Apple’s Elusive Siri Speaker Has Entered Production

Here’s something to look forward to in 2017. Apple’s highly anticipated Siri-controlled speaker has finally entered overseas production, Bloomberg reports, and will be gracing nightstands and mantels by year’s end.

Apple’s smart speaker, which is being manufactured by the same Taiwanese company that builds its AirPods, will face stiff competition in Amazon’s Echo and Google Home. However, it has a couple of advantages. First and foremost, it will produce stellar sound and feature “virtual surround sound technology” that mimics the effect of a multi-speaker array. Bloomberg cites people familiar with the speaker who say that it will leverage advanced acoustics technology to produce louder and crisper sound compared to its rivals. The Siri speaker may even include “sensors that measure a room’s acoustics and automatically adjust audio levels during use”, the report states. It hasn’t been confirmed yet whether it will feature Beats technology, as alleged earlier this year by Apple leaker Sonny Dickinson.

The other major selling point is that the speaker will be deeply integrated with the HomeKit product lineup, allowing it to function as a hub to control other smart home appliances such as lights, locks, and thermostats. This will give HomeKit users a convenient, Siri-augmented way to control their smart gadgets. It will also entrench users further within Cupertino’s growing ecosystem and may encourage them to turn to Apple services like Apple Music.

In addition, Bloomberg reports that the smart speaker will likely support third party services, meaning you might be able to hail an Uber ride with it or send text messages by issuing voice commands to it. Veteran KGI analyst Ming-Chi Kuo also indicated earlier this month that the speaker will feature integrations with iOS, Mac, and AirPlay.

The long-awaited, standalone Siri device may debut as early as June 5 during Apple’s WWDC keynote, though it will likely be a couple months before it is ready to ship.

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Smart Speaker Wars: Amazon, Google, Essential, Apple Comparison

Among all the trends and innovations in tech made this year, the rise of the smart home speaker is likely to be one of 2017’s biggest developments. With tech giants like Apple and new underdogs like Essential going after turf largely held by Amazon and Google, it’s certainly going to be exciting to see how the battle plays out.

But to understand the smart speaker war this year, it’s a good idea to take a look at the companies and products that will be waging it. Here are four of the biggest competitors that are likely to duke it out in the smart home sphere.

Amazon Echo

When it comes to smart home speakers, it was largely Amazon who defined the category when it launched the first Echo in 2014. Since then, the Echo platform and its built-in Alexa digital assistant has seen a wide variety of upgrades — including the recent addition of video and voice calling launched alongside the new, touchscreen-equipped Echo Show.

The Echo lineup has a wide range of capabilities, many of which it shares with Google Home — like playing music, asking questions and controlling IoT and home devices. But the Echo can currently do a lot more than Google Home, because of its massive and ever-growing list of third-party “Skills” that can add additional features ranging from calling a ride-share to ordering food. If sound quality is a deciding factor for you, the flagship Amazon Echo does deliver slightly better audio.

When it comes to price accessibility, the Echo is the clear winner. While the original Echo speaker is $179.99, the Echo Dot is only $50 — significantly cheaper than current competing devices.

Google Home

Not to be outdone by Amazon, Google unveiled its Home smart speaker in November 2016. The Google Home is a powerful and capable smart speaker, with a similar range of abilities, like setting reminders, controlling smart home devices and asking about the weather. But the Home, being a newer device, does have some catching-up to do.

Despite that, the Google Home does have some key advantages. For one, it’s powered by Google’s powerhouse Assistant — which is generally considered to be more powerful than its competitors. Additionally, search results are more in-depth, as they are fed from Google’s standard-setting search engine. It also supports multiple Google accounts, and is smart enough to differentiate between users’ voices. As for video calling, the Home isn’t there yet, but Google did just recently announce a hands-free calling ability.

As far as pricing goes, the Google Home is slightly cheaper than the flagship Amazon Echo at — but still more expensive than Amazon’s cheapest speaker.

Essential Home

While the Essential Home hasn’t been released yet, its creator, Andy Rubin, certainly made a splash when he unveiled his disruptive take on the smart home speaker alongside the Essential Phone. Like Amazon’s and Google’s devices, the Essential speaker will be able to answer questions, play music and control smart home devices — but it should bring some new features to the table.

The Essential Home will have a touchscreen — and apparently, you’ll be able to interact with the device just by looking at it. The Essential will run on a new proprietary OS called Ambient which will handle most operations locally, without relying on the cloud. The Essential Home will also understand context, devices and people to help users seamlessly control various aspects of their smart home ecosystem. What makes the Essential speaker stand out is that it isn’t necessarily meant to replace an Echo or Google Home — rather, it’ll integrate with them. According to Rubin, Ambient will leverage the APIs of existing digital assistants to help users better choreograph different systems.

One of its likely standout features might be baked-in “proactive notifications.” For example, the Essential Home might alert you if your commute time changes so you can leave earlier. Among the things we don’t know about the speaker are its retail price or release date, and its success could hinge on the former criteria.

Apple’s Siri Speaker

Apple is perhaps the biggest wildcard in the smart speaker battle — at least at this point — because we don’t know much about its rumored Siri-powered speaker. The Siri speaker is expected to boast premium quality and specifications, including a powerful processor and much higher-quality audio than competing speakers.

It’ll reportedly handle all of the usual questions and smart-home controls as other speakers, and will likely feature deep integration with Apple Music and other Apple services. Siri also has the clear language advantage over other digital assistants, as it currently speaks over 20 different tongues. Despite that, Siri does lag behind other assistants as far as handling complicated queries — though that certainly might change in the near future.

While we don’t know anything about its pricing, renowned Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo suggests that its price could be much higher than its competitors — but its premium specs could justify the premium cost. As far as release date, the Siri speaker is rumored to be on the list of devices slated for unveiling at WWDC ’17, though the speaker won’t ship until later in the year.

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New 4K Drone Video Offers Sneak Peek Inside Steve Jobs Theater

Over the last year or so, we’ve seen just about every pre-completed aspect of Apple’s upcoming Campus 2 headquarters, aka Apple Park — from its earliest days of construction, to the near completion of internal elements including lighting and floor-to-ceiling glass appliqués. This week, however, we’re getting our first rare, up-close-and-personal time with Apple Park’s sprawling new Steve Jobs Theater, courtesy of high-quality 4K drone footage captured by YouTuber Matthew Roberts.

In his most recent flyover of Apple’s sprawling new campus, Roberts reported noticing that a few window coverings were recently removed from the Steve Jobs Theater — and so he decided to swoop in to see if he could get a better shot at what’s all going on with the exclusive, 1,000-seat auditorium that will serve as the future home for Apple’s major product announcements. See the video below.

While the removal of exterior window coverings might suggest that Apple’s construction team is getting awfully close to finishing its work on the vast, 120,000 sq. ft. underground auditorium, Robert’s drone footage, to the contrary, suggests that there’s still plenty of work to be done before the theater can officially open to spectators and members of the press this fall.

Aside from a few finishing touches that still need to be applied to the main Spaceship ring on campus, Apple Park’s other major peripheral structure, including the dedicated R&D building, appear to be on the cusp of completion.

The only thing that doesn’t appear to be moving along very quickly is the site’s landscaping, which still makes the property look very much like a barren construction site. When Apple first announced Apple Park earlier this year, the company touted how the premises of the property would essentially be blanketed in lush greens, grasses, and thousands of self-watering, indigenous trees. But clearly, from the footage, only a fraction of the landscaping work appears to have been executed so far.

Nevertheless, progress elsewhere on the property looks like it’s moving right along, and we can even see the presence of what appears to resemble some future outdoor seating arrangements.

Apple Park will officially be opening to the public later on this fall — likely around the same time Steve Jobs Theater will open as well. So now would definitely be an opportune time to start planning your future road trip to Apple Park.

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Can’t Find a Nintendo Switch in Stock? Sources Blame Apple

Nintendo has faced some serious supply shortage issues for its popular Switch console since launching it in March, and Apple may be the one to blame.

The Switch shortages reportedly stem from low supplies of important components like LCD display panels and memory chips — parts that Apple is gobbling up for its own products, industry sources told The Wall Street Journal. According to those sources, the strong consumer-side demand for Apple’s iPhone 7 lineup and manufacturing demand for Cupertino’s upcoming smartphones has left a dwindling supply of critical components for other companies, Nintendo included.

This apparently is due in part to the power that Apple has in the supply chain, since the Cupertino-based company is a massive customer. Because of that fact, Apple’s supply orders are being filled first, forcing other companies to have to “wait in line,” the WSJ reported. Similarly, Nintendo isn’t commenting on why supply hasn’t ramped up, and has instead boasted about the strong demand for the Switch — demand that the company believes will likely remain strong throughout the rest of the year, Fortune reported.

A hybrid device that can move seamlessly between traditional TV and mobile play, the Switch has turned out to be one of the year’s most popular gaming consoles. But the Switch is currently unavailable at many major retailers and new stock quickly sells out. It’s not clear how long Nintendo’s supply woes will last, but the company has stated that it’s working hard to alleviate supply issues. The Journal’s sources suggest that the Kyoto-based company could alleviate some of the issues by spending more on components, but since that move would likely raise the console’s prices, the company seems unwilling to do so.

If Apple is indeed the culprit, things might not be looking up for Nintendo and other companies relying on similar supply chains. Apple’s highly anticipated iPhone 8 is expected by some analysts to spur an “upgrade super-cycle” due to extremely high demand.

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Waze Will Soon Launch Unique Carpooling Service Across California

Google wants to help you arrange carpools for your commute. Waze, the company’s navigation and crowdsourced traffic information app, is reportedly expanding its carpool service to all of California on June 6 after several successful localized trials.

Waze’s carpool service has been around since 2015, but if you haven’t heard of it, it’s probably because the feature has only been rolled out in Israel, Sacramento, Monterey and the Bay Area thus far, according to the Wall Street Journal. Waze is already one of the better navigation apps, and it places particular focus on the community, crowdsourcing traffic and road information and sharing it with other drivers as well as Google’s Maps platform. With this carpooling feature, Google is taking that community focus one step further.

But while the premise might sound familiar, Waze Carpool is not looking to be a straight replacement for ride-sharing apps like Uber or Lyft. For one, drivers are capped at two riders per day, and will only make the federally mandated rate of 54 cents a mile — intended more as a way to share gas costs than as an actual side hustle. The focus seems to be on conveniently pairing riders with drivers heading in the same direction, rather than being a specific platform for drivers to make money, TechCrunch points out.

To use the service to catch a ride, you’ll need to download the separate Waze Carpool app — currently available for iOS and Android. Drivers who want to offer rides can do so in the original Waze app by opting in via a tab in the bottom-right corner, though you’ll have to be at least 21 years old to do so. The end result should be much more akin to carpooling with friends or coworkers rather than hailing a cab or ride-share — and rides will be much cheaper. The drawback, of course, is that the idea relies entirely on the fact that there will be a driver heading in the same direction as you. Despite that, Waze Carpool might be a great (and cheap) way to make your commute a little easier.

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Amazon Echo Update Adds iCloud Calendar Feature: Here’s How to Enable It

Amazon this morning announced the availability of a new software update for its range of Alexa-powered Echo devices, which will enable users to sync up their information from Apple’s iCloud Calendar with their Echo, allowing even further integration between the e-commerce-giant’s proprietary voice-assistant platform and 3rd party products like Apple’s iOS.

Along with the ability to ask Alexa “what’s coming up on my iCloud Calendar?”, the new software update will allow customers to issue add or delete commands for new calendar entries — such as to add or remove a scheduled appointment. The most useful factor of all, is that anything added or deleted to your iCloud Calendar via your Alexa-powered Echo device will automatically sync across your entire line of Apple macOS/iOS devices.

“iCloud Calendar support has been a top requested feature from Alexa customers, and we’re thrilled to bring this to Alexa devices in US, UK and Germany today,” Amazon said, while adding that “Starting today, you can now link your Apple iCloud Calendar to Alexa. Once [your accounts] are linked, just say, ‘Alexa, what’s on my calendar today?’ or ‘Alexa, add lunch with Sarah at noon to my calendar.’”

How to Sync iCloud Calendar with Amazon Echo

If you’d like to sync your Alexa-powered Echo device with your iCloud account to enable Calendar syncing..

1. Download and access the Alexa iOS app.
2. From there, select the Settings tab from the menu bar.
3. Sign into your Apple account by entering your iCloud ID and password.

Along with support for Apple Calendar/iCloud integration, Amazon announced that the new update will also enable Alexa-powered device owners to access their accounts for G Suite, Google/Gmail, Office 365 users with Exchange Online, and via Outlook.com.

Amazons claims the new update will be available beginning today, May 31st, to customers in the United States, United Kingdom, and Germany — the only places where Amazon’s Alexa services are currently available.

Alexa-powered voice-assistant services are available on a variety of hardware devices manufactured and sold by Amazon, including the Echo, Echo Dot, Echo Look, and the all-new Echo Show. Interestingly, Amazon’s move to broaden Alexa integration with devices like the iPhone and iPad comes as Apple — perhaps even as early as next week at WWDC 2017 — is expected to unveil a premium Siri-only speaker device, which will directly compete with Amazon’s Echo family of offerings.

Will you be syncing your iCloud Calendar with your Echo device, or will you be holding out for one of Apple’s upcoming Siri speakers? Let us know in the comments!

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Apple Cofounder Says Tesla, Not Apple, Will Make the Next Great Innovation

The future will probably be born in Silicon Valley. But the next greatest innovation in technology will likely be from Elon Musk’s Tesla, not Apple, at least according to Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak.

When asked who in Silicon Valley — or beyond — will likely make the next moonshot innovation, Wozniak didn’t go with the company that he co-founded. “I think Tesla is on the best direction right now. They’ve put an awful lot of effort into very risky things,” Wozniak told Bloomberg Canada in a recent interview. “I’m going to bet on Tesla.” Earlier in the interview, Wozniak pointed out that self-driving cars and transportation technology will likely be the next “moonshots” in tech — areas that Musk and the Palo Alto-based Tesla place particular focus.

The Apple founder also contended that true innovation typically comes from young people — not big business — who aren’t necessarily aware that their ideas might be risky, offering Facebook, Google and Tesla as examples. Wozniak went on to add that the best products spring from an individual’s own wants and hobbies, using Tesla’s Model S as an example, which he said didn’t make much sense in engineering terms. “It was really built for Elon’s own life. What car would he like? And when things come from yourself, knowing what you’d like very much and being in control of it … that’s when you get the best products.”

This, of course, parallels Wozniak’s early endeavors with Apple — computers were his own passion. Wozniak is best known for founding Apple Computers in 1976 alongside Steve Jobs and Ronald Wayne, and for being the technical genius behind the company’s earliest tech and innovation. In fact, Wozniak single-handedly designed and built the Apple I computer kits that launched what is now the world’s largest company. This makes his recent comments all the most intriguing, especially considering that Wozniak still owns a sizable amount of stock in Apple.

Apple is on track to be the world’s first trillion dollar company, and the company is still innovating in fields such as artificial intelligence and sustainability. But whether the next big thing will come out of Cupertino or Palo Alto remains to be seen.

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Regulatory Filings Hint 9 New Apple Devices Are Coming Soon

Apple is gearing up to launch as many as five new Mac computers and four new iOS devices, according to data discovered in routine regulatory filings submitted to the Russian government, which were first spotted online this morning by Consomac.

Specifically, the data reveals new product identifier numbers for multiple new macOS and iOS devices, whose identifiers are respectively different from their existing ones in Apple’s system.

New macOS Devices

The data reveals the presence of five macOS devices — A1289, A1347, A1418, A1419, and A481. In comparison, Apple’s current 13- and 15-inch MacBook Pro models with OLED Touch Bar are identified as A1706 and A1707 in Apple’s system, respectively. Meanwhile, Apple’s early-2015 MacBook Pro is listed as A1534; and the latest 13-inch MacBook Air is listed as A1466.

New iOS Devices

Similarly, the data pertinent to iOS devices reveals the presence of four new identifiers — models A1670, A1671, A1701, and A1709. Apple’s current 9.7-inch iPad Pro models, in comparison, are listed as A1584 and A1652 — while the current 12.9-inch iPad Pro is listed as either A1673, A1674, or A1675.

Aside from the new identifiers, and the OS version affiliated with each one, the documents don’t reveal any additional details about the products, themselves, or even about a tentative launch date for them. We can, however, infer that whatever these new products are, they are likely coming sooner rather than later — since it wouldn’t make much sense for Apple to go out of its way and file all this necessary regulatory paperwork months ahead of actually launching the newly identified product, now would it?

While there are not guarantees, if indeed these identifier numbers are accurate and Apple is in fact planning to unveil a mess of new products during next week’s WWDC keynote, the move would come amid a cyclone of reports suggesting that Apple has a jam-packed WWDC event is in store for this year. Not only will the company showcase the next-generation of its major software titles, including iOS 11, macOS 10.13, tvOS 11, and watchOS 4, but it’s also been rumored in several capacities that Apple will showcase new products at this year’s WWDC, too.

First and foremost among them is a new Siri-enabled speaker system, which would go head-to-head with competition like the new Echo Show from Amazon. We could also see Apple unveil a new 10.5-inch iPad Pro at WWDC, according to famed and historically accurate KGI Securities analyst, Ming-Chi Kuo, who suggested there was a “70% chance” that Apple’s new iPad could touch down at WWDC. Finally, and most recently, Bloomberg Technology analyst Mark Gurman predicted that Apple will unveil as many as three refreshed MacBook models at WWDC, which will kick off next Monday, June 5, at 10 am PST.

Whether or not these identifier numbers pertain to these upcoming products remains unknown, but it certainly won’t be long until we find out. Join us next Monday starting at 10 am PST for all the major announcements and live coverage of WWDC 2017.

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How to Translate Webpages in Safari on iPhone or iPad

Although Safari is a feature-rich browser and contains many essential features, one important functionality that is still missing is the automatic translation of web pages. Other browsers, such as Google Chrome, allow you to translate web pages on the spot, but you’d be surprised to know that Safari has had this capability for a long time.

Apple allows third-party developers to create extensions for Safari which integrate with the browser. In the same way, you can install a third-party app that offers an extension for translating web pages. One such app is Microsoft Translator.

In this tutorial, we’ll show you how to translate webpages in Safari on iPhone or iPad using the Microsoft Translator app.

How to Translate Webpages in Safari on iPhone or iPad

Step 1: Download and install Microsoft Translator from the App Store.

Step 2: Open Safari and tap on the share sheet icon in the bottom menu bar.

Step 3: Scroll to the end of the activities row and tap on the More button.

Step 4: A list of available extensions is displayed. Find Microsoft Translator in the list and toggle it on. You can also reposition its place by tapping and holding the grabber next to the toggle and moving it to the top of the list. Once you’re finished, tap on the Done button in the top right corner.

Step 5: Now you’ll see the Microsoft Translator extension in the activities row. When you’re on a web page which you wish to translate, tap on the share sheet icon and then select Microsoft Translator from the activities row. Within a few seconds, the entire web page will be translated to your preferred language.

How to Choose Your Preferred Language for Translation

Microsoft Translator automatically detects your preferred language based on your device’s language settings. However it is possible to change it via the app’s settings.

• Open Microsoft Translator app and then tap on the settings icon in the bottom right corner.
• Tap on Safari Translation Language.
• Now choose your preferred language.

This is how you can translate webpages in Safari on iPhone or iPad. Using this method, you no longer have to depend on third-party web browsers such as Google Chrome. You can take advantage of the translation extension offered by third-party apps to quickly translate webpages in Safari.

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Report Finds Millennials Haven’t Killed the TV Screen..Yet

Millennials have been credited with dramatically changing the landscape of television and how it is viewed in the US. Over the past few years, they’ve taken to forgoing traditional cable subscriptions in favor of Netflix and other over-the-top streaming services, and viewing more content on mobile devices and laptops. But that doesn’t mean they’ve cut the cords to their TV screens, which still remain the most popular method of viewing video in the US by a long shot.

Actual TVs Dominate Video Viewing Minutes

Even as a variety of devices capable of playing video proliferate, a surprising new report by Nielsen states that a whopping 92.4 percent of the video-viewing done by US adults (aged 18 and over) is still takes place on TV screens. More specifically, 82.1 percent of the time adults spent watching content (over 509 billion minutes) in fourth quarter 2016 occurred on a TV. An additional 10.3 percent (more than 63.6 billion minutes) of that time was spent watching movies or shows on a TV-connected device like the Apple TV and Amazon Fire TV.

“The fact of the matter is that viewers use the TV screen for the bulk of their viewing and spend more time doing so than all the other platforms combined,” said Tom Ziangas, vice president of research at AMC Networks. “Sure, viewers have more options today, but when looking at platforms in a comparative fashion, it’s clear that consumers choose the television as the primary vehicle for content”.

By contrast, Nielsen found that the combined viewing share of computers, smartphones, and tablets accounted for less than 8 percent of the gross share of viewing in the last three months of 2016, in spite of the fact that they are portable. Computers, coming in at a distant third, made up 5.1 percent of video-watching minutes and the ubiquitous smartphone accounted for a mere 1.8 percent. And surprisingly, Nielsen observed that TV’s dominance as the viewing platform of choice held true for every age group (though it didn’t provide demographic breakouts of their data in the report).

“What we found was that contrary to the popular narrative that smaller screens were taking away time from the TV glass, when we looked deeper we found that overall time spent viewing on the TV had the most minutes among every age or ethnic demographic looked at. In some cases the share of viewing was as much as 97%,” said Peter Katsingris, vice president of audience insights at Nielsen.

While the report doesn’t offer reasons as to why TVs remain the dominant screen for watching video across every age demographic, it’s fair to guess that screen size plays a significant role. There’s no contest between watching a film the way it was meant to be viewed on a widescreen TV and squinting at one on a mobile device that can fit in your pocket– especially if you’re watching with friends.

Millenial Viewing Habits

Millennials (ages 18-34) may not have parted ways with their TV screens- which remain the centerpiece of many living rooms in households across the US- but their viewing habits markedly differ from those of adults 35 and older. For one, Millennials spend less time watching traditional cable television. As broadband internet spreads throughout the US, they’ve been abandoning traditional cable subscriptions in droves and have turned to streaming video on demand from TV-connected devices. TV-connected devices account for 23 percent of Millennials’ total video consumption compared to just 6 percent for adults 35 and older. As a result, Millennials spend just 66 percent of their viewing time watching traditional TV compared to 89 percent for adults 35 and older. Nielsen reports that the most popular brands for digital streaming devices are the Apple TV and Roku, followed by Amazon Fire TV and Google Chromecast.

And while they prefer to watch video on TV screens, smartphones have been gaining ground in other ways. More Millennials use their smartphones each week than they use their TVs. According to Nielsen, 79 percent of Millennials use their TVs each week compared to 91 percent for smartphones. These young adults also spend more time on their smartphones per week (19 hours and 39 minutes) than they do watching TV (19 hours and 18 minutes).

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‘Carpool Karaoke: The Series’ Debuts on Apple Music This August

Apple’s first original television series, “Carpool Karaoke,” will debut on Apple Music in early August, the company announced today in a press release.

“Carpool Karaoke: The Series” will feature a wide range of celebrity pairs buckling up, singing songs, and undoubtedly having some entertaining discussions. The first season will feature 16 thirty-minute episodes, each with a different host and guest, ranging from Shakira and Trevor Noah to Sophie Turner and Maisie Williams. New episodes will premiere exclusively to Apple Music subscribers on Tuesdays.

Apple’s version of Carpool Karaoke is based on the viral segment of The Late Late Show with James Corden. Apple bought the rights to the show last year and released the first trailer for the series in February (it was originally set to debut in April, but has since been delayed). And while Apple will stream its version of the show solely to Apple Music subscribers, Carpool Karaoke will continue to be a recurring segment on The Late Late Show. Additionally, James Corden will serve as a producer for the Apple series and will also appear in several episodes.

In addition to being Apple’s first TV series, the spin-off is also part of a larger effort by the company to revitalize its streaming service. Cupertino is expected to bring a wide range of original video content to Apple Music when iOS 11 rolls out, including Carpool Karaoke and a Shark Tank-like show for app developers hosted by will.i.am, appropriately named “Planet of the Apps”.

“Carpool Karaoke: The Series” will be available to Apple Music subscribers in over 100 countries starting Tuesday, August 8.

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Insane iPhone Case Doubles as an Espresso Machine

We love our smartphones, and many of us like (or even depend on) coffee. So why not combine the two? That may sound like the premise for a parody product, but one Italian company is taking that idea and running with it.

Enter Mokase. It’s a phone case that doubles as a portable espresso machine. It works by using a special cartridge that fits into the case itself, and is heated up by a built-in battery. Plastic and heat typically doesn’t marry well, so the Mokase uses an aluminum-silicon alloy pipe to actually dispense the hot espresso without any toxins once it’s reached the proper temperature — between 50 and 60 degrees Celsius (about 122 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit). The result is a small shot of espresso, about 25ml worth, which is slightly less than the standard shot size of 29ml (one ounce).

To use it, you simply insert the proprietary, wafer-like vacuum cartridge into the case. From here, you open up the corresponding Mokase app to initiate the heating and dispensing process. It’s not really clear whether the case’s battery requires separate charging, or whether it somehow charges along with the smartphone itself. As far as the coffee goes, Mokase is apparently debuting three flavors to start: Classic, Toasted and Arabic (although there similarly isn’t much information about the coffee beans or how they’re sourced). The phone case itself is being made in a variety of versions to fit popular smartphone models from the likes of Apple, Samsung or LG.

Mokase originally debuted on Kickstarter, but funding for the project was apparently suspended on May 8 (for unknown reasons). If you’re interested in picking up an espresso-dispensing phone cover, you can still preorder a Mokase on the company’s website for about $56. You can also order the disposable coffee cartridges separately in packs of 15, 30 or 50 for $10, $18.50 and $28, respectively.

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Shocking Comparison Reveals Apple Maps Lags Far Behind Google

Following the arguably disastrous launch of Apple Maps back in September, 2012, the Cupertino-company has taken a more hardline stance on its proprietary, point-to-point directions and voice-guided navigation platform — ensuring customers, time and time again, that its working aggressively to implement features that would bring the fledging Apple Maps utility up to par with competition like Google Maps.

A new update on Apple’s actual progress, which was compiled by Justin Beirne, has revealed that the company accomplished — well, very little, actually — in its ‘ongoing attempt’ to bring the vast feature set and coverage offered by Google Maps to the Apple Maps platform.

Google Maps vs. Apple Maps

While Apple Maps has been a ‘work-in-progress’ since its debut, the comparison shows not only the extent to which Google pushes updates to its mapping platform, but also just how far ahead of the curve Google is in the overall mapping space. Specifically, the comparison shows the respective improvements to Google Maps and Apple Maps over a 12-month period of time — with updates on progress captured at one-month intervals, spanning a full year.

Beirne’s comparison focuses on a stretch of Patricia’s Green Park located in Hayes Valley, San Francisco, and shows the progress by which Apple and Google made changes to their mapping platforms, respectively. In the end, a whole year’s worth of tracking the same stretch of land on both iOS and Android devices has revealed, quite simply, that Google is much farther ahead of the curve, and is able to push updates to its Mapping program much faster than Apple is.

Not only did Apple Maps change at a snail’s pace, but the comparison revealed that the information added to Apple Maps wasn’t as accurate as that provided by Google. For instance, while Google Maps’ data on the structures and businesses surrounding Patricia’s Green Park changed multiple times over the year, Apple Maps, meanwhile, is still missing the majority of this information, altogether.

In a specific example, Apple Maps appears to show the same location being occupied by three separate auto servicing businesses; while Google Maps, on the other hand, provides different information for each of them. More puzzling, however, is that Apple Maps appears to cycle through location information as the months progress — in other words, the business locations change and, in some instances, are either removed or changed back with each successive update.

Google has been ramping up its Maps platform over the past year — while Apple has, quite evidently, been floundering as it tries to bring Apple Maps up to an acceptable level of dependability. What’s interesting and worth noting is that Apple initially sought to replace Google Maps with Apple Maps back in 2012 — even despite the app’s disastrous launch, complete with a letter of apology to Apple’s customers promising that the company would “keep improving” the service over time. Even after all this time, though, Apple Maps doesn’t appear anywhere near ready to dance with its rival in the mapping space.

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Android Creator Debuts His High-End ‘Essential’ Smartphone

The smartphone market has long been dominated by giants, namely Apple and Samsung. But the developer of the Android operating system wants to shake things up — and today debuted a range of products hoping to do just that.

Essential, the company started by Android inventor Andy Rubin, has unveiled its first smartphone, as well as an Amazon Echo-like device and a new home operating system that it calls “Ambient.” The phone, of course, is the most anticipated of those products. It’s a high-end Android-based device with the features and specs to match. It’ll ship with the usual flagship hardware — like a Qualcomm 835 processor, 4GB of memory and 128GB of internal storage. The Essential will also come equipped with what the company calls “the world’s thinnest dual camera system,” and the front-facing selfie camera will be capable of 8-megapixel photos and 4K video.

Perhaps the most stunning feature is the device’s edge-to-edge, nearly bezel-free display (which will likely turnout to be the standout iPhone 8 feature of 2017). The Essential’s display manages to outdo even the Galaxy S8’s impressive screen by reaching the very top of the device, wrapping around the front-facing camera. Additionally, the company says that it’s built with a combination of titanium and ceramic so it can survive a drop “unlike the aluminum competitor devices,” taking an obvious swipe at Apple’s and Samsung’s flagships.

Beyond its impressive specs and display, the phone is likely to be the latest attempt at creating a modular phone. While the phone has a USB-C port, the company is also debuting a new way of connecting accessories via small metal pins.

Some of those accessories will include a detachable 360-degree camera, and a charging dock with a magnetic connector. On the subject of ports, the Essential phone won’t have a headphone jack, though there will be an included dongle.. Another interesting tidbit is the fact that the phone will also lack any sort of logos or branding — and it’s worth venturing that the phone’s OS probably won’t be bogged down with sluggish, preloaded software, either.

Whether the Essential phone will be able to stand up to Apple and Samsung remains to be seen, but Rubin’s latest initiative is still exciting. It’ll retail for $699, and will launch exclusively in the U.S. to start. There’s no official word on shipping date or carrier availability, however — but it should be available for most major carriers in the U.S.

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Download Our iPhone 8 Concept Wallpapers

Our iPhone 8 concept images have garnered a lot of attention in the Apple community and from respected news outlets including Forbes, Business Insider, Fortune, Apple Insider, MacRumors, CNET, BGR, and many more. And while the main attractions are the iPhone 8 concepts themselves, many iPhone users can’t help but notice their beautiful wallpapers. If you’re seeking a cool and unique new wallpaper for your iPhone, look no further. See the wallpapers found in iDrop News’ iPhone 8 concept images below.

How to Download and Set an iPhone Wallpaper

1. Tap on your favorite wallpaper below to expand it.
2. Lightly press and hold on the image for two seconds.
3. Tap ‘Save Image’ on the subsequent popup menu.
4. Press the Home button.
5. Open the Photos app.
6. Tap on your chosen wallpaper.
7. Tap the Share icon on the bottom left corner of your iPhone’s screen.
8. On the bottom row of the share menu, scroll through the icons and find ‘Use as Wallpaper’.
9. Tap ‘Set’, and then choose which screens you’d like your wallpaper to display on.

iPhone 8 Wallpaper Gallery

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North Korean Company Breaches Apple’s ‘iPad’ Trademark

In most of the world, iPad has one meaning: Apple’s flagship brand of tablets. Now, however, in the reclusive country of North Korea, iPad means something else entirely. A North Korean firm is currently advertising a domestically produced tablet under the “iPad” brand — a name that is currently trademarked by Apple. An ad for the product, called the Ryonghung iPad, ran in the latest edition of the DPRK-based Foreign Trade magazine, according to NK News.

According to the ad’s copy, the Ryonghung iPad is “now popular among customers.” Its features include reading “digital information, office work and documentation,” and the ad boasts that the platform currently hosts “more than 40 apps.” On the spec side, the Ryonghung tablet has 1GB of memory, an 8GB “hard disk” and a 4-core, 1.2GHz processor. It does, on the other hand, come with a keyboard and HDMI connectivity — two things that are currently only add-on features of Apple’s tablet. While the North Korean tablet apparently boasts “network connection,” the ad suggests that additional apps must be pre-loaded on SD cards.

While the Ryonghung tablet is unremarkable in basically every aspect, it’s notable because it likely infringes on Apple’s trademarks, according to Cupertino’s trademark guidelines. It also seems to be the first widespread use of a famous American trademark in the country — though the country has produced a carbon-copy of Apple’s macOS system called “Red Star 3.0.” While the economy in the DPRK is tightly controlled, there exists a thriving gray market for foreign-made electronic devices, and North Korean companies apparently aren’t above “borrowing” ideas, features and names from American firms. The Ryonghung tablet also looks suspiciously similar to a heavily stripped-down Android device spotted in 2013.

But while the Ryonghung iPad may be a blatant breach of Apple’s trademark, the company that produced it either doesn’t care, or is banking on the fact that Apple is unlikely to head into the hermit kingdom to defend its trademark.

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Select MacBook and iPhone Models Might Soon Lose Apple Repair Support

An internal document that was shared over the weekend with 9to5mac reveals that a trove of Apple-branded products will no longer be eligible to receive repairs from Apple Stores or Apple Authorized 3rd party service providers beginning June 30, 2017.

“On Friday, June 30, 2017, the products listed below will be classified as either vintage or obsolete in Asia-Pacific, Canada, Europe, Japan, Latin America, the United States, and Apple Retail Stores,” the memo reads, while providing a direct link to Apple’s continuously-updated list of vintage and/or out-of-coverage products.

Which Products Will Become Obsolete?

Among the myriad of MacBook models that will soon be laid out to pasture, Apple will be discontinuing support for both the 11- and 13-inch MacBook Air from mid-2011, the 13-, 15-, and 17-inch MacBook Pro models from late-2011, as well as the 17-inch MacBook Pro from mid-2009.

Joining those aforementioned MacBook Air and MacBook Pro models will be the company’s first-generation 802.11n AirPort Express wireless adapter. Likewise, Apple plans to transition both 16 GB and 32 GB variants of its 2009-era iPhone 3GS handset to obsolete status by June 30th.

Does Apple Usually Do This?

Apple has in the past called for similar transitions, where certain products are slated to be granted obsolete status. Typically, this transition occurs within 5-7 years of the product’s manufacturing being discontinued, and essentially implies that, at such point, customers will no longer be able to go through Apple’s standard or certified third-party service providers to have their devices repaired.

Most recently, back in November 2016, the iPhone-maker transitioned most of its mid-2009 line of MacBook Pros, MacBook Airs, and the late-2009 Mac mini to obsolete status. And, prior to that, Apple in early 2016 transitioned its iPhone 4, late-2010 MacBook Air, as well as its 2nd and 3rd generation AirPort Extreme routers to obsolete status.

Interestingly, this round of Apple product transitions to obsolete status will be somewhat different, at least in comparison to similar product shifts in the past. That’s because, according to the screenshot below, Apple will apparently continue offering repairs and support for a number of the aforementioned devices for an additional two-years after they’ve transitioned to “obsolete status.” Apple claims that is because, at least in Turkey and California, the list of products — including MacBook Airs, MacBook Pros, and more — will first transition to “vintage status” for two-years, during which the company will continue offering repair support, prior to the products becoming truly obsolete sometime in 2019.

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Apple’s Stock System Hints MacBook Pro Refresh Is Looming

In a move that could suggest a MacBook Pro refresh is impending, Apple over the weekend updated its online store to reflect that new orders for the company’s 15-inch MacBook Pro with OLED Touch Bar won’t ship until at least June 6, 2017. What’s most interesting about this date is that it coincides nicely with Apple’s upcoming Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2017, which kicks off with a keynote address on the morning of Monday June 5th.

While not entirely foretelling, however, the timing of the stock updates on Apple’s 15-inch MacBook Pro would seemingly confirm rumors of an impending refresh.

WWDC has traditionally been reserved as an exposition for Apple software and app development, however in a recent report, Bloomberg Technology analyst, Mark Gurman, predicted that Apple will deliver a MacBook refresh at WWDC this year. While the update could include refreshes to as many as three different MacBook and MacBook Pro models, however, the 15-inch MacBook Pro, in particular, is the only model that reflects a shipping delay on Apple’s website.

Should Apple step up and deliver a refreshed trio of MacBook models next week, they will more than likely feature a design and component layout similar to their previous generation MacBook and MacBook Pro models, respectively, while internally boasting a bevy of next-generation components such as Intel’s Kaby Lake CPU.

Since Apple has in recent years exhibited a somewhat scattered release schedule for new MacBooks models, we’d nevertheless recommend taking this all in with a heaping grain of salt until the show kicks off next week, as Apple could ultimately have much different plans in mind. Back in 2015, for instance, the company released both a 13- and 15-inch MacBook Pro variant in March and May, respectively. And back in 2012, similarly, Apple unveiled its first-ever 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display at WWDC in June, prior to following up with a 13-inch variant later that October. So while we could get lucky and have a trifecta of new MacBooks tossed our way at WWDC 2017, it’s also possible that we’ll only get one, or two — or none at all — at least for right now.

Meanwhile, refreshed MacBooks aren’t the only surprise Apple could have in store for us at WWDC this year. According to a spat of recent rumors, Apple could also use its keynote to show off other new products including a premium Siri-powered speaker system — a la Amazon’s newly launched Echo Show — and even a new 10.5-inch iPad Pro model, which according to KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has a 70% chance of being unveiled at WWDC next week.

As always, we’ll be covering WWDC live as the event unfolds, starting at 10:00 am Pacific Standard Time next Monday; so be sure to check back with us for updates and information on all the exciting new products and upcoming software that Apple has in store for 2017.

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Leak Confirms iPhone 8 Will Be Larger Than iPhone 7 in Every Way

How to Hide Pictures You Don’t Want Others to See in Google Photos

Google Photos is a pretty well-rounded and handy app for automatically storing and sorting your photos in the cloud. Of course, there are cases in which automatic uploads just aren’t preferable. This is particularly true if you happen to share a Google Photos account with family members or a significant other.

Thankfully, Google has introduced a feature that’ll help keep your embarrassing selfies or risqué photos from inadvertently popping up in your Cloud at the worst possible moment. It’s called Archive, and is currently available for the iOS, Android and desktop versions of Google Photos. Here’s how to use it.

1. Open the Google Photos app.
2. Select the photos that you don’t want people to see.
3. Tap on the three-dot menu in the upper-right corner of the app.
4. Tap the Archive button.

From here, you’re photos will disappear from the primary Google Photos feed, but they won’t be gone for good. If you want to view your archived photos, just tap on the main menu button in the upper-left corner. You should see an option that says “Archive” — this is where those archived photos will live. Tap on the Archive button and you’ll see all of those photos organized by date.

Note: these photos will still show up in albums or appear in search results — so if you’re really concerned, it might be a good idea to just delete certain photos entirely.

While hiding photos you don’t want others to see is the first use that comes to mind, the Archive feature could also be a great way to make your main feed a bit more uncluttered. For example, you can temporarily hide repetitive pictures, screenshots of conversations or any other photos that you don’t want cluttering your feed, but still want to keep.

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5 iPad Pro Keyboard Shortcuts to Boost Productivity

Apple commonly markets the iPad Pro as a replacement for a laptop — and they’re not wrong. Combined with an external keyboard, an iPad Pro is a worthy competitor to many of today’s leading tablet-notebook hybrids. Adding further to its usefulness as a computer is the fact that the iPad Pro shares many of the same handy keyboard shortcuts as the Mac. Here are five that you should know.

5. Take a Screenshot

Just like on a Mac, holding down Command + Shift + 3 on the iPad Pro takes a picture of your current screen. The only real difference is that, instead of ending up on your desktop, the screenshots are conveniently saved to your iPad Pro’s camera roll.

4. Edit and Format Text Like a Pro

You can easily style your text while typing on an iPad Pro with a variety of keyboard shortcuts. For example, highlight a portion of text and hit Command + B to bold it, Command + I to italicize it, or Command + U to underline it.

Hold down Command and use the + or – keys to increase and decrease the text size (respectively). Command + C and Command + V are the shortcuts for copy and paste, also respectively.

On a similar note, when editing text, you can hit the Esc key to bring up and hide the iPad Pro’s touch keyboard — perfect for adding emoji into your text, or using an app that installs its own custom keyboard.

3. Open up the App Switcher

Use Command + Tab to open up the app switcher — another handy Mac port. Once it’s open, keep Command held down and use the Tab key to quickly switch between apps. Once you release the Command key, the iPad will switch to the app you’ve highlighted.

2. Open Spotlight

Holding down Command + Space will bring up the Spotlight bar. From here, you can search for contacts, apps, music, emails and iMessages, locations (to use in Maps), information on the web, and a lot more. If your desired result is first in the list, just hit Enter. Otherwise, you can use the iPad Pro’s arrow keys to select the result you want.

1. Find even more Keyboard Shortcuts

Perhaps the handiest iPad Pro keyboard shortcut to keep in mind (and really one of the only ones that it doesn’t share with the Mac) is a long press of the Command key. Holding down this key for a second brings up a contextual overlay which lets you know the keyboard shortcuts available in the specific app that you’re using.

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iPhone 8 Case Shows Size Comparison Between iPhone 7 and 7 Plus

A protective case that was allegedly designed for Apple’s upcoming iPhone 8 flagship surfaced earlier this week on Alibaba, at which point it was almost immediately scooped up by the popular Japanese blog, Macotokara, who subsequently put the case through a series of thoughtful comparisons — complete with a short YouTube video that’s viewable below — of the relative size disparity between Apple’s yet-to-be-announced flagship and its iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus predecessors.

While we’ve previously seen our fair share of iPhone 8 case leaks, which have all but confirmed the handset’s expected new design and feature arrangement, what truly sets the Macotokara leaks apart is that the blogger compares and contrasts the iPhone 8 case with iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus — offering, for the very first time, a thorough view of the iPhone 8’s size in relation to that of Apple’s existing iPhone models. The photos, assuming their legitimacy, also give us a clearer look at where the iPhone 8 will fit into Apple’s existing iPhone lineup.

One thing that clearly stands out in the images is what rumors have been suggesting for the last several months: that Apple’s iPhone 8 will embody a footprint not much larger than the iPhone 7 — albeit smaller in both width and height than the iPhone 7 Plus. What’s more, even despite its seemingly “middle-field” position in Apple’s lineup, the iPhone 8 is expected to be amassed almost entirely by a nearly edge-to-edge OLED display, which according to rumors could measure in at a whopping 5.8-inches, as well as a Touch ID sensor mounted underneath the front display glass.

What can also be seen, as was previously hinted at, too, is the iPhone 8 will not be much wider than the 4.7-inch iPhone 7 — despite being slightly taller, as you can see below, and noticeably thicker, according to Macotokara. Recently leaked schematics suggest that the iPhone 8 could measure in at 144 mm tall x 71 mm wide x 7.7 mm thick — in comparison to the iPhone 7’s footprint of 138.3 mm tall x 67.1 mm wide x 7.1 mm thick.

Aesthetically, the iPhone 8 case also appears to have a cutout designed for the vertically mounted dual-lens camera system — a feature exclusive to the iPhone 8, which was first rumored by iDrop News back in March when it was revealed that the high-end flagship could also be called the iPhone Edition.

Nevertheless, we highly recommend taking this comparison with a grain of salt until further notice, especially seeing as how Apple has been actively testing multiple iPhone 8 prototypes in the wild. Therefore, which model will ultimately enter mass-production is anyone’s guess at this point.

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How an iPhone Saved the Life of One Manchester Bombing Victim

An iPhone handset has been accredited with saving the life of a woman who was badly injured in this week’s terrorist-related bombing at the Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, United Kingdom, according to a report published by BBC News.

The publication reports that the iPhone device, belonging to concertgoer Lisa Bridgett, allegedly “diverted and slowed” a nut which had penetrated her cheek. Prior to penetrating her cheek, however, the nut — a fragment from the explosive devices placed inside the Manchester arena — first passed through the iPhone that Bridgett was speaking on at the time of the blast.

“Lisa Bridgett, of Pwllheli, had been using the phone after the Ariana Grande concert on Monday when the explosion caused a steel nut to hit her,” the report alleges, while adding that “She lost a middle finger before the nut went through her phone and her cheek, ending up lodged in her nose.”

Bridgett’s husband, Steve Bridgett, believes that his wife’s iPhone may have diverted and slowed down the nut, causing it to get lodged in her nose rather than continuing on its trajectory and potentially causing even further damage to her cranial cavity, or even death.

Bridgett and her daughter, along with her daughter’s friend, attended the Ariana Grande concert on Monday night at the Manchester arena, where a suicide blast carried out by Salman Abedi and his accomplices resulted in the death of 22 innocent civilians, and injured as many as 64 others — some critically.

Bridgett, who underwent surgeries on Tuesday and Thursday of this week to repair damages caused by the blast, reported being in “a positive mood” and feeling “very lucky to be alive,” according to a statement issued by her husband.

Mrs. Bridgett’s case represents a truly unique instance in which an iPhone was able to provide its owner with unplanned protection from potentially fatal damages. While we’re constantly hearing tales about exploding iPhones and even iPhone spontaneously melting into geothermal goo, it’s seldom if ever that we have come across a story like Lisa Bridgett’s — about an iPhone actually preventing harm to its owner.

Of course, there was that one time some inquisitive YouTuber’s decided to see how many iPhones it would take to stop the force of an AK-47’s bullet (hint: it’s more than one), but besides that, we really don’t have anything like Lisa Bridgett’s situation to draw comparisons between. If indeed her iPhone device was able to “slow and divert” the flying shrapnel, as her husband has adamantly suggested, then Bridgett is truly a lucky survivor who, while in the wrong place at the wrong time, was unknowingly grasping a shield in the palm of her hand.

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Reliable Report Backs up iPhone 8 Display-Embedded Touch ID Rumors

It would be an understatement to say that there’s been a lot of back-and-forth on the topic of the iPhone 8’s Touch ID. And if you’re in the camp that hates the idea of a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor, a new report published Friday might be good news.

The Economic Daily News report, via DigiTimes, claims that this year’s flagship iPhone will do away with the iconic Home button — that’s something we already know. But, interestingly, the EDN also reported that the iPhone 8 (or iPhone Edition) will feature an optical fingerprint sensor that would allow users to authenticate Touch ID by placing their finger directly on the OLED screen. An optical fingerprint sensor makes sense, as current optical technology can work through glass. But it’s an interesting deviation from the many Apple patents that describe capacitive sensors. On the other, a patent granted to Cupertino earlier this month explicitly mentioned, alongside capacitive solutions, optical sensors.

In addition to the optical sensor tidbit, the Economic Daily News also reported that the 2017 Apple flagship will feature “invisible infrared image sensors” that would enhance high-pixel camera functionality, as well as allow for augmented reality applications — echoing a prediction in February made by renowned analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. Similarly, the EDN report states that the screen ratio will be adjusted to 18:5:9 instead of 16:9 of current models. This corroborates another Kuo report about the iPhone 8 featuring a 5.8-inch display with 5.15-inches of usable space, with the rest taken up by a “function area.”

While DigiTimes is usually pretty good at covering the Apple supply chain, this report is especially promising as the Economic Daily News cited sources from Apple supplier Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, who has been tapped to produce Apple’s A11 chipset. Reportedly, TSMC teased several design changes and functions of the upcoming iPhone on May 25 at the 2017 NA Technology Symposium in Taipei.

The iPhone 8 is largely expected to debut this fall, and will feature revolutionary design changes such as a glass and steel chassis and an edge-to-edge display with minimal or no bezels. The latter feature would allow the flagship to pack nearly 5.8 inches of display space into a form factor similar to the iPhone 7. These revolutionary features are expected to come at a price however, and the flagship iPhone will reportedly launch alongside two iPhone 7s models.

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20 Cool Tech Gifts for Father’s Day 2017

Father’s Day is just around the corner (it’s June 18), and if you’re like many of us, it can be hard to find a gift that he’ll actually want and use — especially if your dad is the type of person who already seems to have everything. To give you an edge, here are 20 tech gifts and gadgets that run the gamut from utilitarian to just really cool. And, most importantly, there’s something for every budget.

1. Laser Beam Pro C200 Focus Free HD Portable Projector – $485

Imagine if you could project video, photos or other content anywhere, onto basically any surface. Well, no need to imagine: the Laser Beam Pro does just that. Powered by Eye Safe Class 1 laser tech, this Android-based laser projector lets you project content up to 150 inches, with a maximum of 200 lumens and 768 HD resolution. Did we mention that it can fit in your pocket? Get it here for $485.

 

2. W400R Voyager Drone w/ HD Camera & FPV VR Headset – $249.99

Drones are undoubtedly cool, but a drone with VR capabilities is even cooler. The Voyager drone will let you take to the skies from a first-person perspective — slip your phone into the included VR headset, and you’ll be able to see what the drone “sees” in real-time. Get it here for $249.99.

 

3. RoveCam 360 4K Sport Action Camera – $169.99

For the adventure-documenter or the sports videographer, the RoveCam 360 will let you record stunning 4K and 3D video basically anywhere (even up to 30 meters underwater). It also offers built-in Wi-Fi, audio recording, panoramic and slow motion options — so you’ll have all your bases covered. Get it here for $169.99.

 

4. u-Jays Wireless On-Ear Headphones – $169.95

Audiophiles are a unique bunch — and they can be hard to please. Luckily, these u-Jays headphones combine the luxury of high-quality, noise-isolated sound and the convenience of cord-free, Bluetooth connectivity. Plus, with a battery life up to 25 hours, they won’t cut out halfway through your gym session or flight. Even better yet, iDrop News rated the u-JAYS wireless headphones 9 out of 10 in their independent review. Get it here for $169.95.

 

5. Oco2 1080p Full HD Wi-Fi Security Camera – $144.99

Give the gift of peace of mind. This security camera lets you keep an eye on your home or business — and everything in it — in wide-angle HD or infrared night vision. With cloud & SD card storage options, you’ll never have to worry about internet connectivity issues affecting its recording. What’s more, The Oco2’s motion and sound detection systems are self-learning, which helps to curb false notifications. Get it here for $144.99.

 

6. GoSafe 520 DashCam – $124.99

Whether you want extra safety on the road or you just want to film your commute, the GoSafe 520 provides up to 4 hours of IMAX-quality video recording — right on your dashboard. The GoSafe can be configured to turn on with your car’s engine, or set to record automatically when it detects an impact, drastic braking or sharp turning. It can record in all types of lighting, and it also packs a suite of extra pre-installed safety features such as Driver Fatigue Alarm and Light Reminder. Get it here for $124.99.

 

7. G-BOOM Wireless Bluetooth Boombox – $79.99

Take the party anywhere with this rugged and durable boombox which was named iLounge’s “Speaker of the Year.” With aux cable and Bluetooth connectivity options, the G-BOOM delivers powerful sound with a 2.1 speaker configuration and dual bass ports. The integrated handle adds to its portability, and its 7-hour rechargeable battery lets you pump out tunes basically all day. Get it here for $79.99.

 

8. GorillaPower 5-Port USB & Power Dock – $59.99

Charge all of your devices, all at once, with the GorillaPower power dock. This dock packs five 60W USB ports into one convenient form, and you can even power computers or small appliances with the two 1200W AC power sockets. And with built-in surge and overheating protection, you’ll never have to worry about inadvertently ruining your electronics. Get it here for $59.99.

 

9. UltraBright 500-Lumen Tactical Military Flashlight: 2-Pack – $49.99

Sure, your smartphone has a “flashlight mode,” but that light pales in comparison to these. These durable, military-grade flashlights are the perfect companions for night hikes, power outages or any number of emergency situations. With 500 lumens, multiple light modes, adjustable zoom, and a one-mile range, you’ll never be afraid of the dark again. And don’t worry, they have a long-lasting battery, too. Get them here for $49.99.

 

10. HUDWAY Glass Heads-Up Navigation Display – $49.95

A heads-up navigation display will let you drive — and navigate — much more safely than glancing down at your smartphone to keep track of every upcoming turn. With support for any HUD app, the HUDWAY Glass lets you see GPS directions without taking your eyes off the road for unsafe amounts of time. Its crystal clear picture works well on any day, regardless of visibility. Get it here for $49.95.

 

11. Powerbank Portable 12,000mAh Power Bank – $39.99

Keep your devices fully charged — even when you’re on the go — with this powerful and portable power bank. You can quickly charge two devices simultaneously, and the built-in LED display lets you know how much of the impressive 12,000mAh capacity is left. Best of all, it’s small enough to slip into your backpack, briefcase or pocket, letting you take it everywhere you might need it. Get it here for $39.99.

 

12. 10-Ft Apple MFI-Certified Lightning Cable: 3-Pack – $29.99

If you’re an Apple user, you can never have too many Lightning cables. These extra-long MFI-Certified Apple Lightning cables are guaranteed to work with your Apple devices — without the risks associated with cheaper cables. And since it’s a three-pack, you can have one in your desk, in your bag, or anywhere you might need to charge up or connect your smartphone or tablet. Get them here for $29.99.

 

13. Kinkoo 40W 6-Port High Speed Charger – $29

If you’re tired of waiting around for your devices to charge, it might be time to upgrade to the Kinkoo High-Speed Charger. The Kinkoo actually has a built-in intelligent control chip that optimizes each of its six USB ports to give you the fastest possible charge — up to 85 percent faster than conventional chargers. Get it here for $29.

 

14. Anti-Gravity iPhone 6/6s Case – $24.99

A phone case is just a phone case, right? Not this time. While the Anti-Gravity Case protects your phone like a normal case with its durable and grippy TPU construction, it also features nano-suction technology so you can stick your iPhone to metal, glass, whiteboards and more. Stick the phone to basically any surface, and you’ll be able to watch video, take selfies or use other features — completely hands-free. Get it here for $24.99.

 

15. XXL Shower Speaker – $19.99

If you’ve ever wanted to listen to music or make calls while in the shower without getting your phone wet, then a shower speaker might be for you. This XXL model is twice as powerful as typical showers speakers — pumping out 3 watts of sound. It also features Bluetooth 4.0 for easy connectivity, as well as a larger battery that lets you go weeks without a charge. Get it here for $19.99.

 

16. Nut Find 3 Smart Tracker – $19.99

Do you ever wish you could “locate” your keys the way you can your iPhone? Well, the Nut Find 3 lets you do just that. Once you attach this tracker to your keys (or any other easily lost item), you can just hit a button in the corresponding app to make the Nut tracker beep — allowing you to tracking it down easily. It also has GPS location recording, and the ability to detect and alert you if your tracker or your phone is out of “safety range.” Get it here for $19.99.

 

17. Hand Stylus – $14.95

Stop settling for cheap and replaceable styli. Instead, opt for the Hand Stylus — which the New York Times’ David Pogue called “the smallest, sharpest one in the business.” This well-designed, nicely weighted stylus features an incredibly small silicone tip for accurate drawing and writing, as well as an auto-rotating feature that ensures that the tip wears evenly. It also has a removable pen clip and a magnet that can attach to an iPad cover. Get it here for $14.99.

 

18. Rotating Car Phone Stand – $13.99

It’s common sense: when you’re behind the wheel, you should focus on driving — not on your iPhone. That’s where the Rotating Car Phone Stand comes in. It features a powerful suction cup that can attach to your dash or window, and it’s completely adjustable, allowing you to use it for navigation, music, or to easily answer incoming calls (if you’re using a hands-free device, of course). Get it here for $13.99.

 

19. Motion-Activated LED Toilet Light – $11.99

Nighttime trips to the bathroom often involve one of two scenarios: blinding yourself with bright lights or stumbling around in the dark. Add a third — and better — option with this motion-activated, AA battery-powered light. It automatically turns on when it senses movement, so you can easily see where you’re going. Best of all, it also has a detection feature which lights up green or red depending on whether the toilet seat is up or down. Get it here for $11.99.

 

20. Acesori 5 Piece Smartphone Camera Lens Kit – $9.99

Give your iPhone photography game a boost with this 3-in-1 magnetic lens kit from Acesori. These easily attachable and durable lenses greatly increase the range of shots you can take with your smartphone camera — the set includes Fish Eye, Wide Angle and Macro lenses. They’re made with anti-scratch, reduced-glare glass, and the kit also comes with metal lanyards and durable lens covers so you can keep your lenses protected when you’re out and about. Get them here for $9.99.

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