9to5Mac Reviews

The idea of a smart home security monitor has been in the back of my mind since the Mirai malware infected so many devices earlier last year. I already take precautionary steps in creating a secure home network, but I wanted an extra layer of protection to work for me. That’s where Cujo comes in. After a few weeks of testing the “smart firewall,” I got to see just how efficient these systems could be.

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Jaybird has today unveiled the newest addition to its lineup of sports-focused headphones, taking its first shot at a truly wireless experience in the process. The new Run in-ears feature all of the active lifestyle features that one expects from Jaybird, including a sweatproof and water-resistant design. But in an already crowded market, will it will find a place dominated by AirPods and other major players?

I was able to get an early run with Jaybird’s latest over the last few weeks. Taken from an Apple-geared perspective, here are my thoughts on the new $180 Jaybird Run truly wireless headphones.

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Bluetooth trackers have been a handy way to keep tabs on our valuables for some time now. Attach one to a bag, or slip one into your wallet, and you can then use your iPhone to help you track them down if you mislay them.

The ‘wallet’ part of that idea has, though, worked rather better in theory than practice. Even supposed slimline trackers have so far been too bulky to slip unnoticed into a wallet, which is the problem Chipolo set out to solve with its new Card tracker, which goes on sale today …

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One of the problems of being a keen photographer is that it’s easy to slip into a mode where you treat every photograph as if it were a professional assignment. You can end up carrying around a lot of kit, and then spending a lot of time editing photos.

I now make a conscious effort to decide my objective in advance. Is it artistic – where the kit and the time will be justified by the result – or am I simply seeking to capture a memory of an event, aka a snapshot?

Even for proper photography, I rarely carry a DSLR these days: my trusty Sony a6300 copes with most things. But when I’m just after a snapshot, I try to keep things simple …

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Long before the AirPods hit the market, Bragi hit the ground running with their true wireless earphones on Kickstarter. Three years later the company has released an upgrade on their original Dash. The Dash Pro brings improvements to Bluetooth connectivity, microphone quality, and a new live language translation ability.

Having spent a full month using the Dash Pro over my AirPods, I’ve dissected as much as I could out of these wireless earphones. The original Dash didn’t raise praise from us before, but could the Dash Pro be Bragi’s comeback kid story?

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Anyone who has ever sent or received payments between countries will know that the process is either expensive, complex or both.

PayPal, for example, is a really simple way to send money to someone, and it takes care of the currency conversion – but at a really terrible rate. Direct bank-to-bank transfers typically offer somewhat better rates, but setting up an international payment can be complex, and the rate you get usually ranges from the poor to the borderline criminal.

Other apps allow peer-to-peer payments, but usually through integrations with existing payment services that offer the same poor rates. Circle Pay claims to be different, offering mid-market rates (the same ones you’ll see if you Google the exchange rate) and no fees at all …

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I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with cases for iDevices. My general view is that we pay a lot of money for a beautifully-designed device, so it seems a great shame to hide them away inside a case.

On the other hand, there are some cases that are beautiful in themselves. For example, my iPhone 6 lived in a Mujjo Leather Wallet Case most of the time. That was mostly, though, for the convenience of being able to carry a couple of cards with me when I wanted to go out without my wallet. My iPhone SE travels naked.

My iPad spends a lot of its time attached to a Brydge keyboard, which also protects the screen, but doesn’t sit inside a case. My MacBook Air does still live inside a Burkley hardshell leather case because I’m a big fan of leather and think that looks just as good as the machine itself.

But the portability of my 2016 MacBook Pro means that this, not the Air, is the machine I carry with me when I need more than an iPad. That meant I did need to think about protecting it …

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Before I had even moved into my new apartment a few months ago, I was already dreaming of ways to integrate HomeKit throughout the space. The number one priority being how to turn it into a not-so-obvious smart home. I didn’t want blinking LEDs littering my apartment, and I didn’t want guests having to question how exactly to turn on a light switch. It needed to appear like a regular apartment, but be HomeKit compatible.

The area I struggled with the most was the light switch. Through weeks of hunting I came across ones that required hubs, had obnoxious LEDs, or looked like alien light switches. Then came Leviton with its HomeKit compatible Decora Smart Switch and Dimmer. At first glance, they don’t even appear to be “smart,” which couldn’t be more perfect for my setup.

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Regular readers will know that I’m a sucker for wooden products. I’ll take hardwood flooring over any other surface, a real wood desk over glass, metal or anything else you can offer me. Decking over a lawn. And so on.

Over the years, I’ve tested quite a few wooden products, including a Mac dock, a number of iPhone cases, Watch charger, Airplay speaker, USB charger and even an iPad sleeve. So when I was offered the chance to try out a wooden keyboard and trackpad, no surprise that I accepted …

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It’s been a week since Apple announced the new 10.5-inch iPad Pro, and the early reviews are now in. While reviewers do express a few reservations along the way, the overwhelming tone is positive.

Phrases like ‘Apple pays off its future-of-computing promise’ and ‘the biggest step forward the category has made yet’ suggest that tech writers are finally taking seriously Apple’s claim that an iPad is for many a realistic replacement for a PC.

There is disagreement about just how far that claim stretches, and eyebrows raised over the all-in price of a device that makes little sense without a Smart Keyboard and Apple Pencil, but those are the only real reservations found …

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When Apple unveiled the 2016 MacBook Pro with Touch Bar, I wasn’t so sure I was ready to go all-in on USB-C. I’m not against using dongles, but the idea of having to carry multiple around was not appealing.

After spending a week with the Satechi Type-C Pro Hub, it has quickly become a staple accessory for me. With its functionality, design, and construction, Satechi built a hub I would expect out of Apple.

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One of my complaints about HomeKit devices is that too many of them look like what father-of-the-iPod Tony Fadell once described as ‘ugly white plastic crap.’ My Philips Hue switches and motion sensors, for example, work well, but they are undoubtedly both white and plastic – and while I wouldn’t go so far as to call them ugly, they are certainly not beautiful.

This is an issue Elgato’s latest HomeKit offering aims to address. The Eve Degree is a standalone room thermometer capable of measuring both temperature and humidity, reporting it back to your iPhone.

With an anodized aluminum surround and black front, it aims to look rather more Apple-like than your average HomeKit accessory …

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Logitech has today announced the latest generation of its popular MX Master mice alongside an intriguing software feature called Flow. The MX Master and Anywhere 2S introduce a handful of hardware upgrades in a familiar package.

I was a huge fan of the previous generation models, so I was anxious to go hands-on with the latest rendition. Over the last few weeks, I’ve been able to spend some time using both new models and the Flow feature as a part of my daily routine. Full details on both devices as well as my thoughts on each can be found below.

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Autocorrect can be a mixed blessing. We’ve all experienced times where it’s a hindrance rather than a help, insisting on turning our perfectly valid words into something entirely unrelated – so much so that entire websites have been devoted to its alleged failings (even if most of them are made up).

But one of its real strengths is the ability to save typing effort. We can create our own abbreviations that then expand out into the full phrase or sentence. TextExpander is a cloud-based service that uses the same concept, but is, to borrow a phrase, insanely powerful …

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After the success of having partnered with multiple companies for its modular case system, OtterBox is ready to add another household brand to its roster. Available today, OtterBox is introducing mophie’s charge force battery technology to the uniVERSE case system.

I spent the past week with the new charge force battery and charge force adapter to see how well the two companies were able to integrate their products.

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Regular readers will know I’m a big fan of Scrivener, having used the app to write three novels, two novellas and a travel guide. But when I accidentally found myself working on a screenplay for a comedy series, I thought I’d try the industry-standard software for the job: Final Draft.

Final Draft comes highly recommended, used by all the top studios and praised by such screenwriting talents as Aaron Sorkin, James Cameron, JJ Abrams, Sofia Coppola and more. Ben Stiller said that ‘Final Draft is the only screenwriting software I have ever used, and it is the only one I ever will use.’

But priced at a hefty $250 for the Mac app and another $20 for the iPad companion app, it’s not a trivial investment for most of us. So what does it do to earn such praise and justify the cost … ?

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From 9to5Toys:

As soon as I saw FluidStance’s decks with beautiful designs, materials and a goal to bring motion to standing desks and other settings, I knew that I wanted to give them a try. For the last week I’ve been using two of the three models they offer, and without a doubt, I’m totally hooked.

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Just in time for spring adventures, Logitech’s Ultimate Ears has launched the latest addition to their speaker line, the Wonderboom. Gaining a reputation in previous years for their compact and well-designed speakers, UE’s Wonderboom is gunning to become the new no-fuss choice for portable speaker shoppers. We got to go hands-on with the company’s new pint-sized speaker offering.

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