Wednesday, November 20, 2019

New ‘Hatch’ Chromebooks will get a major Bluetooth upgrade with WBS


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Ubiquiti Launches New 'AmpliFi Alien' Router With Touch Display and Wi-Fi 6 Support

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Ubiquiti today launched an all-new router, the AmpliFi Alien, which is Ubiquiti's first Wi-Fi 6 router. The router is on sale now for $379.


According to the company, the AmpliFi Alien allows you to increase your network capacity by 4x and boost coverage by 2x, all while reducing battery drain on mobile devices. It's powered by 8x8 MIMO Wi-Fi 6 technology, so a single AmpliFi Alien router provides greater range and speeds than previous single AmpliFi routers.

The router includes 2.4 GHz/5 GHz Wi-Fi 6 and 5 GHz Wi-Fi 5 radios, delivering 7,685 Mbps total capacity and 16 spatial streams from one single AmpliFi Alien unit. Although the new router isn't specifically a mesh system, the company did note that you can mesh multiple Alien units together to extend coverage if you have a large home.


In terms of dimensions, the AmpliFi Alien is 9.84 inches tall and about 4.3 inches wide, weighing 2.65 lbs. It also includes a 4.7-inch diagonal display with touch controls and haptics. Similar to the AmpliFi HD router, this display shows the current time, upload/download speeds, network status, and more.

Additional technical specifications can be found below:
  • Max. TX Power - 2.4 GHz: 23 dBm per chain, 5 GHz 19 dBm per chain (low band)/ 20 dBm per chain (high band)
  • MIMO - 2.4 GHz: 4x4 5 GHz: 4x4 (low-band) + 8x8 (high band)
  • Speed - 2.4 GHz: 1148 Mbps, 5 GHz: 1733 Mbps (low band)/ 4804 Mbps (high band)
  • Networking Interface - Wi-Fi; Gigabit Ethernet: (1) WAN, (4) LAN
  • Max. Power Consumption - 35W
  • ESD/EMP Protection - ± 24kV Air/Contact
  • Antennas - (1) Internal Dual-Band Metal Stamp with 12 Polarity
  • Display - 110.38 mm (4.7") Diagonal, 274 x 1268, 279 ppi, G+F Touch, Full Color
  • Wi-Fi Standards - Up to Wi-Fi 6
  • Wireless Security - WPA2
On the back of the router are four Gigabit LAN Ethernet ports and one Gigabit WAN port, along with the power supply. Setup of the router takes place in the connected AmpliFi app, and can be done in under a minute, similar to previous AmpliFi devices with quick setups. Also in the app include parental controls, guest access, ISP and system performance stats, and more.

Although many consumer devices don't yet support Wi-Fi 6, Apple's iPhone 11 lineup does support the next generation standard. When in use, Wi-Fi 6 provides faster connection speeds to connected devices, particularly in crowded areas. The standard is just now beginning to roll out to routers and various smartphones and computers in late 2019, and is expected to be more widely available in the coming years.

Visit AmpliFi's website for more information on the Alien router. For those interested, it's available for $379 beginning today.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with AmpliFi. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

Tags: wi-fi, AmpliFi

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Apple Tells Congress It Hasn't Been Profiting From Repairs in Response to Antitrust Probe

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As part of an antitrust probe, the U.S. House Judiciary Committee sent a letter to Apple in September with questions about its policies for the App Store, product repairs, and more. Apple has since responded, and while many of the responses are predictable, the letter reveals a few noteworthy details.


For example, when asked to identify the total revenue that it has derived from repair services since 2009, Apple said "the costs of providing repair services has exceeded the revenue generated by repairs" in each year over that period.

Apple also said it has invested "billions of dollars" in Apple Maps since the app was released in 2012. Apple is currently in the process of revamping its Maps app with much more detailed mapping data, with the improvements now available in 27 states fully and another six states partially.

Apple defends many of its policies throughout the letter. For example, Apple says third-party web browsers on iOS devices must use its WebKit framework due to user privacy and security considerations. Apple gives a similar explanation for why third-party apps cannot be set as default on iOS devices.

The full letter can be read here.


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A New Samsung Device (SM-G715FN) Spotted on Geekbench Running Android 10


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OPPO A9 2020 Gradient White Teal Color Variant Launched in India: Price, Features


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Realme 5s: Top 5 Alternatives You Can Buy In India


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Apple Testing 'Apple Music for Business' Plans at Retailers Like Harrods and Levi's

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Apple has been trialing a new version of Apple Music, dubbed ‌Apple Music‌ for Business, which will provide retail partners with access to streaming music for their stores. The company has been testing out ‌Apple Music‌ for Business for the last six months (via The Wall Street Journal).

Apple is partnering with PlayNetwork Inc. for the project, which specializes in providing music for commercial use by handling licensing and operating the service for Apple. In turn, Apple contributes by creating hundreds of unique playlists for each client.

Image via Harrods/WSJ

Special business contracts must be made to use certain pieces of music in retail areas because of the high cost of licensing fees. PlayNetwork tackles these issues for clients such as Starbucks and Estée Lauder.

In these retail spaces, there are currently a few streaming services that offer business contracts for retailers, including Soundtrack Your Brand (formerly Spotify Business), Sirius XM Holdings, and more. These services cost between $25 to $35 a month per retail location.

‌Apple Music‌ for Business will now be a player in this space, but there is no indication yet as to how much Apple will charge for its service. In its six months of operation, Apple has landed 25 clients, which are estimated to deliver music to more than 10,000 store locations, including Apple's own retail stores.

One client includes Harrods in London, which had its own custom "Harrods Playlist" built by Apple. The retailer advertises this list of classical, ambient, and electronic music on screens in its stores, which users can search for and listen to in the consumer version of ‌Apple Music‌.
“We were captivated by their proposition that we could have our brand reflected in our own curated playlist,” said Guy Cheston, Harrods’s director of partnerships.

‌Apple Music‌ for Business has so far focused on retail chains with 100 stores or more. But it plans on expanding into small and midsize businesses.
On the regular version of ‌Apple Music‌, the company just launched a "Replay" feature, which provides subscribers with a way to track the artists, albums, and songs they listen to the most every year. This has been a long-awaited feature on ‌Apple Music‌, and one that many of the service's rivals, like Spotify, have been doing for years.

‌Apple Music‌ still trails behind Spotify in terms of paid subscribers, with 60 million paid subscribers as of June 2019 compared to Spotify's 113 million Premium subscribers as of September 30, 2019.


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