Today marks the seventh anniversary of Apple passing U.S. oil giant ExxonMobil to become the world's most valuable company for the first time, with a market capitalization of around $341.5 billion at the time.
Apple achieved the milestone on August 9, 2011, just over two weeks before the late Steve Jobs resigned as CEO on August 24, 2011, the same day that he nominated then-COO Tim Cook to succeed him in the position. Jobs passed away on October 5, 2011, following a lengthy battle with cancer.
Apple dropped back below ExxonMobil a few times, and was briefly surpassed by Google parent company Alphabet in market cap at times in 2016, but the iPhone maker has been the world's most valuable company for the better part of the past seven years, and continues to hold that title today.
Apple becoming the world's most valuable company was a remarkable accomplishment given that it flirted with bankruptcy in the mid-to-late 1990s, until Jobs returned and streamlined its product lineup. Under his leadership, Apple introduced several hits, including the iMac, iPod, iPhone, and iPad.
Apple will look to build upon its success by expanding its focus on technologies such as augmented reality, autonomous driving, and artificial intelligence, in addition to services like Apple Music and its upcoming Netflix competitor.
Apple has begun selling the Eve Aqua Smart Water Controller on its United States website today, following a few weeks after the HomeKit accessory previously launched on Eve's own website and on Amazon (via HomeKit News and Reviews). On Apple.com, you can buy the Eve Aqua for $99.95, and the free shipping option currently designates a delivery date on Monday, August 13.
The Eve Aqua is a small controller that you attach to an outdoor water outlet, letting you activate or shut off water flow via the Home iOS app, Siri voice commands, or automatic HomeKit scenes. Eve says this makes the accessory perfect for sprinklers and can prevent gardens from flooding thanks to an auto shut-off feature.
Elgato Systems announced the Eve Aqua this past May, and then in June Elgato revealed that it would shift its focus "entirely" to its line of Eve devices. Elgato is now "Eve Systems," with plans to offer a "constantly expanding ecosystem" of accessories designed exclusively for Apple's HomeKit platform.
Despite the name change, Apple.com still lists the water controller accessory as the "Elgato Eve Aqua."
Following the restructured company, Eve Systems teased users with new product announcements set to come out of IFA Berlin, which begins on August 31 and runs through September 5. For current products, Eve sells many of its devices on Apple.com, including the Elgato Eve Degree Connected Weather Station, Light Switch, Wireless Motion Sensor, Room Sensor, Energy Smart Plug, Button, and more.
In a new entry in its Machine Learning Journal, Apple has detailed how it approached the challenge of improving Siri's ability to recognize names of local points of interest, such as small businesses and restaurants.
In short, Apple says it has built customized language models that incorporate knowledge of the user's geolocation, known as Geo-LMs, improving the accuracy of Siri's automatic speech recognition system. These models enable Siri to better estimate the user's intended sequence of words.
Apple says it built one Geo-LM for each of the 169 Combined Statistical Areas in the United States, as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau, which encompass 80 percent of the country's population. Apple also built a single global Geo-LM to cover all areas not defined by CSAs around the world.
When a user queries Siri, the system is customized with a Geo-LM based on the user's current location. If the user is outside of a CSA, or if Siri doesn't have access to Location Services, the system defaults to the global Geo-LM.
Apple's journal entry is highly technical, and quite exhaustive, but hopefully this means that Siri should be able to better understand the names of local points of interest, and also be able to better distinguish between a Tom's Restaurant in Iowa and Kansas based on a user's geolocation.
In its testing, Apple found that the customized language models reduced Siri's error rate by between 41.9 and 48.4 percent in eight major U.S. metropolitan regions: Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New York, Philadelphia, Seattle, and San Francisco, excluding mega-chains like Walmart.
Siri still trails Google Assistant in overall accuracy, according to a recent study by research firm Loup Ventures, but hopefully these improvements eliminate some of the frustration of querying Siri about obscurely named places.
Just a few days after Bloomberg revealed Apple's revamped India strategy, including changes that the company hopes will boost its lackluster smartphone market share in the country, a report by Reuters today has pointed out another hurdle for Apple's India plan.
The new report concerns Apple's work with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) over the development of an anti-spam iPhone app, which dates back nearly two years. Indian users constantly have to deal with spam phone calls, leading to the government's decision to build its own smartphone app that would let users mark and report spam callers.
Reuters previously reported in March that work on the app was deadlocked as Apple continuously raised concerns over the privacy implications of allowing the app broad access to customers' calls and text logs. Following months of Apple pointing out privacy loopholes in the app -- which has been available on Android in India since 2016 -- TRAI last month threatened Apple by stating that its smartphones could be "derecognized" from the country's networks.
This means that while iPhones would still be available for purchase in India, users would not be able to connect to any supported cellular network and would lose many of the features that they likely purchased the iPhone for. TRAI's derecognition threat was specified in a letter sent to Indian telecom firms over the summer, notifying the firms that TRAI would give them six months notice to derecognize devices from their networks if the phones in question do not support the anti-spam app.
With that ticking clock looming for Apple, the company recently asked for the clause about derecognition to be removed:
“We look forward to working with TRAI to address the issue of unsolicited commercial communications, while simultaneously ensuring that we fully honor our commitment to protect the privacy and security of our users,” Apple’s head of public policy in India, Kulin Sanghvi, wrote in the letter which was seen by Reuters.
In response to Apple's own letter, TRAI chairman R.S. Sharma said that derecognition could not be "quashed or challenged" by writing a letter, and suggested the disagreement between the two could end up in court:
“The most appropriate way to challenge this is in court,” he said.
According to people familiar with the company's plans, its new strategy in India includes better and longer-lasting retail deals with higher sales targets, the opening of official Apple retail stores in India, "overhauling" the company's relationship with independent retailers, and improving apps and services "aimed more closely at Indians." The company is said to focus specifically on Apple Maps in the services area with a "revamped" version of the app coming to Indian users by 2020.
Apple Pay is offering a $20 promo code when you spend $100 or more within the iOS Nike app through August 16. This is the latest offer in Apple's long-running Apple Pay promo series, now themed as a back-to-school sale for any students looking for new shoes for the school year.
To get the code, download the Nike iOS app [Direct Link], make a purchase worth $100 or more, and then pay with Apple Pay. The promo code for $20 will then be delivered to you within two weeks of your original purchase date, and must be redeemed within Nike by November 20, 2018.
Apple is encouraging students to gear up at a few other Apple Pay-compatible stores and apps, including Staples, Office Depot, JanSport, Walgreens, Jet, and J. Crew.
It's been a few weeks since the last Apple Pay promo, which offered summertime savings in a range of apps like Fandango, Groupon, Houzz, and Seamless. Previous promotions have also seen Apple team up with StubHub, Adidas, Postmates, Instacart, and many more.
In an attempt to crack down on gambling-related apps in the App Store, Apple has today implemented a new App Review policy for individual developers, but many apps that are being banned as a result appear to have very little to do with gambling at all.
Our newsstand/news/magazine app just got removed from sale from the App Store 24 hours after our 3.0 update was approved. Reason given: gambling/fraudulent activity. We publish a magazine — nothing to do with gambling or fraud at all. 😞😢😲😱 https://t.co/ewu3mE5FG5pic.twitter.com/vaKtLthvkW
— Wojtek Pietrusiewicz (@morid1n) August 9, 2018
Apple has been providing affected developers with the following reason for their app's removal from the App Store:
In order to reduce fraudulent activity on the App Store and comply with government requests to address illegal online gambling activity, we are no longer allowing gambling apps submitted by individual developers. The includes both real money gambling apps as well as apps that simulate a gambling experience.
As a result, this app has been removed from the App Store. While you can no longer distribute gambling apps from this account, you may continue to submit and distribute other types of apps to the App Store.
Apple finishes by saying that "only verified accounts from incorporated business entities may submit gambling apps for distribution on the App Store", and advises developers to visit the Enrollment page to learn more about enrolling an organization in the Apple Developer Program.
The reason that apps unrelated to gambling are being removed appears to be because the ban currently applies to any apps that allow users "unrestricted web access".
When developers submit their app to the App Store, a section called "Rating" asks them to rate their app's content based on a chart and identify how frequently the content appears.
The content marker "Unrestricted web access" in this section applies when a user can access any URL by opening a browser window from within the submitted app.
Ticking it automatically slaps the app with a 17+ age rating if it makes it to the App Store, because it gives users of the app the potential ability to circumvent parental controls.
However, on the face of it, Apple's gambling-related ban today looks to have overreached significantly in this regard. We've asked Apple for comment and will update this post if we hear more.
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel joined Tim Cook in celebrating Apple's "Everyone Can Code" initiative on Wednesday at the company's Michigan Avenue store, where a special Today at Apple session got underway.
In a special session titled "One Summer Chicago Student App Showcase", young coders presented their latest app creations to onlookers with the help of the store's giant TV display.
Rahm and Cook both took to Twitter to promote the student-centered gig, sharing their photos of participants and members of the public in attendance.
Young developers like Fahmeen, Afreen and Amelia are building apps to help their local communities. Thanks to @ChicagosMayor and @1summerchicago for helping us showcase some of the creativity and passion coming out of our Everyone Can Code initiative in Chicago. pic.twitter.com/GeFDmYTEY4
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) August 9, 2018
Since December, Apple has been working to bring coding opportunities to almost half a million students in the city of Chicago through an expansion of the company's Everyone Can Code program.
The Swift-oriented initiative has been designed in collaboration with the Mayor's Office of Chicago, Chicago Public Schools, City Colleges of Chicago, local businesses and non-profit organizations.
The coding initiative has since been expanded to colleges and universities outside of the United States, taking in institutions from Australia, Denmark, New Zealand, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.
Apple does not plan to remove the Infowars app from the iOS App Store at this time, the company told BuzzFeed News this evening. Apple said that the Infowars app had not violated its App Store guidelines.
"We strongly support all points of view being represented on the App Store, as long as the apps are respectful to users with differing opinions, and follow our clear guidelines, ensuring the App Store is a safe marketplace for all," the company said in a statement.
"We continue to monitor apps for violations of our guidelines and if we find content that violates our guidelines and is harmful to users we will remove those apps from the store as we have done previously."
Apple over the weekend removed the entire libraries of five Infowars podcasts from the Apple Podcasts platform. "War Room" and "The Alex Jones Show," hosted by controversial U.S. radio show host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, were among those pulled from Apple Podcasts.
When removing the Infowars podcast listings from the Podcasts platform, Apple said that it does not tolerate hate speech, finding that the Infowars podcasts did indeed violate its podcast content guidelines.
"Apple does not tolerate hate speech, and we have clear guidelines that creators and developers must follow to ensure we provide a safe environment for all of our users," a company spokesperson said.
"Podcasts that violate these guidelines are removed from our directory making them no longer searchable or available for download or streaming. We believe in representing a wide range of views, so long as people are respectful to those with differing opinions."
As BuzzFeed points out, the Infowars mobile app available from the App Store allows users to live stream the same programs that were removed from the Apple Podcasts platform. The Infowars mobile app streams video broadcasts rather than making a repository of content available to listeners, however, which may be why the app was not pulled while the podcasts were.
BuzzFeed suggests that since the streaming broadcasts are ephemeral and not stored in the app, that Apple will need to "catch [Jones] in the act and in the moment" to act on a violation.
Apple's App Store guidelines state that apps should not include content that is offensive, insensitive, upsetting, intended to disgust, or in exceptionally poor taste. Defamatory, discriminatory, or mean-spirited content is listed as an example.
Defamatory, discriminatory, or mean-spirited content, including references or commentary about religion, race, sexual orientation, gender, national/ethnic origin, or other targeted groups, particularly if the app is likely to humiliate, intimidate, or place a targeted individual or group in harm's way.
Multiple social media platforms have now removed Infowars content from their services, including YouTube, Facebook, and Spotify.
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.
Verizon and Apple today announced a new partnership which will see Verizon Unlimited customers able to sign up to receive six months of Apple Music for free.
Starting on Thursday, August 16, both new and existing customers who have one of Verizon's Unlimited wireless plans can access a special offer for six months of Apple Music at no cost. Following this period, the subscription will be priced at $9.99 per month, the standard cost for an Apple Music subscription.
This is available to both new and existing Apple Music subscribers. According to Verizon, current Apple Music subscribers will get the same six months of free service as new subscribers, but will be required to cancel and reactivate their Apple Music subscriptions.
Verizon says that once registered, its VZW Unlimited customers will have full access to Apple Music on iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Apple TV, Mac, HomePod, CarPlay, PC, and Android devices, and the company has promised additional offers in the future through the Apple partnership.
"This first-of-its-kind offer is just the first step in an exclusive partnership with Apple," said Angie Klein, vice president of marketing, Verizon. "It gives our customers exactly what they want: Apple's best-in-class music streaming experience, paired with an unlimited plan tailored to them, on the network they deserve. And now that you can mix and match our unlimited plans, every person in your family can stream worry-free on the unlimited plan they need, without paying for things they don't - and enjoy all the music they want for six months free with Apple Music with this exclusive offer in the U.S."
Apple normally offers new subscribers three months of free access to Apple Music, so this is double the normal trial period.
Verizon offers three unlimited plans, priced starting at $75 for a single line. All plans offer unlimited text, talk, and LTE data, but offer varying video quality and mobile hotspot limits.
The cheapest Go Unlimited plan includes 480p video streaming and unlimited mobile hotspot access at 600kb/s. The middle tier Beyond Unlimited Plan offers 720p video streaming and 15GB of LTE hotspot data, while the higher-end plan offers up 720p video streaming, 20GB of LTE hotspot data, and other perks like Mexico and Canada Text and Data, and five TravelPasses per month.
Verizon's cheapest plan offers unlimited LTE data, but warns that customers could be throttled at times of peak usage. The Beyond Unlimited plan lets customers use 22GB of LTE data before throttling, while the Above Unlimited plan provides customers with 75GB of unlimited LTE data before throttling kicks in at times of peak congestion.
Verizon will be providing more information about the partnership with Apple Music on its website on August 16.
Apple's Health Records feature, introduced in iOS 11.3, now allows iOS users to access their medical records from more than 75 different hospitals and medical providers in the United States.
Apple maintains a list of all of the healthcare institutions that support Health Records on the iPhone, which as VentureBeat points out, was updated in August ahead of a talk from Apple's Clinical and Health Informatics lead Ricky Bloomfield, M.D. given at the ONC 2nd Interoperability Forum (via EHR Intelligence).
When the Health Records feature first launched earlier this year, it worked with just 12 healthcare providers, a number that Apple has been working to improve. Recent additions include Kaiser in Oregon and Washington, Baptist Health, Buffalo Health, Greater Hudson Valley Health System, UC San Diego Health, UCLA Health, and others.
Health record data is available in the Health app, and allows patients who have multiple healthcare providers to access all of their information in one convenient place.
According to Bloomfield, Apple's Health app leverages Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) that were developed to facilitate better data sharing standards. FHIR is in a draft stage and won't be finalized until the end of the year, but Apple's adoption may drive widespread adoption of FHIR in the medical community.
Apple is using an "Argonaut" implementation of the Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources standard, in fact, because it's simple and will encourage medical providers to adopt it.
The Health Records feature in the Health app is designed to connect with partner systems using FHIR to collect data and display it right on a user's device.
"It makes it very easy for you to manage your health information," Bloomfield told attendees of the ONC 2nd Interoperability Forum on August 8. "You as a user have complete control over who has access to the data. If you don't want to share it, it won't be shared. It stays private on your device until you decide to share it."
As Bloomfield explains, Health Records can be accessed in the Health app under the "Health Data" section. After choosing and authenticating with a provider, all relevant medical data is available through the Health app and is updated automatically following doctor visits.
"That significantly reduces the friction typically associated with accessing your health information where you need to remember your credentials, log in, and then get the information," he continued. "And when you have new information, you may get an email that there's new information, but you still need to log in to access the information."
Health Records is designed to display information that includes allergies, vital signs, conditions, immunizations, medications, labs, and procedures.
As with all Apple features, privacy is a key with Health Records. As Bloomfield says, patients have control over who is able to access their data.
If you've been waiting for eBay's next sitewide coupon, the retailer today launched a 15 percent off code that lets you save on everything across eBay until 10:00 p.m. PT tonight. Of course, exclusions to "everything" include warranties and protection plans, coins and paper money, gift cards and coupons, and real estate.
Otherwise, once you shop around on eBay and find a few eligible items worth $25 or more, you can check out and enter the promo code PRONTO15 to receive 15 percent off your order. Note that the coupon code will be capped at a maximum value of $100 and must be used within a single transaction, applying to the purchase price and excluding shipping, handling, and taxes.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
eBay's sitewide sales are a great opportunity to buy Apple devices, this time including an open box version of HomePod (White and Space Gray) sold by Best Buy in excellent condition for $284.85, down from $324.99. Other ideas include HomeKit items like Philips Hue and Nanoleaf Aurora, and much more in categories like computers, smart watches, video games, clothes, and appliances.
In another sitewide sale going on today and ending tomorrow, August 9, Incase is offering rare discounts on a wide variety of its Apple-compatible protective accessories. If you use the promo code BTS30 when checking out, you can save 30 percent on the company's backpacks, MacBook sleeves, and more. There are unspecified exclusions to the sale, but we've highlighted a few options available for a discount in the list below to give you an idea of what's been marked down.
Following the release of 2018 MacBook Pro models last month, some customers have turned to the MacRumors Forums, Apple Support Communities, Reddit, and YouTube to report intermittent crackling from the built-in speakers.
The crackling appears to occur spontaneously during audio playback on both 13-inch and 15-inch models, based on a handful of videos shared by customers. As with many crowdsourced issues, there are a lot of variables involved, making it difficult to pinpoint exactly what may be causing the problem.
Some customers appear to experience the issue while playing music in iTunes, while others are affected when using GarageBand, or playing a YouTube video. Some users also hear the crackling when running Windows via Boot Camp. It's unclear if the crackling is limited to specific volumes or frequencies.
MacRumors forum members have speculated about possible causes, including radio interference due to a lack of shielding, audio drivers, and the T2 chip.
A few years ago, some customers experienced similar crackling from the built-in speakers on the 2016 MacBook Pro, oftentimes when running Windows via Boot Camp. The crackling was so loud that it often permanently damaged the speakers, resulting in the MacBook Pro needing to be repaired or replaced.
If you installed Windows 10 using Boot Camp Assistant before November 25, 2016 on a MacBook Pro introduced in October 2016, it's important that you install the Audio Driver Update for Boot Camp using Apple Software Update for Windows to avoid issues with your speakers.
The speaker issues with the 2018 MacBook Pro don't appear to be as dire, or nearly as widespread, but enough complaints have surfaced that we wanted to bring some attention to the matter in the interest of those affected.
At least one user claims the issue may have been fixed in the latest macOS Mojave betas, which is unconfirmed. Another user claimed that Apple engineers are looking into the matter. Apple did not respond to a request for comment.
Of course, in a production run of millions of new MacBook Pro units, a small percentage may have defective speakers, but this does appear to be an actual issue that hopefully can be or has been addressed in a future software update.
If you are affected by this issue, we recommend contacting Apple Support. In the meantime, some users have shared potential workarounds, such as resetting the System Management Controller and NVRAM, disabling Hey Siri, or simply rebooting, but these solutions may not be ideal or work for everyone.
Although Google's major fall event is still about two months away, typically occurring in October and ushering in a new generation of Pixel smartphones and other products, today leaked pictures have been shared online highlighting the upcoming Google Pixel 3 XL.
The images depict an alleged "pre-release" final production unit of the Pixel 3 XL smartphone, sourced from a Russian tech blogger (via Android Police). Images showcase the rear and front of the device, with an iPhone X-like notch at the top of the Pixel 3 XL's display that's not as wide as Apple's, but is noticeably taller.
Previous CAD leaks suggest that a smaller 5.4-inch Pixel 3 will not have a notch, while the larger 6.2-inch Pixel 3 XL is what appears in the images today, notch included. It's believed that Google is using the notch to house improved cameras, including two camera lenses.
The bigger Pixel will include two camera lenses on the front of the phone inside of the notch, one of the people said.
The notch, or cutout, at the top of the new larger Pixel’s screen won’t be as wide as a similar feature on the iPhone X, but is noticeably taller, according to the people. Google aims to eventually remove the bezels completely in a future Pixel, but is retaining the notch and chin this year to keep stereo speakers on the front of the phone, the people said
Additionally, the images suggest that customers will get "Pixel Bud-esque" wired USB-C earphones with the Pixel 3 XL. There also appears to be a charging brick, charging cable, and a USB-C to 3.5mm adapter in the box. The unboxing images depict "what looks to be a pretty new iPhone-like wallpaper," as Android Police points out.
Software running on the units was Android 9 with an 8-core Qualcomm processor and an Adreno 630 GPU. The Pixel 3 XL in the images also has 4GB of RAM and a resolution of 1440x2960 with a pixel density of 494 PPI.
Following the release of the iPhone X in November 2017, clones of Apple's notch style hardware began surfacing in December and throughout 2018. In March, Google announced Android P, which introduced software support for display notches that are built into the Android smartphones mimicking Apple's design.
For Apple, the company decided on the notch-style design in order to maximize the available display area of the iPhone X, while also still leaving room for the various sensors and tech that make up the TrueDepth camera system for Face ID. Although Android smartphones are copying Apple's design, many of them lack the front-facing biometric security features as the iPhone X and instead opt for fingerprint scanners.
Anki has revealed its fourth consumer product in the form of a home robot that it's calling "Vector," launching on Kickstarter today. Although the company has debuted a Kickstarter to give backers early access to the robot on October 9, it's promising that Vector will launch wide just a few days later, in stores on October 12, 2018.
The new robot looks visually similar to Anki's previous "Cozmo" robot, which teaches kids how to code through games and a compatible iOS app. Vector differs significantly in functionality, however, with the company explaining that Vector is a major step forward in robotics and is meant to be an always-on companion robot that follows you around your house to help in your daily routine.
Once you complete a one-time setup with the connected iOS or Android app, Anki says that all further interactions with Vector are done with eye contact and talking to the robot. Vector is fully autonomous, cloud-connected, and always-on, and has a personality, facial expressions, and animations ("around a thousand") created from a team of animators coming from major studios like Pixar.
Anki says that Vector is closer to the fantasy of at-home robot helpers than any company has yet to come:
When people imagine what their daily lives will be like with robots, many take inspiration from sci-fi novels, television shows, and films with high-spirited characters like R2-D2 from “Star Wars,” and Rosie in “The Jetsons.” Instead, the closest the world has come in the quest for affable, useful home robots are puck-like vacuum cleaners and lifeless cylindrical talking speakers. That’s about to change.
Anki CEO Boris Sofman: "For the first time, people will be living with a robot that is able to bring both a warm and joyful experience, as well as a new and characterful form of utility. This builds a bridge not just to a new category of home robots, but our own future product lines that will continue to expand on the level of capabilities that are possible."
Vector is outfitted with an HD camera with a 120-degree ultra-wide field of view to see your house and his users, and can even learn the name of everyone he sees. With four microphones to hear and detect commands (by saying "Hey Vector"), you can ask Vector about the weather, geography, nutrition, astronomy, sports, stocks, flights, time zones, unit conversion, currency conversion, and math equations.
The robot also supports setting timers and taking photos, and knows when to greet you at the door when you arrive home thanks to the onboard HD camera and microphones. The company says these features help Vector become a "more productive" member of the household, allowing users to set up additional timers from their other smart devices. The robot can also play a few games using an included "Cube" accessory, knows how to play Blackjack, and dances when he hears music.
When Vector is running low on battery, the robot will locate and travel back to the included charging cradle. Vector also has four cliff sensors with infrared emitters, ensuring that any trips the robot goes on won't end in spills over counter edges in your house.
Anki says that Vector was "designed with security and privacy in mind," with features installed that strengthen the device's security and minimize data collection. According to the company, it "does not store voice or audio in the cloud." Down the line, Anki also promises consistent over-the-air updates that will introduce new features, animations, and commands for Vector.
Currently, the Vector Kickstarter goal is $500,000 in 30 days, and early access backers can get the robot for $199.99 for an estimated arrival on October 9. The retail launch will then happen on October 12, when Vector will be priced at $249.99 and ship with one base charger and one interactive Cube.
After first launching direct grocery delivery from Whole Foods to its customers' doors earlier this year, Amazon today has begun a rollout of curbside grocery pickup at Whole Foods locations in Sacramento and Virginia Beach. At supported stores, grocery pickup will be available from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. local time.
The company explains that Prime members can now download the "Prime Now" app for iOS and Android, shop for items like fresh produce, bakery products, dairy, meat, seafood, floral, and everyday staples, and choose the pickup option at checkout. For orders over $35, customers can choose free pickup in as little as an hour, or pay $4.99 to get it in 30 minutes.
When arriving at a Whole Foods store, the supported locations will now have reserved pickup spots designated for curbside pickup customers. After parking, a Prime Now shopper will arrive and place the groceries in the customer's car "within minutes," and if customers tell the store that they are on their way in the Prime Now app, "groceries will be ready as they arrive."
“Pickup from Whole Foods Market is a perfect option for customers who want to grab healthy and organic groceries at their convenience, all without leaving their car,” said Stephenie Landry, Worldwide Vice President of Prime Now, AmazonFresh and Amazon Restaurants. “A customer can order at 5:00 p.m., pick up at 5:30 p.m., and we’ll have their groceries loaded into their car just minutes after arrival. For an even faster experience, customers can tell us they are on their way using the Prime Now app and groceries will be ready as they arrive.”
Outside of the new grocery pickup feature, Amazon's Prime Now iOS app [Direct Link] offers customers the ability to shop from Whole Foods and other local stores to get their items delivered to their door. In select cities, the app also allows for food delivery from restaurants like Red Lobster, P.F. Chang's, and Applebee's.
Amazon is continuously introducing exclusive features for Prime members into Whole Foods, following its acquisition of the grocery store chain in June 2017. Prime members shopping in the store now have the chance to save on exclusive "Prime member deals" and an extra 10 percent off certain designated items. Members can also opt to ship Amazon orders to delivery lockers located at select Whole Foods stores, and return Amazon orders there as well.
The new feature from Amazon launches in the wake of similar curbside pickup services gaining popularity at retailers like Target, Walmart, and Sam's Club. These stores let customers shop in their respective mobile apps, choose curbside pickup during checkout, and then drive up to the location and wait for a team member to load the groceries into their car, saving time and money on delivery fees.
Amazon says that grocery pickup will be expanding to more cities throughout 2018, and those in Sacramento and Virginia Beach can download the Prime Now app today to start trying out the new service.
Bose has released an update for its QuietComfort 35 II wireless headphones that adds Alexa support as a voice assistant feature.
Previously, the "Action" button on the popular noise-canceling cans was exclusively for invoking Google Assistant (Siri is accessed by holding down the multifunction play/pause button for two seconds).
However, after updating the software through the Bose Connect app, QC35 II owners can now opt to use Amazon's ubiquitous virtual assistant instead via the app's Options menu.
For those wondering, voice assistant support is the main difference between the Bose QC 35 Series II headphones and the original Quiet Comfort 35 Series I (reviewed here), although the later model does let you use the noise canceling feature in wired as well as wireless mode.
So if voice assistant support doesn't interest you and you're looking to go wireless, the Series I cans are definitely still worth a punt if you can find them online – and you just might save yourself a few dollars in the process.
Snapchat's controversial redesign, introduced last November, caused it to lose millions of subscribers according to data shared today in its second quarter earnings results.
Snap said it had 188 million daily active Snapchat users during the second quarter of 2018, down from 191 million during the first quarter of the year.
In prepared remarks [PDF] on Snapchat's performance, Snap CEO Evan Spiegel said that the two percent decline in daily active users was "primarily driven" by a lower frequency of use among the company's user base due to "the disruption caused by our redesign."
Spiegel said that Snapchat is working to iterate and improve the app based on community feedback, and he says that the major frustrations have been addressed.
While our Monthly Active Users continued to grow this quarter, we saw a 2 percent decline in our Daily Active Users. This was primarily driven by a slightly lower frequency of use among our user base due to the disruption caused by our redesign.
It has been approximately six months since we broadly rolled out the redesign of our application, and we have been working hard to iterate and improve Snapchat based on the feedback from our community. We feel that we have now addressed the biggest frustrations we've heard and are eager to make more progress on the tremendous opportunity we now have to show more of the right content to the right people.
Following the release of the redesigned app, more than 1.2 million users signed a petition asking for the change to be reversed.
In response, Snap rolled back some of the design changes, reverting Snaps and Chats back to chronological order and re-adding Stories from friends to the right side of the app. Snap also reintroduced the feature that allowed it to open up in camera mode, and users can again swipe left to view posts from friends.
The redesign of the app was initially aimed at appealing to a broader demographic and expanding Snapchat's user base, but Snapchat users were not prepared for the drastic change and did not become accustomed to the redesign as Snap had hoped.
Despite the fact that it's number of daily active users dropped, Snapchat brought in $262 million in revenue, an increase of 44 percent year-over-year.
The Gmail app for iOS was today updated with an option to turn off the threaded conversation view that some users have been unhappy with.
Toggling off "Conversation View" in the Settings menu in the Gmail app will now let users see each of their emails listed individually in their inbox rather than grouped up in an "easier to digest and follow" format, as Google puts it.
Gmail on the desktop has long allowed users to turn off Conversation View, and today's update introduces feature parity on mobile devices.
Your Conversation View settings are synced across devices, so if Conversation View is disabled on desktop, it will be disabled on mobile and vice versa.
Google says the toggle for disabling Conversation View is rolling out to all iOS and Android users, but it could take up to 15 days for the feature to be visible to everyone.
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The Gmail app for iOS was 
