iCloud

100+ new features in macOS High Sierra

Say hello to macOS High Sierra, Apple's newest operating system update for Macs. Whether you're on an iMac or one of the Touch Bar-outfitted MacBook Pro models, there is a lot to love in this latest release of Apple's desktop operating system.

Apple will build another data center in Denmark

Apple will build another iCloud data center in the Danish city Aabenraa near the German border, its second in the country, Apple's Nordic director Erik Stannow told Reuters today.

The Cupertino company will spend 6 billion Danish crowns, which works out to approximately $921 million, on the facility which will be powered entirely by renewable energy.

It will power App Store, Siri, iMessage, Maps and other iCloud services. Construction is expected to start before the end of 2017.

Stannow told Reuters in an email:

We're thrilled to be expanding our data center operations in Denmark, and investing in new sources of clean power. The planned facility in Aabenraa, like all of our data centers, will run on 100 percent renewable energy from day one, thanks to new clean energy sources we're adding.

He added that the reliability of the Danish grid is one of the main reasons Apple will operate two data centers in Denmark, a leader in wind power which also has abundant supplies of biomass energy.

If all goes as planned, the facility should go online in the second quarter of 2019.

The iPhone maker is also building a $1 billion data center in Denmark's Foulum, a small town located just outside of Viborg, a city in central Jutland that is home to Aarhus University and agricultural research facilities.

That facility should go online later this year, barring any unforeseen circumstances.

Apple is also building a data centre in Ireland but it's been struggling to get it off the ground because local residents asked the High Court for a judicial review on environmental grounds.

"The proposed data center is currently under judicial review," a spokeswoman said.

Image: Apple's data center in Maiden, North Carolina

Apple’s iCloud trademark now covers smart glasses and headset accessory

Apple has updated its figurative trademark for “iCloud”, filed with the Hong Kong Trademark Office, to include smart glasses and even a headset peripheral device. As you know, the Cupertino company is rumored to be working on a dedicated augmented reality headset or a smart glasses product with Carl Zeiss optics.

As first noted by PatentlyApple, since April of this year Apple has begun to include specific types of products to its trademarks covering the Mac Pro/iMac Pro computers and the ARKit framework for building augmented reality apps, including devices like smart glasses, head mounted displays, virtual and augmented reality displays and the like.

The iCloud trademark's international class 09 verbiage defines the headsets as falling under the context of “wearable digital electronic devices capable of providing access to the Internet” or “computer software for setting up, configuring, operating and controlling” these systems.

Likewise, the trademark meticulously lists the real-world applications for “smart glasses,” also covering things like “virtual and augmented reality displays, goggles, controllers, and headsets, 3D spectacles, eyeglasses, sunglasses, spectacle lenses, optical glass and optical goods”.

How to stop iCloud Photo Library from eating into your iPhone’s cellular data plan

iCloud Photo Library is an optional feature on iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and Mac that uploads every photo and video you take or import to iCloud and keeps everything synchronized across all your Apple gear. I've been using it for years and it really “just works”.

On iOS 10 and earlier, Photos syncs with iCloud each time your device connects to Wi-Fi and the battery is charged. On iOS 11 and later, Photos can also use your iPhone's cellular data connection to sync and update the image library.

Do you take many photos on the go? Are you on a metered rather than an unlimited plan? Then you don't need me to tell you that you must ensure you're not wasting huge amounts of cellular data to this feature.

Here's how to stop the Photos app from eating into your iPhone's cellular data plan.

Before we get to it, keep in mind the following:

iOS 10 and earlier—Your Photos library syncs with iCloud each time your device connects to Wi-Fi and the battery is charged. iOS 11 or later—You decide if Photos syncs with iCloud via cellular or Wi-Fi only.

In other words, you should double-check that cellular updates for iCloud Photo Library are turned off only if you're on iOS 11 or later. Folks on older iOS editions needn't do that because Photos syncs with iCloud only when their iPhone is connected to power and Wi-Fi.

How to stop iCloud Photo Library on iPhone from using cellular data

12-megapixel images and 4K videos captured on your iPhone take up quite a bit of storage space. For most people, there's no point allowing iOS to gobble up cellular data just to keep the image library synchronized with iCloud at all times.

Thankfully, you can prevent this from happening, and here's how:

1) Launch the Settings app on your iPhone or cellular iPad.

2) Tap Photos in the list.

3) Tap Cellular Data.

4) Slide the button labeled Cellular Data to the OFF position.

This device will no longer use your carrier's cellular data for updating the Photos library. Any changes to your image library will automatically upload to iCloud as soon as the device connects to power and Wi-Fi.

TIP: If you really need Photos to be in perfect sync with iCloud at all times, even on the go, via cellular and Wi-Fi, be sure to slide the toggle labeled Unlimited Updates to the ON position.

The feature's description says “unlimited updates may cause you to excess your quota“.

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