watchOS 6 uncouples Apple’s wearable with the iPhone

A common theme that seems to be running at WWDC 2019 is Apple unbundling a lot of its devices’ reliance on each other. With the iPad getting its own operating system of sorts, watchOS 6 is introducing some new features that will make the Apple Watch a bit more independent from the iPhone. The apps on the wearable can now be run locally without having a companion app installed on a paired iPhone. There are new apps being introduced including audiobooks, voice memos, and a calculator. New APIs will let apps stream audio directly to the watch. watchOS 6 will also make it possible to read data for longer periods than before. This new version of watchOS will also bring an actual App Store where you can browse, pay, and download apps right on the watch.

On a cosmetic level, there are new watchfaces to choose from. There are also new health features you might find useful. watchOS 6 can track your hearing health in noisy environments and track a woman’s cycle right from the watch. iPhone users will also get this feature within the Health app (without needing the Apple Watch). This version of watchOS is coming to developers this week with a public launch set this fall. All Apple Watch models will get the new OS update, but not all features will make it to all versions.

Source: The Verge

There's a limited-edition purple Xbox One S 'Fortnite Battle Royale' console

It's been leaked before but now it's official. A special purple variant of the Microsoft Xbox One S is coming out soon (June 7th in the US). It's being bundled with Fortnite and includes the console in the special colour with 1TB of storage, a copy of Fortnite Battle Royale, a purple Xbox Wireless Controller, 2,000 V-Bucks, and special in-game items. The bundle will also come with a month-long trial of Xbox Game Pass and Xbox Live Gold. In Canada, the bundle will retail for $379.99 CAD. It isn't specified on Microsoft's official page when it'll be released, but we hope to hear more soon.

Apple makes its platforms more accessible with Voice Control

For all the shiny new tech we get to see, sometimes the more interesting announcements are those that are more functional and serves more as equalizers. So, during Apple's keynote at its Worldwide Developer Conference, one of the new features we were excited about was an accessibility feature to help those with motor impairments use different Apple products. The company introduced Voice Control, which lets you control macOS, iOS, and iPadOS using voice commands. It's said to work "with virtually any app" and will let you tap, swipe, and scroll with your voice. At the same time, Apple promises that the feature "ensures personal data is kept private." Voice Control will reportedly come out this fall.

Source: Gizmodo

Apple's new Mac Pro and Pro XDR Display fulfill promise to the pro class

Apple unloaded the new 2019  Mac Pro, a completely redesigned and modular workstation-class supercomputer. With the ability to be configured with 8 up to 28-core Intel Xeon processors, from 32GB to 1.5 terabytes of RAM and a wide selection of top tier graphics card, the new Mac Pro is configurable and upgradeable to suit the most demanding computing needs.

Apple also showed off a new 6K Pro XDR Display that similarly packs in a ton of specs and innovation including an optional articulating stand that can work in horizontal as well as vertical orientation. By launching the new Mac mini and iMac Pro and aimin to release the new Mac Pro and Pro XDR displays for Fall 2019, Apple has rounded out the widest and most compelling range of Mac desktop hardware in nearly seven years. Pricing of the new Mac Pro hardware is on the very high end but for serious professionals who need t crunch data, render 4K video, compile programs or mine Bitcoin, all this processing muscle allows them to take on more work.

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