HomeKit-Enabled Level Touch Lock Features Hidden Design

Level Home today announced the launch of the Level Touch, a follow up to its invisible Level smart home lock that's meant to look like a traditional lock with a minimalist design.


The Level Touch features the same unassuming design and minimal footprint as the Level, so it doesn't impact the look of the door like many other smart locks on the market. It is unrecognizable as a smart lock given its resemblance to a traditional lock.

Available in Satin Chrome, Satin Nickel, Polished Brass, and Matte Black, the Level Touch is made from stainless steel. there are options for both keyed and keyless entry. For keyless entry, Level Touch uses Bluetooth, allowing the door to automatically unlock when you're nearby.


Locking the door can be done with a finger on the lock, but it will also automatically lock after a preselected amount of time. The device also ships with NFC-enabled keycards that work without a phone. It's powered by a CR2 battery that provides power for a year, and it offers HomeKit support.

With ‌HomeKit‌, the Level Touch can be controlled with Siri voice commands, accessed remotely with a Home hub, and included in home automations alongside other HomeKit-enabled products.


The Level app that works with the Level Touch can allow you to provide entry for friends, family members, dog walkers, repair people, and others from anywhere. Level says that the Level Touch is BHMA AAA certified "to meet the highest industry standard for security and durability."

The Level Touch can be purchased from the Level website for $329 starting today.

Tag: HomeKit

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DigiTimes: Third Quarter MacBook Sales Up 20% Compared to Last Year

MacBook sales in the third quarter have increased by a fifth compared to the same period last year, and Taiwan-based diode makers are seeing "robust demand" for MacBook parts as the trend for remote working continues to grow, according to a new report by DigiTimes.

Recent sales of its MacBook devices, including MacBook Pro and MacBook Air lineups, have increased over 20% from a year earlier, with shipments of related products to Japan and Asia Pacific hitting record highs, said the sources, citing data from Apple.

The report largely mirrors Apple's earnings results for the third fiscal quarter of 2020, in which Mac sales saw a surge in growth as people transitioned from working in offices to working from home. Mac sales saw double digit growth during the quarter, bringing in $7 billion, up from $5.8 billion in the year-ago quarter. Apple released an updated ‌MacBook Air‌ in March and an updated 13-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌ in May.

The report also notes that the growth rate will allow Taiwan's diode makers to maintain their shipment momentum in the third quarter of 2020, which should see them through until production of Apple's next-generation iPhones gets into full swing.

Notably, the same sources noted that diode makers have yet to ramp up related shipments for the next-generation iPhone devices "which are expected to be released soon," and are still shipping diode products for older-generation iPhones.

That fits in with Apple's own admission in its July earnings call that the 2020 iPhone 12 models are going to be released later than usual. Apple CFO Luca Maestri said that the 2020 iPhones will be available a "few weeks later" then the 2019 iPhones, which became available in late September. That statement suggests that we can expect the ‌iPhone 12‌ lineup to be released in October 2020, perhaps towards the middle of the month.

We're expecting four OLED iPhones in three display sizes which could come in at 5.4, 6.7, and 6.1 inches (x2). Rumors suggest the 6.7-inch ‌iPhone‌ and one 6.1-inch model will be higher-end devices with triple-lens cameras, while the 5.4 and 6.1-inch models will be lower-end iPhones with dual-lens cameras and a more affordable price tag.

Tag: digitimes.com

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'Cocaine' Trends on Twitter During Republican National Convention

The Republican National Convention kicked off on Monday, with a star-studded line-up including a fossil fuels distributor, the St. Louis couple that pointed their guns at civil rights protesters, and the father of a shooting victim who says the way to stop school shootings is to arm teachers. But if you were on…

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Bloomberg: Apple to Open India Online Store Next Month

Apple is preparing to open its first online store in India next month, according to a new report today from Bloomberg.

Apple Inc. is poised to open an online store for the first time in the fast-growing smartphone market of India next month, according to a person with knowledge of the matter, taking advantage of a relaxation of once-strict prohibitions against foreign direct retail.

The online store will be ready for operations just ahead of the festive Dussehra-Diwali spending season, according to the person, who asked not to be named discussing confidential plans.

Sales of Apple products have long been limited to third-party resellers in India, because of restrictions on foreign companies that require them to source 30 percent of production locally.

In August 2019, India eased these rules keeping Apple from offering its products in first-party stores and an online Apple Store. Apple had originally intended to start online sales within months of the rule change, but the global health crisis reportedly scuppered those plans.

TechCrunch first reported in January that Apple would open an online Apple Store in India to start official direct sales of iPhones, iPads, Macs, and more in the country starting in the third quarter of 2020.

With the rules changed, Apple is also set to begin opening up retail stores in India in the future and already has retail locations in the works. A new store in Mumbai is in development and is set to open next year. Meanwhile, Bloomberg says that Apple has already scouted a location for its second India store, located in Bangalore near Minsk Square.

Even prior to the rule change, Apple was working with the Indian government to get permission to open up stores in India. Over the course of the last few years, Apple started manufacturing some lower-cost ‌iPhone‌ models in India to meet local investment requirements, and has recently started assembling the iPhone SE and the iPhone 11 in the country through manufacturing partners Wistron and Foxconn, respectively.

Apple devices have had low penetration among India's 1.3 billion population due to high costs from import tariffs, making them limited to buyers the high-end premium market. The rule changes will make Apple devices more affordable to Indian consumers and should therefore see Apple grow its footprint in the country.

Tag: India

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Apple's AirPods Pro Tech Could Lead to Larger Capacity Batteries in 5G iPhones

Future 5G iPhone models could feature larger capacity batteries or more compact battery modules than those found in existing handsets, thanks to Apple's adoption of key integrative technologies first seen in the company's AirPods Pro wireless headphones.


DigiTimes today reports that Apple is looking to move towards the combined use of system-in-package (SiP) and flexible printed circuit boards (FPCBs) in forthcoming ‌5G iPhone‌ handset battery modules, replacing the existing rigid-flex PCB solution it has relied on for years.

Apple has incorporated the SiP+FPCB solution into its new AirPods series, and may apply the solution to battery modules for 5G iPhones partly because SiP can integrate multiple functions and allow more space for more components, the sources said, adding that SiP+FPCB can now rival well the rigid-flex board solution in terms of price-performance ratios due to successful cost control by Apple.

Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has long predicted that Apple will become increasingly capable of designing new systems for larger capacity batteries as it packs more features into handsets that consume more power. These features obviously increase Apple's costs, so for the "iPhone 12s" lineup in 2021, the company has been looking to adopt cost-cutting hybrid battery boards that can be either smaller without compromising on battery life, or the same size but with higher capacitance. A combination of SiP+FPCB is another potential solution that Apple is reportedly pursuing.

Kuo has previously said that Apple plans to launch new entry-level ‌AirPods‌ with a form factor design similar to ‌‌AirPods Pro‌‌ in the first half of 2021. Introduced in 2019, ‌‌AirPods Pro‌‌ feature a different in-ear design to ‌‌AirPods‌‌, with shorter stems below the ear.

The third-generation ‌‌AirPods‌‌ are expected to adopt the more compact SiP technology that's similar to the internals of the ‌‌AirPods Pro‌‌, which will allow the audio features of the ‌‌AirPods‌‌ to be integrated into a casing more similar in design to the ‌‌AirPods Pro‌‌.

Sources who spoke to DigiTimes said that current suppliers of rigid-flex boards for ‌iPhone‌ battery modules could be significantly impacted if Apple decides to incorporate a similar SiP+FPCB solution for new iPhones in 2021.

Tag: 5G iPhone

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