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The Public Access Weekly: Hit the road jack

This week brought us announcements from both Apple and Sony, and the typical flurry of stories, opinions, analysis, comments, think-pieces and trend stories on the news from both companies. Here in the Engadget offices, event days like this consist of editors hunched over keyboards typing furiously and video and photography staff rushing in and out for equipment. No one talks and everyone is super focused. Then the hardware arrives and we all congregate in a circle to take turns holding the shiny new device and offering initial impressions.

What can I tell you from having spent a whole... 90 seconds with the new iPhone? Much like Chris Velazco in our hands-on video, I also really like the new jet black color. However, I am not a big fan of the decision to remove the headphone jack (and I think the AirPods look really dumb when worn), and the 'force touch' sensor that is replacing the home button is going to take some time to get used to. But admittedly, that's an opinion formed in literal seconds so, you know, take it with the appropriate grain of salt.

And now two quick notes for Public Access members: First, a few of you have written in that you're encountering errors when trying to log into your accounts and are getting an "Oops!" page. If you have experienced this problem, make sure you're signing in on the Public Access page (where it says "Apply & Sign up" in purple) and not the grey "Login" button that appears on the Engadget home page (which is where you log in for comments).



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Secondly, please be aware that being a Public Access member and publishing articles on Public Access does not mean that you are an Engadget writer or employee. If you are promoting your Public Access articles on social media or your own website, please identify yourself as a writer or contributor to "Engadget's Public Access" or "Public Access" or "Public Access on Engadget" or some such permutation. Do not claim to be a writer for Engadget, or an Engadget employee -- it's not true, it's not cool with us, and we will email you about it so heads up.

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