Month: August 2024
AT&T customers report wireless service has been down for hours
Image: The Verge
AT&T seems to be experiencing some issues right now that are leaving customers seeing “SOS” instead of their usual bars of service.
Many customers are tweeting directly at AT&T’s Help account on X, reporting issues like being stuck in SOS or having no phone service.
According to The Mobile Report, AT&T has found internally that a failure at a switching center “has resulted in a cascade of problems, including service delays, the inability to provision new SIM cards, and, for many, a complete loss of network connectivity” that may primarily affect iPhones and other Apple devices. Users on Reddit have also reported service issues on some Android devices.
On Tuesday afternoon, there was also a spike in user reports on Downdetector. There has been a dip in reports since the peak, but while writing this article, the Downdetector graph has started to creep up again.
AT&T spokesperson Jim Kimberley tells The Verge that he is looking into what might be going on. Apple didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.
This outage is happening just one day after AT&T announced it would pay $950,000 to settle an FCC investigation over a 911 outage in August 2023, and just after AT&T reported a work stoppage by the Communications Workers of America in the Southeast during negotiations.
Image: The Verge
AT&T seems to be experiencing some issues right now that are leaving customers seeing “SOS” instead of their usual bars of service.
Many customers are tweeting directly at AT&T’s Help account on X, reporting issues like being stuck in SOS or having no phone service.
According to The Mobile Report, AT&T has found internally that a failure at a switching center “has resulted in a cascade of problems, including service delays, the inability to provision new SIM cards, and, for many, a complete loss of network connectivity” that may primarily affect iPhones and other Apple devices. Users on Reddit have also reported service issues on some Android devices.
On Tuesday afternoon, there was also a spike in user reports on Downdetector. There has been a dip in reports since the peak, but while writing this article, the Downdetector graph has started to creep up again.
AT&T spokesperson Jim Kimberley tells The Verge that he is looking into what might be going on. Apple didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.
This outage is happening just one day after AT&T announced it would pay $950,000 to settle an FCC investigation over a 911 outage in August 2023, and just after AT&T reported a work stoppage by the Communications Workers of America in the Southeast during negotiations.
Snapchat Now Runs Natively On iPad
After 13 years of being exclusively available on the iPhone, Snapchat is finally introducing native support for the iPad. 9to5Mac reports: The latest version of the Snapchat app for iOS enables iPad support. This means that the app now runs full screen on iPadOS. “It’s still the same Snapchat you know and love, but this time on the big screen,” the company says in the update’s release notes. However, it seems that Snapchat hasn’t had time to fully optimize its app for tablets. That’s because, at least for now, it can only run in portrait mode. There’s no way to use the app in landscape mode. The iPad interface also seems a bit glitchy in this first version. The app is available to download from the App Store for devices running iOS 13 or later.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
After 13 years of being exclusively available on the iPhone, Snapchat is finally introducing native support for the iPad. 9to5Mac reports: The latest version of the Snapchat app for iOS enables iPad support. This means that the app now runs full screen on iPadOS. “It’s still the same Snapchat you know and love, but this time on the big screen,” the company says in the update’s release notes. However, it seems that Snapchat hasn’t had time to fully optimize its app for tablets. That’s because, at least for now, it can only run in portrait mode. There’s no way to use the app in landscape mode. The iPad interface also seems a bit glitchy in this first version. The app is available to download from the App Store for devices running iOS 13 or later.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Not just another band from Boston
submitted by /u/BothZookeepergame612 [link] [comments]
submitted by /u/BothZookeepergame612
[link] [comments]
PSA: YouTube Videos Really Can Get Some Water Out of Your iPhone
YouTube videos that play a low sound to vibrate water out of the speakers do, in fact, work, according to a deep dive done by The Verge’s David Pierce and iFixit.
There are a number of YouTube videos that promise to be able to remove water from an iPhone using sound, and Pierce wanted to find out if they do what they claimed, so he asked iFixit for some help. iFixit dunked an iPhone 13 into water with UV dye, played the video, and then left it overnight to dry out.
Playing one of the YouTube videos during this process clearly expelled water from the iPhone’s speaker, and the speakers of other smartphones that were tested from Google and Nokia. The water came out in an initial burst from the sound, but it is worth noting that the video was only able to remove water from the speaker area.
UV dye stained other areas of the iPhone when it was opened up, so the water wasn’t draining from the entire phone. The oscillating tone in the YouTube videos is able to push water out of the speaker grille, but it is not a complete fix for a water-saturated device.
Water coming out of an iPhone’s speaker when a low-toned sound is played, via The Verge and iFixit
On the Apple Watch, Apple has a built-in feature that uses sound to expel water from the device, but that is more effective because it is a smaller object with fewer nooks and crannies than an iPhone.
Apple’s modern iPhones have IP68 water and dust resistance, with the 8 representing water resistance. IPx8 means that the iPhone 15 can withstand splashes, rain, and accidental dunks up to six meters in depth for 30 minutes. iPhone waterproofing does deteriorate over time with wear and tear, and Apple does not cover water damage, so it is best to avoid water exposure when possible.
The Verge’s full look at how these YouTube videos work is well worth checking out.This article, “PSA: YouTube Videos Really Can Get Some Water Out of Your iPhone” first appeared on MacRumors.comDiscuss this article in our forums
YouTube videos that play a low sound to vibrate water out of the speakers do, in fact, work, according to a deep dive done by The Verge‘s David Pierce and iFixit.
There are a number of YouTube videos that promise to be able to remove water from an iPhone using sound, and Pierce wanted to find out if they do what they claimed, so he asked iFixit for some help. iFixit dunked an iPhone 13 into water with UV dye, played the video, and then left it overnight to dry out.
Playing one of the YouTube videos during this process clearly expelled water from the iPhone’s speaker, and the speakers of other smartphones that were tested from Google and Nokia. The water came out in an initial burst from the sound, but it is worth noting that the video was only able to remove water from the speaker area.
UV dye stained other areas of the iPhone when it was opened up, so the water wasn’t draining from the entire phone. The oscillating tone in the YouTube videos is able to push water out of the speaker grille, but it is not a complete fix for a water-saturated device.
On the Apple Watch, Apple has a built-in feature that uses sound to expel water from the device, but that is more effective because it is a smaller object with fewer nooks and crannies than an iPhone.
Apple’s modern iPhones have IP68 water and dust resistance, with the 8 representing water resistance. IPx8 means that the iPhone 15 can withstand splashes, rain, and accidental dunks up to six meters in depth for 30 minutes. iPhone waterproofing does deteriorate over time with wear and tear, and Apple does not cover water damage, so it is best to avoid water exposure when possible.
The Verge‘s full look at how these YouTube videos work is well worth checking out.
This article, “PSA: YouTube Videos Really Can Get Some Water Out of Your iPhone” first appeared on MacRumors.com
Discuss this article in our forums
Anthropic Publishes the ‘System Prompts’ That Make Claude Tick
An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: […] Anthropic, in its continued effort to paint itself as a more ethical, transparent AI vendor, has published the system prompts for its latest models (Claude 3 Opus, Claude 3.5 Sonnet and Claude 3 Haiku) in the Claude iOS and Android apps and on the web. Alex Albert, head of Anthropic’s developer relations, said in a post on X that Anthropic plans to make this sort of disclosure a regular thing as it updates and fine-tunes its system prompts. The latest prompts, dated July 12, outline very clearly what the Claude models can’t do — e.g. “Claude cannot open URLs, links, or videos.” Facial recognition is a big no-no; the system prompt for Claude Opus tells the model to “always respond as if it is completely face blind” and to “avoid identifying or naming any humans in [images].” But the prompts also describe certain personality traits and characteristics — traits and characteristics that Anthropic would have the Claude models exemplify.
The prompt for Claude 3 Opus, for instance, says that Claude is to appear as if it “[is] very smart and intellectually curious,” and “enjoys hearing what humans think on an issue and engaging in discussion on a wide variety of topics.” It also instructs Claude to treat controversial topics with impartiality and objectivity, providing “careful thoughts” and “clear information” — and never to begin responses with the words “certainly” or “absolutely.” It’s all a bit strange to this human, these system prompts, which are written like an actor in a stage play might write a character analysis sheet. The prompt for Opus ends with “Claude is now being connected with a human,” which gives the impression that Claude is some sort of consciousness on the other end of the screen whose only purpose is to fulfill the whims of its human conversation partners. But of course that’s an illusion. “If the prompts for Claude tell us anything, it’s that without human guidance and hand-holding, these models are frighteningly blank slates,” concludes TechCrunch’s Kyle Wiggers. “With these new system prompt changelogs — the first of their kind from a major AI vendor — Anthropic is exerting pressure on competitors to publish the same. We’ll have to see if the gambit works.”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: […] Anthropic, in its continued effort to paint itself as a more ethical, transparent AI vendor, has published the system prompts for its latest models (Claude 3 Opus, Claude 3.5 Sonnet and Claude 3 Haiku) in the Claude iOS and Android apps and on the web. Alex Albert, head of Anthropic’s developer relations, said in a post on X that Anthropic plans to make this sort of disclosure a regular thing as it updates and fine-tunes its system prompts. The latest prompts, dated July 12, outline very clearly what the Claude models can’t do — e.g. “Claude cannot open URLs, links, or videos.” Facial recognition is a big no-no; the system prompt for Claude Opus tells the model to “always respond as if it is completely face blind” and to “avoid identifying or naming any humans in [images].” But the prompts also describe certain personality traits and characteristics — traits and characteristics that Anthropic would have the Claude models exemplify.
The prompt for Claude 3 Opus, for instance, says that Claude is to appear as if it “[is] very smart and intellectually curious,” and “enjoys hearing what humans think on an issue and engaging in discussion on a wide variety of topics.” It also instructs Claude to treat controversial topics with impartiality and objectivity, providing “careful thoughts” and “clear information” — and never to begin responses with the words “certainly” or “absolutely.” It’s all a bit strange to this human, these system prompts, which are written like an actor in a stage play might write a character analysis sheet. The prompt for Opus ends with “Claude is now being connected with a human,” which gives the impression that Claude is some sort of consciousness on the other end of the screen whose only purpose is to fulfill the whims of its human conversation partners. But of course that’s an illusion. “If the prompts for Claude tell us anything, it’s that without human guidance and hand-holding, these models are frighteningly blank slates,” concludes TechCrunch’s Kyle Wiggers. “With these new system prompt changelogs — the first of their kind from a major AI vendor — Anthropic is exerting pressure on competitors to publish the same. We’ll have to see if the gambit works.”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Mophie Launches New Powerstation Battery Packs
Zagg’s Mophie brand today announced new versions of its popular Powerstation Plus Mini, Powerstation Plus, and Powerstation Plus Ultra, all of which have been updated with new designs and battery capacity.
The $50 Powerstation Plus Mini features a 5,000mAh battery that will provide a partial charge for most iPhones. It supports 18W charging over USB-C with the built-in cable, and 20W through an extra USB-C port.
Mophie’s $80 Powerstation Plus has a 10,000mAh battery that should provide a full charge and then some for all of Apple’s iPhones, plus it is powerful enough to be used with iPads and smaller Macs. It includes an integrated 30W USB-C cable and a Lightning cable, plus there’s an extra USB-C port for charging multiple devices.
The $100 Powerstation Plus Ultra has the same capabilities as the Powerstation Plus with 30W charging and integrated cables, but it also has folding wall prongs so that it can be plugged directly into a power outlet for charging purposes.
All three of Mophie’s new power banks support passthrough charging for connected devices and will charge an iPhone before transferring power to the power station. They also support two-way charging with the built-in cables, and can charge multiple devices at once. Fast charging is also supported, and an iPhone 15 can be charged to 50 percent in 25 to 30 minutes.
The Powerstation Plus and Powerstation Mini can be purchased from the Zagg website. The Powerstation Ultra will launch in September.This article, “Mophie Launches New Powerstation Battery Packs” first appeared on MacRumors.comDiscuss this article in our forums
Zagg’s Mophie brand today announced new versions of its popular Powerstation Plus Mini, Powerstation Plus, and Powerstation Plus Ultra, all of which have been updated with new designs and battery capacity.
The $50 Powerstation Plus Mini features a 5,000mAh battery that will provide a partial charge for most iPhones. It supports 18W charging over USB-C with the built-in cable, and 20W through an extra USB-C port.
Mophie’s $80 Powerstation Plus has a 10,000mAh battery that should provide a full charge and then some for all of Apple’s iPhones, plus it is powerful enough to be used with iPads and smaller Macs. It includes an integrated 30W USB-C cable and a Lightning cable, plus there’s an extra USB-C port for charging multiple devices.
The $100 Powerstation Plus Ultra has the same capabilities as the Powerstation Plus with 30W charging and integrated cables, but it also has folding wall prongs so that it can be plugged directly into a power outlet for charging purposes.
All three of Mophie’s new power banks support passthrough charging for connected devices and will charge an iPhone before transferring power to the power station. They also support two-way charging with the built-in cables, and can charge multiple devices at once. Fast charging is also supported, and an iPhone 15 can be charged to 50 percent in 25 to 30 minutes.
The Powerstation Plus and Powerstation Mini can be purchased from the Zagg website. The Powerstation Ultra will launch in September.
This article, “Mophie Launches New Powerstation Battery Packs” first appeared on MacRumors.com
Discuss this article in our forums
Esports champ wants to get into real world of motorsport
Luke Bennett won a cash prize after winning the sim racing event at the Esports World Cup in Riyadh.
Luke Bennett won a cash prize after winning the sim racing event at the Esports World Cup in Riyadh.