A security research organization in Germany placed eight 'smart spies' in both the Amazon Alexa and Google Home app stores to demonstrate how easily eavesdropping and phishing can be done over smart speakers.

With macOS 10.15 Catalina, Apple killed iTunes, but its heart still beats in different apps across the operating system. Judging by email received, knowing where to find them can be a treasure hunt. Here’s how iTunes was split up.

Music

Remember when iTunes was all about music? You no longer have to remember, because the Music app replaces most of iTunes’s features and is, true to its name, all about Music. In Music, you find your music library, manage an Apple Music subscription, and purchase songs, albums, and music videos from the iTunes Store. (See, iTunes isn’t really dead!)

IDG

Music is iTunes with everything else stripped out.

To read...

Yahoo has announced that it is effectively shutting down the Yahoo Groups Web interface in December. Now is the time to download any data you want to keep and consider migrating to another service.

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Qantas just broke a record for air travel, and it may have helped science in the process. The Australian airline has completed the first non-stop commercial flight from New York City to Sydney as part of a project researching the effects of very lon...

By Thorin Klosowski

This post was done in partnership with Wirecutter. When readers choose to buy Wirecutter's independently chosen editorial picks, Wirecutter and Engadget may earn affiliate commission. Read the full guide to trackballs.

After sp...

Things happened this week, such as Alphabet commencing commercial flights of its Wing drone delivery program in Christiansburg, Virginia. But they weren't the only tech corporation that decided to put things where they previously were not at speeds t...

Dark Mode is one of the tentpole features of iOS 13 this year, and is rolling out quickly to third-party apps and websites. A new test from PhoneBuff this weekend aims to discover just how much better Dark Mode is for battery life than Light Mode.

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The post Dark Mode in iOS 13 significantly helps iPhone battery life, robotic test shows [Video] appeared first on 9to5Mac.

Honda has a well-deserved reputation as an automaker that produces well-engineered, long-lasting vehicles. So it should be no surprise that the 2020 Accord Hybrid is those things and more. Will it impress your car-nerd friends? Probably not. Will it...

NASA's InSight lander was supposed be digging a hole so a probe (above) could measure the heat escaping from Mars' interior, but it hasn't made much progress since work got started in February -- it hadn't even finished burying itself. At last, it's...

If you're both a Star Wars fan and a hypebeast, the next month might a dream come true. Adidas is releasing an entire Star Wars x Adidas collection of basketball shoes starting on November 1st, catering to both your particular fandom and your footwea...

Your car maker's mobile app can be very convenient, but it can also create privacy headaches in the wrong circumstances. Mercedes-Benz owners told TechCrunch that the car company's remote control app was supplying data from other users' accounts for...

Below we go hands-on with totallee’s lineup of popular super-thin cases for iPhone 11, 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max. Thanks to totallee, 9to5Mac readers can use code HAPPYHOUR to get 25% off the new collection for a limited time (and enter our iPhone giveaway below).

Check out our hands-on video with the new cases: more…

The post Hands-on: Totallee’s iPhone 11, 11 Pro, and 11 Pro Max cases + Giveaway [Video] appeared first on 9to5Mac.

Twitch has started testing a new feature that allows streamers to watch Prime Video with their viewers -- as long as they're also subscribers. Travis Shreffler, a content creator and author, has tweeted an email he received from Prime Video, inviting...

Welcome to Hitting the Books. With less than one in five Americans reading just for fun these days, we've done the hard work for you by scouring the internet for the most interesting, thought provoking books on science and technology we can find and...

Please join us here in thanking 4K Video Downloader for being our sponsor here at TMO this week. 4K Video Downloader allows you to save your favorite videos, playlists, and channels from YouTube, Facebook, Vimeo, DailyMotion and other video sites in pristine, high quality.

If you have become an Apple fan in the past decade or so, you are used to yearly operating system updates for free. If you have been a Mac user longer than that, you remember actually paying for OS updates every 18 months or so. I know Halloween is coming up, so I’ll inform you of something even scarier: we had to wait in a line to buy a new version of OS X on a CD. While we’ve gotten used to free OS updates as consumers, it has been a big help to Apple in the enterprise. This week, I want to explain why frequent and free OS updates are a big help for Apple’s growth in the enterprise. more…

The post Apple @ Work: Why free updates of macOS and iOS have been crucial to Apple’s enterprise growth appeared first on...

AT&T is raising prices for its streaming TV service yet again. AT&T TV Now, previously known as DirecTV Now, is raising prices by as much as 30% starting next month, as detailed in a report from Bloomberg.

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The Twitch app for iOS has added support for subscribing to streamers, but with a catch. What costs you $5 through the Twitch website and other platforms will cost you an extra $1 through the iOS app.

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On a regular basis, Apple World Today posts a list of notable new apps or app updates that have been released. They may not necessarily be new, but they're popular and deserve mention. Here are this week’s picks.

macOS

publicspace has debuted version 11 of A Better Finder Rename, an update of their batch file renaming solution for macOS. 

It’s a tool that caters for a range of file renaming tasks encountered by the creative professional. Version 11 introduces file filtering, auto-increment counters and meta-data, presets and lexical case conversion improvements.

Version 11 is a free upgrade for customers who purchased A Better Finder Rename after the Jan. 1, 2019, or who own a forever upgrade. Discounted upgrade prices are available from the public space web store and start at $12.95 for a single...

While Mark Zuckerberg gives speeches about not wanting Facebook to be the arbiter of truth, the Wall Street Journal reports his company is setting up deals to launch its dedicated tab for news. In a post earlier this year, the CEO said "It's importa...

The wait for Netflix's live-action adaptation of Cowboy Bebop will be a little longer than expected, as Deadline reports production is shut down for seven to nine months. Unfortunately the pause is due to a knee injury suffered by lead actor John Cho...

In a new letter co-penned by a bipartisan group of members of Congress, federal lawmakers say they have "strong concern" related to Apple's recent actions in China. The letter, which is addressed to CEO Tim Cook, zeroes in on Apple's decision earlier...

Have 4 minutes? That’s all it takes to watch our video highlights of today’s Apple stories:

If you’d rather consume your news the old fashioned way, here are the headlines:

Quanta Computers supplying “autonomous driving solutions” to Apple

Taiwanese manufacturer Quanta Computer is apparently supplying Apple with what are called "autonomous driving solutions." This story comes from DigiTimes, which has a mixed track record with rumors about Apple, so you might want to keep from getting too excited about the idea of an Apple car. According to DigiTimes, Quanta has developed and tested an autonomous vehicle on closed tracks in the United States to "prove its ability in designing an autonomous driving platform." Quanta is also supplying Google with autonomous driving solutions, so the company is keeping its options open. Industry analysts have predicted that an Apple Car could launch by 2025, although other reports say that the...

The Air Jordan 1, which NBA legend Michael Jordan debuted in 1985, continues to be one of Nike's most popular sneakers to this day. Throughout the years, the company has launched hundreds of different iterations of its iconic model, and now it's putt...

The U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee expects to deliver a final report on an investigation into potential antitrust breaches by big technology companies, including Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google, in the first part of 2020.

It’s hard to have a sense of humor about a macOS affair that causes great grief. It requires a unique perspective to look at the lighter side. Here’s one.

Charlotte Henry and John Martellaro are back with guest-host Bryan Chaffin to discuss the seemingly dizzying array of iOS updates Apple has released in the last few weeks. They also talk about the special case needs of macOS Catalina and whether Apple could do more to proactively warn users of everything they might face with their Mac systems.

Disney+ is coming, so Dave and I talked about the demographics of who might subscribe. We also talked about Samsungs lack of security and whether or not you tell people if you have a Google speaker in your house when they visit.

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LinkedIn: Go to LinkedIn.com/DALRYMPLE and get $50 off your first job post!

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A bipartisan group of U.S. senators and representatives have called for Apple to reinstate the controversial HKmap Live app, an iOS app allegedly relied upon by protestors in Hong Kong in their efforts against the Chinese government, by writing to Apple CEO Tim Cook.

In the age of streaming, set-top boxes are becoming more ubiquitous. AppleInsider compares two high-end titans in the industry -- the brand new 2019 Roku Ultra and the Apple TV 4K.

Twitch users on iOS can now subscribe to their favorite streamers directly from the app. It'll offer the same benefits of subscribing on desktop, including ad-free viewing, sub badges, channel emotes and sub-only chat, as well as supporting the partn...

There’s no way on God’s green earth I’d ever try one of these things – heck, I can’t eat a single jalapeno pepper – but the science of the pepper creation coupled with the physical reaction people get from eating this stuff is fascinating to me. I don’t understand why people eat food that literally causes them pain.

Earbud makers have been busy doing away with wires—a good thing whether or not your phone still has a headset jack. You no longer have to deal with cords if you don’t want to. True wireless earbuds connect to one another and your audio source via Bluetooth.

No wires mean no inline microphones or controls, but truly wireless earbuds sound just as good as traditional Bluetooth counterparts (for better or worse). They also boast all of the features we’ve come to expect from earbuds designed to work with your smartphone, tablet, or PC.

Since Apple’s AirPods became a runaway hit, an endless stream of companies have rolled out their own true wireless earbuds and earphones. As you might expect, not all of them are worth your time or money—so we’ve got your back with buying suggestions to meet a wide variety of needs.

To read this article in full...

If you're looking for a good mid-range robotic vacuum to help keep your home clean, the Deebot 661 might be the perfect fit. This multi-purpose robot can both vacuum and mop your floors, giving you back more time in your day.

Mark Hurd, the now-former co-CEO of Oracle has died, according to CNBC. Oracle has yet to comment on Hurd's death, and the email that the company sent to employees provides few clues. However, just last month, Hurd announced a medical leave of absenc...

Jim and I discussed exactly this on Your Mac Life this past Wednesday evening. It’s one of the reasons why I prefer the Waze app over Apple Maps or Google Maps.

∞ Read this on The Loop

It's been almost exactly a month since Apple Arcade launched. That means that a lot of free trials are about to expire, and it's time to decide: Is it actually worth your $5 a month? Like you, a number of Engadget editors have been testing out Arcade...

It’s time for another Pay What You Want Mac Bundle! This time, we have a collection of useful Mac utilities that we call The Magnificent Mac Bundle, and you can pay whatever you want. Pay a tiny amount and you’ll get seven apps, pay more than the average price paid by others (currently at $8.76, but can vary), and you get all nine apps.

There’s more — if you pay more than the current leader on the leaderboard, you get entered into a giveaway for an iPhone 11 (256GB), AirPods, and a wireless charging pad. If that’s not enough to get you excited about The Magnificent Mac Bundle, perhaps a description of the apps included in the bundle will! This is a $366 value...

This week on 9to5Mac Happy Hour: Apple’s iPhone SE appears to be making a comeback as a better iPhone 8, Beats has announced all-new Solo Pro on-ear headphones with impressive features, and Apple TV+ is days away from debuting.

9to5Mac Happy Hour is available on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn, Google Play, or through our dedicated RSS feed for Overcast and other podcast players.

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I’ve been gripped by the livestream of Jessica Meir and Christina Koch conducting the first-ever all-woman spacewalk. The historic event generated such interest that NASA made a host of details publicly available. More than it would do for another such mission. It contains information about this walk and explains what went wrong last time NASA tried to conduct an all-woman spacewalk. It also gives details of how to follow online.

Friday’s best deals include Parallels Desktop 15 at 15% off, plus Apple Watch bands, and iPhone 6S pre-paid for $99. Hit the jump for all that and more in the latest 9to5Toys Lunch Break.

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Ever had some weird readings from your Apple Watch, or even wondered if you’re wearing right? Well, don’t worry, AppleInsider found information from Apple on exactly how it wants you to wear the device.

While much of the Apple Watch’s fitness capabilities comes through having internals such as an accelerometer to measure movement or provide fall detection, it also has an array of sensors on the back. If you’ve ever seen someone wearing an Apple Watch too loosely, you’ve seen a bright green light coming from the back. This is the optical heart sensor, which uses photoplethysmography to calculate your heart rate. That back of the Watch, though, must be kept in contact with your skin for that optical and an electrical heart rate sensor to work. The Taptic Engine expects you to be wearing it snugly, and the Wrist Detect feature has to have that skin contact. Apple even provides a diagram recommending the right fit.

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Apple’s approach to China has stoked a lot of controversy in recent days. Wired looked at the numbers that may be driving the company’s policy. You may agree with the conclusions. You may disagree. But the article provides some important context to what is going on.

Last week, China temporarily suspended ties with the NBA after Daryl Morey, the general manager of the Houston Rockets, tweeted – and quickly deleted – his support for Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protesters, forcing the NBA to publicly apologise for the move. That same week, Blizzard controversially banned a Hearthstone tournament player after he made a political statement in support of Hong Kong protesters during a post-tournament...

Apple has been rumored to be working on a redesigned 16-inch MacBook Pro with a reliable keyboard, but it may not be as overhauled as people expect. An icon that first appeared in macOS 10.15.1 beta 1 last week and remains in beta 2 may be a preview of what to expect.

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The post Is this the rumored 16-inch MacBook Pro? macOS beta includes unreleased hardware icon appeared first on 9to5Mac.

If you've been itching to get your hands on that roasting pan with Han Solo encased into the lid, now's your chance. Le Creuset unveiled a selection of Star Wars cookware earlier this month and said it would go on sale in November. But you don't have...