Apple's mobile payments service is now available in Iceland, a Nordic island nation with population of about 340,000 people, with launch support from Arion Bank and Landsbankinn.
Apple Pay arrives in Iceland
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Google I/O 2019: new Pixel and Home devices, Android Q, 10x faster Assistant, AR Search & more
I/O, Google's annual developers conference, kicked off today with a keynote talk and there are some notable announcements Apple fans should be aware of. We've summarized all the news in a bulleted fashion so check out what's new in the Google world, then meet us in comments.
Here's what was announced today at Google I/O 2019.
Android QThe next major iterations to Google's mobile operating system (Android is reaching version 10) is Android Q. It includes a system-wide dark theme along with some cool AI-driven features, such as suggested replies from the notifications and live captioning.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YL-8Xfx6S5o
With Android Q, Google is promising (stop me if you heard this) background security updates that won't require a restart and new privacy options that will hopefully limit what developers can do with your data. Android Q is getting its own Screen Time—they're calling it Focus Mode and it lets you limit distracting apps, like Instagram and Facebook—while new parental controls let parents limit apps their kids can access on a per-app basis.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgXVd60f02o
A Smart Reply feature will offer up suggested actions, similar to how Siri suggestions work on iOS devices. Android Q, like iOS 13, will have a built-in system-wide dark mode option.
The Android Q beta for all Pixel phones is available today.
Cheaper PixelsThe Pixel smartphone brand now includes additional options covering the lower end of the market, with Pixel 3a and 3aXL offering features from the premium Pixel devices at lower price, starting at $399.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vc7LlUtQgNw
These phones have smart cameras the Pixels are known for and include the AI-powered Night Sight feature that boosts night shoots with a little help from machine learning.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLtWyLVjDg0
Google's adaptive battery technology delivers up to 30 hours of run time on a single charge.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HcEath46Ks
A new Home hubGoogle is renaming all of its smart home products under the Nest brand whilst unveiling a new screen and camera-outfitted hub, dubbed Nest Hub Max. You can play YouTube videos on it, watch movies and television shows, enjoy pictures or even use it as a digital photo frame. Like Apple TV, it acts as a remote hub for all your smart hopme products.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RW9-8ih147A
The device doubles as a security camera that streams video to the cloud. Multi-user support is also part of the package, thanks to Google's Face Match technology.
Priced at $229, Nest Max Hub is arriving this summer.
Search goes augmented realityGoogle Search is getting support for augmented reality objects in search results. Similar to AR QuickView in macOS Mojave and iOS 12, people will be able to just click an object to enter augmented reality mode, which should be cool for certain shopping scenarios.
https://twitter.com/Google/status/1125810617774772224
As part of Google's newly-found privacy angle, Search is getting Incognito Mode like Google's Chrome browser. So, rather than use a privacy-browsing mode in your browser, you'll be able to enter Incognito Mode on Google Search for those times when you don't want your searches to be saved in your Google Account.
https://twitter.com/Google/status/1125811318597005312
Search will also index podcasts and let you play episodes inline. Lens, Google's impressive AI-powered visual search technology, can now calculate a tip by scanning a receipt, read aloud a menu and even highlight the most popular dishes.
TidbitsHere are some other notable announcements:
New domains for DuplexDuplex, Google's creepy human-sounding AI that can book a reservation for you, can now book a rental car from a supported service on your behalf, as well as reserve a movie ticket and even fill in web forms for you.
Incognito in MapsGoogle Maps is getting an Incognito mode akin to the Chrome browser which lets you research directions and get directions without sharing your data with Google.
https://twitter.com/Google/status/1125818881543634951
Another legitimately cool feature in Google Maps: an augmented reality walking mode, something we've suspected would come to Apple Maps, too.
https://twitter.com/googlemaps/status/1125829356834775040
A faster AssistantGoogle has done some plumbing work so now Assistant is 10x faster, responding to rapid fire requests with ease without needing to hear the Hey Google hot word multiple times. According to Goole, Assistant will be running directly on the new Pixel phones launching later this year.
https://twitter.com/Google/status/1125815241026166784
The algorithm has been perfected so Assistant is now smarter, and you'll get some new recommendations as well, such as podcasts and recipes. On top of that, Assistant will be picking up a new Driving Mode on Android this summer.
Assistant will be also coming to Waze soon, Google has said.
What's your favorite announcement from Google I/O 2019?
Let us know in the commenting section down below!
Having trouble jailbreaking iOS 12 with Chimera? Try this!
If you’re trying to use the Electra Team’s Chimera jailbreak tool for iOS 12.0-12.1.2 and you’ve had issues jailbreaking your handset – more specifically with the device rebooting after step 2/3 with no successful jailbreak – then you might want to turn your attention to some useful advice offered by Electra Team lead developer CoolStar on Tuesday.
In a Tweet shared early this morning, CoolStar noted that this could happen if your handset was heating up from attempting the jailbreak too many times in rapid succession, and that letting the device cool down slightly before trying again “massively” increases Chimera’s success rate:
iOS 13 concepts: minimal volume HUD, Xcode on iPad, external storage support & more
A fresh batch of new iOS 13 concepts come courtesy of 3D artists Léo Vallet and Daniel Korpai who shared their mockups showing off some of the rumored features coming to iOS 13, like an unobtrusive volume HUD, enhanced multitasking, a system-wide Dark Mode, writing iOS apps in Xcode for iPad with external monitor support, a Finder-like app for iPad and more.
The Apple Store: brand building became more important than serving shoppers
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman and Matthew Townsend have conducted interviews with several current and former retail employees at Apple who claim that the iPhone maker's vaunted brick-and-mortar stores have become less shopping-friendly in recent years.
Samsung to cancel orders for the “category-changing” Galaxy Fold if it doesn’t ship by May 31
Samsung has informed people who have pre-ordered its $1,980 Galaxy Fold smartphone that it will cancel all orders if it fails to ship the foldable device by May 31.
Groovify lets you customize the Spotify Music app without boundaries
Although Apple pushes its Apple Music streaming service on its consumer base, I still find myself preferring Spotify, especially now that the service bundles Hulu with its Spotify Premium subscription. That said, I don’t see myself switching to Apple Music any time soon, and it excites me when I happen upon a new Spotify-centric jailbreak tweak.
The latest of such releases is Groovify by iOS developer Revulate, which brings all sorts of color customization options and a whole lot more to the official Spotify app for iOS. You can see a few examples of the tweak’s aftermath in the screenshots above.
Improve your iPhone’s notification privacy with Blurification
If you’re a privacy nut, then chances are you spare no expense to protect your personal data from all the prying eyes around you. Those in the same boat will likely enjoy a newly-released jailbreak tweak dubbed Blurification by iOS developer smokin1337.
Blurification veils all your incoming notifications with a gaussian blur effect that makes their contents entirely illegible until you first authenticate yourself. This tweak is particularly useful because it extends far beyond any of the native notification privacy features that come standard with iOS.
Cook says Buffet’s sizable holding in Apple means it isn’t really a normal tech company
Following after Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholder meeting, investor Warren Buffett sat down with CNBC's Becky Quick to discuss Apple, one of his biggest holdings, with CEO Tim Cook commenting that the fund's sizable holding in his company shows that the iPhone producer isn't really a traditional technology company anymore.
Apple has acquired more than two-dozen startups in the past six months
Apple typically buys smaller companies from time to time for their talent or specific technologies but rarely comments on the deals. But now, Tim Cook himself has said in an interview with CNBC that his company has snapped up 25 startups in the past six months.
Apple is readying an external 6K monitor with HDR support for a possible WWDC 2019 debut
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman in February claimed that Apple internally weighed debuting a modular version of the high-end Mac Pro desktop at WWDC 2019, and now he's alleging that the company could also preview its upcoming external display at the developer-only event.
Improve your iPhone’s clipboard management capabilities with Copypasta
It’s no secret that iOS’ native clipboard leaves a lot to be desired, and that should underscore why there’s been such an uptick in the number of clipboard manager-centric apps and jailbreak tweaks for iOS as of late.
Although we’ve come to appreciate much of what’s available already, we’re also excited to discuss a new free release called Copypasta by iOS developer Nepeta. Its ultra-clean interface paired with the lack of a price tag make it a compelling option for many.