You know how the air feels when a thunderstorm is coming? This week's a bit like that, but we're expecting things with Lightning connectors instead of lightning bolts. Apple's about to unveil plans to control your home, car, wrist and the odd computer too, Spotify's getting into TV, Netflix is getting a new look and LG's covered things in cows.
Putting Apple into everything
Apple's coming for your house. It's been using an app called Home to control HomeKit-based devices, and that app could be part of the imminent iOS 9. We're just weeks away from Apple's developer conference, WWDC, and we're expecting to see new versions of OS X and iOS – versions that might use the San Francisco font from the Apple Watch for their default system font. We're expecting to see Apple TV (the box, not the much rumoured, quite unlikely and thoroughly canned TV set) as a HomeKit hub, an earlier-than-usual iPhone 6S launch and probably nothing about the Apple Car we know Tim Cook's working on in his garage.
"Watch firms watching each other's watches" watch
You'll never guess who thinks the Apple Watch is "spectacular". No, not Jony Ive: Eric Migicovsky, CEO of Pebble. He's quite happy to see the big guns of tech move into the smartwatch space, because Pebble's offering is different: "We're focused on keeping it simple, affordable and useful." Meanwhile Apple addressed some of the initial flaws in Watch OS 1.0 by releasing – yes! – Watch OS 1.0.1, but rumoured features such as Find My Watch and enhanced Apple TV controls won't appear this side of WWDC.
New on Netflix: Netflix!
The Netflix interface is getting a big makeover, with the Web version getting it first and the many other Netflix-powered apps and devices getting it in June. It's faster, looks better, makes it easier to find information and generally makes it simpler to find the best Netflix TV shows.
By jove, it's a FOVE
Good news for anybody who's always fancied blasting lasers from their eyes: the FOVE eye-tracking VR headset is coming to market, hopefully. Rumours of Microsoft interest didn't turn into anything concrete, so it's off to Kickstarter for a crowdfunding campaign. Eye-tracking isn't just a gimmick. It solves one of the biggest problems with VR, which is that you can't always focus on what you want to look at. By tracking your eye movements FOVE can tell where your pupils are pointing and adjust the display accordingly. If you fancy joining the Kickstarter it's $349 (£225/AU$440).
Spotify and Deezer: more than just music
Big changes are afoot in the world of streaming: Spotify is getting a brand new version that includes not just music, but podcasts and even video content. It's also getting a running tool that will choose music according to how fast you're going, and which will turn up in Nike's Nike+ app later this year.
Deezer's getting into podcasts too. Thanks to last year's acquisition of Stitcher, Deezer now offers more than 20,000 different podcasts and radio shows on the web and in its apps. It hopes to be a one-stop shop for everything aural, with freemium and premium services to take on Spotify, Tidal and Apple's Beats Music relaunch.
Is Windows Phone winning yet?
Mobile versions of Windows suffer from the app gap, with rivals Android and iOS packing thousands more apps into their respective app stores. Is the gap closing? David Nield says yes, but also no. While the big hitters are largely there, "to buy a Windows Phone is to shut yourself out from most of the interesting, newer apps appearing on the scene as well as pretty much everything Google makes."
LG G4 vs G3: the cow starts now
Does the LG G4 offer anything new other than a leather case? We pitted the LG G4 against the LG G3 to find out. The leather isn't as nice as it looks in photos – it is "too thinly stretched over the back of the phone" – and the new processor is quad-core rather than octa-core like some other firms' flagships, but "it is indeed a more accomplished smartphone" and "has fixed some of the biggest issues with LG's last handset". That said, the G3 will be around for a while yet, and it'll cost a lot less. Our in-depth LG G4 review can help you decide whether you'd be better off with the outgoing model, or if the G4 will make you grin.
