According to the Independent, Apple has informed their European iPhone carriers that the next-generation iPhone will not include Near Field Communication (NFC) technology. Apple is reluctant to include the technology and introduce a new “wave and pay” system due a “lack of a clear standard across the industry.” The iPhone 5 not having NFC technology does not mean Apple isn’t working on their own NFC service for a 2012 launch....
After prepping for and officially launching its Apple Pay service in Ireland today— the 14th country to get access to the payments service— Apple has also added 15+ additional banks and credit unions for two previously supported markets. The company today added over a dozen additional banks and credit unions for users in the U.S., and in recent days added 8 new institutions & card issuers for users in Japan. A full list of the newly added banks is below....
Ahead of Mother’s Day next weekend, Apple’s weekly Apple Pay promotions have made a return. This time, Apple is offering $15 off at 1-800-Flowers when you shop the “Mother’s Day Collection” and checkout with Apple Pay. The promotion applies to both the 1-800-Flowers website as well as the app, with Apple Pay being available as a checkout option in both places. The offer is valid from May 2nd through May 10th and cannot be used in conjunction with other discounts or promotions....
After launching to the public back in November, Apple today has released a small update for its Heart Study app on iOS. Furthermore, Apple also pushed a small update for Beddit, the sleep tracking accessory company that it acquired last year… With today’s update, Apple Heart Study for iOS goes to version 1.0.5. Meanwhile, Beddit Sleep Monitor is now at 2.8.7. The change log for both updates is the same, with Apple touting “bug fixes and other improvements....
Apple is rolling out the second watchOS 3.2 beta for developer testing on Apple Watch. watchOS 3.2 beta includes Theater Mode which disables raise-to-wake and mutes alerts. Apple is also introducing SiriKit to Apple Watch with watchOS 3.2 beta. SiriKit lets developers integrate their apps with Siri for select uses. Prior to watchOS 3.2 beta, SiriKit was limited to iOS apps. As for Theater Mode, this is how Apple describes the new feature:...
After releasing a tweaked beta of Mountain Lion 10.8.2 just last week and the public release of iOS 6 this morning, Apple just released 10.8.2 through Software Update. As we previously detailed, the update’s big feature is Facebook integration including single sign on, Facebook sharing options for links and photos, and Facebook notifications in Notification Center. Game Center also received some nice enhancements while the MacBook Air (late 2010) gained Power Nap....
We just got the macOS 11.3 release candidate shortly after Apple’s Spring Loaded event. And ahead of the 11.3 public launch that could coincide with iOS 14.5 next week, Apple has seeded developers with the first beta for macOS 11.4 that comes with support for new AMD GPUs. Update 4/22: Now available for public beta testers. The OTA for the macOS 11.4 beta should start showing up in System Preferences > Software Update if you’re enrolled in the developer or public beta program (keep refreshing if you don’t see it yet)....
Apple has begun seeding the third watchOS 3.2.3 beta for Apple Watch. The update is only available to registered developers for testing. watchOS 3.2.3 beta follows the release of watchOS 3.2.2 for all users. Both updates focus on bug fixes and performance improvements. watchOS 3.2.3 is only available to registered developers. Apple features a public beta program for iOS and macOS while watchOS and tvOS are developer only. We’ll update if any changes or release notes are discovered or shared....
With Apple Pay now up and running in the UK, Apple is continuing to roll out additional banks and credit unions in waves across the US for its iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch-based mobile payment service. The latest round includes 34 more institutions now supporting Apple Pay. Here are the latest to join in the US as well as the full list to date: 1st Source Bank Allegacy Federal Credit Union Amarillo National Bank American National Bank and Trust Cambridge Trust Bank CASE Credit Union CME FCU Coast Line Credit Union Columbia Bank Community Financial Credit Union Eagle Federal Credit Union Earlham Savings Bank Eastern Bank Evergreen Credit Union Fidelity Bank Federal Savings Bank First Financial Bank First National Bank and Trust FNB Community Bank Heritage Family Federal Credit Union Meritrust Credit Union NuMark Credit Union Pittsford Federal Credit Union Premier Federal Credit Union Quail Creek Bank Reliabank Dakota Reliant Federal Credit Union Renasant Bank SESLOC Federal Credit Union Stanford FCU The Summit Federal Credit Union Umpqua Bank VisionBank Y-12 Federal Credit Union...
Apple Pay has today launched in Belgium. Just like everywhere else in the world, Apple Pay enables you to make transactions at retail stores using the contactless NFC chip inside the iPhone and Apple Watch. You can also pay using Apple Pay on the web in Safari for iOS or Safari for Mac. The Belgium local launch partners include Fortis, Fintro and Hello Bank. Get started with Apple Pay now using the Wallet app on your iPhone....
[UPDATE April 7: iOS 9.3.2 is now available as a public beta update as well.] Shortly after the recent iOS 9.3.1 update to fix a link issue and the major iOS 9.3 update with new features, Apple has released a new iOS 9.3.2 update for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. Apple has also released the first watchOS 2.2.1 betas for developers to test with Apple Watch following the recent watchOS 2....
In recent weeks, a spate of local and national news reports about stalking incidents and auto theft attempts involving AirTags has popped up. The reports typically involve someone finding an unknown AirTag secreted away in a handbag, tucked behind their vehicle’s license plate, or stashed somewhere else that will let a thief or stalker track the location of themselves or their vehicle. In what was almost certainly an effort to alleviate some of the negative public sentiment toward AirTags being caused by continued reports like this, Apple has updated its Personal Safety User Guide with new advice on what to do if you find an AirTag that may be tracking you for criminal purposes....
As the company has done now for several years, Apple has posted some gift suggestions for Mother’s Day, which takes place on May 14, with prices starting from $49 … The gift page, headed ‘Perfect for Mother’s Day – and every other day,’ has the iPad Pro as its main promotion, with the Apple Pencil and Smart Cover suggested for those mums who already own an iPad. At the lower end of the pricing scale, the company suggests Woven Nylon and Sport Bands for the Apple Watch, each starting at $49, while wireless headphones fill out the middle ground at prices starting from $149....
The usually secretive Apple recently signaled that it would begin publishing artificial intelligence research, and now it appears that the first example of this has appeared online. The newly published research paper (via Forbes) is titled “Learning from Simulated and Unsupervised Images through Adversarial Training” and credits Ashish Shrivastava, Tomas Pfister, Oncel Tuzel, Josh Susskind, Wenda Wang, Russ Webb and Apple Inc. as its authors. The paper shows a publication date of December 22 although it was submitted for publication on November 15....
[UPDATE: Apple has now said that its reasoning for delaying the earnings call is because of the memorial service for former board member and tech icon Bill Campbell, who passed away this week.] Apple today has updated its investor relations page to reflect that its second quarter earnings call will now take place on Tuesday, April 26th. Previously, the company had said that it would hold the call on Monday, April 25th....
Apple today has released the first developer beta of macOS Catalina 10.15.1. This comes after the official release of the new operating system version for the public earlier this week. The latest developer release features some of the changes included in the iOS 13.2 beta, such as new emoji and Siri privacy settings. Developers can update to the latest beta through System Preferences if they’re already enrolled in the Beta Program....
One week after the release of iOS 14.5, Apple today is releasing iOS 14.5.1 to the public with bug fixes and performance improvements. Apple is also releasing iOS 12.5.3 for older iPhones that are not supported by iOS 14.5. Today’s new release iOS 14.5.1 is available via an over-the-air update in the Settings app. As usual, if the update does not immediately appear for download, keep checking, as it sometimes takes a few minutes to roll out to all users....
The report says the service may launch this fall, enabling iPhone users to pay for goods with their devices in retail outlets. Apple has apparently discussed the plans with credit card institutions, according to the report, as a user’s banking information “would essentially be uploaded to the wallet”. Apparently, Visa is already onboard with the project. According to the report, new phones will include a ‘secure element’ to store such sensitive data....
The Korea Times today reports that Apple is in negotiations with Samsung to have the company supply the flash memory for the next-gen iPhone models. Currently, the flash storage is provided by Toshiba, SK hynix and SanDisk. The report also notes that Apple is looking to increase the storage capacity of its iPhone models. Apple currently offers the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus in 16GB, 64GB, and 128GB variants. Today’s report suggests that Apple, rather than working to go beyond the 128GB amount, will increase the storage of the mid-tier models....
While Apple doesn’t reveal much in the way of specifics about usage of Apple Pay, consumer spending analytics company TXN has pulled some data from a panel of over three million consumers. It says that analysis of credit card bills from banks which distinguish Apple Pay transactions suggest that usage of the payment method grew by slightly over 50% in the 12 months ending December 2016. The company also revealed the most popular bricks and mortar retailers and websites among Apple Pay users …...
