New ResearchKit studies for autism, epilepsy and melanoma released by Apple

Apple announced that ResearchKit is enabling new research studies on autism, epilepsy and melanoma. ResearchKit turns iPhone into a powerful tool for medical research by helping doctors, scientists and other researchers gather data more frequently and more accurately from participants using iPhone apps.

With ResearchKit, study participants can review an interactive informed consent process, easily complete active tasks or submit survey responses, and choose how their health data is shared with researchers, making contributions to medical research easier than ever. Researchers and developers have already contributed to ResearchKit, with more than 50 researchers adding to the open source framework.

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Boeing's James Bell joins Apple's board

Apple's board of directors has just added James Bell who was the former chief financial officer and corporate president of The Boeing Company.

Bell brings more than four decades of experience in finance, strategic planning and leadership in complex organizations. During his 38-year career at Boeing, he also oversaw Boeing Capital Corporation and Boeing Shared Services, and was interim CEO of The Boeing Company in 2005. 

“James brings a wealth of global, financial and industrial experience from his successful career at Boeing as corporate president and CFO,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “I am thrilled to welcome him to Apple’s board of directors and I look forward to working with him.” Bell said, "

“I am delighted to join the Apple board and look forward to contributing to its continued success in any way I can.”

Video: The iPhone 6S 3D Touch and Live Photos demo

iPhone 6S is coming to Canada on September 25. While maintaining the same look and feel as the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, the new versions features a potentially game changing 3D Touch functionality which expands one handed use with 'Peek' and 'Pop' features in supported apps. The iPhone 6S also brings an improved 12 megapixel front facing camera, the ability to shoot 4K video as well as a 5 megapixel front facing camera with Retina Flash which uses the brightness of the display to illuminate selfies. Check out the video above and stay tuned for our complete review of the iPhone 6S in the coming month.

watchOS 2 now available for download for existing Apple Watch users

Apple has finally released watchOS 2 for the Apple Watch. The second generation of the wearable's operating system brings much needed improvements including the ability to use native apps, faster interaction with iPhones and the ability for third-party apps to display information on the watch face as complications.

A Time Travel feature allows users to see future events and past headlines using the digital crown. watchOS 2 also includes new communication features such as the ability to respond quickly to Mail with dictation, Smart Replies or emoji, and Digital Touch enables more creativity with multiple sketch colors. Weighing in at 515 MB, the update takes over an hour to download on the iPhone 6 (via WiFi). Stay tuned for our first impressions once we get the new OS installed on our Apple Watch.

To update open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone> go to My Watch> General> click Software Update. It should take an hour to download (seriously, an hour) before you can proceed to installation.