Digital Trends Live: Possible iPhone vulnerability, Nike’s Siri-controlled laces

By Todd Werkhoven August 30, 2019

On this episode of Digital Trends Live, host Greg Nibler and Renee Abousamra of Brandlive break down the biggest trending tech topics of the day, including Google’s claim that iPhones were open to hackers for years, Nike’s Siri-controlled smart shoes, the upcoming Hololens 2, how graphene may save us from mosquitoes, and more.

Next, we take a closer look at the upcoming IFA 2019, the world’s leading trade show for consumer electronics, which takes place in Berlin next week. We discuss the upcoming launches of new technology, from TVs to home appliances.

Brad Williams, head of communications for Mercari, then joins us to discuss the company’s app, which allows users to sell and ship items all in one place and is one of the fastest-growing marketplace apps in the U.S.

And it’s Friday, which means another edition of our Between the Streams segment, where we cover the biggest stories in entertainment from the past week, including the new Star Wars trailer (could Rey be a Sith?!), Ms. Marvel, and the state of the players still in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

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Former Digital Trends Contributor

Todd Werkhoven's work can be read at numerous publications and he co-authored a personal finance book called "Zombie…

Mobile

Google One subscribers now have enhanced photo-editing tools on iPhones

Pixel 6 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro in hand.

Google One subscribers on iPhones can now tweak portrait photos and HDR levels in the Google Photos app as part of a new subscription perk. The change was spotted by 9to5Google and follows a broader rollout to Android phones that started in February.

If you're running iOS 14.0 and have an iPhone with 3GB of RAM -- essentially the iPhone 7 Plus, 8 Plus, X, and above -- you'll be able to make use of these new tools. The first of these features is portrait lighting, which lets you change the position of light sources in portrait photos. There's also a "blur" a tool that allows for the addition of retroactive software blur on images captured without portrait mode.

Mobile

Apple yields to demands to make iPhone 13 display repairs easier

The iPhone 13 Pro's lock screen.

When Apple launched the iPhone 13 in September, it soon became apparent that display replacements performed by anyone other than Apple or an authorized service would disable Face ID, leaving owners with the message: "Unable to activate Face ID on this ‌iPhone‌."

This was bad news for anyone who'd just bought an iPhone 13 and needed a new display but had no idea Face ID would stop working if they took the device to a third-party repair shop. The shops, too, were none too pleased as they quickly realized they could no longer replace iPhone 13 displays, cutting off an important revenue source.

Mobile

The iPhone could soon pick up a car crash detection feature that can dial 911

The Apple Watch's Fall Detection Feature.

Apple is reportedly adding an automatic car crash detection feature to the iPhone and Apple Watch, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal. The feature will debut early next year, likely with iOS 16.

The report claims that Apple will work on using the sensors present in both the iPhone and Apple Watch to detect "a sudden spike in gravity," the same way Apple's Watch works at the moment for fall detection. There are no details on how it would be implemented, but likely a notification will pop up, and if the user does not respond to a notification in a timely manner, then the phone will automatically dial 911 or other emergency services. This is how the Apple Watch's fall detection feature functions.