Artists and animators at Walt Disney's Feature Animation Studio have taken the iPad Pro for a spin, with one of them posting an
account on Twitter and others
broadcasting the event on Periscope. From the reports, the animators appeared to be very impressed with the iPad Pro as a drawing tool, noting that the surface has "tooth," or a bit of roughness on the surface, to aid in the tactile feedback of a traditional drawing tablet -- and that the Apple Pencil and palm rejection technology worked exceptionally well.
The 12.9-inch iPad Pro, which is set to debut next month, has other uses outside drawing -- but the changes made to the surface compared to other iPad models, and the almost-single purpose of Apple Pencil as a drawing tool, appear to show that the target market for the larger iPad is illustrators and others who can take advantage of its artistic capabilities. The Disney animators noted that the pressure sensitivity of the Apple Pencil is not akin to that of Wacom styluses, but very much its own style. The animators who broadcasted their work showed off the device by drawing both old and new Disney characters, from Mickey Mouse to Olaf.
Apple blocks access to News app in China to comply with censorship rules
Users who try to access the News app by changing the region setting of their iPad while roaming in China will find
their ability to do that is blocked on Chinese cellular networks, unlike in most other countries, software developer Larry Salibra has noted. Currently, the app works without region-changing in the US, Australia, and the UK, but can be made active and viewed by users in other countries by simply changing the region to one of the supported countries in settings. The trick may still work on some Wi-Fi networks, but is being blocked based on cellular carriers. The blocking works even if Location Services is disabled in the privacy settings, Salibra notes.
Though Apple has not officially commented on the situation, sources told
The New York Times that this is indeed the case, and that News is inaccessible in China currently due to a need to conform to the country's strict rules about media accessibility. Salibra calls the network-based censorship a "China Kill Switch" and says that "what worries me, is that the mechanism Apple uses to disable the News app and Apple Maps uses the location of the user to change the behavior of their device without their permission." Other companies, such as Google, also censor some services to abide by Chinese law.
Top