Apple has secret team working on virtual reality headset, report says

Cody Lee ∙ Updated June 12, 2018

Apple has assembled a large team of virtual and augmented reality experts for a top secret project, reports the Financial Times. The team is said to be building prototypes of headsets that could one day compete against Oculus Rift or Microsoft's Hololens.

Sources say the secret research unit is made up of hundreds of staff Apple has picked up in a series of carefully targeted acquisitions, as well poached employees from companies working on VR tech such as Microsoft and the darling camera start-up Lytro.

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Why you should avoid free VPNs

Anthony Bouchard ∙ Updated October 16, 2018

VPNs are great tools for helping secure your internet access on an unsecured Wi-Fi network, such as those at McDonald's, but did you know that not all VPNs are created equally?

By using a free VPN that you haven't carefully read the terms and conditions of, you might be putting your privacy at more of a risk than it would have been just using the unsecured Wi-Fi network to browse the web in the first place.

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Apple said to consider developing original TV shows as talks over skinny iTunes bundle collapse

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated June 4, 2017

As part of a new strategy following failed talks with major networks regarding licensing their programming for a rumored over-the-top iTunes video service, Apple is reportedly considering developing own TV shows to offer exclusively to its iTunes customers, The Street reported Friday. The publication's track record in predicting Apple's moves isn't great so take the story with a pinch of salt.

Citing two unnamed people with knowledge of the overtures, the report alleges that Apple is internally planning to announce exclusive content as part of a cable-like offering in September, as part of the iPhone 7 introduction.

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iTunes Radio now requires Apple Music subscription

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 29, 2016

Keeping true to its promise, ad-supported iTunes Radio, which launched in 2013, is no longer available for free and now requires an Apple Music subscription, leaving Beats 1 as the lone free-to-stream radio service on iTunes.

Starting today, non-subscribers who attempt to access iTunes Radio on iOS or via iTunes for Mac or Windows are greeted with a “Get on Our Wavelength” prompts, asking them to subscribe to Apple Music in order to continue enjoying Apple's selection of streaming radio stations.

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Forget thinness – get rid of these bezels

Timothy Reavis ∙ Updated April 30, 2018

It's no secret that for quite sometime now, Apple has been on a seemingly never-ending quest for thinness. Each new iPhone, iPad, and Mac is almost always thinner and lighter than its predecessor, as millimeters and grams are shaved off with most every hardware iteration.

Some users have voiced their willingness to deal with a slightly thicker, heavier device for the sake of better battery life, feeling that Apple's form-over-function attitude should be put on hold in favor of more screen-on time between charges.

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This tweak lets you use 3D Touch to measure an object’s weight

Anthony Bouchard ∙ Updated February 2, 2016

3D Touch gives iPhone 6s users tons of new features throughout the iOS operating system out of the box, but that's not keeping the jailbreak community from coming up with incredible new uses for it.

Grams is an incredible new jailbreak tweak being made available in Cydia's BigBoss repository for $0.99 that allows those with an iPhone 6s or iPhone 6s Plus to measure the weight of light objects by using the 3D Touch display right from Control Center, and in this piece, we'll take you through a few of the details of how it's able to accomplish this.

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Bank of America and Wells Fargo adding Apple Pay support to ATMs

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 30, 2018

Both Bank Of America and Wells Fargo are working on integrating Apple Pay into their ATMs, reports TechCrunch. The outlet says it has learned that ATM engineers from the two companies have been placed on assignments to build out support for Apple's digital wallet.

When questioned, Wells Fargo's head of ATMs Jonathan Velline implied that the report holds water, telling TechCrunch his team has been working on the technology that will allow the bank to hook into digital wallets to replace the need for cards during ATM transactions.

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Apple acquires education startup LearnSprout

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 30, 2018

Apple has acquired education-technology startup LearnSprout, reports Bloomberg. The outlet has received confirmation of the buyout with the boilerplate statement, "Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans."

Terms of the deal are not known at this time, but we do know that the San Francisco-based LearnSprout has raised more than $4 million from investors. The company specializes in education tracking and analytical software, which it has rolled out to more than 2,500 US schools.

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Facebook expanding Live Video feature to all iPhone users in the US

Cody Lee ∙ January 28, 2016

Facebook on Thursday announced that it would be expanding its live video broadcasting feature to all iPhone users in the United States. The company began testing the feature, aimed directly at Twitter's Periscope, in December, along with its photo collage update.

To share a live video, make sure you have the latest version of the Facebook mobile app and open up the Update Status sheet. You should see the Live Video icon sitting above the keyboard. Type a brief description and choose your audience before tapping it to go live.

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