News - page 711

The new Walkie-Talkie app is being lauded by Apple Watch owners as the best new feature that came out as part of watchOS 5. But for some wearers, there’s a serious problem: they can’t find anyone to talk to.

Walkie-Talkie gives Apple Watch owners the ability to turn their wrist into a sort of digital two-way radio transceiver to talk with friends and family. It’s a super-convenient way to have short bursts of conversation when you don’t want to talk on the phone. If you don’t have any friends with a compatible Apple Watch, though, there’s no way to get in on the action.

Twitter has been full of people feeling the pains of Walkie-Talkie FOMO the last few days:

Weak HomePod sales caused it to fall off of the list of top 5 smartspeakers during the second quarter of this year. But there’s a very important metric where this product is beating all its rivals.

And it’s a category where Apple excels: making money.

Samsung sells more phones than Apple, and its high-end devices like the Galaxy S9 get lots of attention. That means Samsung sells as many top-tier models as Apple, right? Nope, not even close.

Apple sells close to twice as many premium phones as its top rival. In this case, “premium” is any handset costing over $400. Which is a fairly low bar.

Apple’s first beta for iOS 12.1 is starting to be a fountain of leaks regarding the new iPad Pros set to come out this fall.

After revealing yesterday that new iPads are on the way, it appears that iOS 12.1 beta 1 has also confirmed the long-cited rumor that the new iPads will come with a USB-C port.

The Democratic National Committee has a solution for improving its smartphone security: switch to iPhone. It suggests that Democratic organizations get rid of all their Android devices.

This is especially true if the phones are from ZTE, a company with ties to the Chinese government.

You don’t need to buy the new Apple Watch Series 4 to get one of this year’s coolest new features on it.

As part of the watchOS 5 update released earlier this week, Apple introduced a new Walkie-Talkie app that lets you chat back-and-forth with other Apple Watch owners. The Walkie-Walkie app works no matter the distance between you and your friend. And it’s so easy to use, it might become your favorite new way to communicate.

Apple’s new video shows exactly how to use it.

Apple’s next-generation wearable launches Friday, so the first batch of Apple Watch Series 4 reviews appeared today. The experts with early access sound quite positive about this device.

They like the new display and the faster performance. The new ECG heart monitor function can’t yet be tested, however.

In iOS 12 and macOS Mojave, Safari gets solid improvements that will win you back from Chrome — especially if you value your privacy. But while safeguarding your security on the web fuels many of Safari’s great new features, there’s much more goodness to anticipate on iPhone, iPad and Mac.

Let’s take a look at the Mac and iOS versions of the Apple web browser.

iPhone X owners that pre-ordered the new iPhone XS might be in for some disappointment when they try to slap their old case on the new iPhone.

Even though the dimensions of the iPhone XS are practically identical to the iPhone X, it appears that Apple has made a very small change to the camera bump in the back that could make some old cases incompatible.

Travel photographer Austin Mann, among the first to get an iPhone XS for testing, expected to be underwhelmed before his shoot in Zanzibar off the east coast of Africa.

However, the upgrades to the camera left him impressed, saying “I’ve never worked with a camera that can balance light like this – not even close.”

There are some things Apple never tells us about its iOS devices, so we have to wait until they go on sale and find out more for ourselves. But thanks to one regulator, we now know some important details about the new iPhone lineup.

Here are the battery sizes and RAM capacities of iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR.

Apple clearly had some sense that its 6.1-inch LCD iPhone XR would be big, since it gave it the main event spot in last week’s Apple media event.

But it may have been surprised by just how big it is, since a new report suggests that Apple is revising the ratio of its total iPhone orders for December — so that the iPhone XR makes up more than 50 percent of its handsets manufactured.

One of the Apple Watch Series 4’s massive new features is its electrocardiogram (EKG/ECG) heart rate monitor.

The device is capable of monitoring irregular heart rhythms and reportedly using this to identify potential episodes of atrial fibrillation, a.k.a. AFib. As exciting as the FDA-cleared technology sounds, however, some have expressed their concerns about the tech. A new report cites several concerns — including about Apple’s usual levels of hyperbole.

The new Nintendo Switch Online service has finally made its big debut. To give Switch players an even bigger reason to subscribe, Nintendo is adding official voice chat support to more of its own titles.

The latest update to the Nintendo Switch Online app for iOS adds chat support for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Mario Tennis Aces, and more.

Weeks after a report stating that it is in a “death spiral,” productivity app Evernote has reportedly laid off 15 percent of its workforce — amounting 54 people in total.

The news was shared with employees by CEO Chris O’Neill at at an “all hands” meeting this week. He told staff that the move is intended to make the company, “operate more efficiently” and to focus its efforts on new initiatives, while streamlining certain functions.

Be sure to avoid Apple’s latest iOS 12.1 beta if a shiny new iPhone XS or iPhone XS Max will be turning up at your door on Friday.

Updating too early could just cost you all your precious data!

Apple has now transferred all €14.3 billion it has been ordered to pay Ireland for back taxes. The cash will stay in an escrow fund while Ireland tries to convince the EU that Apple should get its money back.

This is part of an on-going saga with the EU accusing Ireland of being a tax haven, and Apple caught in the middle.

The September Apple event came and went without any mention of the iPad Pro models that had been the stars of so many rumors. But there’s still hope! Buried deep in the just-released iOS 12.1 beta 1 is a clear reference to an iPad on the docket for this fall.

So be patient. The redesigned tablets we’ve heard so much about could be coming soon.

With the release of iOS 12 earlier this week, Apple made broad sweeping improvements to the OS. Unfortunately, the update also came with a small bug for fitness zealots sporting a cabinet full of limited edition Activity challenge badges. If that just described your Apple Watch badge collection, you can cool your cycling shorts, everything will be ok.

The new camera sensors on the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max could be worth a $1000 upgrade all their own.

Early reviews of the new cameras are overwhelmingly positive. Even though we already knew Apple made the pixels larger and the sensor bigger, we now have a better idea of the crazy engineering that went into making it the best iPhone camera ever.

Apple Maps is no longer the only option for navigation through Apple’s CarPlay system now that iOS 12 is out.

With an update released today for Google Maps, CarPlay users can now choose between Google Maps and Apple Maps. And more third-party apps are on the way.

The 2018 iPhones aren’t even out yet and we already have our first rumor about next year’s models. If you’re hoping for big changes in the 2019 iPhones, better temper your expectations. It seems the next-generation of Apple handsets will include displays the same size size as this year’s iPhone XS and XS Max.

But there reportedly will be one significant difference. One that many people will like.

iOS 12 gives your favorite apps access to some amazing new abilities. One is integration with the brand-new Siri Shortcuts, which lets you automate your apps, or to interact with them by talking to Siri. But that’s not all. Camera apps now have access to the the depth information from Portrait Mode, so they can do some pretty special effects.

Safari’s password autofill has also been opened up, so apps like Dashlane and 1Password are now available with a single tap. Let’s take a look at the best new iOS 12-ready apps already available.

It’s irritating when your iPhone runs out of battery. But it can actually be life threatening if you depend on your phone’s NFC feature to get into your dorm room or onto a train. 

That’s why the iPhone XS and the other 2018 models still offer some NFC transactions even when down to the power reserve.

Apple is not wasting any time making improvements to the huge iOS 12 update that was just released to the public yesterday.

Developers received the first beta for iOS 12.1 this morning along with new betas for watchOS 5 and tvOS 12, bring a host of changes to the software update that already made iOS devices faster and more efficient.