Ikea Unveils $10 Qi2 Wireless Charger in a Donut Shape
This donut-shaped wireless charger from an unexpected brand could be the ultimate Pixelsnap accessory.
Apple’s Upcoming iPhone 17 Model Seeks to Tackle Significant Problems Identified in Earlier Version
**MagSafe Support Arriving on the iPhone 17e: Key Information You Should Know**
Recent insights from *The Information* have revealed thrilling news regarding Apple’s forthcoming iPhone 17e, especially its expected compatibility with MagSafe technology. This feature, which was significantly missing in the earlier iPhone 16e model, is anticipated to greatly improve the user experience.
### What Exactly is MagSafe?
MagSafe is Apple’s unique magnetic charging system that enables effortless attachment of accessories and offers a more effective wireless charging experience. It first made its debut with the iPhone 12 series and has since become a favored feature among users who value the ease of magnetic alignment and the extensive assortment of compatible accessories.
### Improvements in the iPhone 17e
The iPhone 17e is starting to look like an attractive choice for budget-minded consumers. In addition to the launch of MagSafe, the device is rumored to include:
– **Center Stage Front Camera**: This innovation allows for automatic composition during video calls, keeping users in focus as they move.
– **Dynamic Island**: A design aspect that enriches the user interface by delivering a more engaging experience.
– **Slimmer Bezels**: A design enhancement that will provide the device with a more contemporary aesthetic.
### Responding to User Feedback
The absence of MagSafe support in the iPhone 16e was a major issue for many users. Although the device was compatible with Qi wireless charging, it lacked the same degree of convenience and accessory compatibility offered by MagSafe. By reintegrating this feature in the iPhone 17e, Apple is addressing user feedback and boosting the overall appeal of the device.
### Final Thoughts
With the inclusion of MagSafe, along with other remarkable features like the A19 chip and camera enhancements, the iPhone 17e stands to be a formidable player in the budget smartphone arena. As Apple persistently innovates and adapts to consumer demands, the upcoming iPhone 17e may very well fulfill the expectations of both dedicated fans and new users.
How significant is MagSafe to you? Share your views in the comments.
Read More
9to5Mac Daily: December 16, 2025 – Summary of AirDrop Functionalities and Recent iOS Speculations
### 9to5Mac Daily: Your Hub for Daily Apple Updates
In the dynamic realm of technology, remaining informed about the latest updates and trends is crucial, particularly for Apple fans. The **9to5Mac Daily** podcast stands as a trustworthy source for daily summaries of the most important stories within the Apple ecosystem.
#### What is 9to5Mac Daily?
**9to5Mac Daily** is a podcast that provides listeners with a brief overview of the top Apple news stories every weekday. Led by informed tech journalists, the podcast addresses an array of subjects, including product launches, software updates, and market trends.
Listeners can find new episodes on platforms such as [iTunes](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/9to5mac-daily/id1331816080), [Stitcher](https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/9to5mac-daily), [TuneIn](https://tunein.com/radio/9to5Mac-Daily-p1089524/), [Google Play](https://play.google.com/music/m/I5d4dzs7dauazmfxvvrynyiuram?t=9to5Mac_Daily), or through a dedicated [RSS feed](https://feedpress.me/9to5macdaily) for various podcast clients.
#### Special Offers and Sponsorships
Listeners can take advantage of special promotions, including discounts from sponsors. Currently, **Backblaze** is providing a 30% discount for 9to5Mac listeners with the code **9to5Xmas**, offering a fantastic chance for users to safeguard their data with dependable backup solutions.
#### Subscription Benefits
For those who want to directly support the podcast, subscribing to **9to5Mac Daily Plus** reveals a range of perks, including ad-free episodes and exclusive bonus material. This subscription aids in maintaining the podcast while enriching the listening experience.
#### Engaging with the Community
Listeners are invited to share their opinions and feedback. They can contact via email at [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) or leave reviews on platforms like [Apple Podcasts](https://geo.itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id1331816080?at=10laZc&pt=11l8808) and
Read More
Uncover the Crucial Wireless External SSD Tailored for Your Requirements
Kingston Dual Portable Solid-State Drive.
It’s considered “dual” due to its two-sided design, featuring a USB-A connector on one end and a USB-C connector on the other. It is compliant with USB 3.2 Gen 2, the most recent USB standard preceding USB4, providing read speeds reaching 1,050MB/s and write speeds of up to 950MB/s. These speeds are remarkably fast in comparison to typical USB drives, and this compact drive can connect to a variety of devices, including desktops, laptops, and even smartphones or tablets. There’s no need for supplementary cables or adapters. Priced at $127 for the 512GB model, $155 for 1TB, and $328 for 2TB, the pricing is quite fair, although the format must be taken into account. For comparison, a SanDisk 2TB Extreme portable solid-state drive retails for $210 at its regular price, but it is significantly larger. Furthermore, the SanDisk requires a cable, while the Kingston does not. USB cables and connectors maintain backward compatibility, meaning if you connect this Kingston to an older USB port, it will still function, although transfer speeds will reduce considerably.
What additional information is available about the Kingston portable SSD?
Starting off, Kingston offers a very solid warranty, covering up to five years or “SSD Life Remaining,” along with complimentary technical support. The solid-state drive is compatible with a range of devices, such as Windows, macOS, Linux, Chrome OS, iOS, iPadOS, and Android, all specified on the official product page. It notes that some mobile devices might need an OTG adapter, although no specific models are mentioned.
The main attraction lies in the size and the claimed speed, which can reach up to 10Gbps with compatible USB 3.2 Gen 2 devices via USB-C. Understanding the USB ports available to you and which ports you are utilizing is crucial. If you connect it to a USB 2.0 or regular USB 3.0 port, you won’t achieve the highest speeds. The positive aspect is that pretty much everything either <a href="https://www.bgr.com/2042914/why-everything-uses-usb-c-port-explained/" target
Read More
Top 5 Essential Meta Quest Apps for Instant Setup
Virtual reality headsets have emerged as one of the most thrilling new entertainment products in recent times. Countless individuals have adopted the Meta Quest 3 headsets, featuring improved VR functionalities and becoming a favored choice for gaming. Nevertheless, the Meta Quest extends beyond gaming; with the appropriate applications, it can evolve into a multifaceted instrument for productivity, creativity, fitness, and education. This article examines five crucial apps that every Meta Quest user ought to think about installing to tap into the full capabilities of their VR headset.
**Bigscreen Beta**
Bigscreen Beta is an essential app for those in search of a communal, immersive entertainment experience. It transforms your Meta Quest VR headset into a collective movie theater, allowing you to invite friends to join your virtual space and watch films, series, and YouTube videos together. The app supports social VR chat rooms, letting you relax with up to 12 friends. One of its remarkable features is remote desktop streaming, which allows you to connect your Windows PC and broadcast its screen to your headset, enabling you to enjoy video games on a massive virtual TV. While Bigscreen Beta can be accessed for free, the Cloud Browser necessitates a subscription following a two-hour trial.
**Steam Link**
The Steam Link app enables you to stream your complete Steam library to your Meta Quest VR headset, incorporating both VR and regular PC games. With official backing from Valve, you can effortlessly connect your PC and Quest to enjoy games like “Half-Life: Alyx” without being constrained by the headset’s hardware. The app ensures a smooth experience, but a robust internet connection is vital to prevent lag and frame drops. The performance is also influenced by your computer’s specifications.
**Mondly: Practice Languages in VR**
Mondly in VR is an interactive language-learning app that allows you to practice new languages in a virtual environment. Unlike conventional apps, Mondly lets you converse with virtual characters in authentic settings, such as a hotel reception or a restaurant. The app’s speech recognition technology delivers real-time feedback on your pronunciation, assisting you in developing confidence in speaking a new language. Mondly provides 30 languages to select from, and while some scenarios may be repetitive, it remains a useful tool for language acquisition.
**Mindway**
Mindway is a wellness app that fuses mindfulness meditation, ASMR, sleep aid, and community experiences in a VR environment. The app presents brief, manageable exercises suitable for tight schedules, allowing you to enhance your mental well-being. Mindway offers VR landscapes for meditation, organized courses, and peer-support sessions. Although some content requires payment, the app is an excellent option for those seeking VR resources for mental health.
**Supernatural: Unreal Fitness**
Supernatural: Unreal Fitness transforms exercise into an enjoyable endeavor by blending movement and motivation. The app showcases various workout types, including boxing and flow, situated in stunning virtual settings like the Great Wall of China. Coaches assist you through workouts, aiding you in reaching your fitness objectives. While a subscription is necessary for the app, it offers a unique and captivating method to maintain an active lifestyle.
**How We Selected the Essential Meta Quest Apps**
To compile this list, we focused on a varied assortment of apps that delve into different elements of virtual reality. We took into account user reviews and insights from forums, choosing apps with a minimum user rating of 3 out of 5 stars on Meta’s app store. While emphasizing popular apps, we also incorporated hidden treasures with excellent user ratings and positive feedback.
Read More
Top 4 Budgeting Applications to Explore as Alternatives to Mint
ChatGPT suggestions for saving money indicate that utilizing a high-quality budgeting application can eliminate much of the uncertainty. For years, Mint was regarded as the benchmark — being one of the earliest and most reputable methods to manage your spending and your accounts.
However, in March 2024, Intuit, the parent company of Mint, discontinued the standalone application to encourage users to transition to its other service, Credit Karma. This closure left numerous users pondering the reasons behind it and seeking alternatives to replace Mint. Whether you’re in search of a straightforward budgeting app similar to Mint, something entirely different, or just a FinTech application that’s more beneficial than Robinhood, there’s plenty to evaluate.
Quicken Simplifi
Overall, Quicken is a favored option for small business proprietors and accountants due to its robust business tracking features and detailed reporting. Quicken Simplifi, as suggested by its name, is genuinely intended as a more straightforward option for individuals wanting to budget for their personal finances. Unlike some of Quicken’s other offerings, Simplifi is accessible through a web browser, allowing you to check in without needing to install an application. Naturally, there is also a mobile app that provides many similar functionalities.
Quicken aims with the Simplifi app to offer a more “automatic” method to budgeting. Instead of manually setting spending category objectives, the app uses your entered accounts and spending history to manage the tracking for you. It provides what Quicken refers to as a Spend Plan tailored to your habits each month. This makes it perfect for someone who desires a comprehensive perspective of their budget and actionable steps, but doesn’t want to invest excessive time analyzing and adjusting. Many happy users appreciate the simplicity, particularly when contrasted with intricate spreadsheets.
Monarch Money
Read More
The Best 2025 Dishwasher-Safe Phone Reverts to Black Friday Pricing
To ensure your OnePlus 13 is delivered by Christmas, you need to move QUICKLY.
Steps to Modify the App Icon and Theme on a Google Pixel Device
Here’s how to coordinate your app icons with your wallpaper — or any theme you prefer.
Google’s Pixel devices feature some of the most powerful customization capabilities found in the Android environment. You can opt for a branded theme pack to transform your device’s look with just a single tap, or you can make individual customization adjustments. Google’s Pixel Launcher is among the select Android variants capable of aligning all of your home screen app icons with your preferred system theme.
With numerous options accessible for Google Pixel phones, it might seem overwhelming. Fortunately, this guide will detail all the methods for adjusting your app icon and theme on a Pixel.
All the methods to personalize a Google Pixel home screen
Google Pixel phones now offer an array of color and theming features, including the latest addition, Pixel theme packs. Currently, these are branded system themes that can alter your wallpaper, system theme, and app icons with a single tap. The existing theme packs available draw inspiration from the “Wicked: For Good” film. You can find a comprehensive guide on utilizing Pixel theme packs here.
Pixels also enable you to select a color palette that modifies system components, ranging from the hue of your Settings app to the tint of your Quick settings menu. These can be chosen according to your wallpaper or selected manually. There’s a beta feature that ensures all app icons correspond with your chosen color palette theme as well.
Importantly, app icons will remain standard in the app drawer but will conform to your color palette on your home screen when app icon theming is activated. All these features require manual setup and are disabled by default.
How to modify your app icon and theme on a Google Pixel device
Google provides a variety of customization options for Google Pixel phones within the Wallpaper & style section of the Settings app. Here’s how you can utilize it to alter your system theme and app icon theme:
1. Launch the Settings app.
2. Select the Wallpaper & style tab.
3. Swipe left to access the Home screen settings.
4. Tap one of the following tabs: Theme pack, Colors, or Icons.
5. In the Theme pack section, pick one of three Wicked-themed packs (For Good, Glinda, or Elphaba) to implement comprehensive changes to your system. A theme pack will modify your home screen, lock screen, color palette, and app icon theme with a single tap.
6. In the Colors section, select a suggested color palette based on your wallpaper to apply for your system theme.
7. Alternatively, tap Other colors within the Colors section to choose
Read More
Speechify Introduces Mac Application That Boosts Writing Rate by 500% Using Voice Input
### Voice Typing Dictation: Transforming Text Entry on macOS
With the launch of the Voice Typing Dictation feature, Speechify’s latest Mac application enables users to effortlessly convert their spoken ideas into text in any macOS application. This cutting-edge tool aims to boost productivity and simplify the writing experience for users.
#### Your Voice Functional Across All Applications on Your Computer
Speechify, a recipient of the Apple Design Award, has unveiled its new Mac app which includes the Voice Typing Dictation functionality. Users can activate this feature by pressing `Option + Z` or setting a custom shortcut of their choice. After activation, users can speak freely, and Speechify will transform the audio into refined text, eliminating disfluencies and filler words, while also correcting grammar when necessary.
The integration of this feature system-wide means that users can dictate text into any native or third-party application on their Mac, such as popular tools like Slack, Apple Mail, Pages, WhatsApp, Microsoft Outlook, and Notion. This adaptability fosters a more efficient workflow, enabling users to dictate messages, emails, and notes without needing to switch applications.
Recent advancements in AI technology have allowed Speechify to assert that users can write up to five times faster using the Voice Typing Dictation feature. The quality of the output is so exceptional that many users perceive minimal need for editing prior to sending their communications.
#### Insights from Speechify’s CFO
Pankaj Agarwal, the CFO of Speechify, conveyed enthusiasm regarding the launch, stating, “Voice Typing & Dictation is among our rapidly expanding features at Speechify. We are thrilled to ensure that every Speechify user can utilize Voice Typing & Dictation in all the apps they use – for email, writing, messaging, and note-taking.”
Crucially, the Voice Typing Dictation feature is part of Speechify’s existing subscription plans. Nonetheless, current users will need to download the new Mac app to take advantage of this feature, which enhances Speechify’s well-established text-to-speech functionalities across all devices.
#### Accessibility and User Experience
Although some individuals might have concerns about the rise of AI-based speech-to-text technologies, many users have discovered it to be an essential tool for improving accessibility. Laurie Faulkner, a creator with ADHD, shared her story: “When I first started using Speechify, being able to convert all my readings into audio was vital to my everyday life. Now, with Speechify Voice Typing & Dictation, Speechify has evolved into an even more indispensable platform for me.”
#### A Step Towards a Voice-First AI Environment
The introduction of the Voice Typing Dictation feature signifies a crucial step in Speechify’s wider ambition of creating a voice-first AI environment. Beginning with text-to-speech technology, Speechify has broadened its services to incorporate speech-to-speech communications, customized AI podcasts, and forthcoming voice-driven workflows. The new Mac app is a pivotal facet of this plan, addressing the needs of professional and student users who spend extensive hours typing on their computers.
For further details regarding the Voice Typing Dictation tool and its features, visit
Read More
Report: iPhone Fold to Showcase Broader Design When Opened
Apple is in the process of finalizing designs for its premier iPhone series for the forthcoming year, with notable focus on the highly anticipated iPhone Fold. Recent revelations indicate that this groundbreaking device will showcase a distinct aspect ratio, setting it apart from rivals in the foldable smartphone arena.
### iPhone Fold Aspect Ratio
As per information from leaker Digital Chat Station (DCS), supported by *The Information*, the iPhone Fold is projected to feature an inner display of approximately 7.7 inches, which will be broader than it is tall when unfolded. This design decision aligns the iPhone Fold’s aspect ratio with that of Apple’s largest iPads in landscape view.
The outer display is expected to be around 5.3 inches. When the device is in a closed position, users will engage with this smaller display, whereas the larger inner display will offer a more extensive viewing experience when opened. Additionally, the design will include a single selfie camera located in the top-left corner, along with light and proximity sensors, akin to the iPhone 18 Pro models.
### Comparison with Competitors
Apple’s strategy regarding the iPhone Fold differs from current foldable smartphones from key competitors such as Samsung and Google, which generally feature taller displays. For example, the Galaxy Z Fold7 has dimensions of 6.24 inches in height and 5.64 inches in width, while the Pixel 10 Pro Fold measures 6.1 inches in height and 5.9 inches in width. These devices maintain a more conventional smartphone aspect ratio, even when unfolded.
### Unique Design Elements
While the iPhone Fold may exhibit fundamental traits similar to other foldable devices, its wider-than-tall layout distinguishes it. This unique characteristic is anticipated to enhance user experience, especially for activities like watching videos, gaming, and multitasking.
As Apple continues to push boundaries in the smartphone sector, the iPhone Fold signifies a notable advancement in design and functionality. The exceptional aspect ratio and features could change the way users engage with foldable technology, possibly establishing new benchmarks in the market.
### Conclusion
The speculated features and design of the iPhone Fold have sparked significant enthusiasm among technology aficionados. As Apple gets ready to introduce this new gadget, it will be intriguing to observe how it stacks up against current foldable smartphones and how consumers react to its innovative design.
Read More