Quick Look: Sense ThermoPeanut, the $30 wireless thermometer you can affix anywhere
With smart thermostats like Nest and Tado, it’s easy to set a temperature for your home and let the technology take care of it. We’re also starting to see the introduction of individual smart thermostats for each room – at a price, of course.
But if you just want a low-cost way to monitor the temperature of a particular room, getting iPhone alerts if it falls outside your chosen range, the $30 Sense ThermoPeanut may be for you …
Filed under: Apple
Apple announces plans for second R&D center in China to ‘work more closely with manufacturing partners’
Even before Apple has built its first Chinese R&D center in Beijing, Tim Cook has announced that a second one is on the way. Reuters reports that the second one will be in the country’s largest manufacturing district, Shenzhen.
Apple said that this center will be specifically focused on allowing Apple to work more closely with its manufacturing partners in the country …
Filed under: Apple
Samsung looks likely to win Supreme Court appeal against damages in Apple patent case
The never-ending court battle between Apple and Samsung over three iPhone design patents finally reached the Supreme Court yesterday. It had earlier been found that a total of 11 Samsung phones copied three design elements patented by Apple – including the famous ‘black rectangle with rounded corners.’ Lower courts ruled that Samsung should have to pay 100% of the profits earned from those phones, while Samsung thinks it should pay less.
Remarks by two of the Justices seem to indicate that they are leaning heavily towards Samsung’s side of the argument. Samsung’s position is that the patented features represent only part of the reason for purchase, and that they should accordingly have to hand over only part of the profits earned from them …
Filed under: Apple
Amazon launches its own $9.99/month music streaming service to compete with Apple Music, with discounts for Prime/Echo users
Amazon has launched its own music streaming service today called Amazon Music Unlimited for $9.99/month, adding another worthy competitor to Apple Music and Spotify. The service offers access to tens of millions of songs from major labels like Sony, Universal and Warner. Music Unlimited features a 30 day free trial so you can give it a go without committing any money for the first month. On iOS, users access their streaming libraries through the Amazon Music app.
Amazon is incentivizing signups with some discounts for loyal Amazon users. If you subscribe to Amazon Prime, then Music Unlimited is cheaper: just $7.99 per month. If you use Amazon Echo smart speakers in your home, you can also sign up to a dramatically cheaper $3.99 monthly plan, but this option limits music streaming to only Echo devices.
Filed under: Apple
Following its $1B investment, Apple got a seat on Didi Chuxing’s board
Earlier this year, Apple invested $1 billion in Chinese Uber competitor Didi Chuxing, and at the time, there was some discrepancy as to whether or not Apple got a board seat with that investment. Didi Chuxing itself said that Apple didn’t have a seat, but now The Information reports otherwise…
Filed under: Apple
It’s not dark mode, but you can enable a helpful low light filter on your iPhone right now [Video]
There’s still no dark mode in iOS, but if you find yourself regularly navigating your iPhone while in a dark environment, then you’ll appreciate the ability to enable a low light filter to darken the screen beyond normal brightness levels.
In a previous tutorial, we showed you how to map the low light filter to a triple-click of the Home button. While having such a shortcut is convenient, it slows down Home button response time when using the normal double-click function.
In the following brief tutorial, we’ll show you how to map low light filter access to a three-finger triple-tap instead. While not as convenient, the benefit is that this method won’t interfere with normal Home button functionality. more…
Filed under: Apple
Latest IDC and Gartner data shows Mac sales continue to slow ahead of expected refresh
It’s no secret that most of Apple’s Mac lineup is long overdue for refreshes and new data out today from Gartner and IDC shows how the prolonged period of no updates is affecting Apple in the overall market. Data from both firms shows that Apple is sliding year-over-year in terms of shipments for the third quarter of 2016…
Filed under: Apple
Jimmy Iovine teases the ‘hybrid’ future of Apple Music, praises Eddy Cue in new interview
Apple Music just received a major refresh with iOS 10, but Jimmy Iovine has said in the past that the team behind the service is still working to make everything perfect. In a new interview with Billboard, Iovine discussed the future of Apple Music, as well as the team behind it…
Filed under: Apple
Sonos launches new white color for its dedicated wireless subwoofer
Sonos offers wireless speakers in its Play series in either black or white, but up until now, those wishing to add soul-shaking low end sound to their configuration could only buy a Sonos wireless Sub in one color: black. Today Sonos is making white Sub units available for preorder, with shipments set to begin on October 25th. If you own a white Play:1, 3, or 5, then it’s now possible to add deep low-end sound with a color-matched dedicated wireless Sonos subwoofer. more…
Filed under: Apple
Review: Float Shelf is an aluminum-matching iMac stand for decluttering your desk
Earlier this year at CES I met the folks at Prism Designs who have some interesting new accessories for Apple products in development. The latest is called Float Shelf, which is an aluminum panel that attaches to the back of your iMac to provide a handy stand for decluttering your desk. Float Shelf is launching as a Kickstarter project today with nearly $9,000 (and climbing) in funding already, and we recently got a chance to go hands-on with Float Shelf for iMac…
Filed under: Apple