Xiaomi launching sub-$200 smartphone with 5.5″ screen & 13MP/8MP cameras on February 28

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 22, 2017

Chinese gadget maker Xiaomi Technology, also known as the Apple of China, has sent out invitations for a media event to be held on February 28. The company is expected to announce a new entry-level handset rocking a 5.5-inch AMOLED screen, a thirteen-megapixel camera out the back and an eight-megapixel selfie camera out the front.

The phone is expected to be priced at 1,299 yuan unlocked, or about $190. Additionally, Xiaomi is likely to unveil a pair of in-house developed CPUs at the event, DigiTimes says.

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You can now share multiple photos and videos in one Instagram post

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 22, 2017

Photo-sharing service Instagram announced today that users are now able to share up to ten photos and videos in a single post and swipe through to see them all. Such multi-item posts are presented inline in your feed in a carousel format that displays only the first item of the post.

The first photo or video shows a new icon, denoting there’s more to see. Simply swipe to reveal additional media.

You can adjust the order in which your photos and videos appear, edit them one by one or apply a filter to everything at once. Instagram 10.9 for iOS is required for this functionality.

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iOS 10 now powers 79% of active devices, Android Nougat’s adoption barely 1%

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 22, 2017

iOS 10 now powers nearly eight out of ten active devices—less than six months since officially releasing to the public in September of last year, as measured by App Store on February 20, 2017.

To be precise—iOS 10 now powers 79 percent of active iPhone, iPad and iPod touch device out there, representing a three-point increase over iOS 10's adoption rate of 76 percent recorded 48 days ago on January 5, 2017.

Contrast the rapid pace of iOS adoption to Google, whose latest and greatest version of Android is currently found on less than one percent of active devices. Over and over again, Google's lack of control over hardware and other factors are hurting its ability to deploy the latest Android features to its customers.

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New Apple campus named Apple Park, opens to employees in April

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 22, 2017

Apple announced this morning that its new 175-acre Apple Campus 2 aka iSpaceship has been officially named Apple Park. It will be ready for more than 12,000 employees to begin occupying in April although the move-in process will take over six months with construction of the buildings and parklands continuing through the summer.

Powered by renewable energy, it's one of the most energy-efficient buildings in the world, the iPhone maker said. The company is also honoring Steve Jobs by naming a massive auditorium the Steve Jobs Theater.

Situated atop a hill and overlooking meadows and the main building, the 1,000-seat underground auditorium is opening later this year and will host future press and corporate events. The entrance to the auditorium is a 20-foot-tall glass cylinder, 165 feet in diameter, supporting a metallic carbon-fiber roof.

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Report: U.S. iPhone users spent an average of $40 on apps last year

Cody Lee ∙ February 21, 2017

iPhone owners in the United States spent an average of $40 on apps last year, reports analytics firm Sensor Tower. That number includes both premium and in-app purchases, and it represents a $5 increase from 2015.

Unsurprisingly, most of that money is going to games. Sensor Tower says more than 80% of US App Store revenue in 2016 came from games, and it shows on the device level—users spent an average of $27 on games.

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Facebook in talks to live stream MLB games this season

Cody Lee ∙ February 21, 2017

Facebook is in talks with Major League Baseball to live stream games this season, reports Reuters. The deal would include at least one game per week, which could be accessed for free by users logged into the platform.

The move comes just a week after Facebook announced plans for a video-focused Apple TV app, as part of the social network's efforts to push further into original programming—a strategy shared by several tech firms.

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Alto’s Odyssey is coming this summer, here’s your teaser trailer

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 21, 2017

The award-winning endless snowboard odyssey, Alto's Adventure, turned two yesterday. Today, Alto's developer Snowman gave us a first look at the game's official sequel, Alto's Odyssey. In Odyssey, players are challenged to discover the secrets of the endless desert.

By the way, they're commemorating the Alto's Adventure anniversary by bringing the game's price down from $4.99 to just $1.99, ending today. Alto's Odyssey is coming in summer 2017 and we'll be sure to update you as more information becomes available.

In the meantime, be sure to watch a teaser trailer for subtle hints about game mechanics, crisp graphics and flawless execution.

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Beta 3 of iOS 10.3 and macOS Sierra 10.12.4 released for public beta testing

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 21, 2017

iOS 10.3 beta 3 with Find My AirPods and other enhancements and macOS Sierra 10.12.4 beta 3 with Night Shift Mode and other perks are both now available for public beta-testing, assuming you've enrolled in Apple's Beta Software Program. After signing up on the web at beta.apple.com, deploy a special configuration profile on your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch or Mac and you'll be able to install the latest beta over-the-air via Apple's standard Software Update mechanism.

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Qualcomm teases new 1.2 Gbps LTE modem chip—will Apple adopt it for future iPhones?

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 21, 2017

Qualcomm and Apple are currently embroiled in a legal spat involving excessive royalties, casting serious doubt on the possibility of a Qualcomm-made LTE modem in a future iPhone. Today, Qualcomm teased a brand new Snapdragon X20 LTE chip, its second-gen Gigabit LTE modem.

It's capable of fiber-like LTE Category 18 downloads of up to 1.2 gigabits per second, or one-fifth faster than the previous X16 chip. Upload speeds go up to a theoretical maximum of 150 megabits per second. It's expected to ship in the first half of 2018.

Only time will tell if Apple plans on dual-sourcing cellular modems from both Qualcomm and Intel, in which case 2018 iPhones could theoretically support faster-than-Gigabit-LTE downlink speeds of up to 150 megabytes per second.

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