iOS 7 and iOS 8 What Users should Know

A quick look on all major features , benefits and drawbacks of iOS 7 and iOS 8 . Whether a veteran Mobile App Developer or an end user, here’s everything about iOS Application that you should pay heed to .

iPhone lets you do so many things so easily and quickly accompanied with its amazing Camera , the Retina Display and longer Battery life that no wonder iPhone users truly love their iPhone.  

iPhone is so easy to use, Innovative features like Siri and FaceTime plus built-in apps make iPhone not just useful for everyone but also fun to explore and operate. iOS updates download right on your iPhone, so the latest iOS version is only just a tap away. Also iOS features are designed to work perfectly with iPhone features like the Retina display, gyroscope , and accelerometer.

iOS is also the platform for over 900,000 apps that let your favourite iPhone do even more. With the availability of its seventh update, iOS 7 is now ticking inside over 300 million devices worldwide.

iOS 7 gives you more features to make the things you do everyday even more better. Its free and easy to upgrade wirelessly on your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch.

Since there are about 500 million iGadgets, those running on iOS 7 account for 60% of the entire flock .                                                                                                                                  

After the release of iOS 7 in June 10th 2013, the iPhone market grew at a very rapid pace providing some amazing features and facilitation to the developers for developing apps. iOS 7 adoption climbed to 87% in the months prior to iOS 8 Release.  iOS 7 comes with a new user interface with flatter and simpler style and is visually different from usual iOS versions .

Some amazing Features of iOS 7 are just a click away -

• Multitasking -  iOS 7 includes an updated task manager to show the app preview before hand. It includes intelligent scheduling to periodically update the app based on how frequently the app is used.
• Safari  -  Enhanced safari allows to show a preview of the webpage as user is switching between them. It also includes new bookmarks menu that contains shared links from people you follow on social media.
• Camera  -  It contains photo filters and a redesigned photo app that organizes photos automatically into moments with respect to date and location .
• Improved Siri  -  The Siri was improved to include the ability to make reservations in restaurants, launch apps, dictate Facebook or Twitter updates and retrieve movie reviews. This feature was added in iOS 6. With iOS 7 update siri can now have more access to Wikipedia , Twitter and Bing Search engines.
• AirDrop  -  With this feature you can share data and pictures with nearby people . It supports share sheet and is available on recent devices like iPad Mini, IPhone 5 and iPod Touch.
• ITunes Radio  -  Its a streaming music service quite similar to Pandora , it features radio stations based on an genre. It enables browsing Radio history and buying music directly from the app and adding to your iTunes wish list.
• The folders now support saving multiple pages in a single folder.  All  purchased videos and audios  shows  up even if they are not on your device.

The Apple iOS 7 has brought big changes to the mobile platform including scores of enhanced functionalities and features . This update has provided mobile developers with over 1500 new APIs  to work with .

Pros of iOS 7 include -

• This update brought with it major changes targeting especially mobile developers in order to ease out or simplify the entire process of Mobile app development.  It helps developers to become more creative and productive with their apps .
• The look and feel of UI has undergone a massive change making it look more modern and contemporary. The new version uses transparency , layering and blur to add illusion of depth. Now app designers can experiment more with textures and colors making better elegant icons compared to previous versions .
• It offers several toolkits to designers to build more powerful apps even faster than before which will also prove to be beneficial to end users.
• iOS 7 comes with a powerful multi tasking abilities with its processor performance making the apps more efficient as they can still function in background even when inactive without effecting the system performance.
• It offers better iCloud facilities with Airdrop and improvised control of GUI handling and much powerful rendering of graphics with enhanced OpenGL functionality.
• The upgrade includes support to all major social platforms which is a boon to end users , app developers , mobile marketers and businesses as a whole . It also includes peer to peer SDK  to wirelessly exchange data via an exclusive framework.

But as there is two sides to a coin, even iOS 7 Suffers from few drawbacks and challenges which demands equal attention :

• Making a Transition was never easy though. The biggest challenge for developers  is to make the iOS 7 app backward compatible to older iOS versions. Not all users feel the excitement and same urge to make a transition immediately , so developers have to design apps in such a way that it retains their existing customer base while also keeping a step with the latest moves in mobile evolution.
• Several APIs are yet in process of being documented with many notable changes in between releases creating complications and much of a challenge to developers.
• The UI kit included in iOS 7 SDK is much different from its previous versions which can result in some UI elements looking worse or not rendering well enough on the device. Buggy apps that crashes frequently is also a downside as it discourages users from using them .
• iOS 7 apps though compatible with iphone 4 runs slowly on those devices and older iphones and ipods users are generally unwilling to upgrade themselves to latest models , so if developers develop targeted apps for updated versions they may end up losing their existing customer base.

Apple has recently taken the wraps off its 8th and latest version iOS 8 of Mobile Operating System in June 2014 in San Francisco .

This new operating system is not the complete overhaul as with iOS 7 rather it builds on iOS 7 . It comprises newer features like health monitoring technology, new family sharing functions for iTunes , video messaging and much more.

Let’s highlight some notable features of iOS 8 :-

• Its the 8th major release of iOS mobile operating system designed by Apple on June 2 2014 .
• Messaging in iOS 8 is more fun, there are many surprising features that comes with it. It enables sending audio and video messages by holding the record button.
• New photo app and new iCloud Photo Library.
• UI designs are same as that of iOS 7 with few changes like more transparency and faster animations .
• Multitasking is  even more improved to show favourite contacts and recently added lists.
• For the first time since the first iphone, keyboard has witnessed the biggest change as third party keyboards will now be available and you can even tap to choose perfect suggestions for the next word.
• Family sharing is a commendable change that comes up with this version. Now up to six people in your family can share purchases from iBooks, iTunes and App store without sharing accounts.
• Now you can store all your data i.e spreadsheets, presentations, images and PDF’s in iCloud and can access them anytime anywhere from your iPhone, iPad, Mac ,iPod Touch etc.
• HealthKit a new tool for developers allows health and fitness apps to work together and provide a dashboard for your health-fitness data .
• Another notable feature includes sharing e-mails and websites through Wi-Fi , it also allows replying to text and calls from their iphone on their Mac or ipad.
• Spotlight : It provides suggestions and ideas from Wikipedia entries of trending news and nearby places after recognizing the location.
• Touch ID :  Now no need to enter password for using third party apps . You can use touch Id i.e your fingerprints to access your data.

With this trending market of iphones and iOS 8 , there are extensive features that iphone developers should get accustomed with before developing their apps.  iOS 8 with its advanced features provides assistance to developers while making mobile apps for iphone and ipad.

 To discuss how we can help you in your projects, please contact with our team at info@oodlestechnologies.com  , skype : oodles.tech or Visit : http://www.oodlestechnologies.com

Everything about Video On Demand

Video on Demand is a dynamic feature offered by IPTV (Internet Protocol TV) . VoD is customer driven video service where video data is transmitted through Real-Time Streaming Protocol.  It enables users to select and view video content of their choice from a list of available videos . It allows them to request immediate access to video content on PC’s or TV’s  featuring videos from a wide selection including educational programs and remote learning facilities , weather forecast and local news, home shopping ,sports, games , films and music.

Generally television is on broadcast technology while VoD is provided as unicast transmission and is often used for videoconferencing. Internet Television , using the internet is an increasingly popular form of video on demand .

What is Video On Demand (VoD) ?

Video on Demand is a digital feature cable that allows to rent programs and movies from the comfort of your home with the functionality of pause , fast-forward and rewind just similar to a DVD player . Charges are applied to these videos via regular VoD menu .

VoD is a great way to eliminate the need to visit video stores to buy or rent movies , it was originally introduced in 1990 in Hong Kong and ever since became the part and parcel of most cable and network systems. A type of pay per view system, it has both streaming and downloadable video on demand systems . Streaming system allows viewers to watch as the video is being downloaded to a system while in downloadable a user can only start viewing after it is fully downloaded to a set top box .

VoD has all the functionality of a DVD, companies permit to watch a movie for a certain period of time so viewers can download it and watch whenever they choose on their digital video recorder (personal video recorder) or portable media player.

Viewers can not only watch films and television programs but also music, reality television and music. Some VoD providers as part of their package even offer free access to already shown programs .

At consumer level the interactive TV technology that allows real time subscription to videos comprises of  a standard TV receiver with a STB (set top box) . The service can alternatively be delivered via internet to home computers , high-end cellular telephones sets and advanced digital media devices .

Previously VoD suffered from lack of available network bandwidth leading to bottlenecks and huge download pauses and delays . It works well over wide geographic region or on a satellite based network when there is a modest demand but when there is a pool of consumer demand for multiple programs then the data can overwhelm network resources . It can be mitigated by storing programs on geographically distributed servers and by providing programs on request to local users , this technology is called store and forward . It improves the overall reliability of system with use of single gigantic repository. With store and forward local providers can maintain their systems and billing structures independently .

Few airlines offers VoD facility to the passengers via video screens embedded in seats back or arm rests with portable media players offering specific stored audio and videos to play with fast forward, rewind and pause functionality .

Some forms of Video on demand includes SVOD i.e subscription on demand that has services such as Netflix which requires the user to pay a monthly fee to access a bundled set of content , another service being AVOD i.e advertising video on demand is free for users and this platform sells advertisements for generating its main revenue stream .

How Video On Demand Works ?

Video on Demand gives the system a realisation of a video rental shop brought into home . The key components of a VoD service includes a VIDEO SERVER that stores and provides program access , the Data Delivery NETWORK that interconnects the subscriber and STB (Set Top Box) which is an interface between home TV equipment and the VoD services.

Pre-recorded videos are digitally stored on video server and are then transmitted in compressed coded format , the videos then are decompressed and decoded by set top converters in individual homes as they are ordered via dual remote control or by interactive voice response. The picture quality matches to standard VHS .

Viewers can call on a lot of functions while watching videos , all this is processed by the set top box and are sent to the local server , the server then processes the request if feasible at that time otherwise relays it to a video archive server in much of a hierarchy system.

The compressed audios and videos are stored on hard disk and can be advertised on network, depending on available bandwidth multiple archive servers can simultaneously  run over the network .

When a movie is requested by a subscriber from VoD , the end result is a compressed digital stream of bits which is transmitted from the video server to the STB which decodes it to the analog mode and finally displays it on TV directly or by modulating on RF channel which links both(tv to set top box).

                      

The VoD steps can be quickly summarised as  -  

1.     The digitized video is compressed and distributed to video server.

2.     The video information is added to both management system and to the list of     

       movies from where the selection is made .

3.     Allocating resources for delivery and setting up protection scheme to allow only  

       that particular subscriber to view the movie.

4.     Lastly delivering the movie and to pay heed to user commands of pause ,stop,     

       forward  or  rewind.

Apart from sending video to the server there are other elements which has to be accountable for delivery of right video to the right person and a fair bill is generated for the services received.  This process includes  -  

1.    The billing system which is the repository of all financial transactions .

2.    A Controller to direct the server about what action to take and to manage on-demand   

       services.

3.    Another controller to allocate the resources to complete a request and to set path   

      ways from server to customer home channel .

4.    A Management System to keep record of everything that transpires . It is connected  

      to all different elements and checks if billing system has enough credit to play a

      requested movie and ask the network controller for desired bandwidth and to set the

      path for optimum delivery .

      

It takes a while to verify the status of an account and once its done the services are launched, if customer is not entitled to service due to overdue bills or credit limits the services are stopped .  

Video Server  -     

The main task of a Video Server is to deliver isochronous compressed video to correct port , the one connected to the downstream modulator and to address that video stream for customer STB to retrieve and recognize it . Even after delivering video it listens to commands from users . An ideal video server should be able to hold hundreds of terabytes of digital data and should be able to provide simultaneous access to hundreds of real time subscribers .

Set Top Box  -  

STB is a conflicted box which decodes analog channels and digital cable signals . It has a secured and sophisticated decryption hardware and a smart card that contains encrypted data providing access to only authorized customers.

STB’s have secured software that operates on all elements in real time and generates display , handles notifications and to maintain updated schedule informations . Being limited memory few applications have to be loaded on request via high speed path or from a separate channel.

We at Oodles Technologies have extensive experience in Video Transcoding and Video Content Delivery , our developers are skilled in developing Set Top Box applications using NETGEM and ROKU SDK’s .

To discuss how we can help you, please contact with our team at info@oodlestechnologies.com  or skype : oodles.tech

Visit : http://www.oodlestechnologies.com