In the aftermath of the devastating explosion in Beirut, Apple CEO Tim Cook has announced that the company will be donating to both short and long-term relief efforts. On August 4th, a massive warehouse fire broke out in Beirut, Lebanon that led to a massive explosion believed to be caused by almost 3,000 tons of ammonium nitrate. So far the death toll is almost 150 with thousands of others injured in the incident....
A set of 14 analyst forecasts compiled by Bloomberg predicts that Apple’s quarterly profits – due to be reported tomorrow – will have fallen for the first time since 2003. Apple’s shares recently fell below $400. Despite widespread expectations that the company is working on two new product categories – an HD TV and a smartwatch – its famous refusal to confirm or deny such rumors is leaving investors nervous. Apple is expected to raise its dividend in an attempt to appease shareholders, with Bloomberg predicting a quarterly dividend of around $3....
Two weeks following the first beta, Apple has released iOS 8.3 beta 2 to developers for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. As we reported upon the first beta, the upcoming release includes a Wireless CarPlay feature, a new Emoji picker, improved login for Google services, an updated voice for Siri, and support for Apple Pay in China. iOS 8.3 is coming later this year, and sources say that Apple will release a public beta of iOS 8....
Just as Apple published a new letter from Tim Cook and an update on privacy and security policies, a new report points to evidence the company has recently received new government demands for user data under the Patriot Act. GigaOM reports that language previously included in Apple’s Transparency Reports noting the company had “never received an order under Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act” has since been removed. That could signal, according to the report, Apple’s involvement with controversial National Security Agency programs that demand data from companies:...
As Apple moves more of its services into the cloud, and more Apple users adopt iCloud for photo library and file storage, the company’s infrastructure requirements keep on rising. Although Apple manages many of its own data centers, it also relies heavily on third-party cloud companies as well. The Information reports that Apple’s spending on Google Cloud services has increased by 50% year over year, and is set to spend about $300 million this year managing more than 8 exabytes of total data....
Apple’s list of supported banks and card issuers for Apple Pay is growing again today with the addition of 8 new banks and credit unions, according to sources with knowledge of the matter. The full list of newly supported card issuers includes: Security Service Federal Credit Union Consumers Credit Union Virginia Credit Union Cyprus Federal Credit Union Fairwinds Credit Union Mountain America Credit Union Partners Federal Credit Union Customers Bank...
A few weeks ago, reports indicated that Apple was testing its upcoming Apple Pay Cash service internally using iOS 11.1. Now, Apple appears to be expanding testing of its peer-to-peer payment service with a new batch of employees. According to MacRumors, Apple has extended Apple Pay Cash testing to retail employees, which opens the platform up to a much larger crowd of users. Retail employees allegedly gained access to the platform yesterday, using an internal iOS profile to enable it on their iOS 11....
Staples has revealed that Apple Pay is now the most popular form of payment in its iOS app, used for 30% of purchases made using the app. Apple Pay also appears to have driven new sales, with almost two-thirds of those transactions being from first-time Stapes customers, reveals FierceMobileIT. Vemana also revealed that while Staples has both iOS and Android apps, with usage split pretty evenly between the two, Apple owners are more profitable, generating 70% of mobile purchases … “Apple Pay has been one of the most successful implementations when it comes to payments....
A $17.5 million project led and partly funded by Apple to increase the use of recycled water in Sunnyvale and Cupertino has been approved by city officials. Mercury News reports that the Santa Clara Valley Water District has given the project the go ahead this week which will see the city of Sunnyvale, Apple and the California Water Service Company work together to lay 13,300 feet of pipeline to bring recycled water into Sunnyvale and Apple’s new campus in Cupertino:...
What’s New in the iOS 11.3 Update and Should You Upgrade? While version 11.2.6 fixed minor bugs related to crashes that could be triggered when viewing text in Indian characters, 11.3 introduces a laundry list of fixes, features, and improvements. A critical addition is a battery health feature, which lets users get a better understanding of how well their iOS device is performing. This was partly attributed to the backlash Apple received when it was discovered the company was slowing down older devices to compensate for battery life when new versions of iOS were released....
As we reported this morning, Apple has today launched a new version of the iPod touch, featuring a 64-bit A8 CPU. This breaks a long run of neglect for Apple’s cheapest iOS device, which last received an update way back in 2012. It will be a huge leap in performance over the previous iPod touch which featured an A5 SoC. Both the front and back cameras have been improved, with the back shooter now featuring 8 megapixels of resolution....
Update: Public betas for iOS and tvOS also now available. Apple has released the third iOS 11.1 beta for iPhone and iPad. iOS 11.1 beta includes the return of 3D Touch gestures for multitasking as well as hundreds of new emoji characters including “Woman with Headscarf, Bearded Person, Breastfeeding, Zombie” and plenty more. Apple has also released the third beta versions of watchOS 4.1 beta with Apple Music and Radio streaming as well as tvOS 11....
While Apple Pay works with nearly all of the major banks across the United States, there are still plenty of regional banks and credit unions with customers waiting for Apple Pay to work with their institution. The latest expansion includes several additional banks across the US. ACIPCO Federal Credit Union Arthur State Bank Bank of Eastern Oregon Blue Federal Credit Union Capital Credit Union Choice One Community Credit Union City Bank Community Powered Federal Credit Union Dedham Savings Delta Bank Education Credit Union First Colorado National Bank First State Bank & Trust Company (MO + NE now) Freedom Bank Glacier Hills Credit Union Helena Community Credit Union LifeStore Bank Lincoln National Bank Oregon Community Bank Ridgewood Savings Bank Southern Pine Credit Union State Bank of Table Rock Sun Community Federal Credit Union Taconnet Federal Credit Union Territorial Savings Bank Utah Federal Credit Union Apple Pay will soon arrive in Brazil which will mark the first new country added in 2018....
With the new T2 chip in the 2018 MacBook Pro and the iMac Pro, Apple is preventing third-party Mac repairs. As detailed by MacRumors and Motherboard, new software locks have been put in place that make the machines “inoperable” unless Apple’s proprietary System Configuration software is run after a repair. Motherboard says that Apple recently distributed an updated document to Authorized Service Providers, explaining that any Mac with the T2 security chip is affected by this....
Earlier this month Apple was granted permission to publicly test a self-driving vehicle on public roads in California, and now the company has reportedly issued a letter requesting changes to autonomous car test policies. Reuters first reported that Apple has formally proposed self-driving car testing policies through a company letter. In the company letter, Apple writes that it is ‘investing heavily in the study of machine learning and automation, and is excited about the potential of automated systems in many areas, including transportation....
Just a few days after CEO Tim Cook joined the Council for Sustainable Urbanization to fight climate change in China, Apple this evening has revealed a handful of new programs in China that promote the use of clean energy. Apple says that the programs will help avoid 20 million metric tons of greenhouse gas pollution in China between now and 2020, which is the equivalent of removing 4 million vehicles from the road for one year....
Bloomberg reports that Apple has absorbed a 14% hit in the value of the rupee in order to keep iPhone prices steady in India, speculating that it is willing to reduce margin in order to grow market share in what is expected to become the world’s second-largest smartphone market by 2017. Apple is currently in 6th place in smartphone market share in India, behind Samsung, Micromax, Karbonn, Nokia Oyj and Sony....
Apple often acquires small startup companies very quietly and without any formal announcement to bolster its own services, and a new report from TechCrunch claims that the company acquired Ottocat in late-2013. Ottocat was a startup that focused on developing a system to organize and discover apps based on increasingly specific subcategories. Apple currently uses this technology to power the “Explore” tab in the App Store, as seen above. Ottocat’s life as an independent company was brief....
Apple is reportedly planning to change how it handles subscriptions for video streaming services via the App Store. According to a new report from Bloomberg, Apple will cut the percentage of revenue it takes from streaming video apps in an effort to improve its relationship with those in that industry… The report, which cites “people familiar with the plans,” claims that Apple is looking to cut its portion of subscription revenue from 30 percent to 15 perfect for video streaming apps....
It’s been about a year since Apple shared its high-end Mac strategy by promising a modular Mac Pro and teasing out the iMac Pro. The high-end all-in-one was shown off in June and released on December, but the all-new modular Mac Pro has been a bigger mystery since Apple confirmed it was coming. Now Apple is setting the expectations in a new TechCrunch interview and specifying that the new Mac Pro will be a 2019 product....
