Buster Hein - page 110

Every year Apple introduces a new iPhone, and every year I get my hopes up that this will finally be the model that can go two or three days without needing to be recharged. But according to a lithium-ion battery expert, the odds of Apple adding a power source capable of boosting iPhone battery life like that are practically zero.

Dee Strand, chief scientific officer at battery research firm Wildcat Discovery Technology, says the throughput on smartphone batteries is rapidly improving every year. The problem is, new features are bogging them down.

Microsoft is taking a page out of Apple’s marketing playbook for its newest ads promoting the Surface Book, and the company threw in a few digs at the Mac while they were at it.

Rather than just focusing on the product, Microsoft’s new ads add a human touch by focusing on how the device has changed some professionals’ workflow. First up is photography Tim Flach, who uses a Surface Book and Surface Pen to precisely edit his incredible animal photography. If owning a Surface Book gave me killer shots just like Flach, I’d ditch my Mac too.

“Being able to use a pen like this on the screen directly with the image gives me a different relationship to it,” says Flach. “And I just can’t do that on my Mac.”

Check it out:

AmpMe, the magical app that syncs multiple phones together to create one giant speaker, is getting a much needed update today that lets you take the party anywhere, even if you don’t have internet.

The Montreal-based startup revealed today that it has added a new ‘Offline Mode’ that will let users sync an unlimited number of phones together regardless of whether or not you have a data connection. And to make it easier to get the party started, the app has add a new ‘Auto-Join’ mode that makes it easier than ever to get the music listening party started.

When the NCAA Men’s Basketball championship tips off on March 15th hoops fans will have an all-new way to get their fix using Apple TV.

The new March Madness Live streaming app will contain an exclusive Apple TV feature that lets users watch two games side-by-side, but you’ll need to be a paying TV subscriber to use it.

A young man in China was found guilty of selling his 18-day old daughter in exchange for enough money to buy himself a new motorcycle and iPhone.

The 19 year-old man identified as ‘A Duan’ by local Chinese media reportedly found a buyer for his newborn through the popular messaging app QQ and negotiated the entire deal without the consent of the child’s biological mother.

If the iPhone 6s Plus seems just a little bit too small in your monstrous hands, fret not dear giant friends: Apple may be planning to go even bigger with a super-sized iPhone 7s Pro.

Apple is looking to add a 5.8-inch OLED display to the iPhone in 2017 or 2018, according to a new rumor that claims Samsung is already on board to supply the screens.

Filling up your car with gasoline is about to get a lot quicker, now that the world’s biggest oil company is finally adding Apple Pay to its pumps.

Starting today, ExxonMobil is activating Apple Pay at more than 6,000 gas stations across the U.S., allowing customers to buy gas or a car wash without having to bust out their wallets.

Starting in 2017, all of Apple’s keynotes will be held in an amazing new theater in the heart of the spaceship campus, but you don’t have to wait until next year to see what it will look like.

Apple has given curious minds an early look at the 120,000-square-foot subterranean auditorium it has dubbed ‘The Theatre’. Once completed the venue will have a capacity of 1,000 seats below what the company believes is the world’s largest freestanding carbon-fiber roof ever made.

Less than a week after dropping a big batch of new software on developers and public testers, Apple is back with a sixth beta build of iOS 9.3 as well as new betas for watchOS, tvOS, and OS X El Capitan.

The software updates bring a host of new features to developers and public testers the iPhone like NightShift mode, folders on Apple TV, multiple Apple Watch pairings on one iPhone, improved Apple News and Apple Music apps, and some great education features for iPad.

Here’s a preview of some of the new goodies:

Apple’s nearly three year legal battle over charges that it conspired with publishers to raise the price of e-books is finally coming to end.

This morning the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear Apple’s appeal, which leaves the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in place. Apple will finally have to pay $450 million as part of the settlement.

As it turns out, Apple is not ready for some football.

The iPhone-maker was expected to be among a number of tech giants bidding for the streaming rights to 18 regular season football games this year, but it appears the company has decided to pass on the option to bid, figuring it wouldn’t be a big enough draw for the Apple TV platform. 

The Amazon Echo has quickly become one of our favorite gadgets thanks to its accompanying digital assistant Alexa that makes it easy to do everything from ordering new laundry detergent to checking the news. Today the service is getting even better with two new gadgets that essentially split the Echo into two parts: Tap and Dot.

Amazon divvied up what the original Echo did by creating the Echo Dot ($89) that can hear your commands from anywhere in the room, it just doesn’t have great speakers like the original, while the Amazon Tap boasts great speakers for only $129, but you have to push a button on the top of the device to give it commands.

If you’re hoping to get your hands on an Echo Dot you’ll need to own an Alexa device (the original Echo, or a Kindle Fire tablet). However, anyone can pre-order the Amazon Tap right now.

Here’s a teaser:

The coolest way to pay for stuff is finally coming to the country’s hippest store: American Apparel.

The company revealed today that it will be using software provided by Index to bring Apple Pay support to point-of-sale terminals across the country, making it easier than ever to buy simple cotton hoodies and t-shirts.

The United Nations is standing behind Apple in the company’s fight against the FBI over whether the federal government can compel the iPhone-maker to create a backdoor into iOS.

In a letter written in support of Apple’s case, U.N. Special Rapporteur David Kaye says that if the feds are successful, it would infringe on citizens’ right to freedom of expression.

Fiat CEO and self-proclaimed “Apple freak” Sergio Marchionne, is ready to embrace a future where Apple designs cars, but he wants his company to make it.

Marchionne made an appearance at the Geneva auto show today and said that if Apple’s really thinking about making a car on its own, they must have some type of illness.

Apple General Counsel Bruce Sewell suffered an iPad disaster during his appearance before the House Judiciary Committee today, and it couldn’t have happened at a worse moment.

As Sewell read his introductory statement from his iPad Pro, the Apple lawyer’s tablet appeared to crash or become unusable, forcing him to resort to his backup plan: a three-ring binder with good old paper printouts.

You can relive the incident in the video below:

The world’s most popular drone maker, DJI, has decided to team up Apple for the launch of its incredibly smart new drone by making it exclusively available for pre-order via the Apple Store.

DJI unveiled its top-of-the-line new drone, the Phantom 4 this morning, that comes with a new “Obstacle Sensing System” that makes it easier than ever to killer aerial footage with minimal piloting experience.

Apple is serving up a buffet of new software updates with new beta releases of iOS 9.3, watchOS 2.2, and tvOS 9.2 that are being made available to developers and public testers today.

The new betas come more than a week after Apple seeded the last updates for the new software that could be made available to the public sometime later this month, bringing a host of new features to the iPhone, Apple Watch, and Apple TV.

Best List: Zagg Slim Book case

Long before the original iPad debuted, I dreamed of the day that Apple made the ultimate portable netbook that wouldn’t destroy my bank account and could be carried around everywhere.

Apple wisely never got into the short-lived netbook trend, but you can get pretty much the next best thing by combining the iPad mini 4 with Zagg’s new Slim Book case that adds a great detachable keyboard to the world’s best tiny tablet.

Apple has released the fifth beta of OS X 10.11.4 this morning, only instead of making it only available to developers, public beta testers can also get in on action immediately with the new update that brings better performance and a bunch of new features.

Apple is less than a year away from moving into its shiny new campus, but Tim Cook’s beautiful pile of dirt still looms large at the construction site in the latest 4K drone video that shows the progress on the spaceship.

The video shows Apple’s progress installing the largest piece of curved glass ever made, as well as the large white canopies that sprout out of the sides of the glass and metal facade. It also appears that the roof over the auditorium in the heart of campus has been installed.

Check it out:

Apple’s top lawyer is set to appear before the House Judiciary Committee today to discuss balancing Americans’ security and privacy, in light of the company’s ongoing battle with the FBI, which has demanded the company unlock the San Bernardino terrorist’s iPhone.

Apple gave us a glimpse of general counsel Bruce Sewell’s opening remarks yesterday. Apple’s lawyer will ask congressional representatives some tough questions on privacy, but we won’t know what the committee thinks until the hearing gets underway later this morning. A livestream of the event will be available on YouTube when the hearing starts at 10 a.m. Pacific.

You can watch it below:

Apple is rumored to unveil a new 9.7-inch iPad on March 21st, and while it may not pack as big a screen as the iPad Pro, it will be way better at taking photos and videos.

Rather than matching the iPad Pro camera, a new rumor claims Apple may give the new iPad the same sensors found in the iPhone 6s.

Swiss freeskier Nicolas Vuignier blew our minds with his incredible slinging iPhone contraption that creates killer bullet-time videos. Now he’s unleashing his creation called the Centriphone to the public and it’s surprisingly simple and super cheap to make.

Vuignier detailed the making of the Centriphone in a new video that runs through the seven different prototypes he tested for weeks before finally coming up with the perfect device that flies around its wielder while capturing jaw-dropping 360 degree video.

The best part of the Centriphone is Vuignier made it an open source project so now anyone can 3D print it at home. Even if you don’t own a 3D printer you can still buy one for just $39.

Here’s how to make your own:

Apple’s general counsel Bruce Sewell is set to appear before the House Judiciary Committee tomorrow, when he’ll go toe-to-toe with FBI Director James Comey over whether the bureau should be allowed to force Apple to create a backdoor into iOS.

Tim Cook already explained Apple’s argument against the FBI’s orders, but today the company revealed what will be Sewell’s opening remarks before Congress unloads a barrage of questions — and he’s got some pretty big questions of his own for lawmakers to consider.