MacRumors

Microsoft today announced a new Office app for iOS and Android that brings together the functionality of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint in a single app. The new app, currently available as a preview, simplifies working with different types of documents while also bringing in some new features to enhance productivity.

The Office app provides a simple, integrated experience that puts the tools you need for working on a mobile device at the forefront of the experience. We started by combining the existing Word, Excel, and PowerPoint mobile apps into a single app. Doing so brings all of your Office documents together in one place, reduces the need to switch between multiple apps, and significantly reduces the amount of space used on your phone compared to multiple installed apps. We then added new capabilities that harness the strengths of mobile devices, such as the camera, to enable you to create content in uniquely mobile ways. Finally, we added a new Actions Pane that helps you accomplish many of the common mobile tasks you need to do all from one place.

Camera integration lets you easily convert photos of documents and tables into Word and Excel files, while PowerPoint presentations can easily import photos from your camera roll. The new Actions pane supports a number of common tasks like creating PDFs from documents or photos, signing PDFs with your finger, scanning QR codes, and file transfers.

Office for mobile is available in public preview today, with the iOS preview running through Apple's TestFlight program and limited to the first 10,000 users. Users can gets basic access to the preview with no sign-in required, but if you log in with a work, school, or personal Microsoft account you'll get access to all of your cloud-based documents. The new Office app is currently only avaliable for phones, but it will be extended to tablets in the future, and Microsoft says it will continue to support and improve its existing standalone Office mobile apps.

Adobe is today launching its long-awaited Photoshop for iPad app, one year after first announcing plans to bring the desktop version of Photoshop CC to Apple's tablets.

The Photoshop on ‌iPad‌ app is designed to let Photoshop desktop users open and edit PSDs right on their tablet devices, with the ability to see and edit layered documents and access key Adobe tools with touch gestures.

The app will be familiar to Photoshop users thanks to the standard Photoshop toolbar on the left and a layers interface on the right, both of which are optimized for a touch interface. Adobe has built-in tours and video tutorials to get users started with the app.

Photoshop for ‌iPad‌ was designed with touch and mobility in mind, but it was built using the same code base as Photoshop on the desktop so users don't need to worry about conversions, compressions, or importing or exporting when swapping between the ‌iPad‌ and the desktop. All edits will produce the same results across devices.

Alongside the launch of Photoshop for ‌iPad‌, Adobe is overhauling cloud documents to support the PSD format, which is what will allow PSDs to be worked on cross platform. Work on Photoshop for ‌iPad‌ is automatically saved to the cloud as a PSD file via the new cloud documents feature.

According to Adobe, today's launch of Photoshop for ‌iPad‌ is just the beginning of a more extensive plan to expand the capabilities of Photoshop on tablets.

The first version of Photoshop for ‌iPad‌ focuses on top workflows, compositing, and masking and retouching, with additional functionality to be introduced in the future as Adobe better learns how customers use Photoshop on a mobile device.

The company says it is "deeply committed" to rethinking every Photoshop experience for the Apple Pencil and the touch screen to provide the best Photoshop experience regardless of device.

Adobe says that new capabilities will be added "as quickly as possible" with a regular cadence of releases after Adobe MAX 2019. "We know we have more work to do," reads Adobe's blog post announcing the launch of Photoshop for ‌iPad‌. Adobe is encouraging Photoshop for ‌iPad‌ users to join its community forums to discuss potential new features.

Photoshop for ‌iPad‌ is available starting now for all Creative Cloud customers who have a subscription to Photoshop. It can be downloaded from the App Store. More information on the new Photoshop for ‌iPad‌ app can be found on Adobe's website.

Adobe is today also introducing Adobe Photoshop Camera, an AI-powered camera app that "brings incredible Photoshop magic" to capturing photos. Photoshop Camera lets you capture, edit, and share photos using Photoshop tools right from the viewfinder.

The app can recognize the subject of a photo, provide recommendations, and automatically apply complex adjustments to produce the best possible photo. The app will also include a "curated feed of lenses" created by artists and influencers like Billie Eilish.

Photoshop Camera is available in a preview capacity on iOS devices, and interested users can sign up for info on Adobe's website.

Apple on Monday announced that it would commit $2.5 billion to easing a housing shortage that has seen property prices skyrocket across California.

Apple's commitment includes $1 billion in affordable housing investments, $1 billion in mortgage assistance for first-time homebuyers, and $300 million worth of Apple land opened up to affordable housing projects.

"Before the world knew the name Silicon Valley, and long before we carried technology in our pockets, Apple called this region home, and we feel a profound civic responsibility to ensure it remains a vibrant place where people can live, have a family and contribute to the community," said Tim Cook, Apple's CEO. "Affordable housing means stability and dignity, opportunity and pride. When these things fall out of reach for too many, we know the course we are on is unsustainable, and Apple is committed to being part of the solution."

Apple is also launching a new $150 million affordable housing fund with Bay Area partners including Housing Trust Silicon Valley to support new affordable housing projects. The fund will consist of long-term forgivable loans and grants.

"This unparalleled financial commitment to affordable housing, and the innovative strategies at the heart of this initiative, are proof that Apple is serious about solving this issue. I hope other companies follow their lead," said Gavin Newsom, governor of California. "The sky-high cost of housing — both for homeowners and renters — is the defining quality-of-life concern for millions of families across this state, one that can only be fixed by building more housing. This partnership with Apple will allow the state of California to do just that."

In addition, Apple will donate $50 million to support Destination: Home's efforts to address homelessness in Silicon Valley. Apple says it will focus its contribution on driving systemic change across the many factors affecting homelessness. Apple will also be identifying similar efforts in Northern and Southern California, focusing on strategies that both end and prevent homelessness.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

DigiTimes is reporting this morning that Apple has partnered with U.S. game developer Valve to develop its rumored AR headset, which is expected to launch next year.

Apple reportedly has partnered with US game developer Valve to develop AR head-mounted display devices, which may be released in the second half of 2020 at the earliest, with Taiwan's ODMs Quanta Computer and Pegatron said to handle the assembly job, according to industry sources.

Creator of the popular Steam digital storefront and delivery platform, Valve launched Steam machine consoles in 2015 and released its first VR headset, Valve Index, in April 2019.

Notably, Valve worked with Apple in 2017 to bring native VR headset support to macOS High Sierra, leveraging the operating system's then-new eGPU support with a Mac version of Valve's SteamVR software. However, Apple's latest partnership with the company is said to be focused on AR, not VR.

Apple will cooperate with Valve on AR headsets rather than VR devices, as its CEO Tim Cook believes that AR can make digital content become part of the user's world and will be as popular as smartphones with consumers. This has also promoted Apple to step up the development of AR software by recruiting more engineers for graphic design, system interface and system architecture segments.

Back in July, DigiTimes reported that Apple had temporarily stopped developing AR/VR headsets and that the team working on them was disbanded in May and reassigned to other product developments.

However, according to the latest information from the Taiwan website's sources, Apple was actually in the process of shifting from in-house development to collaborative development with Valve.

Just last month, respected Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said Apple was cooperating with third-party brands to launch its first head-mounted AR product. Kuo believes Apple's AR headset is rumored to enter mass production as soon as the fourth quarter of this year in time for an early 2020 launch.

Code found in Xcode 11 and iOS 13 as recently as September has confirmed that Apple is still working on an augmented reality headset of some kind. In addition, there is an icon within the internal Find My app bundlede picting what appears to be an AR or VR headset that looks similar to the Google Cardboard.

As early as November 2017, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reported that Apple's headset would run a custom iOS-based operating system dubbed "rOS" for "reality operating system." At the time, Gurman said Apple had not finalized how users would control the headset, but possibilities included touchscreens, Siri voice activation, and head gestures.

Apple originally aimed to have its AR product ready by 2019, but the company is said to have been relaxed about not shipping a product until 2020.

Quanta Computer and Pegatron are said to be handling the manufacturing and assembly job for Apple's headset. Quanta can reportedly produce AR headsets at a lower cost by leveraging camera lens technology licensed by Lumus, according to today's report.

‌DigiTimes‌' sources often provide reliable information, but the site has a mixed track record when it comes to interpreting that information and accurately deciphering Apple's plans, so treat this report with the necessary degree of skepticism for now until we can corroborate it from other sources.

Following Friday's launch of Apple TV+, new data on Apple's television and online advertising spend reveals that the company is taking a "slow-roll" approach in promoting the new streaming service (via The New York Times).

According to data gathered by iSpot.TV, Apple spent $14.9 million on television commercials ‌Apple TV‌+ in the month of September, compared to $28.6 million on ads promoting its new iPhone line-up in the same month.

In October, as the ‌Apple TV‌+ November 1 launch date approached, Apple ratcheted up its ad spending, but the budget share was broadly similar. The Cupertino-based company spent $19.9 million on television commercials for ‌Apple TV‌+, compared to $38.6 million on ‌iPhone‌ TV ads.

As for online marketing, October saw Apple spend $1.7 million on 139 unique digital ads for ‌Apple TV‌+, and $2.3 million for 245 separate ‌iPhone‌ ads, according to the advertising analytics platform Pathmatics.

Billboard tracking data for Apple's recent spate of outdoor ads are not yet available, but what we do know is that taken together, the company spent a total of $71.9 million on ‌iPhone‌ ads and $40.3 million on Apple TV Plus spots on television and online in the past two months.

"Consumers are just drowning in content right now, and all of these services are competing for our time," he said. "But they're all approaching the market differently. This isn't some race for Apple. It's a slow roll."

Wedbush Securities analyst Daniel Ives provided the report with a somewhat different perspective. Ives believes that ‌Apple TV‌+ marketing has so far been "aggressive" compared to most other Apple launches, and he expects advertising to pick up more over the holiday season as well as a year from now, when Apple tries to convert customers on free trials into paying subscribers.

"This is a pivotal juncture for Apple to be successful — they cannot trip over their shoelace," Mr. Ives said. "They were late to the game, they've underinvested in content and they have a lot of room to make up."

If you purchase or have purchased an ‌‌Apple TV‌‌, ‌iPhone‌, ‌iPad‌, Mac, or iPod touch after September 10, 2019, you're entitled to a free year of ‌‌Apple TV‌‌+ service, after which it costs $4.99 per month or $49.99 per year for up to six family members.

iOS 12.3, tvOS 13.2, and macOS Catalina are required for ‌Apple TV‌+ on ‌iPhone‌/‌iPad‌, ‌Apple TV‌, and Macs, respectively, but content can be watched on any device by going to tv.apple.com in Safari, Chrome, and Firefox.

For more on ‌Apple TV‌+, make sure to check out our Apple TV+ guide. You can also discuss shows in our new Apple TV+ forum.

During Apple's earnings call for the fourth fiscal quarter of 2019 this week, Apple CEO Tim Cook said he believed that the Apple Card had the "most successful launch of a credit card in the United states ever," and that Apple was "thrilled" with its reception.

More information on how the ‌Apple Card‌ launch went was shared in Goldman Sachs regulatory filings this week, with key details highlighted by Bloomberg.

From the launch of the card in August to September 30, Goldman Sachs extended credit lines totaling approximately $10 billion to Apple customers. There's no word, though, on how many iPhone users have signed up for an ‌Apple Card‌.

Customers who did get an ‌Apple Card‌ had $736 million in loan balances at the end of September, though it's not clear how that compares to other credit cards as Bloomberg says banks do not break out performance by individual cards.

Goldman Sachs has historically worked with corporations and major investors, but is aiming to reach a mainstream market through ‌Apple Card‌. With the launch of ‌Apple Card‌, Goldman has cut down on unsecured personal loans through its Marcus brand, intentionally slowing that growth while to focus on the Apple-branded offering.

Due to this, nearly all of Goldman's growth came from credit card loans over the course of the last quarter.

Apple has been steadily adding new benefits to ‌Apple Card‌ since its launch to continue to draw new users. ‌Apple Card‌ now offers three percent cash back when using the card for purchases from Uber, Uber Eats, T-Mobile, Walgreens, and Duane Reade, with plans to expand the three percent cash back offering to additional merchants in the future.

At other stores, Apple offers two percent cash back when making an Apple Pay purchase or one percent cash back when making a non-Apple Pay purchase with the physical card or online.

Most recently, Apple announced an upcoming option that will let ‌Apple Card‌ customers purchase a new ‌iPhone‌ and then pay it over 24 months with no interest. It's the same setup as Apple's current device payment plans, but more conveniently integrated into the ‌Apple Card‌ for ‌Apple Card‌ users.

Apple has asked the United States government to exclude Apple Watch, AirPods, HomePod, iPhone components, and other devices and parts imported from China from the 15 percent tariff that went into effect on September 1, reports Bloomberg.

Apple filed for exclusions on 11 products or components on Thursday, which was the first day that companies were able to ask for relief from tariffs.

During Apple's earnings call earlier this week, Apple CEO Tim Cook confirmed that Apple is already paying tariffs on some of its products. Cook also said that Apple is hopeful the United States and China will resolve the trade dispute.

"I don't know every chapter of the book, but I think that will eventually happen," Cook said. "I certainly hope it happens during the quarter, but we'll see about that."

In its request for tariff waivers, Apple said that it has been unable to find a source outside of China able to meet the U.S. demand for products or components in the coming year.

Apple asked for tariff exemption for Mac Pro components earlier this year, and though Trump initially said Apple would not be granted tariff relief, Apple did indeed receive exemptions for some of the Chinese made components, and in turn agreed to manufacture the new Mac Pro in Texas.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.