Finishing the iPhone X in time for the tenth anniversary of the iPhone in 2017 was a "wonderful coincidence", according to Jony Ive.
The Apple design chief made the comments at last month's iPhone X event during a brief chat with Japanese design magazine Casa Brutus, which published the interview on Tuesday.
Ive told the magazine that the iPhone X project had an incubation period of more than two years, and with features like Face ID and the TrueDepth camera, is one of the most difficult projects Apple has undertaken.
But the company isn't resting on its laurels – Ive revealed that Apple is already working on next-generation designs that improve upon the iPhone X's integrated assembly, with its contiguous chassis and display.
Ive went on to say the replacement of Touch ID fingerprint recognition, which has featured in all iPhone models since iPhone 5s, equates to a heightened user experience, with Face ID being the culmination of years of work towards a non-contact user interface.
Ive concluded by saying he doesn't think of the iPhone X as the ultimate expression of "iPhone", rather it represents a new chapter in the platform's history.
Pre-orders for iPhone X begin on Friday, October 27, with the official launch the following Friday, November 3.
Discover today announced the launch of a new Apple Pay feature that will let Discover cardholders use their Cashback Bonus rewards to pay for Apple Pay purchases.
To use the feature, customers make a qualifying purchase with Apple Pay using a Discover card, select "Tap for Details" in the Wallet app and then tap "Redeem" to add the Cashback Bonus as a statement credit in the amount of the purchase.
"Cashback Bonus redemption through Apple Pay can happen in just two touches for Discover cardmembers," said Szabolcs Paldy, vice president of e-business for Discover. "We are committed to providing simple and valuable solutions to our customers wherever and whenever they need them. Customer experience hinges on embracing mobile-first technologies like Apple Pay, and this new ability will make Cashback Bonus redemption even easier and more convenient for our cardmembers."
Using the new Cashback Bonus feature requires a Discover card added to Apple Pay, the Discover Mobile app, and a rewards balance higher than the purchase amount. Discover, like many credit card companies, offers points with qualifying purchases that can be redeemed for rewards or cash back bonuses.
Discover card users can already redeem their Cashback Bonus points for statement credits or as deposits into a bank account, so technically it was already possible to pay for Apple Pay purchases with Discover points.
It's not entirely clear what the benefit of the new feature is, but with the two-tap redemption method, it may be easier for users to redeem rewards using this method.
Qualifying purchases include those over $1 made with Apple Pay. Discover says that T-Mobile customers will not be able to use the feature unless connected to a Wi-Fi network.
Apple today updated its online store for refurbished products to add a selection of 15-inch MacBook Pro models equipped with a Touch Bar, which is the first time the new machines have been available through the refurbished store since their June 2017 release.
As of the writing of this article, Apple's refurbished store has six different 2017 15-inch MacBook Pro models available for purchase at a discount of approximately 15 percent.
The base model 15-inch MacBook Pro with 16GB RAM, 256GB of storage, and a Radeon Pro 555 graphics card is available for $2,039, for example, a discount of $360 off the price when purchased new. Both Silver and Space Gray models are available in a handful of different configurations.
All of these machines are listing shipping estimates of 30 days, which may be in error as they have just recently been added to the refurbished store.
The addition of 15-inch MacBook Pro models to the refurbished store comes two months after Apple began offering refurbished versions of the 13-inch 2017 MacBook Pro models.
Apple's refurbished products go through a rigorous refurbishment process before being offered for sale, which includes inspection, repairs, cleaning, and repackaging. Refurbished Macs come with a one-year warranty that can be extended with an AppleCare+ purchase.
For tips on purchasing a refurbished product, make sure to check out our guide.
Apple CEO Tim Cook will cut the ribbon at a new Oxford University startup hub and co-working space called "The Oxford Foundry" tomorrow, reports The Financial Times.
The Oxford Foundry is described as an "innovation space" and "entrepreneurial hub" open to all University of Oxford students. The Foundry website says it will aim to create a diverse and creative environment, deliver workshops on skills-building, self-awareness, and team-building, and offer startup incubation and support in the Amersi Foundation Accelerator space.
A select number of startups will be accepted throughout the year, with The Foundry providing co-working space and a "suite of support" to accelerate growth. Several tech leaders including Brent Hoberman, Phil Libin, and Biz Stone helped design the space.
The launch of The Oxford Foundry is set for tomorrow, with Apple CEO Tim Cook to attend alongside several other tech entrepreneurs. Cook will participate in a Q&A session.
We're opening our doors! Join us for drinks and canapés, and take part in a panel Q&A with special guest Apple CEO Tim Cook, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford, Prof Louise Richardson, Dean Peter Tufano of Saïd Business School and Ana Bakshi, Director of the Oxford Foundry. We invite you to take a look around our brand new space in the company of other entrepreneurially-minded people from across the University and beyond.
The new building is located on Hythe Bridge Street in a building that was formally the Oxford Ice Factory and it's open from 8am to 10pm every day of the week.
Apple CEO Tim Cook recently sat down for a wide ranging interview with The Independent alongside several app developers where he discussed augmented reality in its current incarnation on the iPhone and provided a bit of insight into Apple's plans for future devices that could potentially take advantage of augmented reality, like smart glasses.
As is typical, Cook refused to comment on products Apple has in development, but when questioned about the topic, he said the technology to create a pair of augmented reality smart glasses "in a quality way" does not exist today.
"But today I can tell you the technology itself doesn't exist to do that in a quality way. The display technology required, as well as putting enough stuff around your face - there's huge challenges with that.
"The field of view, the quality of the display itself, it's not there yet."
Cook went on to say that Apple will only ship a product that's the best, reiterating that the company doesn't care about being first to new technology. "We want to be the best and give people a great experience," he said. "But now anything you would see on the market any time soon would not be something any of us would be satisfied with. Nor do I think the vast majority of people would be satisfied."
Google Glass augmented reality glasses
Rumors have suggested Apple is working on a pair of augmented reality smart glasses and has experimented with multiple prototypes, but based on both Cook's statement today and past rumors, a wearable Apple-branded augmented reality product is still a ways off.
Recent information has suggested augmented reality smart glasses are at least a year away or longer, with Apple aiming to figure out the "most compelling application" for an AR headset.
Though the technology does not exist today in Cook's opinion, he did provide some hope for a future AR wearable from Apple. "Most technology challenges can be solved, but it's a matter of how long," he said.
The rest of Cook's interview, which can be read over at The Independent and is well worth checking out, focuses heavily on ARKit and augmented reality. As he has done many times in the past, Cook said AR is huge, will be used by everyone, and will take off much like the App Store or multi-touch functionality.
Google recently disabled a feature included in its upcoming Google Home Mini smart speaker after a reviewer found that it was causing the device to record conversations and sounds even when no "OK Google" prompt word was spoken.
As detailed by Android Police's Artem Russakovskii, who received a Google Home Mini test unit last week, the device was malfunctioning due to an issue with the built-in touch panel designed to let Google Assistant be activated with a press instead of a voice command.
The Google Home Mini's touch mechanism was registering phantom touch events, causing it to continually record audio, which is not supposed to happen. Russakovskii discovered the problem after finding thousands of recordings in the Assistant section his My Activity portal on the web, where Assistant queries are stored.
Google was alerted to the issue and collected his unit for testing, which led to the discovery of the faulty touch mechanism. The problem as described by Google:
We have learned of an issue impacting a small number of Google Home Minis that could cause the touch mechanism to behave incorrectly. We are rolling out a software update today that should address the issue.
To fix the malfunctioning touch panel, Google released a firmware update for all Google Home Mini devices disabling the feature allowing Google Assistant to be activated with a long press. Google told Russakovskii a longer-term fix is in the works, but in the meantime, the press to activate feature will not be available when the Google Home Mini launches.
In response, the updated software disables the long press to activate the Google Assistant feature. Once the Google Home Mini devices receive the updated software, all long press events (real or phantom) will be ignored and Google Assistant will not be invoked accidentally.
The company also let me know that they're in the process of building a long-term fix, whatever it may be. It's too early to say if they're going to be able to deal with "phantom" touch events entirely in software or a recall for affected units will be in order.
When the issue was discovered, Google took it seriously and collected the faulty review unit within a matter of hours. An engineer worked over the weekend to figure out what was going on and the firmware update to remove the feature was available by Tuesday.
Update: Google has provided an updated statement on the situation Google Home Mini and has decided to permanently remove all top touch functionality from the device.
"We take user privacy and product quality concerns very seriously. Although we only received a few reports of this issue, we want people to have complete peace of mind while using Google Home Mini.
We have made the decision to permanently remove all top touch functionality on the Google Home Mini. As before, the best way to control and activate Google Home Mini is through voice, by saying "Ok Google" or "Hey Google," which is already how most people engage with our Google Home products. You can still adjust the volume by using the touch control on the side of the device."
Amid an ongoing decline in worldwide PC shipments, Apple's Mac shipments also experienced a decline in the third quarter of 2017 according to new PC shipping estimates shared this afternoon by Gartner. In Q3 2017, Apple shipped an estimated 4.6 million Macs worldwide, down from 4.89 million in the year-ago quarter, marking a 5.6 percent decline in growth.
Apple's market share for the quarter comes in at 6.9 percent, down from 7 percent in the third quarter of 2016. Apple was ranked the number five worldwide PC vendor after HP, Lenovo, Dell, and Asus. Apple was also the number five worldwide PC vendor in 3Q 2016, but the company has dropped from number four since Q2 2017.
Gartner's Preliminary Worldwide PC Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for 3Q17 (Thousands of Units)
Aside from HP, all PC vendors saw a drop in shipments. HP shipped an estimated 14.6 million PCs during the quarter for 4.4 growth and 21.8 percent market share, while Lenovo shipped an estimated 14.4 million PCs for 21.4 percent market share. Dell shipped an estimated 10 million PCs for 15.2 percent market share, while Asus shipped 4.9 million PCs for 7.7 percent market share. Acer trailed after Apple with 4.3 million PCs shipped and 6.5 percent market share.
According to Gartner, ongoing DRAM shortages worsened during the third quarter of 2017, impacting sales and leading to an overall PC shipment decline of 3.6 percent. Worldwide PC shipments totaled 67 million across vendors, down from 69.5 million in Q3 2016, marking 12 consecutive quarters of declining PC shipments.
"The component price hike impacted the consumer PC market as most vendors generally pass the price hike on to consumers, rather than absorbing the cost themselves," Ms. Kitagawa said. "We expect the DRAM shortage to continue to the end of 2018, but it will not be reflected in the final PC prices immediately."
Apple's U.S. numbers mirror its worldwide numbers. In the United States, Apple shipped an estimated 1.9 million Macs, a 7.6 percent decline from the 2 million shipped in Q3 2016.
Gartner's Preliminary U.S. Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for 3Q17 (Thousands of Units)
U.S. PC shipments totaled 14.7 million units during the quarter, down from 16.4 million for an overall decline of 10.3 percent. Apple was ranked the number three PC vendor in the United States with 12.8 percent market share. HP and Dell both beat out Apple with shipments of 4.7 and 3.8 million PCs, respectively.
Apple's Market Share Trend: 1Q06–3Q17 (Gartner)
IDC also released its own shipment estimates this afternoon, noting a smaller 0.5 percent decline in overall worldwide PC shipments. IDC's worldwide shipping estimates are quite a bit different than Gartner's this quarter, with IDC estimating worldwide Mac shipments of 4.9 million, up slightly from 4.89 million in the year-ago quarter for a growth increase of 0.3 percent.
IDC ranks Apple as the number four PC vendor, above ASUS and below HP, Lenovo, and Dell. IDC and Gartner's data often varies due to the different ways each firm makes its shipment calculations.
It's important to note that data from Gartner and IDC is preliminary and the numbers can shift, sometimes dramatically and sometimes less so. Last year, for example, Gartner estimated shipments of 4.95 million Macs, but the actual number was 4.89 million.
Apple last refreshed its Mac notebook and iMac lineup in June of 2017, and the company has plans to release a new iMac Pro in December, which could lead to an uptick in shipments if it proves popular with pro users.
Developer Felix Krause today shared a proof of concept phishing attack that's gaining some traction as it clearly demonstrates how app developers can use Apple-style popups to gain access to an iPhone user's Apple ID and password.
As Krause explains, iPhone and iPad users are accustomed to official Apple requests for their Apple ID and password for making purchases and accessing iCloud, even when not in the App Store or iTunes app.
Using a UIAlertController that emulates the design of the system request for a password, developers can create an identical interface as a phishing tool that can fool many iOS users.
Showing a dialog that looks just like a system popup is super easy, there is no magic or secret code involved, it's literally the examples provided in the Apple docs, with a custom text.
I decided not to open source the actual popup code, however, note that it's less than 30 lines of code and every iOS engineer will be able to quickly build their own phishing code.
Though some of the system alerts would require a developer to have a user's Apple ID email address, there are also popup alerts that do not require an email and can recover a password.
The phishing method that Krause describes is not new, and Apple vets apps that are accepted to the App Store, but it's worth highlighting for iOS users who may not be aware that such a phishing attempt is possible.
As Krause says, users can protect themselves by being wary of these popup dialogues. If one pops up, press the Home button to close the app. If the popup goes away, it's tied to the app and is a phishing attack. If it remains, it's a system request from Apple.
Krause also recommends users dismiss popups and enter their credentials directly within the Settings app.
Krause has reported the issue to Apple and recommends a fix that would include Apple asking customers to enter their credentials into the Settings app rather than directly through a popup that can be easily mimicked. Alternatively, he suggests credential requests could include an app icon to indicate that an app is asking rather than the system.
As extra protection from attacks like this, Apple customers should enable two-factor authentication as it prevents attackers from being able to log into an Apple ID account without a code from a verified device.
Twitter today announced the addition of a new "Happening Now" feature that is designed to surface customized recommendations for tweets about a particular topic or event that's going on in the world.
Events are displayed at the top of the Twitter timeline in the Twitter app, and clicking on one of the available events displays a list of tweets that are grouped up by event.
Twitter is rolling out the Happening Now feature for sports-related events to start with, but it will expand to other types of content in the future. It will eventually highlight tweets about live video, TV, and breaking news.
Feel the roar of the crowd, no matter where you are.
We're rolling out a new way to see what's happening now, starting with sports in 🇺🇸! Available on Android and iOS starting today. https://t.co/lmBFCK4DG0pic.twitter.com/cv4wL8hCxA
— Twitter (@Twitter) October 10, 2017
Happening Now joins other tools to surface non-timeline tweets like Moments and Explore. In a statement to BuzzFeed News, a Twitter spokesperson said the feature is meant to make it easier to find conversations about events users are interested in.
"There's so much happening on Twitter all the time, but it could be easier to find events you are interested in, and the conversation around those events, in the moment," the spokesperson told BuzzFeed News. "If we know you are a Giants fan, we can guess you'd love to see the conversation specifically around a game. All this content already exists on Twitter - with Happening Now, we're collecting it and making it simpler for you to find it in one place."
Happening now is available on Android and iOS devices starting today.
Apple is teaming up with Steven Spielberg's Amblin Television and Comcast's NBC Universal TV production unit to create new episodes of sci-fi series "Amazing Stories," reports The Wall Street Journal.
"Amazing Stories" is a science fiction and horror series created by Spielberg that originally ran on NBC from 1985 to 1987. During its two-year tenure, the show won five Emmy Awards. It focused on a new topic each episode, in the vein of "Tales From the Crypt," "Twilight Zone," and "Black Mirror."
Apple plans to create 10 new episodes of "Amazing Stories" alongside Amblin and NBC Universal, with plans to spend more than $5 million per episode. Spielberg is likely to be an executive producer for the new version of the show, according to The Wall Street Journal's sources.
"Amazing Stories" is the first series that Apple has taken on since the hiring of Zack Van Amburg and Jamie Erlicht back in June. Van Amburg and Erlicht, who helped produce shows like "Breaking Bad," "The Crown," and "Better Call Saul," are running Apple's video programming efforts on a worldwide scale under iTunes chief Eddy Cue.
The new show will join Apple's existing shows "Planet of the Apps" and "Carpool Karaoke: The Series." It marks the first show that is able to more directly compete with content from Netflix and Amazon.
Rumors suggest Apple is aiming to pursue high-profile deals with A-list talent to create shows on par with offerings like Netflix's "Stranger Things" or Hulu's "The Handmaid's Tale."
Snapchat today introduced a new feature called Context Cards, designed to add more information and functionality to your Snaps. Context Cards offer quick access to options like location information, directions, reviews, and ride sharing services.
Context Cards can be accessed by swiping up on any Snap that has a "More" option, with the info attached to Snaps tagged with venue-specific Geofilters or submitted to Our Story.
Snaps will display reviews, directions, phone numbers, and more from partners that include Tripadvisor, Foursquare, Michelin, and goop, while integrations with Uber and Lyft allow you to summon a ride and OpenTable, Resy, or Bookatable let you make restaurant reservations.
Snapchat says many locations will have Stories integrated into their Context Cards to make it easier to find Snaps from places nearby, with the Snaps made up of stories submitted by the Snapchat community.
At launch, Context Cards will be available in the US, Canada, Australia, UK, and New Zealand, and Snapchat plans to expand its content partners going forward.
Apple's augmented reality developer framework, known as ARKit, launched within iOS 11 on September 19. The debut turned hundreds of millions of iPhones into advanced AR-capable devices in the span of a few days, leading to the first wave of ARKit apps on the iOS App Store.
One of these apps is called "Pixie," which existed prior to ARKit with its own proprietary AR technology, but the company updated its main app and "Pixie Point" trackers with Apple's technology last month. I've been testing Pixie's new ARKit-enabled tracking devices for about a week, and so far the app's augmented reality solution to finding lost items has provided a fun and engaging experience for item rediscovery, when it works.
Unfortunately, my experience with Pixie was too often plagued by a low-quality app guidance system and inconsistent success in its main function, making the whole package feel like a beta product for a better iteration down the line.
Like other Bluetooth trackers, you attach Pixie Points onto items you might lose frequently, or simply fear losing in the future. For Pixie's tracking technology to work reliably, one of the Points has to be attached to your iPhone via an included silicone-like case.
The Pixie Point sits embedded in the top right of the case's back, and this coupled with the slippery feel of the case made me more conscious of how I was holding my iPhone and how close it was to falling from my hand at times. You could also use the Point's adhesive backing to stick it directly to your iPhone, but for obvious reasons I preferred not do that.
Apple has shared a new Paper and Packaging Strategy white paper, outlining steps the company takes to reduce its paper impact by using paper more efficiently, sourcing it responsibly, and protecting or creating sustainable working forests.
iPhone 7 packaging
To protect the environment for the future, Apple said three priorities guide its efforts:
1. Reduce impact on climate change by using renewable energy sources and driving energy efficiency in products and facilities.
2. Conserve precious resources by using materials efficiently, using more recycled and renewable content in products, and recovering material from products at the end of their life.
3. Identify, develop, and utilize safer materials in products and processes.
The change in iPhone packaging from iPhone 6s to iPhone 7 illustrates the significant impact of Apple's efforts.
While the iPhone 6s packaging included two stacked plastic trays that hold the device and accessories separately, Apple came up with a new design for the iPhone 7 packaging that allows a single tray to do the work of two. Eliminating the second tray significantly reduced the packaging's material footprint.
Apple's environmental teams also found a fiber-based material that could be used to make the trays, replacing the petroleum-based plastic previously used. The white paper says a similar exploration of new materials and design led to innovations in the EarPods carrier, further reducing the use of materials.
For the iPhone 6s, Apple designed a plastic EarPods carrying case that discreetly wraps the cables and holds the headphones in place. For the iPhone 7, however, Apple developed a more environmentally friendly paperboard-based solution with a set of folds and cuts that secure the EarPods and cable.
These changes contributed to an 84 percent decrease in plastic usage for iPhone 7 packaging compared with iPhone 6s, according to Apple.
For the iPhone 8, Apple even sourced a more environmentally friendly alternative to the plastic wrap that protects the iPhone's wall charger. Apple's white paper reveals the meticulous steps it took to achieve this feat, which involved working directly with a supplier to alter aspects of the manufacturing process.
Finding a fiber alternative proved challenging since fiber naturally expands and contracts with changes in humidity. The significant number of suppliers and locations through which the power adapter wrap would pass made controlling the humidity of the environment impossible. This required Apple to take a very hands-on approach, working directly with the supplier to alter aspects of the manufacturing process to create a fiber wrap that would meet technical needs. While the power adapter wrap is a small piece of the iPhone packaging, it represents a significant amount of material given the number of iPhone units sold.
Ultimately, Apple said it hopes that its program highlights a process for others to take responsibility for their impact on global resources, and work with external stakeholders to protect the environment.
Like other video doorbells, the Doorbell Cam Pro is equipped with a full-color HD camera and microphone for two-way audio and one-way video. Using the companion August Home app (HomeKit isn't supported), homeowners can see and speak with visitors at their door in real time, even when they're not home.
A built-in motion detector triggers instant alerts via push notifications when something's happening at the door. A new feature called HindSight adds a few extra seconds to the beginning of a video recording so homeowners can see what's happening just before motion is detected, rather than someone walking away.
The updated camera features a built-in floodlight that enables it to work during the night. By comparison, its competitor Ring uses infrared in the dark.
An optional August Video Recording plan, available for $4.99 per month or $49.99 for a one-year plan, lets users replay, download, and share recordings of activity at their door through the August Home app.
The video doorbell replaces a home's existing wired doorbell, and has a USB dock for easy setup ahead of installation.
August Doorbell Cam Pro is available immediately for $199 USD in silver and dark gray from August.com and select other retailers, including Amazon and Best Buy. By comparison, the Ring Video Doorbell starts at $179.
A new survey conducted by CNBC has found that 64 percent of Americans own an Apple product of some kind, a number that's increased from 50 percent in a similar survey published in 2012. The average American household owns 2.6 Apple products, which is "up by a full Apple product" from the previous survey. The All-America Economic Survey polled 800 people across the United States in late September, and CNBC said that the survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
Apple device ownership rates dip below 50 percent in the 2017 survey for Americans with incomes under $30,000, retirees, and women over the age of 50. CNBC reported that the "wealthiest Americans" own 4.7 Apple products per household, while the "poorest" have one. Other statistics include 3.7 devices per household in the West of the United States, while households in the South owned 2.2 devices on average.
"I cannot think of any other product — especially any other product at a high price point — that has that kind of permeation with the public and level of growth,'' said Jay Campbell, pollster with Hart Research, which conducted the survey along with Public Opinion Strategies.
64 percent of those surveyed claimed that the time they spend on an iPhone is "mostly productive and useful," while 27 percent said that it's "mostly unproductive." On average, the time spent on an iPhone was "dominated" by phone calls, emails, and texting, followed by social media. Most Americans surveyed said that they were less likely to spend time watching videos, playing games, and shopping on their iPhone.
Campbell said it could be people are understating how much they use their phones for entertainment and how much time they waste. "But overall," he said, "it continues to be the case that the smartphone is really helping the American worker, helping the American family be efficient with their time and really accomplish more than they could otherwise and I think people recognize and appreciate that."
In a separate study conducted by Piper Jaffray earlier in 2017, it was found that 76 percent of teens polled owned an iPhone, increasing from 69 percent in the same period a year prior. 81 percent of teens also said that they plan to purchase an iPhone as their next smartphone, up from 75 percent in 2016. Piper Jaffray's survey polled 5,500 teens in the United States with the average age of 16.
Pixelmator today updated its iOS app with full support for iOS 11, including importing HEIF images and Drag and Drop functionality on iPad.
Drag and Drop support enables iPad users to easily move images and graphics between Pixelmator and other apps. For example, users can move their entire composition into apps like Mail, Messages, and Keynote by simply touching and holding outside the image canvas, then dropping the image into the other app.
With support for HEIF images, Pixelmator for iOS users can now import images saved in the High Efficiency Image File Format. The new, more efficient format reduces file sizes without sacrificing quality, and is now used as the default on the iPhone 7 and later. Learn more about HEIF in our earlier coverage.
Last week, Pixelmator for Mac was also updated to include HEIF image support and integration with Apple's Photos app on macOS High Sierra.
The update also includes bug fixes for issues such as Pixelmator quitting unexpectedly when zooming in after starting a selection, compositions sometimes disappearing when adding or removing layers, and certain buttons in the Color and Format popovers occasionally not responding to touches.
Pixelmator version 2.4 is available on the App Store [Direct Link] as a free update for existing users. The app costs $4.99 for new users.
Apple Music subscribers will be able to watch an exclusive short film about the making of Niall Horan's new album "Flicker," with the movie and album set to launch simultaneously on October 20 (via Billboard). The film will showcase Niall in a behind-the-scenes look at the making of his debut album, similar to the short film that Apple Music released about Harry Styles around the launch of his own debut album in May.
"On The Record: Flicker" will feature interviews, footage of acoustic rehearsals, and "insight into Horan's creative process and this watershed moment in his career -- all with heart-on-sleeve honesty that he pours into his songwriting." Prior to the October 20 debut of the film and album, there will be an "intimate private screening" for fans of the movie in Los Angeles on October 19, after which Horan will premiere the songs from Flicker in a live performance.
"I always knew that if I ever made a solo album what it would sound like," Horan says in a preview of the film. "I spent the last year and a half between the four walls of a studio and I'm ready to go and show how proud of the album I am."
Another recent Apple Music short film looked into Pink's creative process when making her new album "Beautiful Trauma." The film -- titled "On The Record: P!nk - Beautiful Trauma" -- included interviews and behind-the-scenes footage with Pink "reflecting on her art and her career, on motherhood and the world we live in--all with the sort of honesty and sense of humor we've come to love and expect." Similar to Horan's film and album, Beautiful Trauma is set to release on October 13 alongside the short film about the album's creation.
Wells Fargo today announced that NFC functionality is now available at more than 5,000 of its ATMs across the United States.
The technology enables customers to initiate an ATM transaction by holding their smartphone or wearable device with mobile payment functionality near an NFC-enabled ATM terminal and inputting their PIN.
Supported digital wallets include Apple Pay, Android Pay, Samsung Pay, and the bank's own Wells Fargo Wallet for Android.
Customers that have added their Wells Fargo debit card to Apple Pay, for example, can simply hold their iPhone near the ATM, enter their PIN, and complete a transaction, with no physical plastic card required.
Wells Fargo said it plans to upgrade the rest of the company's more than 13,000 ATMs with NFC by 2019. NFC-enabled terminals are marked with the universal contactless card symbol.
Earlier this year, Wells Fargo launched a separate one-time access code feature that lets customers authenticate at an ATM by entering an 8-digit code generated from the Wells Fargo app, along with their PIN, for card-free access.
Wells Fargo said it plans to upgrade the rest of the company's more than 13,000 ATMs with NFC by 2019. NFC-enabled terminals are marked with the universal contactless card symbol.
