‘Ingress Prime’ Breathes New Life Into Pokémon GO Developer’s First Popular AR Game

While Pokémon GO smashed records and earned the world’s attention thanks to its ties to the mega-popular Pokémon franchise, the developer behind the title, Niantic, had another augmented reality game that managed to rake in its own sort of attention.

Ingress has been available for iOS and Android devices for quite some time, and incorporates various augmented reality features to see a pair of factions go head-to-head as they try to capture specific real-world locations in the digital realm. There are a variety of similarities between Ingress and Pokémon GO, and that trend continues as Niantic brings what it has learned from that other super-popular title and breathes new life into its Ingress franchise.

Ingress Prime is a free update for folks who already have Ingress installed on their devices. For those who don’t, the free app is available in the App Store, and a link to download the AR game is available at the bottom of this post.

As for what’s new, there is quite a bit. Niantic rebuilt the user interface to make it cleaner and easier to use. That includes improved animations and a bigger focus on one-finger movement. The company is also introducing a more developed storyline, which is a continuation of what came before. That means that if you have been playing Ingress, your progress should carry over to the new Ingress Prime effort.

Niantic is also building the new game on the Real World Platform, which is what Pokémon GO runs on. That should make the experience even smoother and stable, while also improving the AR features baked into the game as well. Another element that Niantic is bringing to Ingress Prime is global events, which are called “Recursion Prime” and will see events hosted in cities all across the planet, including Austin, Texas, Hong Kong, and Barcelona.

“Adventure and explorer Hank Johnson is losing his memories rapidly, and he needs your help. A crucial Recursion Artifact is at stake and will be claimed by the winner of this Anomaly. Will it be you?”

Ingress Prime is just the beginning for Ingress players moving forward, as Niantic is planning future updates and new additions along the way.

Have you ever played Ingress before? If not, will you try it out now?

Download

• Ingress Prime — Free

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Spotify is Finally Coming to the Apple Watch

Spotify is one of the most popular music streaming platforms out there, but the service has been missing one key element: an Apple Watch app. But that’s finally changing.

Some lucky individuals have taken to Reddit to post some screenshots of the beta version of the Spotify app for Apple Watch. The streaming giant is currently testing the beta version of the app by way of TestFlight, and so the folks were able to test out the app on their Apple-branded wearable before a public launch.

At the time of publication, there isn’t much to actually go on here as Spotify hasn’t officially announced anything. However, at least one user has pointed out that the current iteration of the beta is pretty limited. That includes not having any support for offline playback at this point in time.

It’s worth noting that you can control music playback on your smartwatch even without a dedicated app, and even if you’re listening to Spotify. However, with an app Spotify can offer up more customized features, including offline playback, direct access to playlists, and the ability to like songs you’re listening to right on the wrist. Spotify recently launched a brand new dedicated smartwatch app for Google’s competing platform, Wear OS, so perhaps it’s not too surprising a watchOS app is (finally) on the way as well.

If you want to sign up for the Spotify beta, you can do so through the Spotify source link below.

[via Reddit (1); (2); Spotify]

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iPhones and Apple Watches Are Allergic to Helium

A system administrator at Morris Hospital in Illinois has discovered that helium (yes, helium the gas) can make iPhones and Apple Watch act funny and kill them completely as well. However, for a very strange reason, Android devices are immune to any side effects from helium.

On October 8, when a new MRI machine was being installed at the Morris Hospital, Eric Woolridge, the system administrator, was flooded with phone calls about iPhones owned by the medical staff facility not working properly for no clear reason whatsoever.

Initially, Woolridge thought it was due to an EMP pulse generated by the new MRI machine being installed. However, since other computers and devices were not affected, this theory was ruled out.

Around 40 Apple products including iPhones, iPads, and Apple Watch were affected and acted strangely They would not connect to the mobile network properly and had issues while charging as well. And there were plenty of other units that simply refused to start.

As it turns out, the issue was caused by a helium leak. During the MRI installation, the giant magnet inside the machine needs to be cooled using liquid helium. Once it turns gaseous, the helium was to make its way out the facility using an exhaust vent. On that day, however, the vent ended up leaking about 120 liters of helium from the MRI room to other parts of the hospital.

After some interesting discussion on Reddit, Woolridge confirmed the theory by placing an iPhone 8 Plus in a sealed bag with helium. And rightfully so, the iPhone stopped working after about 8 minutes.

So why helium is wreaking havoc with iPhones and other Apple products? As Redditor ‘captaincool’ explains, it is due to the less than perfect hermetic seals.

It’s definitely the helium.

The processor in a modern, high volume device typically has its main clock driven by what’s known as a MEMS oscillator. These are barely visible mechanical systems that resonate at some designed frequency, and include packaging to convert this resonance into a useful electrical clock signal. These devices are extraordinarily cheap ways to produce a steady clock, but they have a number of drawbacks. Most relevant, in order for these types of devices to function properly, the mechanical resonator must be inside a tiny hermetically sealed chamber with either a controlled gas inside or a vacuum, as the gas composition in the chamber can affect the output frequency.

For both cost and physics reasons, these hermetic seals are not perfect, and are somewhat commonly permeable to small atomic gasses such as helium.

And why only Apple devices are affected and not Android devices? There’s another technical reasoning behind that.

For this specific case, Apple devices probably share a common family of MEMS resonator to reduce manufacturing costs. This clock likely leaks in helium rich atmospheres, pushing the output frequency outside of the bounds that the main processors are designed to handle, rendering them non-functional. If left idle long enough, the devices may begin to function again, but depending on the concentration of helium which leaked in, this could take anywhere from weeks to years to occur in natural atmosphere and temperatures.

In fact, Apple even mentions this in its user guide for the iPhone and Apple Watch.

Exposing iPhone to environments having high concentrations of industrial chemicals, including near evaporating liquified gasses such as helium, may damage or impair iPhone functionality.

While unlikely, now you know that you should keep your iPhone or Apple Watch away from helium at all costs.

[Via Reddit, iFixit]

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Apple Will Stop Reporting iPhone, Mac, and iPad Unit Sales From Next Quarter

Apple has been reporting unit sales for its three biggest categories for years, but that will be coming to an end.

During the earnings call today, following the public earnings report for the fourth fiscal quarter of 2018, Apple confirmed that it will stop reporting unit sales starting in the first fiscal quarter of 2019. That will mark the start of Apple’s new financial year, so it looks like that will be the new precedent moving forward.

Part of the reasoning, according to Apple’s Chief Financial Officer, Luca Maestri, is due to the fact that “number of units sold in quarter is not representative of underlying state of business”. That determination has led Apple to decide to stop reporting unit sales for the three biggest revenue drives.

That is a huge shift on Apple’s part, especially in relation to the Wall Street investors who use these metrics to make assessments moving forward. It also marks, more than likely, a bigger focus on its Services category. Which would not be surprising, considering that particular category just marked itself its all time high of $10 billion in quarterly revenue all on its own.

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Apple Announces Q4 2018 Revenue of $62.9 Billion With 46.89m iPhones, 9.69m iPads, and 5.3m Macs

Following along with its yearly routine, Apple today announced it latest quarterly earnings.

Apple has officially announced its third quarter results of 2018. These follow the strong results from the third quarter, and see millions more iPhones, iPads, and Macs sold to the masses. Here’s how it all breaks down:

Apple sold 46.89 million iPhones in the fourth fiscal quarter of this year, along with 9.69 million iPads. Meanwhile, Apple also sold 5.3 million Macs in the same stretch of time.

In total, the company earned $62.9 billion in total revenue in the quarter, and $14.12 billion in total profit.

“Apple today announced financial results for its fiscal 2018 fourth quarter ended September 29, 2018. The Company posted quarterly revenue of $62.9 billion, an increase of 20 percent from the year-ago quarter, and quarterly earnings per diluted share of $2.91, up 41 percent. International sales accounted for 61 percent of the quarter’s revenue.”

As is par for the course, Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook, praised the strong quarter:

“We’re thrilled to report another record-breaking quarter that caps a tremendous fiscal 2018, the year in which we shipped our 2 billionth iOS device, celebrated the 10th anniversary of the App Store and achieved the strongest revenue and earnings in Apple’s history,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “Over the past two months, we’ve delivered huge advancements for our customers through new versions of iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad and Mac as well as our four operating systems, and we enter the holiday season with our strongest lineup of products and services ever.”

Apple’s Chief Financial Officer, Luca Maestri, also chimed in:

“We concluded a record year with our best September quarter ever, growing double digits in every geographic segment. We set September quarter revenue records for iPhone and Wearables and all-time quarterly records for Services and Mac,” said Luca Maestri, Apple’s CFO. “We generated $19.5 billion in operating cash flow and returned over $23 billion to shareholders in dividends and share repurchases in the September quarter, bringing total capital returned in fiscal 2018 to almost $90 billion.”

To compare year-over-year, Apple earned $52.6 billion in revenue, on the back of 46.7 million iPhones, 10.3 million iPads, and 5.4 million Macs sold in the fourth quarter of 2017.

Finally, Apple is providing the following guidance for its fiscal 2018 fourth quarter:

revenue between $89 billion and $93 billion




gross margin between 38 percent and 38.5 percent




operating expenses between $8.7 billion and $8.8 billion




other income/(expense) of $300 million




tax rate of approximately 16.5 percent before discrete items

[via Apple]

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2019 iPhones Rumored to Feature Upgraded Face ID, New iPads May Arrive in Early 2020

Now that the 2018 iPhone lineup is out there in the wild, and the new iPad Pro arrives next week, attention is starting to shift to what comes next.

TF Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has weighed in on Thursday morning, looking ahead to what’s coming down the pipe. According to the analyst, Apple is planning on making some improvements to its facial unlocking feature, Face ID, with the launch of the 2019 iPhones. Kuo expects Apple will “increase the power of the flood illuminator” VCSEL. If that is indeed the case, it would help reduce the potential for environmental light to cause issues with Face ID readings.

Interestingly enough, Kuo believes that Apple is already planning on a new iPad launch for either the fourth quarter of 2019, or the first quarter of 2020. The analyst also expects “Time of Fly” (ToF), which is the company’s new 3D modeling effort. Kuo believes it may launch with the new iPad lineup, and then make its way to the iPhone lineup at some point after that.

The changes make sense, and so does the timing. Nothing major, it sounds like, but quality-of-life elements that could boost sales for the devices down the line.

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Apple in Talks to Acquire Stake in iHeartMedia

Apple has reportedly held talks to acquire a stake in iHeartMedia. The talks are still in the preliminary stage, with no word on when and if the deal will be finalized.

iHeartMedia is hoping that Apple will take an equity stake in its business worth millions of dollars. The original report from Financial Times says that the deal could lead to a multi-million dollar partnership between the two companies rather than Apple making a direct investment.

iHeartMedia filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in March this year. Apple could use a partnership with iHeartMedia to further boost the presence of Apple Music and improve its content discovery.

Since the talks between both companies are still in preliminary stages, there’s always a possibility that it could fall through or take a completely different path with Apple acquiring iHeartMedia.

Apple started its music streaming service after acquiring Beats for $3.2 billion in 2014. More recently, Apple completed its acquisition of music discovery app Shazam.

[Via Reuters]

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Today At Apple Continues to Expand, Adding 60 New Sessions and More

Apple’s event in Brooklyn saw the unveiling of the new MacBook Air with its Retina display, the new 11- and 12.9-inch iPad Pro models, and the new Apple Pencil that charges wirelessly. But the company also had a bit to go over in regards to its retail initiative called Today At Apple.

It has been over a year since Apple launched its in-store Today At Apple sessions, which also include more in-depth programs like going on walks near the retail location, or Labs that go into even more detail for Apple customers that want to learn the intricacies of apps, features of their Apple products, or even things like taking photos with the iPhone or drawing on the iPad Pro with the Apple Pencil.

Since its launch 18 months ago, Today At Apple has hosted over 18,000 sessions across the globe. Just recently, in light of a coding initiative in Europe, Apple hosted over 2,000 sessions in that region. Today At Apple also includes local talent sessions, where it brings artists from a local area to come in and talk about their art, their process, and how Apple customers can follow along with their own artistic endeavors.

Apple today announced that on top of what it is already doing, Today At Apple will be adding 60 new sessions to the mix. That will see the already popular video, music, and design sessions expanding in major ways. Video Lab will show off the Clips app, the Photo Lab will show off the power of Portrait Mode. Design Lab will teach architectural principles.

Video Lab in Color and Mood in Final Cut Pro will teach how to use colors to enhance a scene in a movie. Advanced Beat Making will sample audio, design sounds and program different styles and beats.

Tim Cook also added that there are over 70,000 team members working at Apple Retail stores across the globe.

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HomePod Rumored to Launch in Italy Soon, Could be Announced at October 30 Event

The HomePod has a lot of legwork to do before it can dominate the smart speaker market, but one way to help with that is to get the device into as many countries as possible.

One area where the HomePod is missing is Italy, but that could be changing soon. As was reported on Friday by the Italian blog iSpazio, it turns out that Apple employees have been testing the HomePod with support for Italian. While that’s not necessarily a confirmation of anything by itself, considering that the HomePod needs to support a region’s dialect before it can successfully launch there, this could be a clear sign of the smart speaker’s impending launch.

What’s more, the publication states that Apple will be making an announcement regarding the HomePod’s arrival in Italy as early as Tuesday, October 30. For those keeping track, that’s the day that Apple will be hosting an event at the Howard Gilman Opera house in Brooklyn, New York. It’s expected that the lion’s share of attention at that event will be paid to the new iPad Pro and Mac models, but it’s certainly not impossible that an Apple executive also confirms the HomePod is heading to Italy.

The original report states that an announcement for the Italian launch of the HomePod will arrive next week, but the device will likely launch in that market sometime in November. If you’re in Italy and have been waiting for the HomePod, it may be time to start getting excited.

One final detail of new arrivals: The HomePod is now available in Spain and Mexico beginning today.

[via iSpazio]

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iPhone XR Now on Sale in Select Markets

The iPhone XR went up for preorder on Friday, October 19 across the globe. And now that October 26 has rolled around in select markets, Apple’s newest colorful iPhone is now on sale.

The iPhone XR is not yet on sale in the United States — that will happen at 8:00 AM Eastern Time. However, the handset has gone on sale in markets like New Zealand, Australia, Taipei, Japan, and others. We published a quick post showcasing folks who were able to get their preordered devices already, seeing the red, yellow, blue, and black versions of the iPhone XR out in the wild on launch day in those markets:

They’re so colourful 😎 #iPhoneXR pic.twitter.com/DEC3hlrOwP

— Michael Topschij 🤓 (@MichaelTopschij) October 25, 2018

Here’s where the iPhone XR will go on sale today (October 26), which includes over 50 countries:

Andorra, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Greenland, Guernsey, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Ireland, Isle of Man, Italy, Japan, Jersey, Kuwait, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Oman, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, the UAE, UK, US and US Virgin Islands.

The iPhone XR shares plenty of features with the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max. That includes the iPhone X-style design, the notch, the TrueDepth Camera system, support for Face ID, the A12 Bionic processor under the hood, and the single 12-megapixel camera on the back. The XR’s display is a 6.1-inch Liquid Retina LCD display, though.

If you preordered your iPhone XR, which model are you receiving today? Or were you waiting to pick one up on launch day? Let us know in the comments why you went with the iPhone XR over the iPhone XS or XS Max!

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First iPhone XR Preorders Start Arriving for Customers

The iPhone XR went up for preorder last Friday, and here we are almost a week later (or a week later in some parts of the world) and initial preorders are starting to arrive for some customers.

As is par for the course, customers who preordered the newest iPhone are now starting to receive the handset in New Zealand and Australia. Folks are starting to share the new devices in photos and videos, shared to Twitter and Instagram. We get to see the colorful options out there in the wild, including yellow, blue, red, and black:

They’re so colourful 😎 #iPhoneXR pic.twitter.com/DEC3hlrOwP

— Michael Topschij 🤓 (@MichaelTopschij) October 25, 2018

Apple Stores opened at 8:00 AM local time, and the same can be said for other retailers that are carrying Apple’s less expensive, more colorful smartphone. The same can be said for stores in the United States, which will start on Friday, at 8:00 AM local time, beginning on the East coast.

If you already have your iPhone XR in hand, let us know in the comments what you think of it!

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Apple Fined €10M By Italian Anti-Trust Watchdog For Throttling iPhones and Unclear Battery Replacement Process

Apple has been fined 5 million euros by Italy’s anti-trust watchdog for slowing down iPhones via software updates. Plus, it was slapped an additional fine of 5 million euros for not providing its customers with clear information on how to go about replacing their old iPhone’s battery under its discounted replacement program.

Alongside Apple, Samsung was also fined €5M for slowing down its devices or crippling their features with software updates.

The anti-trust body had received complaints from many consumer groups in Italy about their devices being slowed down with software updates thereby pushing them to buy a new smartphone.

The anti-trust body said in a statement that some Apple and Samsung firmware updates “had caused serious dysfunctions and reduced performance significantly, thereby accelerating the process of replacing them”.

It added the two firms had not provided clients adequate information about the impact of the new software “or any means of restoring the original functionality of the products”.

Apple came under fire late last year when it revealed that it intentionally throttled older iPhones due to their degrading battery performance. This led to the company being the subject of numerous lawsuits and irked a huge section of its customers. To pacify them, Apple launched a discounted battery replacement program where it allowed customers to replace batteries of their old iPhone for only $29.

Samsung and other OEMs had clarified back then that they did not slow down their devices using software updates due to their degrading battery. However, the Italian anti-trust body has fined Samsung for the same. This is the first time the Korean company has been slapped a fine for allegedly throttling its devices.

[Via Reuters]

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Apple Highlights Positive Reviews for the iPhone XR

The reviews came in for the iPhone XR earlier today, and the general consensus appears to be that this is the iPhone model that will be more than good enough for most people out there in the wild.

That said, the reviews are generally positive, and, just as the company did for the reviews for the Apple Watch Series 4 and the iPhone XS (and iPhone XS Max), Apple is now promoting some of the reviews it has seen for the colorful iPhone XR. Apple promotes the “a no-brainer upgrade” right out of the gate from The Verge‘s review, but also uses a variety of quotes from the likes of TechCrunch, The Independent, Engadget, and others.

“Reviewers around the world have put iPhone XR through its paces and are sharing their impressions of the newest member of the iPhone family. That includes everything from its 6.1-inch Liquid Retina display, advanced camera system that creates dramatic portraits using a single camera lens, all-day battery life and six beautiful finishes; white, black, blue, yellow, coral and (PRODUCT)RED.”

Apple links directly to 13 different reviews for the brand new smartphone. We’re not going to include all of those (we’ve already published a review roundup, after all), but we will link to a few that we didn’t include in our initial roundup.

So, here we go, with Apple’s highlights included:

Digital Trends

“The colors are stunning, battery life is great, Face ID is still industry-leading technology, iOS gestures are intuitive, the camera is superb, and performance is fantastic. This is the iPhone to buy.”

Daring Fireball

“Dollar for dollar, the [iPhone] XR is almost certainly the best iPhone Apple has ever made.”

Mashable

“The iPhone XR is the Goldilocks of iPhones with a big screen, fantastic cameras, and future-proof power.”

TechCrunch

“Even though the [iPhone] XR is Apple’s mid-range iPhone, the feel is very much that of a piece of nicely crafted jewelry. It’s weighty, with a gorgeous 7-layer color process laminating the back of the rear glass, giving it a depth and sparkle that’s just unmatched in consumer electronics.”

Apple’s highlighting the positive remarks on its newest iPhone, but that looks pretty easy considering the handset is getting praised left and right. Of course, some folks might not approve of the single camera on the back, or the use of the “Liquid Retina” LCD display, but if you prefer dual rear cameras and an OLED display, that’s where the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max have you covered.

If you ordered an iPhone XR, which model did you go with?

[via Apple]

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Pokémon GO Halloween Event Starts Today Includes a Legendary Out of the Sinnoh Region

Another holiday, another event for folks still playing the augmented reality-based Pokémon GO.

Niantic has announced the latest major event for its popular AR game on Tuesday. Halloween 2018 will kick off today, Tuesday, October 23, at 1:00 PM Pacific Time. It will run until Thursday, November 1, at 1:00 PM Pacific Time. And, as usual, during that time there is a lot to do and collect for trainers. That includes the ability to earn double Candy for every Pokémon a player catches.

Niantic is using the Halloween event to really showcase the latest additions to the game, the fourth-generation pocket monsters from the Sinnoh region within the games. These creatures were first introduced to the series in Pokémon Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum. Within the Halloween event you’ll see more Ghost- and Dark-type pocket monsters, like Stunky and Drifloon.

And Niantic is also offering up some special projects from Professor Willow in the game, which appears to be hinting at a special Pokémon within the game for trainers to catch during the Halloween event:

“During this event, it seems Professor Willow will need your help on some limited-time Special Research. He stumbled across an odd stone one day and has been experiencing strange happenings around his lab ever since! Could a Pokémon be causing this ruckus? Complete Special Research tasks and find out before whatever it is goes away!”

That’s not all, though. Niantic is also including Giratina, the Legendary renegade Pokémon as part of the new Raid battles for the Halloween event. This is a Ghost- and Dragon-type Pokémon, and it will be leaving the game on November 20. So if this is a pocket monster you want to add to your collection, you’ll need to jump at the chance before it’s gone.

The Halloween event is now live, at the time of publication, so who’s jumping in to collect that extra Candy and take part in the new event?

[via Niantic]

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Apple Currently Facing iCloud Issues Across Several Services

It has been a bit of time since some kind of outage hit iCloud services, but here we are just before October wraps up and the company is seeing several yellow lights across its services page.

The issue actually started earlier this morning, with Apple pinpointing the intermittent service starting at 8:51 AM. According to Apple’s service pages, the issue is ongoing for several different iCloud-backed services, including iCloud Account Sign-In, iCloud Contacts, iCloud Mail, iCloud Notes, iCloud Drive, iCloud Keychain, Mail Drop, iWork for iCloud, Back to my Mac, and many others. Apple says some users may be affected by the intermittent issues, but, as usual, doesn’t say just how widespread the issue might be.

Apple’s status page has this to say about the issues:

“Users may be experiencing slower than normal performance with this service.”

At the time of publication, 19 of Apple’s iCloud-based services are seeing intermittent issues. However, services like iMessage, News, Maps Traffic (and Search, and Routing & Navigation), iTunes U, Apple ID, Apple Music, the App Store, and Apple Pay, among many others, are still working just fine according to Apple’s status page.

Apple does not say when the issues might stop or get fixed. Considering they have already been going for several hours now, though, one hopes that Apple has a fix coming sooner rather than later.

Are you running into any issues with these iCloud services?

[via Apple]

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Spotify is Testing a ‘What’s New’ Timeline Feature to Promote New Releases

Music discovery is an important aspect for the streaming platforms out there, but so is keeping tabs on new music from artists you’ve already shown interest in.

Now, Spotify already has a way to address keeping tabs on new music thanks to its “Release Radar” playlist, and, in part, the “Discover Weekly” playlist as well. However, if new music isn’t picked up in either one of those playlists for your listening pleasure, then it can be kind of tough knowing when new music is dropping from artists you follow. (Spotify’s notification feature is hit-or-miss, too, this writer has found.)

Things could be getting slightly better in the future, though. The Verge has confirmed with Spotify that it is currently testing a new “What’s New” timeline feature within the app. The test is currently out in the public right now, as folks on Twitter have indicated, but there’s no indication on when the feature might actually launch to the public. It appears Spotify has been running the test for quite some time:

Spotify now has what’s new 😍 pic.twitter.com/oRzn5MhoZk

— Suganth (@heysuganth) October 12, 2018

Here’s Spotify’s statement on the matter:

“We are always testing new ways to create better listening experiences for more users, while continuing to find ways to connect artists to their fans.”

As for the timeline feature itself, it will show artists that have released new music, whether it’s a single or a new album. It looks like it offers a quick way to jump into the new content, too, either by selecting the single or album itself, or hitting that play icon to start listening.

This seems like a solid new feature, so hopefully Spotify does launch it at some point in the near future.

Our Take

One of the reasons I continue to use Apple Music is the way it handles new music releases, but this pertains only to new albums from artists I follow or have shown interest in. The app will show new releases on the bottom, making it easy to see the public launches of new content. However, breaking things down a bit more and things get a bit rough, especially for singles. I don’t know if Apple Music notifies users of a new single release by a followed artist. If it does, I’ve missed it. And the “New Music Mix” playlist, which updates every Friday, is just not good enough in this regard, especially in comparison to Spotify’s “Release Radar”. Basically, I’d like to see Apple Music launch a similar feature as Spotify’s “What’s New” timeline, too.

[via The Verge; @heysuganth]

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Apple Releases the First Set of iPhone XR Ads

To coincide with the iPhone XR pre-orders going live, Apple has also released two new iPhone XR ads. Both ads are less than a minute long and essentially highlight the various aspects of the iPhone XR.

Both ads highlight the fact that the iPhone XR is available in a multitude of colors, with the second ad also highlighting other aspects of the device including the fact that it can click portrait photos with a single lens camera setup, Liquid Retina Display, Depth Control, and more.

The iPhone XR is expected to do better than the iPhone XS in terms of sales since it offers more value for money than its XS siblings. The device is priced at $749 and comes in six different colors. It also packs all key iPhone XS features like an improved rear camera with Depth Control, Face ID, A12 Bionic chip, and more.

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Apple Releases New USB-C Apple Watch Magnetic Charger

Apart from accepting pre-orders for the iPhone XR, Apple has also debuted a new Apple Watch wireless charging with a USB-C connector.

The magnetic charger is the exact same as the one that Apple already sells except that it now comes with a USB-C port at one end instead of USB-A. It is also priced the same as the USB-A version at $29.

This is the first time that Apple is offering a charger for its Apple Watch with USB-C connector. If anything, this indicates at two things: the growing popularity of USB-C in consumer devices and adds further credence to rumors of Apple switching to USB-C for its 2018 iPad Pro lineup.

The 0.3m magnetic charger is in stock on Apple’s online store with a shipping estimate of 1 business day. The charger will also make its way to Apple’s retail stores from next week. For now, Apple is only selling the USB-C Apple Watch magnetic charger with 0.3m wire length, with no word on when a 1m or 2m variant will be available.

On the other hand, there’s still no sign of AirPower which likely points to the wireless charger never seeing the light of the day.

➤ Apple Watch Magnetic Charger to USB-C Cable

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Apple’s Online Store Goes Down Ahead of iPhone XR Pre-orders

In just a few hours Apple will start taking pre-orders for the iPhone XR on its Online store. In preparation for the pre-orders, the company has taken its online store down for a few hours.

Apple unveiled iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max and the cheaper 6.1-inch LCD iPhone XR at the launch event on September 12. But unlike the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max, which went on sale on September 21, the iPhone XR goes up for pre-order at 12:01 am Pacific Time.

Apple’s Online Store is expected to come back online when pre-orders for the highly anticipated iPhone XR are about to start i.e. around 12:01 a.m. Pacific Time. You can check our post for iPhone XR pre-order start time in your time zone.

While Apple will start accepting pre-orders for iPhone XR from today, they are only expected to start shipping out to consumers from next week and reach customers from October 26 — the same day it will go on sale in Apple’s retail stores.

The iPhone XR will be available for pre-ordering in the following countries from today:

Albania, Andorra, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Greenland, Guernsey, Herzegovina, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Ireland, Isle of Man, Italy, Japan, Jersey, Kosovo, Kuwait, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Malaysia, Mexico, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Oman, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, the UAE, UK, US and US Virgin Islands.

iPhone XR will be available for pre-order in Israel on November 1, and in Armenia, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, South Korea, Macau, Maldives, Myanmar, Ukraine, and Vietnam on November 2.

If you’ve not yet decided which color iPhone XR to buy, or which storage capacity to buy then check out our post for some tips on which iPhone XR color and iPhone XR storage capacity to buy.

I find it intriguing that in 2018, Apple still needs to bring down the online store to launch a new product, unless it is a PR stunt to get visibility.

Have you been waiting to pre-order iPhone XR or are you already rocking the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max? Let us know in the comments.

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Hulu is Considering Slimming Down its Live TV Channel Package as it Launches a Dark Mode on the Web

Hulu has had its live TV streaming service available for a bit of time now, launching its live TV guide back in May of this year. And now it looks like some major changes are on the way.

Hulu CEO Randy Freer sat down with The Information to discuss the state of things for the streaming platform and how things might be changing in the future, especially as it relates to its live TV service. That particular feature for Hulu now has 1 million subscribers, with the package starting at $40 per month. But the company may be working towards a future where it slims down the package quite a bit, which could also reduce the monthly cost.

Freer envisions a point where Hulu will drop some of its current channel lineup from the live TV option, switching them over to the on-demand category. In that shift, Hulu wants to make its focus on “live sports and news”. While Freer sees that as the next step, where some customers might be losing access to channels, there’s no definitive timeline in place just yet, nor any mention of which networks will be switched out for on-demand content.

Hulu is preparing for major networks to splinter off and offer their own streaming options, like we have seen from so many companies out there already. As a result, Hulu will offer up on-demand and premium content additions as add-ons, similar to what Amazon offers with the likes of Showtime, HBO, and other options. (Hulu already does this for similar channels.)

Direct-to-consumer brands is apparently the way things are going. So be prepared to be nickel-and-dimed along the way.

But, if you’re a Hulu customer and use the web version a lot, then you might be happy that there is a new dark mode now available. The feature is easy to access: Just click on your profile icon and select the Night Mode option. That’ll make the UI a bit easier to look at in the wee hours of the night.

[via The Information]

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