IPhone Repair Hawaii: What the heck are AirPods?

Some observations from the professionals at MobileREMEDIES®

You’re walking down the street and you pass two guys leaving a cellphone/electronic repair shop. The geeky guy enthusiastically says to the other; "I can’t wait to get my new AirPods". You do a slight double-take and at first you think you heard him say "iPods". What does this guy want with more than one iPod and what could be so exciting about that? Then you think maybe he said "EarPods" but you know that those little Apple headphones/microphone have been out since 2012 and you can’t imagine that they would generate so much interest. Finally you realize that he didn’t say "iPods" or "EarPods". He really did say "AirPods"! So, what the heck are AirPods? How many different "Pods" can there be out there, anyway? Did the guy have a little too much to drink at lunch?

Actually, we are all about to become acquainted with AirPods and it is unlikely that anyone will have to ask this question 6 months from now! How will you know when you see them? They will look like Apple EarPods with the wires removed (some have suggested that they look like small cigarette butts, little hair dryers, or tiny tampons hanging out of people’s ears! - but that you can judge for yourself). Since they are bright white, you will be able to see them from quite a distance. If you find yourself thinking: "you won’t catch me wearing anything that looks THAT stupid" you had better continue to read on and give it some serious thought before you come to a final decision!

AirPods are Apple’s newest foray into the Internet of Things (IOT - that is, the "smart" Bluetooth interconnection of objects in our computer networks for the purpose of auto-regulation - see: iPad Repair Hawaii: Bluetooth – Did Someone Really have Blue Teeth? also from MobileREMEDIES®) and they just might be one of the most significant breakthroughs in the future of the Human-Computer Interface (HCI). AirPods will be available for $159 in late October, 2016. (If you would like to watch the Apple AirPods introduction movie you can find it at this link.)

Wireless headsets have been around for many years in one form or another so what is so special about these? The short answer is that they are MUCH "smarter" than the average earphones. Apple expounds a belief in "a future where all of your devices intuitively connect". To this end they have developed a new chip (called W1) imbedded in the AirPods that can do an impressive number of things, not the least of which is to let each device "know" when it is in your ear by using infrared sensors as well as motion and voice accelerometers. They communicate this with their "shared devices" and thus they pause the audio output at the source when you remove one of them from your ear and start it up again, from where it left off, when you put it back.

So, what are these "shared devices"? Principally, after an initial pairing, they are all other Apple products using their most recent operating systems and include iPhones, iPads, iPods, Apple Watches and Mac computers. The AirPods will automatically sense and communicate with any Apple device you are currently using and pass off control from one to the other as needed! Does that mean that they will not function with a third party device? Yes and no. They will seamlessly interface with any other Bluetooth compatible device for their major functions of listening and speaking but most of the "intuitive" and automatic features will only be available on devices capable of using information from the W1 chip which, for the time being, are only those created by Apple (except for several headsets made by Beats that will be using the W1 chip). Since Apple is now a "promoting" member of the Bluetooth Special Interest Group however, this could be the beginning of a widespread market for the W1 chip and thus a more general compatibility (see: iPad Repair Hawaii: Bluetooth – Did Someone Really have Blue Teeth? also from MobileREMEDIES®).

Perhaps one of the most impressive feats of the AirPods is how they handle voice. One of the major drawbacks of voice control for any of our devices in recent years has no longer been the inaccuracy of voice recognition but rather the need to speak at a high volume in a quiet environment in order for it to function well. This is usually not convenient in a public place, not only because of the noise level but also the lack of privacy. What if you could speak in a quiet voice that might go by unheard or pass as "muttering" and still be understood by your device? Apple thinks they have made significant progress in this field. "Voice accelerometers" built into the AirPods recognize the vibratory characteristics of your voice and using "beam forming" microphones hone in on its location in space, neutralize external noise, and thus allow voice recognition to accurately occur with much quieter speech. It is likely that we will see a lot more people muttering to themselves when they have little cigarette butts hanging out of their ears!

What is so special about this enhanced speech recognition? The answer is that it finally brings a practical interface with Siri as a highly capable assistant in accessing not only information from the Internet but also in using and controlling any compatible applications we have on our device. We can ask Siri to locate a particular music album, raise or lower the volume, take dictation and send an E-mail or text message or even notify us when our heart rate gets to a certain level during exercise. We can ask her to report the scores of an ongoing game or remind us to run an errand when we leave work by making our Apple Watch vibrate. Yes, it’s true that these helpful requests are already available but most of us are reluctant to yell these instructions out to Siri in public and then try to hear her response on our iPhone’s speakers. AirPods are also touch sensitive and lightly double-tapping either one gets Siri’s attention. Clearly, the possibilities are endless if we have easy and relatively private access to her services (or those of any other "conversational assistant" in the future).

But wireless and "smart" come with energy requirements, which means that AirPods must be kept charged to function. They are slated to work for up to 5 hours on a full charge but having to plug them in that often would be cumbersome so Apple has come up with an ingenious solution. They provide a compact carrying case with a built-in charger that has enough battery power to deliver over 24 hours of use and to keep them fully charged when not in use. The charging case can then be recharged using the same Lightening connector used to charge the iPhone. You can’t recharge the AirPods while using them, however placing them into their carrying case for 15 minutes is specified to restore 3 hours of independent use! You can also choose to use only one at a time and switch it out with the opposite ear every 5 hours if you only use Siri and your phone rather than listen to music.

The biggest theoretical concern (since they haven’t been released yet) is that as small and "loose" as they are, they will be immediately lost. Some think they will fall out of your ears when you run or exercise though this has not been the case for those who have tested the pre-release models. In any case, if one falls out the music stops playing and you would thus be alerted. Some people feel that the Apple EarPods did not fit their ears comfortably and think that it will be the same for the AirPods since they are similar in form. Those who have tested them however have generally found them to be much more comfortable in-as-much-as there is no drag from the wires. The sound quality is reported to be as good as the hard wired EarPods (but not better) and the Bluetooth connection has the potential to be lost under adverse conditions but few instances of problems have been reported in the trials.

So, when someone says "What the heck are AirPods", you now have the answer. They are miniature, in-ear computers that have the potential to change the way we interface with our other electronic devices. One thing certain is that at least a few million of them will be sold late in October of 2016 all around the world and you may be among those who will judge their value, but only if you can overcome the shame of having two little tampons sticking out of your ears!

THE END (actually, just the beginning!)

The Professionals at iPhone Repair Hawaii: MobileREMEDIES® are particularly interested in the changing world of our small electronic devices because they know that they must anticipate the needs of their clients now and in the years to come. Their job is to stay ahead of the game not only in keeping up-to-date with new technologies as they evolve but also in understanding how these devices interface with each other.

In addition to iPhone repair Hawaii, MobileREMEDIES® with locations on Maui and Oahu also fixes all other brands of cell phones and smartphones, all types of portable electronic devices including iPads and other tablet PC’s, iPods/MP3 players, game systems (such as Xbox, PlayStations, Wii etc.), and they know your devices inside and out. They build custom computers for gamers and other high-end users and repair all desktop and laptop computers. They are also experts in data recovery and they pride themselves on being problem solvers. They can often suggest several potential solutions and you can choose the one that suits your needs best. They always give you a 1-year warranty on parts and service for any repaired device and honor it without you having to produce a receipt. In addition to electronic repair they provide web services for individuals and small businesses, buy broken devices for cash or in-store credit and sell refurbished devices with a 1-year warranty, similar to a manufacturer’s warranty on a new device. If they can’t fix your device, you pay nothing for the attempt. You can find them at iPhone repair Hawaii as well as cell phone repair Hawaii, data recovery Hawaii, iPad repair Hawaii, iPod repair Hawaii and Xbox repair Hawaii or at www.mobileremedies.com. Call 1-800-867-5048 to speak with a professional.