Video: Apple AirPods unboxing and first impressions

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

For those who were quick enough to order Apple's anticipated AirPods, they began arriving today and were available in limited quantities at Apple Retail Stores. We received our order today and have just set up the AirPods to work with our main smartphone, the iPhone SE.

Out of the box, the AirPods are encased in their tiny charging case. This small, white case does look like a fancy case for dental floss, contact lenses or some other medical apparatus. There are hints of metal in the design of this case as well as a small recessed button. Apple does provide a lightning charger in the box.

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Blade Runner 2049 trailer is out

Considered by many to be the perfect science fiction movie, the original Blade Runner seemed complete, with no need for a sequel or prequel to enhance the already moody and mysterious world of replicants and replicant hunters (blade runners). We now have a sequel to the 1982 Ridley Scott helmed classic which brings back an aged Deckard (Harrison Ford) and an all new Blade Runner played by Ryan Gosling. Along with Ford, Ridley Scott is back but merely as a producer, the new movie, which is slated for October 2017, is megged by Denis Villeneuve, (who also did Prisoners, Sicario, & Arrival). Not sure how I feel about this trailer, but if the right people are behind it, I'm hoping it will at least be half-as engaging as the original cyberpunk epic.

Super Mario Run a runaway success, still not as habit forming as Pokémon Go

The highly anticipated iOS exclusive mobile game Super Mario Run managed 10 million downloads during the first 24 hours of being made available. The game, which requires a CAD $13.00 fee to unlock all the levels, made US $ 4 million in revenue on its first day. A formidable achievement for sure but one that's failed to exclipse the excitement earlier this year for Pokémon Go.

A report from analytics company App Annie  Super Mario Run, which is a mobile take on the beloved Super Mario franchise from Nintendo, reports that it notched up over 10M downloads and generated more than $4M revenue on its first day. This is great news for Apple and for Nintendo as well as sign to other game companies that mobile ports of long-standing console franchises are where the future of mobile and casual gaming are. Pokémon Go, which was earning upt to $10 million a day for weeks after its initial release (and which had a staggered rollout) is likely the bigger earner long-term. While it is a freemium game, Pokémon Go continues to add features, creatures and more ways to play. 

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Google rebrands Keyboard app on Android

Google switches things up with its Google Keyboard app on Android. Now called Gboard, the app brings with it built-in Google search and easy multilingual typing. Voice and Glide typing is still present on Gboard but with improvements. Google search is within reach on your keyboard now, so when you want to look something up while chatting with someone, just tap on the G icon and start searching. Multilingual typing doesn’t need you manually switching languages this time. It’ll just let you keep typing what you want. There is now also auto-correct for other supported languages (which Google touts as over 100).

Aside from these changes, Google also lets you search for emojis and GIFs with the keyboard app. You just need to type in the emoji or GIF you’re looking for and the suggestions will show up. However, GIF sharing is currently only available on Google Messenger, Allo, and Hangouts.