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Bloomberg: Apple begins manufacturing next-gen iPhone with Force Touch | 9to5Mac : "Bloomberg is reporting that Apple has started early production of the next-generation iPhone with Force Touch. We initially reported back in May that the next-generation iPhone will include a design similar to the current lineup of devices, but include support for Force Touch. " It's fascinating Jim.

Google X developed a new fitness wristband, plans to deploy it as a medical device | 9to5Google : "Google has debuted (via Bloomberg), a new health-tracking wristband capable of monitoring heart rate, heart rhythm, skin temperature, and other useful information such as light exposure and noise levels. Unfortunately for consumers, this isn’t a smartwatch. Google is being clear that, rather, this device is a health and activity tracker intended to have medical applications for patients and clinical trials." Google Hospital. It's free, as long as you don't mind ads in your room.

Amazon debuts next-gen Kindle Paperwhite with 300ppi display for $119 : "Amazon on Wednesday launched preorders for a new edition of the Kindle Paperwhite, upgraded with a sharper e-ink display rated at 300 pixels per inch, matching the display resolution of its high-end Kindle Voyage." Apple News? Not sure.

Apple Watch 2: Apple plans FaceTime camera, iPhone-free Wi-Fi, $1000+ models, similar battery | 9to5Mac : "According to multiple sources familiar with Apple’s plans, the Apple Watch 2 is planned to gain a video camera, a new wireless system for greater iPhone independence, and new premium-priced models. Interestingly, it will also feature similar battery life to its predecessor…" Upskirt explosion!

Google debuts YouTube Gaming, goes head-to-head with Twitch and Steam Broadcasting | 9to5Google : "Google has officially unveiled its plans to take on Amazon-owned video game streaming site Twitch, confirming earlier rumors that the company was working on a game streaming service of its own. The site, called YouTube Gaming, was finally announced today (via TechCrunch)." Cool, I hope they have an API for the Mac desktop as well as iOS.

Review: Drift Stealth 2 iPhone-controlled action cam | 9to5Mac : "As I said at the outset, I’m a big Garmin fan, so for me to be tempted to switch to another brand, a camera has to be good. I still prefer the handlebar mount of the Garmin, but I have to say the much smaller and lighter form-factor of the Drift Stealth 2 makes it a very worthy competitor." I thought it was wild that the GoPro could even find a place in the camera market to begin with. Goes to show, nothing succeeds like innovation.

Review: The NVIDIA Shield Android TV is the best set-top box you can buy (Video) | 9to5Google : "we’re checking out the NVIDIA Shield Pro (500GB model), its optional accessories, and taking a closer look at what this thing actually does. This is a set-top box that’s running Android TV and has quite the feature set to offer…" This is an exciting little item! Love NVidia GPUs.

How to publish on the new iOS 9 Apple ‘News’ app | 9to5Mac : "Apple unveiled its brand new iOS 9 ‘News’ app today that will bring a reader experience comparable to magazine-style apps like Flipboard that pull in content from various sources around the web." Well, I guess we could take our 200 billion dollars and use it to take on a 50 billion dollar market opportunity like the Windows desktop, which apparently clocks in at 1.5 billion machines. Or, I guess we could crush Flipboard and Spotify like bugs and claim their 30 million dollars for ourselves. Rather than open source Swift to build Windows and Android where people will use it, let's release it for Linux where the coders will continue to use GCC+-. Right now the Surface3 and Microsoft's new open tools strategy is starting to look pretty awesome. The only thing I don't like about the Surface3 is the trackpad.

HTC introduces a 24-karat gold One M9, takes its photo with an iPhone | 9to5Google : "HTC also managed to accidentally reveal that photos they took to unveil the phone… were taken with an iPhone." With comedy like this, who needs Jon Stewart?

HTC CEO apologizes for poor company performance, promises new product in October | 9to5Google : "HTC CEO Cher Wang during an investor meeting yesterday apologized for the company’s poor performance in recent months. According to the Taipei Times she attributed it to ‘poor operational efficiency and overly conservative marketing strategy amid fierce competition in the global market.’" Not to worry Cher, I have my eye on a couple of your new phones. On Android, the low cost producer of quality is going to be a big winner.

Report: iOS 9 will be optimized for older devices, including iPhone 4S | Ars Technica : "A new report from the well-sourced 9to5Mac details a handful of features, the most interesting of which is a note about support for older devices. We had assumed that Apple would include support for some devices based on its aging A5 SoC—the fifth-gen iPod Touch, original iPad Mini, and third-gen Apple TV are all still being sold, after all—but the report indicates that we can expect an update for out-of-production devices like the iPhone 4S (the iPad 2 isn't mentioned by name, but the implication is that it will be supported as well)." This is great news. My currently useless iPad 2 will once again be my friend. I suspect they rolled back the OS to pre-ARC and gained back that 20% performance loss.