Mac, iOS and Apple Watch users get a trifecta of software updates

Apple's quietly rolled out software updates to OS X El Capitan, iOS 9 and Watch OS today. The updates bring a lot of improvements, fix bugs and improve the compatibility of these operating systems with various third-party apps.

OS X 10.11  for El Capitan gets bug fixes and improvements related to Office 2016 which has been quite problematic, Mail, VoiceOver also get updates and Apple's released more than 150 new emoji characters including some for tacos and the much anticipated middle finger emoji.

For iOS 9.1, Live Photos functionality on the iPhone 6S with motion sensing capability that avoids recording Live Photos when the iPhone is moving, we also get new wallpapers incliuding Mars, Jupiter, and Neptune. It is has been noted that this release is in preparation for AppleTV (coming next week) and the iPad Pro (November).

For WatchOS 2.0.1, focus is on a fix for an issue that could cause software updates to stall. Fixes for issues that were impacting battery performance. A resolution for an issue that could prevent a managed iPhone from syncing iOS Calendar events to Apple Watch. All of these updates are available via Software Update right now.

Parachute: Friends don't let friends drive distracted

Parachute, a national charity helping Canadians stop the clock on preventable injuries, is asking young adults to use the power of friendship to impact driver behaviour and stop distracted driving.

Auto collisions are the number one killer of teens in Canada making distracted driving a major issue for young adults. While young drivers make up 13 per cent of all licensed drivers in Canada, they account for almost one in every four road-related injuries and fatalities. 

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iRig Mic Lav is a Lavalier Microphone for iPhones and Androids

While new iPhones and Android devices can now capture ultra-sharp HD video and in some instances 4K video, their built-in microphones leave much to be desired because they're designed for phone use. iRig Mic Lav is a new broadcast audio quality microphone that is compact, chainable with built-in monitoring ability of the iPhone, iPad touch and Android.

As the shift from traditional standalone video and still cameras to smartphones continues, a product like the iRig Mic Lav is a powerful accessory that can elevate the quality of a video. Hit jump for more detai on this new microphone which ships in November.

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HTC One A9 comes to Canada unlocked for $549

Photos by Alex Davies

HTC is launching an entirely new smartphone. The HTC One A9 diverts dramatically from the HTC One M9 and HTC Desire lines by offering an all aluminum and glass design that's more rounded, thinner, and features a fingerprint reader.

What's also interesting about the HTC One A9 is that it won't be sold through carriers like previous HTC models were. It will be sold directly by HTC via their HTC.com/ca website and will cost CAD $549 unlocked.

Available in Carbon Gray, Opal Silver, Topaz Gold and Deep Garnet colours, the HTC One A9 features a 5-inch 1080p display, the latest Android Marshmallow OS, a 64-bit octa core Snapdragon 617 processor, variants will include either 32GB of storage with 3GB of RAM or 16GB with 2GB of RAM. The new HTC One A9 will support Android Pay where accepted (US). 

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