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Inside Apple’s redesigned ‘cube’ store in New York City

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On the outside, the tall, luminous glass of the cube is now complemented by a newly designed public plaza (pictured above) where people can enjoy views of sites like Central Park and The Plaza Hotel — all while enjoying free WiFi from Apple. And although the glass cube at Apple Fifth Avenue was covered in rainbow colors recently, I’m sorry to tell you that was only temporary.

Apple says the store’s re-opening means it will “resume its place at the heart of one of the world’s most vibrant creative communities,” in a space that’s had more than 57 million visitors since it first opened. The company didn’t say how many visitors it’s expecting for the rest of the year, but considering the cube is one of NYC’s most photographed locations, it’s safe to say you’ll never see the store as empty as in these pictures. (Except maybe the one day a year it’s closed.)

As for the bed bugs that caused Apple to close the store for 24 hours earlier this year, well, an Apple representative told Engadget the issue “hasn’t come up in a while.” So, if you happen to be in New York City and want to check out the new cube, that probably means you can do so with peace of mind. Apple Fifth Avenue is opening tomorrow at 8AM ET, when over 900 employees will be waiting to cheer on customers who are picking up their shiny new iPhone.

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Bowers & Wilkins unveils flagship PX7 wireless headphones

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PX7

Leading the headphone charge for Bowers & Wilkins is the PX7. These cans effectively replace the PX, though the company will sell the older model for a little while longer. They have a sleek over-ear design and deliver “absolute sound superiority,” the company claims, through 43mm drivers.

I slipped on the wireless headphones and listened to a few tunes stored on an employee’s demo phone, including “You Should See Me in a Crown” by Billie Eilish, “Death Row” by Chris Stapleton and “Ohio” by Neil Young. All of the tracks sounded amazing, unsurprisingly. The PX7s are considerably lighter than the PX thanks to an all-new design, which includes carbon fiber composite arms. The headphones should also last longer, too — 25 hours, What Hi-Fi? reports, up from the PX’s already-decent 22 hours.

The PX7 will set you back $399.99/£349.99/€399.99, which is identical to the current PX pricing in the US. (They’re slightly more expensive than the PX in the UK, though — blame Brexit and the nation’s weak pound, I guess.)

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Save $130 on Beats Solo3 Bluetooth headphones

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Apple Mac mini

Apple

Street price: $800; deal price: $700

Matching the lowest price we’ve seen, this is a rare sale on a mini PC for those who prefer macOS. If you’ve been looking for a compact desktop PC solution and prefer using Apple products, this is the best (and only) option. While it’s pricier than our other picks, it’s still a nice $100 drop from the usual street price, and actually cheaper than our top pick right now.

Our pick for macOS users in our guide to the best mini desktop PCs, the Apple Mac mini (2018) is a pricey, but solid choice. Wirecutter Editor Thorin Klosowski wrote, “If you prefer macOS to Windows or Chrome OS, the 2018 Mac mini is the only option, but it’s at least a good one. We think the base model, with a eighth-generation Intel Core i3 CPU, 128 GB SSD, and 8 GB of memory is plenty for most people. But upgrades are expensive through Apple, and while you can add memory yourself, it’s a cumbersome process.”

Beats Solo3 Bluetooth Headphones

Beats

Street price: $260; deal price: $130

This drop to $130 beats pricing we saw on the Beats Solo3 over Prime Day, making them more affordable than most of our picks in-guide. Available in a variety of colors from Best Buy, you’re sure to find a finish that suits your taste. Though it’s not a formal Wirecutter pick, we liked the performance these headphones provided, but found it was too expensive at street price.

This hefty street price combined with the nice sound of the Beat Solo3 has earned it a place in the notable competition in our guide to the best Bluetooth wireless headphones. Wirecutter Senior Staff Writer Lauren Dragan wrote, “The W1 chip makes pairing with Apple devices a breeze, and the 40-hour battery life is impressive. The sound was very similar to that of the Solo2, which we also liked, offering nice highs and mids with a slight bass boost. But the Solo3 currently costs too darn much for what you get. At $150, it could be a pick.”

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (10th generation)

paperwhite

Street price: $130; deal price: $90

Available for $90 from $130, this is likely to be one of the better prices we’ll see until closer to the holidays for the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (10th Generation). Our top pick, this model offers a great display, even backlighting, and adds Bluetooth and waterproofing, perfect for reading at the beach or in the bath. If you’re interested in an ebook reader but can’t wait for approaching deal days like Black Friday or Cyber Monday, this is a good chance to pick one up at a solid discount.

The 10th generation Amazon Kindle Paperwhite is the top pick in our guide to the best ebook reader. Wirecutter Senior Staff Writer Nick Guy wrote, “The 2018 Wi-Fi edition of the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite is the best e-reader for most people thanks to stellar hardware that makes reading your books a pleasure; a massive ebook catalog that frequently offers better prices than others; and a slew of services unavailable on other readers. You can comfortably navigate your collection, and find and purchase new titles (and download them over Wi-Fi). You can also pay extra for a model with always-connected 3G wireless, a feature that none of the other e-reader makers offer. The Kindle Paperwhite is now waterproof, for reading at the beach or in the bath, and also features Bluetooth for streaming audiobooks.”

Logitech K380 Multi-Device Bluetooth Keyboard

Logitech

Street price: $30; deal price: $24

Pleasant to use, compact, and versatile,this long-time pick in dark grey is on sale for $24 from $30 as an Amazon Gold Box deal of the day. We rarely see discounts for Logitech K380 Multi-Device Bluetooth Keyboard and this is the first significant price drop in over a year. If you’re in need of a Bluetooth Keyboard, don’t hesitate; this deal ends at the end of today.

The top pick in our guide to the best Bluetooth and wireless keyboards, we consider the Logitech K380 to be the best option for most people. Guide writer Phil Dzikiy, Wirecutter Senior Staff Writer Kimber Streams, and Wirecutter Staff Writer Justin Krajeski wrote, “After outperforming seven newer keyboards in our latest tests, the Logitech K380 Multi-Device Bluetooth Keyboard remains our top pick. The comfortable, compact, and inexpensive K380 can switch between up to three paired devices (most Bluetooth keyboards can’t), and multiple Wirecutter staffers, including myself, have used the K380 for two years without needing to change its batteries. It has round keys that take some getting used to and lacks backlighting, though. Despite those flaws, we think the K380 is the best Bluetooth keyboard you can buy—especially at its low price.”

Because great deals don’t just happen on Thursday, sign up for our daily deals email and we’ll send you the best deals we find every weekday. Also, deals change all the time, and some of these may have expired. To see an updated list of current deals, please go here.

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How do kids (and adults) like Nintendo’s Labo VR kit?

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Earning an overall satisfactory score of 79, the kit has potential if Nintendo continues to develop and expand features for it. However, while it didn’t (really) disappoint our reviewer, we’re curious as to how kids like it. If you bought a Labo VR kit for a child, how did they play with it? Alternatively, if you bought it for yourself, do you feel you got your money’s worth? What was you or your child’s favorite project from the kit? How do you feel about the VR kit compared to the other Labo offerings? Would you recommend it for the little ones? Tell us all the details, be they positive or negative, on our product page for the Labo VR kit! If you haven’t tried the VR kit but do have the other kits, feel free to speak up about those on their product pages too! Your review is great buying advice for other readers (and could be featured in an upcoming user review roundup article!).

Note: As usual, comments are off for this post, however we’d love to hear your thoughts on our Nintendo Labo VR product page!

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Apple reschedules iOS 13.1 and iPadOS releases for September 24th

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You will get some new features in return. iPadOS, as you may know, is a major shake-up that introduces more iPad-specific features, such as better multitasking and a widget view on the home screen. The iOS 13.1 update mainly adds features that didn’t make the cut for 13.0, including ETA sharing in Maps, automated Siri Shortcut actions and data separation for enterprise devices. This definitely isn’t a seamless release, then, but you at least shouldn’t have to wait long to see new features and a smoother overall experience.

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Microsoft employees protest climate change ‘complicity’ in open letter

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The group wants the tech giant to end its contracts with fossil fuel companies, cut contributions to any lobbyists or politicans who deny climate and to commit to zero emissions by 2030, the year climate change is predicted to cause irreparable damage to the planet.

“If we want to make real impact, all of us need to mobilize, work together, and demand a fundamental change in Microsoft’s priorities,” the letter adds. “It’s clear that the tech industry is one of the main culprits behind our burning planet, both in consuming a great deal of fossil fuels through power hungry datacenters and supporting Big Oil companies.”

The letter comes on the same day Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, facing similar pressure from his employees, announced new climate change initiatives. Like their peers at Microsoft, Amazon workers had called on their company to stop working with oil companies and funding climate change deniers. However, despite a promise to move fully to renewable energy by 2030, Bezos said Amazon would continue to work with oil companies. On Friday, employees at Microsoft — as well as Amazon and Google — have promised to join the global Climate Change Strike.

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Air pollution app now doubles as a wildfire warning system

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Through the app, users who live between 20 to 60 miles of a wildfire can receive timely updates on its progress. Wildfire pollution was only recently discovered to travel long distances. Last year’s California wildfires polluted air more than 100 miles away, which prompted a statewide health emergency. The state’s wildfires have even spread to the East Coast due to cross-country winds. “The current systems for measuring air pollution rely on outdated methods that are not comprehensive, causing unnecessary exposure to harmful pollution,” said BreezoMeter CEO Ran Korber.

The BreezoMeter app also measures other factors that impact air quality, such as ozone and particulate matter as well as pollen. You can access its insights through either the Android or iOS app, or its Live Map.

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iOS 13 with Apple Arcade and watchOS 6 are now available

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As ever, it’s a good idea to back up your device before updating. When you do, though, you’ll get access to a bevy of new features. Alongside the aforementioned ones, app downloads and updates will be significantly smaller, and will launch twice as quickly. Face ID unlocks will be about 30 percent zippier too. Reminders, Mail, Notes and other Apple apps have been overhauled as well. Apple Music, meanwhile, has time-synced lyrics.

Siri will recognize different people’s voices through HomePod, so each of your family members can use the voice assistant in a more personalized way through the speaker. The Maps app has a 3D view for exploring cities (it’s Apple’s spin on Google Street View). And then, of course, there’s Apple Arcade. It dropped earlier this week for people running the iOS 13 beta, but now everyone with a compatible device can check out the games subscription service.

There’s a focus on privacy too, with an option to use Face ID to authenticate logins to services and apps. You can generate a random email address that will forward to your normal email address, so you won’t necessarily have to give up your personal information to use certain apps.

As for the camera, there’s a portrait lighting feature. The update brings a refreshed UI for image editing along with some new effects. iOS 13 is compatible with iPhone SE, 6S and newer, as well as the seventh-generation iPod Touch.

When it comes to Apple Watch, watchOS 6 brings ambient noise alerts, a menstrual cycle tracker and audiobook support, along with a number of new dynamic watch faces. The update is available for Apple Watch Series 3 and 4 now — Series 1 and 2 will get access later this fall.

You’ll need to be a little more patient for iPadOS, as that’ll drop September 30th, unless you have one of the latest iPads, on which it’ll be pre-installed. That’s the same day Apple expects to release iOS 13.1.

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‘John Wick Hex’ comes to Windows and Mac October 8th

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The games is the latest by Bithell Games’ Mike Bithell, the creator of popular indie titles Thomas Was Alone and Volume. It’s saturated with comic-book style art, and Bithell Games worked closely with the films’ stunt coordinator, JoJo Eusebio, to make sure game-John moves like movie-John. Just like in the films, your ammo supply is limited, so you’ll want to count your shots and choose carefully when to reload. The strategy here is all about time management.

Earlier this year, Bithell said John Wick Hex will eventually make its way to other consoles, but there’s no word on which or when just yet.

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Facebook wants to make its ads more interactive

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Facebook

Facebook is also making its playable ad format available worldwide. Playable ads are literally that — advertisements that use games you can play to drive downloads and installations or to accomplish any other brand objective. Uber India used the format to invite people to play a game and win trips to the 2019 Cricket World Cup.

Finally, the company’s augmented reality ads, which it started testing in mid-2018, is also entering open beta worldwide this fall. Advertisers can use the format to give potential customers a way to virtually try their products on, like lipsticks or sunglasses. Facebook says people use face filters and animation in Stories shared across its main platform, Instagram and WhatsApp all the time. People are used to seeing and interacting with AR elements, so ads that have them may have a better chance of getting noticed than those that don’t.

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