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Apple’s VP of Internet Services Jennifer Bailey has been announced as the keynote speaker for this year’s TRANSACT conference scheduled for later this spring. Jennifer Bailey had led Apple Pay since its launch in 2014. TRANSACT is a major conference that focuses on global payment technology. The conference is scheduled to run from April 30 to May 2 in Las Vegas. In the keynote speaker announcement, Jennifer Bailey teased out how she’ll promote Apple Pay at the conference:...

A new report from ITG has revealed that Apple Pay was responsible for 1% of the total digital payment dollars spent in November. The study also found that 60% of new Apple Pay customers used the service multiple times throughout the month, while competing services like PayPal see only 20% of customers do the same. Additionally, the research found that shoppers who took advantage of Apple Pay used the service for around 5....

As expected, the Apple Pay mobile payments service for the latest iPhone and Apple Watch models has gone live in Australia, where it is already Thursday. Apple Pay for apps is also available for devices without NFC, such as recent iPad models. The service debuted earlier this week in Canada, following the late 2014 launch in the United States. Currently, the service is limited solely to American Express card users in both Australia and Canada....

The ‘will it, won’t it’ speculation about Apple moving into original TV content in a significant way continues today with a WSJ report claiming that the company is planning to offer ‘original scripted TV content’ by the end of the year. Apple is also said to be ‘considering’ the idea of offering original movies, though these plans are said to be less advanced. While speculation has so far focused on the idea of Apple offering subscription TV packages, today’s report suggests more of a continuation of the company’s approach to date …...

Over recent weeks, reports have suggested Apple is planning a new iPad mini 5 as well as a 10-inch iPad. Now, the company has registered a handful new iPad models with the Eurasian Economic Commission, the database that has revealed new Apple devices in the past. The filings show Apple having registered a handful of “tablet computers” running iOS 12 with the EEC. The model numbers listed are as follows: A2123, A2124, A2126, A2153, A2154, A2133, and A2152....

Apple has once again rejected the Facebook Gaming app on the iOS App Store, reinforcing that the company is not as open to competition. The app was being reviewed by Apple for the past few weeks, but now the company has decided to definitely reject it. A new report from the New York Times details how the Facebook team is not surprised by Apple’s decision, as they have been trying to launch the Facebook Gaming app on the App Store unsuccessfully since February....

[Update: Now available over-the-air with developer profiles installed. macOS 10.14.3 beta 1 and tvOS 12.1.2 beta 1 are also available for developers.] Apple is releasing the first iOS 12.1.2 developer beta shortly following the official release of iOS 12.1.1 last week. watchOS 5.1.3 developer beta 1 for Apple Watch is also coming today. The release notes for the upcoming iOS developer beta only highlight bug fixes and performance improvements, but we’ll dig in and update if any notable changes are discovered....

Uber announced today that it is adding Apple Pay support to its food delivery Uber Eats service. While Apple Pay has been available in the Uber ride-sharing app for several years, it was notably missing from the Uber Eats counterpart. As first reported by TechCrunch, customers can now use Apple Pay directly in the Uber Eats application to complete the checkout process. Apple Pay uses either Touch ID or Face ID to authenticate each purchase....

Apple is planning to hold an “enormous” iPhone-related event in its stores this week in order to boost sales, according to a source with knowledge of the initiative. Beginning May 8th, the source said, Apple will be contacting upgrade-eligible iPhone users with older iPhone models via email to come into their local Apple Store to update to a new iPhone 5s or iPhone 5c… This program blends nicely with Apple’s Apple Store-based iPhone hardware trade-in program, which allows customers to turn-in older iPhone models to purchase a new model at a discounted price....

Apple has shared some tips this week to show how developers and users can properly report bugs they have experienced with Apple’s products. The article, “How to file great bug reports” couldn’t have come at a better time, as the company is about to release the first beta version of iOS 14 this month at WWDC 2020. Beta versions of iOS, macOS, and other operating systems often have several bugs, which is even more common with major updates....

Apple has just published two new software betas for developers on its Developer Center. The new betas cover both OS X Yosemite and iOS 8, with what appear to be bug fix releases on each platform. You can find the change logs below. We’ll also include a running list of changes. Apple recently distributed iOS 9 beta 3 to developers and beta testers, and OS X 10.10.4 to the general public....

Apple has released the first iOS 10.3.3 public beta for users to test without paid developer accounts. The update likely includes bug fixes and performance improvements as well as new wallpapers discovered only on the 12.9-inch iPad Pro… Apple’s public beta program is free to participate in unlike its paid developer program. iOS 10.3.3 will be released to everyone likely next month, and the public beta allows more users to test pre-release versions of the software update before it’s finalized....

Apple has released macOS High Sierra beta 9 for developer testing, the second release this week. macOS High Sierra includes the new Apple File System, HEVC video playback, Metal 2, Photos and Safari upgrades, and more. macOS High Sierra beta 9 is currently only available to registered developers for now. Apple typically holds new public beta versions for a few days for major updates, although recent versions have launched on the same day....

Apart from that, there is not much else to tell, so, this looks like a last minute discovery that possibly did not make it into 11.2. Apple suffered a terrible week of bugs and disclosures in iOS 11 a couple weeks ago. The mobile OS launched in last September and has since received eight updates. This is starting to look like the beginning of a new trend of frequent updates....

Apple announced last month that Apple Pay is ‘coming soon’ in Germany after launching in the United States in 2014. While there was no specific date mentioned, it now looks like customers in Germany will be able to use Apple’s mobile payment service as soon as tomorrow. The original announcement last month was made through an update to Apple’s website in Germany as well as a partner bank update: Apple Pay also recently debuted in both Belgium and Kazakhstan, continuing the global rollout four years after first launching with select partners in the United States....

Apple has posted ads for all the usual retail store positions in Bangkok, the capital of Thailand. This could indicate plans for the company’s first full retail store in the country. Apple mostly relies on a network of authorized resellers in Bangkok. It currently has almost 100 of these, dotted around the capital … While the job listings are for all the current positions found in an Apple store, this doesn’t amount to definitive evidence....

Following up on last year’s Snapchat geofilter, Apple continues this year with a new sponsored filter for WWDC 2017. Snapchat users near the McEnery Convention Center will be able to use the new filter when sharing photos. Last year’s filters included different options for users to pick from, but Apple has only one this year. The filter overlays “WWDC17” and three stickers over the shared photo. The stickers can also be found in the official WWDC app’s iMessage app....

Update: Apple has also shared a developer update about changes to age ratings in the App Store in Brazil. Find the details here. Apple has shared a warning today to developers who use its Push Notification Service about upcoming changes and requirements. Apple detailed the reminder on its developer site to change to the HTTP/2-based APNs provider API which comes with new features and benefits. Read more about registering your app with APNs here....

Apple has created a new marketing executive position that will be filled by Nick Law, a veteran in the creative industry. Law will join Apple as its vice president of marketing communications integration, or “marcom.” As reported by AdWeek, Law will be tasked with leading Apple’s digital-first approach among its marketing and communication teams. He’ll play a role in TV, retail, digital ads, and media strategy, Apple confirmed. Law has a storied career in the creative advertising industry, spending 17 years at the agency R/GA and a year at agency holding company Publicis as its COO....

Apple has just dropped iOS 10.2.1 beta 1 for developers. The contents of the update are currently unknown. The update swiftly follows the public release of iOS 10.2 on Monday. iOS 10.2 included new redesigned emojis, the TV app for US users, a couple of new screen effects in Messages, amongst other enhancements. The first seed of iOS 10.2.1 weighs in at 1.82 GB for developers over-the-air. Given the minor bump in version number, this is likely a simple bug fix release....