Joe Rossignol

No more having to hum the "happy birthday" song to yourself twice, as the Apple Watch features a new hand washing feature in watchOS 7. Using its motion sensors and microphone, the Apple Watch automatically detects hand washing and starts a 20‑second timer, which is how long the CDC and many other health organizations recommend washing your hands. If your Apple Watch detects that you've...

Apple today announced that the second-generation AirPods, AirPods Pro, Powerbeats, Powerbeats Pro, and Beats Solo Pro are gaining automatic switching between Apple devices like the iPhone, iPad, and Mac. For example, if you finish a phone call on your iPhone and pick up your iPad to watch a movie, the AirPods or Beats will automatically switch over. AirPods Pro are also getting a new...

Apple today announced several new features being added to iMessage in iOS 14, including mentions, pinned conversations, inline replies in conversations, group photos, and new Memoji styles and stickers. An overview of the new features:Mentions: Type a name to direct a message to someone. When you are mentioned, your name is highlighted. You can customize an active group so you only receive...

Following several leaks and rumors, Apple today confirmed that iOS 14 and watchOS 7 feature support for NFC-based digital car keys, allowing users to unlock and start their vehicle with a compatible iPhone or Apple Watch. Similar to credit cards and boarding passes, digital car keys are stored in the Wallet app. To unlock your vehicle, you will simply need to bring your iPhone near the...

Apple today announced that iOS 14 features an all-new Translate app for translating conversations, with support for 11 different languages at launch and an offline mode for private voice and text translation. Supported languages include Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish. When you place your iPhone in landscape...

Apple today previewed iOS 14, which features an all-new home screen design with widgets and a new App Library view, plus much more. Widgets Widgets can be pinned in different sizes on any home screen page, providing useful information at a glance. Users can also create a Smart Stack of widgets, which uses machine learning to surface the right widget based on time, location, and activity....

Apple has begun selling certified refurbished 2020 MacBook Air models through its online store in the United States for the first time, with prices discounted by approximately 15 percent compared to brand new models. Apple says refurbished MacBook Air models are thoroughly inspected, tested, cleaned, and repackaged with a USB-C power adapter and USB-C cable in the box. In our view, a...

Just ahead of WWDC, Apple has approved a new version of Basecamp's email app "Hey" for release on the App Store, as noted by The Verge. In response to Apple's marketing chief Phil Schiller saying that "you download the app and it doesn't work," Basecamp says that version 1.0.3 of the app introduces a free account option, allowing users to sign up directly in the app to receive a temporary...

Apple's rumored 12.9-inch iPad Pro with a Mini-LED display has entered trial production, according to Korean website The Elec. The report claims that LG will supply the Mini-LED panels for the device, while Foxconn will be tasked with final assembly. Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has previously said that Mini-LED technology will allow for thinner and lighter product designs, while offering many ...

Apple plans to launch third-generation AirPods with a form factor design "similar to AirPods Pro" in the first half of 2021, according to the latest research note from TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, obtained by MacRumors. Introduced in November 2019, the AirPods Pro feature an in-ear design with three sizes of soft, flexible silicone tips included in the box, along with...

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau today announced that Canada plans to launch a nationwide COVID-19 contract tracing app based on Apple's and Google's Exposure Notification API, as noted by iPhone in Canada. Trudeau said the app is slated for release in early July, with testing set to begin in Ontario soon. COVID Shield, a reference for public health authorities to build their own apps ...

Apple is widely expected to release its first 5G iPhones later this year, and multiple sources have indicated that these models will be equipped with Qualcomm's Snapdragon X55 modem, including analyst Ming-Chi Kuo and the Nikkei Asian Review. To the contrary, a paywalled snippet from DigiTimes today claims that Apple's chipmaking partner TSMC will begin manufacturing A14 chips and Snapdragon ...

Apple continues to work on an AirPower-like wireless charging mat that would be able to charge multiple devices at once, according to leaker Jon Prosser, who shared photos of an alleged prototype codenamed "C68" today. The mat shown in the photo looks identical to the AirPower mat that Apple previewed in 2017, planned to release in 2018, but canceled in 2019. Prosser previously said that...

In what appears to be a reversal of course, the BBC today reported that the United Kingdom's National Health Service will adopt Apple's and Google's Exposure Notification API for its COVID-19 contact tracing app after all. Other countries that have committed to using the API include Italy, Latvia, Switzerland, Germany, Poland, and Saudi Arabia, among others. Apple released the API as part ...

Apple Watch continued to lead the smartwatch industry with an estimated 5.2 million shipments worldwide in the first quarter of 2020, well ahead of Huawei, Samsung, Fitbit, and others, according to research firm Canalys. Canalys said the Apple Watch did see slow performance in North America and Europe during the quarter, however, which it attributes to Apple customers "switching their...

Apple has secured the international rights to Israel-Iran espionage thriller "Tehran," according to Deadline. The eight-part series is said to revolve around Tamar Rabinyan, a Mossad computer hacker-agent undertaking her very first mission in Iran's capital. "Tasked with disabling an Iranian nuclear reactor, her mission has implications not just for the Middle East, but for the rest of the...

Germany, Poland, and Saudi Arabia are among the latest countries to implement Apple's and Google's jointly developed Exposure Notification API in their respective COVID-19 contact tracing apps, available on the App Store. Apple released the Exposure Notification API as part of iOS 13.5 last month. At the time, Apple said that 22 countries had requested and received access to the API, with...

Apple today highlighted some of the winners of its Swift Student Challenge ahead of WWDC 2020 next week, including Sofia Ongele, Palash Taneja, and Devin Green. There are 350 winners in total from 41 countries and regions. Apple profiled three other winners in an App Store story, including Lars Augustin, Maria Fernanda Azolin, and Ritesh Kanchi. Starting today, developers who submitted their ...

Apple today announced that its App Store ecosystem supported $519 billion in billings and sales worldwide in 2019, based on an independent study conducted by Analysis Group, an economic consulting firm in the United States. Since the App Store launched in 2008, developers have earned over $155 billion from app and in-app purchases, with a quarter of those earnings occurring in 2019. However, ...

Following an announcement earlier today, Apple is now selling SSD storage upgrade kits for the latest Mac Pro, with 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, and 8TB options available. Prices range between $600 and $2,800 in the United States. Each kit contains two SSD modules, enabling users to upgrade the internal storage capacity of a Mac Pro themselves. Until now, Apple advised customers who wanted to upgrade the...