Author: News Room
Most of Apple’s current AI ideas are roughly the same as everyone else’s AI ideas. A chatbot you can ask questions; quick ways to create or summarize text; bizarre, borderline creepy image-generation tools. The company spent most of its WWDC keynote playing catch-up with the state of the AI art, announcing Siri features you can already find on Android phones and in the Claude and ChatGPT apps. The pitch, in so many cases, is just “this thing you know, but on your iPhone now.”But a few minutes after I downloaded the first developer beta of iPadOS 26 (I didn’t want…
MacOS 27 Golden Gate will usher in a bunch of changes to the Mac when it’s released later this year, with its biggest new features revolving around Siri AI. But for now, using the first developer beta, Siri AI is only offered through a waitlist. So what’s available to try is mostly about how the upcoming operating system looks and feels.You’re not welcomed with any fanfare when you boot up the macOS 27 developer beta (that’ll probably come later), but there’s reason to celebrate. Jump to the appearance settings, and you find that Apple now has a Liquid Glass slider,…
There have been so many iPhone Fold leaks now that I’m half expecting Tim Cook to start wearing the upcoming device as a hat. But what we didn’t know for sure was how iPhone Fold apps would work on the iPad-sized inner display. There were hints earlier this year of what was possible. A tech geek showed that iOS and iPadOS are more related than many people realise. In fact, you can technically run iPad software on an iPhone. My hope was that Apple would run with this for the iPhone Ultra/Fold/Bend-o-phone. Alas, Apple has dashed my hopes, because its upcoming solution for iPhone Fold…
Marshall has announced a new version of its stylish Stockwell Bluetooth speaker, putting a new focus on repairability. The Stockwell III, the brand’s first update to this model since early 2019, features a similar design to its predecessor with a large carrying handle and speakers that pump sound in all directions, not just out the front like the iconic Marshall amps that inspired it. It will be available for purchase starting on August 4th through the company’s online store and Costco for $249.99.Battery life has been doubled from 20 hours to over 40 for the Stockwell III, but the speaker’s…
Introduction There seems to be no let up on the number of Chinese electric SUVs arriving in Europe and beyond. A new one for me recently was this, the Aion V. Produced by Chinese manufacturer GAC, the Aion V (as in Vee) does, on face value at least, look like another by-numbers exercise aimed at attracting family-focused buyers with a keen eye for value. It’s undeniably practical with interior space being a highlight, but there’s also a premium feel and a range that hovers around the 300-mile mark. Unfortunately for the Aion V, there is stiff competition. The excellent Renault…
I’ve been a fan of Philips Hue smart lights since the early days. It’s one of the few staples in my ever-changing smart home. However, when the Bridge Pro launched late last year, it wasn’t immediately obvious why I should upgrade. The signature feature, MotionAware — which turns your lights into motion sensors — is neat, but I already have motion sensors. While I run two of Hue’s standard bridges to accommodate all my lights and accessories, I’m not at a point where I need the Pro’s higher device capacity. I like the idea of faster response times thanks to…
On Tuesday, the Seattle City Council will vote on whether to enact a one-year moratorium on new data centers — just two months after several companies proposed building five large-scale centers in the city. Among the moratorium’s fiercest supporters are current employees from the city’s biggest tech giant, Amazon, who joined others to testify in support of the policy last week.Data centers have sparked protests across the country over concerns about water consumption, local electricity prices, and noise. In Seattle and the surrounding King County, the issue is coming to a head. If the city council votes in favor of…
Introduction When your biggest rival is the TikTok darling that kick-started the recent compact camera resurgence, you’ve got to do something different in order to stand out – which is why the Lumix L10 has one thing that Fujifilm’s X100VI doesn’t: a telephoto lens. With a Leica-approved 24-75mm power zoom, the Micro Four-Thirds snapper aims to get you closer to the action while staying as pocket-friendly as possible. The spiritual successor to the LX100 II also brings a new sensor, new image processor and faster autofocus system, without letting go of Panasonic’s video-first features. It even takes on the X100VI‘s…
Apple’s keynote at this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference was a big one. After months of delays, Apple reintroduced us to its AI-upgraded Siri, which will go beyond what the existing voice assistant can do by offering more personalized help. We also got a look at many other updates coming across the operating systems powering the iPhone, iPad, and Mac.You can catch up with all the biggest news in the roundup below.Image: AppleSiri is getting a bunch of AI features powered by the latest version of Apple Intelligence, which Apple worked with Google to build. Apple is calling the upgraded voice…
Apple announced an expanded toolkit for parents through its child accounts at WWDC, including a greater ability to customize kids’ allotted screen time and the ability to block gory or violent images in messages before kids see them. Raja Bose, Apple’s director of trust, safety, and values product marketing, touted some of the ways Apple believes it can be useful for kids to have access to devices. “On one hand, there’s so many benefits to your child having their own device,” Bose said. “You rest easier since you can stay in touch, know where they are, and provide them with…
Every year, Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference gives us a first look at what’s coming next to the company’s many operating systems. But missing from today’s keynote, apart from a single graphic listing all current Apple OSes next to a big “27,” was any mention of tvOS.The whole structure of this year’s WWDC was different, with features delineating the presentation structure instead of sections for each OS update. But there were still major mentions for macOS 27, iOS 27, and iPadOS 27. They’re getting Siri AI, customizable transparency options for Liquid Glass, and some new child safety features. Even visionOS was…
iOS 27 has only been out for a few hours, and I’ve been messing around with the developer beta on my iPhone 16 Pro. I was most interested in trying out the new Siri AI, but unfortunately, I’m still on Apple’s waitlist for that. In the meantime, I’ve been poking around a bunch of features that aren’t about AI and found a lot that I’m happy with — even though this doesn’t seem to be as big of an update as in previous years, the fit and finish throughout the operating system is already great to see.Here are a few…