Sonos may challenge the HomePod with a cross-platform smart speaker
When Apple previewed HomePod back in June, it positioned the $350 smart speaker as a cross between a Sonos wireless speaker and the Amazon Echo: hi-fi wireless music playback with a smart assistant built-in. Amazon has already been rumored to be working on a smart speaker with better audio quality, and now Sonos appears to be planning to make its hi-fi speakers smarter.
9to5Toys Lunch Break: 10.5-inch iPad Pro $100 off, MacBook Pro w/ Touch Bar $1,599, Apple Watch Series 1 $229, more
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. more…
Hulu adding The CW to its Live TV plan soon
Hulu announced today that it has signed an agreement to carry The CW on its recently launched Live TV plan. Hulu Live TV lets subscribers view movies and TV shows on supported channels through Hulu’s app like traditional cable.
Comment: Why it won’t be a surprise or a big deal if iPhone 8 wireless charger is indeed 7.5W
A report yesterday suggested that the wireless charging capability expected to be included in the iPhone 8 will be limited to 7.5W, compared to the maximum 15W supported by the latest Qi 1.2 standards. This would mean that the device would charge half as fast as the latest tech would allow.
It’s also said that Apple’s system, though based on Qi, will be tweaked so that only Apple-approved charging pads can be used.
Although that’s not ideal – standards compatibility is generally (but not always) a good thing, and faster charging is obviously better than slow – I wouldn’t find it surprising if it were true, nor do I think it’ll prove to be a big deal …
Fitbit launches $300 ‘Iconic’ Apple Watch competitor w/ 4+ day battery, sleep tracking, more
Latest Sonos Playbar firmware update causing problems for some owners
If you have a Sonos Playbar speaker, and haven’t yet updated to firmware version 7.4, you may want to hold off for a while. Users on the company’s support forums are reporting a variety of audio issues since the update, up to and including complete loss of audio on some channels …
Apple event reportedly scheduled for September 12 to debut new iPhones, LTE Apple Watch and 4K Apple TV
The Dow Jones is reporting that Apple has indeed scheduled an event on September 12, corroborating previous reports.
On that date, Apple is set to announce the new iPhone models, as well as cellular Apple Watch and a 4K Apple TV set-top box. We are still waiting for Apple to send out invites to press to make the event official, although it seems all but confirmed at this point …
NYPD forced to scrap 36,000 Windows phones, will be replacing them with iPhones
The New York Police Department is being forced to scrap 36,000 Windows Phones bought just two years ago as part of a $160M mobility project. The move has been forced by Microsoft’s decision to cease support for the platform as of last month.
The NYPD now plans to replace the phones with iPhones by the end of the year, according to a report …
Security researchers demo point-of-sale system hack to buy a MacBook for $1 [Video]
Security researchers have identified a vulnerability in Point Of Sale (POS) terminals used by a large number of major chains, and hacked it to allow them to buy a MacBook for one dollar …
PSA: Now’s a good time to check which of your apps won’t open in iOS 11 as 32-bit support dropped
We reported back in June that Apple was dropping support for 32-bit applications altogether in iOS 11. In iOS 10, Apple displays a warning message and then allows the app to open; in iOS 11, the app won’t open at all.
But with some 187,000 32-bit apps still in the App Store – amounting to around 8% of the total – now would be a good time to check your own apps. It takes just a few seconds to do this …