Google is making improvements to its Google Maps for iOS app, including new features and updates intended to make navigation easier on both iPhone and Apple Watch.
Changes to the Google Maps for iOS app include a more-detailed navigation map that shows enhanced building outlines as well as streetlights and stop signs. It’s designed to help users traveling in unfamiliar locations.
Apple will release AirPods Pro 2 in the second half of 2022, according to TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. And when it does, the new buds will replace the current AirPods Pro rather than joining them in the lineup. That would signal a strategy change, Kuo said.
Why? After Apple added AirPods 3 alongside AirPods 2 in its earbuds lineup, it noticed a lot of people stuck with the less-expensive product rather than going with the upgrade. Apple wouldn’t want that to happen again.
Both Apple TV+ and Netflix pulled out of a bidding war over a movie about Will Smith’s life amid controversy following the actor slapping comedian Chris Rock on stage at the Oscars.
In addition, Apple TV+ owns a $120 million film starring Smith entitled Emancipation. Already shot and being readied for release in time for next Oscars season, the movie could become a problem for Apple TV+.
When you watch HDR videos on the mini-LED screens of a Pro Display XDR or a 2021 MacBook Pro, the displays can crank out up to 1,600 nits of brightness. But under most conditions, they’ll emit about 500. So a new app called Vivid, by developers Jordi Bruin and Ben Harraway, now offers to double usable screen brightness under all conditions.
“Full Brightness, System-Wide,” reads the app’s tagline.
Here’s a word to the wise: Always carry your charged iPhone, and don’t ski or snowboard “off-piste” in the Alps at 10,000 feet by yourself. Tim Blakey got the first part right, just barely, and that’s why he’s alive today.
The British personal trainer was snowboarding solo off of marked trails near Zermatt, Switzerland — on a glacier — when he plunged about 15 feet down into a crevasse and got stuck. He couldn’t scale its icy walls. He was alive for the moment down there, but he was alone.
Alone, that is, except for an iPhone clinging to 3% battery life and a weak 3G signal.
Apple’s newest iPad Air has received some stellar reviews, though murmuring from some quarters claims it’s a bit on the flimsy side. But the owner of today’s featured setup seems over the moon about the new addition to her workstation, centered by an M1 MacBook Air and an LG display.
And she’s eager to get going with the new, much-ballyhooed Universal Control functionality using the new tablet, despite challenges.
Media outlets are reporting that Wyze knew for three years about a security flaw that rendered its security cameras vulnerable to hackers. But in all that time, it did not tell its customers about the problem.
News of the flaw broke on Tuesday. Wyze, long know for its inexpensive but useful security cameras, has since responded to the controversy, as noted below.
Who doesn’t like to have a little fun on a Friday, especially when it’s also April Fools’ Day? Not that today’s featured setup is a joke or fake in any way. It’s real. It’s serious. Not as serious as a heart attack, maybe. But it’s a working setup that likes to have a good time, let’s say.
The seriousness stems mainly from a late-model MacBook Pro and a killer ultra-wide LG display. The good time comes from the super-cool Lego Technic racing cars on the wall — two for now, with a third to come. Each one of these things has thousands of pieces.
Apple said Thursday all small businesses in the U.S. can now sign up for its new Apple Business Essentials service. Previously in beta testing, the new service brings together device management, 24/7 Apple support and iCloud storage into flexible subscription plans.
Apple also unveiled new AppleCare+ for Business Essentials insurance options. Cupertino also made a two-month free trial available to all customers, including those who used the service in beta.
Popular microphone brand Rode, based in Australia, dropped the mic Tuesday with major news: It’s getting into the premium headphones business.
The company rolled out its first pair of high-end cans, the Rode NTH-100 Professional Over-Ear Headphones.
Anyone who works in event management — weddings, conferences, film sets — knows that fluid communications are key. But rather than run around with your iPhone glued to the side of your head while everything goes to pieces, why not invest in a wireless intercom headset system? Hollyland launched a new set Thursday that could fit the bill.
That way, you and your team can keep in constant touch and you’ll look super-important, too.
Most of us take pictures with our phones, but if you walk around with one or more actual cameras from your fancy collection, a boutique camera maker has a new strap that could change your life.
The Goodman Camera Strap with Mag-Lock takes the tensile strength of Kevlar cord and marries it to a quick-release magnetic locking harness system attached to a handmade leather camera strap.
Keychron launched its Q3 80% tenkeyless (TKL) full metal custom mechanical keyboard on Tuesday. Following sold-out initial runs of its Q1 and Q2 customizable keebs, the Q3 is a full aluminum mechanical keyboard with gasket mount design. It features hot-swappable switches, a high-grade aluminum case, QMK/VIA mapping support and more, the company said.
In the middle of last year, Apple and Facebook parent company Meta Platforms gave customer data to hackers. They enticed the companies by pretending to be law enforcement officials, three people with knowledge of the matter said.
In the latest installment of a series in which Apple showcases artists and professionals using its devices, Chicago-based lettering artist Belinda Kou explained how an iPad Air diverted her from studies in biopsychology to an art career.
If weather apps were judged solely on snarky attitude, there would be one clear favorite: Carrot Weather. But even judged by factors like tracking the weather and variety of features, it’s a darned good app. And now, with a major update released Wednesday “to celebrate the triumphant return of allergy season,” it’s even better.
We’ve written about storing a Mac mini in an upright rather than a flat position to save space. It’s OK to do if the machine’s intake and exhaust vents are not blocked. But what about using your Mac mini as a stand for a display, as in today’s featured computer setup?
It’s not necessarily quite as cut-and-dried as the upright mini question. Whether it’s totally fine or a little risky depends a little more on the specific Mac mini and the kind of monitor you use.
When Apple TV+ put out its first, brief trailer in February for its upcoming metaphysical-horror-thiller Shining Girls, it looked disturbing and disorienting. Now the streaming service has put out the first full trailer for the show, which stars Elisabeth Moss and premieres April 29.
If anything, Shining Girls looks even more unsettling — but almost to the point of absurdity.
German audio powerhouse Sennheiser rolled out its Ambeo operating system for Ambeo soundbars Tuesday, adding AirPlay 2 support and more. The company also distributed a major software update to its Smart Control app, adding new features.
One of the impressive features of the growing number of moderately priced, high-quality earbuds on the market is just how long playback lasts between charges. That’s in part because the case where you store them also charges them. But Audio-Technica just rolled out a new set of earbuds that really moves the needle on battery life.
The company’s new ATH-CKS50TW Solid Bass Truly Wireless Earbuds claim up to 20 hours of continuous playback on a single charge, or 50 hours counting the case’s charge. All that, plus the new buds feature low latency and active noise-cancellation (ANC).
Moment added to its lineup of MagSafe-compatible accessories for iPhone Tuesday with three new products and two product updates. The marquee event is the rollout of the Mobile Filmmaker Cage to enhance your iPhone video shooting.
The cage co-stars with the new Moment Strap Anywhere Mount and the new Stick-on Adapter, which can help mount your smartphone in a variety of situations.
Yandex, sometimes called Russia’s version of Google, gathers data from millions of iOS users and sends it to Russia, according to a new report.
The government of Ukraine recently created a chatbot within the Telegram instant messaging app. It lets Ukrainians use their iPhones to report to their country’s defenders exactly where they see invading Russian troops.
We haven’t seen a tremendous number of computer setups centered on powerhouse 16-inch M1 Max MacBook Pros — much less such workstations featuring both dual displays and paired original HomePods!
But today’s featured setup is an exception. It boasts those impressive characteristics as well as a useful lesson about not judging a book by its cover as well as striving to be kind online.
Apple is at it again, trying to retain top employees in a competitive marketplace by giving them big money. This time the Cupertino tech giant has handed out a round of special stock bonuses to a group of hardware and software engineers. The amounts range from $100,000 to $200,000.