News - page 656

Only in the United States do men try to carry all their essential out-of-home possessions in their pockets. Wallet, keys, phone, spare battery, AirPods, Leatherman. So wedded are men to this principal that they ridicule small bags by calling them “murses.” Either that, or they use things like cellphone holsters or fanny packs, which are pretty much social death.

In Europe (but not in the U.K.), men just carry small bags. And they call them “bags,” or whatever the local name is. Whatever, it’s definitely not el murse. Now, men in the U.S. can catch up to the the rest of the world with WaterField Designs’ Sutter Sling Pouch, a gentleman’s handbag that’s just big enough for you to empty your pockets into.

Qualcomm needs to settle its lawsuits with Apple soon if it wants to be in the first 5G iPhone. Time is running out on this chip maker to supply 5G modems for Apple’s 2020 offering, according to an industry analyst.

And that would hurt Qualcomm more than Apple.

Halide, an iOS camera app that entered a flooded photo app category in 2017, quickly rose above most of the others as a must-have tool for serious iPhone photographers.

The creators, wanting manual camera settings and a RAW shooting option, rolled out a new app this week bringing ease to the otherwise complicated task of light and motion painting with long exposures.

The new app, Spectre, requires no technical skill – or even a tripod – to bring the streams of light to urban scenics shot on iPhone.

Apple is contacting podcast producers requesting that they optimize the metadata for their shows — or risk having them removed from Apple’s podcast service.

The cautionary email mostly concerns guidelines on including detailed, nonredundant written descriptions of episodes. However, the Apple Podcasts email contains a few surprising directives — like the fact that titles should not include numbers. Provided that’s read as intended, this could cause a few problems!

A pair of unannounced iPad models have again appeared in a regulatory database ahead of their official unveiling.

The new slates, with model numbers A2124 and A2133, were first spilled by the Eurasian Economic Commission in late January. They are expected to arrive sometime this spring.

I’m an unabashed fan of pro wrestling — and pro wrestling games, too. As much as I can enjoy the highly polished WWE 2K19, however, my heart belongs to the 2D grapplers of days past.

If you also have fond memories of pumping quarter after quarter into the WWF WrestleFest cabinet at your local arcade, a new iOS game is sure to have you tearing off your America-loving t-shirt in elation. Check out the trailer for Slam Mania below.

The Cellebrite hacking tool used by law enforcers for pulling data off locked iPhones costs $6,000 new. However, used units now show up on eBay for as little as $100.

That’s a big discount from the full price. And it seems that Cellebrite, a security firm based in Israel, isn’t too happy about the situation — with very good reason.

Slowing iPhone sales in China was a major concern for Apple. However, things may be back on the upswing, claims UBS analyst Timothy Arcuri.

According to Arcuri’s latest note to investors, Apple is clearing inventory in the country. This is partially thanks to price reductions. While it would be foolish to suggest that there won’t be more struggles, it seems that the worst could be behind Apple.

Fortnite season eight has landed, bringing new locations, new weapons, and explosive changes. Players can launch themselves across the map using the new cannon, explore the scorching volcano, and more.

There’s also a brand new Battle Pass with 100 levels, and more than 100 new rewards.

A record 18 million smartwatches sold in the final three months of 2018 — and Apple Watch made up more than half of them.

That’s according to the latest global sales research figures from Strategy Analytics. The firm suggests that Apple Watch represented 51 percent of global smartwatch sales. Samsung took second place, followed by Fitbit, and Garman.

The faster cellular data networks being rolled out now will bring tremendous benefits to Apple, according to a well-known industry analyst. Gene Munster even said today, “Apple will be one of 5G’s biggest beneficiaries.”

He listed a number of current and future products that will see gains from this nascent wireless tech.

Apple’s CEO is optimistic about his company’s plan to have the iPhone store all our health records, even though it got a black eye recently: turns out some third-party iOS apps leaked health-related data to Facebook. 

But Tim Cook says that people trust Apple because the company has a deep commitment to user privacy, and people know that. 

Apple’s self-driving car project may be nearing the end of the road.

After rumors surfaced last month that the company slashed its workforce for Project Titan, Apple confirmed today that 190 employees in Santa Clara and Sunnyvale have been released from the self-driving car project.

The US Department of Transportation and Federal Aviation Administration is making it a little bit harder for fliers to haul lithium-ion batteries to new destinations.

Under new rules revealed today, passengers are banned from storing lithium-ion cells or batteries on cargo during commercial flights. There’s also a new ban that prevents companies from shipping batteries with more than 30 percent charge on cargo-only flights.

Turns out pro hockey players can take iPhone pictures as well as they skate and brawl. At least, that’s the message of a new “Shot on iPhone” campaign.

Candid images taken with the iPhone XS by players of the game they love are going up at arenas in the U.S. and Canada

Australia recently passed a law forcing tech companies to give law enforcement greater access to encrypted messages from users. The U.K. already has a similar law, and India is considering one.

There’s no new legislation in the U.S., but the FBI and other police agencies still want easy access to iPhones and other computers, as well as private conversations.

For Apple Watch-owning musicians, the MidiWrist app is pretty wild. It lets you control almost any music hardware or software just by tapping the Apple Watch. The possibilities are almost literally endless — and you can even map the smartwatch’s Digital Crown as a custom controller.

Looking for a smart air purifier you can control using your iPhone? If so, Apple has just the product for you — with the Wynd Plus Smart Air Purifier intelligent personal air quality system. The size of a water bottle, the portable device promises to create a perfect bubble of clean air around users.

Best of all, an accompanying iOS app will monitor your environment and alert you of any changes you need to know about.

Apple has started removing duplicate VoIP apps from the App Store.

The purge comes after a report highlighted a shady practice some developers have been using to game App Store search results. Plenty of clones still remain in other categories, however.

Today marks the 52nd birthday of Jony Ive, Apple’s much-admired chief design officer. As the shaper of products including, well, virtually everything that Apple builds, Ive has been a central presence since Steve Jobs’ return to Cupertino in the late 1990s.

To celebrate his birthday, check out one of Ive’s most interesting interviews. Happy birthday, Jony!

Hulu has slashed the price of its ad-supported plan, making the service more accessible to budget-conscious consumers.

It’s not all good news, however: Hulu’s Live TV plan, which offers access to more than 60 top channels live and on-demand, is now more expensive. The ad-free Hulu and Hulu + Spotify plans have not been changed.

It seems that rumors about Apple Music making its way onto Google Home may have been premature. After Apple Music showed up as a listening option in the Google Home app, Google has issued a statement to correct the record.

Apple is on the receiving end of a new lawsuit, claiming that it is infringing more than seven patents relating to LTE cellular standards. The lawsuit potentially affects devices including the iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and others.

The lawsuit was filed by multiple firms under the umbrella group Optis Wireless Technology. They are asking for damages “in the form of reasonable royalties.”

Americans about to purchase a handset are far more interested in an iPhone than in devices running the rival Android OS, according to a survey done by an industry analysis firm.

But the news isn’t all good for Apple. The same survey found only moderate interest in the company’s rumored streaming video service.

The USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) today released a description of the next version of USB.  This brings welcome improvements in data transfer speeds, and USB 3.2 also attempts to remedy some of the confusion the public experiences trying to understand what USB products offer.