News

HomeKit-enabled devices from Hunter Fan Company, iDevices and iHome are making a splash at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada. All three companies have unveiled iOS-controlled home products such as ceiling fans and dimmer switches.

The Hunter Fan Company announced two Wi-Fi enabled fans named Symphony and Signal at CES 2016. iOS users can control Symphony and Signal with Siri or sync them to other HomeKit-enabled products to create "custom scenes." An example of a custom scene given by Hunter include automatically turning on the fan's light, locking your door and setting your temperature "in just one step."

Fitbit today unveiled its new fitness watch called "Blaze" at CES in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Blaze is a performance watch that tracks and records activities such as daily steps, calories burned and more. The watch does not include its own app store like other smartwatches on the market, but it does ship with the guided workout app FitStar preinstalled. The watch also lacks GPS, but users can pull GPS data from their smartphone. The Blaze also tracks 15 different types of exercises and activities, such as "running, walking, tennis, basketball, soccer, and elliptical machine workouts," according to The Verge.

CES 2016 officially kicks off for everyone on January 6, but Fitbit will get the ball rolling on Tuesday with an early morning keynote during press day (January 5). The fitness tracking company plans to capitalize on its successful holiday sales by holding the first press conference of the week at 7:30 a.m.. It is unknown exactly what Fitbit plans to announce during the event, but analysts expect new slimmer devices with more capabilities and sensors. It will be interesting to see if Fitbit can continue holding off the Apple Watch and remain the leading fitness device manufacturer. The company's free iOS app recently led Apple App Store downloads in December suggesting it had strong sales throughout the 2015 holidays.

Looking for an iOS 9.2 jailbreak? According to a recent report, the untethered jailbreak solution has encountered some "obstacles" and may not be ready for a while. Initially, news from 3K Assistant on Weibo sounded more optimistic. The group previously claimed an iOS 9.2 jailbreak was coming soon.

The iPhone 7 won't hit shelves for another nine months, but that hasn't stopped leaks from the supply chain. As usual, DigiTimes dishes the dirt on the next generation iPhone, with two choice tidbits surfacing this week. First off according to the report, Apple chassis supplier Catcher will use new compound materials for the exterior of the iPhone 7.