Western Digital today announced the launch of its latest personal cloud storage solution, the My Cloud Home. My Cloud Home is designed to make it easy for customers to set up and use a personal cloud storage solution to meet all of their storage needs.
The company is aiming to make My Cloud Home the one stop storage destination for all of a person's devices, aggregating photos, videos, and files from smartphones, computers, USB devices, social media accounts, and more.
As a connected cloud solution, the My Cloud Home is available on any tablet, smartphone, or computer with an Internet connection using the My Cloud Home mobile app, and because it's a local storage product, there is no subscription fee.
Consumers seek a way to effortlessly consolidate their growing mounds of photos, videos and other files with a solution flexible enough to accommodate content from all of today's devices - from smart phones to computers and from drones to social sites," said Jim Welsh, senior vice president, Client Solutions, Western Digital. "Enabling consumers and professionals to master their digital lives from anywhere in the world is a priority for Western Digital."
My Cloud Home can be set up to automatically copy content from smartphones and computers to provide a hassle-free backup solution, and it connects to social networks and other cloud services like Dropbox. TV Shows, movies, and other content stored in My Cloud Home can be played in Plex through an integration with the Plex app.
Western Digital is offering the My Cloud Home in 2, 3, 4, 6, and 8TB configurations. There's also a My Cloud Home Duo with 4, 12, and 16TB of storage space, designed with RAID 1 functionality to duplicate content onto a second drive for extra security should one drive fail.
The My Cloud Home next to the My Cloud Home Duo
The My Cloud Home and My Cloud Home Duo are available today from Best Buy and other major retailers. Pricing starts at $159.99 for the 2TB solution. 3TB is available for $179.99, 4TB for $199.99, 6TB for $259.99, and 8TB for $319.99.
The My Cloud Home Duo is priced at $309.99 for 4TB, $399.99 for 8TB, $549.99 for 12TB, and $699.99 for 16TB.
Apple today updated its online store for refurbished products to add the new 21.5-inch iMac models that were initially released in June of 2017.
Today marks the first time the new 2017 iMacs in the 21.5-inch configuration have been available through the refurbished store since their launch at the Worldwide Developers Conference. The new iMacs feature Kaby Lake processors, upgraded displays, faster solid state storage, and discrete graphics.
Apple's refurbished store features only 4K models with Retina display at this time and does not have any refurbished non-Retina 21.5-inch iMac models available for purchase.
At the time of this post, there were eight different refurbished 4K 21.5-inch iMacs available in various configurations, with prices discounted by approximately 15 percent. An entry-level 4K model with 8GB RAM, a 1TB hard drive, and a Radeon Pro 555 is available for $1,099, for example, a $200 discount off of the regular $1,299 starting price.
Apple has a several different configurations available, from low-end to top-of-the-line. As with all refurbished products, stock will fluctuate regularly based on the machines Apple is getting in for repair. The addition of the new 2017 21.5-inch models follows the introduction of refurbished 2017 27-inch iMacs earlier this month.
All of Apple's refurbished products go through a rigorous refurbishment process before being offered for sale, which includes inspection, repairs, cleaning, and repackaging. Refurbished Macs come with a one-year warranty that can be extended with an AppleCare+ purchase. For more info on purchasing a refurbished product from Apple, make sure to check out our guide.
As two new episodes of "Carpool Karaoke: The Series" air tonight, Apple has shared trailers for next week's episodes, which will pair Michael Strahan with Jeff Gordon and Shaquille O'Neal with John Cena.
The first trailer features media personality and former football player Michael Strahan and Fox NASCAR announcer and former professional race car driver Jeff Gordon. The two dress up with props, race on bicycle rickshaws, and sing along to songs like Olivia Newton-John's "Physical."
The second trailer pairs former basketball player Shaquille O'Neal with wrestler John Cena. The two athletes sing songs like "Maneater" by Hall & Oates and "Mama Said Knock You Out" by LL Cool J.
The episodes shown off in the trailer featuring the two athlete mashups will air on Tuesday, September 5.
Tonight's Tonight's "Carpool Karaoke: The Series" episodes are now available to watch. The first episode stars Miley Cyrus, her dad Billy Ray, her sister Noah, her mom Tish, her brother Braison, her sister Brandy, and her brother Trace. The second episode Queen stars Latifah and Jada Pinkett Smith with appearances by Regina Hall and Tiffany Haddish.
"Carpool Karaoke: The Series" debuted on August 8. Since then, Apple has been uploading two episodes per week. Carpool Karaoke is available solely to Apple Music subscribers.
Amazon today added a new Alexa feature that allows several Amazon Echo devices to be synchronized and controlled across multiple rooms in a home. Echo owners can now target music to a specific Echo device or play the same music on more than one Echo.
The feature works with a variety of music services, including Amazon Music, TuneIn, iHeartRatio, and Pandora, with support for Spotify and SiriusXM coming soon. To use multi-room support, users will need to use the Alexa app to create groups with two or more Echo devices, giving the group a name like "downstairs." Once the group is enabled, commands like "Alexa, play John Mayer downstairs" will work.
"In just the last few months, we've added dozens of new features to Alexa that enhance your entertainment experience--control of Amazon Fire TV and your home entertainment systems via Echo; music lyrics, Amazon Video, and movie trailers on Echo Show; and activity-based music searches--and we're just getting started," said Toni Reid, Vice President, Amazon Alexa. "Today, we're making Alexa even smarter with an all-new feature that lets you play music synchronized on multiple Echo devices to provide room-filling music throughout your home."
Amazon's move to add support for multiple Echo devices comes as Apple prepares to launch both the HomePod and an AirPlay 2 protocol. Multiple HomePod devices can be used simultaneously, and with AirPlay 2, speakers that support the feature can be paired together for a whole-home music experience.
Multi-room music support is available for the Echo, Echo Dot, and Echo Show in the United States, UK, and Germany starting today. Amazon says it plans to extend the ability allow users to control multi-room music on other connected speakers with just a voice command through a new Multi-Room Music SDK that device makers can build into their speakers. Amazon plans to work with brands like Sonos, Bose, Sound United, and Samsung, and some of these manufacturers are also working to support AirPlay 2 in future devices.
In other Echo-related news, the original Amazon Echo is out of stock on Amazon.com, fueling speculation that a new device launch is imminent. Rumors have suggested Amazon is working on a new version of the Echo that's designed to better compete with Apple's upcoming HomePod. The new Echo device is said to feature improved sound quality, better microphone technology, and a new design.
Instagram has allowed users to share multiple photos in a single post since February, but those photos have been limited to the traditional square aspect ratio, preventing users from sharing landscape or portrait mode images in a multi-photo post.
Starting today, that limitation is changing. Instagram is now allowing users to share multi-photo posts in any aspect ratio, including taller portrait mode photos and wider landscape mode photos.
After we first rolled out in February, these posts could only be made up of squares. Now, when uploading your photos and videos, you'll have more creative flexibility with the ability to share in landscape and portrait formats. To keep the experience smooth and consistent, however, all photos and videos in your post must be shared in the same format.
While there will no longer be a need to crop portrait and landscape photos when sharing them in multiple photo posts, all images in the post need to share the same aspect ratio, so there's no mixing portrait and landscape photos in one post.
Instagram says the new photo uploading capabilities are available starting today, but it appears the feature may still be rolling out to some users as it is not yet available to everyone.
The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences today announced the recipients of the 69th annual Technology & Engineering Emmy Awards, with Apple winning an award in the "Contextual Voice Navigation for Discovering and Interacting with TV Content" category.
Apple received the award for the Siri voice integration built into the fourth-generation Apple TV, which allows users to search for content using voice-based commands. Other winners in the same category include Comcast, Universal Electronics (UEI), and Nuance Dragon TV.
Siri has been available on Apple TV since 2015, which is when the fourth-generation set-top box with tvOS became available for purchase. Siri has a range of functions on the device, ranging from TV show/movie/actor/topic search capabilities to features like a vocal rewind option that allows users to do things like ask "What did she say?" to jump back 15 seconds and temporarily turn on subtitles.
Siri can open apps and games, respond to typical commands for information about sports scores, movie times, weather, and more, and Siri can answer questions about movies and TV shows. "Who directed this movie?" and "Who stars in this movie?" are just a couple of examples of the kinds of queries Siri can respond to. Siri can even answer complex topic-based requests, like "Find comedies from the 80s starring Chevy Chase" or "Find movies for kids from the 90s."
Award recipients will be honored at the Technology & Engineering Emmy Awards at the National Association of Broadcasters on Sunday, April 8, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Apple plans to introduce a new fifth-generation Apple TV at its September iPhone-centric event, believed to be taking place on the 12th of the month. The fifth-generation Apple TV will continue featuring Siri support, and could even introduce new Siri-related features.
According to Apple, the new code is available alongside new ARKit "best practices" published in the Human Interface Guidelines. Apple also asks developers working on an "amazing" ARKit experience to share it with the company.
Design intuitive augmented reality experiences for iOS using the best practices now available in the Human Interface Guidelines, and explore new sample code for ARKit. We can't wait for your apps to be available to hundreds of millions of people with the launch of iOS 11 this fall. If you're working on creating an amazing experience with ARKit and would like to share it with us, let us know.
The new demos cover interactive content in ARKit and audio in ARKit, while the Human Interface Guidelines cover ideal app design like using the entire display, creating convincing illusions, being mindful of user safety, interacting with virtual objects, positioning virtual objects, and more.
Along with new ARKit info, Apple today also informed developers that starting in the fall, apps will need to support App Store transactions of promoted in-app purchases for in-app purchases to be properly displayed on the App Store.
iOS 11 includes new functionality that will let users browse in-app purchases from the App Store app and purchase them before downloading an app, and developers will need to implement support when the GM version of the Xcode 9 is released.
With iOS 11, users can browse in-app purchases directly on the App Store and start a purchase even before downloading your app. During the iOS 11 beta period, promoted in-app purchases are displayed on the App Store without the ability to buy. Starting this fall, your app must handle App Store transactions of promoted in-app purchases in order for your in-app purchases to be displayed on the App Store. Once the GM version of Xcode 9 is released, simply implement the new delegate method within SKPaymentTransactionObserver, rebuild your app, and submit for review. You can also customize which promoted in-app purchases a user sees on a specific device with the SKProductStorePromotionController API.
Apple is expected to release iOS 11 in September alongside new iPhones, and that's when the first ARKit apps will become available for download.
Apple this week invited several media sites to its Cupertino campus to show off some upcoming ARKit apps being developed by major companies like The Food Network, Ikea, Giphy, and AMC, according to CNBC, The Verge, and TechCrunch.
Ikea demonstrated its previously announced "Ikea Place" app, designed to allow users to preview what Ikea furniture will look like in their homes ahead of a purchase. The Verge says it's highly customizable, letting users see the size, materials, and texture of furniture.
The Food Network is developing an app that will let users create custom digital desserts that can then be reproduced in real life through a custom recipe, while AMC and Next Games have teamed up for an augmented reality zombie game called "The Walking Dead: Our World."
Image from CNBC
GIF app Giphy plans to introduce tools that will let GIFs be added to the real world, and Climax Studios CEO and developer Simon Gardner showed off an upcoming AR game called Arise, which is an augmented reality puzzle game solved by tilting the iPhone to steer a character through the level.
The Very Hungry Caterpillar, a popular children's story turned into an app, will take advantage of ARKit to offer kids a chance to raise a virtual caterpillar, feeding it until it turns into a butterfly.
Image from Apple, via The Verge
All of the developers present had the same general opinion about ARKit according to The Verge -- it "could be the real game changer in AR." Many of the developers said it was simple to create an ARKit app, sometimes taking just 7 to 10 weeks to develop. For more on these ARKit apps, make sure to check out the full reports from CNBC, TechCrunch, and The Verge.
Along with these official looks at ARKit, we've also seen several developer concepts surfacing in the months since ARKit was announced. Check out our previous coverage for details on what will be possible with the new feature:
The first ARKit apps will launch in September following the public debut of iOS 11. When iOS 11 and ARKit become available, Apple's iPhones and iPads will instantly become the largest augmented reality platform in the world. ARKit will be available on all Apple devices with iOS 11 and an A9 processor or better (iPad Pro and iPhone 6s/6s Plus and later).
Thunderbolt 3 docks continue to flood the market, and today I'm taking a look at IOGEAR's Thunderbolt 3 Quantum Docking Station. IOGEAR's dock offers many of the same features typically seen on other Thunderbolt 3 docks, including multiple USB ports, a Gigabit Ethernet port, headphone and microphone jacks, a DisplayPort port, and a pair of Thunderbolt 3 ports to allow for daisy chaining, all in a familiar horizontal design used by many other docks.
Most notably, the IOGEAR Thunderbolt 3 Quantum Docking Station looks identical to CalDigit's TS3 Lite that I reviewed a few months ago, with the exception of color and finish. While CalDigit's dock has an enclosure of brushed aluminum and black matte plastic, IOGEAR's has more of a satin matte finish that's slightly lighter in color, paired with white matte plastic. In size, shape, and port layout, however, these two docks are identical.
Caldigit's TS3 Lite (left) vs. IOGEAR's Thunderbolt 3 Quantum Docking Station (right)
The IOGEAR dock looks decent, with its aluminum finish coming close to the silver color Apple uses on its notebooks. A fairly unobtrusive IOGEAR logo is printed on the top of the dock, and it comes with an external power brick and a 0.5-meter Thunderbolt 3 cable for connecting to a host computer at maximum speeds.
Meeting the standard for Thunderbolt 3 docks, IOGEAR's version supports up to a single 5K display over Thunderbolt 3 or dual 4K displays over a combination of Thunderbolt 3 and DisplayPort. I experienced no hiccups connecting an LG UltraFine 5K display at up to 60 Hz through one of the dock's Thunderbolt 3 ports.
In line with every other dock I've reviewed with the exception of OWC's Thunderbolt 3 Dock, IOGEAR's dock includes three USB ports, with IOGEAR opting to go with one Type-A on the rear and one each of Type-A and Type-C on the front for easy access.
All three ports run at 5 Gbps USB 3.1 Gen 1 speeds, and the inclusion of a Type-C port is a nice benefit as peripherals start to move in that direction. The USB ports operate at expected speeds once overhead is accounted for, with a CalDigit Tuff SSD running at 325 MB/s write and 350 MB/s read over both Type-A and Type-C, in line with other Thunderbolt 3 docks featuring 5 Gbps USB ports.
As with the TS3 Lite, one of the main limitations with IOGEAR's dock is that it only supports up to 15 watts of charging power over Thunderbolt 3/USB-C, meaning it won't be able to power your MacBook Pro over the same cable used for data and video and you'll need to hook up your computer's power brick.
Attempting to power my 2016 15-inch MacBook Pro solely through the dock merely slowed the rate of battery life decrease, even under light usage. Depending on your setup such as willingness to use your Mac's power brick or having another monitor with higher charging power already connected, this might not be a deal breaker, but with many other Thunderbolt 3 docks offering 60 or even 85 watts of charging power it's an unfortunate limitation.
The real deal breaker, however, is price, unless you're very careful in shopping around. IOGEAR's dock carries a list price of $299.95, in the same range as docks with better features such as higher charging power, and a full $100 more than the essentially identical TS3 Lite from CalDigit. You can certainly find cheaper prices on IOGEAR's dock such as current $225 pricing at Amazon, but even that is still higher than the TS3 Lite.
Authorized reseller Provantage currently has it for $178, but with shipping starting at $27, the deal isn't quite as good as it first appears. Even with those deals, it's disappointing how much hunting you need to do to try find a good price on this dock.
As a result, it's hard to recommend the Thunderbolt 3 Quantum Docking Station unless you can find it at a really great price. The TS3 Lite is generally cheaper for identical features, while other docks like OWC's Thunderbolt 3 Dock with more USB ports and an SD card slot or Elgato's dock or CalDigit's TS3 with more features at the same list price offer better values.
Note: IOGEAR provided the Thunderbolt 3 Quantum Docking Station to MacRumors free of charge for the purposes of this review. No other compensation was received. MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon and may earn commissions on purchases made through links in this article.
Intel today introduced its new Xeon-W workstation-class processors at the IFA trade show in Berlin, and the new chips line up nicely with the processor capabilities we’re expecting to see in the iMac Pro.
The new chips, which use an LGA2066 socket and Skylake-SP architecture, come in 8, 10, and 18 core configurations with Turbo Boost up to 4.5GHz, 48 PCI Express 3.0 lanes, and support for up to 512GB of DDR4–2666 ECC memory.
Click to enlarge
Apple has said the iMac Pro will feature Intel’s Xeon processors, with 8, 10, and 18 core chips available as optional configurations with up to 42MB cache and maximum Turbo Boost up to 4.5GHz.
Specifically, Apple could be planning to use the 8-core 3.7GHz Xeon W–2145, the 10-core 3.3GHz Xeon W–2155, and the 18-core 2.3GHz Xeon W–2195. Pricing on the chips starts at $1,113, but a price is not yet listed for the high-end 18-core processors.
According to Intel, the Xeon-W chips offer a 1.87x boost in performance compared to a 4-year old workstation with an Intel Xeon E5–1680 v2 Romley processor, like the 2013 8-core Mac Pro, and up to 1.38x higher performance compared to previous-generation Xeon E5–1680 v4 chips.
Intel plans to release its high-end 18-core chips in the fourth quarter of 2017, which also lines up with the target release date of the iMac Pro. The other chips may see earlier release dates.
Though Xeon-W chips do appear to work for the iMac Pro, there is still some question as to whether they’re the chips Apple plans to use. A June report from Pike’s Universum suggested Apple would use Intel’s server-grade Purley processors with an LGA3647 socket rather than the desktop-class LGA2066 socket.
That information was based on firmware files found in the macOS High Sierra beta, but it’s possible it was inaccurate. Intel announced some Purley chips in July, but that announcement did not include chips that would be appropriate for the iMac Pro.
Along with Xeon processors, the iMac Pro will include Radeon Pro Vega graphics, up to 4TB of solid state storage space, four Thunderbolt 3 ports, up to 128GB of ECC RAM, and a redesigned thermal architecture to support those components.
Rumors based on firmware findings suggest the iMac Pro could also include a Secure Enclave with an ARM coprocessor like the MacBook Pro with Touch Bar, but it’s unclear at this time what that functionality will be used for as Apple has made no mention of Touch ID support.
The iMac Pro is positioned as a workstation class machine aimed at pro users with demanding workflows, and it’s priced accordingly. When it launches in December, pricing for the iMac Pro will start at $4,999.
At its Worldwide Developers Conference in June, Apple announced that an Amazon Prime Video app would be coming to the Apple TV later this year.
No release date was given, but Apple's September iPhone event seemed like an ideal time for the app to see an official release. Unfortunately, that may not happen. In a piece on Apple's troubles establishing TV-related deals, Recode says that according to its sources, the app may not be live in time for debut at the iPhone event.
An Amazon Prime Video app is something that Apple TV owners have desired for years, as it is one of the only major streaming video services absent from the set-top box.
With no targeted launch date on the horizon, it isn't clear when the app will see a launch, but we can expect it before the end of 2017 based on Apple's initial announcement.
While an Amazon Prime Video app may not launch at Apple's September event, Apple TV enthusiasts do have one product to look forward to -- a fifth-generation TV with support for 4K HDR. The new set-top box, with an upgraded processor and perhaps other upgraded features, is set to launch in September alongside new iPhones and an LTE Apple Watch.
Apple is aiming to hold its annual iPhone event on Tuesday, September 12, TechCrunch reported today, confirming information shared yesterday by The Wall Street Journal.
According to TechCrunch, the September 12 date is "nearly locked in," but may hinge on whether Apple is able to complete work on the Steve Jobs Theater at its new Apple Park campus in time. Construction on the theater is still underway, but Apple is said to want to inaugurate the theater with the launch of the iPhone 8, its most radically redesigned iPhone in years.
Because media invites often go out 7 to 10 days before a major event is held, Apple has very little time to make a decision on where the event will be hosted, if a decision has not been made already. With Labor Day coming up next Monday, Apple will need to send out invites by the end of this week or on Tuesday, September 5 at the latest if the event is to be held on September 12.
Should the 1,000 seat Steve Jobs Theater not be completed in time, Apple could elect to use the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco, where several past iPhone events have been held. There's nothing on the auditorium's schedule for the week of the 12th, so it remains a possibility.
With September approaching, it won't be long before Apple's plans are confirmed. If Apple does hold an event on September 12 -- and it's unlikely the event would be pushed beyond that date -- the new iPhones could see an official launch on Friday, September 22. If Apple accepts pre-orders, sales could start a week ahead of launch on Friday, September 15.
Apple's 2017 iPhone event will be its biggest in years thanks to the launch of a redesigned OLED 5.8-inch iPhone with an edge-to-edge display, inductive charging, facial recognition, and dozens of other new features. The new high-end device will launch alongside two standard but also redesigned devices in typical 4.7 and 5.5-inch sizes.
Apple is also expected to unveil a new 4K Apple TV and a third-generation Apple Watch with LTE at the event.
Apple this week announced that two of its retail stores, located at Village Pointe in Omaha, Nebraska and South Hills Village in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, will reopen Saturday, September 2 at 10:00 a.m. local time. Both locations have been closed for renovations for the past several weeks.
Apple's old Village Pointe store in Omaha, Nebraska
Apple Village Pointe will remain located on Davenport Street in an expanded storefront. The additional space should be a welcomed change for both the store's employees and customers, as foot traffic to Apple stores has undoubtedly increased since the location originally opened in September 2006.
Apple South Hills Village will relocate to a different unit within the shopping mall, and it will likely gain some extra square footage as well.
Each store has received a makeover based on Apple's next-generation retail design, which typically includes wide, open spaces with some combination of large glass doors, sequoia wood tables and shelves, large video screens for Today at Apple sessions, and light boxes spanning the length of the ceiling.
All new Apple Stores opened since September 2015 have been based on the new design language, including flagship-tier locations such as Apple Union Square in San Francisco and Apple World Trade Center in New York City. Apple has also renovated over 40 other stores to reflect the newer aesthetic.
Google today announced its "parking difficulty" indicator in Google Maps for iOS and Android will now appear in 25 additional cities around the world. The feature was previously available in the United States only.
The simple feature shows a "P" icon with a difficulty level such as "moderate" or "limited," based on how easy it will be to find parking at the destination entered. The feature is based on historical parking data and machine learning.
The following cities support the feature starting today:
Alicante
Amsterdam
Copenhagen
Barcelona
Cologne
Darmstadt
Düsseldorf
London
Madrid
Málaga
Manchester
Milan
Montréal
Moscow
Munich
Paris
Prague
Rio de Janeiro
Rome
São Paulo
Stockholm
Stuttgart
Toronto
Valencia
Vancouver
Google Maps is available for free on the App Store [Direct Link] for iPhone and iPad.
Google today announced a new developer platform for augmented reality apps that won't require dedicated hardware, which it's calling "ARCore." The company originally began making inroads in the AR space a few years ago with Project Tango, which required manufacturers to implement specialized equipment so that smartphones would be compatible with Tango's AR features.
Now, Google is "effectively shuttering" the Tango brand, according to TechCrunch, and focusing on the ARCore software development kit. The new platform will deliver AR abilities to compatible Android smartphones, immediately turning a large swath of the Android device market into advanced AR-enabled machines, similar to what will happen with iOS 11-enabled devices following the debut of Apple's upcoming ARKit.
To start, ARCore is launching on the Google Pixel and Samsung Galaxy S8 (which must be running 7.0 Nougat or above), and a wider adoption of more smartphones will come later down the line for ARCore's public launch. By that date, Google "plans to have 100 million Android devices" out in the wild that support motion-tracking AR capabilities, and as more advanced smartphones launch the company said that ARCore will only grow stronger.
“We’ve architected ARCore to be able to perceive a wide variety of sensors,” Google AR/VR head Clay Bavor told TechCrunch. “We foresee, in the future, many more phones having depth-sensing capabilities and as those come into mainstream phones, that’s great, ARCore will work seamlessly with those and benefit from the additional sensing capabilities.”
ARCore works by detecting surfaces near the user in order to display augmented reality content in a stable space. The Android smartphone sensors will detect these horizontal planes, factor in the device's motion tracking, and estimate the light entering a room so objects can be dynamically lit based on their environment.
The company is also focusing on the web, which it describes as "a critical component of the future of AR." It's beginning by releasing a prototype browser for web developers, allowing them to begin experimenting with AR alongside mobile developers. In the future, Google says that these custom browsers will allow developers to make AR-enhanced websites that run on both Android and ARCore, as well as iOS and ARKit.
Apple announced ARKit back in June, introducing a developer platform that functions in much the same way as Google's ARCore. With ARKit, developers can create apps that take advantage of the built-in camera, processors, and motion sensors of an iPhone or iPad, resulting in advanced AR experiences. Demos of these apps have been continuously emerging online in the wake of ARKit's WWDC announcement.
Android developers interested in ARCore can begin experimenting and creating apps for the Pixel and Galaxy S8 smartphones starting today. To see more examples of ARCore in action, Google has created an AR Experiments website.
YouTube today announced a few changes coming to the company's mobile apps and desktop site, including a visual update for the well-known YouTube logo. Instead of emphasizing the "Tube" part of the branding, the new icon places the TV-like icon to the left of the company's name.
Designed for our multi-screen world, the updated Logo combines a cleaned up version of the YouTube wordmark and Icon, creating a more flexible design that works better across a variety of devices, even on the tiniest screens.
Why’s it more flexible? When room is limited (say on a smartphone) you can use the brightened up Icon as an abbreviated Logo, which will be seen more easily and read more clearly. You’ll see the new Logo and Icon roll out across mobile and desktop today, and across all our other apps and services soon.
Additionally, the company announced a few updates coming to its iOS and Android apps including improved navigation, more gesture controls (like swiping left and right to jump between videos in a playlist), the ability to speed up or slow down videos, and a dedicated player for vertical videos. There's also a new way to browse more videos while in the YouTube player, by swiping up from the bottom of the screen to see suggested videos.
Both the app and desktop site are being updated to Google's Material Design aesthetic, which will refresh YouTube with a "simple and intuitive user experience that lets content shine," according to the company. With the new update to the desktop site, users will be able to turn on an official Dark Theme so they can browse YouTube more comfortably at night. The Verge reports that Dark Theme will be available on the YouTube mobile apps as well.
Many of the iOS, Android, and desktop updates will launch today, along with the all-new YouTube logo which users should begin noticing across mobile apps and online throughout the day.
In a statement sent to multiple Chinese media outlets today, Apple said iPhone and iPad users in China can now use WeChat Pay as a payment method for App Store and Apple Music purchases.
"We are glad to offer users in mainland China the option of WeChat Pay for their favorite mobile app or Apple Music products. We continue to be dedicated to provide multiple simple and convenient payment methods for customers within the Apple ecosystem," Apple said in an official statement today.
WeChat Pay is the second most popular mobile payments service in China, with an estimated 39.5 percent market share as of the first quarter of 2017, according to Beijing-based research firm Analysys. By comparison, Apple Pay's market share was estimated to have been just one percent in the first quarter.
WeChat itself is an incredibly popular app in China that allows users to pay for services, chat, hail a cab, watch videos, play mini games, and more. Since the app can be installed on Android, some analysts believe WeChat is a threat to Apple by way of reducing the iPhone's competitive advantage in China.
Nevertheless, Apple CEO Tim Cook recently said WeChat's creator Tencent is one of its most important developers.
"I see Tencent as one of our biggest and best developers," said Cook, speaking on a conference call in early August. "They've done a great job of implementing iOS features in their apps, and we're looking forward to working with them even more to build even greater experiences for our mutual users in China."
Apple has also accepted Alipay, the most popular mobile payment service in China with 53.7 percent market share, since October 2016.
Elgato has announced five new HomeKit-enabled devices coming to its Eve product line, including the Eve Thermo, Eve Lock, Eve Window Guard, Eve Smoke, and Eve Aqua. The announcement was made ahead of IFA Berlin 2017, a consumer electronics and home appliances trade show taking place from September 1-6 where Elgato will showcase the devices in more detail.
The new Eve Thermo marks the second generation of the product line, introducing capacitive touch controls below an integrated temperature display, all on a small device that connects to a home's radiator to provide smart controls without the need for a bridge. Aimed at European customers, the connected radiator valve detects when users are home and when windows are open, automatically adjusting heat as needed.
With HomeKit, users can set up schedules and timers to activate or deactivate their radiator, and control the temperature through Siri commands. Eve Thermo -- which has a battery life of up to 12 months -- can be mounted vertically or horizontally, and its touch controls can be locked to prevent kids from tampering with the radiator's temperature. Those interested will be able to purchase Eve Thermo starting September 26 for £59.95/69,95 Euro.
Eve Lock is a new intelligent, self-locking lock mechanism that automatically secures the lock of a door after users close the door behind them. Additionally, Eve Lock can be controlled through the iOS Home or Eve apps, so users can open the door when they have a visitor or monitor when an unauthorized attempt to open the door has occurred.
The company also unveiled Eve Smoke, which can link with and activate HomeKit scenes whenever it detects smoke within the home, in order to quickly notify residents of a potential fire. The smoke alarm -- which also sets off a loud noise like traditional alarms -- can be monitored through Apple's Home app like the other Eve products, and its battery lasts for ten years.
To protect the home from intruders, Eve Window Guard can sense tamper force on a window to detect when someone might be trying to break in, and can even notice if the window is open, closed, or tilted. When it recognizes one of these changes in the window's state, the device will send a HomeKit notification to a user's iPhone so they know that there might be an intruder in the home.
Lastly, Eve Aqua lets users water their lawns using HomeKit. After attaching the Bluetooth-enabled controller between a spigot and a hose, they can set up a water schedule to perfectly monitor their lawn care, or ask Siri to turn on the Eve Aqua and immediately sprinkle the lawn or flower beds. The connected Eve app will also track Eve Aqua's activity so users can discover various piece of watering data that Elgato said will help "better cater to your garden's needs."
While the company gave more detailed insight and a price for the Eve Thermo, the four other HomeKit devices did not receive any price points or launch dates at this time. Check out Elgato's website here for more images and information on the new HomeKit products.
Biggest design overhaul since iOS 7 with Liquid Glass, plus new Apple Intelligence features and improvements to Messages, Phone, Safari, Shortcuts, and more. Developer beta available now ahead of public beta in July.
Biggest design overhaul since iOS 7 with Liquid Glass, plus new Apple Intelligence features and improvements to Messages, Phone, Safari, Shortcuts, and more. Developer beta available now ahead of public beta in July.
Apple today 
In a statement sent to 
