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Apple has released a preview of iOS 11.3 and all its upcoming features for iPhone and iPad users. iPhone X owners this spring will be able to express themselves as a lion, bear, dragon or skull as Apple introduces 4 new Animoji bringing the overall total to 16. iOS 11.3 will also deliver ARKit 1.5 to developers. The new toolkit will allow AR apps to recognize vertical surfaces and map irregularly shaped surfaces like circular tables, according to Apple.

Days after Apple's HomePod received FCC approval the company has announced a release date. The device will begin shipping on Friday February 9, 2018, with pre-orders starting two weeks prior on January 26. That means anxious HomePod buyers can pre-order the $349 smart speaker online this coming Friday.

The HomePod release date is fast approaching, as Apple has reached another milestone on its way to selling the smart speaker. With FCC approval in hand, Apple can launch the device at any time of its choosing. HomePod could make its debut in Australia, the US and UK as early as February 2018.

It's Full of Sparks from Noodlecake and Dabadu Games is a cute puzzle, platformer where you play as different sentient firecrackers who are on a journey to find the meaning of life while trying to avoid exploding. The firecrackers must fling themselves into water to survive so they can find The Old One, a mythical firecracker who has managed to keep his fuse unlit.

You control your firecracker by running left or right into pools of water. After a few easy rounds the game introduces different color barriers that you must pass without the ability to jump. To advance through each level you must strap-on colored glasses that make all like-colored barriers disappear. The glasses also make helpful objects that you need, such as bridges, vanish. This forces you to quickly switch barriers on and off so you can reach the water before you explode.

Apple shared a new video highlighting Portrait Lighting mode, a camera feature currently exclusive to the iPhone X and iPhone 8 Plus. Portrait Lighting offers a variety of lighting effects designed to simulate studio photography. Portrait mode itself blurs the background behind the subject, giving the appearance of bokeh.