This is last year's iPhone 15 Pro. We don't expect a radical redesign for the new models.
Apple
It's almost time: In just two days, Apple will show off its new lineup of the iPhone 16 models at its iPhone event on Monday, Sept. 9. The livestream starts at 1PM ET. And if you plan to get your hands on one of the new devices after the event, we're here to save you time because the new iPhones won't be available to buy yet.
Apple is pretty consistent when it comes to releasing new products and we don't expect that to change this year. We'll tell you when we expect Apple to release the iPhone 16 after its event. We'll also let you know when you can expect to download iOS 18 – Apple's latest software – on your current iPhone.
We don't yet know how much the iPhone 16 lineup will cost. Currently, the iPhone 15 models start at $799 and range as high as $1,599 for the 15 Pro with 1TB of storage. It will be interesting to see if Apple holds the line on pricing, or plays around with different storage capacities and price points, as it sometimes does.
Want to follow along with us during Apple’s big event? Here's how to watch the iPhone 16 announcement. (We’ll post our liveblog link closer to the event start time.)
When can I buy the new iPhone 16?
While we won't have a set date for when the iPhone 16 will become available until the iPhone event on Monday, we can predict the date based on Apple's past consistency. Here’s what we expect:
Monday, Sept. 9: Apple’s official event (confirmed)
Friday, Sept. 13: Preorders open
Week of Sept. 16: iOS 18 available for download
Friday, Sept. 20: New iPhones and other devices in stores
Again, aside from the confirmed announcement event, these dates are only speculation based on Apple's previous iPhone release history. For instance, Apple generally opens preorders the Friday following the iPhone event. So if Apple follows its previous cadence, you'll be able to preorder an iPhone 16 on Friday, Sept. 13. Likewise, if Apple keeps the same schedule as the past, that would mean the iPhone 16 will officially be available to buy on Friday, Sept. 20.
How about new Apple Watch and AirPods products expected to be announced alongside the presumed new iPhone 16 series? Generally, they also follow the same dates, but there have been some delays in the past. It’s entirely possible that one or more of these expected products could hit stores in later weeks – possibly even as late as October.
When can I download the new iOS 18?
If you're not planning to buy the new iPhone 16, you'll still have the option to make your older iPhone similar with the newer models – assuming your iPhone is eligible for iOS 18. (Nearly all models introduced in the past six years are.)
While Apple won't announce when it'll release iOS 18 to the public until its event, we can again speculate based on the past. The newest software will be available the week after the event – at earliest, that would be Monday, Sept. 16, though it's possible it won't become available until mid-week.
We'll update with the official dates for new hardware and software after Apple announces them on Monday.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/when-does-apple-launch-the-new-iphone-16-heres-everything-you-need-to-know-144939155.html?src=rss
Mattel's latest Polly Pocket collab is a Stranger Things playset that houses the fictional town of Hawkins and the Upside Down in a compact shaped like a walkie-talkie. The set, introduced this week, contains figurines of the characters Eleven, Mike, Dustin, Lucas and Will — plus a very non-threatening interpretation of the Demogorgon. Pre-orders for the $50 collectible are now open through Mattel Creations and major retailers, including Walmart and Target. It’s expected to start shipping later this month.
Mattel
The set also includes a few tiny walkie-talkies, bikes, a wig for Eleven and a little stack of waffles. There’s even a mini sensory deprivation tank on both sides of the compact with a cutout that the Eleven figurine fits into, and a chalkboard with a crack for the Demogorgon to burst through. The packaging it comes in is designed to look like a retro tape recorder. It’s all painfully cute. Now can we get that fifth season sometime soon, please?
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/theres-a-stranger-things-polly-pocket-set-and-its-design-is-really-clever-204550807.html?src=rss
Stellantis, the parent company of Chrysler, has issued a recall for Ram 1500 pickup trucks from 2019 and 2021-2024 due to a software problem in the anti-lock brake system. The bug could cause the anti-lock brake system to “disable the electronic stability control system,” which in turn can increase the risk of a crash, according to a notice from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
The recall affects roughly 1.46 million vehicles worldwide, Reutersreports, with the vast majority of them being in the US. So far, there are no known injuries or crashes relating to the issue, according to Reuters. If the problem arises, owners should see the ABS, ESC, Adaptive Cruise Control and Forward Collision Warning lights go on upon starting the truck. Per Reuters, the software issue does not affect foundational braking.
The NHTSA says notices will be mailed to owners in early October, and they’ll have to bring their trucks into a dealership so the ABS control module software can be updated. As of now, the vehicles do not comply with the federal motor vehicle safety standard for electronic stability control systems, the NHTSA says. If you’re unsure whether the recall applies to your truck, you can plug your information into the NHTSA recall search tool to find out.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/over-14-million-ram-1500-trucks-recalled-to-fix-a-bug-in-the-anti-lock-brake-system-172807815.html?src=rss
Meta is making changes to WhatsApp and Messenger in order to add interoperability with third-party chat apps — in Europe, that is — and the company is sharing how it would work in a new post. Based on previous reports, Meta started working on enabling third-party chats last year after the rules of the bloc's Digital Markets Act (DMA) came into effect. Under the DMA, "gatekeepers" or the largest companies and platforms in the industry have to ensure interoperability with third parties since they're prohibited from favoring their own services.
The company said it gathered feedback from potential partners and other stakeholders to help it shape the new experience. To start with, it designed new notifications for WhatsApp and Messenger that would alert users when a third-party service becomes available for integration. Users will be able to choose which third-party apps they want to receive messages from, and they can choose to either get those messages in a separate inbox. Those who don't mind getting messages alongside their Messenger or WhatsApp chats can choose a combined inbox instead.
The apps will also provide rich messaging features to third-party chats, so they're not purely a text affair. Users will be able to react to and directly reply to specific messages, see an indicator while the other person is typing and get read receipts. Next year, they'll be able to create group chats, and in 2027, they can voice and video call their friends on other apps.
"Users will start to see the third-party chat option when a third-party messaging service has built, tested and launched the necessary technology to make the feature a positive and secure user experience," Meta explained, so not all people's preferred messaging app will be integrated with WhatsApp and Messenger. The company said, however, that it will keep collaborating with other services to expand its availability.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/meta-shares-how-whatsapp-and-messenger-will-interact-with-other-messaging-apps-in-the-eu-143021269.html?src=rss
The Roku smart TV platform is an accessible way to watch your favorite streaming content in a centralized location – either built-in to TVs, or by adding affordable dongles or mini boxes, like the new-for-2024 Roku Ultra, to older televisions. (Look for an Engadget review of that model soon.) One big advantage of the Roku platform is that it's always getting free software updates to keep it current — like the cool new feature that turns your TV into a sort of virtual art museum by displaying famous paintings as a screensaver. However, Roku is less adept when it comes to solving one common frustration of the streaming age: The inability to access popular shows, movies and sporting events because of geographic restrictions.
Using a VPN is a common way to tackle this issue, but unlike Fire TV, Apple TV and other rivals, Roku systems don’t have native VPN support. But that’s not the end of the story: You can still use a VPN to access a wider range of programming via a Roku — you just need to use a workaround. We’ll show you how.
The benefits of using a VPN
When it comes to streaming, a VPN has one main benefit: changing your IP address — the unique number that identifies the general location of the device and network you're using to access the web. A VPN tunnels your connection through its servers to obfuscate your IP, making it seem like you’re watching from elsewhere. As a result, a service like Netflix will see your location as, say, the United Kingdom versus the US. You’ll then have access to a different set of programming. For example, you need Max to stream Friends, The Big Bang Theory or Rick and Morty in the US, but they're all available on Netflix in the UK.
VPNs have several other benefits related to privacy and security. VPN servers have military-grade AES 256-bit encryption, meaning they’re more secure than connecting to the Internet normally. So, since you’re browsing the Internet by tunneling through the VPN, your Internet service provider can’t see all of your browsing destinations (and sell your viewing habits to data brokers).
The easiest way to use a VPN on Roku
Although Roku doesn’t natively support VPNs, there are a few workarounds. You can, for instance, set up a VPN on your home’s router. That allows you to protect the whole network and every device that connects to it, keeping everyone in your household anonymous online. But it can also cause confusion when you want to access local services — and it requires a very high-level of technical knowledge, and only works with certain routers.
Instead, we recommend a far easier method: connecting a VPN to your Roku via AirPlay or screencast. To do this, subscribe to a VPN and install it on your smartphone or laptop. Then, stream content on that device and AirPlay or screencast it to your Roku TV. The icon to do this should look like a TV with Wi-Fi rays.
Engadget
We prefer this method because it’s simpler overall. You can access any geo-blocked content on your smartphone or laptop first and then cast it on your smart TV.
You can make sure your Roku model is AirPlay-compatible by checking this resource on Roku’s site. If it isn’t, you can always just directly patch your phone or laptop to the TV using an HDMI cable or an appropriate dongle.
Choosing the best VPN
While you'll be using a phone or laptop as the ultimate source for your VPN-routed streams, that actually gives you a wider list of services from which to choose. Although each VPN has the same basic functionalities, their price and extra features vary. Before deciding which one is right for your needs and the devices you have, take some time to look at what each one offers and see what other users have to say. Start by checking out our list of best VPNs — and happy streaming.
VPN options for other streaming platforms
Don't have a Roku? Good news: Robust VPN options (or alternatives) exist for the other major streaming platforms, too.
Boeing's Starliner capsule has undocked from the ISS at 6:04PM Eastern time on September 6 and has safely and gently landed at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico at 12:01AM on September 7. Calypso, as the capsule is called, didn't have a crew onboard despite flying to the ISS with astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore. NASA decided in late August that the astronauts will come home on a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule in February for safety reasons. Wilmore and Williams merely provided support for the capsule's trip back home and watched the coverage of its re-entry and landing. "You have got this. We have your backs, and you've got this. Bring her back to Earth," Williams told ground control.
The astronauts flew on the Starliner as part of its first crewed flight meant to prove that the spacecraft is ready to regularly ferry humans to the ISS alongside the SpaceX Crew Dragon. They were only supposed to stay on the orbiting laboratory for eight days, but the spacecraft's service module started leaking helium on their way there. Some of the module's thrusters had malfunctioned, as well. The Starliner uses helium to pressurize its fuel tanks and to push propellant to its thrusters that maneuver the spacecraft. Over the past three months, engineers on the ground conducted tests on Starliner with help from the astronauts, but NASA ultimately decided to have the Starliner fly back home uncrewed because it didn't have confidence with the certainty of the thrusters' performance.
During the Starliner's post-landing press conference, Boeing was noticeably absent, and three NASA officials talked about the landing instead. When asked why Boeing wasn't there and if the relationship between the agency and the company was affected by Starliner's issues, the representatives said that Boeing deferred to NASA to represent the mission. They said that all three of them talked to Boeing's managers and that the company is committed to working with the agency. Steve Stich, the manager for Commercial Crew Program at NASA Kennedy, also added that while all of them were happy with the landing, a part of them still wishes it would've gone the way they'd planned, with the astronauts coming home aboard the Calypso.
Stitch, Joel Montalbano (NASA's deputy associate administrator for Space Operations Mission Directorate) and Dana Weigel (NASA's manager for the International Space Station) all praised the Starliner for its successful docking and "bullseye landing." They said they learned a lot from the mission, which apparently achieved 85 to 90 percent of its objectives, and stressed that it's important to remember that things don't always go as planned when it comes to test flights.
It'll take around two weeks to get the Calypso back to NASA grounds and around a week after that to get all the data from the capsule. NASA and Boeing are planning to analyze the data the spacecraft gathered across its systems from its time in orbit until its undocking, reentry and landing. They will then use that information to design improvements for the spacecraft.
Unfortunately, they wouldn't be able to inspect the thrusters that malfunctioned on the flight to the ISS, as well as the "doghouses" that contained the spacecraft's propellant system where the helium had leaked. They had always planned to discard the service module that contained those elements upon re-entry, and it's now at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. NASA previously said that the issues cropped up because the propulsion equipment got hotter that expected while flying, causing container seals to loosen and to leak helium. In case of the thrusters, the heat apparently caused seals to bulge and restrict propellant flow, leading to outages.
Stitch said he wouldn't call those problems insurmountable — they just need some time to address them. They also can't tell at the moment if Starliner's next flight would have a crew onboard. For now, the agency is preparing for other missions. By the end of September, the SpaceX Crew-8 mission vehicle is scheduled to undock and come back to Earth, while the SpaceX Crew-9 mission is expected to launch. Crew-9 will fly with two astronauts instead of four to make room for Wilmore and Williams for its return flight in February.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/space/boeings-starliner-is-back-without-the-astronauts-it-flew-to-the-iss-110013469.html?src=rss
Talks between Apple and the union for the Apple Store in Oklahoma City have produced a tentative agreement that includes new benefits and protections for its staff. The Penn Square Mall Apple Store in Oklahoma City announced they’ve reached a “tentative labor agreement” with Apple and the Communication Workers of America (CWA), according to a released statement.
Terms are still being negotiated between both parties but the benefits for the store’s employees would be significant. The three-year agreement reached between the CWA and Apple would give employees a wage increase of up to 11.5 percent. An Apple spokesperson said by email that if the contract is ratified, employees would receive a 4 percent raise in the first year of employment and 3 percent in the second and third year each “based on employee performance.”
The agreement would also offer employees guaranteed paid time off and health and other benefits, allow employees to have a say in scheduling and the establishment of a “safer and more democratic workplace” through a grievance submission process with committees overseeing safety, health and working relations. An Apple spokesperson also noted the scheduling options “were provided to all other US stores in 2022.”
The Oklahoma City Apple Store had been working to form a union since 2022, becoming the second Apple Store in the US to unionize. Employees passed a strike authorization vote in August that passed with unanimous support and started a picket in front of the store ahead of bargaining sessions in early September. Workers will vote to ratify the tentative agreement on September 22.
CWA District 6 Vice President Derrick Osobase called the agreement achievement “a historic day for our members who have now secured a contract at the world’s most profitable company.”
The Apple Store in the Towson Town Center in Towson, Maryland became the first location to unionize. Members approved the union in 2022 with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM). A store in the Cumberland Mall in Atlanta, Georgia tried to form a union in 2022 with the CWA but workers called it off accusing Apple of committing “repeated violations of the National Labor Relations Act.”
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/an-apple-store-in-oklahoma-city-is-close-to-approving-an-union-agreement-for-its-workers-222605021.html?src=rss
If you remember the reMarkable 2 when it was announced in March 2020, you'll be excited to hear about its successor: the reMarkable Paper Pro. This new distraction-free writing slate comes with a nicer chassis, faster internals, a bigger display and most importantly, a color screen.
If you’re unfamiliar, reMarkable is the standard bearer for those devices standing in the delta between high and low tech. It’s an e-paper slate with a stylus (or keyboard) for reading, writing or editing your own documents, or annotating PDFs. The focus is giving you a calmer space to get some Serious Work(™) done, free from the distractions a “proper” computer or tablet would harbor. The company has always maintained that its devices offer you a way to feel like you’re working on paper, without actually having to work on paper. Despite its age, the reMarkable 2 has been a mainstay in our E Ink tablets guide as the pick that's the best option for most people. The only other products currently in the conversation are the Kobo Libra Colour and Onyx Book Tablet Note Air 3 C. Those models also boast color screens and stylus compatibility, but both have smaller displays — 7 inches diagonally on the former and 10.3 inches on the latter.
The Paper Pro is a little more than an inch taller and a quarter inch wider than its predecessor but has been able to cram in a lot more stuff. The rM2 had a 10.3-inch monochrome display while the Paper Pro’s stretched to 11.8-inches. reMarkable’s Chief Design Officer Mats Solberg explained his team worked to reduce the size of the bezels and chin to accommodate the bigger display.
Image by Daniel Cooper / Engadget
Whereas the older model stuck to a rigid notion of post-iPad design language, the new Paper Pro gets a more austere look and feel. The edge band is sharper, if still comfortable to hold, and Solberg emphasized the grooves etched into the sides. He explained they both evoke the idea you’re holding a sheaf of paper, and to add some much-needed grip to a device this thin.
There’s dramatic changes on the inside, with a new 1.8Ghz quad-core Cortex A53 paired with 2GB RAM and 64GB storage. For comparison, the rM2 had a 1.2GHz dual-core chip, 1GB RAM and just 8GB storage. As soon as you turn the Paper Pro on, you’ll see the benefits of the new silicon, with far faster response times. You even get proper animations during the setup process.
But the real showstopper here is the display, which uses a modified version of E Ink’s Gallery 3 technology dubbed “Canvas Color.” It means the display holds a series of ink particles inside each pixel — a White, Cyan, Magenta and Yellow — as in most regular printers. reMarkable says the display is similar to newsprint and it’s an apt analogy with clear, if muted, colors on show.
Image by Daniel Cooper / Engadget
The technology can also dither colors, mixing each ink particle to produce up to 20,000 other colors, and the colors can also be layered. It means you can highlight sections of text in the same way you’d use a highlighter on paper, the more layers you draw, the darker the color. Of course, the benefit of using a digital device is that you can highlight it as many times as you want without anything becoming soggy.
As usual, reMarkable has leveraged a limit and turned it into a benefit, offering you colors with a heavy dose of restraint. And you don’t really need your retinas to be burned inside out if you’re trying to organize your thoughts ahead of a big meeting. Although, having been spoiled by so many well-made displays of late, I do wish the colors popped a little bit more than they do.
The Paper Pro is the first reMarkable with a frontlight, finally letting you get some work done in dark environments. Solberg explained the frontlight was one of the hardest challenges to build without harming the distance between the stylus tip and the display itself. He said the team was determined to keep the gap between the pen and the display to under one millimeter, and succeeded.
The last two slates had active displays but passive styluses, but the Paper Pro gets an Apple Pencil-esque active stylus as well. It’ll charge while magnetically connected to the side of the bezel and the new components help improve accuracy and latency. Solberg said the reMarkable 2 had an input latency of 22ms, and he had targeted 15ms for this model. He was proud to say that the team smashed that target, with the Paper Pro’s latency down to just 12ms.
And yet, for all the headline changes, it’s the added responsiveness that’s the really compelling feature. The rM2 was no laggard, but the faster input really does help sell the idea you’re sketching out ideas on paper. You can always credit the company for sweating the details, too, like the fact you can add a highlight or handwritten annotation to typed text that will follow the text around as you edit it.
I’m also impressed with reMarkable’s commitment to making the Paper Pro easier to repair and refurbish than older models. Solberg explained that the Paper Pro is far more modular under the hood, with easily-swappable components. He ruled out end-user repairs, but said that the only adhesive used in the chassis are two replaceable glue strips to keep the battery in place. Repairs would likely need to take place at reMarkable HQ or a partner distributor, but the fact it’s been designed with an eye on long-term repair at all is laudable.
reMarkable Paper Pro is available to order today from reMarkable’s website and Best Buy, priced at $579 with the standard Marker and $629 for the Marker Plus. If you want to add a case, and I heartily recommend you do, it’ll cost you between $89 and $179, depending on your material choice. And if you want to add the Type Folio, you’ll need to cough up an additional $229. The reMarkable 2 is remaining around as a lower-cost option (unsurprisingly, as it’s a really good piece of kit) and will now be available with the standard Marker for $379.
Of course, you and your wallet will have to decide if that’s the sort of sum you can bear to part with, especially in these tightened times. With a product like this, the intentional choices and limits made means it’ll always stack badly in a head-to-head with a similarly-priced iPad. The trick is to work out if you’ll be more productive with less mental and physical clutter in your computing environment, and go forward from there. I’ve found, when I’ve got a lot of work to do and need to focus, it’s a better way to hammer out first drafts than other devices I could name.
Update, September 6, 4:43PM ET: This story was updated after its original publication to include a comparison to competing writing tablets with color screens.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/tablets/the-new-remarkable-paper-pro-adds-a-color-display-120059067.html?src=rss
Building just one smartphone from scratch would be a huge undertaking, even if the world is full of them. Now imagine trying to build one that’s 100 times its normal size with nearly all the same forms and functions.
Perkins started his build with the screen, a massive undertaking that required converting a LG Signature 88-inch OLED TV into a responsive touchscreen. He commissioned a manufacturer to fabricate a piece of touch foil the size of the screen, which he fixed in place with an optically clear glue UV epoxy.
The next challenge was finding a way to fit oversized versions of the phone’s components in a frame: the speakers, three-lens camera array, the volume and power buttons and the special function button. He built a frame out of aluminum with a cross shaped support in the middle. The cameras especially weren't cheap, as Perkins opted to use both a Canon EOS R5 as well as a Sony RX10 Mark 4 to mimic the iPhone 15 Pro Max’s telephoto lens. The frame was also designed to be permanently mounted to a similarly-scaled up phone stand so it could be rotated without giving the user a massive hernia.
The only major component they couldn't recreate was the operating system, since Apple's iOS is closed-source. But using Android had two major perks: the Bliss OS recreated the feel of an iPhone home screen using a themed skin, and they could install Flappy Bird — something actual iPhone owners haven't been able to do in nearly a decade.
The phone may be big but it appears to be just as functional as a handheld iPhone. Maini and a group of friends took the phone into the real world to test it out, and apparently it can make tap-to-pay purchases, send emails and make video calls. Functional or not, it's brave to bring a $70,000 phone onto the streets of London without a case.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/youtubers-built-a-six-foot-tall-working-replica-of-apples-iphone-15-pro-max-201507959.html?src=rss
Building just one smartphone from scratch would be a huge undertaking, even if the world is full of them. Now imagine trying to build one that’s 100 times its normal size with nearly all the same forms and functions.
Perkins started his build with the screen, a massive undertaking that required converting a LG Signature 88-inch OLED TV into a responsive touchscreen. He commissioned a manufacturer to fabricate a piece of touch foil the size of the screen, which he fixed in place with an optically clear glue UV epoxy.
The next challenge was finding a way to fit oversized versions of the phone’s components in a frame: the speakers, three-lens camera array, the volume and power buttons and the special function button. He built a frame out of aluminum with a cross shaped support in the middle. The cameras especially weren't cheap, as Perkins opted to use both a Canon EOS R5 as well as a Sony RX10 Mark 4 to mimic the iPhone 15 Pro Max’s telephoto lens. The frame was also designed to be permanently mounted to a similarly-scaled up phone stand so it could be rotated without giving the user a massive hernia.
The only major component they couldn't recreate was the operating system, since Apple's iOS is closed-source. But using Android had two major perks: the Bliss OS recreated the feel of an iPhone home screen using a themed skin, and they could install Flappy Bird — something actual iPhone owners haven't been able to do in nearly a decade.
The phone may be big but it appears to be just as functional as a handheld iPhone. Maini and a group of friends took the phone into the real world to test it out, and apparently it can make tap-to-pay purchases, send emails and make video calls. Functional or not, it's brave to bring a $70,000 phone onto the streets of London without a case.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/youtubers-built-a-six-foot-tall-working-replica-of-apples-iphone-15-pro-max-201507959.html?src=rss