| Review: IK Multimedia iRig Pro I/O for iPhone
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 The iRig Pro I/O is a compact audio interface that lets musicians, singers, and podcasters connect their instruments or microphones to Apple iPhones, iPads, and Macs. It takes all the best features of the larger iRig Pro Duo and boils them down to the most essential tools in a highly portable package.
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| Apple Puts Its Foot Down, Will Require Apps Support iPhone X
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 Apple today told developers that soon all new apps submitted to the iTunes App Store must support the screen of the latest iPhone. "Starting April 2018, all new iOS apps submitted to the App Store must be built with the iOS 11 SDK, included in Xcode 9 or later," said Apple in an email to developers. "All new apps for iPhone, including universal apps, must support the Super Retina display of iPhone X." The iPhone X display swaps the 16:9 aspect ratio found on the iPhone 6, 7, and 8 for a 2:1 aspect ratio with a notch at the top. It also boosts the resolution beyond full HD. Apps that haven't yet been updated for the iPhone X often have black bars at the top and bottom, which look unsightly. Developers can find the iOS 11 SDK on Apple's developer web site.
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| Microsoft's New Photos Companion App Acts Like AirDrop, But for Windows PCs
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 Microsoft's garage team has released a new application that lets Android and iOS users easily transfer photos from their phone to their Windows 10 PC. Photos Companion works in coordination with the Microsoft Photos app on Windows 10 PCs. As long as the iPhone or Android device is on the same network as the PC, users can transfer photos and videos directly from the phone to the computer over WiFi. The app makes use of a QR code in Microsoft Photos on the PC that users scan with the Photos Companion app to initiate the transfer. Photos Companion is free to download from the Google Play Store and the iTunes App Store.
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| ZTE Says Intel Chiefs' Fears Unfounded, Its Phones No Threat
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| ZTE says American consumers have no reason to fear its cell phones. The company issued a statement after the heads of the FBI, CIA, NSA and other intelligence groups suggested that Americans should not purchase phones made by ZTE and Huawei. "ZTE is proud of the innovation and security of our products in the U.S. market. As a publicly traded company, we are committed to adhering to all applicable laws and regulations of the United States, work with carriers to pass strict testing protocols, and adhere to the highest business standards," said the company. ZTE has carrier deals, unlike Huawei, and sells many of its phone via prepaid operators Cricket Wireless and MetroPCS. "Our mobile phones and other devices incorporate U.S.-made chipsets, U.S.-made operating systems and other components. ZTE takes cybersecurity and privacy seriously and remains a trusted partner to our U.S. suppliers, U.S. customers and the people who use our high quality and affordable products for their communications needs," argued the ...
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| Apple Releases iOS 11.3 Public Beta 2
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| Apple today made iOS 11.3 Beta 2 available to public testers. This build tweaks performance and adds Apple's promised battery health meter. The tool is meant to help people balance battery life and speed/performance of older iPhones. The new feature is a response to news that Apple slows down the performance of older iPhones to account for the degradation of lithium ion batteries. Apple said the final version of iOS 11.3 will be available to all consumers this spring.
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| iOS Update to Let iPhone Owners Keep Phones Running Fast
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| Apple plans to give iPhone owners more control over their devices, particularly the battery and performance, says CEO Tim Cook. Speaking to ABCNews, Cook addressed the issue concerning older iPhone batteries. The company admitted late last year that it slows down the performance of some devices in order to prevent them from shutting down. End users often complain that their devices feel slow after updating the software. "At the heart of any decision we make is the user, and we felt it would be better to take something off of the performance to prevent [iPhones from restarting]. We deeply apologize for anybody who thinks we have some other kind of motivation," said Cook. Because the problem pertains to the battery, Apple reduced the cost of replacement batteries from $79 to $29. Putting a new battery in an old phone mitigates the issue. Apple plans to take things a step further. It will soon give people more insight into the health of their iPhone's battery. "We've listened to the feedback very carefully ...
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| Hands On with the Sony Xperia XA2 and XA2 Ultra
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 Sony debuted several new smartphones at CES this week in Las Vegas, including the Xperia XA2, XA2 Ultra, and L2. The XA2 and XA2 Ultra share nearly every feature other than screen size and battery capacity. Here is an early look at the latest from Sony.
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| Apple Says Chip Flaws Impact All iOS and Mac Devices
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| Apple today verified that many of its laptops, tablets, and smartphones are compromised by the security issues known as Meltdown and Spectre. These exploits take advantage of a modern CPU tool called speculative execution, which allows processors to predict where instructions will travel. Hackers could use certain techniques to manipulate speculative execution in order to access privileged memory, such as that of the kernel. Apple says the vulnerabilities are found in all modern processors and touch nearly every computing device and operating system, including its Mac computers, iPads, and iPhones. However, Apple has already mitigated the issue via recent system updates. For example, iOS 11.2 for iPhones and iPads, macOS 10.13.2 for Mac computers, and tvOS 11.2 for the Apple TV defend against these exploits. Apple has a release planned for Safari that will help protect Macs against the Spectre vulnerability. The company will continue to monitor the exploit and test further updates to keep Meltdown and ...
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| Apple Lowers Battery Replacement Cost to $29 Immediately
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| Apple made $29 replacement batteries available to owners of older iPhones effective starting today. The drop, announced earlier this week, was originally slated to go into effect in late January. "We expected to need more time to be ready, but we are happy to offer our customers the lower pricing right away," said Apple in a statement provided to Axios. "Initial supplies of some replacement batteries may be limited." Apple uses software to limit the performance of some older iPhones in order to prevent battery-related shutdowns. Replacing the original, aging battery with a new one resolves such issues and leads to better performance of the smartphone. The battery replacement service typically costs $79, but Apple has lowered the cost to $29. The program will run through December 2018 and targets the iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6s, 6s Plus, and SE.
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| Sony XZ Premium Scores Android 8 Oreo Update with 3D Creator
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 Sony has begun updating its Xperia XZ Premium smartphone with Android 8 Oreo. Android 8 includes a handful of new features for smartphones, including notification dots, better app management, and picture-in-picture. Sony is taking things a step further. Sony is giving the XZ Premium one of the best features of the new XZ1 and XZ1 Compact handsets, the 3D Creator tool. With 3D Creator, people can create 3D scans of real-world objects such as faces, heads, and food. The update also gives the XZ Premium predictive (smile) capture, autofocus burst, improved sound quality, and app shortcuts. Sony says the update is being pushed out in phases.
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