Hulu Live TV subscribers can customize their Olympic coverage

The 2018 Winter Olympics are just around the corner and while anyone with access to NBC channels will be able to watch the competitions and events, those with Hulu Live TV will get to build a personalized viewing experience tailored to their interests. Starting today, Hulu will let those with a Live TV subscription pick which Olympic sports they’re most interested in and from there, it will customize users’ UIs based on those preferences. For example, users selecting luge and freestyle skiing as their favorites will see coverage of those events appear up top in the Olympic Winter Games section of the Hulu UI. They’ll also see replays, highlights and athlete profiles surfaced.

Subscribers will have access to all of NBC’s Olympics coverage, but content in their Olympics collection will be ranked based on their preferences. Hulu is also putting together other collections of content that will compile highlights and clips from the Games.

Comcast announced earlier this month that it’s also giving Xfinity subscribers some useful and exclusive ways to view Olympic coverage. Its offerings include a feature that will let users jump into a live broadcast at any point and restart it from the beginning as well as “virtual channels” that will be centered on both specific sports and themes like “biggest upsets” and “funniest moments.” Additionally, Olympics fans can catch some Olympic preview shows over on Netflix and NBC is releasing VR coverage of the Games that will work on a number of devices.

With so much Olympic coverage available for viewers to watch, Hulu’s personalization tools are definitely useful. The Olympic Games kick off on February 8th and run through the 25th.

Image: Hulu

Source: Hulu

Resistbot is ready to contact your senator when you tweet

Launched early last year as a form of resistance against the Trump administration, Resistbot allows anyone to send faxes to their congressional representatives. Now the service is headed to Twitter, which makes a lot of sense given the service’s rise in stature with our head tweeter-in-chief.

All you need to do is send the word “resist” to @resistbot on Twitter to start the process, similar to the text messaging system. You can write to your congress people, your governor, send a letter to the editor of your local paper, and even find the closest town halls, Swing Left district or Mueller rally. Resistbot can send you daily reminders to get political, as well. The service is free, and using it on Twitter (as well as Messenger or Telegram) will save on text message fees for the folks behind the bot.

“I can use your donations for delivering more letters to Congress instead and having a greater impact in Washington,” the team wrote on Medium.

Source: Resistbot/Medium

‘Destiny 2’ March update brings the thrill back to competitive play

Bungie has spent much of its recent time addressing gripes with Destiny 2’s story and cooperative play, but players in the competitive Crucible mode? Not so much — some have complained that the Crucible just isn’t that exciting, and the infamous Prometheus Lens incident arguably wouldn’t have happened if Bungie had been paying closer attention to Crucible gameplay. You might not have that complaint for much longer, though. The studio has detailed some of the changes coming with the March 27th update, and a large chunk of them are designed to ratchet up the intensity of player-versus-player fights.

Virtually every form of movement is faster — both overall and with abilities like gliding and Supers. Those Supers and power weapon ammo will be available more frequently, too. And if you thought the regular gameplay revolved too heavily around auto rifles, you’ll be happy to hear that hand cannons, fusion rifles and other guns should be more useful.

There are other competitive tweaks in line for March 27th, such as quitting penalties, a weekly playlist and 6-on-6 Iron Banner. All told, it’s evident that Bungie wants the Crucible to be more appealing in its own right, rather than something to grind when you’re looking for new gear. It’s just unfortunate that these updates will have taken half a year.

Source: Bungie

MacRumors Giveaway: Win a Protective ‘Limitless’ Case for iPhone X From Mous

For this week’s giveaway, we’ve teamed up with Mous to offer MacRumors readers a chance to win an ultraprotective Limitless iPhone case for the iPhone X, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, or earlier iPhones.

Mous’ Limitless cases all feature a shell that’s made from a high impact “AiroShock” material, TPU, and Polycarbonate. Mous says the AiroShock lining of its cases contains thousands of micro air pockets. Air in the micro pockets acts as a spring in the event of a fall, minimizing the damage from an impact.

Mous ships its cases with an included screen protector that’s made from a triple-layered blend of TPU, PET, and Silicon, which it says is able to absorb three times more impact than a normal screen protector.

Because of the AiroShock material, Limitless cases are able to offer military grade protection in a slim package. Each Limitless case adds 2.3mm to the thickness of the iPhone, and the tapered design at the middle allows the case to be flush with the iPhone screen.

In addition to offering complete device protection, Mous cases are also made from unique materials. Cases for the iPhone X, for example, are available in a dark carbon fiber, black leather, walnut wood, bamboo wood, or an iridescent shell, and every case is made from authentic materials.

Inside of each Mous case, there are small magnets that work with a series of accessories that are set to launch in early 2018, including different accessory plates. Despite the magnets, Mous cases are fully compatible with wireless charging.

Mous iPhone cases are priced starting at $45, but prices can vary based on material. We have 10 Mous cases to give away to MacRumors readers, with each winner able to choose case size and material. To enter to win, use the Rafflecopter widget below and enter an email address. Email addresses will be used solely for contact purposes to reach the winners and send the prizes. You can earn additional entries by subscribing to our weekly newsletter, subscribing to our YouTube channel, following us on Twitter, or visiting the MacRumors Facebook page.

Due to the complexities of international laws regarding giveaways, only U.S. residents who are 18 years or older and Canadian residents (excluding Quebec) who have reached the age of majority in their province or territory are eligible to enter. To offer feedback or get more information on the giveaway restrictions, please refer to our Site Feedback section, as that is where discussion of the rules will be redirected.

a Rafflecopter giveawayThe contest will run from today (February 2) at 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time through 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time on February 9. The winners will be chosen randomly on February 9 and will be contacted by email. The winners will have 48 hours to respond and provide a shipping address before new winners are chosen.
Discuss this article in our forums

Apple Now Selling Refurbished Apple TV 4K Models at $30 Discount

Just after adding refurbished iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus models to its online store, Apple is now selling refurbished Apple TV 4K models for the first time in the United States. Apple TV 4K was released in September 2017.

32GB and 64GB models are available for $149 and $169 respectively in the United States, reflecting modest savings of $30 off Apple’s regular pricing for the equivalent brand new Apple TV 4K configurations. We’ve yet to see any refurbished Apple TV 4K models listed in other countries.

Apple says its refurbished products are thoroughly inspected, tested, cleaned, and repackaged with a new white box and accessories.

Refurbished Apple TVs are covered by Apple’s standard one-year warranty effective on the date the device is delivered. The limited warranty can be extended to up to two years from the original purchase date with AppleCare for Apple TV for $29, but note this plan doesn’t include accidental damage coverage.

Apple’s refurbished products are virtually indistinguishable from brand new products, so they represent an opportunity for savings, but better Apple TV 4K deals are occasionally offered by resellers. Keep an eye on our Apple Deals roundup.

In addition to the iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, and Apple TV 4K, Apple also began selling refurbished second-generation 12.9-inch iPad Pro models in January.

Related Roundup: Apple TVTag: refurbishedBuyer’s Guide: Apple TV (Buy Now)
Discuss this article in our forums

iPhone Was Best Selling Smartphone in Q4 2017 Amid Industry Wide Decline

Apple yesterday announced that it sold 77.3 million iPhones during the first fiscal quarter of 2018 (fourth calendar quarter of 2017), and according to data shared by Strategy Analytics, Apple’s record sales made the iPhone the top selling smartphone in the world during the quarter.

In Q4 2017, Samsung shipped 74.7 million phones, 2.6 million fewer than Apple’s 77.3 million. Other vendors like Huawei and OPPO shipped far fewer devices at 41 million and 29.5 million, respectively. Apple also beat out competitors with the average selling price of its iPhones during the quarter, which came in at $796.

Apple beat out all other smartphone vendors including Samsung, Huawei, OPPO, and Xiaomi, but its overall iPhone shipments were down from 78.3 million in the year-ago quarter. It’s worth noting, however, that Q4 2017 was a 13 week quarter, while Q4 2016 was a 14 week quarter.

While Apple came out on top in global smartphone shipments during the quarter, Samsung continues to be the top vendor overall. Apple’s share of the market was 19.3 percent in Q4 2017, compared to Samsung’s 18.6 percent, but its overall marketshare for 2017 was 14.3 percent, compared to Samsung’s 21.1 percent.

Overall global smartphone shipments declined year over year, falling from 438.7 million units in the fourth quarter of 2016 to 400.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2017. According to Strategy Analytics, it was “the biggest annual fall in smartphone history.”

Over the course of 2017, though, smartphone shipments actually grew 1 percent and topped 1.5 billion units for the first time ever.

Apple does not break down its iPhone sales, but yesterday, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that the iPhone X has been the top selling iPhone every week since it shipped in December. Cook also said that the iPhone X, iPhone 8, and iPhone 8 Plus lineup brought in the highest revenue of any lineup in the company’s history.

Related Roundup: iPhone XBuyer’s Guide: iPhone X (Buy Now)
Discuss this article in our forums

Review: Lifeprint’s ‘Hyperphoto’ Printer Lets You Instantly Print Your iPhone Photos and Videos

Lifeprint, a company known for its iPhone-compatible ZINK photo printer, recently introduced a new, larger photo printer that’s able to print images that are 3 by 4.5 inches instead of 2 by 3 inches, the normal standard size for mini printers designed for the iPhone.

The new Lifeprint 3×4.5 Hyperphoto Printer for iPhone, priced at $150, is an Apple exclusive that’s designed to give customers a quick and easy way to instantly print their iPhone photos. Lifeprint asked me to check out the new 3×4.5 printer, and while I loved the larger image size, there are some drawbacks to be aware of before deciding to purchase one.

Design

The new Lifeprint printer is similar to a large hard drive or an iPad mini, and it’s a little over an inch thick, so not quite as portable as the original version, but also not a space hog like a traditional printer. I can easily fit it into my backpack for use while on the go, but it’s not pocketable like the ZIP.

It’s constructed from plastic, with a silver plastic at the bottom and a glossy white plastic at the top, which matches the aesthetic of the iPhone. It’s lightweight, but it doesn’t feel like a cheap product.

The Lifeprint printer has a top that slides off, which is where the printer paper and the printing internals are located. When you need to add more printer paper, you’ll need to slide the top off, put the paper in facedown, and then slide the top back on. It’s a simple process.

At one side, there’s a slot where the printed photos come out, and at the other side, there’s a microUSB charging port, which is how the Lifeprint charges. The battery is rechargeable, so this printer is fully portable and does not need a constant power connection.

Aside from the slot for the paper and the charging port, there’s a slot where you can plug in a locking cable and a power button on the left side to turn it on.

Setup

Setting up the Lifeprint was simple aside from the account creation process, which required everything from my phone number to my birth date. Pairing essentially consisted of charging the printer via micro-USB cable, turning it on, downloading the app, and connecting it to my phone using the traditional Bluetooth interface in the Settings app.

As mentioned above, when setting the printer up, you’ll need to slip the top off and add in the paper. It’s a simple process, though, and you really just need to slide the lid down at the arrow and then slide it back on.

ZINK Paper

Lifeprint is a ZINK photo printer, like many of the smaller iPhone photo printers on the market, which means it uses ZINK paper. ZINK stands for zero ink, because there’s no ink involved, and thus there are no expensive color cartridges to buy. ZINK is thermal paper that works when heat is applied via the Lifeprint printer.

ZINK paper is nice because there’s no ink involved, it’s fast, there’s no smearing or fading, and it’s sticky on the back so you can turn all of your photos into stickers.

On the downside, though, ZINK paper is expensive, and that’s the one major thing to be aware of when purchasing the new Lifeprint printer or a similar device. It’s $50 for a 40 pack of the new larger photo paper, which translates to more than $1 per picture. That’s not terrible if you’re used to polaroids or developing film, both of which are also expensive, but it’s a shock for those of us who are used to digital-only formats.

App

To print photos on the Lifeprint printer, you have to use the Lifeprint app. The app is also used for setting up the printer and pairing it to your iPhone. The Lifeprint app is okay but could stand to be improved. It’s a little bit slow, buggy, and sometimes prone to crashing.

When opening the Lifeprint app, it pulls in all of your Camera roll photos, which you can then select to print. You can also take a photo directly in the app, and there are built in editing tools you can use before printing to spruce up the quality of your photo or add stickers, labels, meme text, artful blur, and other effects.

The editing tools are fine and will work for simple editing jobs, but they’re limited in scope and you’ll probably be better off editing your photos with a third-party photo editing app before porting them into the Lifeprint app. If you don’t want to hassle with that, the Lifeprint app is fine on its own.

You can also import photos from popular social networking apps like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Once you’ve selected a photo to print, sending it to the printer is as simple as tapping the print icon in the upper right hand side of the app.

I had some specific frustrations with the Lifeprint app. When I went to print a Live Photo, for example, the Lifeprint app would pull it in as a video clip with the focus set to the beginning of the clip, which is not typically the clear part of the Live Photo.

It ignored the main photo part of the Live Photo, so each and every Live Photo required me to look for and select the ideal clip, a process I wish was better optimized.

Another source of annoyance was the app’s built in social networking features. The Lifeprint app creates a profile for you and adds each photo you print to that profile, and if you don’t uncheck “share with friends” each time you print, the photos you print are uploaded to that profile.

I don’t want to join a social network for my printer, I don’t want all my printed photos uploaded to a profile, and I don’t want to see other people’s printed photos in the “Inbox” and “Explore” feeds that are also available in the app.

I’m sure these features are useful to some people, but there should be an opt-out option for people who just want a printer, not a slow-to-load social network filled with photos from strangers.

Augmented Reality Features

Lifeprint bills its printer as an augmented reality printer because you can print a still photo of a video or a Live Photo and then scan the print with the Lifeprint app to see the original source material, something that Lifeprint calls a “Hyperphoto.”

So, for example, you can print a video featuring your cat, give that photo to your friend, and then your friend can scan it with the Lifeprint app to see the original video overlaid on top of the photo.

Lifeprint claims that this is like the magical animated photos in the Harry Potter movies, and that’s not an inaccurate claim, but I have a hard time believing people are using this feature on a regular basis.

To watch the video, the person on the receiving end of the photo has to go to the App Store, download the Lifeprint app, open the app, allow permission for it to access the camera, and then scan the photo. That’s a lot of hassle when I could just send the video directly to someone.

I wouldn’t buy the Lifeprint printer for this feature, nor would I give someone a photo with the express purpose of watching a video, but I suppose being able to scan a photo to watch a video is a neat little bonus.

Photo Quality

There are some caveats to using thermal paper compared to traditional ink, and convenience does come at the cost of quality. You’re not going to get super crisp, color accurate prints with the Lifeprint printer or any other printer that uses ZINK paper, just due to the nature of thermal paper.

It’s best to think of Lifeprint photos as similar to Polaroid pictures. They can be a little bit fuzzy, and the colors aren’t always quite right, but they have a certain charm to them, especially with filters and edits applied.

For the record, I think the Lifeprint 4×3.5 Photo printer has some of the best ZINK prints that I’ve seen. They’re definitely much better than the prints I get from my Polaroid printer, and while they’re not as color accurate as professionally done prints, they’re good enough to hand out to friends and family.

Bottom Line

Having the ability to print and share your iPhone photos at anytime is undeniably useful, especially if you’re someone who values physical photos over digital. The larger Lifeprint printer is great for travel, perfect for parties, and ideal for journaling or scrapbooking.

It’s portable, easy to use, and for an instant ZINK photo, the quality is decent. Not perfect, but passable and nice enough for sharing with friends, sticking in a journal, or hanging on the wall. You need to know what to expect with ZINK, though – these are not high quality crystal clear prints.

Unfortunately, the entire Lifeprint system is cost prohibitive. I can stomach $150 for a fun little photo printer, but the paper is incredibly expensive on top of that. It’s $30 for 20 prints or $50 for 40 prints, which works out to $1.25 to $1.50 per picture. That’s more expensive than the smaller version, and a lot more expensive than using an online photo service.

You can walk into a Walmart and print a photo for something like 20 cents, or use a service like Shutterfly, which charges 15 cents. The Lifeprint printer is providing instant gratification, though, and it’ll be up to consumers to decide whether that instant gratification is worth ~$1.25 per picture.

I do want to point out that all of the ZINK photo printers that compete with the Lifeprint all use the same ZINK paper, so there’s no real cheaper option. Lifeprint isn’t ripping anyone off or anything. All ZINK paper is expensive. With the 2.3 x 3 inch ZINK printers, you can get slightly more affordable paper on Amazon, but the larger Lifeprint’s unique size means the paper has to be purchased from Apple at full cost.

So, in a nutshell, the Lifeprint is convenient and a lot of fun, but be prepared to shell out a decent amount of money for the paper if you purchase the printer.

How to Buy

You can purchase the Lifeprint 3×4.5 Photo and Video Printer from the Apple online store for $149.95. Paper is also available, with a 20 pack priced at $30.

Note: Lifeprint provided MacRumors with a 3.5×4 Lifeprint printer for the purpose of this review. No other compensation was received.
Discuss this article in our forums