Apple-owned Beats by Dr. Dre today announced its very first wireless speaker since joining the Cupertino firm in May 2014 deal valued at more than $3 billion.
The new Pill+ is Bluetooth-enabled, lighter than its predecessor and comes with a twelve-hour battery that can be used to charge your devices through the USB and USB-C ports found on the back.
The Pill+ is slightly larger than the original Pill speaker and uses the stereo active 2-way crossover system to create an optimized sound field.
If the 12-inch MacBook is indicative of Apple's future plans, the popular MagSafe adapter is on its way out as USB-C comes into full view.
Sadly, USB-C is plagued with a major drawback: the standard doesn't use Apple's proprietary MagSafe charging method which employs magnets to ensure your notebook doesn't fly off a desk or wiggle the pins when you trip on the cord.
With MagSafe's future hanging in the balance, a company called aMagic Ltd. set out to replicate the MagSafe charging experience on Lightning-enabled iPhone, iPod touch and iPad devices.
Chances are that if you’re reading this review, you have more than one portable device that charges via USB. Maybe you have two—a tablet and a phone—or maybe you have multiple phones.
Admittedly, someone like me is a bit of anomaly, as I review phones and cover them on a daily basis. Hence, it’s not out of the ordinary for me to have multiple smartphones at any given time. This has especially become true as I get acquainted with more Android devices.
One of the main caveats of having this many portable devices is keeping them charged. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve picked up a phone or a tablet that I haven’t touched in a while, only to find it dead—the dreaded "dead phone syndrome".
The problem really is two-fold: a). I don’t have enough wall outlets and chargers in convenient places to keep the devices topped off, and b). my devices are usually scattered all over the place.
Skiva’s new PowerFlow StandCharger 7-Port USB Charging Station aims to eliminate both problems. It can charge all of your devices at the same time via the seven 2.4 Amp USB ports, and it also houses each device in a organized manner.
But does the Skiva do enough to warrant a serious look? Is this $59.99 device truly better than your current system of charging your device? Check out our video walkthrough and thoughts inside.
There are two things wrong with Apple's Lightning cable. One is that the cord is just not long enough to be useful. The other is that it tends to tangle when not properly stored.
Bolse solves both of those problems with a six-foot MFi certified cord that is covered in a high-quality nylon jacket so you can plug your iPhone 6 into the wall and still use it while sitting on the couch.
As many of you guys know, I’m fairly involved in audio and video when it comes to producing content for iDownloadBlog. As someone who co-produces multiple podcasts each week, I’m especially fond of audio, and any new product that surfaces that could possibly give my audio game a boost is on my radar.
One such product is Sennheiser’s new ClipMic digital ($199 on Amazon). It’s a lavalier mic that connects directly to the iPhone via its MFi certified Lightning connector. With the ClipMic digital, you can basically transform your iPhone into a high quality audio recorder...
I used to have about a half-dozen extra iPhone charging cables lying around. I own about that many iOS devices. But, those were for the 30-pin ports. When the Lightning cable was introduced, my supply dropped to only two.
iXCC has a low-price five-pack of MFi certified Lightning cables in varying sizes. So, you can keep one in the car, one in the bedroom, one in your travel bag. Well, you get the point.
If you visited your nearest Apple retail store since the Apple Watch's April 10 debut, you were probably delighted by the special display retail units that combine the Apple Watch and a bigger screen to provide a cool interactive experience.
Tapping any app or option on the Apple Watch instantly puts up an animated description of the feature on the second screen. It's instantaneous, fun and seamless.
Thankfully, a set of documents and images published recently by a Brazilian regulatory agency, and shared by BlogdoiPhone, gives us an in-depth look at how Apple engineered these display retail units and how they work.
Getting a new 5K iMac for under two grand was nice, and the addition of Force Touch to the 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro was cool. But this release is by far the most surprising release from Apple that we've seen today.
Indeed, has released a Lightning dock for the iPhone 5, iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, and 6 Plus. You can even use Apple's new dock with a Lightning equipped iPod touch.
The dock is available for purchase now for $39.99 and ships in 1-3 business days.
Apple’s included Lightning cable just seems to fall short of useful. Maybe that is because it is too short. The charging cable that comes with your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch is only about 3 feet long. If your wall plug is right next to your bed, then you will be OK, but otherwise, you need extra feet.
Amazon makes an MFi-certified Lightning cable that is six feet long, twice the length of Apple’s. So, if you need the extra length, or just want a second cable, Amazon has you covered.
I travel a lot. Not necessarily on vacations mind you. I just mean, I'm out and about on a daily basis, gone for side family visits on the weekend, and fly on a somewhat regular basis. Consequently, my daypack is always stuffed with cables for my gadgets, iPhone, iPad, backup battery charger, Bluetooth headphones and the like.
Naturally, there is some overlap there with the Lightning cable, but sometimes you need to charge the iPhone and iPad simultaneously. More importantly, my daypack is made for lightweight daily stuff and every time I cram one more even small item, it gets filled. Thankfully, I've added Nomad's NomadClip to the mix and I can store my charging cable on my belt clip, outside of the bag, and many other non-backpack locations.
If I had to guess, I’d bet that a lot of iPhone users charge their device at night, next to their bed. Doing so serves two purposes. You can charge your iPhone through the night while you sleep, and you can use it as an alarm clock. When docked, it could also serve as a display for relaxation images and late night talk show viewing.
The Lightning Desktop Dock from Mophie is a stand that is compatible with the iPhone 5, 5s, 5c, and 6. Connect your device to the dock and it will charge all night while you watch movies in portrait mode until you fall asleep.
Apple's new 12-inch MacBook has left watchers scratching their head over its one-port design.
By replacing Thunderbolt I/O, standard USB, MagSafe and SD card ports with a single, much slimmer USB-C port (also known as USB Type-C), the company was able to create “the future of notebook.”
At the same time, the new notebook does inconvenience users, at least over the short term, by requiring various adapters to connect the machine to their existing accessories. Thankfully, there're signs that the industry is going all in on USB-C.
Google's recently refreshed Pixel notebook has two USB-C ports, for example. In addition, upcoming accessories, like Nomad's versatile Apple Watch charging dock incorporate USB-C as the new charging standard.
It may be a safe bet to wager that USB-C will eventually take the gadget industry by storm, but this begs the question of Lightning I/O on iPhones, iPods and iPads. Is what we're seeing here Apple's next iPhone connector, do you think, or should the company stick with Lightning I/O for the next ten years?