Ed Hardy - page 28

It’s time to break the habit of doing everything on your iPhone while overlooking what’s often a better alternative. Consider the Apple Watch pros: It’s a very capable little computer, and it’s right there on your wrist. Odds are you aren‘t taking advantage of half of what it can do for you.

Here are the simple tasks I used to do on my iPhone that are now easier because I do them on my Apple Watch. And all without needing any third-party software. The only apps required come preinstalled on every Apple Watch.

Odds are, you’re not taking advantage of all the useful things your Apple Watch can do for you. That’s because we all tend to grab our iPhone, even when it’s not the best option. I started using my smartwatch much more after I began asking myself one simple question whenever I grab my iPhone: “Would this be easier on my Apple Watch?”

You should try it, too.

GameBaby from Bitmo Lab is both an iPhone case and a game controller. Combined with the Delta retro game emulator, the accessory’s clever design allows you to play classic games on your phone with real buttons. And there’s nothing wrong with a new way to have fun.

For my GameBaby review, I tested it with my iPhone 16 Pro Max, and it’s the closest thing to a Game Boy I’ve played in much too long.

Plus, it’s available at a huge discount right now — 38% off. But the deal only lasts a few more days.

You can now set DeepL Translate as the default translation application on iPhones and iPads, replacing Apple’s own app. Powered by artificial neural networks, the machine-translation service supports a wider range of languages than Apple’s Translate app. And in our testing, it delivered slightly better translation as well.

DeepL Translate is the first third-party app that can serve as the iPhone’s default translation app … it beat Google Translate to the punch. The option works for iPhone users in the United States and the European Union.

Here’s how to set DeepL as the default on your iPhone or iPad.

British actor David Oyelowo stars in the new “surrealist family comedy” Government Cheese, coming to Apple TV+ in spring 2025.

Oyelowo is always good — he also features in Apple’s very popular sci-fi series Silo — so it may be worth checking this one out.

Update: The comedy series is now streaming on Apple TV+. The review-aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes says, “Peculiar and peppy, Government Cheese has some holes but gets by on the strength of its nutty writing and a collection of tangy performances.”

Wednesday brought system software patches to an array of Apple devices, all intended to fix bugs. This includes the release of iOS 18.4.1 to remove a bug that prevented some iPhone users from accessing CarPlay over a wireless connection. There are two important security fixes, too.

Plus, Apple also made macOS Sequoia 15.4.1, iPadOS 18.4.1, tvOS 18.4.1 and visionOS 2.4.1 available at the same time. But no equivalent watchOS update appeared.

Unlike rival item trackers, the Chipolo Pop doesn’t force you to choose between iPhone and Android. You can find your misplaced keys or cat with either Apple’s Find My network or Google’s Find My Device.

Plus, the Bluetooth tracker tag comes in a range of colors.

Apple’s AI efforts don’t have to be hampered by its commitment to user privacy. A blog post published Monday explains how the company can generate the data needed to train its large language models without the privacy violations caused by Apple itself reading people’s emails or messages.

It’s an indirect, opt-in system that takes advantage of the small AIs the Apple builds into millions of users’ devices.

The Espresso 15 Pro offers everything Apple users want in a high-end portable monitor. 4K? Yes. Gorgeous. Oh, yeah. Touchscreen? Got it. USB-C? Check.

It has an all-aluminum body that makes it look great from any angle. And as a bonus, it comes with an innovative stand that lets you position the screen where you want it, even above your notebook.

I used the Espresso 15 Pro display in my home office and when working remotely, and am simply blown away. Here’s why.

Ubisoft released Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown on Monday for iPhone, iPad and Android. The award-winning action-adventure platformer challenges players to use Time Powers to defeat time-corrupted enemies and save the land.

The game runs at 60 FPS on recent generations of mobile devices.

For the first time ever, Apple has claimed the global smartphone crown in the opening quarter of the year, thanks largely to the success of its iPhone 16e, according to data released Monday by a market analysis firm. With a strategic push into emerging markets and a rare off-cycle product launch, the tech giant surged past Samsung in Q1 2025 — a shift in the high-stakes battle for mobile dominance.

Apple sales grew during the period, while those of its chief rival Samsung dropped.

In a tremendous turnaround, President Donald Trump removed the hefty tariffs he’d imposed on phone, computers and many other electronics being imported into the United States. The change, which came late Friday, should prevent price hikes that Apple, HP, Dell, etc. would likely have had to charge customers to pay for the import taxes.

There will reportedly also be no tariffs on processors, TVs, solar panels, flash drives and removable memory cards — no matter what country they are made in.

Update: The Trump administration said Sunday that it only provided electronics with temporary tariff relief.

Apple’s release date for a much smarter version of Siri will reportedly come in the fall, according to sources inside the company. While that’s many months later than Apple originally hoped, it’s still far sooner than some people feared.

Perhaps a recent shakeup of the Siri management team is bearing fruit.

New details emerged Thursday about Apple’s mad scramble to import millions of iPhones ahead of President Donald Trump’s tariffs. The company reportedly rushed 600 tons of iPhones into the United States from India last week. And, while there has been no word of a similar pre-tariff rush of iPhone imports from China, it seems unlikely Apple would overlook such an obvious move.

All this means there are surely even more iPhones, Macs, etc., stockpiled to meet U.S. consumer demand without price hikes — at least in the short term.

The Plugable USBC-E5000 5 Gbps USB-C Ethernet Adapter is as good as having an Ethernet port on your MacBook. Connect it to your cable, plug it into your Mac, and you no longer need to worry about the vagaries of Wi-Fi — you have a solid and secure wired internet connection.

Even better, it supports very fast internet connections for those with hefty connectivity demands.

I tested the affordable USB-C to Ethernet adapter in my home office and on the road to be sure it’s worth the money.

Android just can’t catch a break from U.S. teens. A survey found that 88% of that age group own an iPhone — a figure that’s held fairly steady for years.

What’s not positive news for Apple is how very few teens watch the Apple TV+ streaming service.

Murderbot is not a horror series. It’s sci-fi action comedy, no matter what the name implies — a new trailer for the upcoming Apple TV+ series makes that clear. And the trailer also shows that the plot sticks close to Martha Wells’ award-winning novels.

Watch the trailer for Murderbot season 1 that debuts in May to see for yourself:

Mac shipments continue a steady upward trend, increasing 14.1% year over year during the first quarter of 2025, according to a market research firm. While three PC makers sell more units than Apple, none can match Cupertino’s annual growth rate.

But the analysts note that tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump on computers brought into the United States will have “a direct inflationary impact” later in the year, potentially cooling demand for computers of all types.

A top goal of President Donald Trump’s hefty tariffs on essentially all imports is to force companies to move their production to the United States. That includes bringing iPhone assembly to America. The problem is, there are huge roadblocks that make that goal virtually impossible.

In broad terms, America doesn’t have anywhere close to the production capacity, or sufficient numbers of workers interested in low-paying factory jobs, to produce an all-American iPhone along with everything else Trump wants made in the U.S. Also missing from the equation: customers thrilled about paying much higher costs for products made in the United States.

The result is shaping up to be years of economic difficulties for Americans.

Frequent travelers can take their choice of deals on two travel adapters from Twelve South, each with a unique feature to set them apart from competitors. Both are now available at steep discounts.

An Amazon deal knocks 39% off the PlugBug 50W with built-in Find My, while the ButterFly foldable wireless charger price drops by 34%.

The EZQuest WorldTravel 65W GaN 5 Port with PD Wall Charger can keep your notebook, phone, tablet and smartwatch powered up in more than 200 countries. It packs four USB-C ports plus a USB-A one for compatibility with a range of electronics.

Of course, the travel adapter includes retractable power prongs for Europe, the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia and most of Asia. And EZQuest built in some welcome safety features.

I tested the 65W power plug adapter out, and it’ll certainly go on my next international trip. Here’s why.

The newly announced CalDigit TS5 Plus is for very elaborate setups. The sort of professional-grade setups that can make use of 20 ports, including a pair of Thunderbolt 5 ports, five more USB-C ports, 140W charging, a 10Gb Ethernet port and plenty more.

Those who can struggle by with a mere 15 ports might choose the smaller CalDigit TS5 instead.

A U.K. court on Monday confirmed Apple’s legal challenge of a secret government order to provide a backdoor into encrypted iCloud data. The U.K. government wanted its demand — which would compromise the encryption for iCloud users anywhere in the world — to remain hush-hush.

News of the government order (and Apple’s appeal) previously leaked out. And Apple already disabled its Advanced Data Protection encryption in Britain to comply. However, both the U.K. government’s demand and the legal battle it provoked were supposed to be secret. The ruling by the U.K.’s Investigatory Powers Tribunal drags the whole thing out into the open.

President Donald Trump’s tariffs started going into effect on April 5, and Apple reportedly brought as many products into the United States as possible just before the deadline. That includes five planes full of iPhones and other products coming in from India.

New taxes on imports are expected to push up prices for electronics, including ones from Apple. But with a considerable stockpile, it might be months before Apple is forced into a price increase.

Apple engineers exploring ways to improve the Apple Pencil got a patent for a stylus tip that can change its shape or stiffness. The goal might be to make a paintbrush for an iPad so digital painting feels more like the real thing.

It’s a concept the company has looked into for years.