Sunday, May 9, 2021

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dWebServe Submit News Opinions Worldwide


This incredible new feature might come to the Apple Watch Series 7

Posted: 09 May 2021 12:41 PM PDT

Apple will launch the new Apple Watch Series 7 later this year alongside its upcoming iPhone 13 handsets. Apple has been upgrading the Watch's health monitoring capabilities with each generation, and the Apple Watch Series 7 will be no different. The wearable is already rumored to sport what could easily be the most exciting sensor ever placed in a smartwatch, although reports are split on whether Apple will launch the feature this year or on the Apple Watch Series 8 in 2022. It's a blood glucose sensor that could perform passive blood sugar readings and help diabetes patients manage their condition. Apple just sent a survey to some of its Watch customers where it asks specifically whether they use the gadget to keep track of nutrition-related parameters, including blood glucose.

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Measuring blood sugar is a tedious, invasive task that involves obtaining a blood sample and using a gadget to get readings. Knowing one's blood glucose levels is a key aspect of diabetes management. The condition affects more than 34 million adults in the US; a significant portion of them might be undiagnosed. According to WHO statistics, the number of worldwide people with diabetes rose from 108 million in 1980 to 422 million in 2014. The novel coronavirus illness might itself have triggered diabetes in some COVID-19 survivors, including children. Diabetes is a significant risk factor in COVID-19, which is why managing blood glucose is more critical right now than ever.

People who have diabetes often require medication, and many of them need insulin therapy. Knowing blood glucose levels is necessary for dosing insulin and having the Apple Watch perform non-invasive readings at all times could also prevent a diabetes-related condition called hypoglycemia. Apple doesn't disclose plans for next-gen products, but 9to5Mac obtained a survey that Apple sent to Apple Watch users in Brazil that mentions blood glucose monitoring apps.

Apple is asking users to provide feedback on their Apple Watch experiences. The survey asks about the wearable's health features, including step counting, flights of stairs climbed, and the Workout app. It also asks about third-party apps for managing health data, including tracking workouts, monitoring eating habits, and managing healthcare. Included in that last category are apps for tracking medications and blood glucose levels.

This isn't enough to confirm that Apple Watch Series 7 will feature a blood sugar sensor. But the blog points out that Apple did send out surveys before containing hints of features that might have been in development. In early 2020, Apple asked iPhone users actually used the power adapter that came with the box — the company ended up shipping its iPhone 12 models without included power adapters later that year. Similarly, a survey asked iPhone users what they thought about using Face ID with face masks on, and then Apple added a feature in iOS 14.5 that lets users unlock the iPhone with an Apple Watch while wearing a mask.

Separately, a report a few days ago said that Apple might have even more advanced sensors in Apple Watch devices. In addition to a blood glucose monitor, the wearable might measure blood pressure and alcohol levels.

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Buy NowApple will launch the new Apple Watch Series 7 later this year alongside its upcoming iPhone 13 handsets. Apple has been upgrading the Watch's health monitoring capabilities with each generation, and the Apple Watch Series 7 will be no different. The wearable is already rumored to sport what could easily be the most exciting sensor ever placed in a smartwatch, although reports are split on whether Apple will launch the feature this year or on the Apple Watch Series 8 in 2022. It's a blood glucose sensor that could perform passive blood sugar readings and help diabetes patients manage their condition. Apple just sent a survey to some of its Watch customers where it asks specifically whether they use the gadget to keep track of nutrition-related parameters, including blood glucose.

Measuring blood sugar is a tedious, invasive task that involves obtaining a blood sample and using a gadget to get readings. Knowing one's blood glucose levels is a key aspect of diabetes management. The condition affects more than 34 million adults in the US; a significant portion of them might be undiagnosed. According to WHO statistics, the number of worldwide people with diabetes rose from 108 million in 1980 to 422 million in 2014. The novel coronavirus illness might itself have triggered diabetes in some COVID-19 survivors, including children. Diabetes is a significant risk factor in COVID-19, which is why managing blood glucose is more critical right now than ever.

People who have diabetes often require medication, and many of them need insulin therapy. Knowing blood glucose levels is necessary for dosing insulin and having the Apple Watch perform non-invasive readings at all times could also prevent a diabetes-related condition called hypoglycemia. Apple doesn't disclose plans for next-gen products, but 9to5Mac obtained a survey that Apple sent to Apple Watch users in Brazil that mentions blood glucose monitoring apps.

Apple is asking users to provide feedback on their Apple Watch experiences. The survey asks about the wearable's health features, including step counting, flights of stairs climbed, and the Workout app. It also asks about third-party apps for managing health data, including tracking workouts, monitoring eating habits, and managing healthcare. Included in that last category are apps for tracking medications and blood glucose levels.

This isn't enough to confirm that Apple Watch Series 7 will feature a blood sugar sensor. But the blog points out that Apple did send out surveys before containing hints of features that might have been in development. In early 2020, Apple asked iPhone users actually used the power adapter that came with the box — the company ended up shipping its iPhone 12 models without included power adapters later that year. Similarly, a survey asked iPhone users what they thought about using Face ID with face masks on, and then Apple added a feature in iOS 14.5 that lets users unlock the iPhone with an Apple Watch while wearing a mask.

Separately, a report a few days ago said that Apple might have even more advanced sensors in Apple Watch devices. In addition to a blood glucose monitor, the wearable might measure blood pressure and alcohol levels.Apple, Apple Watch

California legal rulings may have big impact on Amazon’s liability for third-party products it sells

Posted: 09 May 2021 11:39 AM PDT

(BigStock Photo)

In November 2015, Kisha Loomis signed on to Amazon and ordered her son a hoverboard, a two-wheeled vehicle popular with kids and balanced with gyroscopic gears.

Just more than four weeks later, on New Year's Eve, its lithium ion battery exploded and the hoverboard burst into flames, setting Loomis' bed on fire.

Loomis, who lives near Sacramento, suffered burns fighting the blaze and sued, accusing Amazon of selling her a faulty and dangerous product. Amazon countered that the hoverboard was sold on its platform by a third-party company based in China and the Seattle retail giant therefore shouldn't be held liable for a product it didn't manufacture, sell or ship.

Last month, California's Second Appellate District Court disagreed, saying Amazon was an integral part of the hoverboard's supply chain and can be held liable for Loomis' injuries and other damages.

The ruling is among a pair of cases that could have a big impact on Amazon's operations and the broader e-commerce landscape.

Last year, in a case known as Bolger v. Amazon.com LLC, a California appeals court held that Amazon was liable for an exploding laptop battery, partly because it had been shipped through Amazon's Fulfilled by Amazon service, which stores and ships merchandise for third-party retailers.

The decision involving Loomis' exploding hoverboard takes that ruling a step further, holding Amazon liable even though it never stored nor shipped the hoverboard.

Both cases represent the first time consumers have been meaningfully successful in holding Amazon liable for dangerous third-party products sold on its platform, said Jeremy Robinson, a partner with the San Diego law firm CaseyGerry who argued the Bolger case and assisted with the Loomis suit.

Jeremy Robinson. (CaseyGerry Photo)

"Although they claim that they're just sort of a hands-off platform that's not really how they operate," Robinson said of Amazon.

In many cases, he added, "they don't even allow you to communicate with the actual third-party vendor or manufacturer. It's all through Amazon."

The rulings could potentially impact a huge chunk of Amazon's business model. The company has millions of third-party sellers on its platform, and third-party sales make up about 55% of sales on Amazon, according to the market research site Statista. Revenue from third-party seller services hit $23.7 billion in the first quarter of this year, up 60% year-over-year.

Meanwhile, overall e-commerce has boomed during the COVID-19 pandemic, and Amazon has been the biggest beneficiary of that shift in consumer behavior. The company's net sales increased 44% to 108.5 billion in this year's first quarter compared to the same period last year.

Amazon faces a monumental task in policing all of those sellers to ensure they're providing authentic and safe products, and the California rulings may bring new urgency to that effort.

E-commerce companies such as eBay and Etsy also will likely now find themselves exposed to additional liability.

Last month's ruling (read in full below) also underscores a problem across the U.S.: Many consumer protection laws, which vary from state to state, were written long before e-commerce existed and are out of date. The Loomis and Bolger rulings are an example of courts grappling with and setting new precedent for rules to protect online shoppers.

"As Amazon's (court) losses pile up, it becomes harder for Amazon to maintain it should be exempt from strict liability for defective products," John Bair, a settlement consultant who has represented the families of airline crash victims and 9/11 victims, wrote earlier this month in a blog post. "Courts are coming to terms with Amazon's role in product distribution and its responsibility for protecting consumers."

Lawmakers are also trying to catch up. Last year, the California Legislature considered a bill that would hold e-commerce companies to the same standard as the Loomis ruling. Surprisingly, Amazon supported the legislation, which eventually died in the state Senate, while other e-commerce companies such as Google, Facebook, Etsy and eBay opposed it.

Day 2: How this third-party Amazon seller turned the tech giant's knockoff product into a win

Why did Amazon support the legislation while simultaneously mounting vigorous defenses in the Loomis and Bolger cases? Two reasons, Robinson said: Amazon realizes courts and lawmakers are increasingly likely to hold it liable for third-party products, and the company, the world's biggest online retailer, has enough cash to withstand liability claims while its competitors may not.

"I think Amazon sees this as a potential competitive advantage," he said, "because they may actually have the infrastructure and the money to be able to deal with this type of liability where some of the other marketplaces don't."

In addition, much in the way Amazon fought paying state sales taxes for years then relented when it became clear it wasn't going to prevail, Amazon now understands it won't overcome consumer protection laws either, Robinson said.

"For one reason or another the states are going to catch up with them. So I think their position now is that they lean into that — they're all for it … with the proviso that everyone gets held to the same standard," Robinson said.

In what would amount to a sort of "hail mary" play, Robinson suggested, Amazon may take the Loomis case to the California Supreme Court.

"They don't really have anything to lose at this point, so they may try it, just to see what happens," he said. "But ultimately, I think they kind of understand that this is where things are headed. And they're going to try to get out ahead of the curve and deal with it."

Robinson said he wouldn't be surprised if Amazon tightened its vetting process for third-party sellers, requiring additional proof that electronics meet consumer protection standards and taking extra measures to ensure those products are being sold by a legitimate business.

"Amazon is going to have to make a decision, because it's probably true that they can't vet every single seller and every single product on their website," he said. "They may start vetting vendors a little more carefully."

Amazon declined to comment specifically on the Loomis case, but a spokeswoman said the company "invests heavily in the safety and authenticity of all products offered in our store including proactively vetting sellers and products before being listed, and continuously monitoring our store for signals of a concern."

In contrast to its support for the now-dead California consumer protection legislation, Amazon has put up a tough fight in court when it comes to the matter. In the Loomis case, Amazon argued that it couldn't be held liable because the faulty hoverboard was sold on its e-commerce platform by a third-party seller.

Amazon said it functioned much like a shopping mall, simply offering space for other retailers to sell their wares.

But in last month's decision, the appellate court disagreed, saying Amazon was far more integral to the sale of the hoverboard than a typical neighborhood mall would have been. Amazon can be held liable, the court said, even though it never physically possessed or shipped the product.

"Amazon provides payment processing for all third-party sales," reads the April 26 ruling. "It remits the purchase price of the third party seller on a set schedule minus any service fees it may charge. Amazon collects a 'referral fee,' a percentage of the sale price per item sold by the third-party seller, depending on the nature of the item sold."

That, experts say, could impact e-commerce vendors far beyond the scope of Amazon alone, particularly those who make products available for sale on their platforms but never physically ship or handle the merchandise.

"This holding will have sweeping implications for other online marketplaces," Bair wrote. "Most marketplaces do not offer a program similar to (Fulfilled by Amazon) and so could have argued Bolger was inapplicable to them because they never had possession of the product. It may or may not have worked, but Loomis eliminates that option entirely."

Robinson said that means companies including eBay and Etsy could face new liability exposure based on the Loomis decision.

"These cases do have ramifications across the industry," he said.

Here's the most recent ruling on the Loomis case:

In November 2015, Kisha Loomis signed on to Amazon and ordered her son a hoverboard, a two-wheeled vehicle popular with kids and balanced with gyroscopic gears. Just more than four weeks later, on New Year's Eve, its lithium ion battery exploded and the hoverboard burst into flames, setting Loomis' bed on fire. Loomis, who lives near Sacramento, suffered burns fighting the blaze and sued, accusing Amazon of selling her a faulty and dangerous product. Amazon countered that the hoverboard was sold on its platform by a third-party company based in China and the Seattle retail giant therefore shouldn't be held… Read MoreAmazon, Hoverboard

Melinda Gates reportedly consulted with divorce lawyers since 2019

Posted: 09 May 2021 11:39 AM PDT

The news: Melinda Gates has been working with divorce lawyers since 2019, according to a new report from The Wall Street Journal. Bill and Melinda Gates last week announced a decision to end their marriage after 27 years.

The details: It's still unclear what caused the split, but WSJ and The Daily Beast reported on how Melinda Gates was concerned with her husband's connection to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The Daily Beast reported last week that Melinda Gates, a prominent supporter of women and girls' rights, was "furious" after she and Bill met with Epstein in 2013.

When details emerged of the reported connections between Bill Gates and Epstein, a Gates representative previously said in 2019 that "any account of a business partnership or personal relationship" between Gates and Epstein "is simply not true."

Other tidbits: The Gateses worked out their divorce throughout the pandemic, WSJ noted. Melinda Gates' lawyers include Robert Stephan Cohen, who has represented Michael Bloomberg, Ivana Trump, and others. Bill Gates' lawyers include Ronald Olson, who has repped Mark Zuckerberg and co-founded his firm with billionaire Charlie Munger, the vice chairman at Berkshire Hathaway and buddy of Berkshire chairman Warren Buffett — one of Bill Gates' closest friends.

The news: Melinda Gates has been working with divorce lawyers since 2019, according to a new report from The Wall Street Journal. Bill and Melinda Gates last week announced a decision to end their marriage after 27 years. The details: It's still unclear what caused the split, but WSJ and The Daily Beast reported on how Melinda Gates was concerned with her husband's connection to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The Daily Beast reported last week that Melinda Gates, a prominent supporter of women and girls' rights, was "furious" after she and Bill met with Epstein in 2013. When details emerged… Read MoreTech

Week in Review: Most popular stories on GeekWire for the week of May 2, 2021

Posted: 09 May 2021 08:39 AM PDT

Get caught up on the latest technology and startup news from the past week. Here are the most popular stories on GeekWire for the week of May 2, 2021.

Sign up to receive these updates every Sunday in your inbox by subscribing to our GeekWire Weekly email newsletter.

Most popular stories on GeekWire

Bill and Melinda Gates announce decision to end marriage after 27 years

Bill and Melinda Gates announced Monday that they are ending their marriage after 27 years, sending shockwaves through their hometown and around the world where their philanthropic work has touched tens of millions. … Read More

Former Amazon exec Jeff Wilke on why he left, what it was like to work for Jeff Bezos, and more

In March, Jeff Wilke quietly stepped away from Amazon, the company he was instrumental in building from an online book retailer to one of the most valuable and influential corporations in the world. … Read More

The Gates split: While the money is outrageous, here's why the divorce likely won't be

Just before he was about to begin teaching his online family law class at the University of Washington on Monday, professor Terry Price received an emphatic text from one of his former law students. … Read More

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella's family donates $15M to Seattle Children's Hospital

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella's family is donating $15 million to Seattle Children's Hospital to support its work in neurosciences medicine and mental health care. … Read More

Ex-Amazon exec Jeff Blackburn leaves venture capital post after 5 weeks on job

When Jeff Blackburn announced his retirement from Amazon in February after 22 years, the longtime Jeff Bezos lieutenant stressed that he was not retiring and hinted at news to come on his next move. … Read More

John Oliver takes on COVID vaccine myths, and no, again, Bill Gates did not inject you with a microchip

If you're hesitant about getting a COVID-19 vaccination because you're worried that Bill Gates is going to plant a microchip in it and track you for some reason, John Oliver had a message for you Sunday night. … Read More

Gates Foundation reverses position on COVID vaccine patent protections after mounting pressure

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced Thursday that it supports the lifting of patent protections on coronavirus vaccine technologies. … Read More

Divorce fallout: What happens to Gates Foundation when Bill and Melinda are no longer married?

Created more than 20 years ago, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has been a global leader in philanthropy. … Read More

Jeff Bezos sells more than $2.4B in Amazon stock

Amazon CEO and founder Jeff Bezos sold off more than $2.4 billion in Amazon shares this week, new regulatory filings show. … Read More

Tech jobs hold steady in Seattle and other big tech hubs, but there's another disturbing trend line

The great migration of tech talent out of large tech hubs like Seattle, San Francisco and Boston may be overblown. … Read More

See the technology stories that people were reading on GeekWire for the week of May 2, 2021.… Read MoreGeekWire Weekly

Importance of Paid Social Media

Posted: 09 May 2021 07:40 AM PDT

With smartphones and laptops becoming an everyday essential, anything that is available or can be viewed and purchased through your mobile becomes an instant hit. Also, social media is the new habituate to today's populate. Want to reach people? Put it on social media, because that is where you can find a lot of audiences.

Importance of Paid Social Media

This exponential increase in social media usage led to using this platform for marketing. As time flew, this marketing platform became more reliable. Say you post a picture of your product on social media. Someone from your friend's circle views it. They happen to like it, so they do either of the following:

Share it with their friends
Inquire about the product
Post it in their story
Retweet your post

Ask yourself some questions to get to the best point of your social media output.

Who is your target audience?
How will you know the traffic source?
How to find the bounce rate?
Will you analyze your customer touchpoints?

To understand the question — we need to understand the traffic and age groups visiting the various social media. Analyzing the touchpoints based on source, local, and age group will help get this data. Your touchpoint questions are where paid social media will help you. Paid social media is the answer to the above key insights. So, how will this paid social media work for you?

First, let's explore what exactly is paid social media?

Social Media is not that different from other forms of advertising. You pay to various social media companies like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc., to display your ads to their consumer's profiles. The biggest advantage of paid social media is that those companies have relevant data about their users, and your ads will be displayed to users who need your product/service.

Identify and filter out people who are most likely to convert.

It is different to pitch to a crowd to identify your product, but it is a whole another thing to make potential consumers aware of your product and make them your consumers. The latter is exactly what paid social media does to your business!

Are you guys still wondering why you should embrace paid social media marketing? The listicle below will help us gain depth about paid social media marketing and how it is the most profitable route,

Flexible Budget
Help Analyze Touchpoints
Optimize Content
Easy Funneling Potentials
Enhance Brand Awareness
Gain Awareness of Current Market

Flexible Budget

You can plan your budget. You can promote your brand on social media with a minimal budget. You will be charged on the type of ad, length of your ad, and the placement of your ad in the potential customers' media feed. There are many schemes from which you can opt for the one that best suits your budget. The coverage of the scheme varies based on your budget.

Apart from that, there's PPC which is pay per click which means you have to pay a certain amount to the social media company for every click your ad gets via their media. This means you can pay after seeing the results you desire on your webpage.

Such options help you carefully plan all the aspects of your advertisement, like length, content, and placement. You'll look at the prospective clicks you want to make planned profits with planned costs and make the most of your ad.

Research and analyze the plan that best suits your needs and invest appropriately. Fortunately, the best part about social media marketing is that it can be done both at an exorbitant price and at a low-cost budget.

Look for: 10 Low-Cost Social Media Marketing Tactics That Work

Help Analyze Touchpoints

You will be able to plan a more concentric campaign if you get to know the touchpoints. Touchpoints are the possible ways to interact with your consumers (not physically or directly), which influences them to feel a certain way about your product.

Categorizing the points based on age, source, campaign medium, and the monthly trend will help customize your marketing plans.

Upon delving deep, you should choose the appropriate customers who really need your product/service and try to market your product in a meaningful way to establish a bond with them. Touchpoints are basically like the race you need to run to make your potential customers become your actual and regular customers.

What are Touchpoints

Touchpoints involve a lot of demographic detailing and planning, which is a pretty huge and essential task you need to undertake when you're organically marketing your brand.

Who knows people better than the media, where most people spend most times of their lives? Yup, you guessed it right, it's social media companies. In the case of paid social media, the touchpoints covered under social media are taken care of by those companies for your brand.

Optimize Content

By analyzing the touchpoints, you can optimize the content based on your target audience's preferences. Content construction and framing is a crucial step in marketing. You have to carefully frame and spread your ads to decide how your touchpoint connects with or perceives your brand.

Marketing

No amount of ads or paid marketing or quality products can save your brand if your marketing content does not convey much. You get to see, analyze and, to an extent, control the success of your ads based on deciding its content wisely.

As an initial wave, consider using your most successful ad, which had high reach and conversions organically into paid social media marketing. You're basically going to project your most successful campaign to a larger group of potential customers. The larger amount of potential customers might help you kick start your product on a wider platform and kind of assures most profits because the content you've chosen has worked the best already.

Strategies

In the long run, you may have to apply different strategies to pin down the content, leading to most conversions. Other famous tricks of the trade are to A/B test your best campaigns in specific sample groups to choose the campaign with the most potential.

Easy Funneling Potentials

Paid social media will help find target audiences easily. This will help you plan your marketing strategies. By understanding what type of marketing works for your product, you can help increase the magnetizing rate. This will also help divert more traffic to your web pages.

Enhance Brand Awareness

Customizing the content will ultimately enhance the user experience, thereby help your product reach its audience better.

Gain Awareness of Current Market

By constantly analyzing your audience's interaction with your page, you can learn which product stands out in which locale. You can also thereby gain awareness about the current marketing working for that locale.

Image Credit: from the author; thank you!

The post Importance of Paid Social Media appeared first on ReadWrite.

With smartphones and laptops becoming an everyday essential, anything that is available or can be viewed and purchased through your mobile becomes an instant hit. Also, social media is the new habituate to today's populate. Want to reach people? Put it on social media, because that is where you can find a lot of audiences.
The post Importance of Paid Social Media appeared first on ReadWrite.Marketing, paid social media, Social Media Marketing, wild ads

These ingenious iPhone wallpapers ensure your battery never dies

Posted: 09 May 2021 07:40 AM PDT

The image above shows three iPhone 12 units, each featuring three different wallpapers. But upon closer inspection, you'd realize it's the same iPhone 12 device rocking a type of wallpaper that's not exactly available on iPhone. The image rotates depending on a specific action, in this case, your worst smartphone fear. They match the iPhone's battery life. It's a brilliant contraption that anyone can set up on their iPhones without jailbreaking the handset. It's all possible thanks to a different iPhone functionality that's already built into iOS.

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It's 2021, but smartphone battery life is still a concern. We still wonder how big the phone battery is, and we want to know how long it'll last even before we order the device. That's despite the various technologies that should make battery life concerns a thing of the past. Some phones deliver better battery than others but pick any of the newest handsets, and you're likely to get excellent battery life. Last year's iPhones and Androids also qualify.

Smartphone components are more efficient than ever, and battery capacities have steadily increased in recent years. On top of that, all new smartphones support significantly faster charging speeds, and many of them come with wireless charging support. This makes it even more convenient to recharge the handset during the day.

Still, if dropping battery life freaks you out, then Ben Vessey's smart iPhone wallpaper trick might help. As you've probably guessed by now, the wallpaper rotates depending on the battery state. You get to choose a different home and lock screen for healthy battery, low battery, and charging mode. That way, a quick glance at the screen will tell you all you need to know about it.

iPhone 12 wallpaper changes depending on the battery charge. Image source: Ben Vessey

iOS doesn't offer this kind of iPhone dynamic wallpaper functionality, however. So Vessey took one of the great iOS features that could pull it off, the Shortcuts automation app built into iOS.

The Dynamo wallpapers that Vessey devised aren't an iOS app, so you won't find them in the App Store. You'll have to purchase the two packs, each containing three sets of dynamic Wallpaper, directly from Vessey's website.

Each pack costs around $5.50 and comes with a video and PDF instructions to make it all work. There might be no jailbreaking involved, but you will need to set up shortcuts to change those wallpapers depending on battery life. If you're already well-versed in setting up automation on iPhone, then you might already know how to set up such shortcuts. You could use any images as battery life indicators, as long as they're descriptive enough for the battery states shown above.

You'll need an iPhone 6s or later to make it all work on your own or with Vessey's dynamic iPhone wallpapers, which are available at this link.

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Buy NowThe image above shows three iPhone 12 units, each featuring three different wallpapers. But upon closer inspection, you'd realize it's the same iPhone 12 device rocking a type of wallpaper that's not exactly available on iPhone. The image rotates depending on a specific action, in this case, your worst smartphone fear. They match the iPhone's battery life. It's a brilliant contraption that anyone can set up on their iPhones without jailbreaking the handset. It's all possible thanks to a different iPhone functionality that's already built into iOS.

It's 2021, but smartphone battery life is still a concern. We still wonder how big the phone battery is, and we want to know how long it'll last even before we order the device. That's despite the various technologies that should make battery life concerns a thing of the past. Some phones deliver better battery than others but pick any of the newest handsets, and you're likely to get excellent battery life. Last year's iPhones and Androids also qualify.

Smartphone components are more efficient than ever, and battery capacities have steadily increased in recent years. On top of that, all new smartphones support significantly faster charging speeds, and many of them come with wireless charging support. This makes it even more convenient to recharge the handset during the day.

Still, if dropping battery life freaks you out, then Ben Vessey's smart iPhone wallpaper trick might help. As you've probably guessed by now, the wallpaper rotates depending on the battery state. You get to choose a different home and lock screen for healthy battery, low battery, and charging mode. That way, a quick glance at the screen will tell you all you need to know about it.

iOS doesn't offer this kind of iPhone dynamic wallpaper functionality, however. So Vessey took one of the great iOS features that could pull it off, the Shortcuts automation app built into iOS.

The Dynamo wallpapers that Vessey devised aren't an iOS app, so you won't find them in the App Store. You'll have to purchase the two packs, each containing three sets of dynamic Wallpaper, directly from Vessey's website.

Each pack costs around $5.50 and comes with a video and PDF instructions to make it all work. There might be no jailbreaking involved, but you will need to set up shortcuts to change those wallpapers depending on battery life. If you're already well-versed in setting up automation on iPhone, then you might already know how to set up such shortcuts. You could use any images as battery life indicators, as long as they're descriptive enough for the battery states shown above.

You'll need an iPhone 6s or later to make it all work on your own or with Vessey's dynamic iPhone wallpapers, which are available at this link.iOS, iPhone

While hosting “SNL,” Elon Musk acknowledges having Asperger’s … and riffs on Dogecoin

Posted: 08 May 2021 10:42 PM PDT

Elon Musk delivers his monologue as host of NBC's "Saturday Night Live." (NBC Video)

Elon Musk made his mark tonight on NBC's "Saturday Night Live" — not only as the richest host in the late-night skit show's 46-year run, but also as the first host to acknowledge on live TV that he has Asperger Syndrome.

That's not exactly a surprise: For years, folks have noticed that the billionaire CEO of SpaceX and Tesla has the laser focus and social awkwardness that's associated with Asperger's. But Musk fully embraced his Aspieness during tonight's monologue.

"I'm actually making history tonight as the first person with Asperger's to host 'SNL,' or at least the first to admit it," he said. "So I won't make a lot of eye contact with the cast tonight. But already I'm pretty good at running human in emulation mode."

“I’m actually making history as the first person with Asperger’s to host SNL … or at least the first to admit it.” — @elonmusk

Hands down one of the best opening monologues I’ve seen ???? pic.twitter.com/z2bVVaHy6o

— Pranay Pathole (@PPathole) May 9, 2021

It's true that Musk probably won't make "SNL's" greatest-hits clip show for the roles he played in the comedy skits — including an Icelandic TV producer and an Generation Z doctor — but he won the day with his self-deprecating humor.

The spaciest (and spiciest) moment came when Musk played himself, dealing with a Mars crisis involving Chad, the clueless slacker who's a recurring character played by Pete Davidson. (Watch the clip all the way to the end — if you dare.)

You’re a hero, Chad pic.twitter.com/dQ3G4ffk0j

— Saturday Night Live – SNL (@nbcsnl) May 9, 2021

Despite the qualms that were expressed in advance of the show, cast members put in a few good-natured digs as well.

During "Weekend Update," for example, SNL regular Colin Jost noted that a Chinese Long March rocket crashed into the Indian Ocean, apparently harmlessly, after days of hand-wringing over the risk from orbital debris. "For once, we know it's not Elon's fault," Jost joked. "A lot of people have been wondering, 'Why is he hosting our show?' And now we know: It's because he needed an alibi."

"Weekend Update" co-host Michael Che also got in a jab at Musk as well as Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. Che started out by noting that Bezos' Blue Origin space venture had just set up an auction for a ride to space aboard its  suborbital spaceship.

"Why are all these rich white people trying to go to space?" he asked. "Look, if there's any Martians watching this, when you see a bunch of foreign ships pull up on your land, take it from a Black dude, don't get on them … unless you want to be a Martian with the last name 'Washington.’"

Musk and the "SNL" writers managed to work in a couple of references to Dogecoin, the meme-inspired cryptocurrency that became a focus of pre-show speculation.

During "Weekend Update," Musk portrayed a nerdy, bow-tied financial expert who struggled to explain to Che and Jost exactly what Dogecoin was — until he said that it could be traded for conventional money.

"Oh," Che said. "So it's a hustle."

"Yeah, it's a hustle," Musk's character replied.

Lloyd Ostertag stopped by the desk to talk cryptocurrency. pic.twitter.com/cuILxOBJlj

— Saturday Night Live – SNL (@nbcsnl) May 9, 2021

As the show proceeded, Dogecoin plummeted in value, and the Robinhood trading app experienced a temporary outage due to high trading volume. But if Musk's monologue is to be believed, there's a new addition to the family Doge holdings.

Because this is Mother's Day weekend, the cast members' moms were featured in some of the jokes — as was Musk's mother, Maye Musk.

"I'm excited for my Mother's Day gift," she told her son. "I just hope it's not Dogecoin."

"It is," Elon Musk admitted.

Elon Musk made his mark tonight on NBC's "Saturday Night Live" — not only as the richest host in the late-night skit show's 46-year run, but also as the first host to acknowledge on live TV that he has Asperger Syndrome. That's not exactly a surprise: For years, folks have noticed that the billionaire CEO of SpaceX and Tesla has the laser focus and social awkwardness that's associated with Asperger's. But Musk fully embraced his Aspieness during tonight's monologue. "I'm actually making history tonight as the first person with Asperger's to host 'SNL,' or at least the first to admit… Read MoreGeek Life, Space, Elon Musk, Saturday Night Live, television

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