Apple announced several upcoming enhancements to its HomeKit connected-home platform at its worldwide developer conference today. With the release of iOS 9 this fall, HomeKit will add support for motorized window shades and a raft of new sensor classes, including motion and carbon-monoxide detectors. The software already supports a limited number of
Apple is removing the training wheels for Apple Watch app makers, letting them take full advantage of the device’s hardware. Currently, Apple Watch apps can’t function without a paired iPhone, which handles not just Internet connectivity but core functions such as the app's logic. These apps also can’t tap into key hardware features such as the microphone, motion sensors, the heart monitor, and the Digital Crown. All of that’s going to change now that Apple is allowing native app development on the Watch. The new and improved apps should start to arrive this fall, alongside the release of WatchOS 2 and iOS 9.
Apple said its Siri digital assistant will soon become far more helpful, proactively—but discreetly—figuring out what you want to do before you do it. The upgrade, announced Monday at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference and expected in iOS 9, will put Siri more on a par with Google Now and Microsoft’s Cortana, reminding you when you need to leave for an appointment, queueing up your favorite jams when you hit the gym, and other helpful features. Siri fields a billion requests per week, according to Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of software engineering. Siri also responds to those requests with just a 5 percent error rate, he added.
Developers will be able to create applications that run natively on the Apple watch using a new version of the wearable device’s operating system announced Monday. CEO Tim Cook gave the announcement a brief mention during his introduction to Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) keynote at San Francisco’s Moscone West conference center. His proclamation drew cheers from the audience of developers, who will be able to do more with the Apple Watch than they could at the time of the device’s launch in April. It’s an improvement to the current state of Apple’s Watch OS, which currently requires users have their iPhones on and within range in order to work with third party apps. That limitation has been criticized by both developers and reviewers alike, since it reduces the Watch’s utility.
You can’t yet strap on a virtual reality headset to play StriVR’s set-up puts a stationary VR camera behind the line of scrimmage and then films the action. Afterward, the team’s quarterbacks, linebackers, and safeties can strap on a headset and experience practice plays in 360-degree VR, complete with sound. The Cowboys appear pretty serious about the effort, dedicating a room at their practice facility to the VR replays.
Apple devices won’t be alone in getting Showtime’s standalone streaming video service next month, as Roku and Sony’s PlayStation Vue service are also hopping on board. The $11-per-month service, simply dubbed Showtime, will launch by July 12, in time for the season premieres of Last week, Showtime announced the service with Apple as its “first partner,” but apparently this didn’t imply any sort of exclusivity. Both Apple and Roku users will get a 30-day free trial for signing up in July.
Weatherized enclosures don’t stop these versatile Bluetooth speakers from delivering surprisingly good musical performances.
Android and Windows are two very different operating systems; programs designed for one won’t normally work on the other. To get around this, you need to set up an Android virtual machine (VM) on your PC. And as a general rule, setting up a VM can be a challenge. Luckily, there’s a way around that challenge—Amercan Megatrends’
Plex gave its users an important security upgrade last week. The The new Plex feature isn’t just for Plex Plus subscribers who pay $5 per month to get a host of different features. Even free users will get the added security. The certificates work whether you are accessing a Plex media server remotely or over your local network.
If you lose your hand in an accident, a prosthetic could cost well over US$10,000. But 3D printing holds out the promise of making simple replacement hands available for far less. In a closet-sized room in Tokyo’s Akihabara electronics district, the founders of robotics startup Exiii pore over the designs for their latest prototype. It’s a basic mechanical hand and forearm made from materials that only cost about $200. It’s also open source. The Exiii Hackberry, as it’s called, has a flexible wrist, partially motorized fingers and low-cost parts such as an Arduino controller and a digital camera battery, all housed in a white 3D-printed plastic shell.
If you're into strategy and out-thinking an invading enemy, then these are the games that you should be playing.
Microsoft’s Lumia 640 is the tract home most Americans pretend to shun, but end up buying anyway: friendly, unpretentious, with an exterior that cheerfully advertises something different in just a few stock colors. Inside, it’s the same home as the rest of the block, with a few upgrades. Think of the new Windows Phone 8.1 Update 2 that powers it as the granite countertops and track lighting of Microsoft’s suburbia. And it’s cheap: just $130, according to Cricket, the first carrier to offer the phone. There’s even a move-in special, a free year’s subscription to Office 365 Personal worth $70 if you buy the phone before June 30. Once you’re settled, though, chances are you’re going to feel a bit cramped. Neighbors in the Android and iOS clubs may titter and point to the Lumia 640’s dowdy display. And always, always you’ll glance up enviously at the more luxurious homes dotting the hills: the Lumia 830s, Icons, and 930s. But thread your way through the mountains of photos that clog your living space, ease past the massive apps that fill your bedrooms, and take pride in the fact that you saved some cash.
Google Now and its “cards”—those bite-sized alerts, reminders, and personalized recommendations—are so prescient, they’re positively spooky. One such card might tell you that today’s the birthday of a close friend, while another might point out a news article that it somehow knew you’d want to click. Google Now cards may also alert you to traffic jams on the way home, thunderstorms in tomorrow’s forecast, that dinner rezzie you made for Friday, a thrilling victory by your favorite baseball team, or a hot new bistro in your neck of the woods. So, what’s going on here? Is Google Now reading our minds or something? Can these Google Now cards be controlled—or stopped?
A couple of months ago, I took a good, hard look at my dual-screen setup and thought-–Hmm. Maybe I should get another monitor. A bigger monitor. Then, after an hour or two of researching 27-inch monitors online, I walked into my living room and was struck with a brilliant idea: Maybe, instead of purchasing an entirely new monitor, I should just move my 32-inch HDTV into my office and call it a day. Bigger is better, you know, and this way I wouldn’t have to drop a couple hundred bucks on a new piece of equipment. But just because HDTVs look a heck of a lot like computer monitors doesn’t necessarily mean they can replace computer monitors. Or does it? Here’s what you need to know if you’re thinking about sticking an HDTV on your desk.
Microsoft released ISOs of the latest Windows 10 Preview build on Friday, but not all testers will be able to get the new build right away. According to For the uninitiated, Microsoft has two tracks for Windows 10 Preview testers: the Fast ring and the Slow ring. If you’re in the Fast ring, you get every Windows 10 Preview update through Windows Update as it becomes available. This means you’ll get the latest additions and changes to the Windows 10 Preview sooner, but it also means you’ll get more buggy builds. The Slow ring doesn’t receive new builds as frequently, the the builds it does get are generally more stable and less buggy.
