You can activate up to six preprogrammed HomeKit scenes or accessories with the push of a button on Belkin’s Wemo Stage Scene Controller. The palm-size remote sits on a table or hangs on a wall, and lets you easily control HomeKit accessories all over your home. No wiring involved.
I’m fully committed to Apple’s home-automation system, and Belkin’s latest HomeKit gadget fit neatly into my setup. Here’s why.
Apple is a leading member of a new organization creating a standard for home automation devices. A primary goal is interoperability, allowing accessories to connect to HomeKit, Alexa, Google Home, etc.
Previously, it was up to the makers of smart home products to make devices that worked with more than one voice control system. Many chose to support just one.
The first iPad Pro with an M-series processor is apparently going to be as fast as many had hoped. Benchmark tests for the upcoming tablet show that it’s almost as speedy as the Macs released in late 2020. And faster than any Intel-based MacBook ever.
The 2021 model is more than 50% faster than the iPad Pro Apple introduced in 2020.
The App Store protected customers from more than $1.5 billion in potentially fraudulent transactions in 2020, Apple said Tuesday. And the company’s App Review team rejected thousands of fraudulent applications.
The timing for this statement from the iPhone-maker isn’t accidental. In the ongoing Epic Games v. Apple lawsuit, the game developer argues that the App Store is a hinderance to innovation. Cupertino wants customers to hear its side of the story, too.
The new Brydge Air Max+ wraps the iPad Air 4 or 11-inch iPad Pro in a protective case, and adds a removable keyboard and trackpad.
It’s a larger version of a keyboard case Brydge recently introduced for the basic iPad. And there’s a similar model for the largest iPad Pro.
At the core of Epic Games’ lawsuit against Apple is the assertion that the iPhone-maker has a monopoly. With testimony from an expert witness, the game developer has begun laying out its arguments to convince the judge why she should agree.
Essentially, it claims that switching from iPhone to another device is so difficult that Apple can treat its users as if they had no other options.
It should be a happy scene — a man courting a woman. But the reality is much darker. The man and woman will marry, then he’ll kill many of her relatives to get control of the oil riches they inherited. All of this will play out in Martin Scorsese’s adaptation of Killers of the Flower Moon.
The film will star Leonardo DiCaprio, Lily Gladstone and Robert De Niro — and will appear on Apple TV+. An image of DiCaprio and Gladstone in character, released Monday, offers our first glimpse of the upcoming movie.
A pair of concept artists want Apple to bring dramatic improvements in iPadOS 15. They separately created videos with specific suggestions on how iPad could become a more useful computer with the operating system update expected this autumn.
Both agree that the iPad should gain better support for external screens — though they came up with different ways to implement the feature.
The iPhone 12 Pro Max whipped all other top-tier handsets in a rigorous battery test. Doxomark simulated using the handsets over several days, and also factored in how long they took to recharge. In the final score, Apple’s offering came out way ahead.
The process for checking applications submitted to the App Store became the major focus of the Epic Games v. Apple court battle Friday. An important detail that came to light is that Apple employs 500 human experts checking submissions.
Epic Games used Friday’s trial testimony to bring to light fraudulent or inappropriate apps that slipped past Apple’s review team and onto the App Store. Fortunately, the problem is fixable: Put more people on the job. Double or triple the number.
Stella Low is stepping into a position at Apple that’s been empty for years. She’s been named vice president of worldwide corporate communications. That puts her in charge of Apple’s public relations efforts.
She left Cisco to take the job with Apple.
An intrepid do-it-yourselfer disassembled Apple’s new AirTag and rebuilt it into something slim enough to fit into a wallet.
Watch his video with step-by-step instructions for following in his footsteps — if you dare.
Add the Kensington StudioDock to the list of accessories thrown under the bus by the redesign of the 2021 iPad Pro. The 12.9-inch version of the upcoming tablet is just slightly thicker, but that’s enough to make the elaborate desktop stand incompatible.
This is sure to displease many of the people who bought the $399.99 accessory and were hoping to use it with future Apple tablets.
In testimony on Thursday in the Epic Games v. Apple trial, Trystan Kosmynka, the senior director for the App Store review process, confirmed that around 5 million appications are submitted to the software store per year. And roughly 35% are rejected.
A pair of new rugged cases for the basic 10.2-inch iPad promise military-grade drop protection, and each has a combination kickstand/handstrap to make using the device easier.
Survivor All-Terrain and Endurance are designed for hazardous conditions, like worksites and classrooms.
Emmy-winner Billy Crudup in space! That’s what’s coming in Hello Tomorrow!, a half-hour comedy/drama series about a man selling timeshares on the moon.
The upcoming show will be an Apple TV+ exclusive.
Full Bloom, a new spring-themed video commissioned by Apple, includes some amazing photography done with an iPhone 12. It’s part of the long-running “Shot on iPhone” series that demonstrates the capabilities of the cameras built into Apple handsets. A highlight of the latest offering is stop-motion video done with flowers and fruit.
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The latest insider info brought to light by the Epic Games v. Apple trial is the lengths the Mac-maker went to convince Netflix to continue taking subscriptions in its iPhone/iPad app. But Netflix stopped anyway, and Apple took no action.
When Epic Games tried to do something similar, Apple banned all its software from the App Store.
If you’ve ever said something in a tweet you immediately regretted, Twitter has your back. It’s letting iPhone users test a potential new feature that gives people the opportunity to revise a “harmful” tweet before it’s sent.
It’s not necessary to buy an accessory to attach an Apple AirTag to your keys, bike or dog’s collar if you own a 3D printer. There are tons of CAD files with options to connect the recently released item tracker to various objects. And all of them are free to use.
Since its debut in 2019, the number of Apple Card users has grown to 6.4 million, according to analysts. That’s over two times the total using the credit card a year ago. And much of the growth has been among women.
Epic Games suggested a change to the iPhone App Store that, if Apple had followed it, might have prevented the lawsuit that landed the two tech giants in court this week.
The game developer recommended that Apple continue to police third-party software, looking for malware, privacy violations, etc. But once the iPhone-maker signed off on an app, it would be up to the developer how the software got distributed.
Anyone having trouble with Apple’s Find My service, or signing into iCloud, can stop rebooting their devices trying to fix the problem. Apple itself reports that four of its online services are currently experiencing problems.
Update: Apple reports that all four previously malfunctioning services are now fixed.
Apple shares spent much of Tuesday down 4% in value. The AAPL selloff was part part of a general drop in tech stocks amidst fears of a rise in interest rates.
At one point during the day, the value of each AAPL stock had dropped about $5.30. That’s a decrease of roughly $88 billion in Apple’s $2.1 trillion market capitalization.
Update: Apple shares finished the day down 3.54%.
Peabody Award nominations went out Tuesday to Apple comedy series Ted Lasso as well as the children’s program Stillwater.
The annual Peabodys honor excellence in broadcasting the same way Pulitzers recognize outstanding journalism. The awards “reflect the pressing social issues and the vibrant emerging voices of our day,” according to the National Association of Broadcasters.