June, 2018

• 6 June

  Apple’s screen addiction tools are to save the iPhone

  

  The constant dings. The aimless scrolling. The privacy worries. The neck aches.  I don’t feel healthy using an iPhone. It leaves me concerned about my mental health and questioning just how addicted my brain is to all these noisy, shallow apps. And yet this is a tool I need to do my job and survive …

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• 6 June

  We tried out Apple Memoji on iOS 12. They’re already pretty great

  

  This story is part of WWDC 2022, CNET’s complete coverage from and about Apple’s annual developers conference. Everyone’s making avatars now: Nintendo started it with its Mii in 2006, on the wildly popular Wii console. Microsoft quickly “borrowed” that idea for Xbox Avatars. Bitmoji — first an independent company, later purchased by Snap — popularized the personalized emojis on mobile …

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• 6 June

  Android P Beta 2 cooks your bacon, sets the table for dual cameras

  

  Eager to see what Android P has in store for your phone? Google just announced its Android P Beta 2, previewing what’s to come with the latest version of Android. The Android P Beta 2 marks the debut of multi-camera APIs. The API lets phones stream from two different physical cameras at the same time. This gives developers the chance to …

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• 6 June

  Apple: Honor Steve Jobs and make FaceTime open source

  

  This story is part of WWDC 2022, CNET’s complete coverage from and about Apple’s annual developers conference. I hate Skype. And though I’ve had better luck with Google Hangouts, I mostly hate it too. In 2018, it’s still a big freaking chore to meet people face-to-face over the internet, particularly for business meetings — even if your company uses something …

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• 6 June

  Cambridge Analytica chief accused of swiping $8M from the company

  

  The former chief executive of Cambridge Analytica Alexander Nix was accused on Wednesday of taking $8 million from the company ahead of its collapse. Investors backing a rebrand of the data consultancy firm are currently in a stand-off with Nix while trying to persuade him to return the money, according to the Financial Times. Nix reportedly took the money shortly …

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• 6 June

  This rotating cat poop prison cleans up your kitty litter

  

  Pets bring us such joy, but getting on your hands and knees to clean up your cat’s poop is not exactly the highlight of pet ownership. Can’t someone make it easier? Someone did. More specifically, someone built a rotating cat toilet/washing machine/kitty litter tray to deal with your animal’s mess. It’s the ideal solution for pet owners who want to …

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• 6 June

  Apple throws a lifeline to a parent drowning in digital screen time

  

  This story is part of WWDC 2022, CNET’s complete coverage from and about Apple’s annual developers conference. When my 4-year-old daughter told me she couldn’t get into bed without her “phone,” I knew it was time to rethink my own phone habits. Of course, she doesn’t have a real phone. It’s a plastic pink phone that came in a purple …

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• 6 June

  BlackBerry Key2 specs leak just a day before its launch

  

  The Blackberry Key2 has been officially revealed. And yes, it has a physical keyboard. The BlackBerry Key2 will launch Thursday, but there may not be much left to reveal. On Wednesday, mobile tipster Evan Blass tweeted out what appears to be a spec sheet for the upcoming device. He also tweeted that he expects the Key2 to cost “$649 US / …

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• 6 June

  Samsung’s headphone

  

  What if headphones didn’t have to touch your head? No earbuds falling out of your ears, no pressure on your skull. A beam of sound only you can hear, coming from tiny speakers mounted on a neckband, or perhaps an article of clothing. That’s what a few developers inside Samsung wanted to build — and they’ve just gotten permission to …

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• 6 June

  Fitbit gets quick replies and menstrual cycle tracking

  

  Fitbit finally rolls out two features users have been asking for: text response and female health tracking.  If you have Fitbit’s Versa or Ionic smartwatch, you’ll now be able to respond to texts from your phone or other messaging services like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger. The feature only works if you have an Android phone (for now) and only allows …

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