Sony’s Xperia XZ Premium puts 4K HDR in your hands on June 19th

In just a few weeks, you can finally hold Sony’s new high-end, high-performance flagship phone in your hands. You can pre-order Sony’s Xperia XZ Premium in the US through Amazon and Best Buy starting on June 12th, but you can always just purchase it outright when retailers begin selling it on June 19th. When it officially comes out, it’ll become the second commercially available phone to support gigabit LTE after Samsung’s Galaxy S8.

The company says its new Motion Eye system gives the device the power to scan images five times faster than before, making this flagship the first smartphone that can capture slow-motion video at 960FPS. Since the XZ Premium’s 5.5-inch display also runs at full 4K and supports HDR content — and retailers will sell it as an unlocked unit — your wallet will take a hit. One will set you back at least $800, depending on the store.

If that’s a bit too much for you, Sony Mobile is also releasing its mid-tier Xperia XA1 in the US. The company doesn’t have a price for it yet, but pre-orders will begin on June 12th. It will be available online on June 21st and will make its way to store shelves on July 2nd. Now, if what you’re waiting for is the Xperia Touch, you’ll want to mark June 16th on your calendar — that’s the day the company starts taking pre-sales for the projector with an interactive surface. It will be exclusively sold at the Sony Square display room at 25 Madison Avenue in New York City for $1,700.

Ultimate Ears Announces UE Boom 2 and MegaBoom Speakers in Limited Edition Colors

Logitech’s Ultimate Ears has updated its popular UE Boom 2 and MegaBoom Bluetooth speakers line-up with a range of new limited edition colors and patterns.

Called Second Street, the new designs were created in conjunction with graffiti duo Bicicleta Sem Freio and will be available to order from the Ultimate Ears website beginning in June.

Ultimate Ears said the new-design Boom 2 will remain at the price of $199.99, with the MegaBoom refresh also remaining at its usual price of $299.99. Color and pattern availability may vary by country.

The Ultimate Ears iOS app includes a feature called Party Up that lets users connect more than 50 of the waterproof Bluetooth speakers at once. And thanks to Siri integration, pushing the Bluetooth button on the UE Boom 2 or the UE Megaboom activates Apple’s virtual assistant, allowing users to request specific songs through Apple Music, place phone calls, and more.

For a full review of the original UE Boom 2, check out the MacRumors verdict here.

Tag: UE Boom 2
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Reddit Leverages Foursquare to Bring Location Tagging Option to Mobile App

Reddit has updated its official app to include a new feature that allows users to add location information to posts, just like Twitter or Facebook.

The optional feature is powered by Foursquare and designed to be added to posts that might be enriched by location details, such as restaurant reviews or photography.

The change comes as part of a wider effort by Reddit to modernize its online community’s interaction and bring it more in line with typical social media networks.

Other features recently added that work toward this end include the introduction of user profile pages and the ability to follow individual users. Earlier this year, Reddit also added a Popular Posts section featuring viral posts, top stories, and trending topics, to help increase discovery.

Version 3.0 of the Reddit app also introduces a change to the inbox tab, so that notifications appear all in one place, with messages in another. Additionally, the post button is now inline in the feed instead of cluttering the navigation bar.

Reddit is a free download for iPhone and iPad on the App Store. [Direct Link]

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Apple Registers New Macs and iPads in Eurasia Ahead of WWDC on June 5

Just five days ahead of Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference, where it is widely expected to announce new Macs, French website Consomac has discovered a new Russian-language regulatory filing, in the Eurasian Economic Commission database, that points towards at least five new models running macOS Sierra launching soon.

The five new Macs, identified only with the model numbers A1289, A1347, A1418, A1419, and A1481, are likely to be new 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Pros alongside a new 12-inch MacBook, with the outside chance of a new upgraded MacBook Air also in the frame. At the same time, it’s worth noting that these numbers differ from the AXX prefixes attributed to current MacBook models, so nothing is completely certain until Apple makes its announcements.

As well as spare parts for the Macs, the discovered numbers also include a possible new wireless keyboard (model A1843) and four numbers classified under iOS 10 (A1671, A1709, A1670, and A1701), pointing to the possible launch of a rumored new iPad Pro model.

Earlier this week on Memorial Day, MacRumors reported that MacBook Pro orders placed on Monday on Apple’s online store had estimated deliveries of between June 6-8 in the United States, suggesting Apple was in the process of restocking ahead of WWDC, when the new Macs are expected to be announced. The notebooks are expected to thought to be receiving internal improvements only, including an upgrade to Intel’s faster Kaby Lake processors.

Apple last refreshed the MacBook Pro in October 2016, after the notebook went 527 days without being updated. In contrast, only 220 days will have passed if Apple launches new MacBook Pro models on June 5, which is below the average timeframe of 320 days between any two MacBook Pro generations.

The new notebooks are likely to be announced at Apple’s June 5 WWDC keynote, which is set to kick off at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time. Rumors also suggest Apple could use the event to introduce a new Siri smart speaker.

The EEC filing, published today, satisfies Russia’s requirement for companies to register all products containing encryption and/or cryptographic tools.

Related Roundups: iPad Pro, MacBook Pro, MacBook
Buyer’s Guide: 9.7″ iPad Pro (Don’t Buy), MacBook Pro (Caution), MacBook (Don’t Buy)
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Apple WWDC 2017: When is it, where to watch, and what to expect?

WWDC 2017 is now official. It will be held, as always, in June.

Each year, Apple puts on a conference in California to showcase new software, software updates, and technologies that developers can leverage in order to make their apps more innovative and up to date. Apple calls this conference the Worldwide Developers Conference, and although it’s geared toward developers, consumers are invited to watch.

There’s usually a healthy dose of consumer excitement in the opening keynote. Apple used WWDC 2016, for instance, to announce iOS 10 for iPhones and iPads, MacOS Sierra for Macs, WatchOS 3 for Apple Watch, TVOS 10 for Apple TV, and more. We’ve rounded up all the rumours to paint you a better picture of what to expect from Apple this year.

We’ve also included how you can watch WWDC 2017 online.

When is WWDC 2017?

This year’s WWDC will be held in San Jose – rather than the usual city of San Francisco – from 5 to 9 June at the McEnery Convention Center. It means, for the first time, it is on the doorstep of Apple’s new Cupertino complex.

Where can you stream WWDC 2017?

Apple always kicks off WWDC with a main keynote around 10am PST (5pm GMT) which will be available to watch online through the Apple developer website or the WWDC app on iPhone, iPad or Apple TV.

What can you expect from WWDC 2017?

New MacBooks

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There could be some MacBook updates on the card. With the Pro getting updated in 2016 with a new (ish) design and the option of the Touch Bar, it’s the MacBook Air that seems to have been forgotten, carrying the oldest design in the family. We’re expected to see hardware updates for the MacBook Pro, most likely updating to the latest Intel hardware.

The MacBook could also be in line for a tweak, although the latest rumours suggest that we’re only looking at internal changes and nothing substantial in terms of design.

MacOS 10.13

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Apple is fairly predictable when it comes to macOS updates. It unveils the new version of macOS (or, prior to 2016, Mac OS X) at WWDC in June. So, Apple will probably unveil the next version of MacOS (10.13) at WWDC 2017. As for the name, Apple long ago stopped naming its desktop operating systems after big cats. It’s since moved onto California locations like Yosemite, El Capitan and Sierra.

At this point, Apple hasn’t revealed an official name for this year’s update. It’s probably going by a wine or fruit-themed codename. For the sake of clarity, we’ve assumed throughout this article that Apple has continued using its version numbering convention and will call the next operating system macOS 10.13. But one reporter has argued that Apple will release the next version as MacOS 11.

As for features, Apple has rolled out a new file system, APFS, which is currently at the experimental stage and should get a final release in 2017. Other than that, not much is known about the next update. People have talked about wanting a Health app, Home app, and dedicated Music app for MacOS. Other wish-list features have included a system-wide Dark Mode and nearby iPhone auto-unlock feature.

iOS 11

Apple will almost certainly unveil iOS 11 in June 2017, followed by a public release in September 2017. The software will launch alongside at least two new iPhones on the tenth anniversary of the iPhone, so if we let our imaginations run wild, it could be a blockbuster release. We also figure the iPad 4, iPad mini 2 and iPhone 5 will potentially miss out on iOS 11 compatibility, but we won’t know for sure until Apple makes an announcement at WWDC.

At this early stage, we’ve only seen a few of rumours about new features. For instance:

Apple was granted a patent in November that mentions a dynamic keyboard positioning for touchscreens. The patent describes a concept in which typing “is improved by dynamically and automatically positioning the desired home-row keys of an onscreen keyboard below the user’s fingers while their fingers are hovering above the surface, thus reducing the need for the user to look at the onscreen keyboard while typing”. Keep in mind Apple bought Typesoft Technologies in September 2014. Its Dryft virtual keyboard uses a similar technique.

Business Insider said Apple wants to make Siri sound more human. It’s conducting an operation “in an unmarked office at 90 Hills Road, Cambridge, where it is aiming to make Siri talk more naturally. A large proportion of the current staff were previously employed by the voice recognition startup VocalIQ, which Apple acquired in 2015. So, we might see Apple update Siri with new capabilities.

It was widely expected that iOS will get a new viewing mode called Dark Mode, with black backgrounds that reduce eye stress. It’s already been discovered in iOS 10 beta 1, which released last June, but it hasn’t been unlocked yet. Other than that, we’re pretty sure Apple will at least mention HomeKit/Home app and HealthKit/Health app, if not at least announce some new features or functionality for the apps.

iMessage

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One of the last iOS-related rumours that has been doing the rounds claims Apple is finally planning to bring its iMessage service to Android. As any iPhone user will tell you, it’s one of the most useful features in not only iOS but also MacOS. If true, it would be one of the few times Apple has launched an app for Android, with the first two being Apple Music and an app to help you switch from Android to iOS.

In October 2016, John Gruber, who has close ties with Apple, claimed Apple created internal mockups of iMessage for Android to test the look and feel of the experience on the competing platform: “I’ve heard from little birdies that mockups of iMessage for Android have circulated within the company, with varying UI styles ranging from looking like the iOS Messages app to pure Material Design,” Gruber wrote.

In theory, this would mean anyone with an iPhone or Apple ID would be able to send iMessages to anyone else with the service enabled. Presumably, if Apple does launch it as a bespoke app, it would also act as an SMS app replacement. If not, that would mean yet another messaging app to be installed alongside all the other commonly used apps like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Allo, Hangouts and so forth.

Apart from iMessage for Android, Apple launched a new Messages app as part of its major iOS 10 update. While previous years have seen the app slowly evolving to be more capable, last year’s revolution brought with it a huge change in focus. Instead of an aging – but necessary – communication tool, Messages became a cool, interactive and fun application. We may see even more features added at WWDC 207.

WatchOS 4

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Apple released the latest version of the WatchOS operating system, WatchOS 3, to the public last autumn. The software, which is meant for Apple Watch, debuted at WWDC 2016. It’s a significant update that brings new apps, new watch faces, a new dock, new activity sharing, a new Breathe app, and a slew of navigation and performance improvements, and more. We’re expecting Apple to introduce more improvements in June.

Bloomberg reported Apple is developing new apps for the Apple Watch, including one that tracks your sleep. This would be supported across all existing models of Apple Watch. Unfortunately, rumours are otherwise slim. Many consumers would like the ability to create their own watch faces, as well as the ability to customise their Digital Crown functionality and sync their Apple Watch to multiple iOS devices.

TVOS 11

Apple

There’s not much news floating around about TVOS 11, but we expect Apple to at least touch on it. Consumers’ wish-list features include 4K and Dolby Atmos support, Safari for Apple TV, Home app for Apple TV, “Hey Siri” voice activation, and Siri search for local files on a Mac.

Siri speaker

Reports that have surfaced in the last couple of months suggest Apple is working on a Siri-powered smart speaker to rival the Amazon Echo, Google Home and recently announced Harman Kardon Invoke. 

Bloomberg cites analyst and generally reliable tipster Ming-Chi Kuo, as saying Apple will unveil its speaker at WWDC 2017, stating that some Apple employees have already been testing it in their homes. It’s thought that Apple’s speaker will have facial recognition technology to help differentiate between users and deliver personalised settings for things such as music.

The speaker will also likely integrate with Apple’s HomeKit software to control smart home products. We haven’t seen any leaked pictures of the speaker yet though, so all eyes will be on San Jose to see if anything shows up.

Will any other hardware debut at WWDC 2017?

It’s not very common, but Apple has used past WWDC keynotes to announce updated hardware (such as 2014’s Mac Pro, AirPort Time Capsule and AirPort Extreme, and new MacBook Air). As for this year, Apple’s fourth-generation Apple TV is due for an annual refresh. Apple may also use the event to update its Mac Pro and MacBook Air. 

Want to know more?

Tune into Pocket-lint’s Apple hub for the latest news and analysis.

Gigabyte VR 720 Motion Stimulator at Computex shows future of VR

Gigabyte stole the show for VR at Computex 2017 with their 720° Motion Stimulator. Pocket-lint managed to charm their way into a try and it was every bit as cool as it looks.

The Gigabyte 720° VR has two axis which each allow 360° rotation, hence the name. The freestanding structure weighs in at a whopping 800kg and lets you play Redout by 34 Big Things which is described on Steampowered as “a tribute to the old racing monsters … uncompromising, fast, tough and satisfying driving experience, soaked in that vertigo that stands at the core of the arcade racing genre.” Sounds spot on for a machine like the 720° doesn’t it?

It was a great choice, the pumping music really added to the adrenaline that we quickly discovered starts to flow through your system when you hop into the 720° for the first time.

We have to say we felt very secure in the 720°, the familiar amusement park ride style harness and the slide-in footstraps were reassuring. Although interestingly the actual safety feature turned out to be the lapbelt – if it’s not engaged nothing will start.

Pocket-lint

There was a joystick to the right which we were prewarned was very sensitive. This was joy to our ears because we intended to go to the most extreme tilts possible. With the speakers behind our heads pumping we set off along the ‘track’.

Fans mounted in the front provided a realistic breeze which increased in intensity as we picked up speed. We tilted as far as we could to the right. They weren’t kidding about the joystick sensitivity. We continued along our merry way trying our best to get the 720° into some great angles rather than to win a medal for our gaming skill. The sensation was exhilarating when we tipped and yet felt entirely secure.

When there were ‘jumps’ the music calmed down to accompany the slo-mo and you felt pretty floaty before racing off again when you hit the track. Gigabyte explained they chose Redout because there isn’t a user controlled forward or back motion that they considered might have been a bit much for a general-public non-gaming crowd. It was a sensible decision and a solid choice and it did allow us to get a feel for the capabilities of the 720°.

Pocket-lint

Overall we were totally impressed with the 720 ° experience. To be honest the adrenaline was still pumping – causing shakey hands when we were trying to take notes – three or four minutes after getting off, although Alan “Alpha” Liang (Starcraft commentator) who has been working on the development team says that Gigabyte are not quite satisfied yet.

The project has been running for around 8 months so far and the company still considers it still a work in progress as there are tweaks that they would like to enact before it is market ready. Liang, speaking to Pocket-lint, gave us plenty of examples of work to be done, like resituating the joystick so that it is central for a more realistic flying experience, making the fans more delicate and so on.

Of course the experience doesn’t come cheap for those looking to install one in their home. The 720° VR can be yours for around $30,000, but we are sure that there is going to be no shortage of commercial buyers. Liang estimates that we could see it start to pop up in the UK around September time.

Keep your eyes peeled because it is a hell of a ride.

These subtle smart gloves turn sign language into words

A startup that spun out of Taiwan’s University of Science is working on gloves that can translate sign language gestures into text. Such a concept isn’t new by any means, but the elegance of Yingmi Tech’s hardware deserves some special attention.

The company was actually founded by a team looking to build a more elegant way to control objects inside virtual reality. But it transpired that the same hardware was sophisticated enough to identify the motion of the hands as well as bends in the fingers.

Compared to other sign language gloves that we’ve seen, Yingmi’s are some of the sleekest and most elegant. The box that houses the gyroscope and batteries is pretty small, and yet each hand has enough power to run for up to eight hours at a time.

There are, however, problems, such as the complexity and size of the Chinese language compared to others. I’m told that most smartphones aren’t capacious enough to hold all of the gesture data to encompass natural signed speech.

In the demonstration, a user can instead speak in broken sentences, like the phrase “You want Coffee? Milk?” rather than anything more florid. As a consequence, Yingmi is looking into building a cloud-based translation platform to lessen the burden on the local device.

There is, right now, no word on when such gloves will become commercially available, but the hope is that a pair will retail for less than $200.

Chris Velazco contributed to this report.

Click here to catch up on the latest news from Computex 2017!

Twitter adds handy Direct Messages filter to separate friends from strangers

Why it matters to you

If you receive a lot of DMs on Twitter, the new feature should help you manage them more easily.

Twitter has been steadily developing its Direct Messages (DMs) tool over the years, hoping to encourage users to communicate privately within the app when necessary, instead of heading off to a popular chat app to continue the conversation.

The latest feature, which landed on Tuesday, is a new requests folder that holds DMs from people you don’t follow, until you decide what to do with them.

You’ll only receive messages from strangers if you opted in to receiving DMs from anyone, a decision you can reverse via your privacy settings.

So now, when you hit your messages tab, your inbox will only contain messages from people you know, while other messages will be filtered to the new requests folder alongside it.

If you’ve opted-in to get Direct Messages from anyone, messages from people you don’t follow will go into requests. https://t.co/n1qasb7JZC pic.twitter.com/HQY20T5f6t

— Twitter (@Twitter) May 30, 2017

Tap on requests to view the identity of the senders and how many messages each one has sent. Tap on any of these to show the actual message, and then choose either accept or delete. Accept it and future messages from that person will automatically land in your inbox.

Deleting a message will not prevent that account from sending you additional messages (they’ll continue to go to requests), but remember, you always have the option to block the account to avoid future contact, and you also have the chance to report the conversation.

Finally, any included media will stay hidden unless you tap the view media button or accept the message, and the sender won’t know you’ve seen their message unless you accept their request.

Twitter says the new feature, which is available only on its official iOS and Android apps as well as at twitter.com, ensures “you get the messages that matter.” It’s clearly also part of wider efforts to tackle abuse on the service, giving users more ways to manage incoming content and avoid potentially nasty surprises inside the Messages tab. Don’t forget, though, you can always opt back out of receiving DMs from people you don’t know by tapping on the gear icon, selecting security and privacy, and then privacy and safety, and toggling the button that says receive DMs from anyone.

Qualcomm says it, not Intel, will power the next generation of PCs

Why it matters to you

Qualcomm seeks to threaten Intel’s laptop dominance with its own line of Windows 10-capable processors. We now know Asus, HP, and Lenovo will be the first to debut these systems, though release dates remain MIA.

For decades, Windows and Intel have been fairly synonymous, so much so that the term “Wintel” was coined to describe the ecosystem. But that’s about to change in a major way, at least if Qualcomm has anything to say about it.

Earlier this year, Microsoft announced that Windows 10 on ARM will run all of the 16 million Windows desktop applications available. The first processor to run this new version of Windows 10 is Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 835, and now the first PC makers to produce systems supporting the platform have been announced.

These partners include HP, Asus, and Lenovo, three companies that are among the leaders in the Windows PC ecosystem. They will be making highly compact systems based on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 system-on-chip (SoC) that features the Kryo 280 CPU, the Adreno 540 GPU, and the X16 LTE mobile data modem.

The result will be extremely thin, light, and fanless systems that are capable of running the full complement of Windows desktop applications, yet have all-day battery life and days-long standby performance.

Qualcomm is promising up to 50 percent more battery life than Intel-based systems — 20 hours on average — and a more complete Connected Standby experience that will include instant-on, always connected data syncing, and Cortana active listening.

Windows 10 on ARM systems will also benefit from the integrated Snapdragon X16 gigabit LTE modem that will enable the systems to enjoy full-time internet connectivity. That will enable the systems to leverage the increasing global availability of fast gigabit LTE networks. Qualcomm is pushing this is a major boon, as LTE-capable PCs are not common, and the option can add $50 to $100 onto the price of a new system.

This development takes direct aim at Intel, and Qualcomm makes its desire to threaten its elder rival clear. Don McGuire, Qualcomm’s Vice President of Global Product Marketing, stated in a video that “when you put this all together […] you get the next generation of PC.” The implication is clear. Qualcomm thinks it can provide better, more portable, more affordable systems that will outmaneuver Intel’s expensive processors.

Of course, that’s marketing. How it works in real life remains to be seen, and we’ll have to wait. While the announcement revealed Qualcomm’s partners, it provided exact word on when the first of these systems will arrive.

Qualcomm says it, not Intel, will power the next generation of PCs

Why it matters to you

Qualcomm seeks to threaten Intel’s laptop dominance with its own line of Windows 10-capable processors. We now know Asus, HP, and Lenovo will be the first to debut these systems, though release dates remain MIA.

For decades, Windows and Intel have been fairly synonymous, so much so that the term “Wintel” was coined to describe the ecosystem. But that’s about to change in a major way, at least if Qualcomm has anything to say about it.

Earlier this year, Microsoft announced that Windows 10 on ARM will run all of the 16 million Windows desktop applications available. The first processor to run this new version of Windows 10 is Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 835, and now the first PC makers to produce systems supporting the platform have been announced.

These partners include HP, Asus, and Lenovo, three companies that are among the leaders in the Windows PC ecosystem. They will be making highly compact systems based on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 system-on-chip (SoC) that features the Kryo 280 CPU, the Adreno 540 GPU, and the X16 LTE mobile data modem.

The result will be extremely thin, light, and fanless systems that are capable of running the full complement of Windows desktop applications, yet have all-day battery life and days-long standby performance.

Qualcomm is promising up to 50 percent more battery life than Intel-based systems — 20 hours on average — and a more complete Connected Standby experience that will include instant-on, always connected data syncing, and Cortana active listening.

Windows 10 on ARM systems will also benefit from the integrated Snapdragon X16 gigabit LTE modem that will enable the systems to enjoy full-time internet connectivity. That will enable the systems to leverage the increasing global availability of fast gigabit LTE networks. Qualcomm is pushing this is a major boon, as LTE-capable PCs are not common, and the option can add $50 to $100 onto the price of a new system.

This development takes direct aim at Intel, and Qualcomm makes its desire to threaten its elder rival clear. Don McGuire, Qualcomm’s Vice President of Global Product Marketing, stated in a video that “when you put this all together […] you get the next generation of PC.” The implication is clear. Qualcomm thinks it can provide better, more portable, more affordable systems that will outmaneuver Intel’s expensive processors.

Of course, that’s marketing. How it works in real life remains to be seen, and we’ll have to wait. While the announcement revealed Qualcomm’s partners, it provided exact word on when the first of these systems will arrive.