9to5Toys Lunch Break: WD Portable 3TB Hard Drive $90, Harman Kardon 7.2-Ch. Receiver w/ AirPlay $250, GoPro HERO4 Silver $200, more

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TODAY’S CAN’T MISS DEALS:

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Daily Deals: WD Elements Portable 3TB USB 3.0 Hard Drive $90, Logitech M325 Wireless Optical Mouse $10, more

harman-kardon-avr-1710s

Harman Kardon’s 7.2-Ch. A/V Receiver does it all: 4K, AirPlay, Bluetooth and more for $250 shipped (Orig. $550)

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Document the action: certified refurb GoPro HERO4 Silver Edition Camera for $200 shipped (Orig. $400)

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Apple’s robust 15-inch MacBook Pro w/ Touch Bar + Kensington USB-C Dock: $2,179 shipped ($2,579 value, Tax NY only)

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Apple iPhone 7 Smart Battery Case in Black or White: on sale for $85 shipped (Reg. $99)

Verizon announces trade-in program that nets a free iPhone 7/Plus or Google Pixel (and others) for new Unlimited users

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9to5Rewards: Grado’s Brooklyn-made SR325e Over-Ear Headphones [Giveaway]

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Runtastic’s Heart Rate Monitor & Pulse Tracker PRO on iOS is now free for a limited time (Reg. $2)

MORE NEW GEAR FROM TODAY:

honeywell-emerson-wifi-thermostats

Upgrade to a new Wi-Fi-enabled Smart Thermostat from Honeywell or Emerson, today only from $79 shipped

MORE DEALS STILL LIVE:

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Logitech’s best-selling MX Master Wireless Mouse returns to its Amazon all-time low at $60 shipped

elago-w3-9to5toys

Put Elago’s adorable W3 Apple Watch Dock on your nightstand for just $12 Prime shipped

more…

Filed under: Apple

Twitterrific developers launch Project Phoenix Kickstarter campaign to fund Mac Twitter client development

Much of Twitter’s brand identity dates back to Twitterrific which was the first client built for the service, but Twitter infamously made it difficult for developers to make a business out of Twitter apps a few years ago with a tokenization system and API limitations.

The result has been almost zero competition in the Mac Twitter client space and a lackluster official app. Development for Twitterrific for Mac has been financially unsustainable so the desktop client has become outdated with every change Twitter makes to the service.

Now Iconfactory which developers Twitterrific is launching a new Kickstarter campaign called Project Phoenix that aims to fund development of a modern Twitterrific for Mac.

more…

Filed under: Apple

Eddy Cue: Apple is ‘working on new features’ for podcasts

Eddy Cue’s interview at Code Media conference contained the usual dodges regarding new Apple products like VR hardware and Apple’s attempts at negotiating with cable companies, but he was surprisingly blunt about Apple’s interest in the podcast space.

Cue said that the company is “working on new features for podcasts, stay tuned.” In spring last year, it was reported that Apple was soliciting feedback from select podcasters about ways to improve podcasts in the iOS/iTunes ecosystem.

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Filed under: Apple

Opinion: Why fake news is a huge threat to democracy and both Apple and the rest of us need to respond

There’s a joke about a time-traveller from the early 20th Century arriving today and asking someone what has changed. The present-day person pulls an iPhone out of their pocket and says: ‘Well, we all carry around this pocket computer that gives us instant access to the sum total of human knowledge.’ The time traveller looks stunned. ‘Wow, what do you do with it?’ they ask. ‘Mostly we watch cat videos.’

The Internet has been, in the main, a hugely positive development. We do have instant access to information on pretty much any subject under the sun, or, indeed, beyond it. We can communicate with people on the other side of the world, for free, as easily as we can those on the next street. We can virtually travel the world, exploring streets in distant locations from our armchair. And very much more.

The Internet also has its dark side, of course. But it’s the subversion of one of its most positive attributes – easy access to information – that poses one of the greatest threats today …

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Filed under: Apple

Supply-chain sources support reports of premium iPhone model, claim steel vs aluminum differentiator

A new supply-chain report supports existing reports of a three-model line-up for this year’s iPhones, including a premium model squeezing a 5.8-inch screen into the same external dimensions as a new 5.5-inch one. Previous rumors have suggested that only this top-end device would get the iPhone 8 name, while the two other models would be labelled the 7s and 7s Plus.

But the latest report claims to have one new piece of information …

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Filed under: Apple

Amazon launches Chime, a video meeting service for Mac, iOS, Windows & Android [Video]

There’s no shortage of options for virtual meetings these days, from Apple’s own FaceTime through Skype, WebEx, Facebook, WhatsApp and many others. But Amazon believes that there’s room for one more, aiming Chime specifically at businesses looking for an easier and more manageable way to host video meetings.

Meetings start on time because they’re easy to join – meetings call you and you can join with a single tap. Lengthy pins are a thing of the past. A visual roster shows who has joined the meeting and who is running late, and allows anyone to mute background noise. Amazon Chime offers rich apps for iOS, Android, Windows, and Mac, and your chats are always synchronized across your devices. You can switch seamlessly between devices anytime, even in the middle of a meeting … 

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Filed under: Apple

Apple patents yet another method of embedding fingerprint reader into iPhone display

With everyone expecting the iPhone 8 to feature minimal bezels, a key requirement to realize that vision would be to remove the chin housing the Touch ID fingerprint sensor. While an iris scanner has been rumored as a replacement for fingerprints, Apple is also not short on options for embedding a fingerprint reader into the display.

We’ve previously seen Apple patents for two different methods of doing this, and a patent granted today describes a third …

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Filed under: Apple

W1 Bluetooth wireless headphones compared: Apple AirPods, Beats Solo3, Powerbeats3 & BeatsX

All four products in the announced Apple W1 lineup of wireless headphones and earbuds are now available: the Beats Solo3 headphones, the Powerbeats3, the BeatsX and the truly wireless Apple AirPods.

We don’t know what the future holds for the W1 chip, perhaps more manufacturers will be allowed to use it, but the product range is already diversified with what’s available today, spanning different form factors, audio quality, convenience, innovation and price points.

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Filed under: Apple