Apple Did Not Consider How Battery Replacement Program Would Impact iPhone Upgrade Rates

During today’s earnings call covering the first quarter of 2018, Apple CEO Tim Cook was asked whether investors should be concerned about slowing upgrade rates due to Apple’s battery replacement program and the fact that consumers may opt to replace their batteries instead of purchasing a new iPhone.

In response, Cook said that he couldn’t answer because it wasn’t something that Apple took into account. Apple “did not consider, in any way, shape, or form, what it would do to upgrade rates,” said Cook.

We did it because we thought it was the right thing to do for our customers. I don’t know what effect it will have for our investors. It was not in our thought process of deciding to do what we’ve done.

In the same answer, Cook said the iPhone has fantastic reliability, and that the previously-owned market is continually expanding, with customers handing down older iPhones and using trade-ins to get new devices. Cook said he believes customers handing their devices down is a positive, because “the more people on iPhone, the better.”

Following the revelation that Apple introduced power management features that slow older iPhones in order to prevent unexpected shutdowns in devices with degraded batteries, Apple was accused of planned obsolescence and deliberately slowing devices to prompt customers to upgrade.

Apple has vehemently denied that the power management features were implemented to spur customers to upgrade, and the company has said that instead, the features were meant to expand the life of an iPhone for as long as possible.

Apple has apologized for the misinformation that has circulated about the power management features, and it has also introduced a program allowing customers to get $29 battery replacements for the iPhone 6 and newer. In iOS 11.3, Apple will provide more information about battery health and give customers the option to toggle off the power management feature all together.

Tag: iPhone Slowdown
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Apple CEO Tim Cook: iPhone X Has Been the Top Selling iPhone Every Week Since it Shipped

During today’s earnings call covering the first fiscal quarter of 2018, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that the iPhone X has “surpassed our expectations” and has been the “top selling iPhone” every week since it shipped in November.

Apple says the iPhone X, iPhone 8, and iPhone 8 Plus lineup brought in the highest revenue of any iPhone lineup in the company’s history.

Apple does not break down iPhone sales by model, but the company sold 77.3 million iPhones in total, which was below analyst expectations. iPhone average selling price was up thanks to the iPhone X, coming in at $796 compared to $695 in the year-ago quarter.

Cook also said that customer satisfaction is “off the charts” for the iPhone X, and that Face ID was “incredibly well received.”

Cook was asked about the future of the iPhone X and whether Apple sees its lineup expanding to encompass two iPhone X-style devices in the future, and he of course declined to respond.

He did, however, say that Apple is “thrilled” with the reception to the iPhone X, and that with its launch, the company was setting up the next decade of development. “That’s how we look at it, and that’s the reason it’s chock full of incredible innovations. So you can bet that we’re pulling that string,” Cook said.

Going forward, Apple CFO Luca Maestri said in answer to a question about slower growth in the coming quarter that Apple believes iPhone revenue will actually grow double digits compared to last year’s March quarter. iPhone sell-through growth, he says, will be accelerating compared to the December quarter.

Apple’s guidance for the second quarter of fiscal 2018 includes expected revenue of $60-$62 billion and gross margin between 38 and 38.5 percent.

Related Roundup: iPhone XBuyer’s Guide: iPhone X (Buy Now)
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YouTube TV App Officially Launches for Apple TV

YouTube this morning teased that its YouTube TV Apple TV app was “coming very soon,” and “coming very soon” apparently meant this afternoon.

The YouTube TV app is now available for download from the App Store on the Apple TV, where it is featured prominently in a banner.

YouTube TV’s new Apple TV app comes just in time for Super Bowl LII, which is set to take place on Sunday, February 4. YouTube also recently expanded to Roku devices, presumably with the aim of luring new subscribers who want to watch the Super Bowl.

The YouTube TV service, which is priced at $35 per month, offers subscribers access to television shows on ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, the CW, Disney, ESPN, FX, USA, and dozens more.

YouTube TV boasts more than 40 channels, including live sports and news. It also offers unlimited DVR storage space and allows subscribers to access their shows from anywhere in the United States, plus it includes content from the $9.99 per month YouTube Red service.

Introduced back in April, YouTube TV is a live streaming service designed to compete with offerings like Sling TV, Hulu with Live TV, DirecTV Now, and Playstation Vue, all of which are available via apps on fourth and fifth-generation Apple TV models.

Related Roundup: Apple TVTags: YouTube, YouTube TVBuyer’s Guide: Apple TV (Buy Now)
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OnePlus 5T review: Still a premium experience on the affordable side

It was just a few months ago that OnePlus pulled its seventh smartphone, the OnePlus 5T, out of the hat. An incremental update over the OnePlus 5, which saw the light of day only three months before, the OnePlus 5T conforms to the mid-cycle upgrade laws established by the launch of the OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 3T last year.

In the months following the OnePlus 5’s release, the company went back to the drawing board and promptly came up with a newer, slightly improved version. And the OnePlus 5T is certainly all about refinements – the biggest one being the display.

With its latest flagship, OnePlus has addressed one of the biggest complaints users had about the OnePlus 5 – the lack of modern bezel-less 18:9 display. Since the arrival of the OnePlus 5 in June, more flagships with expansive edge-to-edge displays like the Samsung Galaxy Note 8, LG V30 and Google Pixel 2 XL have arrived on the market, probably providing additional motivation for OnePlus to release a bezel-less phone of its own. But is it a worthy contender to the throne of smartphones? Continue reading below to find out.

Design and Display

While the OnePlus 5T keeps much of the 5’s internal hardware including the Snapdragon 835 processor, battery, and 3.5mm headphone jack, it distinguishes itself from its predecessor through design.

The 5T has a larger 6-inch AMOLED display with thin bezels all around, thus adhering to the all-screen trend which has ruled consumers’ preferences in recent months. Despite the larger front panel, the 5T’s overall footprint remains quite similar to that of its predecessor. If we are to look at the numbers on paper, the new flagship is only a few millimeters taller and thicker and slightly heavier.

Like the 5, the OnePlus 5T is made of anodized aluminum and features a subtle curve at the back and gently-rounded corners. But while the phone’s rear does look nice, we found it to be ridiculously slippery. Luckily our review unit shipped with a selection of three official cases. We slapped the Ebony Wood Bumper Case and we had no problem gripping the device firmly afterward.

The aspect ratio has changed from 16:9 to 18:9, which is the same ratio you see in drool-worthy flagships like the Samsung Galaxy S8 or the LG G6. Screen resolution is kept at a moderate FHD+ or 2160 x 1080 pixels, which is a bit disappointing for those who were hoping OnePlus will take things to the next level with the 5T and offer a 2K display.

But that doesn’t mean screen quality is poor. On the contrary. The OnePlus 5T takes advantage of a lovely Full AMOLED panel – which now occupies more than 80% of the front of the screen – and offers rich colors and high brightness levels.

Brightness is slightly better (430 to 470 nits) than on the 5, but the 5T has better sunlight visibility thanks to its Sunlight Display mode. This feature – which is part of the company’s adaptive mode –  increases contrast when you’re doing one of these things: viewing or shooting photos and videos or playing a game outside.

It’s winter here in Europe, so we haven’t had the chance to test the 5T’s Sunlight Display mode while taking pictures in the really bright summer sun – which is a challenging scenario for most phones out there, but we’re pretty satisfied with how the 5T’s display performed in winter daylight.

Even if the screen looks quite excellent by default, users are given the option to adjust the calibration of the display to suit their particular set of needs. You can choose from presets like sRGB, DCI-P3 or adaptive move, and also make adjustments to make the screen look warmer or colder. It’s really up to you and your personal preferences.

The back of the phone is the scene of another important change. Since OnePlus skinned down the bezels, the fingerprint sensor which lived inside the physical home button on the 5, has been moved on the 5T’s back. We’re actually quite thankful for the change, as we have always favored handsets which offer the authentication sensor in this position. It feels more natural for us to have it there, as we pick up the phone, but some hardcore OnePlus fans might be sad to see the physical button go. However, they certainly won’t be sorry for how fast the scanner is.

Moving on to the left side of the handset, it’s home to the textured alert slider which gives you the option to easily switch sound profiles (Ring, Do Not Disturb and Silent) without unlocking the device. Underneath it, sits the volume rocker, while the power/lock key lives on the right.

The 3.5mm headphone jack is still part of the equation, located at the bottom, next to the USB-C port and speaker. Speaking of which, the sound quality on the OnePlus 5T is decent, but nothing too write home about. The sound was clear and sharp when we were playing music in a private setting, but in a noisy environment sound easily got muffled. We tried listening to music on YouTube with different headsets on and the results were always good indoors.

Call quality on the OnePlus 5T is excellent. We could always hear the person at the other end very clearly and we didn’t notice any interruptions.

Like the 5, the 5T is sold with any kind of water or dust resistance, which can be considered a big minus when compared to products such as the Pixel 2 or Samsung Galaxy S8. But to be fair, OnePlus had to cut a few corners in order to keep the price tag of the phone relatively affordable.

Performance and Battery

Unlike the OnePlus 3T, the 5T did not get any noticeable upgrades under the hood. This can be explained by the fact  that while in 2016 Qualcomm rolled out the Snapdragon 820 which was closely followed by the updated Snapdragon 821 a few months later,  in 2017, the chip maker’s high-end mobile chip portfolio revolved solely around the Snapdragon 835 – which powers both the 5 and 5T.

OnePlus offers the new phone in two versions, one with 6GB of RAM + 64GB of storage and another with 8GB of RAM + 128GB of storage. Our review unit came with the more advanced configuration.

And as you’d expect with specs as high as these, performance proved to be extremely smooth. In our three weeks using the 5T, the phone didn’t freeze once, nor did we experience a slouch in performance even as we were playing demanding games. At times, the phone gets a bit hot, but compared to other phones we’ve used (the Xiaomi Mi 4i comes to mind) the 5T keeps at a decent temperature at all times.

Battery life is one of the many highlights of the OnePlus 5T. The phone relies on the same 3,300 mAh battery as the OnePlus 5, despite the new model having a bigger display to power. Even so, battery life on the 5T is very good. Starting the day at 100% percent, we were routinely able to get through the day until evening with at least 30% left.

Our daily routine consisted of reading a few articles in the morning, browsing social media, answering messages on WhatsApp and Facebook, checking apps like Imgur or 9gag and talking for at least one hour on the phone.

Even when the phone runs out of juice, the OnePlus 5T can be rapidly charged via the Dash Charge system which allows users to fully replenish the cell. It took us about 80 minutes to fully charge our review unit.

Another advantage of Dash Charge is that you can play games or binge on Netflix even while your phone is charging, and that won’t affect charging speeds. Also, temperatures are kept low while charging.

One thing to keep in mind is that you’ll need to use the dedicated white charger if you want to take advantage of the fast charging speeds, as OPPO (OnePlus’ parent company) has yet to license the technology to third-party vendors.

To be clear, you can use other chargers with the OnePlus 5T or use your Dash Charger with our handsets, but in both cases, they will merely be able to offer standard charging speeds – nothing out of the ordinary.

Cameras

With the 5T, OnePlus a tweaked the dual-camera setup that made a debut on its predecessor. You still have a 16-megapixel main sensor, but what used to be the telephoto lens is now a 20-megapixel sensor designed to shoot better low-light shots. For nighttime photos, the 5T switches on the second lens, which takes advantage of algorithms that merge the data from multiple pixels to improve color accuracy and detail.

But despite the promise of better low-light photography, we found the 5T to be a bit lacking in this department. Indeed, some shots turned out looking decent. Others merely gave the appearance of being so, but when we zoomed in, the loss of detail was quite obvious.

OnePlus widened the aperture on the second lens to allow the phone to shoot better night-time or low-light photos, but this was at the expense of the optical zoom. As a result, all zooming you do will be carried out digitally. When you hit the 2x button in the camera app, the phone will still zoom into the frame, but the resulting image is merely a crop of the original sensor. Zooming isn’t bad when done in bright light, but if you’re at a concert sitting in the back trying to take a picture of the band, the result comes out looking quite grainy.

While the OnePlus 5T isn’t impressive when it comes to low-light photography, things change radically in bright daylight when the phone’s camera performs extremely well. Portrait Mode makes a comeback and seems to be slightly improved than on its predecessor. In our experience, the main camera did a good job at identifying the face or object we wanted to isolate and blurred the background accordingly.

Finding your way around the camera interface is quite intuitive. The camera app launches in an Auto mode that lets you make minor adjustments to brightness, aspect ratio, flash and turn the HDR function on/off. You can switch between a Photo, Video (720p, 1080p at 30fps/60fps and 4K) or Portrait mode (bokeh) with a single tap.

Swipe up to switch to Pro mode in order to have more control over how you shoot your pictures including adjusting ISO, white balance, shutter speed and so on, or if you want to do a slow-motion video, time-lapse or panorama.

The 5T comes with a 16-megapixel selfie snapper, which as we found, produced pretty nice results. Indeed, in scanty artificial lighting conditions, self-portraits turned out to grainy. Fortunately, selfies look much better in natural light, although be warned that the selfie camera has a beautification filter on by default, so while it can produce flattering selfies, the results might not look very realistic. Naturally, you can turn it off completely or dial it down.

But if you want to let the real you shine through (complete with skin pores, lines and everything else) we suggest you try taking selfies with the main camera(s). On the OnePlus 5T, it’s actually quite easy to do so. A neat trick of the phone’s camera interface is that it allows you to shoot a photo by holding your finger on the fingerprint sensor on the back. What’s more, in this manner you’ll be able to use Portrait mode while shooting self-portraits, as the selfie camera does not have one.

Software

When it comes to software, you can’t really go wrong with the OnePlus 5T and its OxgenOS. Oddly, the 5T launched with a version of Oxygen based on the Android 7.1.1 Nougat, but the Oreo update is expected to land sometime in the first quarter of 2018. Actually, the first Oreo beta for the OnePlus 5T already started rolling out before the end of 2017.

 

Anyway, OxgenOS offers an experience very close to pure Android, while including a lot of extra features and customization options that will allow you personalize the look of your phone any way you please. For example, you can flip the order of your Android keys or hide them entirely, or take a screenshot by swiping three fingers on the display. Speaking of which you can also take advantage of the Extended Screenshot option that allows users to capture one long, continuous screenshot that shows more content than can fit on the screen at one time.

OxygenOS has its own launcher, which introduces OnePlus’ own “shelf” – accessible by swiping left on the main screen – that shows things like recent contacts, apps, data usage and battery life. You can also set reminders from there and add/delete widgets.

You can swipe upwards to open the app drawer and there’s the option to pick from different icon packs and change the layout of each home screen.

OnePlus also offers the possibility of changing the Default theme to Dark or Light to suit your individual needs. From there, you can also change the accent color which has the effect of changing the settings toggle colors, as well as the toggles’ in your system tray. It’s super handy for when you feel like you want to change your device’s look. And if at the end of the day, you find that you’re not yet satisfied with the look of your interface, you can always download a third party launcher.

We’re also big fans of the Parallel Apps functionality – although it’s not exclusive to OnePlus handsets. It allows you to clone social apps, so if you have more than one Instagram account (or Skype or whatever) you can stay logged in in both and switch between them at ease.

Another neat feature is Gaming Mode which disables all visual notifications while you’re playing a game and don’t want to be disturbed by any outside intrusions.

Reading Mode and Night Mode, both make a welcome comeback on the OnePlus 5T. The two modes can be used to alter the color of the display to give you a better browsing experience in certain scenarios.

Night Mode works by tinting the screen yellow and reducing light channels with the purpose of allowing you to fall asleep easier after using your device. Reading Mode, on the other hand, is a bit different. It changes the display so that it becomes completely black and white, which gives you the impression or reading on paper.

Face Unlock

One of the main distinctions between the 5T and 5 is the inclusion of Face Unlock with the former model. Like the name suggests, Face Unlock is a feature which lets users unlock their device just by looking at it. But unlike iPhone X’s more advanced Face ID, OnePlus’ solution simply uses 2D recognition, rather than a complex 3D depth map to tell whether it’s the owner of the phone who’s looking at the display.

Given that Face Unlock is not as secure as Face ID, it can be used to authorize payments for Android Pay or any other forms of authentication. The system is meant only to unlock your phone for you and that’s it.

But does it work? In the weeks we spend with the phone we found Face ID is extremely fast. You’ll need to press the wake button for the front camera to read your face, but once you do that, it unlocks the phone at lightning speed. It worked well in multiple scenarios as we tried unlocking the 5T from various angles, with glasses on, with our mouths covered by a scarf or in low-light conditions.

It’s by no means a perfect system, as there were a few times when it failed to do its job properly. Fortunately, users can quickly switch to the fingerprint scanner to gain access to their device.

Overall, OxygenOS offers a very satisfying package, capable of providing a rich and rewarding experience to the vast majority of users

Conclusion

It’s easy to forget that three years ago there was no OnePlus. In this short time, the company has managed to build a pretty solid reputation and to create the new “affordable flagship” niche on the smartphone market.

And the OnePlus 5T can easily be considered the company’s highest point of achievement, so far. Sure, there’s plenty of room for improvement, as the phone does not include a higher resolution display like more expensive flagships, nor does it offer water resistance, wireless charging, Hi-Fi audio, a microSD card or a mind-blowing main camera.

But if you put these aspects out of your mind for a second and go out into the real world and use the OnePlus 5T you’re guaranteed to have a real blast, because it’s a remarkable phone, it truly is. It’s lightning fast, takes advantage of a surprisingly good Face Unlock feature, has a great display and includes all the goodness OxygenOS has to offer, all at a price that can still be considered competitive when compared to the Google Pixel 2 XL or Galaxy Note 8.

Indeed, it would have been nice if the phone launched with Android 8.0 Oreo out of the box, but at least we can console ourselves with knowing that the Oreo open beta for the OnePlus 5T is available as we speak.

As a last note, the phone does suffer from a major roadblock that might not seem obvious at first. Like many unlocked phones on sale in the US it’s only compatible with GSM carriers like AT&T and T-Mobile, so Sprint and Verizon subscribers will have to look somewhere else for an affordable flagship.

Wirecutter’s best deals: HIFiMan’s HE400i headphones drop to $180

This post was done in partnership with Wirecutter. When readers choose to buy Wirecutter’s independently chosen editorial picks, it may earn affiliate commissions that support its work. Read their continuously updated list of deals here.

Also, stay tuned for Wirecutter’s special Valentine’s Day deals covering everything from candles to high-end chocolates and even NSFW items. Head to Twitter at @wirecutterdeals for #TheSweetestDeals on February 5th from 8pm-12am ET.

HiFiMan HE400i SE Open-Back Headphones

Street Price: $250; Deal Price: $180 w/ code LISTENUP

After our previous pick, the HE400S, were discontinued, the HE400i dropped from their $500 list price down to $250 last year. That makes these headphones an incredible value, and we recently saw them fall to $220. Now we’re seeing an even better deal on the Special Edition Dark Blue Chrome color with a new low price of $180 when you use code LISTENUP. Grab these while they’re available as this deal isn’t likely to last.

The HiFiMan HE400i is our top pick in our guide to the best open-back headphones under $500. Brent Butterworth wrote, “When we first tested headphones for this article, HiFiMan’s HE400S and HE400i roughly tied, with half of our panelists preferring one and half preferring the other. The HE400S became our top pick because it was $200 less costly, but now the HE400S is discontinued and the HE400i sells for even less than the HE400S’s original price. This makes the HE400i one of today’s best bargains in audio, and probably the least expensive way to experience the kind of detailed, spacious, lifelike sound audiophiles crave.”

Anker Karapax Touch for iPhone X

Street Price: $12; Deal Price: $9

The Anker Karapax Touch case in white for the iPhone X is down to a new low price of $9. This is the first price drop we’ve seen for this color of this phone case, which typically has a street price of $12. The Anker Karapax Touch is also available in black for $7 from its usual street price of $9, a dollar higher than the lowest we’ve seen but still a good price for those seeking that color. We aren’t sure how long this deal will last, so if you’ve been looking for a solid all purpose case for your iPhone X, consider buying now.

The Anker Karapax Touch is the previous top pick all purpose case in our guide to the best iPhone X cases. Nick Guy wrote, “Anker’s Karapax Touch is one of the best basic cases we tested, and was our previous top pick. The single piece of TPU-like material fit the phone perfectly, provided a substantial amount of protection relative to its minimal thickness and weight, and didn’t affect how the buttons felt. It’s essentially a clone of the Incipio NGP, a case we’ve long liked and recommended, but with slightly better grip and less obtrusive branding for a lower price. The back of the case is a bit slicker than the Silk Base Grip, though; we think a little more grip is better for most people.”

Grenco Science G Pen Elite Vaporizer

Street Price: $150; Deal Price: $105 w/ code GPEN30

If you’re in the market for a vaporizer or are considering one as a Valentine’s Day gift for a loved one, this is a nice opportunity to save on our top portable vaporizer pick. Usually $150, when you use code GPEN30 in cart the price drops to $105, a tremendous discount. While this isn’t the lowest price we’ve seen, it’s within $10 and is definitely worth a look. The code can be applied to more than one at a time, so you can save on a few at once too.

The Grenco Science G Pen Elite Vaporizer is our top pick in our guide to the best portable vaporizer. Mark Smirniotis wrote, “This is the second year in a row we’ve found the Elite to be the best vaporizer for the money. The Elite has features you rarely see in the under-$200 price category, like combination convection and conduction heating, a digital display for battery life and precision temperature control. We’ve twice convened a group of Los Angeles Wirecutter contributors to test the best models, and both times the Elite was a crowd-pleaser—in the most recent test, a year-old Elite that saw regular use and minimal cleaning performed just as well as a brand new one out of the box. As our expert sources and testers agree, the quality of the Elite far surpasses the cheapest vaporizers on the market, and even though premium competitors can cost twice as much, most people won’t get double the value out of them.”

Sonos One Smart Speaker 2-Pack

Street Price: $400; Deal Price: $350

This matches the lowest price we’ve seen on a 2-pack of this newly updated smart speaker from Sonos. With the same excellent sound quality as the Sonos Play:1, plus the smart speaker functionality that allows you to control smart home devices through Alexa (with other support coming later this year), this is a great option if you’ve already got some Sonos multiroom wireless speakers. It also matches the lowest per unit price we’ve seen for an individual Sonos One smart speaker, so it’s unlikely we’ll see a lower price for a while.

The Sonos One is a smart speaker we like and explore in great detail in our Sonos One Review. Jon Chase wrote, “The Sonos One is a smart speaker that combines the multiroom audio capabilities and great sound quality of a Sonos Play:1 with the intuitive voice controls of Amazon’s Alexa. If that’s exactly what you’re looking for, we think it’s a great addition to any existing Sonos system—aside from a few kinks. But Sonos is promising a lot more than that. Right now, it’s limited to Alexa devices, but Sonos has promised to add support for Google Assistant and Apple’s AirPlay 2 in 2018. If it gets there it will offer all the functionality of the Amazon Echo, Google Home, and Apple HomePod in one device.”

Because great deals don’t just happen on Thursday, sign up for our daily deals email and we’ll send you the best deals we find every weekday. Also, deals change all the time, and some of these may have expired. To see an updated list of current deals, please go to thewirecutter.com.

2017 was Amazon’s best year for new Prime subscriptions so far

Amazon’s fourth quarterly earnings results has just come in and, as expected, it was a pretty great holiday season for the online retail giant. According to the release, the company made $60.5 billion in the last few months, which is close to a 36 percent increase when compared to this time last year. It all adds up to a Q4 net income of $1.9 billion, its biggest recorded profit ever, partially thanks to a $789 million tax boost.

Though Amazon doesn’t usually break out its sales per category, CEO Jeff Bezos did say that a lot of this recent growth has to do with the rise of Alexa adoption in recent years. “We’ve reached an important point where other companies and developers are accelerating adoption of Alexa,” he said in a statement. “There are now over 30,000 skills from outside developers, customers can control more than 4,000 smart home devices from 1,200 unique brands with Alexa, and we’re seeing strong response to our new far-field voice kit for manufacturers.”

The other big highlight of Amazon’s report is that its Prime membership has grown substantially. It states that more new paid members have joined Prime in 2017 than in any previous year, and that in last year alone, more than five billion items are shipped with Prime around the world. Some of that could be a result of new incentives by Amazon to boost Prime membership, like monthly options for college students and discounts for those with EBT cards.

It also claims that the Fire TV Stick and the Echo Dot were the best-selling products across all of Amazon in 2017, which isn’t entirely surprising considering how affordable they are, as well as how much Amazon advertises its own products across the site.

Amazon also highlighted the release of its new Kindle Oasis, new Amazon furniture brands by the name of Rivet and Stone & Beam, and the launch of Amazon Go, its new cashier-less store, in the report. Unfortunately, Amazon doesn’t break down its product sales by division, so it’s difficult to know just how profitable each sector is.

And, as always, Amazon Web Services (AWS) continues to be a big part of the company’s growth strategy — it recorded $5.1 billion in AWS sales and overall revenue from the cloud business grew 45 percent from this time last year. The cloud service added several more enterprise customers this past year that include Disney, Expedia and Ellucian.

We’ll add more to this after listening in on the earnings call at 5:30pm ET.

Source: Amazon

Apple Now Has 1.3 Billion Active Devices Worldwide

Apple today announced that its active installed base of devices has reached 1.3 billion, a milestone the company hit in January. That includes iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, and Apple Watch models in use around the world.

The number was shared by Apple CEO Tim Cook in a press release announcing the company’s record earnings for the first fiscal quarter of 2018. Cook says that Apple has seen the number of active devices grow 30 percent over the course of the last two years. Apple hit its 1 billion active device milestone back in January of 2016.

“We’ve also achieved a significant milestone with our active installed base of devices reaching 1.3 billion in January. That’s an increase of 30 percent in just two years, which is a testament to the popularity of our products and the loyalty and satisfaction of our customers.”

Apple this afternoon said it sold 77.3 million iPhones, 13.2 million iPads, and 5.1 million Macs during the first quarter of 2018.
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App Store, Apple Music, iCloud and Apple Pay Set All Time Quarterly Revenue Records in Q1 2018

Apple’s services category continues to grow rapidly, and in the first fiscal quarter of 2018, Apple services, which includes iTunes, the App Store, Apple Music, iCloud, Apple Pay, and AppleCare, saw revenue of $8.5 billion, up 18 percent year over year.

The App Store saw its best holiday season ever, and Q1 2018 marked the best quarter ever for not only the App Store, but also Apple Music, iCloud, and Apple Pay. Apple Music, iCloud, and Apple Pay all saw significant growth in active users.

Paid subscriptions passed 240 million by the end of the December quarter, which Apple says is an increase of $30 million in the last 90 days alone, the largest quarterly growth ever.

Apple CEO Tim Cook says Apple is well on its way to reaching its goal to double its services revenue by 2020.

Tags: App Store, earnings, iTunes
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Fly through the water like a dolphin with the AquaJet H2 from Hoverstar

You may not have fins, but that doesn’t mean you can’t glide through the water with the grace of an aquatic creature. Thanks to Hoverstar Flight Technology, a company dedicated to water sports equipment, you will soon be able to fly across or underneath the surface of the great blue ocean (or any other body of water) with ease. Meet the AquaJet H2, a motorized underwater scooter with wings dedicated to improving the experience of divers and snorkelers the world over.

The scooter, which looks something like a flattened shark head, features aircraft-style wings that claim to reduce water resistance, leading to greater balance and less friction and drag. Adventurers need only grab onto the front of the wings and either dive underwater or skim across its surface. Powered by a “smart internal motor,” the AquaJet H2 can apparently carry up to four people at once, and features three variable speeds. Top speeds stand at 5.6 miles per hour, which is almost certainly faster than you can swim (though Michael Phelps is said to reach speeds of six miles per hour).

In order to offset the torque from the rotation of the motor and propeller, the scooter features a bottom grille board with an arch shape design to add horizontal stability and a smoother ride for the diver. On the left wing, users will find a switch that controls acceleration, while a switch on the right wing controls speed. In order to navigate with the AquaJet, divers need only to tilt the wings in the desired direction.

The scooter lasts 100 minutes per charge, but even when it’s out of battery, the AquaJet will float on its own, and also is equipped with positive buoyancy to help divers make their way to the surface quickly and safely.

“Many of us dream of the freedom that a dolphin feels surfing ocean waves, and now the everyday diver or snorkeler can experience that thrill with the AquaJet H2,” Hoverstar founder and CEO Edward Liu said. “While the motor is powerful enough to ride along the ocean … it’s also extremely quiet and doesn’t disrupt any surrounding ocean life,” he added.

The AquaJet H2 is seeking funding on Indiegogo, where you can back it at the early bird price of $799. As with all crowdfunded projects, you should know what you’re getting into.

Editors’ Recommendations

• The PowerDolphin underwater drone is every bit as ridiculous as it sounds
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Minnesota vending machine sells Super Bowl fans premade snowballs for $1

From vending machines to help homeless people get the provisions they need to ultra-secure ones that could sell guns, booze, or other ID-requiring products, we’ve covered some pretty cool vending machines here at Digital Trends. None, however, is quite so cool as a new vending machine that’s just popped up in Minnesota. And we mean that quite literally.

Just when you think you’ve heard about every possible vended good, this vending machine sells hand-packed frozen snowballs — ready and waiting to be thrown at a sibling, partner, buddy, or annoying co-worker at your leisure. The vending machine in question was created by marketing agency, Space150, and is intended to bring a little Minnesota chill to visiting Super Bowl fans for $1 a pop.

“We wanted to give Minnesota visitors something unique to our region that they could bring back home,” Brock Davis, chief creative officer on the project, told Digital Trends. “Since we’re known for our cold, naturally that gave us the idea to sell real snowballs as souvenirs. And the best way to do that? Vending machine. This project was exceptionally fun because the entire idea rests firmly at the intersection of brilliant and dumb.”

As “dumb” as the idea may sound, getting snowballs to stay snowballs inside a vending machine is surprisingly tricky. Make a few miscalculations and the vending machine becomes home to either small puddles of water or else rock-hard projectiles that will ensure you’re watching the Super Bowl from behind bars on an assault charge.

“The snowballs were made by hand and then sealed in a waterproof container,” Davis continued. “Luckily, the weather has cooperated and we were able to store the snowballs outside. The vending machine is refrigerated, so once inside, the snowballs will never melt. We modified a normal vending machine so it could dispense canisters large enough to hold snowballs. The most complex problem we faced was making sure the snowball containers were waterproof. After a little trial and error, we were able to rig an antique canner to create a perfectly tight seal. The only thing left to do was make round, well-packed snowballs and avoid throwing them at each other.”

The Real Minnesota Snowball Machine is currently operating in the alley of the Hewing Hotel in Minneapolis’ North Loop, where you can “purchase a little piece of the North for a buck.” We give the the creators hella props for their hustling huckster spirit!

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