It’s a dangerous world out there, so it pays to take care of your computers and devices. Part of that is process is to take steps to keep your devices secure and free of malware and viruses. Another is to make sure that your accounts and Internet connection are both secure. If you need a little help in this area, then we have just the thing.
I reviewed Sandmarc’s Photography Edition last Fall, which includes their Wide Angle, Fisheye and Macro lenses, and came away very impressed with both the quality of the lens construction and the images produced. While this 3-lens collection set does a lot to expand the functionality of the iPhone’s camera, the one thing missing was zoom enhancement.
I like the fact that Apple has taken a pro-privacy stance in recent years. Considering how the rest of the big tech giants treat users and their data, it is a positive to have some type of check against that power. However, I don’t have any illusions about what Apple is doing. It is very simple. They don’t need to monetize our data, while their primary competitors do, so their stance on privacy has nothing to do with any altruism on their part. It is a position of convenience. A bat they can swing at the high, hanging privacy fastball that companies like Facebook and Google hang right over the plate for them.
ZeroLemon’s SolarJuice is the perfect mobile power source for anyone planning to spend a lot of time in the great outdoors. Its 26,800 mAh battery can be recharged with a built-in solar panel if you don’t have an outlet handy. It has 3 output ports for charging, 1 QC3 USB-A compatible port, 1 standard USB-A and 1 USB-C. The battery can be recharged using a MicroUSB port or fast charged with the USB-C port.
With its changes to the lineup and to iOS over the last two years, Apple has been able to stop the bleeding and reverse the fast downward sales trend that the iPad had been stuck on previously. However, the end result has been stabilizing iPad sales rather than growing them in a significant way. The way Apple did this was by introducing a less expensive, but still capable, standard iPad and making the iPad Pros more compelling as high-end devices. While sales of the less-expensive iPad propped up unit sales numbers, they also caused the average sale price of the iPad category to fall.
USB-C may be coming to the iPhone and already has come to the iPad Pro, but Lightning’s day isn’t over. iOS devices will still have Lightning Connectors for a while and if you use an iPhone, you will still need them a while longer.
I thought Apple was going to make an inexpensive iPad Mini this time around. Now we have a fresh report from the oh-so-generous Steve Troughton-Smith on the iOS 12.2 Beta that may be saying otherwise.
Apple’s recent earnings weren’t pretty, but they also weren’t worse than expected after Tim Cook’s letter offering revised guidance a few weeks ago. They simply offered us a definitive confirmation of what many in the tech press and Apple community already suspected. Whether it is due to stagnation, high prices, overall slowdown in the smartphone market, China, or all of the above, the iPhone has plateaued. However, if you look beyond that basic fact, there is more to this story.
You know all those rumors of new AirPods 2, iPod Touches and new iPads? Looks they were all right on the money. The new developer beta for iOS 12.2 has information on all of these different devices scattered around inside of it. And as recent history has proven, information found in iOS betas is about as good a confirmation of what is coming as you can get.
Flexible and configurable mini computers and interface devices like the Raspberry PI and the Arduino have made DIY gadgets and projects easier and more accessible than ever before. You can pick up a device and a kit and hit the ground running if you want. However, there is value in a little bit of directions and a kit that has the right parts to get you started.
There have been rumors of a modest refresh to Apple’s AirPods for several months now. The initial reports were that said refresh would come last year and feature a wireless charging case and Hey Siri capability. That was eventually bumped to this year. There was a separate report last year that a bigger upgrade to the AirPods would come months to a year later that may include enhanced health or fitness tracking and better liquid resistance.