Apple refreshes Beats Solo 2 Wireless + urBeats with rose gold colors to match iPhones & Apple Watches
Two months after the introduction of the rose gold iPhone 6s and Apple Watch Sport, Apple has refreshed its Beats Solo 2 Wireless headphones and urBeats in-ear headphones with matching rose gold color options. If you’ve already got Solo 2 Wireless or urBeats, the only difference here is the new color option, but they do look good especially if you want to match your hardware. Apple now offers iPhone and Apple Watch color-matching versions of both headphone models with gold, rose gold, silver, and space gray.
Beats Solo 2 Wireless pair to iPhones, iPads, Macs, Apple Watches, Apple TVs, and other Bluetooth-compatible devices for audio playback without the hassle of dealing with an audio cable. Bluetooth also provides around 30 feet of wireless range, so you aren’t anchored to the audio source either. The cheaper, wired versions of Beats Solo 2 don’t have a rose gold option.
Solo 2 Wireless recharges using Micro USB, lasts 12 hours on one charge, and includes an audio cable for traditional use as well. Pick up the new rose gold versions for $299.95, and in-store pickup at Apple Stores appears readily available if you’re knocking these off your holiday shopping list. If rose gold isn’t your flavor, you can find other colors including red and blue for $199 (reg. $299) elsewhere.
urBeats in-ear headphones are both more affordable and more portable. These are basically upgrades over the white EarPods that come with the iPhone, and now the rose gold versions can match the new iPhone 6s and 6s Plus. Just like EarPods, you’ll find in-line volume toggles and playback controls plus a mic for Siri and voice calls.
The casing is metal so they’re stronger than plastic, and the wires are flat and pretty tangle-resistant unlike the earbuds Apple throws in the box. The new $99.95 rose gold urBeats also look to be readily available for in-store pickup today of find more color options on sale.
Filed under: iOS Devices Tagged: Apple, Beats, Beats Solo 2, Rose Gold, urBeats
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iFixit Apple Pencil teardown reveals twin emitters to measure angle & orientation, logic board folded in half
No new Apple tech survives long without being taken apart by iFixit, and the Apple Pencil is no exception. Apple didn’t make it easy, however, with iFixit having to resort to a small circular saw to open up the device and needing to break a flex cable along the way.
Inside, it found that the plastic outer casing reveals a metal inner one. The tip contains two separate emitters, used to determine both the angle and orientation of the Pencil in order to adjust the width of the pen stroke. With such little space to play with, Apple had to get creative with the logic board …
iFixit reports that the logic board is the smallest one it’s ever seen, and weighs just 1g. Even so, Apple still struggled to fit it into the casing so they folded it in half.
There’s an even tinier sensor board inside the nib, with movement between two parts acting as an apparent pressure sensor.
Unsurprisingly, iFixit gives it 1 out of 10 for repairability, which really ought to be a zero as “you can’t get inside without destroying the device.” Fortunately, it appears you’re unlikely to damage it in normal use.
Both Tim Cook and Jony Ive have been talking up the capabilities of the Pencil, even if it is taking a while to get them into customers’ hands.
Head on over to iFixit to see the full teardown photos and details, and our own less destructive look at the device.
Filed under: iOS Devices Tagged: Apple Pencil, Apple Pencil teardown, Apple Pencil teardown iFixit, iFixit, iPad Pro
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Supply-chain report claims Apple on track for 10M Apple Watch sales as it seeks an additional supplier
The variously-reliable Digitimes reports supply-chain sources as saying that Apple is likely to ship more than 10M Apple Watches by the end of the year, noting that the company is currently seeking a second supplier.
Apple has placed orders for four million Apple Watches for the fourth quarter, targeting mainly demand from the year-end holidays. Sales of Apple Watch are expected to surpass 10 million units in 2015 […]
Apple is to seek another manufacturer aside from Quanta Computer, according to a Chinese-language Apple Daily report …
Apple Watches are currently all made by Quanta Computer, but Apple has reportedly approached Inventec, Wistron and Foxconn Electronics about the possibility of one of them acting as a second supplier. The piece claims that the companies may be reluctant after Quanta reportedly made weaker than expected profits from the contract.
Quanta was recently cited as the source for an earlier report claiming that the Apple Watch 2 will be shipped around the second or third quarter of next year.
Our own sources back in the summer suggested that the next-generation Watch may see a FaceTime camera, more capable on-board Wi-Fi and additional premium-priced models.
Apple has consistently declined to reveal sales numbers for the Apple Watch, with analysts essentially guessing wildly.
Photo: watchreport.com
Filed under: Apple Watch Tagged: Apple Inc, Apple watch, Apple Watch sales
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Apple Watch hits Swiss watch industry hard, suffers biggest slump in six years
Jony Ive’s year-ago prediction that the Swiss watch industry would be in trouble once the Apple Watch launched appears to have been correct (his actual language was said to have been stronger). Bloomberg reports that Swiss watch exports suffered their biggest slump in six years.
Shipments declined 12 percent to 2 billion Swiss francs ($2 billion), the Swiss customs office said in a statement Thursday. Adjusted for fewer working days, the drop was 7.6 percent. Exports to the U.S. dropped 12 percent.
“2015 has been one to forget for the watchmakers,” said Jon Cox, an analyst at Kepler Cheuvreux in Zurich.
The figures show that both higher- and lower-end brands are being hit hard, especially in the world’s biggest market for Swiss watches, Hong Kong …
The industry is pulling back in the island city, with TAG Heuer shuttering a store there in August. Richemont, , the maker of Cartier jewelry and IWC timepieces, has said its sales declined in October on weak watch demand.
Swatch and Fossil are likewise suffering, report analysts.
Swatch co-inventor Elmar Mock had said the day after the Apple Watch was launched that “anything in the price range of 500 francs to 1,000 francs [US$500-$1,000] is really in danger.”
Tag Heuer CEO Jean-Claude Biver’s hope that “Apple will get young people used to wearing a watch and later maybe they will want to buy themselves a real watch” is not looking too good right now. The company launched its own $1500 smartwatch earlier this month, but appeared to have extremely low sales expectations.
Filed under: Apple Watch Tagged: Apple watch, china, Fossil, Hong Kong, Swatch, Swiss watches, TAG Heuer
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Top tech investor Steve Jurvetson says Steve Jobs was “long obsessed” with returning to Apple through his NeXT days
Interviewed by Bloomberg’s Emily Chang, leading tech investor Steve Jurvetson said that Steve Jobs was obsessed with returning to Apple during his NeXT days.
He was just obsessed with Apple […] He didn’t own a share of Apple [at the time but] felt this visceral pain when Apple was being beaten around in the public eye or in the press. He would always come to the same inevitable conclusion that Apple should bring him and the NeXT technology, the operating system, back into Apple.
Jurvetson admitted that he thought Jobs was nuts every time he raised the idea, but “of course, that’s exactly what happened.”
Jurvetson made the first ever venture capital investment in Hotmail, and currently sits on the board of Tesla and SpaceX among others companies. Asked how he got to know Jobs in those days, he said he “just asked” if he could learn from him.
Later on Jurvetson admits he’s not a fan of the Apple Watch because it doesn’t meet his charging requirements use case.
Filed under: iOS Devices
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Uber iOS app adds credit card profiles, allowing you to separate business & personal rides
If you use Uber for both business and work, it can be a pain handling the accounting, having to remember to claim the business rides back on expenses. But the service now allows you to register a second credit card for business use, and then simply tap your Personal or Business profile in the app to charge the appropriate card.
You can create your profiles by hitting the menu icon top-left then selecting Settings > Profiles > Start riding with profiles. You can then use your iPhone camera to scan your business credit card to add it to the app and select it as the default payment method for your newly-created Business profile.
Uber added AMBER alerts to its drivers’ app last month.
Via TNW
Filed under: Apps Tagged: Uber
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A bundle of Mac App Bundles, more than 50 total apps over 90% off
From 9to5toys.com:
As we approach Black Friday we are at the Nexus of the Mac application bundle universe with not 1, not 2, but 3 impressive Mac Bundles happening at the same time.
First up is MacHeist’s “Hall of Fame Bundle” which includes greats such as TechTool Pro, Graphic Converter, Stuffit Deluxe, Nisus Writer Pro, Poser, Fetch FTP and more for $15 (or choose the bottom row for “Name your own price”. This one has sold over 10,000 copies but ends in a day so you might want to get hopping.
Next up is Bundlehunt which costs a little more but they let you pick out any 10 of a selection of 30 apps which I love as a concept. This includes ForkLift, Pixa, Flux V, RapidWeaver, Boom 2, Secret Folders Pro, Jump Desktop + 23 great Mac apps. Even if you only need a few of these, the $19.99 price tag means you are getting a steal.
And finally probably the most impressive array of apps is from our own specials.9to5toys.com which using $5 code 9TO5BFMB at checkout drops the bundle price down to $34.99. A great price for most of these Mac Apps on their own. PDF Pen, Aftershot Pro 2, Drive Genius, Mixtape Pro, MacXDVD Ripper, Busy Contacts, Prizmo 3, Motion Composer and more.
| 1 | Drive Genius 4 | $99 Value |
| 2 | AfterShot Pro 2 | $79.99 Value |
| 3 | PDFpen 7 | $74.95 Value |
| 4 | Mixtape Pro | $69.99 Value |
| 5 | MacX DVD Ripper Pro | $59.95 Value |
| 6 | BusyContacts | $49.99 Value |
| 7 | Prizmo 3 | $49.95 Value |
| 8 | MotionComposer | $29 Value |
| 9 | Dropzone 3 | $10 Value |
| 10 | DaisyDisk | $9.99 Value |
Filed under: Apps, iOS Devices, Mac, Tips and Tricks Tagged: app, bundles, Mac, Mac App Store
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Apple shares new video highlighting Watch ABC on new Apple TV
Yesterday, Apple uploaded a handful of new 15 second videos to its YouTube channel highlighting the various apps that its new tvOS-powered Apple TV supports. Apple shared videos showcasing apps Netflix, HBO NOW, Asphalt 8, Disney Infinity 3.0 Edition: Star Wars, and Crossy Road. Now, the company has shared one more video to YouTube highlighting Watch ABC on the new Apple TV.
The video features characters from popular ABC show The Muppets. The video ends with Apple briefly showing the Watch ABC app in the tvOS interface, followed by the same multicolor graphic that opens the video.
In the description of the video, Apple again touts that the future of TV is apps:
Watch ABC and your favorite shows and movies on Apple TV. The future of television is apps.
Filed under: Apple TV Tagged: Apple TV, Apps, tvOS, video
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Official Google iOS app updated w/ interface tweaks, better organization of Google Now cards
Google today is rolling out an update to its iOS app that brings the app to version 10.0 and includes a handful of visual changes. With today’s update, the voice search feature has been redesigned to be more inline with Google’s Material Design aesthetic, while the Google Now cards in the app are now organized in a much more straightforward way.
The voice search interface has been update right from the start. As soon as you “Ok Google” or tap the microphone in the app, you’ll see a more colorful wavelength indicator along the bottom of the design. When the actual search is performed, you’ll notice the bottom navigation bar has been slightly redesigned, as well. The new colorful wave design is very similar to the design introduced to Siri when iOS 9 launched back in September.
Perhaps most notably, however, Google Now in the iOS Google app has seen a major restructuring. In previous versions of the app, cards were ungrouped and therefore a bit hard to navigate when you had a lot of them. Now, cards are grouped by the topic on which they relate. For instance, cards relating to the Indiana Pacers are separated into a section devoted purely to scores and news about that team, while scores and news the San Antonio Spurs are broken off into their own section, as well. Likewise, news stories are now separated into a “Stories to read” subheading, while information like weather and birthdays are shown in an “Updates for you” group.
Google earlier this week announced a new feature for its Google Photos app that will significantly help users who have a 16GB device. A new “Free up space” button is being added to the settings menu in a forthcoming update that deletes already backed up photos.
Google has always been more than willing to release quality apps on iOS, despite many thinking that Android should be its primary focus. If its update to the main Google app today is any indication, Google has no plans on slowing its iOS releases down.
You can download the latest version of the Google app from the App Store now.
What’s New in Version 10.0
- New look and feel for voice search—try it out by asking “Ok Google, where can I find coffee?”
- Updated Google Now stream designed to better organize and surface content for you
Filed under: Apps Tagged: Apple, Google, Google Now, iOS, update
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Review: Pad & Quill’s new Apple Watch band takes on the Hermès cuff at a fraction of the price
It’s immediately noticeable that the new Lowry Cuff strap from Pad & Quill has been put through the company’s usual quality standards. You’ll first likely notice the strap is handcrafted by the rugged look of the stitching that clearly wasn’t done with machine. And the leather, which the company notes is full-grain vegetable-tanned leather from Horween Tannery (a favorite source of leather for a lot of high-end goods), is extremely soft to the touch. Some leather bands are stiff and a result a bit cheap feeling, especially before breaking them in a bit, but the Lowry Cuff doesn’t suffer from any of those issues.
The Lowry Cuff is available in the tan color pictured throughout this review, and also darker Chestnut and Galloper Black options pictured in the image below:
The leather on the inside of the strap is unfinished for a super soft suede lining that feels great on the wrist:
You’ll find the usual Pad & Quill touches and more evidence of the personal craftsmanship with an embossed company logo and “crafted in USA by” with a handwritten signature from the craftsman at Pad & Quill that put the strap together. Both of those markings are on the flip side of the watch out of sight when in use:
Otherwise the band is free of branding with no Pad & Quill logos or any other markings visible when on the wrist.
The buckle looks great (although more of a high-polish stainless steel look than the “durable nickel finish” description would have you believe), but it’s the only thing that feels a bit cheap when compared to the stainless steel lugs and the Apple Watch itself.
It fit my wrist just barely on the last hole (it’s made to fit 125-215mm wrists), but there is room to add a couple more holes if necessary. That’s pretty standard for leather straps, but Pad & Quill doesn’t currently offer an option to add some extra length when ordering on its website.
The cuff design immediately reminds of the new Apple Watch special edition with Hermès (pictured above, right). It’s a similar design to the Hermès cuff, but the cuff itself isn’t as dominant with the main standard strap sitting on top of the wider cuff rather than hiding behind like the Hermès strap. The cuff itself is about as wide as the Hermès version with just a small piece of the leather protruding from either side of the Apple Watch, but it generally doesn’t look as wide on the wrist due to the difference in how the standard strap sits on top, as mentioned above.
Should you buy it?
There isn’t much bad to say about the Pad & Quill Lowry Cuff band, although it isn’t available for the 38mm Apple Watch, only the 42mm. There are a lot of Hermès knockoffs available, but the Lowry Band actually manages to step out of clone territory and offer its own take on the style. It also accomplishes the look at $129, a lot less than Hermès will run you (even when factoring in the cost of the Watch) and without sacrificing much in the way of quality or design. And as a bonus, you get Pad & Quill’s 30-day money back promise and a 25-year leather warranty.
The Pad & Quill Lowry Cuff band is available for $129 from the company’ website. It also sells a standard version of the Lowry band ($109) minus the cuff design.
Filed under: Apple Watch, Reviews Tagged: Apple watch, band, hermes, leather cuff, lowry cuff, Pad & Quill, the best apple watch band
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