The Guardians are on their way to winning the division, while the Royals, Twins and Tigers are all jockeying for wild-card position.
September 2024
AL Central setting up as MLB’s most compelling and competitive division with three regular-season series to go
The Guardians are on their way to winning the division, while the Royals, Twins and Tigers are all jockeying for wild-card position.
AL Central setting up as MLB’s most compelling and competitive division with three regular-season series to go
The Guardians are on their way to winning the division, while the Royals, Twins and Tigers are all jockeying for wild-card position.
Five Portable Batteries to Buy If Your Anker Was Recalled
If you own an Anker portable battery, take note: Your battery may pose a fire hazard, and should be disposed of immediately.
The company issued a recall notice for three of its batteries on Friday: Anker says some of the lithium ion batteries used in these models may be a fire risk due to a “manufacturing defect.” Affected units can overheat, which can melt plastic, lead to smoke, and, in some cases, catch fire.
Anker believes the issue only affects a small number of batteries in these units, produced between Jan. 3 and Sept. 17 of this year, but is recalling all of them to be safe.
Which Anker batteries are recalled?
According to Anker, the following three portable batteries are recalled:
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Anker 334 MagGo Battery (PowerCore 10K), Model: A1642
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Anker Power Bank (20,000mAh, 22.5W, Built-In USB-C Cable), Model: A1647
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Anker MagGo Power Bank (10,000mAh, 7.5W, Stand), Model: A1652
If any of these model numbers match your battery, head to this Anker site and verify the battery’s 16-digit serial number, which you can find on the bottom of the battery. If your battery’s serial number isn’t 16 digits, it isn’t part of this recall. In addition, the serial number does not contain the letters “O” or “I.”
How to get a replacement from Anker
Anker says it’s using a new distributor for its products going forward, which should, in theory, nip the issue in the bud. If you would like a replacement for your affected unit, Anker requires the following:
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Proof of purchase, or at the very least an order confirmation for your battery. If it was a gift, Anker says to contact the purchaser, which seems like a bit of an unnecessary step after supplying customers with portable fire starters.
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A picture of the model number.
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The serial number of your battery.
Whether or not you get a replacement, Anker implores you to dispose of your battery safely. Consult Anker’s recall site for information on how to dispose of batteries in your area.
Portable batteries to buy instead
If you lost your original receipt, or you’ve simply lost trust in this battery pack, and you’re looking to buy another portable charger, there are plenty on the market to choose from. Our sister site PCMag has tested many of these options, and narrowed down its top five. Two of these choices, funnily enough, are Anker products, but they are not affected by the recall. You can consider one of these packs, but if not, there are three other options on this list to choose from.
Belkin’s BoostCharge is a 5,000mAh MagSafe battery pack that can magnetically connect to the back of your iPhone, and charge at 7.5W. (A bit slow, but when the battery is literally connected to your phone at all times, it should be fine.) Otterbox offers its charger in sizes from 5,000mAh all the way up to 20,000mAh, while Nimble offers a 10,000mAh battery in a tiny form factor, plus two 20W USB-C ports that can charge two devices at once. Anker’s 737 is expensive, but 24,000mAh with 140W power delivery, good for charging larger devices like a laptop, while its USB-C portable charger offers a 10,000mAh battery with two types of USB ports.
Belkin BoostCharge Magnetic Wireless Power Bank 5K + Stand
$49.49
at Amazon
$59.99
Save $10.50
Save $10.50
$49.49
at Amazon
$59.99
Save $10.50
Save $10.50
Otterbox Fast Charger Power Bank
$41.21
at Amazon
$54.95
Save $13.74
Save $13.74
$41.21
at Amazon
$54.95
Save $13.74
Save $13.74
Nimble CHAMP Portable Charger
$59.99
at Nimble
$59.99
at Nimble
Anker 737 Power Bank
$109.99
at Amazon
$149.99
Save $40.00
Save $40.00
$109.99
at Amazon
$149.99
Save $40.00
Save $40.00
Anker Power Bank USB-C Portable Charger 10000mAh
$25.99
at Amazon
$25.99
at Amazon
Chargers QB Justin Herbert questionable for Sunday vs. Steelers with ankle injury
Herbert suffered a high ankle sprain last week in the Chargers’ win over the Panthers.
Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire: Time to pick up Parker Meadows
Bolster your rosters with these fantasy baseball waiver wire adds from analyst Fred Zinkie ahead of the weekend.
Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire: Time to pick up Parker Meadows
Bolster your rosters with these fantasy baseball waiver wire adds from analyst Fred Zinkie ahead of the weekend.
iOS 18 Makes It Much Easier to Use Smart Devices With Apple Home
It’s been at least a decade since your choice of operating system presented any real challenge to obtaining specific software or hardware, but smart technology has been slower to catch up. It’s been much more common in recent years to discover that many devices worked with Android, Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa—but not Apple Home. If you wanted to control your lightbulbs with your Android phone without any additional hardware, you probably could, but iPhone users were out of luck.
iOS 18, out earlier this week, changes that for the better.
Matter made things better, but Apple integration was still a pain
For some context, Apple Home refers to the entire Apple smart home ecosystem generally, and is also the name of the smart home app for your iPhone. Apple HomeKit is the underlying technology for Apple Home, Siri is the voice assistant that these devices use, and Apple offers devices like the HomePod as smart home hubs.
Things began to get better two years ago with the introduction of Matter and Thread, two industry-wide protocols for connecting smart devices. Devices with the new standards helped the exclusivity problem by being able to work with any Matter-compliant hub, and through that hub, the Apple Home app on your phone. As more companies signed onto the Matter standard, the devices they made became Home compatible. The only catch was that these devices still required the hub (HomePod and Apple TV 4K are both Matter compatible).
It’s ironic, because the premise of Matter was to free people from requiring a bunch of individual hubs. Even if you only need one, it means an extra piece of hardware you have to shepherd through updates and upkeep, and it’s an extra step to associate the device to the hub, too. In most cases, Google Home and Android Alexa users didn’t have the same friction—they could often just connect devices to their digital assistants.
iOS 18 finally made Apple much more compatible with Matter (and Thread)
This week, it got easier. Apple released iOS 18, and with it, the possibility of breaking free of those hubs and connecting the Home app directly to any Matter device, so long as your iPhone has iOS 18. The same connectivity applies to Thread devices, so as long as you have an iPhone 15 or newer, because those devices have an onboard Thread radio. So, again, if you just want to turn your Matter lightbulbs on and off without any drama, you can now do that with your iPhone.
There are still great arguments for having a hub, though. While connecting to your phone directly frees you from the jumble of hardware in the home, hubs allow device-to-device integration, creating powerful automations. If you want those lightbulbs to only come on when a sensor is triggered, or for the lightbulbs to determine if your window shades are up or down, that will still require a hub. If you’re not ready to commit to a whole home system and just want one or two devices, connecting them directly to your iPhone is now a seamless process.
Chris Sale’s potential Triple Crown season for Braves reminds us why he’s an all-time great MLB pitcher
At age 34, Sale’s likely Cy Young season will go down as one of the more improbable performances in recent memory.
Everything I Expect to See at Meta Connect 2024
Meta is behind a number of product categories and services, but at Meta Connect 2024, the company’s annual developer’s conference, don’t expect to hear news specifically pertaining to apps like Facebook or Instagram. Instead, Meta says Connect is about the “technologies of the future,” which means AR, VR, and AI. (All the acronyms.) Here’s what we expect to see.
A new Meta Quest
The Meta Quest 3 is the company’s current VR headset, and while certainly not as expensive as Apple’s Vision Pro, it still costs $499 minimum.
According to the rumor mill, Meta is working on a less expensive version of the Quest 3, perhaps called the Meta Quest 3S. This headset would cut some corners in specs and features to bring the price down, but hey, the price would be down. That could be an enticing offer for any interested in getting into VR, but who doesn’t want to drop half a grand to do so. For the dozens out there looking for a spec bump in their Quest headsets, that might not be coming anytime soon: The Information says Meta canceled its pricier Meta Quest Pro project, which isn’t surprising: Apple’s Vision Pro has not sold well, despite sporting some impressive tech, and few of us have any interest in the Metaverse, especially for work. There seems to be a market for affordable headsets, but not for $1,000+ prosumer models.
New AR glasses
If a full headset isn’t your thing, how about smart glasses? Rumor has it Meta is working on a sequel to its Meta Ray Ban glasses, perhaps named Meta Orion, which may add mixed reality abilities for the first time, like a heads-up display in the right lens. The current Meta Ray Bans come with smart features, like Meta AI, a camera, a speaker, and the ability to place video calls. Our sister site PCMag found the glasses stylish, with clear sound quality and responsive controls, but the bass was lackluster and it was difficult to precisely frame photos. Adding AR to this type of product might introduce mixed reality to a larger customer base: People might not want to walk around with full headsets on, but glasses are subtle enough to bring anywhere—especially since they look nothing like Google Glass.
Meta AI
Expect a good deal of AI talk at this year’s Connect. Last month, Meta rolled out AI to its Quest headsets for the first time, so I wouldn’t be surprised to hear about new features and changes for Quest specifically. I’m sure the company will also talk more about Meta AI on its core platforms, like Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger: While I doubt it’ll let you disable its AI, Meta may advertise new services users can try out on these apps, as the company competes with other AI platforms like ChatGPT and Gemini. Meta AI can now connect to the internet, generate GIFs, and produce images as you type, so it’s definitely catching up to the big players. Meta has the advantage of an installed user base to push these new features on, offering competition for something like ChatGPT.
An open system
Don’t be taken off guard if Mark Zuckerberg starts talking about Meta’s place as a leader in this mixed reality. The company has been making moves to be the “Android” of the mixed reality industry, by opening up the Meta Horizon OS and Quest ecosystem to third parties. Now, other companies can make their own headsets using Meta’s platforms, just as other manufacturers build smartphones around Android, or other companies build computers around Windows.
How to watch Meta Connect 2024
Meta Connect will kick off on Sept. 25 at 10 a.m. PT (1 p.m. ET). While there will be an in-person keynote for developers and member of the media, anyone can livestream it from home. You can tune in from Meta’s YouTube page, or from the official Meta Connect website.