iFixit Tears Down Magic Keyboard, Magic Mouse 2 and Magic Trackpad 2

Friday October 16, 2015 8:08 am PDT by Joe Rossignol

iFixit has published detailed teardowns of the new Magic Keyboard, Magic Mouse 2 and Magic Trackpad 2, providing a closer look at the internal design and several matching components inside the trio of accessories.

The teardown experts first pried through the Magic Keyboard's adhesive to uncover its logic board, rechargeable 793 mAh lithium-ion battery, Lightning connector cable and honeycomb-shaped spacer layer. iFixit also removed the keycaps to reveal Apple's new scissor mechanism.


The Magic Keyboard logic board contains a Broadcom Bluetooth transceiver, ST Microelectronics microcontroller, NXP charging IC and Texas Instruments battery charger:

Apple TV 4 and iPad Pro Pre-Orders Begin at Select Authorized Resellers in Europe

Friday October 16, 2015 9:24 am PDT by Joe Rossignol

Just weeks before the Apple TV 4 is expected to be released worldwide, select Apple Authorized Resellers in Europe have begun accepting pre-orders for the new set-top box. The Apple TV 4 is officially slated to launch in late October, but the majority of orders are unlikely to be fulfilled until November.


Electronics retailer Elgiganten, equivalent to Best Buy in the Nordic Region, is accepting Apple TV 4 pre-orders in Denmark and Norway with expected delivery in November. The 32GB and 64GB models are listed for 1,399 and 1,849 Danish kroner and 1,749 and 2,299 Norwegian kroner respectively.

German electronics retailer Cyberport has also listed the Apple TV 4 and iPad Pro for pre-order on its website. The authorized reseller lists the 32GB and 64GB Apple TV 4 for €179 and €239 respectively, which could be indicative of broader European pricing, although prices in other countries will likely vary depending on local taxes.


iPad Pro prices range from €899 to €1,229, compared to between $799 and $1,079 in the United States.

Cyberport advertises that the Apple TV 4 will be available from November 5, and lists the iPad Pro as not yet available. Apple has not provided a specific release date for either product beyond late October for the Apple TV 4 and November for the iPad Pr

EU Court Decision Threatens US Cloud Dominance

The European court's decision is not the way to address privacy concerns, maintained Daniel Castro, vice president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation. "It will disrupt not just the thousands of U.S. and European companies that currently depend on the Safe Harbor to do business across the Atlantic, but also the broader digital economy."

Edward Snowden's legacy gained another chapter last week when the European Court of Justice rejected an agreement between the United States and European Union that created a Safe Harbor for U.S. companies handling personal data of overseas citizens.

In essence, the agreement provided that a U.S. company's word that it had adequate safeguards in place to protect the data of Europeans was all that was needed to permit overseas data transfers to American service providers.
The agreement was a convenient way for the European Union to accommodate the discrepancy between its strong privacy protections and the much weaker ones in the United States.
In light of Snowden's revelations about massive, indiscriminate collection of people's data and snooping on cloud service providers by U.S. intelligence agencies, the Safe Harbor protections were no longer good enough, the European court ruled.
The Safe Harbor framework that was designed to protect the data of European citizens could be ignored by government authorities in the United States, the court said. Moreover, neither individuals nor privacy authorities in Europe had any recourse to challenge actions by U.S. government agencies.

OS X El Capitan 10.11.1 Public Release Coming Soon With Fixes for Office 2016, Mail, and More

The upcoming OS X 10.11.1 El Capitan release, which is expected to be released in the very near future, will include a compatibility update for Microsoft Office 2016 to fix ongoing crashing issues, MacRumors has learned. Since OS X El Capitan was released in late September, some Office 2016 users have found the software to be nearly unusable due to frequent crashes or an inability to open the Office apps at all.

Microsoft informed customers it was aware of the problem nearly two weeks ago and said it was "actively working with Apple" on a fix, hinting the problem was on Apple's end and wasn't something Microsoft could fix alone.


Microsoft did update Office 2016 earlier this week, adding new features and security enhancements, but admitted it did not fix any El Capitan bugs in an accompanying support document. At that time, Microsoft said it was working with Apple to "ensure resolution with the next update of OS X 10.11 El Capitan."

Apple's most recent OS X 10.11.1 beta for developers and public beta testers was released Wednesday afternoon, with Apple asking developers to focus on Mail and Office 2016. The upcoming OS X 10.11.1 release will also fix several issues with Mail regarding missing server information and a bug that prevents the display of messages and mailboxes within the app. The update also includes dozens of new emoji from Unicode 7 and 8, including taco, burrito, cheese wedge, unicorn head, middle finger, popcorn, and more.

Office 2011 users were also experiencing issues with crashing and with a non-functional Outlook app, but Microsoft was able to fix those bugs with an Office 2011 update that was released on October 7.

Google Removes 'OK Google' Search Activation in Latest Chrome Update

Earlier this week, Google released Chrome 46 with a long list of bug fixes and feature improvements to improve memory and power usage, but unmentioned was the removal of "OK Google" voice-based search activation.

As noted by VentureBeat, it's no longer possible to use the "OK Google" phrase to trigger a voice search, which has been a feature built into the Chrome browser since May of 2014. "OK Google" was removed from the Chrome browser on Windows, Mac, and Linux, but is still available on Chrome for mobile devices and Chromebooks.


Image via VentureBeat
Google removed the feature because it wasn't heavily used, and its deletion should help save power and speed up browsing as the Chrome browser will no longer need to continually listen for voice commands.

"OK Google" search activation is just one of the lesser-used features that Google removed this week. Also being nixed is the notification center, which Google says "few users" visited on a regular basis. It will be removed with the next iteration of Chrome.

ConnectSense HomeKit-Compatible Smart Outlet Available for Pre-Order

 Now that HomeKit has been available for several months, additional HomeKit-connected products are beginning to trickle out. ConnectSense is the latest company to announce a launch date for HomeKit-compatible product, and its Smart Outlet was today added to Apple's list of HomeKit products.

Priced at $79.95, the Smart Outlet plugs into an existing outlet and offers two Wi-Fi connected sockets that can be controlled independently using Siri or an accompanying ConnectSense app. Like the Elgato Eve Energy, the Smart Outlet also includes tools for monitoring the power usage of connected appliances.

AT&T Delays Wi-Fi Calling Support Amid Wait for FCC Waiver, Calls Out Sprint and T-Mobile

Originally tested in an iOS 9 public beta back in August, AT&T ultimately held back on a wide public release for Wi-Fi calling due to its decision to wait for an FCC waiver that would temporarily relieve the carrier of needing to offer support options for deaf and hard-of-hearing people. The Federal Communications Commission's rules state that all calling services need support for a teletypewriter (TTY) service for the deaf, but AT&T wants the old-fashioned TTY replaced with real-time text (RTT) support instead.