MacRumors

An announced update to Google Maps on Thursday brought a partial redesign that aims to make it quicker and easier for users to find places depending on their usage.

As part of the change, Google Maps will now only highlight points of interest that might be relevant depending on what kind of map is selected (driving, navigation, transit, and so on). For example, gas stations will now show up on the navigation map, while train stations will be prominently displayed when viewing the transit map.

Google has also updated the color scheme and added new icons to help users quickly identify exactly what kind of point of interest they're looking at. Places like a cafe, church, museum or hospital now have a designated color and icon, making it easier to find that type of destination on the map.

Google says it will rolling out the changes to all of its products that incorporate Google Maps, including Assistant, Search, and Earth. The new style will also eventually appear in the apps, websites and experiences offered by companies that use Google Maps APIs, in order to provide a consistent experience. 

Google Maps can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]

Lifx today introduced a new HomeKit-enabled Lifx Z Starter Kit that includes two 3.3-foot light strips and a power pack for $89.99.

The new Lifx Z setup is similar to the previous version, but it adds HomeKit support. The light strips offer 1400 lumens per two meters and can be set to 16 million colors. Multiple shades of white are also available, as is dimming functionality.

Lifx light strips offer eight zones that can be separately controlled per strip, which is different from Hue light strips that offer a single color at a time. Lifx products are also able to connect directly to Wi-Fi and do not require a hub.

Lifx Z light strips can be controlled through the Lifx app, through the Home app on iOS devices, or using Siri, and they can be incorporated into HomeKit scenes with other HomeKit products.

While the new Lifx Z setup is HomeKit compatible right out of the box, Lifx is also introducing a new controller that allows existing Lifx Z light strips to work with HomeKit.

The New Lifx Z is available from the Lifx website for $89.99, while the separate controller for existing setups can be purchased for $39.99.

AT&T appears to be experiencing some kind of outage, and many AT&T customers across the United States are unable to make and answer phone calls.

There are numerous reports of issues on Twitter, and MacRumors has also been unable to place calls on an iPhone associated with AT&T. The problem appears to have begun at least 30 minutes ago.

Customers affected by the problem who attempt to make a phone call are seeing the calls they place immediately disconnected. Incoming phone calls go directly to voicemail, and customers are not able to answer them.

Many users have been able to fix the phone call problem by restarting their iPhones, so affected customers should try that right away to attempt to resolve it.

If a restart doesn't work, customers who need to place calls to friends and family members can still use FaceTime or FaceTime Audio. iMessages and text messages are also working at the current time.

Update: AT&T has confirmed that a restart fixes the issue, and is asking customers who are experiencing call problems to restart their iPhones. The company says multiple restarts may be required.

Belkin today announced the launch of a new 36W USB-C car charger, which is able to provide fast charging capabilities for the iPhone X, the iPhone 8, and the iPhone 8 Plus. All three of those devices support a fast charging feature that allows them to be charged to 50 percent battery life in 30 minutes.

Priced at $29.99, Belkin's new car charger accessory does not include a USB-C to Lightning cable, which is required to make it work. Apple sells USB-C to Lightning cables at prices starting at $25. If you don't already own a USB-C to Lightning cable, it brings the total price of the Belkin Charger to $55.

In addition to being able to fast charge the iPhone, the 36W Car Charger can also be used to provide power to iPads and 12-inch MacBook models. It also works with MacBook Pro models, but those machines typically charge using 61W or 87W Power Adapters.

The USB-C Car Charger is available exclusively from Belkin.com and Apple.com, though it isn't yet showing up on Apple's site just yet as it's newly released.

Sprint and Hulu today announced a partnership that will bundle the Limited Commercials tier of the streaming TV service into Sprint's Unlimited Freedom cellular plan. This means that new and existing Sprint customers who sign up for Unlimited Freedom beginning Friday, November 17 will be able to watch Hulu with Limited Commercials at no extra cost.

In addition, the companies said that sometime "soon" Sprint Unlimited customers will also get to upgrade to Hulu's sports and news-centric live TV plan. Because Hulu with Live TV costs far more than the Limited Commercials plan ($40/month versus $8/month), an added cost for the bundled-in service is likely.

“How people watch their favorite shows, listen to the latest music, and play the most popular games is changing all the time,” said Roger Solé, chief marketing officer. “We’re excited to provide Sprint customers the best in entertainment through our unique partnership with Hulu.”

Tim Connolly, senior vice president and head of distribution and partnerships at Hulu, added, “We know people love watching TV on their mobile devices, so we’re making it easier than ever for Sprint customers to enjoy their favorite shows and movies on Hulu. This exciting partnership with Sprint gives TV fans nationwide a powerful, seamless entertainment experience that they can take with them, whenever and wherever they want.”

Sprint Unlimited Freedom offers unlimited talk, text, and data for $25/month per line and the addition of a fifth line is free on every plan, amounting to $100/month for a family of five people. This discounted offer lasts until January 31, 2019 and at that time will increase to $60/month for line 1, $40/month for line 2, and $30/month/line for lines 3-5. There's also HD streaming video and an included 10GB mobile hotspot feature.

For more information on the collaboration between Sprint and Hulu, visit the carrier's website right here. Those interested will be able to gain access to the offer starting November 17, and it'll only be available online through December 8.

The Sprint/Hulu partnership is similar to an announcement made by T-Mobile and Netflix in September, when the companies announced that T-Mobile ONE family plans would start coming with free Netflix subscriptions later that month. "Netflix on Us" requires customers to have two or more paid voice lines on a T-Mobile ONE family plan, and if they already pay for a Netflix subscription, the un-carrier covers the cost of the standard $10/month price: "meaning you’ll save nearly $120 every year."

DJI today announced that its popular Mavic Pro drone is now available in a limited edition "Alpine White" combo exclusively through Apple.

The combo includes the drone, a remote controller, two extra batteries, two additional pairs of propellers, and an aircraft sleeve—all in a matching "Alpine White" color—for $1,049.95 in the United States.

DJI's Mavic Pro, which launched last year in a gray color, is a portable quadcopter with a foldable design that can fit in a backpack or purse. DJI said the drone is "practically the size of a water bottle" when folded.

Mavic Pro is equipped with a 12-megapixel camera able to shoot true 4K video and 1080p slow motion video. DJI's so-called OcuSync technology with Sport Mode lets you fly the drone as far as 4.3 miles away at speeds up to 40 miles per hour.

DJI's visual navigation system FlightAutonomy, new in the Mavic Pro, consists of five cameras, GPS and GLONASS navigation systems, ultrasonic range finders, and 24 computing cores to navigate and plan routes for the drone.

Despite being smaller than every DJI drone except the miniature Spark, the Mavic Pro can still fly for up to 27 minutes between charges. The drone can be controlled via the remote controller or with an iPhone or iPad using the DJI GO app.

The limited edition "Alpine White" combo is available now on Apple.com and at Apple retail stores. Also included in the box is a 16GB MicroSD card, micro USB cable, gimbal clamp and protector, and a quick start guide.

Steven Soderbergh, the director currently experimenting with smartphone technology in the television show "Mosaic," has now unveiled his next feature film "Unsane," which was shot entirely on an iPhone. Soderbergh kept the project secret during filming so it's unclear which iPhone he used, but the film began making waves over the summer as news of its existence surfaced, suggesting it was filmed sometime in the first half or middle of 2017 and potentially shot with an iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus.

Now, it's been confirmed the movie will have a wide theatrical release on March 23, 2018, and star Claire Foy, Juno Temple, Joshua Leonard, Jay Pharaoh, Aimee Mullins, and Amy Irving (via Deadline and Apple Insider). Unsane is said to be a "reality-type horror — almost Get Out-ish, but different," and was filmed entirely over the course of about a week, according to an Entertainment Weekly interview with Jay Pharaoh from August.

But in an interview with EW, Pharoah did divulge some information about the movie, which he describes as "reality-type horror — almost Get Out-ish, but different."

"...you wouldn’t be able to tell anything [about how it was made]. It looks that great."

There have been a few movies shot on Apple's iPhone that have gotten attention over the past few years, most notably "Tangerine" from 2015. That film was captured using a collection of three iPhone 5s devices, an $8 app called Filmic Pro, a set of anamorphic adapter lenses, and a steadicam rig for stabilization. Tangerine was released in a limited theatrical capacity following a few festival runs in 2015, and considering that other shot-on-iPhone movies have mostly been independent or foreign films, Unsane could be biggest release yet for a movie captured with an iPhone.

Over the summer, Apple itself funded an eleven minute short film made with an iPhone that was directed by Michel Gondry, along with sharing a series of behind-the-scenes videos about the making of the short. The film, called "Détour," was eventually filmed at the Marché Saint-Germain Apple Store in Paris, where Gondry also discussed the making of his movie and talked about the future of cinema and where the iPhone fits into filmmaking.

Encrypted messenger app Telegram received an update today that brings additional features and enhancements to the platform, including media albums, saved messages, and an improved search function.

Starting with Telegram 4.5, whenever users send multiple photos or videos they will be grouped into albums. Each album can include up to 10 photos or videos, which are displayed in chat threads as "elegantly proportioned thumbnails", the upshot being that recipients will be notified just the once instead of ten times over.

The order in which the photos are sent can now be controlled within the app, too. Photos selected for sharing get a sequence number, so users can send "before and after" pictures in the correct order. In addition, users should find profile photos easier to navigate, thanks to thumbnails that show in the lower part of the screen.

Elsewhere, Telegram users can now bookmark important messages and media by forwarding them to a personal cloud storage area called Saved Messages. Each saved message also has a "go to" button that takes users to the place in the chat where it was originally posted. Saved Messages can be found in the Chats list and in Settings.

The developers have also improved the global search algorithm used for finding public channels, groups, and bots. It's now possible to search for public channels and bots by their titles, and most popular items will always be displayed first.

Lastly, Channel admins can now pin messages to focus their subscribers' attention on important announcements, while the settings screen and context menu has been redesigned. The app has also been tweaked for iPhone X.

Telegram is a free download for iPhone and iPad from the App Store. [Direct Link]

AT&T this week announced that it plans to launch its "5G Evolution" network in parts of Minneapolis over the next few months, intending to provide next-generation cellular coverage to customers at Super Bowl LII. AT&T didn't mention which specific areas of Minneapolis would be covered by February 4, 2018, but confirmed "areas near the host stadium" will have 5G at the time.

Minneapolis is the next leg in AT&T's 5G rollout, and one of 20 markets where the carrier is planning to bring 5G Evolution by the end of 2017. The technology is already available in parts of Austin and Indianapolis, and allows customers access to much faster speeds on compatible devices, which as of now does not yet include any iPhone model.

“We’re excited about launching this new wireless network in Minneapolis in the coming months as we move towards standards-based mobile 5G,” said Marachel Knight, senior vice president, Wireless Network Architecture and Design. “The upgrades we’re making today in Minneapolis are the foundation for the future of next generation connectivity in this city.”

“Minnesota is in a great position to welcome 5G Evolution wireless technology, with a climate that encourages the deployment of small cells – an integral building block for 5G,” said State Senator Bobby Joe Champion. “Good public policy can help put Minnesota on the map and attract investment that will prepare our state for the next generation wireless economy.”

In addition to the upgraded network in and around Minneapolis, AT&T will also upgrade the Distributed Antenna System (DAS) at the U.S. Bank Stadium in downtown Minneapolis, where Super Bowl LII will be held. The company said this means the stadium will be "overloaded...with wireless capacity and boosted LTE capacity" by an increase of 150 percent compared to last year, thanks to more than 800 antennas.

AT&T mentioned that Minneapolis is a "major step" on its journey to make 5G a standard for mobile networks "as soon as late 2018." In total, the locations focused on AT&T's 5G rollout will result in "smarter cities," according to the company, as well as support for higher quality augmented and virtual reality experiences on smartphones.

Right now, 5G-capable devices include LG V30, Moto Z2 Force Edition, Samsung Galaxy Note 8, Samsung Galaxy S8, Samsung Galaxy S8+, and the Samsung Galaxy S8 Active. These smartphones can take advantage of ultra-fast LTE Advanced features including 256 Quadrature Amplitude Modulation, 4x4 Multiple-Input and Multiple-Output, 3-way carrier aggregation, and other 5G-related upgrades, to provide faster network speeds to users.

Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon have also announced interest in 5G networks, with Sprint saying its own wide-scale 5G network will launch by 2019, and T-Mobile aiming for nationwide 5G coverage by 2020. Of course, all of this progress hinges on the 3rd Generation Partnership Project first completing the 5G Release 15 standard. According to AT&T, once Release 15 is out then 5G-supported "commercial equipment" will be available within six months.

Earlier this year, Apple submitted an application to the FCC for an experimental license to test next-generation 5G wireless technologies, which it was then granted in July. While the exact purpose of Apple's tests remains unclear, the company could be looking to prepare future models of its iPhone and iPad devices to take advantage of 5G network speeds.

Nokia has announced that its Steel HR hybrid smartwatch will ship in time for the holiday season, almost a year after it was supposed to launch under the Withings moniker.

The watch was first announced in September 2016, but its scheduled launch the following month never happened as Nokia began negotiating its takeover of Withings, which was eventually finalized in June.

Shortly thereafter, Nokia relaunched several Withings products under the Nokia brand, including the Nokia GO and Nokia Steel watches, as well as Nokia BPM+ and Nokia Body+ connected devices.

The Steel HR finally joins the existing line-up and will be available in 36mm and 40mm case sizes. It features a simple and stylish analog watch face with unobtrusive digital meters for tracking heart rate and movement over the course of the day. In addition, the watch features automatic and learned activity tracking for over 10 activities, a comprehensive sleep monitor, and text, call and event alerts.

Nokia says it has also made some software improvements to the smartwatch since its Withings iteration, including an improved heart rate algorithm to ensure more accurate tracking. A design change has also been made that replaces the face with sapphire glass to guarantee up to 50 meter waterproofing.

The Steel HR syncs with the Nokia Health Mate iOS app, costs $179.99, and is available to pre-order from the Nokia website in either black or white.

Apple has agreed to help the Indian government develop an anti-spam app for iOS devices, after initially refusing to do so because of privacy concerns, according to Reuters.

In early September we reported that the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) attempted to get its Do Not Disturb (DND) software on the App Store. The app lets users share spam call and text message logs with the agency, which then sends the data to mobile operators for them to block the spammers.

Apple originally told regulators that the DND app violates its privacy policy, however today's report suggests the tech giant has had a change of heart.

Facing public criticism from the regulator, Apple executives flew to New Delhi last month and told officials the company would help develop the app, but only with limited capabilities, according to a government official aware of the matter.

Apple's executives have told India that its current iOS platform might not allow for some of the government's requests, such as making call logs available within the app that would allow users to report them as spam, the official said.

According to Indian officials, Apple has offered to help develop an app that can solve the regulator's requirements "to an extent".

Meanwhile, an Apple spokesman has confirmed that the new iOS features to combat spam text messages would help the government build the app, but he didn't comment on the app's potential inability to access call logs for reporting spam. The spokesman also underlined the fact that Apple had not changed its stance on privacy.

Marketing cold calls and unsolicited commercial text messages have become a big problem in India. Mobile users have the option to register themselves under a "do not disturb" service to block marketers, but businesses have gamed the system by using multiple phone numbers for promotions, according to Reuters. TRAI's Do Not Disturb app has been available on Android since last year and has been downloaded more than 100,000 times.

Before the app launches, it asks the user to allow it access to contacts and view text messages. Users can then start reporting numbers as spam. This kind of access has evidently concerned Apple. "The app can peep into logs, Apple had conveyed that their (privacy) policy does not allow this," said a cited industry source familiar with the matter. Those concerns prompted Apple to ask for talks with state regulators, but the proposal has apparently frustrated officials.

"The whole exercise in organizing the proposed meeting would be a waste of resources ... please share concrete solutions that have a likelihood of addressing the issues we have been discussing over the past one year," the regulator wrote in September.

Later the same month, Apple told TRAI it had identified potential solutions, but that it would need to have further discussions with the regulator's technical staff. Those discussions are said to have taken place in October, with Apple subsequently confirming that it would help develop the first version of the app with limited features.

Apple has been in talks with the Indian government to open retail stores and to gain permission to sell used iPhones imported into the country. The company is also seeking economic concessions including tax breaks as it sets up local manufacturing plants there, but those efforts could have been negatively impacted by Apple's refusal to approve the anti-spam software.