MacRumors

Apple and Qualcomm are embroiled in a bitter legal battle over licensing and royalty fees that's lasted for two years now and has led to the breakdown of the relationship between the two companies, but there may have been other factors in the breakup.

Leaked emails between Apple COO Jeff Williams and Qualcomm CEO Steve Mollenkopf seen by Bloomberg suggest the two companies may have cut ties over software access.

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Williams wanted to continue to work with Qualcomm despite the legal battle, but Qualcomm accused Apple of leaking Qualcomm computer code needed to customize mobile chips. Williams offered to "firewall" the Apple engineers using the Qualcomm software and said nothing of value could be obtained from the code anyway.

"In my wildest imagination of some evil intention of Apple, I have trouble coming up with a real scenario where anything of significant value could be leaked based on this code," Williams wrote in September 2017.

Mollenkopf told Williams that he was concerned about protecting Qualcomm's proprietary information, and while he offered to provide software access to Apple, he asked Apple to commit to using Qualcomm chips in at least 50 percent of iPhones over the next two years.

Qualcomm in September 2018 accused Apple of stealing confidential information and trade secrets and passing it on to rival chipmaker Intel. From Qualcomm's lawsuit against Apple:

Although discovery is ongoing, it is clear that Apple's conduct went far beyond simply breaching the contract originally sued on. Indeed, it is now apparent Apple engaged in a years-long campaign of false promises, stealth and subterfuge designed to steal Qualcomm's confidential information and trade secrets for the purpose of improving the performance of lower-quality modem chipsets, with the ultimate goal of eliminating Qualcomm's Apple-based business.

As Bloomberg points out, it appears the software dispute was a key reason the two companies cut ties, as both were willing to continue to work together despite the legal battle. The fight has heated up since then, though, with Qualcomm winning import bans on iPhone 7 and ‌iPhone‌ 8 models in China and Germany.

Qualcomm is in court this week facing an antitrust lawsuit levied against it by the FTC, with the FTC accusing the company of using anticompetitive tactics and exorbitant licensing fees to remain the dominant baseband chip supplier.

Executives from many companies have testified against Qualcomm, including Jeff Williams. Earlier this week, Williams said that Qualcomm had refused to sell Apple chips for the 2018 ‌iPhone‌ models.

Apple in 2017 purchased Beddit, a company that makes a sleep monitoring system designed to track your sleeping habits to help you improve your sleep hygiene.

Apple hasn't said much about the purchase, nor what it's doing with the data it collects from the Beddit system, but in December, Apple quietly pulled the original Beddit Sleep System and introduced a redesigned model with an updated and revised feature set.

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There have been quite a few complaints about the new 3.5 version of the Beddit Sleep Monitor (and its accompanying app) because it removes some functionality that was available with the first model Apple offered. I've been using the original Beddit since 2017, so I decided to check out the new model to see how it compares.

As it turns out, the complaints about removed features are valid, but the improvements introduced in the updated version shouldn't be overlooked.

Design

The 3.5 version of the Beddit Sleep Monitor is similar in design to the previous models, consisting of a fabric-covered strip outfitted with a number of sensors designed to track movement, heart rate, and other parameters that can impact sleep.

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Measuring in at 2.5 inches wide by 30 inches long and 2mm thick, the Beddit Sleep Monitor is meant to be placed on top of a mattress right about where your heart is located when you sleep.

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The idea is to put the fitted sheet over the sensor once it's been placed across a mattress. You need to make sure nothing else is over it like another blanket or a pillow -- sheet only between the sensor and your body.

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On one side of the Beddit, there's a USB cord that plugs into a small 5W iPhone-style power adapter, and underneath, there's a rubber-like material meant to keep the Beddit from slipping and sliding. The older model used something similar, but the new one uses a sturdier, more rigid material.

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Apple has been ordered to stop using a part of a recent press release that claimed the iPhone 7 and ‌iPhone‌ 8 would still be available in Germany through carriers and resellers, reports Bloomberg.

Apple released the statement following a preliminary injunction in December that prevented the company from selling older iPhones in Germany. Apple at the time said that while it would stop selling the devices at its own retail stores, they would remain available via other means.

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Qualcomm yesterday got another preliminary injunction to stop Apple from using that statement because it was "misleading." The court's ruling, said Qualcomm, also required Apple to stop offering the ‌iPhone‌ 7 and ‌iPhone‌ 8 via resellers, too, and the court agreed.

"The press release is misleading because it contains statements that are at least potentially deceptive about the availability of the goods," the judges wrote. "The statement conveys the impression of unlimited availability."

Apple has not been selling ‌iPhone‌ 7 and ‌iPhone‌ 8 models in its retail stores or online in Germany since January and prior to the order about the press release, was also ordered to pull iPhones from partner stores. Some German resellers have continued to sell the devices, however.

Apple's newest iPhones, the XR, XS, and XS Max are not affected by the sales and import ban and continue to be available in the country.

Qualcomm also won a preliminary injunction against the ‌iPhone‌ 7 and ‌iPhone‌ 8 in China, but Apple was able to skirt the ruling via a software update that removed patented content.

For this week's giveaway, we've teamed up with Scosche to offer MacRumors readers a chance to win one of the company's MagicMount Pro Charge wireless chargers.

Priced at $69.99, the MagicMount Pro Charge is a versatile, upright wireless charging mount that can go anywhere, offering charging capabilities and easy access to the iPhone wherever it might be.

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You can use the MagicMount Pro Charge on a desk, in the car for access to maps, in the kitchen for viewing recipes, and more.

The MagicMount Pro uses magnets to hold your ‌iPhone‌ in place, with no base or cradle required, keeping it at an optimum viewing height with an unobscured display and accessible ports.

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There are magnets built into the MagicMount Pro Charge, which work with a metal MagicPlate that attaches to the ‌iPhone‌. The magnets do not impede wireless charging, with the MagicMount Pro Charge offering 7.5W charging for Apple devices and 10W charging for Android devices.

The MagicPlate attaches to the back of an ‌iPhone‌ or an ‌iPhone‌ case using an adhesive, with the ‌iPhone‌ plate able to be easily removed.

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A StickGrip suction base at the bottom makes sure the MagicMount stays in place while you're using it, and the charging portion can be swiveled, rotated, or tilted so you can adjust your ‌iPhone‌'s display to where you want it.

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A power adapter is included with the MagicMount Pro Charge, with the cord routed through the base of the device. As with most wireless chargers, foreign object detection is included to prevent accidents from overheating.

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MagicMount Pro Charge is Qi-certified and has been laboratory tested to ensure safety, energy efficiency, interoperability, and more. The charger works with the ‌iPhone‌ 8, 8 Plus, X, XR, XS, and XS Max.

We have eight of Scosche's MagicMount Pro Charge accessories to give away. To enter to win, use the Rafflecopter widget below and enter an email address. Email addresses will be used solely for contact purposes to reach the winners and send the prizes. You can earn additional entries by subscribing to our weekly newsletter, subscribing to our YouTube channel, following us on Twitter, following us on Instagram, or visiting the MacRumors Facebook page.

Due to the complexities of international laws regarding giveaways, only U.S. residents who are 18 years or older and Canadian residents (excluding Quebec) who have reached the age of majority in their province or territory are eligible to enter. To offer feedback or get more information on the giveaway restrictions, please refer to our Site Feedback section, as that is where discussion of the rules will be redirected.


The contest will run from today (January 18) at 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time through 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time on January 25. The winners will be chosen randomly on January 25 and will be contacted by email. The winners will have 48 hours to respond and provide a shipping address before new winners are chosen.

With support for the now-discontinued Windows 10 Mobile devices set to end on December 10, 2019, Microsoft is recommending that its current Windows 10 Mobile customers move to an Android or iOS device instead.

Microsoft made the recommendation in a Windows 10 Mobile support document (via Thurrott) explaining its plans to stop offering security updates and patches for Windows 10 Mobile.

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With the Windows 10 Mobile OS end of support, we recommend that customers move to a supported Android or iOS device. Microsoft's mission statement to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more, compels us to support our Mobile apps on those platforms and devices.

Microsoft ended support for Windows Phone in July 2017 and stopped active development on Windows 10 Mobile in October of that year, leading to the death of the platform. Microsoft struggled to get app developers to write apps for the device, and it was also never able to establish a strong user base.

With the abandonment of Windows 10 Mobile, Microsoft has been focusing on other platforms and has a wide array of apps available for both iOS and Android devices.

All customers who have a Windows 10 Mobile device will be able to keep using it after December 10, 2019, but no further updates will be available.

AAPL shares are currently trading above the $157 mark on the intraday market, recouping virtually all losses incurred since Apple CEO Tim Cook slashed Apple's revenue guidance by up to $9 billion for the first quarter of its 2019 fiscal year.

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AAPL closed at $157.92 on January 2, immediately prior to Cook revealing the shortfall in an after-hours letter to shareholders, and is now trading just cents below that level. The stock has gradually recovered over the past two weeks since establishing a new 52-week low of $142 on January 3.


Apple originally guided for revenue of between $89 billion and $93 billion in the three-month period ending in December, but revised its estimate to $84 billion due to "fewer iPhone upgrades" than it anticipated, primarily due to "significantly greater" economic weakness than it projected in the Greater China region.

The letter sparked concerns among some investors and analysts that Apple has reached "peak ‌iPhone‌," especially given Apple's revelation that it will no longer disclose unit sales in its quarterly earnings reports going forward.

While the ‌iPhone‌ accounts for around two-thirds of Apple's revenue, the company has repeatedly touted the continued growth of its services, including the App Store, Apple Music, iCloud, iTunes, and so forth, which combined for a nearly 19 percent increase in revenue on a year-over-year basis in the quarter.

Apple is widely expected to launch a streaming TV service this year that will likely boost the revenue of that category even further.

In his letter to shareholders, Cook said Apple is undertaking and accelerating multiple initiatives to improve its results, including making it simple to trade in a phone at its stores. Back in November, Apple launched a promotion offering up to $100 in extra trade-in credit towards a new ‌iPhone‌ XR or ‌iPhone‌ XS.

AAPL will report its earnings for the first quarter of fiscal 2019 on January 29, followed by a conference call to discuss the results at 2 p.m. Pacific Time.

Tag: AAPL

Apple supplier Foxconn has let go around 50,000 contract workers at its iPhone factory in Zhengzhou, China, with the first cuts happening in October 2018. As one source with knowledge of Foxconn's plans told Nikkei, the scale of the cuts is not what stands out, but the fact that it's significantly earlier than previous years.

"It's quite different this year to ask assembly line workers to leave before the year-end," the source stated. Foxconn typically renews workers' contracts every month from August until January, at which point the workforce is scaled back for slow ‌iPhone‌ production season. This year, those cuts came as much as three months early.

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The same is true for other Apple suppliers according to today's report, with Pegatron canceling monthly labor contracts last November. One source said that Pegatron's cuts "happened sooner than in the past because of poor demand," referring to the ‌iPhone‌.

Even smaller companies in Apple's supply chain reportedly cut down on their workforce, with one unnamed component supplier based in Shenzhen asking 4,000 workers to take an extended vacation from October to March. On March 1, the company will decide whether or not to lay the workers off.

For Foxconn, the company is preparing for restructuring throughout the company, merging business units that make iPads and MacBooks with the division making Dell and Acer computers. This means "steep cuts" to management, human resources, administrations, accounting, and utility support jobs, totaling 100,000 jobs removed by the end of 2018 and costs cut by $2.96 billion in 2019.

Apple in late December told its suppliers to cut production on new iPhones by 10 percent over the next three months, coming on the back of reports about weak ‌iPhone‌ sales during the holiday quarter. In early January, Apple CEO Tim Cook called reports claiming the ‌iPhone‌ XR was a flop "bologna," stating the device has been the most popular ‌iPhone‌ "every single day" since it launched.

Amid all of this, many Apple suppliers cut their 2019 sales forecasts, including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company and Nidec. Specifically for the China market, these suppliers noted an "extraordinary" drop in demand for high-end smartphones.

Tag: Foxconn

Austrian non-profit organization NOYB, the "European Center for Digital Rights," has reportedly filed a complaint against Apple and seven other tech companies for allegedly failing to comply with GDPR in the European Union.

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NOYB said it tested each company's compliance with GDPR by requesting private data held about 10 users and found that "no service fully complied."

"Many services set up automated systems to respond to access requests, but they often don't even remotely provide the data that every user has a right to," said NOYB founder Max Schrems. "This leads to structural violations of users' rights, as these systems are built to withhold the relevant information."

Other companies named in the complaint include Amazon, Netflix, Spotify, YouTube, and three more, according to Reuters.

GDPR was implemented in May 2018 and gives European Union residents the right to access any personal data a company has stored on them. The regulation led Apple to launch a Data and Privacy portal that allows its customers to download a copy of any data associated with their Apple ID account that Apple maintains.

Google and watchmaker Fossil Group today jointly announced a $40 million deal that will see the search giant take ownership of a portion of Fossil's smartwatch technology.

Fossil Sport

Fossil Sport smartwatch

The deal, which is being described as "transactional" and will see some of Fossil's R&D division join Google, will lead to the launch of a "new product innovation that's not yet hit the market," said Fossil VP and chief strategy officer Greg McKelvey.

Speaking to Wearable, McKelvey said the new product is based on technology that Fossil has been developing out of its $260 million Misfit acquisition in 2015. "It's new to the market technology and we think it's a product that has features and benefits that aren't in the category today," he added.

Google confirmed that the new product line will join the Wear OS family, although neither company revealed when the products that eventually emerge out of the partnership would be launched.

The deal is naturally fueling speculation that Google is planning an own-branded direct competitor to Apple Watch. Tentatively billed the "Pixel Watch" by market watchers, the new line is said to be made up of three models, codenamed Ling, Triton, and Sardine, although the details end there.

Google is known to be working on new fitness and health tracking features for its Wear OS, which could theoretically make their debut in the rumored watch, while Fossil recently diverged from its step-counting wristwatch range by announcing a Wear OS-based dedicated Sport smartwatch with built-in GPS and heart-rate sensor, suggesting today's deal could result in a new fitness-focused device.

Related Roundup: Apple Watch 10
Tags: Fossil, Google
Buyer's Guide: Apple Watch (Neutral)

One of the biggest ad data brokers has come out in support of Apple CEO Tim Cook's call for federal privacy legislation to regulate the collection and use of personal data in the United States.

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In a statement Thursday evening provided to Business Insider, data broker Acxiom confirmed its support for federal privacy legislation. "Acxiom, like Mr. Cook, also supports a national privacy law for the US, such as GDPR provides for the European Union," it read.

A data broker acts as a middleman, transferring user data between different companies and parties. In his TIME op-ed yesterday, Cook called such an entity "a company that exists purely to collect your information, package it and sell it to yet another buyer."

In a message consistent with Apple's policy that privacy is a "fundamental human right," Cook railed against this market for user information, which he said operates in a "shadow economy" that's largely unchecked, "out of sight of consumers, regulators and lawmakers."

Responding to Cook's clarion call, Acxiom said that it had been "actively participating in discussions with US lawmakers" for years but denied that it partook in a "shadow economy" that operates unchecked.

We agree that we must root out the nefarious players in the ecosystem, and Acxiom’s data privacy impact assessment (DPIA) process ensures we don’t do business with questionable companies. We look forward to working with people across the industry, including Apple, to ensure transparency, access and control is available to all people.

In his TIME op-ed, Cook argued for the creation of a "data-broker clearinghouse" that all brokers would be required to register, which would enable consumers users to track transactions that include their data and delete it forever if desired.

"As this debate kicks off, there will be plenty of proposals and competing interests for policymakers to consider," said Cook. "We cannot lose sight of the most important constituency: individuals trying to win back their right to privacy."

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.

Earlier this month, Weibo user C Technology (via Wccftech) shared some alleged details about the upcoming successor to the iPhone XS Max, which may or may not be accurate.

The next ‌iPhone‌ XS Max has been pegged as the 2019 ‌iPhone‌ that will feature a triple-lens camera in 2019 by reliable sources, and the Weibo post offers additional details about the lenses. Apple will allegedly use a wide-angle lens, a super wide-angle lens, and a 3x telephoto lens. This would be similar to something like the Huawei P20 Pro, which also offers two wide-angle lenses and a telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom.

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An alleged 2019 iPhone prototype with triple-lens camera, via OnLeaks

The second-generation ‌iPhone‌ XS Max is said to have a 4,000mAh battery, something that seems unlikely because the form factor of the device is not changing. Rumors have suggested Apple's 2019 iPhones will look quite similar to the 2018 lineup, with the exception of changes to the rear camera and perhaps some tweaks to front-facing TrueDepth camera system to make the notch smaller.

We've heard multiple rumors about a smaller notch, a detail also included in the Weibo post.

Other alleged features coming to the ‌iPhone‌ XS Max include 15W wireless fast charging, which would be an increase from the current 7.5W wireless charging speed, and a display with a 90 to 120Hz refresh rate.

Apple uses a 120Hz ProMotion display for the iPad Pro, allowing for a smoother, crisper, more responsive experience, so it's not out of the question.

C Technology has been known for sharing early ‌iPhone‌ information in the past, but the Weibo user aggregates leaks, rumors, and images from multiple sources, some accurate and some inaccurate. For that reason, and because some of this information sounds a bit unlikely, we're not confident about the veracity of these rumors.

We'll need to wait for secondary sources to back up this information before we can confirm its accuracy.

(Thanks, Tim!)

Update: The alleged 2019 ‌iPhone‌ details posted on Weibo appear to be fake and just a rehash of a mobile leaker's iPhone wishlist shared via Twitter on January 10.

Related Forum: iPhone

Apple on Tuesday released new Smart Battery Cases for the iPhone XS, XS Max, and XR, offering a convenient but expensive way for ‌iPhone‌ users to get additional battery life.

The Smart Battery Cases will be in stores starting tomorrow, but we got our hands on the ‌iPhone‌ XS Max and XR versions early to check out the features and to see if they're worth the $129 price tag.


Apple is offering the Smart Battery Cases in black or white, and while there are separate versions for the ‌iPhone‌ XS, XS Max, and XR, each case costs $129 and appears to have the same capacity.

The cases look similar to the prior Smart Battery Cases Apple offered for the ‌iPhone‌ 7, consisting of a silicone shell with a bump at the back that contains the battery. The cases are easy to grip, but bulky, and the ‌iPhone‌ XS Max version adds a decent bit of weight.

There's a 10.1 Whr battery inside of the cases, which is higher capacity than previous Smart Battery Cases. You can expect to get about 50 to 75 percent additional battery from each case, depending on what you're doing.

Specifically, on the ‌iPhone‌ XS Max with the Smart Battery Case, you'll get up to 37 hours of talk time, up to 20 hours of internet use, and up to 25 hours of video playback.

The ‌iPhone‌ XS with XS ‌Smart Battery Case‌ offers up to 33 hours of talk time, up to 21 hours of internet use, and up to 25 hours of video playback, while the ‌iPhone‌ XR with ‌iPhone‌ XR ‌Smart Battery Case‌ offers up to 39 hours of talk time, up to 22 hours of internet use, and up to 27 hours of video playback.

The cases support Qi wireless charging, so you can charge them using a Qi-based charger (though it won't fit on some upright models) or a Lightning cable. You can even fast charge if you have a USB-C to Lightning cable and a compatible USB-C power adapter, such as the 30W MacBook charger. You don't have to use Apple's solutions -- any 18W+ USB-C PD power adapter will work.

You need to attach the Lightning connector in the case to the Lightning port in the ‌iPhone‌, but because the case has its own Lightning port, you can use it as a passthrough for Lightning accessories like headphones.

With the ‌Smart Battery Case‌ attached, you can check how much battery life is left in the case using a widget in the Today section of the Notification Center or via the Lock screen. Your ‌iPhone‌ will always use the battery provided by the case before expending its own battery, but when charging, your ‌iPhone‌ will charge first.

All in all, the ‌Smart Battery Case‌ is one of the simplest ways to get extra battery life for the ‌iPhone‌ because it doesn't require an extra external accessory or a cable and there are multiple ways to charge it, but that convenience definitely comes at a cost.

Do you think Apple's Smart Battery Cases are worth shelling out $129? Let us know in the comments.

Related Forum: iPhone

Apple earlier this week announced that the HomePod would be available in China and Hong Kong on Friday, January 18, and as promised, the smart speaker is now available for purchase in both locations.

‌HomePod‌ is priced at 2,799 yuan in China and HK$2,799 in Hong Kong.

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In addition to being available from the Apple online store and Apple retail stores, Apple Authorized resellers in China and Hong Kong are also offering the ‌HomePod‌ for sale.

Apple's Phil Schiller said that the company is excited to bring ‌HomePod‌ to China and Hong Kong in a statement made when the launch was announced.

We're excited to bring HomePod to our customers in mainland China and Hong Kong markets. We can't wait for them to experience how great it sounds in their home, we think they are going to love it.

Ahead of the launch of the ‌HomePod‌ in China and Hong Kong, Apple added Siri support for Cantonese and Mandarin in China and a Cantonese dialect in Hong Kong in a software update released in December.

‌HomePod‌ was first introduced in the United States, UK, and Australia almost a year ago, and has since expanded to Canada, France, Germany, Spain, and Mexico, in addition to China and Hong Kong.

Related Roundup: HomePod
Tag: China
Buyer's Guide: HomePod (Neutral)

The National Hockey League today announced the upcoming launch of a new app designed for the iPad that will provide coaches with more than 60 different real-time individual and team statistics on iPads that will be available on the bench during games.

The NHL is deploying a new set of iPad Pro models with the app, and the new ‌iPad‌ will complement the three iPads already on the bench that offer up real-time video. New iPads and the app will come out League-wide sometime after the All-Star break.

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Designed in consultation with video coaches from various teams, the app was built to provide coaches with player usage (time on ice) and face-offs at the forefront because that information is "most valuable" to coaches during the game.

"There's a lot of information out there, but coaches are still writing it down on pieces of paper," NHL senior vice president, business development and innovation David Lehanski said. "They're not using it the way that they could use it because there really hasn't been a platform that will allow them to do it easily and efficiently and to quickly customize it to see what they want to see. We're also doing it because we're setting a foundation so that when puck and player tracking is fully live, now we've got the video, the stats and analytics app, and we can start pouring in the data to mesh with it so we have a true real time system."

Face-offs are broken down by success rate per zone and side of the ice, against specific players, with a color-coded visual graphic available for how well a player has done in his last five face-offs. There's also a customizable threshold available to let coaches input time on ice for each player.

Additional information like shot attempts, unblocked shot attempts, chances for and against, and success rate on shootouts with forehanded and backhanded shots will be included.

The new app will be limited to coaches only, with one ‌iPad Pro‌ available on the bench at every game for every video coach in the NHL. The NHL will manage and store the ‌iPad‌ Pros, but each team will be provided with its own account. The NHL won't be able to access the customization of the stats by each team.

Coaches will be provided with online training courses and a manual handbook on how to use the app most effectively during games.

Major Apple suppliers in Asia have been cutting their 2019 sales forecasts and some have cited an "extraordinary" drop in Chinese demand, reports Nikkei.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), which supplies the A-series chips used in the iPhones and other devices, is forecasting a 22 percent drop in revenue for the January to March quarter. TSMC said there was a "sudden drop in demand" for high-end smartphones, also attributing its revenue decline to the U.S.-China trade war and economic uncertainty.

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The same thing goes for Nidec, a company that supplies the vibration motor in the iPhone. Nidec has dropped its full-year profit outlook by upwards of 25 percent after slumps were seen in November and December.

"We have faced extraordinary changes," Nidec Chairman Shigenobu Nagamori told reporters at a Thursday news conference as the company reversed a previous forecast of a record profit. [...]

The tide shifted in November, however. "We saw big slumps in November and December," Nagamori said. "Orders, sales and shipments in all business segments around the world saw major shifts," he explained.

Apple has forecast its own decline in revenue, dropping guidance for the holiday quarter to $84 million, down from an earlier November estimate of $89 to $93 million.

Apple has asked its suppliers to cut ‌iPhone‌ XR, XS, and XS Max production by 10 percent for the next three months and has implemented its own reduction in hiring for certain divisions amid the slump.

The company is attempting to boost ‌iPhone‌ sales by dropping prices in China and offering increased trade-in values in the U.S. and other countries.

Tag: TSMC

Belkin is known for a range of accessories for the iPhone, and when Apple introduced support for Qi-based wireless chargers, Belkin was quick to come out with a range of options.

The Boost Up Wireless Charging Dock, which debuted in September, is the newest and most versatile offering, combining a Qi wireless charger with an Apple Watch charging puck and an extra USB-A port.

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Design wise, the Boost Up Wireless Charging Dock has an upright Qi wireless charger similar in design to Belkin's other Boost Up charging options, with a round charging surface that houses the wireless charging coil.

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The ‌iPhone‌ is designed to sit upright against the back of the charger, with the base serving as a stand. Belkin has slightly angled the base, which makes it easier to see the ‌iPhone‌'s display while positioned on the dock. The base is covered in a grippy material that prevents the ‌iPhone‌ from shifting or moving while it charges.

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You can't put your ‌iPhone‌ on the dock horizontally because of the Apple Watch charger, so it's limited to vertical charging. The Apple Watch charges on the dock in landscape orientation so it works with Nightstand mode as a clock replacement.

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I read some reviews that suggested the Belkin charger was not compatible with the ‌iPhone‌ XS Max in certain cases that make the ‌iPhone‌ a bit taller, but I didn't have that experience. Both my ‌iPhone‌ X and my ‌iPhone‌ XS Max charged without issue in Apple cases, and Belkin says that it supports cases up to 3mm thick.

The base of the dock measures in at 7.4 inches wide, 4.1 inches long, and 4.8 inches tall, so it does take up a decent amount of space on a desk. Since it's combining two charging options, though, it could be a space saver depending on what charging device you currently use.

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There's an LED at the side of the dock, which does glow noticeably in a dark room, but it's not so bright that it's distracting or keeps me from sleeping at night. I do wish it wasn't there, but Belkin says it provides foreign object detection to let you know if something's touching the Qi wireless charger that shouldn't be.

Belkin's Wireless Charging Dock supports 7.5W charging, so it can charge the ‌iPhone‌ 8 and later at 7.5W instead of 5W. 7.5W is fairly standard on Qi-based charging devices intended for Apple devices these days, so this comes as no surprise. 7.5W is the maximum wireless charging speed that iPhones support.

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The Apple Watch charging puck charges the Apple Watch at 5W, which is standard Apple Watch charging, and the included USB-A port located at the back also charges at 5W. This is not ideal for higher-powered devices like an iPad, which kind of limits the versatility of the extra port.

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You can charge your AirPods or another lower-powered device, but if you're trying to charge an ‌iPad‌ or iPad Pro, the charging is going to go slowly. I tested the charging dock on my nightstand, where I keep an iPad mini for reading. I charged my ‌iPad mini‌ with the dock, and it was fine for that purpose.

By the way, for using the extra USB-A port, you need to provide your own cable. The dock does, however, ship with its own power supply.

Bottom Line

I've been testing the Boost Up Wireless Charging Dock on my nightstand, and it's worked perfectly. It's a handy way to keep my ‌iPhone‌ XS Max, Apple Watch, and ‌iPad mini‌ charged, and when it comes to design and functionality, I have no complaints, with the exception of the 5W USB-A port

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That's not enough power to sufficiently charge one of Apple's larger iPads, which limits the functionality of the additional port.

The Charging Dock works well overall, but the downside is the price tag. It sells for $160, which is expensive and much pricier than purchasing separate ‌iPhone‌ and Apple Watch chargers. It's nice to have these features combined into one device with a single cable to plug in, but the price is just too high for many people.

How to Buy

The Boost Up Special Edition Wireless Charging Dock for ‌iPhone‌ and Apple Watch can be purchased from the Belkin website for $159.99 or from Amazon for $140.

Note: Belkin provided MacRumors with a Boost Up Wireless Charging Dock for the purpose of this review. No other compensation was received.

Tag: Belkin

Apple has inked a deal for a 10 episode season for an as-of-yet untitled science fiction series from Simon Kinberg and David Weil, reports Deadline.

Simon Kinberg is known primarily for his work on the "X-Men" series, as well as movies like "Mr. & Mrs. Smith," "Jumper," "Chappie," "The Fantastic Four," and "The Martian."

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Image via Deadline

David Weil is known for "The Hunt," an upcoming TV show about a group of Nazi hunters in the 1970s.

Kinberg, Weil, and Genre Films President of TV Audrey Chon will serve as executive producers on the show, which is said to be a large budget, ambitious, character driven show.

No additional details are available about the series, with specific information being kept under wraps. The show is set to go into production this summer, and it will join more than a dozen other television shows that Apple has in the works.

Apple is developing several science fiction shows, including "Amazing Stories," from Steven Spielberg, an untitled space drama developed by Ronald D. Moore, "See," an futuristic world-building drama starring Jason Momoa, and a TV series adaptation of Isaac Asimov's "Foundation" novels.

Apple is expected to debut the first of its TV shows as part of an upcoming streaming series that is set to be announced in 2019.

Related Roundup: Apple TV
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Popular third-party accessory company Aukey has debuted a new crop of discount codes this week, this time including two sales on useful wall charger accessories. Both of the deals seen below will expire on Monday, January 21, so be sure to check them out on Amazon and place your order before the end of the upcoming weekend.

Aukey USB Wall Charger with Four Ports

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The first device is Aukey's USB Wall Charger that has four ports, perfect as a hub charging station for multiple devices like a pair of iPhones, an iPad, and an Apple Watch. It includes Aukey's AiPower charging technology to adaptively charge any 5V USB device from Apple and Android at up to 2.4 amps.

The USB Wall Charger is available for $15.99 with code AUKEYD48, down from $19.99.

Aukey Ultra Compact USB Wall Charger With Two Ports

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Similar to the USB Wall Charger, Aukey also sells a smaller version with the Ultra Compact USB Wall Charger. This device has many of the same features as the larger accessory, in a smaller enclosure and with half of the available USB charging ports.

The Ultra Compact USB Wall Charger is available for $7.01 with code AUKEYD49, down from $12.99

Aukey has a few more coupon codes that expire on January 21, so be sure to head to our Deals Roundup to see the full list and browse even more sales happening this week.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

Related Roundup: Apple Deals