Technologies

Save the Date: Apple Officially Announces iPhone 15 Event ‘Wonderlust’

We expect to see the iPhone 15, Apple Watch Series 9 and more at the company’s annual fall event.

Apple sent out invites Tuesday for its fall launch event, where we expect to see the iPhone 15 and several other devices revealed. The «Wonderlust» event will be Sept. 12 at 10 a.m. PT.

This falls within Apple’s usual timeline of holding its iPhone launch event in mid-to-late September. Last year’s event for the iPhone 14 and Apple Watch Ultra was held Sept. 7, 2022, for instance.

The iPhone 15 will likely be the marquee device revealed. We expect to see four models released this year: a standard and larger Plus in the lower tier, and a more advanced Pro and Pro Max in the pricier tier.

It’s never quite clear what else will launch alongside each year’s iPhone, though in the last several years a new Apple Watch, AirPods and standard iPad have been shown off at these events.

There’s one new device that will almost certainly make an appearance: the Apple Vision Pro. The AR/VR headset, revealed at WWDC 2023 in June, isn’t expected to start arriving in Apple stores and shipping to customers until early 2024. So don’t expect it to get an early release this fall. But we’d be surprised if Apple didn’t take the opportunity to hype its next exciting advance in personal technology — even if businesses will likely be the only ones to foot the headset’s wallet-melting $3,500 price.

We could also see more announcements for Apple’s services, with new additions to Music, TV Plus, Fitness and iCloud.

What other products we’ll see Sept. 12 — and that will be available to buy before the holidays — is a bit tougher to determine. Here are our best guesses for what Apple will show off on its stage.

Reading the Apple tea leaves

As previously stated, we’re confident that Apple will follow tradition and release a new phone lineup (iPhone 15) and watch series (Apple Watch Series 9). The company could still throw a few curveballs within those lineups, though.

The iPhone 15 is heavily rumored to switch to USB-C this year across all models. Only the pricier Pro and Pro Max models will get a new A16 bionic chipset, Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman said, while the standard iPhone 15 and Plus models will use the A15 chip that came in last year’s premium iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max models. This follows Apple’s new tradition of only giving the top-tier models the newest mobile chipsets. On the upside, the standard models are expected to swap out the notch for the multipurpose Dynamic Island.

There’s been no hint of a new iPhone SE, with the third and most recent model of Apple’s affordable phone line launching in March 2022, so we wouldn’t expect a new one at this year’s fall launch event.

We expect to see the Apple Watch Series 9, though the latest rumors suggest we’ll only get new processors and fresh colors — but not the glucose monitoring that earlier leaks suggested might be coming. It’s not clear if we’ll get new versions of the Apple Watch Ultra or iPhone SE (second generation), which debuted and were refreshed last year, respectively.

It’s also a pretty safe bet to expect a new standard iPad, since the model has been refreshed every year since 2017. A new iPad Air is unlikely, as the line was last refreshed in March 2022. Similarly, new versions of the 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro models with M2 chips came out in October 2022. It has been two years since the last iPad Mini came out in 2021, but that series hasn’t been updated as regularly as other models in recent years.

Further down Apple’s product line, it’s harder to tell what might come and what may wait for early 2024 and beyond. We could see some unexpected launches, but with the Vision Pro taking the spotlight, it doesn’t seem like Apple needs much more than its darling headset to wow its faithful flock. That said, Apple built a reputation on last-minute surprises, so we’ll always hold out for One More Thing.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for Oct. 23 #599

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for Oct. 23, No. 599.

Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s NYT Strands puzzle might be Halloween-themed, as the answers are all rather dangerous. Some of them are a bit tough to unscramble, so if you need hints and answers, read on.

I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: Please don’t eat me!

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Remember Mr. Yuk?

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

POND, NOON, NODE, BALE, SOCK, LOVE, LOCK, MOCK, LEER, REEL, GLOVE, DAIS, LEAN, LEAD, REEL

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you have all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers:

AZALEA, HEMLOCK, FOXGLOVE, OLEANDER, BELLADONNA

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is POISONOUS. To find it, look for the P that is the first letter on the far left of the top row, and wind down and across.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for Oct. 23, #395

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Oct. 23, No. 395.

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Connections: Sports Edition has one of those crazy purple categories, where you wonder if anyone saw the connection, or if people just put that grouping together because only those four words were left. If you’re struggling but still want to solve it, read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is published by The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by The Times. It doesn’t show up in the NYT Games app but appears in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can play it for free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Fan noise.

Green group hint: Strategies for hoops.

Blue group hint: Minor league.

Purple group hint: Look for a connection to hoops.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Sounds from the crowd.

Green group: Basketball offenses.

Blue group: Triple-A baseball teams.

Purple group: Ends with a basketball stat.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is sounds from the crowd. The four answers are boo, cheer, clap and whistle.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is basketball offenses. The four answers are motion, pick and roll, Princeton and triangle.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is triple-A baseball teams. The four answers are Aces, Jumbo Shrimp, Sounds and Storm Chasers.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is ends with a basketball stat. The four answers are afoul, bassist, counterpoint and sunblock.

Technologies

Amazon’s Delivery Drivers Will Soon Wear AI Smart Glasses to Work

The goal is to streamline the delivery process while keeping drivers safe.

Amazon announced on Wednesday that it is developing new AI-powered smart glasses to simplify the delivery experience for its drivers. CNET smart glasses expert Scott Stein mentioned this wearable rollout last month, and now the plan is in its final testing stages.

The goal is to simplify package delivery by reducing the need for drivers to look at their phones, the label on the package they’re delivering and their surroundings to find the correct address.

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A heads-up display will activate as soon as the driver parks, pointing out potential hazards and tasks that must be completed. From there, drivers can locate and scan packages, follow turn-by-turn directions and snap a photograph to prove delivery completion without needing to take out their phone.

The company is testing the glasses in select North American markets.

Watch: See our Instagram post with a video showing the glasses

A representative for Amazon didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

To fight battery drain, the glasses pair with a controller attached to the employee’s delivery vest, allowing them to replace depleted batteries and access operational controls. The glasses will support an employee’s eyeglass prescription. An emergency button will be within reach to ensure the driver’s safety.

Amazon is already planning future versions of the glasses, which will feature «real-time defect detection,» notifying the driver if a package was delivered to the incorrect address. They plan to add features to the glasses to detect if pets are in the yard and adjust to low light.