Friday, January 25, 2019

MacRumors Giveaway: Win a BentoStack Charge for Organizing and Charging Your Devices

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For this week's giveaway, we've teamed up with Function 101 to offer MacRumors readers a chance to win one of the company's new BentoStack Charge accessory organizers.

We've covered the handy BentoStack accessory organizers before, but this new version, the Charge, does even more. In addition to keeping all of your cords, cables, and odds and ends organized, it includes a 5,000 mAh power bank and wireless charging pad.


The BentoStack Charge, priced at $99.95 and available in three colors, features multiple layers, which can be used together all at once when at home, or separately when traveling if you only need to take a few things with you. The top layer is the power bank, which also doubles as a Qi wireless charging pad for Apple's latest iPhones.


There's a USB-C port built into the charger for keeping it powered (USB-C to USB-A cable included), and an extra USB-A port for charging a second device. With the BentoStack Charge on your desk, you can plug it into a USB-C cable and place your iPhone on top for a convenient charging location that doubles as storage.


Underneath the cover, there's a slot to hold an Apple Pencil (which also doubles as an iPhone stand), and below that, there's a main compartment with a set of dividers for holding things like cables, AirPods, power adapters, and more.


Below the first main compartment, there's a divider that's able to hold extra Apple Watch bands, and underneath that, you'll find a second main compartment with dividers for holding whatever else you need to store.

All of the dividers within the compartments are adjustable so you can customize the BentoStack Charge to fit your needs, and a thick band holds it all together, much like a traditional bento box.


The BentoStack Charge can be used at home to keep all of your important gear together, but it's also a useful way to make sure everything stays organized while traveling, too. The original BentoStack was useful, but the version with the wireless charger and power bank adds even more versatility.


We have five of the BentoStack Charge organizers to give away, and Function 101 is including an extra top piece so you can use it with or without the wireless charging component.

We also have a discount code for the first 50 U.S. MacRumors readers who want to order a BentoStack charge. Use the code RUMORS30 when checking out on the website to get 30 percent off and $10 shipping.

To enter to win our giveaway, 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 (January 25) at 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time through 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time on February 1. The winners will be chosen randomly on February 1 and will be contacted by email. The winners will have 48 hours to respond and provide a shipping address before new winners are chosen.


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Adobe's Photoshop Sketch and Illustrator Draw Apps Now Support Double-Tap Gestures With Apple Pencil 2

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Adobe this week updated its Photoshop Sketch and Illustrator Draw apps for iPad with support for the second-generation Apple Pencil.


In the latest versions of the apps, 2018 iPad Pro users can now take advantage of the new Apple Pencil's double-tap functionality to switch between drawing tools, activate the color picker, and zoom in and out of the canvas.

The double-tap gesture can be set to one of the following options in the Settings app under the Adobe Sketch or Adobe Draw menus:
  • Switch between brush and eraser
  • Switch between current and last used brush
  • Activate the color picker
  • Zoom in or out
  • None
Check the updates tab of the App Store for version 4.7 of each app.


This article, "Adobe's Photoshop Sketch and Illustrator Draw Apps Now Support Double-Tap Gestures With Apple Pencil 2" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Apple Now Promoting iPhone XR and iPhone XS Trade-Ups With Monthly Payment Option

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Apple today updated its website to promote a monthly payment option for iPhone XR and iPhone XS trade-ups in the United States.


With the trade in of an older iPhone at an Apple Store in the United States, customers can get a new iPhone XR for as low as $18.99 per month or a new iPhone XS for as low as $29.99 per month for 24 months as part of a limited time promotion.

Paying in full remains an option, with the iPhone XR and iPhone XS starting at $449 and $699 respectively with the trade-in of an iPhone 7 Plus or iPhone 8. These values are up to $100 higher than usual. Apple hasn't specified an end date for the promotion in the United States, but it is February 28 in Asia.

The monthly payment trade-in option is not available online. There is zero interest collected and a credit check is required.

Apple has been heavily promoting iPhone XR and iPhone XS trade-ins with a banner on the homepage of its website, store signage, emails to older iPhone users, and more since shortly after the smartphones launched last year.

Earlier this month, Apple slashed its revenue guidance by up to $9 billion for the first quarter of its 2019 fiscal year. In a letter to shareholders, Apple CEO Tim Cook said the company is undertaking and accelerating multiple initiatives to improve its results, including making it simple to trade in a phone at its stores.

Related Roundups: iPhone XS, iPhone XR

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New Feature Coming To Chrome OS To Make Browsing A Smoother Experience


via Chrome Unboxed – The Latest Chrome OS News http://bit.ly/2TgjSiH

Apple Registers Five New iPad Models in Eurasian Database

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Apple has registered five unreleased iPad models in the Eurasian Economic Commission database this week, including models A2123, A2124, A2153, A2154, A2133, and A2152, according to the Indian blog MySmartPrice.


These models could represent new versions of the 9.7-inch iPad, iPad mini, and possibly a new 10-inch entry-level iPad as rumored.


Filings in the Eurasian Economic Commission have foreshadowed the release of new Apple products on numerous occasions, so there is a good chance this means new iPads are on the horizon. March is a common release month.

More details to follow…

Related Roundups: iPad mini 5, iPad

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Multiple Upcoming Apple iPad Models Pass EEC Certification, Expected to Launch Soon


via News – MySmartPrice http://bit.ly/2Un3o8X

Mark Zuckerberg Plans to Make Facebook Messenger, Instagram Messaging, and WhatsApp Interoperable

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Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is planning to integrate three disparate messaging services -- Facebook Messenger, Instagram messaging, and WhatsApp -- into one "underlying messaging infrastructure" (via The New York Times).

Facebook Messenger

These services will continue to operate as their own standalone apps, but the company's work will make them interoperable with one another. This means that a Facebook user could send an encrypted message to someone who only has a WhatsApp account, and vice versa. The company is still in the early stages of the unification, with plans to be finished by the end of 2019 or early 2020.

According to sources familiar with the plans, Zuckerberg's idea is the newest effort to keep people within the Facebook ecosystem, and off of rival texting apps like iMessage.
Mr. Zuckerberg has also ordered all of the apps to incorporate end-to-end encryption, the people said, a significant step that protects messages from being viewed by anyone except the participants in the conversation.

By stitching the apps’ infrastructure together, Mr. Zuckerberg wants to increase the utility of the social network, keeping its billions of users highly engaged inside its ecosystem. If people turn more regularly to Facebook-owned properties for texting, they may forgo rival messaging services, such as those from Apple and Google, said the people, who declined to be identified because the moves are confidential.
In an official statement, Facebook said it's "working on making more of our messaging products end-to-end encrypted and considering ways to make it easier to reach friends and family across networks," alluding to the upcoming change. As of now, WhatsApp is the only one of the three main Facebook messaging apps to support secure end-to-end encrypted text messages, which ensures that texts are only read by you and the person you send them to.

This also raises privacy concerns for Zuckerberg's plans, since it's unclear how an end-to-end encrypted app would integrate with apps like Facebook Messenger. To sign up for WhatsApp, only a phone number is needed, but in contrast personal identities are the central part of apps like Facebook and Instagram, including their messaging services.
Today, WhatsApp requires people to register only a phone number to sign up for the service. By contrast, Facebook and Facebook Messenger ask users to provide their real identities. Matching Facebook and Instagram users to their WhatsApp handles could give pause to those who prefer keeping their use of each app compartmentalized.
In the wake of last year's Cambridge Analytica scandal, internal sources state that Zuckerberg has renewed his focus on WhatsApp and Instagram as the main Facebook brand was hit hard with negativity. In September, Bloomberg reported that Instagram was expected to soon become "more tightly integrated" with Facebook, in the wake of Instagram co-founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger leaving Facebook.

WhatsApp founders Jan Koum and Brian Acton have also left Facebook for similar reasons. According to today's reports, employees are still clashing with Zuckerberg over the new shift in focus to WhatsApp and Instagram, with dozens of WhatsApp employees arguing with Zuckerberg over the upcoming messaging integration plan on internal message boards, as well as during a "contentious" staff meeting last month.

During this meeting, WhatsApp employees reportedly asked Zuckerberg why he was so focused on making the messaging services integration a priority for 2019. According to sources, his responses were "vague" and "meandering," and as a result several WhatsApp employees have left and more are planning to leave because of the plan.


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