Top stories - page 106

With Thursday’s release of the new Soundcore Space Q45 Wireless Noise Cancelling Headphones and sibling Space A40 earbuds, Soundcore began replacing its Life series of sound products. The company sent me both products to test. This review covers the Q45 cans (my A40 review will appear tomorrow).

I’ve spent a couple weeks with the Q45 over-ear, closed-back headphones. Soundcore pushes two main selling points: strong noise cancellation and long battery life. And with the Q45 headphones, the company has hit it out of the park on both counts.

And they sound good for the price, too.

It’s not easy getting noticed on the internet. With so much competition on most search engines, ranking high enough to make it to the first page takes a ton of work and research. However, it’s easier if you use the right SEO tools.

LongTailPro is an intelligent keyword research tool that can improve your site’s SEO ranking. And you can purchase 10,000, 100,000 or 1 million keyword lookup credits on sale.

Users who aren’t ready to to take the plunge into full home-automation system like HomeKit and related accessories have another option to make a dumb lock smarter.

SwitchBot recently launched a new version of SwitchBot Lock. The company said it’s the best way to make a door lock smart without refitting, so users can lock or unlock their door via devices like iPhone or Apple Watch.

Better yet, right now you can get 15% off on Amazon, or about $15 off the $100 price.

Known for camera-rig and lighting hardware, SmallRig released its new, portable Forevala W60 wireless microphone system this week.

That gives podcasters and other content creators a new option for quality audio on the go.

A new interactive website called Design the Next iPhone lets you have a laugh by making whatever monstrosity you want out of Apple’s market-leading handset, due for a major refresh with the iPhone 14 series on September 7.

And each time you make a new design, Apple CEO Tim Cook pops up with some encouraging marketing-speak.

Apple sent out invitations Wednesday to a “far out” event scheduled for September 7. There’s nothing in the invite to indicate what’s on the agenda, but this will almost certainly be the debut of the iPhone 14 lineup and Apple Watch Series 8.

Unlike such events for the past couple of years, members of the tech press are being invited to attend in person.

For details of what’s likely on the agenda, check out our rundown of everything Apple is expected to announce at the “Far Out” event.

Everybody knows a leather Apple Watch band is a timeless and elegant accessory, just as it has been for watches in general for decades. But not all leather bands are equal.

Laut, for example, offers its Prestige Leather Apple Watch Band made from premium Saffiano leather. It finishes your look in style.

And you can get it right now in the Cult of Mac Store for just $49.99.

Some people care deeply about cable management, with nary a cord to be seen in their computer setups. Others couldn’t care less about it, leaving wire-spaghetti all over the place. And folks in the middle want to do it right, but meh, maybe next week, and maybe only somewhat.

Today’s featured MacBook Pro and iPad Pro setup stakes out much of the ground described above. Cable management is in play, but it’s done in a way that drove some neatniks crazy while others applauded the controlled mayhem.

Steelseries, known for gaming headsets, has jumped into the desktop speakers pool with a big splash. Its new Arena line of desktop speakers is the company’s first product of that type.

And it includes what the company calls the world’s first 5.1 surround sound speakers you can run with a single USB connection to a Mac, PC, gaming console or TV.

Planning on traveling soon? If you’re going international, you might want to bring along something that will make communicating in another language easier. No, we don’t mean a dictionary, and we certainly don’t mean Google Translate.

Mymanu Clik S are award-winning translation earbuds. Pop them in your ears, and they will feed you a live translation of a conversation in a variety of languages. And right now, these futuristic earbuds cost less than ordinary AirPods. You can snag a pair for just $99 (regularly $220) with code CLIK.

In the first trailer for upcoming docuseries Gutsy, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton take part in animated discussions with strong and accomplished women who inspire them.

The list of participants in the series, which premieres September 9 on Apple TV+, is truly varied. It includes famous names from different walks of life, including Kim Kardashian, Gloria Steinem and Jane Goodall.

Apple just keeps adding new features to the iPhone camera, but don’t count on Cupertino introducing wings so you can capture aerial footage. For that, you need a camera drone like the Ninja Dragon Blade X Pro.

It offers simple flight controls so you can easily capture crisp 4K footage. And it’s on sale for $85.99 (regularly $169) for a limited time.

Apple seeded iPadOS 16 beta 7 to developers on Monday, and its build number confirms that the release of this new version has been pushed back several weeks. This is in-line with an earlier leak that iPads wouldn’t see an update until October.

In addition, there has now been no new macOS Ventura beta for over two weeks, showing it’s also not close to release. That’s not surprising, however.

iOS 16, watchOS 9 and tvOS 16 are in the final stages of beta testing, and are expected to become debut in September, as expected.

The Adonit Neo Pro iPad stylus gets power just by being placed on the edge of the tablet. This is a trick that used to be reserved for Apple Pencil, but no more. Even better, the stylus is well designed for note taking and sketching, and offers palm rejection and tilt sensitivity.

I’ve used the affordable iPad stylus as part of my job for over a week now. Here’s why I love it.

Casetify, known for pop-culture imagery on its iPhone cases and other accessories, plans to mark the 35th birthday of classic game franchise Street Fighter with a slew of products featuring imagery from it.

The products will include iPhone 13 cases and MagSafe chargers, according to a new report.

Whether you’re saving up for a new MacBook Air or just looking to get more for every dollar, a warehouse club is an easy way to get what you need at the lowest possible price.

This Sam’s Club membership lets you stock up on everyday consumables — and pays for itself in a multitude of ways.

Real-world experiments with the new MacBook Air show Apple’s latest can use Parallels 18 to run Windows 11 faster than a Dell XPS Plus.

It’s a tribute to the performance of the Apple M2 processor in the latest Air.

With the rising excitement around iOS 16, now’s an excellent time to launch your own app. But you don’t need programming experience, or a mobile developer on your payroll, to get your idea off the ground. All you need is an active website and AppMySite.

This mobile app builder turns design and development into a quick, simple process resulting in sleek, smooth iOS apps. For a limited time, you can get a five-year subscription to AppMySite for $49.99 (regularly $2,340).

Dell rolled out its new Dell Pro Webcam over the weekend, offering a less-expensive alternative to the UltraSharp 4K webcam it brought to market last year.

The new one shares some high-end features but also lets go of some others to get the price down.

Sometimes you see one thing that seems quietly radical about a computer setup, only to find out it’s full of even weirder tweaks.

Today’s featured setup is a good example. It hides a Mac mini behind a display. But in front of the display, a wildly split mechanical keyboard surrounds a Magic Trackpad turned backward — on purpose!

Apple pledged Monday to donate $10 to the National Park Foundation (NPF) for many Apple Pay purchases. If you buy via Apple Pay on apple.com, in the Apple Store app or at a U.S. Apple Store through August 28, you’re helping national parks.

Cupertino said it’s a way to celebrate 106 years of the U.S. National Park Service. And you can also enjoy special content and collections on Apple Maps, Apple Podcasts and more.

Let’s face it: The Mac’s built-in Markup tool for screenshots is anything but heroic. If you want something a bit beefier and easier to use, try Markup Hero.

This screenshot and annotation tool will make it easier to capture what’s on your computer screen and mark it up for sharing with friends, tech support geeks or what have you. And for a limited time, you can get three-year and five-year Superhero Plans on sale for $59 (regularly $144) and $79 (regularly $240) respectively.

A replacement for the original, full-size HomePod is reportedly in development. The smart speaker is expected to provide better audio performance than the current HomePod mini.

And it might debut as early as fall 2022.

Multiple sources say the Apple’s upcoming M2 Pro chip will be made with an enhanced manufacturing process that wasn’t yet available for the recently released M2. That will make Apple’s next processor more efficient than the one in the new MacBook Air.

Even better, the M2 Pro could launch in updated MacBook Pro models before the end of 2022.

There really are apps for everything at this point. Whether you’re a coffee snob aiming to simplify your brewing experience, or simply looking for a tool to ease the frustration of your digital life, there is an app here for you. If you have other awesome apps to suggest for future installments, email your suggestion or tweet them over!