Samsung’s fast wireless charger is down to just $25 at Amazon

Give one a try!

If you have a phone with wireless charging capabilities and aren’t using a wireless charging pad, it’s time to change that. Amazon currently has Samsung’s Qi fast wireless charging pad on sale for just $24.99, which is the lowest price it has ever sold for. You can pick one up in either black or white right now. Recently, it’s been averaging around $35, but has sold for as much as $70 in the past. Best Buy has it priced at $50 right now.

This wireless charger works with any Qi-enabled device, including Samsung’s Galaxy S8 and S9, the iPhone 8, iPhone X, and more. It will fast charge Samsung devices and charge others at standard speed. All you need to do is plug it into the wall using the included power brick, and then set your phone on top. There’s a multi-color LED to help you see the charging status. It’s time to stop fumbling around with cables in the dark and try out an easier way to charge your phone.

See at Amazon

21st Century Fox CEO Says Apple Still Just ‘Dabbling’ in Original TV Content

In early 2017, Apple CEO Tim Cook described the company’s plans for original TV content on Apple Music as placing a “toe in the water” for its television ambitions at the time. Eventually, Planet of the Apps and Carpool Karaoke debuted on the service, but since then frequent reports have indicated Apple is now “completely all in” on original content, shifting from reality TV programs on Apple Music to high-quality, $1 billion investments in hour-long programs on par with shows like Westworld.

Despite Apple’s evolving plans over the past year and a half, 21st Century Fox CEO James Murdoch still believes Apple to be “dabbling” in the creative original content space. In an interview at Recode’s Code Conference this week, Murdoch was asked what advice he would give to companies who are not traditional TV content-creating companies, but who are getting into the original programming business.

Photo taken by Asa Mathat via Recode
Murdoch explained that 21st Century Fox’s angle is “a creative business” and “very entreprenurial,” where it empowers creators, creative partners, and creative executives to “push the envelope” in storytelling. He said that “being tolerant of failure is important,” leading into his statement about Apple and other companies looking into TV production and their potential fear of failure as an impediment to faster progress.

So, I think the one issue that we see with the kind of, you know, the dabbling, right? If you look at an Apple. Is it … Going piece by piece, one by one, show by show, et cetera, is gonna take a long time to really move the dial and having something mega. I do think that’s gonna be very challenging.

As of now, there are 13 original shows coming from Apple (although how exactly they will launch remains in question), including new episodes of Amazing Stories, an untitled space drama from the creator of the Battlestar Galactica reboot, a Kristen Wiig sitcom, and other projects from names like Damien Chazelle, M. Night Shyamalan, and Octavia Spencer. Apple has set aside a $1 billion “war chest” for the production of these shows, the first of which could launch as soon as March 2019.

Murdoch appears to think that Apple will roll out its shows “one by one,” leading into his argument that it will take a while for the company to have a hit on its hands. It’s unclear why the CEO believes that to be Apple’s plans, however, since neither Apple nor any rumors have suggested how exactly the company will launch its shows, and how many will hit at once.

One of Apple’s rivals in the market will be Hulu, which has its own original TV shows like The Handmaid’s Tale, Marvel’s Runaways, and the upcoming Stephen King anthology series Castle Rock. 21st Century Fox is one of the owners of Hulu, and according to Murdoch about half of the 20 million Hulu subscribers pay for the service’s $11.99/month No Commercials tier, upgrading from the Limited Commercials option at $7.99/month.

There’s an option for the limited-ad experience, and it’s about evens, I think.

I think they say, “You know, for four bucks, I’m getting a limited ad … Four bucks extra, I can do it this. For four bucks less a month, I’ll have limited ads. It’s not a terrible experience, the ads, it’s a much lighter load than you see in broadcast or cable generally.”

So, I think they make a choice. And I think once you empower the customer, and you make it really transparent, that it’s really about how they’re valuing their time, and how they’re valuing and dealing with their priorities, then also they complain a lot less about the ads, because they’ve been given a choice and empowered. So a lot of, I think, what the whole industry is doing is trying to figure this out.

Murdoch also touched upon the company’s plans to sell parts of its media assets to Disney, which now could be complicated with an all-cash offer from Comcast. The CEO was expectedly reserved about specific details regarding what could happen with each offer, but made it clear that the company has given far more thought to the regulatory aspects of the Disney deal than it has to any offer from Comcast, saying Fox will “deal with that as we go.”

Tags: Fox, Apple’s Hollywood ambitions
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Analysts Cast Doubt on Report of Apple’s Transition to Full OLED iPhone Lineup in 2019

On Monday, a report from South Korea’s ET News claimed that Apple’s transition to a full OLED iPhone lineup will be complete in 2019. This would mark the first time Apple has relied entirely on the organic light-emitting diode panel technology and not included LCD panels in any way, but now a group of analysts have responded to the report and argued that the 2019 timeframe might be inaccurate (via Bloomberg).

Jay Kwon, an analyst with JPMorgan, said that it’s too early for a switch to OLED-only production for the iPhone. This is because the OLED screens would make the smartphones more expensive, removing the chance for a “low-cost” iPhone model like the LCD version believed to be coming in 2018, and Kwon argued that Apple likely needs more time to find additional OLED suppliers besides its current sole supplier in Samsung Display.

While Apple has embraced OLED, most analysts said they don’t see the switch happening in 2019.

“It is unlikely that Apple will be releasing three OLED models next year,” said Jeff Pu, an analyst at Taipei-based Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting. The other major OLED supplier, LG Display, has struggled to move into mass production and isn’t likely to boost OLED production for Apple in 2019 from 5 million to 10 million units expected this year, he said.

While rumors about Apple’s incoming shift to an entire OLED iPhone lineup have been around for over a year, shares of suppliers reacted quickly in response to the new report from ET News. Goldman Sachs analysts Daiki Takayama and Jie Dai believed that “share prices have overreacted” to the news, because they “think it is unlikely that all 2019 iPhone models will switch to OLED screens.”

Arthur Liao, an analyst with Fubon Securities, said he has not heard anything from his own supply chain sources in Taiwan regarding Apple moving to all OLED iPhone models in 2019. Most analysts repeatedly pointed towards pricing as an issue, including IHS Markit analyst Jerry Kang: “Apple hasn’t been able to expand on its iPhone X production because of market demand and price issues.” Kang said that while Apple’s plan is to ultimately “go full OLED,” the real “question mark” is determining what year the company will make that shift.

In an effort to reduce reliance on Samsung Display, Apple has reportedly invested billions of dollars to help LG get up and running with OLED technology, and LG has been rumored to be the supplier for this year’s “iPhone X Plus.” Besides that model, Apple is predicted to release two other iPhones in 2018: a second generation iPhone X and a low-cost, 6.1-inch option with a similar full-face display as seen on the iPhone X, but with LCD rather than an OLED display.

Tag: 2019 iPhones
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Plex Launches a New Podcasts Beta, Revamps Mobile Apps

Plex today announced the launch of Plex Podcasts, a feature that’s designed to provide Plex users with an intuitive, customizable podcasts experience on any iOS device or Mac with no subscription or media server required.

According to Plex, the new Podcasts feature offers cross-platform playback, so you can begin a podcast on one device, such as your Apple TV, and then pick it up later on another device like the iPhone.

The Plex Podcasts interface displays the latest unplayed and in-progress episodes, just as Plex does for television shows and movies. Podcasts are displayed right alongside your photos, videos, music, TV shows, and more, putting all of your favorite media right in one place.

Standard podcast controls are available to control playback, and there’s an option to add your own favorite podcasts that aren’t already in the Plex catalog by adding the feed URL.

As with other media, Plex Podcasts is designed to enhance the podcast experience with metadata, providing users with info about each episode and related podcasts.

The feature is available on iOS, Android, Roku and the Plex web platform, with support for other devices coming in the near future. Plex also plans to add improved metadata and smart downloading in the coming weeks.

Along with Plex Podcasts, the Plex mobile apps are being overhauled to focus on a more customizable media experience. Users are able to choose the types of content they want to see, adding select categories to the Plex home screen.

Plex for iOS devices can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]

Tag: Plex
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Snapchat CEO on Facebook Copying Stories: They Should ‘Copy Our Data Protection Practices Also’

Recode’s annual Code Conference is underway in Rancho Palos Verdes, California this week, and on Tuesday Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel took the stage to discuss the ephemeral app’s controversial update, Facebook’s copying, and the recent Cambridge Analytica scandal.

Specifically, Spiegel is said to have “poured salt on the wound” during his 40-minute interview with Kara Swisher as he called out Facebook and its ongoing struggles with user privacy. Referencing Facebook’s decision to copy Snapchat stories in the Facebook app, Instagram, Facebook Messenger, and WhatsApp, Spiegel said, “We would really appreciate it if they copied our data protection practices also.”

Photo taken by Asa Mathat via Recode
Snapchat is built around the idea that messages and photos that users send on the platform all disappear after a pre-set amount of time, providing some sense of security within the iOS and Android app. Facebook, on the other hand, is “just a bunch of features” — now including ephemeral stories — placed within an app without an underlying philosophy of user privacy, Spiegel argued.

Spiegel said Facebook — whose name he repeatedly declined to utter — has failed to sufficiently overhaul its user privacy protections after the Cambridge Analytica scandal exploded earlier this spring.

“Fundamentally, I think the changes have to go beyond window dressing to real changes to the ways that these platforms work,” he said.

Spiegel ultimately said that he thinks Snapchat will survive competitors copying the app, because while other platforms are forcing people to “compete with their friends for ‘Likes’”, Snapchat is focused on communicating with close friends. So, while Facebook imitates its features, the CEO remained confident that Snapchat’s “values are hard to copy.”

Snapchat hasn’t been without its own data leak scandals, however, and Facebook chief security officer Alex Stamos took to Twitter to point that out. Stamos said that “poor API security” has been a factor that led to mass leaks of compromising user photos. “So no, I don’t think copying Snapchat would be a smart move” for Facebook, he finished.

Many companies have voiced their opinions on the Facebook data scandal, including Apple and CEO Tim Cook, who said he “wouldn’t be in this situation” when asked what he would do if he was Mark Zuckerberg.

Tags: Facebook, Snapchat
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Watch Virgin Galactic’s second powered test flight of its tourist spaceplane

Whether it’s Branson or Bezos who gets their first, the fact is that commercial suborbital space tourism flights may well be just around the corner. For those with the cash to splash, at least.

In a stunning display of its technology over California’s Mojave Desert on Tuesday, Branson’s Virgin Galactic team completed its second successful rocket-powered test flight of VSS Unity, the two-crew, six-passenger aircraft that will one day take moneyed folks to the edge of space, 62 miles above Earth.

As planned, Unity’s rocket motor burned for 31 seconds during the test flight, propelling it to a speed of Mach 1.9 and an altitude of 114,500 feet (34,900 meters).

The focus of this latest flight was to help the team increase its understanding of the spaceplane’s “supersonic handling characteristics and control system’s performance with vehicle parameters that were closer to the ultimate commercial configuration,” Virgin Galactic said on its website.

The entire outing was captured in a slickly edited video that opens with images of the WhiteKnightTwo carrier aircraft shortly before it took off from the Mojave Air and Space Port in California. There’s a quick shot of Branson signing autographs before we see the two pilots, Dave Mackay and Mark “Forger” Stucky, making their way to Unity. Watch as WhiteKnightTwo, with Unity attached to its underside, takes off and climbs to an altitude of nearly 50,000 feet, at which point the carrier releases the spaceplane. As Unity begins to drop, we see its rocket engine fire up, causing the aircraft to launch into a spectacular climb. Unity landed safely a short time later.

Branson, who himself is planning to be on Virgin Galactic’s first commercial flight when operations commence possibly in the next 12 months, said afterwards: “It was great to see our beautiful spaceship back in the air and to share the moment with the talented team who are taking us, step by step, to space.”

The British billionaire added, “Seeing Unity soar upwards at supersonic speeds is inspiring and absolutely breathtaking — we are getting ever closer to realizing our goals.”

Virgin Galactic or Blue Origin?

Virgin Galactic considers its main competitor in the suborbital space tourism race to be Blue Origin, owned by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. Blue Origin’s reusable New Shepard rocket has so far completed eight successful test launches since its first one in 2015.

Branson said recently that his team is “neck and neck” with Blue Origin to launch a service for tourists, a trip that comes with mind-blowing vistas of Earth and beyond, as well as several minutes of weightlessness.

But mindful of the disaster that hit Virgin Galactic four years ago when one of its pilots died in a failed test flight, the Virgin boss said, “Ultimately, we have to do it safely. It’s more a race with ourselves to make sure we have the craft that are safe to put people up there.”

Virgin Galactic grounded its aircraft for two years after the accident, recommencing operations in 2016 with the first glide test of its then-new spaceplane, VSS Unity.

In April it took a significant step forward with its first jet-powered test of Unity, with the successful outing leading to Tuesday’s second powered flight.

Virgin Galactic has already taken around 700 bookings for its suborbital tourist flights, each one costing $250,000.

How to sign up for YouTube Music

Get started with the new YouTube Music in just a few taps.

The YouTube Music app has technically been around since 2015, but it was only recently that Google shifted its focus from Play Music and made YouTube Music its own proper streaming service.

YouTube Music is showing a lot of promise with its new direction, and now that it’s got a brand-new desktop site and redesigned Android app, it’s absolutely worth checking out.

To do so, here’s what you’ll need to do.

Download YouTube Music

Before you can sign up for YouTube Music, you’ll need to first download the app. Doing so is just a few taps away, and the process is as follows:

Open the Google Play Store.
Search for YouTube Music and tap on the first result.

Tap the green Install button.

Once the app is done downloading, you can launch it by tapping the green Open button or by finding and tapping on the new YouTube Music icon in your app drawer.

Sign up for YouTube Music

With YouTube Music successfully downloaded, it’s time to actually sign up for the service.

Upon opening the app, tap the blue Sign In button.
Tap the Google account you want to use with YouTube Music.

Tap on your profile icon at the very top right of the app.

With that done, you’ll now be on your Account page. From here:

Tap the large Get YouTube Red banner at the bottom of the screen.
Tap the blue Try It Free button.
Enter your payment details.

Once the payment goes through, tap the red Let’s Go button.

That’s it! You’ve officially signed up for YouTube Music!

Have any further questions? Drop a line in the comments below.

YouTube Music review: A mixtape full of promise

How to Watch Apple’s WWDC 2018 Keynote Live on Monday, June 4

WWDC 2018 starts on Monday, June 4, and as with previous years, Apple is kicking off the conference with a keynote on the first day, offering a look at some upcoming products and providing the first details on new operating systems.

Rumors have suggested we could potentially see new iPad Pro models and perhaps a new iPhone SE, and several Macs are due for a refresh, including the MacBook Pro, iMac, and 12-inch MacBook. We’re also expecting a first-look at next-generation versions of macOS, iOS, and tvOS.

You can watch Apple’s WWDC18 Keynote live as it happens using one of the methods described below. Note that the livestream for the event starts at 10:00am Pacific Time at the McEnery Convention Center in San Jose, California. For reference, here’s when the event will begin based on other time zones in the United States and around the world:

• Honolulu, Hawaii — 7:00 a.m. HAST
• Anchorage, Alaska — 9:00 a.m. AKDT
• Cupertino, California — 10:00 a.m. PDT
• Phoenix, Arizona — 10:00 a.m. MST
• Vancouver, Canada — 10:00 a.m. PDT
• Denver, Colorado — 11:00 a.m. MDT
• Dallas, Texas — 12:00 noon CDT
• New York, New York — 1:00 p.m. EDT
• Raleigh, North Carolina — 1:00 p.m. EDT
• Toronto, Canada — 1:00 p.m. EDT
• Halifax, Canada — 2:00 p.m. ADT
• Rio de Janeiro, Brazil — 2:00 p.m. BRT
• London, United Kingdom — 6:00 p.m. BST
• Berlin, Germany — 7:00 p.m. CEST
• Paris, France — 7:00 p.m. CEST
• Cape Town, South Africa — 7:00 p.m. SAST
• Moscow, Russia — 8:00 p.m. MSK
• Helsinki, Finland — 8:00 p.m. EEST
• Istanbul, Turkey — 8:00 p.m. TRT
• Dubai, United Arab Emirates — 9:00 p.m. GST
• Delhi, India — 10:30 p.m. IST
• Jakarta, Indonesia — 12:00 a.m. WIB next day
• Shanghai, China — 1:00 a.m. CST next day
• Singapore — 1:00 a.m. SGT next day
• Perth, Australia — 1:00 a.m. AWST next day
• Hong Kong — 1:00 a.m. HKT next day
• Seoul, South Korea — 2:00 a.m. KST next day
• Tokyo, Japan — 2:00 a.m. JST next day
• Adelaide, Australia — 2:30 a.m. ACST next day
• Sydney, Australia — 3:00 a.m. AEST next day
• Auckland, New Zealand — 5:00 a.m. NZST next day

MacRumors will also provide a live blog both here on MacRumors.com and on our MacRumorsLive Twitter account, along with detailed coverage of everything Apple announces during the week.

Watch the Keynote on Mac, iPhone or iPad

You can watch the WWDC keynote live on any Mac, iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch using Apple’s native Safari browser. Bear in mind, to meet the stream’s requirements, iOS devices must be running iOS 10 or later, while Macs need to be running macOS Sierra 10.12 or later.

Launch Safari from your chosen device and follow this link to the WWDC18 Livestream.

Watch the Keynote on Apple TV

You can watch the WWDC keynote live on an Apple TV. Fourth and fifth-generation Apple TV owners will need to download the Apple Events app from the tvOS App Store (see the steps below). Owners of earlier generation devices should see the Apple Events button automatically appear in their Home screen menu. (Second-generation Apple TV or later can also AirPlay the stream from another Apple device running Safari, as described above.)
Open the App Store from the Home screen.
Scroll down to the News category and select Apple Events. Alternatively, input “Apple Events” into the Search field and select it from the results.
Click the Get button to download the app.

Wait for the button to change to Open, and click it again. Alternatively, select the Apple Events app on your Home screen.
The app will tell you to tune in at your local time on June 4 to watch the event live (18:00 BST in our example), so clicking on the WWDC18 keynote button won’t do much until then. Meantime, you do have the option to watch the previous three Apple Events while you wait, including last year’s WWDC keynote.

Watch the Keynote on a Windows PC

If you don’t have an Apple device handy, you can still watch the WWDC18 keynote on a PC running Windows 10. Open Microsoft Edge browser and follow this link to the WWDC18 Livestream.

While Apple offers no guarantees, other platforms may also be able to access the WWDC18 livestream using recent versions of Chrome or Firefox (MSE, H.264, and AAC codecs/extensions must be installed).

Tag: WWDC 2018
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High-tech search for Malaysia Airlines passenger plane ends in disappointment

The mystery of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 endures.

The latest privately funded search for the missing aircraft came to an end this week after more than four months scouring an area of interest in the southern Indian Ocean.

MH370 disappeared with 239 passengers and crew during a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014. The cause of the Boeing 777’s disappearance is still unknown, and while several parts of the aircraft have shown up on several shorelines in the intervening years, the main section of the aircraft remains missing despite search efforts.

Ocean Infinity search

Keen for answers to the mystery, and to recover the bodies of the passengers and crew, the Malaysian government struck a deal with U.S. seabed exploration firm Ocean Infinity at the start of 2018 to embark on a new exploration effort using its powerful search technology.

The onset of winter weather has brought the search to an end, with the company saying on Tuesday that it had failed to find any sign of the aircraft.

During the course of the operation, Ocean Infinity searched more than 43,000 square miles (112,000 square km) of ocean floor using high-definition (HD) cameras.

“Part of our motivation for renewing the search was to try to provide some answers to those affected,” Ocean Infinity CEO Oliver Plunkett said in a statement. “It is therefore with a heavy heart that we end our current search without having achieved that aim.”

The CEO added that there “has not been a subsea search on this scale carried out as efficiently or as effectively ever before.”

Seabed search

Operating from its main multi-purpose ship, Ocean Infinity used a number of autonomous vehicles for its underwater searches, including six machines capable of operating at a depth of 6,000 meters while collecting HD imagery from even further down.

Six unmanned surface vehicles worked with the submersibles to help the team maintain precise positioning and constant communication during the meticulous seabed search.

This was the first time for Ocean Infinity to try to find a missing plane, though its experience in using its deep-sea technology for operations such as seabed mapping and imaging, marine geological surveys, and environmental monitoring provided it with valuable knowledge for its most ambitious project to date.

Previous efforts to track down the plane included a multinational search carried out by Malaysia, China, and Australia, but it was called off at the start of 2017 after failing to make any significant finds.

Such was Ocean Infinity’s confidence, it agreed to conduct its mission on a “no find, no fee” basis. It was set to receive as much as $70 million if it found MH370, but the Texas-based firm will now have to cover all of its costs.

But Plunkett hasn’t entirely given up on the idea of one day resuming the hunt for the missing plane, saying, “We sincerely hope that we will be able to again offer our services in the search for MH370 in [the] future.”

Relatives of those on board the fateful flight are continuing to press the Malaysian government to resume the search when better weather returns later in the year, though at the current time there are no plans to do so.

Amazon delivery drone may use lights and music when it shows up at your home

If you didn’t already know it, Amazon really wants to deliver stuff to your door using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), commonly known as drones.

Amazon boss Jeff Bezos unveiled a prototype of the Prime Air delivery drone in 2013, and several redesigns later, the company is surely coming close to a platform that it hopes will transform its delivery operation. Of course, it first has to convince the Federal Aviation Administration that such an aerial-based delivery system is safe, so a full-fledged, autonomous delivery service could still be a ways off.

But that hasn’t stopped Amazon investing huge amounts of money in developing and testing a system that it believes will one day drive its drone-based delivery operation.

Part of that work includes filing numerous patents that may or may not one day become part of the final platform, though each one offers insight into some of the team’s thought processes as it tackles various challenges.

The latest patent, granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office this week and spotted by GeekWire, explores the various methods by which Amazon’s drone could signal its arrival at a delivery address, and how it might interact with the customer as they step outside their home.

For some people, parts of the patent are likely to conjure up images from Close Encounters of the Third Kind when the alien spaceship lands on Earth, lights blazing as it plays a catchy ditty together with colorful flashing lights. Though Amazon’s drone won’t be quite as big.

Alarm and confusion?

Noting how a customer “may be alarmed or confused” when a noisy drone approaches their property, Amazon’s filing goes on to list a number of ways that its flying machine could signal its intentions or interact with them.

It describes the kind of procedures you might expect, such as sending texts to the customer to update them on the drone’s whereabouts, with its real-time location shown on a map.

But it also talks about how lights and speakers could activate as the drone approaches the customer’s property. It might announce its arrival “by emitting a warning sound, a pleasant tune, or other audio,” the patent says.

The drone may even incorporate a projector capable of displaying a landing or drop zone, or even a message that it projects onto a wall or the ground. That message might tell the customer to clear away an object — anything from a piece of furniture to the pet dog — for a safe delivery, or the projector could beam light directly onto the obstacle, signaling to the customer to take action.

Of course, for the full Close Encounters effect, which would have a good chance of scaring the bejeezus out of unwitting neighbors with little knowledge of Amazon’s drone operations, the deliveries and subsequent light show would have to take place at night, though the company’s patent says the projectors could still function effectively in the evening or in shaded areas.

Other Amazon patents for its planned airborne delivery service include ideas for using the tops of street lights, cell towers, and church steeples as drone recharging stations to enable long-distance deliveries; beehive-like drone towers located in or close to urban areas for deliveries to city addresses; and even giant floating warehouses that the drones buzz to and from during delivery runs. No, we can’t imagine that last one happening anytime soon, either.

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