Is it reasonable to call a computer setup “budget-friendly” if it includes a new 16-inch M1 MacBook Pro? Well, is there such a thing as an Lamborghini economy car? How about a thrift-store Faberge egg? Or maybe a bargain-basement super yacht?
OK, we exaggerate slightly. You don’t have to be a billionaire to afford a nice Mac. But it helps.
Today’s featured setup makes a go of getting some “budget-friendly” cred despite its high-powered centerpiece — with mixed results.
Whether you’re looking to redesign your space with a fresh look or you just want to block out more light on a sunny morning, Lutron’s updates to its smart shades and blinds might help do the trick.
Lutron rolled out its HomeKit-enabled Serena Smart Architectural Honeycomb Shades on Monday with more than 40 fabric choices and some new refinements to block more light.
In the 28th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards held Sunday night, Apple TV+ won two awards apiece for its sports comedy hit series Ted Lasso and its popular and groundbreaking film CODA.
Just in time for the weekend, you can download and play a new farming simulator and adventure game called Sunrise Village. Indie developer InnoGames released it Friday for iOS and Android devices.
Tumblr founder David Karp has said he never wanted advertisements on his social network and microblogging platform, Tumblr. But they came in after a sale of the company in 2013. A lot of people find them tacky and annoying.
Fortunately for those who hate the ads, Tumblr said Thursday you can now pay to make ads go away.
Spoiler alert: For the seventh year in a row, Apple topped consumers’ lists as the most relevant brand to their everyday lives. Seems like the Cupertino tech giant can’t lose in this particular race.
You have to wonder who placed 293rd. That’s how many companies the annual survey evaluated, in 27 categories.
Have you ever seen two big ol’ Apple Cinema Displays mounted vertically, in portrait mode, bookending an iMac? We didn’t think so. Or at least, it seems like a rare sight. But today’s featured setup has that nuevo-retro styling going on, big-time, and folks took notice.
After all, secondary displays in portrait mode seems to be all the rage lately, but not so much back in the glory days of Cinema Displays. Or were they?
A world where Bluetooth rises above compression and delivers full-stream, hi-res, lossless audio remains in the future. But sound specialist Astell&Kern said it’s about the roll out the world’s first Bluetooth speaker with support for the rarefied LDAC and aptX HD codecs — which should at least allow for CD-quality wireless streaming.
The Acro BE100, Astell&Kern’s first Bluetooth speaker, goes on sale March 7, the company said. And it’s not just the codecs that make it special.
On the heels of a big Obscura 3 camera app refresh, another popular and powerful photo app sees major changes this week. This time, it’s the Halide MK II app for iPhone and iPad, from Lux Optics, which also makes the Spectre app for creating long exposures.
The Halide app’s important updates include the addition of batch actions — so you can finally work with multiple photos at the same time — and an improved “Image Rescue” function.
Apple previewed its “dramatic” new Al Maryah Island store in Abu Dhabi Thursday, showcasing design elements never seen before at Apple stores, as well as special programs.
The retail location opens Friday at 5 p.m. United Arab Emirates time.
Long one of the most popular professional camera apps for iOS, Obscura is relatively easy to use. It enables various manual-style controls for shooting photographs using your iPhone.
And with Obscura 3 – Pro Camera, released Thursday, developer Ben McCarthy redesigned the interface, added new capture modes and made other improvements. The last major upgrade to Obscura came four years ago.
In what will surely be welcome news for folks who like to use the company’s peripherals with their Macs, Logitech said it’s rolling out full native M1 support in the latest beta version of its Logi Options+ software.
If you use Logitech products, you may think of it as Logi Options. Logi Options+ replaces that software and features some enhancements in addition to the native support for Silicon Macs.
If you’re ready to start traveling the world again despite the ongoing pandemic, accessories maker Zendure thinks its new, 65W Passport III GaN travel adapter is just what you need. It said the charger works in 200 countries and can top off up to six devices at once.
Citing the success of the device’s crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter, the company even suggested Tuesday that the travel industry may be on the mend.
Well, use your own judgment there. But the Passport III does indeed look like it might be a worthy addition to your charging arsenal.
You still rarely see a computer setup with a 3D printer in it. Today’s featured setup is an exception. You can see the printer against the wall on the left in the photo above.
Probably more workstations in the near future will have them. Why? Not only are they becoming more affordable, you can use them to make parts of the setup!
“Omnia” means “prepared for all things” in Latin. The 40-year-old Italian audio brand Sonus Faber tries to live up to that with its new Omnia all-in-one wireless streaming speaker. It joins the fray in a fast-growing market for compact but premium systems.
The Omnia has built-in support for practically all streaming sources and you can hook up almost any audio-related hardware to it.
Did I mention it costs two grand? Well, there are reasons for that price point.
Many students rely on Apple devices — including some who get them for free — though iOS and macOS don’t offer functions designed especially for school-related routines. But the Schooly app just came out on the App Store, giving students one special place to organize their scholastic lives.
If you suffer from a cluttered desktop — and who doesn’t, at least sometimes? — Choetech has something for you. Right now you can preorder its new Invisible Wireless Charger and take one more item off the junk pile.
Of course, unless you also suffer from some seriously magical thinking, you know it’s not literally invisible. But it does hide the charger under your desk so you can power up your iPhone or other Qi-enabled gadget right on the desktop without another piece of gear sitting there.
Bose made a splash with its recent, long-awaited update to its popular QuietComfort 35 headphones. But while the company was probably smart not to change the QuietComfort formula much, that included not expanding the classic headphones’ limited customizability. Until now.
If you have a set of QC 45s, Bose said a new firmware update lets you access and adjust a new equalizer via the Bose Music app. So you can tweak the sound all you want with the new Adjustable EQ feature.
In 2020, Bowdoin College in Maine launched a $1.7 million program to give students iPads and accessories. It was a response to the COVID-19 pandemic. On Tuesday, the school said it would expand what it calls its Digital Excellence Commitment. Now it will provide every student with a MacBook Pro, an iPad and an Apple Pencil.
If you’ve ever suffered major water damage from a leak, you probably wish you could’ve found the problem before it was too late. Now you can — if you have the right smart home automation.
The second generation of the Bluetooth-enabled Eve Water Guard adds Thread networking technology that works with HomeKit. That lets it automatically join your Thread network and provide water leak notifications in Apple’s Home app before the damage is done.
BenQ is known for making quality displays and monitor lights, but it also makes projectors. Its latest offering, the BenQ X3000i, can handle blazing-fast gaming at a refresh rate up to 240Hz, but it comes at quite a price — about two grand.
When a software engineering manager who works from home decided to leave PC gaming behind, he went all-in on his Mac conversion. In part he did it for work. He slings a lot of native code for macOS in building HR recruitment software. But, working and playing from home full time, in part he did it for himself.
So why wouldn’t he buy a super-tricked out 16-inch M1 Max MacBook Pro, not one but two Apple Pro Display XDRs and pretty much top-shelf everything else?
In celebration of CODA‘s Oscar nomination for Best Picture, Apple TV+ said Friday it will celebrate by re-releasing the indie hit in theaters next weekend. And you’ll be able to watch it for free.
You can see the film for free in theaters from Friday, February 25 to Sunday, February 27.
Ever been in a situation where your hands aren’t free but you can’t speak out loud to Siri voice assistant, either? There could be a camera coming that understands your voice commands even if you’re not making a sound.
Two Cornell University researchers created a wearable infrared smart camera that detects voice commands not by sound, but by measuring movements in the neck and face from under the chin.
Most people use the awesome filmmaking potential of iPhone 13’s Cinematic Mode to shoot vids of their cats. But not South Korean director Park Chan-wook. In the latest in Apple’s “Shot on iPhone” series, he takes you into afterlife in a short film packed with martial arts wizardry and dream-like sequences. It’s called Life is But a Dream, and it’s shot entirely on an iPhone 13 Pro.
Even if you and your cat had a famous director’s resources — the cast, the sets, the costumes, the rich folklore — you still probably couldn’t come up with anything like this. But thanks to the technology in your iPhone, you can try.