iPhone Life - Best Apps, Top Tips, Great Gear

While I appreciate my Apple Watch, it does introduce hassles like daily charging and extra heft, not to mention the price tag. There are more affordable smart watches and fitness bands but they often have their own drawbacks. The folks at Simple Matters think they have an alternative. The Ditto ($39.95) is a lot more affordable and it really shines when it comes to battery life. The Ditto ships with a button-cell battery that is rated to last from three months to as long as six months. They say it never needs charging, but that's a bit of a stretch because the battery does need to be replaced, eventually. Still, that is a huge difference from a device that needs to be charged daily or even weekly.

Etsy has made it far easier for small businesses and local craftsman to promote and sell their handmade or vintage goods. The large online store has categories with everything from knitting needles to wedding dresses. But when we’re looking for tech accessories, it’s easy to forget about the website of amazing crafts. Meanwhile, the options available on Etsy are endless and certainly deserve a look. Here’s five gorgeous and/or useful Apple accessories you can only find on Etsy.

There are many ways to use Bluetooth devices with your iPhone or iPad. Nearly all accessories that need to connect to your smartphone or tablet connect via Bluetooth. Here's a simple overview of the basics for using Bluetooth accessories with your Apple devices.

Tim Cook, tech CEOS, billionaires, and politicians got together last weekend at a private resort off the coast of Georgia to talk about, who else, Donald Trump. Well, sorta. The event was the American Enterprise Institute’s annual World Forum which is an “informal gathering of leading thinkers from all ideological backgrounds to discuss challenges that the United States and the free world face in economics, security and social welfare,” as described by spokeswoman Judy Stecker. Also in attendance was Elon Musk, Google co-founder Larry Page, Facebook investor Sean Parker, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton, and many more.

Before stumbling upon Trekz Titanium ($129.99) by AfterShokz, I had never heard of headphones that skip your ears and play music through your cheekbones. But once I discovered them, I had to give it a try. It seems absolutely counterintuitive to listen to music solo without obstructing the ear, but that’s exactly what the headphones promise to do. They’re designed to deliver premium sound while keeping your ears open to traffic noises and other ambient sounds; so, does it work?

On Feb 25, Apple filed an official motion opposing the US court order for the company to help FBI unlock the iPhone 5c, recovered from the San Bernardino shooter. This controversial subject that has divided public opinion continues as more and more tech companies stand with Apple with even the United Nations coming to Apple’s defense. Last night, Craig Federighi, senior vice president of software engineering at Apple, published an op-ed with the Washington Post stating that to help the FBI would “slow our pace, reverse our progress, [and] puts everyone at risk.”

In many areas in the smartphone and tablet industry Apple has blazed the trail, creating devices that are unparalleled in their user interface, practicality, and usefulness. Apple has managed to either out-innovate its competition or simply out-perform them. In some instances, Apple set the trend, as was the case with the first-to-market device of its kind, the original iPhone. In other instances, like the Apple Watch, Apple may not have been the first to offer a product of this kind, but the sales, popularity and customer satisfaction levels of the Apple Watch have gone on to far exceeded that of its closest competitors. Now, as the world gradually acknowledges the potential of Virtual Reality (VR), the question arises: will Apple be content to sit on the sidelines while other companies, like Google, Samsung, and Oculus become the dominant forces in this emerging new medium, or does Apple have a thing or two up its sleeves when it comes to Virtual Reality?