Apple

Farewell terrible Apple EarPods, you won’t be missed

By Nancy L. Germann 2 weeks ago

We’re now halfway through 2020, and it’s fair to say it’s been a rough year so far; there’s a deadly pandemic sweeping the globe, the job market is broken, the economy is in the bin, and, somehow, Apple EarPods continue to exist.

Things are looking up, though! Sure, we’re heading for a second wave and the economic situation isn’t looking great, but there’s talk that this could finally be the year that Apple EarPods cease to exist (if you discount the 19 pairs you have hidden away in drawers around your home, each one tangled into an impossibly tight

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Apple and BMW’s digital car key hints at the future of the iPhone

By Nancy L. Germann 3 weeks ago

At WWDC this week, Apple unveiled one of the first uses of its U1 chips These chips, which utilise a wireless technology called ultra-wideband (UWB), are referred to by Apple as “GPS at the scale of your living room”. Or you could call it Bluetooth on steroids.

Apple’s U1-chipped iPhones will now be able to serve as digital car keys to wirelessly unlock and start your car. NFC digital car keys are not new, Samsung has its own version, but they require you to get your phone out and physically tap the door to unlock. This new UWB method (that

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IKEA’s AR experiments show the potential of Apple Glass

By Nancy L. Germann 3 weeks ago

If augmented reality is the future, this is a glimpse of what’s coming.

IKEA and its external research lab SPACE10 have curated 18 different digital experiences from design and technology studios as part of a new web-based platform called Everyday Experiments. Each uses technologies including augmented reality, virtual reality, artificial intelligence, machine learning and spatial intelligence to help people think about the space in their homes in a different way.

Bas Van De Poel, creative director of SPACE10, says that technology has been influencing and shaping our life at home now more than ever before. “For us, it’s important

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Could now be the time for Apple to make a truly great pair of headphones?

By Nancy L. Germann 3 weeks ago

Justin Sullivan via Getty Images

Back in 2018, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said that Apple was working on its own brand of high-end over-ear headphones, designed “to be as convenient as AirPods with better sound”. Now, after two years in the offing, they might finally make an appearance.

If the rumours are true, the so-called AirPods Studio are being readied for launch at Apple’s WWDC 2020. Their reported feature list is impressive, with active noise cancelling, a type of wear detection that not only knows if you’re wearing them, but how, adjusting the left and right channels to suit, and a

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