Microsoft to close all of its retail stores

Microsoft will be closing all of its physical retail stores. The company announced on LinkedIn that while they hope to continue to serve customers, it will not be in their retail locations mostly found in upscale malls. "Our retail team members will continue to serve customers working from Microsoft corporate facilities or remotely and we will continue to develop our diverse team in support of the overall company mission and objectives," said David Porter, corporate VP of Microsoft Store. 

While this could be seen as a reaction to the reality of the COVID-19 pandemic and a move to promote social distancing between staff and customers, it can also be seen as Microsoft transitioning out of the consumer space altogether. Microsoft Stores, after all, were the best places to see and buy the latest Surface devices or Xbox game consoles. Surface represents a very small percentage of Microsoft's profits and the company is clearly focused on the cloud, which means that it could very well diminish or even cease production of its hardware devices moving forward. As for the Microsoft Stores, they never had the foot traffic of competitors like the Apple Store, but still served customers well and were highly regarded for the level of service they provided. 

Apple tvOS adds picture-in-picture mode, multi-user support for Apple Arcade

Aside from adding support to HomeKit, Apple's tvOS platform adds a few small but useful features. Like iOS 14, it's getting picture-in-picture mode across the entire Apple TV experience, with AirPlay videos able to show up in picture-in-picture mode. Multiuser support is coming to the platform, but it seems only to be available for continuing gameplay on Apple Arcade games at the moment.

tvOS is also getting support for Microsoft's Elite 2 and Adaptive Xbox One controller, better audio sharing with AirPod earbuds, as well as up to 4K video streaming from your iOS devices' Photos app.

Source: The Verge

These HomeKit improvements are coming with iOS 14

HomeKit is getting an update with iOS 14, which we're expecting to arrive later in the year. Let's do a quick rundown under the cut on what Apple announced at WWDC 2020 about changing when it comes to your smart home setup:

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watchOS 7 will remind you to wash your hands properly

Nothing screams sign of the times quite like having a necessary and "handy" new feature coming to watchOS 7. During its WWDC 2020 announcement, Apple revealed that it'll be using machine learning to determine when you are washing your hands. When it detects that you are, it'll then set a 20-second timer that you'll see show up as you wash your hands. If you stop before the 20 seconds are over, it'll remind you to continue. You'll also see and feel when you've completed your handwashing. With the COVID-19 pandemic still raging on, this feature is a much-needed one.

But that isn't all that's coming to watchOS 7. It's also finally getting sleep-tracking features as well as a new Wind Down mode to help you get to bed on time. It can even help power down your device for you and set your Apple Watch to dim, so it doesn't disturb your sleep. When you wake up, you'll see a visualization of your night's sleep, which includes the times when you're awake or asleep and your weekly sleep trends.

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