Welcome to leak season

Welcome to leak season. Enjoy the ride.

It's the end of the year, which means cold weather in North America, hangovers for the festivity-goers, and beginning of what we inside the baseball diamond refer to as "leak season." It's slippery during leak season, so bring some salt.

There's a cycle in tech media that resolves in an arc: the early inklings of a story that, initially vapor, builds and eventually coalesces into something tangible. We hear rumors that begin in an ephemeral state, eventually casting themselves in prescient rays of light that you can see but not touch. Over the months, the light hardens and becomes more coherent — photos, videos, specs — as the thing's release date approaches.

The early inklings of a story that, initially vapor, builds and eventually coalesces into something tangible.

Given that CES begins in just a few days, it's the perfect time to remind you that leak season is in full swing and, like snowfalls in the northern hemisphere, the severity ebbs and flows as we approach spring. Over the past few days, we've seen (and reported on) various aspects of phones that will likely be released in 2017: the Galaxy S8, the LG G6, the HTC whatever. We take leaks seriously, and, internally, debate the credulity of each one before reporting. We also judge the reliability of the source, too, the past success of which also dictates whether we follow the story down the proverbial rabbit hole.

At the same time, we also receive leaks, and have to decide whether or not, in the interest of protecting our sources, we publish the information. Of course, there's a business benefit to posting leaks, since the intensity of public interest in pre-release hardware often outweighs (at times dramatically) the equivalent once it has been announced. This is doubly true of devices from manufacturers like Motorola, HTC, Sony and others that have small, loyal followings: the discourse is often hopeful and the communities disproportionately loud, which tends to die down in the weeks and months following availability.

The main issue I see around leaks today is that there are no consequences for getting it wrong. Many publications weave snippets or glances of an outer casing or a spec sheet into a cohesive narrative, large swaths of which is incorrect. But once the product is announced, and gets into people's hands, all is forgiven and forgotten, and we move onto the next cycle. This is nothing new, but it's worth keeping these points in mind as we move into leak season in earnest.

Be skeptical of what you see. Much of what you see out there is either partially or entirely incorrect, and while we're not going to point at individual leaks or sources, I'd encourage you to maintain a healthy amount of skepticism while you enjoy what should be, for all intents and purposes, a piece of entertainment.

Have a happy and healthy new year, and we'll see you in 2017!

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How to send your Trello tasks to Reminders with IFTTT

Thanks to IFTTT, you can keep track of your Trello tasks with the Reminders app on your iPhone and iPad.

Many people and organizations, including us here at iMore, rely on Trello in order to plan out content, assign work and keep everything organized. But for an individual, keeping track of tasks assigned to you in Trello might be easier if you could do so in your own system for keeping up with your to-dos. Luckily, IFTTT provides a solution.

IFTTT, for those who are unfamiliar, is a web service that connects with other apps and service to help you automate routine tasks. For instance, you can create an IFTTT action, called an Applet, to send you a weather report every morning at a set time. But more importantly, for our purposes, you can use IFTTT to link together two disparate services, in this case, Trello and the iOS Reminders app.

Getting started

To get started, the first thing you'll need is a free account with IFTTT, which you can sign up for on its website. You'll also want to download the free IFTTT app for iPhone and iPad from the App Store.

You'all also need to activate the Trello and iOS Reminders channels in IFTTT. Find Trello in the IFTTT app and tap Connect to authorize IFTTT to connect to Trello. Follow the same path for iOS Reminders.

How to set up Reminders integration with Trello in the IFTTT app

Setting this up is actually pretty easy, there are just a lot of steps, so here we go.

1. Open the IFTTT app on your iPhone or iPad.
2. Tap My Applets.

3. Tap the + button.

   

4. Tap +this.

5. Scroll down the list and Trello, or tap the search bar and type in Trello.

6. Choose the integration you want, for instance Card assigned to me.

   

7. Choose which board will cause this action to execute.

8. Tap Next.

9. Tap +that.

   

10. Scroll down the list and choose iOS Reminders, or tap the search bar and type in iOS Reminders.

11. Tap Add reminder to list.

12. Choose what the basic content of the reminder should be.

    

13. Enter the name of the list where these reminders should go.

14. Set Priority.

15. Tap Next.

    

16. Choose whether or not you want to be notified when your Applet runs.

17. Tap Finish.

    

In addition to Reminders, you can use this Applet win a number of other IFTTT-connected to-do apps and services, including Todoist, Beeminder, And Kyber. You simply follow the same steps as above.

Questions?

If you have any questions about linking Trello to Reminders, speak up in the comments!

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Keep your phone safe in the car with this $10 magnetic car mount!

One of your resolutions for 2017 should definitely be to keep your phone out of your hands when you are driving, and this awesome magnetic car mount makes that so much easier. Anker's magnetic car mount is a simple way to keep your phone out of your hands but still in view so you can use it for navigation, music streaming and more. The strong magnet allows it to work universally with just about any phone, so it won't matter how often you switch you can use it with any device you have with you that day.

This $20 discount isn't likely to last very long, so you're going to want to pick one up sooner than later. Something like this makes for a great investment for each car you own, so be sure to grab a couple to keep your loved ones safe on the road.

See at Amazon

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Keep your phone safe in the car with this $10 magnetic car mount!

One of your resolutions for 2017 should definitely be to keep your phone out of your hands when you are driving, and this awesome magnetic car mount makes that so much easier. Anker's magnetic car mount is a simple way to keep your phone out of your hands but still in view so you can use it for navigation, music streaming and more. The strong magnet allows it to work universally with just about any phone, so it won't matter how often you switch you can use it with any device you have with you that day.

This $20 discount isn't likely to last very long, so you're going to want to pick one up sooner than later. Something like this makes for a great investment for each car you own, so be sure to grab a couple to keep your loved ones safe on the road.

See at Amazon

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Keep your phone safe in the car with this $10 magnetic car mount!

One of your resolutions for 2017 should definitely be to keep your phone out of your hands when you are driving, and this awesome magnetic car mount makes that so much easier. Anker's magnetic car mount is a simple way to keep your phone out of your hands but still in view so you can use it for navigation, music streaming and more. The strong magnet allows it to work universally with just about any phone, so it won't matter how often you switch you can use it with any device you have with you that day.

This $20 discount isn't likely to last very long, so you're going to want to pick one up sooner than later. Something like this makes for a great investment for each car you own, so be sure to grab a couple to keep your loved ones safe on the road.

See at Amazon

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This $8 Lightning cable will last up to 5 times longer than others!

Right now you can pick up Anker's Lightning cable for just $8, a savings of $12. This cable is reinforced at all its weakest points to help it last up to five times as long as other cables, meaning you won't need to replace them as often. Nothing is worse than going to charge your iPhone or iPad only to realize that your Lightning cable is going bad and won't pass any currency through it. Don't get caught in this situation, and instead have a trusty cable that is made to last.

Be sure to pick one (or maybe two) of these up before the price jumps back up!

See at Amazon

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How to evolve Togetic from Togepi in Pokémon Go

Wondering how to evolve Togepi into Togetic and jump-start your Gen 2 Pokémon Go collection? Here's the answer!

Pokémon Go has slowly started releasing the Gen 2 Pokémon from the Johto region. It's almost exclusively to the babies you have to hatch from eggs. Almost exclusively. There's one new mature Pokémon from Gen 2 also available — Togetic! The thing is, you need to hatch and evolve her from Togepi!

How do you hatch Togepi?

The Pokémon inside an egg is determined when you pick it up. Togepi hatches from a 5 KM egg. It appears to be one of the rarest hatches, though. Unless you're reading this during the Pokémon Go Holiday Event, which has temporarily — and very slightly! — increased the odds of hatching a baby, that means the only way to get her is to collect and hatch a lot of 5KM eggs. A. LOT.

For that you'll need to:

1. Hit a lot of PokéStops.
2. Buy a lot of Incubators (sorry).
3. Walk/run/bike a lot of steps.

If you have Pokémon Go for Apple Watch, and it's actually working for you, using it as a workout can help speed up the hatching process. So can things like GPS drift, if that happens where you live or work, and even leaving Pokemon Go on in the cupholder while driving in low-speed areas. (Just don't distract yourself by looking at the screen!)

It took me almost two weeks and dozens and dozens of eggs to hatch my first Togepi but others hatched several the first couple of days. That's the cruel capriciousness of Pokémon Go's random number generator (RNG) for it.

How do you evolve Togetic?

To evolve Togepi to Togetic in Pokémon Go requires 50 Togepi candy. (Yes, for some reason it's called Togepi candy instead of Togetic candy, which is how the other baby/mature Pokémon candy are labeled.)

Since you can't catch Togepi, let alone Togetic, in the wild, that leaves you with only two options:

1. Hatch multiple Togepi.
2. Walk your Togepi as a buddy.

Each Togepi you hatch will give you from 10 to 21 candy. So, you'll need to hatch at least 3 Togepi to get enough candy to evovle togetic. Given how low the odds of getting a Togepi egg are, that could take a while. (Though, it could also happen at any time, because random is random.)

Though Togepi comes from a 5 KM egg, walking it as a buddy only nets you candy at the same rate as a Pokémon hatches from a 10 KM egg — namely 1 candy per 5 KM walked. (Yeah, thanks Pokémon Go!) So, if you hatch one Togepi and get 17 candies, you'll need to walk 33 x 5 = 165 KM to get enough candy to evolve that single Togepi. Depending on how much you walk each day, you're looking at a couple weeks if not a month of activity before you can evolve.

Whether by hatching, walking, or both, when you do get enough candy — Togetic is yours!

Any questions?

You probably want to try and hatch at least a couple Togepi, that way you jump-start your way towards evolving and get to keep a baby around for your living Pokédex. Regardless, if you have any questions about evolving Togetic, or anything else, drop them in the comments below.

Pokemon Go

• Pokemon Go beginner's guide
• Pokémon Go tips, tricks, and cheats
• How to use 'Nearby' and 'Sightings' to track Pokémon
• How to catch rare Pokémon
• How to win gym battles and earn coins
• How to be lazy and play on the couch
• How to fix crashes and server errors
• Pokemon Go help and discussion forum

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How to celebrate New Year's in VR

Celebrate the new year from inside VR!

The end of 2016 is upon us, which means parties full of friends, watching the ball drop, and washing your hands of this year in preparation for 2017. If you don't yet have plans for the big night, then don't worry! There are a few awesome ways that you can experience the New Year's party in London, or New York City, all with the aid of your VR headset. Whether you're hoping to enjoy the feel of NYC from the relative comfort of your couch, or you couldn't get tickets to see the fireworks over London, we've got you totally covered.

Read More at VRHeads

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How to celebrate New Year's in VR

Celebrate the new year from inside VR!

The end of 2016 is upon us, which means parties full of friends, watching the ball drop, and washing your hands of this year in preparation for 2017. If you don't yet have plans for the big night, then don't worry! There are a few awesome ways that you can experience the New Year's party in London, or New York City, all with the aid of your VR headset. Whether you're hoping to enjoy the feel of NYC from the relative comfort of your couch, or you couldn't get tickets to see the fireworks over London, we've got you totally covered.

Read More at VRHeads

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Best photo backup services for iPhone, iPad, and Mac

Back up your photos before you lose them all!

Arguably the most important things we carry around with us on our iPhones are our photos. They're personal, unique, and irreplaceable captures of moments in our lives, and if something were to happen to and we hadn't properly backed them up, then our treasured memories would be lost forever.

There are a handful of fantastic apps for backing up and storing your photos in the cloud, which will keep them safe no matter what happens to your iPhone. It all depends on what features you think are most important. As we move into a new year, make sure your memories are backed up with these great options!

Apple iCloud Photo Library

For those fully immersed in the Apple ecosystem, the iCloud Photo library is a must-have. Not only can you automatically back up all of your photos the moment you take a picture on your iPhone, but you can also quickly access them from any Apple device instantly, including iPhone and iPad, Mac, Apple TV, and any computer or mobile device via iCloud.com. High resolution originals are stored in iCloud, while smaller mobile versions are kept on your iOS device, saving precious storage space while giving you access to all of your photos.

The Photos app on iOS and Mac has basic photo editing features, like cropping, retouching, adding filters and manually adjusting levels, white balance, and other tweaks. With iCloud Photo Sharing, you can show off your vacation pics to friends and family with iOS devices so they can "like" and comment on them.

Cloud storage for Apple is free for the first 5 GB and jumps up to 50 GB for only $0.99 per month. The average person will need more than 5 GB (especially because iCloud storage syncs more than just your photos — it's also where your iPhone backs up). The 50 GB tier is just right for most users at just $12 a year. If you need more, iCloud storage pricing is reasonable with 200 GB costing $2.99 and 1 TB running $9.99.

If you are an Apple family, the iCloud Photo Library is deeply integrated into all of your devices and keeps your original photos safe and easily accessible across multiple devices.

• Integrated in iOS - Find out how to use iCloud Photo Library

Amazon Photos

If you have an Amazon Prime account, storage limits are not an issue when it comes to backing up your photos. You can take advantage of unlimited storage to automatically upload all of your pictures to Amazon Cloud. The desktop app, Amazon Cloud Drive, grabs all pictures from your computer automatically, while the iOS app uploads your entire camera roll (including iCloud Photo Library pics). Photos are accessible from Amazon's iOS Photos app, desktop Cloud Drive app, or your Amazon Cloud account via the web.

Amazon Photos does not have any editing features, but it has decent organizational tools that let you quickly create albums and sort pictures by date. You can easily share individual photos, or share an entire album, using the app Share feature, to email, SMS, Facebook, Twitter, and more.

If you have a massive amount of photos, especially high-resolution pictures that take up a lot of data, and you have an Amazon Prime account, the Amazon Cloud service is a great way to back up your photos without worrying about space.

• Free - Download now

Adobe Creative Cloud

Adobe's photo syncing service, Creative Cloud includes an amazing, feature-rich application for photography enthusiasts and professionals. With Creative Cloud, you can access and edit images across multiple devices and sync changes as you work. The key to Adobe's service is project creation and photo editing. You must have a Creative Cloud account, which costs $9.99 per month, to upload and sync photos and edits, but the service also includes access to a number of photo and video project apps, like Photoshop, Slate, and more.

Once uploaded, you can meticulously adjust picture quality using Lightroom for tone curve, split-tone, noise reduction, lens correction, camera calibration, and more. All of your changes are immediately available between desktop and mobile devices.

It is ideal for taking your pictures one step further. If you are a heavy photo editor and want access to robust and professional tools, Creative Cloud with Lightroom and Photoshop is a great backup service to use.

• Free - Download now

Google Photos

These days, practically everyone is connected to Google in some way or another, whether it is through Gmail, Hangouts, or YouTube. Having a Google account can be beneficial if you want to use the company's cloud storage to backup your photos. You can add pictures to Google Drive, which will automatically sync to the Photos app, or back up your entire collection of pictures using the Desktop uploader and iOS app.

Google Photos provides some pretty amazing organizational tools. For example, it will automatically recognize such things as people, places, food, and events, and organize them into collections for you. Plus, you can build your own personal albums, or create shared albums that others can access via a link. You can even let the recipients add their own content to a shared album.

Google Photos also includes some basic editing features, like adding filters, tweaking lighting, and color balances.

Google Drive includes 15 GB of free storage with additional plans starting at $1.99 for 100 GB. If you are big on sharing albums with others for collaborative purposes, Google Photos is a great option.

• Free - Download now

Microsoft OneDrive

Microsoft's cloud storage service may be great for keeping your work documents in the cloud, but it also has a nifty camera uploader that can automatically send your iPhone's camera roll to OneDrive. With the desktop app, you can access and download pics to your computer. You can also download them onto any device by visiting OneDrive Live and logging into your account.

On iOS, you can simply toggle the Camera Backup feature on and all of the pictures on your device will be uploaded to the company's storage service. It has great organization tools, like adding tags and creating albums. And, you can share files and albums with others by inviting them to collaborate or sending a link. Use OneDrive alongside Microsoft Office apps, like PowerPoint, to import pictures into documents.

If you tend to use Microsoft's suite of productivity apps, OneDrive is a great app for having direct access to your photos from other Office apps.

• Free - Download now

Dropbox

Dropbox is an incredibly useful cloud storage service for backing up all kinds of documents. Like OneDrive, it also has an automatic camera uploader that will constantly update with your newly taken photos. These images can be viewed right in the Dropbox app for iOS, or using the desktop app. When you log into your Dropbox account via the web, you can access your photos anywhere.

You can add comments to photos and include names from your contacts, which will notify each person that is mentioned. You can create new folders and share them with other Dropbox users. You can also send a link that will allow the recipient to view pictures without needing to be logged into a Dropbox account.

If you want to be able to share your photos with anyone, whether they have an account or not, Dropbox makes it easy to upload everything on your computer and share it with others.

• Free - Download now

Anything else?

Do you have a favorite photo backup service? What are some of its features that make it the best option for you?

Updated to clarify Adobe's photo cloud storage service.

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Best apps for ringing in the New Year

Make the most of your New Year's Eve celecration with these great apps!

2016 is almost over (a giant relief for many) and it's time to celebrate another trip around the sun in style! Whether you plan to have a relaxing low-key New Year's Eve around the house or you're heading to the biggest party you can find, you can always increase your enjoyment of the night by downloading the right apps. Here's some of our favorite apps to help you ring in 2017.

• Times Square Official New Year's Eve Ball app
• New Year Photo Frame Collection 2017
• Spaceteam
• Habits & New Year Resolution 2017

Times Square Official New Year's Eve Ball app

You don't need to be in Times Square to enjoy the yearly classic celebration in New York, take the experience with you with the Times Square Official New Year's Eve Ball app.

The app has on-going countdown to 2017, which is customizable to your timezone, and allows you to watch the famous ball drop live on New Year's Eve. Plus includes a live stream to the entire evening, so you don't have to miss any of the musical acts throughout the night.

You can even follow and interact with the Times Square Ball on Twitter throughout your celebrations as you watch the clock countdown!

• Free - Download Now

New Year Photo Frame Collection 2017

Regardless of where you are New Year's Eve, you know you are going to be taking pictures throughout the evening to document your celebration, so why not make your photos extra festive with New Year Photo Frame Collection 2017.

These easy to add photo frames instantly tell the world you know how to party during the transition of the calendar year! Plus, the app also has some cool stickers you can throw on to your photos to make them pop even more!

• Free - Download Now

Spaceteam

What better way to celebrate with family and friends than playing a great party game? Spaceteam let's you team up with 3 other players to twist dials, change sliders, turn knobs, and more — but you also have to shout out instructions to other players, all of whom have to do the same simultaneously.

Spaceteam is such a blast that iMore's very own Serentiy Caldwell included it as one of her best indie games for iPhone and iPad.

"I've played with friends, family, co-workers, and complete strangers and every time has been whimsical and unique."

Spaceteam is a surefire way to take any party to the next level!

• Free - Download now

Habits & New Year Resolution 2017

Once that clock strikes midnight and 2017 is finally upon us, you're going to need to decide what your New Year's resolutions will be, luck for you Habits & New Year Resolution 2017 can help.

Habits & New Year Resolution 2017 lets you choose from a wide range of resolutions, everything from quitting smoking to learning how to code, so you'll be able to find something you want to accomplish in 2017 on the list.

Once you've selected your resolutions, the app then lets you set daily reminder to help you keep on track. Plus, if you complete a resolution you can mark it as done and choose even more goals to achieve.

• Free - Download Now

How are you celebrating tonight?

How do you plan to welcome 2017? Let us know in the comments below!

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