Review: The Incase x Parabellum Travel Folio Wraps Your Apple Watch in Expensive Bison Leather

Apple’s designed its Apple Watch to meet a wide range of tastes and budgets, offering the device at price points ranging from $350 to $17,000. Recently, the company also teamed up with Hermés for a unique designer Apple Watch collection that features Hermés bands.

Some accessory makers have taken a cue from Apple and have also partnered up with well-known fashion labels to create unique Apple Watch accessories. One of the latest companies to do so is Incase, through a partnership with luxury brand Parabellum. Together, the duo have created the Apple Watch Travel Folio, which is handcrafted in Los Angeles, California from full grain North American Bison leather.

Design wise, the Travel Folio has an impressive attention to detail and impeccable construction, and I would expect nothing less for its premium $250 price tag. The exterior is a high-quality textured leather while the interior is a soft suede to keep the Apple Watch safe from scratches. I am not an expert on leather, but the Bison texture looks nice and it should weather well with daily use.

I used the Incase x Parabellum Travel Folio in Pumpkin, which is a rich orange-tinged brown color that would match well with a Gold Apple Watch and is used for several other Parabellum products. The Travel Folio also comes in a classic black, but both are made from the same bison leather.

Parabellum is known for its style and quality, and while I’m also not a fashion expert, the Travel Folio matches the Parabellum aesthetic and is as stylish as the company’s range of popular bags, belts, and wallets. For someone who owns other Parabellum products, the Travel Folio would fit right in with a collection. Incase and Parabellum only made 150 of the Apple Watch Travel Folio accessories, so each one is a limited edition product.

A dust bag is included with the Travel Folio, and there’s a subtle Incase logo on the snap button (which is made of ceramic) that keeps it closed. An additional cord wrap is included, with a matching button with a Parabellum logo. Inside, the Folio is stamped with the Parabellum and Incase brand names.
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Magic Keyboard, Magic Mouse 2 and Magic Trackpad 2 References Found in OS X 10.11.1 Beta

The third OS X El Capitan 10.11.1 beta seeded to developers yesterday contains references to a Magic Keyboard, Magic Mouse 2 and Magic Trackpad 2, as spotted by French website Consomac. Apple could ship the next-generation keyboard and mouse accessories alongside the new 4K 21.5-inch Retina iMac expected to launch next week, although the exact release date remains uncertain.

Apple’s current-generation Wireless Keyboard and Magic Mouse
A new Apple Wireless Keyboard and Magic Mouse 2, each featuring Bluetooth 4.2 and rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, first appeared in FCC filings in August. Apple also registered several new web domains related to the term “Magic Keyboard” in September, including applemagickeyboard.com, applemagickeyboard.net, and applemagickeyboards.com.

Magic Keyboard, Magic Mouse 2 and Magic Trackpad 2 references in OS X 10.11.1
Apple currently sells an Apple Wireless Keyboard, Magic Mouse and Magic Trackpad, each powered by two AA batteries, so these newly uncovered accessories are in all likelihood next-generation versions. The new Magic Keyboard, Magic Mouse 2 and Magic Trackpad 2 could have Force Touch, which is built into new MacBooks, while the inclusion of Touch ID is a more unlikely possibility.

Samsung and TSMC iPhone 6s Chips Show Smaller Real-World Battery Impacts Compared to Benchmarks

The news that Apple dual sourced its A9 chips for the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus has been a point of discussion over the past few weeks, especially when new battery tests on the phones pointed towards the TSMC chips outperforming those made by Samsung. Following the news, several YouTubers have begun creating videos to compare the dual sourced chips in both battery-straining tests and basic real-world scenarios.

In the first video, Austin Evans compared identical models of the iPhone 6s — one with the Samsung chip and one with the TSMC chip — and calibrated their screens so they had the exact same brightness. After running the GeekBench 3 battery test until they both ran down to 50 percent battery life, Evans discovered that the TSMC iPhone 6s lasted fifty minutes longer than the Samsung version, “resulting in a nearly 1.5 times difference in battery life.” Thermal imaging also showed the Samsung device running hotter than the TSMC version.

Evans also ran a lighter battery test, playing the same hour-long YouTube video on each device to see how a more day-to-day scenario would affect each chip. In the end, he saw only a one-percent difference in battery drain, noting that while heavy-use cases could see the TSMC chips come out on top, highlighting the differences between benchmarks and real-world usage.

The next video is from Jonathan Morrison, who compared each chip by running a 30-minute timelapse with all the same settings and brightness running on each device. After the test, the Samsung iPhone 6s was down to 84 percent battery, while the TSMC version came in on top with 89 percent remaining. Morrison continued testing the battery strength of each chip with a ten-minute 4k video test, exporting the video file in iMovie, and finishing off by running GeekBench 3. At the end of the full set of tests, the iPhone with the Samsung chip was at 55 percent battery while the TSMC device was at 62 percent.

As suspected from early results yesterday, the takeaway from Morrison and Evans’ videos today seems to be that while intense cases like synthetic Geekbench tests designed to push devices to their limits can reveal significant differences in battery life between devices using the two chips, real-world impacts are much smaller and are likely to be unnoticeable to many users.

Apple Watch Launches in Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates on October 22

Apple has updated its regional websites for Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates to announce the Apple Watch will be available on October 22.

Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates will be part of the eighth Apple Watch launch wave. Apple Watch expands to Belgium, Finland, Norway, Luxembourg and Poland tomorrow and to Brazil and Columbia on October 16.

• April 24: Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, U.K. and U.S.
• June 26: Italy, Mexico, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, and Taiwan
• July 17: The Netherlands, Sweden, and Thailand
• July 31: New Zealand, Russia, and Turkey
• September 25: Austria, Denmark, and Ireland
• October 9: Belgium, Finland, Norway, Luxembourg, and Poland
• October 16: Brazil and Colombia
• October 22: Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates

In the United Arab Emirates, pricing for the Apple Watch Sport will start at 1,399 dirhams for the 38mm model, which is equivalent to approximately $380 in U.S. dollars. Apple Watch prices in Saudi Arabia are not yet available on the website.

Harry Potter Enhanced Editions Now Available Exclusively on iBooks

Apple today announced that enhanced editions of all seven books in the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling are now available exclusively through the iBooks Store around the world for iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and Mac.

Harry Potter Enhanced Editions are available in English for $9.99 each in 32 countries, while pre-orders begin today for French, German and Spanish versions, which will be available on November 9 in 18 additional countries.

“I’m thrilled to see the Harry Potter books so beautifully realised on iBooks for the digital world; the artwork and animations in these enhanced editions bring the stories alive in a delightful new way,” said J.K. Rowling.

“Harry Potter fans are going to love how their favorite stories come to life,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “J.K. Rowling’s legendary series is perfect for enjoying on your iPad or iPhone and we’re thrilled to offer them exclusively on the iBooks Store.”

Harry Potter digital books were previously only available for purchase through the Pottermore shop that J.K. Rowling developed in partnership with Sony.

Jony Ive Discusses His Lasting Memory of Steve Jobs, New Role as Chief Design Officer

Today at the Vanity Fair New Establishment Summit, Jony Ive sat down with director JJ Abrams and film producer Brian Grazer in a panel titled “Changing Worlds, Inventing Worlds” and spoke about his lasting memory of Steve Jobs and his new role as Chief Design Officer.

Image via Vanity Fair
Ive said he had messy feelings about Jobs when he died and knew of the “incredible complexity” of his attributes, but that in the four years since his death most of those attributes have receded. Since then, Ive believes he’s been left with something that is “just him.”

Quite honestly, what’s remained, I never would have predicted four years ago. What’s remained is almost unremarkable, but what’s remained is his very simple focus on trying to make something beautiful and great. And it really was simple. There wasn’t a grand plan of winning, or a very complicated agenda. That simplicity seemed almost childlike in its purity. And it’s true.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone so happy, as I saw him—this very simple kind of joy—when he would realize, “This is actually working out. This could be great.” It was just the simplicity of that.

That simplicity stands in “stark contrast” to the way Jobs is being portrayed in films like the upcoming Steve Jobs, according to Ive. He notes that Jobs had a sense of civic responsibility to make something good that contributed to humanity and culture.

When asked about Jobs portrayal in Steve Jobs, Ive noted that he “didn’t recognize this person at all.” He went on to say that the way someone is portrayed can be “hijacked” by people who aren’t close friends or family.

Ive also commented on his new role as Chief Design Officer, saying that he “should have done this years ago” and that he hasn’t felt “this happy and creative in years and years.” Ive’s new role, which he officially assumed on July 1, allows him to be more hands-off with day-to-day operations in addition to focusing on new ideas and future initiatives. Ive’s day-to-day management of the design team has been turned over to Alan Dye, vice president of user interface design, and Richard Howarth, vice president of industrial design.

Laurene Powell Jobs Tried to Dissuade Christian Bale and Leonardo DiCaprio From Playing Steve Jobs

Early on in production, Aaron Sorkin’s Steve Jobs movie struggled to find a lead actor to play Steve Jobs, with both Christian Bale and Leonardo DiCaprio turning down the role after having been previously attached to the film. At the time, DiCaprio gave no official reason for pulling out of negotiations, while Christian Bale reportedly felt he was not right for the role.

A new report from The Hollywood Reporter (via The Verge) suggests that Steve Jobs’ widow, Laurene Powell Jobs, may have had something to do Bale and DiCaprio’s decision to pass on playing Steve Jobs. One of the “key players” on the Jobs movie told The Hollywood Reporter that Laurene Powell Jobs contacted DiCaprio and Bale and asked them not to take on the role.

Says another of the picture’s key players, “Since the very beginning, Laurene Jobs has been trying to kill this movie, OK?” (Laurene’s character does not figure in the film, while Jobs’ daughter, Lisa Brennan-Jobs, from another relationship, plays a prominent part.) “Laurene Jobs called Leo DiCaprio and said, ‘Don’t do it.’ Laurene Jobs called Christian Bale and said, ‘Don’t [do it].’ “

DiCaprio, Bale, and Powell Jobs did not comment on the accusation, but a Sony executive backed up the story. “My understand is, she did call one or two of the actors,” said the executive.

Earlier this week, The Wall Street Journal published a similar story on Laurene Powell Jobs, suggesting she attempted to shut down the movie ahead of its release multiple times. She lobbied executives at both Sony and Universal Pictures to kill the film and she refused to discuss the script with the filmmakers.

Powell Jobs, along with other Steve Jobs allies like Bill Campbell and Tim Cook, reportedly believe the movie paints Jobs as “cruel and inhumane,” playing down his accomplishments and portraying only one aspect of his personality. Cook has called the movie “opportunistic” while Campbell, a friend of Jobs and former Apple board member, has said it the movie will influence an entire generation. “A whole generation is going to think of him in a different way if they see a movie that depicts him in a negative way,” he said.

Despite objections from Steve Jobs’ friends and family and its early troubles nailing down a lead actor, the movie went on to be made with Michael Fassbender in the role of Jobs. While there was some skepticism that Fassbender could handle the role, the movie has thus far received positive reviews and there have been murmurings that Fassbender could receive an Oscar nomination for his performance.

The Hollywood Reporter‘s article includes a full rundown of the hurdles that had to be overcome to get the movie made and the thoughts behind many of the casting decisions. It’s well worth checking out for anyone who wants an overview of the history of the Steve Jobs movie.

The Steve Jobs movie will be released on October 9, 2015 in Los Angeles and New York before seeing a wider release later in the month.