Saturday, March 23, 2019

Apple : The next iPhone is rumored to be able to charge up your other gadgets

Apple : The next iPhone is rumored to be able to charge up your other gadgets

The next iPhone is rumored to be able to charge up your other gadgets

Posted: 23 Mar 2019 07:30 AM PDT

Reversible wireless charging – the ability to charge other gadgets as well as be charged wirelessly – is heading to the iPhone 11, according to supply chain sources.

Japanese blog Mac Otakara says its insiders are confident that the Wireless PowerShare technology will make its way into at least some of the 2019 iPhone models when they're unveiled (probably in September).

In theory that would mean you could drop your new AirPods case or your Apple Watch on top of a charged-up iPhone and have some of the power transferred across – handy for those times when you're on the road all day.

It's a feature we've seen before on the Huawei Mate 20 Pro and the Samsung Galaxy S10, so it makes sense for Apple to want to follow suit as well.

Straight from the rumor mill

The technology itself goes back to 2015, but it's taken a while for it to become adopted in mainstream consumer smartphones. There have been one or two earlier whispers that Apple would integrate the feature into its iPhones this year.

Also from the same report, the iPhone 11 models are rumored to be getting faster wired charging via a USB-C to Lightning cable – maybe up to 18W. This is one area where the iPhone still lags behind its Android rivals.

And what else might we see when the 2019 iPhone 11 unveiling rolls around? Apparently one or more models might include the ability to scan the veins in your face to verify your identity.

If that hasn't sold you on the next iPhone, what about a triple-lens rear camera for upping your mobile photography game? That's been reported by multiple outlets and so looks likely to happen at this point.

Via AppleInsider

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The best PDF to Excel converters 2019

Posted: 23 Mar 2019 04:25 AM PDT

The PDF was developed by Adobe in the 1990s, and it’s one of the oldest file types out there. But while it may be something of a veteran, that’s not to say the PDF document is outdated. Over the past two decades, it has remained one of the best ways to share media-rich documents with users across a plethora of platforms.

One of the biggest benefits of the trusty PDF is that it offers both text and image formatting, regardless of application software, technology or operating system. However, the caveat here is the fact that it’s somewhat tricky and time-consuming to edit information in PDF documents.

Lots of businesses send data in the form of PDFs, although the difficult part is making sense of this information. For example, you may want to transfer financial records from a PDF document to an Excel spreadsheet, but there isn’t an obvious or quick way to do this off-the-bat. That’s where a third-party PDF to Excel converter app comes in handy, and we’ve picked out the best offerings right here.

Image Credit: Adobe

Adobe are the original developer of the PDF format, so their Adobe Acrobat software should be the market leading software. It's certainly packed with features, which includes the ability to convert PDF files into XLXS files for use in Excel spreadsheets.

The process should be quick and painless, with the data preserved without need for reformatting. In Adobe Acrobat, you simply open the PDF file you want to export, click on the Export PDF tool, choose your format such as Excel Workbook or .xlxs, then export. You can do this on any device, including your cell phone. 

Once completed, you can then edit the spreadsheet tables using whichever device you're already using. This is also supposed to apply to scanned OCR data, and in each instance you can select the data you actually want to convert, instead of having to export the whole table from .pdf to .xlxs.

Acrobat is more than just about exporting files, of course, and you can create, edit, export, sign, and review the documents being worked on collaboratively. This of course includes any spreadsheets that you export from PDF format.

Pricing for Adobe Acrobat comes in two versions: Adobe Standard DC is priced at $12.99 per month, which is only for use with Windows machines; whereas Adobe Pro DC is for both PC and Mac, and is priced at $14.99 per month.

Image Credit: Nitro

Nitro Pro is a simple and streamlined application that allows you to turn PDF files into Excel documents with a minimum of fuss. Indeed, Nitro claims that its tool allows people to convert PDFs into any Microsoft Office format within a matter of seconds.

Using the application, you can edit all images, text and pages stored in a PDF document and transfer them into an Excel spreadsheet. Just like the Adobe offering, you’re able to add and request digital signatures on PDF documents.

Another great thing about this product is that it’s cloud-based, so you can access documents and edit them from any smartphone, tablet or desktop PC. You can even turn multiple PDFs into a single, searchable document, and there are tools that let you share and view files easily.

Nitro Pro starts from $126 per single-user licence, but there are discounts for bulk purchases, and you can sign up for a 14-day free trial to see if the software works for you.

Image Credit: PDFZilla

The majority of PDF to Excel conversion apps out there are only available in English, which isn’t useful if you run or work at a company with a global reach. Need a solution on the language front? Enter PDFZilla.

Not only is it an incredibly powerful converter in its own right, but this app supports more than 20 languages, including German, French, Italian and Spanish. The software is also fast and easy to get to grips with, letting you convert PDFs with just three clicks.

You’re able to turn PDF documents into Excel, Word, Plain Text, Rich Text, JPG, GIF, PNG and more file formats within one platform. There’s also a handy batch conversion mode for dealing with multiple documents – up to 1,000 files – at the same time. You can buy the software for $29.95, although note that it only works with Windows.

Image Credit: WonderShare

The majority of PDF to Excel converters are fairly broad in terms of their features, and PDFelement is by no means different. It’s been designed predominantly for professional users who need a tool for editing, converting, creating and annotating PDF documents.

What’s more, it boasts decent platform support, being available on Windows and Mac, with an iOS app too, allowing you to convert and edit documents while on-the-go. If you’re about to head into a meeting, having access to documents from your smartphone could be extremely useful.

PDFelement comes with a built-in optical character recognition (OCR) tool, which means you can annotate and add signatures to PDF documents. In a similar way to UniPDF, it tries to keep important elements of a document intact during the conversion process. For instance, if you have embedded tables in a PDF document, these will be converted into an Excel spreadsheet (hopefully) without issues. PDFelement retails at $49.95 for the standard package, but for all features you will need the Professional package priced at $79.99.

Image Credit: SmallPDF

SmallPDF is another good example of a versatile PDF management tool. With it, you’re able to convert PDF documents into a range of different file types, including Microsoft Excel, Word and PowerPoint.

It’s very easy-to-use, and indeed cloud-based for maximum convenience, allowing you to access PDF conversion via the website from wherever you may be (providing you’re online). There’s also a downloadable app for those who want to work offline (for Windows and Mac PCs).

SmallPDF allows you to compress, merge and split documents, as well as add e-signatures. And when it comes to security, this solution will delete your files an hour after they’ve been processed, so you don’t have to worry about any important business data potentially ending up in the hands of third-parties.

SmallPDF is priced at $6 (£4.30) on a monthly subscription, or $4 (£2.80) per month if you sign up annually.

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Apple could be launching truly wireless Beats headphones next month

Posted: 23 Mar 2019 03:30 AM PDT

Apple isn't slowing down with the new audio product releases, if a fresh rumor is to be believed: the company is being tipped to launch a truly wireless version of its Powerbeats earphones during the next month.

The existing Beats PowerBeats 3 are already wireless, but Apple wants to give them an AirPods-style transformation and take away the connecting cord and in-line remote, CNET reports.

Exactly what else we might get with the mooted upgrade isn't clear at the moment, but with the recent AirPods refresh in mind, some kind of wireless charging could be on the table.

CNET's scoop comes courtesy of "a person close to the retail channel" who has given accurate tips before, so we can be fairly certain an upgrade is coming – it would be more of a surprise if Apple wasn't lining up a Powerbeats refresh.

Previous form

Apple has past form for this, releasing new AirPods and new Beats earphones in a short space of time back in 2016, and it sounds as though some of the key technology could be shared here again.

In particular, the newly updated AirPods come with the superior H1 chip, offering a faster connection to calls, improved battery life, and hands-free Siri access.

Might the same upgrades be coming to the Powerbeats 4? We'll have to wait and see, but an announcement is tipped for April, with pricing still to be determined.

If the April date is right then we won't be hearing about the new Powerbeats earphones at the Apple event on Monday – instead Apple will spend all its time talking about its new video streaming service.

Via 9to5Mac

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Xiaomi Mi Band 4 release date, price, news and leaks

Posted: 23 Mar 2019 03:00 AM PDT

Xiaomi's wearables may not offer all of the top-end tracking tech you'd find in the Fitbit Charge 3 or a Samsung Gear Fit 2 Pro, but its Mi Band 3 fitness tracker is a remarkably good product for the price.

That's why there's always excitement around what Xiaomi is doing in the health band market. The company managed to pack a lot of tech into its previous three devices, and we're excited to hear about what Xiaomi will do for the next one.

In fact, the company has already confirmed there will be a Xiaomi Mi Band 4.

David Cui, Chief Financial Officer at Huami (a brand owned by Xiaomi) has confirmed the company is working on a follow-up to the Mi Band 3, and that we're set to see it later this year.

Below you'll find all of the details we know so far, and as those are currently lacking we've also put together a list of features we'd like to see Xiaomi include in the device.

Xiaomi Mi Band 4 release date and price

The Xiaomi Mi Band 3. Image Credit: Xiaomi

First off, the good news is we know the Xiaomi Mi Band 4 is happening. In mid-March 2019, David Cui, Chief Financial Officer at Huami, said "For Mi Band 4, it's going to be in this year. It will be in 2019. But I'm not sure, it's going to be in March and April. It is going to be in this year." 

So we don't know exactly when the Xiaomi Mi Band 4 will launch, but Cui's words make it sound like the launch isn't imminent, so we're currently expecting the Mi Band 4 to land in the second half of the year.

As for price, we don't currently know. You can expect this to be cheaper than a lot of other fitness trackers though as the company priced its previous Mi Bands low. For example, the Mi Band 3 started at $30 / £25 / AU$35.

Xiaomi Mi Band 4 news and leaks

So far, we've yet to see much proper news about the Xiaomi Mi Band 4 other than the confirmation of its existence. However, in the same announcement it was suggested that new features would be coming to the tracker.

We've also seen a Bluetooth certification listing for the device, listing two models, both of which support Bluetooth 5 and one of which also supports NFC. It's worth noting that a Chinese version of the Mi Band 3 also supported NFC for contactless payments, so this isn't a new feature as such, and may not be widely available.

That's all the news for now but we can also take an educated guess at some things. For example, looking back at previous Xiaomi fitness trackers, we can be pretty certain the company will include a heart rate monitor and an OLED display on the Xiaomi Mi Band 4.

It's also likely to be water resistant up to 50 meters - although the company may push that even further with its next tracker - and we expect to see strong battery life as the Mi Band 3 could run for 20 days from a single charge.

Be sure to check back in the coming weeks and months for more details about the Xiaomi Mi Band 4 as we learn more.

What we want to see

As we don't yet know much about the Xiaomi Mi Band 4, we've put together this list of things we'd like to see the company improve for its next generation tracker.

1. More accurate tracking

Back in our review of the Xiaomi Mi Band 2, we had a few reservations about the accuracy of the fitness tracking tech on board. The tracking wasn't awful, but there were a few situations where it didn't keep up with some of the competition.

The same went for the Xiaomi Mi Band 3, although we did feel Xiaomi had made some improvements in this regard. Every company can always improve at this though, and we'd like to see Xiaomi put a real focus on improving its fitness tracking credentials for the Mi Band 4.

2. A slimmer design

Image Credit: TechRadar

Even if you love the previous Mi Band products, it's hard to call any of them a gorgeous piece of wristwear. For that reason we'd like to see Xiaomi improve the design for the next generation with a slimmer build and more rounded edges.

Design taste is always going to be different for everyone, but if the company can slim the Band 4 down a little it should make everyone a little bit happier to wear it.

3. Keep the price low

The Mi Band 3 is a cheap fitness tracker, and the same goes for the other two trackers Xiaomi has made. We want the company to stick to that low price for the Mi Band 4.

That said, if it improves the technology a touch we wouldn't be against the price increasing by a small margin.

4. Add integrated GPS

Image Credit: Xiaomi

At the sort of prices Xiaomi sells its wearables for, you're never likely to see the company include proper GPS tracking inside them, but it could have a real winner on its hands if it did.

Failing that, we're asking Xiaomi to include connected GPS features on the next gen tracker, so we can always just use our phone to keep an eye on our location and let the band handle everything else.

5. More colors

This one is simple. You can only buy the Xiaomi Mi Band 3 in three colors, and the Mi Band 2 came in four colors.

Rather than the company opting for fewer on its next-gen tracker, we'd like to see more. For the Mi Band 3 the options are black, blue and orange, so we'd like to see a bit of added variety, but we're happy for the company to choose whatever it sees fit.

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