News - page 810

Note: For Valentine’s Day only, all of Speidel’s iconic Twist-O-Flex Apple Watch bands are 10 percent off! Perfect for him or her.

Today’s all about showing the one you love just how much you care. I say it’s a great opportunity to throw a little love your own way.

Speidel — purveyor of the original stretchy, stainless steel Twist-O-Flex bands — agrees. This Valentine’s Day only, treat yourself to 10 percent off these great Apple Watch bands in Silver, Brushed or Black stainless steel.  These bands are for both men and women.

Read our full review below and visit our Watch Store to check out these iconic bands.

HomePods are already making their mark in new homes across the country — but not in a good way.

Apple customers started noticing that HomePod can damage wood furniture by leaving a white ring after resting on a table for just a few minutes or days.

There’s no better time than now to get a cheap deal on the Apple Watch Series 3, now that Apple is starting to sell refurbished units.

Apple’s online store stocked up on refurbished Apple Watch Series 3 units this week, giving customers the opportunity to get Cupertino’s best wearable at a discount.

Apple may be expanding its supply chain further by buying storage chips from the Chinese memory chipmaker Yangtze Memory Technologies, a new report states.

What makes this interesting is that the chips will reportedly be used only in iPhones and other devices for the Chinese domestic market. It suggests that Apple may be willing to modify its iPhone manufacturing process in order to please the Chinese government’s push toward more local manufacturing.

The iPhone’s controversial “notch” will get smaller this year, according to one group of investors.

Apple is expected to integrate Face ID into all three handsets it has planned for 2018. A smaller TrueDepth sensor means the cutout at the top of the iPhone’s display won’t need to be quite so big.

YouTube TV has hiked its prices after adding a whole bunch of new channels.

The service, which came to Apple TV earlier this month, now hosts Turner networks like CNN, Adult Swim and Cartoon Network — but for an extra $5 a month.

Professional grade acoustic tests appear to confirm that the HomePod is indeed the real deal as far as speakers go.

Apple has been talking up its smart adaptive speaker and high-end audio processing algorithms since the HomePod was first shown off at last year’s WWDC event. According to Apple, the HomePod can adapt its sound to fill any room it’s put in. It seems it wasn’t kidding!

Google will roll out an awesome Chrome ad blocker Thursday that takes aim at some of the most invasive forms of online advertising.

The new Chrome ad-blocking feature won’t annihilate ads entirely. But users won’t need to worry about full-page ads, ads with auto-playing sound and video, or flashing ads anymore.

Apple has no time for your drones! Yesterday was Apple’s annual investors meeting, and one of the attendees tweeted this photo of signage erected at Apple Park declaring it a “no drone zone.”

Given Apple’s insistence on privacy — and Tim Cook declaring that keeping Apple products under wraps is the “bane of [his] existence” — that’s not necessarily a surprise. Still, it does mean that Apple is seemingly none too happy about the myriad drone flyover videos which keep on showing up online.

Apple’s upcoming 6.1-inch iPhone will be a smash hit, according to one reliable analyst.

It is expected to become the most popular model in the 2018 lineup, thanks mostly to its more affordable price tag. Sales could total a whopping 100 million units over its lifetime.

When you’re a company the size of Apple and under the scrutiny that Apple is, keeping secrets is hard.

That’s what Tim Cook told investors during Tuesday’s annual investors meeting, during which he described how, “keeping stuff confidential is the bane of my existence.” In other words, with the exception of the visitor’s center, you shouldn’t expect a tour of Apple Park any time soon!

The CEO and co-founder of Flipboard has some harsh words for Apple’s rival Apple News aggregation app.

Speaking at the Code Media conference, Mike McCue said that Apple News is “a product … living in the past,” and is lacking behind Flipboard in some very important ways.

Note: Buy two nylon Apple Watch bands from Nyloon for $65. Regularly priced at $38.95 each. Sale ends Tuesday, February 13 at midnight. Use code Nyloon65 at checkout. 

Nyloon just introduced six fun new designs to its collection of nylon Apple Watch bands right on time for spring shopping. Best yet, these bands compare in quality to Apple’s nylon offering, and cost ten bucks less.

Check out Watch Store’s full lineup of Nylon bands for Apple Watch, and read on to learn more about these must-have straps. Buy two bands for $65 (an 18 percent saving). Use code Nyloon65 at checkout in Watch Store.

The end of money can’t come soon enough for Apple CEO Tim Cook.

During Apple’s annual shareholders meeting today, Cook told investors that mobile payments like Apple Pay haven’t taken off quite as fast as hoped. However, he said he sees promising signs that the death of cash could soon be upon us.

Ever since the iOS 11.2 update back in November 2017, the iPhones 8 and X have supported “wireless” fast charging. This allows inductive charging mats to pour 7.5 watts of battery-juicing power into Apple’s latest iPhones. Previous to that, Qi charging mats could only supply a pathetic five watts of charging power. To take advantage of this, you’ll need a charger capable of Apple Fast Charging. Zens has a few new gadgets that will do just that. Let’s take a look.

The life of Kevin Durant is set to be the inspiration for Apple’s next major TV show.

Apple has been scooping up TV shows like crazy the last few months and the latest project to get the iPhone maker’s thumbs up is a show that will explore Durant’s early life along with the world of Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) basketball the players, families and coaches involved.

HomePod may not be the smartest speaker on the market, but it packs some serious skills where it matters the most: sound.

Now that we’ve had a few days to play with HomePod and compare it to competitors like the Amazon Echo and Google Home, we’re absolutely in love. The CultCast host Erfon Elijah went ears-on with HomePod at his podcast command center for one of the funniest reviews you’ll ever watch.

Prepare to laugh your nips off.

Apple wants us to think of our friendly local Apple Store as a “community hub” or “town square,” but that apparently doesn’t include being a space for public protests.

According to a new report, Apple has gone to court in Paris to try and prevent French tax campaigners from pulling stunts inside its local retail stores. Specifically, it wants to ban the French NGO Attac from entering its premises.

The iPhone will gain market share as Samsung loses its grip in 2018, according to new predictions.

Apple is one of just three companies that are expected to see growth this year following weaker-than-expected smartphones sales in late 2017. TrendForce expects total handset production to grow just 2.8 percent, down from the 5 percent previously expected.

Feral Interactive has announced that Rise of the Tomb Raider: 20 Year Celebration will be making its way to Mac sometime this spring.

The critically acclaimed title stars everyone’s favorite tomb-raiding adventurer Lara Croft, now with slightly more realistic proportions. It was originally released for Xbox in late 2015, while the 20 Year Celebration special edition landed on PlayStation 4 in October 2016.

Check out its spectacular trailer below.

Thanks to HomePod, everyone is talking about Siri and how it compares to the other AI smart assistants created by companies like Google, Amazon and Microsoft.

But no matter what Siri’s relative failings may be, the technology is way ahead what was possible only a few years ago — as a brilliant 1980s-style parody for S.I.R.I. software makes abundantly clear. Check it out below.

Samsung plans to rip off one of the iPhone X’s hottest features for its upcoming Galaxy S9.

The device will allow users to create animated emoji characters just like Animoji, according to a report out of South Korea. It will also offers stereo speakers just like the iPhone’s.

Facebook has resolved a dispute with Apple that will allow it to launch a subscription tool for publishers in its iOS app.

The service has previously been available on Android devices. It will launch on iPhone in March.

Apple has added an extra 79 regions to its list of locations offering Apple Music student membership — with three more being added on February 26. New markets offered include Israel, Malaysia, the Philippines, Poland, Portugal, and Taiwan.

One of the most reputable tech review sites isn’t that impressed with the HomePod’s superb sound.

While most reviewers have noted the HomePod as the best sounding speaker they’ve ever listened too, Consumer Reports claims Google Home Max and Sonos One sound better.