Apple on Tuesday previewed software features for cognitive, vision, hearing, and mobility accessibility, along with innovative tools for individuals who are nonspeaking or at risk of losing their ability to speak. Personal Voice allows users at risk of losing their ability to speak to create a voice that sounds like them, and integrates seamlessly with Live Speech so users can speak with their Personal Voice when connecting with loved ones. Coming later this year, users with cognitive disabilities can use iPhone and iPad with greater ease and independence with Assistive Access; nonspeaking individuals can type to speak during calls and conversations with Live Speech; and those at risk of losing their ability to speak can use Personal Voice to create…

Image: Microsoft Microsoft promised to make its Phone Link app available for iPhone users (so you can use iMessage from a PC) by mid-May, and it’s May 15th now, so the company is delivering on that promise today. Phone Link now allows iPhone owners to connect to a Windows 11 PC and send and receive messages via iMessage, make and receive calls, and see any phone app notifications on a PC or laptop. The Phone Link app update is now available in 85 countries and will work with an iPhone over Bluetooth for calls, messages, and notifications. Microsoft is able to send messages via iMessage on Phone Link by intercepting incoming ones over Bluetooth and sending them by taking advantage…

Macworld If you’re a professional photographer or designer you need editing software that provides precision and control over your images, as well as support for editing RAW files and multi-layer editing tools. The popularity of selfies and smartphone photography in recent years has given rise to dozens of affordable photo-editing programs aimed at amateur photographers. While these free (or low cost) apps are great for people who simply want to smarten up their selfies or holiday snaps, they may not offer the features pro photographers need to edit photos. If you want to edit your photos like a pro – or you are a pro photographer, designer, web developer, graphic artist or other creative professional, then you may wish to…

Macworld Portable power banks that charge your phone are popular, but wireless battery packs using Apple’s MagSafe technology offer a simpler and smarter cable-free solution for iPhone 12, 13 and 14 users. Phone batteries are prone to run dry just when you’re heading away from a power source, so having a portable charging source is one of today’s necessities. Annoyingly, most power banks require you to carry around a cable, too. Wireless power banks do away with cables but come with their own major limitation–the inefficiency of wireless charging means you need a high-capacity power bank to fully charge a drained iPhone. I use one as a quick bedside iPhone charger so I can charge and use the phone at…

This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: Apple finally brings Logic Pro and Final Cut Pro to iPad, and apparently uses some clever spycraft to take down a leaker in the process. Talk about killing two birds with one stone. Also on The CultCast: One feature in the new Final Cut Pro for iPad makes […] (via Cult of Mac - Tech and culture through an Apple lens)

Macworld Ever since Apple set the ball rolling with its first iPhone, the smartphone industry has been overflowing with clever lifestyle ideas and new milestones. Apple itself is often at the forefront of innovation: the iPhone can now contact emergency services via satellite, unlock a car or find an escaped pet. iOS and the iPhone make it all possible. If the iPhone can do all this already, how much more will it be capable of five years from now? The key, when extrapolating the developments of the past into the future, is to bear something important in mind: the progress that lies ahead is always much faster than the progress we have already made. This is especially true for the…