Apple

Video walkthrough: Emergency SOS, Activity Sharing & more in watchOS 3 beta 2

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated April 25, 2023
A woman checking the Activity app on her Apple Watch while working out

A second beta of watchOS 3 released last week alongside iOS 10 beta 2, macOS Sierra beta 2 and tvOS 10 beta 2. Having posted our video walkthroughs and detailed overviews of what's new in iOS 10 beta 2 and macOS Sierra beta 2, my colleague Andrew and I now get to take a closer look at everything new in watchOS 3 beta 2.

watchOS 3 beta 2 is not as feature-packed a release as the second beta of iOS 10, but still includes some major new features not found in prior betas, like Auto Unlock, Emergency SOS and Activity Sharing. We also detail a few smaller, useful enhancements in the stock Activity and Workout apps and some related new options added to the companion Watch app on the iPhone.

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Early CPU scores suggest modest gains for iPhone 7’s A10 chip vs. iPad Pro’s A9X

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 14, 2016

Early Geekbench 3 benchmark of the Apple-designed A10 system-on-a-chip—which will be the next iPhone and iPad's engine—was posted Thursday by Dutch blog TechTastic.nl. Purported scores suggest the device may not be much speedier than the iPhone 6s and iPad Pro. The upcoming chip scored a tad more than last year’s A9 powering the iPhone 6s series and a little bit faster than the A9X in the iPad Pro.

On the other hand, the benchmarked A10 is almost certainly a prototype unit so final scores should be higher than is currently the case.

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Eddy Cue: Apple is a delivery platform, not a Netflix rival (plus, skinny bundle “is a misconception”)

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 14, 2016

Eddy Cue, 52, Apple's Senior Vice President of Internet Software and Services, sat down for an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, answering a series of questions related to Apple's alleged attempts to introduce a skinny bundle of television programming on iTunes, its relationship with content owners and swirling rumors that it may be invested in creating original programming to become the next Netflix or Comcast.

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Apple is opening an imaging R&D lab in the center of France’s Grenoble

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 14, 2016

In addition to celebrating Bastille Day with 'Shot on iPhone' imagery in blue/white/red tones representing the country's national flag appearing on the company's French website and billboards across the country, the Cupertino firm has also signed a lease with the city of Grenoble to open a research and development center at the heart of the town.

The 800-square-meter facility will reportedly focus on imaging components and employ about thirty engineers, according to the local newspaper Le Dauphiné Libéré cited by French blog iPhone.fr.

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Apple celebrates Bastille Day with ‘Shot on iPhone’ photos in national flag colors

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 14, 2016

France is celebrating Bastille Day today and Apple has joined the festivities with a clever use of imagery from its award-winning 'Shot on iPhone' ad campaign on the Apple France homepage. The company carefully selected a batch of images from the campaign with predominant blue, white and red tones, and used them smartly on its website to form a basis for the French national flag colors.

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Case molds depict what iPhone 7 may look like in Gold/Rose Gold, Space Gray and Silver

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 14, 2016

Italian site Macitynet.it posted this morning a photograph showing alleged 4.7-inch iPhone 7 case molds, giving us a decent indication what the upcoming handset may look like in Gold, Rose Gold, Space Gray and Silver finishes. If anything, the photo reaffirms Apple's rumored design for the next iPhone with cleaner antenna seams and a protruding camera on the back, plus the four colorways.

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Rumor: iPhone 7 packs in a notably stronger battery than iPhone 6/6s

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 13, 2016

A sketchy Weibo post claimed two months ago that the next iPhone would arrive outfitted with a slightly stronger battery than the iPhone 6s. Today, prolific leakster OnLeaks gave us a more specific information as to precisely how bigger the iPhone 7's battery might be in comparison to the current iPhone 6s/Plus and previous-generation iPhone 6/Plus.

According to his Twitter post, the 4.7-inch iPhone 7 will have a 1,960 mAh battery, comparing very favorably in terms of sheer specs to both the 1,715 mAh package found in the iPhone 6s and the 1,810 mAh battery in the previous-generation iPhone 6.

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iOS 10 beta 2 opens up live-streaming support for apps and games

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 13, 2016

Live streaming support for third-party apps is among the 30+ developer-focused features Apple did not discuss publicly during the WWDC 2016 keynote. Realized through ReplayKit Live, a new framework on iOS 10 that lets players share gameplay recordings or broadcast live games to other players and viewers online, the feature was originally absent from the first beta of iOS 10.

iOS 10 beta 2 turns on this functionality and, as a Reddit post noted today, live-streaming can already be found in Apple's Swift Playgrounds app for the iPad.

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How to simulate tetherless ‘Hey Siri’ functionality on macOS Sierra like a pro

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated July 18, 2016

Apple advertises Siri as one of the headlining new features in the forthcoming macOS Sierra software update. Siri on the Mac performs in much the same way as it always has on an iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, except on the Mac tetherless 'Hey Siri' functionality is currently unsupported.

On iOS, tetherless 'Hey Siri' requires Apple's embedded M9 motion coprocessor to monitor microphone input without taxing the battery. Since the battery isn't a major concern with Macs, the decision not to implement 'Hey Siri' on Sierra is eyebrow-raising. As it turns out, you can easily simulate 'Hey Siri' on Sierra without resorting to dark magic, using a simple trickery.

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Read this if you just switched Apple ID to download Pokémon Go

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 13, 2016

In less than a week, Pokémon Go has become the biggest mobile game in the US history, however, the app is currently limited to App Stores in the United States, New Zealand, Australia and Germany.

Eager to get their hands on some pokémon, some of the tech-savvier international users have resorted to switching their Apple ID in order to download the game only to find their Apple Music libraries wiped as a result, reports The Telegraph.

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