Apple has quietly hiked the price of key products in the UK
The price of admission for Apple’s gadget wonderland is slowly rising in the UK. The company announced a slew of new products yesterday, including the iPhone 7 and Apple Watch Series 2, with a flurry of slides and promotional videos. But behind all of the grandstanding were some notable price increases; the smaller iPad Pro, for instance, now starts at £549, rather than £499. The 128GB model has been bumped to £639 — up from £619 — and all of the 4G-ready models have been notched up too. Weirdly, however, the standard 256GB model has been dropped by £10.
It’s a similar story with the larger iPad Pro, which now starts at £729, rather than £679. The 128GB model with cellular costs £939 — a smidge higher than the £899 price-tag it was sporting before. These shifts are particularly notable because Apple has just dropped its iPad prices in the US.
Then there are the AirPods. They’re $159 in the US, £159 in the UK.
The situation with the new iPhone is a little more complex. Apple has effectively doubled the storage in the iPhone 7 — instead of 16GB, 64GB and 128GB, you can choose between 32GB, 128GB and 256GB. It is, however, still possible to compare the 128GB phones, where another slight price shift has occurred. The iPhone 6s and 7 both cost £699, but the iPhone 7 Plus is £819 — a tad higher than its equivalent 6s Plus (£789).
You could argue the two phones are completely different products, deserving of different price tag. Maybe that’s true, but traditionally the cost of the iPhone has stayed the same between generations (the iPhone 5c and 5se were notable exceptions, however). In the US, Apple has continued this trend, doubling the iPhone 7’s storage without increasing the price. “We’re really excited to tell you that iPhone 7 costs the same as the iPhone 6s that it replaces,” Apple’s Phil Schiller stressed on stage yesterday.
We’ve reached out to Apple for an explanation — a weaker Pound and the recent EU referendum result is probably to blame. OnePlus has already tweaked the price of its latest flagship phone; HTC has done the same with the Vive, no doubt in response to Brexit concerns. Apple, in all likelihood, is preparing itself for future currency fluctuations. If and when the British government triggers article 50, setting in motion its departure from the EU, there could well be wilder swings in the financial markets. What we’re seeing now could be Apple giving itself a cushion ahead of time.
Via: MacRumors
Google aims its terrorist-dissuading ads at North America
As radical terrorists ramp up their online recruitment, social media services like Twitter often bear the brunt of criticism for failing to curb their outreach. But sometimes Google gets an earful too, leading them to research how to counter to the narrative ISIS spreads online. To that end, the search giant’s subsidiary incubator Jigsaw has spent the last year building a program that uses its own advertising tech to persuade potential recruits not to join the extremist organization. Their next phase, beginning this month, will deploy it in North America to target both possible terrorist sympathizers and white supremacists.
The program, called Redirect Method, activates when anyone searches with keywords or phrases used by ISIS supporters. Alongside results, it places advertisements leading to pre-existing YouTube channels with videos Jigsaw believes can undo the terrorist group’s cult-like brainwashing, according to Wired. They include testimonials from former extremists, imams denouncing the Islamic extremists and more — what the Google think tank hopes can counterbalance ISIS’s propaganda with critical accounts.
“This came out of an observation that there’s a lot of online demand for ISIS material, but there are also a lot of credible organic voices online debunking their narratives,” Jigsaw head of research and development Yasmin Green told Wired. “The Redirect Method is at its heart a targeted advertising campaign: Let’s take these individuals who are vulnerable to ISIS’ recruitment messaging and instead show them information that refutes it.”
The program has seen some success: Over a two-month trial earlier this year, more than 300,000 users clicked into the Jigsaw-chosen YouTube channels. This month, they plan a second-phase relaunch of the Redirect Method to target North American extremists, specifically targeting both potential ISIS recruits and white supremacists.
While social media networks have a social responsibility to cooperate with government authorities in tracking whom they deem threats, Green told Wired, the Redirect Method doesn’t trace users after sending them to the deprogramming YouTube accounts. She sees it as an extension of Google’s core mission to make information more accessible, arming individuals to combat the one-sided influence ISIS holds on potential recruits.
Source: Wired
Instagram Working on Several New Photo Features for iPhone 7 Series
Photo sharing app Instagram is set to become one of the first platforms specifically designed to take advantage of the iPhone 7’s powerful new camera features.
Details of the upcoming update were shared by Instagram’s head of design Ian Spalter during yesterday’s Apple event in San Francisco, where he demonstrated how the app would make use of several of the new phones’ capabilities.
First of all, the iPhone 7 Plus telephoto lens will be controllable simply by dragging a finger up and down in the Instagram camera window, allowing users to adjust the level of optical/digital zoom. Meanwhile, Apple’s new Taptic Engine feedback will let users know how much zoom they’ve enabled when composing stills as well as during video recording.
Instagram is also revising all of its photo filters to take advantage of the iPhone 7 display’s wider color gamut, allowing users to see a broader range of hues in their pictures.
Other additions revealed on stage included a 3D Touch action for the Instagram app icon that will let users quickly add a photo to an Instagram Story – the platform’s new sharing feature aped from Snapchat.
Lastly, the app will make use of iOS 10’s new Live Photos API to convert the video clips into Instagram Boomerang GIFs, which play back and forth on repeat.
The updated version of the app launches later this year, presumably after iOS 10 is released on September 13 and the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus have made it into consumers’ hands. Preorders for the devices begin Friday, September 9, with shipments scheduled to start on September 16.
Related Roundup: iPhone 7
Tag: Instagram
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Apple Said to be Phasing Out Third-Generation Apple TV
Apple is said to be in the process of phasing out the third-generation Apple TV, according to 9to5Mac.
A source who spoke to the tech news site has indicated that Apple is pulling the device from its brick-and-mortar retail stores, with staff instructed to remove any remaining models from store shelves.
The claim comes despite the fact that the third-generation device is still available to purchase under the TV heading of Apple’s online store, albeit at the bottom of the section page, with the option to compare the model with the fourth-generation device also still listed.
The third-generation Apple TV was released back in 2012 and received a spec bump the following year, but the model lacks the App Store native to tvOS, which also benefits from deep Siri integration and a touch-based remote that doubles as a controller.
Related Roundups: Apple TV, tvOS 10
Buyer’s Guide: Apple TV (Neutral)
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Apple Music Tops 17 Million Users, With Service Growing at Steady Rate
Anyone tuning in to watch Apple’s iPhone 7 event on Wednesday may have been mildly surprised and somewhat amused to witness Apple CEO Tim Cook taking part in a special episode of “Carpool Karaoke” along with Pharrell Williams.
Far from being an off-the-wall, last-minute inclusion, the video introduction makes sense for Apple, which recently purchased the segment from “The Late Show With James Corden”, to be distributed via Apple Music.
Apple has licensed 16 episodes of the show from CBS TV Studios, which will be executive produced by Corden and Ben Winston. The purchase is said to be seen as a way to drive online activity for the streaming music service, which Apple announced had reached 17 million paying subscribers as of yesterday.
That number compares with the 15 million users that Apple said the service had garnered by its 1st birthday on June 30, indicating a jump of 2 million subscribers in just two months, despite strong competition from rival services like Spotify.
The increased popularity of Apple Music is in stark contrast to Apple’s falling iPhone sales year-on-year, and highlights the company’s increasing reliance on profiting from existing customers through services rather than exclusively relying on acquiring new ones via hardware sales to meet its revenue targets.
It also indicates that while industry commenters have leveled plenty of criticism at Apple Music for perceived deficiencies in its interface design and functionality, customers are still signing up to the service at a steady rate, perhaps won over by the exclusive album releases by popular artists that Apple has recently secured.
In another boost for Cupertino, last week Apple Music for Android surpassed 10 million downloads from the Google Play Store, 10 months after it was released on the platform, proving that the service is becoming popular with listeners who don’t necessarily even own an Apple device.
With iOS 10, due to be released September 13, Apple is redesigning the Apple Music experience on its mobile platform, revamping the app with new organization and a new design.
Tag: Apple Music
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Nikon D500 review: The best APS-C DSLR ever made?
It’s been a long time since Nikon launched the D300, a camera that arrived at roughly the same time as the very first iPhone. Yep, that long ago. That camera’s successor, the D300S, hit the market last decade too. But now the long wait for a replacement model is over: the Nikon D500, the spiritual D300 successor, is here – and it’s been making waves.
Nikon has gone all out for the D500, which is a lot like the top-end D5 pro DSLR in many respects. It does, of course, swap the latter camera’s full-frame sensor for a smaller APS-C one and ditches the massive £5,200 body-only price for an altogether more accessible £1,799, too.
With a 153-point autofocus system, 10fps burst mode, 21-megapixel sensor with ultra-high sensitivity (to ISO 51200, which expands into six figures with Hi1-5 extended options), there’s not a lot missing.
Is, therefore, the Nikon D500 the best APS-C DSLR camera made to date? We’ve been shooting in Chicago and San Francisco to get a feel for how it handles.
Nikon D500 review: Super autofocus system
The D500 could be the most important camera that Nikon releases not only in 2016, but for a number of years. Especially considering the quality control knock of confidence the D600 gave its customer base with oil-related issues on the sensor in a number of models. So we were initially perturbed when the D500’s focus system simply wouldn’t work. Menu exploration came to no avail, so a full reset was necessary to get the camera underway. No oil issues to speak of here though – and this is a unit months following the official launch, so it’s done the rounds and been in all kinds of transport too (from national couriers to international air travel).
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But once the D500 gets going that autofocus system is one slick feature – we can’t think of a better one in an APS-C camera, especially when paired with the 24-70mm f/2.8 lens that we used for the duration of this review.
This focus system is pulled directly from the D5, offering 153-points in total, 55 of which are selectable as individual points. The other 99 are there for reference, to help with moving subject prediction. Besides, having to cycle through triple digits of point numbers would be simply laborious and counteract quick focus point adjustment, so we think Nikon has got the balance right here. There’s a simplified 15-point max for quicker yet adjustment too.
As per the D5 we suspect not many will use the fullest array for most conditions – we’ve been content with the 5-point group cluster in single autofocus – but the option for 25-point, 72-point or the full array (plus 3D tracking) in continuous autofocus will cater for different scenarios.
Sensitivity in portrait orientation is top-notch, too, thanks to 99 cross-type sensors – 15 of which support sensitivity to f/8 for heightened response when using a teleconverter, which is ideal if you’re shooting without super-fast apertures available (not an issue with our 24-70mm f/2.8, of course).
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Whether using single or continuous AF we’ve been mighty impressed with the accuracy and speed of the D500. From shooting in dim-lit bars without flash (the camera is sensitive to -4EV), through to bikers speeding down the street, this is one capable and versatile DSLR system that rarely falters.
Our only small moan, perhaps, is the location of the rear toggle/joystick to make autofocus point adjustments. It’s a bit of a reach, although will feel familiar to current Nikon users – and at least we didn’t knock it by accident when in the hand.
Nikon D500 review: New-wave features
With the advance of technologies we’ve seen all kinds of new features in cameras, which have slowly – and oh so slowly – started to trickle down into DSLR cameras. Principal to those is touchscreen technology, a typical go-to for compact system cameras and many high-end compact cameras too. And now it’s the D500’s turn to offer the power of touch.
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Or, partially. The D500’s 3-inch screen responds well to touch, but it can only be utilised in active shooting, i.e. when in live preview or during video capture. That’s fine, but there’s no option to use it to swipe through or touch menu options, which feels like a missed opportunity – even if it was customisable to then turn it off as desired.
Autofocus in live preview is far faster than in older generations of Nikon DSLRs, thanks to a new 180-pixel metering sensor which can be utilised to better recognise subjects and points of contrast. Despite being faster, however, it’s not perfectly accurate and will often hunt to find final focus – this is an area where compact system cameras are much better.
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Like its Nikon D750 cousin, the D500 also implements a tilt-angle LCD screen. We’ve used it almost every time we’ve utilised live view, so used to such a feature we are these days. And while we would like to see this kind of screen in more DSLR cameras, there are actually better implementations of it: take a look at the full variable screen on the Pentax K-1, for example, or some of the side-positioned vari-angle screens of Canon’s lineup.
Nikon D500 review: Design tweaks
Design-wise, the D500 is otherwise a well proportioned DSLR, that will seem familiar to Nikon users. Its one major shift of controls is the ISO button moving to behind the shutter – which, again, is more Canon-esque, but of considerable use (although a press-and-hold to make adjustments in this position is a little fiddly).
As that ISO button has moved, other buttons have jostled around the body compared to many other Nikon cameras. The customisable function button (Fn2 in this instance), now found to the rear left, sees the info button slide along the rear of the camera body. It’s all logical.
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Another small but brilliant addition to the feature set are light-up buttons. Finally. Simply push the on/off toggle beyond its on position and not only will the top plate light up, but so will the left-hand side buttons (not the right-hand ones, such as info and live view).
In addition to that LCD screen is a viewfinder that, thanks to 1.0x magnification, produces a large image to the eye for added precision and judgement. What you see is what you get too, as its coverage is 100 per cent for edge-to-edge framing. Spot on.
Nikon D500 review: Image quality
Beneath that weather-sealed body the D500 has a new 21-megapixel sensor, which sees resolution slide slightly compared to the Nikon D7200 for the sake of speed and larger pixels to aid with heightened sensitivity. Not that the camera’s extended ISO 1,640,000 sensitivity (“Hi5”) is as high as the D5’s bonkers extended ISO 3,280,000 option. At this point we should point out the extended “Hi” settings are all far-reaching well beyond their useful quota and, ultimately, are only there as a headline grab.
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But that’s not to rubbish the D500’s abilities when it comes to high-ISO shooting. When grabbing some exuberant lights in a San Franciscan bar, the ISO 14,400 selection looks better than you’d get in daylight from phone cameras, for example. Even ISO 18,000 of the bar behind holds enough detail to remain legible. It’s impressive.
And that’s the top-end of the ISO range. Go the opposite direction and the level of clarity at the lowest ISO 100 setting is exceptional. Shooting at f/2.8 or f/4.0 to enhance that blurred background and we’ve achieved some great-looking shots – from pugs to birds, even sea lions – that look every bit professional.
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Ok, so the blurred background potential of an APS-C sensor – or DX format, as Nikon calls it – isn’t quite as capable as a full-frame sensor, as per the D5, but the 1.5x crop factor associated with the D500 has its payoffs: one, the D500 is smaller; two, it’s cheaper; and, three, that added zoom reach might be deemed advantageous if you’re shooting far-away subjects.
We’ve found that new metering sensor to be capable for a variety of subjects, except for when the majority of the frame is one tone – such as when shooting pictures in an art gallery against white walls, which required exposure compensation and/or metering type adjustment, as predicted.
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Colours look real too, while rarely pushing things to excess. The occasional exception is with reds/pinks which can be too saturated. But that’s a small thing, and not as issue in raw shots.
Nikon D500 review: Performance and video
Another big push is in the D500’s buffer ability, which exceeds that of many competitors. Assuming you have a decent xQD card in tow, the camera can suffer through 200 raw files at its full 10fps burst mode without quitting.
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The point about that, though, is that you’ll need an xQD card. The D500 does also accept CompactFlash – it’s got one slot for each type – but, again, you’ll want the fastest possible cards to make the most out of this camera. No CFAST compatibility here, which, thus far, has only been used by Canon.
Videographers might find the mix of two card formats a nuisance, too. And seeing as Nikon produces the D5 in multiple formats to your card preference, it’s a shame that the D500 doesn’t follow suit with multiple options. Can’t have it all at this price point we suppose.
Still, videographers will be more than happy with the capabilities of the D500, which elevates the company’s previous standings. Sure, Nikon was the first company to introduce a DSLR with video capabilities, back in D90 era, but Canon and other makes have quickly superseded the brand – the D300S maxed out at 720p24, which sounds like a relic of the past these days.
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Not so the D500. It can capture 4K resolution footage at up to 30fps, from which you can save 8-megapixel JPEG images should you so wish. For the pros the ability to record to either memory card or external recorder via HDMI will come as a bonus, plus other high-end features like zebra stripes.
Verdict
The Nikon D500 is a DSLR with little compare. It steps up beyond the Canon EOS 7D Mark II (assuming that isn’t replaced at Photokina 2016), while the range of Nikon DX optics will see it as the more practical solution compared to the Pentax K-1 for many – even if the Pentax has some standout features like the variable LCD screen.
In short, therefore, the Nikon D500 is certainly a contender for the best APS-C camera made to date. There are only some small gaps in its capabilities – such as unnecessary extended “Hi” ISO settings, slight hunting in the live view autofocus – but otherwise its awesome autofocus system and all-round capabilities are second to none.
Raspberry Pi has now sold 10 million computers
There’s no doubt about it: the Raspberry Pi has changed the game for tech hobbyists and tinkerers alike. In four and a half years, we’ve seen the company expand its line-up to cater for smaller budgets, incorporate more features into its computing boards and inspire kids all over the world to get into coding. In February 2015, Raspberry Pi Foundation CEO Eben Upton confirmed 5 million units had been sold — today, he announced that figure has doubled. That’s right, 10 million Raspberry Pis have been now shipped to customers all over the world.
To celebrate the milestone, the UK company has launched what it refers to as “the perfect bundle.” The official Raspberry Pi Starter Kit contains a Raspberry Pi 3, an 8GB SD card with the NOOBs operating system preloaded, an official Kinneir Dufort case, a 2.5 amp power supply, a one meter HDMI cable and bundled mouse and keyboard. However, given its £99 price tag, this “premium” product probably won’t eat into the revenues of third-party resellers like Pimoroni that have created their own bundles.
Currently, the Raspberry Pi Starter Kit is only available in the UK but the Foundation says sales will expand to the rest of the world in the coming weeks. “Thanks to you, we’ve beaten our wildest dreams by three orders of magnitude,” says Upton. “And we’re only just getting started.”
Via: Raspberry Pi Blog
Source: RS Components
Nest Thermostat now comes in black, white and copper
Nest Thermostat looks good. It’s hard not to spot it on the wall and appreciate the simplicity of the design, compared to the off-white plastic thermostat of yesteryear.
Nest has announced that the Thermostat is now available in three more colours, in addition to the stainless steel version that’s already available.
The three new colours are black, white and copper. But beauty is more than just skin deep. This isn’t just a case of painting, or providing a coloured cover for the existing devices.
Instead, Nest has taken care to ensure that the application and finish of these colours will fit in with the high-quality interior of your home.
The white, for example, is pure and simple, but takes 48 hours of baking in the oven to get the finish perfect.
The black finish has a carbon coating and contains silicon, carbon and titanium. It’s hard wearing, scratch-resistant and is oleophobic, so greasy fingers don’t leave marks on it. It’s a similar coating to the black Apple Watch.
Finally you have copper, which we have to say is turning into the technology color du jour. In this case, to ensure the rich copper colouring, the copper is electroplated on steel.
The new coloured Nests will be available through Nest.com, and at John Lewis. The Nest Thermostat costs £199 standalone, or £249 with installation.
That’s a small price to make your heating smarter in more than one way.
Nest Cam adds Sightline, an innovative way to view your recorded video
Nest has announced a new software feature for Nest Cam, Dropcam and the new Nest Cam Outdoor that will make it easier to skim through your recorded footage.
Called Sightline, the new feature presents a live view from your Cam in the top third of the display, while the bottom two-thirds are given over to a timeline for that camera – hence the name Sightlines.
The timeline lets you scroll back so you can quickly pick out when things happened and watch the video of that moment. Nest Aware’s person alerts will also be able to tell you if movement if a person walking around your house, or just a tree swaying in the wind.
For those who don’t subscribe to Nest Aware, you get a 3-hour history that you can scroll back though, with thumbnail images saved for each detected moment.
These will essentially be the same images as you’re sent in an alert, but does present an easy way to see what’s been going on.
With Nest Cam capturing 2.6 million frames in a day, Sightline is designed to help you get to see the action you want to see simply and easily.
Sightline is available for all Nest Cam and Dropcam owners from today in the updated Nest app.
BBC iPlayer adds Live Restart to mobile and tablet apps, other huge changes coming soon
The BBC will shortly roll out Live Restart to its BBC iPlayer mobile and tablet applications, bringing them in line with the TV and set-top-box versions.
Live Restart was introduced as a connected TV feature in August last year. It allows you to start a live programme from the beginning if you only join partway through. The Beeb is soon to add it to the iOS and Android apps too, so you can ensure you catch a whole episode of your favourite show, even if you’re late coming to the live feed.
It shows further appreciation by the broadcaster that more and more viewers are watching live TV on iPads, iPhones and Android devices these days.
The new feature follows recently added controls to pause and rewind live TV on mobile, so will give complete control over your viewing habits after the forthcoming update.
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Other changes coming to BBC iPlayer include HD streams becoming the default option for computers and connected TVs that support adaptive bitrates, and visual seeking when scrolling through a programme. This presents a second, Netflix-style picture-in-picture box that gives a preview of the action as you scroll through the time bar on a show.
The latter feature will be launched on the BBC iPlayer website first and then be added to other versions in “the coming year”.
HD streams, the BBC confirmed, will be presented in 720p 50fps.
