Sigma’s 14mm dp Quattro camera to go on sale in July for $999

Sigma has announced pricing and availability for the new dp Quattro camera, the dp0. The 14mm f/4 fixed-lens camera will be available in late July, for $999. Read more about the camera below.

At the 2015 CP+ show in Japan, Sigma is announcing a new 24mm full-frame lens and a fourth version of its dp Quattro compact camera series. In addition, the company is revealing pricing for two previously announced lenses.

The 24mm F1.4 DG HSM Art lens works with both full-frame and APS-C DSLR cameras (it becomes a 38mm lens when used with the cropped sensor). Available for Canon, Nikon, and Sigma cameras, Sigma says the lens, in its Art series, is a versatile lens that can handle cityscapes, mountain ranges, astrophotography, weddings, and videography.

Hands On: iOS 9 Beta has already made our iPhone and iPad a lot smarter

Apple introduced iOS 9 at WWDC 2015, and now we’ve installed the first beta on our iPhone 6 Plus and an iPad Air 2, so we can see what’s new, what’s great, and what’s not. The new software contains most of the cool new features Apple announced during its keynote, but not all, so this isn’t a comprehensive review — but a glimpse of how the latest version of iOS is shaping up so far.

With this in mind, and taking into account the short time it has been available, here are our first impressions of the iOS 9 beta 1:

Looks like iOS 8, but with new apps

While the first iOS 9 beta looks visually very close to iOS 8, there are a handful of great new features that change the user experience. One of the first things you’ll notice are the new baked-in apps. Gone is the colorful Passbook app, which held your boarding passes, tickets, and Apple Pay credit cards. In its place is the Wallet app, which besides having a new icon, looks exactly like Passbook when you open it up. Soon, Apple Pay will support rewards cards, but that feature, alas, was not in the first beta.

Xbox One gets a permanent price drop, 1 TB internal storage, and an improved controller

Microsoft has confirmed rumors we reported last week that the Xbox One is getting an upgrade at this upcoming E3. As various leaks suggested, the newest version of the console will come with a 1 TB internal hard drive, doubling the baseline storage capacity of previous models. The new console (also sporting a classy, matte finish) will be available on June 16 for $400. For a limited time that will also include a bundled copy of Halo: The Master Chief Collection, which definitively compiles the first four main entries in Bungie’s genre-defining first-person shooting franchise.

Apple may start taking a smaller cut of App Store and iTunes sales

Apple has taken a 30 percent cut of every iTunes transaction since the digital storefront’s inception, but the company’s reportedly reconsidering its taxation scheme for the first time in a decade. According to the Financial Times, Apple’s planning to take a lesser slice of all media purchases — video rentals, audio downloads, and the like — completed through iTunes and the App Store.

According to the report, Apple’s hashing out the specifics of a more nuanced pricing structure with major content companies. Whatever terms are decided upon will apply to recurring payments for premium video plans like Netflix and news subscriptions from top publishers (The New York Times Company, Condé Nast, Time Inc., and others), but they’ll stop short of encompassing apps — Apple will continue to collect 30 percent of individual software sales.

Trends with Benefits: How Google builds the ‘Map of You’

If the beginning of this episode of TWB doesn’t make much sense, that’s because it is our inaugural simulcast on Periscope. So, yes everyone at the table has a beard this week.
Google knows everything about everything, and with the new my account dashboard, now you know most of what they know. It’s a measured response to the conspiracy theorists freak-out over Google Photos, we assume.

YouTube delays launch of Music Key to work on mobile interface

YouTube doesn’t seem too worried about the delayed launch of its subscription-based streaming service, Music Key, even as formidable streaming music competitors seem to be sprouting up left and right.

The service, which proposes to offer a wealth of ad-free music videos for a monthly fee, has been available in an invite-only beta version since November and was expected to launch in May. YouTube announced an extension of the free beta until at least September 15 as the company continues to refine its new offering.