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Apple TV+: Apple’s new video subscription service announced
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Corporate News, Home Entertainment,
Apple finally unveiled details about its subscription video streaming service, Apple TV+, at its It's Show Time Apple Event today. There were several components to the Apple TV+ announcement, starting with an updated TV app for the Apple TV, iPhone, iPad, Mac, and even smart TVs and competing streaming sticks.
The TV app is free to use, and aims to bring in content from all of your favorite channels and apps (no Netflix, though,) all into one interface. Part of this is a new feature called Apple TV Channels, where you can choose to add free and pay services like HBO, Showtime, Starz, CBS All Access, and more and watch all content right there. Apple handles the actual video streams, guaranteeing picture quality and sound will both be top-notch. The new TV app, which drops in May, will also provide customized and personalized recommendations for shows it thinks you'll want to watch, based on your viewing habits. Apple says processing is done locally on your devices, and your viewing remains completely private.
As far as the content play, Apple TV+ will introduce a bunch of original programming that will be part of the service. Several Hollywood stars and personalities took the stage to talk about their prohects today, including Steven Spielberg, Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Aniston, Steve Carell, Jason Momoa, Kumail Nanijani, J.J. Abrams, Sara Bareilles, Big Bird, and Oprah Winfrey. Apple is said to be spending roughly $2 billion on original content this year which it hopes will be able to set them apart from services like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, and similar.
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Apple Arcade: New video game service for iOS and Mac
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Corporate News, Video Games,
During today's It's Show Time Apple Event, Apple showed off its new video game service - Apple Arcade. Apple Arcade is a game subscription service that provides users with access to over 100 games that are exclusive to the service - that's right, the entire catalogue is not only exclusive to iOS and macOS, but exclusive to the Apple Arcade service itself. Rather than another game streaming service like Google Stadia, Apple Arcade users install their games through the App Store, so that they can be played anywhere without the need for an Internet connection.
Apple showed various games which include familiar franchises like Sonic the Hedgehog, and mentioned that we will see original titles from Will Wright, SEGA, Cartoon Network, Konami, LEGO, and more. More than just selecting games for the service, Apple is also helping with the development costs of the games as well.
Apple Arcade will launch this fall in over 150 countries, with pricing to be announced later (we assume at Apple's annual September event.)
Apple Card: Apple announces its own credit card with a focus on privacy
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Corporate News,
During today's It's Show Time Apple Event, the company announced Apple Card, a brand new credit card that promises to change the way consumers work with credit cards. Apple says it is focusing on simple, instant applications, no fees ever, lower interest rates, and better rewards. In order to sign up, users use the Apple Wallet app in the iPhone, and instantly upon approval they get a digital card that is ready to use in their wallet. You'll be able to track purchases, check balances, make payments, and more right from the app.
As for bonuses, Apple is introducing Daily Cash. You get 3% cash back when buying from Apple (including Apple Store, App Store, etc.,) 2% cash back when you use your Apple Card through Apple Pay, and 1% cash back when you use your physical card (and by the way, the physical Apple Card is forged from titanium!) Daily Cash is instantly accessible to be used for whatever you'd like - pay your balance, buy apps, send the cash to friends, spend it, etc.
Focusing on privacy, “Apple doesn’t know what you bought, where you bought it, and how much you paid for it,” says Jennifer Bailey, VP of Apple Pay. All the spending tracking and other information is stored directly on the device, not Apple’s servers. Apple also says “Goldman Sachs will never sell your data to third parties for marketing and advertising,” either.
Apple News+: Unlimited access to magazines and newspapers
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Corporate News, Videos,
During today's It's Show Time Apple Event, the company unveiled Apple News+, an all-you-can-eat subscription news service that gives you unlimited access to newspapers and magazines. Apple News+ is found within the Apple News app itself, which ships on all iOS and macOS devices. Some of the notable inclusions in Apple News+ are the LA Times, Wall Street Journal, Wired magazine, Bazaar, InStyle, Sports Illustrated, and more. In all, there are over 300 magazines that will be available with a single subscription.
As Apple noted on stage, none of the publications get your personal information. Privacy is paramount, and even Apple doesn't know which magazines or articles you choose to read.
Apple News+ will cost $9.99 per month, and in a great move, it is available for families for no extra charge which means that same $10 allows you and up to 5 other family members to access the service. You can access Apple News+ starting today, and the first month is free.
What do you think? Will you be giving Apple News+ a shot?
Vizio E-Series 2018 4K TV review
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Displays, Home Entertainment, Product Reviews,
The Vizio E-Series is a budget-priced television set, but don’t let the great price fool you. The E-Series has one of the displays in terms of image quality that you’ll find for the money, thanks in large part to the local dimming (which you typically have to pay a lot more money for.) Let’s dive into the features and design of the Vizio E-Series to see if it’s worth your attention.
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Amazon Fire TV Cube hands-on review, new AirPods 2 coming soon - Geared Up!
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Accessories, Apple, Wearables, Features, Home Entertainment, Portable Audio / Video, Product Reviews,
Amazon is trying to get its Alexa voice assistant into as many homes as possible. Its latest offering: The Fire TV Cube, which essentially turns any TV into a smart TV with Alexa voice control. We try it out live on this episode. The integration with certain apps, like Netflix and Hulu, is pretty cool. Simply saying "Alexa, play Stranger Things," opened the Netflix app and started playing right where we left off. Using voice control to fast forward, switch TV inputs and open apps also works well. But for other apps that aren't integrated, like Sling TV, the experience isn't quite so smooth. The box also doesn't work with over-the-air cable TV, as some reports said it would. In other news, Oculus announced a new virtual reality TV app this week, and some people are unimpressed. We also dive into a report that points to a new line of AirPods coming before the end of the year, including higher-end over-the-ear headphones.
Listen to the episode in the player below or subscribe to Geared Up in your favorite podcast app to listen on the go:
WWDC 2018: Apple announces iOS 12
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Corporate News, Handhelds, Software,
During today's WWDC 2018 keynote, Apple announced the next generation of its mobile software in iOS 12. Here are the biggest points of news for iOS 12:
PERFORMANCE
- Apple is doubling down on performance with the aim of making devices faster and more devices
- iOS 12 will be available on all the same devices that support iOS 11 - this includes devices that shipped back in 2013.
- Apps launch twice as fast on devices running iOS 12 on even the oldest devices
AUGMENTED REALITY
- A major update in iOS 12 is more AR support. Adobe took the stage to introduced simplified tools that will allow developers to create better AR experiences.
- There's a new file format for AR, called USDZ, created in collaboration with Pixar.
- A new app, Measure, will allow you to take measurements in real-time using an iOS device with AR. A demo was shown measuring a suitcase using just an iPhone X.
- Support for shared experiences is announced - multiple users can see the same AR environment in real-time. This allows developers to create worlds that people can all see simultaneously.
- LEGO took the stage to demo a shared AR LEGO app
PHOTOS
- The Photos app gets new updates and features, starting with search. Search Suggestions will highlight things like key moments, places you've taken photos, business names, and events like concerts and sporting events. You can search for multiple terms, like surfing and vacation, to drill down into your library.
- Effect suggestions give you reccomendations to edits you can make to your photos to make them even better.
- Sharing suggestions will find people in your photos and allow you to share them with the folks who are in them. Shared photos are full resolution.
- When you share, the receiver will also be given a suggestion to share photos from the same event with you.
SIRI
- Siri Shortcuts allows you to pull in specific tasks from your apps. An example given was "I lost my keys" to have Siri activate your Tile hardware.
- You can create your own Siri Shortcuts as well, so you can put together your own shortcut phrases.
- A demo was shown using Siri Shortcuts - the user said "travel plans" and got their hotel reservation with an image, address, and check-in time from Siri
- A "Heading Home" shortcut is able to set the home thermostat, play a podcast, send an ETA to a contact, and turn on a HomeKit fan. Very impressive stuff.
APPS
- The News app gets an updated sidebar to make navigation easier
- The Stocks app gets more granular vision to see stock performance. Apple News stories are now integrated into the Stocks app as well, giving you business news on the stocks that you follow.
- The Stocks app now comes to iPad with iOS 12.
- Voice Memos app also comes to iPad with iOS 12, with iCloud support built-in for syncing across devices.
- iBooks becomes Apple Books with a redesigned app.
- In iOS 12, CarPlay will support third-party navigation apps.
DIGITAL HEALTH
- Do Not Disturb is updated to hide notifications at night, and in the morning hides notifications until you specify that you want to see them.
- Do Not Disturb allows you to choose much more granular timeframes rather than just optimized for overnight.
- Notifications can be turned on or off on a per-app basis right from the lock screen
- Notifications can now be grouped by app, topic, or thread. With a swipe, you can dismiss an entire group of notifications.
- A new feature called Screentime offers reports, giving a weekly summary that shows how you used your iOS device. This shows how much time you spend in each app, how often per hour you pick up your phone, and which apps are sending you the most notifications.
- App Limits allows you to set a limited amount of time that you'd like to use specific apps per day.
- Kids get activity reports too, and parents get reports on their own devices of their kids usage. Parents can also create downtime periods and app limits. This is setup through the Family Sharing interfaces.
MESSAGES
- Animoji now support tongue detection for sticking tongues out
- New ghost, koala, tiger, and T-Rex Animoji characters
- Apple announces Memoji, allowing you to create your own customized 3D emoji character that looks like you
- Memoji has a slick creator app to design your character
- The Messages camera now includes effects, filters, stickers, and even Animoji and Memoji right in the camera
FACETIME
- Apple announces Group FaceTime, which allows you to chat with up to 32 simultaneous participants
- You can use both audio or video
- FaceTime is integrated into Messages, allowing you to quickly do a Group FaceTime right from a group chat
- A demo is shown, and as people speak, they become bigger on screen, or you can choose who to bring front and center
- The same effects mentioned above in Messages also applies to the FaceTime camera
Improved performance, new AR experiences, digital health, improved Messages, Group FaceTime, and more. That's iOS 12.
Enter our Huawei Mate 10 Pro giveaway!
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Announcements, Smartphones, Features,
I've teamed up with Huawei to give away a Mate 10 Pro smartphone for Father's Day! The Huawei Mate 10 Pro features impeccable build quality, the 6-inch Huawei FullView display, the Mate 10 Pro camera system developed by Leica, and more! If you're looking for an Android smartphone that lives up to the term "flagship" to give to the dad in your life, you can't go wrong with a Mate 10 Pro.
To enter, just use the widget below to manage your entries. Good luck to all who enter!
Huawei Mate 10 Pro Father's Day Giveaway!
Mysterious new Hydrogen One smartphone from Red and getting hyped for Tesla Model 3 - Geared Up!
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Smartphones, Features, Handhelds, PC / Laptop, Transportation, Videos,
The Geared Up Giveaway is back! We're giving Geared Up subscribers the chance to win an Oculus Go headset. See the bottom of this post for details on how to enter the giveaway.
High-end camera maker Red unveiled a mysterious new smartphone this week, and Geared Up co-host Andru Edwards was there for the hands-on experience. He said the new phone has some cool and exciting features, but also some strange ones.
Plus, Microsoft is once again trying to take on Apple's dominance in the tablet market. But can a new line of Surface devices make a real change?
We also dive into the hype around the Tesla Model 3, which is now rolling out to customers. Andru ordered his Model 3 more than two years ago and is picking it up in just a few days.
Listen to the episode in the player below or subscribe to the show in your favorite podcast app.
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Win an Oculus Go VR Headset from Geared Up!
Tech spotlight on Nokia Health and the ThinkPad X1
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Wearables, Smart Home, PC / Laptop, Videos,
On our Geared Up podcast, we cover all the breaking tech and gadget news of the week. But on this episode, we take a step back and put the spotlight on two technologies that Co-hosts Andru Edwards and Todd Bishop have been trying out in their day-to-day lives.
Andru has been using two devices from Nokia Health, the Nokia Steel HR smart watch and the Nokia Body smart scale. He says the devices themselves are just fine, but they show just how much an impact smart health devices can have on our behavior.
Todd has been spending a lot of time with his new Lenovo ThinkPad X1, which is his first Windows computer in a decade. He tells us how the device lured him back into the Microsoft world after a long stint as a dedicated MacBook Pro user.
Watch a video of the podcast above, listen to the full episode below or subscribe in your favorite podcast player to hear every episode of Geared Up.
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Editor's note:†Nokia's technology comes from its acquisition of Withings. After this episode was recorded, Nokia announced it is selling its health division back to Withings co-founder†…ric Carreel.
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