November 2021 – Repertoire Magazine
Development of Instagram Kids paused
Instagram is pausing the development of Instagram Kids, a dedicated service it’s building for children, in order to spend time focusing on developing parental supervision tools, according to CNET. The news that Instagram was working on a dedicated app for kids was first reported by Buzzfeed back in March. Instagram confirmed the service was in development, and was met with outrage from rights organizations, as well as bullying and mental health groups, which were all concerned about the impact of giving younger children access to social media. Recent reporting by The Wall Street Journal raised concerns that Facebook’s internal research showed Instagram to be bad for teens, which added to the pressure on the company, CNET reported.
Light up your spaces
The Philips Hue line of smart bulbs is growing with the addition of new lights, strips, and lamps. According to The Verge, the list includes new filament bulbs that can change color temperature (plus a new candle shape for filament bulbs); brighter options (75 watt and 100 watt equivalent) for color-temperature changing and full color versions of the standard Hue bulbs; a “light tube” for illuminating around your TV (it’s meant to sync the colors to what’s on screen); and A new ceiling light called Infuse that can change colors and throws a bit of light up onto the ceiling.
Apple unveils its most advanced pro camera system
Apple recently introduced the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max. Both models introduce an all-new Super Retina XDR display with ProMotion featuring an adaptive refresh rate up to 120Hz, making the touch experience faster and more responsive.
Apple says the pro camera system gets its biggest advancement ever with new Ultra Wide, Wide, and Telephoto cameras that capture stunning photos and video, powered by the performance of A15 Bionic. New computational photography features like Photographic Styles personalize the look of images in the Camera app, and both models now include Night mode on all cameras. Video capabilities include a Cinematic mode for depth-of-field transitions, macro video, Time-lapse and Slo-mo, and even better low-light performance. Both models also offer end-to-end pro workflows in Dolby Vision, and for the first time, ProRes, only available on iPhone. iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max also include 5G with more bands for better coverage, big improvements to battery life for the best battery life ever on iPhone with iPhone 13 Pro Max, new storage capacity of 1TB, and the Ceramic Shield front cover, tougher than any smartphone glass.