2017’s Biggest Apple Leaks: iPhone X, Apple Watch Series 3, HomePod, Apple TV 4K, and More

With the year quickly drawing to a close, now is an opportune time to reflect on the biggest Apple rumors and leaks of 2017.

Many new products released by Apple this year were widely rumored in the months leading up to their introductions, including the iPhone X, iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, Apple Watch Series 3, Apple TV 4K, HomePod, and new iPads. We even had an advanced look at software features like Animoji.

2017 was a particularly interesting year for Apple rumors given leaked or prematurely released versions of iOS 11 and HomePod firmware contained references to several products that had yet to be announced. While not every rumor proved true, much of Apple’s roadmap this year was revealed ahead of time.

We’ve rounded up some of the most notable rumors and leaks of the year, primarily focusing on information that proved to be accurate.

2017 in Rumors

iPhone X

iPhone X is so radically different that rumors about the device began to surface all the way back in early 2016, so we’ll start with a primer.

The first report about Apple’s plans to release a high-end iPhone with an OLED display this year came from Japan’s Nikkei Asian Review in March 2016, roughly a year and a half before the iPhone X was unveiled.

In the same month, DigiTimes revealed the device would have a 5.8-inch display, and KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said it would have glass on both the front and back sides, a metal frame, wireless charging, and facial or iris recognition.

By April 2016, the device was being called the iPhone 8. Barclays analyst Mark Moskowitz said it wouldn’t have a home button.

iPhone X renders from June 2017 via iDrop News
In May 2016, Daring Fireball’s John Gruber heard early scuttlebutt suggesting the device would have an edge-to-edge display, with the front-facing camera, Touch ID, and other sensors hidden under the display.

The information provided to Gruber wasn’t entirely accurate, but he was on the right track. Rumors continued to surface about Apple removing the home button and adopting facial or iris recognition in lieu of Touch ID.

In September 2016, Kuo said stainless steel would likely be Apple’s metal of choice for the iPhone X’s frame, with slightly curved 2.5D cover glass on top of the display, as used since the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.

Rumors also began picking up about the iPhone X having a vertically-aligned dual-lens camera with dual optical image stabilization.

iPhone X part leak in June 2017 reveals vertically-aligned dual-lens camera
By the end of 2016, several reports had claimed Apple would release a trio of new iPhones in 2017, including the all-new 5.8-inch model and updated 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch models to replace the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus.

The first iPhone X rumors of 2017 lent credence to the device having a stainless steel frame, facial recognition, and support for inductive charging, rather than RF-based over-the-air wireless charging from Energous.

February was a busy month for iPhone X rumors, with the device said to have 64GB and 256GB storage options, 3GB of RAM, no Touch ID, a higher-capacity two-cell L-shaped battery pack, and a “revolutionary” front camera with 3D facial recognition that we now know as the TrueDepth system.

Around that time, we also learned the device would have a starting price of at least $1,000 in the United States.

In March, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo dismissed a rumor about the iPhone X having a USB-C connector, noting that it would still have a Lightning connector with support for fast charging via USB-C Power Delivery.

In late March, analysts at Barclays said the iPhone X would have a True Tone display that shifts colors based on ambient lighting.

In April, we saw the first schematic of the iPhone X’s sensor housing, more commonly known as the notch. The notch houses the front camera, an infrared camera, a flood illuminator, a dot projector, a microphone, an ambient light sensor, a proximity sensor, and an earpiece that doubles as a speaker.

Rumors about Apple placing Touch ID on the back of the iPhone X persisted into May, but they ultimately proved to be inaccurate. Also in May, we learned the device would have louder stereo speakers.

June was filled with the first iPhone X part leaks, mockups, screen protectors, and dummy units that all pointed towards the device having an all-screen design except for the notch. MacRumors also saw hints of the iPhone 8 showing up in web analytics, suggesting Apple was testing the device internally.

July saw both KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo and Bloomberg confirm that Face ID would fully replace Touch ID on the iPhone X.

Perhaps the biggest iPhone X leak to date came in late July courtesy of Apple itself. Shortly after the company accidentally released an internal version of firmware for its upcoming HomePod speaker, developers uncovered a glyph of an iPhone with an all-screen design except for a notch at the top.

iPhone X glyph from leaked iOS 11 golden master
The HomePod firmware proved to be a gold mine for iPhone X leaks, revealing the device’s infrared face detection, tap to wake function, split-up status bar, 4K video recording at up to 60 FPS, Face ID compatibility with Apple Pay, suppressed notification sounds when looking at the screen, and much more.

Despite so much of the iPhone X being revealed in the HomePod firmware, August still saw some fresh leaks, including a photo of the device’s A11 Bionic chip. Japanese website Mac Otakara also reported that the iPhone X’s inductive charging ability would support transmission of up to 7.5 watts of power.

As if the HomePod firmware leaks weren’t bad enough for Apple, MacRumors was anonymously provided with download links to a final version of iOS 11 in early September. The software update contained several unredacted references to unannounced iPhone X hardware and software features.

MacRumors uncovered iPhone X screenshots within the iOS 11 filesystem that showed off the new gesture-based home screen indicator. There were also hints that the elongated side button, previously known as the sleep-wake button, could be held to activate Siri or double tapped to bring up the Apple Pay wallet.

The golden master of iOS 11 also referenced the Face ID name for Apple’s facial recognition system, True Tone support, a collection of new iPhone X wallpapers, and Apple’s new Portrait Lighting feature, including the Contour Light, Natural Light, Stage Light, Stage Light Mono, and Studio Light options.

Within the iOS 11 filesystem, we also found a video file showing four different Animoji characters, including a monkey, cat, dog, and robot. The discovery made it clear that Apple had been working on animated emoji that could presumably be controlled with the iPhone X’s then-rumored facial recognition system.

The iOS 11 golden master soon made its way into the hands of some developers, who continued to make discoveries, including technical details about the A11 Bionic being a six-core chip with two high power cores and four low power cores.

The golden master also contained a device tree that confirmed the iPhone X, iPhone 8, and iPhone 8 Plus names of Apple’s latest smartphones.

iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus

Originally dubbed the iPhone 7s and iPhone 7s Plus, rumors about the new 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch models first surfaced in March 2016.

At the time, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said Apple could launch new 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch sized iPhones with LCDs in 2017, with the iPhone X serving as a high-end option. Japan’s Nikkei Asian Review said likewise in August 2016.

Kuo followed up with a research note in September 2016 claiming the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus would feature aluminum frames sandwiched between glass on both the front and back sides, with stainless steel limited to the high-end iPhone X.

Two more research notes from Kuo in November 2016 specified that the iPhone 8 would have a single-lens camera, while the iPhone 8 Plus would have a dual-lens camera, and that both devices would support inductive charging.

In late March 2017, analysts at Barclays said the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus would have a True Tone display.

Kuo was back at it in March as well, claiming that the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus would retain Lightning connectors, but with newly added fast charging capabilities via the USB-C Power Delivery specification.

In April, Apple’s manufacturing partner TSMC reportedly began production of the A11 Bionic chip for the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus. In August, leaker Benjamin Geskin shared a photo of a bare logic board for the iPhone 8 Plus with pads etched on it for the A11 chip and an Intel modem for Wi-Fi and LTE.

Apple Watch Series 3

Heading into the Apple Watch’s third year, speculation continued about the potential for the device’s first major redesign.

Just three days into 2017, however, Taiwanese publication Economic Daily News reported that Series 3 models wouldn’t feature any significant design changes, with a focus on internal battery and performance improvements. KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo also ruled out any obvious form factor changes.

Meanwhile, in March, Wall Street analyst Christopher Rolland said Series 3 models would likely include a SIM card for LTE connectivity. He shared his information following a trip to Asia, where many of Apple’s suppliers are located.

Bloomberg also said Series 3 models would be available with a cellular connection in a report in August, nearly one year after it reported that Apple had hit a roadblock in adding LTE support to Series 2 models. Apple allegedly chose to delay adding the functionality due to battery life considerations.

These rumors were essentially confirmed in late July, when Apple accidentally released firmware for its upcoming HomePod speaker that contained a reference to a codenamed Apple Watch with an embedded SIM card.

Then, just days before Apple’s event, a final version of iOS 11 leaked to MacRumors revealed an image of an Apple Watch with signal bars and a red Digital Crown, which essentially confirmed that Series 3 models would have cellular connectivity. The image also lent credence to a lack of design changes.

Beyond this year, we learned that future Apple Watch models could feature an EKG heart monitor, self-adjusting watch bands, and a wearable battery.

Apple TV 4K

Bloomberg revealed that Apple was working on a new Apple TV with support for 4K and HDR video playback in February 2017.

Apple TV rumors then quieted down until July, when MacRumors reader Tomas Jackson and some other customers realized that Apple had labeled select movies as 4K and HDR in their iTunes purchase history. 4K HDR movies in iTunes naturally foreshadowed an Apple TV with 4K HDR support.

Just a week later, developer Guilherme Rambo discovered a reference to a 4K HDR display mode with support for both the Dolby Vision and HDR10 color formats in an accidentally released HomePod firmware file.

Both pic.twitter.com/bsuxptLWd1

— Guilherme Rambo (@_inside) August 5, 2017

Rambo also discovered a few HDR references in a tvOS 11 beta later in August. The assets were attributed to model number J105, which Bloomberg had identified as the new Apple TV’s codename back in February. MacRumors also uncovered the J105 codename in the accidentally released HomePod firmware.

Apple’s software mishaps were the gift that kept giving, as developer Steven Troughton-Smith dug through the leaked version of iOS 11 and discovered the new Apple TV would feature an A10X Fusion chip and 3GB of RAM.

HomePod

The initial report about Apple developing a Siri-based smart speaker was actually back in May 2016 by The Information.

2017’s first rumor came in April, when Australian leaker Sonny Dickson told MacRumors that Apple’s speaker would resemble the shape of the latest Mac Pro and have a meshed design across much of its exterior. Dickson also said the speaker was codenamed B238 and would run a variant of iOS, both of which are true.

Dickson, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, and Bloomberg all said there was a strong likelihood the speaker would debut at WWDC 2017 in June, and Apple introduced the HomePod at the event accordingly.

In July, developers Steven Troughton-Smith and Avery Magnotti dug through accidentally released HomePod firmware files and discovered the speaker runs a full iOS software stack, has accessibility features like VoiceOver, has 1GB of RAM, and has a visible LED waveform for Siri that measures in at 272×340 pixels.

So the #HomePod probably has a screen like this. If it’s the right density could easily show basic things like temperature & weather icons pic.twitter.com/l5f16EkddV

— Alan Miller (@rosewoodat5th) July 28, 2017

In August, developer Guilherme Rambo shared a video that revealed the setup process for the HomePod using an iPhone. There’s an option to choose a Siri voice followed by an authentication process, an option to share settings from other devices, and a menu to select the room where the speaker is located.

Apple has delayed the HomePod’s launch until early 2018, so we might find out even more details about the speaker between now and then.

10.5-inch iPad Pro

The first word of a 10.5-inch iPad Pro was actually back in August 2016 and it came from KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

In January 2017, Kuo reiterated that Apple would release an all-new 10.5-inch iPad Pro with a faster A10X Fusion chip in 2017 alongside an updated 12.9-inch iPad Pro and a low-cost 9.7-inch iPad.

Japanese website Mac Otakara, Taiwanese website DigiTimes, and analysts at investment bank Barclays generally agreed Apple would release a new iPad Pro in the 10-inch range at some point in 2017, but the reports were conflicting about details such as the exact display size and release date.

In February, IHS Markit revealed the 10.5-inch display would be surrounded by narrower bezels and have a resolution of 2,224×1,668 pixels.

While there were initially rumors about Apple unveiling the 10.5-inch iPad Pro at March or April events, the tablet was ultimately announced alongside a second-generation 12.9-inch iPad Pro at WWDC 2017 in June. Kuo expects more revolutionary changes to the iPad Pro in 2018, perhaps including an OLED display.

What’s Next?

Heading into 2018, rumors will now shift towards the so-called iPhone X Plus, iPad Pro models with Face ID, HomePod, and more. Apple is also working on a modular Mac Pro with no specific release date. A busy year lays ahead, so keep it locked on MacRumors for the latest Apple news and rumors.

Related Roundups: iPad Pro, Apple TV, Apple Watch, watchOS 4, iPhone 8, iPad (2017), HomePod, iPhone XTag: AnimojiBuyer’s Guide: 10.5″ iPad Pro (Neutral), Apple TV (Buy Now), Apple Watch (Buy Now), iPhone 8 (Buy Now), iPad (Caution), iPhone X (Buy Now)
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World’s coolest chip runs at near absolute zero

How do you find out what happens to physics near absolute zero (aka 0 kelvin), the temperature where particle motion virtually stops? Scientists at the University of Basel might have just the device to do it. They’ve developed a nanoelectronics chip that they can successfully cool to a record-setting, bitterly cold 2.8 millikelvin. The trick involved a clever use of magnetic fields to eliminate virtually all sources of heat.

The team started by using magnetic cooling (where you ramp down an applied magnetic field) to lower all the chip’s electrical connections down to 150 microkelvin. After that, they integrated another, specially constructed magnetic field system that let the researchers cool a Couloumb blockade thermometer — yes, even a thermometer’s heat is problematic when you’re edging close to absolute zero. It was successful enough that the chip could stay cold for 7 hours, which is plenty of time for tests.

This is about more than bragging rights, of course. A chip that can run in such frigid conditions could help understand physics at its very limit. You might see strange behavior, for instance. It could also be helpful in creating ideal conditions for quantum physics experiments. And there’s still some room for improvement, to boot. The scientists are “optimistic” they can refine their method to lower the overall temperature to an even chillier 1 millikelvin.

Via: Electronics 360

Source: University of Basel

WhatsApp will ditch Blackberry OS and Windows Phone by New Year’s

WhatsApp is bidding farewell to older mobile operating systems as the year draws to a close. Specifically, it’s ending support for BlackBerry OS (including BlackBerry 10) and Windows Phone 8.0 and older on December 31st. Although the Facebook-owned messaging app will continue to work on these platforms, users won’t be able to create new accounts or re-verify existing accounts. Oh, and WhatsApp claims its app could stop functioning at any time, so maybe it’s time for that upgrade.

In the past few months alone, WhatsApp has unveiled some handy features (like quick delete for sent texts, real-time location sharing, and new universal emojis). But, it seems older platforms don’t boast the “capabilities” the company needs to expand its functions going forward.

After extending its deadline for ending BlackBerry 10 support, WhatsApp is clearly done with the OS once and for all. If you’re a BlackBerry user who prefers the messaging app over BBM (who doesn’t?), you can always grab a newer device that runs on Android. Meanwhile, Windows Phone users on 8.1 or above needn’t worry about a thing (well, apart from Microsoft turning its back on the OS, along with Windows Mobile 10).

Source: WhatsApp

FCC approves first wireless ‘power-at-a-distance’ charging system

Charging your mobile device wirelessly is certainly less of a hassle than plugging it in, but still requires the device be in physical contact with its station to actually work. That’s about to change now that the Federal Communications Commission has approved the first wireless charger that works from up to three feet away.

San Jose-based startup, Energous, announced on Tuesday that it has received the first such FCC certification for power-at-a-distance wireless charging with its WattUp Mid Field transmitter. The transmitter converts electricity into radio frequencies, then beams the energy to nearby devices outfitted with a corresponding receiver. This differs from the resonant induction method that the Pi wireless charging system relies upon and offers a greater range than the Belkin and Mophie chargers that require physical contact with the device.

The WattUp can charge multiple devices simultaneously and should work on any number of devices, from phones and tablets to keyboards and earbuds, so long as they’re outfitted with the right receiver. What’s more, the WattUp ecosystem is manufacturer-agnostic — like WiFi — meaning that you’ll still be able to, for example, charge your Samsung phone even if the transmitter is made by Sony or Apple.

While Energous does not have any retail-ready devices available just yet, the company does plan to show off the new technology at CES 2018, which runs January 9th-12th in Las Vegas.

Israel may issue cryptocurrency to speed up payments

Some countries are treating cryptocurrencies as the bane of their existence, but that might not be true of Israel — it might see the technology as a cure. Reuters sources have claimed that the Bank of Israel is considering issuing virtual currency in order to both build a “faster payments system” and reduce the amount of conventional cash circulating in the economy. Officials are reportedly ready to include the issue in the country’s 2019 budget so long as the bank approves.

If Israel went forward, the currency would unsurprisingly be kept on a tight leash. It’d be centralized, “safe” and honor financial rules. Don’t expect the country to simply adopt bitcoin and call it a day.

The bank has declined to comment. However, it’s easy to see why Israel might at least be tempted by cryptocurrency. As the technology relies on blockchain, where there’s a distributed ledger that can quickly verify transactions, you could see payments fully authorized and completed within minutes no matter when they’re processed. You wouldn’t have to worry about paying a bill on the weekend and having to wait days before it clears.

This isn’t a guaranteed solution. Israel would have to convince residents and businesses to use this currency. There’s also the not-so-small problem of whether or not the currency would be useful with international transactions. Even so, it’s notable that Israel is even mulling the option. It’s looking at cryptocurrency as a practical solution to an economic problem, rather than an experiment or something to be shunned.

Source: Reuters

Rest in pieces: The biggest tech demises of 2017

It’s the holiday season, the happiest time of the year, so it’s only natural that our thoughts should turn to death and decay. Sadly, 2017 has given us a lot of fodder. While it’s been a great year for some tech companies and products, others have fared less well — succumbing to mismanagement or just plain sad old user indifference.

Well, light your candles and ready your handkerchiefs because here’s our list of the tech startups, products and (in one case) ideal that won’t make it to 2018.

Jawbone

UP24 by Jawbone

In terms of the sheer amount of money poured into it, Jawbone’s collapse in 2017 makes it the year’s biggest death: the equivalent of a Prince or a David Bowie, if Prince or David Bowie made so-so fitness trackers instead of classic albums. Having been valued at $3.2 billion in 2014, Jawbone stopped producing its fitness trackers in 2016, but struggled on to this year before liquidating its assets.

Company founder and CEO Hosain Rahman has now started a new company called Jawbone Health Hub, which will supposedly focus on software, but is its own distinct entity. The Jawbone that we knew and kind of liked has gone to Silicon Valley heaven.

AOL Instant Messenger

Some of you younger whippersnappers won’t believe it, but there was a time when AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) was as crucial as WhatsApp and Snapchat for communicating with your buddies. Admittedly, that time was in the late 1990s, when we were busy fearing the Millenium Bug, and America was spent by a mass hysteria convincing us that Fred Durst was cool.

After a slow descent into obscurity, AIM finally had the plug pulled on December 15. Unless CD-ROM-based free trials of the internet miraculously come back in vogue, we can’t see it making a return.

Nintendo’s NES Classic Edition

Nintendo NES Classic Edition

Ah, Nintendo Entertainment System. You came, went, came back again, and then went for a second time, leaving an 8-bit hole in all of our lives. The all-in-one, HDMI-compatible NES Classic Edition was the “must have” Christmas gift of 2016, coming preloaded with 30 classic games.

Almost impossible to find early on, Nintendo stopped producing the NES Classic Edition in April 2017, just six months after it launched. We got a SNES Classic Edition to replace it with, but this little gaming gem clearly had a bit more life in it. If we ask Santa really nicely, maybe Nintendo will produce a few more in 2018.

The original Lily flying camera drone

It may have been handed a Consumer Electronics Show (CES) Innovation Award in 2016, and racked up $34 million in pre-orders and $15 million in investments, but the Lily flying camera drone so many of us were hankering after couldn’t make it out of 2017. A smart action cam you could supposedly launch by tossing it in the air, the Lily was one of the most eagerly anticipated crowdfunding projects around.

Unfortunately, it announced its bankruptcy in March, meaning that customers will never get the version they were promised. Another company, Mota Group, later bought the Lily trademarks and put out a less ambitious drone under the same name. But it’s not really the same thing.

Vertu

If people will spend $20,000 on a watch, why won’t they spend that much on a mobile phone? This was the somewhat spurious thought process that launched Vertu, a British brand of luxury phones which sold for prices that would have even the folks behind Apple’s iPhone X pricing mumbling about wealth inequality.

Unfortunately, the blinged out, but surprisingly low-spec phones hit a stumbling block in 2017 — in the form of a $178 million debt. It collapsed in July, leaving 200 staff members unpaid and out of a job.

Net neutrality

The concept of net neutrality, the idea that your Internet Service Provider (ISP) offers the same connection speeds no matter what you choose to do with it, is as baked into the internet’s identity as free cat pictures. Or, rather, it was until December 2017.

That’s when the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) officially repealed the 2015 net neutrality regulations by passing the Restoring Internet Freedom declaratory ruling, thereby opening up potential sweeping changes to the way ISPs have to deliver services in the U.S. Since nothing definite has changed yet, calling net neutrality dead might be a slight exaggeration at this point. But the doctors would definitely be a bit concerned.

Yik Yak

Yik Yak was a controversial messaging app, built around the promise of sending anonymous messages for college students, which made it feel all a bit Gossip Girl. With an extra dose of trolling thrown in for fun.

Sadly for its creators, 2017 turned out to be the year in which people stopped being anonymously nasty to one another online. Actually, that’s not true at all — but despite once being valued at $400 million, Yik Yak announced its closure in April. A pivot to group messaging failed, and the service was sold off for just $1 million.

3D televisions

Perhaps our first high profile tech death of 2017 was the 3D television. A format that never really caught on beyond a niche group of avid fans, 3D TV’s memorial service may as well have been January’s CES 2017, where none of the major manufacturers — Samsung, LG, Sony and Panasonic — had a new 3D TV model to show off.

People have written off 3D multiple times over the years, so we’re sure that the concept will have another go-around a few years down the line. For now, though, this is technology we’re not expecting to hear about too much in the new year.

iPod Nano and iPod Shuffle

There was a time when the iPod was Apple’s golden goose, every bit as important for the company’s bottom line as the iPhone is today. That time was not 2017. While the iPod brand continues to limp on in the form of the iPod Touch (essentially a stripped-down iPhone for people not trusted to make phone calls), it suffered two bereavements this year — in the form of the iPod Nano and iPod Shuffle.

Sales of the once great devices have continued to drop, as more of us listen to music on our phones. The iPod Touch, which hasn’t received a hardware update since 2015, must live in fear of receiving a phone call with a California area code.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Where to buy the NES Classic Edition
• Gamers are discussing which unreleased game should be on the ‘N64 Classic’
• Give the gift of nostalgia with these awesome retro gaming consoles
• The C64 mini will bring back all the fun of the Commodore 64 in 2018
• SNES-themed New 3DS XL is a thing of beauty, comes with ‘Super Mario Kart’

Rest in pieces: The biggest tech demises of 2017

It’s the holiday season, the happiest time of the year, so it’s only natural that our thoughts should turn to death and decay. Sadly, 2017 has given us a lot of fodder. While it’s been a great year for some tech companies and products, others have fared less well — succumbing to mismanagement or just plain sad old user indifference.

Well, light your candles and ready your handkerchiefs because here’s our list of the tech startups, products and (in one case) ideal that won’t make it to 2018.

Jawbone

UP24 by Jawbone

In terms of the sheer amount of money poured into it, Jawbone’s collapse in 2017 makes it the year’s biggest death: the equivalent of a Prince or a David Bowie, if Prince or David Bowie made so-so fitness trackers instead of classic albums. Having been valued at $3.2 billion in 2014, Jawbone stopped producing its fitness trackers in 2016, but struggled on to this year before liquidating its assets.

Company founder and CEO Hosain Rahman has now started a new company called Jawbone Health Hub, which will supposedly focus on software, but is its own distinct entity. The Jawbone that we knew and kind of liked has gone to Silicon Valley heaven.

AOL Instant Messenger

Some of you younger whippersnappers won’t believe it, but there was a time when AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) was as crucial as WhatsApp and Snapchat for communicating with your buddies. Admittedly, that time was in the late 1990s, when we were busy fearing the Millenium Bug, and America was spent by a mass hysteria convincing us that Fred Durst was cool.

After a slow descent into obscurity, AIM finally had the plug pulled on December 15. Unless CD-ROM-based free trials of the internet miraculously come back in vogue, we can’t see it making a return.

Nintendo’s NES Classic Edition

Nintendo NES Classic Edition

Ah, Nintendo Entertainment System. You came, went, came back again, and then went for a second time, leaving an 8-bit hole in all of our lives. The all-in-one, HDMI-compatible NES Classic Edition was the “must have” Christmas gift of 2016, coming preloaded with 30 classic games.

Almost impossible to find early on, Nintendo stopped producing the NES Classic Edition in April 2017, just six months after it launched. We got a SNES Classic Edition to replace it with, but this little gaming gem clearly had a bit more life in it. If we ask Santa really nicely, maybe Nintendo will produce a few more in 2018.

The original Lily flying camera drone

It may have been handed a Consumer Electronics Show (CES) Innovation Award in 2016, and racked up $34 million in pre-orders and $15 million in investments, but the Lily flying camera drone so many of us were hankering after couldn’t make it out of 2017. A smart action cam you could supposedly launch by tossing it in the air, the Lily was one of the most eagerly anticipated crowdfunding projects around.

Unfortunately, it announced its bankruptcy in March, meaning that customers will never get the version they were promised. Another company, Mota Group, later bought the Lily trademarks and put out a less ambitious drone under the same name. But it’s not really the same thing.

Vertu

If people will spend $20,000 on a watch, why won’t they spend that much on a mobile phone? This was the somewhat spurious thought process that launched Vertu, a British brand of luxury phones which sold for prices that would have even the folks behind Apple’s iPhone X pricing mumbling about wealth inequality.

Unfortunately, the blinged out, but surprisingly low-spec phones hit a stumbling block in 2017 — in the form of a $178 million debt. It collapsed in July, leaving 200 staff members unpaid and out of a job.

Net neutrality

The concept of net neutrality, the idea that your Internet Service Provider (ISP) offers the same connection speeds no matter what you choose to do with it, is as baked into the internet’s identity as free cat pictures. Or, rather, it was until December 2017.

That’s when the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) officially repealed the 2015 net neutrality regulations by passing the Restoring Internet Freedom declaratory ruling, thereby opening up potential sweeping changes to the way ISPs have to deliver services in the U.S. Since nothing definite has changed yet, calling net neutrality dead might be a slight exaggeration at this point. But the doctors would definitely be a bit concerned.

Yik Yak

Yik Yak was a controversial messaging app, built around the promise of sending anonymous messages for college students, which made it feel all a bit Gossip Girl. With an extra dose of trolling thrown in for fun.

Sadly for its creators, 2017 turned out to be the year in which people stopped being anonymously nasty to one another online. Actually, that’s not true at all — but despite once being valued at $400 million, Yik Yak announced its closure in April. A pivot to group messaging failed, and the service was sold off for just $1 million.

3D televisions

Perhaps our first high profile tech death of 2017 was the 3D television. A format that never really caught on beyond a niche group of avid fans, 3D TV’s memorial service may as well have been January’s CES 2017, where none of the major manufacturers — Samsung, LG, Sony and Panasonic — had a new 3D TV model to show off.

People have written off 3D multiple times over the years, so we’re sure that the concept will have another go-around a few years down the line. For now, though, this is technology we’re not expecting to hear about too much in the new year.

iPod Nano and iPod Shuffle

There was a time when the iPod was Apple’s golden goose, every bit as important for the company’s bottom line as the iPhone is today. That time was not 2017. While the iPod brand continues to limp on in the form of the iPod Touch (essentially a stripped-down iPhone for people not trusted to make phone calls), it suffered two bereavements this year — in the form of the iPod Nano and iPod Shuffle.

Sales of the once great devices have continued to drop, as more of us listen to music on our phones. The iPod Touch, which hasn’t received a hardware update since 2015, must live in fear of receiving a phone call with a California area code.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Where to buy the NES Classic Edition
• Gamers are discussing which unreleased game should be on the ‘N64 Classic’
• Give the gift of nostalgia with these awesome retro gaming consoles
• The C64 mini will bring back all the fun of the Commodore 64 in 2018
• SNES-themed New 3DS XL is a thing of beauty, comes with ‘Super Mario Kart’

Here’s a gold watch, thanks [#acpodcast]

In this episode, Daniel Bader, Andrew Martonik, and Jerry Hildenbrand wrap up this year’s coverage of the Android universe with a look back at the Galaxy Note 8, plus reviews of the Amazon Echo Spot and Google Home Max. They also talk about Eric Schmidt leaving the Executive Chairman role at Alphabet.

Additionally, they share their top picks from 2017. Join us for the last hurrah before CES in January!

Show Notes and Links:

• Samsung Galaxy Note 8 review, 3 months later: A polarizing powerhouse

• Amazon Echo Spot review

• Google Home Max

• Eric Schmidt leaving Executive Chairman role at Alphabet

• Best of 2017

Sponsors:

• MintSIM: Voice, data, and text for less. Get free first-class shipping with code IMFREESHIP.

• Thrifter.com: All the best deals from Amazon, Best Buy, and more, fussily curated and constantly updated.

• GameStash: Hundreds of awesome games on your Android phone. Try it free for 14 days!

Podcast MP3 URL: http://traffic.libsyn.com/androidcentral/androidcentral366.mp3

Elon Musk vows to build Tesla pickup truck ‘right after’ Model Y

Tesla has been hyping up the prospect of an electric pickup truck for a long time (you’re looking at an artist’s rendering above), but when can you expect to see it? You might have a clearer idea. As part of a call for feedback, Elon Musk has promised that the pickup will be made “right after” the Model Y crossover arrives between 2019 and 2020. We’d take that commitment with a grain of salt (remember how Tesla expected widescale Model 3 deliveries to start in 2017?), but it at least gives you an idea of what the EV maker is shooting for.

Musk also agreed to tackle a number of features for existing cars. Most notably, he gave the nod to tech investor Jason Calacanis’ request for an alert that lets your family know when your Tesla should arrive home. He also liked a request to use all the onboard cameras as dashcams, sign recognition and even a “Disco Mode” that would pulse the ambient lighting in sync with your music.

Many of those features are likely to take a while to arrive, provided they don’t get cut. However, they d suggest that Tesla will have a laundry list of promises to tackle in 2018, and not just catch-ups like the inclusion of more original Autopilot features on newer vehicles.

I promise that we will make a pickup truck right after Model Y. Have had the core design/engineering elements in my mind for almost 5 years. Am dying to build it.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 26, 2017

Sure

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 26, 2017

Was gonna say we’ll do all but the last, but that last one sounds like good, cheesy fun 🙂

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 26, 2017

Source: Elon Musk (Twitter 1), (2), (3)

Amazon’s holiday bestsellers include smart plugs and toothbrushes

Amazon has published its customary holiday stats… and they’re not as predictable as you might think. While the company spends much of its time crowing about its own device sales (which, as usual, are mostly meaningless without concrete numbers), it also reveals some decidedly unusual gadget shopping habits. For one thing, smart plugs were oddly dominant: a TP-Link plug was the best-selling smart home device worldwide (including in Amazon retail stores), while the Wemo Mini Smart Plug was one of the top-selling wireless gadgets in the US. This isn’t to say that other smart gadgets didn’t thrive (Philips Hue ruled the home improvement space), but people were clearly bent on upgrading their wall outlets.

The hottest tech in other categories was decidedly strange at times, too. For instance, the best-selling beauty items were led by toothbrushes — Philips’ Sonicare Diamond rechargeable brush was the top worldwide item, while Oral-B’s Black Pro 1000 was one of the US leaders. Robotic vacuums were “among” the bestsellers, as well. Hardware buying habits even spilled over into Amazon’s digital media businesses, with an Instant Pot cookbook ruling the Kindle nonfiction charts.

This data doesn’t completely reflect the technological zeitgeist, since people will frequently go elsewhere for specific devices (such as Apple, Google and Microsoft). However, it’s a reminder that the biggest tech isn’t necessarily the flashiest. In many cases, it’s simple but functional products that make your life noticeably easier.

Source: Amazon