CNBC reports that Apple has hired ex-Microsoft exec and former CEO of a smart lock company to revamp Apple's home initiatives. Hiring Jadallah is the latest signal that Apple plans to get serious about its own efforts in the home. Recently, the company acquired a start-up called Pullstring, a start-up that specializes in voice-enabled toys. That purchase could help the smartphone maker become the center of a connected living room.Apple has been making movement into the home space for years, with the introduction of HomeKit as well as the HomePod which is powered by Siri. HomePod, however, has lagged behind its competitors despite making...

As jealous as this article made me, it was actually quite interesting to find out how the filthy rich actually pay for their toys.

∞ Read this on The Loop

Facebook's crackdown on Russia-linked accounts has usually taken down outlets with a relatively small presence, but its latest move is more substantial. The social network has suspended three Pages from Maffick Media, a viral video outlet that has r...

A report earlier this week suggested that Apple Pay will launch in the Czech Republic next week. It now looks like Apple Pay might also come to Saudi Arabia on the same day.

more…

The post Apple Pay rumored to launch in Saudi Arabia on February 19 appeared first on 9to5Mac.

Apple’s first retail expansion of 2019 is complete. Customers and team members in Natick, Massachusetts celebrated the grand reopening of Natick Mall’s Apple Store today after just under nine months of renovation work. The redesigned store offers more than twice the space of the previous storefront. 9to5Mac reader Dakota Allen visited the new space and shared photos of the redesign.

more…

The post Gallery: Natick Mall Apple Store reopens with updated design appeared first on 9to5Mac...

The 2018 Mac mini is a welcome refresh to the compact Mac product line, but the Intel graphics are weak. AppleInsider examines whether it is worth the extra expense of adding an external GPU to the Mac mini.

Late last month the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office published one of Samsung's latest trademark filing for "Neuro Game Booster under number 88270921.Samsung's new trademark is focused on optimizing gaming performance using ...

In this week’s top stories: AirPods 2 with grip coating and black color option, 2019 iPhone rumors, 10 iPhone tips everyone should know, and more. Read on for all of this week’s biggest Apple stories.

more…

The post This week’s top stories: AirPods 2 in black, March Apple event rumors, WWDC dates, and more appeared first on 9to5Mac.

Viber lets you send free messages and make free calls to other Viber users, on any device and network, in any country!

Viber syncs your contacts, messages and call history with your mobile device, so you can start the conversation on the Viber mobile application and continue from the comfort of your Mac.

features

• High-quality HD voice calls
• Video calls
• Free text and photo messages
• Group conversations
• No registration, passwords or invitations required
• Contacts and messages sync between your mobile and Mac
• Transfer ongoing calls between devices

Version 10.1.0:

• Release notes were unavailable when this listing was updated.

• OS X 10.11 or later

Download Now]]>

Hey, good morning! You look fabulous.

Welcome to your weekend! We're closing things out with a teaser from Amazon, as well as a preview of Samsung's big Galaxy S10 reveal. Some of the highlights from last week include a Zelda remake and our review o...

Apple has been granted a patent (number 10,206,024) for “remotely controlling a hearing device.” The goal is to be able to apply settings on a hearing aid device before placing it on your ear.

Apple notes that modern hearing devices are high tech computing devices equipped with multiple speakers and types of speakers and are capable of receiving sound data from multiple audio data sources such as microphones attached to the hearing device as well as being able to stream audio data directly to the hearing device. With this advancement in technology comes an increase in the control and flexibility of hearing devices. For example, hearing devices can be adjusted to perform optimally in multiple environments. 

In addition, modern hearing devices can be very small and placed discreetly inside the ear, almost unnoticeable to others. While creating smaller, more powerful and more flexible hearing devices has plenty of benefits over older styles, one problem that has arisen...

Brings to mind the old cliche of “Don’t write down anything you don’t want your mother to read.”

∞ Read this on The Loop

Once again, Twitter has run into a sticky situation while deciding when and how to apply its content rules. Buzzfeed News reports that it removed a tweet from an (unverified) account linked to Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, the current Supreme Leader...

Sid Meier’s Civilization VI is the next entry in the popular Civilization franchise. Originally created by legendary game designer Sid Meier, Civilization is a strategy game in which you attempt to build an empire to stand the test of time. Become Ruler of the World by establishing and leading a civilization from the Stone Age to the Information Age. Wage war, conduct diplomacy, advance your culture, and go head-to-head with history’s greatest leaders as you attempt to build the greatest civilization the world has ever known.

Civilization VI offers new ways to engage with your world: cities now physically expand across the map, active research in technology and culture unlocks new potential, and competing leaders will pursue their own agendas based on their historical traits as you race for one of five ways to achieve victory in the game.

Note: Civilization VI for the Mac App Store is currently a single player experience.

...

Sketch is an innovative and fresh look at vector drawing. Its intentionally minimalist design is based upon a drawing space of unlimited size and layers, free of palettes, panels, menus, windows, and controls. Though simple to use, it offers powerful vector drawing and text tools like perfect Boolean operations, symbols, and powerful rulers, guides, and grids.

Note: price showin in the listing is for a 1-year subscription.

Version 53.1:

Bug Fixes:

• Documents saved by older versions of Sketch couldn’t be opened on some devices
• Documents wouldn’t render as expected on a Mac with NVIDIA graphics
• Sketch would become unresponsive when dragging a Symbol instance on to or off its own master
• Overrides set to None would be both included and visible in groups after selecting to Detach all contents from Symbol
• Text boxes for Symbol overrides weren’t always selected as expected...

Hopper Disassembler is a binary disassembler, decompiler, and debugger for 32- and 64-bit executables. It will let you disassemble any binary you want, and provide you all the information about its content, like imported symbols, or the control flow graph! Hopper can retrieve procedural information about the disassembled code like the stack variables, and lets you name all the objects you want.

Hopper is able to transform the assembly language into a pseudo-code that is easier to understand! You can use its internal Python scripting engine to analyze binaries the way you want (this feature works only with Lion)! Starting from version 2.0, Hopper can even use GDB to debug programs!

And, last but not least, unlike all other tools of its kind, Hopper is perfectly integrated into the OS X environment.

Version 4.5.6:

• Fixes some optimisation issues in ARM64 decompiler
• Fixes more issues with PDB symbols
...

As of July 2012, Thunderbird has transitioned to a new governance model, with new features being developed by the broader free software and open source community, and security fixes and improvements handled by Mozilla.

Thunderbird is a free, open-source, cross-platform e-mail and news (NNTP) client developed by the Mozilla Foundation. The project strategy is modeled after Mozilla Firefox, a project aimed at creating a Web browser.

Version 60.5.1:
Fixed:

• CalDav access to some servers not working
• Various security fixes

• OS X 10.9 or later

Download Now]]>

Adobe Pepper Flash Player is a cross-platform, browser-based application runtime that provides uncompromised viewing of expressive applications, content, and videos across browsers and operating systems. Pepper Flash plugin is built for Chromium-based browsers, i.e. Chrome, Opera, Chromium etc.

Version 32.0.0.142:

• Updated Flash Player with important bug fixes.

• OS X 10.10 or later
• Latest versions of Google Chrome or Opera recommended

Download Now]]>

Vivaldi is a browser for our friends.

We live in our browsers. Choose one that has the features you need, a style that fits and values you can stand by. From the look and feel, to how you interact with your browser, every aspect of Vivaldi can be tweaked and customized. You’re in control. Online privacy is more important than ever and how your browser handles sensitive data is crucial. Vivaldi doesn’t track or store any of your data. Managing hundreds of tabs is a breeze, and built-in tools like Notes and screen Capture mean there’s no need to hunt for add-ons.

Version 2.3.1440.48:
Regression:

• Blank page when open new tab and no Speed Dial folder is selected

• OS X 10.10 or later

Download Now]]>

Duet is the first app that allows you to use your iDevice as an extra display for your Mac using the Lightning or 30-pin cable.

Note: This app requires a $9.99 iOS companion app.

Version 2.0.5.0:

• Release notes were unavailable when this listing was updated.

• OS X 10.9 or later
• Duet Display for iOS

Download Now]]>

You might already know that AI can put real faces in implausible scenarios, but it's now clear that it can create faces that otherwise wouldn't exist. Developer Phillip Wang has created a website, ThisPersonDoesNotExist, that uses AI to generate a s...

In what is quickly becoming Apple's preferred method of advertising to existing customers, the company on Friday sent out an iOS push notification offering Apple Music subscribers the ability to give away one free month of service.

Apple has agreed to buy Pullstring, a San Francisco-based startup that enables the design and publishing of voice apps. Their Home Page states: "Collaboratively Design, Prototype and Publish Voice Applications for Amazon Alexa." Beyond general market Voice Apps, the company also focuses on Entertainment, Health Care and Financial Services that will fit in well with Apple's endeavors into health care and Apple Pay.

Digital Trends writes: “While it’s been clear for quite some time that modern A.I. is getting pretty darn good at generating accurate human faces, it’s a reminder of just how far we’ve come…”  The face shown here is just one of many created by an AI, explained in the article. “The results … well, you can see them for yourself by checking out the website. Hitting refresh will iterate an entirely new face.”

Soon there will be artificial people on the internet writing AI created articles. (I am actually one of them.)

At the end of January, Jason Snell published his annual Six Colors Apple Report Card for 2018. This year 55 voters (hand-selected by Snell) graded Apple in 11 areas. I was one of them, and thought it only fair to publish my grades and remarks here at Daring Fireball. Comments in [brackets] are additional commentary I wrote now, and were not included in what I submitted to Snell.

Mac: D

I’d say it’s been an OK year at best. On the MacBook front they had decent MacBook Pro updates and the third-gen butterfly keyboard seems to have fixed the reliability problems with the previous keyboards. But these keyboards are not great. A few people really like them, but most people agree they feel worse than the old keyboards. I may be biased as a writer and a keyboard aficionado, but it used to be the case that Apple’s notebook keyboards were widely hailed as the best in...

This month we’ve teamed up with Hyper for our first ever 9to5Mac Deal of the Month. For February only, you can get the HyperJuice AirPods Wireless Charging case for 60% off regular price:

Get the HyperJuice AirPods Wireless Charger Case 60% off for a limited time – $20 (Reg. $50)

Head below for a video hands-on look: more…

The post Deal of the Month: HyperJuice Wireless Charger Case for Apple AirPods $20 (Reg. $50) appeared first on 9to5Mac.

Since Steve and I can’t cover everything, at the end of each week day, we’ll offer this wrap-up of news items you should check out. 

Apple has announced the availability of NBA models of its Beats Studio3 Wireless Headphones. They’re available in six versions/colors and cost $349.95.

In its latest Conflict Minerals Report to the SEC, Apple says that 100% of its smelters and refiners were subjected to an audit "for the fourth straight year” as of Dec. 31. Five offending parties were removed during 2018.

The new MacVoices kicks off the 2019 Road to Macstock with organizer Mike Potter’s...

As part of a larger push into voice recognition and artificial intelligence technology, Apple has reportedly agreed to purchase PullString, a San Francisco startup focused on the development and publication of voice apps for Amazon's Alexa, Google Assistant and "internet of things" hardware.

The internet is all over the map trying to figure out whether Apple’s service and hardware strategies for 2019 are going to work well together.

Apple has today agreed to buy a San Francisco-based startup Pullstring, according to Axios. The company focuses on designing and publishing voice apps. Such an acquisition could play an important role for Apple as it continues to work on improving Siri, which many believe is far behind the acquisition.

more…

The post Apple reportedly buys PullString, a voice assistant startup behind enterprise Alexa apps appeared first on 9to5Mac.

Apple recently purchased PullString, a San Francisco startup that enables the design and publishing of voice apps through its PullString Converse platform, reports Axios.

PullString could be used to improve the voice capabilities of Siri, Apple's personal voice assistant.

On its website, PullString says that it can be used to "collaboratively design, prototype and publish voice applications for Amazon Alexa."At PullString, we strive to help people talk effortlessly with voice technology that surrounds us. Working at the intersection of creative expression and artificial intelligence, we provide agencies and enterprises with the leading solution to collaboratively design, prototype, and publish highly engaging voice applications for Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant...

Snapchat's Lens Studio, which lets anyone create their own augmented reality filters, has been a big hit for the company. There are now more than 250,000 Lenses created by independent users, and those have been viewed over 15 billion times. Still, Sn...

Chinese media outlet Economic Daily News is reporting that Inventec is already producing a new version of AirPods with a different exterior material for the earbuds and charging case, as well as a black color option.

The report indicates that they will go on sale in the spring alongside the AirPower wireless charging mat. EDN says the new AirPods are expected to boost Inventec’s first quarter earnings, as the publication has a supply chain focus.

more…

The post Economic Daily News: Updated AirPods in production with black color option, launching alongside AirPower in spring appeared first on 9to5Mac.

Perhaps signalling that it's embarking on a broader campaign, Apple has released a second ad promoting Depth Control on the iPhone XS & XR, "Bokeh'd."

Until now, Mormon missionaries have only allowed to use phone calls or video chats to reach their families on Christmas and Mother's Day. After that, they'd had to rely on email or traditional letters. They'll have an easier time staying in touch f...

Pictionary seems like one of those perfect games that doesn't really need an upgrade. You draw on a piece of paper, and people guess what you're trying to show them. Sure, you can put the game on a phone or tablet, but the basic concept remains the s...

A new report from TechCrunch today reveals that Twitter holds on to deleted direct messages for years, in some cases even for accounts that have been suspended or deactivated.

more…

The post Twitter saves deleted direct messages for years, says security researcher appeared first on 9to5Mac.

Despite its potentially lucrative nature, the CEO of healthcare IT firm Epic Systems says she won't consider any possible takeover offer by Apple.

At the start of the week, you could reasonably guess that Apple might hold its semi-regular spring event to unveil a new 10-inch iPad and smaller iPad mini 5, an updated iPod touch, possibly AirPods 2, and new features in iOS 12.2. Reliable reporting has since adjusted expectations, giving us a rumored event date and a focus on new subscription news and video services in place of any hardware. So when should we expect to see all that rumored hardware if there’s no hardware event?

more…

The post Comment: With Apple’s March event focused on services, when should we expect hardware updates? appeared first on 9to5Mac.

If you've deleted your DMs, they may be unavailable on your phone and on the web, but Twitter is still saving them, according to data from security researcher Karan Saini that was shared today by TechCrunch.

Twitter also keeps direct messages and data sent to and from accounts that have either been deactivated or suspended, according to Saini, who discovered years-old messages in a file from an archive of data from an account that was no longer active.

A bug in a now-deprecated API used to allow him to get direct messages even after a message was deleted by both sender and recipient.

Twitter says that accounts that are deactivated and deleted are removed along with all of their data after 30 days, but TechCrunch found that's not the case.But, in our tests, we could recover direct messages from years ago -- including old messages that had since been lost to suspended or...

Finally, G-Technology has added a USB-C port to the G-Drive Mobile line, and we've got one on our test bench.

A proposed settlement for Pokémon GO developer Niantic in its class action lawsuit suggests that it could be removing or changing some Poké Stops and Gyms within the game. According to a report from Variety, the proposed settlement was filed on Thursday in a California court. If approved, Pokémon GO will need to remove Poké Stops or Gyms that are on private property.

more…

The post Pokémon GO may be forced to change Poké Stops and Gyms in game after lawsuit settlement appeared first on 9to5Mac.

Hasbro has a new toy for the future Jedi in your life. The Star Wars Lightsaber Academy is a suped-up version of the standard lightsaber that comes with its own training exercises and activities built in, according to The Verge. The toy connected to...

Are you frustrated with trying to close all of those open tabs in Safari? In this short Apple World Today video tip, we show you a little known trick on how to close all open Safari tabs on an iPhone with one quick tap.

Be sure to subscribe to the Apple World Today YouTube channel for more video tips.

Game studio Niantic has settled a lawsuit surrounding the popular iOS game Pokemon Go, one where property owners complained about players of the hit title causing a nuisance in physical locations designated as Pokestops and Pokemon Gyms.

John Martellaro and Andrew Orr join Kelly Guimont to discuss webcams and security measures, as well as AI that freaks out even Elon Musk.

Last August, Apple Music was updated with a new section in Browse curated by Deutsche Grammophon, one of the biggest classical music labels in the world. While classical music fans welcomed the specific focus of the area, many of our readers quickly pointed out the numerous issues that remain for classical listeners on a daily basis within Apple Music, and the fact that they've been there since the launch of the service with seemingly no correction in sight.

To help break down and highlight these problems, we reached out to a few experts in the classical music field, including professor Benjamin Charles, who wrote a blog post about his frustrations with...

Children under 14-years-old should not have access to a smartphone, an adviser to the German government has recommended.

As things stand, we know very little about Amazon's Lord of the Rings Prime Video series. We do know it will last several seasons and it will include some familiar characters from J.R.R. Tolkien's books, though Amazon was clear it's not remaking Pete...

We have a deal on a 7-in-1 MacBook Pro USB-C hub. This device has one Thunderbolt 3 Type-C port, two USB 3.0 ports, an HDMI port, and SDXC, micro SDXC, and TF card ports. You can get it through our deal for $34.99.

9to5Toys now has a new app! Download it to stay up to date on the best gear and deals on the web. Plus don’t forget to check us out on Apple News and sign up for the 9to5Toys Newsletter. Also, be sure to check us out on: Twitter, RSS Feed, Facebook, Google+ and Safari push notifications.

Listen...

For the last two years, Google's Sidewalk Labs has been working on a planned neighborhood on Toronto's waterfront. Now, thanks to internal documents obtained by the Toronto Star, the company's plans on how it will make money through the development h...

Facebook and the U.S. Federal Trade Commission are in talks over a privacy violations fine that could cost the former billions of dollars.

Amazon is staking a claim in the EV market after it led a $700 million investment round in electric pickup truck and SUV maker Rivian. Other details about the investment aren't being disclosed, but previous shareholders are involved and Rivian is rem...

Apple is being sued because a faulty iPad battery caused a New Jersey apartment fire in 2017, killing the occupant. 

If you tuned into opening night of Overwatch League's second season, you likely noticed some changes to the production from last year. For instance, each player's status bar at the top of the screen handily shows when a hero is hacked, stunned or fir...

If you haven’t seen this show, do yourself a favor and binge-watch it immediately.

∞ Read this on The Loop

Europe’s potentially disastrous Internet copyright rule update is headed to the European Parliament for a vote, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation warns that it’s even worse than before.

Read original article

In Apple’s latest Conflict Minerals Report filed with SEC, it states that they directed its suppliers to remove from its supply chain five smelters and refiners not willing to participate in, or complete, a Third Party Audit or that didn't otherwise meet Apple's requirements on the responsible sourcing of minerals. This year's expanded work included ...

A new study from OpenSignal published today looks into the cellular performance of the most popular iPhones going back to 2013. While there’s nothing too surprising in the findings, it does nail down exactly what average speeds each model sees, how much owners of older iPhones are missing out, how much iPhone cellular speeds have grown over the years, and a few other interesting details.

more…

The post Test compares cellular speeds for top iPhone models, difference between the iPhone 5s and XS, more appeared first on 9to5Mac.

There are reasonable arguments for and against being able to edit tweets once they've been posted to Twitter dot com. Jack Dorsey doesn't necessarily want everyone to re-write their own history, but may allow us to re-contextualize our words in futur...

Not every audio company was quick to jump on the true wireless bandwagon. Some of the big names in headphones took their time crafting a set of earbuds before making a debut. Sennheiser was one of those, and its Momentum True Wireless model didn't ar...

Listen to a recap of the top stories of the day from 9to5Mac. 9to5Mac Daily is available on iTunes and Apple’s Podcasts app, Stitcher, TuneIn, Google Play, or through our dedicated RSS feed for Overcast and other podcast players.

https://9to5mac.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2019/02/9to5Mac-Daily-02-15-2019.mp3

more…

The post...

Adobe Pepper Flash Player is a cross-platform, browser-based application runtime that provides uncompromised viewing of expressive applications, content, and videos across browsers and operating systems. Pepper Flash plugin is built for Chromium-based browsers, i.e. Chrome, Opera, Chromium etc.

Version 32.0.0.142:

• Updated Flash Player with important bug fixes.

• OS X 10.10 or later
• Latest versions of Google Chrome or Opera recommended

Download Now]]>

Samsung has leaked its upcoming wearables lineup through its Galaxy Wearable app for Android ahead of its February 20 event.

Image credit: SamCentralTech

As spotted by Twitter account SamCentralTech, and reported by The Verge, the initial "pick your device" screen of the app reveals the names and marketing images for a new Galaxy Watch Active, Galaxy Fit fitness trackers, and Galaxy Buds.

Galaxy Buds are the least known of the three products, serving as Samsung's latest AirPods competitor. They won't be Samsung's first pair of truly wireless earphones, succeeding the...

We're mere days away from Samsung's next Unpacked event, so the Korean conglomerate is all but ready to dish the details on the Galaxy S10 smartphone family. Not that we're totally in the dark, of course. As is the case in the lead-up to all flag...

Apple on Friday submitted its latest annual conflict minerals report with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, revealing that it asked suppliers to kick out five smelters and refiners during 2018.

Another day, another lawsuit. The lawsuit is filed by Julia Ireland Men, the daughter of the late Bradley Ireland, and claims that he died after an apartment fire caused when his iPad burst into flames on Feb. 22, 2017. 

Filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, the lawsuit claims that the fire was caused by a defect in the iPad — specifically the battery pack. The fire resulted in severe injuries and the subsequent death of Bradley Ireland, the suit adds.

Men is seeking a judgment in her favor against Apple for [unspecified] compensatory damages. She also seeks the cost of the lawsuit and attorney fees.

Apple’s latest Conflict Minerals Report reveals that it removed five mineral smelters and refiners for failing to meet the company’s human rights standards.

In 2018, Apple directed its suppliers to remove from its supply chain five smelters and refiners not willing to participate in, or complete, a Third Party Audit or that did not otherwise meet Apple’s requirements on the responsible sourcing of minerals …

more…

The post Apple removed five minerals suppliers in 2018 for failing to pass human rights audits appeared first on 9to5Mac.

Owners of older iPhone models should upgrade to newer versions if they want to benefit from faster cellular speeds, research from OpenSignal advises, with the iPhone 5s seemingly only capable of half of the network performance of the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max due to the use of older communications technologies.

Have a USB-C based MacBook Pro? If you do, you know just how frustrating it can be to connect it to monitors or projectors, read SD cards, or even try to plug in an iPhone or iPad. Those connectivity issues are a thing of the past with the mbeat 7-in-1 MacBook Pro USB-C Hub, on sale for just $34.99.

Just plug the hub into a pair of your USB-C ports and immediately you have access to this kind of connectivity:

• Ports: pass-through Thunderbolt 3 Type-C (PD, data, and video), USB 3.0 x2, HDMI, SDXC, micro SDXC, and TF (push slot for pen drive)

• Material: ABS panel; metal case

• Blue color LED power indicator...

It's not easy being a traditional board game manufacturer in these digital days, although some companies have taken pretty bold steps to bridge the gap between table-top and pixel-based play. Now Pictionary is doing the same with Pictionary Air, whic...

Looking to push beyond its modest retail efforts so far, Apple rival Samsung is planning to open three full-scale U.S. stores on Feb. 20, the same day it announces the Galaxy S10 and its first foldable phone.

Epic Games has found itself slapped with a flurry of lawsuits, all alleging the company of stealing people's dance moves and selling them on for a profit. These dances are incorporated into its world-conquering game Fortnite, which are bought by play...

As of July 2012, Thunderbird has transitioned to a new governance model, with new features being developed by the broader free software and open source community, and security fixes and improvements handled by Mozilla.

Thunderbird is a free, open-source, cross-platform e-mail and news (NNTP) client developed by the Mozilla Foundation. The project strategy is modeled after Mozilla Firefox, a project aimed at creating a Web browser.

Version 60.5.1:
Fixed:

• CalDav access to some servers not working
• Various security fixes

• OS X 10.9 or later

Download Now]]>

I think it’s great if you can do business with companies that align with your personal values. This can go both ways. I like Apple’s stance on environmentalism and privacy. Other people boycott Starbucks because its cups don’t mention the word Christmas, or buy dophin-safe tuna. Whether we agree with those shopping decisions or roll our eyes, we’re avoiding or gravitating towards companies that support what we believe in. It’s pure free market capitalism. Which is why apps like Buycott are helpful. With this app you can: Join campaigns to support causes you care about, scan product barcodes to learn a product’s history, and make a purchase decision on the product and communicate your decision to the company. One thing to keep in mind: Buycott’s privacy policy says the app collects your location and other data. App Store: Free

...

Samsung has a surprise product announcement today, but it's not the flagship phone we've been dying to hear about. Instead, the company is unveiling a new tablet -- the Tab S5e. It's a 10-inch Android 9 Pie device that the company says is its thinnes...

Insurance firm Allstate is expanding its offerings in the field of consumer protection plans by acquiring repair outfit iCracked, a purchase that could allow customers of its plans to more easily repair their iPhones and iPads, and could also give the company more sway in pushing for right-to-repair legislation in the United States.

Despite classic video games now being readily available online and on throwback mini consoles, rare physical copies are still fetching big bucks. The latest record-breaking collector's item is a sealed copy of Super Mario Bros. that just sold for $10...

Obviously, a self-selecting group but the general sentiment seems pretty common.

∞ Read this on The Loop

Vivaldi is a browser for our friends.

We live in our browsers. Choose one that has the features you need, a style that fits and values you can stand by. From the look and feel, to how you interact with your browser, every aspect of Vivaldi can be tweaked and customized. You’re in control. Online privacy is more important than ever and how your browser handles sensitive data is crucial. Vivaldi doesn’t track or store any of your data. Managing hundreds of tabs is a breeze, and built-in tools like Notes and screen Capture mean there’s no need to hunt for add-ons.

Version 2.3.1440.48:
Regression:

• Blank page when open new tab and no Speed Dial folder is selected

• OS X 10.10 or later

Download Now]]>

A red variant of the iPhone XS and XS Max could be launching in China sooner rather than later, if a social media rumor proves to be accurate.

A Weibo post spotted by iPhoneHacks.com claims Apple will launch the red color models by the end of this month, in a bid to boost struggling iPhone sales in the region.

The leaker, who claims to have received the tip from sources in Apple's supply chain, says that Apple will call the model "China Red," and not the PRODUCT(RED) branding that the company typically associates with the color.

Apple globally launched a mid-cycle (PRODUCT)RED edition iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus in March 2017 and a similar edition for the...

Facebook is "exploring additional measures" to fight anti-vaccine disinformation, according to Bloomberg. Content discouraging parents from vaccinating their children has been rampant on the site, particularly in Facebook Groups, and may have contrib...

Future Mac blacklit keyboards may have adjustable white points, based on a new patent filing (number 20190051267) by Apple. White points are coordinates that serve to define the color "white" in image capture, encoding, or reproduction. Depending on the application, different definitions of white are needed to give acceptable results.

In the patent filing, Apple notes that, during operation, the intensity and color of ambient lighting may change on a backlit keyboard (as well as the display) may change. If care isn’t taken, ambient light changes and changes in the operating settings of components in the computer may cause the appearance of keyboard keys, displays, and other input-output devices to vary in ways that aren’t visually appealing. Apple wants to change this.

Here’s Apple’s summary of the invention: “An electronic device may have a main display and an ancillary display that forms a dynamic function row. The device may also have a backlit keyboard with glyphs...

In this week’s episode (#318 for those keeping track) Dr. Mac explains why he loves Apple User Groups and why you’re missing out if you’re not part of one. 

If you’ve been craving an iPhone SE, it’s apparently back in stock for a limited time.

Customers can now snag the $249 iPhone SE model in the 32GB capacity, as it appears the 128GB model has sold out.

This marks the third time that Apple has sold the iPhone SE via its clearance website.

The handset, though a bit older, includes the following features:

• 4-inch Retina display with IPS technology
• Talk time up to 14 hours
• A9 chip with embedded M9 motion coprocessor
• LTE and 802.11ac Wi‑Fi
• Bluetooth 4.2 wireless technology 
• NFC
• 12-megapixel camera
• Digital zoom up to 5x
• 1080p HD video recording
• Touch ID 
• Siri
• Apple Pay
• 3.99 ounces and 0.30 inch

If you’ve had a chance to buy the iPhone SE through the clearance sale and have any feedback to offer, please let us know about your experience in the comments.

Via...

Apple’s plans to launch a subscription service for news are, by this point, an open secret. Just under a year ago, the company announced its acquisition of existing magazine subscription service Texture, which Apple executive Eddy Cue quickly revealed would be folded into the existing Apple News app.

Since then, the news service has mostly been absent from the limelight, generally taking a backseat to the more prominent news leaking out around Apple’s upcoming video streaming service. But as recent reports have started to filter out that the news service and TV service may be announced by Apple at the same...

A Chinese media report on the social media site Weibo, via iGeneration, claims that Apple will expand the iPhone XS lineup to include a new red color option later this month. Presumably branded as PRODUCT(RED), it would join the red iPhone XR that Apple has sold since launch.

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The post Sketchy Chinese social media report claims red iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max launching soon appeared first on 9to5Mac.

Sid Meier’s Civilization VI is the next entry in the popular Civilization franchise. Originally created by legendary game designer Sid Meier, Civilization is a strategy game in which you attempt to build an empire to stand the test of time. Become Ruler of the World by establishing and leading a civilization from the Stone Age to the Information Age. Wage war, conduct diplomacy, advance your culture, and go head-to-head with history’s greatest leaders as you attempt to build the greatest civilization the world has ever known.

Civilization VI offers new ways to engage with your world: cities now physically expand across the map, active research in technology and culture unlocks new potential, and competing leaders will pursue their own agendas based on their historical traits as you race for one of five ways to achieve victory in the game.

Note: Civilization VI for the Mac App Store is currently a single player experience.

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Parallels allows you to run Windows and Mac applications side by side. Choose your view to make Windows invisible while still using its applications, or keep the familiar Windows background and controls on your Mac.

Now Supporting Windows 10 and ready for El Capitan

• Run Windows 10 and OS X® El Capitan with ease. Use Microsoft Cortana®, your virtual assistant, on your Mac. Switch from your PC to your Mac
• We make it easy to get all of your files, applications, browser bookmarks, and more from your PC to your Mac; just follow the setup assistant.

Works with Boot Camp®

• Reuse your existing Boot Camp installation. Converting a virtual machine from Boot Camp is now much easier and more intuitive than ever.

Not just for Windows

• Run a wide array of operating systems including OS X, Windows 10, 8.1 & 7, Linux, and Google ChromeTM. You can run just about anything on your Mac!
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Google Chrome is a Web browser by Google, created to be a modern platform for Web pages and applications. It utilizes very fast loading of Web pages and has a V8 engine, which is a custom built JavaScript engine. Because Google has used parts from Apple's Safari and Mozilla's Firefox browsers, they made the project open source.

Version 72.0.3626.109:

• Full changelog can be found here

• OS X 10.10 or later

Download Now]]>

dryriver writes: For many older people, you use Windows, macOS, or Linux on the desktop, and Android or iOS on mobile devices. Nobody is screaming for an Android desktop PC or an iOS 17.3-inch laptop computer. But what about younger generations growing up, from a very young age, glued to devices with these two mobile operating systems running on it? Will they want to use Windows, macOS, or Linux just like us old farts when they grow older, or will they want their favorite mobile operating systems running -- in a beefed up and more robust form -- on desktop and laptop computers which they use for school, college, and/or work as well? Since we are on this topic -- could Android or iOS one day become reasonably usable desktop operating systems from an architectural standpoint? And could Google and Apple already be planning for an "Android and iOS on the desktop" computing future, without telling anyone about it publicly?

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If you happen to be a Samsung fan living in Los Angeles, Houston or on Long Island, New York, then you'll finally be able to buy Samsung products in their new stores directly. Samsung promises to launch more pop-up stores in other malls beginning next month. The stores in many ways copies the Apple Store formula ...

Enlarge / Apps on an iPhone X. (credit: Samuel Axon)

Rival tech giants like Google and Facebook aren’t the only companies abusing Apple’s enterprise certifications to distribute unapproved apps in the Apple App Store on iOS, according to reports from Reuters and TechCrunch.

Apple’s Enterprise Developer Program is intended to facilitate distribution of apps across devices internally within corporations, governments, and other organizations. Apple explicitly forbids its use for any other purpose in its terms of service.

But the...

In an interview with Joe Rogan recently, Jack Dorsey said Twitter is considering on an edit system where you would be able to see the original and edited version of a tweet. Speaking at a Goldman Sachs event today, Dorsey also floated the idea of a “clarify” feature.

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The post As everyone waits for an edit button, Dorsey says Twitter is considering a ‘clarify’ feature for tweets appeared first on 9to5Mac.

When it comes to tech, we pay for the compromises that we’re willing to live with. Apple’s AirPods, for example, are reasonably priced, pair effortlessly and sound... okay. But they let in a ton of outside noise and their design makes them uncomfortable to wear for long listening sessions. Jaybird and Bose have brought truly wireless earbuds to market that are designed to appeal to athletes. But they favor situational awareness over passive noise cancellation and compromise good looks for durability.

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There is a certain practice, born, perhaps, of obsolete data and just plain paranoia. People place a sticky note over their Mac’s webcam when not in use. Is this a valid, efficacious practice? There are even commercial products that have a nicer look to them. John Gruber digs into the practice and the technology both old and new. There’s a lot to learn in this column by John. Check it out.

Facebook’s constant string of privacy scandals is finally catching up to it. The Washington Post reports today that Facebook is negotiating a record breaking, multi-billion dollar settlement with the FTC.

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The post Facebook in talks of settling FTC investigation with first ever multi-billion dollar fine appeared first on 9to5Mac.