Wireless

In China, you can ask HomePod to tell you a story

HomePod in China includes an interesting storytelling feature for children, unavailable elsewhere, that permits kids to ask the Siri assistant to tell them a story.

HomePod became available in China last Friday, January 18, but this feature was tucked away as a side-note in Apple's press release announcing HomePod's debut in China.

“In China, Siri on HomePod also offers storytelling for children, just say 'Hey Siri, tell me a story',” reads the announcement.

The feature is also being advertised on Apple's HomePod webpage in Chinese, but no further information is provided as to how this works and what the limitations are, if any.

At any rate, this isn't the only China-specific features for the Siri speaker—with the new Artist of the Week program, for instance, Apple Music on HomePod showcases newly discovered talent across greater China.

New artists from mainland China include Corsak, Chace, Lucie Cheung, Gong, Dean Ting and Lu Xianghui while the popular playlists include "The A-List International Pop," "Today’s Hits," 'Best of the Week," "The A-List Mandopop" and "Mandopop Replay", containing recent Mandopop hits from the past five years.

HomePod is available in the US, UK, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Mexico, Spain, China and Hong Kong in White and Space Gray.

SignalPlane intelligently utilizes Airplane Mode at times of low signal to save battery

As you move closer to or farther away from an internet access point, whether it’s over cellular or Wi-Fi, your handset’s signal level adjusts to reflect your distance from said access point. But did you know that a weak internet signal causes your iPhone or iPad to work harder to maintain that signal?

Many don’t realize it, but the circumstances described above can have an adverse impact on your handset’s battery life. On the other hand, a new free jailbreak tweak called SignalPlane by iOS developer Julio Verne can help counteract these adverse effects with a clever Airplane Mode-centric implementation.

Harpy: A new jailbreak app that lets you rule your local Wi-Fi network with an iron fist

After refreshing my Cydia sources this week, I happened upon a peculiar package dubbed Harpy by iOS developer midnightchips. But more importantly, I was pleasantly surprised after tapping on the package to learn more about it.

As it would seem, Harpy is a lightweight networking app that can help you control the users on your local Wi-Fi network or Personal Hotspot. Right out of the box, Harpy provides users with the following features: