Steve Sande

<p>I have been using iOS 9 for three months now, and there are some seemingly little features that make the entire iOS experience much more pleasurable. Without further ado, here's a list of my nine favorites.</p>

<p>The moment we heard that iOS 9 was available -- via Twitter, of course -- we published this post that's full of hints on how to make your transition from iOS 8 to iOS 9 as painless as possible.</p>

<p>I've been using and loving <a href="http://todoist.com">Todoist</a> for nearly a year now. The project manager for <a href="https://en.todoist.com/mac">Mac</a> and <a href="https://en.todoist.com/iphone">iOS</a> (free with optional pro subscription) fits perfectly with how I like to keep track of things. Today, the company has released a re-branding complete with a new logo and updated versions of its Mac and browser-based apps with a new look and additional features, some of which I've been eager to have. Here's what's new and exciting about Todoist. </p>

<p>For anyone who loves the Apple brand, there's literally no place on Earth like the <a target="_blank" href="http://www.apple.com/retail/applestore-infiniteloop/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Apple Company Store at 1 Infinite Loop in Cupertino, CA</a>. It's an Apple Store, but unlike any Apple Store you've ever seen.</p>

<p>My iPad Air 2 lives in a keyboard case, but I don't find it at all comfortable to use it as a laptop device. Instead, I usually find myself either squirming into an uncomfortable position in a recliner to try to type and tap, or I give up and go sit at a table. That hasn't been the case since I had a chance to try out <a href="http://iskelter.com/products/lapdesks/tab-best-lapdesk-for-tablets-and-smart-phones/">iSkelter's Tab</a> (US$59.99), a handmade wooden lap desk that has changed the way I work with my iPad.</p>

<p>In just 11 days, a lot of people are going to unbox nice, fresh iPhones. Whether you've selected the new rose gold iPhone 6s or will be rocking a space gray iPhone 6s Plus, you'll want to keep that iPhone scratch and dent free for as long as you can. With <a target="_blank" href="http://www.speckproducts.com/apple/iphone-cases/iphone-6-cases/candyshell-clear-iphone-6-cases/IP6-CS-CLEAR.html" rel="noopener noreferrer">Speck's CandyShell CLEAR</a> cases for iPhone 6/6s (US$34.95) and 6 Plus/6s Plus ($39.95), you'll be able to show off that glorious phone <em>and</em> keep it protected.</p>

<p>History, as Steve Jobs had written it, has the Apple co-founder battling against a hostile board of directors and then-CEO John Sculley before being fired and heading off to found NeXT. That bit of common folklore has been refuted by Sculley, who earlier this year said "Steve was never fired. He took a sabbatical and was still chairman of the board. He was down, no one pushed him, but he was off the Mac, which was his deal - he never forgave me for that." Now Steve Wozniak has added fuel to the fire by <a target="_blank" href="https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble/posts/10153568918249655?comment_id=10153569018354655&offset=0&total_comments=52&comment_tracking=%7B%22tn%22%3A%22R9%22%7D" rel="noopener noreferrer">posting a similar comment on Facebook</a>.</p>

<p>It looks like the iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus and iPad Pro will all come with a heapin' helpin' of RAM. Thanks to developer Hamza Sood, who cleverly figured out a way to get the Xcode iOS simulator to display RAM amounts, it appears that the new iPhones will come with 2GB of RAM (double the amount in the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus) and the iPad Pro will have 4GB of RAM available (twice the RAM of the iPad Air 2).</p>

<p><font size="3"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Like clockwork, once a year around this time I join a lot of other Apple geeks in pre-ordering the latest and greatest iPhone. I'm happy with my iPhone 6 Plus, but since I do a lot of photography with my phone -- some of it rivalling or surpassing what can be accomplished with a DSLR -- I wanted to upgrade again</span></font> </p>

<p>iOS 9.1 is in the hands of beta testers now, less than a week away from the release of iOS 9.0. One of the key "features" of iOS 9.1 will be a new set of emojis from Unicode 7.0 and Unicode 8.0. Yay!</p>

<p>Many people are freaking out over the Hermès‎ Apple Watch, as if it were the first time a non-Apple corporate logo had appeared on a consumer product. "Can you even imagine Steve Jobs approving of a Hermes-branded 'Apple' Watch?", <a href="https://twitter.com/brianshall/status/642387361486123008">Brian S. Hall asked on Twitter</a>. Yes, actually. Because much stranger partnerships have happened. </p>

<p>Buying AppleCare+ for a new iPhone 6s or 6s Plus is going to be a more expensive proposition, as the company has increased the price tag on the two-year warranty plan to $129. That’s $30 more than the cost of AppleCare+ for older iPhone models.</p>

<p>Today as Dave Caolo and I were doing our Blab broadcast of the Apple event, I was using my 27-inch iMac as the streaming machine and a conduit to social media. For the actual livestream of the event, I was using the beautiful Retina screen on a 12-inch MacBook. My iPad Air 2 was sitting downstairs, sucking down energy. After the event I began to do a thought experiment about whether an iPad Pro with the Smart Keyboard could hypothetically kick the petite rear end of the 12-inch MacBook or any other MacBook Air or MacBook Pro. Here are my thoughts, which I'd love for you to tear apart.</p>

<p>One of the things I was most happy to hear during today's Apple event was also something that was just glossed over very quickly -- new, lower pricing for iCloud. </p><p>It's always irritated the #($)#@(( out of me that iCloud was so expensive, when I was paying just a mere pittance for 1TB over at Dropbox ($9.99/month). As a result, I put a lot of files over on Dropbox -- but nowhere near that 1TB total -- and not so much into iCloud, where a mere 200GB was costing me $3.99/month. </p><p> </p>

<p>What an event! Today's Apple event was crisp, well produced, and full of new products. Let's get started!</p>