Valentine's Day Deals Offer Savings on the Best Apple Accessories From Tile, Twelve South, Anker, and More

https://ift.tt/2HaBckT

Now that we're close to Valentine's Day on February 14, many third-party Apple resellers and accessory companies have opened up notable discounts on Apple products and accessories this month. To keep track of all the sales and offers, we've accumulated each retailer's offer in this article, ranging on sales from useful portable battery packs to Bluetooth trackers and much more.

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

Most of the sales tracked below will last through February 14, unless otherwise noted.

Tile

Tile has a few "Sweetheart Deals" this week, offering a 4-pack of Tile Mate or 4-pack of Tile Sticker Bluetooth trackers that you can share with your significant other. You can save up to $20 in this sale, with both tracker packs priced at $49.99.

• Tile Mate 4-pack - $49.99, down from $69.99


• Tile Sticker 4-pack - $49.99, down from $59.99

Twelve South

Twelve South is joining in on the Valentine's Day sales, offering special bundles that include two complimentary products at a discounted price. Be sure to visit Twelve South's website to shop for every bundle, and you can check the prices for each listed below.

• BookBook for iPhone + HiRise Wireless Charging Stand - $109.99, down from $149.99


• AirFly Duo + AirSnap - $63.99-$74.99, down from $84.99-$99.99


• TimePorter + PlugBug Duo - $79.99, down from $109.99


• PowerPic BOGO Free - $79.99, down from $159.99


• Journal products - 20 percent off

Pad & Quill

Pad & Quill's Valentine's Day sale is discounting a variety of iPhone cases, MacBook cases, iPad cases, Apple Watch bands, and more. These products have their discounts automatically applied, but you can add the code "Valentine" to get an additional 15 percent off during the event.


You can also use the code "BAGS20" for 20 percent off any leather bag.

Official iPhone 11 Cases

On Amazon this week, you can save on Apple's own official leather and silicone iPhone cases. Silicone cases start at around $30 for the iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro models, which is around $10 in savings.


Similarly, you can save about $10 on the leather cases for the latest iPhones, with many of these models priced around $40. Not every color option is on sale, and the new Smart Battery Case options are also not being discounted, but for everything else we've provided links below to find the case for your iPhone 11 model.

• iPhone 11 - silicone / clear


• iPhone 11 Pro - silicone / leather / clear


• iPhone 11 Pro Max - silicone / leather / clear

However, if you have an older model iPhone, you do have a chance to get a Smart Battery Case at a discount. Amazon has this accessory for the iPhone XR and iPhone XS at $99.99, down from $129.00. That's a lowest-ever price, and the best sale currently available online. The iPhone XS Max Smart Battery Case is on sale for $102.

Anker

On its own website, Anker is offering up to 30 percent off multi-colored 10,000 mAh capacity portable chargers. You can get the PowerCore Slim (classic finish) for $31.99, down from $41.99 in Arctic White, Terracotta Rose, Deep Sea Indigo, and Dark Olive.


Additionally, the PowerCore III (fabric finish) is available for $34.99, down from $49.99 in Sun Kissed Coral, Venetian Red, and Winter Sage. Anker noted that this sale has limited quantities and it will expire this Friday, February 14.

On Amazon, Anker also has a few solid power bank discounts happening this week, which we've listed below.

• PowerCore 10,000 mAh - $21.24, down from $25.99


• PowerCore 20,100 mAh - $38.24, down from $49.99


• PowerCore+ 26,800 mAh - $79.99, down from $99.99

Casetify

Casetify has its usual range of colorful iPhone cases on sale this Valentine's week. If you buy two cases, you'll get 20 percent off your order and free shipping by using the code "WITHLOVE". This sale only lasts today.


Beyond iPhone cases, Casetify also offers Apple Watch Bands, AirPods cases, Lightning cables, and wireless charging pads in its Valentine's sale.

Nimble

Nimble is selling a few limited edition 5-Day Portable Chargers for Valentine's Day, and they come with free engravings related to the holiday. You can get these for $89.95, down from $99.95.


Otherwise, Nimble also has a sale going on for its Upgrade Kits, which include portable chargers, cables, car chargers, and wall chargers, and start at $94.95, with savings reaching up to $54.80 off original prices.

OWC

OWC still has a solid sale going on for the HomePod, discounting the White speaker to $204.99, from $299.00. This is a brand-new HomePod in non-retail packaging, and with OWC's own 1-Year Fulfilled Limited Warranty.

Mophie

Mophie this week is discounting older models of the Juice Pack Air, including for the iPhone 7, 7 Plus, 8, 8 Plus, X, XR, XS, and XS Max. All of these models are on sale for $59.95, down from $99.95. If you use our exclusive promo code "MACRUMORS25", you can take an additional 25 percent off one item.


You can also get the 7.5W Wireless Charging Base for $19.95, down from $59.95, and the 10W Charge Stream Desk Stand is on sale for $29.95, down from $69.95. More accessories are marked down on Mophie's sale page, including screen protectors and power banks.

Other Valentine's Day Sales

• Adorama - Save on DualShock 4 controllers, Bose speakers, Fitbits, and more


• Bose - Save on headphones and speakers, with free shipping and free returns


• Harber London - Buy two items and get 20 percent off your order


• Harman Audio/JBL - Save on Bluetooth speakers, headphones, sound bars, and more


• Newegg - Save on laptops, gaming mice, and more

Head to our full Deals Roundup to shop for even more discounts on Apple products and related accessories.

Related Roundup: Apple Deals

This article, "Valentine's Day Deals Offer Savings on the Best Apple Accessories From Tile, Twelve South, Anker, and More" first appeared on MacRumors.com

Discuss this article in our forums

from MacRumors: Mac News and Rumors - All Stories https://ift.tt/2UJG4W7

Apple Won't Get Rehearing in VirnetX Patent Infringement Battle Dating Back to 2010, Court Rules

https://ift.tt/2vkeN20

Apple will not be able to get a rehearing in its ongoing patent battle with VirnetX to argue that the patents it is accused of infringing are invalid, reports Bloomberg.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit today rejected Apple's request to reconsider a November ruling that confirmed Apple infringed on two VirnetX patents.


The patent dispute between VirnetX and Apple dates back to 2010 when VirnetX accused Apple's FaceTime feature of infringing on its intellectual property, and there are multiple lawsuits involved.

In this particular case, VirnetX was awarded $502.6 million in April 2018 after a court ruled that Apple's FaceTime, iMessage, and VPN on Demand features infringed on four VirnetX patents related to communications security.

An appeals court later reexamined the ruling and determined that Apple had infringed on two VirnetX patents, but the other two counts were reversed in November 2019 and the $502.6 million award was vacated. The case was sent back to a lower court to determine whether revised damages can be calculated or if there will be a new damages trial, but the ruling was ultimately in favor of VirnetX.

At this time, with Apple's request for a rehearing on patent validity denied, Apple and VirnetX are awaiting details on the new damages Apple will be required to pay.

In a separate case, Apple was ordered to pay $440 million to VirnetX for similar patent infringement issues. Apple appealed that ruling multiple times as well, but an appeals court in January 2019 ruled in VirnetX's favor, leaving Apple responsible for a $440 million patent infringement fee.

Tags: FaceTime, patent trials, VirnetX, Patent lawsuits

This article, "Apple Won't Get Rehearing in VirnetX Patent Infringement Battle Dating Back to 2010, Court Rules" first appeared on MacRumors.com

Discuss this article in our forums

from MacRumors: Mac News and Rumors - All Stories https://ift.tt/37cPzzS

Apple Seeds First Public Betas of iOS and iPadOS 13.4 With New Mail Toolbar, iCloud Folder Sharing and More

https://ift.tt/2OI8KLr

Apple today seeded the first public betas of upcoming iOS and iPadOS 13.4 updates to its public beta testing group, a few days after releasing the updates for developers.

Beta testers who have signed up for Apple's beta testing program will be able to download the iOS/‌iPadOS‌ 13.4 beta update over-the-air after installing the proper certificate on an iOS device.


iOS and ‌iPadOS‌ 13.4 introduce some useful and notable new features and changes. There's a new Mail toolbar that separates the reply button from the delete button to make it harder to accidentally delete emails, there's a new "Shazam It" shortcut in the Shortcuts app for identifying songs, and some tweaks have been made to CarPlay controls for calls and third-party navigation apps.

The update includes support for iCloud Folder Sharing, a long-awaited iOS 13 feature. ‌iCloud‌ Folder Sharing allows iCloud Drive files to be shared with other people, making the folders accessible to multiple users.

There are a total of nine new Memoji/Animoji stickers that can be used wherever emoji can be used, and Apple has made minor changes to Location Services to appease app developers who want to encourage customers to turn on the "Always" option for Location Services for apps that need it.


Apple has added support for universal app purchases, which means developers can sell a single app across iOS, tvOS, and macOS. For apps that enable this feature, customers will be able to make one purchase and then download an app across all applicable platforms.

There are hints of a new "CarKey" API, which is designed to allow the iPhone or the Apple Watch to be used in lieu of a traditional car key in vehicles that support NFC.

For the iPad specifically, Apple has introduced new keyboard shortcuts for the Photos app for navigating between tabs, search, creating albums, deleting photos, and entering Edit mode, plus there's a new feature for hardware key remapping in ‌iPadOS‌.

For a full rundown of everything that's new in iOS and ‌iPadOS‌ 13.4, make sure to check out our complete feature list.

Related Roundups: iOS 13, iPadOS

This article, "Apple Seeds First Public Betas of iOS and iPadOS 13.4 With New Mail Toolbar, iCloud Folder Sharing and More" first appeared on MacRumors.com

Discuss this article in our forums

from MacRumors: Mac News and Rumors - All Stories https://ift.tt/2UFDyQB

Edison Mail Responds to Report on Email Apps Selling Anonymized Data Scraped From Inboxes

https://ift.tt/2ScZKA6

A report today from Motherboard highlights several email apps that sell anonymized or pseudonymised data collected from users' inboxes, including Edison Mail, Cleanfox, and Slice, adding that many users are unaware of this practice.


An excerpt from the report:

The popular Edison email app, which is in the top 100 productivity apps on the Apple app store, scrapes users' email inboxes and sells products based off that information to clients in the finance, travel, and e-Commerce sectors. The contents of Edison users' inboxes are of particular interest to companies who can buy the data to make better investment decisions, according to a J.P. Morgan document obtained by Motherboard.

Data obtained by Motherboard reveals what some of the information scraped from emails can look like, using Slice as an example:

A spreadsheet containing data from Rakuten's Slice, an app that scrapes a user's inbox so they can better track packages or get their money back once a product goes down in price, contains the item that an app user bought from a specific brand, what they paid, and an unique identification code for each buyer.

The report serves as a good reminder to review the privacy policies of apps that you use. Edison Mail is transparent about its data collection in its privacy policy, for example, noting that it uses "non-personal data such as seller, product and price extracted from information we collect" to help its Edison Trends business partners "aggregate and understand commerce trends."

Edison's privacy policy and support website also indicate that users can opt out of having their anonymized data shared with Edison Trends partners by navigating to Account > Settings > Manage Privacy in the app.

Most importantly, Edison Mail requires users to accept or decline Edison Trends data collection during initial setup of the app.

Edison emphasizes its transparency in its response to the report:

To keep our Edison Mail app free, and to protect your privacy by rejecting an advertising-based business model, our company Edison Software, measures e-commerce through a technology that automatically recognizes commercial emails and extracts anonymous purchase information from them. Our technology is designed to ignore personal and work email, which does not help us measure market trends.

Edison puts privacy first in everything we do as a company and that includes making our users aware of how we use their data in our products. You have complete control over how your information is used and we allow you to opt-out of data sharing in our research product, without impacting your app experience. We strive to be as transparent as possible about our business practices in our press communications, Edison Mail website, Edison Trends website, privacy policy, blog posts, on our app store pages, on social media, and of course, in our app itself. We do not participate in any ad targeting of our users and do not allow others to do ad targeting of our users.

To learn more, read Edison's lengthy blog post on its business model from last year.

Tag: Edison

This article, "Edison Mail Responds to Report on Email Apps Selling Anonymized Data Scraped From Inboxes" first appeared on MacRumors.com

Discuss this article in our forums

from MacRumors: Mac News and Rumors - All Stories https://ift.tt/2unWuZH

Deal Alert: Get the Black Core m3 Pixelbook Go for as little as $617 shipped

via Chrome Unboxed – The Latest Chrome OS News https://ift.tt/31FunBa

Abode's Smart Security Kit Now Compatible With HomeKit

https://ift.tt/2uBvXrH

Home security startup Abode today announced that its Smart Security Kit is now compatible with HomeKit. The kit includes a gateway, a motion sensor, a door/window sensor, and a key fob.


HomeKit compatibility enables users to add the Smart Security Kit gateway directly to the Home app on the iPhone, iPad, and Mac, in addition to any Abode sensors connected to the gateway. HomeKit also allows the system to be controlled with Siri voice commands using an iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, or HomePod.

Through the Home app, users can arm or disarm their Abode security system and receive notifications of motion events triggered by motion sensors, as well as open or close events triggered by Abode door or window sensors.

Abode is releasing a firmware update today with HomeKit support for its second-generation gateway, while its first-generation gateway remains in the HomeKit certification process. Abode says it remains committed to bringing HomeKit compatibility to even more devices within its portfolio over time.

Abode's Smart Security Kit is currently on sale, with prices ranging from $179 to $279. Visit its HomeKit page for more details.

Tags: HomeKit, Abode

This article, "Abode's Smart Security Kit Now Compatible With HomeKit" first appeared on MacRumors.com

Discuss this article in our forums

from MacRumors: Mac News and Rumors - All Stories https://ift.tt/2OI5Pm6

BSNL Launches Rs 499 Bharat Fiber Broadband Plan with Free Voice Calling Benefits

via News – MySmartPrice https://ift.tt/2H8Mxll