Month: July 2019

Samsung’s newest watch, the Galaxy Watch Active, picked up a sizable update this week that improves Bixby, general usability, activity tracking, and heart rate alerts. It’s a big one!

The images below describe exactly what the new stuff is, so I’m not going to go too deep on this. The basics are that Bixby on your Watch Active can now control SmartThings, start customized exercise routines, find out time differences between cities, and learn your style to become more useful over time.

Samsung is also tweaking their app drawer to be less annoying and now work with side-to-side swipes rather than those confusing circular gestures you needed to do previously. There is a new Goodnight Mode that turns everything up, but still keeps the clock just one tap away, automatic swim tracking, and a new Low HR setting to alert you if your heart rate drops for an extended period of time.

My iPhone X is my most-used gadget. It’s my alarm clock in the morning, in my hands all day long, and it’s the last thing I see before I go to bed.

The magic of the iPhone lies in its applications. There are literally millions of different apps out there, for every kind of need: If you want to learn how to cook, or edit your photos to look like artwork, or learn another language, or anything else you can possibly think of, there’s probably an app for that.

Your favorite iPhone applications might be way different than mine, and that’s okay! But these are the 11 applications I swear by, and honestly couldn’t really live without.

Apollo, the best Reddit app there is

I love Apollo. It’s easily my favorite iPhone application.

Apollo is highly customizable: You can change how gestures work within the app so it’s most intuitive to your style, filter out words and subreddits you don’t want to see, and you can change the appearance of the app itself, including its color themes, and how posts, thumbnails and buttons look on the app. You can even change the app icon!

Apollo is built by Christian Selig, an incredibly attentive developer who is constantly updating the app based on the feedback of his users. I can’t recommend Apollo enough — and if you’re new to Reddit, here’s how to get started.

Waze, the best way to navigate the roads and avoid traffic

If you drive a car, Waze is a must. It’s the perfect way to get real-time updates on traffic, including accidents and things to avoid on the road. Without fail, it seems to get me to my destination faster than any other navigation app I’ve tried, including Google Maps and Apple Maps. It’s also very good at helping you find parking.

Twitter, because I’m a glutton for punishment (and news)

Twitter might be a hellscape in a lot of ways, but it’s still the best place to get news right from the source, usually as the news is breaking. Not only do media companies post their news directly to Twitter, but people of interest including politicians, actors, and influencers also directly communicate with their fans and audiences there, making it the best place to get information straight from the horse’s mouth.

Instagram, the best social network at the moment

Sorry Facebook: You might own Instagram, but Instagram is the superior product. Most of your Facebook friends exist on Instagram, but it’s far more enjoyable to browse the photo-sharing app. People are sharing happy moments like vacations, weddings, meals and friend outings; compare that to Facebook, where brand posts feel more out of place and friends more often share bad news or crazy stories, sometimes making you question your friendship with these people in the first place.

Slack, for working and chatting with colleagues

There may be no better team-communication tool than Slack. You can create private and public channels for all of your members, message people individually, create threads relating to specific topics, and more. We use it at Business Insider, and lots of media companies do the same — that’s because it’s incredibly effective at helping large groups of people collaborate with each other.

Reminders, for staying on top of all my to-do’s

You don’t need a good memory if you know how to use Reminders, Apple’s native app that lets you create to-dos that sync across all of your Apple devices. I use Reminders all the time in lieu of a traditional calendar. You can put due dates on your reminders, so you never forget to go somewhere or do something. You can make repeating alerts, so you never forget to take medicine or forget a birthday or anniversary. You can create reminders for certain locations so you don’t forget to pick up groceries when you leave work. It’s simple but powerful, and makes a world of difference if you’re someone trying to stay organized.

Google Maps, for discovering what’s nearby

Apple’s Maps app is getting a big boost later this year in iOS 13, but for now Google Maps is still the best application for getting around and discovering what’s around you. You can create lists of locations and share them with friends, store maps offline, find and sort businesses nearby, and more.

Notes, for jotting down any idea

I’ve tried lots of note-taking apps, but I keep coming back to Apple’s Notes app, which comes pre-downloaded on your iPhone. I do wish there were more ways to organize and categorize your notes, but I do love all of the options you have with note-taking: You can use rich text, change fonts, add tables, checklists, and bullet points, and even free-hand draw right in the app.

Splitwise, for keeping track of bills

Splitwise is one of the best apps you can download, especially if you’re in a relationship, or you get meals with friends often.

Equity isn’t always easy to achieve, but Splitwise makes it simple. You can keep track of all of the bills you’re splitting with your friends or significant other, decide how you want to split those bills (down the middle? 60/40?), and the app automatically keeps track of what you owe each other. You can even add bills in different currencies.

At the end of each month, the app automatically tallies what you owe each other. This makes it so you can pay each other back just once a month, instead of every time you pay for something.

Uber, for when I need a car to get from A to B

Uber is still the best ride-sharing application I’ve tried. The app is intuitive and easy to use, and you can get all sorts of rides — carpools, normal sedans, SUVs, and more — within minutes. Just remember to be kind to your driver.

Spotify, for all my music needs

Spotify, in my experience, is still the best app for connecting you to your favorite artists and helping you discover new music. A big part of Spotify’s success in this area is its Discover Weekly playlist, which updates every Monday and feeds you songs it thinks you’ll like based off your music preferences and what you’re playing recently. But I love how Spotify has no issues working across devices: I can play music on my iPhone, my Amazon Echo, or my PlayStation 4, with no issues handing off.

Other apps I could live without, but love and heartily recommend:

LinkedIn, a great application for networking and job hunting

TapeACall Pro, which lets you tape phone calls and play them back later

Venmo, for paying back friends

Flixster, basically the mobile version of Rotten Tomatoes, for learning about upcoming movies and theater showtimes

Solebon Solitaire, for those quiet moments where you want a simple game

Things 3, for organizing your entire life

After months and months and months of delays, the Android TV-powered JBL Link Bar finally went up for sale two weeks ago. Neither Google or Harman/JBL acknowledged that fact, but have now done so today. Android TV is officially available on a soundbar.

As a refresher, the JBL Link Bar is indeed a soundbar that includes full Android TV. It connects to your TV through a single cable to provide the Android TV experience you might get from a box, like the SHIELD TV. Of course, as a soundbar you get the extra benefit of it featuring sound as well to hopefully improve your TV’s audio experience.

That audio experience means you get Google Assistant embedded, so not only do you have an Android TV-powered soundbar, you get a Google Home-like speaker too. When your TV is off, the speaker and Assistant portion still work too, so you can fire off “OK Google” commands without turning your TV on.

For specs, the JBL Link Bar has WiFi and Bluetooth, Chromecast built-in, 3 HDMI inputs and 1 HDMI ARC output (for your TV), and far field mics (and a privacy switch). It includes a power cable, HDMI cable, and remote control in the box. At $399.95, you can own one today.

Not interested in the JBL Link Bar? Google’s announcement today about the JBL Link Bar is more of a generic “Android TV is available on soundbars” announcement than anything. Sure, they put a focus on the Link Bar as the first, but it sure seems like we’ll see additional soundbars with Android TV before long. That’s great news.

Apple earlier this month introduced a surprise update to its MacBook Pro line, overhauling the entry-level 13-inch machine to bring it in line with more expensive models that were updated back in May.

We went hands-on with the new MacBook Pro to take a look at the new features, including a Touch Bar, an updated processor, a new keyboard, and more.

Prior to the update, the entry-level 13-inch MacBook Pro hadn’t been refreshed since 2017, so it was the last remaining MacBook Pro still using older keyboard technology that retained a row of function keys.

The new model replaces that row of function keys with a Touch Bar, bringing it in line with the rest of the MacBook Pro models. Other than that, physically, the new MacBook Pro looks much like the older model.

There is, however, an updated third-generation butterfly keyboard identical to the updated third-generation keyboard used in the May MacBook Pro refresh and the new 2019 MacBook Air.

This keyboard is made from updated materials with a new membrane that Apple says will cut down on failure rates that impact other earlier butterfly keyboards. MacBook Prousers should see fewer repeating and stuck keys, but the problem isn’t entirely solved so these machines are already covered under Apple’s keyboard repair program.

Internally, the new MacBook Pro is equipped with a 1.4GHz quad-core 8th-generation Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB RAM, a 128GB SSD, and it continues to offer two Thunderbolt 3 ports on the left side of the machine rather than the four found in the more expensive MacBook Pro models.

At first glance, the 1.4GHz processor looks like it might be slower than the earlier models that were available, but in practice, it’s speedier because of the newer technology and the fact that it’s using a four-core chip rather than a two-core chip.

Our tests found that it’s faster than the earlier equivalent MacBook Pro models and quicker than some of the older 15-inch MacBook Pro models with Touch Bar. It’s not even too far off some of the current 15-inch MacBook Pros. The video in this article, which is 4K and about five minutes in length, took approximately 4 minutes to export.

The entry-level 13-inch MacBook Pro promises 10 hour battery life, which seemed accurate in our testing. That number is, of course, going to drop for processor intensive tasks like video editing.

Price wise, the new MacBook Pro is the most affordable notebook in the MacBook Pro line, with pricing starting at $1,299. What do you think of the new entry-level MacBook Promodels? Let us know in the comments.

Good sound and great noise cancelling make for a solid AirPod competitor — particularly for Android users

I would have had a review of the WF-1000XM3s up sooner, but they arrived while I was traveling. That was a bummer for two reasons. First and most obviously is the fact that I hate being late with a review. Second and more selfishly, I really wanted to try them out on those 16-hour flights I just took to Hong Kong and back.

It’s a use case for Sony’s new fully wireless earbuds. The company’s clearly got the Bose market firmly in its sights with a pair of premium buds sporting plentiful battery life and active noise cancelling.

As I noted in our preview a couple of weeks back, companies tend to go in one of two directions with these devices. There are the more active fitness products (see: Jaybirds and Powerbeats) and the general lifestyle ones (Airpods, et al.). It’s clear which market Sony is going after here — it’s exactly the same one it went after with its QuietComfort-besting over-ear headphones.

The XM3s (as we’ll refer to them from here on to save our poor “0” key) lack obvious fitness features like waterproofing and ear stabilizers for those who like to take their headphones for a run. If that last bit applies to you, these will do in a pinch, but you’ll want to look elsewhere for a running partner (Sony’s got the equally pithily named WF-SP700N for that).Those looking for a travel buddy, on the other hand, could do much worse.

As Beats did with the Powerbeats Pro, Sony opted for battery life over portability with the XM3 case. Sony’s case isn’t quite as massive as Beats’, but it’s still probably too large for most pockets. The good news there, however, is that with a rated six hours of battery with active noise cancelling on (eight without), you should be fine leaving the case at home much of the time.

Add the charging case into the mix and that number comes out to a full day of music playback with ANC and 32 hours without. Using the USB-C port on the bottom should get you 90 minutes of playback with a 10-minute charge. There’s no wireless option for charging — much like AirPods, that’s got “gen two” written all over it.

The XM3s maintain a similar oblong design as the sportier 700N. They’re small and subtle in black or silver, unlike the attention-grabbing bright white AirPods. In fact, they look a bit like Bluetooth headsets. To get the right fit, insert them into the ear facing down and twist up 90 degrees. I admit that I left it facing down the first time I tried them on in a demo. Rookie mistake.

The earbuds ship with swappable silicone tips, though I found the default set to be a pretty good fit for my own ears. There’s no mechanism for keeping them in place, but they’re small enough that they shouldn’t move around much, even with some light jogging. Though, again, I’d caution against that, as Sony hasn’t offered up anything in the way of sweatproofing here.

Audio quality has come a long way since the earliest days of the Bluetooth earbud. I was impressed with what Sony was able to pack into such a small form factor. This latest generation of earbuds has made it clear that the smaller size no longer means having to compromise on sound. And indeed, the XM3s offer solid sound for a pair of Bluetooth buds, with a full and rich sound featuring a good balance and plenty of bass.

More impressive is the active noise cancellation — something that, up until recently, one assumed would have to be sacrificed on a pair of small wireless buds. A tap of the touchpad on the side will toggle in and out of noise cancelling and an ambient mode which lets in more sound for those instances when it’s required. The latter is probably another step toward a world where we carry on in-person conversations without taking the earbuds out. But we were heading that way anyway. At least Sony’s done a good job implementing the tech here.

Interestingly, the two earbuds form their own individual Bluetooth link to the synced device. That helps cut down on lag and also means they can operate independently from one another. In a few cases, I had issues with one bud cutting out, which was a bit annoying, but there’s something to be said for having the other one maintain its connection. The independence of left and right also means that audio reports like battery levels are reported separately.

At $230, the XM3s slot in between AirPods and Powerbeats. iPhone users will miss the lack of automatic pairing with the W2 chip, but NFC means quicker pairing for Android users. All told, there’s a lot to like from these buds. They’ve got good sound, excellent noise cancelling and a long battery life.

They’re not great gym companions like the Powerbeats — but they’re not really designed to be. For those who travel a lot or are simply looking for a solid day to day headphone, the XM3s are among the best out there.