Apple

Apple to start offering ‘Spoken Editions’ of news articles via iTunes

Cody Lee ∙ September 23, 2016

You'll soon be able to listen to news articles in iTunes, reports TechCrunch. The outlet says that in the near future, you'll be able to browse through a new category of podcasts that will allow you to listen to news stories from your favorite publishers.

These new podcasts will be labeled "Spoken Edition" in iTunes, and the format will be short-form programs that offer listeners an audio version of a publisher's articles. So you could essentially listen to the news while commuting or working out.

Apple releases iOS 10.0.2 with bug fixes for audio controls, Photos app, & app extensions

Anthony Bouchard ∙ September 23, 2016

Apple has released a small update for compatible iPhones, iPod touches, and iPads on Friday dubbed iOS 10.0.2 that fixes a handful of small bugs introduced with the initial release of iOS 10.

A mysterious wireless Apple device with Bluetooth and NFC has surfaced in an FCC filing

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 23, 2016

A mysterious low-powered wireless device from Apple has just passed testing by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and could be released in the United States in the next few months, according to an FCC filing that was first spotted by French blog Consomac.

It's designated by the model number “A1844”, includes both Bluetooth wireless functionality and built-in NFC and is rated at between 100mA and 700mA (from 5.5V to 13.2V).

Project “Invisible Hand” would let users fully control Apple devices via Siri within 3 years

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 23, 2016

Bloomberg today published an article that shed more light on Apple's rumored Amazon Echo-like Siri hardware, which has purportedly exited the research and development lab and is now in prototype testing. As part of the report, Bloomberg alleges that Apple has another secretive project in the works that would improve Siri on iPhones and iPads.

Code-named Invisible Hand, the project would give us the ability to fully control our Apple devices through “a Siri command system within three years”.

Bloomberg: Apple’s Echo-like Siri appliance is now in prototype testing

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated May 31, 2017

Apple's rumored Amazon Echo-like Siri hardware has exited the company's research and development lab and is now in prototype testing, Bloomberg reported Friday. The project started more than two years ago, but Apple is now “pressing ahead” with the development of its unnamed Siri-driven smart home appliance after Amazon's Echo proved a surprise hit, even to Apple engineers working on the project.

Apple buys machine learning startup Tuplejump

Cody Lee ∙ September 22, 2016

Apple has acquired an India/US-based machine learning startup known as Tuplejump, reports TechCrunch. The company has essentially confirmed the buyout, offering up its typical "Apple buys smaller technology companies" statement.

This is the iPhone-maker's third publicly-known purchase of a machine learning company within the last year. Remember it bought out artificial intelligence startup Perceptio at the end of last year, and Seattle-based Turi a few months ago.

How to adjust iPhone Home button “clicks”

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 20, 2023

The iPhone 7 came with a shiny new Home button to take advantage of built-in pressure sensors and an enhanced Taptic Engine to detect and simulate clicks. Because the button no longer uses any moving parts, you’re less likely to break it. A new “Meet the new Home button” section in the iOS installer allows you to “make your iPhone experience even more personal by choosing the click that’s right for you”.

Of course, you can select between three degrees of haptic feedback that simulate clicks at any time using the stock Settings app, here's how.

Two new “Made by Google” smartphones to be unveiled on October 4

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 22, 2016

Google earlier this week posted a video on YouTube that strongly hints at plans to launch a pair of brand new smartphones at a media event scheduled for October 4. According to web reports, Google will no longer market its own phones under the Nexus brand and is instead going to advertise them as Pixel-branded phones, indicating a break from the past six years of flagship Nexus devices. The Pixel is Google's Chromebook notebook with a Retina-class display which has been selling since 2013.

Facebook Messenger gains iOS 10 integration on the Lock screen and in Phone app

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 22, 2016

Facebook just pushed a major update to its Messenger software in the App Store. On iPhones with iOS 10, the app now takes advantage of Apple's new CallKit framework to make audio (VoIP) calls from Messenger look and behave like normal cellular calls with full support for Lock screen and Phone integration.

Bumped to version 89.0, the app now shows incoming VoIP calls from Messenger contacts right on your Lock screen complete with fullscreen contact images, standard controls like the Mute, Keypad, Speaker, Add Call and Video buttons and more.

Snapchat rolls out Sticker Search

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 22, 2016

Snapchat recently rolled out a minor refresh to its iPhone application in the App Store, bumping version number to 9.39.3.0 and bringing out a new Sticker Search feature. As the feature's name suggests, this lets you find precisely the sticker you want simply by typing its description. A previous Snapchat update introduced a few tweaks, including support for caption styling with the new bold, underline and italic options.

Google’s Allo messaging app hits the App Store and it logs all your chats

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 22, 2016

At the annual I/O developer conference in April 2016, Google previewed two new mobile apps: a one-to-one video calling app called Duo, which released in mid-August, and a messaging software called Allo, which surfaced on the App Store this morning as a free download.

It sports features commonly found in messaging apps and includes a built-in Assistant, Google's conversational artificial intelligence helper, an Incognito mode and more.

While Google originally promised Allo would only store messages transiently and in non-identifiable form, the firm's had a change of heart as Allo logs all chats by default.

Tip: use Messages low quality image mode to conserve precious cellular data

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 21, 2016

Apple's Messages app provides an optional iOS-only mode which cuts down your cellular data consumption to a bare minimum when sending image attachments. I don't know about you, but I worry about sharing high-resolution images when cellular data is on. In my experience, most normals are oblivious to the fact that sending a single shot-on-iPhone photograph through iMessage burns through one to five megabytes of data, sometimes even more.

In low quality mode, Messages uses only 100KB per image attachment. Another way to think about it: you can send 30 to 50 images for the same amount of data required to share a full-resolution attachment in Messages. In this brief tutorial, we'll teach you how to tell Messages to send lower quality images in order to optimize your cellular data consumption and prevent unwanted overage fees.