A new report today, from two reliable sources, suggests that the anticipated ‘reverse charging’ feature – allowing an iPhone to charge AirPods – has now been abandoned by Apple, at least for this year’s models. If true, this will add to the embarrassment of Apple’s track-record on wireless charging… First, there was the fact that it took Apple far longer than Android smartphones to offer wireless charging at all. Indeed, the company took so long to do it that there was speculation it was waiting to jump straight to long-range charging....

A report from an analyst with a solid if imperfect track-record yesterday suggested that this year’s iPad models would drop the Lightning port in favor of USB-C. I’m on record as arguing in favor of this change, for both iPads and iPhones – and laid out why I saw it as an Apple-like move despite the short-term pain it would cause … But I also acknowledged the short-term pain it would involve....

Apple Music was updated in June with Lossless and Spatial Audio support after some catches and controversies. Even still, thanks to these new features, Apple is differentiating itself from other competing music streaming services and becoming the best platform around. Here’s why. Early this year, I wrote about my one-month experience with Spotify. At that time, I was amazed by the green side of the music streaming service battle. Over these months, I still believe Spotify has a lot of perks: its shareable features are amazing and Apple still doesn’t have anything closer to Spotify Connect, but with iOS 14....

Listening to podcasts is on par with TV, movies, and books in my life. I probably spend more time listening to podcasts than watching TV in a given week. I love podcasts because I can enjoy them while cooking, cleaning, commuting, etc. My wife and I subscribe to several Patreon’s for various podcasts we listen to each week. Still, it can often be a clunky process in finding the link, figuring out which tier we want, and getting the bonus content (audio files, etc....

Clear discontinued the iSpot personal 4G hotspot for iOS devices yesterday. The iSpot was easily hacked to work like its more expensive counterpart with all computers and even had trouble with some iPads without hacking. Clear recently dropped the price of the iSpot by 80% and will continue selling them until they sell out of retail inventory. Sprint (who own 54% of Clear) is also about to announce a new Mifi device which may also account for the iSpot discontinuation (below)....

Update 1: See list of sites below. Update 2: We received a brief statement from Uber Update 3: OKCupid has made a similar statement Very little Uber traffic goes through Cloudflare. Only a handful of tokens were involved and have since been changed. Passwords were not exposed. User data from 3,400 websites has been leaked and cached by search engines as a result of a bug in Cloudflare, a content delivery network....

The Coalition for App Fairness was formed back in September by founding members Epic Games, Spotify, Tile, and more. The goal is to draw attention to their issues with Apple’s App Store practices to create change. In a big development, major US news publishers including The New York Times, NPR, ESPN, The Washington Post, Bloomberg, and many more have joined the coalition to push against what the coalition calls the “Apple tax....

There’s a lot of new features coming in iOS 8 that you might have missed during Apple’s presentation today. Apple briefly flashed the slide pictured above and in it listed a bunch of new features that it didn’t talk about in length or at all during its keynote. Some of them include a “Tips app”, panorama on iPad, WiFi calling, FaceTime call waiting, rich text editing in Notes, iBooks preinstalled, and accessibility improvements like multi-device support for MFi hearing aids and the ability to exit Guided Access mode using TouchID....

We’re watching a dizzying array of App announcements as new software hits the all-new Mac App Store, but here’s a special something from the team at Boxee, who are showing off their new Boxee iPad App at CES. Here’s what Boxee (who today announced a new deal to offer video from CBS via their devices) had to say on the new app: “While not ready to launch, we’re giving people at CES a sneak peek at Boxee for the iPad this week....

State-controlled media in China has accused Apple of failing to do enough to block prohibited content on its various platforms. This includes pornography, gambling and – rather ironically – promotion of counterfeit goods … The WSJ reports that at least five Chinese news outlets have joined in the attacks. Some of the criticism relates to the App Store. However, the bulk of it relates to content sent using its iMessage service....

CISA created a landing page for all Log4j vulnerability content and is providing insight alongside the Joint Cyber Defense Collaborative that includes multiple cybersecurity companies. CISA added the Log4j vulnerability alongside 12 others, with four having remediation due dates of December 24 and the rest having June 10, 2022, as the date. The ones slated for remediation by Christmas include the Zoho Corp. Desktop Central Authentication Bypass vulnerability, Fortinet FortiOS Arbitrary File Download vulnerability and Realtek Jungle SDK Remote Code Execution vulnerability....

Back in July, someone sent in this photo described as portraying a prototype phone, presumably iPhone 5, in the hands of an Apple employee on his way from work in San Francisco. We find it hard to believe Apple would be foolish enough to lose another iPhone prototype – and at a bar, too – but this comes from CNET and they’re vouching for it. An iPhone prototype – probably for an upcoming model, allegedly went missing last month in Cava22, a Mexican restaurant and bar in San Francisco’s Mission District....

Note: This article covers the differences between the standalone Chromecast and Roku and not the Chromecast with Google TV which does include its own remote and operating system called Google TV. Chromecast: Pros and Cons The Chromecast device currently sits at a price of $29.99. The device comes in a simple package with only a plug-and-go device inside. The device is very portable and can be unplugged and set up on a different screen easily....

ABC orders a private eye series starring Cobie Smulders; originally known as Stumptown, the show’s pilot episode was based on the comic book series of the same name. Last February, Smulders was announced as the series star. In the MCU, Smulders portrays Maria Hill, the right hand to the former director of S.H.I.E.L.D., Nick Fury. Created by Greg Rucka and Matthew Southworth, the original Stumptown comic book series first published in November 2009....

According to typically-reliable analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities, Apple has a slew of new products in the works for 2014. The analyst has summarized his expectations for these new products in a new research note, and has also reaffirmed some of his previous claims for products in Apple’s pipeline for the rest of Fall 2013… The major 2014 Apple product updates that Kuo highlights revolve around MacBooks, iMacs, and iPads....

Tim Cook yesterday tweeted in celebration of 20 years of iMac. Even twenty years later, I still like the design of the original iMac. In fact, despite not being a desktop guy, I love all the various iterations of iMac designs through the years … I’m officially old. The first PCs were all desktops, so that’s what I owned in the early 80s. Including the original Macintosh, a machine that was already a radical rethink of the hardware as well as the software....

After all, our car should be the biggest gadget that we have, right? Then it only makes sense for it to be smart, too. But until the car-makers themselves take the next step, it’s the smart engineers out there who come up with various ideas. Carvi is one of them, a smart driving assistant made from a smart dashboard camera and your own smartphone. The device uses vision based safety features to gather data from your smartphone and a single lens camera that’s installed on the car....

The popular iOS Castro Podcast Player has been updated today with new features like a refreshed Discovery section with curated collections, live search, the ability to subscribe to podcasts from search, and more. As spotted by MacStories, the latest version of the Castro Podcast Player for iOS is live with new features, changes, and naturally some bug fixes. The headlining new feature is the Discovery section now offers curated collections by the Castro team that will be updated weekly in addition to featured Podcasts based on charts and more....

Chamet Mod APK is just a modified version of the official app that has no restrictions, in-app purchases, and limitations. The developer tweaks so much that you get premium features for free such as unlimited diamonds, coins, free video calls, and more. However, it is not an ideal dating alternative, as there are many potential risks of using a MOD app. Chamet is an online video and voice chat application that allows users to make friends across the globe....

With the iPhone 7 (or whatever Apple calls it) looking increasingly likely to lose the 3.5mm headphone socket, Chinese accessory makers are gearing up to meet demand from those who don’t want to replace their existing headphones. Macotakara spotted a couple of Chinese companies who are already advertising 3.5mm-to-Lightning adapters. It’s unlikely these are real products yet, especially as one claims to be MFi-certified. They are more likely dummies or prototypes, perhaps created for submission for MFi status....