For its next act with Siri, Apple is taking some cues from one of the tech world’s biggest sources of inspiration: Hollywood.
With the release of iOS 11 later this month, Siri is set to get some big upgrades. The most notable will be the AI helper’s silky-smooth voice. And according to one Apple exec, the movie Her played a big role in helping the company figure out the changes they should make.
If your Mac is sick, the first step is to restart it. But did you know that there are several tricks you can perform while your Mac is starting up?
Many of these are advanced Mac diagnostic tools, which shouldn’t be used unless you really know what you’re doing. But some not-so-secret startup keyboard combos will remove a stuck disk (if your Mac is old enough to even have a disk inside), let you boot your Mac from a USB drive, or to turn your entire computer into one big storage disk to connect to another computer.
Google plans to step up its fight against the iPhone 8 by taking a leaf out of Apple’s playbook.
A new report claims the company is in talks to buy HTC’s struggling smartphone business, which would give it near complete control over future Pixel devices.
Where do you put your AirPods when they’re not in your ears? Eric Migicovsky kept forgetting and when he did find them, he sometimes realized he had forgotten to charge them.
So he and a couple of friends came up with the PodCase, a relatively slim iPhone battery case that holds a set of AirPods and keeps them charged. The case can do away with the need to carry the AirPods charging case since the PodCase allows for one-cord charging for both phone and ear buds.
Hulu and Spotify have teamed up to offer U.S. college students one heck of a deal. For $4.99 per month, the same cost as Spotify’s existing student plan, users now get access to Spotify Premium and Hulu’s “Limited Commercials” plan.
The offer is a great way of the companies staying competitive with the likes of Amazon and Apple, both of who offer their own $5 a month low-cost student plans.
How many times have you wished you could climb into an engine to see what’s wrong with it? Or wondered what’s clogging your sink? Shrinking down and climbing inside a drain or an engine block is an unpleasant thought. So why not just to send an endoscopic camera in there to scope out the issue?
Apple won’t be bringing the headphone jack back to iPhone, so if it’s a feature you’re not prepared to lose anytime soon, you’re stuck with the iPhone 6s. Or are you?
One man, who recently built his own iPhone from scratch using components sourced in a Chinese tech market, has figured out a way to install a headphone jack in the iPhone 7. It’s the ultimate mod for music lovers.
The iPhone 8 may be set to debut at next week’s September 12 media event, but according to a new report the actual OLED handset itself won’t ship until October.
That is in contrast to the lower end LED iPhone 7s and iPhone 7s Plus devices, which will ship one week after the September media event. In other words, if you want the best of Apple’s new handsets, you may have to be prepared to wait!
A cool new ARKit demo shows how Apple’s new platform could be used to create a trippy and unique way of recording and visualizing sound.
The latest proof-of-concept video comes from code artist Zach Lieberman. The demo turns sound into a three-dimensional wave pattern, allowing musicians — or anyone else — to manipulate audio in a variety of ways.
Apple is continuing to build up its TV unit with the recruiting of four new veteran television executives.
These include Kim Rozenfeld, former head of programming at Sony Pictures Television, ex-Sony development execs Max Aronson and Ali Woodruff, and former WGN America head of publicity Rita Cooper. All of them will play a role as Apple continues to expand its push toward creating original programming.
Apple has reportedly signed its first major music streaming deal since launching Apple Music in 2015.
Sources “familiar with the matter” say it has signed a new, cut-rate agreement with Warner Music Group, and is on the verge of reaching a similar deal with Sony Music Entertainment.
The Home button on your iPhone has multiple purposes — unlocking your iPhone, bringing up the multitasking menu, returning to the home screen, invoking Siri, etc. Such frequent use can take a toll on the Home button’s responsiveness. Although it is designed to last, it can become laggy or less responsive over time. Surprisingly enough, a large number of Home button issues have more to do with the software rather than the actual hardware.
If you notice that your iPhone’s Home button isn’t as responsive as it used to be, here are a few tips you can use to fix the Home button lag.
Apple’s upcoming premium iPhone is likely to be its most expensive model ever — and Samsung is partly to blame, according to a reliable Apple analyst.
In his latest research note, KGI Securities analyst Ming Chi-Kuo explains to investors that Samsung currently holds a practical monopoly on the supply of OLED displays. The company is likely charging Apple a huge amount of money to make the switch from LCD modules to OLED. Apple fans probably won’t be happy with the final price tag.
Apple marketing boss Phil Schiller and his wife Kim made a monstrous donation to Bowdoin College this week that will help the school seriously expand its research into climate change’s impact on the ocean.
You probably spend a lot of time in the macOS Finder. Much of it is likely spent pointing and clicking, using the trackpad pointer to duplicate files, or to click back to the folder you were in a moment ago.
But, like most Mac apps, the Finder offers a ton of useful keyboard shortcuts — to create new folders, navigate files and change what you see in the Finder window. If you learn a couple of them, you can spend a lot less time dithering with your mouse. You will also look like a cool TV or movie hacker if you click on the keyboard instead.
Today, we’ll look at the most useful day-to-day Finder keyboard shortcuts.
The development of iOS 11 seems to be nearly complete ahead of Apple’s big iPhone keynote next week.
Developers received the 10th beta build of iOS 11 this morning, coming just one week after Apple surprised developers by making the ninth beta build available for testing.
Apple will have to fight off fresh competition from new Surface devices next month. Microsoft has confirmed it will be holding a keynote in London during its annual Future Decoded event, and sources familiar with its plans say we can expect at least one new device.
Computers have made it common to work with coworkers in offices all over the world. That means file sharing has become a key part of professional productivity. When you don’t share a desk, you can still share the contents of your computer’s desktop.
Dropbox is probably the first name that comes to mind, but another you should consider is Droplr. It turns file sharing, screen captures, desktop videos, and other super useful collaborative tools into a simple drag-and-drop affair. And right now, you can get 4 years of Droplr for up to 3 users, for just $39.99 at Cult of Mac Deals.
Ahead of next week’s iPhone 8 keynote at Apple Park’s Steve Jobs Theater, a few more details have been shared about Apple’s brand new location for media events.
And they’re every bit as obsessively perfect as you’d expect a building named after Apple’s co-founder and former CEO would be.
Apple is in the running to secure movie (and possibly TV) distribution rights for the James Bond franchise, a new report claims.
While Warner Bros., Sony, Universal and Fox are the more likely candidates, Apple and fellow tech giant Amazon have also reportedly thrown their names into the hat. Jony Ive as 007, anyone?
Apple has begun promoting new iOS 11 features to iOS 10 users ahead of the update’s public release.
The Tips app is issuing notifications that tease things like iOS 11’s redesigned Control Center, giving users a chance to preview them before the mobile operating system’s release in coming weeks.
Apple is running into big problems in India, concerning a clash with the government over its anti-spam iOS app.
The problem comes down to a Do Not Disturb app, which the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India wants Apple to distribute on the App Store. Apple, however, is refusing since it allows people to share spam call and text message logs with government agency, which Apple claims violates its privacy policies.
A spectacular new drone flyover video of Apple’s enormous Apple Park campus shows off employees gathered at the new Steve Jobs Theater, where next week’s iPhone 8 keynote is scheduled to be held.
While it doesn’t give any spoilers away about what we can expect from the event, it’s the best look we’ve yet received at the new location for media events, all courtesy of drone photographer extraordinaire, Duncan Sinfield. Check it out below.
Bookmarklets are those little bookmarks you click to run mini “apps” in your web browser. You might have one that saves the current page to your Instapaper account, or one that launches a Google search focused only on the current site. Bookmarklets can translate highlighted text on a page, send something to your to-do list, or pretty much anything. On the Mac, installing a bookmarklet is easy. You just drag it to the bookmarks bar in Safari and you’re done. On iOS, though, it’s still a real pain.
So, bookmark this how-to (in the usual way), and have it handy for those times you need to install a bookmarklet on an iPhone or iPad.
Google is giving iPhone and iPad users the ability to stream apps and games directly to YouTube Live. The update takes advantage of Apple’s ReplayKit framework, negating the need for a middleman device to capture a feed from your device.