Sonos files to go public, expected to make $1 billion in revenue in 2018

The company plans on raising as much as $100 million for its IPO.

On Friday morning, July 6, Sonos officially filed to become a publically traded company.

Sonos will be traded on Nasdaq as SONO and plans on raising as much as $100 million leading up to its IPO (initial public offering). However, as noted by MarketWatch, “that amount was estimated as a placeholder amount.”

As for Sonos’s performance, things are looking good for the company. There was a total net loss reported of $14.2 million for its fiscal year in 2017, but that’s down considerably compared to a net loss of $38.2 million for its fiscal 2016 year. Going back all the way to 2015, Sonos saw a loss of $68.8 million.

Moving over to revenue, Sonos has generated an impressive $992.5 million for its fiscal 2017 year which is up quite a bit from the $901.3 million and $843.5 million it saw in 2016 and 2015, respectively.

As for when Sonos will go public, MarketWatch once again notes that:

The company is looking to go public at a time that the Renaissance IPO ETF has gained 6.3% over the past three months and the S&P 500 has tacked on 5.1%.

Sonos Beam review: Raising the sound bar

Aukey’s $19 Quick Charge 3.0 USB wall outlet rotates to fit where you need it

Three extra USB ports and you don’t lose the outlet.

The Aukey rotating Quick Charge 3.0 USB wall outlet is down to $18.97 on Amazon with code WJ4MVVFA. This is a relatively new Aukey device without a lot of previous deals. It sells for $26 without the code.

Convert one AC outlet into an outlet, a Quick Charge 3.0 USB port, and two AiPower USB ports. You can rotate the device up to 180 degrees so it won’t block other plugs or anything. The Quick Charge plug charges Quick Charge compatible devices a lot faster and can be used like a normal USB port if you don’t have Quick Charge devices. The two AiPower USB ports will adapt to give the best charge they can to whatever is plugged in and have a total power output of 2.4A. Aukey backs up this wall outlet with a two-year warranty.

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ColorWare Releases Custom-Painted AirPods With Classic Macintosh Design for $399

ColorWare this week released custom-painted AirPods with a classic Macintosh design, including a beige finish with faux vents and a six-color rainbow pairing button reminiscent of Apple’s logo between 1977 and 1998.

The limited edition AirPods Retro, as they are called, are inspired by the Apple IIe, which actually predates the original Macintosh by a year, but the computers shared a similar design with an iconic Pantone 453 finish.

ColorWare purchases the AirPods directly from Apple, applies the custom paint job to both the AirPods and their charging case, and then repackages them in Apple’s original box with a Lightning to USB cable and documentation.

The company doesn’t currently offer after-the-fact customization of used AirPods, so if you already own a pair, you’re out of luck.

While the AirPods Retro have a unique design, they come at a steep cost of $399, more than double Apple’s standard $159 price. Also be prepared to wait a bit, as shipping is estimated to take 3-4 weeks depending on the destination.

ColorWare also sells AirPods in limited edition Space Gray for $349 and dozens of other colors for $299. Prices are based on U.S. dollars.

Related Roundup: AirPodsTag: ColorWareBuyer’s Guide: AirPods (Caution)
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Newton Mail Updates iOS App With ‘Recap’ Feature to Remind You About Missed Messages

Newton Mail today announced a new feature for its iOS mail app called “Recap,” aimed at resurfacing conversations that are awaiting your reply or that need to be followed up. Recap covers not only basic text response prompts, but emails that include upcoming due dates, reminders, and more in an effort to ensure you don’t miss any important threads.

The company explains that this works through an early morning notification every day relating to the mail that the app thinks is recap-worthy, marked with a blue dot in the new Recap section. You can swipe to dismiss those you might have already responded to, or don’t need to respond to, or choose for them to resurface later.

Newton promises that Recap only shows “the most relevant conversations that you need to look at,” meaning they go away automatically when they’re dealt with or simply disappear after a few days of non-responsiveness.

Recap doesn’t meddle with your workflow, instead complements it in a subtle yet effective manner. It gives you enough time to take care of the mails yourself and reminds you only if it looks like you have missed them (unless the mail has dates mentioned that you shouldn’t miss).

Recap is only available for English users at the moment, and it won’t be on the Newton Mail app for iPad yet, but the company says to expect that down the line. The update is also bringing Newton out of its introductory price ($4.99 per month or $49.99 per year) and going forward the service will cost $9.99 per month or $99.99 per year (existing subscribers will retain their current price).

Recap follows Newton Mail’s last feature addition in May, called “True Inbox,” which automatically places any sent mail at the top of your Inbox. This happens even if the recipient has yet to respond to your message and in effect treats each email conversation like a threaded messaging app, marking the company’s attempt to make the “Sent” folder obsolete.

Tag: Newton
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People are reading your email. Here’s how to make them stop

(in)Secure is a weekly column that dives into the rapidly escalating topic of cybersecurity.

“No one at Google reads your Gmail,” wrote Suzanne Frey, the director of Security, Trust, and Privacy at Google in a recent blog post. That’s been Google’s stance on the matter of email privacy  — at least since its reversal of the practice of reading your email and serving you up a steaming, hot portion of personalized ads.

But as a Wall Street Journal report recently indicated, third-party apps are actually doing just that, right within Gmail itself. Rather than refuting the access third-party apps have, Google’s blog post defends the practice, and puts the responsibility of keeping an emails private on the individual.

Here’s how to do just that — to know exactly who might be reading your email, and deny them the privilege.

How to change your privacy settings

Numerous apps could be spying on your email, depending on what you’ve given consent to. Follow these instructions to

Step 1

First, open up Gmail and click on your profile picture in the top right corner.

Step 2

Click on “My Account,” which will send you to the Settings page.

Step 3

Once you’re in the Settings page, look under the “Sign-in & security” column on the left side. Then, click on “Apps with account access.”

Step 4

Here, you’ll find a small list of some of the apps that have access to some portion of your Google account. At some point, you consented to all of these apps, though they may or may not apply to your actual Gmail account. Click the “Manage Apps” link to gain access to the actual permissions these apps have.

Step 5

Next to each app in the list, it’ll indicate what part of your Google account it has access to. If you use an Android device, you might see a variety of games and apps that only have access to your Google Play Account.

However, if says it “Has full access to your Google Account,” that includes your email in Gmail. According to Google’s own statements, that means the apps may be able to scan your emails and take any information they receive.

Step 6

Once you’ve found the culprit of the email spying, just click on the name of the app. This will open up an extended dialog box which gives some more details on what exactly the app can see. To kill the permissions once and for all, click “Remove Access,” and then “OK” in the next prompt.

Before doing so, it should be noted that some applications rely on these permissions to function properly.

Before a scandal breaks

When we have the Cambridge Analytica data scandal hanging over our heads, it’s hard to not worry about Google’s policies. Even if the similarities are only surface-deep, none of us want to put our trust in an organization that plays fast and loose with the way it sells data. Google doesn’t seem ready to back down from how it handles third-party apps just yet, but enough public pressure could change its mind on the issue.

In the meantime, there are plenty of other email clients out there aren’t part of a larger platform like Gmail is. These tend to be a bit safer — though in the end, having a strong password will always be the best way to protect your private emails.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Developers may have been reading your private Gmail messages
• Gmail’s new confidential mode is finally rolling out. Here’s how to use it
• How to use BlackBerry’s Privacy Shade
• How to send a text message from a computer
• Need a nudge? Gmail’s new email reminder system goes live

How to factory reset your Lenovo Mirage Solo

Playing around in VR is fun, but sometimes you need to give your headset to someone else.

Let’s say you bought someone a slick VR headset for their birthday. Let’s also say you decided to try the headset for yourself because why not? Now you’re faced with a conundrum: you can’t just leave your account signed into the headset, or that’d be a dead giveaway. Fortunately, it’s not hard to perform a factory reset, and they’ll be none the wiser.

Here’s how to factory reset your Lenovo Mirage Solo!

How to factory reset the Lenovo Mirage Solo

Turn the headset on, and place it on your head.
Press the indented button on the controller to bring up a menu.
Select the Settings icon near the top of your field of view.

Select All Settings.

Use the gesture pad to scroll to the bottom of the list.
Select Reset options.
Select Factory data reset.
Select Reset device.

And that’s it! The next time someone uses the Mirage Solo, they’ll see the out-of-box experience!

Apple Music Reportedly Surpasses Spotify Subscriber Count in the U.S.

Apple Music has now surpassed Spotify’s subscriber count in the United States, according to an industry source who spoke to Digital Music News.

The anonymous source, said to be a major U.S.-based distributor, is said to have shared a report with the website detailing the subscriber tallies of several streaming music services, including Apple Music, Spotify, Tidal, and Sirius XM.

Among primarily on-demand music streaming services, the report says both Apple Music and Spotify have more than 20 million subscribers in the U.S., with Apple now “a hair ahead” with “20 million plus” members. The exact figure was reportedly withheld on request of the source to protect confidentiality.

In February, The Wall Street Journal reported that Apple was gaining U.S. subscribers at a higher rate than Spotify. Apple’s US-based subscriber growth rate was believed to be 5 percent in the U.S., compared to Spotify’s 2 percent. Based on those figures, the report predicted Apple Music would surpass its biggest rival in the summer.

Apple’s growth was said to be due in part by the increasing numbers of devices in consumers’ hands. Since the WSJ report, Apple has also released its HomePod speaker, which includes features specific to Apple Music.

Apple’s service recently surpassed its single-day streaming record, with Drake’s fifth album, Scorpion, notching up over 170 million streams in its first 24 hours of availability. Spotify was unable to keep up with its rival’s streaming figures for the album, despite Apple Music having around 120 million fewer subscribers than Spotify, suggesting Apple won via stronger user engagement.

In May, Apple CEO Tim Cook said Apple Music had over 50 million users worldwide on either paid subscriptions or free trials. However, that figure still put Apple Music some ways off Spotify, which said it had 75 million paying subscribers as of March 31. Spotify has a much larger total of at least 170 million active users due to the free, ad-supported tier that it offers.

Apple Music has been a major contributor to the continued growth of Apple’s services category, which brought in $9.1 billion revenue in the second fiscal quarter of 2018, 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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How to Use the New Continuity Camera Feature in macOS Mojave

In macOS Mojave, Apple has extended its Continuity features so that now you can use your iPhone or iPad’s camera to take a photo or scan a document, and it will be immediately available on your Mac.

Continuity Camera works in several native Mac apps, including Pages, Keynote, and TextEdit. The following steps explain how to use it. Bear in mind that both your iOS device and your Mac need to be logged into the same Apple ID for this feature to work.

How to Add a Photo Using Continuity Camera

Launch the app that you want to import a photo into.
Open an existing project or document, or create a new one.
Right-click (or Ctrl-click) the location where you want to insert the photo.

In the contextual menu, click Take Photo under the name of the iOS device that you want to use.
Take the photo on your iPhone or iPad.
Tap Use Photo on your iOS device, and the image will appear in the open project or document on your Mac.

How to Scan a Document Using Continuity Camera

Launch the app you want to use and open a project or document, or create a new one.
Right-click (or Ctrl-click) the space where you want to insert the captured document.
In the contextual menu, click Scan Document under the name of the iOS device that you want to use.
Using your iPhone or iPad’s camera, frame the document in the onscreen viewfinder. The document should turn yellow and scan automatically. You can repeat this step to scan several documents if desired.
Tap Save on your iOS device, and your scanned documents will be inserted into the open project or document on your Mac.

Related Roundup: macOS Mojave
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Samsung forecasts dip in Q2 2018 profits following weak smartphone sales

Samsung is still making boatloads of money, but profits don’t quite match up to previous quarters.

Samsung announced record earnings for four straight quarters, but that streak is about to come to an end. In its Q2 2018 earnings guidance, Samsung is forecasting an operating profit of $13.2 billion (14.8 trillion won), up 5% from the same period a year ago.

Overall revenue at $51.7 billion (58 trillion won) is less than the $54.8 billion the company raked in last year. To put things into context, Samsung made a profit of $14.6 billion on revenues of $56.5 billion last quarter.

As noted by The Wall Street Journal, Samsung’s profits over the course of the last year were bouyed by strong perfromance by the manufacturer’s semiconductor division, which overtook Intel last year. Samsung may not be able to maintain its edge in this category, however, as NAND and DRAM module prices are expected to fall by up to 15%.

Slow sales of the Galaxy S9 series is attributed as a reason for the decline in revenue, with the company estimated to ship 31 million units this year. To compound matters, it looks like Apple is siding with LG as the display vendor for the upcoming iPhone to reduce its reliance on Samsung, and that has a potential to hurt Samsung’s display business.

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Microsoft ‘Movies & TV’ App Reportedly Coming to iOS

Microsoft may be working to bring its Windows-based Movies & TV app to iOS devices, according to Windows Central.

The app lets users browse and play movies and TV shows purchased from Microsoft’s Store, but it’s only available on Windows 10, Xbox, and Windows 10 Mobile, and Microsoft is apparently eager to bring it over to rival platforms to give consumers more of a reason to buy from its catalog of video content.

While most people have moved over to streaming content via services like Netflix, there is still a whole lot of content that isn’t immediately, or ever, available to stream. Lots of people buy digital movies and TV content, and Microsoft has a huge store that a lot of people seemingly ignore or don’t know about because there is no mobile companion app for their phone.

But it appears Microsoft is now finally working on bringing its Movies & TV service to iOS or Android, according to sources familiar with the matter.

Microsoft killed off its Groove Music streaming service last year, which led many to assume the same fate would befall its Movies & TV service.

However, since the death of Windows 10 mobile in October, Microsoft has seen fit to bring over some popular apps like Edge and Windows Launcher to iOS and Android, and it looks as if the company counts Movies & TV in that select list.

That said, sources told Windows Central not to expect the iOS and Android version of Movies & TV anytime soon, since the app is still a work in progress.

Tag: Microsoft
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