Twelve South’s BookArc is a lightweight and stylish Apple notebook stand

I like me a good notebook stand for the simple fact that it helps clear unwanted clutter from my desk when I need it for something other than a computer. Plus, it kind of organizes things and makes everything look neater.

Twelve South is probably one of the best brand names you can buy for this sort of thing, and in this review, we'll be showing you the Twelve South BookArc for all models of Apple's MacBook, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro.

How we built the iDB app – part 1: concept and design

This is a guest post by Giulio Michelon, proud designer and CEO of Belka, the Italian studio that designed and developed the iDB app. We've asked Giulio to come here and share his experience developing the app, from the initial concept to the final product. In part 1, Giulio will talk about concept and design. Part 2, and 3 will be published over the next couple of weeks.

iDownloadBlog’s app started with a concept from Sebastien: he asked us to build an app to discover the latest news for his blog in a fast and convenient way. He mentioned us some example of the result he wanted to see: something similar to Tinder, but for news.

YouTube adding ability to live stream video to its mobile app

On Thursday, during its VidCon keynote address, YouTube announced that it's updating its mobile app with a brand new live streaming option. This will allow users to easily broadcast and watch live video from within the app with little friction.

The feature will initially be limited to top influencers like The Young Turks, AIB and Alex Wasabi, but it will roll out more widely soon. Once it's enabled, all you have to do is tap the big red capture button, select a thumbnail photo, and start rolling.

Apple is discontinuing its Thunderbolt Display

Late Thursday Apple announced it's discontinuing the Thunderbolt Display. In a statement provided to several news sites, the company said remaining inventory is still available through its retail channels and Authorized Resellers, but production has been stopped.

The 27-inch Thunderbolt Display, which had a resolution of 2560×1440 pixels, was first introduced in 2011. For the last few years, rumors have swirled that Apple is preparing a 4K or 5K replacement for the display line, but thus far none of the reports have materialized.

macOS Sierra preview: Universal Clipboard + Desktop & Documents sync

Our ongoing macOS Sierra previews continue unabated as Andrew and I take a closer look at two new useful features in Sierra: Universal Clipboard and shared Desktop. You're definitely going to use Universal Clipboard quite a bit: in addition to being a great time-saver, it “just works”.

Universal Clipboard lets you copy and paste items across your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch devices and Mac computers like a boss. Sierra also puts your iCloud storage to good use by keeping any Desktop items along with the files within the Documents folder synchronized across your other devices.

Apple’s free app of the week: Give it Up! 2

Apple on Thursday updated its App of the Week promotion with Give It Up! 2. This means that for the next 7 days, you’ll be able to download the popular rhythm-based platformer for free for both iPhone and iPad, saving yourself a buck.

As the title suggests, this is the sequel to the hit game Give It Up, which garnered more than 10m downloads worldwide. In this installment, you're tasked with helping Bob and his friends navigate a surreal grayscale world full of deadly spikes.

Sage Bionetworks co-founder joins Apple to work on health projects

Sage Bionetworks said in a media release today that is president and co-founder Dr. Stephen Friend has joined Apple. “Dr. Friend has accepted a position with Apple Inc. where he will work on health-related projects,” reads the release.

He will stay on as Sage's chairman of the board.

Sage was one of the launch partners for ResearchKit, a framework Apple launched in March 2015 to accelerate advanced medical research by allowing medical professionals to create iOS apps which tap into the iPhone's many sensors to collect anonymized data on various diseases and symptoms.

Obstacles to launching Apple Music in Korea reportedly removed

Although Apple had previously attempted to roll out its subscription-based music-streaming service in Korea, the Cupertino firm ultimately failed to reach a consensus with local music copyright associations. But as of recently, Tim Cook & Co. have apparently managed to cut deals with local right holders and copyright associations.

As a result, the service could launch in South Korea, a 50 million people market, sooner than later, according to a news report today by The Korea Herald. No firm date for the launch was given at post time.

Purported iPhone 7 pricing leaks: 256GB version across all models, ‘iPhone 7 Pro’ mentioned

Citing a post on Chinese social network Weibo, PocketNow reported this morning that the flagship 256-gigabyte version of the iPhone 7 Plus could price-match the top-of-the-line 128-gigabyte iPhone 6s Plus model. According to the leaked pricing, the next iPhone lineup would include 32/64/256GB models for the 4.7-inch iPhone 7.

Its bigger brother, the 5.5-inch iPhone 7 Plus, somewhat strangely gets listed with 32/128/256GB storage choices. The Chinese price list also mentions a brand new model for the upcoming iPhone refresh, referred to as 'iPhone 7 Pro'.