Apple recalls overheating Beats Pill XL speakers that pose fire safety risk

In a rare display of a voluntary product recall, Apple has pulled the Beats Pill XL wireless speakers citing a possible fire safety risk caused by overheating.

According to a media release Apple PR put out Wednesday, the voluntary recall of all Beats Pill XL speakers, “including a refund for customers,” does not affect any other Beats or Apple products.

“Apple has determined that, in rare cases, the battery in the Beats Pill XL may overheat and pose a fire safety risk,” notes the press release.

Apple wants to put Maps onto the web

According to a new Apple job listing first spotted by Benedict Evans, Apple is about to make its mapping service available to everyone via a cross-platform web application. The full-time position seeks a web engineer with JavaScript expertise “to help make maps work seamlessly on the web.”

Currently, Apple Maps are accessible on the desktop via Mac, on mobile iPhone, iPod touch and iPad devices and through your wrist via Maps for Apple Watch.

Providing an HTML-based Maps web app should support any standards-compliant web browser while putting pressure on Google Maps. In addition, Maps as a web service would make it comparable to Microsoft's Bing Maps, Nokia HERE and other mapping service accessible through the desktop web interface.

Fantastical for Apple Watch launches with dictation, reminders, customizable glance and more

Developer Flexibits has made a name for itself with Fantastical, an award-winning calendar replacement for the iPhone, iPad and Mac. Today, an important update to the iPhone app was pushed, bringing out a newly-added WatchKit extension so you can at last run Fantastical on your wrist!

This update is available to all existing users of Fantastical for iPhone at no additional cost.

You must be wondering what took them so long, right? I mean, Flexibits was among rare developers without an Apple Watch app in time for the device's April 2015 launch.

“We want to understand precisely what problem we're solving,” Flexibits co-founder Michael Simmons tells me via a Skype chat.

The net result of their undertaking is arguably the fastest and friendliest calendar experience on the wrist and that's saying a lot given Fantastical competes with Apple's stock Calendar app which comes preloaded on the wearable device.

Upcoming new iPhones rumored to upgrade to even sharper, higher-resolution Retina screens

Apple's upcoming iPhone refresh—tentatively dubbed by the press ‘iPhone 6s’ and ‘iPhone 6s Plus’—should feature sharper Retina displays thanks to a rumored screen resolution boost, according to the latest report coming out of Chinese blog Feng.

The publication is claiming knowledge that a 4.7-inch ‘iPhone 6s’ will feature a Full HD screen, literally matching the 1,920-by-1,080 Full HD pixel resolution screen of the current-generation 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus. As for an ‘iPhone 6s Plus,’ Apple's phablet-class device should match high-end Androids by going from a Full HD Retina screen all the way up to a 2K one.

Turn your iPad Air 2 into a mini laptop with Belkin QODE

If you prefer the lightweight feel of the iPad Air 2, but wish you could type like you were using your MacBook Air, the best thing you could do for yourself is invest in a good quality keyboard case. Not all cases are alike. A smooth, comfortable typing experience is very important when you need to stay productive.

Belkin’s QODE Ultimate Pro is a fully loaded keyboard case for the iPad Air 2. The hard shell provides protection for your device, while the keyboard design provides a laptop typing experience.

Review: HazeOver dims background apps on Mac to reduce distraction

There never seems to be a shortage of apps that promote focusing on a single task, especially writing apps. And then you have hardware like the iPad, which forces you to focus on a single app at a time.

With the Mac, focusing has never been that easy, because multitasking is at its core.

HazeOver is a new Mac App Store utility that seeks to change the way we work on the Mac. By dimming background apps, it aims to help users focus on one app at a time by reducing distractions from surrounding apps. You can still have other apps open, they’ll just be dimmed in such a way that they’re less noticeable.

Does the idea work? Check out our video walkthrough for all of the details.

Tim Cook takes jabs at Google and Facebook in speech about privacy and security

Tim Cook took time out of his busy schedule yesterday to talk about privacy with folks attending EPIC's Champions of Freedom event in Washington. EPIC, a non-profit research center focused on emerging privacy issues, was honoring the CEO for his superior "corporate leadership."

Cook addressed attendees via a remote video feed, and spoke about a number of topics regarding privacy, security and what they mean to Apple versus other Silicon Valley tech giants. TechCrunch has a transcription of the speech, and he takes quite a few jabs at Facebook and Google.

How to change your email display name

Change email display name on iPhone and Mac

When you send someone an email, it usually shows the name you set while creating the account. Suppose you made a typo while setting up your email, or used your nickname or a fake name, and now every email you send has this name you no longer like.

In this tutorial, we show you how to change the name that's displayed in the email you send to someone from your iPhone, iPad, Mac, and iCloud.

Wunderlist gets acquired by Microsoft

6Wunderkinder GmbH, the makers of Wunderlist, the popular to-do, list and tasks application for the Mac, iOS, Apple Watch and other platforms, confirmed today it's being acquired by software giant Microsoft.

With more than thirteen million users across platforms and more than one billion to-dos created in Wunderlist, the app should seamlessly fit in Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella's mobile first, cloud first vision.

But don't fret, mobile Wunderlist apps aren't going anywhere, at least for the time being. “As Wunderlist becomes a part of the Microsoft family, we’ll introduce a host of new features, keep adding partner integrations, and progress further in delivering Wunderlist to billions of people,” Christian Reber, 6Wunderkinder founder and CEO said Tuesday.

Skype for iPhone gains link previews, Apple Watch app adds replying with dictation and more

Microsoft-owned Skype today issued an update to its free-of-charge iPhone application in the App Store, adding a few enhancements related to chatting on both your handset and the Apple Watch.

Web link previews are now available in your chat, courtesy of Skype 5.13 for iPhone. When you paste a URL into the chat window, the mobile application will now provide a preview of the website similar to Facebook.

Previews are available when you send or receive a web link and support video content, blogs, news websites and many other types of web content.

Google Maps gains enhanced transit data with live arrivals for buses, metros and subway systems

According to a post on the official Google Lat Long blog, the company's mapping service now includes improved real-time transit information for select cities in the United States, the United Kingdom, Hungary and the Netherlands.

The more accurate transit data includes real-time information on arrivals for buses, metros and subway systems, Google said. Google Maps will even alert you to cancelled routes, so you can “better navigate the intricate and unpredictable world of transit in major cities around the world.”