Pandora users Apple Watch can now stream music and podcasts directly from the wearable device, without needing their iPhone. It became a standalone app via an update on Thursday, AppleInsider reported.

Pandora’s official update reads, “Leave the phone at home and bring all of your listening with you thanks to our updated Apple Watch app. Now you can stream your favorite music and podcasts, straight from your wrist – no phone required.” Other services, like Apple Music, need users to pre-load music on an Apple Watch for a run or other exercise, when the iPhone isn’t in range. The feature requires the watch in question to be running watchOS 6 or greater.

Apple Shipped 2.6 Million HomePods during the last three months of 2019. That is a long way behind its competitors, especially Amazon. David Watkins, director at Strategy Analytics, told Cult of Mac why he thinks that is.

“The price is still very high…That closes the door to a huge swathe of potential customers.” “I think there’s also a reasonable amount of consumer skepticism over the usefulness of Siri as a voice platform,” Watkins continued. “Amazon and Google have done an amazing job of building out their ecosystem around Alexa and Google Assistant, in partnership with so many smart home companies. Apple doesn’t have that strength of ecosystem around Siri.”

A ‘Carkey’ API appeared in the first beta version of iOS 13.4. However, a new patent application, reported on by AppleInsider, indicated the technology could have other uses, like a Homekit connected smart lock.

The first beta of iOS 13.4 revealed traces of a “CarKey” API, one which would effectively turn the iPhone into an electronic key for a vehicle, similar to current keyless unlocking and starting systems employed today. By bringing the iPhone close to an NFC point, it could feasibly allow a car to start and to be driven, while also offering the option of sharing a version of the key to others with certain permissions disabled, such as enabling a car to be unlocked but not driven. In a patent application titled “System access using a mobile device” published by the US Patent and Trademark Office on Thursday, Apple seems to be planning a much wider use of the concept than in just vehicles. The abstract for the filing mentions it would be used to authenticate a mobile device for access to system functionality, including “physical access to a system, starting an engine.”

Some Apple Stores in Beijing will reopen on Friday, 14 February, Reuters reported. However, customers are going to have to wear surgical masks. The retail outlet closure were extended on February 8 due to the spread of coronavirus.

Its five stores in Beijing will open from Feb. 14 between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m., according to Apple’s website, shorter than its usual hours of 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Stores in cities such as Shanghai and Shenzhen remain shut. “In view of public health and prevention, some of our retail stores are temporarily closed,” it said in a notice on its website, which also asked customers visiting outlets that were open to wear a mask and cooperate with temperature taking.

Mobile World Congress (MWC) is one of the highlights of the European, and indeed global, tech event calendar. But this year it has been canceled. The decision is due to concerns about the coronavirus outbreak, The Verge reported.

After coronavirus threatened to throw MWC into chaos, the GSM Association (GSMA), which organizes the show, has now canceled it. It comes after more than a week of exhibitors and companies pulling out of MWC. In a statement, GSMA CEO John Hoffman said the coronavirus outbreak has made it “impossible” to hold the event. MWC was scheduled to take place in Barcelona between February 24th and the 27th.