Bluetooth

Apple submits third FCC filing for its mystery Bluetooth and NFC device

Apple has submitted its third filing for a mystery Bluetooth and NFC device with the US Federal Communications Commission (FTC). The original “Wireless Device” was first uncovered in an FCC filing back in September 2016, with a second appearance last month.

The latest update concerns a device with the model number A1845 and is generally similar to Apple's prior submissions. The filing doesn't seem to be for Apple's rumored Siri-powered appliance akin to Amazon Echo wireless speakers because it lacks built-in Wi-Fi.

BeatsX earphones will be available to buy this Friday, two new colors added

Corroborating yesterday's report, CNET today said that the upcoming BeatsX earphones with the Apple W1 wireless chip and a new neckband design will be launching this Friday, February 10, in the United States. The earbuds will be available to purchase from Apple.com and company-owned retail stores. Aside from the existing Black and White color options, CNET has learned that the $150 accessory will be available in two additional finishes, Gray and Blue, following this Friday's launch.

BeatsX earphones briefly showed as in stock in select Apple Stores ahead of launch

Following a recent delay of Beats X Bluetooth earphones with Apple-designed W1 wireless chip, they briefly showed as in stock in select Apple Stores this morning suggesting either an imminent launch (not very likely) or limited availability later this week (more likely). The earbuds use a flexible cord that lets them hang around your neck when not in use. Announced at the September 2016 iPhone 7 event, the accessory sports 8-hour battery life, a Siri-compatible RemoteTalk with built-in playback controls and a Lightning port for charging.

And with Fast Fuel technology, BeatsX customers will be able to get approximately two hours of playback time with a quick five-minute charge.

Don’t like the color of your AirPods? Have them repainted black to match your iPhone 7

Ever since AirPods made their long-expected albeit delayed debut, some Apple users—this author included—have been scratching their head over the inexplicable lack of a Jet Black edition. That's why we're thankful and excited for the BlackPods project.

Taking advantage of a proprietary three-phase coating system, BlackPods promises to give Apple's first truly wireless earphones a luxurious scratch-resistant black finish that should match any Black, Jet Black or even Space Gray iPhone perfectly.

How and where to share faster with AirDrop

In the absence of reliable figures from Apple, it is not much more than conjecture to say that AirDrop is likely a feature often neglected by the average iOS user. The gut feeling persists though, simply based on day to day observations, and it is a tenable position to take until proven wrong by Cupertino or another reputable source. The file transfer protocol is indeed handy for the transfer of heavier media files (e.g. videos, photo albums), but often only becomes relevant to us when we for example have upgraded to a new device.

Next to sheer transmission speed however, there are other notable areas where AirDrop has the clear edge when it comes to sharing all kinds of material from your iPhone. The AirDrop icon has now fully permeated the sharing tab in iOS 10’s user interface and that is for a good reason: it is without fail going to be more nimble than iMessage, Mail or other contenders, often actually skipping steps that would throttle the process elsewhere. Such being the case, here are some unique scenarios where AirDrop excels on your iPhone and why you should try to embrace the feature more regularly.

How to find out your AirPods firmware version

Seeing AirPods firmware version

Most Bluetooth headphones have firmware that can be periodically updated, and AirPods are no different. These firmware updates tend to be extremely small and usually offer bug fixes and stability improvements to address issues users may encounter, such as rapid battery drain.

In this post, we’ll show you how to find out which firmware version your AirPods are running.

Apple shares new AirPods ads showcasing Siri, seamless Bluetooth pairing & more

Male headshot showing a profile of a young person wearing an AirPod in their left ear

Apple on Saturday shared four brief television commercials for AirPods on its official YouTube channel, running fifteen seconds long each. The videos showcase some of the key user features of the wireless earphones, like accessing Siri with a double-tap and seamless Bluetooth pairing on Apple gear made possible by the firm's in-house designed wireless chip, dubbed the W1. Watch the new ads and let us know how you like them in comments.

In addition to the company's first-ever AirPods ads, they also released a new fitness-focused Apple Watch advertisement which challenges you to close those Activity rings.

Chrome 56 adds support for FLAC codec, “Not Secure” HTTP warning, web Bluetooth & more

Chrome 56 for Mac and other platforms has entered Google's beta channel. When released to the general public, the browser will bring native support for the FLAC audio codec within the browser and other perks. This should come in handy because macOS does not support the FLAC file format out of the box so users often must use a third-party converter or video player to play these files. With Chrome 56, Mac users will be able to play FLAC-encoded audio files embedded in web pages or local files drag and dropped onto the browser window.

AirPods earned 1 out of each 4 dollars from wireless headphones sold online in December

Market research firm Slice Intelligence estimated that AirPods, Apple's $159 wireless earphones, took one out of each four dollars spent online on wireless headphones in December 2016. Launched on December 13, AirPods grabbed an estimated 26 percent share of online revenue in the wireless headphone market, beating out Apple's premium audio brand Beats which captured an estimated 15.4 percent of the market, down from 24.1 percent between the start of 2015 and December 13.

In other words, Apple has managed to capture one-fourth of the wireless headphones market since the launch of AirPods. And if you also count Beats sales, the Cupertino company took almost 40 percent of online revenue in the wireless headphone market.