The plan costs £15 a month, or £149 a year, which works out at a lower price of £12 per month. The subscription supports up to six family members (at least 13 years of age) for simultaneous listening and personal recommendations.
On the plan, a single family member uses a "shared payment method" to pay for the subscription, such as a debit or credit card that Amazon uses to charge each month for the service. Each member can make purchases on Amazon and Amazon Music Unlimited with the shared payment method, while the main subscriber receives notifications of all activity within the group. The plan also retains the same functionality as the Individual Plan subscription.
Amazon Music Unlimited has a library of 40 million songs and is available under four optional plans. Prime members can sign up to the streaming service for £8 per month or £79 per year, while non-Prime members pay £10 per month. For Echo or Echo Dot owners, a cheaper £4 per month plan is available, but is restricted to music playback on the smart device.
Late last month we reported that Fitbit was closing in on a deal to acquire smartwatch maker Pebble "for a small amount". Bloomberg has now revealed that the buyout will cost "less than $40 million" and exclusively concerns Pebble's software assets, which are being sought by Fitbit "in a bid to better compete with Apple", according to people familiar with the matter.
Yesterday's update on the details of the acquisition comes at a time when the wearables market as a whole appears to be facing increased uncertainty and significant profit hurdles. Earlier this week, in response to IDC market research claiming that Apple Watch's share of the wearables market had fallen to 5 percent, Apple CEO Tim Cook said Apple Watch's sell-through rate had hit a new high. Cook was responding to data which suggested fitness trackers "reigned supreme" in the market, yet Fitbit has seen its own struggles, with the company's shares tumbling 30 percent after announcing mixed third-quarter results and weak guidance for its fourth quarter.
To improve its standing in the market, Fitbit reportedly wants to hire Pebble's software engineers and testers, and get hold of intellectual property including the Pebble OS, watch apps, and cloud services. The $40 million buyout sum does not include Pebble's debt and other obligations, product inventory or server equipment, all of which will be sold off separately, said the people, who asked to remain anonymous.
The news all but confirms the end of the road is in sight for Pebble's entire product line-up, including its most recent smartwatch announcements, the Pebble 2, Time 2, and the Pebble Core. The Pebble 2 has already started shipping to people who funded the startup through crowd-funding site Kickstarter, but the Time 2 and Pebble Core will be canceled and refunds will be issued to Kickstarter backers, said the sources.
Following the buyout, Pebble's offices will be closed and former engineers will relocate to Fitbit offices in San Francisco. There's no word yet as to whether Fitbit will decide to use the Pebble brand in future.
The deal will make Pebble stock held by employees "worthless", said sources, with the money earned on the acquisition going to debt holders, vendors, some equity investors, and Kickstarter refunds for the Time 2 and Pebble Core orders.
German developers The Soulmen today released a new version of popular writing app Ulysses, bringing Touch Bar support, Tabs in macOS Sierra, and a host of other new features and performance improvements.
From Wednesday, users launching version 2.7 of the award-winning app on Touch Bar equipped MacBook Pros will see new contextual functions for Ulysses in the OLED strip, bringing the ability to assign markup tags directly while they write.
Ulysses 2.7 now also includes tabbed windows in macOS Sierra, making it possible to switch between multiple open texts within the same window.
Elsewhere, Ulysses now offers full support for the TextBundle format outside its iCloud library. TextBundle combines Markdown text and all referenced images into a single file for convenience, and Ulysses now allows writers to use images when working from Dropbox or other storage providers.
The latest update also makes it easier to switch from Evernote to Ulysses, by allowing users to import ENEX Evernote export files containing multiple notes, upon which individual sheets are created for each note.
In addition, a new Reading Time writing goal has been added to the existing options (number of characters, words, or pages), while a number of more general improvements, bug fixes, and stability enhancements have also been implemented in the latest version of the app.
Ulysses 2.7 is available for MacOS and iOS on the Mac App Store and App Store respectively, and is a free update for existing users. The Mac app costs $44.99, while the universal iOS app costs $24.99.
Pandora previewed its long-awaited Apple Music and Spotify competitor today at a special event with select publications. The new service is called Pandora Premium, and will launch in early 2017 with a likely price of $9.99 per month, reportsEngadget.
The new app offers on-demand access to a large music library and looks a lot like Rdio. In November, Pandora announced that it had acquired "key assets" and employees from Rdio. Like other services, Pandora Premium will also allow users to save music offline and experience ad-free listening, reportsThe Verge.
Pandora CEO Tim Westergen thinks the company has created the "first truly premium music service." For Pandora, a premium music service means a personal music service, and the company hopes to leverage its trove of listening data and the Music Genome Project to offer each customer a personalized music service.
For instance, Pandora Premium features personalized search, which means each user will get different music results based on their listening history rather than overall popularity. The browse and new release sections of the app will also be personalized based on user taste. Smart playlists will allow users to easily add new songs with a touch of a button, and in some cases Pandora will automatically add songs for you.
The app will also change color based on the album artwork of the song you're currently listening to, and every song you like will be added to a giant playlist made up of every song you've ever liked on Pandora. When a user has reached the end of a playlist or album, Pandora Premium will offer a radio station based on the finished playlist or album to keep the music going.
Overall, Engadget notes that the new service marries Rdio's interface and features with Pandora's extensive music knowledge. Pandora says the service will begin rolling out in the first quarter of 2017, but won't commit to whether the service will cost $9.99 like similar music streaming services.
Pandora Premium gives Pandora three music offerings at different price points: the basic, ad-supported radio streaming service, the $4.99 per month Pandora Plus, an ad-free streaming service, and the on-demand newly announced Pandora Premium.
In September Square introduced the "Cash Virtual Card," letting users of the Square Cash app create a virtual Visa debit card that allows them spend their Square Cash anywhere Visa is accepted online. Today at the Code Conference in San Francisco, CEO Jack Dorsey announced that the Virtual Card now works with Apple Pay, reportsRecode.
Image via Recode
The move gives the Cash Virtual Card a physical presence, allowing users to spend their Square Cash anywhere Apple Pay is accepted. Dorsey said he's been using the Virtual Card as his primary card for the past two months.
Square has steadily been working toward turning Square Cash into a fully fledged payment solution. The service originally started as a peer-to-peer payment system before expanding into online payments with the Virtual Card.
While speaking at the Code Conference today in San Francisco, Apple Pay vice president Jennifer Bailey announced that 35% of U.S. merchants now accept Apple Pay, reportsThe Verge. She said that only 4% of merchants accepted the payment option two years ago when it debuted.
Bailey says the new EMV chip cards are annoying customers and have helped drive adoption. "Once you figure out you have to chip, you wait a while, you wait awhile," she said before imitating the "BEEP" sound the chip reader makes when you can remove your card.
Apple won't be marketing Apple Pay to take advantage of the annoyance toward EMV chips, Bailey said, instead focusing on creating new partnerships with banks and merchants. "Knocking EMV is not necessarily the way to go," she said. "I think it's to increase acceptance and work with great partners."
The Cupertino company is also focusing on offering deals with retailers and banks. In November, Apple debuted exclusive holiday offers for those who use Apple Pay on the web. Promotions included one- or two-day free shipping with Adidas and 50% off a one-year subscription to The New York Times. Bailey notes that Apple has to work with partners for special offers because Apple doesn't collect transaction data, eliminating its ability to offer promotions by itself.
Bailey says that Apple is excited by the speed of the transition to contactless payments. However, Bailey says that the challenge for Apple is that they have to match the speed of the transition to EMV chip readers. Apple has to get retailers and merchants to adopt Apple Pay at the same time they adopt EMV chip readers so that consumers can more easily see the benefit of Apple Pay.
Bailey also teased what was next for Apple Pay, saying that the company is thinking about "everything in your wallet."
Apple today published its top 2016 content picks for the iTunes Store and the App Store, choosing the best apps, music, movies, TV shows, podcasts, and books of the year.
"One Dance" from Drake was named Apple's Top Song of 2016, while Drake's "Views" Album was named the Top Album of the Year. Other top songs, which are available via an Apple Music playlist, include Rihanna's "Work," Flo Rida's "My House," The Chainsmokers' "Don't Let Me Down," Justin Timberlake's "Can't Stop the Feeling," and Calvin Harris' "This is What You Came For."
Apple's full Top Songs playlist includes a total of 100 songs, while a separate Top Album list includes albums from Rihanna, Adele, Frank Ocean, Justin Bieber, Chris Stapleton, twenty one pilots, Ariana Grande, G-Eazy, The Weeknd, Taylor Swift, and more.
- Best Blockbuster: Deadpool - Best Comedy: Sausage Party - Best Hollywood Romance: La La Land - Best Animated Movie: Kubo & the Two Strings - Best Documentary: Weiner - Best Feel-Good Movie: Sing Street - Breakout Star of the Year: American Honey - Best New Filmmaker: Moonlight
Top selling movies included Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Deadpool, Zootopia, The Martian, and Captain America: Civil War, while top selling Indie movies included Spotlight, The Hateful Eight, Room, Brooklyn, and Eye in the Sky.
- This Year's Obsession: American Crime Story: People v. O.J. Simpson - Late Night Rule-Breaker: Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, Vol. 3 - Best New Comedy: Atlanta, Season 1 - Most Original Kids Show: Steven Universe - Extravaganza of the Year: RuPaul's Drag Race All-Stars, Season 2 - Most Consistently Great: The Americans, Season 4 - Best New Drama: This Is Us, Season 1
Top selling television shows included Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, Downton Abbey, The Americans, and Big Bang Theory.
Apple's choice for novel of the year is Michael Chabon's Moonglow, with additional picks as follows:
- Novel of the Year: Moonglow - Michael Chabon - Nonfiction of the Year: Evicted - Matthew Desmond - YA Novel of the Year: If I Was Your Girl - Meredith Russo - Debut of the Year: Homegoing - Yaa Gyasi - Mystery: Charcoal Joe - Walter Mosley - Thriller: Behind Closed Doors - B.A. Paris - Popular Fiction: Sweetbitter - Stephanie Danker - Literary Fiction: What Is Not Your Is Not Yours - Helen Oyeyemi - Fantasy: The Fate of the Tearling - Erika Johansen - Kids: Raymie Nightingale - Kate DiCamillo - Cookbook: Everything I Want to Eat - Jessica Koslow - Graphic Novel: March: Book Three - John Lewis
Best selling fiction books included "The Girl on the Train," "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child," "Me Before You," and "After You," while best selling non-fiction books included "When Breath Becomes Air," "Killing the Rising Sun," "The Girl With the Lower Back Tattoo," "Alexander Hamilton," and "Hillbilly Elegy."
Apple's last set of top picks includes its choices for best podcasts:
- Revisionist History - How I Built This - In the Dark - Jocko Podcast - Anna Faris is Unqualified - NPR Politics - My Favorite Murder - 2 Dope Queens Accused - FiveThirtyEight Elections Heavyweight - Pardon My Take
Top overall podcasts based on most downloads were Fresh Air, Stuff You Should Know, Serial, This American Life, and The Joe Rogan Experience.
Apple today announced that Apple Music has surpassed 20 million subscribers, reportsBillboard. The service crosses the mark as it turns a year and a half old. Apple Music had 15 million subscribers on its one-year anniversary in June and notched 17 million subscribers a couple months later in September.
Eddy Cue, Apple's SVP of Internet Software and Services, tells Billboard that 60% of Apple Music subscribers have not bought content from the iTunes Music Store in the last year. While a portion of that 60% are dormant users, Cue says "the vast majority are new customers." Additionally, 50% of Apple Music subscribers live outside of the U.S.
Cue also says that artists exclusive to Apple Music have hit milestones like the Billboard top 10 chart.
"It's been quite a year," says Cue. "We were thrilled to see that we could take [artists'] passions and drive them all the way to No. 1. Chance the Rapper, who we put on Apple Music exclusively, hit the top 10 on the Billboard charts [based on streams alone], and I can't recall that being done before."
In August, Universal Music Group banned exclusive music streaming after the debut of Frank Ocean's "Blonde" on Apple Music. Cue says that exclusive music will continue on the service "where appropriate." He says that exclusive launches work "well for everybody involved," including the label, artists and Apple. Cue notes that there's no across-the-board policy for exclusive launches, just that sometimes "it makes sense" to launch exclusively.
While Apple has traditionally aligned itself with rock acts like U2, Cue says the company has long wanted to give hip hop more exposure. The company has felt that hip hop was underrepresented in both iTunes and streaming charts, which is why the company has focused on hip hop acts more recently.
Apple's biggest competition in the streaming music space remains Spotify, which had 40 million subscribers in September, but the service continues to struggle as it attempts to become profitable. In August, it was reported the service was punishing artists who offered Apple Music exclusives. Spotify denied the claim.
Apple today published its annual Best of 2016 charts for the App Store, iTunes Store, and iBooks Store, naming photo editing app "Prisma" as the iPhone App of the Year and "Clash Royale" as the iPhone game of the year.
Released in June of 2016, Prisma is designed to turn photographs into works of art using a range of different filters. Prisma garnered a lot of interest in 2016 and continually introduced new art filters.
Clash Royale, named Apple's best game, first came out in March of 2016. A card based game, Clash Royale encourages players to collect dozens of cards from the Clash of Clans universe and duel other players.
Apple also chose top apps and games for the iPad, Apple TV, and Apple Watch, with all of the top picks listed below:
Apple has named face-shifting app "MSQRD" as the runner up for best iPhone app, and swipe-based game "Reigns" as the runner up for best iPhone game, both of which are showcased alongside the winners in the main banner in the App Store.
Two new App Store sections, "10 Best Apps of the Year" and "10 Best Games of the Year" further break down the best apps chosen by Apple's editors, highlighting apps like Quartz, Vogue, Hyper, Plants vs. Zombies, Rodeo Stampede, and more. There are separate sections for both iPhone and iPad apps and games, each with different picks.
In the Mac App Store, Apple has also published a full list of its picks for best Mac apps, with selections that include Spark, Polarr Photo Editor, Mini Metro, Doo, XCOM 2, Darkest Dungeon, Day One, Layers of Fear, and OmniGraffle 7.
Finally, Apple has announced the top apps based on overall App Store charts throughout the year, with Snapchat winning Top Free iPhone App and Heads Up! winning Top Paid iPhone App. For the iPad, YouTube was the top free app and Minecraft: Pocket Edition was the top paid app, while Netflix was the top free Apple TV app and Earthlapse TV was the top paid Apple TV app.
All of Apple's best app picks can be found in the App Store, with similar lists available naming the best music, TV shows, movies, and books in the iTunes and iBooks Stores.
Apple today shared some tips to "Shoot like a Pro" with depth-of-field "Portrait" effect in the iPhone 7 Plus, highlighting a range of suggestions collected from professional photographers on its news site.
Tips include getting up close to a subject to bring out details, minimizing the background, putting the sun behind a subject, slightly underexposing, and using soft, diffused lighting.
The suggestions are sourced from fashion photographer JerSean Golatt, celebrity photographer Jeremy Cowart, travel photographer Pei Ketron, and wedding photographer Benj Haisch, and are accompanied by photos shot on the iPhone 7 Plus.
For many years running, the iPhone has been the most popular camera on Flickr, which has encouraged Apple to make continual improvements to the camera equipment in its smartphones.
Along with dual cameras and the Portrait mode in the iPhone 7 Plus, both the iPhone 7 and the iPhone 7 Plus feature lens, sensor, stabilization, and image signal processor improvements that offer much improved performance compared to previous-generation devices, especially in low-light conditions.
Apple recently made a quiet update to its Apple Support site, introducing a new feature that allows customers to find and schedule repairs for iPhones, Macs, and iPads from Apple Authorized Service Providers.
When troubleshooting a product, choosing "Bring in for Repair" after going through Apple's support prompts now brings up all repair centers near a customer, including Apple's own retail stores and retail locations where customers can get repairs from Apple Authorized Service Providers.
In addition to including all nearby Apple Authorized Service Providers, the new repair site also lists availability, so customers can find the fastest repairs and get same-day service in many locations. There's even an option to book a repair right from the site.
Most of the time, getting a repair appointment at an Apple Store's Genius Bar requires a wait of several days to a week, while Apple Authorized Service Providers have much more open availability.
In the San Francisco Bay Area, for example, local Apple Stores do not have repair appointments until next week, but third-party repair shops like Best Buy, Clickaway, Mobile Kangaroo, and Computercare have appointments today or tomorrow.
Apple Authorized Service Providers have been officially authorized by Apple to perform repairs on Apple devices. Both AppleCare repairs and out-of-warranty repair services are available, but many customers may not be aware of local options outside of an Apple Store.
Apple's new focus on third-party service providers may provide some much-needed relief for Apple retail stores that are unable to keep up with repair requests and it will ensure customers are able to get faster service.
Apple today officially launched Single Sign-on, the service designed to allow cable subscribers to sign in once with their cable credentials to gain access to all cable-restricted content in iOS and tvOS apps.
Single Sign-on is limited to the United States, and according to a support document, is available for the following providers: CenturyLink Prism, DirecTV, Dish, GVTC, GTA, Hawaiian Telcom, Hotwire, MetroCast, and Sling.
While Single Sign-on was introduced and tested in the tvOS 10.1 and iOS 10.2 betas, the feature was remotely released today to all iOS 10 and tvOS 10 devices. Using Single Sign-on does not require one of the betas, and is instead immediately available to all iPhone and Apple TV users running iOS 10 or tvOS 10.
With Single Sign-on, customers with a supported provider will use the Settings options in iOS or tvOS to sign in with their cable credentials. From then on, when accessing a supported app that requires a cable subscription, the app will ask to use the saved sign-on credentials.
To get to Single Sign-on on iOS devices, open the Settings app and scroll down to "TV Providers." The process is the same on the Apple TV - open the Settings app and choose the TV Providers option to sign in.
Most cable channels and content providers offer individual apps on the Apple TV and iOS devices, but still require cable authentication before users can access content. Prior to Single Sign-on, customers were required to enter their credentials in each individual app, a frustrating and time-consuming process.
Single Sign-on will play a key part in the upcoming "TV" app that's set to debut in iOS 10.2 and tvOS 10.1. The TV app serves as sort of an Apple-designed television guide that lets customers find new content and keep track of what they were watching across multiple devices.
At the current time, Single Sign-on is available to a limited number of customers, but its availability will expand as Apple signs the necessary deals with cable providers. Single Sign-on also requires apps to implement support for the feature, and many apps have not yet introduced Single Sign-on support.
As Apple's iPhone 6s is facing scrutiny in China over a battery issue that causes unexpected shutdowns, a Chinese consumer group has complained of a separate problem with the iPhone 6 - spontaneous battery fires.
According to the The Wall Street Journal, the Shanghai Consumer Council says it received eight reports from Chinese users claiming their smartphones spontaneously caught on fire, but Apple inspected the devices and says "external physical damage" is to blame.
Apple said it analyzed the affected phones and found that the fires followed "external physical damage." The company encouraged customers with issues to visit an Apple store or contact company support.
"We appreciate that customers are more concerned than ever about the performance and safety of batteries in their mobile devices," Apple said in a statement.
Given that the iPhone 6 has been available since 2014 and there have been a limited number of report about device fires, Apple's physical damage explanation rings true. With the Samsung Galaxy Note 7, which had a true faulty part leading to fires, reports from around the world started flooding in just weeks after the device was released.
Complaints from Chinese consumer groups over iPhone 6s battery problems led Apple to introduce a repair program for iPhone 6s devices that unexpectedly shut down, and Apple has gone out of its way in China to explain the issue and assure customers that it is not safety related.
Apple's repair program will see it providing new batteries to customers with iPhone 6s devices primarily manufactured between September and October of 2015. Just today, Apple expanded the repair program to encompass a small number of customers "outside of the affected range" who are also experiencing shutdowns.
On its Chinese site, Apple explained that the iPhone 6s shutdown issue was caused by exposure to "controlled ambient air" during the manufacturing process, which caused the battery to degrade faster than a normal battery.
Next week, Apple plans to introduce a diagnostic tool that will allow it to gather information and better manage battery performance levels to prevent shutdowns. With iOS 10.2 nearly ready to launch, it's likely the diagnostic capability will be included in that update.
As Apple's third largest market after the United States and Europe, China has become increasingly important to Apple over the last several years. Apple has made an effort to introduce a number of retail stores in the country, and it has made a $1 billion investment in Chinese ride-sharing company Didi Chuxing.
Despite its efforts, Apple has struggled in China. In Apple's third quarter earnings report, revenue in China was down 33 percent year over year, dropping from $13 billion in 3Q 2015 to $8.9 billion in 3Q 2016.
Chinese officials have said Apple is "too deeply established in the country's core industries," and along with recent trouble over its iPhones, Apple has also struggled with its iTunes Movie and iBooks Store in China, which were shut down by Chinese administrators in April.
Apple is continuing to add new providers to its Single Sign-on feature in tvOS 10.1 and iOS 10.2, and today introduced Single Sign-on support for four new providers: CenturyLink Prism, Hawaiian Telcom, MetroCast, and GTA (available in Guam). GVTC Communications, previously listed as a Single Sign-on option, has been removed.
With the new additions, when tvOS 10.1 and iOS 10.2 become available for the public, Single Sign-on will be available for eight cable subscription options: DirecTV, Dish, Hotwire, Sling TV, CenturyLink Prism, Hawaiian Telcom, MetroCast, and GTA. Apple will continue adding support for additional providers as it manages to secure the necessary deals.
Single Sign-on allows Apple TV and iOS users to enter their cable credentials once and then sign in to all available live cable content, even across multiple apps. Single Sign-on works automatically when you have a cable subscription through a participating provider, prompting you allow a compatible app to use your sign in credentials.
Many cable channels offer individual apps on the Apple TV and iOS devices, but still require cable authentication to access content. Without Single Sign-on, users need to enter their cable information for each app, a process that's a huge hassle.
Apps that take advantage of Single Sign-on and user cable subscriptions will be easier to find and track in tvOS 10.1 and iOS 10.2, with content located in the new "TV" app that's been introduced.
We expect to see tvOS 10.1 and iOS 10.2 introduced to the public next week alongside macOS Sierra 10.12.2 and watchOS 3.1.1.
Like the iPhone 7 and the iPhone 7 Plus, Samsung's next-generation Galaxy S8 will not feature a 3.5mm headphone jack, reports SamMobile. Samsung will instead use a single USB-C port to deliver both power and audio capabilities, using the space once taken by the jack for other components.
Samsung often takes design inspiration from Apple, something that's caused legal problems that are still ongoing today, but the decision to remove the 3.5mm headphone jack is curious given Apple's move was so controversial.
According to Apple, removing the headphone jack in the iPhone 7 and the iPhone 7 Plus took a lot of "courage." Apple executives have claimed that the 3.5mm jack is outdated technology that was taking up essential space and holding Apple back from implementing features like a new Taptic Engine and waterproofing.
Samsung's Galaxy Note 7
Many iPhone users have not been happy with the removal of the headphone jack, a fact that Samsung took advantage of when announcing the now-defunct Galaxy Note 7. "Want to know what else it comes with?" Samsung VP Justin Denison asked on stage, mocking the iPhone. "An audio jack, I'm just saying."
With the removal of the headphone jack in the Galaxy S8, Samsung users will face the same drawbacks iPhone users have had to deal with since September. There will be no way to charge and listen to music at the same time without a special adapter, and existing headphones will also be useless without a 3.5mm to USB-C adapter.
Samsung plans to debut the new Galaxy S8 at the 2017 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, which takes place in February. In addition to overcoming any negative reaction to the removal of the 3.5mm audio jack, Samsung will also need to quell customer fears over the device's build and its battery.
Apple today seeded the fifth beta of an upcoming tvOS 10.1 update to developers for testing purposes, one week after seeding the fourth tvOS 10.1 beta and over two months after launching tvOS 10.
Designed for the fourth-generation Apple TV, fourth tvOS 10.1 beta can be obtained by connecting the Apple TV to a computer with a USB-C to USB-A cable, downloading and installing the software from a registered developer account via iTunes or Apple Configurator.
Once a beta profile has been installed on the device through iTunes, new beta updates will be available over the air.
tvOS 10.1 introduces the new "TV" app that Apple debuted at its October 27 event. The TV app serves as sort of an Apple-designed television guide, giving customers a way to find and watch TV and movies across multiple devices.
The TV app, which is also available on iOS devices in iOS 10.2, features a dedicated store, recommended content, and the ability to sync shows and movies so you can pick up what you were watching on any of your devices.
Alongside the TV app, tvOS 10.1 also introduces Single Sign-On, a feature that allows Apple TV users to sign in once with their cable credentials to access all available live cable content. Single Sign-On is available for DirecTV, Dish, GVTC Communications, Hotwire, and Sling TV.
tvOS 10, for those unfamiliar with the operating system, brings features like improved search, expanded Siri capabilities, a dark mode, a Continuity option for using the iPhone for text input, automatic app downloads, quicker access to live TV, and more.
Mophie today debuted the Juice Pack Air battery cases for iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, bringing the company's signature battery case line to Apple's latest smartphones. In addition to featuring extended battery life in a slim design, the new cases also take advantage of Mophie's Charge Force wireless charging technology.
The iPhone 7 version of the Juice Pack Air comes with a 2,525 mAh battery while the iPhone 7 Plus version comes with a 2,420 mAh battery. Mophie says they boost total battery life of the phones up to 27 and 33 hours of talk time, respectively.
We've been able to spend a few minutes with the new cases, which carry the familiar two-piece slider design with a matte finish. As with all battery cases, they add a fair bit of bulk and heft to the iPhone, but the case feels good in the hand and is not overly cumbersome if you have a need for extended battery life.
The case's power and volume buttons for the iPhone have a high-quality feel, while the mute switch remains easily accessible. For those without Force Charge or other wireless charging solutions, the case charges with a standard micro-USB cable and supports pass-through charging of the iPhone first, followed by the battery case. Four LEDs on the rear of the case display the current case battery level at the press of a button, while a longer press on the button turns on and off charging of the phone from the case.
One downside relates to headphone connectivity, as with no built-in headphone jack and no direct access to the iPhone's Lightning port, wireless headphones are a necessity with this case.
Both Juice Pack Air variants are available for $99.95 each at Mophie's website and come in black, gold, rose gold, navy blue and Product (RED). The various Charge Force bases, mounts, and external battery are sold separately, but are generally available at discounted prices if purchased with a Juice Pack Air case.
A new update coming to Instagram will allow users to turn the comments section under each of their posts off completely, continuing the app's anti-harrassment toolset it began introducing with a keyword moderation update in September.
Users will simply have to tap "Advanced Settings" when crafting a post and select "Turn Off Commenting," so no followers or strangers can write a comment underneath it.
Comments can be turned back on later, however, in the ellipsis menu found below a post. In the previous update, users gained the ability to filter comments out that contained specific keywords chosen to be harmful or negative by each Instagram member. Instagram said that the new comments section removal option, along with keyword filtering, are important steps in "giving you more control over your comments experience."
Liking comments is also coming soon, so users will be able to tap a heart icon next to anyone's comment to "show support" and positivity on a post. Private accounts are gaining a new feature as well, with the ability to remove followers on a case-by-case basis, without needing to completely block them. Instagram is even introducing a new system that lets users report cases of potential self-harm to the company, where a team reviews the reports and connects the individual in question to helpful organizations.
Finally, we want to continue to be a place where people can share deeply personal moments. From time to time, you may see friends struggling and in need of support. If you believe that someone you care about may be thinking about injuring themselves, you can report it anonymously, and we will connect your friend to organizations that offer help. We have teams working 24 hours a day, seven days a week, around the world to review these reports.
The company didn't make it clear when the updates would begin hitting its iOS and Android apps, but said a few of the features -- including comment liking -- will begin rolling out "in the coming weeks." Instagram is available on the iOS App Store for free. [Direct Link]
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