High-end audio maker Audeze is currently offering 40 percent off the suggested retail price of its SINE closed-back on-ear headphones, including the company's own all-digital CIPHER Lightning cable.
The award-winning Audeze SINE cans feature proprietary planar magnetic drivers for improved dynamics and frequency response, are lightweight (300 grams), and fold flat for travel use.
The premium leather headphones also carry Apple's Made for iPhone specification, which means users can plug them in with a Lightning connector for higher quality audio than offered by a 3.5mm jack or a Bluetooth connection.
With that in mind, Audeze's discount on its SINE headphones includes the optional CIPHER Lightning cable, which houses a digital signal processor, digital-to-analog converter (DAC), microphone, and headphone amplifier.
Using the promo code SUMMER17 during checkout, customers can pick up a pair of SINE headphones with CIPHER Lightning cable for $299 (usually $499), or SINE with standard cable for $249 (usually $449).
The offer ends June 21 and the promo code only works on the Audeze website. Free standard shipping is included on all orders for customers in the U.S., including Hawaii and Alaska.
As we noted last week, today marks the release of The One Device: The Secret History of the iPhone, a new book from Motherboard editor Brian Merchant chronicling the development of the original iPhone. I've had a chance to read through the book before its launch, and overall it's an entertaining read, although it comes up a bit short in its promise to unveil the secret history of the landmark device.
The One Device is really a book in two parts, and the part directly covering the development of the original iPhone is actually only about 30 percent of the book, broken up into four chapters interspersed throughout. The remainder of the book covers topics that are related to the iPhone, but which are in most cases separate from the direct early iPhone history.
In the four chapters that cover the development of the iPhone, Merchant weaves together his own interviews with a number of engineers who worked on the original iPhone with tidbits and quotes pulled from other sources such as executives' testimony in the Samsung trial, Walter Isaacson's Steve Jobs, and Brett Schlender and Rick Tetzeli's Becoming Steve Jobs. Many of the members of the original iPhone team have left Apple over the past ten years, so some of those key former employees including Bas Ording, Richard Williamson, Imran Chaudhri, and the colorful Andy Grignon were willing to talk to Merchant about their time working on the project.
There are some interesting details about early work on multi-touch inspired by Wayne Westerman's FingerWorks technology that was eventually acquired by Apple, Steve Jobs' obsession with secrecy on the project that led to the team winning an internal "innovation award" at Apple's annual "Top 100" retreat even though the project they working on couldn't be revealed to the those in attendance, and the trials and tribulations faced by the small initial team working under signifiant pressure.
"That project broke all of the rules of product management," a member of the original iPhone group recalls. "It was the all-star team — it was clear they were picking the top people out of the org. We were just going full force. None of us had built a phone before; we were figuring it out as we went along. It was the one time it felt like design and engineering were working together to solve these problems. We'd sit together and figure it out. It's the most influence over a product I've ever had or ever will have."
The "secret history" outlined in these chapters feels a bit on the light side, and it left me wishing Merchant could have dug into more detail on it. That's understandably a difficult task given Apple's penchant for secrecy that keeps many of those with direct knowledge off limits and others who were able to talk still limited in what they felt comfortable disclosing, but I was still hoping for a bit more.
The bulk of the book covers topics that are more ancillary to the iPhone's development, areas such as raw material mining in Bolivia and Chile, working conditions in Foxconn's Chinese facilities, and some of the additional history on multi-touch. Background on ARM processors, lithium-ion battery technology, and Corning's Gorilla Glass help to fill things out, while a fairly extensive interview with Tom Gruber, one of the founders of Siri, helps the reader understand where Apple's personal assistant came from.
Merchant spices up these chapters with his own first-hand experiences gained by traveling to many of the locations, offering not only vivid descriptions of the locations themselves but also in-person interviews with some of the innovators responsible for the technological leaps that eventually enabled the development of the iPhone.
Overall, the book reveals only a few new tidbits and insights on the actual creation of the iPhone, but it's still interesting to hear some of these details shared directly by those who were there. Combine those stories with the background chapters on many of the components and technologies that have made their way into the iPhone, and for those reasons alone The One Device is a worthy read. It's a nice overview for those who may not be steeped in the history of Apple and its devices, but it left me wishing for more depth in the areas that mattered most.
The One Device: The Secret History of the iPhone launches today and is available from Amazon, the iBooks Store [Direct Link], and other retailers.
We've already taken a look at several of the Thunderbolt 3 docks all coming to the market right around the same time, and popular enterprise accessory company Kensington is getting into the mix today with the launch of the SD5000T Thunderbolt 3 Docking Station, the company's first foray into Thunderbolt peripherals. Priced at $349.99, Kensington's dock is similar to many of the other options on the market with a horizontal design and an array of ports, as well as a full 85 watts of charging power to support even the 15-inch MacBook Pro over a single-cable connection.
The SD5000T offers a number of port options, including dual Thunderbolt 3 ports to enable pass-through connections, a DisplayPort port for additional display connectivity, separate audio in and out ports, and a Gigabit Ethernet port. With the DisplayPort and Thunderbolt 3 ports and any necessary adapters such as for HDMI or DVI, the SD5000T supports up to dual 4K external displays.
As for USB, the dock includes one Type-A and one Type-C port on the front and one Type-A port on the rear, all running at 5 Gbps. We'd like to see a couple more USB ports on there for greater expansion possibilities, but three is pretty standard for these types of docks. The USB ports also do not support standalone charging, so a connected computer will need to be on in order for peripherals to charge via the dock. The front USB Type-A port does, however, support up to 2.1 amps for fast charging, while the USB Type-C port offers up to 15 watts of power to drive bus-powered peripherals.
Kensington is famous for its ubiquitous security cables to help keep expensive electronics from walking away, and so it's probably unsurprising that even the company's Thunderbolt 3 dock includes a lock slot to accommodate a security cable. It's a unique feature that should appeal to corporate customers looking to secure their employees' accessories around the workplace.
VESA mounting position options
In another nice touch, the SD5000T supports optional "Zero Footprint Mounting," which uses a mounting accessory (sold separately) to attach the dock to the rear of 75 mm or 100 mm VESA-compatible external displays. The mounting system gets the dock up and out of the way from the user's desk, and while it makes it a bit more difficult to connect and disconnect accessories in some orientations, once you have your setup in place it should help keep things looking neater.
While Kensington is targeting its existing primary enterprise user base with the SD5000T, the company tells MacRumors that given the popularity of docking stations across all users it is also looking to appeal to consumers, with retailers like Amazon and B&H Photo stocking the dock.
The SD5000T Thunderbolt 3 Docking Station is launching today, and Kensington says it will begin shipping out orders later this week.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon and B&H and may earn commissions on purchases made through links in this article.
In iOS 11, Apple is implementing a new "Automatic Setup" feature, which is designed to make it much quicker to get a new device ready to go right out of the box.
As seen in the video below, Automatic Setup transfers over your preferences, Apple ID and Wi-Fi info, preferred settings, and iCloud Keychain passwords, streamlining the setup process for new iPads and iPhones.
With iOS 11 installed, during the setup process, there's a new option to transfer settings from an existing device (which also needs to be running iOS 11). The two devices need to be held close to one another, and when nearby, you'll get instructions to pair them.
Pairing involves using the camera of the old device to scan an Apple Watch-style pairing image on the new device. After that, you'll be prompted to enter the passcode of the old device, which also becomes the passcode on the new device, and then the devices will need to remain near each other during the transfer.
The process sounds a bit complicated when explained, but it's straightforward with clear instructions that are simple to follow and it takes just a couple of minutes to complete.
After the two devices are paired and the settings are transferred, there's also a new simplified setup process for activating Touch ID and then enabling settings like Find My iPhone, location, and analytics all at once instead of individually. After that, you can set up Apple Pay and Siri, and then your device is ready to go.
Whether setting up a device as new or importing an iCloud backup, Automatic Setup in iOS 11 is quicker than the traditional setup method, provided you have an existing device on hand.
iOS 11 is limited to developers right now, but it will be provided to public beta testers later this month. For more on iOS 11, make sure to check out our full iOS 11 roundup.
In its quest to turn the iPhone into a comprehensive health repository for every iPhone user, Apple has teamed up with Health Gorilla, a company specializing in aggregating diagnostic information, reports CNBC.
Citing two sources familiar with Apple's plans, CNBC says Apple is working with Health Gorilla to add diagnostic data to the iPhone by cooperating with hospitals, imaging centers, and lab-testing companies. According to Health Gorilla's website, the startup offers a secure clinical network that aggregates health data from a range of providers, offering doctors and hospitals access to a comprehensive overview of a patient's health.
While the service is aimed at medical providers, patients are also able to use the service to get a copy of their medical records "in 10 minutes."
Access your complete health profile in one place, from prior medical history, to doctor and specialist referrals, to your latest test results. It's all available through Health Gorilla's secure clinical network, anytime - from your computer or your favorite device on the go.
Thousands of physicians, specialists, labs, clinics, health centers, hospitals, and other facilities are already connected to Health Gorilla. Reach them easily, and securely share information with everyone in your care circle - whether medical professionals or family and loved ones.
Last week, CNBC said Apple has a "secretive team" within its health unit that has been communicating with developers, hospitals, and industry groups with the aim of storing clinical data on the iPhone and turning it into a "one-stop shop" for medical info.
Apple wants to create a centralized database for all of a person's health data, which would allow the medical community to overcome existing barriers that often prevent or complicate the transfer of patient data between providers, ultimately resulting in better care for patients.
Through Health Gorilla, the Health app on the iPhone could perhaps include a range of data sourced directly from different health providers in the future, offering up blood work results, x-rays, physical therapy information, and more.
In addition to allegedly working with Health Gorilla, Apple is also said to have hired several developers familiar with the protocols dictating the transfer of electronic health records, and it has also talked with several health IT industry groups dedicated to universal medical records, including The Argonaut Project and The Carin Alliance.
Integration of detailed health records would make the Health app, which already aggregates medical data and health information from the Apple Watch and other connected devices, an even more valuable resource for iPhone users.
Microsoft today announced that it's implementing several new features in Outlook for Mac, all of which have been highly requested by its Office 365 subscribers. Timed emails, delivery notifications, email templates, and more are being added to the Mac software.
With a new Send Later feature, Outlook for Mac users can draft an email and then schedule it to send at another time using the new drop-down Send Later button located next to the send button. The email is saved to Drafts and then sent automatically at the specified time.
Alongside Send Later, there are now options to be notified when an email has been delivered and read by a recipient. Delivery receipts confirm that an email has been sent to the recipient's inbox, while a read receipt confirms that a message has been opened. Outlook for Mac users can also choose to decline to send read receipts.
To make it quicker to send the same type of emails, messages can now be saved as templates, and emails can also be dragged and dropped to the calendar to make automatic calendar appointments. Microsoft is also improving the account setup experience through automatic detection of email account type (Exchange, IMAP, or POP) and automatic email account importing when you've previously signed into another Office app.
The new account setup experience is available for all Mac users who are running Outlook version 15.34, while the delivery and read receipts, email templates, and calendar changes are available for all Office 365 subscribers running Outlook version 15.35. Office 365 users who are also Office Insider Fast users on version 15.36 have access to Send Later, a feature that will be available to all Office 365 subscribers starting in July.
Apple today seeded the fourth beta of an upcoming macOS Sierra 10.12.6 update to developers, a little less than week after seeding the third beta and more than a month after releasing macOS Sierra 10.12.5, a minor bug fix update.
The fourth beta of macOS Sierra 10.12.6 can be downloaded through the Apple Developer Center or through the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App Store.
We didn't find any significant features or notable bug fixes in the first three macOS Sierra betas, and because Apple does not provide beta release notes, it's likely we won't know what's included in the update until it sees a public release.
macOS Sierra 10.12.6 is likely to be one of the final updates to the Sierra operating system as Apple transitions to macOS High Sierra, which was introduced at the Worldwide Developers Conference in June.
Update: A fourth public beta of macOS Sierra 10.12.6 is also available for public beta testers.
At WWDC this year, Apple senior vice president of software engineering Craig Federighi performed a demo of the company's new augmented reality platform, ARKit, while mentioning popular furniture company IKEA as an upcoming partner in the technology. Similarly, Apple CEO Tim Cook referenced an IKEA AR partnership in a recent interview with Bloomberg Businessweek.
Now, Ikea executive Michael Valdsgaard has spoken about the company's partnership with Apple and ARKit, describing an all-new augmented reality app that will help customers make "reliable buying decisions" for IKEA's big ticket items (via Digital.di) [Google Translate].
When it launches, the app will let customers choose which IKEA product they want and then use an iPhone or iPad powered by ARKit to see how the IKEA furniture looks in their own home before it's purchased. IKEA has been doing this for years now, including an early version which required users to scan pages of an IKEA catalogue to view AR furniture, but the company said that Apple's platform will greatly increase the consistency and quality of the experience.
Valdsgaard said that the app will support between 500 and 600 IKEA products at launch with more being added afterwards. The augmented reality experience will even directly play into the development and launch of new products, as Valdsgaard explained that the company plans to first debut new pieces of furniture in the app to give customers a taste of what's coming.
"This will be the first augmented reality app that allows you to make reliable buying decisions," said Michael Valdsgaard, digital transformation manager at Inter Ikea Systems, the company that owns the brand Ikea.
Going forward, it will play a key role in new product lines. "When we launch new products, they will be first in the AR app."
Selling furniture directly within the app is a possibility as well, but isn't the company's focus for the first iteration of the software. Valdsgaard said, "Ideally, you could put a sofa in your home with the help of the app, and then with one click add it in the shopping cart on the site. But we have a tight deadline."
Several teams are working on the technology behind the augmented reality app, including one "innovation team" of 150 people located in Älmhult, Sweden -- where the first IKEA opened -- as well as a twenty-person team specifically responsible for the 3D modeling of furniture. The ARKit-powered IKEA app is expected to launch this fall, following the iOS 11 update.
Ring today launched the Video Doorbell 2 with 1080p video, up from 720p, and a removable, rechargeable battery pack.
Ring's original Video Doorbell also has a battery, but it's not removable, so the whole doorbell has to be unmounted and taken inside every six to twelve months or so to be recharged with an included Micro-USB cable. A removable battery pack makes recharging the video doorbell much more convenient.
Alternatively, the Video Doorbell 2 can continue to be hardwired with an 8-24 VAC transformer part of existing wired doorbell setups.
Ring's second-generation video doorbell also features customizable, interchangeable silver and brown faceplates, and improved infrared night vision with a 160º field of view and 180º horizontal motion detection angle. It continues to have two-way audio with noise cancellation, and so-called bank-grade encryption.
Ring connects to a home's Wi-Fi network and streams live video and audio to a paired iPhone and iPad through the free Ring Video Doorbell app on the App Store [Direct Link]. Video recordings can be saved in the cloud for up to 60 days with Ring's optional $30 per year, per camera subscription plan.
Ring's Video Doorbell and Video Doorbell 2 are not compatible with Apple HomeKit. A company spokesperson said the Ring Pro and Floodlight Cam will be HomeKit compatible most likely by the end of this year.
New images and a video of a screen protector for the upcoming "iPhone 8" have been posted to the Chinese social network site Weibo and shared recently by leaker Benjamin Geskin and leak aggregation site SlashLeaks. The tempered glass screen protector is said to be made for Apple's upcoming iPhone 8 with a 5.8-inch display, and represents a design that falls in line with current rumors for the unreleased iPhone.
The screen protector's bezels are noticeably thin and are the same thickness all the way around, with the exception of the front-facing cutout for the device's camera and various sensors. Although reports have failed to largely agree upon how Apple will incorporate the iPhone 8's front camera into a device with dramatically thinner bezels, recent renders have suggested a minor cutout for the camera, ambient light sensor, proximity sensor, and potentially a 3D sensing module.
To make the cutout less noticeable, iOS could then use deep black technology provided by the new OLED screen to make the area atop the screen appear like one uninterrupted dark strip. As Geskin tweeted out over the weekend, the new tempered glass screen protector aligns nicely with his previous iPhone 8 renderings.
Called the "Olixar iPhone 8 Full Cover Tempered Glass Screen Protector" and priced at $31.99, the MobileFun description for the accessory says that it supports 3D Touch and provides edge-to-edge protection for the iPhone 8's screen. The screen protector is also said to include a 2.5D rounded edge, supporting the rumor that the iPhone 8 will include a flat OLED display.
In a separate image posted on SlashLeaks today, another screen protector manufacturer has leaked a picture of an iPhone 8 accessory, claiming the 5.8-inch iPhone will be dubbed the "Decade Edition." This name has never been mentioned in previous reports on potential name schemes for the iPhone 8, so it's best to remain skeptical about its veracity.
Following a report last year that Apple employees were referring to the 2017 iPhone as the "iPhone 8," that nomenclature has largely become the go-to title for the 5.8-inch device. More recently, Japanese site Mac Otakara has suggested that the device could be called the "iPhone Edition," marking the new iPhone as a higher-end device similar to the Apple Watch Edition. The "Edition" name would furthermore differentiate it from the iterative iPhone 7s and iPhone 7s Plus updates also expected to launch this fall.
Niantic and The Pokémon Company today revealed an all-new gym system heading to the popular mobile app Pokémon Go soon, as well as announcing a new cooperative "Raid Battle" update coming in the future. For gyms, the developer said that its goal was to encourage more players to head to friendly gyms because now they'll be able to interact with them in new ways.
Notably, gyms will now act as PokéStops and include a spinnable disc that gives players unique items like Poké Balls. The basic structure of a gym is being altered as well, so now six Pokémon can occupy a gym and each one must be unique, preventing duplicates of the same Pokémon from appearing multiple times in one gym battle. Enemy teams will battle these Pokémon in the order they were added to the Gym, not in the order of their combat power as before.
Pokémon will also need to be motivated to stay inside a gym with the new "motivation system." Over time, each Pokémon will lose motivation naturally and as they are defeated in battle, temporarily lowering its combat power so enemy teams will be able to more easily defeat the gym. To help keep up a Pokémon's motivation, friendly team members can feed it berries.
Niantic said that all of these updates will feed into the new gym badges system as well, which will reward players for taking part in battles and feeding berries to Pokémon.
Now you’ll be able to earn Gym Badges when interacting with the many Gyms around the world. Gym Badges serve as mementos of your Pokémon GO adventures and reflect your contribution to a Gym’s success.
You’ll be able to level up your Badges by battling, giving Berries to the Pokémon in the Gym and spinning the Gym’s Photo Disc. You can earn the opportunity to receive bonus items and increased rewards from Gyms by raising the level of your Gym Badge.
In the coming weeks, players will be able to take on new "Raid Battles" at gyms, which Niantic described as a cooperative experience that forces trainers to work together to take down a Raid Boss. Before a Raid Battle begins, Pokémon at the gym in question will return to their trainers and a large egg will appear on top of the gym with a countdown clock.
When the countdown reaches zero the Raid Boss is revealed and players will be able to take on the challenge as long as they have a Raid Pass, which can be obtained each day by visiting a Gym, but only one can be held at a time. Up to twenty players can be in a Raid Battle at once, working together to take down the boss, similar to the original announcement trailer for the game back in 2015.
If the boss is defeated in under five minutes, each participant will have a chance to catch an "extra powerful Pokémon," as well as a few new items.
After defeating a Raid Boss, you’ll receive a collection of rewards, including some new items obtained only by defeating a Raid Boss: Rare Candies, Golden Razz Berries, and two types of Technical Machines—Fast and Charged. A Rare Candy is a mysterious candy that, when used on a Pokémon, turns into that Pokémon’s Candy. Golden Razz Berries will greatly increase your chances of catching a Pokémon you encounter in the wild and can also be given to a Pokémon assigned to a Gym to fully recover its motivation meter. Technical Machines are items you can use to permanently teach a Pokémon a new Fast Attack or Charged Attack.
Niantic said that the gym update will begin rolling out to players around the world "very soon" (until then, gyms are disabled in the game), and Raid Battles will show up over the next few weeks, beginning in beta form. Recently, Niantic revealed some events occurring out in the real world to celebrate the one year anniversary of the app, which debuted in July of 2016, while Niantic CEO John Hanke commented on Apple's upcoming ARKit developer platform and how it will change Pokémon Go and AR apps in general.
In a new interview with The Telegraph, PayPal CEO Dan Schulman discusses a wide range of topics covering the origins of the company, its history with eBay, and potential competition with Apple in the peer-to-peer payments space. PayPal owns Venmo, one of the most popular P2P payments apps available today across iOS, Android, and the web, and Schulman cited this availability across various operating systems as a "powerful advantage."
Schulman said that many users have a variety of devices sold by different companies, and the ability for Venmo to be on all of them is where it will stand out from Apple Pay's upcoming P2P update, which will be able to send money through Messages only on Apple devices.
“We’re technology agnostic,” he said in an interview with The Telegraph. “Many individuals are [a] multi-operating system; they can have an Android phone, a Microsoft PC and an Apple tablet. You don’t want a different payment methodology on each of those things … you want a consistency across that.
“We try to offer a consistent value proposition, that’s end-to-end, across operating systems and device type. It’s a powerful advantage we have.”
PayPal and Venmo also control several parts of a payment process made through its apps, including risk assessment and customer protection. Shulman stated that the company owns "the full value proposition" of a payment made between users on Venmo, while Apple "can only provide what they hope is a good user interface."
Unlike Venmo, Apple’s service will not work on Android phones or Windows laptops, and whereas Apple has to work with credit card companies to make payments, PayPal controls several parts of the payments process, such as risk assessment and customer protection.
“We own the full value proposition, Apple can never do that because they don’t do the risk associated with it, they don’t do the onboarding, they can only provide what they hope is a good user interface. We try to provide that end to end value proposition and very importantly we do it across operating systems.”
Apple Pay's P2P update is set to launch this fall with iOS 11. During the announcement at WWDC, Apple said that when users get paid they will receive money in a new "Apple Pay Cash" account, which they can then use instantly to make a purchase using Apple Pay in stores or online, send as a payment to someone else, or transfer it from Apple Pay Cash to their bank account.
Apple CEO Tim Cook and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos are among a group of technology leaders meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House today, with plans to discuss how the government can begin cutting waste and improving services.
The Trump administration believes there is an "economic opportunity" to save as much as $1 trillion over the next ten years, and is seeking the advice of a group of tech CEOs on the best way to reduce government spending through technology (via Reuters).
Methods looked at by the Trump administration are said to include cutting government information technology costs, reducing government costs through improved IT services, leveraging government buying power, and reducing fraud across government agencies.
President Donald Trump will meet with the chief executives of technology companies including Apple Inc and Amazon.com Inc on Monday as the White House looks to the private sector for help in cutting government waste and improving services.
White House officials said on a conference call on Friday that the administration believed there was an "economic opportunity" to save up to $1 trillion over 10 years by significantly cutting government information technology costs, reducing government costs through improved IT, leveraging government buying power and cutting fraud across government agencies.
The meeting with nearly 20 chief executives comes as the White House pushes to shrink government, cut federal employees and eliminate regulations. Many business executives are eager to work with the new administration as they face numerous regulatory and other policy issues.
Other companies attending the meeting include Alphabet, Microsoft, MasterCard, Intel, Qualcomm, Oracle, Adobe, and more. The meeting, which was announced earlier this month, follows a few other efforts by the Trump administration in modernizing the government with the help of CEOs from tech companies, including the "White House Office of American Innovation" and "American Technology Council."
Other topics up for discussion will be the United States work visa program, which has been a major point of contention as it directly affects tech companiestrying to hire foreign workers, as well as cyber security. Before directly meeting with President Trump, it's said that the CEOs will discuss the issues on hand with Vice President Mike Pence, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, White House senior adviser Jared Kushner, and White House official Chris Liddell.
Many tech leaders decided to leave the White House's various advisory councils after Trump's decision to withdraw from the Paris climate accords. In a new statement, the White House said the decision had little effect on today's meeting and that it was full to capacity, resulting in some leaders being turned away. According to Axios, the meetings will run all the way to Thursday with topics further including drones and other IoT devices, which will end what the White House is calling "Technology Week."
For Apple's part, Tim Cook last week pointed out numerous ways he disagrees with Trump, but stated that his personal beliefs weren't enough to make him walk away from the Trump administration's councils, because he felt the need to keep the bigger picture in mind. "At the end of the day, I’m not a person who’s going to walk away and say, “If you don’t do what I want, I leave.” ... But I care deeply about America. I want America to do well. America’s more important than bloody politics from my point of view."
Update:Recode has shared some details about what was discussed at the meeting. Trump said there's a need for a "sweeping transformation of the federal government's technology," while Apple CEO Tim Cook, who also agreed with the need for modernization, said coding should be a requirement in schools.
Update 2: The White House has shared a video featuring some of the discussion.
Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.
Rapper Jay Z has confirmed that his new album, 4:44, will be released on June 30 and will be available exclusively to Sprint customers and existing Tidal subscribers (via Variety). The album is the first major project between the streaming music service and Sprint, which acquired 33 percent of the company in January in a deal reportedly worth $200 million.
Tidal has recently been promoting 4:44 with videos on YouTube featuring actors Mahershala Ali, Lupita Nyong’o, and Danny Glover, suggesting video content could accompany the album.
Based on the performance of previous Tidal-only releases, how long the album remains an exclusive could have a big effect on its chart success. Beyonce's album Lemonade reportedly suffered because of its exclusivity to Tidal, which claims as many as 3 million subscribers. That contrasts with Spotify's claimed 50 million paying subscribers, with Apple Music now on 27 million subscribers, as revealed earlier this month at the Worldwide Developers Conference.
Apple was rumored to be interested in buying Tidal last year as a way to bolster Apple Music, but the company later denied the reports and said it wasn't looking to acquire any existing streaming services. The rivalry between Apple Music and Tidal has been criticized for their promotion of exclusive artist deals, which Kanye West said was negatively affecting the music industry.
As part of the Sprint-Tidal deal, Sprint customers are eligible to receive a free six-month Tidal trial subscription to the streaming service.
The European Parliament's Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice, and Home Affairs has published draft proposals that would enforce end-to-end encryption on all digital communications and forbid backdoors that enable law enforcement to access private message data.
The proposed amendment relates to Article 7 of the EU's Charter of Fundamental Rights, which says that EU citizens have a right to personal privacy, as well as privacy in their family life and at home. By extension, the "confidentiality and safety" of EU citizens' electronic communications needs to be "guaranteed" in the same manner.
Confidentiality of electronic communications ensures that information exchanged between parties and the external elements of such communication, including when the information has been sent, from where, to whom, is not to be revealed to anyone other than to the parties involved in a communication.
The principle of confidentiality should apply to current and future means of communication, including calls, internet access, instant messaging applications, e-mail, internet phone calls and messaging provided through social media.
The regulation states that the disclosure of contents in electronic communications may reveal highly sensitive information about citizens, from personal experiences and emotions to medical conditions, sexual preferences and political views, which could result in personal and social harm, economic loss or embarrassment.
In addition, the committee argues that not only the content of communications needs to be protected, but also the metadata associated with it, including numbers called, websites visited, geographical location, and the time, date, and duration of calls, which might otherwise be used to draw conclusions about the private lives of persons involved.
The regulations would apply to providers of electronic communication services as well as software providers that enable electronic communications and the retrieval of information on the internet. However, the amendment goes further by stating that the use of software backdoors by EU member states should be outlawed.
When encryption of electronic communications data is used, decryption, reverse engineering or monitoring of such communications shall be prohibited.
Member states shall not impose any obligations on electronic communications service providers that would result in the weakening of the security and encryption of their networks and services.
The proposals appear to have been tabled in response to comments made by EU member states such as the U.K., which has argued that encrypted online channels such as WhatsApp and Telegram provide a "safe haven" for terrorists because governments and even the companies that host the services cannot read them.
The U.K. home secretary Amber Rudd recently claimed that it is "completely unacceptable" that authorities cannot gain access to messages stored on mobile applications protected by end-to-end encryption. A leaked draft technical paper prepared by the U.K. government was leaked shortly after Rudd's comments, containing proposals related to the removal of encryption from private communications.
The EU proposals could also put European security policy at odds with federal legislators in the U.S., who recently called on technology companies to compromise the encryption built into their mobile software. Last year, Apple and the FBI were involved in a public dispute over the latter's demands to provide a backdoor into iPhones, following the December 2015 shooter incidents in San Bernardino.
Apple said the software the FBI asked for could serve as a "master key" able to be used to get information from any iPhone or iPad - including its most recent devices - while the FBI claimed it only wanted access to a single iPhone.
The European Union proposals have to be approved by MEPs and reviewed by the EU council before the amendments can pass. It remains unclear how the laws would apply in the U.K. after Brexit, initial negotiations for which begin on Monday.
Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.
Apple has announced a special shopping event, called "Lose Your Wallet," to be held in San Francisco next weekend, on June 23-25, with a collection of discounts for Apple Pay users. In Hayes Valley and the Marina anyone who has Apple Pay set up on their iPhone or Apple Watch will be able to take advantage of the exclusive discounts and offers at a variety of merchants (via Apple Insider).
Some of the Hayes Valley merchants with exclusive Apple Pay offers running next weekend include Aether (get a free gift card), Smitten Ice Cream (take 25 percent off your order), Blue Bottle Coffee (take 15 percent off your order), Sugar ($5 martinis and beers), Double Decker (get large fries for $1), and more. The offers will be enacted immediately when users check out at each store with Apple Pay.
In the Marina, some locations participating include David's Tea (take 10 percent off and get free tea of the day), Ghirardelli (get a free chocolate pouch), Marina Deli (get a free cookie with a sandwich), Peet's Coffee (take $1 off all beverages), United Liquor and Deli (get a free cork puller with every bottle of wine), and more.
In total, twenty stores in Hayes Valley and sixteen stores in the Marina will have Apple Pay-related offers and discounts for users June 23-25. Check out Apple's new webpage for the "Lose Your Wallet" event to see the full list. The site also lists a few exclusive app and partner offers, including Caviar (take $5 off your order) and an invitation from Square to visit its pop-up on Hayes Street and in the Marina for more exclusive Apple Pay offers.
Apple named its next-generation version of the Mac operating system High Sierra because it's designed to improve macOS Sierra through several major under-the-hood updates. While most of what's in High Sierra isn't outwardly visible, there are some refinements to existing features and apps like Safari, Photos, Siri, FaceTime, and more.
We went hands-on with the High Sierra beta to give MacRumors readers a quick idea of what changes and improvements to expect when the software comes out this fall. Check out the video below to see what's new.
Some of the biggest app changes are in Photos, which has a persistent side bar, editing tools for Curves and Selective Color, new filters, options for editing Live Photos, new Memories categories, improved third-party app integration, and improvements to facial recognition, with the People album now synced across all of your devices.
Safari is gaining a new autoplay blocking feature for videos, Intelligent Tracking Prevention to protect your privacy, and options for customizing your browsing experience site-by-site, while Mail improvements mean your messages take up 35 percent less storage space.
Siri has a more natural voice, just like on iOS 11, and can answer more music-related queries. iCloud Drive file sharing has been added, and in High Sierra and iOS 11, all of your iMessage conversations are saved in iCloud, saving more storage space.
When installing High Sierra, it will convert to a new, more modern file system called Apple File System or APFS. APFS is safe, secure, and optimized for modern storage systems like solid-state drives. Features like native encryption, crash protection, and safe document saves are built in, plus it is ultra responsive and will bring performance enhancements to Mac.
APFS is accompanied by High Efficiency Video Encoding (HEVC) which introduces much better video compression compared to H.264 without sacrificing quality. The other major under-the-hood update is Metal 2, which will bring smoother animations to macOS and will provide developers with tools to create incredible apps and games.
Metal 2 includes support for machine learning, external GPUs, and VR content creation, with Apple even providing an external GPU development kit for developers so they can get their apps ready for eGPU support that's coming to consumers this fall. Apple is also working with Valve, Unity, and Unreal to bring VR creation tools to the Mac.
macOS High Sierra will run on all Macs that are capable of running macOS Sierra. For a more detailed overview of what's included in the update, make sure to check out our macOS High Sierra roundup.
The massive video game conference E3 was this week, and while iOS gaming played at least a minor role at the event in previous years, that definitely was not the case in 2017. It's not that surprising, particularly with excitement surrounding the Nintendo Switch and the unveiling of the new Xbox One X stealing the show. However, the world of iOS gaming is never calm, and there's always tons happening in it. Here's some of the biggest news of the week:
Minecraft has been the biggest thing since sliced bread for years now, but Mojang took the stage during Microsoft's E3 press conference with a few surprising announcements, the first of which is a new "Super Duper Graphics" mode that adds all sorts of lighting effects and fancy shaders seen in the above trailer. Initially, it seemed like this was going to be an exclusive to highlight the power of the new XBOX One X, but then it was revealed that this new mode would be coming to allMinecraft platforms, including the iOS Pocket Edition.
Additionally, Minecraft is getting an update titled "Better Together" which will add total cross-platform multiplayer. iOS players will be able to play with Switch, Xbox, and PC players... with the PlayStation 4 version left out in the cold. This is great news for all Minecraft players, unless, of course, you're playing on a PS4.
Another E3 tidbit of note came from the Bethesda press conference, where they revealed their digital collectable card game, The Elder Scrolls: Legends, is getting a new expansion based on Skyrim. Among other things, new "Shout" cards are being added ("shouts" were powerful magic spells in Skyrim) along with cards based on popular Skyrim characters.
The Elder Scrolls: Legends is currently only available on tablets and PC, but will be coming to the iPhone "next month." If you haven't played The Elder Scrolls: Legends, it's worth checking out. It's a little more complicated than Blizzard's Hearthstone, which is either a good or bad thing depending on what you're looking for in a card game.
We reviewed three totally fantastic games this week: Monument Valley 2, Framed 2, and Yankai's Peak. Monument Valley 2 is an amazing sequel to the original, with our only minor complaint being that it feels a little too much like the first. More Monument Valley isn't necessarily a bad thing, however.
Comparatively, Framed 2 greatly amps up all the groundwork that Framed laid. The game is an interactive comic book puzzle game, where the pages are solved by putting the various comic book frames in the right order. Finally, Yankai's Peak is a fantastic puzzler where you're moving triangles around a game board. Like any good puzzle game, the concept is unbelievably simple, but quickly gets so difficult that it'll stump even the best puzzle gamers.
Finally, gaming giant Supercell has soft launched a new game called Brawl Stars that we're pretty sure is going to be the next mobile gaming mega-hit. We posted an exhaustive first impressions piece that explains what the game is all about, but in a nutshell it's a greatly simplified multiplayer online battle area (MOBA) game that throws players into three on three team-based battles.
While the game isn't available in the US App Store yet, it's incredibly simple to create a Canadian iTunes account to download it. We posted a full guide on how to get the game, which should result in a decent head start over the rest of the world when Brawl Stars finally launches worldwide.
That's all the big news from this week, and as always, for way (way) more iOS gaming news be sure to visit TouchArcade where we post this kind of stuff all day long.
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.
