Update to 'REC' Video Camera App Supports Apple ProRes

· Andrew Orr · Cool Stuff Found

REC is a video camera app that offers manual controls for advanced videographers. Its recent update adds support for Apple ProRes codecs. REC will support the following codecs: Apple ProRes 422 Proxy: A highly compressed option for lower file sizes but stunning quality. Apple ProRes 422 LT: Slightly less compressed than 422 Proxy, LT balances smaller file sizes with a comparatively higher data rate. Apple ProRes 422: An extremely high quality codec, 422 boasts almost the same quality as 422 HQ, but with 66% of the data rate, so editing is even faster. Apple ProRes 422 HQ: This codec offers the highest quality video available, in a visually lossless format.

Update to ‘REC’ Video Camera App Supports Apple ProRes

Your WiFi Doubles as Home Security Tech with Hex

· Jeff Butts · Cool Stuff Found

Home security systems can be expensive, complicated combinations of DIY sensors and hubs, or all of the above. Worse, the sensors are prone to false alarms, especially motion detectors. What if your home security system worked by deciphering how bodies, yours or others’, interacted with invisible waves already moving through your house? I’m talking about interpreting how your WiFi signals bounce off people and objects. If that sounds too far-fetched, it isn’t. Hex Home is redefining home security by doing just that. The system uses your existing WiFi waves to detect motion in your home. Hex is fully customizable, allowing you to configure sensitivity so your furry friends or curtains moving in the wind don’t trigger the alarm. You can even set automated times for the alarm to arm or disarm.

Apple Exec Lisa Jackson Appears on 'The Jane Goodall Hopecast'

· Charlotte Henry · Cool Stuff Found

Lisa Jackson Apple environment solar panels

Lisa Jackson, Apple’s vice president of Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives, is the latest guest on The Jane Goodall Hopecast. They discuss how businesses can provide innovation and leadership in tackling environmental issues.

Hannah Waddingham and Juno Temple Discuss Their 'Ted Lasso' Journey

· Charlotte Henry · Cool Stuff Found

I’ve regularly commented in my (mixed) reviews that one of the highlights of Ted Lasso season two is the developing relationship between Rebecca and Keeley, played by Hannah Waddingham and Juno Temple respectively. In a recently released video clip, the two actors discuss how they came to be involved in the hit show, their characters, and what it all means to them personally. It gives a really nice insight into life behind the camera and how the show was made.

[‘Ted Lasso’ Season Two Finale Special — Media+]

Spice Up Your Screenshots With New 'Apple Frames 2.0' Shortcut

· Andrew Orr · Cool Stuff Found

Federico Viticci’s Apple Frames shortcut is an invaluable tool and one that I use nearly every day. All of the iPhone and iPad screenshots in my articles are framed using this shortcut. On Tuesday, Mr. Viticci announced Apple Frames 2.0, and it completely changes the way the tool works. “When I started working on this new version of Apple Frames, I realized I needed to fix something that had been bugging me for a while: if you tried to open the shortcut editor for Apple Frames, it was incredibly slow to scroll, which made it too difficult for most users to edit and inspect actions contained in the shortcut.”

Spice Up Your Screenshots With New ‘Apple Frames 2.0’ Shortcut

Smile Updates 'TextExpander' With New UI and Improved Accessibility

· Andrew Orr · Cool Stuff Found

Smile, the developer of the TextExpander productivity app, has announced TextExpander 7.0. The latest update significantly enhances the user experience, improving performance and broadening accessibility within the app. TextExpander 7.0 wraps these changes in a whole new, streamlined look and feel. A fresh and refined user interface includes a more unified user experience, updates to snippet suggestions, as well as enhanced responsiveness and functionality. Updated conflict management helps users ensure the right snippets expand when needed. TextExpander users will notice the upgraded search feature, which helps them to find the right snippets faster. In addition to improved functionality, the latest update makes TextExpander more accessible to all. Beyond improvements to appearance settings and keyboard navigation, the latest version revises the app layout and improves the design for screen reader compatibility.

Smile Updates ‘TextExpander’ With New UI and Improved Accessibility

'Weather on the Way' App Update Brings Departure Time Slider

· Andrew Orr · Cool Stuff Found

Weather on the Way combines weather and navigation to show you a forecast for your road trip route, exactly at the time you will be driving through. It was recently updated to bring new features: New Departure Time Slider – Allows for easy selection of departure time. Pinch to zoom for greater precision. Immediate forecast update when changing the departure time. Speed adjustment settings – Driving a slower vechicle? Adjust your typical speed in settings for the most accurate predictions. New version adds support for iOS 15 and new Apple Maps to ensure the best experience Fixed bug where Siri prompt would sometimes fail. Although not mentioned in the release notes, the developer says that the app now supports Siri Shortcuts.

‘Weather on the Way’ App Update Brings Departure Time Slider

Bring Dark Mode to all Websites With 'Noir' Safari Extension

· Andrew Orr · Cool Stuff Found

Noir is an iOS | iPadOS 15 extension that generates a custom dark style for each website you visit, based on the colors that are used on a page. You won’t even notice this happening in the background – that’s how fast it is – but you’ll certainly appreciate the end result: a beautiful dark mode tailored for each website, where contrast is preserved and highlights still pop. Noir works with any website you visit in Safari, automatically. By default, Noir is linked to your device’s Dark Mode, so websites will only go dark when you want them to. But you can easily customize this to your liking, even per website.

Bring Dark Mode to all Websites With ‘Noir’ Safari Extension

The iPhone 13 Candy Catapult Case

· Jeff Butts · Cool Stuff Found

I’ve been thinking about getting a 3D printer for quite some time, and now I may have the perfect excuse. While waiting for his iPhone 13 Pro Max to be delivered, Matty Benedetto designed and produced his own custom case. Benedetto, over the past two years, has “designed and fully prototyped over 280 new inventions that solve problems that don’t exist”. I think Benedetto has cited the problem of the boring phone case with this one, though. This case actually stores pieces of candy, which it dispenses through old-school pinball mechanics. If designing and crafting something like this isn’t a good enough excuse to buy a 3D printer, I don’t know what is.

'Crossy Road+' Comes to Apple Arcade Featuring Beloved Crossy Chicken

· Andrew Orr · Cool Stuff Found

Crossy Road was an arcade game created by Hipster Whale, similar to the classic Frogger game. Now it’s back in Apple Arcade. In Crossy Road+ you have to dodge traffic, hop across logs, sidestep trains and collect coins. Make sure you don’t stay still for too long. In each game you get coins which can be used to unlock new characters.

‘Crossy Road+’ Comes to Apple Arcade Featuring Beloved Crossy Chicken

Comedy 'Acapulco' Now on Apple TV+

· Charlotte Henry · Cool Stuff Found

Acapulco Key Art Apple TV+

The first two episodes of the bilingual comedy series Acapulco are now available to Apple TV+ subscribers. It tells the story of Máximo Gallardo, played by Eugenio Derbez, who recalls working as a cabana boy at the glamorous hotel Las Colinas in the 80s. Further episodes will be released on a weekly basis.

'GRID Autosport' Gets More Game Controls in New Update

· Andrew Orr · Cool Stuff Found

Feral Interactive has released a new update for GRID Autosport on iOS and Android, with a focus on further refining the game’s control options. Leading the pack is Arrow Touch Pro – a much-requested alternative layout for Arrow Touch steering that enables the use of manual acceleration. Following close behind is the brand new, fully-customisable Throttle Slider, allowing players to set their acceleration with pinpoint precision. This patch also adds full support for the latest DualSense and Xbox Series X|S wireless controllers, as well as language support for Traditional Chinese.

‘GRID Autosport’ Gets More Game Controls in New Update

'Welcome: Smart City Guide' Gets 2.0 Update Overhaul

· Andrew Orr · Cool Stuff Found

Welcome is your new personalized city guide. It’s powered by friends and experts — and made smart by a Real Time AI. It makes intelligent place suggestions by taking into account your preferences and habits, as well as local data like weather, time of day, popularity, holidays, and more. It recently updated to 2.0 which brings improvements like “See recommendations from experts & publications; Access Real Time to find the right place at the right time.” The story of Welcome can be read here.

‘Welcome: Smart City Guide’ Gets 2.0 Update Overhaul

Metallica Celebrates 40th Anniversary With Apple Music’s Zane Lowe

· Charlotte Henry · Cool Stuff Found

As Metallica hits its 40th anniversary, members James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett, and Robert Trujillo sat down with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe for an extended conversation. They discuss the influence of former bassist Jason Newsted and producer Bob Rock. They also explain how their rivalries with other heavy metal acts encouraged them forward.

Podcasters Interview the Team Behind 'Pegasus Project' About Pegasus Spyware

· Andrew Orr · Cool Stuff Found

The Season 2 premiere of the One Decision podcast includes an episode featuring the people behind Pegasus Project, the effort to expose the pervasive government abuse of NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware against its own citizens. Danna Ingleton of Amnesty Tech and Laurent Richard of Forbidden Stories join host Michelle Kosinski for their behind-the-scenes perspective on why this leak is just the tip of the iceberg, the alarming sophistication of this invisible attack, and what it means for all of us.

Podcasters Interview the Team Behind ‘Pegasus Project’ About Pegasus Spyware

Firefox 93 Adds Support for the AVIF Image Format

· Andrew Orr · Cool Stuff Found

Mozilla released an update to Firefox a couple days ago, and version 93 adds a couple of features and improvements. Firefox now supports the new AVIF image format, which is based on the modern and royalty free AV1 video codec. It offers significant bandwidth savings for sites compared to existing image formats. Firefox PDF viewer now supports filling more forms (XFA-based forms, used by multiple governments and banks). To prevent session loss for macOS users who are running Firefox from a mounted .dmg file, they’ll now be prompted to finish installation. Firefox now blocks downloads that rely on insecure connections, protecting against potentially malicious or unsafe downloads. Improved web compatibility for privacy protections with SmartBlock 3.0. Introducing a new referrer tracking protection in Strict Tracking Protection and Private Browsing. Introducing Firefox Suggest, a faster way to navigate the web.

Firefox 93 Adds Support for the AVIF Image Format