Apple has finally bowed to the pressure and is offering owners of older iPhones a $29 dollar option to get their batteries replaced – and get their phones’ performance back up to “like new” speeds. But wait, that’s not all: Apple posted a mea culpa on their site that explained a bit more of their explanation over why phones slowed down (short version: batteries age), and also added a resource page about battery tech.
They also said that in a future iOS update, there will be more “visibility” into the health of an iPhone’s battery and the phone’s performance levels. Apple says the discounted “out of warranty” battery replacement program will start in late January and will run through essentially all of 2018, so don’t run down to the Apple Store just yet for your replacement.
The Xbox One and Xbox One S are already a top-tier gaming consoles, so what could make them even better? If they were top-tier media-playing boxes as well. And while the Xbox can do a fair amount of things including play bluray movies and such, it’s capabilities have been greatly expanded with the release of the Kodi app for the Xbox One. Kodi is a third- party app that lets the Xbox basically play all kinds of media, and it lets you add apps that Microsoft might frown on.
Kodi can work as a cable box and decode cable channels, it can turn your Xbox into a DVR, and it can play a long list of media types from those external drives you have with all your ripped DVDs and that stuff you got from… somewhere. Pretty versatile, but it does have its limitations. Check out the Kodi app page and their explainer, so if you want to trick out that new Xbox you just got, you know what to do next.
Sleek, fast, and maybe too late?
Tesla continues to rule the electric car market, and with the upcoming Roadster hot rod and Semi truck models, it seems like the completion is going to need a pretty fast set of wheels to start catching up. Who’s up to the challenge? Looks like Porsche may be a worthy contender in the near future, with their Mission E sports car. And now, Automobile is claiming the E will be packing about 670 horsepower along with an impressive driving range of 300 miles or better.
That lines up with specs on Porsches site, which adds that the E will hit 60 miles an hour in 3.5 seconds and 124 miles an hour is 12 seconds. And like the upcoming Roadster, which spec-wise blows the Mission E off the road, it’s going to seat four people through some nifty suicide doors. Autombile says the Mission E is due to arrive in 2019 or maybe 2020 at the latest, but so far, no price has been announced. The future is coming up fast.
DT Daily will return on January 3rd, 2018. Happy New Year!
We’ve got more news on our Facebook page and YouTube channel, and be sure to tune in to this week’s DT podcasts: Trends with Benefits (general tech shenanigans) on Thursdays, and Between the Streams (movie and TV topics) every Friday.
We shouldn’t fall into the easy trap of passing the new MagSafe for iPhone technology off as merely a branding exercise dripping in nostalgia to titillate long-term Mac fans. There are two reasons why. First, it may become one of the most interesting and innovative “Made for iPhone” official accessory ranges we’ve seen since the beginning of the program itself.
Second, we should also remember it’s the latest weapon in Apple’s ecosystem arsenal, designed specifically to keep you buying the iPhone for years to come, possibly including one of the most controversial rumored iPhones on the horizon.
What is MagSafe for iPhone?
What does MagSafe do? It’s a new way for chargers and accessories to attach and talk to your iPhone. The simplest accessory is Apple's own MagSafe Wireless Charger, a $39 charging plate that looks a bit like a thinner, oversized Apple Watch charging plinth. It uses magnets to clamp itself tightly against the back of the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro models, securely keeping it in place for accurate charger positioning.
On this Digital Trends Live, Greg Nibler hosts a look at the top trending tech stories of the day, including the continuing battle between developers and app stores, Amazon’s palm payment method, the first foldable PC, NASA's Crew Dragon Capsule launch, and more.
On this Digital Trends Live, host Greg Nibler discusses the top tech stories of the day, including TikTok's latest win, Roku’s new product, Prime Day dates, food service robots, and more.
Javier Botero