Apple will unveil not one, but two different iWatch sizes when it takes the stage at the Flint Center next week, and according to the Wall Street Journal, Apple’s wearable will make mobile payments as easy as a tap on the wrist.
The new device is unlikely to launch this year, but the report claims that along with tracking your health and fitness data, the iWatch will feature a battery efficient OLED display, and an NFC chip an secure enclave to store all your credit cards for mobile payments.
We’re sorry, internet, but this new Funny or Die video has figured out the way to absolutely make the new iPhone 6 completely hack-proof.
No more iCloud, no more internet. The un-hackable iPhone 6, says this short film, is just a phone. And it only calls your parents.
Watch below as the three “interviewees,” playing Apple software designers, get angrier and angrier in their explanation, which comes down to “this is why we can’t have nice things.” Warning – there are a few colorful descriptions of things members of 4chan (the group behind most of the iCloud hacking) might want on their phone, as well. If you’re easily offended, skip the video.
Another Apple supplier is facing accusations concerning violations of labor rights and lapses in workplace safety.
The supplier in question is Taiwanese company Catcher Technology, which produces the metal casings for iPads as well as parts for the iPhone, plus components for other tech companies. The allegations concern a factory in the Chinese city of Suqian.
Among the accusations raised in a Thursday report by environmental nonprofit Green America and workers’ rights group China Labor Watch are the fact that employees are made to work excessive overtime hours, and handle toxic chemicals without the proper protective clothing.
Apple fans hoping to get elevated with Bono and The Edge at the Flint Center will be disappointed to hear the band’s spokespeople have squashed the rumor that U2 will play at the iPhone 6 event.
Rumors began bubbling on the internet this week that U2 would release its album by preloading it on the iPhone 6. Reports also claimed that Apple’s mysterious white box outside the Flint Center for the Performing Arts in Cupertino is really a giant soundstage for U2 to play on.
With every waking moment before Apple’s big Sept. 9 reveal, competing tech companies are trying to to steal the spotlight. Samsung, one of Apple’s biggest rivals, revealed its latest creations Wednesday in Berlin. Will two new smartphones, a smartwatch and a virtual reality system be enough to overshadow Apple’s upcoming news?
In today’s video we take a look at Samsung’s latest products and see exactly what the company is cooking up to challenge the iPhone 6 and the iWatch. Check out Samsung’s new Android phone with a curved display (the Galaxy Note Edge), a redesigned phablet (the Galaxy Note 4), a wild virtual-reality phone accessory called the Gear VR and more in this quick roundup.
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Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities has a big research report out today with his late-minute predictions for Apple’s September 9th media event.
It’s a doozy of a note, mainly because it lays out not only juicy iPhone 6 and iWatch details, but the revelation that Apple is expected to introduce the second-gen iPad Air at the event as well.
Kuo, who nailed most of the details surrounding the iPhone 5s/5c launch last year, is saying that both 4.7 and 5.5-inch iPhone 6 models will be announced. On top of that, both will have a 128GB storage option. He also makes some interesting predictions regarding Apple’s sapphire plans and iWatch specs.
Many of us use a Bluetooth keyboard with our Mac or our iPad, but using the same keyboard with multiple devices can be a real pain in the neck, since Bluetooth doesn’t elegantly let you pair one accessory with multiple devices.
For a little while now, Logitech has been trying to massage away that pain with a series of keyboards that can switch between being paired with a Mac and iOS device, but Logitech’s new Bluetooth Multi-Device Keyboard K480 makes it easier than ever. And it has a built-in stand for your iPad or iPhone to boot.
These days, most of us have no shortage of extra batteries that can juice up our iPhones and iPads in a pinch. The problem is that none of them are there when you actually need them: you’ve forgotten them at home, or they’re in that other bag.
The bKey is a new Kickstarter project that aims to make that problem a thing of the past by shrinking down an external battery to the size of a key. And if you’ve got a battery on your keychain, you’ll never be without a charge.
The smartphone unveilings continue at IFA 2014 in Berlin this week with Huawei’s new Ascend G7, an iPhone lookalike with an all-metal form factor. It’s a midrange device that has some nice specifications, including a snappy 64-bit processor, a 13-megapixel camera, and a Huawei’s new Emotion 3.0 user interface.
With franchises like The Hobbit and The Hunger Games continuing to tear it up at the box office, the sci-fi and fantasy genres are booming. But while the movies don’t show any signs of slowing down in terms of their impending arrivals, there are still a veritable ton of classics waiting to be given the big screen treatment.
Check out our gallery for eight of the best.
(Picture: Photobucket)
Los Angeles teachers union president Alex Caputo-Pear has called for L.A. Schools chief John Deasy — the man who helped orchestrate the ill-fated $1.3 billion tech deal designed to give an iPad to every student — to report to “teacher jail” while the program is under investigation.
“Teacher jail” refers to district offices which house instructors who are facing allegations of misconduct.
In Deasy’s case, the alleged misconduct relates to apparent inappropriate dealings with Apple and education publisher Pearson that may have influenced the bidding process for the massive deal, which has now been abandoned. Deasy claims there was nothing inappropriate about his relationship with either company.
Whether or not the upcoming iPhone 6 will sport a sapphire crystal display or not is something we’ll have to wait to find out for sure, but the ultra-strong material used by many high end watch manufacturers is certainly something Apple has spent a lot of time investigating.
Some of those investigations have led to a new patent application published today, revealing how Apple plans a technique for strengthening glass by using an “ion implanting” method as opposed to the kind of chemical coatings used for, say, Corning’s Gorilla Glass.
According to the application, the reason for this is that the kind of traditional chemical strengthening techniques used on glass screens might not be effective when used on materials like sapphire.
Forget Spotify, Pandora and Beats Music. I’ve tried them all, and for my money, Rdio is the best streaming music subscription service out there. It has the best app design and, for my tastes, the best music selection. But you have to pay.
An update, though, is trying to make Rdio much more palatable to free users, as well as help all users find new music faster. It’s making the service free to everyone, emphasizing ad-supported stations for free users (with up to 15 times as many tracks as competing services), and new, smart social services for paid users.
Considering that just a few short years ago Apple was scoring dead last on Greenpeace’s report on green-friendly data centres, the company has made amazing strides in order to turn around its reputation.
In a new September report from Greenpeace, entitled “Green Gadgets: Designing the Future,” the global environmental organization says that Apple is doing more than any other manufacturer to reduce the damage it does to the environment. The report notes that Apple has kept its promise to eliminate use of hazardous materials including Polyvinylchloride (PVC) and Brominated flame retardants (BFRs) in its products.
I like the Lensbaby that I have for my regular camera, but I frikkin’ love the Lensbaby LM–10 for the iPhone. Like most things that make the trip from elsewhere to iOS, the little Lensbaby offers a subset of the original’s features, but they are – dare I say – a more focused set of features.
Let’s just say the iPhone Lensbaby is about the funnest iPhoneography accessory around.
Microsoft may enjoy bragging about the perceived superiority of its Windows Phone virtual assistant Cortana over Apple’s Siri, but the actress who voices Cortana apparently isn’t so convinced.
In a recent tweet, actress Jen Taylor (@jentaylortown) tweeted the message “Oh my geez Seattle is beautiful” via iOS, suggesting that while Microsoft may be helping bring in the paychecks, that money is going on Apple products.
While China is where a lot of Apple’s focus has been in terms of expanding into new territories, India is also a fast developing smartphone market where the Apple brand is doing very well.
According to a new report, Apple has sold more than 1 million iPhones in India since the start of the current financial year — representing a significant milestone for a company that wasn’t considered to be a serious contender in the South Asian market until relatively recently.
Although the sales data was not released, research agencies put the figure at 1.02 million between October 2013 and August 2014, with a total of 1.1 million units projected by the time the fiscal year ends on September 30.
Four years ago, Apple debuted the iPad with the first of what would soon become a widely parodied style of video, in which Apple’s Senior Vice President of Design Jony Ive said of Apple’s first tablet: “It’s true that when something exceeds your ability to understand how it works, it sort of becomes magical, and that’s exactly what the iPad is. It’s hard to see how something so simple, so thin, and so light, could possibly be so capable.”
As Apple knew it would, the video made a huge impact on people… so big an impact that it soon became a well-worn format for parody. Now, even Swedish furniture retailer Ikea is getting in on the game with their latest ad, which uses all the same beats and breathless rapture of Jony Ive talking about the iPad, but to promote the 2015 Ikea catalog instead. Well done.
See Apple’s original iPad introduction video below.
REI's Hobitat 6 tent is a spacious car-camping tent that's surprisingly quick and easy to set up and break down. My teenage son managed to put it up on his own the first night working with a feeble flashlight. After that he became very proficient at putting it and pulling it down, though a 10-minute job became a five-minute one with some assistance from his siblings. Once up, the Hobitat was big and sturdy. We never staked it down or used guy wires, but it stood firm in several thunderstorms and didn't leak a drop.
Unfortunately, the Hobitat 6 is no longer available, but REI's Kingdom 6 ($439) is very similar.
Photos: Kahney family archives and Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
In his latest column for The New York Times, Nick Bilton drops an interesting tidbit about Jony Ive and the iWatch.
The mythical wearable, which is expected to finally see the light of day at next week’s Apple event, is something Ive has been bragging about around Apple HQ. He thinks it will be so good that even Swiss watchmakers won’t know what hit them.
Apple’s event on September 9th is going to be huge. Sure, iPhone announcements come around every 12 months, but this year Apple’s going bigger than ever with two product launches, a gigantic venue, and a mysterious white cube.
We investigated Apple’s mystery box ourselves last week and still couldn’t piece together what it’s for, but according to rumblings on the Internet, U2 will be the headlining act during next week’s event, and will launch their next album by pre-loading it on every new iPhone 6.
It may sound too crazy to be true, but U2 fans are already convinced Bono and The Edge will tear up the stage at the Flint Center, and there’s come compelling proof.
Here’s the evidence:
Apple and Google have resumed mediation talks with tech workers who are suing Silicon Valley’s top tech firms for an alleged anti-hiring agreement orchestrated by Steve Jobs.
Court filings indicate that Intel and Adobe are also participating in the talks as the companies attempt to reach a new settlement for the class action case, after U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh rejected the companies’ proposed settlement of $324.5 million last month.
Apple might reveal its first ever phablet next week with the 5.5-inch iPhone 6, and while many Apple fanboys question the need for an iPhone the size of a dinner plate, IDC’s latest market projections reveal Apple is about to get in on the phablet craze at the perfect time.
Over the next four years phablet sales are expected to grow more than any other smartphone, tablet, or PC category. Worldwide phablet shipments are will pass portable PCs by the end of 2014 with 175 million units sold, but that number will to explode to 318 million units in 2015, making smartphones with screen sizes from 5.5 to less than 7 inches more popular than the tablets that spawned them.
Here’s IDC’s projections:
I’ll admit it — I’ve got a thing for these waxed canvas and leather bags from Waterfield. I’ve ended up using the impeccably designed Staad backpack and the classy Nintendo 3DS case long after my reviews of them were published. These bags and cases from the San Francisco design collective are warm, inviting and just get better with age and use.
Let’s face it, though: Sometimes you only want to carry your laptop and a couple of accessories, and that’s it. Waterfield’s latest design, the MacBook Outback Solo, is a minimalist sleeve made of the same strong canvas material and rich, thick, buttery-smooth leather as the other bags in the line. It can be paired with a carrying strap that turns the sleeve into a messenger bag. While our very own Charlie Sorrel called the iPad version of this bag a man-purse, I’m thinking of this more as a shoulder-saving device — the fewer things I end up having to carry, the better.
This little sleeve is perfect for exactly that.