Apple

Meet Nimbus, the first gamepad designed specifically for the new Apple TV

SteelSeries and Apple on Wednesday announced the Nimbus, the first gamepad designed specifically for the new Apple TV. It's unclear how much Apple was involved in the development of the controller, but the company is highlighting it on its website and there does seem to be an above-average level of cooperation here.

For starters, the Nimbus features a Lightning port for revitalizing its internal battery, which SteelSeries says will provide gamers with more than 40 hours of gaming per charge. It also has an extra large Menu button, similar to the one found on the new Apple TV remote, which could allow users to navigate around the new tvOS.

Siri Remote for the new Apple TV will be available in just eight countries

One of the best features of the new Apple TV, in my personal opinion, is its redesigned remote with Bluetooth 4.0 and built-in dual microphones for Siri functionality. Too bad not all buyers will be allowed to enjoy the new Siri Remote, as Apple is calling it.

According to the company's official documentation for developers, the new Siri Remote is available in just eight key markets like the United States, United Kingdom and Germany, to name a few. Apple TVs in all other countries will be packaged with the standard remote.

If you want a gold iPhone, you’ll have to buy the iPhone 6s

If you're in the market for a new iPhone, and prefer the color gold, you're going to have to spring for the new iPhone 6s (or its larger sibling). The gold version of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus disappeared from Apple's website this afternoon, and the company has confirmed with The Verge that its older handsets are no longer available in the color.

3D Touch: how Peek and Quick Actions will change how you interact with your iPhone

As part of today's event, Apple announced the new iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus with 3D Touch technology, a hardware and software combination that tracks how much pressure is being applied to the display and carries out different functions based on various levels of pressure. Also announced was the Taptic Engine in Apple's new 6s iPhones, which brings the addition of subtle taps, deepening the experience of 3D Touch with a haptic feedback element. Apple likens 3D Touch's new Peek and Pop actions to the legacy Tap, Swipe, and Pinch Multi-Touch gestures, but with a third dimension of functionality, bringing about the "3D Touch" moniker.

Confirmed: the new Apple TV has 2GB of RAM

You'd be hard-pressed to find that piece of information on Apple's Tech Specs webpage for the new Apple TV, but newly posted documents related to third-party tvOS software development provide some interesting tidbits related to the device's underlying hardware.

In addition to the 64-bit A8 chip, the new box has two gigabytes of RAM, up from just one gigabyte of RAM inside the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, both of which also use the A8 chip. The new Apple TV isn't exactly focused on multitasking so Apple most likely doubled the RAM to enable finer detail in games.

Maximum size of an Apple TV app limited to 200MB, apps must store all data in iCloud

It's interesting that we haven't seen any major triple-A games shown off as part of today's on-stage demos of third-party applications for the new Apple TV.

Now it's clear why: the existing multi-gigabyte iPhone and iPad games such as the Infinity Blade trilogy, Asphalt 8 and many more must be refactored to fit the inexplicable 200MB limit for an Apple TV app.

This means that assets like new levels and worlds will be retrieved on demand from the App Store, indicating Apple is positioning its new box as a casual gaming device for your living room rather than a full-on gaming console.

Have a look at Apple’s new iPhone docks and cases

In addition to the new iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, Apple on Wednesday announced new accessories for its next-generation handsets. The products didn't get much stage time, but listed on Apple's website are a new Lightning dock, leather and silicon cases, in new colorways.

The new dock is very similar to the one Apple announced in May, except now it's available in iPhone-matching colors Gold, Rose Gold, Space Gray and Silver. It's compatible with all late-model iPhones and iPod touches, and will be available for online order today for $49.

Watch Apple’s sleek promotional videos for everything it announced today

In addition to refreshing product webpages on its website with detailed information about the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus, the iPad Pro, the Apple Pencil, the new Apple TV and more, a batch of promotional clips providing an even closer look at the new products have surfaced on Apple's YouTube channel.

We've embedded all of them for your pleasure so give these videos a watch and join us for the discussion in the comment section.

Apple brings your photos to life with Live Photos

During the iPhone 6s section of today's Apple event, Apple SVP Phil Schiller announced an incredible new feature called Live Photos. As the name suggests, Live Photos will essentially bring your photos to life by capturing small snippets (1.5 seconds) of video right before and after you take a photo.

You'll be able to view the Live Photos on your iPhone 6s by activating 3D Touch, and Apple says playback will be available on Photos in El Capitan on the Mac, iPhone, iPad, and even Apple Watch. And since they're not technically videos, it claims they don't take up much more space than photographs.

3D Touch: a brand new way to interact with your iPhone

Apple this morning unveiled its next-generation smartphone, the iPhone 6s. While it looks virtually the same as last year's model on the outside, the inside contains tons of brand new technology—including an incredible feature called 3D Touch.

Built on the Force Touch technology first introduced in the Apple Watch, 3D Touch allows the iPhone to detect the force of a touch, opening the doors for new gestures, menus and shortcuts. Here are some of the ways you'll be using the new feature.