Apple today has shared a new Guided Tour video to its YouTube channel that highlights Apple Pay on the iPhone. Apple has previously shared a Guided Tour showing off Apple on the Apple Watch, but this is the first video in which Apple has demonstrated the feature on its smartphone.

In the video, Apple highlights the ease of use that Apple Pay provides. The company demonstrates how you can use it at compatible checkout terminals in retail locations, as well as use it in apps for buying goods and apps like Uber for buying services.

Apple closes the video by demonstrating how easy it is to setup Apple Pay, including adding the card, verifying the card, and finally actually using it in stores.

You can view Apple’s new Guided Tour video for Apple Pay on iPhone below. Apple has previously shared a plethora of Guided Tour videos for Apple Watch. The company likes to use the format to showcase features that take some explanation to truly understand.

Filed under: iOS Devices Tagged: Apple, Apple pay, iPhone, iPhone 6, iPhone 6s, video

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Yesterday I mentioned a useful tip for using physical keyboards with iPads in my guide to unlocking the full potential of the iPad Pro. The tip actually works with all iOS 9 iPads connected to external keyboards over Bluetooth, Lightning, or the Smart Connector: hold Command (⌘) to see a list of supported keyboard shortcuts for the Home screen or app you’re in.

This works in most of Apple’s built-in apps and plenty of popular third-party apps as well, but it can be monotonous prompting that sheet in each app to get a sense of what keyboard shortcuts work. Instead, I’ve compiled a cheat sheet of which keyboard shortcuts work in all the system apps and several popular third-party apps. Whether you’re using Apple’s Smart Keyboard for the iPad Pro, Magic Keyboard, Logitech’s excellent K811, or any other physical keyboard, these will make you more efficient when working on your iPad.

Enter the shortcuts by holding down the ⌘ (command) and, if applicable, shift or option keys together, then hitting the letter, number, or symbol. So for ⌘ shift H, hold down ⌘ and shift, then hit H to execute the shortcut.

App Switching + Search

• ⌘ shift H — Go to Home Screen
• ⌘ space — Search
• ⌘ tab — Switch App

Calendar

• ⌘ N — New Event
• ⌘ F — Search
• ⌘ T — Show Today
• ⌘ R — Refresh Calendars
• ⌘ 1 — Go to Day View
• ⌘ 2 — Go to Week View
• ⌘ 3 —  Go to Month View
• ⌘ 4 — Go to Year View

Camera

• Volume +/- to take a photo or start/stop a video recording

Contacts

• ⌘ N — Create a New Contact
• ⌘ F — Search for a Contact

Mail

• ⌘ R — Reply
• ⌘ shift R — Reply All
• ⌘ shift F — Forward
• ⌘ shift J — Mark as Junk
• ⌘ shift L — Flag
• ⌘ shift U — Mark as Unread
• ⌘ up arrow — Go to Previous Message
• ⌘ down arrow — Go to Next Message
• delete — Delete Message
• ⌘ shift N — Get All New Mail
• ⌘ option F — Mailbox Search
• ⌘ N — New Message

Maps

• ⌘ 1 — Switch to standard
• ⌘ 2 — Switch to Transit
• ⌘ 3 — Switch to Satellite
• ⌘ F — Begin Search

Messages

• return — Send
• ⌘ N — New Message

Notes

• ⌘ B — Bold
• ⌘ I — Italics
• ⌘ U — Underline
• ⌘ option T — Title
• ⌘ option H — Heading
• ⌘ option B — Body
• ⌘ option L — Checklist
• ⌘ shift U — Mark as Checked
• ⌘ N — New Note
• ⌘ F — Find Note

Reminders

• ⌘ N — Create New Reminder
• ⌘ control I — Show Reminder Details

Safari

• ⌘ R — Reload Page
• ⌘ [ — Back
• ⌘ ] — Forward
• ⌘ F — Find…
• ⌘ L — Open Location…
• ⌘ T — New Tab
• ⌘ W — Close Tab
• control shift tab — Show Previous Tab
• control tab — Show Next Tab
• control shift \ — Show All Tabs

Pages

• ⌘ F — Find
• ⌘ shift W — Show Word Count
• ⌘ N — Create Document

Keynote

• ⌘ N — Create Presentation
• ⌘ F — Find
• ⌘ shift K — Add Comment
• ⌘ option P — Play Slideshow
• ⌘ option A — Show Transitions and Builds
• ⌘ option N — Show Presenter Notes

Numbers

• ⌘ N — Create Spreadsheet
• ⌘ F — Find
• ⌘ option C — Copy Style
• ⌘ shift N — Insert Sheet

You may discover that additional keyboard shortcuts you’re familiar with from the Mac also work, including ⌘ plus X/C/V for cut, copy, and paste, while some shortcuts within apps only work in certain parts of those apps. Several popular apps from the App Store also support external keyboard shortcuts. Just hold the Command ⌘ key for a few seconds in each app to find out, or try out shortcuts you know from other apps if you don’t see a list. Here are some examples from popular apps:

Facebook Messenger

• ⌘ N — New Message
• return — Line Break
• ⌘ return — Send

Fantastical

• left arrow — Previous
• right arrow — Next
• up arrow — Earlier
• down arrow — Later
• ⌘ return — Accept
• esc — Cancel
• ⌘ N — New Event
• ⌘ S — Save
• ⌘ delete — Delete
• ⌘ F — Search
• ⌘ R — Reminders
• ⌘ I — Get Info
• ⌘ , — Preferences
• ⌘ shift F — Full Screen
• ⌘ T — Go to Today
• ⌘ K — Toggle Type

Google Chrome

• ⌘ T — New Tab
• ⌘ shift N — New Incognito Tab
• ⌘ shift T — Reopened Closed Tab
• ⌘ L — Open Location…
• ⌘ W — Close Tab
• ⌘ D — Bookmark This Page…
• ⌘ F — Find in Page…
• ⌘ R — Reload
• ⌘ left arrow — Back
• ⌘ right arrow — Forward
• ⌘ Y — History
• ⌘ shift . — Voice Search

Hipchat 

• ⌘ F — Search chat history
• ⌘ option 1 — Chat tab
• ⌘ option 2 — Info tab
• ⌘ option 3 — Files tab
• ⌘ option 4 — Links tab
• esc — Dismiss

Microsoft Outlook

• ⌘ up arrow — Select Previous Message
• ⌘ down arrow — Select Next Message
• ⌘ R — Reply
• ⌘ shift R — Reply All
• ⌘ J — Forward
• ⌘ 1 — Switch to Mail
• ⌘ 2 — Switch to Calendar
• ⌘ 3 — Switch to Files
• ⌘ 4 — Switch to People
• ⌘ 5 — Switch to Settings
• ⌘ N — Create New Message
• ⌘ shift N — Create New Event

Slack

• up arrow —Move Up
• down arrow — Move Down
• option up arrow — Jump to previous channel
• option down arrow — Jump to next channel
• option shift up arrow — Jump to previous unread channel
• option shift down arrow — Jump to next unread channel
• option ` — Toggle the channel list
• ⌘ K — Show the Quick Switcher
• ⌘ T — Show the Quick Switcher (two ways!)
• ⌘ F — Perform a search
• ⌘ W — Close window

Tweetbot

• ⌘ 1 — Timeline
• ⌘ 2 — Mentions
• ⌘ 3 — Messages
• ⌘ 4 — Stats
• ⌘ 5 — Search
• ⌘ 6 — Faves
• ⌘ 7 — Profile
• ⌘ 8 — Lists
• ⌘ 9 — Mutes
• ⌘ N — Compose

Does your favorite app support keyboard shortcuts with iOS 9 on iPads? If you know about additional keyboard shortcuts hidden in iOS, let us know in the comments.

Filed under:
How-To, iOS, iOS Devices Tagged: Bluetooth, Bluetooth keyboards, iPad, ipad air, iPad mini, iPad Pro, keyboard, keyboard shortcuts, shortcuts, Smart Connector, Smart Keyboard, Typing

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The new Nanoleaf Smarter Kit with HomeKit support comes with a Smart Hub and two Nanoleaf Smart Ivy Light Bulbs to get you started. Like other popular connected lighting systems including the Philips Hue, you can purchase more bulbs individually once you’ve bought the Smarter Kit with the hub that allows a wirelesses connection for control from your iPhone or iPad and support for connecting up to 50 bulbs (the standard limitation among these types of products). But the Nanoleaf Ivy bulbs have a lot to offer in a package unlike anything else I’ve tested. The bulb is made entirely from a foldable printed circuit board with embedded LEDs…

Design:

Immediately noticeable is the unique design of the Nanoleaf. It’s made of a flat foldable printed circuit board that folds into an almost-lightbulb-shape with eleven flat sides where individual LEDs are mounted. It’s makes for a super futuristic look that I quite liked, and the hub too includes a Dodecahedron-inspired shape. It makes the Hue and others look like your Grandpa’s lightbulb, and likewise the hub’s design won’t make you want to hide it out of sight like the other guys’ bulbs. The build quality of the bulb itself overall feels solid, which is something I thought might not be the case due to the origami, puzzle-piece design with the printed circuit board. 

The all black color of the bulb and the design in general might be a bit too out of the ordinary for some, however, especially if you’re looking for bulbs that go into a fixture without a shade covering the bulbs. It’s certainly not a traditional look.

The company says the new Nanoleaf Ivy bulbs use around 7.5W to produce light equivalent to a 60W incandescent bulbs and will last up to 27 years. In my tests, using the bulb in the desk lamp pictured throughout this review, the light was blindingly bright at 100% and felt a lot brighter than a standard 60W incandescent bulb, but that’s certainly not a bad thing given you get full control over dimming (more on that below).

Setup is pretty standard, although it uses the Zigbee protocol, opposed to Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, and the hub will need a direct connection to your router using an included Ethernet cable. After you’ve screwed in the bulbs and connected the router, you can download the companion app for iPhone and iPad, hit a button on the hub to initiate the setup, scan a barcode on the hub, and follow a quick and easy configuration in the app.

Using Nanoleaf:

You essentially only get control over the brightness of the bulb, but the Nanoleaf Ivy has a few unique features mostly courtesy of HomeKit support. But even before getting into the app and HomeKit, the bulb has a unique dimming feature that doesn’t require HomeKit or the app. When on, a double tap of the on/off switch for the bulb will make it start dimming while another double tap will set it at the desired brightness. It’s a handy feature to quickly set the brightness in a room with Ivy bulbs without having to grab your phone.

The lights get 50m signal coverage, and in my tests didn’t prove to have any reliability issues like many of the Wi-Fi connected home automation products I’ve tested. Perhaps thanks to Zigbee.

And because of Zigbee, it also works with other competing bulb products including Philips Hue, Osram Lightify, GE Link and Cree Connected. so you easily integrate your current setup or expand with other bulbs in the future. And you’ll be able to use any HomeKit compatible app to control the bulbs.

Even with using Zigbee, the hub builds in the ability to talk with Apple’s HomeKit, its platform for allowing Siri voice commands to control home automation products. Apple allows rival platforms like Zigbee to communicate with HomeKit via a bridge, and Nanoleaf Ivy takes full advantage to offer all of HomeKit’s functionality…

HomeKit:

Because the product supports Apple’s HomeKit platform, that means you get access to Siri voice controls and the ability to setup what Apple refers to as “Rooms” and “Scenes”. In fact, those are the only ways to control the Ivy bulb using your smartphone.

The app doesn’t include any controls beyond HomeKit, so there is no virtual on/off button or brightness controls in the app itself. That is all done with Siri or the physical light switch connected to your bulb.

You can tell Siri to turn the lights on or off, set the brightness to a certain percentage (for example 100% or 10%), or you can ask it to initiate a Scene or Room. Scenes are setup for things like “Dinner” or “Movie Night” to automatically set lighting for a specific occasion, while Rooms allow you to group bulbs together to control a specific group of bulbs with a single command. You can view, setup, and initiate Rooms and Scenes from the app, but that’s it for the app.

The bare minimum app features, or rather the reliance on HomeKit, would be more of an issue if HomeKit wasn’t in my experience typically the better way of controlling these products. And it’s also easy to get features you’re looking for through another third-party HomeKit app, while the Smarter Kit’s firmware is upgradeable and will likely see additional features added in the future (Android support is planned).

You’ll be able to control the bulbs when out of your house, but keep in mind HomeKit requires an Apple TV for remote control access.

Should you buy it?

The company doesn’t have a color adjustable bulb yet (which means you can’t get that super warm amber glow that some like), and that’s probably the biggest downside of the Ivy. But in my use cases the full control over dimming from 1% through 100% is enough to set the mood in most situations.

The company originally launched on Indiegogo in October and surpassed its goal of raising $40,000. This week it’s officially launching with the first orders being shipped to preorder customers and the new Nanoleaf Smarter Kit going up for sale at retailers and online.

The Nanoleaf Ivy is by far the most interesting connected, HomeKit lightbulb I’ve had in for review, and at $99 for the Smarter Kit ($$24.99 for individual Ivy bulbs after that), it’s competitively priced with its boring competitors. 

Grab the $99 Nanoleaf Smarter Kit for $99 now.

Filed under: HomeKit, iOS, Reviews Tagged: foldable printed circuit board, homekit, Hue, Ivy, nanoleaf, review, ZigBee

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Apple got in to the high-end phablet game for the first time last year. And just a couple of months back, it released its follow up to the 6 Plus just as Motorola turned its Moto X into a giant. Can the X Pure compete with what many consider to be the best phablet around?

Like Apple, Motorola has a big focus on design. Although their focus takes them on a slightly different path, the value for aesthetic appeal is there nonetheless. The metal-framed phone can be customized with a number of different color frames, front panels, metal accents and materials to personalize it before it even arrives at your door. With the iPhone 6s Plus, you have four colors. Only one if you want a black front panel. If you want to add leather, wood or a grippy plastic texture, your option is limited to buying a case.

While Motorola went with a curved back that sits comfortably in your palm, Apple went with a flat, smooth all-metal design. Motorola’s is undoubtedly more ergonomic, but in truth, both phones are big and reaching the corners of either screen is a stretch, even if you have large hands. Of course, if you have the iPhone, you can double tap the Home button and make any content at the top of the screen drop lower, making it far easier to reach.

If there’s one thing the iPhone has going for it, it’s an elegance and finesse. Although I’m not a fan of the antenna bands, there’s something quite luxurious about the way the glass curves perfectly in to the metal chassis, almost creating a seamless experience. Even the protruding camera, Lightning port and machined speaker holes are attractive. And you have to admire Apple’s ability to make really slim devices. At just 7.3mm thin, it’s nearly 4mm thinner than the Moto X Style’s thinnest point.

On the flip side, Apple’s insistence on relatively fat bezels means the iPhone 6s Plus is both taller and wider than the Moto X, that’s despite the fact its screen is 0.2-inches smaller. The Moto X Style has nice, slim bezels and still manages to fit in two stereo front-facing speakers in a front panel that’s 4.3mm shorter than the iPhone’s.

What this means in actual day-to-day life is that the Moto X feels like it belongs in your hand and fits easier in to your pocket, while the iPhone 6s is prettier to look at.

On to displays, and very little separates them. Despite being Quad HD resolution, the 5.7-inch LCD panel on the Motorola almost indistinguishable from the iPhone. Colors and sharpness are pretty much the same on both, despite being different resolutions. The Motorola is maybe slightly cooler, which makes blues pop a little bit more, but there really isn’t anything in it. That’s to say, they’re both very good displays with good viewing angles, color accuracy and detail. Neither offers the saturation, deep blacks or vividness of AMOLED screens, but that’s to be expected from LCD tech.

One piece of tech built in to the iPhone’s screen which isn’t on the Motorola is 3D Touch. In essence, the touch panel knows how hard you’re pressing the screen, and can enable special actions within apps, or direct from app icons on the home screen. Having used them for a little while, it’s very easy to get used to, especially when wanting to send a text message really quickly. I sometimes find myself pressing hard on the Moto X Screen, subconsciously hoping something happens. It never does.

As multimedia experiences go, having a slightly larger screen doesn’t quite make the Moto X Style an easy winner over the iPhone. But what does, is the stereo speakers. As always, Apple’s smartphone has a single loudspeaker placed right on the bottom edge, where your finger or palm will undoubtedly rest when watching movies or gaming. That doesn’t make for an immersive audio experience. Having two speakers blast at your face does, and being stereo means you get a proper feel for how the audio should sound.

As software experiences go, it’s the age old arguments of Android versus iOS. Although currently, the Moto X doesn’t have the latest version of Google’s operating system. It runs Lollipop, although an update to Marshmallow should be coming soon. In most regards, it’s a stock Android experience with a few tweaks. iPhones always run the latest version of iOS, so you get all the new tweaks and tricks offered by iOS 9. If your reason for choosing a phone is based mostly on which platform it runs, the decision is already made for you.

Putting the OS argument aside, both perform like flagships. The iPhone’s powerful dial-core A9 processor powers through most tasks with ease, performing Geekbench tests reveals why too. Its single-core performance is staggeringly high at over 2500 points, while multi-core performance is still 1000 higher than the six-core Snapdragon chip inside the Motorola. In daily use, you probably won’t notice any difference. Both phones are fast and fluid, while the iPhone will load graphically intense content a little faster.

It’s a different story with battery life. The iPhone’s battery may have a lower capacity battery at 2,750mAh (compared to the Moto’s 3,000mAh) but it seems to last longer in daily use. Most days, I can almost get to the end of a second day on a full charge with the iPhone 6s Plus, while the Motorola might get me to 1.5 days. But, if you ever want to charge it, the Motorola does so much quicker. With TurboPower, the Motorola can charge almost 70% of its battery in half an hour. That’s enough to get you through a full day.

Again, like the displays, there’s not much difference in quality of imagery when comparing the Moto X and iPhone. Motorola proudly exclaimed its new camera module is better than the iPhone 6 when it was launched. While that may be the case, it’s not immediately obvious. Both cameras can take great pictures, with good color accuracy and sharpness. Neither is particularly wonderful in low light conditions, and both can shoot 4K resolution video. Motorola’s boasts 21MP vs. the iPhone’s 12MP, meaning pictures are much bigger from the Moto X.

As an overall package, in many ways, both represent what’s best about their respective platforms. The Moto X might not have a fingerprint sensor, or a pressure sensitive display, but everything else about it is superb. As a kicker, the Moto X Pure costs just $399 in the US SIM-free and unlocked for the 16GB model. The same storage on an iPhone 6s Plus will cost you a princely $749. What’s more, you can expand the storage of the Moto X Pure up to an extra 128GB using a MicroSD card. To get that kind of storage an iPhone 6s Plus, you’re paying nearly $1000.

Many an Apple fan will argue that the company’s continued software support, fantastic app ecosystem and customer service are worth paying nearly double for a comparable piece of hardware. I don’t disagree too strongly. If you want an iPhone, you have to pay for it. On the flip-side, if you’re wanting to find out what life’s like on the ‘Dark Side’, it’ll set you back just half of the cost of an iPhone to get a very compelling, fantastic device.

Filed under: iOS Devices Tagged: Android, iphone 6s plus, Moto x Pure, Motorola, Smartphone, video

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Keep up with the best gear and deals on the web by signing up for the 9to5Toys Newsletter. Also, be sure to check us out on: Twitter, RSS Feed, Facebook, Google+ and Safari push notifications.

Heads up! During Black Friday/Cyber Monday you’re going to have to follow us on Twitter to get the best deals since many sell out too quickly to post.

TODAY’S CAN’T MISS DEALS:

USB roundup: Anker MFi 3ft Lightning cable $4 Prime shipped, Power Banks from $6, more

Daily Deals: MEE audio Air-Fi Bluetooth Headphones $40, SanDisk Ultra Fit 128GB Flash Drive $28, more

App Store Free App of the Week: Stackables – effects & masks image manipulation app ($3 value)

The Black Friday Mac Bundle offers 10 productivity-boosting apps including Drive Genius 4 for $34.99 (Orig. $533)

Amazon’s Black Friday deals go live later this week w/ mobile shoppers getting extra perks

Top 5 ways to score the year’s best online Black Friday deals

10 can’t-miss deals for the holiday season: HDTVs, iPad Air 2, iPhone 6s, more

Apple Watch sale at Best Buy, $50 off across the board, starting at $299 shipped (Open box $278)

20% off iTunes Gift Cards: $100 for $80, $50 for $40, $25 for $20

Giveaway: mophie juice pack reserve battery case for iPhone 6/s (multiple winners)

MORE NEW GEAR FROM TODAY:

Stocking Stuffer Alert – Anker 31-inch Bluetooth Selfie Stick: $6 Prime shipped (Reg. $17)

• Microsoft launches its Black Friday promo early for Xbox Live Gold Members
• McDonald’s Black Friday offer nets you a free Big Mac or Egg McMuffin per week for 1 year
• Download Michael Jackson’s Thriller album for free (Reg. $10)
• Japanese interactive dictionary app goes free for the first time in years (Reg. $7)
• Curate With Me, Win A Prize: 2015’s Most Coveted Holiday Tech Gifts List!

BLACK FRIDAY AD LEAKS & NEWS:

Best of Black Friday – Streaming Media Players: Apple TV 64GB $180, Roku SE $20, 2-Pack Chromecast (2nd gen) $50, more

Best of Black Friday – Smart Home: Nest Thermostat $250 + $50 GC, Philips Hue kit $130

Best of Black Friday – HDTVs: 40-inch from $149, Samsung 55-inch Smart $580 (Reg. $1,200), more

Best of Black Friday – iPads, Tablets and e-readers: iPad Air 2 from $360, Amazon Fire $35 (Reg. $50), more

Best of Black Friday – Games: Xbox One/PS4 console bundles, deep discounts on games, more

Best of Black Friday – wearables: Fitbit Flex $59/Charge $90/more, $100 off Apple Watch, Android smartwatches, more

Best Buy’s Black Friday ad brings deals on Apple Watch, Macs, HDTVs, games & more!

• Walmart’s Black Friday ad leak hits with 4K UHDTV deals, iPad Air 2 $100 off, more
• Target previews its top Black Friday deals, launches surprise one-day sale
• Staples Black Friday Ad Revealed: iPad Air 2 from $374, mini 4 $300, more
• Amazon plans dramatic Black Friday discounts for its Kindle, Fire TV Stick & Fire tablet
• Amazon’s Black Friday Deals store is now open for business
• eBay’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday will deliver deals on MacBooks, iPhone, iPad Air 2
• GameStop Black Friday ad leak: PS4/Xbox One bundles $300, new Nintendo 3DS XL $180
• Costco’s Black Friday ad includes deals on Chromecast (2nd gen), Fitbit Flex, more
• Toys R Us Black Friday ad leak: Xbox One/PS4 bundles $300, more
• Sam’s Club Black Friday ad leak: iPad Air 2 Cellular $175 off, Google Play $100 GC $80
• Kohl’s Black Friday ad leak: more PS4/Xbox One $300 bundles, home goods, clothing
• Sam’s Club One-Day Sale: iPhone 6s/Plus $100 off, iPad Air 2 64GB/128GB $150 off
• HHGregg Black Friday: Beats Powerbeats2 Wireless Headphones $100, more
• Sports Authority Black Friday Ad: Free gift cards w/ footwear, FitBit Charge HR $120
• eBay calls on Black Friday shoppers to decide which products will get discounted this year
• BJ’s Warehouse Black Friday ad hits with Samsung 4K UHDTV deals, fitness trackers
• Sears Black Friday Ad: deals on Samsung 4K UHDTV’s, more
• Black Friday ad leaks drop for Lowe’s, Menards, Cabela’s, and more
• Grab 2 free ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ tickets during Black Friday at Kohl’s
• The Office Depot & OfficeMax Black Friday ad doesn’t bring much to the table

MORE DEALS STILL ALIVE:

Ultimate Ears (UE) BOOM Smart Portable Bluetooth Speaker: $100 shipped (Orig. $200)

Verizon launches its Thanksgetting freebies promotion: 1GB of data, $5 iTunes credit, more

• Choice of JBL Clip or Micro Bluetooth Speakers in multiple colors for $25 shipped (Reg. $40)
• SanDisk Connect 32GB Wi-Fi Flash Drive for iOS/Android: $30 Prime shipped (Reg. $40)
• Sony MDRX950BT Extra Bass Bluetooth Headphones: $98 shipped (Reg. $150+)
• ShopRunner’s 2-day shipping service may be your best friend this Black Friday
• GoPro HERO4: Silver w/ LCD display $300 (Reg. $400), Session $239 (Reg. $300)
• Home Recording: ATH-M50x + Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 audio interface $185 ($300+ value)
• Expansys pre-Black Friday deals: Nexus 5 $200 (Reg. $350), Chromebooks $120, more
• Networking: TP-LINK Archer C5 802.11ac Router + Wi-Fi Extender $105 ($135 value), more
• Sports/Fitness: Osprey hiking backpacks from $173 (Orig. $230+), more
• Home: refurb Cuisinart hand blenders/ice cream makers/juicers from $14, more
• On-ear Headphones: SOL REPUBLIC Tracks Air $70 shipped (Reg. $100), more
• MacBook felt portfolio style sleeve: $12 Prime shipped (Reg. $17)
• Get your wings and a free can of Red Bull today at 7-Eleven stores
• Monitors: Dell 24-inch $240 (Reg. $275+), LG 34-inch UltraWide $400 (Reg. $460)
• 2-Pack SONOS PLAY:1 Starter Set for $349 shipped ($400 value)
• Media: Holiday classics on Blu-ray/DVD from $4, more
• Black Friday Magazine Deals from under $4/yr: Popular Science, Rolling Stone, GQ, ESPN
• Decorative Holiday Solar lights: 17-Meter White LED Lights $17 (Orig. $36), more
• Implosion – Never Lose Hope for iOS goes free for the first time ($10 value)
• Apple MFi Certified 3.1A 4ft Coiled Lightning Car Charger $12 (Reg. $20)
• LG 43-inch HDTVs: Smart 4K + $150 Dell Gift Card $600 (Reg. $800+), more
• Jabra MOVE Wireless Bluetooth Headphones: $60 shipped (Reg. $100)
• Adobe Elements 14 w/ download: Photoshop as low as $40, Premiere $60
• Sony 7.2-ch. 4K AV Receiver w/ AirPlay and Bluetooth: $298 shipped (Reg. $400)
• Bluetooth: Venstart 10W Speaker $20 (Reg. $33), SoundPEATS In-ears $25 (Reg. $50)
• Shoe-up with with casual shoes and Boots 85%+ off at Amazon’s MyHabit
• Apple MagSafe 2 Power Adapters from $34 shipped (Reg. $79)
• 12-month EA Access subscription: $25 (Reg. $30)
• LEGO locations to offer free build sets in-store with registration

Apple iPod Touch 5th gen 16-64GB sizes, multiple colors: $149-$199 shipped

Huge savings on pre-owned Apple Watches, deals from as low as $261 shipped

Apple Magic Mouse 2 (open-box): $68 shipped (Reg. $80)

Apple iPad Mini 2, space gray or silver: $199 shipped ($70 off)

NEW PRODUCTS & MORE:

D-Link takes all the smart things and puts them together in one Komfy light switch

The ultimate 4K set-top box battle [Video]

• GENII’s CAST streaming box skirts copyright rules to beam your content to friends
• Pryme Vessyl skips the 8-cup rule for a user specific iPhone-connected recommendation
• Mass Fidelity tries to solve virtual stereo sound with its new Core wireless speaker
• What Watch uses Bluetooth connectivity to tab the memorable moments of your life
• Pulse brings Bluetooth LE + iOS connectivity to a slew of Canon and Nikon DSLRs
• Roku surprises with a new “special edition” streaming media player
• Nintendo announces Zelda Twilight Princess HD remaster, more

Filed under: Tips and Tricks Tagged: 9to5Toys, Amazon, Anker MFi 3ft Lightning cable, app deals, Best Buy, Black Friday, bluetooth headphones, Daily Deals, free apps, Gold Box, Selfie Stick, video games

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Best Buy is currently listing Apple Pencil for iPad Pro as in-stock and available to ship within 1 business day for $99.99. Free standard shipping will get it to you around December 2, while upgrading to Express shipping ($20) puts it at your doorstep by this Monday. Apple online is still showing a 4-5 week wait and store inventory has been very limited.

Delayed shipping for Apple’s newest accessory has caused resale prices to skyrocket. If you haven’t yet seen Apple Pencil in person, check out our hands-on for an in-depth look.

Filed under: iOS Devices, Tips and Tricks Tagged: Apple Pencil, Best Buy, iPad Pro

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We reported recently on an Apple patent application for a ‘panic mode‘ on an iPhone, where using a specific finger on the Touch ID sensor could do anything from locking down the phone to calling 911 and starting audio and video recording.

There are pros & cons to the idea, of course, with one 911 operator saying that a similar Blackberry function has resulted in “thousands and thousands” of false emergency calls, each of which have to be treated as real calls for help until demonstrated otherwise.

But if we waited until someone manually dialled 911, it seems to me that there’s merit in some of the other ideas … 

For example, witnessing an accident or crime in progress can be a traumatic experience, and it’s not unusual for callers to be unable to provide an accurate location. Some provide only very vague locations – “somewhere on Main Street” – while others give the wrong location, each of which delays an emergency response.

If calling 911 automatically put a Speak Location button on the screen, you could press that button when asked for your location and have Siri tell the operator where you are, exactly as if you’d asked it ‘Where am I?’.

Interestingly, a note in AT&T’s Wi-Fi Calling service suggests that some 911 centers appear to have the capability to obtain your location electronically.

Similarly, audio and video evidence of a crime can greatly increase the likelihood of a successful prosecution. On ending a 911 call, the iPhone could ping and put a Start Video Recording button on the screen to prompt you to capture video. It would be sensible to put a prominent notice on that screen to record only if it doesn’t put you at risk.

Finally, in the case of a major incident, where it can be reassuring to let family and friends know that you’re safe, perhaps the iPhone could automatically identify those in the affected area and bring up a prompt to use a feature like Facebook’s Safety Check or pre-populate a text message with a ‘Just letting you know I’m ok’ message?

Do you think these features would be useful? Or have any other thoughts on 911-related functionality? Let us know in the comments.

Filed under: Feature Request Tagged: 911, Emergency, Feature Request, iOS, iPhone, Panic button

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We’d like to thank Digiarty for sponsoring 9to5Mac today with a great giveaway of MacX DVD Ripper Pro. This popular software normally sells for up to $59.95 but this week you can get it for free via this special link. Digiarty are limiting this to 1,000 copies/day but it’s a full version of the software, though it won’t receive free future upgrades.

Why do you need MacX DVD Ripper Pro? Everyone has some optical media laying around but before we know it, we won’t own any optical drives to play it back. Apple hasn’t made a new computer with an optical drive in years (already without? LG USB DVD-R is $20 on Amazon or Epartsdom’s 2X BD-ROM reader for $43.50 if you’ve got Blu-Rays). It makes sense to pull all of your DVD and Blu-Ray movies, software, videos and music onto your Mac or network attached storage (NAS) before optical drives are gone.

MacX DVD Ripper Pro is a video converter for Mac which lets you convert MKV, M2TS, MTS, 1080P, 4K UHD Videos, AVI, WMV to over 180 video formats and 14 popular audio formats on Mac OS X El Captain and earlier. The preloaded 350+ profiles have parameters such as frame rate, bit rate, video size, and aspect ratio helping to resolve all video incompatibility issues for Apple, Android, Google and Microsoft devices, media players or editors. The built-in online video downloader, slideshow maker, video editor and recorder are helpful add-ons.

With the support of multi-core (up to 8) CPU and hyper-threading, version 4.6.0 delivers 36X faster speed to rip DVD (depending on your reader) while keep original quality.

Take this opportunity to pull all of your optical media onto your hard drives and SSDs, before it’s too late.

On top of that, the DVD Ripper for Mac promises to deal with all kinds of copy-protection obstacles, be it CSS, Sony ARccOS or Disney X-project DRM. So if you want to free rip the newly released DVDs like Inside Out, Furious 7, Avengers: Age of Ultron with multiple video, audio and subtitle tracks, the free Mac DVD Ripper does the job with hardly a glitch.

MacX Video Converter Pro –World’s Fastest Video Converter for Mac OS X

The giveaway version of MacX Video Converter Pro V5.9.0 is the world’s first media converter for Mac (El Capitan included) that takes advantages of the breakthrough hardware acceleration built into Intel Core technology – Quick Sync Video. It outputs video format 5x faster while sparing CPU space for faster internet surfing or online movie enjoying. While dramatically increasing the speed, it manages to keep high output quality, thanks to the utilization of high quality engine

Filed under: AAPL Company, Sponsored Post

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If you want to get your hands on a shiny new piece of Apple kit right away, but want to minimize the amount of time you have to spend doing battle with the crowds in an Apple Store, U.S. customers have long had the option of placing their order online and then going to a store later the same day or soon after to collect it.

Apple extended the option to Australia and Canada earlier this week, and has now done the same for the UK.

Personal Pickup is available for most in-stock Apple products. To check availability, select your item on the Apple website and then select the ‘Available for pickup: Check availability’ option. You’ll be prompted to enter your postcode to search for nearby stores, and can then see which ones show the product as ‘Available today.’

Once you’ve placed your order, it will usually be available for pickup within the hour, though Apple cautions customers to wait for the email telling them it’s ready.

Apple will remember your selected store and offer this first next time, with an option to search other stores if your chosen item is not available there.

Via Pocket-Lint

Filed under: AAPL Company Tagged: Apple Retail Store, Apple Store, personal pickup

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Developers of pro apps have long complained that Apple’s App Store policies are a barrier to them creating iOS versions of popular Mac apps. The launch of the iPad Pro has brought the issue front and center, with a number of developers sharing their thoughts with The Verge.

There are two key issues, they say. First, pro apps are expensive, and users want to satisfy themselves that they are worth the money before they pay. Free trials are the usual way to achieve this with desktop apps, but the App Store doesn’t allow them to offer the same option for iOS apps … 

“Sketch on the Mac costs $99, and we wouldn’t dare ask someone to pay $99 without having seen or tried it first,” said Bohemian Coding co-founders Pieter Omvlee, referring to the app aimed at professional graphic designers.  “So to be sold through the App Store, we would have to dramatically lower the price, and then, since we’re a niche app, we wouldn’t have the volume to make up for it.”

Second, where a developer supports a complex app over a long period of time, paid upgrades make that viable, something that isn’t supported by Apple on the App Store.

“Maintaining software is more expensive than building it in the first place,” FiftyThree co-founder and CEO Georg Petschnigg says. “The first version of Paper, we had three people working on it. Now we have 25 people working on it, testing on eight or nine different platforms, in 13 different languages.”

Developers say that while software giants like Microsoft and Adobe are able to persuade users to pay monthly or annual subscriptions, there would be resistance to extending this model to a whole range of apps.

For pro apps already ported to iOS, the same issues mean that there is not much incentive for developers to optimize for the iPad Pro unless they see widescale adoption of the device.

Animoto founder and CEO Brad Jefferson says […] the company is holding off, for now, on making a version of the app optimized for the large screen or the accessory Pencil of the iPad Pro […] “Let’s see what adoption of the Pro ends up looking like.”

Filed under: iOS Devices Tagged: App Store (iOS), Apple Inc, developers, iPad, iPad Pro, iPad Pro apps, iPad Pro pro apps

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