'Loogun' uses a water jet to make toilet cleaning less crappy

Not all of us can afford $6,000 for a self-cleaning toilet, so scrubbing one usually revolves around a yucky toilet brush. However, a product coming to Kickstarter may make the chore marginally more pleasant. Called Loogun, it's like a big dental Wat... read more

The 'father of SMS,' Matti Makkonen, dies at 63

It's a sad day in the cellphone world. Matti Makkonen, widely considered the "father of SMS," has died from illness at the age of 63. The Finnish creator pitched the concept of text messaging over cellular networks in 1984 and helped get the ball rol... read more

Apple Releases OS X 10.10.4 With 'Discoveryd' Process Removal

Apple today released OS X Yosemite 10.10.4, an under-the-hood update that introduces several bug fixes and performance improvements. Most notably, 10.10.4 includes the removal of the problematic Discoveryd process, which has caused multiple networking issues for some users in OS X Yosemite. 

The OS X 10.10.4 update can be downloaded through the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App Store.

Unlike 10.10.3, which brought Yosemite's first outward-facing changes including the Photos for OS X app and new emoji features, OS X 10.10.4 is a behind-the-scenes update that focuses primarily on fixing bugs and introducing better performance through stability improvements.

The biggest change in OS X 10.10.4 is the elimination of the discoveryd process that's been accused of being responsible for some significant networking and WiFi bugs within Yosemite. Discoveryd is a networking process that was introduced in Yosemite to replace mDNSresponder, but it caused problems like slow wake from sleep, failures to resolve DNS names, duplicate machine names, WiFi disconnects, excessive CPU usage, battery drain, and more. In 10.10.4, discoveryd has been replaced with the older mDNSresponder process.

OS X 10.10.4 was in testing for approximately two months before seeing a public release, having been seeded to developers in mid-April. It's likely we'll see at least one more update to OS X Yosemite in the months preceding the public launch of OS X 10.11 El Capitan, Apple's next-generation Mac operating system that's also in the works.

Apple Loses Appeal in E-Books Price Fixing Lawsuit, Ordered to Pay $450 Million Fine

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit today upheld a 2013 decision that found Apple guilty of conspiring with publishers to raise the prices of e-books, reports The Wall Street Journal. Apple is now expected to pay a $450 million fine originally set in July 2014 to settle the case, with a majority of that settlement earmarked for consumers as part of a class action lawsuit. 

Apple filed the appeal in the antitrust case in December 2014, and the outcome was originally expected to favor the iPhone maker, although federal judge Debra Ann Livingston ultimately determined that the company colluded with publishers to fix the prices of e-books. The decision was finalized by a 2-1 ruling in the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan on Tuesday.

"We conclude that the district court correctly decided that Apple orchestrated a conspiracy among the publishers to raise e-book prices,” wrote Second Circuit Judge Debra Ann Livingston. The conspiracy “unreasonably restrained trade” in violation of the Sherman Act, the federal antitrust law, the judge wrote.

The Wall Street Journal has shared the full-length court document for the decision.

Apple Releases Apple Music And iOS 8.4

Apple has finally entered the streaming music game, with the launch today of Apple Music. The new service is available as a built-in part of its iOS 8.4 Music app for iPhone and iPad devices, and offers a huge catalog of on-demand tracks for streaming playback for just $9.99 per month, or $14.99 for a family plan that allows sharing with up to six users. The service is free for three months… Read More

Apple Revives Ping As “Connect”, Letting Artists Share A Feed Of Music, Videos, And Social Media

Apple wants to be the way you socially connect to musicians, not Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, or Spotify. As a tab in its new Apple Music on-demand streaming service, Apple is launching Connect, a feed showing music, videos, photos, and notes posted to a social media feed. Apple hopes that if it can own that relationship, fans won’t risk severing it by quitting Apple’s streaming… Read More

iOS 9 public beta available in July

On stage at WWDC Apple announced that a public beta of iOS 9 would be available in July. The beta will include an enhanced Siri, a more proactive experience based on your location, time and recent apps, updated Apple Pay with support for loyalty card...

Apple CarPlay will also control your vehicle's apps

Apple's in-car operating system, CarPlay, is about to get a huge boost. The company has announced at WWDC 2015 that it will soon let you control more parts of your vehicle, directly from the iPhone-powered software. This means CarPlay can work in con... read more

Apple Music unites streaming, radio and social for $10 a month

It's finally here. Well, it will be soon, but at least the announcement is official. At WWDC today, Jimmy Iovine revealed Apple Music: the long-rumored music service that follows the purchase of Beats last year. Apple Music will provide all of your m... read more

Apple's Beats 1 believes the future of music is radio

Big changes are on the horizon for Apple's music streaming service. After acquiring Beats audio last summer and luring famed British DJ, Zane Lowe, away from BBC Radio 1, Apple has announced it is launching a music streaming service dubbed Beats 1... read more

'Fortnite' would be a fun game, if it weren't so complex

When Fortnite started teaching me how to build a fort, its gentle tutor voice told my pickaxe-wielding warrior to never forget this simple rule: Remember to make a door. When you build forts in Fortnite -- in addition to about a billion other activity... read more

Apple demonstrates the power of native third-party Watch apps

Apple Watch apps are going to get a lot more powerful. During its WWDC 2015 keynote, Apple said that it plans to let developers begin building apps that run directly on the Apple Watch, giving them the ability to make much faster apps that can do a lot more than they can now. The new apps will be able to access the Watch's hardware, including its microphone, speaker, and accelerometer, and they'll even be able to have the digital crown control custom UI elements, rather than scrolling. Currently, third-party Watch apps can't do any of those things — they actually run on the iPhone and are beamed over to the Watch.

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Apple Pay hitting the UK in July

Apple has just announced Apple Pay will be coming to the UK in July this year launching with eight of the biggest banks.
You'll be able to use the service on Transport for London services as well as M&S, Boots, Costa, McDonalds, Subway and Waitrose stores.
It'll be available in 250,000 locations across the UK, that's more than it launched with in the US.
Apple has also renamed the Passbook app to Wallet whilst adding in loyalty and reward card compatibility as well.
Apple also announced it's adding in a load of new traders in the US including Best Buy, Trader Joes and JC Penney.
Apple Pay will soon be available in more than 1 million locations across the US.

iOS 9 revealed with Google Now-like Siri features

Apple has introduced iOS 9 at WWDC, boasting some new features and enhancements to set it apart from Apple's previous mobile OS.
The biggest upgrade announced is Siri's new "proactive assistant" feature, which feels like Apple's answer to Google Now. Like Google Now, Siri will now use more context within the page being viewed to offer more handy recommendations and reminders.
It also learns what time of day you are prone to open certain apps, and makes them handy for the user, as well as suggest names for incoming calls that aren't in your address book.
Apple Maps also gets an upgrade, adding transit directions to select cities. Apple Pay is also getting added support from new credit cards and store fronts. Apple Pay is finally making its way to the UK "next month" and will be able to be used for transit in the UK.
Notes, used by over half of iOS users on a daily basis, becomes a bit more intuitive, adding to-do lists, drawing capability and easily accessible photos within the app.

Apple Stresses User Privacy At WWDC

Apple is continuing to put blue water between itself and data-mining mobile rivals such as Google by engineering its services with a clear focus on user privacy. At its WWDC developer conference today, senior vice president of software engineering Craig Federighi showed off an update to its Siri voice assistant, called Proactive, which will offer some Google Now-esque predictive features,… Read More

Apple Announces watchOS 2 With Native Apps,

Today at WWDC, Apple announced the second version of watchOS, the operating system that powers the Apple Watch. The new features include support for native apps, third-party complications, communication improvements, health and fitness improvements and more. 

Timepiece improvements to watchOS 2 include a brand new watch face called Photos Face, which uses photos from a user's albums or selected photos. There's another new watch face called Time Lapse, which shows iconic locations all over the world shot over 24 hours when you look at your watch. 

Apple Discontinues Newsstand and Creates News

Looks like Apple’s Newsstand has officially gone the way of most actual newsstands. The content-sharing service has been axed, but it’s being replaced by something new: The simply-named News.
Read more...

HomeKit Will Let You Access Your Smart Home Via iCloud

Slowly but surely, Apple is been threatening to creep into the smart home market. The company just took one more small step by announcing that it’s HomeKit software will give you access to connected home devices from anywhere in the world by using iCloud. And the software will finally work on a whole bunch of products.
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iOS 9 Makes The iPad More Productive With Multitasking

At last, Apple introduced multitasking apps on iOS 9 for iPad, which means you can work with more than one application at once. This is a godsend for iPad users.
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