Steve Urkel’s car has been resurrected as an electric vehicle

Well, this is pretty adorable: A company is resurrecting Steve Urkel’s diminutive BMW Isetta as an electric vehicle. The Microlino comes from Switzerland’s Micro Mobility Systems, according to Wired, and it’ll sell the 880 pound personal vehicle for between $9,000 and $13,500. Production is scheduled to start in 2018. It’s rocking a 15-kilowatt electric motor that will bury the needle at an exhilarating 62 MPH, and its current 11-kWh lithium ion battery will go between 60 to 75 miles on a charge.

These specs won’t do anything for you if you’re looking for something to compete with that electric Corvette at the stoplight, but if you’d rather have an alternative to Nissan’s blandly named New Mobility Concept, the Smart Fortwo or Toyota’s i-Road, here’s your chance.

Isetta vs. Microlino

Posted by Microlino on Thursday, September 17, 2015

Source: Wired

Review: Prong PWR Case Adds a Folding Plug to Your iPhone 6/6s

While there are numerous battery cases for iPhones, the Prong PWR Case for iPhone 6 and iPhone 6s differentiates itself with a built-in, collapsible wall charger. The folding prongs enable you to charge your iPhone by simply plugging it into a wall outlet, making it ideal for work, home, travel, or wherever receptacles are available.

Better yet, the PWR Case eliminates the need to have a Lightning charging cable wherever you go for cord-free convenience. But, as with all battery cases, there are important variables to consider before making your purchase, ranging from size and weight to battery capacity and price. Find out how the PWR Case stacks up ahead.

Design

The Prong PWR is a two-piece case consisting of a detachable outer battery pack with rear folding prongs, and a slimmer inner case that resembles a typical silicon bumper for iPhones. You place your iPhone in the bumper case, which slides into the sled-shaped, tapered battery pack with a built-in male Lightning connector.

You could technically fit a naked iPhone, or use another case, but the device would fit loosely inside the battery pack and could fall out.

The battery pack has a smooth polycarbonate finish that easily collects fingerprints and smudges, especially if you have oily or sweaty hands. The outer case has a small lightning logo between the folding prongs, but otherwise it has no outward-facing branding or markings. Inside the case is a debossed Prong logo and a regulatory label.

Meanwhile, the inner case has thermoplastic edges that should offer average protection against minor drops and scratches, and provide added grip that the iPhone 6s so desperately needs. The rear is covered by clear plastic, except for the area between the top antenna band and upper edge of the smartphone, which is exposed to avoid obstruction of the rear camera and dual-LED flash.

The side power button and volume controls are both covered by plastic that is easy to press, while there are small pass-through cutouts for the Lightning connector, 3.5mm headphone jack, speaker, and bottom microphone. When the outer battery case is attached, these ports are all covered by the thick polycarbonate shell.

The PWR is undeniably thick and heavy, which was likely an unavoidable design tradeoff in order to integrate folding prongs. As someone who wears skinny jeans, one of my main concerns with battery cases is pocketability, and the PWR has a noticeably tight fit in my front pocket that leaves little to no room for my keys or wallet.

The PWR is also tall, adding about half an inch of height to your device. While the iPhone 6s form factor allows for acceptable one-handed usage, using this case will move you into two-handed usage territory unless you consistently rely on Reachability. If you deliberately avoided a Plus-sized iPhone for this reason, you may find this to be a nuisance.

The two-piece design, however, helps to mitigate these problems if you are okay with leaving the outer battery pack behind at times.

This half-inch chin contains a wide speaker grille that channels the iPhone 6s audio from the bottom to the front of the smartphone, but the sound quality becomes somewhat muffled and tinnier in the process. There is also a 3.5mm headphone jack opening with an extension adapter included in the box.

Functionality

PWR Case has a built-in 2,600 mAh lithium polymer rechargeable battery pack that delivers on Prong’s promise of up to 100% additional battery life. Comparatively, the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6s have 1,810 mAh and 1,715 mAh battery capacities respectively, so the PWR Case provides just over double the milliampere-hours on a full charge.

The folding prongs can charge both the internal iPhone battery and external battery pack simultaneously, or just the battery pack. The case took about two hours to fully charge from 0%. The charging level is indicated by four LED lights on the back of the case that can be seen on both the inside and outside of the shell.

A square button on the bottom of the PWR Case can be pressed to check the battery pack level and activate iPhone charging from backup battery. Holding the button down for 2-3 seconds will turn off the charging. Prong’s FAQ details how to reset or put your PWR Case in Sleep Mode.

The case delivers output of 5V/1A (5 watts), which is equal to Apple’s 5W USB Power Adapter and is the maximum charge rate that Apple allows for iPhone charging accessories. Prong also includes a Micro-USB cable in the box as a backup charging method, or to sync your iPhone with iTunes without detaching the outer battery case.

Meanwhile, the case has universal input that works with any 100-240V AC power outlet. However, the folding prongs can only be used with plugs in the United States, Canada, Mexico, China, Japan, and select countries in South America. Elsewhere, a plug adapter is needed. Prong says PWR Case has both UL and FCC safety certification.

Value

PWR Case for iPhone 6 and iPhone 6s is available for $99 with a 2,500 mAh lithium polymer battery through Amazon and Prong’s website in four colors: black, clear, blue-black, and red-white. A larger 3,500 mAh capacity model is also listed for $119, but it is listed as out of stock on Prong’s website. PWR Case is not available for iPhone 6 Plus or iPhone 6s Plus models at this time.

At least one contributing factor to the PWR Case’s higher price is that it is certified under the MFi Program, meaning the accessory has been designed to connect specifically to iPhone and has been certified by the developer to meet Apple performance standards. MFi accessories are often more expensive than uncertified products.

The baseline for comparison should be Anker’s Ultra Slim Extended Battery Case, which Wirecutter ranks as the best battery case for iPhone 6/6s. Anker’s MFi certified case is just $40, slimmer, and has a larger 2,850 mAh battery capacity, so your decision should primarily be based on whether you think folding prongs are worth 2.5x extra.

Many other MFi-certified iPhone 6 and iPhone 6s battery cases without folding prongs are available in the $50 to $130 range, including models from Incipio, iBattz, Odoyo, PowerSkin, LifeProof, Boostcase, OtterBox, and other accessory makers, so Prong’s PWR Case is on the higher end of prices compared to the overall market.

Pros

• Folding prongs
• Two-piece design
• Up to 100% extra battery life
• 1.0-1.2A quick charging
• LED charging level indicators
• MFi certified
• Sleep Mode
• Nice book-like magnetic packaging

Cons

• Big and bulky
• Higher-end price
• Makes one-handed usage difficult
• Speaker sounds muffled

Bottom Line

$60.

That’s the price difference between Prong’s PWR Case and Anker’s Ultra Slim Extended Battery Case for iPhone 6/6s.

If folding prongs are something you are looking for, the PWR Case is your best bet. Otherwise, consider Anker or other brands.

Tags: iPhone accessories, review, battery pack, Prong
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Justice Department Officially Drops Lawsuit Against Apple in Ongoing iPhone Unlocking Dispute

Apple’s ongoing fight with the U.S. government over an order that would require the company to unlock the iPhone 5c used by San Bernardino shooter Syed Farook has come to an end, after the Justice Department today announced plans to drop its case against Apple.

In a motion asking the court to vacate the original order, prosecutors said the FBI has been able to access the data stored on the iPhone 5c without Apple’s help, reports CNBC. From the court filing:

Applicant United States of America, by and through its counsel of record, the United States Attorney for the Central District of California, hereby files this status report called for by the Court’s order issued on March 21, 2016.

The government has now successfully accessed the data stored on Farook’s iPhone and therefore no longer requires the assistance from Apple Inc. mandated by Court’s Order Compelling Apple Inc. to Assist Agents in Search dated February 16, 2016.

Accordingly, the government hereby requests that the Order Compelling Apple Inc. to Assist Agents in Search dated February 16, 2016 be vacated.

Apple was scheduled to square off against the FBI in court on Tuesday, March 22, but just a day ahead of when the court date was set to take place, the FBI asked for a temporary postponement as it had discovered a way to access the iPhone that would not require Apple’s participation.

It later came out that the FBI had enlisted the help of Israeli mobile software developer Cellebrite, a company that offers “mobile forensic solutions” to help law enforcement agencies crack the encryption on smartphones to access data. The government has not disclosed the method used to obtain the information on the iPhone, stating only that it has been retrieved.

The withdrawal of the case brings the heated battle between Apple and the U.S. government to a close. The two have been fighting a very public debate over encryption and personal privacy, which kicked off when a court ordered Apple to help the FBI unlock the iPhone 5c in question.

Unlocking the iPhone would have required Apple to build a new version of iOS that bypassed iPhone passcode restrictions and provided the FBI with a way to enter passcodes electronically, something Apple staunchly refused to do as it would set a dangerous precedent for the future of device encryption.

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.

Tag: Apple-FBI
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Apple to Announce Q2 2016 Earnings on April 25

Apple today updated its investor relations page to note it will announce its earnings for the second fiscal quarter (first calendar quarter) of 2016 on Monday, April 25.

The earnings release will provide a look at sales of the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus following Apple’s record first quarter, which saw the company announce 74.8 million iPhone sales and $18.4 billion profit on $75.9 billion in revenue. Apple has warned that iPhone sales will decline in the March quarter, potentially leading to Apple’s first year-over-year decline since the iPhone was released in 2007.

During its first quarter earnings report, Apple provided Q2 2016 guidance of $50 to $53 billion in revenue and gross margin between 39 and 39.5 percent. Should Apple only take in $50 to $53 billion, the company will also see its first year-over-year revenue drop in 13 years.

The quarterly earnings statement will be released at 1:30 PM Pacific/4:30 PM Eastern, with a conference call to discuss the report taking place at 2:00 PM Pacific/5:00 PM Eastern. MacRumors will provide coverage of both the earnings release and conference call on April 25.
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Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge (Review)

The Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge is here and is undoubtedly one of the most attractive phones ever made. The curved display, or “infinity screen” as my friends have taken to calling it, is one of the most unique features on any phone out there. Samsung has tried to up its game this year by adding

X-mini Evolve Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET

The X-mini Evolve is the first wireless headphone from the company known for its capsule speakers.

Aloysius Low/CNET

X-mini, known for its line of capsule speakers, has branched out into the wireless headphone world with the X-mini Evolve, a $100 (£70 and AU$130) on-ear Bluetooth headphone that doubles as a Bluetooth speaker.

The Evolve is attractively designed and seems pretty well built for a $100 headphone. It’s also fairly comfortable for an on-ear headphone, though its snug fit may be an issue if you wear glasses because the headphones can press your ear into the frame of glasses, which creates a pain point after listening for a while.

Using the Evolve can be a little tricky at first. There are three buttons and a slider, which lets you choose between headphone and speaker modes, while the power button doubles as a pause. While the Evolve has + and – signs on the volume controls, they actually function as a forward and rewind first. You’ll have to hold on them to increase or decrease the volume.

While you can plug in an audio cable and use it in wired mode you’ll have to make sure the wireless mode is turned off first. Battery life is also rather good, with a claimed 30 hours of playback, and I had yet to recharge it during my time spent with it.

I like how the Evolve sounds. There’s decent clarity for a Bluetooth headphone and the bass, which is ample, isn’t over accentuated.

As for its performance as a Bluetooth speaker, it’s not bad. The Evolve comes with four drivers — two “internal” for headphone listening and two external for speaker mode.

If you’re wondering whether the sound leaks out when you’re in headphone mode, it doesn’t. The external drivers are only active when you’re in speaker mode.

Quick notes

• Ships internationally from X-mini’s website for $99
• Features four drivers, two “internal” and two external for use as speakers
• Capable of both wireless (Bluetooth) and wired modes

The X-mini Evolve folds up nicely into a compact size when you are not using it.

Aloysius Low/CNET

Samsung Galaxy S7 Active confirmed by Samsung, but not officially

It looks like Samsung is definitely readying a rugged version of its latest flagship – just like it’s done in past years.

According to Venture Beat’s Evan Blass, a listing for the Samsung Level app, which was recently updated in the Google Play Store, indicates that Samsung made a Galaxy S7 Active. The app is used to manage Samsung’s Bluetooth audio devices and now includes references to the S7 Active in its changelog. Alongside this unofficial confirmation, there is more evidence of the device.

A recent listing on export- and import-tracking website Zauba showed a 5.1-inch phone with the model number SM-G891A entering India, a country where many Samsung devices undergo software testing. Keep in mind the S6 Active (last year’s water- and dust- resistant version of the Galaxy S6) was exclusive to AT&T in the US and had the model number SM-G890A.

Based on this model number pattern, we can assume the device that recently entered India is the S7 Active. Samsung has been internally referring to the unannounced phone as Samsung Poseidon, Blass claimed, because the Active line features IP-68 certification for water and dust resistance.

Samsung’s Galaxy S7 Active is rumoured to become available sometime around June. Stay tuned to Pocket-lint’s Samsung hub for related news.

Alexa tip: Wake up to any song on Spotify – CNET

Chris Monroe/CNET

Alexa is getting a lot smarter. With skills and more third-party support for smart home devices, you can order pizza and control your home using just your voice. You can ask what your car’s fuel level is, set recurring alarms and much, much more.

One of the most requested features and largest missed opportunities is the ability to play music tracks as an alarm sound, especially considering all the different music streaming services that are supported.

Currently, users are limited to a pretty standard set of alarm noises, as well as Alec Baldwin bragging about getting the early bird or Missy Elliot yelling at you for sleeping so late.

There is a way, however, to have Alexa play any song on Spotify as your alarm. Here’s how it’s done.

Pair your phone or tablet using Bluetooth

Currently, Alexa totally lacks the ability to play any music as an alarm. However, it works really well as an always-on Bluetooth speaker. This means you can pass on the alarm function to your mobile device.

First, you must pair your device with Alexa. Speak, “Alexa, pair.” This will put the speaker in pairing mode. From your mobile device, navigate to Bluetooth settings and select Echo-XXXX to complete the pairing.

Here’s everything the Amazon Echo can do…

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Download Alarmify

Natively from Android or iOS, you cannot play music from Spotify as an alarm sound either. Instead, you must download an application that will enable this functionality.

From your iOS device, open App Store and search for an app called Alarmify. If you’re using an Android device, open Play Store and search for the same app. Install the application.

Once downloaded, you will need to open Alarmify and log in to your Spotify account.

Set a Spotify alarm using Alarmify

Once your Spotify account is connected to Alarmify, you will need to create a new alarm.

Android: From the Android app, tap the plus button in the lower right corner to start creating a new alarm. Select a time for the alarm and the days that you want it to repeat, then tap Select Music. Choose whether you want a specific album, track, artist or playlist and tap the check mark in the upper right corner to save the alarm.

iOS: From the app, tap the plus sign in the middle right of the screen to create a new alarm and choose a time for the alarm to sound. Tap Save to create the alarm, and tap Choose Playlist. The first time you open this menu, it will take several seconds to load the entire list of playlists. If you don’t have a playlist you want to use as an alarm, you will need to open the Spotify app and create a new one. Select it in the list from within Alarmify and tap Done in the upper right corner.

Before going to bed, ensure that the mobile device is connected to the Echo via Bluetooth and open the Alarmify app. Tap Sleep when you’re ready to doze off and wait for the alarm to sound in the morning.

Stop YouTube Music from running up data charges – CNET

Even if you don’t pay for YouTube Red to remove ads and to gain the ability to play tunes in the background or when you are offline, the YouTube Music app (for iOS or for Android) is a great way to listen to the seemingly endless supply of music on YouTube. It queues up songs in a playlist so you can keep listening without needing to pick the next song yourself. All of this easy listening, however, can run up your phone bill if you are rocking out when you are away from Wi-Fi.

To prevent you from going over your monthly data allotment, the YouTube Music app has added a toggle switch to stream via Wi-Fi only. It also made it a bit easier to browse with the addition of a “More from” button. Let’s have a look at these two new additions.

Stream via Wi-Fi only

To stop yourself from streaming on a cellular signal, tap the hamburger button in the upper-left corner and tap Settings. On the setting screen, tap the toggle switch to Stream via Wi-Fi only.

Enlarge Image

Screenshot by Matt Elliott/CNET

More from your favorite artists

The other feature added with this update is a “More from” button, which appears under the artist info when you are watching a video. To see more songs from the artist you are listening to, tap the little triangle along the right edge to expand the artist info page and you should see “More from Willie Nelson” or whichever artist is currently playing. This button won’t appear for every video you watch on YouTube Music. For NPR’s excellent Tiny Desk Concert series, for example, most videos didn’t include the “More from” button.

For more, see how to get started with YouTube Music.

The best streaming music apps for Android

Streaming music is big business, but which Android apps should you use?

We know there are plenty of streaming apps out there for Android. Each one comes with pros and cons (as everything else in life does). And the streaming app that best suits your needs might vary from one moment to the next. Say you want to listen to local stations for local news and weather information one moment. You may just want to have some music playing in your office that will be uninterrupted by commercials the next moment. Different apps will better fulfill those different needs.

Join us for an overview of some of the best streaming apps out there.

Article updated March 2016

Google Play Music

Google Play Music offers some pretty neat features, especially if you subscribe to the All Access service for $9.99 a month.

Without subscribing you can upload a ton of your own music to a cloud locker to listen to on the go by streaming it. But with the subscription you’re opened up to Google’s vast library of content, allowing you to stream songs, albums, even create stations or listen to some curated ones. The latter of these comes thanks to the integration of Songza, a previous entry on this list that Google acquired.

One of the more recent additions to Google Play Music is the Family Plan. For half as much again on top of a regular subscription you can bring in everyone in your household to get their stream on without requiring an individual All Access plan.

As already mentioned you can add your own music library to Google Play Music. And it even plays nice with iTunes. The desktop app can be pointed at wherever your music collection lives on your PC or Mac and automagically upload new additions to the cloud.

If you’d like to test drive All Access before signing up, there’s a free trial available.

Download Google Play Music

Spotify

Spotify is one of the most well known names in the space and is a strong choice to have on your Android phone or tablet. Spotify has the massive library you’d want to find, as well as a station generator and some curated, mood and genre based offerings if you don’t feel like making a playlist yourself.

There’s also a social emphasis with Spotify, with users being strongly encouraged to use friends’ playlists to help them discover music and share what they’re listening to on social media sites.

The biggest recent additions were streaming access for free, with ads and shuffle play the trade-off, and the long awaited support for Google’s Chromecast. And now with Chromecast Audio on the scene, hook up a couple of speakers and you’ve got a Spotify powered stereo.

With the $9.99 monthly Premium subscription, you get some added perks, like no ads.

Download Spotify

Slacker Radio

Slacker Radio is one service you don’t normally hear too much about. It offers plenty of options, though, and it’s what powers Samsung’s Milk music service.

There is the free service, which plays ads (including some video ads). It offers a limited number of song skips. You can listen to stations suited to certain events or activities.

The $3.99-a-month subscription gets rid of those ads and song skip limitations. It also allows you to download full stations onto your device for offline playback.

And $9.99 monthly gives you an experience similar to that of Spotify in the sense that you can play songs and albums on demand, all without commercials. It also enables you to create playlists and download those playlists on your device for offline playback.

ABC News, ESPN and NPR stations are available on Slacker.

Download Slacker Radio

Pandora

Of course, we can’t forget about Pandora. Pandora gives you the ability to create radio stations based off of songs and bands. Just enter the name of the song or band in there and it will create a playlist with similar-sounding music. The service works without a subscription and it is ad-supported.

The app comes with a sleep timer and an alarm, which are pretty nice little features.

If you do decide to pony up $4.99 per month for Pandora One, you can get a few added bonuses. You get no ads, a higher bitrate and a special desktop application.

Download Pandora

TuneIn Radio

Sometimes there are things you can only hear on local (or “terrestrial”) radio stations. TuneIn lets you listen to streaming radio stations from all over the globe. You can also listen to podcasts, if you like to keep all your audio in one handy place.

Once you’re up and running TuneIn allows you to follow your favorite stations, and if you can’t find it you can manually add it in providing you have the URL. TuneIn also recently had a visual overhaul making it much more attractive than the slightly stale, but functional look of old.

Upgrade to TuneIn Radio Pro for a one-time fee of $3.99 to remove banner ads and gain the ability to record your stations.

Download TuneIn Radio (Free)

Download TuneIn Radio Pro ($3.99)

iHeartRadio

There are some big terrestrial radio station companies that don’t stream on TuneIn, like giants Clear Channel and Cumulus. However, they do stream stations live on the iHeartRadio app.

In addition to being a bit like TuneIn, iHeartRadio is also similar to some other services we mentioned with playlists/stations based off of activities, events and moods. It’s also a bit like Pandora in the sense that you can craft stations based off of a particular band or song.

You can expect advertisements on iHeartRadio.

Download iHeartRadio

Deezer

Deezer doesn’t do much to break the mould, but it is a decent alternative to something like Spotify. It comes in free and paid forms, with your $9.99 a month opening up premium features and removing the in-stream advertising. Without paying you’ll also have to play things in shuffle mode, but the ads are so frequent if you’re going to use it a lot it’s definitely worth paying up.

Deezer also recently added Android Auto support which is good news if you’re in the position to take your music on the road, and the “Flow” can be quite useful in creating a radio station like stream based on your preferences.

The biggest issue right now is that it has been “coming soon” to the U.S. for what seems like an eternity, now. But it is coming. Apparently.

Download Deezer

Please tell us what you think. Do you enjoy using some of our favorites? Do you prefer using other services we didn’t mention? How come? We look forward to reading your thoughts!