We can add another award to Apple’s long list, although the company might not be too happy to accept it: The iPhone maker’s stock lost the most value of any tech company this year.
The news comes out of a study from USA Today that reports a shocking average 14 percent decline in value from 462 tech companies. That drop resulted in total losses of $529 billion, but Cupertino is the lead horseman in this year’s stockpocalypse.
More often than I care to admit, I’ll think I feel a tap from my Apple Watch. But then when I check the screen, I’ve received nothing: no texts, no phone calls, no notifications of any kind. It’s really weird and makes me feel like I’m finally losing it.
I usually just assume the watch shifted a little on my wrist, and that I’m not hallucinating at all. But psychologists are suggesting that what’s happening to me and others (you can admit it; this is a safe place) may be the technological arm of some actual psychological issues dealing with attachment, fear of rejection, and a chronic need for validation.
People are calling this symptom “ringxiety” because I’m pretty sure that we’ve really lost our sense of pride in portmanteaus as a culture.
A new Twitter account called Tiny Gallery will fill your feed with cute scenes from the world’s smallest art space. But it doesn’t use photographs to take you there.
Instead, the creator uses a combination of punctuation marks and emojis to build and paint walls, hang pieces, and populate the little place with visitors. And it’s exactly as cute as it sounds.
Apple is finally correcting an issue with Siri that it has known about since at least 2011.
The problem has appeared when users ask the virtual assistant to show nearby facilities that offer abortion services. For years, the results have directed people toward adoption centers, which is kind of the opposite of what they were looking for.
Apple says it’s made improvements to the search algorithm since it first identified the problem, but some users are still getting the undesired suggestions.
If you can look Atomi‘s super-cute robot hero in his single, perfectly round eye and say that you don’t want to help him get home, then you may be a monster. I’m sorry you had to hear it from me.
Atomi needs to gather atoms to repair his busted spaceship, but he has a few things in his way. Specifically, he can’t climb or jump, and some of those things he needs are on very tall platforms. But that’s where you come in. And the time you spend getting the little ‘bot where he needs to be is both fun and charming as it sounds.
One day, your iPhone or Apple Watch could actually start dispensing money.
It’ll be your own money coming out of an ATM, but it’s still cool.
Officials at Bank of America and Wells Fargo have dropped hints that they have their eyes on incorporating Apple Pay into near-field-communication-equipped teller machines. Neither company is prepared to say when or how widely this will happen, but considering they’re two of the largest banks in the United States, this could be a big deal.
I don’t think I’m being hyperbolic when I say that the Lumiére lamp is the coolest one I’ve ever used. And I have a light on my nightstand that’s shaped like Obi-Wan Kenobi’s lightsaber, so you know it’s real.
The Lumiére wins out, however, due to its unique, clever design and flexibility. And I don’t just mean that the actual lamp bends and holds different shapes — which it does — but this is a single light that can do just about anything you need a light to do. It will fit in with any room in your house, and you might just end up taking it with you when you get up to do something. And that’ll be easy because it’s wireless and super portable.
It’s a really good device, is what I’m getting at.
Siri’s latest trick has it setting the tempo for the Internet’s beatboxing magic.
Apple’s digital assistant may not be the best beatboxer on its own, but it can provide the backdrop for some more talented people. And those people have found a way to get Siri to lay it down so that they can spit hot fire and record it for our entertainment.
All it takes is a little math.
Whatever else we hear from Apple’s earnings call later today, we know that its App Store game is strong.
The virtual store that provides all of your favorite fart apps raked in a Scrooge McDuck-esque pile of coin with a record-setting $3.3 billion in revenue and 5.5 billion downloads during the last three months of 2015.
Apple wasn’t the only company that finished the year strong, though; Facebook also pulled in some impressive numbers.
A dating app has what sounds like a noble and magnanimous purpose, but some members of the LGBTQ community aren’t seeing it that way.
Hanky is for gay men who want to avoid “creeps, timewasters, and fake profiles.” And to that end, it’s really tough to get in. You either need an invite code or three recommendations from existing members. You also have to validate your phone number or sign up with your Facebook account to make sure you’re real.
But all of those membership hoops are causing a fuss.
Some intrepid makers have put their 3D printers to work making cool, retro-themed Apple Watch stands. Specifically, they’re creating ones shaped like Apple’s early, beloved desktop computers like the 128K.
It makes sense, really. The Apple Watch shows the time in big green letters when it’s on its side in Nightstand Mode, and green was basically the only color those monitors were capable of displaying. So that’s where these creators are taking their inspiration for some sweet places to hang their Apple Watches.
A new app for your fancy Apple Watch delivers a super-cool and stylish education on the inner workings of actual watches.
The free app, called WATCHe, shows you the time. Obviously, your Apple Watch can already do that on its own, but the app ups the class by simulating the gears, cogs, springs and movements of an analog watch. And it might actually teach you something.
You’d be forgiven if you took one look at Abantus Saga 2 and confused it for yet another tedious match-three game. But if you can get over your prejudice, you’re in for hours of enjoyment. And some frustration. But mostly enjoyment.
The puzzle title, which is out now for free in the iOS App Store, has you sliding around colored and patterned “cubes” (they’re squares, but the on-screen text calls them cubes) to complete full rows and columns. And that’s it — that’s the only mechanic. But what the developer does with it will have you playing and replaying Abantus Saga 2 for hours on end.
Some informal testing reveals that if you’re still rocking an old iPhone, you should probably upgrade to iOS 9.2.1.
iApple Bytes put three different models of older iPhones — the 4s, 5 and 5s — up against each other in a variety of tests designed to see which of them was faster starting up, using apps and running Siri, Apple’s digital assistant. Half were running the brand-new iOS 9.2.1, which arrived yesterday, and half were still on iOS 8.4.1, which has been around since August 2015.
You can see their results below in iApple Bytes’ series of videos.
Two high-tech companies are joining forces for the latest development in immersive VR porn: goggles plus machines.
The partnership is between virtual-reality porn producer BaDoinkVR and “teledildonics” maker Kiiroo. And once you get past the basic idea of it, it still sounds super weird. But that’s just kind of how the future works. The deal will allow BaDoink’s content to sync up with one of Kiiroo’s “personal devices” to create an experience so authentic that the companies assume you will forget about all of the fancy mechanical rigs you’ve attached to yourself.
It’s been a while since we’ve seen a game that looked as simultaneously adorable and mysterious as Paws, but here it is.
The upcoming title, which will drop on both Mac and PC March 24, puts you in the role of a sweet, lost lynx cub trying to find its way back home. And that sounds really sad, but the graphics in today’s announcement trailer are so charming that we could probably power through the pain.
Check it out below.
Sometimes, you look at your boring glass of ginger ale and think, “This could really use more ions.” Or maybe you don’t, but the makers of the Beverage Power have done that thinking for you.
It’s a small device that the company says will attach to any drinking glass or water bottle. It has a contact on its side that your hand activates, and you complete a circuit when the drink touches your mouth. That introduces a “small, safe electric current” that floods your drink — and, therefore, your body — with negative ions.
And here’s why the company says you’d want to do that.
If you’ve been waiting for the ultimate make-out game experience on your iPhone, keep waiting. This one looks gross.
Smooth Operator will be out just in time for Valentine’s Day, and it looks like exactly the thing to bring your festivities to a halt. It’s a co-op kissing title that is all about you and your partner following on-screen cues to make sure that your avatars keep their waggling tongues moving and … interacting.
We really can’t overstate how unsettling this thing looks, but if you want to see it in action, check out the trailer below.
The bulk of the country is about to get some very good news for their senses of style — and bad news for their bank accounts: The super-luxe Apple Watch Hermès will be available for purchase online at the end of this week.
Up to now, you’ve had to live in (or travel to) specific Apple and boutique stores in Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Francisco, or Toronto to pick up the especially fancy editions of the Apple Watch. But starting Friday, you’ll just have to go to either Apple or Hermès’ official sites to score one of your own.
If you’re looking for a one-of-a-kind case for your precious smartphone, here’s one that looks like it came straight out of Videodrome director David Cronenberg’s worst nightmares.
Have you seen that movie? It’s messed up.
This creepy phone case comes courtesy of artist Sarah Sitkin, who specializes in amazing, realistic representations of human body parts. And if you want one that looks like its upkeep will include the judicious use of cotton swabs, she’s created one that looks uncannily like you skinned it off of one of your victims as a trophy. But it will cost you.
Check it out below:
If he really wants the job, presidential hopeful Donald Trump should probably figure out what the office can and can’t do.
Trump showcased his continuing delusion of ultimate executive power to do everything ever at a speech at Liberty University today. And in addition to his lofty goals to construct a huge wall completely sealing off the border between the United States and Mexico (“Someday they’ll call it Trump Wall”) and build a military “so big, so strong, [and] so powerful that nobody is going to mess with us,” he also turned his attention to companies like that have outsourced production overseas to save money on labor and taxes.
“We’re gonna get Apple to start building their damn computers and things in this country instead of in other countries,” Trump said, apropos of nothing.
An accidentally deep discount on Apple Watch bands has the seller reaching out for positive reviews on Amazon.
Baoxing Trading mistakenly marked down some of the accessories in its store to too-good-to-be-true levels, and while they were, in fact, that, the company decided to honor the prices and ship the items at a loss. And that’s pretty nice and honorable of them, but it doesn’t mean they aren’t asking for a small favor in return via a note included in the packages buyers are receiving.
Check out the letter below:
We’ve seen a clever smartwatch hack or two, but this is not one of them.
A University of Cophenhagen student found a way to infiltrate smartwatches and trick them into giving up sensitive data like passcodes and personal identification numbers by accessing their motion data and offloading it to a secure server. And if that sounds completely terrifying, that’s because we haven’t told you how it works.
But it has a pretty big hole in its methodology.
Apple is increasing transparency on its Wi-Fi Assist feature in iOS 9.3, which is currently available in public beta. And it’s not just doing it for your sake.
The occasionally controversial iPhone setting is getting a minor but potentially super-useful upgrade that will not only make it more user-friendly, but could also save the company a ton of money in legal costs.
It seems that Nancy Pelosi had a bit of distraction during the President’s speech Tuesday.
During last night’s State of the Union, President Obama reflected on his time in office and outlined his hopes and visions for the country’s future. It was a conversational, grounded, and relatable address that covered the outgoing leader’s successes and even some regrets.
But at one point, cameras captured the former Speaker of the House tapping away on her wearable.
