Friday, December 7, 2018

MacRumors Giveaway: Win a Vector Robot From Anki

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For this week's giveaway, we've teamed up with Anki to offer MacRumors readers a chance to win one of the company's adorable little Vector robots, which designed to be a personal robot companions that are fun for the whole family.

Vector is an autonomous, cloud-connected robot that's eager to entertain, interact with you, and answer questions on a range of topics with the "Hey Vector" trigger word, much like Siri, Cortana, or Alexa.


Priced at $249.99, Vector is a palm-sized robot equipped with small front display that allows Vector to express his endearing personality. Vector's body is filled with a host of sensors, including an HD camera designed to let Vector see the world around him.


Vector can navigate spaces, learn what's around him, recognize people's faces and remember them, and take photographs. A four-microphone array lets him listen for questions and commands, and there are built-in touch sensors and an accelerometer that allow Vector to feel touch and detect when he's picked up.


A high-powered processor lets Vector answer your questions and process the environment around him, and he has his own unique voice and language. Vector can provide the weather, solve equations, offer up word definitions, answer pop culture questions, and more.


Vector can do tricks like wheelies or he can play with an included cube, and there's an interactive game of blackjack available. We reviewed Vector earlier this year and loved his personality. Vector isn't as smart as Siri or Alexa just yet, but he's a fun home addition that's more of a pet or a friend than a toy.


Starting in December, Alexa integration is being added to Vector, which will make the robot even more useful.


You can get Vector from the Anki website or Amazon.com, but we have one to give away. To enter to win, use the Rafflecopter widget below and enter an email address. Email addresses will be used solely for contact purposes to reach the winners and send the prizes. You can earn additional entries by subscribing to our weekly newsletter, subscribing to our YouTube channel, following us on Twitter, following us on Instagram, or visiting the MacRumors Facebook page.

Due to the complexities of international laws regarding giveaways, only U.S. residents who are 18 years or older and Canadian residents (excluding Quebec) who have reached the age of majority in their province or territory are eligible to enter. To offer feedback or get more information on the giveaway restrictions, please refer to our Site Feedback section, as that is where discussion of the rules will be redirected.

a Rafflecopter giveaway
The contest will run from today (December 7) at 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time through 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time on December 14. The winner will be chosen randomly on December 14 and will be contacted by email. The winner will have 48 hours to respond and provide a shipping address before a new winner is chosen.

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Elago's New 'W5 Stand' Turns Your Apple Watch Into an Original Nintendo Game Boy

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Last year, accessory company Elago launched the W3 Charging Stand for Apple Watch, which turned Apple's modern wearable into a classic Macintosh. This week, Elago announced the latest iteration of its classic stand lineup, this one called the Elago W5 Stand, modeled after the original Nintendo Game Boy.


The stand works with all Apple Watch models, is compatible with Nightstand Mode, and includes a cutout to place your inductive puck charger (not included) into the stand. The stand is made from scratch-free silicone, which the company says protects the watch while it's in the stand and prevents it from moving around.


The W5 Stand comes in four colors according to an image on Elago's website: Red, Indigo, Black, and Light Grey. As of writing, only Black and Light Grey are available to purchase on Elago.com and Amazon. The stand is cheaper on Amazon, running for $14.99.


Besides the W3 Stand for Apple Watch, Elago has also released the M4 Stand for iPhone, which turned an iPhone 7, 6s, or 6 into a classic Mac.

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Apple Begins Selling New Beddit 3.5 Sleep Monitor

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Apple today began selling a new Beddit sleep monitor identified as model 3.5 after receiving FCC approval for the product earlier this week.


The new version looks similar to the previous Beddit 3 sleep monitor, so we'll have to dive deeper and see if there are any major differences.

The new version is also listed on Beddit's website.

More details to follow…

(Thanks, Jordan!)

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Bluesound's Generation 2i Speakers and Home Theater Systems to Receive AirPlay 2 Update on December 11

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Bluesound today announced that its Generation 2i line of high-fidelity wireless speakers and home theater systems will each receive a software update on December 11 that will enable AirPlay 2, including the Pulse 2i, Pulse Mini 2i, Pulse Flex 2i, Pulse Soundbar 2i, Node 2i, Powernode 2i, and Vault 2i.


With the AirPlay 2 update, multi-room audio playback will be possible between multiple Generation 2i speakers or systems and other AirPlay 2-enabled devices, including the HomePod, Apple TV, select speakers from Sonos, Libratone, and Bang & Olufsen, and select audio receivers from Denon and Marantz.

AirPlay enables users to easily stream audio from Apple devices to Generation 2i speakers, including music, movies, videos, news, podcasts, radio, audiobooks, and more from apps such as iTunes, Netflix, and YouTube on a Mac or iOS device.

AirPlay also allows for Siri control of Apple Music or Podcasts playback via iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, HomePod, and Apple TV.

Generation 2i speakers and systems will appear in the AirPlay Picker within most apps and in Control Center on devices running iOS 11.4 or later. With AirPlay 2, the speakers can also be added to the Home app on iPhone, enabling users to control all of their HomeKit and AirPlay-enabled products from one place.

Using the BluOS Controller app for iPhone or iPad, it will be possible to group older Bluesound speakers and systems with a Generation 2i speaker or system, allowing them to stream the same AirPlay 2 content throughout the home.

AirPlay 2 is Apple's latest wireless streaming protocol, released in May. Apple maintains a list of supported speakers on its website.


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Apple Has Reportedly Acquired British Startup 'Platoon' Focused on Discovering Up-and-Coming Music Artists

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Apple has acquired Platoon, a London-based A&R startup focused on discovering rising music artists, according to Music Business Worldwide.


Platoon was founded in 2016 by Saul Klein, co-founder of defunct British video-on-demand service LoveFilm, and Denzyl Feigelson, who is a 40-year music industry veteran and has been advisor to Apple about matters related to iTunes and later Apple Music since 2003, according to his LinkedIn profile.

The startup reportedly worked with California singer Billie Eilish before she signed to Interscope in 2017. The 16-year-old recently debuted a new song "Come Out And Play" as the backdrop to Apple's "Share Your Gifts" holiday ad.



Feigelson will lead Platoon's team of 12 full-time employees from its London headquarters, where it has two recording studios, according to the report. Platoon is expected to continue supporting artists across areas including tour support, original content, social media marketing, and global expansion strategies.

A&R, for those unaware, is all about talent scouting and overseeing the artistic development of recording artists and songwriters. A&R representatives often act as a liaison between artists and record labels or publishing companies.

Typically when Apple makes an acquisition, it issues a statement that reads "Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally don't discuss our purpose or plans." Apple has yet to confirm the Platoon acquisition, however, and some acquisitions turn out to be acqui-hires instead.

If the acquisition did happen, though, it will likely aid the Apple Music team's ability to continue discovering original music from up-and-coming artists. Apple Music already highlights emerging artists through its "Up Next" program.

We've reached out to Apple for confirmation.


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