2: looking forward to it. So if you've got a Series
S2: eight watch or an essay and you do have trouble
S2: with the phone calls and that sort of stuff may
S2: not be a bad idea to update.
S1: So am I looking forward to being at a restaurant?
S1: My phone goes without dropping my knife and fork. I
S1: can start a conversation on the phone. Isn't that disgraceful?
S2: It's pretty amazing. Yeah. Don't talk too much about it.
S2: I might convince myself that I need one now. Yeah.
S1: AirPods two. There's been an update with those. Is that
S1: of much interest.
S2: In the sense that it's getting a lot busier with
S2: the AirPods software. So you've got all these new adaptive
S2: functions for conversation mode and noise cancellation modes and everything else,
S2: plus the fact the new case that you'll have to
S2: buy a complete new set of. AirPods will be using Usb-c.
S2: But I think what Apple's doing is they're positioning the
S2: AirPods Pro to be part of the whole new. What's
S2: the word for it? Hotel, if you like, of features
S2: that will be coming up with the Vision Pro next year.
S1: I was 17 out today. If you're listening on Tuesday
S1: and we'll go into that in a lot more detail
S1: next week. Tell us, though, about the accessibility features of
S1: iOS 17.
S2: So the major one that I like to point out
S2: at the time at the moment is the new access
S2: assistive mode, which is basically means it cuts down an
S2: application to its bones. And then it simply got a
S2: back button to go back to your home screen. And
S2: so what they've done, they've combined the phone call app
S2: into by phone calls and FaceTime. They've simplified the photos app, simplified,
S2: and a few other apps as well. But it literally
S2: just means you've got a few icons on the screen,
S2: particularly for music, nice big large buttons and large print.
S2: So really it's for people that find the quote, iPhone
S2: in iOS too hard to use. This really makes it
S2: a very simple, straightforward interface and the other feature that
S2: a lot of people are talking about is the personal
S2: voice option. So if you're want to record your voice
S2: and be able to, if you like, have the iPhone
S2: speak in relatively similar to your own voice, you can
S2: do that. The other function calls, which I love, is
S2: when you're on a phone call, a particular for someone
S2: that might be deaf or has a speech impediment or
S2: another disability, you can type in on the keyboard of
S2: the iPhone and then what you type in gets sent
S2: off to the caller, either in your own voice, if
S2: you've recorded it, or the default voice that you're currently
S2: using for iOS. That's pretty amazing. And the other major
S2: feature of calls for me is the Siri option, where
S2: you can speed up Siri to twice. And of course
S2: we don't have to use the magic word HTC anymore.
S2: We can just use the word Siri plus the fact
S2: we can put two commands at the same time when
S2: we're using series. So there's a few other ones there
S2: that we'll go probably do more in depth next week,
S2: but they're the major ones. I will talk more about
S2: point and Speak next week because I've got some sort
S2: of issues with that point. And speak is simply when
S2: you run the magnification app only with a pro version
S2: of the phone, by the way, then it will use
S2: LIDAR and the Magnification app to detect where your finger
S2: is in space and what your finger is pointing at, i.e.
S2: icons on a touchscreen. It'll tell you what the button
S2: is when that icon is obscured or the buttons obscured
S2: because your fingers over it and then you can tap it,
S2: which means you can use a touchscreen with your finger,
S2: with your camera point speak, positioning you on the touch screen.
S2: And by the way, there are a few known bugs
S2: in iOS 17 and I'll point them out. But if
S2: you want to have a look in the meantime, they're
S2: up on the Apple.
S1: Website as usual. Great stuff on the Apple website with
S1: articles and podcasts explaining these new features, particularly accessibility features.
S2: That there will be. And I haven't checked today, but
S2: I'm sure there's going to be a whole raft of
S2: blog articles and podcasts to do with all the features
S2: with iOS 17, including the accessibility one. So if you
S2: want to fill in some time over the next week,
S2: week or so, enjoy Apple Podcasts.
S1: We'll talk about it in more detail next week.
S2: Certainly. Well.
S1: Just before we go, a reminder of where people can
S1: find details of what we've been talking about in this
S1: and in previous editions of the program.
S2: As always, you can check out my blog site, which
S2: is David would be a dot podbean pad beacon. Com.
S1: David would be our dot podbean pod beacon to right
S1: to the program.
S2: You can write to me at business trial where I
S2: work which is David Dot Woodbridge out sounds at Vision Australia.
S1: Org David Dot Woodbridge at Vision Australia. Org This has
S1: been talking tech with me has been Vision Australia's National
S1: Advisor on Access Technology David Woodbridge. I'm Stephen Jolley. Take care.
S1: We'll talk more tech next week. See you.