Search: iPhone 17

Sonos Puts the PLAYBASE Under Your Television
Cool Stuff Found

Sonos Puts the PLAYBASE Under Your Television

Dave Hamilton ·

Today Sonos announced their new PLAYBASE, combining home theater sound and music playback in a low-profile base (just 2.28″ high!) that sits underneath your TV. The PLAYBASE is the result of nearly four years of iterative design work inside Sonos, and is made to complement the wall-mountable PLAYBAR in Sonos’ lineup. If your TV sits on a table, put a PLAYBASE under it; on the wall, put a PLAYBAR there. The PLAYBASE will hold TVs up to 77lbs, which should handle what most of you have.

While I haven’t yet tested the PLAYBASE in my home, I did get a chance to test it at Sonos’ offices last month, and the stereo spread and frequency response are impressive. They were able to fit a subwoofer in the thin design by use of a specially-engineered S-shaped port. It works, too, and really fills a room with sound for both music and video content. Of course, you’re able to use your iPhone or iPad to automatically tune the PLAYBASE to your room with Sonos’ Trueplay technology, ensuring the best possible sound for your environment. The PLAYBASE is priced at US$699 (same as the PLAYBAR), and will be released on April 4, 2017. Existing Sonos owners can pre-order starting today.

Quick Tip

iCloud: Configure a Public Calendar

Jeff Butts ·

Have you ever wanted to share a calendar with a bunch of folks? If so, creating a public calendar in iCloud might be the way to go, depending on how you feel about the privacy of doing such a thing. In this Quick Tip, we’ll go over how you’ll do it and how your recipients will accept your invites!

News

iOS 10 Spying Possible With iCloud Backups

Andrew Orr ·

A scary piece from Motherboard brings to attention a tool for iOS 10 spying. A company called Mobistealth sells a special monitoring tool that can pull data from iCloud backups. And the device doesn’t need to be jailbroken to work.

How-To

iOS: Long Press Icons For Safari Shortcuts

Andrew Orr ·

You might not know it, but Safari has some hidden shortcuts tucked behind some of the icons. This will let you perform certain actions a little faster. Safari shortcuts will save you plenty of time. Andrew tells us how he discovered these shortcuts by accident.

Mac Geek Gab Podcast

How do I choose a UPS? – Mac Geek Gab 646

John F. Braun ·

Spring is almost here for the northern hemisphere, and that means it’s almost lightning season. It’s time to talk UPSs and battery backups. Listen as John and Dave talk through all the permutations you’ll need to know to choose the right UPS for your setup. On top of that, a few things in Cool Stuff Found, solving mailbox syncing problems, and a deep discussion about how to rip movies and then to get them onto your iPhone or iPad!

Editorial

7 Reasons For Apple to Discontinue the Mac Pro

John Martellaro ·

Recently, John Martellaro took a philosophical tour of the idea that Apple might well want to discontinue some products that we’ve become fond of. The pros and cons. One reader asked what the pros would be to sending the Mac Pro into extinction. John tries to answer that question.

In-Depth Review

Can WALTR 2 Really Be Your iTunes Replacement?

Jeff Butts ·

When you’re looking for an iTunes replacement, you want something that can do just about everything Apple’s software can do, but better. WALTR has been a good contender in this arena, and WALTR 2 offers functionality that iTunes doesn’t. The question is, does it work as designed? Come along with Jeff Butts as he reviews WALTR 2 and uncovers how well it performs.

Apple Context Machine Podcast

Frolic in the Apple Park, Rumors for iPad and Apple Watch - ACM 399

Bryan Chaffin ·

Apple announced the name of what we used to call Apple Campus 2.0—now it’s Apple Park. Bryan and Jeff chew on the name for a while, and discuss what we might expect when it opens in April. They also pore over Apple Watch 3 rumors and the news that a key supplier will stop making Apple Watch displays. And somehow they segue that into some new iPad and iPhone rumors.

Quick Tip

5 iMazing Tricks Make Syncing Your iOS Device Fun

Jeff Butts ·

When you get right down to it, iTunes is pretty bloated for the limited usefulness is provides. Jeff Butts has been exploring iMazing, a potential replacement for synchronizing iOS devices with the desktop, and has some tips and tricks that show how powerful this iTunes alternative can be.

Editorial

The Pros and Cons of Legacy Apple Products Going Extinct

John Martellaro ·

It seems that there is just as much fuss about Apple products that seem to be on the verge of extinction as there is about exciting new products. John looks at the economics and psychology of Apple dropping beloved products like certain Macs, Airport base stations, displays and other devices that we’ve come to depend on. Are we on the verge of a new age of Apple?

Quick Tip

iOS: Turn Safari Into a Simple RSS Reader

Jeff Butts ·

If you’ve found modern feed readers too cumbersome or full-featured for your use, you might be in the camp that just needs a bare-bones feed reader. Thanks to an often-overlooked feature in Safari for iOS, you’ve already got one. Jeff Butts shows you how to use it in this Quick Tip.

Mac Geek Gab Podcast

Don't Fear The Wi-Fi – Mac Geek Gab 645

John F. Braun ·

Inexpensive quasi-mesh Wi-Fi, cloud management for your videos, changing your Finder icons and upgrading your Mac’s Wi-Fi to the latest standards are just how this show starts out! From there it’s on to answering your questions about monitoring iOS data usage, looking at PDF data – all of it! – and then your geeks dive into the Wi-Fi danger conspiracy! We promise you’ll learn at least four new things!

News

AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon Unlimited Data Plan Comparison

Jeff Gamet ·

After spending years pressuring customers to give up their unlimited data plans, the cell carriers have come full circle and are offering unlimited data plans. Sorting out which carrier offers the best deal—AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, or Verizon—isn’t exactly straight forward, so we ranked each based on their features. Read on to see which comes out on top.

Editorial

Apple, Let Us Tune into Those FM Radio Channels

Jeff Butts ·

Your iPhone has an FM radio chip that you’ve never been able to use. FCC chairman Ajit Pai thinks that’s a shame, and so does Jeff Butts. While the FCC chairman isn’t going to try forcing Cupertino to turn on the chip, he’s certainly turning up the heat about it. Let’s see what the good chairman has to say, and what impact that might have on streaming music services.

How-To

iOS 10: How to Make Home Button Touch ID Work Like it Used to

Andrew Orr ·

iOS 10 brought a big change to the way the Home Button worked by requiring users to press it, even after your fingerprint has been recognized. But, there’s a feature tucked away under Settings > General > Accessibility that allows you to make your Home Button work like it used to. When this option is turned on, your iPhone or iPad with Touch ID will unlock with just a touch from the lock screen. Here’s how to do it.

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