Microsoft’s new Mac to Surface Assistant does exactly what the name says

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated April 19, 2017

Microsoft is simplifying the process of moving your Mac stuff over to the Surface laptop/tablet hybrid devices. As noted on Twitter three days ago, the Windows maker recently released a brand new app, Mac to Surface Assistant, provided as a free download from the Microsoft website. The migration tool requires an external USB drive and lets Apple users move all their photos, videos, music, mails, contacts, calendars and other files from a Mac to a Surface with a few clicks.

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iPhone 8 said to feature rounded water drop design similar to the original iPhone

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 20, 2017

Apple's next iPhone, affectionally dubbed by the media “Tenth Anniversary iPhone”, will have curves similar to those of the original model, which was released ten years ago in 2007, Korean site ETNews said Monday. In paying homage to the original iPhone, the casing of Apple’s next phone is thought to adopt “water drop design” with rounded curves on both its front and back, just like the original model. “Apple’s next iPhone will have a rear case made of glass,” an industry official said. “This glass case is a curved wall surrounded by four sides,” as per machine translation of the original article.

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You can now save your Instagram live videos

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 20, 2017

Facebook-owned Instagram announced Monday that users can now save their own live-streamed Instagram videos to their iPhone. You can now tap Save in the upper-right corner of a finished live video to save the broadcast to the Photos library on your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. The iPhone photography app will continue to remove live videos from the interface after you've watched them, but you can now hold onto any video to re-watch it later. These updates require Instagram 10.12, available free from App Store.

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Apple seeds macOS Sierra 10.12.4 beta 8 and watchOS 3.2 beta 7

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated May 28, 2025

Apple on Monday seeded an eighth beta of macOS Sierra 10.12.4 and a seventh beta of watchOS 3.2 to its registered developers and members of the Apple Developer Program. Both macOS Sierra 10.12.4 beta 8 (build 16E192b) and watchOS 3.2 beta 7 (build 14V5249a) can be deployed over-the-air on devices running a prior beta and a using a special configuration profile that can be downloaded from Apple's portal for developers and beta-testers.

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Galaxy S8 may capture slow motion video at 1,000 FPS & cost less than iPhone 8

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 20, 2017

According to prolific smartphone leakster Evan Blass, Samsung's regular Galaxy S8 and the rumored Galaxy S8 Plus models will occupy prices between Apple's iterative iPhone 7s and a new premium iPhone 8 model that will likely cost more than $1,000 unlocked. Blass also shared genuine-looking press renderings of the next Galaxy smartphone.

Meanwhile, SamMobile is reporting that Galaxy S8's slow motion video capture mode could blow iPhone 7 out of the water with the ability to capture a thousand frames per second. Apple's camera partner Sony recently announced a new 19-megapixel CMOS sensor (IMX400), built it into the new Xperia XZ Premium, that can capture slo-mo video at 960 frames per second.

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Apple Store going down tomorrow morning amid rumors of impending product refreshes

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 20, 2017

Reputable supply chain analysts recently told MacRumors Apple could announce new products between Monday, March 20 and Friday, March 24. Well, today Apple did something it's never done before—via its System Status webpage, the firm announced that its online stores will be undergoing maintenance tomorrow morning, March 21.

“The Apple Store will be updated and unavailable during this time,” reads the message first spotted by MacRumors. It's become a tradition for Apple to take its store offline ahead of major media events and product launches.

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Samsung announces Siri rival Bixby

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 20, 2017

Samsung on Monday officially announced Bixby, its new personal digital assistant based on AI technologies from Viv Labs, a startup by Siri co-founders Dag Kittalus and Adam Cheyer that the South Korean company acquired last year. According to InJong Rhee, Executive Vice President and head of R&D, Software and Services at Samsung, Bixby is about completeness, context awareness and cognitive tolerance, aside from other features.

The personal assistant should launch alongside Galaxy S8 and will be “fundamentally different” than Siri, Cortana, Google Assistant and more.

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TSMC could spend $16+ billion on US chip plant, final decision in the first half of 2018

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 20, 2017

iPhone and iPad silicon maker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSMC) won't make the decision whether or not it would build a foundry fab in the United States until sometime in 2018, Reuters reported Monday. The firm hinted it might start building some of the chips in America.

TSMC, which exclusively churns out Apple-designed mobile processors for latest iPhone and iPads, won't make a definite decision on building a US plant this year because it would lose its "flexibility" if it made the move this year.

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Apple’s mysterious wireless device is just a door access system

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 20, 2017

Multiple filings for an unannounced wireless device with the model number A1844 which Apple recently made with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) have caused quite a commotion, more so in light of Bloomberg's claims that an Amazon Echo-like appliance powered by Siri was in prototype testing. The mysterious device has turned out to be nothing more than a wireless door access system.

As per Business Insider, the device was likely designed for the new Apple Park headquarters opening to employees in April.

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New Bloomberg report details Apple’s AR efforts

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 20, 2017

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman in a new report Monday offered a deeper insight into Apple's next big thing—the company's secretive efforts related to augmented reality (AR) technologies which reportedly include an iPhone-connected digital spectacles that the news organization previously said would launch in 2018.

Citing people with knowledge of Apple's plans, the report states that the company's built a team combining the strengths of its hardware and software veterans with the expertise of talented outsiders. The group is allegedly being run by former Dolby Laboratories executive Mike Rockwell and includes engineers who worked on Facebook's Oculus and Microsoft's HoloLens virtual reality headsets “as well as digital-effects wizards from Hollywood.”

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