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iMac Pro Available to Order December 14, Starting at $4,999

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Apple today announced the iMac Pro will be available to order on Thursday, December 14. Pricing starts at $4,999 in the United States.

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iMac Pro is a powerful, top-of-the-line workstation designed for professional users with demanding workflows, such as advanced video and graphics editing, virtual reality content creation, and real-time 3D rendering.

"iMac Pro is a huge step forward and there's never been anything like it," said John Ternus, Apple's VP of Hardware Engineering.

The all-in-one desktop computer has a 27-inch Retina 5K display within a sleek space gray enclosure. Apple also includes a space gray Magic Keyboard with Numeric Keypad and Magic Mouse 2 in the box. A space gray Magic Trackpad 2 is optional.

Apple said the iMac Pro is the fastest and most powerful Mac ever, at least until the modular Mac Pro is released.

The machine can be configured with up to an 18-core Intel Xeon processor, up to 4TB of SSD storage, up to 128GB of ECC RAM, and an AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64 graphics processor with 16GB of HBM2 memory.

imac pro
The high-end performance is made possible by an all-new thermal design that delivers up to 80 percent more cooling capacity than a traditional iMac.

With four Thunderbolt 3 ports, the iMac Pro can drive two 5K displays or four 4K displays at 60Hz simultaneously. It also has a 10 Gigabit Ethernet port, four USB-A 3.0 ports, an SD card slot, and a 3.5mm headphone jack.

Other tech specs and features include a 1080p front camera, stereo speakers, four microphones, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth 4.2.

Apple previewed the iMac Pro at its Worldwide Developers Conference in June. The news, together with the modular Mac Pro, helped alleviate some criticism that Apple was no longer focused on professional users.

Apple has yet to provide exact pricing details on a configuration-by-configuration basis.

Related Forum: iMac
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Feral Releases 'Deus Ex: Mankind Divided' for macOS

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Feral today released the Mac version of Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, the sixth installment in the hit series of action stealth games.

Mixing a first-person perspective with a third-person cover system, Deus Ex combines elements of classic FPS shooters with a role-playing upgrade system and dialogue interaction.

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The year is 2029, and mechanically augmented humans are now outcasts, completely segregated from the rest of society.

Now an experienced covert operative, Adam Jensen is forced to operate in a world that has grown to despise his kind. Armed with a new arsenal of state-of-the-art weapons and augmentations, he must choose the right approach, and who to trust, in order to unravel a vast worldwide conspiracy.

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided is available from the Feral Store and Steam for $59.99. The Desperate Measures in-game mission and the Covert Agent pack, which includes various weapons and items, are available for free.

The Digital Deluxe Edition is available from the Feral Store and Steam for $89.99. The Deluxe Edition includes two new story-based DLCs, System Rift and A Criminal Past, as well as the Assault and Tactical packs, which include various weapons and items. On top of that, players get the Desperate Measures in-game mission and the Covert Agent pack, four Praxis kits, 5,000 credits, 1,000 weapon parts, five booster packs, and 20 Chipsets for Breach, a standalone online game mode.

To get the games to run, users will need a Mac running OS X 10.13.1 and at least an Intel Core i5 3GHz processor, 8GB of RAM, a 2GB video card, and 67GB of disk space. Feral says the game is officially supported on the following Macs: All 15-inch MacBook Pros released since late 2016, all 21.5-inch Retina 4K iMacs released since 2017, all 27-inch Retina 5K iMacs released since late 2014, and all Mac Pros released since late 2013.

The only caveat seems to be the 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro released in mid 2015 with an AMD Radeon R9 M370X, which Feral says is "capable of running the game but does not consistently meet the standards required for official support".

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Adobe Lightroom CC v1.1 for Desktop Brings Enhanced Auto Mode, Split Tone Effect, and More

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Adobe on Tuesday released Lightroom CC v1.1 for macOS, bringing some additional features and enhancements to the photo editing suite, including support for new cameras and lenses.

Top of the new feature list is an enhanced Auto mode for automatically applying optimized edits to images. Located in the Light panel in the Detail view, the mode now uses Adobe's advanced Sensei machine learning to intelligently apply what it considers to be the best edits. By design, Auto adjusts a number of slider controls, including Exposure, Contrast, Highlights, Shadows, Whites, Blacks, Saturation, and Vibrance.

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According to Adobe, the neural nets underlying Auto mode have been trained with thousands of professionally shot and manually edited photos to evaluate and correct an image. In an additional tweak, the Auto feature now also includes the ability to optimize the adjustments of the photo even after cropping has been applied.  

Elsewhere, it's now possible to use Tone Curve in the Light panel to fine-tune the tonal range and contrast in photos, while the Split Toning controls in the Effects panel have been enhanced to let users create a split tone effect in which a different color is applied to Shadows and Highlights.

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In addition, users can now adjust the date and time of an individual photo or a group of photos. The feature aims to be useful in scenarios where users need to change the capture time of photos after clicking them. Meanwhile, fullscreen mode can now be activated from within the Detail view by pressing the F key, and the lists of supported cameras and lens profiles has been updated.

The new Auto mode is also available over on Adobe Lightroom for iOS, where the quality of HDR capturing has been improved. The mobile app now also lets users add watermarks during export, ACR 10.1 has been integrated, and a number of bug fixes and speed improvements have been applied.

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Lightroom CC is available through Adobe's Creative Cloud Photography plan, which bundles Photoshop and Lightroom together for $9.99 per month, or through Adobe's complete Creative Cloud plan, featuring all Adobe software for $49.99 per month.

Lightroom for iOS can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [iPad: Direct Link] [iPhone: Direct Link]

Tags: Adobe, Adobe Lightroom
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Bank T&C's for Digital Wallets Suggest Imminent Launch of Apple Pay in Brazil

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Apple could well be on the cusp of launching Apple Pay in Brazil, almost two years after rumors of rollout in the region first surfaced. Users of iOS devices in the country who attempt to add a Visa Platinum Personnalité card from Itaú Unibanco to their Apple Wallet are now seeing a terms of service agreement relating to digital wallet use.

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The message was first spotted by local tech site MacMagazine and picked up by AppleInsider. Prior to Monday, users trying to register the cards would see a message informing them that the card was not yet supported by Apple Wallet.

Indeed, the same message still shows up when users try adding other cards to their digital wallet, but the fact that Itaú bank's card has been granted residence inside the native app suggests Apple Pay could well be about to launch.



Separately, local blog iHelp BR yesterday claimed that Apple Pay would roll out imminently, citing sources familiar with the matter, although no specific date was given.

Related Roundup: Apple Pay
Tag: Brazil
Related Forum: Apple Music, Apple Pay/Card, iCloud, Fitness+
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Apple Announces New Swift Coding Initiative for Nearly 500,000 Students in City of Chicago

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Apple on Tuesday announced it is 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-centered coding 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.

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"At Apple we believe coding is an essential skill, so we've designed Everyone Can Code to give everyone the power to learn, write and teach coding," said Tim Cook, Apple's CEO. "We're thrilled to be working with our friends and partners in the great city of Chicago on this initiative. Together with Mayor Emanuel, Chicago Public Schools and City Colleges, we look forward to helping students learn Swift and build the skills they need to thrive in today's workplace."

Starting in the spring, Chicago Public Schools and City Colleges of Chicago will expand their Everyone Can Code curriculum and materials, while City Colleges of Chicago will offer the the App Development with Swift curriculum for the first time, helping students build skills around coding and app development.

Chicago Public Schools will also offer new Swift Coding Clubs, according to Apple, bringing coding education to after-school programs. The clubs aim to guide students through key coding concepts, introduce them to Swift and walk them through an app design and prototyping project.

Several businesses operating in the area will also be making volunteer opportunities available for their Chicago-based employees to help support students. Companies include GE Transportation, IBM, Jellyvision, Lextech, McDonald's, Rush University Medical Center, Ulta Beauty, and United Airlines.

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"Coding is not just a critical skill in today's economy, it is another outlet for students to expand their horizons and explore their creativity," said Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. "Everyone Can Code is an incredible opportunity for young people across Chicago to learn the language of the future, sharpen their minds and develop the skill sets needed to compete and win in the 21st century."

Over the last two years, Apple has promoted its Swift programming language as ideal for anyone who is keen to code but has no previous computing experience. In 2016, it released Swift Playgrounds, an app aimed at teaching both children and adults how to code through simple interactive coding exercises, which is meant to make learning to code "easy and fun" for everyone.

Tags: Chicago, Swift
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Apple Now Allowing Developers to Offer App Pre-Orders

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Apple is implementing a new feature that allows developers to offer pre-orders for unreleased apps, letting customers purchase popular apps ahead of their release date.

The pre-order feature is listed in a new iTunes Connect Resource and Help document, which was discovered this afternoon by MacStories. The document says that developers are able to "make new apps available for pre-order on all Apple platforms."

appstorepreorders

Customers can see your product page and order your app before it's released for download. Once your app is released, customers will be notified and your app will automatically download to their device. For paid apps, customers will be charged before download.

Apple outlines the specific steps developers will need to take to list an app for pre-order, which includes navigating to the Pricing and Availability section of iTunes Connect, choosing "make available for pre-order," and submitting an app for review.

To be made available for pre-order, an app must have a release date at least two days in the future, but no more than 90 days in the future. Pre-orders are available for both free and paid apps.

When an app is pre-ordered, on release date, it'll be automatically downloaded to a customers device. With paid apps, the purchase price will be charged when the app is released, not before.

As our sister site TouchArcade points out, there are already two apps available for purchase using the new pre-order feature. Both Gorogoa ($4.99) and Inside (Free) can be pre-ordered from the App Store ahead of a release coming later this week.

Apple today also announced the general availability of introductory pricing for subscriptions, allowing developers to charge less for the first few months of an auto-renewing subscription. This is a feature that was initially introduced in iOS 11.2.

Tag: App Store
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watchOS 4.1 GymKit Feature Rolls Out to First U.S. Gym

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GymKit, the watchOS 4.1 feature that allows the Apple Watch to interface with gym equipment like treadmills, has started rolling out in the United States in a very limited capacity.

According to CNET, GymKit is available at the Life Time Athletic location at Sky in New York City. This is the sole location where GymKit is available, but it is coming to Equinox locations and additional Life Time Athletic locations in 2018.

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GymKit is also available at select locations in the United Kingdom and Australia.

CNET was able to test the GymKit functionality, and found it to work well. Setup was a one-tap affair, with a tap on the equipment and then a confirmation on the Apple Watch. Once paired, health data from both gym equipment and the Apple Watch syncs up for a more accurate reading.

GymKit is compatible with fitness machines from TechnoGym, Life Fitness, Matrix, Star Trac, Schwinnn, Cybex, and Stairmaster, with Apple eventually planning to cover 80 percent of the fitness equipment market. At the gym where CNET tested GymKit, the feature works with ellipticals, treadmills, stationary bikes, and stair-climbers.

Related Roundup: Apple Watch 11
Buyer's Guide: Apple Watch (Buy Now)
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Google Security Researcher Shares Details on 'tfp0' iOS 11.1.2 Exploit That Could Lead to Future Jailbreak

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ios 11Google security researcher Ian Beer, who works for the Project Zero team, last week highlighted an iOS 11.1.2 exploit called "tfp0," which he believes could be the basis for a future iOS 11.1.2 jailbreak.

Today, Beer released the exploit to the public. He says it should work on all iOS devices running iOS 11.1.2 or below, though he only personally tested iPhone 7, iPhone 6s, and a sixth-generation iPod touch.

What Beer released is not a full iOS 11 jailbreak as some had hoped, but what he's shared could potentially be used to create a jailbreak in the future.


iOS 11.1.2 is no longer the current version of iOS as Apple released iOS 11.2 on December 2, but Apple is still signing iOS 11.1.2 at this time. Apple will likely stop signing the older update in the near future, and its end could come sooner now that further information on the tfp0 exploit has been released.

Jailbreaking iOS devices has dwindled in popularity in recent years, which has led two major Cydia repositories to close. Both ModMy and ZodTTD/MacCiti, which provided apps, themes, tweaks, and more for jailbroken iOS devices, shut down in November. For the time being, iOS 11 continues to be the only major version of iOS that has not been jailbroken.

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Google Launches Two New Experimental Photography Apps on iOS

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Google today announced the launch of two new experimental photography apps on iOS, which are designed to allow the company to test technologies like object recognition, person segmentation, stylization algorithms, efficient image encoding and decoding, and more.

Called "appsperiments," the two apps include "Selfissimo" and "Scrubbies." Selfissimo is an automated selfie app that captures a stylish black and white photo each time you change to a new pose, sort of like a photo booth. The app lets you tap to start a photoshoot, and then it encourages you to adopt different poses. Each time it detects a pause in movement, it snaps a photo.

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Scrubbies lets you manipulate the speed and direction of video playback to create video loops of action scenes, funny faces, and replay moments. You can shoot a video directly in the app and then use swipe gestures to remix it.

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Scrubbies and Selfissimo can both be downloaded from the App Store for free.

Google has also released experimental apps for Android devices, and, since the company say this is the "first installment" of a series, we can expect additional photography apps to be released in the future.

Tag: Google
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Exclusive Offer: Get 15 Percent Off Pad & Quill Accessories for iPhone, iPad, MacBook, and Apple Watch

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With holiday shopping in full swing, MacRumors has begun another exclusive partnership, this time with Pad & Quill and focusing on the accessory company's iPhone, iPad, MacBook, and Apple Watch product categories. If you're interested, browse from Pad & Quill's accessories in any of these areas, add items to your cart, and then enter the promo code MR15 during checkout to get 15 percent off your order. The code expires on Thursday, December 21 at midnight.

If multiple items are in your cart, the code will take 15 percent off the total cost of your order for all relevant products. The code excludes items from Pad & Quill's leather bags and wallet & accessories categories (note that this covers any bags and portfolios within the MacBook category).

pad and quill offer 1Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Pad & Quill. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

Pad & Quill is focused on creating high-quality leather and wooden accessories, many of which MacRumors has reviewed over the years. These include the Classic Apple Watch Band, Lowry Cuff for Apple Watch, Timber Catchall and Timber Nightstand for Apple Watch, and Oxford Case for iPad Pro.

These products and more can now be purchased at a discount with our exclusive offer, so we've listed a few below to give you an idea of the savings you can get if you take advantage of the promo code.

Make sure to visit Pad & Quill and browse these items -- and many more -- to place your order before December 21, when the exclusive promo code will expire. Pad & Quill offers free shipping that typically estimates a delivery window of between 2-4 business days after you place the order, but factors like color combinations for certain products can affect delivery dates.

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Also of note is a separate offer from Pad & Quill -- which can not be stacked with our exclusive code -- aimed at anyone thinking about spending over $125 on the company's online store this holiday. If you spend $125 or more on an order at Pad & Quill, the company will email you a $25 special gift code for you to use -- or gift -- on your next order. Purchases over $250 get a $50 code and purchases over $400 get a $100 code. This offer lasts until December 17, and any code you receive has to be redeemed before January 31, 2018.

For other sales and exclusive promotions -- including our ongoing 15 percent discount on full-priced Nomad accessories -- head over to the full MacRumors Deals Roundup.

Related Roundup: Apple Deals
Tag: Pad & Quill
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Apple Shares New Ads Highlighting iPhone X Face ID and Portrait Lighting

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Apple this afternoon shared three new ads on its YouTube channel, all of which are quick clips that focus on select iPhone X features like Portrait Lighting and Face ID.

The first video, "Opens with a Glance," displays the iPhone X with the words "Introducing the most unforgettable magical password ever created. Your face," before showing off a series of faces to demonstrate how the iPhone X can be unlocked with facial recognition.


A second video, "Adapts to Your Face," was previously available on Apple's Canadian YouTube channel. It's designed to highlight the machine learning techniques used to allow Face ID to adapt to beards, hats, sunglasses, and other facial changes.


The third video, "Introducing Portrait Lighting," demonstrates the Portrait Lighting feature that's available on the iPhone X. Portrait lighting is designed to allow users to adjust the lighting in an image using depth mapping techniques, and it is also available on iPhone 8 Plus.


Today's iPhone X videos follow several iPhone X feature ads that Apple shared in late November. Those previous videos focused on Face ID and Animoji, demonstrating specific Face ID features like its ability to work in the dark and adapt to makeup.

Apple will use these short 15-second ads to show off iPhone X features on television, on the web, and on social networks like Instagram.

Tag: Apple Ads
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American Express, Mastercard and Discover to Eliminate Signature Requirement for Purchases in April 2018

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applepayamericanexpressAmerican Express today announced plans to eliminate signature requirements when customers make credit or debit card purchases, joining both Mastercard and Discover.

All three companies plan to stop asking customers to provide a signature when making a purchase in the United States and Canada starting in April of 2018. The change is designed to allow for a more consistent, streamlined, and speedy checkout experience for both merchants and cardholders.

Credit and debit card companies have long required signatures for purchases as an added security measure, but with technology improvements that include contactless payments and the adoption of EMV chip technology, signatures are no longer a necessity.

"The payments landscape has evolved to the point where we can now eliminate this pain point for our merchants," said Jaromir Divilek, Executive Vice President, Global Network Business, American Express. "Our fraud capabilities have advanced so that signatures are no longer necessary to fight fraud. In addition, the majority of American Express transactions today already do not require a signature at the point of sale as a result of previous policy changes we made to help our merchants."

American Express has already phased out signature requirements for purchases under $50 in the United States, as have other credit card companies, and the complete elimination of the signature is a shift that consumers are likely to welcome.

Doing away with signature requirements for credit and debit card transactions will also streamline the Apple Pay process in the United States when using a Mastercard, Discover, or American Express card. With Apple Pay, a signature can on occasion be required for purchases over $50 in the United States, a step that may be eliminated once the card changes are introduced.

Apple Pay customers in other countries that have similar restrictions may also see them lifted when using American Express, but there are locations like Canada where contactless payments are not permitted for large purchases. In these situations, there will be no improvements to the Apple Pay process.

While Mastercard and Discover have said the change applies to the United States and Canada, American Express plans to eliminate signature requirements globally on purchase transactions of all amounts. Merchants are, however, still able to collect signatures if required to do so by an applicable law in a particular jurisdiction.

Related Roundup: Apple Pay
Related Forum: Apple Music, Apple Pay/Card, iCloud, Fitness+
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Apple Seeds First Beta of macOS High Sierra 10.13.3 to Developers [Update: Public Beta Available]

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Apple today seeded the first beta of an upcoming macOS High Sierra 10.13.3 update to developers, less than one week after releasing the macOS High Sierra 10.13.2 update, the second major update to the macOS High Sierra operating system.

The macOS High Sierra 10.13.3 beta can be downloaded from the Apple Developer Center or through the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App Store with the proper profile installed.

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It's not yet clear what improvements the third update to macOS High Sierra will bring, but it's likely to include bug fixes and performance improvements for issues that weren't addressed in macOS High Sierra 10.13.2.

The previous macOS High Sierra 10.13.2 update focused solely on security fixes and performance improvements, with no outward-facing changes introduced.

Update: Apple has also seeded the macOS High Sierra 10.13.3 update to public beta testers.

Related Forum: macOS High Sierra
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Apple Acquiring Shazam and Says 'Exciting Plans' Are Ahead

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Apple today announced it has agreed to acquire music recognition service Shazam, marking the company's highest-profile purchase since it acquired headphone maker Beats for $3 billion in May 2014.

Apple did not disclose financial terms this time, but when TechCrunch broke news of the acquisition plans last week, one of its sources said the deal could be worth around $400 million. Shazam was valued at $1 billion in January 2015.

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Apple confirmed the acquisition plans in a statement provided to MacRumors and several other media outlets today:

We are thrilled that Shazam and its talented team will be joining Apple. Since the launch of the App Store, Shazam has consistently ranked as one of the most popular apps for iOS. Today, it's used by hundreds of millions of people around the world, across multiple platforms. Apple Music and Shazam are a natural fit, sharing a passion for music discovery and delivering great music experiences to our users. We have exciting plans in store, and we look forward to combining with Shazam upon approval of today's agreement.

Shazam issued the following statement:

We are excited to announce that Shazam has entered into an agreement to become part of Apple. Shazam is one of the highest rated apps in the world and loved by hundreds of millions of users and we can't imagine a better home for Shazam to enable us to continue innovating and delivering magic for our users.

Shazam is a popular service that can identify the name and lyrics of songs, music videos, TV shows, and more. The company has standalone iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch apps, while the service is also built into Siri on iOS 8 and later.

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Shazam is integrated with Apple Music, allowing subscribers to identify a song and then tap to play it directly via the streaming music service. Shazam also has an iMessage app for identifying and sharing songs in the Messages app.

Shazam isn't just a big part of Apple. The service is built into Snapchat, allowing users to recognize, discover, and share music with friends. In the app, simply press and hold on the camera screen to identify a song with Shazam.

In September 2016, Shazam announced that its mobile apps had been downloaded more than 1 billion times since launching. Shazam released its original iPhone app when the App Store launched in 2008.

Shazam's machine learning algorithms used to identify audio clips, and its augmented reality feature that enables users to discover content based on pictures captured with its app, could be valuable technologies to Apple.

Apple said it is not disclosing further details at this time, so we'll have to wait and see exactly how it uses Shazam's technologies and talent.

Tag: Shazam
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Best Buy Doorbuster Event Day 11: Save Up To $150 on 12.9-inch iPad Pro

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Today is Day 11 of Best Buy's ongoing 20 Days of Doorbusters event this December, offering customers new sales on a variety of products every day through December 20. Today is the second Apple-focused day of the event, after Day 2's sale on MacBook Pro, and now the retailer has between $100 and $150 off the 12.9-inch iPad Pro in a variety of storage capacities and colors.

best buy event day 11Note: 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.

Compared to Amazon, Adorama, and MacMall, Best Buy's limited-time sale on the iPad Pro is the best currently found among these retailers, while the prices are all being matched at B&H Photo. Check out the iPads on sale in the list below, and head over to Best Buy if you're interested as the sale will end tonight at midnight.

12.9-inch iPad Pro from Mid 2017

If you're looking for iPad protection, today's event also has up to 55 percent off select Targus cases for the 9.7-inch, 10.5-inch, and 12.9-inch iPads. You can also get the UE Boom 2 Bluetooth speaker for $76.99, down from $199.99, but that price point is only available in the "Panther" color. Other color options are between $50 and $76 off the original price point.

Check out Best Buy's deals page for more products on sale during today's doorbusters, which also include savings of $550 on a Samsung Curved LED TV. Next up in the event will be deals on a wireless security camera (December 12), a smart HDTV (December 15), iPhone (December 17), and MacBook (December 19). We'll be covering Best Buy's ongoing event over in our Deals Roundup as well, so be sure to visit the roundup for more information on this sale and many more.

Related Roundup: Apple Deals
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Apple to Donate $1 Million Towards Southern California Wildfire Recovery Efforts

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Apple has announced that it will be donating $1 million to aid recovery and rebuilding efforts in Southern California following a series of devastating forest fires that have caused billions of dollars in damage.

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"Our thoughts are with all those affected by the fires in Southern California, including our colleagues, friends and their families," an Apple spokesperson said, in a statement provided to KTLA reporter Rich DeMuro.


Apple also usually facilitates Red Cross donations from the public through iTunes in these situations, but it has yet to do so.

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Many Sprint Customers Unable to Use Wi-Fi Calling on iOS 11.2 [Updated]

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Sprint customers with an iPhone are widely reporting that Wi-Fi calling does not work after installing iOS 11.2 and carrier settings version 31.0.

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Hundreds of complaints have surfaced across the web, including the MacRumors discussion forums, Sprint and Apple Support Communities, Twitter, and Reddit, since the software update was released earlier this month.

All models of the iPhone that support Wi-Fi calling appear to be affected, ranging from the iPhone 6 to iPhone 8 Plus, among others.

It's unclear if the issue is due to iOS 11.2 or the updated carrier settings, which support features like Wi-Fi calling and VoLTE. AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile customers are not affected, suggesting this is a carrier-specific problem.

Many affected customers have performed basic troubleshooting, such as resetting the iPhone's network settings or simply turning the device off and on again, but there doesn't appear to be a solution that works on iOS 11.2.

As a temporary workaround, some users have downgraded to iOS 11.1.2 and found that Wi-Fi calling becomes functional again.

MacRumors does not have an iPhone on the Sprint network in its possession, so we're unable to reproduce the issue. Sprint directed us towards Apple, which has not responded to multiple requests for comments over the past few days.

Last week, a support representative on Sprint's website relayed that the carrier plans to apply a temporary fix across a limited number of Wi-Fi calling servers while evaluating a long-term solution to the apparent bug. After several days, however, Wi-Fi calling is only working intermittently at best for some customers.

Apple also appears to be collecting data from affected customers who contact the company so that its engineers can investigate the matter, as it routinely does with any potential hardware or software issues.

For those unaware, with Wi-Fi calling, you can make or receive a phone call if you have a Wi-Fi connection in an area with little or no cellular coverage. The feature can be enabled in Settings > Phone > Wi-Fi Calling.

Update: Sprint says it is "actively working to resolve this" issue. A company representative said Sprint will "implement some additional changes" on late December 11 to increase Wi-Fi calling capacity. "This should get us to the optimal performance that is expected," the employee wrote.

Update 2: Sprint issued a carrier update that appears to solve the Wi-Fi calling issue for most Sprint users.

Tags: Sprint, Wi-Fi Calling
Related Forum: iOS 11
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Refreshed Five-Year Deal Between Verizon and NFL Allows for Mobile Streaming of Games on Any Carrier

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Verizon and the NFL this morning announced that the carrier will no longer be the exclusive home for mobile streaming of NFL games in the United States, with anyone able to stream the games to their smartphone "regardless of mobile network" beginning next year.

The announcement comes within a new five-year deal struck between the two companies, which will see Verizon pay around $2 billion over a five-year period (via Recode).

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The new deal begins January 2018 and will allow users on any U.S. wireless carrier to watch NFL games on their mobile device using the apps for Yahoo Sports, go90, and the NFL, with the company putting emphasis on Yahoo Sports as a premium destination for sports coverage.

This will start with the NFL playoffs next month, and then include national pre-season, regular season, playoff games, and the Super Bowl. Most of this coverage is described as "in-market" by Verizon, meaning that it will vary by your location and depend upon your local news channels' coverage of such events.

We’re making a commitment to fans for Verizon’s family of media properties to become the mobile destination for live sports,” said Lowell McAdam, Chairman and CEO of Verizon Communications. “The NFL is a great partner for us and we are excited to take its premier content across a massive mobile scale so viewers can enjoy live football and other original NFL content where and how they want it. We believe that partnerships like this are a win for fans, but also for partners and advertisers looking for a mobile-first experience.”

Verizon's previous deal with the NFL was priced at $1 billion over the course of four years and runs through the current season, so the two companies are doubling down on their partnership with the new, expanded agreement.

Verizon says that it will remain an official sponsor of the NFL, providing "unique experiences" at events like the Super Bowl for customers enrolled in its Verizon Up rewards program. The partnership will also see Verizon continue efforts to improve stadium technology at NFL games to "improve operations" and enhance experience for customers.

Tags: NFL, Verizon
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