Tag Archives: apple

iPhone features you can’t live without

I am sitting in the audience at the Castro Theater for the San Francisco International Film Festival. The film Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far On Foot just finished and Gus Van Sant and Danny Elfman, the film’s director and composer, respectively, take the stage for an interview. I panic. “Is my iPhone on? Or …

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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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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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Qualcomm’s former CEO is launching a 5G company

Former Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs has started a company focused on wireless technology — but that doesn’t mean he’s giving up on his plans to take Qualcomm private.   The startup, called XCOM, will work to tackle issues related to next-generation mobile communications, including 5G. Qualcomm’s former president, Derek Aberle, and former chief technology officer, Matthew Grob, also have joined …

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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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New Apple App Store rules just made Steam Link and its ilk viable

A new “Remote Application Mirroring” policy in Apple’s App Store review guidelines may indicate there’s hope for Valve’s recently rejected Steam Link app. But in order to comply, the owner of the Steam gaming platform, Valve, may have to water down the app significantly compared with its Android version. Section 4.2.7 of the rules, initially pointed out by Reuters, say that …

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iOS 12 Face ID supports second face via new ‘appearance’ option, report says

Enlarge Image 9to5mac Add the ability to recognize a second person with Face ID authentication to the list of new features in iOS 12 that weren’t announced in the WWDC 2018 keynote on Monday. That’s according to a report by 9to5mac, which found the option to “set up alternate appearance” in a beta of the new operating system software for …

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Forget WWDC. Asus showed us the sexiest tech of tomorrow

Apple may be the world’s biggest tech company, but it had only the second most exciting tech event on Monday. While the iPhone maker focused on sensible-but-not-sexy updates to its iOS software, Asus played its wildest cards. Chalk the excitement up to three new announcements: the VivoWatch BP, the ZenBook Pro and — oh, that’s right — a freaking two-screen …

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Apple’s new Siri Shortcuts in iOS 12 could get annoying fast

This story is part of WWDC 2022, CNET’s complete coverage from and about Apple’s annual developers conference. I have a thing about companies like Google and Apple trying to make out like digital assistants are our friends. Although I love the technology, I find the implication of making them more human pathetically desperate and ridiculously self-serving. But to me the …

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With iOS 12 and AirPods, you can turn your iPhone into a remote mic

This story is part of WWDC 2022, CNET’s complete coverage from and about Apple’s annual developers conference. Apple’s AirPods are about to get a feature that helps you hear better.  The next version of Apple’s mobile operating system, iOS 12, will include the capability to turn your iPhone into a directional microphone. The feature, called Live Listen, has been offered …

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