Media hub company Plex this week revealed a new way for its customers to navigate Plex's Live TV service, through a more traditional grid-based user interface. Launching first in Plex's web browser, the new grid view organizes live TV programs by channels and the time of day, much like classic cable TV guides.
While the program guide is only available on the web for now, Plex confirmed in a support article that the guide will launch for Apple TV and iOS apps in the near future. The article also shows off other features of the guide, like the ability to record shows on the list, filter the schedule by day of the week, only view HD channels, and more.
While we think that searching and our Discover view (see below) are often a faster way to access DVR-related content for users, many users are familiar with a traditional “TV grid” style schedule and may wish to use that. Displayed in a scrollable timeline format, the Channels view of the Guide gives you an overview of what’s on every channel you receive. From here, you can see program details, schedule a recording, filter the timeline view to only show a certain day, and also scroll forward and backward in time.
To access the program guide users will need a Plex Pass, which includes live TV and DVR features. Other apps soon to get the guide include Plex for Amazon Fire TV, Android, Android TV, and Xbox One. According to Plex, the update came after it received numerous requests from its users asking for a grid view. Hulu with Live TV also recently updated its apps with a traditional guide interface for users.
Plex originally rolled out live TV support for its Apple TV app last August, two months after it did the same for iOS devices. With live TV, Plex Pass subscribers can watch live HD content on channels available over-the-air, including major US networks like ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, and CW, as well as local programming, news, and sports. For apps that support DVR, Plex also brought the feature out of beta around the same time.
When the Apple Watch Series 3 launched last fall, United States customers were able to add the cellular model onto a plan offered by AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon. Over the last few days, supported carriers have expanded to include regional companies C Spire and US Cellular.
C Spire shared the news in a press release today, confirming it has begun selling the Apple Watch Series 3 in both GPS and LTE, available both online and through a call to customer telesales. Orders placed can be sent to the user's home or picked up at any C Spire retail store, and for a limited time the carrier is marking Series 3 models down by 50 percent when purchased with eligible iPhones on a device payment plan.
Additionally, C Spire offers Apple Watch Series 3 customers a free three-month introductory cellular trial on the carrier's 4G LTE network, allowing them to use the Apple Watch without an extra cost on their monthly plan. After the three months end, the Apple Watch Series 3 plan will run for $10/month -- the average price of Apple Watch cellular plans at most carriers.
On its device and support information page, US Cellular also offers three free months for Apple Watch Series 3 LTE coverage, and afterward the plan will cost $4.99/month if you are on one of the carrier's regular plans. If you are on a Total Plan, there is no ongoing charge for connecting an Apple Watch. Those offers make US Cellular one of the cheapest monthly plans for a Series 3 LTE model, and like C Spire it must be paired with an iPhone 6 or later running iOS 11 or later.
- If you are on one of U.S. Cellular's Total Plans, there is no charge to connect your Apple Watch to the Cellular network.
- If you are on any other U.S. Cellular plan, you will get 3 months for free trial and after that there is a $4.99 monthly charge to connect your Apple Watch to the Cellular network.
In terms of coverage areas, US Cellular offers coverage in as many as 23 states and 426 markets with 5 million customers. Comparatively, C Spire is more focused on the southern area of the country, including Mississippi, Alabama, the Florida Panhandle, and the Memphis Metropolitan Area.
Ring, the Amazon-owned company known for its camera-equipped doorbells, today announced that its new Ring Alarm security system is now available for pre-order and will begin shipping out on July 3.
First announced in the fall of 2017, the Ring Alarm is marketed as a "do-it-yourself" home security system that does not require professional installation, nor are its users required to sign up for a long-term contract.
For $199, the Ring Alarm system includes a Base Station, a Keypad, a Contact Sensor that can be situated on a window or a door, a Motion Detector, and a Range Extender.
It is designed to be paired with existing Ring Cameras (including doorbells, the Floodlight Cam and the Spotlight Cam) to create what Ring calls a "Ring of Security" for the home. Ring is charging $10 per month for the Ring Protect Plus Plan for the Ring Alarm, with 24/7 "professional monitoring," video recording, and backup LTE connectivity included at that price.
As the Ring Alarm is a "DIY" system, setup consists of connecting the Base Station and the Keypad to the home's Wi-Fi and installing one or more Contact Sensors to doors and windows. The Motion Sensor is designed to be placed in an area where you want to monitor for movement while away from home or sleeping, such as a front entryway.
Once set up, the Ring Alarm can be set to an "armed" mode, where it will monitor the home and send alerts if doors or windows are accessed or motion is detected. An included Base Station siren will sound when one of the sensors is triggered while the system is armed.
According to Ring, the Ring Alarm system is equipped with a battery and an LTE cellular backup option so that it continues to function in the event of a power or Wi-Fi outage. Ring Alarm, in addition to integrating with existing Ring products, will work with the First Alert smoke and carbon monoxide detector, which can set off the Base Station in the event of an emergency.
Ring says that in the future, it will release additional products that are designed to integrate with the Ring Alarm, including a $30 Smoke and CO Listener, a $30 Flood and Freeze Sensor, and a $30 Dome Siren which offers customizable alarm tones and volume levels.
Ring Alarm can be pre-ordered from Ring.com, Amazon.com, Best Buy, or Home Depot for $199 starting today. Orders will start shipping out on July 3, with the first orders arriving on the Fourth of July.
Bloomberg Television today published a full-length interview between Apple CEO Tim Cook and David Rubenstein, one of three billionaire founders of private equity firm Carlyle Group, following a brief preview last month. The conversation took place at Cook's alma mater Duke University on May 13.
Cook reflected on a wide range of topics, including his education and career path, relationship with the late Steve Jobs, the Apple Watch's life-saving capabilities, politics, and social issues such as privacy, immigration, and equality.
On the subject of Apple's earnings:
Rubenstein: You’ve now been the CEO of Apple since about July of 2011. The earnings are up about 80 percent. So, have you ever thought you can’t do better than this, and maybe you should just say, “well, I’ve done a great job, and now I’m going to do something else with my life?”
Cook: We view the stock price and revenue and profits as a result of doing things right on the innovation side, on the creativity side, focusing on the right products, treating customers like they’re jewels, and focusing on the user experience. I didn’t even know the numbers that you just quoted. It’s not even in my orbit, to be honest with you.
Rubenstein: When you announce your quarterly earnings, analysts always say, “well they didn’t sell as much of this product as we thought they would,” and so does that bother you?
Cook: It did at one time. It doesn’t anymore. We run Apple for the long term. It’s always struck me as bizarre that there’s a fixation on how many units are sold in a 90-day period. We’re making decisions that are multi-year kinds of decisions. We make it very clear that we don’t want to run the company for people who want to make a quick buck. We run the company for the long term.
Rubenstein: One of the shareholders who recently surfaced as having bought an additional 75 million shares is Warren Buffett. Are you pleased to have him as your shareholder?
Cook: I’m overjoyed. I’m thrilled. Warren is focused on the long term, so we’re in sync. It’s the way we run the company. It’s the way he invests. So, yeah, I could not be happier.
On the subject of Apple Park:
Cook: Steve had the vision that the workplace should facilitate people working together… having these common areas that people could work together and run into each other without planning on doing it… and that the level of ideas and creativity and innovation that would come out of that would be phenomenal. And we’re seeing that.
Rubenstein: You’re convinced standing up working is better than sitting down?
Cook: We have given all of our employees, 100 percent, standing desks. If you can stand for a while and then sit, and so on and so forth, this is much better for your lifestyle.
Cook reflecting on leaving Compaq to work at Apple:
Rubenstein: You were at Compaq, which at the time I think was one of the biggest manufacturers of personal computers… you’re there for about six months, and you get a call from Steve Jobs, or somebody working for him, asking you to come join Apple. Apple was modest compared to Compaq, so why did you take the interview, and why did you join Apple?
Cook: It’s a good question. Steve had come back to the company and was essentially replacing the executive team that was there at the time. I thought, you know, this is an opportunity to talk to the guy who started the whole industry. Steve met me on Saturday. It was just minutes into talking to him… I want to do it. I totally shocked myself. There was a sparkle in his eyes that I’ve never seen in a CEO before. He was sort of turning left when everyone was turning right. On almost everything he talked about, he was doing something extraordinarily different than conventional wisdom. Many people were abandoning the consumer market because it was a blood bath. Steve was doing the exact opposite. He was doubling down on the consumer at the time everyone else, the conventional wisdom said “go put your money in storage and servers.” Talking with him, and the type of questions he asked, were also different. I did, literally before I left, was thinking “I hope he offers me a job, because I really want to do this.”
On the subject of succeeding Steve Jobs as CEO of Apple:
Rubenstein: Steve’s health was such that he couldn’t continue to be CEO. He told the board that. And you were announced as the new CEO, I think around July of 2011. When you became the CEO, do you feel that Steve would say, here’s what I was interested in doing, and you fulfill my goals, or do you feel you had your own view on what you should do, and how did you balance the two? You’re succeeding a legendary figure…
Cook: It’s not so sequential as that. We have a really open company, so most of us could finish the other person’s sentences, even when we might disagree with them. So, it wasn’t a matter of Steve having a secret file or anything. He was always sharing his ideas — all the time. So, it was very different than that. Honestly, my view at that time was that he would be Chairman and would do that forever, and we would sort of figure out the relationship change there. That’s what I thought. Unfortunately, it didn’t turn out that way.
On the iPhone:
Rubenstein: You have a product that is the most successful consumer product in the history of mankind — which is the iPhone.
Cook: There was a sense that it was a profound product… that it was a game changer. If you go back and watch the keynote that Steve announced it, you can feel his passion in it, and the way he described it. I still remember it like it was yesterday.
Cook: They’re doing fantastic. Cellular is now on the watch. You don’t have to travel with your iPhone… you can just use your watch. One of my best moments of the day is to go through my emails that are from users. I get so many each week from people that found out they have a heart problem from their watch. It’s alerting you if you’ve been sitting and your heart rate has climbed to a level that doesn’t make sense relative to the activity you’ve been doing.
Rubenstein: I suppose you don’t want to know if you have a heart problem.
Cook: Well, we think most people do, because then you can go get help. Seriously though, David, so many people have written and said, “the watch alerted me to the problem, I took action and went to the cardiologist, and he told me, if I had not gone there, I wouldn’t be alive.”
On the topics of privacy and equality:
Rubenstein: Let’s talk about some of the values that you’ve been espousing. One is privacy.
Cook: We see privacy a fundamental human right. So, to us, it’s right up there with some of the other civil liberties that make Americans what they are… defines us as Americans. We see that this is becoming a larger and larger issue for people. Our tact on this is we take a minimum amount of data from customers… only that which we need to provide a great service. Then, we work really hard to protect it with encryption and so forth.
Rubenstein: You’ve also talked about the importance of equality. Why is that so important to you?
Cook: Many of the problems of the world come down to the lack of equality. It’s the fact that it’s the kid who is born in one ZIP code doesn’t have a good education because he happens to be born in that ZIP code. It’s someone who is maybe in the LGBT community who is fired because of that. It’s someone who has a different religion than the majority and are therefore ostracized in some way. If one day you could wave a wand and everybody would treat each other with dignity and respect, there are many, many problems that would go away with that.
Cook on why he publicly revealed he is gay:
Rubenstein: You exposed your own personal life a bit. The privacy that you said other people should have. You kind of gave up some of your privacy. Why did you do that?
Cook: I did it for a greater purpose. I realized there were a lot of kids out there that were not being treated very well—including in their own families. Kids need someone to say “oh, they did okay in life, and they’re gay, so it must not be a life sentence in some kind of way.” We’re getting these notes… it would tug on my heart even more, and it got to the point, and it got to the point where I thought, I’m making the wrong call, by trying to do something that is comfortable for me, which is to stay private. I needed to do something for the greater good.
Cook's recent meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump:
Rubenstein: Now, you’re obviously in the public eye. Recently you had a meeting with President Trump. What was that like?
Cook: I talked about trade, and the importance of trade, and how I felt that two countries trading together make the pie larger. It’s true, I think undoubtedly true, that not everyone has been advantaged from that in either country, and we’ve got to work on that. I felt that tariffs were not the right approach there, and I showed him some more analytical kind of things to demonstrate why. We also talked about immigration, and the importance of fixing the Dreamer issue now. We’re only one court ruling away from a catastrophic case there.
On the subject of how Apple plans to use its cash holdings:
Rubenstein: Apple has roughly $260 billion in cash, more or less. What do you plan to do with that cash?
Cook: We’re going to create a new site, a new campus within the United States. We’re going to hire 20,000 people. We’re going to spend $30 billion in capital expenditure over the next several years. Number one, we’re investing, and investing a ton, in this country. We’re also going to buy some of our stock, as we view our stock as a good value.
Cook's response to ever considering running for President of the United States:
Rubenstein: You’re obviously a public figure. You weren’t before. Have you ever thought that maybe you could run for President of the United States?
Cook: I’m not political. I love focusing on the policy stuff, but in the dysfunction kind of in Washington, between the legislative branch and so forth, I think I can make a bigger difference in the world doing what I’m doing. I appreciate the comment. You know, it’s something that you’d love to be President, but not ever run. That should never happen in our country, so that kind of eliminates me.
The full interview will air on The David Rubenstein Show: Peer-to-Peer Conversations, which explores successful leadership.
Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.
A planned merger between AT&T and Time Warner can move forward, a U.S. District Court Judge ruled this afternoon, reports CNBC.
AT&T's $85.4 billion purchase of Time Warner has been on hold since November, when the United States Justice Department filed a lawsuit to stop the merger, based on the argument that it would result in higher bills and fewer options for consumers.
According to the court's ruling, the merger between the two companies is legal, and no conditions were imposed on its approval.
In a statement, AT&T said that it is pleased with the merger and plans to move forward with closing the deal on or before June 20.
"We are pleased that, after conducting a full and fair trial on the merits, the Court has categorically rejected the government's lawsuit to block our merger with Time Warner. We thank the Court for its thorough and timely examination of the evidence, and we compliment our colleagues at the Department of Justice on their dedicated representation of the government. We look forward to closing the merger on or before June 20 so we can begin to give consumers video entertainment that is more affordable, mobile, and innovative."
The Justice Department, meanwhile, said that it was disappointed with the court's ruling.
"We continue to believe that the pay-TV market will be less competitive and less innovative as a result of the proposed merger between AT&T and Time Warner. We will closely review the Court's opinion and consider next steps in light of our commitment to preserving competition for the benefit of American consumers."
Today's decision could have an impact on other significant "vertical" mergers where distribution companies like AT&T purchase companies that make content, like Time Warner. Comcast, for example, has already announced plans to bid on Fox's assets in an attempt to beat out Disney.
After Apple unveiled Animoji when the iPhone X debuted last September, Samsung introduced its own version, the more human-like and customizable AR Emoji.
Not to be outdone, Apple in iOS 12 introduced Memoji, a new version of Animoji that can be customized to look just like you. Given the similarities between AR Emoji and Memoji, we thought we'd compare the two and give our readers an idea of what to expect when iOS 12 launches this fall.
Memoji, available in the Messages app and FaceTime on iOS 12, are cartoon-like customizable emoji characters that animate just like Animoji using the TrueDepth camera system in the iPhone X.
Because Animoji and Memoji require Apple's 3D camera capabilities to mimic facial expressions, the feature is limited to the iPhone X. Future devices, including 2018 iPad Pro models and iPhones are rumored to be adopting Face ID though. Samsung's AR Emoji are also limited and available only on Galaxy S9 devices.
Apple's Memoji feature offers up a blank face with a range of customizable options like skin color, hair color, hair style, head shape, eye shape and color, eye brows, nose and lips, ears, and facial hair and freckles.
All of these feature options can be combined to create a range of Memoji with different looks, and you can save dozens of Memoji creations.
While Apple starts you off with a blank face that can be customized to your liking, Samsung's AR Emoji feature has an option to scan your face and automatically create an emoji likeness of you that can then be customized further.
Samsung's AR Emoji look less cute and cartoonish and more like Bitmoji than Apple's version, with more humanoid facial features. AR Emoji can look a little creepier given their closer approximation to human facial features, but some may prefer the look.
Because Samsung doesn't use a 3D facial tracking system for AR Emoji like Memoji and Animoji, AR Emoji's ability to recognize and mimic facial expressions is not as advanced as Apple's technology.
AR Emoji can't compete when it comes to complex facial expressions, especially with the addition of wink and tongue tracking in iOS 12.
Do you prefer the look of Apple's Memoji or Samsung's AR Emoji? Let us know in the comments.
Apple last week updated its App Store Review Guidelines for developers after unveiling iOS 12, introducing rules for remote mirroring apps, banning cryptocurrency mining, and introducing clear rules to allow developers to provide free trials for paid apps.
At the same time, Apple also quietly expanded its data sharing rules, as Bloomberg points out, introducing strict new guidelines that prevent app developers from collecting user data to build advertising profiles or contact databases. The rules also prohibit apps from harvesting data from an iPhone user's contacts. From Apple's updated 5.1.2 data sharing guidelines:
(iii) Apps should not attempt to surreptitiously build a user profile based on collected data and may not attempt, facilitate, or encourage others to identify anonymous users or reconstruct user profiles based on data collected from Apple-provided APIs or any data that you say has been collected in an "anonymized," "aggregated," or otherwise non-identifiable way.
(iv) Do not use information from Contacts, Photos, or other APIs that access user data to build a contact database for your own use or for sale/distribution to third parties, and don't collect information about which other apps are installed on a user's device for the purposes of analytics or advertising/marketing.
(v) Do not contact people using information collected via a user's Contacts or Photos, except at the explicit initiative of that user on an individualized basis; do not include a Select All option or default the selection of all contacts. You must provide the user with a clear description of how the message will appear to the recipient before sending it (e.g. What will the message say? Who will appear to be the sender?).
The wording of the updated 5.1.2 guideline puts an end to secretive data collection techniques, where developers collect data from an iPhone user's contacts and then use it for marketing and advertising purposes. In the past, developers have used iPhone contact lists, which include phone numbers, email addresses, photos, and other information, for unsavory advertising and data collection purposes.
One developer explained to Bloomberg just how much data was accessible and how easily it could be obtained and abused without Apple's knowledge:
"The address book is the Wild West of data,'' the iOS developer said. "I am able to instantly transfer all the contacts info into some random server or upload it to Dropbox if I wanted to, the very moment a user says okay to giving contacts permission. Apple doesn't track it, nor do they know where it went.''
Developers are now expressly forbidden from using apps to build user profiles and contact databases and from misusing contact information and other sensitive user data. Apple has also prohibited apps from sending out mass texts to a user's contact list without explicit user permission. Developers who are caught breaking Apple's new data sharing rules may be banned from the App Store.
Instagram today announced that it is expanding its shopping feature beyond the news feed to Instagram Stories.
When viewing Instagram Stories from brands, stickers with a shopping bag icon can be tapped and will provide more details about the product along with purchase options.
Instagram has previously allowed users to view product information and make purchases through brand posts in the main news feed.
Instagram says that the new Stories shopping feature is available to a select number of brands that include Adidas, Aritzia, and Louis Vuitton, with support set to expand to additional brands in the near future.
Apple's Support app for iOS devices, which is designed to allow you to get help with your Apple products, today expanded to more than 20 new countries and regions, making the app more widely available around the world.
Several new languages have been added to the Support app as well, including Czech, Danish, Finnish, Hungarian, Indonesian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, and Russian.
Apple also now allows you to get help from the Support app in your preferred language regardless of where you are located.
For those unfamiliar with the Apple Support app, it provides access to support documents through a Discover section along with options to get help from Apple's support team for all of your linked devices.
The Support App can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]
Microsoft today announced the launch of a new Office 2019 for Mac Preview, which is available starting today for its commercial customers.
Office 2019 for Mac, which includes new versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote, is the next perpetual update to Office for Mac and will ship alongside Office 2019 for Windows during the second half of 2018.
The new software is designed for customers who aren't yet using Microsoft's Office 365 subscription service and prefer instead to have access to perpetual non cloud based apps.
According to Microsoft, Office 2019 for Mac introduces a roaming pencil case and ribbon customizations across all Office apps, a new focus mode in Word, a focused inbox in Outlook, new charts and functions in Excel, and morph transitions, in-click sequence, and 4K video export in PowerPoint.
The update also includes features for IT designed to simplify deployment and management, such as command-line tools for centrally controlling how and when Office updates are provided to users and support for industry-standard MDM policies and preferences.
The new additions to Office 2019 for Mac are already included in the Office 365 ProPlus plan available to businesses, but are not available in Office for Mac 2016, the current perpetual Office version.
Microsoft has also prepared a website that lists all of the available features for the Office 2019 for Mac Preview.
Microsoft users interested in joining the Office 2019 for Mac Preview can do so by following the directions available on Microsoft's support site.
With Apple's decision to embrace USB-C on all of its modern Macs, the company has created a need for USB-C docks so that we can continue to use all of our non-USB C peripherals as we wait for the rest of the tech industry to catch up.
Kingston's Nucleum USB Type-C Hub is designed to meet that need, offering a selection of useful ports for MacBook, MacBook Pro, and iMac owners who still need to use the USB-A, HDMI, SD, and microSD ports that are no longer available on recent machines.
The Nucleum USB-C Hub, made from a silver Aluminum to match Apple devices, is small enough that it can be tucked into a purse or a bag, or, in a pinch, a pocket. It's narrower and shorter than an iPhone X, but a bit thicker, with a short built-in USB-C cord provided.
It's a bit larger than palm-sized, but it's still not going to take up much room during travel or when it's in use on a desk. There's a "Nucleum" logo on the top of the device, while the back features Kingston branding and necessary regulatory labels.
The left side of the dock features a USB-A port and a USB-C power delivery port so you can charge a MacBook or MacBook Pro while the hub is plugged in, and on the right side, there's another USB-C port for USB-C accessories, a single USB-A port, a microSD card slot, and an SD card slot. At one end, there's the aforementioned power cord, while the other end houses an HDMI port.
All in all, there are a total of seven ports available on the hub, which is not too bad for a device of this size. I don't often need more than two USB-A ports at a time, so the two-port setup worked for me, and it's nice to have access to both microSD and SD card slots for camera accessories.
This port arrangement is standard for many of the USB-C hubs that you'll find on sites like Amazon, but I've found that many of those hubs don't offer multiple USB-C ports. An extra USB-C port is surprisingly handy for my MacBook in particular (which has a single USB-C port) because I've found myself with more USB-C accessories as I transition from USB-A to USB-C.
If you have primarily USB-A accessories, you may find that the Kingston hub does not offer a sufficient number of USB-A ports. Competing (and more affordable) hubs on Amazon typically offer 3 to 4 USB-A ports, but again, Kingston has a nicer variety of ports available. Most dual USB-C hubs seem to have higher price tags.
You can use all of the hub's ports at once if so desired, and when testing multiple accessories plugged in at once, I ran into no problems. The HDMI port supports a 4K monitor (or a 1080p monitor), while passthrough charging functionality means your attached iPhones will charge up while plugged into the hub. Kingston says the Nucleum offers 5V/1.5A, which is best suited to iPhones and similar accessories. iPads will charge, but slowly.
When using the power delivery USB-C port with your USB-C cable and power adapter for charging purposes, the hub is able to deliver up to 60W of power. That is sufficient for charging the 12-inch MacBook (29W) or the 13-inch MacBook Pro (61W) but it falls a bit short of the full capacity of the 15-inch MacBook Pro (87W).
Still, 60W is enough to keep a 15-inch MacBook Pro topped up provided you're not doing something that's super battery intensive like rendering video or playing a graphics-heavy game. During my workday, the 60W provided by the hub was enough to keep my 15-inch MacBook Pro at 100 percent using apps like Safari, Mail, Slack, Photoshop, Pixelmator, Chrome, Tweetbot, and more all at once.
I did notice that when I unplugged my USB-C power adapter from the Nucleum or when I plugged it in, that it would cause the hub to shut off for a second. That means that any hard drives or other accessories I have attached temporarily disconnect, so you're going to want to be careful not to plug it into a power source or unplug it during file transfers.
As a side note, the Nucleum does not need to be plugged in to a power source other than the host computer for it to function. Using the passthrough charging feature is optional.
Transfer speeds were at what I'd expect for a USB-A device plugged into a USB-C hub. With a traditional Seagate Backup Plus hard drive, for example, it took about 20 seconds to transfer over 3GB of data. Speeds were a bit slower when I was utilizing all of the ports on the hub, but not unreasonably so. As a note, you can only connect USB-C and USB-A hard drives to the hub. If you have a Thunderbolt 3 drive, like I do, it is not compatible because the Nucleum does not support Thunderbolt 3.
Moving files from an SD card and a microSD card was also relatively speedy, with it taking about 25 seconds to copy over 1GB worth of photos from an SD card to my computer, and a little under a minute to copy them back from the MacBook Pro to the card. As someone with several cameras and a drone, having access to both microSD and SD card slots is invaluable.
Bottom Line
With Apple's focus on USB-C and its decision to remove all legacy ports, the company has created a thriving third-party hub market, and it can be difficult to narrow down what's good from what's just mediocre.
Kingston's Nucleum is in the former category, providing the ports you're most likely to need in your day to day life in a slim, portable hub from a trusted manufacturer. Kingston's hub is more expensive than some options you'll find on Amazon, but reliability is often worth the extra money.
I appreciated the compact size of the Nucleum, which makes it ideal for travel, and the variety of ports that it provides was perfect for me. It offers all of the ports that I need on a daily basis (primarily USB-C, USB-A, and an SD card slot), and everything worked as expected with no surprises.
I do wish that it perhaps had one more USB-A port for people who still need to use several USB-A accessories, but I have no complaints about an extra USB-C port. I don't need dual USB-C ports on my MacBook Pro, but for my 12-inch MacBook, dual ports is a valuable addition. While I used this with Macs, it's also going to be compatible with Windows-based machines.
The one major thing to be aware of with the Nucleum that it disconnects when connected to or disconnected from a power source. It's not a huge deal, but if you purchase this hub, make sure not to change its power settings during file transfers.
Apple today released the second beta of an upcoming macOS High Sierra 10.13.6 update to public beta testers, two weeks after releasing the first public beta and a day after releasing the second beta for developers.
Beta testers who have signed up for Apple's beta testing program will be able to download the new macOS High Sierra beta through the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App Store.
Those who want to be a part of Apple's beta testing program can sign up to participate through the beta testing website, which gives users access to iOS, macOS, and tvOS betas.
No notable features or changes were discovered in the first two betas of macOS 10.13.6 provided to developers, suggesting the new software focuses on bug fixes and other under-the-hood updates.
macOS 10.13.6 is likely to be one of the last updates to macOS High Sierra, as Apple is transitioning to macOS Mojave. macOS Mojave was unveiled last week at the Worldwide Developers Conference.
Apple's personal assistant Siri has been updated with support for sports ahead of the World Cup in Brazil, Russia, Denmark, Finland, Malaysia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Israel, Apple announced today.
Sports support for Siri in the nine new countries expands Siri sports information to a total of 35 countries, including the United States.
Specific to the World Cup, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, HomePod, and Mac owners can ask Siri questions like:
When does France play Australia?
What teams are in group A?
Who is on the England squad?
Who won the Argentina-Iceland match?
In addition to expanding Siri sports support, Apple also plans to highlight football (soccer in the United States) apps and games throughout the month. Features will include tips on taking the perfect football photo and how to "get your football fix" on social media. Highlighted apps will include FOX NOW and BBC Sport, while featured games will include FIFA Mobile and PES 2018.
The TV app on Apple TV and iOS devices will feature World Cup coverage via FOX NOW in the United States and TSN and RDS in Canada, with fans able to follow their favorite teams through the TV app's Up Next feature.
Apple also plans to feature World Cup content in the News app through Eight by Eight magazine, and in Apple Music with featured playlists for each of the 32 participating nations.
Podcasts will include a "The Beautiful Game" World Cup editorial collection, as will iBooks, with Apple highlighting World Cup-related podcasts and book selections.
The 2018 FIFA World Cup kicks off later this week on June 14 and lasts through July 15.
In related news, Apple's TV app recently gained sports and news coverage in Canada.
Apple today seeded the second beta of an upcoming iOS 11.4.1 update to its public beta testing group, one week after releasing the first public beta and one day after seeding the beta to developers.
Beta testers who are members of Apple's beta testing program will receive the iOS 11.4.1 beta update over-the-air after installing the proper certificate on an iOS device.
Those who want to join the beta testing program can sign up on Apple's beta testing website, which gives users access to iOS, macOS, and tvOS betas. iOS betas are not always stable and should not be installed on a primary device.
There were no notable features discovered in iOS 11.4.1 in the first two developer betas, suggesting it focuses on bug fixes and other minor improvements.
iOS 11.4.1 will be one of the final updates to the iOS 11 operating system now that Apple is shifting its focus to iOS 12.
Apple today seeded the second beta of an upcoming tvOS 11.4.1 update to its public beta testing group, two weeks after seeding the first tvOS 11.4.1 public beta and a day after seeding the second beta to developers.
The tvOS 11.4.1 public beta can be obtained by going to the Settings app on the Apple TV and navigating to the Software Updates section under "System." "Get Public Beta Updates" will need to be toggled on, and once it is, the Apple TV will download the beta software.
No notable features or changes were discovered in the first two developer betas of tvOS 11.4.1, suggesting this is a minor update.
Most tvOS updates have been minor in scale, and Apple does not provide detailed notes outlining what's new, so we may not know just what's included in tvOS 11.4.1 if it's only bug fixes.
tvOS 11.4.1 is going to be one of the last updates to the tvOS 11 operating system with Apple now shifting its focus to tvOS 12.
Hackers have had an "easy way" to get certain malware past signature checks in third-party security tools since Apple's OS X Leopard operating system in 2007, according to a detailed new report today by Ars Technica. Researchers discovered that hackers could essentially trick the security tools -- designed to sniff out suspiciously signed software -- into thinking the malware was officially signed by Apple while they in fact hid malicious software.
The researchers said that the signature bypassing method is so "easy" and "trivial" that pretty much any hacker who discovered it could pass off malicious code as an app that appeared to be signed by Apple. These digital signatures are core security functions that let users know the app in question was signed with the private key of a trusted party, like Apple does with its first-party apps.
Joshua Pitts, senior penetration testing engineer for security firm Okta, said he discovered the technique in February and informed Apple and the third-party developers about it soon after. Okta today also published information about the bypass, including a detailed disclosure timeline that began on February 22 with a report submitted to Apple and continues to today's public disclosure.
Ars Technica broke down how the method was used and which third-party tools are affected:
The technique worked using a binary format, alternatively known as a Fat or Universal file, that contained several files that were written for different CPUs used in Macs over the years, such as i386, x86_64, or PPC. Only the first so-called Mach-O file in the bundle had to be signed by Apple. At least eight third-party tools would show other non-signed executable code included in the same bundle as being signed by Apple, too.
Affected third-party tools included VirusTotal, Google Santa, Facebook OSQuery, the Little Snitch Firewall, Yelp, OSXCollector, Carbon Black’s db Response, and several tools from Objective-See. Many companies and individuals rely on some of the tools to help implement whitelisting processes that permit only approved applications to be installed on a computer, while forbidding all others.
Developer Patrick Wardle spoke on the topic, explaining that the bypass was due to ambiguous documentation and comments provided by Apple regarding the use of publicly available programming interfaces that make digital signature checks function: "To be clear, this is not a vulnerability or bug in Apple's code... basically just unclear/confusing documentation that led to people using their API incorrectly." It's also not an issue exclusive to Apple and macOS third-party security tools, as Wardle pointed out: "If a hacker wants to bypass your tool and targets it directly, they will win."
For its part, Apple was said to have stated on March 20 that it did not see the bypass as a security issue that needed to be directly addressed. On March 29, the company updated its documentation to be more clear on the matter, stating that "third-party developers will need to do additional work to verify that all of the identities in a universal binary are the same if they want to present a meaningful result."
As shown on stage at WWDC 2018 last week, the Books app has been completely redesigned with the following tabs:
Reading Now displays all of the books you are currently reading or listening to. A new "Want to Read" section allows you to keep a wishlist of books you are interested in. "Complete the Series" or "You Might Like" present books based on those you have recently finished.
Library displays your full collection of books with large cover art, including the books downloaded to your device. There is also a "Finished" timeline of books you have read in the past with the dates you finished them.
Book Store allows you to browse all titles available on Apple Books, with categories such as Top Charts, Staff Picks, Editorial Collections, and Special Offers & Free. You will receive personalized recommendations based on your purchases in "For You."
Audiobooks allows you to browse all audiobook titles available on Apple Books.
Search
Apple's services chief Eddy Cue:
Apple Books will inspire a love of reading — it puts a world of books and audiobooks right at your fingertips, whether you want to dive into your favorite story for a couple of minutes or a few hours. This is our biggest books redesign ever, and we hope this beautiful app inspires both customers and authors alike.
The new Books app launches this fall, with the Book Store available in 51 countries, and free books available in 155 countries.
Apple has identified a limited hardware issue affecting the latest 13-inch MacBook Pro models with function keys, according to an internal memo distributed to Apple Stores and Apple Authorized Service Providers late last week.
Namely, when either the MacBook Pro's solid state drive or main logic board experiences failure, both need to be replaced simultaneously. Apple's memo doesn't specify an underlying reason as to why both components may fail in tandem, or what percentage of units may be at risk of being affected.
An excerpt from the document, obtained by MacRumors from a reliable source:
Apple has identified a specific population of MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2017, Two Thunderbolt 3 Ports) units requiring both solid state drives and the main logic board to be replaced when either has a functional failure.
A message will appear when either the solid state drive or the main logic board part number is added to the repair of an identified MacBook Pro system. The message will indicate both the SSD and MLB must be replaced when either component has a functional failure.
For clarity, this refers to the 2017 model year 13-inch MacBook Pro with a standard row of physical function keys rather than a Touch Bar. Apple says the issue does not affect any other MacBook Pro models with or without the Touch Bar, including those released in 2016, according to the memo.
Apple says the dual SSD-logic board replacement is not required for unrelated issues, such as a cracked display or an unresponsive trackpad.
Apple appears to have authorized free repairs for this issue, in or out of warranty. If there is liquid damage or accidental damage, however, out-of-warranty fees may apply. Apple quotes a turnaround time of roughly five to seven days.
To initiate a repair, visit the Get Support page on Apple's website and select "Mac" → "Mac notebooks" → "Hardware Issues" → "The topic is not listed," explain the issue, and select continue. Then, select "Bring in for Repair" to schedule an appointment with an Apple Authorized Service Provider or Genius Bar.
There are also options to contact Apple's support advisors by phone or online chat to initiate a mail-in repair in select countries.
This issue could explain why the 13-inch MacBook Pro with function keys temporarily faced extended shipping estimates on Apple's online store last month, as Apple may have implemented a fix, although the brief shortage could have been purely coincidental. We've reached out to Apple for comment on the matter.
12:30 p.m. Pacific Time: Updated with corrected information about out-of-warranty fees.
A planned merger between AT&T and Time Warner can move forward, a U.S. District Court Judge ruled this afternoon, reports 
Apple last week updated its 
Apple's Support app for iOS devices, which is designed to allow you to get help with your Apple products, today expanded to more than 20 new countries and regions, making the app more widely available around the world.
