Customers who switched away from the iPhones have always had one nagging problem: iMessage. Apple has finally come out with a quick fix for that.
Apple quietly introduced a new tool over the last couple of days that solves one of the biggest headaches for former iPhone owners - lost messages.
The
problem begins when iPhone users sign up for iMessage in the first
place. The service, which Apple introduced in 2011, helps iPhone users
communicate with one another over data networks and Wi-Fi, instead of
using text messages on cellular networks. To do this, Apple keeps track
of a user's phone number so that when another iPhone user tries to send a
message, it can shift to iMessage instead.
What happens if users
no longer own an iPhone? Until now, they had to turn off iMessage on
their old phone before turning on a new Android / Windows Phone / Blackberry device. Some
users, however, have said turning off iMessage doesn't always solve the
problem.
Unhappy and former iPhone owners have sued Apple
over the issue, stating that they fell into a void where iMessage texts
do not travel. Worse, the sender usually thinks the message was
delivered even though it never was.
Apple's new tool includes step-by-step instructions for unregistering iPhones still in the possession of their former users.
And for those who longer have their iPhone, the page includes an option
for typing in their phone number and receiving a confirmation code that
can be entered to confirm their choice.
Find more information and unregister your number at this link: https://selfsolve.apple.com/deregister-imessage
Showing posts with label texting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label texting. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 11, 2014
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Texting and driving is still bad...even when using voice-to-text apps.
New research suggests it's just as unsafe to use a voice-to-text mobile app while driving as it is to text manually.
The new study is by the Texas Transportation Institute, which says this is the first research on whether there are driving safety advantages in using voice-to-text apps.
Thestudy involved 43 licensed drivers in a 2009 Ford Explorer. They each drove four times for about 10 minutes at 30 mph: while not texting at all, while texting manually, while texting with the voice-to-text app on the iPhone, and while doing so with the Android smartphone voice-to-text app.
The study found that driver response times were slower no matter which method of texting was used. Drivers took about twice as long to react as when they weren't texting and spent less time looking at the road no matter what texting method they used, the study says.
Interestingly, the researchers found that driver performance was roughly the same with both methods, although manual texting actually required slightly less time than using voice-to-text.
Each driver completed five text messaging tasks: send one, read and reply to three, and simply read one. The texts were from a short script: "They were things people would say in text messages, short phrases, like, 'hey, what are you doing tonight,'" says Christine Yager, associate transportation researcher at the institute. "They would get a reply, and follow up, 'yes, where do you want to meet?' "
Wireless providers and mobile app developers created voice-to-text apps to reduce the effects of manual texting. Drivers in the study reported feeling safer when using a voice-to-text app than when texting manually.
"That is not surprising at all," says John Ulczycki, vice president of the National Safety Council. "We have believed that for some time, that voice-activated texting is not any safer. There are two reasons for that. First, the technology is not yet perfected. Messages often come out garbled, which can take even more time. And second, it's really the same kind of mental concentration that's involved here. They're still taking their mental concentration off the road."
Corporate officials from iPhone did not reply to a request for comment; Android officials declined to comment.
In 2011, 3,331 people were killed and 387,000 injured in distracted-driving crashes, according to the Transportation Department. In 2010, 18% of all injury crashes involved a distracted driver.
"Texting is advancing so rapidly," Yager says. "It's important to ask questions about how this new technology affects driver safety and behavior. It's a constantly evolving process to understand distracted driving because technology is improving every day.
"We're not necessarily saying you shouldn't use Siri (on iPhone) or Vlingo (on Android)," she says. "What we are saying is in this particular study, the voice-to-mail texting and manual texting are virtually the same in how they can compromise safety."
Source: USA Today
The new study is by the Texas Transportation Institute, which says this is the first research on whether there are driving safety advantages in using voice-to-text apps.
Thestudy involved 43 licensed drivers in a 2009 Ford Explorer. They each drove four times for about 10 minutes at 30 mph: while not texting at all, while texting manually, while texting with the voice-to-text app on the iPhone, and while doing so with the Android smartphone voice-to-text app.
The study found that driver response times were slower no matter which method of texting was used. Drivers took about twice as long to react as when they weren't texting and spent less time looking at the road no matter what texting method they used, the study says.
Interestingly, the researchers found that driver performance was roughly the same with both methods, although manual texting actually required slightly less time than using voice-to-text.
Each driver completed five text messaging tasks: send one, read and reply to three, and simply read one. The texts were from a short script: "They were things people would say in text messages, short phrases, like, 'hey, what are you doing tonight,'" says Christine Yager, associate transportation researcher at the institute. "They would get a reply, and follow up, 'yes, where do you want to meet?' "
Wireless providers and mobile app developers created voice-to-text apps to reduce the effects of manual texting. Drivers in the study reported feeling safer when using a voice-to-text app than when texting manually.
"That is not surprising at all," says John Ulczycki, vice president of the National Safety Council. "We have believed that for some time, that voice-activated texting is not any safer. There are two reasons for that. First, the technology is not yet perfected. Messages often come out garbled, which can take even more time. And second, it's really the same kind of mental concentration that's involved here. They're still taking their mental concentration off the road."
Corporate officials from iPhone did not reply to a request for comment; Android officials declined to comment.
In 2011, 3,331 people were killed and 387,000 injured in distracted-driving crashes, according to the Transportation Department. In 2010, 18% of all injury crashes involved a distracted driver.
"Texting is advancing so rapidly," Yager says. "It's important to ask questions about how this new technology affects driver safety and behavior. It's a constantly evolving process to understand distracted driving because technology is improving every day.
"We're not necessarily saying you shouldn't use Siri (on iPhone) or Vlingo (on Android)," she says. "What we are saying is in this particular study, the voice-to-mail texting and manual texting are virtually the same in how they can compromise safety."
Source: USA Today
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)