Some T-Mobile users experience bug with eSIM on iPhones
Yesterday afternoon, Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman Tweeted about an issues that some T-Mobile customers are experiencing on iPhones. Specifically, some lines activated with eSIM were suddenly deactivated from iMessage and FaceTime with no way to re-activate the line with Apple’s core communication services.
There is a very nasty iPhone and @TMobile bug where iMessage and FaceTime for a device’s phone number will randomly deactivate and there is no way to reactivate it. The only solution that worked for me is getting a new physical SIM card. This is a very disappointing problem.
There are a couple of ways that the issue can be fixed, one of which is removing the eSIM and re-registering the account to the iPhone. You can also visit a T-Mobile Store to activate a SIM and install it to reactivate iMessage or FaceTime.
Another solution flagged to me by some is removing your eSIM account from the iPhone and setting that up again. But that’s complex for most people and shouldn’t need to ever to be done. It is not optimal to be unable to send or receive text messages. Not “it just works.”
T-Mobile confirmed that it is working with Apple to address the problem. Gurman also explained that this bug is not new, and has been confirmed to have affected iPhone customers on iOS versions 15. 4, 15. 5, and the current version 15.6.
T-Mobile reached out to say they are working with Apple on trying to resolve the issue. It sounds a bit early, however. T-Mobile claims it’s an Apple ID/iCloud problem. This should be fixed in the next iOS update. https://t.co/DuvSpHGP3l
Classic Catan spinoff gets a reboot later this year: Dawn of Humankind
Catan, the granddaddy of the board game boom, hasn’t merely been around long enough to have a whole spread of spinoffs and expansions — it’s been around long enough for those spinoffs to be rebooted too. Out this fall, Catan: Dawn of Humankind is a forthcoming stand-alone game that takes a classic stand-alone game based on Catan and brings it under the Catan brand, reintroducing fans of the strategy game to a more prehistoric take on the franchise.
According to Catan Studio, Dawn of Humankind is a reboot of TheSettlers of the Stone Age, a strategy game based on Catan that was released in 2002 and featured a more prehistoric theme, in contrast with Catan‘s more agrarian set dressing. The new version of the game — which was designed by Catan creator Klaus Teuber and his son Benjamin Teuber — will introduce new mechanics to work with its Pleistocene epoch setting.
Catan – Dawn of Humankind launches in Target and Hobby stores across the U.S. and Canada on October. 1.
Pokémon TCG now includes peel-off Ditto cards, igniting controversy
Ditto is trolling everyone in the Pokémon Trading Card Game (TCG). If you aren’t familiar with the Pokémon, it’s literally a one-trick pony: All it can do is mimic and transform into other Pokémon. In a nod to its powers, there is a new card that you can peel the top layer off of to reveal that Ditto had “transformed” into it. But now, the new peel-off card for Ditto has thrown the community into chaos, as collectors and fans hash out what would actually be the best way to collect the card.
The card will come as part of an expansion to the new line of Pokémon cards inspired by Pokémon Go. The line was unveiled in March and is scheduled to be released to the wider public on July 1. Here’s how the Ditto card works: You might get a card that shows a Pokémon like Bidoof, but then, if there’s a little Ditto icon in the bottom left corner, it means it’s a peel-off and you can pull the top layer off to reveal a Ditto. You can view a video of it from Reddit below.
The official announcement of the expansion noted that the Pokémon layered on top can’t be used in competitive play. However, collectors have already brought up a flurry of questions in response to seeing the card. Mainly, folks are debating if they should collect it and keep the card peeled or unpeeled. Unpeeled would seem to make sense, if you’re just trying to preserve a card in its original state, but then one Redditor brought up that the glue might degrade and warp the card.
Being a Pokémon TCG collector is serious business. Certain cards, like a holographic Charizard, can fetch exorbitant prices that reach as high as $300,000. During the pandemic, the demand for Pokémon cards shot through the roof and sent card grading agencies into an absolute death spiral. Now, we have the great Ditto debate.
The weekly Exotic item merchant, Xur, hangs out in random locations around the world of Destiny. In Destiny 2, he can appear all over the map, as well as inside the Tower. This week, you can find Xur in on Nessus, standing on a big tree overlooking the Watcher’s Grave.
Image: Bungie via Polygon
Xur’s inventory this week consists of the following:
As of Season of the Lost, Xur also sells a collection of old armor and weapons — similar to Banshee-44 and Ada-1. Usually, these items are difficult to find and from seasons long past. Each item (whether armor or weapon) costs only 1,000 Glimmer and 50 Legendary Shards.
Xur’s Legendary inventory this week consists of the following:
Seventh Seraph SI-2, Void sidearm
Whispering Slab, Kinetic bow
Eternal Blazon, Arc scout rifle
Long Shadow, Kinetic sniper rifle
Widow’s Bite, Solar sniper rifle
Seventh Seraph Saw, Arc machine gun
Royal Entry, Void rocket launcher
Holdfast armor set
Xur’s items drop at a power level similar to that of your character.
Telesto
Telesto is a returning Exotic from Destiny, added back in during Curse of Osiris. This fan-favorite fusion rifle has two perks that make it special. First is Unplanned Reprieve. When you fire Telesto, the fusion rifle particles attach to the enemy and explode at a later time. Second, Harbinger’s Pulse causes multikills to reload your kinetic and energy weapons.
Telesto is easily one of the most fun weapons to use in Destiny 2. It’s very powerful in strikes and public events for clearing large groups of enemies or dealing with a single threat. But more importantly, Telesto simply feels Exotic every time you fire it. Don’t pass up the opportunity to add Telesto to your armory.
Gemini Jester
Gemini Jester is one of the Exotics added in Curse of Osiris. Its main exotic perk is Misdirection. If you dodge near an enemy, you’ll disorient them, removing their radar if they’re a human player. This is a decent PvP exotic if you’re sick of running the classics. Just beware that you need to be close to be effective.
Xur’s roll this week comes with 60 total stats.
Actium War Rig
Actium War Rig is an extremely powerful Titan chest piece. Its exotic perk, Auto-loading Link, will constantly reload your auto rifles as you fire them. If you’re a fan of auto rifles — especially ones with larger-than-average magazines — this is an incredible exotic. When pairing Actium War Rig with the Sweet Business exotic auto rifle, the clip will refill with 10 rounds every few seconds, allowing the minigun to truly feel unique. If you ever use auto rifles, this chest piece is an absolute must-have.
Xur’s roll this week comes with 61 total stats.
Verity’s Brow
This Verity’s Brow Warlock helmet is fairly mediocre. Its exotic perk is The Fourth Magic, which causes your energy weapon kills to regenerate grenade energy for you and your nearby allies. This perk is fine and always useful. However, when compared to many of the other Warlock exotics out there — Crown of Tempests, Geomag Stabilizers, Chromatic Fire, etc. — there is almost no situation where this helmet is worth using.
Xur’s roll this week comes with 60 total stats.
Exotic Cipher quest
Image: Bungie via Polygon
Starting in Beyond Light, Xur has a new quest for an Exotic Cipher. The Exotic Cipher lets you buy old Exotics from the Monuments to Lost Light kiosk in the tower. You’ll need these items and some other currencies to pick up Exotics like Heir Apparent and Truth.
This week, Xur wants you to complete 21 Strikes or win Crucible or Gambit matches. By finishing the quest, you’ll earn an Exotic Cipher to use however you want.
Seeing wild Pokemon would be terrifying in real life
Pokemon Legends: Arceus made catching Pokemon more immersive, with an open world designed for sneaking and throwing Poke Balls. Players could now watch Mr. Mime make little gestures while sitting in a meadow or see a bashful Teddiursa skittering away. Wild Pokemon can also be seen approaching players, which makes the game more frightening for those who aren’t used being approached. In Arceus, encountering massive Alphas became a singularly terrifying experience.
As a newbie to the franchise I found it enjoyable and satisfying. It was a strange world. I had never seen a place where games offered more entertainment than combat. The world of sneaking and real danger were much more interesting. My TikTok feed brought me to some amazing and disturbing animations, which made Pokemon seem as real as they are in reality. The animated sequences, created by visual effects artist Seth Whittenburg, have gone viral, with individual posts commanding millions of views. You’ll see why. Similar to other art like Pokemon , Whittenburg’s animations, which are often frightening
A few of Whittenburg’s animations show Pokemon being caught in wild. Others stick Pokemon in modern-day spaces — a Mew floating near a person sitting on a couch, like a regular apartment cat. There are chill sequences, like an assembly line creating Poke Balls. But the animations depicting random encounters with wild Pokemon — like Gengar wreaking havoc in a grocery store or a large Snorlax snoozing under a tree — are almost always discomfiting. A lot of Whittenburg’s animation techniques draw heavily from horror elements, playing with shading, texture, and camera perspective. The Poke Ball found in someone’s hands seems flimsy.
Whittenburg told Polygon that he grew up watching Pokemon on Cartoon Network and felt inspired to start making these 3D animations after the live-action Detective Pikachu movie came out. He’s self-taught and has been creating visual effects for three years, though he only started using 3D software Blender, which has become his favorite, a year ago. Creating these animated sequences is work intensive, and he says he’s been spending “10-14 hour days” at his computer for the past half-year.
“I have to be patient with my computer, which is why I need to use a slower workflow when I am working on a large-scale project.” Whittenburg shared this information via Instagram. “Due to that, an animation that would only take 2-3 days ends up taking 5-7 days occasionally. The character-building process typically takes 2-5 hours, depending on what kind of character I’m dealing with. Some are trickier than others.”
Whittenburg also counts other TikTokers and YouTubers as his inspiration, including popular horror VFX accounts lights.are.off and Jakefellman, but he mainly credits his love for Pokemon as a jumping-off point for his own work.
“Pokemon has given me lots of happy childhood memories, and even continues to today,” Whittenburg said. “Occasionally I dig through drawers for my Nintendo DSI to go back and play through the old Pokemon games.”
New HomePod launching in late 2022 or early 2023, says Kuo
According to Ming-Chi Kuo, reliable supply chain analyst, Apple is preparing to launch the new HomePod smart speaker. Apple currently sells the $99 HomePod mini as the only model. The original HomePod with much more impressive sound was discontinued last year after a price cut from $349 to $299.
New homePod rumors
According to Kuo, Apple is targeting Q4 of this year or Q1 of next year for launching the next HomePod model. Presumably, this will be a larger model than the HomePod mini, but one with features that help bring the cost down from $300 like its predecessor.
Another alternative is the HomePod mini, though it’s less likely. Apple has released new colors of the HomePod mini, but a second generation doesn’t seem necessary yet.
Same HomePod design
This is speculation. Kuo described the HomePod’s new hardware design by saying that “there may not have been much innovation in the hardware design,” but it’s still a minor complaint unless you need Bluetooth or line out functionality.
Kuo went on to state that, while smart speakers are “undoubtedly an essential element of the home ecosystem,” but he does not believe Apple has mastered the art of smart speaker success.
Smart speaker marketplace
That’s largely because Apple insists on premium audio performance, which comes with higher price tags, and that’s before you consider Apple’s margins to make a product worth its time. Amazon Echo and Google Nest products rival even the HomePod mini in price (if not features), but we don’t expect Apple to release a HomePod version below the HomePod mini threshold.
Since its original HomePod launch, Sonos has increased the number of connected speakers it offers with voice-controlled features. Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant and Google Assistant were the first to bring voice control of music and other smart features to Sonos. Now Sonos has its own smart assistant that can be used for controlling music.
Kuo has also recently predicted that Apple is developing a new version of the Apple TV set-top box with the goal of lowering the cost structure.
9to5Mac’s take
Kuo has just made a prediction that is musical to our ears. Even though the HomePod original was more expensive than Amazon or Google’s offerings, we loved it. HomePod mini was sorely needed as an option, but it shouldn’t be the only smart speaker from Apple. Mini is not the same as what?
Q4 2022 and Q1 2023 aren’t that far away, and we’re eager to learn more about this new HomePod model in development. Smaller HomePods work well in the living area, while larger versions can be used throughout the home. Hopefully, Apple has found a way to get closer to the original HomePod in terms of quality, but without the hefty price tag that limited its appeal to the masses.
Or, you know, maybe Apple could just make fewer of the premium HomePods. AirPods Max headphones are a wonderful addition to the AirPods earbud market, and the adoption of the latter is light-years ahead of the former. It’s also worth noting that Apple introduced its $550 headphones just before discontinuing its $300 speaker. By our measure, HomePod was a vastly better value than AirPods Max (even if they’re also great).
League of Legends new champion, Bel’Veth, teaser trailer reveal
League of Legends has a new monster. Bel’Veth, a deceptive new Void creature, has been revealed as the game’s latest champion. Riot has released a new trailer to tease the champion’s arrival.
The trailer opens with Kai’Sa trying to navigate the Void’s perils. She is stopped short of getting anywhere by Bel’Veth, a mysterious-looking woman. The two have a brief fight, but after Bel’Veth captures Kai’Sa, the monster reveals her true form as a horrifying Void creature with tentacles and a glowing mouth. The teaser ends just as the horrors of Bel’Veth become clear.
Although this teaser has a lot of creepiness and atmosphere, it shows us Bel’Veth’s overall vibes better than the actual kit. It does seem that she often disguises herself as a human, so it’s unclear how often we’ll see her monster form on Summoner’s Rift. Based on Riot’s normal schedule, we’ll hopefully learn more about this new Void champion sometime next week.
HomeKit Weekly: A redesigned Home app is at the top of my iOS 16 wishlist
This is officially when I focus my attention on what’s going to be revealed at WWDC June. Rumours are always rampant at this time of the year. I don’t think Apple will spend much time during their keynote showing HomeKit improvements. So let’s dive into what’s on my iOS 16 HomeKit wishlist.
HomeKit Weekly is a series focused on smart home accessories, automation tips and tricks, and everything to do with Apple’s smart home framework.
An overhauled Home app for iPhone and iPad
The current iPhone Home app is starting to look old. As I’ve continued to expand my HomeKit device count, the Home app isn’t scaling well with it. Although the idea of HomeKit rooms is great, access to them is extremely slow. Apple must make changes to the access method to rooms if they want them around, which is a good thing in general. I’d love to see Apple let you map where you’re at based on proximity to a HomePod mini or an Apple TV and then the Home app could display devices near where you’re standing in the house.
Second. Now that Apple has made it possible to connect unlimited HomeKit cameras on iCloud+ the way they are integrated in the Home app must change. Like the list of HomeKit devices, as you add more than a few cameras, it becomes just a scrolling list. HomeCam has struck the right balance of usability and functionality with HomeKit cameras. It might be time for Apple to break cameras out of the Home app with a dedicated HomeKitCam app.
As dated as the iPhone app is, the iPad app could also use an overhaul. The Home app looks pretty boring when used to mount HomeKit on a wall. There are a lot of opportunities for Apple to innovate here to make it an actual use case.
Continuous recording
For HomeKit cameras that are wired, I’d like to see Apple expand the option to use continuous recording. For battery-powered HomeKit cameras, it doesn’t make sense to record 24/7 as it would drain the battery. For wired cameras, though, I’d like the option – even if it was a feature only on the $9. 99/month plan, to record everything at all times. Especially with the release of the first outdoor floodlight camera from Eve, it’s time for continuous recording.
Granular sharing by device or room
When sharing HomeKit access, there’s really not much granularity to it other than for cameras. But what if my children don’t have HomeKit access? There is currently no way for me to do this. I’d ideally like to see a situation where I can give access to certain rooms or block access to particular devices.
Summary
There are just three things I want to see in HomeKit in iOS 16. HomeKit is the most foundational tool for smart homes. I believe granular sharing and continuous recording are key features.
Acer ConceptD 500 is a sleek, minimalist yet powerful PC tower
Acer has recently introduced a slew of new products. We already looked into the Aspire Vero laptops, and now we’re ready to focus on the ConceptD 500.
This computing device comes in a tower form, ready to deliver powerful performance with its 12th Gen Intel Core i9 processor and GeForce RTX 3070 or NVIDIA RTX A4000 GPU for improved multitasking. The NVIDIA Studio RTX GPU is very much ideal for creative workflows. The PC also runs on a max of 128 GB DDR4 3200 Mhz of memory. It can accommodate up to 4TB HDD and up to 4TB of M.2 Gen 4 SSD, so you are guaranteed more—almost unlimited storage.
The ConceptD 500 Desktop lets you create without limits. It’s a powerful desktop PC that can help you with intensive tasks like video editing, 3D animation, 3D modeling, and other complicated design projects that need speed and efficiency.
Design-wise, the desktop PC tower appears minimalist in white. It looks timeless and comes with amber lighting for that warm appeal. It’s considered mid-sized at 20L but delivers powerful Windows 11 performance. The elegant package makes it look fragile, but it’s not, especially with its powerful promises.
The clean and minimal design makes it a more stylish and attractive choice, but its worth goes beyond the form. This tower computer comes in a sleek design but is packed with specs and features that can handle hard-core computing, especially tasks that need a lot of resources and storage. It’s also quiet and remains silent at all times, thanks to the front air intake design that allows optimized cooling. As a result, noise levels are mainly kept at only 40 dbA and below.
Compared to the previous model, this one is smaller and only has a wooden accent around the top edges. The old model arrived with a wooden panel, so this one looks different and is more distinguishable. The front IO ports are also easily accessible, while the warm amber indicator light adds to its modern appeal.
Since this computer is for major computing tasks, it comes with numerous ports that let you connect to other gadgets or storage devices. There is also an integrated SD card reader and a USB Type-C port that can handle 10 Gbps of data transfer. In addition, its LAN connection can reach up to 2.5Gbps high-speed. All these and more mean file and data sharing is easier and more seamless. The full-sized features and compact design combined make the Acer ConceptD 500 a real winner.
Rumored higher-end Apple external display with mini-LED reportedly delayed to October
Display analyst Ross Young today tweeted that his latest supply chain analysis indicates that the rumored 27-inch external display with mini-LED has been delayed until October. It was previously expected to arrive by June.
Young says the delay is due to the recent wave of COVID-induced lockdowns at the Quanta production plant. According to reports, production is being set up in another facility.
There have been contradictory reports regarding the future of Apple’s display line-up following the introduction of the Apple Studio Display. Although the Studio Display fills an important gap in Apple’s product line, some customers still want more. The Studio Display does not feature modern mini-LED backlighting for instance.
A middle ground could be found between Pro Display XDR and Studio Display. It’s not clear if Apple will want to close that gap. Apple could, however, opt for an upgrade to the Pro Display XDR instead.
9to5Mac has previously reported that Apple is working on an external display with a resolution greater than what the current Pro Display DR offers. Pricing or a launch timeframe for that model is unknown.
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