Tag Archives: hardware

Setup Apple Watch for Development Guide

While working in Xcode and running my watch app on my actual hardware watch for the first time, I ran into this error on my watch the first time: “Failed to install [app], error: Application Verification Failed.” This stack overflow answer provides the solution, but I wanted help illustrate the steps I took to fix the error. Disclaimer: this worked for me, but there are probably more optimal ways of fixing the error.

  1. In Xcode, get the UDID of your Apple Watch (WIndow > Devices). The UDID is labeled “Identifier” and you can double click on the Identifier device hash to select & copy it.
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  2. Visit the Apple Developer Portal at https://developer.apple.com/devcenter/ios/index.action and click on “Certificates, Identifiers & Profiles” in the right sidebar.
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  3. Click on Devices > All in the left sidebar.
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  4. Click on the Plus Sign (+) in the top right.
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  5. In Register Device, provide a Name (whatever you want) and your watch UDID (from step 1 above).
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  6. Submit the form to register your watch device.
  7. In “Certificates, Identifiers & Profiles”, locate your .watchkitextension Provisioning Profile for your app. Select & download this profile.
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  8. Locate your downloaded profile file on your computer & double click the Provisioning Profile.
  9. Restart Xcode.
  10. Build your project and you will encounter a iOS Development Certificate alert.
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  11. Warning, this step may be dangerous (proceed at your own risk). This worked for me. Click on “Revoke and Request”. This will revoke your current certificate and request a new one. You will probably get an email notifying you that “Your Certificate Has Been Revoked”.
  12. Run your Xcode project. Your watch app should now load the development build on your actual watch hardware.

About the author: Rex Feng enjoys iOS development and has released Pomodoro Pro for the iPhone & Apple Watch. You can follow him @rexfeng.

Camera Design

This is what constitutes popular (good?) camera design today:

Olympus E-P1 digital pen

An obvious design throwback to the days of film cameras, but not very imaginative.

I’m of the firm belief that camera design as we know it today has tremendous room for change. Take the micro 4/3 standard that is mirrorless.  It’s what enables the E-P1 above to be significantly slimmer than a traditional DSLR and retain interchangeable lenses. Going slimmer is just one possible direction.

Below are some camera concepts that break away from “the standard camera” look (think Leica).

D5R Concept by Ned Mulka

This is a neat concept, but not super practical. Why go through all that body change without a number of obvious benefits? Still, +1 for daring to make a camera body that doesn’t conform to legacy design.

WVIL Concept by Artefact

The WVIL concept excites me a lot more. I think the future of professional cameras may involve wireless lenses syncing to a generic touchscreen (think Android phone, iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad). The WVIL concept is great, but why reinvent the wheel with a proprietary touchscreen when an off-the-shelf generic touchscreen suffices?

I can easily envision a world where a professional photographer has many wireless lenses (perhaps with a gorilla pod each) that are all controlled by a single iPad remotely. All a person would have to do is set up multiple wireless lenses before a sporting event starts. During the event, the lenses would (since this is the future we’re talking about) take continuous ultra high-definition video. The touchscreen controller would be used to monitor focus and other settings.

iPhone 4

Another trend in camera hardware is the disappearance of noticeable hardware. With smartphones packing incredibly better cameras (as in “decent enough”), it’s possible to get high quality photos without carrying around a point and shoot. The trend of nearly invisible camera hardware will only get better as phone cameras improve.