Apple Discounts 64GB iPhone SE From $499 to $449

Apple has lowered the price of the iPhone SE with 64GB of storage from $499 to $449 in the U.S. following its iPhone 7 event yesterday. Likewise, the monthly installment price now starts at a lower $18.71 per month through carrier financing. The 16GB model remains $399.

Apple released the iPhone SE in March 2016 as a low-cost successor to the iPhone 5s, much to the delight of customers who prefer a 4-inch screen. Apple has not disclosed iPhone SE sales numbers, but in April the company said demand for the device was “very strong” and higher than expected.

Meanwhile, Apple has doubled the storage capacities of two iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus models while giving them a $100 price drop each. The year-old smartphones now come in 32GB and 128GB storage capacities for $549 and $649 respectively.

Related Roundup: iPhone SE
Tag: Apple retail
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AirPods Impressions: Potential ‘Game-Changer’ With Good Design, but Will They Stay in the Ear?

To compensate for the lack of a 3.5mm headphone port on the new iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, Apple yesterday introduced the “AirPods.” The wireless headphones give users 5 hours of music playback, and come in a carrying case that doubles as a battery pack, holding an extra 24 hours of charge in a small, 2-inch tall frame.

Following the keynote presentation yesterday, Apple let a few members of the press test out its new pieces of hardware, including the iPhone 7, Apple Watch Series 2, and the AirPods. Although the noisy showroom made it tough for many journalists to judge the headphones’ sound quality — which Apple says is “rich, high quality AAC audio” — many left impressed with the new technology, and curious to see how they’d perform on a day-to-day basis.

Images via TechCrunch
TechCrunch noted the subtle advantages of AirPods and their existence in the Apple ecosystem, mainly the seamless way that the headphones pause music automatically whenever users take them out of their ears, and resume the same track when returned. The site was less sure of the design of the AirPods, particularly whether or not the small headphones would stay in place during jogs or other strenuous workouts, although the “long tail” of the AirPods “actually goes a ways toward helping them fit better in the ear.”

It’s an interesting aesthetic choice, one that bucks the recent trend of fully wireless Bluetooth headphones, which are largely circular. These maintain the EarPods’ long tail, which actually goes a ways toward helping them fit better in the ear.

As far as how well they’ll actually stay in there if you, say, go for a jog, it’s hard to say, though the buds could certainly benefit for some sort of anchoring system akin to what you get on sportsbuds from companies like JayBird.

As a counter-argument to everyone’s concerns over whether the AirPods can become dislodged while moving, USA Today digital editor Natalie DiBlasio posted a short video on Twitter to test out the AirPods’ resistance to jumping and shaking around. Only 9 seconds long, DiBlasio’s test is still interesting as proof that the AirPods appear lodged well enough in her ears as to resist her movement test, although a long run with more sweat and motion could prove a more daunting task for Apple’s wireless headphones.

Alright, the Apple wireless Air Pods are in! Let’s see how they do with some jumping and shaking. #AppleEvent pic.twitter.com/FZaReT24f4

— Natalie DiBlasio (@ndiblasio) September 7, 2016

CNET’s editors gave some of the more positive impressions of the AirPods, calling the new headphones “game-changers,” with the caveat of the device living up to Apple’s promised potential of high quality music and a consistent connection. There still remains worry over how different sized ears will work with the AirPods, which could cause unfortunately negative experiences for some users.

If they’re as easy to pair with your phone and have as rock-solid a connection as Apple is saying they have, they’re going to be game-changers. The fact is, once you go totally wireless, it’s hard to go back to wires, and with Apple’s backing behind this new type of headphone — and a $159 price tag that’s not too outrageous — you may soon be looking at a lot people wearing the same white earbuds but with no wires between them.

Wired left impressed with what the AirPods could do for the wireless headphone market, particularly in the hassle-free set-up process, but was noticeably more hopeful for “something that looks and sounds better” than the AirPods to come down the line in the future. For what Apple’s made now, the site still noted that the AirPods were “much lighter” than other Bluetooth headphones, and they “nestled comfortably” in the ear.

I hope that AirPods don’t scare everyone else off from trying to make Bluetooth headphones. I don’t think they will, because they don’t sound good enough. And these aren’t the ones that will ship in the box with your iPhone 7; you get the standard EarPods when you buy an iPhone, which connect over Lightning now. (There’s also an adapter.) But hopefully Apple has set the bar for how easy it should be to connect Bluetooth headphones, and how responsive they should be. If someone can copy that, and make something that looks and sounds better, we might not miss the headphone jack at all.

Since the features of the AirPods are so focused, much of the other reactions and impressions for the device echo similar opinions as the ones we’ve collected above. It sounds like Apple’s made a quality, if high-priced, pair of wireless headphones that might be aimed more at casual music listening than intense workouts, undoubtedly a market the new Beats headphones will help bolster. For more impressions on the AirPods, check out the sites below:

– Engadget
– Macworld
– The Verge
– The Telegraph

Related Roundup: iPhone 7
Tag: AirPods
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Wireless Fast Charging explained

Qi Fast Charge brings faster and more efficient charging without any change in how we use it.

The Qi charging standard has come a long way since it was first specified. What started as a very slow and very wasteful technology to recharge low-power devices (like the battery in your phone) has expanded to include things that need more power like a laptop and the Wireless Power Consortium has even demonstrated the tech powering kitchen appliances at 1kW. But for most of us, the biggest advance has been the introduction of wireless fast charging.

Any Qi-enabled phone will charge on any Qi pad, even if Fast Charge isn’t available.

Qi (pronounced Chee and roughly translated to “spiritual energy”) is a charging standard. The Wireless Power Consortium — think a group of electrical engineers that really love chargers and the smart people who make things that need to be charged — developed the specification in 2009. The first version supported wireless power transfer up to 4.999 watts, and it works by using two coils and some computer logic that sends a signal across the gap when they get close to each other, then uses magnetic induction to produce electricity on the receiver side. In the early days, you had to waste a lot of power creating an oscillating magnetic field in the base that was strong enough to induce the same oscillation and field in the receiver in order to charge your phone. And even then it charged very slowly. It was more of a convenience thing than an efficiency thing.

More: Wireless charging, in plain English

The folks at the WPC have kept expanding and developing the standard and besides additions like a medium-power mode that can provide up to 120 watts, they have been working on three specific ways to make it better: a longer range (it’s up to 40mm now), higher output done safely, and less wasted power in the form of heat.

In June of 2015, the WPC released the latest version of the standard and increased the power transfer to 15 watts without any increase in the amount of wasted electricity as heat. That means the current created by the receiver coil (the one inside your phone) has increased by 300% and charging is faster, without either coil getting any hotter.

Using a charger and a phone with the “Fast Charge” label you can charge a typical phone (for example, the Galaxy Note 5 and Samsung’s Wireless Fast Charger) to about 50% in 30 minutes, or charge fully in 90 minutes. While not as fast as a wired quick charge solution, this is a lot faster than it used to be.

Like every quick charging specification the tech has to monitor the transfer rate, the temperature, and the amount of charge the battery has. From a “cold” state, it takes about a fair amount of time for things to reach the point where they need to be scaled back. Reducing the amount of electricity provided (the base modifies the frequency and wavelength of the magnetic field created by its coil) is done to protect the battery and electronics inside your phone from getting too hot. At this point, the current (watts are a measure of current) generated is dropped until the battery is full, at which point it shuts down. Your phone monitors itself and sends a signal to the base to indicate that things need to change.

A lot of engineer speech is involved here, because of the subject matter. Essentially, your phone and your charger carry on a little electronic conversation.

• Phone: I need some power!
• Base: OK, I’ll start my end. Make sure you stay close enough so the way my coil hums makes your coil hum, too. If I see your coil stop humming I’ll turn everything off.
• Phone: Gotcha. Staying close.
• Base: I see that you are using the latest Qi standard, so I’ll go full speed ahead until you give the word.
• Phone: OK, I’m getting warm, so scale things back a little.
• Base: OK. Lowering the frequency and pitch of my coil’s hum so things don’t get any hotter. Let me know when we’re done.
• Phone: My battery is full. You can stop now.

This is exactly how Qi charging has always worked. The only differences are changes to the resonant circuits in both the phone and the base that allow the coils to oscillate at a higher frequency with less damping (resistance) and less radiated energy (wasted energy in the form of heat) production. The current generated is higher while the resistance and heat produced are lower than previous versions, so more juice can flow from the coil in your phone to the battery without things getting too hot too fast. These changes were part of an update to the Qi standard, and everyone who is part of the WPC — Belkin, HTC, Lexus, Motorola, Samsung, Verizon and the rest of the 230+ members — can use the design to build chargers and devices that need charged and be sure everything is compatible.

Qi Fast Charge can generate up to 300% more current than the original specification.

The Qi specification has nothing to do with any USB charging standards and is generally followed to the letter by everyone involved. It’s also freely available to anyone after a short term of WPC members-only access so everyone can use it — even a startup who might not have an extra $20,000 for the annual fee. Generally, you don’t have to worry about the things you buy not meeting the full specifications. It just works. And now it works even faster.

For us as consumers, there isn’t a lot to think about. If our phone is Qi Fast Charge compatible and we use a charging base that’s also Qi Fast Charge ready, our phone will charge faster — about as fast as using an old (not quick charge) wall plug and cable. The system is designed to slow down before things get too hot and shut off completely once the battery is full — we don’t need to intervene at any level. Qi is also backwards compatible so all your devices that use it will charge with any charging base, even if Fast Charge isn’t available. The one thing we should do is to use the proper wall plug to make sure the right amount of current is available to the charging base and it doesn’t overheat or charge too slowly.

If you like the convenience of wireless charging, make sure the next charging base you buy is Fast Charge ready!

Amazon brings Alexa to the $89 Fire HD 8 tablet

Amazon has refreshed its $89 Fire HD 8 tablet, bringing Alexa functionality to the device along with a slew of spec upgrades. You can now interact with Amazon’s voice assistant to control media playback, launch apps and games, check the weather, set a reminder, find news, and more.

As for the specs, the Fire HD 8 has the same 8-inch 1200 x 800 display as last year’s model, but you now get 1.5GB of RAM, double the storage at 16GB or 32GB, and a larger 4750mAh battery that can last up to 12 hours on a full charge. The tablet is powered by a 1.3GHz quad-core CPU, and will be available in Black, Magenta, Blue, and Tangerine color options. There’s also a 2MP camera at the back that lets you record 720p video, a VGA front camera, and dual-band Wi-Fi.

Amazon has steadily added more features to Alexa over the course of the year, and made the voice assistant platform available for third-parties, leading to devices like the Triby.

The Alexa experience on the Fire HD 8 won’t be as seamless as that on an Echo as the tablet doesn’t have an always-on listening mode, but by bringing the voice assistant to its budget tablets, Amazon gets to significantly widen Alexa’s userbase and enhance its AI smarts. Amazon has mentioned that the 2015 Fire HD 8, the $50 Fire, and Fire HD 10 tablets will receive Alexa functionality with an upcoming software update to Fire OS 5 in the coming months.

The all-new Fire HD 8 is now up for pre-order, with the 16GB model retailing for $89 and the 32GB version for $119. That’s for the editions with lock screen ads. If you don’t want to see ads, you’ll have to shell out $104 and $134 respectively. Amazon will commence shipping on September 21.

See at Amazon

How to disable auto Bluetooth audio streaming on Samsung Galaxy phones

Are you bothered by your music playing every time your Galaxy phone connects to your vehicle’s Bluetooth? Here’s how to fix it.

Owning a Bluetooth-enabled car stereo makes life easier in many ways. Once paired to your Samsung Galaxy phone, you’ll be able to quickly connect your phone every time you get in your car and receive phone calls and text messages hands-free while you drive.

It also enables you to play music from your phone on demand, and by default you may notice it automatically playing the tracks stored on your Galaxy phone as soon as you turn on the vehicle. If you find autoplay to be more of a nuisance than a useful feature, here’s how you can toggle media audio from playing in your Bluetooth car stereo.

Swipe down from the top of the screen to pull down the Notification shade.
Tap the Settings icon.
Tap Connections.

Tap Bluetooth
Tap the Settings icon next to the paired device you’re having issues with.
Tap the Media audio toggle switch to turn it off.

This will turn off all audio media from playing via Bluetooth in your car — an admittedly extreme option for fixing autoplay issues. When you decide you want to play music through your car stereo, you’ll have to go back into your phone’s Bluetooth settings and re-enable media audio.

£90 Amazon Fire HD 8 tablet gets supercharged to the max

Amazon has announced a new version of its 8-inch high definition tablet that not only comes with better battery life and more RAM, it’s just £89.99.

The Amazon Fire HD 8 has an 8-inch 1280 x 800 display, quad-core 1.3GHz processor, 1.5GB of RAM and 4,750mAh battery to offer up to 12 hours of battery life.

It comes with two different storage options, 16GB and 32GB, and is capable of extending that by up to a further 200GB through a microSD card slot. Front and rear cameras are present, as is Dolby audio through its stereo speakers.

The tablet is pre-loaded with Amazon’s proprietary Fire OS 5 system, which now has support for Twitch and Comixology, with the latter offering direct access to digital comic books as part of its pre-installed features.

All other Amazon-exclusive features are available too, including Amazon Underground, the company’s free app store that gives users the chance to nab games and applications at no cost, even though they often come with hearty prices on other formats.

Four colours of the Amazon Fire HD 8 will be available – black, magenta, blue and tangerine – and it is now listed for pre-order on Amazon.co.uk. It ships from 21 September. You can find out more information on its store page.