How to Customize Apple’s Magic Mouse

While the Magic Mouse has been around for quite some time, Apple recently updated the accessory with an integrated rechargeable battery and other changes, so some MacRumors readers deciding to give the device a try may be new to it. If you’re coming from a more traditional mouse, you should know there’s a lot the Magic Mouse can do that might not be obvious. Rather than merely serving as a point and click device, the Magic Mouse and Magic Mouse 2 use swiping and tapping gestures along with the traditional clicks.

Because the Magic Mouse incorporates taps and swipes, some of its features may be hidden or confusing to someone that’s never used one before. We’ve created this quick how-to guide for readers who are new to the Magic Mouse, covering the ins and outs of the device to help you get the most out of it.

First off, we want to note that tapping is not the same as clicking. The latter, as with traditional mouse buttons, requires that you press on the mouse until you hear a clicking noise or feel a clicking action.

Tapping is not a common feature on a traditional mouse, but is one of Apple’s Magic Mouse specialties. When you tap on the mouse lightly, as if you were tapping on your iPhone screen, you are triggering a different action than clicking.

The Magic Mouse supports tapping or double tapping with one finger and tapping or double tapping with two fingers, all of which trigger different actions, depending on what you have enabled.

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Volvo’s First CarPlay Vehicle in the U.S. is the 2016 XC90, Available Now

After long promising to implement CarPlay support in its vehicles, Volvo recently announced that the new 2016 XC90 is the company’s first CarPlay-enabled car in the United States, reports CNET.

The new vehicle is equipped with a 9-inch touchscreen in the center console, with the CarPlay interface featured on the bottom half of the screen. Volvo’s Sensus Connect controls remain at the top of the screen, offering access to features like directions, media playing, temperature, and more.

A button on the steering wheel brings up Siri, allowing users to compose messages, place phone calls, and access built-in CarPlay apps.

Like most CarPlay vehicles, Volvo owners will need to connect their iPhones directly to the vehicle using the built-in Lightning connector. Volvo has said it will support wireless CarPlay features in the future, but wireless capabilities are not yet available.

All 2016 XC90 vehicles are eligible for CarPlay support. Those who already purchased a 2016 XC90 can make a service appointment with their dealer to get the update installed.

Though CarPlay was first announced in 2014, it’s taken many months for car manufacturers to get on board. Late 2015 and early 2016 will see more than a dozen car makers releasing their first vehicles with CarPlay support, and we’ve compiled a comprehensive list of all upcoming CarPlay cars.

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Apple Gifts Retail Employees With UrBeats Earphones for the Holidays

Each December, Apple provides its employees with a special holiday gift to thank them for their contributions to the company and to celebrate the holiday season.

Employees have begun receiving their 2015 holiday gift from Apple, which consists of a set of black and red urBeats earphones from the Beats by Dr. Dre product lineup. Employees were not able to pick a color for their gifted earphones, but the packaging does have special wording: “Thank You 2015.”

Apple’s black and red urBeats headphones have a retail value of $99.95 and are being distributed to all of its employees around the world.

Last year, Apple employees received a custom Apple-branded Incase backpack, and in the years before that, employees have been gifted things like blankets, water bottles, hoodies, free apps, discounted iTunes gift cards, and more.

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‘The Beatles: 1+’ Collection Debuts on iTunes With 50 Restored Music Videos

A new collection of 50 music videos by The Beatles has hit the iTunes Store today and comes packed in with remastered versions of the band’s most popular singles along with a sampling of “mini-movies” the quartet made together (via MacNews). The $26.99 collection, dubbed The Beatles: 1+, is divided up into 27 music videos of the group’s #1 hit singles from the United Kingdom and United States, as well as 23 alternate versions of some of the songs.

After The Beatles stopped touring, and because travelling around the globe to promote new releases was impossible, they increasingly made what could be described as “mini movies”. These pioneering promotional films and videos helped to define the way we have come to watch music. The Beatles 1+ features all of their 27 #1, UK and US singles as beautifully restored videos for each song, along with 23 alternate versions, as well as rarely seen and newly restored films and videos of additional songs.

The restored videos and audio mixes were produced from the classic analogue tapes made at Abbey Road Studios, and even include audio commentary and introductions by Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr. Fans who purchase the collection will also receive a digital illustrated art book with 113 pages of details and notes about each of the hit songs found in the 1+ collection.

Although Apple and The Beatles were initially in disagreement on the exact terms of releasing the band’s popular oeuvre onto the iTunes Store, the eventual digital release of their albums saw impressive sales numbers in the months afterwards. The band’s music has yet to make its way onto Apple Music, but Apple has curated a few Beatles-themed radio stations, including a track list of the band members’ alternative work and some of the more popular Beatles tracks sung by other artists.

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Dropbox Shutting Down Mailbox and Carousel in Early 2016

Dropbox has announced that it will be shutting down popular email and photo sharing apps Mailbox and Carousel on February 26, 2016 and March 31, 2016 respectively.

Dropbox originally acquired Mailbox in March 2013, and launched Carousel in April 2014. The company says it will be communicating directly with users of both apps in the coming days.

Mailbox users will no longer be able to sign in starting February 26, and Dropbox will disable and delete “Auto-swipe” patterns, return “Snoozed” emails to inboxes and delete all email drafts on that day. Mailbox has posted a FAQ to assist users with the transition.

Carousel timeline photos will remain available in Dropbox, and an export tool will be released early next year to save conversations or shared albums. In the meantime, photos within shared albums can be saved to Dropbox directly from the Carousel app. Carousel has posted a FAQ to help users with the transition.

Dropbox:

The Carousel and Mailbox teams have built products that are loved by many people and their work will continue to have an impact. We’ll be taking key features from Carousel back to the place where your photos live—in the Dropbox app. We’ll also be using what we’ve learned from Mailbox to build new ways to communicate and collaborate on Dropbox (you can see early signs of this focus with Paper).

Mailbox:

…As we deepened our focus on collaboration, we realized there’s only so much an email app can do to fundamentally fix email. We’ve come to believe that the best way for us to improve people’s productivity going forward is to streamline the workflows that generate so much email in the first place.

Carousel:

When we introduced Carousel in April 2014, we believed a standalone app would be a better way to experience photos. We’re proud to have created a photo app that many of you use and love. However, over the past year and a half, we’ve learned the vast majority of our users prefer the convenience and simplicity of interacting with their photos directly inside of Dropbox.

Dropbox users who earned bonus space for using Mailbox or Carousel will retain that storage.

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Apple increases iCloud Music Library limit to 100,000 tracks

Apple has made good on its promise to increase the iCloud Music Library limit to 100,000 tracks. This was previously set at 25,000, so the change increases the cap threefold. The move was first teased in June, with Eddy Cue, the company’s SVP of Internet Software and Services, promising it would arrive before the year’s end.

Via: The Verge

Source: MacRumors