keyword: Apple

go-read-this-report-on-how-law-enforcement-can-extract-sensitive-data-from-your-car

Go read this report on how law enforcement can extract sensitive data from your car

A new report from The Intercept has shed light on a worrying new technology that lets law enforcement agencies extract personal data from people’s cars. It reports that US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) recently made an order worth hundreds of thousands of dollars from Swedish data extraction firm MSAB which included iVe “vehicle forensics kits” made by US firm Berla. Here’s what MSAB advertises the kits can do, according to The Intercept:

MSAB marketing materials promise cops access to a vast array of sensitive personal information quietly stored in the infotainment consoles and various other computers used by modern vehicles — a tapestry of personal details akin to what CBP might get when cracking into one’s personal phone. MSAB claims that this data can include “Recent destinations, favorite locations, call logs, contact lists, SMS messages, emails, pictures, videos, social media feeds, and the navigation history of everywhere the vehicle has been.” MSAB even touts the ability to retrieve deleted data, divine “future plan[s],” and “Identify known associates and establish communication patterns between them.”

In some cases, it’s a comparable amount of personal data to what you might find on a smartphone. But while most people are aware of the sensitive data held in their phones, thanks in part to companies like Apple making a big show of promoting the privacy and security features of the latest models, The Intercept argues we’re less aware of how much data our cars’ infotainment systems are collecting. And that leaves a treasure trove of data for the Berla-manufactured kits to vacuum up.

The people behind CBP’s new tool are well aware that they are preying on consumer ignorance. In a podcast appearance first reported by NBC News last summer, Berla founder Ben LeMere remarked, “People rent cars and go do things with them and don’t even think about the places they are going and what the car records.” In a 2015 appearance on the podcast “The Forensic Lunch,” LeMere told the show’s hosts how the company uses exactly this accidental-transfer scenario in its trainings: “Your phone died, you’re gonna get in the car, plug it in, and there’s going to be this nice convenient USB port for you. When you plug it into this USB port, it’s going to charge your phone, absolutely. And as soon as it powers up, it’s going to start sucking all your data down into the car.”

The Intercept’s report focuses on just one agency, US Customs and Border Protection, but civil liberties campaigners, like Mohammad Tajsar from the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, fear that the technology could easily trickle down to other law enforcement agencies across the US:

“What CBP have will trickle down to what your local cops on the street end up getting. That is not a theoretical concern.”

The Intercept’s report is well worth reading in full.

updating-an-apple-watch-series-3-is-a-nightmare-in-2021

Updating an Apple Watch Series 3 is a nightmare in 2021

The Apple Watch Series 3 was first released in September 2017, bringing fitness improvements and a faster processor. Nearly four years later, in 2021, Apple is still selling the Series 3 as its entry-level Apple Watch model starting at $199, an $80 savings compared to the more recent Apple Watch SE. Only, as I’ve recently learned, “still selling” and “supporting in a reasonable manner” are two very different things, and updating an Apple Watch Series 3 in 2021 is a nightmare of infuriating technological hoops to jump through.

Normally, updating an Apple Watch is an annoyingly long but straightforward process: you charge your Watch up to 50 percent, plug it in, and wait for the slow process of the update transferring and installing to your smartwatch.

But the non-cellular Apple Watch Series 3 has a tiny 8GB of internal storage, a fair chunk of which is taken up by the operating system and other critical software. So installing a major update — like the recently released watchOS 7.4 — goes something like this:

  1. Unpair and wipe your Apple Watch to factory settings
  2. Set up the Apple Watch again and restore from backup
  3. Realize you weren’t supposed to restore from your backup yet
  4. Watch an episode or two of Brooklyn Nine-Nine while you wait for the backup to finish restoring
  5. Start from step one again — but as a brand-new Apple Watch, without restoring from an existing backup
  6. Update completely fresh Apple Watch, which now has enough free memory to update
  7. Consider how much you actually want to use this face unlocking feature everyone keeps hyping up in the first place
  8. Unpair and wipe the Apple Watch a third time
  9. Restore from your backup and finally use normally

And the issue seems to apply whether you’ve installed a pile of apps or not. Apple’s support website doesn’t even recommend that Series 3 owners bother trying to clear up space — it just advocates that they go straight to the aforementioned reset cycle.

It’s clear that the current process is untenable.

I’m an editor at a technology news site and willing to put in the comical amount of time and energy to manage this, frustrating as it might be. But if you’re a more casual user — the same one who is likely to own an older, outdated Watch in the first place — why on earth would you bother with the worst update mechanism since GE’s instructions for resetting a smart bulb? And being able to update your hardware’s software is important: the just-released watchOS 7.4.1, for example, patches a critical security flaw. But with it being so difficult to install, there’s a good chance that plenty of Series 3 owners won’t bother.

I know that Apple loves to claim support for as many older hardware generations as it can with each new update. It’s one of the biggest appeals of Apple products, compared to the lackluster pace of updates on competing Android phones (like the just-deprecated Galaxy S8).

But the miserable update process for the Series 3 is a strong argument that Apple is being a little too generous with what it considers “current” hardware. Keeping the Series 3 around this long was always a money grab, a way for Apple to clear out old inventory and take advantage of mature manufacturing processes that have long since broken even in order to appeal to users who really can’t afford the extra $80 for the markedly better Apple Watch SE. It’s a similar trend to the inexplicably still-on-sale Apple TV HD, which is almost six years old and costs just $30 less than the brand-new 4K model. (Much like the Series 3, don’t buy a new Apple TV HD in 2021 either.)

But hopefully, with the announcement of watchOS 8 almost assuredly around the corner at WWDC this June, the company takes into account the basic functionality of its hardware when considering what it does and doesn’t offer support for. Because if Apple is going to insist on selling a product this old in the future, it’s going to need to be a lot more mindful of just how it actually handles its software support.

tim-sweeney-emailed-tim-cook-personally-to-call-for-open-app-sales-after-wwdc-in-2015

Tim Sweeney emailed Tim Cook personally to call for open app sales after WWDC in 2015

Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney was asking Apple to open its phones to other app stores as early as 2015, according to new emails made public as part of the companies’ antitrust trial. Under the subject line “iOS as an open platform,” Sweeney emailed Apple CEO Tim Cook directly to make the case for allowing other app stores to distribute software on iOS.

“The App Store has done much good for the industry,” Sweeney wrote to Cook, “but it doesn’t seem tenable for Apple to be the sole arbiter of expression and commerce over an app platform approaching a billion users.”

In particular, Sweeney asked to “separate iOS App Store curation from compliance review and app distribution,” essentially suggesting that Apple could maintain its security features across the platform without routing all downloads through the central App Store.

It’s a powerful distinction for the ongoing trial, in which Apple is arguing that App Store exclusivity is necessary to maintain the existing security and privacy features on iOS. These are part of the compliance process referenced by Sweeney in the email, and other ecosystems have been successful in implementing them across multiple app stores. Most recently, Google introduced a similar system on Android under the name Play Protect, guarding against malicious downloads even from side-loaded software.

Cook responded by forwarding the message to Phil Schiller with a question: “Is this the guy that was at one of our rehearsals?”

It’s likely that he was: a few weeks earlier, Epic Games had made an appearance at Apple’s WWDC event, touting the company’s work using Apple’s Metal API, although Sweeney did not appear onstage.

Other emails show Sweeney continuing to push Apple behind the scenes, asking Epic co-founder Mark Rein to push for a meeting with Greg Joswiak in January 2018. “If the App Store [were] merely the premier way for consumers to install software and not the sole way, then Apple could curate higher quality software overall, without acting as a censor on free expression,” Sweeney argued.

Rein was ultimately able to arrange a hearing for the idea through Apple’s Tim Kirby and expressed enthusiasm. “He was definitely receptive to the idea,” Rein wrote, “which doesn’t mean it will go anywhere, but does mean he’ll line up people who will listen and not shoot it down like Phil Schiller would…. so maybe there’s a smallest little crack on the very outer surface of the many feet of ice covering the frozen lake that is the Apple store.”

Six years later, the ice has yet to thaw.

epic-pushed-xbox-chief-to-open-free-multiplayer-just-ahead-of-apple-fortnite-battle

Epic pushed Xbox chief to open free multiplayer just ahead of Apple Fortnite battle

Epic pushed Microsoft to open up its Xbox network for free multiplayer gaming just weeks before the Apple and Fortnite battle. In the weeks leading up to Epic Games’ decision to circumvent Apple’s 30 percent cut on Fortnite in-app purchases, CEO Tim Sweeney sent an email to Xbox chief Phil Spencer teasing something big and asking whether Microsoft could time free multiplayer with Fortnite season 14.

“Epic has certain plans for August that will provide an extraordinary opportunity to highlight the value proposition of consoles and PCs, in contrast to mobile platforms, and to onboard new console users,” said Sweeney. “While I can’t share details with any third party at this point, I give you Epic’s assurance that our efforts will be positive and supportive of Microsoft, Xbox and Windows.”

Sweeney also asked Spencer whether free Xbox Live multiplayer was coming, and whether Microsoft could time it to support Fortnite season 14, the season Epic Games launched its alternate payment method that got Fortnite kicked off the App Store.

Spencer replied that “we will get there and I want to partner with you,” and that pushing these policies was “at the highest levels” at Microsoft, but implied Xbox Live wasn’t ready to go free multiplayer just yet. “Totally understood!” said Sweeney in response. “I gather there’s a lot going on at Microsoft nowadays. Anyway, you’ll enjoy the upcoming fireworks show.”

The timing of the email is provocative, given the events that followed. Had Spencer gone along with the plan, it seems likely that Xbox could have opened up Fortnite to non-Gold subscribers at the same time that Apple was shutting out the game entirely.

The fireworks show that Sweeney promised certainly kicked off when Fortnite season 14 launched, and it has since resulted in Epic Games taking Apple to court in a trial that’s ongoing. Microsoft did eventually unlock Xbox Live free-to-play multiplayer last month, but it wasn’t as simple as Epic Games had hoped.

Microsoft’s removal of the Xbox Live Gold requirement came after the company was forced to reverse a price hike to its Xbox Live Gold subscriptions earlier this year. Microsoft had attempted to double the cost of a yearly Xbox Live Gold subscription, a move that backfired. Microsoft quickly reversed the decision and offered to remove the paywall for free-to-play multiplayer games.

one-of-samsung’s-best-phones-ever-is-now-officially-retired

One of Samsung’s best phones ever is now officially retired

Four years after its launch, the Samsung Galaxy S8 has received its last security update. The Galaxy S8 was a well-timed success story for Samsung, launching in the spring of 2017 with a bold design that drew attention away from the well-documented Galaxy Note 7 battery problems of the previous six months.

The S8 marked a design shift for Galaxy devices, with a wider-aspect edge-to-edge screen with minimal bezels that made it one of the best-looking phones we’d seen at that point. It wasn’t just a good-looking device, either; it offered excellent hardware and a great camera, combined with a remarkably restrained software implementation. Best of all, the batteries did not catch fire.

Samsung recently introduced a formal policy of providing Galaxy devices with four years of security updates, including both S-series flagships and even budget-oriented A-series models. Premium devices tend to get monthly updates, at least for the first couple of years, with the cadence slowing down to quarterly or biannual updates toward end of life. It’s one of the best support policies in the industry — certainly for Android, and roughly on par with Apple’s typically lengthy device support schedule.

While the S8 and S8 Plus have reached the end of that support period, the S8 Active is still on the schedule for quarterly updates and the S8 Lite is on the biannual schedule.

i-watched-the-epic-v.-apple-trial-on-discord

I watched the Epic v. Apple trial on Discord

The Epic Games v. Apple trial started on Monday, and if you wanted to follow along and listen to Epic CEO Tim Sweeney talk about the “metaverse,” your options were limited. In theory, there’s public access to the trial, like most court proceedings, but since the courthouse is still closed for lockdown, the only access was through the court’s teleconference line that was briefly overrun by screaming teens.

But for anyone looking for more user-friendly options, there’s good news. A surprising, small community of streamers has decided to rebroadcast the trial on streaming platforms — places built for the people who play Fortnite rather than the antitrust policy wonks in the courtroom. For yesterday’s proceeding, I found a handful of YouTube channels and streamers rebroadcasting the hearing online, including Geoff Keighley (gaming’s Ryan Seacrest) on the Game Awards YouTube channel. Keighley’s YouTube stream sat at around 1,000 viewers throughout Monday’s events, featuring an active side chat filled with Fortnite fans and foes negging the day’s witnesses.

Technically, you’re not supposed to do this. The court’s website explicitly tells users that “any recording, copying, or rebroadcasting of a remote court hearing is absolutely prohibited.” Electronic recording devices are often banned from public sessions for the same reason.

But because you’re breaking the court’s rules and not copyright law, streaming the trial is much less likely to result in an account strike than a sports or television live stream. And while conventional media outlets could have their press credentials stripped for defying the ban, most streamers are far enough outside that system that they don’t care.

A separate Fortnite streamer, Golden (112,000 subscribers), was also following the court hearing, providing commentary for his followers interested in the day’s events. In order to avoid ticking off the court, he muted the trial’s audio and provided a link to Keighley’s stream for viewers looking to follow along themselves. He also listed his Discord server in the video’s bio and had three audio rooms dedicated to re-streaming Keighley’s audio. The Discord’s general chat was a mix of armchair antitrust lawyers and others complaining about Sweeney’s bad mic setup.

“Bruh this audio,” one person wrote, responding to Sweeney’s mumbling.

It’s hard to say how many streamers will be active for today’s proceedings — but if you’re hoping to follow along, searching YouTube and Twitch for rebroadcasts might turn up more options than you think.

oneplus-8-pro-vs-oneplus-8:-what’s-the-difference?

OnePlus 8 Pro vs OnePlus 8: What’s the difference?

(Pocket-lint) – They might not be the newest flagships, but the OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 8 Pro are still available to buy in a number of global markets and could well be worth grabbing now that they’re cheaper than they used to be. Still, which should you pick? 

With its flagship phones, OnePlus prides itself on pushing the boundaries of performance, whether that be gaming speed, UI responsiveness or even fast charging speeds. Despite this, they still generally undercut the big name competition in terms of price. 

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Design

  • OnePlus 8: 160 x 72.9 x 8mm, 180g
  • 8 Pro: 165.3mm x 74.35mm x 8.5mm, 199g
  • OnePlus 8: Water-resistant, no IP rating
  • 8 Pro: IP68 rated
  • Both models: Glacial Green, Onyx Black (Blue and Glow in selected markets)

As you’d assume from looking at any smartphone range with a regular model and a ‘Pro’ version, the OnePlus 8 Pro is the bigger of the two phones. It’s slightly taller and wider than the regular OnePlus 8, although it is a tiny bit thicker. There’s not really all that much in it though. While OnePlus touted the OnePlus 8 as its ‘compact’ model, it’s really not all that compact at all. 

In the hand, you can still definitely tell the difference between the two. Unsurprisingly, the regular OnePlus 8 is a little more comfortable to hold, and doesn’t require as much stretching. 

Apart from that, the two phones look very similar to each other. Unlike the previous 7T range, the camera housing is the same shape on the back, and the two phones both have curved glass on the front and the back with skinny bezels and a selfie camera cutout in the top left corner of the screen. 

In fact, the only real difference apart from size is the waterproofing. Both phones are water-resistant, but the OnePlus 8 Pro is the only one with an official IP rating. Specifically: it’s IP68, which means it’s right up there with the likes of Samsung and Apple’s latest flagship in terms of water and dust resistance. 

Both devices come in the same colours. In most markets that will just be the glossy Onyx Black and the matte frosted Glacial Green. Other select markets will also get the unicorn coloured Interstellar Glow and Ultramarine Blue variants.  

Display 

  • OnePlus 8: 6.55-inch Full HD+ AMOLED panel, 90Hz
  • 8 Pro: 6.7-inch Quad HD+ AMOLED panel, 120Hz
  • Both models: Curved glass and 4mm hole-punch cutout

While both phones feature the same screen design in terms of shape, looks and camera cutout, the two are different panels with different capabilities. 

Of the two, the 6.7-inch display on the Pro model is the most impressive. It features both Quad HD+ resolution and up to 120Hz refresh rate. That means it’s pin-sharp and super smooth in terms of animation speeds and frame rates. 

The regular OnePlus 8 has a slightly smaller, Full HD+ resolution display. It doesn’t have the 120Hz refresh rate, but does feature the 90Hz refresh that both the previous 7T and 7T Pro had. And, by any standard, that’s more than fast enough for every day activities and gaming. 

What’s interesting is that when you look at them side-by-side, OnePlush has done a great job of ensuring the two screens have the same colour reproduction, so if you have the callibration set the same on both devices, they look virtually identical in terms of colour.

Even with both set to their respective highest refresh rates of 90Hz and 120Hz respectively, we didn’t notice all that much difference in smoothness or speed between them. 

However, with the 8 Pro set to its maximum resolution, the panel definitely looks sharper. You get more densely packed pixels, and so rounded edges and fine text is smoother and crisper than on the regular OnePlus. If you want the best quality panel, this is the one to go for. 

Both devices use “Fluid AMOLED” panels, and both boasting the same colour accuracy. We’re unsure on the OnePlus 8’s peak brightness, but the OnePlus 8 Pro can reach as high as 1300 nits, which is pretty exceptional for a smartphone. 

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Cameras

  • OnePlus 8: Regular/wide, ultra-wide, macro cameras
    • 48MP main, 16MP 116-degree ultra-wide, 2MP macro
  • 8 Pro: Regular/wide, ultra-wide, 3x telephoto zoom and photochromatic cameras
    • 48MP main, 48MP ultra-wide, 8MP telephoto and 5MP photochromatic

If there’s one area that shows the biggest difference between the two phones, it’s in the camera department. OnePlus has gone all-out with the Pro model, offering an intriguing quad camera system. 

The OnePlus 8 Pro has a primary camera alongside an ultra-wide camera, both featuring 48-megapixel Sony sensors, with the primary one using the better quality sensor. As well as that, there’s the 8-megapixel telephoto camera that has 3x optical zoom, and can zoom up to 30x digitally. Then, curiously, there’s a 5-megapixel photochromatic sensor, or colour filter camera. 

In contrast, the OnePlus 8 has three cameras, but one of those is just a low resolution 2-megapixel macro sensor to help it focus to objects close up. It uses the same 48-megapixel in its primary camera that the 8 Pro uses in its ultra-wide one. It also has a 16-megapixel ultra-wide sensor. 

In our testing, the 8 Pro’s main and ultra-wide cameras were capable of producing great photos with lots of detail and good levels of contrast, dynamic range and colour. The ultra-wide can also be used as a macro camera, to product great close-ups too. A feature we ended up using quite a lot. 

Its telephoto zoom isn’t as strong, but it does mean the ability to zoom into scenes, even if they look a bit flatter. While the OnePlus 8’s main camera was decent and produced good results, the other two cameras underwhelmed. 

Like the display, if you want the best all-round camera experience, the 8 Pro is the one to opt for.

Both phones feature the same 16-megapixel front facing camera in that tiny punch-hole cutout in the display. 

Hardware and Performance

  • Both models: Snapdragon 865 processor with 5G
  • Both models: 8GB/128GB or 12GB/256GB RAM/storage options
  • 8 Pro only: LPDDR5 RAM and UFS 3.0 storage
  • OnePlus 8: 4,300mAh battery
  • 8 Pro: 4,510mAh battery
  • Both models: Warp Charge 30T fast wired charging
  • 8 Pro only: 30W wireless Warp Charge

As is often the case, both of the OnePlus phones are based on the same platform: the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 processor with X55 5G modem. That essentially means, at their core, it’s the same performance capabilities in terms of brain power and cellular download speeds. 

It’s a similar story with storage and RAM. Both regular and Pro models come as 8GB/128GB and 12GB/256GB variants, so you don’t lose any memory for choosing the regular over the Pro. The 8 Pro has faster, more modern LPDDR5 RAM versus LPDDR4, but it has the same amount of it. 

The biggest phone of the two, obviously, has the bigger battery, but there’s not a whole lot in it. It’s 4,510mAh versus 4,300mAh, so you do get a bit of extra capacity on the Pro, but in daily use with a bigger, brighter, sharper and faster display, that may mean the actual battery life is very similar. 

How much life you get out of the two obviously depends on how much you use the phone, and what you use it for. In our testing, both phones were very capable of getting through a full, busy work day. We ended each day with around 30 per cent on the OnePlus 8, and somewhere between that and 40 per cent for the Pro. 

Both phones are also equipped with Warp Charge 30T capabilities, which is OnePlus’ bespoke fast-charging functionality. It can get from 0-50 per cent in about 23-25 minutes.

The OnePlus 8 Pro, however, is equipped with wireless charging. And not just any wireless charging. It has 30W fast charging too, so, while not quite as speedy as the wired version, it’s not far off. 

Conclusion

The OnePlus 8 Pro isn’t just Pro in name, it has a lot of features that the regular OnePlus 8 doesn’t. Whether it’s the IP68 rating against water and dust resistance, wireless charging or faster, sharper and larger display. That’s without mentioning the more versatile camera system. 

So if the absolute best is the only thing that matters to you, then the Pro is clearly the way to go. The fact it costs less than the big-name flagships from the likes of Samsung, Huawei and Apple is the cherry on the cake. 

What’s more, we think the extra £200 for those additional features and capabilities are more than worth it. You’re not just paying to get a bigger version of the same phones. 

With that said, the OnePlus 8 still has a great screen and is very fast. In the daily experience, it will still feel like a proper flagship phone and one that will save you money versus the Pro. It’s also smaller and lighter, which is something worth considering. 

Writing by Cam Bunton.

walmart’s-unannounced-cloud-gaming-service-detailed-in-confidential-epic-emails

Walmart’s unannounced cloud gaming service detailed in confidential Epic emails

Walmart’s unannounced cloud gaming service, codenamed Project Storm, has been detailed in new confidential emails. An exhibit in the Epic Games v. Apple trial reveals Walmart’s efforts to pitch its cloud gaming service to Epic Games and get Fortnite on board.

“I played Walmart’s demo on an Android phone (with an Xbox controller) and the experience felt like playing on PS4 and superior to playing on Android or iOS,” said Epic Games co-founder Mark Rein in an email thread from April 2019. Rein also excitedly shares a photo of a game clip with the rest of the Epic Games executive team, showing how Walmart was planning to sell this in stores to let a phone attach to a controller. “They’re going to sell the clip for a crazy low amount, they were saying something like $2,” said Rein.

How Walmart was building its cloud streaming service.

A presentation attached to the emails shows how Walmart had been pitching its cloud gaming service to publishers like Epic Games. The company was planning to run the service on Windows, with third-party game launchers like Steam, Uplay, Origin, Epic Games Store, Battle.net, and Bethesda Launcher supported.

It’s not clear from Walmart’s presentation when the company planned to launch the service, with a beta period originally set to launch in July 2019. An early mock-up of the user experience looks very similar to other cloud gaming services, with a list of games, genres, and a search function.

An early look at Walmart’s Project Storm service.

Walmart was planning what it describes as an “open ecosystem,” with the ability to stream from the cloud or download and play games locally. The technology behind Walmart’s cloud gaming service is LiquidSky, a service Walmart acquired. LiquidSky was previously powered by IBM Cloud’s bare metal servers and Nvidia GPUs, and it appears to offer a powerful Windows PC for cloud gaming.

Epic Games was one of many publishers to which Walmart pitched. Reports originally surfaced about Walmart’s plans in 2019, but the company has still not officially announced any cloud gaming service. Sources familiar with Walmart’s plans tell The Verge that some publishers and developers had signed up to produce or host games on Walmart’s service, but that the launch had been put on hold once the pandemic began last year.

It’s not clear if Walmart’s cloud gaming service will still launch. We reached out to Walmart to comment on Project Storm, but the company did not respond in time for publication.

Either way, Mark Rein seemed interested in Walmart’s pitch and exploring services like Google Stadia and Nvidia GeForce Now. “Walmart is open to exploring all kinds of business models, but I expect their service will be the least expensive of all of these because they’re Walmart and that’s their gig.”

Epic Games ultimately partnered with Nvidia to launch Fortnite on GeForce Now last year. It’s currently the only way to play Fortnite on iOS, after the Epic dispute with Apple led to the removal of Fortnite from the App Store.

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Moment’s accessory mounts are the best use for the iPhone’s MagSafe yet

There is nothing better than tech that just works. The satisfying joy that comes with transferring files via AirDrop, the relief when a new pair of wireless earbuds automatically pop up on a phone screen and ask to be connected without opening the Bluetooth settings. These moments are still rare, but when they happen it feels like I’m actually living in the future promised to me. One of seamless connection and endless possibilities.

And the iPhone’s MagSafe (not to be confused with the old MacBook MagSafe, RIP), it just works.

Moment’s MagSafe accessories are stainless steel disks with a matte finish.

Moment, which is well known for its high-quality phone lenses and cases, has always had a strong focus on creating products for the photo or video creator. And its new line of MagSafe accessories has something for all levels of creativity. From a car vent mount to a multi-threaded mount to attach other accessories to, there is a way to attach an iPhone 12 or later to almost anything. More importantly, you can even mount more things to the phone itself through the Moment accessories. The range starts at $19.99 for a basic wall mount puck and goes up to $59.99 for the tripod mount adapter.

Moment MagSafe accessories

  • $20

Prices taken at time of publishing.

Moment’s line of MagSafe accessories lets you attach your iPhone 12 or 12 Pro to a wide variety of things, including a tripod or other camera gear. They make it easy to attach or remove your phone thanks to their use of strong magnets.


  • $20


    at Moment


  • $20


    at Amazon

Apple’s own MagSafe wallet accessory notoriously did not provide enough strength to stay attached to the back of the iPhone when taking the device out of a pocket. And if you have used the MagSafe charger, you might think these magnets are not strong enough to hold your device on a tripod out in front of you. But Moment developed its (M)Force magnet array that claims to use “custom tuned magnets” with a “grippy backer pad” for extra strength to boost the holding power of Apple’s base system.

I stored these MagSafe mounts on the side of a metal filing cabinet.

When I received these mounts, I attached them to the outside of my metal filing cabinet for safekeeping and was pleasantly surprised at just how hard it was to pull them off the side of the cabinet when I went to use them. And in my testing, my phone remained glued to the mounts no matter what they were mounted to. Pulling the phone off of these mounts was easy, too; with a bit of a twist the device disengages.

Moment’s MagSafe accessories work on a bare iPhone 12 or later or in a MagSafe-compatible case. I was able to test out Moment’s iPhone 12 Pro Thin Case with MagSafe and found it to be equally as strong as the bare phone. Moment’s cases also allow you to attach their lineup of lenses to your camera’s wide and telephoto sensors. Moment has also included the MagSafe technology in cases for the Galaxy S21 lineup, which you can preorder now for $49.99, and they should provide a similar experience to the iPhone’s built-in magnets.

Moment currently offers a sticky wall mount, a car vent mount, a cold shoe mount, a cold shoe and ¼” thread mount in both portrait and landscape orientations, a ¼” thread mount, and a multi-threaded mount. The pucks themselves are stainless steel disks with a matte finish. They are just the right amount of heavy: they feel durable and ready to be put into action while maintaining an extremely strong magnetic connection to the iPhone 12 Pro I was using.

The best part about using these mounts, and MagSafe at large, is the ease in quickly being able to put your phone on and pull it off of various accessories. I’m used to using mounts that grip the sides of my phone. Mounting my phone to a tripod, for example, meant having to attach it to the mount first, which is a two-step process: first the phone goes into the mount, then you have to close the mount’s sides to hold the phone. None of this process seemed to be too much of a problem until I didn’t have to do it anymore.

Each mount has a rubber, grippy back to keep your phone protected and attached.
Becca Farsace / The Verge and Becca Farsace / The Verge

Being able to seamlessly pull my phone off of any tripod, even with a light or mic attached via a cold shoe, is the time-saving, hassle-free experience I didn’t know I needed. I quite literally toss my phone on the puck and I’m ready to go. And it feels really good knowing I could answer the phone mid-take without putting a whole rig up to my ear with it.

Moment’s MagSafe accessories are available now, though some of the line is currently on backorder.

apple-to-ship-an-8-inch-foldable-iphone-in-2023,-according-to-report

Apple to ship an 8-inch foldable iPhone in 2023, according to report

2023 could be the year of the foldable iPhone, reckons renowned analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. In an investor note seen by MacRumours, Kuo claims that Apple is beavering away on a folding iPhone with an 8-inch QHD+ flexible OLED display. He even goes so far as to say the tech giant will ship 15 to 20 million folding smartphones in 2023. A bold prediction indeed.

Kuo also claims the “the foldable ‌iPhone‌ will adopt TPK’s silver nanowire touch solution”. Silver nanowire (SNW) is a new conductive film solution said to be a cost-effective way to make paper-thin, bendable OLED displays. If that’s true, there’s every chance the first foldable iPhone could resemble the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold.

Not convinced? Kuo believes Apple is already using SNW to make the touch interface for the successor to the HomePod Mini smart speaker. The idea being that Apple will have time to “master the technology” and iron out any production issues – before rolling the tech out to its flagship 2023 iPhone (set to be the iPhone 15). Makes sense.

This week’s prediction comes hot on the heels of rumours that Apple is working on a foldable display with a “mostly invisible hinge” that could unfold to around the size of the iPhone 12 Pro Max. Kuo has also weighed in on this debate in the past, tipping Apple to launch a 7.5- to 8-inch foldable iPhone in 2023 ‘provided the California company can solve key production issues’.

There’s even been talk of a foldable iPad lately. Kuo says it could “blur the product separation between mobile phones, tablets and notebooks”. 

Only time will tell, especially when you consider there’s currently no concrete evidence that Apple will pursue a foldable future. The firm has its hands full with the launch of the recently-announced iPad Pro 2021 and new Apple TV 4K, not to mention the upcoming iPhone 13.


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Apple Music HiFi tier could launch alongside AirPods 3 in coming weeks

(Image credit: Apple)

Apple is planning to add a new HiFi tier to its Apple Music streaming service, and it could coincide with the launch of its AirPods 3 true wireless earbuds, sources say. Hits Double Daily quotes music label sources as saying the HiFi tier will allow high-fidelity music streaming (we’re assuming CD-quality) and cost the same $9.99 (£9.99, AU$9.99) as the current Individual tier.

Both the new tier and the AirPods 3 will launch “in the coming weeks”, the sources say. Apple’s annual WWDC developers conference starts on 7th June, so there’s a chance we could see a launch around then.

An Apple Music HiFi tier would compete directly with Spotify, who should be launching its own CD-quality Spotify HiFi tier later in the year.

The two firms are arch-rivals. Apple was recently reprimanded by the European Commission for taking a cut of any music subscriptions bought from within apps running on its iOS operating system. It was also criticised for not allowing firms to advertise other – potentially cheaper – ways of subscribing on their iOS apps. The case followed a complaint from Spotify in 2019.

Last week, Spotify raised some of its prices, which didn’t go down particularly well in some quarters. And, it also launched podcast subscriptions, which is another area in which it will compete directly with Apple.

The third-gen AirPods have been rumoured for a while now. The AirPods 2 launched in 2019, so the earbuds are due a refresh. The next model is expected to look similar to the AirPods Pro, but without Pro-only features like active noise cancellation (ANC).

Amazon currently offers a high-fidelity service called Amazon Music HD. At £12.99 ($12.99) a month, it costs a little more than the standard Amazon Music Unlimited tier but it does include hi-res versions of a number of tracks. Whether Apple wants to go down the hi-res audio route remains to be seen, but it looks like all could be revealed in the next few weeks.

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