Kelly Hodgkins

Smart energy company Velvetwire today announced Powerslayer Blu, the latest addition to its Powerslayer lineup of USB chargers. This new model offers Bluetooth low energy (BLE) connectivity and is compatible with Apple's HomeKit technology rolling out with iOS 8. Apple's vision for HomeKit is to make it easy for developers to allow users to control and interact with accessories around the home,...

Based on web traffic data, it appears Apple may be hastening its iOS updates as it prepares to launch several major products in the coming months. As noted by 9to5Mac, the Cupertino company is simultaneously testing three major iOS 8 iterations that may be released according to an expedited schedule. Web server analytics indicate Apple is currently actively testing iOS 8.1, 8.2 and 8.3. The...

Apple and Parisian fashion boutique Colette are preparing a "one day only experience" on September 30, reports French blog Macplus [Google Translate]. Showcased on Colette's website, the event will be held from 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM local time at the retailer's gallery on rue Saint-Honoré in Paris. Information on what will be shown during the one-day event has not been revealed, but hints from...

Earlier this year, Apple was rumored to be adding support for high-definition audio playback in iOS 8 and shipping new EarPods with the iPhone 6 in order to support this 24bit/96kHz standard. Apple ultimately made no such announcements for iOS 8 or the iPhone 6, and Mashable has now confirmed with some testing that Apple's latest iPhone 6 does not currently support high definition audio playback. ...

Just before the public launch of iOS 8 earlier this month, Apple removed all HealthKit-enabled apps from the iOS App Store due to an last-minute issue with the service. Addressing the issue, Apple promised it was working on a fix with the goal to "have HealthKit apps available by the end of the month". As spotted by 9to5Mac, Apple is now allowing apps with HealthKit features back into the iOS App ...

Competition between mobile phone manufactures is fierce with handset companies using social media and other public platforms to call out their competitors. It's not surprising then to see a wave of tweets and comments from big name companies like Samsung and HTC mocking Apple following its recent iPhone 6 Plus bending controversy. LG and HTC were among the first to attack Apple, commenting...

Apple's 12.9-inch iPad Pro tablet is rumored to be landing as soon as early 2015, with the latest report from Taiwan's TechNews (via G For Games) suggesting the tablet will feature an improved A8X processor. Similar to Apple's previous A5X and A6X processors, the A8X would presumably be an graphics-enhanced version of Apple's current A8 processor that debuted in the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus....

Apple's new iPhone 6 and 6 Plus handsets are dominating the Japanese market in their first week of sales, reports Forbes, which cited weekly sales rankings provided by Japan's BCN. iPhone sales were boosted by carrier Softbank, which edged out KDDI and NTT DoCoMo as the top wireless provider and accounted for 42.9 percent of weekly iPhone sales. According to the tracking, individual iPhone models ...

Apple has done little to improve security in the Touch ID technology used in its current iPhone 6 handset, claims security researcher Marc Rogers of Lookout Security (via CNET). As shown by Rogers, the latest iPhone models are vulnerable to hacking using the same fake fingerprint technique first demonstrated with the iPhone 5s. The technique requires a hacker to lift a suitable fingerprint...

Apple is phasing out Aperture and iPhoto on the Mac, replacing the pair with a new Photos app that is slated to debut early next year. Mac owners who want to access their iCloud photos before this new OS X app is released may soon be able to do so via an iCloud.com version of Photos that is currently under development, reports 9to5Mac. Screenshots from an Apple iCloud support document...

UK home entertainment and communications provider Sky expanded its Apple TV offerings with its expanded NOW TV channel supporting the broadcaster's Entertainment Month Pass and Sky Movies Month Pass, reports Engadget. These two passes join the existing Sky Sports day pass that debuted on NOW TV last year. The Entertainment Month Pass for NOW TV brings the latest television programming from 13 ...

In a first for streaming music, Pandora, Spotify and Apple's Beats Music are among the leaders in App Store revenue as customers increasingly subscribe to the services using in-app purchases. According to data provided by App Annie and published by Billboard, the music services were among the top ten revenue generators for all non-game applications in the iOS App Store during the month of August. ...

As highlighted in a few reports shared in the MacRumors forums, a small but growing number of iPhone 6 Plus owners have reportedly bent their phones after carrying the devices in their pockets just days after launch. In one instance, a new iPhone 6 Plus was bent during a day of dancing, dining, and driving to a wedding. Photo by hanzoh Yesterday, I left at 10am with the iPhone in my left...

Apple's iPhone 6 and 6 Plus ship with higher capacity batteries that deliver exceptional battery life, but as pointed out by iLounge and MacRumors forum members, the two new iPhone models can also charge significantly faster when used with an iPad charging adapter rather than the smaller adapter included with the iPhones. According to preliminary tests using a Kill-A-Watt device and OS X...

Apple's iPhone 6 Plus may be the most talked about iPhone model due to its larger screen and bigger battery, but early adoption rate metrics (via Mashable), suggest more customers are choosing the smaller iPhone 6 over its bigger counterpart. How much of the difference is due to customer preference versus constrained supplies of the larger model is unknown, however. According to ad impression...

AnandTech spent the weekend benchmarking the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, comparing the duo to the iPhone 5s and competing Android handsets. The test results show that iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus models are at the top of the charts in CPU benchmarks and battery life, while the iPhone 6 Plus lags in graphics performance due to the larger screen. In in GPU benchmarks, we generally see a pretty solid...

According to data from internet research firm DeepField, Apple relied on its content delivery network along with Akamai and Limelight to handle the rollout of iOS 8 publicly this week (via The Wall Street Journal). The release of iOS 8 caused web traffic to more than double in some areas as millions of iOS users rushed to update their iOS devices. “It really was a significant coming out...

With yesterday's launch of iOS 8, devices running the new operating system are now able to install third-party keyboards that work on a systemwide basis. Most of the major keyboard makers were ready for the launch, introducing iOS 8 versions of their keyboards into the iOS App Store. One day after launch, three of these keyboards, including Fleksy, SwiftKey and Swype, are now at the top of the...

Apple yesterday released iOS 8 to the public, opening the doors for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch owners to download and install Apple's latest version of iOS on their devices. According to The Guardian, this release caused internet traffic to surge in the UK by as much as 60 percent compared to the same time the previous day as millions of iOS users rushed to update their devices. LONAP web ...

Apple and U2 have a long history of working together, producing a special edition U2 iPod in 2008 and more recently releasing the band's latest album, "Songs of Innocence," for free. According to Time, Apple and U2 reportedly now are collaborating on a new music format that will boost digital music sales. Details on the music format or the secret project surrounding it were not revealed,...