Tim Hardwick

New company Essential Products announced its debut products today, including a modular titanium smartphone with an edge-to-edge display and an Amazon Echo competitor. Andy Rubin, the founder of Essential and the original creator of the Android OS platform, announced the devices ahead of a talk he is scheduled to give later on Tuesday at the Code Conference.The company's logo-free Essential Phone features a 5.71-inch edge-to-edge QHD display that reaches all the way to the top of the phone and runs around the 8-megapixel front-facing camera. The unique design is in contrast to Samsung's Galaxy S8, which retains a minimal bezel to house the camera and associated components.The phone is constructed from titanium and ceramic, allowing it to survive a drop test "without blemish,

Apple has quietly updated its Maps app to include additional 3D coverage of the new Apple Park campus location in Cupertino, California.The enhanced detail includes a "Map" view with 3D building models as well as access roads running in and out of the campus. Traffic directions, pedestrian walkways, and other information can also be found when searching the area.In addition, the company has added some new points of interest for Apple Park, such as the Steve Jobs Theater, the research and development facility, the staff fitness center, and above-ground parking. The manmade pond that lies within the walls of the main building also features.Apple has gradually been adding Maps location information and satellite imagery for Apple Park since March. The company has already

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is considering expanding its carry-on restrictions for electronic devices to include flights departing from the United States, according to CNN.In March, restrictions were announced that prevented U.S.-bound passengers from eight Middle Eastern countries from carrying certain electronic devices in the passenger cabin. The TSA order, which does not have a stated end date, covers laptops, tablets, e-readers, cameras, portable DVD players, and handheld gaming devices larger than a smartphone.However, those restrictions could also soon include flights departing from the United States, according to Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, who spoke briefly to reporters on Friday.When asked whether it is true that he has hinted the laptop ban

Apple will soon make the Mid-2011 MacBook Air and Late 2011 MacBook Pro obsolete, meaning the two models will no longer be accepted for official repair in Apple Stores from June 30.The computers are about to be added to Apple's vintage and obsolete products document, according to 9to5Mac, indicating that Apple has discontinued hardware support for both MacBooks in all regions except for California and Turkey.Also set to be included in the obsolescence list is the Mid-2009 17-inch MacBook Pro, which is the last 17-inch computer Apple has made.The company's large form factor laptops first made an appearance in 2003 with the launch of the 17-inch G4 Powerbook, which cost $3299 and featured a 1GHz processor, 512MB of RAM, and a 60GB hard drive. A 17-inch MacBook Pro formed

Apple has successfully finalized a solution to integrate Touch ID fingerprint recognition directly into the display of its upcoming "iPhone 8", according to a new report on Friday.Chinese-language Economic Daily News (EDN) said it spoke to sources from Apple supplier Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), who apparently confirmed Apple's achievement during a technology convention held in Taipei on Thursday.Among several design changes TSMC reportedly discussed at the TSMC 2017 NA Technology Symposium was the lack of a home button on the redesigned OLED iPhone, owing to Apple's use of "an optical fingerprint sensor to enable authentication directly on the screen" in the absence of a physical Home button.In addition to the fingerprint recognition, the sources

Popular note-taking app Bear received an update on Thursday across Mac and iOS that adds a number of notable features to the Evernote rival.The biggest change to Bear is the ability to sketch on iOS. Users can now add sketches to their notes using a finger or stylus. Sketches are drawn on a separate open canvas, which includes pencil and marker tools similar to Apple Notes, with each pencil coming in three sizes and a range of colors.Next, Bear has taken cues from the new API in iOS 10.3 that enables apps to use custom icons. Bear supports eight different themes, and now each one has an accompanying icon so that Bear's appearance on the Home screen optionally matches the selected theme.Bear 1.2 also brings VoiceOver support, to aid blind and visually impaired notetakers.

Feral has announced that Sid Meier's Railroads!, the classic "tycoon" strategy game released on PC in 2006, has been updated on Mac to include full compatibility with Apple's latest macOS platform.If you missed Sid Meier's Railroads! last time around, the game is a re-imagining of the best-selling Railroad Tycoon, which was released in 1990 for Amiga, Atari ST, and MS DOS. The game has been in dire need of a compatibility and stability update for several years, so today's announcement should come as good news for die-hard fans.Like the original, players are tasked with constructing a rail empire across one of four locations: the Western United States, the Northeastern United States, Great Britain, or continental Europe.Lay track, route trains and watch the world come to life

Chief Apple designer Jony Ive has been appointed chancellor of London's Royal College of Art (RCA), it was announced on Thursday. Ive is set to take up the role in July and will replace British engineer Sir James Dyson, who has been provost of RCA since 2011."I am thrilled to formalise my relationship with the RCA, given the profound influence the college has had on so many of the artists and designers that I admire," Ive said in a statement."Our design team includes many RCA alumni, who embody the fundamental values of the college. I look forward to advising both the college and students, hoping that my experience proves useful in their work." In his unpaid five-year term as head of the college, Ive will preside over meetings and help to govern RCA, which in 2017 was ranked the

Apple is in the process of transitioning App Store pricing from the U.S. dollar and euro to local currencies in nine countries. The announcement was made last week on Apple's iTunes Connect resource page, and the first reports are coming through that the price changes are equating to small savings in some countries, owing to favorable exchange rates.App Store pricing in Romania is now showing in the country's Leu currency, which has made books, apps, and songs a little cheaper, according to iTutorial.ro. For example, an individual music track that cost 15,42 lei before the change, now costs 14,99. Small savings also extend to Apple Music and iCloud subscriptions.Similar subscription savings have been reported by ThinkApple in Poland, where many prices have been converted at a

Last October, popular API documentation browser Dash was removed from the iOS App Store after Apple accused the app's developer, Kapeli, of fraudulent conduct involving hundreds of fake reviews.Kapeli's Apple developer account was terminated in the controversy, and with no way to sell the app on the App Store, the Dash code was subsequently made open source.However, according to a Wednesday blog post on Kapeli's website, open sourcing Dash for iOS led to some people submitting it to the App Store in violation of its GNU GPL License:Quite a few "developers" have even added it to the App Store themselves, violating the GNU GPL license in the process. Apple has been very responsive in removing these apps, but the developers kept adding it back in different shapes and forms and I

Google expanded the range of family sharing features across a handful of its digital services on Tuesday. The new additions rolled out to Google Calendar, Google Keep, and Google Photos.Setting up a family group in Google Calendar now automatically generates a "Family Calendar" for users to keep track of group activities like picnics, movie nights, and reunions, all in one place.The new feature in Google Keep works similarly. Users add a family group as a collaborator for any note, which allows everyone to edit and make changes to shopping lists, to-dos, and the like. A family group icon (a house with a heart at its center) appears next to any note that is shared in this way.Lastly, in Google Photos, a new "Family Group" option in the Share menu lets users share selected

Apple today announced a new app development curriculum designed for students who want to pursue careers in the fast-growing app economy. The curriculum comes as a free download from the iBooks Store.Called "App Development with Swift", the full-year course aims to teach students the elements of app design using Swift, Apple's increasingly popular programming languages. Apple said students who undertake the course will learn to code and design fully functioning apps, gaining critical job skills in software development and information technology in the process.Beginning in the fall, six community college systems serving nearly 500,000 students across the United States will be among the first to offer the curriculum, according to Apple. Participating colleges include the Alabama

German hackers have successfully broken the iris recognition authentication in the Samsung Galaxy S8 using equipment that costs less than the price of the smartphone, according to Ars Technica.Hackers with the Chaos Computer Club used a digital camera, a Samsung laser printer, and a contact lens to achieve the feat. The hack involved taking a picture of the phone owner's face, printing it out on paper, carefully placing the contact lens on the iris in the printout, and holding the image in front of the locked Galaxy S8.The video shown above was posted by the hackers to demonstrate the process in action. The photo doesn't have to be a close-up shot, although using night-shot mode or removing the infrared filter helps, according to the hackers.The hack comes despite the fact

Amazon expanded its selection of pay-to-view television channels to the United Kingdom and Germany markets today. The announcement means users of Prime Video in those countries will be able to subscribe to popular channels individually, rather than having to pay for bundles of channels.Previously, Amazon's on-demand Prime Video subscription service only offered movies and TV shows in the U.K. and Germany, which are two of the company's biggest European markets."For the first time, Prime members in the UK and Germany will be able to choose to watch premium TV channels without having to sign up to a bundle or a contract, giving them the freedom to pay for only what they want to watch," said Alex Green, head of Amazon Channels in Europe."From live sport to Bollywood, arthouse

Worldwide iPhone sales were flat in the first quarter of 2017, according to Gartner, causing a year-on-year drop in Apple's share of a growing smartphone industry boosted by the rise of top Chinese mobile manufacturers breaking out into neighboring markets.Global sales of smartphones to end users totaled 380 million units in the first quarter of 2017, a 9.1 percent increase over the first quarter of 2016, reported Gartner. Of that figure, Apple sold 51.9 million units, up from 51.6 million in Q1 2016, leading to a drop in market share year over year. Samsung retained top spot with 78.6 million units sold to end users, and held on to 20.7 per cent market share, but both figures were declines on a year ago."Sales of iPhones were flat, which led to a drop in market share year over

Apple is in talks with government officials in India to expand its iPhone manufacturing facility in Bengalaru, a federal minister acknowledged on Tuesday (via Reuters).The Cupertino-based company reportedly wants to bulk out the plant in the southern Indian tech hub as part of its plan to capture a bigger share in one of the world's fastest growing smartphone markets.Ravi Shankar Prasad, the state official for Electronics and IT, said government officials were in touch with Apple and other mobile phone manufacturers for expanding facilities and setting up new plants. Last week Apple officially began initial production of a small number of iPhone SE devices at its Wistron-run Bangalore plant, and plans to ship Indian-created iPhones to local customers as soon as this month.The

Swedish home store IKEA has announced that its recently announced Trådfri smart lighting system will soon be compatible with HomeKit, Apple's smart home management platform.The affordable range of home lighting products was originally announced in late March and includes LED bulbs, illuminated panels, a motion sensor kit, a gateway kit, and dimming lights, but no mention was made about whether the collection would be able to integrate with existing smart home solutions like HomeKit.However, IKEA said in its press release that HomeKit support is in the works, enabling users to control the devices using the Apple Home app on iPhone, iPad or Apple Watch, or voice using Siri.In the summer and autumn, IKEA takes the next step towards the smart home. With increased functionality,

Nokia and Apple announced today that they have settled all litigation related to their intellectual property dispute and agreed a multi-year patent license.Under the collaborative agreement, Nokia said it will provide "certain network infrastructure products and services" to Apple. In turn, Apple agreed to return all health products owned by the Finnish company to Apple retail and online stores."This is a meaningful agreement between Nokia and Apple," said Maria Varsellona, Chief Legal Officer at Nokia, responsible for Nokia's patent licensing business. "It moves our relationship with Apple from being adversaries in court to business partners working for the benefit of our customers." In December of last year, Nokia filed multiple complaints against Apple in several countries,

Home thermostat maker Emerson today announced two new smart thermostats, one of which includes a color touchscreen display. The Sensi Touch Wi-Fi Thermostat — along with an updated version of Sensi's existing Wi-Fi Thermostat — is now compatible with Apple's smart home management platform HomeKit, for controlling the device using the Apple Home app on iPhone, iPad or Apple Watch, or voice using Siri.Apart from showing current system temperature and swipe-to-set features, the touchscreen display on the Sensi Touch Wi-Fi changes color to indicate whether the system is heating or cooling, while live humidity tracking keeps users informed about their home's atmosphere. Meanwhile, smart alerts serve to notify homeowners of extreme temperature changes when detected.Additional menu

Apple's notebook shipments totaled an estimated 3.4 million units in the first quarter of the 2017 calendar year, representing a year-on-year increase of 15.4 percent, according to new data published by market research firm TrendForce.Shipments of MacBooks and MacBook Pros actually declined 15.8 percent against the previous quarter of 2016, reflecting a somewhat similar decline for the overall notebook market over the same period, however the company's Q1 2017 numbers indicated strong demand in terms of a year-on-year increase in overall MacBook shipments.Apple shipped 3.4 million units of MacBook devices this first quarter and claimed fifth place in the ranking. The latest generation of MacBook Pro with Touch Bar, which was released in last year's fourth quarter, was