Apple Seeds Seventh Beta of macOS Sierra 10.12.4 to Developers and Public Beta Testers
Apple today seeded the seventh beta of an upcoming macOS Sierra 10.12.4 update to developers, just three days after seeding the sixth macOS Sierra 10.12.4 beta and over a month after releasing macOS Sierra 10.12.3.
The seventh macOS Sierra 10.12.4 beta is available for download through the Apple Developer Center or the software update mechanism in the Mac App Store for those who have previously installed a beta.
macOS Sierra 10.12.4 brings iOS’s Night Shift mode to the Mac for the first time. First introduced on iOS devices with iOS 9.3, Night Shift is designed to gradually shift the display of a device from blue to yellow, cutting down on exposure to blue light. Blue light is said to disrupt the circadian rhythm and is believed to interrupt sleeping patterns.
Night Shift can be activated through the Displays section of System Preferences, where a setting to have it come on at sunset and turn off at sunrise is available. Night Shift can also be toggled on manually through the Notification Center or via Siri.
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The 10.12.4 update focuses mainly on Night Shift, but also includes dictation support for Shanghainese, cricket scores for Siri, improved PDFKit APIs, and iCloud Analytics options.
Few outward-facing changes have been discovered in macOS Sierra 10.12.4 outside of the first beta, as Apple has been working on bug fixes and improvements ahead of a public release. With the seventh beta out and the short interval since the last seed, we are getting closer to the end of the beta testing period and are likely to see a public release soon.
Update: The seventh beta is also available for members of Apple’s public beta testing program.
Related Roundup: macOS Sierra
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Best app deals of the day! 6 paid iPhone apps for free for a limited time
Everyone likes apps, but sometimes the best ones are a bit expensive. Now and then, developers make paid apps free for a limited time, but you have to snatch them up while you have the chance. Here are the latest and greatest apps on sale in the iOS App Store.
These apps normally cost money, and this sale lasts for a limited time only. If you go to the App Store and it says the app costs money, that means the deal has expired and you will be charged.
More: 200 Awesome iPhone Apps | The best Android apps for almost any occasion
Extreme Week Calendar
This is a lightweight version of the popular Extreme Agenda organizer app. It gives you a seven-day view and inline day view to add great features not found in the default calendar.
Available on:
iOS
MicSwap
Get the sound of each of 15 different studio microphones. Record or import audio and change the sound anytime. Swap mics, change studios, edit, color label, sort, and share your recordings anywhere.
Available on:
iOS
Sketch Me!
Turn your photos into drawings, cartoons or sketch images in one click to create instant works of art. Save your creations and share them with your friends through Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Tumblr, and email.
Available on:
iOS
Luxy Pro
Luxy Pro is the special version of the only millionaire dating app that finds you a millionaire match based on what you really care about. Sounds a bit … strange, but hey, there are users.
Available on:
iOS
palmEM
The palmEM app is an all-in-one, rapid, succinct, evidence-based emergency medicine quick reference tool. Internal medicine, critical care, family medicine, and urgent care clinicians will also find palmEM useful.
Available on:
iOS
Stopwatch+
Stopwatch Plus is the most professional and beautiful mechanical stopwatch in the App Store. Do not miss a perfect companion for sports and other activities.
Available on:
iOS
Keep your Moto G5 Plus safe from harm with one of these cases
It’s tough to beat Lenovo’s budget-based Moto G5 Plus when it comes to value. The smartphone comes with an impressive 5.2-inch screen, a 12-megapixel camera, plenty of processing power, and a robust battery for just $230. It may be cheap, but you’re still going to want to protect it from damage. After all, that protruding camera module on the back looks particularly exposed, and it’s frighteningly easy to scratch or crack large screens. That’s why we’ve rounded up some of the best Moto G5 cases on the market, where you’re looking for something stylish, rugged, or simply practical.
More: Motorola’s crazy concept Moto Mods include a photo printer, and more
Incipio NGP Case ($20)
This is a practical, protective case for the Moto G5 Plus. It’s made from a shock-absorbent material with a honeycombed interior that dissipates the force of any impact. You can expect solid drop protection from up to five feet, and the back and sides are also textured for enhanced grip. You’ll find chunky button covers on the side and accurate openings for the camera module and noise cancellation mic on the back, as well as both ports on the bottom edge. It comes in either pink or black.
Buy one now from:
Incipio
Cruzerlite Bugdroid Circuit Case ($10)
Here’s a simple TPU case that will offer basic protection for a mere $10. The Bugdroid Circuit case has a circuitry design etched into the back with the Android mascot featured prominently, making it an ideal choice for Android fans. There are cut-outs for the ports, mic, and camera, and slim button covers. You’ll also find a slight protective lip around the screen. It’s a translucent case, one that comes in eight different shades.
Buy one now from:
Amazon
LK Wallet Case ($10)
You can’t argue with the low price of this wallet case from LK, which features a thin TPU shell inside that holds your Moto G5 Plus in place. The wallet is made of polyurethane leather and sports a magnetic closure and three card slots, as well as a money pouch on the back. It acts as a landscape stand when folded, and it offers easy access to your phone’s various buttons and ports. There are also openings for the camera and mic on the back. The quality isn’t great, but that’s reflected in the price. It comes in black, brown, rose gold, or purple.
Buy one now from:
Amazon
Diztronic TPU Case ($10)
If you like to keep things as plain as possible, then this matte-finish case from Diztronic might be for you. It’s a flexible, slim case with a minimalist design. You’ll find well-defined button covers on the side and accurate cut-outs for your phone’s camera, mic, and ports. The circle around the camera is glossy — and there’s a glossy Diztronic logo etched into one side — but otherwise, this is the plainest case you’ll find for the Moto G5 Plus. You can get it in black, red, navy blue, or teal. There’s a protective bezel around the screen on the front, too, but this case only offers basic protection from bumps and scratches.
Buy one now from:
Amazon
Cimo Grip Cover ($8)
If you love the look of the Moto G5 Plus and balk at the idea of covering it up, then you should look into a clear case like this one from Cimo. It’s a basic, malleable TPU shell, so it’s easy to fit and slightly shock-absorbent. The openings and button covers are all present and correct, and there’s also a slight lip around the screen on the front. It’s not going to offer much in the way of drop protection, but it will repel scratches and minor bumps. You can also get it in blue or black, as well as a frosted-matte version.
Buy one now from:
Amazon
Apple invites you to its grand store openings in the U.S., China, and Germany
Why it matters to you
If you’re in any of these three cities on March 25, you could enjoy the grand opening festivities.
Apple has a trio of new store openings taking place this month and it wants as many Apple fans as possible to attend. If you happen to be in the downtown Miami, area on March 25, it might be worth checking it out. Other outlets will be opening up on the same day in Schildergasse, Germany and Nanjing, China.
Apple store openings are typically rather impressive affairs, and these are likely to be no different. Both the Schildergasse and Jinmao, Nanjing store openings have a number of events and workshops planned around the release (thanks 9to5Mac) and the Miami store is expected to be much the same.
Each store is set to open up for the first time at 10 a.m. local time on March 25 and Apple has invites on each of the respective store pages, encouraging people to attend. Indeed Apple claims that at the Bricknell, Miami store, there will be “something special in store,” for anyone attending.
More: These are the best iOS 11 concept designs so far
That store in particular is a big one. When it opens it will be the largest in the entire state of Florida, which is impressive considering there are a total of 18 spread across the state. That also means it will have more on offer than the new shopfronts opening up in Germany and China. The Nanjing outlet will stay open the longest though, until 9:30 at night, even on a Sunday.
What will be interesting to note is how much these new stores have borrowed from some of the more innovative stores elsewhere in the world. Apple’s flagship store in Milan, Italy for example, features a redesigned store spase, with much more wood used in its construction and a giant screen at the rear.
The next store Apple opens could well be one of its most important. We learned in January that it planned to open up an outlet right in the heart of Samsung country: Seoul, South Korea.
Apple invites you to its grand store openings in the U.S., China, and Germany
Why it matters to you
If you’re in any of these three cities on March 25, you could enjoy the grand opening festivities.
Apple has a trio of new store openings taking place this month and it wants as many Apple fans as possible to attend. If you happen to be in the downtown Miami, area on March 25, it might be worth checking it out. Other outlets will be opening up on the same day in Schildergasse, Germany and Nanjing, China.
Apple store openings are typically rather impressive affairs, and these are likely to be no different. Both the Schildergasse and Jinmao, Nanjing store openings have a number of events and workshops planned around the release (thanks 9to5Mac) and the Miami store is expected to be much the same.
Each store is set to open up for the first time at 10 a.m. local time on March 25 and Apple has invites on each of the respective store pages, encouraging people to attend. Indeed Apple claims that at the Bricknell, Miami store, there will be “something special in store,” for anyone attending.
More: These are the best iOS 11 concept designs so far
That store in particular is a big one. When it opens it will be the largest in the entire state of Florida, which is impressive considering there are a total of 18 spread across the state. That also means it will have more on offer than the new shopfronts opening up in Germany and China. The Nanjing outlet will stay open the longest though, until 9:30 at night, even on a Sunday.
What will be interesting to note is how much these new stores have borrowed from some of the more innovative stores elsewhere in the world. Apple’s flagship store in Milan, Italy for example, features a redesigned store spase, with much more wood used in its construction and a giant screen at the rear.
The next store Apple opens could well be one of its most important. We learned in January that it planned to open up an outlet right in the heart of Samsung country: Seoul, South Korea.
Safari exploit at Pwn2Own lets hackers take over MacBook Pro Touch Bar
Why it matters to you
Discovering bugs in a safe environment lets manufacturers and developers fix them before they can affect consumers around the world.
A pair of hackers at this year’s Pwn2Own hacking contest have managed to infiltrate a MacBook Pro’s Touch Bar with a message of their own, after finding an exploit for the Safari browser. Although only considered a partial success, the hack did let them gain access to the Touch Bar, earning them $28,000 for their trouble.
The Pwn2Own security conference and competition sees many impressive exploits discovered every year and 2017 is no different. We’ve seen a number of successes (via MacRumors) that have cracked open the Linux Kernel, Adobe Reader, and Microsoft’s Edge browser. A few hacks managed to breach Apple security, too, which is what let one team post their message to the Touch Bar.
Samuel Groß and Niklas Baumstark used a number of logic bugs to exploit the Safari browser and eventually take root control of the MacOS on a MacBook Pro. While that itself granted them their monetary prize and nine points in the Pwn2Own competition, they impressed onlookers even more by adding a custom message to the Touch Bar which read: “pwned by niklasb and saelo.”
Baumstark later explained on Twitter why the hack was only considered a partial success, despite its efficacy.
@LiveOverflow @_tsuro @5aelo we had sep. exploits for 10.0.3 and 10.1. the 10.0.3 one is fixed upstream, so it counts as a duplicate
— Niklas Baumstark (@_niklasb) March 15, 2017
More: Malicious hackers could exploit flaws in Android for Work to nab sensitive data
The contest, which is offering over a million dollars in prizes this year, has seen another group utilize an exploit in Safari to earn some points and funds for themselves. The Chaitin Security Research Lab successfully breached Safari to gain root access on MacOS. Because its goal was seen as a full, rather than a partial success, it earned $35,000 and 11 points for its trouble — though there were no props given for Touch Bar takeover in this case.
Although other teams also attempted to breach Safari with an escalation to root on MacOS, they couldn’t manage it within their allotted time.
As impressive as the first day of Pwn2Own 2017 has been though, there is still much more to come. The schedule for day two is now live and shows a lot of people and teams getting ready to try to crack open many pieces of commercial software, including the MacOS. We’ll no doubt learn more about their efforts when the results are posted later today.
Latest Windows 10 preview build makes it even harder to dodge updates
Why it matters to you
If you’re the kind of Windows user that likes to install updates on your own terms, the Creators Update looks set to make things a little more difficult.
One of Microsoft’s biggest ambitions for Windows 10 is to ensure that all Windows users are keeping pace with the latest updates. Now, a change slated to take effect with the release of the Creators Update is set to remove one of the ways users could control when their system would download and install new builds.
Earlier this week, users in the fast ring of the Windows Insider program received build 15058, which is thought to be very close to the release version of the Creators Update. The build makes an important change to the Windows Update section of the Settings utility.
Previously, users could opt out of downloading updates when they were on a metered connection like paid Wi-Fi or a data plan, to help protect them from accidentally blazing through their bandwidth allowance or racking up a hefty bill. Users who wanted to delay or prevent an update for other purposes could set their connection as metered to take advantage of this feature.
More: Windows 10 Creators Update is now in the queue for an April release
However, the latest build of Windows 10 makes a major change to the relationship between metered connections and new updates, according to a report from Windows Super Site. Now, updates that are “required to keep Windows running smoothly” will be downloaded whether or not the user is working with a metered connection.
There’s currently no word on which updates will be classified as essential. The decision basically falls to Microsoft, which means that users will no longer have the control that they were afforded by hiding behind a metered connection.
This change has only just taken effect in the preview build, so it could still be reversed before it ever makes it to the public build. However, it seems likely that metered connections won’t be able to delay updates unconditionally once the Creators Update is released next month.
The startup behind the world’s fastest 3D printer is back with version 2.0
Why it matters to you
Carbon’s latest products demonstrate the next evolution in 3D printing for prototyping and manufacturing.
Last year, a startup called Carbon did something amazing — it launched the M1 3D printer. The M1 used UV light in a process called stereolithography to “grow” objects from a pool of photopolymer resin. That, in itself, wasn’t new. But Carbon’s CLIP (short for, continuous liquid interface production) technology allowed it to print in a steady stream rather than layer-by-layer, letting it churn out sophisticated objects up to 100 times faster than traditional stereolithography printers.
Today, Carbon is back with the new and improved M2, which features twice the build area as the M1, and the Smart Part Washer, a washing system that cleans resin from printed objects. The company is also launching SpeedCell, which enables multiple Carbon products to be connected for manufacturing at scale.
“The M2 was designed and made with manufacturers in mind,” Joseph DeSimone, co-founder and CEO of Carbon, told Digital Trends. “It’s larger build volume than the M1 allows our customers to produce more and/or larger parts than they could before, which speeds up the production process and makes CLIP technology scalable for a manufacturing environment.”
On top of that, DeSimone said the M2 will allow for sterilization of parts for use in fields like medical device manufacturing.
“The Smart Part Washer is a completely new product that offers improvements in post-processing by reducing labor costs, improving part quality, and allowing for solvent recovery for improved environmental stewardship,” he said.
More: Home printer buying guide: How to choose the best printer
SpeedCell will be available in two formats from launch: Design SpeedCell and Production SpeedCell. Design is geared towards designers and engineers for prototyping, and combines one M1 or M2 with a Smart Part Washer. Production is intended for industrial manufacturers and pairs multiple M2 printers with a Smart Part Washer.
“Over the last couple of years, we have been producing real parts at game-changing speeds using our CLIP technology,” DeSimone said. “What we’ve also realized is that engineers have been designing, and redesigning, their parts on the same fabrication tool that is also the production tool, and their product introduction cycles have then therefore been dramatically shortened because they are skipping prototyping and the tooling steps. There is a fundamental shift in the manufacturing process — traditionally it’s been design, prototype, tool, produce. When you think about 3D printing up to this point, everyone has been designing parts on a fabrication tool that doesn’t allow you to scale it up.”
In this sense, DeSimone said prototyping is a “dead end,” so they’ve developed SpeedCell to eliminate prototyping completely. “Hence are mantra is: Stop prototyping, start producing,” he said.
Following Carbon’s established model, the products will be available for yearly subscriptions of $40,000 for the M1, $50,000 for the M2, and $10,000 for the Smart Part Washer.
Learn how to build a computer with PC Building Simulator
Why it matters to you
Building a PC virtually could teach you a lot about building one in real life.
Building a PC is something that becomes far easier with practice, but if you make mistakes they can be expensive ones. That’s why something like PC Building Simulator could be great for those who want to try their hand at it, or for old pros who want to test their skills without breaking open their prized PC.
Currently under development by independent programmer “Claudiu,” PC Building Simulator is undergoing pre-alpha testing, which is why he’s released a build of the game to the public. He hopes that the game will be useful for people wanting to learn about putting together a gaming PC, or those who simply want to try out different hardware configurations in a 3D, digital setting.
As it stands the game is in a pretty bare-bones state, with very limited components to choose from, a single, rather drab environment to do it in, and no advanced cooling options like water or phase change. However, the basics are there and for anyone who hasn’t built a PC before, seeing that everything slots in easily can go a long way to assuaging any concerns you may have.
More: How to build the perfect budget gaming PC
It’s nice to see cabling included, too. One of the most daunting aspects for new PC builders can be installing power cables, due to the fear that should you use the wrong one, you could blow something up. While that isn’t as big of a scare as people might expect, the tutorial in PC Building Simulator shows a list of all of the most important cables and makes you pick the correct one before allowing you to continue.
In the future, Claudiu plans to add a career mode, which will let people pick their own hardware and let them practice budgeting for specific goals and try out lighting and cooling configurations. There’s even the potential for puzzle-like gameplay in the form of damaged components and PC repair (thanks RPS).
One important step that isn’t taken in this demo though is for users to ground themselves. While not strictly necessary, making sure that any static you have built up in your own body doesn’t short out components is an important step for new PC builders to take. If you’re planning on building a PC yourself, make sure to check out our handy guide, no experience required.
And if you’d like to try your hand at building a virtual gaming system, you can download PC Building Simulator using various links found on the official blog.
Google’s Area 120 releases yet another app, and this one turns speech into emojis
Why it matters to you
Everyone loves communicating with emoji, so why not make it easier to send them using nothing but your voice?
Just a couple days after launching Uptime, the app that allows you to turn your YouTube video-watching experience into a social gathering, Google’s startup incubator Area 120 has come out with yet another app. Meet Supersonic Fun Voice Messenger — it’s a mouthful but chock full of fun, as the real-time voice messaging app not only transcribes your speech into text to send to your friends, but also turns some of your words into emojis. Because who says that you’re not a descriptive speaker?
Unlike Uptime, which was, ironically enough for Google, an iOS exclusive release, Supersonic Fun Voice Messenger is available for Android users. To use it, all you need to do is press the microphone button, share your thoughts, and then watch in awe as the app transcribes what you’re saying. It won’t randomly add emojis to your message — rather, if you say something that has a corresponding picture message, it’ll be inserted. Then again, given the plethora of emoji that the Unicode Consortium has made available, you should probably prepare yourself for a very, very colorful transcription.
More: Don’t watch YouTube videos alone — watch them with friends via Uptime
Once you’ve sent your message, the recipient will not only get the written copy, but also the audio version, so they can hear you narrate your own text. And taking a page from Snapchat’s book on ephemerality, once the message has been read or heard, it will disappear.
Of course, considering that the app is still new, it has a few kinks it needs to work out, and sometimes it isn’t the best at transcribing what you say. But still, it seems like a fun new communication app to try out, so if you’re an Android user, you can check it out for yourself now.
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