Technology news

Lots of people have, at one point or another, harbored dreams of writing the next great novel. But where to begin? Luckily, MashReads went to the best in the business to ask for tips. Cheryl Klein, editor extraordinaire who helped shepherd some of the best YA and children's books to publishing and was the continuity editor for the last two Harry Potter books, came through with some advice. Read on for Klein's six tips for any would-be writer.
SEE ALSO: J.K. Rowling has an inspirational piece of

Up until now, the Sonos mobile app has done a decent enough job of managing Sonos players in people’s homes, but no one would really say it’s simple. Or intuitive. Or good. Today, the company has updated its app in a big way, making simplicity and ease of use core parts of the experience. Now, it’ll be easier to just start listening to music as opposed to clicking through menus. (Though whether or not the app is good is still up for debate.)
Today’s update does a gre

Deep breaths, everyone, deep breaths.
Apple’s dismissal of the headphone jack today was arrogant, but expected. Phil Schiller smugly waved away decades of headphone development as just some analog artifact, denigrating the universality of the 3.5mm connector as some "ancient" concept. But hey, I was ready for that. I’ve spent this entire year preparing myself for Apple slicing off the classic port and replacing it with something else. Something hopefully better.
I was not ready for t

After months of speculation, Sony capped off a huge day of tech news with a series of announcements about the PlayStation 4. During an event in New York, the company announced two new versions of the PS4: a slimmed-down version of the original console, and an upgraded version that will begin shipping next year.Sony also used the occasion to highlight some upgrades coming to its DualShock controllers, as well as a handful of new games. For more details about today's biggest Sony announcements, re

Today Sony announced two new version of the PlayStation 4: a slimmer model of the original, and a thicker and more powerful version called the PS4 Pro. We had the chance to see both models side-by-side at the New York City event. Give them a look for yourself, below.
The design of the PS4 Pro is like a Big Mac: where the original console has two plastic buns, the Pro has three! As for the she slimmer PS4, it noticeable shorter than its 4K-friendly alternative. Both models have a the slanted rect

Kanye West just confirmed rumors that he's planning to release a collaborative album with Drake. In a recent interview with Vogue, West said, "We’re just working on music, working on a bunch of music together, just having fun going into the studio. We’re working on an album, so there’s some exciting things coming up soon."
The quote sounds similar (if slightly more solid) to things Kanye has said in the past about the prospect of working with Drake. Last month at OVO Fest, Kany

Well here's something pretty baffling: Sony's just-announced $400 PlayStation 4 Pro game console, an upgraded and more powerful version of the original PS4, won't be able to play 4K Blu-rays when it ships this November. Reporters from Engadget and BBC News have apparently confirmed the news with Sony directly. Instead, the PlayStation Pro will only support 4K playback from streaming services. That's a perplexing decision from a company that has been a strong proponent of Blu-ray from t

Sony may not have been the first to announce a console that can support 4K gaming, but it is the first to show us actual game footage using the high-resolution output on the PlayStation 4 Pro. During today's event, Sony showed off a handful of games including its upcoming exclusive Spider-Man game, Watch Dogs 2, Horizon Zero Dawn, and Deus Ex: Mankind Divided taking full advantage of the consoles ability to run 4K and HDR-enabled games. (Watch Dogs 2)
The company says the PlayStation 4

Apple announced the iPhone 7 today. It comes with a couple notable hardware changes: both the iPhone 7 and the iPhone 7 Plus don’t have a headphone jack, and the Plus comes with dual cameras. Wowee. Big hardware changes!
But who cares. What we the people wanted and now have with the iPhone 7 is a jet black iPhone. Check it out:Wait, what is that? Is that a scratch I’m seeing? Could it be? Also what’s this footnote on the iPhone 7’s dedicated page about the jet b

Earlier today at Sony’s Playstation event, BioWare showed off its upcoming installment in its Mass Effect franchise: Mass Effect: Andromeda. The demo ran on the newly-revealed Playstation Pro, and it looks very, very good.
Pre-Alpha gameplay segment was selected to show how the game will look on certain PS4 models
We’ve already seen a trailer for the game earlier this year, which takes humanity into a brand new galaxy. The new footage gives us a new look at the game, which

Nope, there’s no headphone jack in the iPhone 7. That’s what you’re wondering, right? It doesn’t have one.If you’re still reading, some interesting other features showed up at today’s Apple event. The day was dedicated to upgraded versions of the iPhone and Apple Watch, both of which feature new colors, are safer around water, and will have a surprise from Nintendo onboard. The iPhone 7 lost a headphone jack but gained new wireless “AirPod” earbuds

When you buy Apple's new iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus, inside the box you'll find a bundled Lightning-to-3.5mm adapter that you'll need to plug in wired headphones. The devices themselves lack a traditional headphone jack, which by now you already know. Apple made a point of emphasizing that the dongle will be free during its stage presentation. And that's definitely true, but whenever you inevitably lose that original adapter, you'll have to pay up for a replacement. Continue reading&hel

Apple announced the latest iterations of the iPhone today, with what the company claims are its best iPhones yet. The iPhone 7 and 7 Plus bring faster processors, new cameras, and some minor visual updates to antenna placement and color choices from last year's iPhone 6S — but these improvements come at the cost of the 3.5mm headphone jack.
And while Apple has always been coy about the actual specifications of their devices, hard numbers for processor speed, RAM, and battery life are less

Sony has officially unveiled the next big iteration of the PlayStation 4. The console — codenamed Neo, which the company discussed in brief just ahead of E3 in June — upgrades the three-year-old PS4 hardware with a faster processor, better graphics, and support for 4K resolution. It’s intended to be sold alongside the base PS4 instead of replacing it, and new games will still be playable on the older hardware. The existence of Pro, formerly called Neo, was first reported on bac

The worst-kept secret in gaming is now official: at an event in New York today, Sony finally announced the much leaked slimmer version of the PlayStation 4. It will cost $299 and be available on September 15th "in most markets."
The new console is functionally nearly identical to the original PS4, but with a new streamlined design that makes it noticeably smaller. The slim PS4 also comes with a slightly updated version of the DualShock 4 controller with a redesigned light bar that’s now vi

This morning, Apple confirmed the fears of many technology enthusiasts and headphone owners worldwide: the 3.5mm headphone jack would not be making its way to the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus. In its place, the company will rely on three alternatives: a Lightning-compatible connector on the end a pair of new included EarPods; a pair of $159 wireless Bluetooth EarPods that require no physical connection; and a free dongle to connect old, analog headphones to the device. When describing

Apple just unveiled their new wireless AirPods, which they’re touting as the next breakthrough when it comes to listening to things on your phone. There’s one problem: you’re going to lose them.
A pair of AirPods will cost you $159 a pair — which is surprisingly competitive — but you’re going to lose one of them. You’ll be out on a run, listening to your favorite song and one is going to fly out. It’ll roll down a drain, or get stepped on by a

For years now, Nintendo’s investors have badgered the video game publisher to leverage its dense catalog of characters by bringing them to smartphones. So why did the company finally bring Mario to iPhone today?
Nintendo is bracing for arguably the least promising holiday season in the its history as a video game publisher. To review: Nintendo’s current home console, the Wii U, is awaiting its last rites, while Nintendo's handheld platform, the Nintendo 3DS, is curiously absent of fl

Apple will release iOS 10 to existing devices on September 13th. iOS 10 is the biggest update to Apple's mobile operating system so far, and it includes a significant update to the Siri digital assistant. Siri has been overhauled to improve image searches, handle transcribing voicemails, and even write your text messages. Apple is opening up Siri to developers so that you'll be able to ask the assistant to send a message to a friend on WhatsApp, or book an Uber with your voice.
There are major c

Apple is finally phasing out the 16GB iPhone. Today, as had been rumored by The Wall Street Journal, the company revealed that its new iPhone 7 will start at 32GB of storage, double the amount included in the base model iPhone 6S and 6 before it. The base model is priced at $649. Apple has also increased the step-up options for those who want more; the iPhone 7 comes in 128GB and 256GB — a new high for iPhone storage that brings Apple's smartphone to parity with the iPad Pro. Continue read

Beats is revamping nearly its entire lineup of high-end wireless headphones and earbuds to coincide with the announcement of Apple's new iPhone 7, AirPods, and W1 wireless chip. During today's Apple keynote, Phil Schiller announced that Beats will be releasing new Solo 3 Wireless headphones, PowerBeats 3 sport earbuds, and a new set of neckbuds known as Beats X.
The Solo 3s will offer 40 hours of playback, though the event didn't offer many specifics on the other products. We do know that all of

At its iPhone 7 keynote today, Apple showed off a much-need feature in its iWork productivity suite – most notably, real-time collaboration. It’s certainly been a long time coming. The new feature allows multiple users to simultaneously work on the same presentation or document and add or edit images, text, animations. It’ll work on the entire suite of apps for Mac, iPad, iPhone and the Web. Other apps, including those from Google, have already supported real-time collaboratio

In what might have been the most interesting way to launch today’s Apple event, CEO Tim Cook joined The Late Late Show’s James Corden for a quick bit of Carpool Karaoke. Cook and Corden teamed up for some of One Republic's "I Lived." Soon after, Pharrell joined in for a quick rendition of "Sweet Home Alabama."
The opener, as cheesy as it was, makes sense. Apple announced that it was turning Carpool Karaoke into its own series for Apple Music earlier this summer, and that it had order

Apple's brand new Twitter account got surprisingly active today when it went ahead and announced the iPhone 7 before Tim Cook could get to it on stage. A series of tweets were send out as advertisements, showing photos and video of the new iPhone and highlighting some of its top features.
The tweets appear to have been sent out accidentally. Apple pulled them just a few minutes after they began spreading around, but they'd racked up thousands of retweets by then. The tweets revealed various

Apple is adding an extra layer of differentiation to its 2016 iPhone 7 Plus model with the introduction of a brand new dual-camera system. Revealed a little early by Apple's tweets, all we know of it so far is that there are indeed two lenses sitting side by side, and that's distinct from the regular iPhone 7's single camera lens. One of Apple's (now retracted) tweets explains further: "Two all-new cameras that shoot as one for high-res optical zoom at 2x."
The iPhone 7 launch event is currently

Super Mario Bros. creator and video game design legend Shigeru Miyamoto stepped on stage during today's Apple event to announce the first traditional Nintendo game for smartphones will be exclusive to iOS — and will star Mario, no less. The game is called Super Mario Run.
Despite the title, it's not quite like the infinite-runner games that have become so popular on smartphone. In a demonstration, Miyamoto showed a player competing to navigate a familiar 2D Mario stage. The design strangel

It’s finally here. After months of leaks and speculation, Apple has finally announced the iPhone 7 – ironically, via its own Twitter account before it its actual keynote event (the tweet has since been deleted). New cameras. Water-resistant. Stereo speakers. Longer battery life. This is 7. Learn more. https://t.co/yhSolSpN7J pic.twitter.com/fHHJTnaFEp — Apple (@Apple) September 7, 2016 So far, it’s largely what we expected. The antenna lines have been reshaped to cu

Apple kicked off their talk by discussing the new Apple Music app today, which overhauls the interface while adding lyrics, music discovery, and recommendations. “There’s a great new simple an intuitive design in iOS 10,” Tim Cook said. Cook also mentioned the emphasis on exclusive releases on the service, name dropping Taylor Swift and Drake. Lyrics are the headline feature unannounced feature here, giving streamers a sleak way to read lyrics in sync with the m

Apple has officially announced the iPhone 7 today. The new iPhone features a design that's very similar to last year's iPhone 6S (and the year prior's iPhone 6), with a rounded aluminum body. But what's entirely new is the phone's water resistance, which means you can get the iPhone 7 wet without worry. Also new is the long-rumored dual camera system, stereo speakers, and a darker black color scheme. And, as expected, the iPhone 7 does not have a headphone jack, rendering countless 3.5mm headpho

Airbnb says a bill that would outlaw advertising short-term rentals on its platform in New York is unconstitutional and is threatening to sue the state if Governor Andrew Cuomo signs it into law.Airbnb has been fighting an uphill battle for legal status in New York, which prohibits landlords and homeowners from renting out apartments for less than 30 days at a time. The bill to prevent advertising these rentals would essentially cripple the company’s operations in New York, which is among