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 Loses Fourth Place to Xiaomi in Booming China Smartphone Market
Apple has fallen to fifth place in China's booming smartphone market, where combined sales reached 131.6 million units in the fourth quarter of 2016, accounting for nearly a third of worldwide shipments. The Q4 figure confirmed the highest ever annual amount of smartphones sold in China, according to market research firm Canalys, with shipments for the year reaching 476.5 million units, rising...
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Microsoft Brings Animated GIF Support and Account Switching to OneDrive App
Microsoft updated its OneDrive iOS app this week with a couple of features requested by premium users, with the added bonus that the improvements can be used by free 5GB account holders as well.
First up, Microsoft has added support for animated GIF files in OneDrive, which should come as good news for users working with marketing and promotional content. The GIFs can now be viewed from within ...
Samsung Chief Arrested on Bribery Charges in Corruption Scandal
Samsung chief Jay Y Lee has been arrested over his alleged role in an influence-peddling scandal that reaches to the highest levels of the South Korean government, it was reported on Friday.
Reuters said the 48-year-old vice-chairman and heir-apparent of Samsung was taken into custody at the Seoul Detention Center on Friday morning, after waiting there overnight for the decision.
Image via R ...
Apple to Start Assembling iPhone SE Handsets in India in the Coming Months
Apple is to set to begin ramping up assembly of the iPhone SE at its Bangalore manufacturing plant in India in the coming months, sources said on Friday (via Reuters).
Last month, Apple agreed a deal with the Indian government to commence manufacturing operations in the Karnataka-based facility, with Taiwanese manufacturing partner Wistron reportedly winning the contract to set up the plant...
Apple Testing 4K Capable Fifth-Generation Apple TV For Possible Release This Year
Apple is currently testing a new, fifth-generation Apple TV capable of streaming Ultra HD 4K video, according to a report released on Thursday.
The new Apple TV is internally codenamed "J105" and is able to output content in more vivid colors, according to Bloomberg. The fifth-gen device may release as soon as this year, with Apple's recent hiring of former Amazon Fire TV unit chief Timothy D. ...
Apple May Crowdsource iPhone Damage Data to Make Future Screens More Resistant to Cracks
Cases of cracked iPhone screens are certainly nothing new, and occur often enough to have earned a separate service fee in Apple's AppleCare+ program. According to one study, half of mobile users globally have experienced at least one cracked smartphone screen in their lifetime, and at least 21 percent of smartphone owners currently have a cracked screen.
Presumably with this in mind, Apple is ...
Yahoo Warns Users of Third Data Breach As Verizon Closes in on Revised Deal
Yahoo has issued a new warning to account holders about malicious hacks linked to a third data breach that the company disclosed late last year.
The warning relates to more recent malicious activity targeting accounts between 2015 and 2016, most likely perpetrated by a "state actor", according to Yahoo. Specifically, the hacks are said to have been achieved by using "forged" cookies – the...
Microsoft Follows Apple By Hiking Price of Surface Book Laptops in the U.K.
Microsoft has increased the price of its Surface Book laptops in the United Kingdom, following the impact of the country's decision to leave the European Union on the pound sterling (via TechCrunch).
Previously, the company had limited its cost adjustments to enterprise products, but the significant drop in the strength of the pound since the E.U. referendum last June has now seen Microsoft...
Amazon's Alexa Gets Expanded Calendar Support and Tap Speaker Hands-Free Mode
Amazon has silently updated its Alexa assistant to include Outlook.com calendar support, reports The Verge.
Amazon's Echo family of connected smart speakers have always supported Google calendars, but now Outlook users can ask Alexa to add or review upcoming events in their schedule using voice commands like "What's on my calendar?" or "Add an event to my calendar."
Outlook.com...
Elgato Eve 2.6 Update Enhances Lighting Control and HomeKit-Enabled Hardware Support
Elgato has updated its HomeKit-compatible Eve app with improved third-party accessory support and new features, including new lighting controls.
The Eve family of HomeKit accessories gathers data on air quality, temperature, humidity, air pressure, energy consumption and more, while the Eve app is where data from each Eve product is aggregated and where accessories can be grouped and organized ...
Signal Privacy Messenger Users Advised to Turn Off CallKit Support in Latest Update
Encrypted communications app Signal received an update yesterday that enabled video calling for the first time, but the latest version also brings CallKit support to the platform, which may leave some privacy-conscious users wary.
Introduced in iOS 10, the CallKit SDK allows incoming calls from third-party VoIP apps to appear on the iOS lock screen and recent calls list, just like standard...
Pokémon Go Trading and Real-Time Player Battles Coming Soon, Says Niantic
Pokémon Go fans waiting for a new reason to resume their engagement with the hit augmented reality title may have reason to cheer. According to MacRumors sister site TouchArcade, two features that were sorely missing in the game's original incarnation – real-time player battles and Pokémon trading – are said to be coming "soon".
John Hanke, founder and CEO of Pokémon Go developer Niantic,...
Apple's Beats 1 Radio Station Launches in Singapore
Apple's 24/7 online radio station, Beats 1, finally went live in Singapore on Tuesday, almost two years after Apple Music first launched there (via Mashable).
The availability of Beats 1 – which does not require an Apple Music subscription to listen to – is notable for a country in which iPhones usually launch the same day as in the U.S., and where Apple's streaming music service has...
Apple Exploring Fingerprint Sensing MicroLED Displays Sans Touch ID
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office today granted Apple a patent that describes a display capable of reading a user's fingerprint without a dedicated Touch ID sensor (via AppleInsider). The patent is interesting given current rumors swirling around the iPhone 8, which is expected to do away with the home button and integrate Touch ID directly into the display, but perhaps more noteworthy is the...
Eddy Cue: Apple 'Trying to Do Some Things' to Combat the Spread of Fake News
Apple is actively working on ways to ensure its content delivery services are robust enough to stand up to the challenge of "fake news", according to Apple's senior vice president of software and services, Eddy Cue.
Cue made the comments during a wide-ranging interview at the Code Media conference on Monday evening. Echoing comments recently made by CEO Tim Cook, Cue said that technology...
Amazon Launches Call and Video Conferencing Platform 'Chime'
Amazon's push into the services space continued today with the launch of Chime, a new online VoIP call and video messaging platform aimed at business users.
Apart from video conferencing and chat messaging, Amazon Chime allows users to host or join virtual meetings with a single click, and share content and screens across multiple platforms, including Mac, Windows, iOS and Android devices.
...
WhatsApp Rolling Out Two-Step Verification Security Feature to All Users
WhatsApp is in the process of rolling out a two-step verification feature for the messaging platform from today. The security option has been in testing for several months, but is finally going live for all users of the app.
With the optional feature, WhatsApp users will be able to securely verify their number with a custom-generated six-digit passcode whenever they install the app on a new...
Apple Exploring Data Sharing Gestures For Future Wearable Devices
Apple is exploring ways to make information sharing between wearables and mobile devices as simple as a wave of the hand, if a new patent application is anything to go by (via AppleInsider).
Published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, an Apple filing for "Gesture-based information exchange between devices in proximity" describes a secure data transfer system between two portable devices ...
Apple Posts Job Listings For Retail Store in the Austrian Capital of Vienna
Apple has begun advertising for staff positions at a planned retail store in the Austrian capital of Vienna. As noted by German tech site Flo's Weblog, multiple front-of-store job listings recently appeared on Apple's site, suggesting that the company's presence in the upmarket shopping street of Kärntner Straße isn't too far away.
Reports that Apple was planning to open a brick-and-mortar...
B&O Play Announces $299 Wireless Beoplay H4 Headphones With Apple Watch App
Bang & Olufsen brand subsidiary B&O Play has announced a new pair of wireless headphones called the Beoplay H4, which "focus on pure essentials".
At $299, the over-ear Bluetooth headphones offer a less costly alternative to the company's pricier wireless models, like the the H8 and H9, and instead of a touch interface they feature traditional physical buttons to control volume and playback.
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