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Powerbeats 4: Leaked Images And Details Emerge

Charlotte Henry ·

Some images and details of the expected Powerbeats 4 headphones have emerged. AppleInsider picked up on the reports from German publication Win Future (from where the images in this post come).

Following both January 2020’s discovery of a “Powerbeats 4” icon within iOS 13.3.1, and February’s FCC approval of the device, what appear to be final specifications and images have leaked. The latest sports wireless earbuds will add Apple’s H1 chip, and bring up to 3 extra hours battery life than the 12 hours in the previous Powerbeats 3. The addition of the H1 chip means, if correct, that Powerbeats 4 will feature “Hey, Siri,” plus the ability to announce messages with Siri. The H1 chip is already in Apple’s Powerbeats Pro, AirPods 2, and AirPods Pro. The leaked marketing images match previous reports, showing a new arrangement of cabling

TMO Deals

Last Chance for iPhone 11 256GB + AirPods and Charging Pad Giveaway

Bryan Chaffin ·

Our iPhone 11 256GB + AirPods and Charging Pad Giveaway is coming to an end today. With this giveaway, you have a chance to win an iPhone 11 (256GB), a pair of AirPods, and a wireless charging pad. All you have to do is register on our deal site, if you aren’t already, and click the Enter to Win button. There’s a social media link you can use to try and get more entries, too. The giveaway ends at 11:59 PDT tonight (Monday night).

RSS Reader ‘NetNewsWire’ Arrives on iOS
Cool Stuff Found

RSS Reader ‘NetNewsWire’ Arrives on iOS

Andrew Orr ·

Introduced on July 12, 2002 NetNewsWire was the most popular RSS readers by 2005. It offered people custom feed views, downloading/opening podcasts, syncing feeds between devices, and a built-in browser. After a company acquired it in 2011 it ultimately shut down in 2015. Since then, the original developer Brent Simmons has control once again, and after releasing an updated version for macOS, NetNewsWire is now available for iOS and iPadOS. It’s free and open source. We also have an interview with Mr. Simmons where he talked about the app.

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Cloudflare Offering 'Teams' Products For Free to Small Firms During Coronavirus Outbreak

Charlotte Henry ·

‘Cloudflare for Teams’ products will be free for small businesses for at least the next six months. In a blog post, CEO Matthew Prince said he wanted to help such firms allow staff to work from home during the coronavirus outbreak.

Beginning today, we are making our Cloudflare for Teams products free to small businesses around the world. Teams enables remote workers to operate securely and easily. We will continue this policy for at least the next 6 months. We’re doing this to help ensure that small businesses that implement work from home policies in order to combat the spread of the virus can ensure business continuity. You can learn more and apply at: https://www.cloudflare.com/smallbusiness We’ve also helped launch an online hub where small businesses can see technology services available to them for free or a substantial discount from multiple companies, during the Coronavirus Emergency: https://openforbusiness.org

Podcast

To RAID or Not (to RAID)? – Mac Geek Gab 805

John F. Braun · · 1 Comment

Do you close your Terminal sessions correctly? Does iStat Menus work after you migrate? Are you getting Notes to launch as fast as possible? You’ll be able to answer “yes” to all three of these things after just the first few minutes of this week’s show. Stick around and learn about taming CarPlay, sharing Calendars, using a VPN with your Apple TV and much more. You’ll definitely hit your quota of learning at least five new things with John and Dave this week.

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Patch Your Netgear Router Because it Could Get Hacked

Andrew Orr ·

Netgear is pushing out security patches for its networking products this week. They contain flaws that could open them up to hackers.

Modem/routers:

D6200, D6220, D6400, D7000, D7000v2, D7800, D8500

Range extenders:

PR2000

Routers:

JR6150, R6120, R6220, R6230, R6250, R6260, R6400, R6400v2, R6700, R6700v2, R6700v3, R6800, R6900,  R6900P, R6900v2, R7000, R7000P,  R7100LG, R7300DST, R7500v2, R7800, R7900, R7900P, R8000, R8000P, R8300, R8500, R8900, R9000, RAX120, RBR20 (Orbi), RBS20 (Orbi), RBK20 (Orbi), RBR40 (Orbi), RBS40 (Orbi), RBK40 (Orbi), RBR50 (Orbi), RBS50 (Orbi), RBK50 (Orbi), XR500, XR700

Cool Stuff Found

Apple Shares Trailer for Apple TV+ Series ‘Home Before Dark’

Andrew Orr ·

Home Before Dark is an upcoming series for Apple TV+. It’s based on the true story of a nine-year old journalist.

A mystery inspired by the reporting of a real nine-year-old journalist. When a young girl and her family move back to the small town her father left behind, her pursuit of the truth leads to the unearthing of a long-buried cold case.

The series is created and executive produced by Jon M. Chu and showrunners Dana Fox & Dara Resnik; written and executive produced by Russel Friend & Garrett Lerner; and executive produced by Steve Golin for Anonymous Content, Joy Gorman Wettels, Rosemary Rodriguez and Sharlene Martin.

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Resale Value of Android Devices Drops Twice as Fast as it Does For iPhones

Charlotte Henry ·

When you get a new phone, there is always a balance to be struck between making the effort of reselling your old device and how much money you will actually get for it. Well, according to data reported on by Cult of Mac, it is worth making that effort for a lot longer if you have an iPhone to sell.

Apple devices do lose value over time. “In the first year, on average, iPhones lost -23.45%; by year two, the total loss is -45.46%,” notes BankMyCell. But Androids lose way more. After one year, they’ve dropped an average of 48.65% — more than twice as much as iPhone after the same amount of time. And after two years, Androids are down 79.66%.

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How Coronavirus Misinformation is Spreading Across Facebook

Charlotte Henry ·

Almost as soon as the seriousness of the coronavirus outbreak became clear, misinformation and conspiracy theories relating to it began spreading. Not surprisingly, Facebook is an absolute hub of inaccurate information. Wired took a look at what is being shared across various groups on the platform.

This fake news has spread through “cure” books on Amazon, WhatsApp viral texts, and even the mainstream media. Now, according to data taken from CrowdTangle, a Facebook-owned tool that tracks the diffusion of viral stories, a small army of Facebook fringe groups are following suit and pivoting to a new hot topic: coronavirus misinformation. The posts, which are filling innocuous Facebook groups normally dedicated to political discussions and flight deals, are a strange evolution of conspiracy theories that have been knocking around the internet for years. One much-mooted theory, for example, is that the coronavirus has been caused by radiation from 5G masts. One of these posts, on Smart Meter Health problems UK, garnered 191 reactions, 188 comments and 86 shares – eleven times the normal amount for the group.

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How the EARN IT Act is an Attack on Encryption

Andrew Orr ·

Introduced by Senators Lindsey Graham and Richard Blumenthal, the EARN It act would force companies to “earn” protection from Section 230 to fight online child exploitation.

Though it seems wholly focused on reducing child exploitation, the EARN IT Act has definite implications for encryption. If it became law, companies might not be able to earn their liability exemption while offering end-to-end encrypted services. This would put them in the position of either having to accept liability or remove encryption protections altogether.

My linked teaser from yesterday was separate from the EARN It act, but now it shows that companies are being coerced on two fronts.