Adonit Releases ‘Snap 2’ Selfie Stylus for iPhones

Adonit today announced the launch of the Snap 2, an accessory that melds a traditional stylus with selfie stick functionality.

Designed for customers who use social media apps like Instagram and Snapchat, the Bluetooth-enabled Snap 2 offers a PixelPoint tip for taking notes, making sketches, drawing, and other purposes, along with a built-in Bluetooth camera shutter remote.

The remote feature can be used to snap photos using the built-in camera app on the iPhone or within photography apps. Adonit has added a new 1.9mm PixelPoint tip to the Snap 2 for better precision with less offset, and there’s a new triple burst photo capture mode that joins the standard single shot photo mode.

Our vision behind Snap 2 is to improve the way we share our experiences with friends,” said Jasper Li, CTO for Adonit. “Today, Snapchat and Instagram play a big part in how we communicate. From selfies to doodles, Snap 2 powers users to take sharing to the next level. We introduced the triple burst feature for capturing the perfect moment with three continuous shots. The slim design and built-in magnetic makes it easy carry wherever your day takes you.”

The Snap 2 has a 12-hour battery life and it can be charged via micro USB, and for portability, it attaches magnetically to the back of the iPhone. The thin body is designed to add little bulk to an iOS device.

This is a niche stylus that isn’t going to appeal to all users, nor is it a replacement for something like the Apple Pencil on the iPad, but for those who want a tool for taking photos and then annotating them with drawings and other designs, the Snap 2 may be worth checking out.

The Snap 2, which is compatible with the iPhone 6 and newer, can be purchased from the Adonit website or from Amazon.com for $34.99.

Tags: stylus, Adonit
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B&H Photo Launches New Apple Sale: Save on MacBook Pro and Air, iMac and iMac Pro, and More

Apple device reseller B&H Photo today opened up a new Apple sale, which includes instant savings on products like the MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, iMac, iMac Pro, and more. As usual, B&H Photo doesn’t collect sales tax on orders shipped to addresses outside of New York and New Jersey, and most orders over $49 will qualify for free expedited shipping (ranging between 1-3 days depending on the state).

Many of the prices for the various Macs are the best currently available online, while a few are reaching all-time-lows for certain configurations. Specifically, the 15-inch model of the Mid 2017 MacBook Pro with Touch Bar with 256GB and 512GB solid state drives have each been discounted to their lowest prices ever by B&H Photo today.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with B&H Photo. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

Check out the lists below for some of the computers on sale, and note that all of the products listed represent the latest, Mid 2017 refreshes of each Mac.

MacBook Pro without Touch Bar

• 13-inch, 2.3 GHz, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD – $1,099.00, down from $1,299.00
• 13-inch, 2.3 GHz, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD – $1,299.00, down from $1,499.00

MacBook Pro with Touch Bar

• 13-inch, 3.1 GHz, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD – $1,599.00, down from $1,799.00
• 15-inch, 2.8 GHz, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD – $1,999.00, down from $2,399.00
• 15-inch, 2.9 GHz, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD – $2,399.00, down from $2,799.00

13-inch MacBook Air

• 1.8 GHz, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD – $799.00, down from $999.00
• 1.8 GHz, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD – $999.00, down from $1,199.00

iMac

• 21.5-inch 4K, 2.0 GHz, 8GB RAM, 1TB HD – $1,099.00, down from $1,299.00
• 27-inch 5K, 3.4 GHz, 8GB RAM, 1TB Fusion Drive – $1,549.00, down from $1,799.00

iMac Pro

• 27-inch 5K, 3.2 GHz, 32GB RAM, 1 TB SSD – $4,499.00, down from $4,999.00
• 27-inch, 3.2 GHz, 64GB RAM, 1TB SSD – $5,999.00, down from $6,399.00

The biggest discount in the sale is $1,300 off a custom configuration of the 15-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar from 2016, marked down to $2,999.00. Other products in the sale include Mac mini, Mac Pro, and the 12-inch MacBook, so be sure to head over to B&H Photo for the full list of computers on sale and then visit our Deals Roundup for other savings happening this week.

Related Roundup: Apple Deals
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Apple News Now Allows All Publishers to Serve Ads via Google DoubleClick

Apple News now lets all publishers use Google’s industry standard ad-serving tool DoubleClick, after limited testing last year.

Apple told Digiday that DoubleClick can now be used to serve traditional banner ads on Apple News, including animated GIF ads, but it can’t yet be used to serve HTML5-based ads or pre-roll video ads in the app.

The rollout should make it easier for publishers to sell and fill ad space next to their articles on Apple News. Apple lets publishers keep 100 percent of the revenue from the Apple News ads they sell directly.

“We’re thrilled with the results we’ve seen from the Apple News DFP beta,” said Beth Lawrence, executive vice president of digital sales for Discovery. “We’ve seen strong fill rates across our Apple News channels for Food Network, HGTV and Travel Channel, with a peak fill rate over 90 percent.”

DoubleClick-served ads in Apple News have limited targeting options, in line with Apple’s commitment to user privacy:

The ad-targeting options break down into two categories: context-based targeting and audience-based targeting. Contextual ads can be aimed based on the article’s publisher, its content category within Apple News and the tags a publisher appends to the individual article as well as according to whether it appears on an iPhone or iPad. Audience-wise, the ads can be targeted by a person’s location (though only at the designated market area level), their gender and their age group.

Apple previously used its now-defunct iAd platform to fill unsold ad space in Apple News, but it later outsourced the job to NBCUniversal.

Tags: Google, Apple News
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Tim Cook Told Donald Trump China Tariffs Are ‘Not the Right Approach’ in Recent Meeting

Apple CEO Tim Cook conducted a private meeting with United States President Donald Trump on Wednesday, April 25, where the discussion was said to be focused “on trade.” Following a recent interview with Bloomberg Television, Cook divulged more details about the meeting, mentioning that the two men discussed topics like recently imposed tariffs on China and the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

In late March, Trump launched 25 percent tariffs on around $50 billion worth of Chinese products, citing a “tremendous intellectual property theft problem” in previous U.S./China trade relations. In the new interview, which happened on “The David Rubenstein Show: Peer-to-Peer Conversations,” Cook admitted previous trade policies had their drawbacks, but still held that Trump’s tariffs are “not the right approach” in this situation.

Apple CEO Tim Cook at the Executive Tech Summit at Trump Tower in December 2016

“It’s true, undoubtedly true, that not everyone has been advantaged from that — in either country — and we’ve got to work on that,” Cook said. “But I felt that tariffs were not the right approach there, and I showed him some more analytical kinds of things to demonstrate why.”

The two also discussed the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which protects young immigrants who were brought into the U.S. as children from deportation. The Trump administration’s decision to end DACA was blocked in January by a federal judge in San Francisco, and today representatives of the administration will attempt to convince the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that it was justified in the move to end the program.

In the days after Trump signed an executive order against DACA early last year, Apple and other major tech companies penned an open letter to Trump urging the importance of the program. Cook discussed his support of DACA throughout the year, and told Rubenstein in this week’s interview, “We’re only one ruling away from a catastrophic case there.”

Other parts of the interview touch upon the new corporate tax policy in the U.S., Apple’s growing services segment, Apple Music’s new 50 million paid and free trial user milestone, and the company’s behind-the-scenes work on original TV content. Head over to Bloomberg to read more details from the interview.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Tags: Tim Cook, Donald Trump
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Apple Music Has Over 50 Million Paid Subscribers and Free Trial Users Combined

Apple Music now has over 50 million users on either paid subscriptions or free trials, according to Apple CEO Tim Cook.

Cook revealed the updated total in an interview with Bloomberg Television, nearly five weeks after Apple’s services chief Eddy Cue said Apple Music had 48 million users, including 40 million paying and eight million on a trial.

Apple Music remains the world’s second most popular streaming music service, behind Spotify, which disclosed that it had 75 million paying subscribers as of March 31, 2018. Spotify has a much larger total of at least 170 million active users, however, due to the free, ad-supported tier that it offers.

Apple Music has been a key contributor to the continued growth of Apple’s services category, which brought in $9.1 billion revenue last quarter, an increase of 31 percent on a year-over-year basis. Other service-related revenue includes App Store and iTunes Store sales, paid iCloud storage, licensing, and more.

Tag: Apple Music
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Adobe Makes XD Design Software Free Through New XD CC Starter Plan

Adobe today announced the launch of the XD CC Starter plan, which provides users with free access to Adobe’s all-in-one UX/UI design platform. Adobe’s new XD CC Starter plan offers no-cost usage of Adobe XD for Mac and Windows and mobile apps for iOS and Android to allow users to design, prototype, and share user experiences.

Starter Plan users can create an unlimited number of XD documents, expert assets for production, and create videos. One design prototype and one design spec at a time can be shared, with a paid plan available to enable unlimited sharing.

“UX design is one of the fastest growing segments in design,” said Scott Belsky, chief product officer and executive vice president, Creative Cloud at Adobe. “The new Starter plan for Adobe XD supports Adobe’s vision to give everyone–from emerging artists to enterprise brands–everything they need to design and deliver exceptional digital experiences and explore the rapidly expanding field of UX design with no financial commitment.”

In addition to the starter plan, Adobe XD is gaining new features and workflow enhancements including improvements to Sketch and Photoshop CC integrations, password protection for design specs to restrict who can view files, drag and drop options for swapping symbols, and the option to paste to multiple artboards. More information on the improvements can be found in Adobe’s blog post covering the update.

In the near future, Adobe plans to roll out advanced prototyping and animation capabilities, new team collaboration features, and new plug-in options.

Adobe is also announcing a new $10 million Adobe Fund for Design, distributed to designers and developers through grants and equity investments. Adobe’s am with the fund is to help designers and developers “innovate in the world of experience design” and leverage the Adobe XD platform.

Adobe XD is free as of today and can be downloaded from the Adobe XD website. Existing Adobe XD plans will continue to be available, with the $9.99 Adobe XD Single App plan offering Creative cloud members unlimited shared prototypes and design specs. Customers who subscribe to a Creative Cloud all apps plan have full access to unlimited sharing. More information on XD plans can be found on Adobe’s website.

Tag: Adobe
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FileMaker 17 Launches With Improvements to App Development Speed and Interface

Apple subsidiary FileMaker today announced the launch of FileMaker 17, the newest version of the company’s popular database platform designed to make it easy for businesses to create a range of customized apps able to operate effortlessly across iPhone, iPad, Mac, Windows, and the Web.

Version 17 of the FileMaker software focuses on speeding up and simplifying app development through start apps, master-details layout options, and a revamped layout mode, plus it includes an overhauled FileMaker Server Admin Console and a new Admin API.

According to Ann Monroe, vice president of worldwide marketing and customer success at FileMaker, version 17 of the platform allows users to do more in less time.

“With the FileMaker 17 Platform, not only can users do more in less time, but they also can do more on the go. Business teams of all sizes are looking to improve productivity, and this launch builds on FileMaker’s track record of providing a unified tool for quickly creating and deploying custom apps.”

FileMaker customers can start development on apps more quickly with one of six new starter apps that can serve as a base able to be enhanced through connected add-on tables.

Layout tools for custom apps are more easily accessible thanks to a redesigned layout interface that makes tools and customization panes more discoverable, and master-detail layouts can be used to save common design patterns.

New support for sensors allows mobile apps to capture information from the iOS sensors in iPads or iPhones, and on iPads with iOS 11.2 or later, drag and drop support has been introduced, for easily transferring files, photos, links, and more between two apps. Local notifications can also be displayed on an iPhone or iPad when FileMaker Go is not running or is in the background.

The FileMaker Server Admin Console has been redesigned with a more streamlined user interface, and trial access to the REST API for managing and administering the FileMaker server is available. The REST API offers support for a more standardized API format, FileMaker Server scripts, and uploading files to container fields.

FileMaker says FileMaker Cloud support for the new FileMaker 17 Platform features will be available “in the coming weeks.”

FileMaker pricing is not changing with the release of FileMaker 17. FileMaker uses a subscription licensing structure for teams of five or more users, with access to FileMaker Server and FileMaker systems across desktop, mobile, and web.

Pricing starts at $15 per month per user for an annual subscription, with discounts available for larger teams. Perpetual licenses, which allow users to access the current version of the software in perpetuity with no expiration date, are also available at 3x the cost. Updates are not included in the perpetual plan options.

Tag: FileMaker
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Stewie the robot offers horseback therapy without the stable fee

Dogs may be man’s best friend but, for many people with special needs, happiness is found on horseback. It’s thought that the rhythmic, rocking motion can stimulate good posture, confidence, comfort, and other therapeutic benefits for people who suffer from physical and mental disabilities. The problem is, horses are expensive and can be hard to come by, especially for people living in the city.

But a team of undergraduates from Rice University have developed a robotic horse to offer therapies for patients with no easy access to a stable. Expanding on a similar device previously developed by Rice engineers, the robot, Stewie, is designed to provide a cost-effective alternative to the living creature.

Hippotherapy is a technique commonly used by therapists working with children with disabilities. Patients ride, while the therapist walks alongside, often engaging the patient in speech and visual exercises along the way. But these sessions can be expensive, sometimes costing hundreds of dollars.

“Our project is exciting because we are able to re-create multiple different horse gaits with the switch of a button,” Matt O’Gorman, a Rice undergraduate researcher who worked on the project, told Digital Trends. “Unlike a mechanical bull or a toy horse outside a supermarket, we accurately match the motion of horses that are used in hippotherapy, which can thus provide much more effective results. Furthermore, our design is fully open-source and easily constructed with minimal machining, for a significantly cheaper price than other devices on the market.”

Stewie takes inspiration from the Stewart platform, a robotic concept that allows machines to move with six degrees of freedom. The Rice team powered their robot using Arduino and six motors for its six legs, enabling Stewie to move with the rhythmic, rocking motions of a real horse.

“The motion of the horse generates motion in the rider that similarly matches a human’s walking motion, so it’s able to provide rehabilitative benefits in walking and generating core muscle strength,” O’Gorman said. “Additionally, the motion relaxes the rider, allowing it to be paired with other therapies. Therapists have found that patients are more effective in speech and similar therapies after being paired with hippotherapy.”

The robot’s biggest benefits boil down to cost and convenience. Parts for Stewie cost around $3,500, while the team said patients can spend upwards of $5,000 on hippotherapy sessions with a real horse. Plus, Stewie’s food and lodging fees are nominal.

“This means he can be used within the city, or an already existing therapeutic center, without necessitating long commutes,” O’Gorman said. “There are some disadvantages as well, notably that Stewie … isn’t a live animal! While the main benefit of hippotherapy is physical, there is some mental component as well, which is why we made Stewie stuffed like a horse to mimic this as best as we could.”

The researchers admit Stewie isn’t as effective as the real thing and, since they’re all graduating, don’t plan on refining the robot much further. But they’ve left the project open-source and encourage anyone who’s inspired to develop the project further.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Assistive tech is progressing faster than ever, and these 7 devices prove it
• This robot eel glides through saltwater without making a sound
• Our guide to the best robot vacuums
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• Counting down the 10 most important robots in history

Wired speeds in a $60 cordless gaming mouse? Logitech did it

After releasing its “pro” Powerplay wireless charging system and mice last summer, Logitech returns with an affordable wireless mouse for mainstream PC gamers. Called the G305, the new peripheral is based on Logitech’s Lightspeed wireless technology promising wired-like performance only seen in the company’s premium mice lineup. What you won’t see here is a premium price. The G305 ships this month for $59.99. 

PC gamers looking for lots of bling in a mouse need to look elsewhere. The Logitech G305 takes a simplistic approach, sporting a slim, compact design for easy portability. Yet despite its initial ambidextrous appearance, it’s mostly built for right-handed gamers, shoving two thumb buttons onto the left side. Lefties can still use this mouse, but Logitech reserves leftie-friendly features for its higher-priced mice. 

That said, if you’re migrating from a higher-class gaming mouse like Logitech’s G903, the G305 will feel minimalistic in size and features. Its slim form factor makes it a great solution for gaming-on-the-go, and the bundled miniature USB dongle fits nice and snug next to the single AA battery under the palm rest lid. Overall, it’s a solid, high-quality device that doesn’t feel too small in your hand.

Lightspeed wireless performance

Logitech’s marketing push behind the G305 focuses on two components: The optical sensor and wireless connection. We’ve seen the Hero sensor before in Logitech’s G603 gaming mouse, short for High Efficiency Rating Optical. Logitech built this sensor from scratch to squeeze out lots of high-performance tracking without gobbling the peripheral’s battery. Logitech says this sensor provides up to 10 times more power efficiency than its 3366 optical sensor. 

As for the wireless connectivity, we know this technology well: Lightspeed. In this case, Logitech boasts that it brought professional-grade wireless gaming to the mainstream. It’s still a 2.4GHz connection, but what’s important to note here is that Logitech’s proprietary wireless technology enables wired-like report rates of one millisecond. That’s how many times the mouse can report to the parent PC each second. Bluetooth ranges between 7.5 and 11.25 milliseconds. 

We tested the mouse in some rounds of Destiny 2, a first-person shooter that requires some twitchy reflexes. Partnered with an Alienware R4 laptop, we didn’t experience any input lag using the mouse. Given it uses the same wireless technology as the “pro” G903, we expected the G305 would provide top-notch performance. It didn’t fail those expectations, even in the Crucible.

But the cost of a one-millisecond report rate is an overall reduced battery life. To tackle this problem, you can use the free Logitech Gaming Software desktop client to adjust the rate between 125Hz (8ms), 250Hz (4ms), 500Hz (2ms), and 1,000Hz (1ms). Thus, if you’re not gaming, the default 125Hz setting is ideal and doesn’t present any noticeable lag during general use. You’ll find two power modes as well – Lo (nine months) and High (250 hours) — that simply toggles between 125Hz and 1,000Hz rates.

Not a slouch in customization

On the customization front, Logitech provides plenty of choice. The software enables you to re-assign the six physical buttons with a new command, edit a command, use the button’s generic functionality, or un-assign a command. Assigning a new command brings up a new window presenting three categories: Mouse function, keystroke, and multi-key macro.

By default, the button mounted behind the mouse wheel cycles through your DPI settings. The mouse sensitivity ranges between 200dpi and 12,000dpi that you can set using five customizable levels. Just hit the DPI button to cycle through each color-coded setting indicated by a single LED: Yellow, white, red, purple, and blue. You can also re-assign the thumb buttons to DPI Up and DPI Down if that works better for you.

Finally, you can save one set of mouse settings to the peripheral — DPI sensitivity levels, button assignments, and report rate — using its on-board memory. It’s a general mouse “profile” that doesn’t load with a specific game, and comes in handy when you’re connecting the mouse to another PC without the Logitech Gaming Software client installed.

Want to attach specific settings to a specific game? Just switch the software over to “Automatic Game Detection” mode, which stores all settings on your PC. The software will scan for new games and list them at the top of a newly-unlocked Profiles section. You can then assign specific commands to the mouse buttons (and compatible Logitech keyboard keys) that will automatically load when the game starts. 

At $60, G305 wireless mouse pushes the mainstream boundaries. You don’t have to pay premium prices for a cordless mouse with great wired-like performance and customization solutions.

Editors’ Recommendations

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• What kind of mouse do you use most on a daily basis?

SanDisk’s one-day memory sale has 64GB flash drives starting at $10, microSD cards at $16

Score big discounts today.

Amazon is back with another one-day sale on various SanDisk memory products. From high-capacity microSD cards to durable portable SSDs, there’s something here for everyone. Many of these prices are historic lows for these items, or pretty close to it.

Whether you’re looking to add storage to your phone, tablet or action camera, or want to be able to keep your files mobile with you all the time, there are tons of deals here that you won’t want to miss.

MicroSD Cards

• 64GB Ultra Micro SDXC – $15.99 (Was $25)
• 128GB Ultra Micro SDXC – $31.99 (Was $50)
• 256GB Ultra Micro SDXC – $87.56 (Was $150)
• 400GB Ultra Micro SDXC – $159.99 (Was $250)

Flash Drives

• 64GB Cruzer USB 2.0 – $10.39 (Was $16
• 64GB Ultra Flair USB 3.0 – $14.39 (Was $18)
• 64GB Ultra Dual USB Drive 3.0 – $16.15 (Was $21)
• 256GB Ultra Dual Drive USB Type-C – $51.99 (Was $79)
• 128GB iXpand Lightning Flash Drive – $55.99 (Was $70)
• 256GB Connect Wireless Stick – $95.99 (Was $120)

Solid State Drives

• 1TB Extreme Portable SSD – $249.99 (Was $350)

Remember, these prices are here today and gone tomorrow, so don’t miss out.