Tim Hardwick
Tim is a Senior Editor at MacRumors and has been writing for the site since 2016. Formerly a magazine journalist, his work has appeared in over 30 newsstand print publications and online brands covering a range of topics, from the latest trends in technology to the mysteries of ancient history.
Based in the UK, Tim's current role at MacRumors involves editorial oversight and how tos, in addition to covering daily news and contributing occasional reviews. Tim can be reached at tim@macrumors.com, Telegram (@waxeditorial) or Twitter.
Based in the UK, Tim's current role at MacRumors involves editorial oversight and how tos, in addition to covering daily news and contributing occasional reviews. Tim can be reached at tim@macrumors.com, Telegram (@waxeditorial) or Twitter.
Tim Hardwick's Articles
Apple CEO Tim Cook Accepts 2017 Free Expression Award in Washington, D.C.
Apple CEO Tim Cook attended the Newseum's Free Expression Awards in Washington, D.C., last night to accept the institution's 2017 Free Expression Award.
Cook was named in February as the recipient of the award in the Free Speech category, which recognized the Apple CEO for having a "profound impact" on communication and for using his position to "take a public stand" on issues like racial...
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Spotify Half-Price Student Subscription Plan Rolls Out to 31 More Countries
Spotify today expanded its half-price student subscription plan to 31 more countries around the world.
The music streaming service has offered the discounted premium subscriptions to students based in the U.S., the U.K., and Germany for some time, but starting today Spotify is adding several more countries to the list of eligible nations.
The list now includes Austria, Australia, Belgium, ...
May Cover of Food Magazine 'Bon Appétit' Shot on an iPhone 7
Food magazine Bon Appétit has used an iPhone to shoot the cover photography for its latest travel issue. The Condé Nast-owned publication follows in the footsteps of magazines like Billboard and Condé Nast Traveler, both of which have recently run covers shot on iPhones.
Bon Appètit has used iPhone-shot photos in the past – including in last year's Culture issue – but this is the first...
Ecobee4 Thermostat to Come With Built-In Alexa Voice Assistant
The Ecobee4 will come with a built-in microphone for issuing Alexa-based voice commands, according to leaked marketing materials for the upcoming smart wireless thermostat (via The Verge).
Ecobee3 owners with supporting Amazon hardware have been able to use Alexa to control their devices since the thermostat maker added support in December, but it looks as if the next iteration of the product...
Logitech Announces HomeKit-Compatible POP Smart Button For Controlling Smart Devices
Logitech today announced a new POP Smart Button, its first Apple HomeKit compatible programmable smart button for controlling connected devices around the home.
The idea behind the original POP is to free up control of smart devices so that anyone in the home can operate them regardless of whether they have a smartphone and the associated app for each device. The latest POP builds on that...
New 'Server-Grade' iMac With Next-Gen Xeon Processor Coming End of 2017
Apple's new range of iMacs will launch in the second half of 2017 and will include a "server-grade" model to cater for the high end creative professional market, according to Taiwan-based supply chain sources.
Apple has already confirmed it is working on new iMac models for release later this year, but today's report offers another hint at what could be in store for creative pros and puts a...
YouTube Dark Mode Surfaces in Latest Desktop Chrome Browser Update
Google appears to be testing a Dark Mode feature for YouTube in the latest version of its Chrome 57 desktop browser.
The built-in mode was discovered on Thursday and shared in a Reddit post, and while the setting doesn't appear by default, a quick command in the developer console is all that's required to enable it.
YouTube Dark Mode in Chrome with black theme enabled
Follow these steps...
Slack Chat Platform Finally Gets Custom Status Message Feature
Team chat platform Slack got a long-awaited feature on Thursday with the addition of status updates, finally allowing users to customize their status message beyond the default "away" setting.
The new "set a status" feature includes five Suggested statuses including In a meeting, Commuting, Out sick, Vacationing, and Working remotely, as well as an input field for typing a custom message –...
Amazon Offers Echo's Far-Field Voice Recognition Tech to Third Parties
Amazon has fired another salvo in the virtual assistant wars by opening up access to the far-field voice recognition technology found in its Echo smart speakers so that third-party manufacturers can make their own versions (via BBC).
The move comes as Amazon attempts to spread the use of its Alexa virtual assistant across a wide range of connected products and take ownership of a larger...
Apple Music Debuts Toronto's 'House of Strombo' Concert Series
Top music interviewer and CBC Radio 2 host George Stroumboulopoulos debuted his new House of Strombo music series on Apple Music on Thursday (via Billboard).
The 10-episode show is a spin-off of the Canadian host's radio series The Strombo Show, which is filmed at his Toronto home in front of a live audience. The show is set to feature video segments, artist interviews, and exclusive...
First Course Launches to Develop Apps For Android in Apple's Swift Language
An Italian school has launched the first Android-specific course in Apple's increasingly popular open source Swift programming language.
The Swift University based in Reggio Emilia claims to be the first, globally, to offer the course for Android, and aims to show students how to use the programming language across both platforms while avoiding the limitations associated with cross-platform...
Burger King TV Ad Highlights Voice Recognition Challenge For Smart Speakers
Burger King made headlines yesterday when it began running a 15-second television ad made to intentionally activate Google Home speakers and Android phones within earshot.
The simple commercial involves someone posing as a Burger King employee who leans into the camera to ask the question "OK Google, what is the Whopper burger?" – a request designed to prompt Google virtual assistants nearby ...
Microsoft Invites Mac Users to Preview Google Calendar Support in Outlook 2016
Microsoft has begun inviting Mac users to try its new Google Calendar and Contacts support in Outlook 2016 by downloading and installing the application from its preview site.
Up until now, many of Outlook's more advanced email features have only been available to users with an Outlook.com, Office 365 or Exchange email address. This week's global rollout means anyone with a Gmail account can...
Feral Interactive to Release 'Total War: Warhammer' For Mac Next Week
Feral Interactive has announced that the first game in the Total War: Warhammer trilogy is set to come to the Mac next week.
Originally developed by Creative Assembly in partnership with Games Workshop and published by SEGA, Feral has completed the work of converting the popular PC title to run via Apple's new graphics API, Metal, and will launch the Mac game on April 18.
A fantasy...
Dropbox Paper For iOS Gains Offline Mode and Multiple Language Support
Dropbox's collaborative editing software Paper received an update to its iOS app on Tuesday that allows users to edit their documents offline.
Similar to Google Docs, Paper offers Dropbox account holders a minimalist document editor and conversational tools for collaborative projects. Users review and revise work in a single, shared space which includes an image gallery feature, advanced...
Chrome Browser Gains 'Scroll Anchoring' to Prevent Annoying Web Page Jumps
Google yesterday announced a new feature in the latest update to its Chrome browser that aims to make the progressive loading of web pages less jumpy and annoying.
The idea behind progressive loading is to allow users to begin consuming web content immediately before the page has fully loaded, but the offscreen loading of pictures and so on can cause unexpected page jumps and push down what's...
Apple Sues Swatch Over 'Tick Different' Marketing Campaign
Apple has filed a complaint in a Swiss court over the use of the slogan "Tick Different" in a Swatch marketing campaign, arguing that the watchmaker is unfairly referencing the Californian company's successful 1990s "Think Different" ad campaign for its own gain.
The complaint was lodged last week at the Swiss Federal Administrative Court by Apple representatives Lenz & Staehelin, whose...
Facebook Beats Apple to AI Assistant Chat Integration With 'M' For Messenger
Facebook announced its first virtual assistant on Thursday in the form of "M", which privately interjects in chat threads on Messenger to offer users suggestions related to the conversation.
The feature goes beyond the platform's chat bot technology, offering recommendations for relevant stickers, GIFs, payments, rides and meeting times now appear to each user above the message composer in...
TSMC Drops Out of Race to Acquire Toshiba Flash Unit, Foxconn Highest Bidder
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) has withdrawn its offer for Toshiba's highly sought-after NAND flash memory business, leaving major Apple supplier Hon Hai in the driving seat to acquire the unit.
Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn, has offered up the highest bid so far, with almost 3 trillion Japanese yen ($30 billion) said to be on the table, according to Japanese paper Asahi...
Periscope Rolls Out 360-Degree Video Broadcasting to iOS Users
Live video broadcasting service Periscope on Friday announced full support for 360-degree broadcasting from its iOS app, following testing with a small number of users.
The change means that iPhone users with compatible 360-degree camera equipment, such as the new Samsung Gear 360, can broadcast immersive video feeds of their entire surrounding environment.
As a broadcaster, 360 video allows...
