Technology

Apple announced a fleet of new products at its “California Streaming” event. Chief among them — you guessed it — was the iPhone 13. This one is coming in various sizes and colors, but with smaller notches, the new A15 Bionic chipset, and with redesigned and improved cameras located around the back. Going from smallest to largest, Apple will soon release the iPhone 13 Mini, iPhone 13, iPhone 13 Pro, and finally the iPhone 13 Pro Max. With the Pro and Pro Max, you’ll be able to get the first iPhone ever to ship with 1TB of storage, along with 120Hz refresh rate displays. If you’re looking forward to ordering any of the four iPhone 13 models, the good news is you won’t have to wait long to both preorder and receive your new phone. The preorder phase begins on Friday, September 17th, and they’...

Apple at its Keynote event on Tuesday unveiled the next-generation Apple Watch Series 7, designed with faster charging, all new accessories and the enhanced watchOS 8. The latest Apple Watch release includes several key updates, including a brighter, Always-On Retina display with 20% more screen area and ultra-thin 1.7 mm borders with softer and more rounded corners. The user interface has been optimized with the new display in mind, offering larger font sizes and a new QWERTY keyboard that makes typing and reading texts from the Apple Watch easier than ever. Larger menu titles and buttons in apps, like the Alarm app, have also been added. The watch also received powerful upgrades to its durability, including a redesigned front crystal with a more robust geometry that makes it stronger tha...

The newly-launched, artist-supported tech company CXIP has developed the NFT industry’s first cross-market royalty solution, a new smart contract called PA1D. Offering smart contracts that respond to any marketplace’s unique request for royalty information, NFT creators can automatically collect royalties while selling work through any platform. PA1D is one of the features included in CXIP’s enhanced minting technology, the first to offer standardized security and authentication in the minting process. Composed of an ERC721/ERC1155 compliant NFT smart contract, PA1D is a first-of-its-kind innovation that aims to solve issues surrounding creators claiming their royalties, no matter which marketplace a work is sold on. During the lifespan of an NFT, the smart contract will collect and distri...

When Sonos announced price increases for the majority of its product lineup last week, some people noticed that the entry-level Beam soundbar was absent from the list. And indeed, that’s because the company has been at work on a follow-up. The new second-generation Beam being announced today costs $449 (a $50 increase over the original) but adds Dolby Atmos audio and an improved external design. It’ll be available October 5th in black or white. But there’s something you should know about the Atmos part right off the bat: the new Beam doesn’t actually include any up-firing speakers. In fact, the drivers inside are the exact same as before: there’s a center tweeter, four woofers, and three passive radiators to give bass some extra kick. The outside of the Beam has switched from a fabric cove...

Cloning your voice using artificial intelligence is simultaneously tedious and simple: hallmarks of a technology that’s just about mature and ready to go public. All you need to do is talk into a microphone for 30 minutes or so, reading a script as carefully as you can (in my case: the voiceover from a David Attenborough documentary). After starting and stopping dozens of times to re-record your flubs and mumbles, you’ll send off the resulting audio files to be processed and, in a few hours’ time, be told that a copy of your voice is ready and waiting. Then, you can type anything you want into a chatbox, and your AI clone will say it back to you, with the resulting audio realistic to fool even friends and family — at least for a few moments. The fact that such a service even exists may be ...

Sony’s first PS5 beta included access to the long-awaited M.2 SSD slot, and now the company is ready to release the update to everyone. If you don’t have a PlayStation 5 yet, then you should know that the PS4 is in line for an update, too, which will allow party owners to disband without kicking players out individually, and view trophies from PS5 games, whether it’s on your profile or someone else’s. When the second major system update for the PlayStation 5 is released on Wednesday, everyone who has managed to acquire the system will also experience 3D audio via their TV’s built-in stereo speakers, similar to how it works on compatible headsets. Sadly, there’s no word on support for Dolby Atmos audio beyond Blu-ray disc playback or new 3D audio settings for home theater systems. There’s a...

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is requesting advanced driver assist data from 12 automakers as it seeks to expand its investigation into Tesla’s Autopilot. The government is probing a dozen incidents involving Teslas crashing into emergency vehicles. According to Automotive News, the agency’s Office of Defects Investigation sent letters to a dozen major automakers, including Ford, General Motors, Toyota, and Volkswagen, requesting information regarding their Level 2 driver assist systems, in which the vehicle can simultaneously control steering, braking, and acceleration under specific circumstances. Automakers are being asked to provide the number of vehicles with Level 2 systems that have been manufactured in the US Automakers are being asked to provide the number of ...

Samsung’s Webcam Monitor S4 comes with all the work-from-home accessories you could need built right in. It’s got 2W stereo speakers for listening to colleagues, an HD webcam so they can see you, a microphone so they can hear you, and a USB hub to cut down on the amount of ports needed on a laptop or desktop. The monitor is available now, Samsung says, and costs $319.99 in the US. The 24-inch, 1080p monitor’s built-in webcam is neatly integrated, with a pop-up design that keeps things looking tidy when you’re not on video calls. As a bonus, the design doubles as a privacy shutter for the webcam to help prevent accidental (or malicious) appearances on camera. It’s not automated like on many phones. Instead, the webcam is revealed by “pushing it down into the monitor to make it spring up,” S...

Amazon’s palm-scanning technology, Amazon One, has always been about more than just fast payments. Really, it’s about Amazon controlling and verifying identities, with the company hoping to deploy its service in public spaces like offices and stadiums. Today, Amazon announced the tech’s first launch in an entertainment venue as part of a partnership with ticketing firm AXS. Amazon One will be available to validate entry into Colorado’s famous Red Rocks Amphitheatre, an open-air venue built into a rocky outcrop. It’s the first time the technology has been deployed outside Amazon and Whole Food stores, and Amazon says it expects the tech will be added “to more AXS ticketed venues in the future.” People can enroll into the scheme at dedicated stations in the Red Rocks venue, with these booths...

Canon confirmed plans for its highest-end mirrorless camera yet back in April, but that was just a notice of development — now the company is ready to announce its specs in full. As expected, the EOS R3 will sit right at the top of the company’s still fairly new EOS R range of full-frame mirrorless cameras, above last year’s R5 and R6. The 24-megapixel stacked BSI sensor is lower resolution than the 45-megapixel R5’s, but the R3 is all about high speed, fast AF performance, and low light capability. Canon says it can shoot at up to 30fps with the electronic shutter and 12fps with the mechanical shutter, and the maximum native ISO is 102,400. As for video, the R3 can shoot 6K at 60fps and uncropped 10-bit 4K at 120fps in the Canon Log 3 profile. The R3 makes use of deep learning technology ...

It’s September, which means iPhone season is just nearly here. The rumor mill has been spinning about the highly anticipated iPhone 13, as well as the Apple Watch Series 7, a third generation of AirPods, and the potential for new MacBooks. A new, bezel-less iPad Mini is also a possibility, as is the official release of iOS 15 and macOS Monterey. Since Apple sent out the invite for its “California Streaming” event, we’ve been able to take guesses at what hidden meanings there might be to decipher from the night sky and the illuminated Apple logo, but just when does it actually get underway and where? What time does the iPhone 13 event start? Apple’s “California Streaming” event will go live at 10AM PT / 1PM ET today, Tuesday, September 14th. Like all Apple keynotes since the beginning of th...

CASETiFY’s conveyor belt of collaborations continues this week as the Hong Kong-based accessories label unveils its forthcoming nostalgia-inspired link-up with Israeli brand Urban Sophistication. Taking its first foray into the world of tech, the Tel Aviv-based outfit has dressed a plethora of iPhone accessories in designs inspired by the trends and technology of the early 2000s, with cases reminiscent of everything from flip phones and Blackberry messenger apps, to classic iPod displays and MP3 players. Alongside its array of cases, the pair have also shared images of wireless charging pads and AirPod cases, all of which boast unique noughties-inspired motifs. The waitlist for the Urban Sophistication x CASETiFY collection is live now here, while the capsule itself is set to drop on Septe...