HyperDrive USB-C Hub for the iPad Pro (2018) Adds Headphone Jack andMore

Dongle life is either something you’ve accepted or avoided, and if you happen to be in the former camp HyperDrive has a hub just for you and your new iPad Pro.

Hyper, one of the popular third-party accessory makers for Apple devices, has just announced the new HyperDrive USB-C Hub for the 2018 iPad Pro (which is the first to launch with a USB-C port rather than a Lightning port). As the name of the accessory suggests, this connects directly to the USB-C port on the iPad Pro, and then offers a hub for a variety of other options, including the 3.5mm headphone jack that Apple axed from the iPad Pro lineup this year.

The HyperDrive USB-C Hub also adds an HDMI port, an SD and microSD card slot, USB-A port, and a USB-C PD port. When the Hub is connected, it is flush with the iPad Pro’s display, so it won’t be sticking over the side or anything like that. And while owners of the Hub will technically be able to plug in a USB flash drive, Hyper notes that you will need to use a third-party app to actually import and photos and videos from it. iOS still doesn’t support external storage.

The new HyperDrive USB-C Hub launches in December and works with both the 11- and 12.9-inch iPad Pro. When it does go live, it will retail for $99.99.

If you plan on picking up the new iPad Pro, even after the initial reviews, is this one accessory you will be picking up?

[via hyper]
Like this post? Share it!

CIRP Data Says There are 181 Million Active iPhones in the U.S.

Apple Australia

Apple consistently sells a lot of iPhones, especially in the United States, and that trend means there are a lot of active units out there in the wild.

And, according to data from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP), that number is more than 180 million. The group’s latest data report shows that there are 181 million active iPhones in the United States alone, which is a big uptick from the 176 million active iPhones in the same area last year. In fact, according to the data, active iPhones grew by 3 percent just in the third quarter of this year, and 14% year-over-year.

“For comparison, one year ago, the iPhone US installed base grew 4% over the prior quarter and 17% over the prior year.

‘The installed base of iPhone owners in he US is leveling off, and grows at a steady but historically slow rate,’ said Josh Lowitz, CIRP Partner and Co-Founder. ‘This should not come as a surprise, as Apple captured a sizable and stable share of a smartphone market that definitely matured. And, 181 million active smartphones users give the company a significant platform for the emerging strategy of selling more to that installed base. This will include promoting two revenue segments that Apple breaks out, Services and Other Products, which Apple just renamed Wearables, Home, and Accessories.'”

How do Apple’s newest models stack up in the grand scheme of things? Pretty well, according to CIRP. The company’s newest devices (the iPhone XS, XS Max, iPhone X, iPhone 8, and the iPhone 8 Plus) account for about 45 million of the total install base in the United States, or about 25%. But, what about the iPhone XR, which was not on sale last quarter?

“Apple appears to want upgrades to iPhone XR, with a mass-appeal middle size and features that are similar to the newest XS and XS Max, but at the historic flagship price point. We can envision an upgrade cycle similar to the new iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, when more than half of the installed base upgraded within a year.”

So, things are going pretty well for Apple. But, that doesn’t mean things are staying the same on the company’s end of things. Apple won’t be reporting iPhone, Mac, or iPad sales any longer, which was a huge change that sent out ripples over the analytics and financing markets.

Like this post? Share it!

HomePod Launching in China and Hong Kong on January 18

Apple today announced that it will start selling te HomePod in China and Hong Kong from January 18 for 2,799 yuan and $HK2,799 respectively. It will be available in white and space gray colours.

Apple had previously confirmed that it would be launching the HomePod in Mainland China and Hong Kong. The Siri-powered smart speaker is known more for its excellent audio quality which can rival far more expensive Hi-Fi speakers.

“HomePod is the perfect wireless speaker for music lovers. It delivers an unmatched music listening experience with high-fidelity sound wherever it is placed and creates a new way to discover and interact with music using Siri,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “We’re excited to bring HomePod to our customers in mainland China and Hong Kong markets. We can’t wait for them to experience how great it sounds in their home, we think they are going to love it.”

With AirPlay 2 support, iPhone and iPad users will be able to stream content from AirPlay compatible apps to HomePod as well. This includes the likes of QQ Music, Spotify, Penguin Music, DeDao, and more.

The HomePod has not met with the same level of success as Apple might have hoped for. This is primarily due to how limited Siri is on the smart speaker and the high price tag of the speaker.

Apple has been working on fixing the former as it has been rolling out constant software updates for the HomePod since its release to add new features to it.

Like this post? Share it!

Best Buy Early Black Friday Sale: Up to $250 Off on MacBook Pro, $50 onApple Watch Series 3, $100 on iPad, More

Black Friday 2018 is exactly two weeks away from now. To celebrate the occasion, most retailers including Amazon and Best Buy have already made some of their deals live before the event itself. Amazon was the first to make its some of its Black Friday deals live and Best Buy has now followed it up.


Best Buy is offering some great deals on a variety of electronic devices including the Apple Watch Series 3, Beats headphones, Philips Hue, and more. Check out some notable deals from the retailer’s early Black Friday sale below. The deals last until stocks last or until this Sunday so you have plenty of time to pull the trigger on a deal you like.

Best Buy Early Black Friday Deals

MacBook Pro

The retailer is offering discounts of up to $250 on the 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Pro. The discount is applicable on selected variants of the 2017 and 2017 MacBook Pro models. The cheapest non-Touch Bar MacBook Pro you can pick up as a part of this deal sports a Core i5 2.3GHz processor, 8GB RAM, and 128GB of storage space for $1,149 — down by $150.

➤ Buy Now

The cheapest Touch Bar MacBook Pro you can pick up as a part of this deal packs an Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB RAM, and a 256GB SSD. It usually retails for $1,799, though you can get it for $1,649 after a $150 discount.

➤ Buy Now

The bigger 15-inch MacBook Pro models are seeing a bigger discount of $250. The cheapest variant you can pick up as a part of this sale sports an Intel Core i7 processor, 256GB SSD, and 16GB RAM for $ 2,149 — down from its usual price of $2,399 ($250 off).

➤ Buy Now

You can find all the deals on MacBook Pro from Best Buy over here.

Apple Watch Series 3

Best Buy is offering a flat $50 discount on selected variants of the Apple Watch Series 3. This means you can pick up a 38mm Apple Watch Series 3 for as low as $229 after a $50 discount.

➤ Buy Now

You can find all the deals on various other Apple Watch Series 3 models right here.

iPad Pro

The 10.5-inch iPad Pro might be old but it still has enough grunt for day to day tasks. You can’t really go wrong with the 10.5-inch iPad Pro especially at its discounted price. The base Wi-Fi model with 64GB of storage space has been discounted by $125 to bring its price down to $524.99. The 256GB and 512GB variants have also been discounted by a similar amount.

➤ Buy Now

iPad

Best Buy is offering a flat $100 discount on the 128GB storage variant of the 6th generation iPad. This means you can pick it up for the same price as the 32GB model: $329.99.

➤ Buy Now

Other Deals

Best Buy is offering some tempting deals on other electronic items as well. Check them out below:

You can check out all the deals currently being offered by Best Buy ahead of Black Friday over here.

---

Do you plan on taking advantage of this early Black Friday sale from Best Buy to buy anything? Drop a comment and let us know!
Like this post? Share it!

Disney+ Streaming Service Launches in Late 2019

We have known for quite some time now that Disney is planning on launching its own streaming service, and now a few more key details have been revealed.

Disney+ is Disney's streaming platform

CNBC is reporting on Thursday that Disney’s planned streaming service will be called “Disney+”, and that it will be launching sometime in the latter half of 2019. The company hasn’t nailed down an exact launch date just yet, so we don’t have anything to circle on the calendar. These revelations were delivered by Disney CEO Bob Iger during the company’s latest earnings call.

The new streaming service will feature a ton of content. It will have the standard Disney fare on there, from animated movies to live action fare, and there will also be plenty of new, original content as well. The streaming service will also be home to Marvel content. And we will also see properties from Fox (which Disney acquired particular studios for the tune of $71.3 billion) as well.

That includes new spin-off shows from movies like Star Wars: Rogue One, which will see the return of Diego Luna’s character from that film, Cassian Andor, headline a standalone TV show. There will also new new episodes of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, one of the most anticipated revivals for animated shows to date.

There’s plenty more, including a spin-off series starring Tom Hiddleston reprising his role as Loki within the Marvel Cinematic Universe films. And other ventures as well:

“Other original shows and movies include a rebooted version of The High School Musical franchise. It will also be a hub for animated content, including the next season of “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” and an new original animated series based on Pixar’s “Monsters Inc.” Exclusive movies include “Noel,” a Christmas movie about Santa’s daughter played by Anna Kendrick, and “Togo,” a movie about the 1925 Nome Serum Run starring William DaFoe.”

Something else interesting: It won’t be like Netflix insofar that Disney+ just dumps all the content into one place. Instead, it sounds like we’ll see five (or six) services in one, with each brand getting its own microsite within Disney+ as a whole, each with its own unique UI. So, if you want to find Star Wars content, there’s a dedicated place for that. Same with Marvel, Disney, Pixar, and National Geographic. Fox would more than likely get its own microsite as well. This info was shared on Twitter by TV reporter Josef Adalian:

Disney+ will do what Netflix doesn't: Its app will have microsites within it devoted to various brands: Star Wars, Marvel, Pixar, Nat Geo and Disney. And each of those brand sites will have different user interfaces. So: 5 services in 1?

— TVMoJoe (@TVMoJoe) November 8, 2018

Disney’s streaming service will also mean that the company is going to pull its content off what is obviously a major competitor, Netflix. We’ve reported previously that Netflix has been in talks with the streaming platform to keep content for Netflix subscribers, but that doesn’t appear to be what’s going to happen. Disney’s deal with Netflix to stream content ends in 2019, and with Disney+ launching at the same time, well, that content would help stock that library right out of the gate.

Now we just need to wait and see how much Disney+ is going to cost on a monthly basis.

[via CNBC]

Like this post? Share it!

The Successor to Vine is Called Byte and it Launches in 2019

It has been a while now since Twitter acquired the looping video service Vine and then subsequently shut it down. But the co-creator of that original effort is back with a new app.

Byte is the Vine replacement you've been waiting forThe successor to Vine, what was one of the most popular apps out there before its untimely demise, is called Byte, and it is created by the co-creator of Vine, Dom Hofmann. This is actually not the first time we’ve heard about this new creation. What was formerly known as “Vine version 2”, or simply “v2”, is how this all started. However, back in November of last year it was reported that v2 had been delayed indefinitely, suggesting we may never see Hofmann’s new Vine replacement.

The reasons for that indefinite delay were many, including Hofmann’s day job, funding, and more. But it looks like funding, at the very least, has been figured out, because things are now moving forward. According to Hofmann we will see the new app, now called Byte, launch in the spring of next year.

Unfortunately that’s all we know about this upcoming app, as far as a release date is concerned. No specific date to circle on the calendar just yet. Still, as a successor to Vine, we should expect to see a platform that allows for short, looping videos.

It will be interesting to see how this impacts another super popular app right now, TikTok. As we reported recently, this app has been downloaded a lot of times. Though, it is worth noting that TikTok isn’t necessarily a Vine replacement, so maybe we can live in a time where both apps are wildly successful and popular.

[via The Verge; @dhof]

Like this post? Share it!

Apple Releases macOS 10.14.1 Mojave Supplemental Update for MacBook Air(2018)

MacBook Air 2018 Features 1

Apple launched the brand new MacBook Air with Retina display earlier this week (the reviews are positive!), and now the company has followed that with a software update for the new hardware.

On Thursday, Apple released a supplemental update for macOS 10.14.1 Mojave, specifically for the new 13.3-inch MacBook Air (2018). It’s available as a direct download from the source link below, or it can be downloaded and installed as a free over-the-air (OTA) update on supported machines beginning today. Here is how Apple describes the update:

“The macOS Mojave 10.14.1 Supplemental Update improves the stability and reliability of MacBook Air (2018) computers and is recommended for all users.”

The new software measures in at 1.3GB, so it may take some time to download and install. As is par for the course with these supplemental updates for specific machines, this isn’t a broad update for all MacBooks out there. Apple released that update, macOS 10.14.1 Mojave, to the public not too long ago. And Apple is currently in the process of beta testing the desktop operating systems’ next (minor) update, macOS 10.14.2, right now

[via Apple]

Like this post? Share it!