Year: 2016

iPhone 5se and iPad Air 3 expected to launch March 18

Cody Lee ∙ Updated May 1, 2018

Apple is planning to launch the iPhone 5se and iPad Air 3 on Friday, March 18th, reports 9to5Mac. Citing sources familiar with the matter, the outlet claims the launch of the long-rumored 4-inch iPhone and third-gen iPad Air will follow their unveiling at an event on Tuesday, March 15th.

If true, this would mark a departure from Apple's usual launch cycle, in which products are introduced one to two weeks before they are available for sale to the public. Unsurprisingly, 9to5Mac's Mark Gurman says that because of the quick turnaround, Apple is unlikely to offer pre-orders.

Google is shutting down Picasa desktop app and Picasa Web Albums to focus on Photos

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 12, 2016

Google on Friday announced that the Picasa desktop app and its corresponding online photo-sharing service, called Picasa Web Albums, are soon going to be officially dead. This didn't come as a shock: since the launch of Google Photos, Picasa's fate was pretty much sealed.

As of March 15, 2016, Google will no longer be supporting the desktop Picasa application for Mac and Windows. After the cut-off date, existing Picasa installations will still work.

However, Google has said it will cease development of the app so there will be no future updates nor will the Picasa app continue to be available for download after March 15.

Apple reportedly making its first scripted TV show starring Dr. Dre

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 12, 2016

Apple has decided to back its first ever scripted television series that will star one of its own executives, Beats co-founder and rapper Dr. Dre (real name Andre Young). According to The Hollywood Reporter, the top-secret project is dubbed “Vital Signs”. The production is reportedly “being bankrolled by Apple”.

The series will be likely distributed via Apple Music although the report doesn't make it clear if the iTunes Store will also carry the show so that Apple TV owners could stream it.

“The first season will roll out all at once, regardless of venue, a la Netflix,” sources told the publication, adding that Apple is said to be “very bullish on the project.”

AT&T unveils 5G roadmap, says it’ll be 10-100 times faster than 4G

Cody Lee ∙ Updated May 1, 2018

AT&T on Friday issued a press release detailing its 5G network roadmap. The carrier says it is partnering with Ericsson and Intel to work on 5G solutions in its labs starting in Q2 of this year, and it hopes to be ready for outdoor tests and trials by early summer.

5G speeds are expected to be 10-100 times faster than current 4G LTE connections. AT&T says customers will see speeds measured in gigabits per second, not megabits. For reference, at one gigabit per second, you can download a TV show in less than 3 seconds.

Office Lens converts scanned paper documents to editable Word files

Anthony Bouchard ∙ February 12, 2016

For those of you that still use hard copies for all your important documents, or have physical business cards, photographs, whiteboards, and other important information that are looking for a way to digitize it and even modify it after the fact, Microsoft's Office Lens app will be your best friend.

Office Lens, which is a free download from the App Store, allows you to scan these kinds of information and media and can create software versions of them to make sharing and editing easier so you can get rid of the filing cabinet taking up space in your home or office.

In this tutorial, we'll give you some background on the app and show you how you can use it to scan and then edit documents in Word.

How to keep apps, games and websites from spamming your Facebook Timeline

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 5, 2018

One of the biggest challenges Facebook users face in their daily usage of the service involves keeping apps, games and websites that connect to Facebook as a sign-in mechanism from posting random updates, unwanted stores, ad links and other garbage on their Timeline.

For most people, this constitutes spamming because not only do these posts appear on your own Timeline, but also in your friends' News Feed and ticker.

Unfortunately, too few people are aware that they can easily squelch this spammy behavior with just a few clicks. In this tutorial, we're going to show you the tools Facebook put at your disposal which were designed to stop apps from posting updates on your behalf.

iPhone 7 may ship with wired EarPods after all

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 12, 2016

Apple's upcoming iPhone 7 will include an all-digital, wired edition of the EarPods headphones that will connect to the handset's Lightning port, not the wireless edition as previously rumored.

According to an analyst note from Barclays, a copy of which was obtained by Business Insider, Apple has not yet purchased a license from its supplier Cirrus Logic that would permit the company to use Cirrus' active noise-canceling software.

Cirrus technology would be needed to filter out background noise during phone calls were Apple to ditch the traditional 3.5mm headphone jack in favor of wireless Bluetooth headphones.

Law firm moving forward with class action lawsuit over ‘Error 53’ iPhone bricking

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 12, 2016

Seattle-based law firm Pfau Cochran Vertexes Amala (PCVA) has decided to follow through with plans to drag Apple to court over software safeguards in iOS which have been specifically designed to render iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus handsets inoperable after unauthorized Touch ID and Home button repairs.

As first noted by AppleInsider yesterday, the pending class action lawsuit was filed with with the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, alleging the Cupertino firm has “gone too far” in employing the extreme measure of bricking users' handsets without any advance warning.

Using Gatekeeper to help secure your Mac

Anthony Bouchard ∙ Updated May 23, 2019

macOS comes with a security feature known as Gatekeeper, which can help prevent unwanted apps from launching on your Mac without your permission. It can also prevent potentially malicious apps from launching because it can be used to limit the kinds of apps that are allowed to open on your Mac.

In lieu of the recent Sparkle updater framework vulnerability having been uncovered in a variety of popular macOS apps, now is a great time to set up your Gatekeeper settings to prevent potential issues with malware on your Mac in the future.

In this tutorial, we'll be showing you how Gatekeeper works and how you can configure it to keep your Mac just as secure as you want it to be.

Zentrum offers an omni-interface for accessing multitasking, music controls, system toggles & shortcuts

Anthony Bouchard ∙ February 12, 2016

In iOS, the Control Center and App Switcher interfaces are separate from one another and this means to get to one or another, you have to use a different gesture. It seems like some improvements could be made by merging the two interfaces into one, as we've seen with the popularity of previous jailbreak tweak releases such as Auxo 2 & 3.

A new jailbreak tweak called Zentrum is now available in Cydia's BigBoss repository for $1.99 and it introduces users to an all-new omni-interface for multitasking, viewing music controls, and accessing system toggles & shortcuts, but it even bakes into the mix a quick app launcher, which you can configure to your liking.

How to view, search and edit Safari passwords

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated April 12, 2023

If you're tired of always having to log in, Safari will happily save web passwords in your keychain. Even better, the browser can automatically fill in your user names and passwords the next time you visit your favorite websites.

And with the iCloud Keychain feature, your saved passwords can be synchronized across devices in a safe, secure manner. In this tutorial, you're going to learn how to search saved Safari passwords without needing to visit their websites, view your saved logins, as well as add, delete and manage saved passwords.

Abstract puzzler The Mesh goes free as Apple’s App of the Week

Cody Lee ∙ February 11, 2016

Apple on Thursday updated its weekly App of the Week promotion with a game called The Mesh. This means that for the next 7 days, you'll be able to pick up the popular puzzler for free for both iPhone and iPad—a solid savings of $2.

In The Mesh, players are tasked with combining numbered tiles to match target values and clear the board without running out of space. The game features beautifully-designed graphics and animations, and an incredible soundtrack.