Review: Xistwear’s Stretchy Bands Look Great With the Stainless Steel Apple Watch
Six months after the Apple Watch launched, there are dozens if not hundreds of different third-party band options on the market, allowing users to customize their watches with looks beyond what Apple offers. Xistwear has created a line of stretchy stainless steel Apple Watch bands in a range of colors that look great with the Apple Watch and can be purchased for less than Apple’s own metal bands, plus it offers matching bracelets.
The Xistwear Apple Watch has a neutral look that’s neither overly feminine or overly masculine, making it suitable for all wearers. Aesthetically, this is a simple but classic-looking link-style band that is understated enough to match well with a range of different outfits. All of the bands are stainless steel, but some have a colored plating. The following color options are available:
38mm – Black, Rose Gold, Silver, Yellow Gold
42mm – Gunmetal, Navy, Silver, Yellow Gold
Bands for the 42mm Apple Watch are 24mm wide, while bands designed for the smaller 38mm Apple Watch are 22mm wide. The 42mm bands are available in Small, Medium, Large, and Extra Large, able to fit wrists from 146mm to 210mm.
38mm bands are available in Extra Small, Small, Medium, and Large, to fit wrists from 130mm to 190mm. I have a wrist that’s about 135mm, so I ordered the extra small, and it fits very well. All of the bands are actually elastic stretch bands, allowing them some wiggle room to fit on different-sized wrists. My band is snug on my wrist, but slips on easily and stretches if my wrist swells slightly during the day due to heat or exercise.
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OS X El Capitan is now available for download
By now, you’re likely read about the new version of Apple’s OS X more than once. Today’s the day you can get your hands on the final version. El Capitan is now available for download via the App Store on your Mac, delivering arrives new features like split-screen multitasking, speedier performance, handy tabs in Safari and updates to apps like Mail and Notes. If you gave the public beta a spin, you already have an idea of what to expect. However, if you weren’t feeling adventurous, take a gander at our review for some in-depth impressions of all the changes.
Source: Mac App Store
Apple Seeds Third iOS 9.1 Beta to Developers
Apple today seeded the third beta of iOS 9.1 to registered developers for testing purposes, three weeks after seeding the first iOS 9.1 beta following its fall “Hey Siri” event and one week after releasing iOS 9.0.1, the first minor update to iOS 9. Apple has also just released iOS 9.0.2, another minor update to iOS.
The new beta of iOS 9.1, build 13B5130b, is available as an over-the-air update and through the Apple Developer Center.
iOS 9.1 includes new features for the iPad Pro, adding support for accessories like the Smart Keyboard and the Apple Pencil, both of which are deeply integrated into the operating system. It also includes features that will allow the iPhone to interact with the new Apple TV.
iOS 9.1 also includes Unicode 8, adding support for emoji like the taco, burrito, cheese wedge, middle finger, unicorn head, and more, plus it includes a new “Hey Siri” Settings feature that lets the “Hey Siri” command be customized for an individual user’s voice. On-demand voice activation even when not plugged into a power source using the “Hey Siri” command is a new feature in the iPhone 6s and the iPhone 6s Plus.
As was discovered in iOS 9.1 beta 2, iOS 9.1 also adds a new Messages option in the Settings app, allowing users to disable photos for their contacts.
It is not clear when iOS 9.1 will be released to the public, but it’s likely it will come in late October, coinciding with the launch of the new Apple TV.
Apple Releases iOS 9.0.2 With Bug Fixes, Performance Improvements
Apple today released iOS 9.0.2, a minor update that introduces bug fixes and performance improvements to iOS 9. The iOS 9.0.2 update comes one week after the release of iOS 9.0.1, the first update to iOS 9, and a month after iOS 9 was released to the public.
iOS 9.0.2 is available immediately to all iOS 9 users as an over-the-air update.
Like iOS 9.0.1, iOS 9.0.2 is a minor update that focuses on introducing some much-needed bug fixes and performance enhancements to Apple’s newest operating system.
This update contains bug fixes and improvements including:
– Fixes an issue with the setting to turn on or off app cellular data usage
– Resolves an issue that prevented iMessage activation for some users
– Resolves an issue where an iCloud backup could be interrupted after starting a manual backup
– Fixes an issue where the screen could incorrectly rotate when receiving notifications
– Improves the stability of Podcasts
iOS 9 has been available since September and focuses on proactivity and intelligence with some major updates to Siri and Search. iOS 9 also includes updates to several Apple-branded apps and it includes a split-screen multitasking feature for the iPad.
Today’s iOS 9.0.2 update precedes iOS 9.1, which will be the first significant update to iOS 9. iOS 9.1 includes new emoji, settings for acclimating the “Hey Siri” activation feature to an individual user’s voice, and an option to disable contact photos in Messages. It also focuses on introducing compatibility for upcoming Apple products like the iPad Pro and the Apple TV.
Apple Releases Safari 9 for OS X Yosemite and Mavericks Users
Ahead of the official launch of OS X El Capitan, Apple’s newest operating system, Apple today released Safari 9.0 for OS X Yosemite users. According to Apple, today’s update is recommended for all people running OS X Yosemite and includes improvements to privacy, compatibility, and security.
The update adds El Capitan-centric features including a new mute audio feature for Safari tabs and additional viewing options for Safari Reader. Pinned Sites, a major Safari addition in OS X El Capitan, is not included.
This update:
– Adds controls to mute audio in Safari tabs
– Adds additional viewing options for Safari Reader
– Improves website AutoFill compatibility
Many OS X Yosemite users will be upgrading to OS X El Capitan in the next few hours, following its official public release. It is not clear when Apple plans to debut the software, but the company has promised that it’s coming on September 30.
Apple Releases OS X 10.11 El Capitan With Improved Spotlight Search, Enhanced Performance, and Revamped Apps
Apple today released OS X 10.11 El Capitan to the public, making the newest Mac operating system available for free to Mac users around the world. OS X El Capitan went through eight developer betas before the golden master version of the software was released on September 9.
OS X El Capitan is still rolling out to users, but it can be downloaded using the Software Update function in the Mac App Store, and it will run on all Macs capable of running OS X Yosemite. Here is a direct link for the update: OS X El Capitan.
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As an update complementary to OS X Yosemite, as the OS X El Capitan name suggests, the new operating system builds on the features introduced last year. OS X El Capitan focuses on improving user experience and performance.
OS X El Capitan looks like OS X Yosemite, but it includes a new systemwide font, San Francisco, and it introduces a new Split View option for Mission Control, allowing two full-screen apps to be used side-by-side. El Capitan includes an improved Spotlight Search and several new app features. Safari, for example, has gained Pinned Sites and a universal mute button, while Mail has new iOS-style smart suggestions.
Photos in OS X El Capitan supports third-party photo editing extensions from Mac App Store apps, Notes has new features, and Maps includes Transit directions. Under-the-hood improvements in El Capitan also make a number of apps and processes on the Mac faster, and the introduction of Metal makes system-level graphics rendering 40 percent more efficient.
More information on OS X El Capitan can be found in our El Capitan roundup, which includes details on major features and some little tweaks that were added throughout the beta testing period. Discussion of El Capitan’s new features is also taking place in our OS X El Capitan forum, and we encourage all of our readers to join in with questions and new discoveries.
Facebook brings videos and temporary pictures to your profile
Users will soon have a host of new ways to personalize their profiles and control what content is shared on their walls, Facebook announced on Wednesday. The biggest change comes as tweaks to the mobile app UI. Your profile picture will be centered on the screen and the entire profile page is being revamped to “better present information about you and your friends in a more visually engaging way,” according to a release from the company.
And what a profile picture it will be. Facebook also announced the addition of profile videos. These small, looping clips (not unlike Apple’s new “Live Photos“) will be publicly available. Facebook is just “starting to test” the feature so there isn’t much more detail currently available. The company is also investigating a feature that would allow users to post temporary profile pictures which would revert back to the original after a set length of time. So if you have a special profile pic you like to use during say holidays or vacations you’ll be able to “set and forget” that image in your profile.
One the privacy front, users will soon be able to control what facts about them appear on their profile. That is, you’ll be able to pick and choose (and reorder) which public About fields are displayed. You’ll also be able to highlight up to five Featured Photos at the top of the profile page.
[Image Credit: Getty]
New Mac Exploit Easily Bypasses Gatekeeper Security, Could Allow Installation of Malicious Apps
Apple introduced Gatekeeper in 2012, creating it as a method of protection for users against malicious threats by adding various layers of security during installation of Mac apps. The feature is intended to ensure that apps users try to install on their Macs are legitimste and signed by a registered developer, minimizing the threat of malware. But now, a security researcher has discovered a simple method of bypassing Gatekeeper using a binary file already trusted by Apple to attack a user’s computer (via Ars Technica).
Gatekeeper is meant solely to check the initial digital certificate when an app is downloaded on a Mac, ensuring that the program has been signed by an Apple-approved developer or at least comes from the Mac App Store itself before allowing the installation to proceed.
“If the application is valid—so it was signed by a developer ID or was (downloaded) from the Mac App Store—Gatekeeper basically says ‘OK, I’m going to let this run,’ and then Gatekeeper essentially exits,” Patrick Wardle, director of research of security firm Synack, told Ars. “It doesn’t monitor what that application is doing. If that application turns around and either loads or executes other content from the same directory… Gatekeeper does not examine those files.”
Even if Gatekeeper is enhanced to its highest level of security settings, the new exploit can take advantage of a computer. Once the trusted file makes its way past the security program, it can then execute a handful of other malicious programs attached with the rest of the installation and gains the ability to install malicious software such as password-stealing programs, apps that can capture audio and video from a Mac’s camera, and botnet software.
The researcher who discovered the exploit sent news of it to Apple about 60 days ago and “believes they are working on a way to fix the underlying cause or at least lessen the damage it can do to end users.” Since then, an Apple spokesperson has confirmed the company is working on a patch for the issue and has asked that the identities of the specific files used in the exploit not be disclosed. Wardle plans to showcase his research on the Gatekeeper exploit at the Virus Bulletin Conference on Thursday in Prague.
Did you know you can finance the Nexus 6P and Nexus 5X?
There’s a change coming to the mobile industry. One of the little known things that happened when Apple announced the new iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus is that the Cupertino-based company itself is willing to finance either device to you–installment payments, just like you’d find on a carrier.
Another little known fact is that Google is actually doing the same thing with its Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P. Those interested in purchasing one can choose whether to buy it outright or finance it for 24 months.
An important thing to note is that this is only for Project Fi customers. Fi customers will be able to finance the base model of the Nexus 5X for a meager $15.79 per month or the 128GB Nexus 6P for $27.04 per month. All you have to do is pay sales tax and shipping costs upfront. And as a carrier will let you do, you can pay off the remaining balance of your device at any time if you don’t want to go through the full 24 months.
Those of you interested just have to head on over to the Project Fi website, click on “Your plan” and then “Upgrade device” to get the process started! It’ll be interesting to see if Google will ever extend this option to all of its customers. What’ll be more intriguing is seeing more manufactures like Samsung, LG, and HTC move to offering something like this.
Anyone plan on financing a Nexus 5X or Nexus 6P?
source: Project Fi
via: Android Central
Come comment on this article: Did you know you can finance the Nexus 6P and Nexus 5X?
Dear Veronica: Smart watches and dead devices
Today it’s all about the gadgets: we have questions about Android smartwatches, how to flip the script on your Apple Watch, and what the heck to do with that old Zune you have laying around.
Do you have any use for your old Zune that we forgot to mention? Have creative uses for all your old gadgets and gizmos? Let me know by emailing me or sending me a tweet with the hashtag #DearVeronica! Keep sending those questions in, too. See you next week!
AIVAnet 