Ahead of Apple's WWDC 2016 keynote next Monday, June 13 at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time, Siri is now offering up some traditionally witty responses to users that ask about potential announcements. iPhone users can test Siri themselves by asking "what to expect at WWDC?" or similar questions.
All of Siri's responses are unsurprisingly vague, including one related to the popular HBO drama series Game of Thrones. Each response includes a link to Apple's WWDC website, which provides a schedule of events and other details about the weeklong developer conference at Moscone West in San Francisco.
Siri previously revealed that WWDC 2016 would be held on June 13-17, prior to any official announcement, and offered similar "give us a hint" responses leading up to its September 2015 media event last year.
As is usual, Apple is expected to unveil the latest versions of its iOS and OS X operating systems for iPhone and Mac respectively at WWDC 2016.
Although rumors surrounding Apple's electric car project began intensifying after the vehicle's development sped up last September, a new report out of The Guardian looks back before all of the current hubbub began, at the "secret car" that became of special interest to former Apple CEO Steve Jobs. Called the V-Vehicle and created by industrial designer Bryan Thompson, Jobs flew the designer out to San Francisco in 2010 to discuss Thompson's plans for the car, and pick his brain on the status of the automotive industry as a whole.
Thompson and the V-Vehicle
Thompson and his team created the V-Vehicle with the goal of constructing a disruptive force in the car industry with "a lightweight, petroleum-powered car that used cheaper materials and could sell for just $14,000." They had been working on it for two years when Jobs became interested in their progress, and invited Thompson to his home in Palo Alto to see it for himself.
According to Thompson, within their fifteen minutes together -- Jobs sitting in the driver side and Thompson in the passenger side -- he "learned more about plastics than in his years in design school and auto industry combined." The former Apple CEO discussed his thoughts on the V-Vehicle, focusing a lot of his time on the materials of its body, which were made of polypropylene and glass fibre. The results were a car that was 40 percent lighter than a normal steel-made vehicle, not to mention would cost 70 percent less capital to produce.
The inside of the V-Vehicle
Jobs told Thompson to think about emphasizing the plastic rather than disguising it. “Let the material be honest,” he said, noting the dashboard, which was made of fibre-wood, a composite of synthetic resin and wood pulp. He suggested it would look better designed as one piece that “evoked a sense of high precision” – an idea Jobs often returned to with Apple’s chief design officer Jonathan Ive.
Jobs continued to tip Thompson to take another look at the V-Vehicle's interior, telling him that "a taut surface has a sense that it's full of energy, like an animal ready to pounce. It's a subconscious thing that gives the product an impression of high quality and confidence." Thompson took Jobs' advice to heart and immediately began reworking a few subtle design changes in the car's interior on his flight back home.
Despite the V-Vehicle's potential for success, the business ultimately failed after venture funding evaporated and long-term plans for subsidized manufacturing plants failed due to tighter state budgets. Eventually, Thompson's designs were bought by LCV Capital Management in 2015, and V-Vehicle was renamed Next Autoworks, with a renewed plan to build the car in Italy.
Steve Jobs was said to have passed on building a car in 2008 to focus on the recently launched iPhone, although the former CEO remained interested in the vehicle project throughout the years. Rumors that have ultimately pegged the Apple Car for a 2020 launch began in early 2015, when mysterious vans linked to Apple began being spotted driving around Northern California.
Thompson's redesigned interior sketch
Those were in fact related to a mapping project, as Apple confirmed later, but the media interest in the potential for an Apple-made vehicle continued to fuel rumors surrounding a car that could potentially "give Tesla a run for its money."
Now, some of Steve Jobs' hopes for the V-Vehicle might be coming to fruition, including Apple's rumored talks to use BMW's i3 as a basis for Project Titan, which would fall in line with Jobs' appreciation of a precise, lightweight unibody material thanks to its carbon fiber outer shell. Those talks reportedly didn't end in an inked deal, but could "resume at a later stage," according to sources within BMW.
HealthKit-enabled Apple Watch app Cardiogram has received its 1.0 release, bringing native watchOS 2 compatibility, 3D Touch for supporting devices, and a redesigned interface.
The app has been developed in collaboration with researchers at the University of California San Francisco's Health eHeart study, which aims to help end heart disease. The program wants to develop a way to detect atrial fibrillation – a medical condition that can lead to stroke – using innovations in everyday consumer technology.
By that token, the Cardiogram developer team have been refining an algorithm that attempts to detect abnormal heart rhythms using the Apple Watch's heart rate sensors.
The 1.0 version of the app at the center of its efforts brings that goal a step closer, introducing native watchOS 2 support that enables users to track and view recorded heart rate data without having to tether their iPhone. A new Apple Watch complication also allows users to quickly view their latest heart-rate readings.
Meanwhile, the iPhone companion app now includes comprehensive activity statistics and trending HRM data, along with a Metrics screen that brings together users' move, stand, and exercise goals.
In addition, iPhone 6s and 6s Plus device owners can use 3D Touch gestures to tag peaks in heart rate, while social media sharing and interface tweaks make up the rest of the update.
Anyone with an Apple Watch can take part in the eHeart study, since the algorithm learns from its users, whether or not they have preexisting heart conditions.
Apple's HealthKit framework debuted in 2014, allowing developers to build health monitoring software that integrates with Apple's Health app, while Apple's open source framework ResearchKit was made available to developers in April 2015, enabling them to create their own iPhone apps for medical research purposes.
Apple itself continues to have significant interest in making its Apple Watch part-medical health instrument. An Apple patent application recently came to light, titled "Care event detection and alerts", which envisions a hardware system with the ability to monitor the surrounding environment for events that would require assistance from medical professionals, police, fire rescue or other emergency services.
Pebble has published the algorithms that drive its native fitness tracking app, following the launch of its crowdfunding campaign for three new fitness-focused smartwatches, the Pebble Core, Pebble 2, and Time 2.
The move is a first in the wearables industry, and appears to be an effort by the company to demonstrate serious ambitions in the burgeoning "quantified self" and health data tracking fields.
Nathaniel Stockham is a Stanford University Ph.D. student in Neuroscience and the person who developed the app's algorithms. Stockham explained in a blog post called "Opening the Black Box" that one of the published algorithms detects and measures motion, while the other counts steps and can distinguish if you're walking or running.
Algorithms "are the missing piece in making wearables useful to developers and relevant to healthcare researchers", according to the company. The idea is that by making its own algorithms available to the public, Pebble is enabling third parties to expand upon its own work.
Pebble has also worked with Stanford to launch a new mood-logging app called Happiness. The app works on a weekly cycle and prompts users to rate their daily mood and energy levels, and also requests contextual details such as location, activity, and social company, and then collates the data in an email report. The app is available for Pebble Time, Pebble Time Steel and Pebble Time Round users, and can be downloaded here.
Pebble claims that the app has allowed some of its own staff to make tangible changes in their life, such as socializing more with coworkers. The company states that all identifying Happiness usage data remains within the app, although it notes that some data may be used in aggregate analytics.
Lastly, Pebble has also published the results of a sleep study it has conducted with the university, looking at the differences between people who consider themselves "night owls" or "morning larks". The data was able to identify distinct clusters that aligned with the two tendencies, and suggests that these groups represent biologically established chronotypes.
Ride hailing company Uber has held talks with Fiat Chrysler about a potential partnership involving self-driving car technology, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The discussions are reported to be at a preliminary stage and a deal is yet to be confirmed, cautioned people familiar with the matter.
Google uses Chrysler Pacifica Minivans in its self-driving initiative (Image: Chrysler)
Chrysler is believed to be just one of several automobile makers that Uber has been in talks with in recent weeks, amid a "frenzy" of global alliances as the role of technology in transportation increases.
Uber's desire to seek new partners follows Apple's $1 billion investment in Chinese ride hailing startup Didi Chuxing last month, while similar partnerships have occurred between the likes of General Motors and Lyft earlier this year.
Also last month, Fiat Chrysler said it was working with Google to redesign the 2017 Pacifica Hybrid minivan and integrate its computers, sensors and software for testing purposes, in the same way that Google's own self-driving cars are currently a purely experimental initiative.
Uber began its own autonomous driving project last year after hiring several robotics researchers from Carnegie Mellon University and opening its Advanced Technologies Center in Pittsburgh. Testing has begun in that city and Uber plans to incorporate self-driving vehicles into its fleet by 2020.
In related news yesterday, speaking at Alphabet's stockholder meeting, executive chairman Eric Schmidt responded to an audience question about when self-driving cars might be an everyday reality on public roads.
It’s very hard to know. The consensus I think within the company is that it’s some years, not decades, but it is very much dependent on regulation. And it also depends on where you are. It’s obviously a great deal easier to do this in areas that, for example, have ample parking.
Google has previously stated that its self-driving project will free up parking space in congested areas because such cars can park further away and come to pick up passengers, although The Verge notes the irony of its chosen testing grounds in Mountain View, Austin, Kirkland, and Phoenix, where parking is far more available than in big cities like New York.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk recently commented on Apple's project to develop its own car, codenamed "Titan", claiming that any such vehicle was unlikely to hit full-scale production or be ready for shipping before 2020, a prediction that is somewhat in line with earlier rumors that a 2020 timeframe for the car's launch is the most realistic prospect.
Just hours after Apple announced plans to implement App Store revenue sharing changes that will see developers getting an 85/15 revenue split for subscriptions maintained for longer than a year, Re/code says Google is planning on implementing a similar change for Android.
According to unnamed sources, Google is going to implement the same 85/15 split, but unlike Apple, Google will make the new revenue sharing changes available without the one year requirement. It is not known when Google will roll out its revenue changes to all developers.
Now Google plans to up the ante at its app store: It will also move from a 70/30 split to 85/15 for subscriptions -- but instead of requiring developers to hook a subscriber for 12 months before offering the better split, it will make it available right away.
Sources said Google has already been testing the new split with some entertainment companies (so has Apple, to some extent). Google started running the new model over a year ago with video services as a way to get Play subscriptions to work with its TV streaming offerings like the Cast dongle.
Apple currently takes a 30 percent cut of subscription fees in the App Store with 70 percent going to developers, but that's changing with a new policy that will implement an 85/15 split if a customer stays subscribed to an app for more than one year.
For example, if a customer subscribes to Netflix through the App Store and pays $7.99 per month, for the first year, 30 percent of that amount goes to Apple. If a customer stays subscribed, at the start of the second year, Apple's share will drop to 15 percent, giving Netflix 85 percent.
In addition to a new revenue sharing model, Apple expanded App Store subscriptions to encompass all App Store categories, giving developers more options for selling their apps and earning revenue, and it introduced ads for App Store search results.
The United States Department of Justice today urged the Supreme Court to overturn an appeals court ruling that was in Apple's favor and send the Apple vs. Samsung case back to trial court, reports Reuters. The DoJ submitted an amicus brief on Samsung's behalf as the Supreme Court prepares to hear the long-running Apple vs. Samsung case.
Apple's dispute with Samsung made its way to the Supreme Court after the U.S. Federal Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Samsung's final lower court appeal in August of 2015. Samsung's last option was to ask the Supreme Court to hear the case, which it did in December.
Despite Apple's efforts to get the Supreme Court to deny Samsung's request, the court agreed to hear Samsung's appeal. Samsung, which claims it has been hit with "excessive penalties" for allegedly copying the design of the iPhone, submitted its opening brief to the Supreme Court yesterday.
Samsung claims that the penalties were unfair because Apple was awarded damages from the total profits of the product, while the infringing patent only applied to a component of the smartphone rather than the whole device. This is the issue that the Supreme Court will examine.
In its amicus brief on Wednesday, the Justice Department said it was unclear whether Samsung had produced enough evidence to support its argument that phone components, not the entire phone, should be what matters when calculating damages.
The Supreme Court should send the case back for the trial court to determine whether a new trial is warranted on that issue, the Justice Department said.
Samsung has been fighting a 2012 ruling that determined Samsung willfully infringed on Apple patents.
Apple was initially awarded nearly $1 billion in damages, but a significant part of the decision was reversed in 2015, leaving Samsung owing $548 million. Samsung has already paid the $548 million, but could win its money back if the ruling is overturned.
Because iOS, watchOS, and tvOS all share a common naming scheme, there's been some speculation that OS X, the operating system for Macs, could see a name change to "MacOS" at this year's Worldwide Developers Conference.
In a section on when the new revenue split goes into effect, Apple references the types of apps that are eligible, listing iOS, macOS, tvOS, and watchOS.
Unlike the first time "MacOS" was spotted on the Apple website, the iTunes Connect mention uses "macOS" with a lowercase "m" that better fits with the lower case letters used in iOS, watchOS, and tvOS.
It continues to be unknown if the macOS mention is a mistake made because of the naming of Apple's other operating systems or an error made because of an imminent name change planned for OS X.
If Apple is planning to switch from "OS X" to "macOS" or "MacOS," it is not clear if the company will continue on with naming each iteration after California landmarks, a tradition that started with OS X Mavericks in 2013. tvOS, watchOS, and iOS operating system upgrades follow a number-based naming scheme.
We don't have long to wait to find out if there's a naming change in store for Apple's Mac-based operating system. The Worldwide Developers Conference is set to kick off next Monday with a keynote event that will take place at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time.
Update: Apple has updated the page to change "macOS" to "OS X."
Luxury device manufacturer Feld & Volk is known for ripping the internals out of iPhones and building new enclosures for them from a range of high-quality materials, and now the company is doing the same thing with the Apple Watch.
Feld & Volk extracted the components of the Apple Watch and built a unique carbon fiber Apple Watch body from the ground up, for a line of Apple Watches unlike anything Apple is able to offer. Ahead of the launch of its new carbon fiber Apple Watch, Feld & Volk invited us to take a closer look at the device, so MacRumors videographer Matt did a hands-on video to show off its construction and build quality.
As can be seen in the video, the carbon fiber enclosure of the Apple Watch has been built with precision, incorporating a custom carbon fiber side button in addition to leaving the heart rate sensor and Digital Crown functional and accessible. The cutouts for the microphone and speaker have also been added to the body, so this works just like a regular Apple Watch.
Because it's a custom designed body, Feld & Volk's carbon fiber Apple Watch is not compatible with standard Apple Watch bands. Instead, it is designed to work with traditional watch bands, so it still offers a wide range of band options. A rubber band with a matching clasp customizable with initials will ship with each carbon fiber Apple Watch, and an additional band of alligator leather, textile, or resin will also be included, varying by model.
Feld & Volk plans to officially launch its carbon fiber Apple Watch in the near future, but disassembling the Apple Watch and putting it into a new body doesn't come cheap -- these watches will retail for upwards of $5,000. Along with the carbon fiber Apple Watch shown off in the video, Feld & Volk also plans to release custom enclosures made from brass/carbon and wood, with each new custom Apple Watch available in 38 and 42mm size options.
The Feld & Volk watches will be available later this month at French luxury boutique Collette and from the Feld & Volk website.
Note: Feld & Volk loaned a carbon fiber Apple Watch to MacRumors free of charge for the purposes of this video. No other compensation was received and the watch was returned at the conclusion of filming.
Apple analyst Brian White of Wall Street brokerage firm Drexel Hamilton has issued a research note to investors in which he estimates that Apple will reach a bottom in iPhone sales, and overall revenue and profit, in the third quarter of the 2016 fiscal year, a three-month period that ends in late June.
White claimed that all of Apple's supply chain partners that his firm tracks reported May sales that were "softer than historical averages" due to the slowdown, but he forecasted that the much-rumored iPhone 7 series will help Apple's smartphone business return to growth by the second quarter of fiscal 2017.
Until then, the bleeding isn't over. The firm estimated Apple will sell 38.5 million iPhones in the June quarter, down from 47.5 million in the year-ago quarter, followed by an estimated 41 million and 72.3 million sales in the September and December quarters respectively, both of which would also mark year-over-year declines.
White predicted that iPhone sales will then rebound to an estimated 56 million, 45.4 million, and 47.3 million in the subsequent three quarters, signaling a return to modest year-over-year growth throughout 2017. iPhone sales are estimated to reach 76.3 million by the first quarter of fiscal 2018, which would be a record breaker.
It was initially reported that Apple suppliers projected weak demand for the iPhone 7 series due to a "lack of innovation," with other market conditions to blame, but a subsequent report said Apple has asked suppliers prepare for the highest iPhone production target in "about two years."
Apple also reportedly increased iPhone SE orders last month due to strong sales, and the lower-priced 4-inch smartphone should help boost overall iPhone sales.
Mac sales are also expected to bottom out, but not until the second quarter of the 2017 fiscal year, when sales drop to an estimated 3.7 million compared to 4 million in the year-ago quarter. Mac sales are then estimated to reach 3.9 million, 4.4 million, and 4.44 million in the subsequent three quarters.
Given the current "gloom and doom" sentiment surrounding Apple reaching "extreme levels" this year, Drexel Hamilton believes the company's stock represents an "exceptional value." AAPL is currently trading in around the $98 to $100 range, while the firm has set a "buy" status with a price target of $185.
In April, Apple reported its first year-over-year decline in iPhone sales and quarterly revenue since 2003, and its third quarter guidance of between $41 billion and $43 billion in revenue, which would be up to 18 percent lower than the year-ago quarter, suggests that trend will continue through the first half of 2016.
Brian White is a longtime but somewhat infamous Apple analyst that currently serves as Global Head of Technology Hardware and Software at institutional brokerage firm Drexel Hamilton. He previously worked at investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald, where he held the same title, and Topeka Capital Markets.
Apple today released a new update for Safari Technology Preview, the experimental browser Apple first introduced on March 30. Apple uses Safari Technology Preview to test features that may eventually be introduced in the release version of Safari.
Safari Technology Preview release 6 includes bug fixes and updates for JavaScript, CSS, Web APIs, Web Inspector, and Media.
Apple's goal with Safari Technology Preview is to gather feedback from developers and users on its browser development process. Safari Technology Preview can be run side-by-side with the existing Safari browser and while aimed at developers, it does not require a developer account to download.
Apple's Phil Schiller recently sat down with several publications including The Loop and The Verge to detail some of the changes that are going to be made to the App Store under his reign, including major improvements to search, subscription access for all developers, App Store ads when searching for content, and some other smaller tweaks that should go a long way towards improving app discoverability.
Apple is opening up app subscriptions to all product categories, giving developers more options for selling their apps and additional ways to earn revenue. An app like Workflow or Fantastical, for example, could be sold on a subscription basis, with customers able to obtain it for a $5/year subscription fee.
With that change, developers will be able to charge $5 per year rather than just a flat $5 fee, for an ongoing revenue stream, and they'll also be able to offer a subscription that encompasses multiple apps. Apple also plans to introduce up to 200 new tiered pricing options across different currencies and territories for app subscriptions.
Subscription fee changes are also being implemented. Currently, Apple takes a 30 percent cut of subscription fees on the App Store, but now, if a customer stays subscribed to a service for multiple years, Apple will only take a 15 percent cut, leaving 85 percent of profits for developers. That works on a per customer basis, so for customers who subscribe to Netflix through Apple, Netflix will pay Apple 30 percent during the first year and 15 percent the second year.
Apple is adding ads to App Store search results, something that was hinted at earlier this year. Ads will be displayed when a search is conducted and developers will have opportunities to purchase those ads for better app exposure. There will be one ad on the search results page, which Apple will clearly denote as an ad. Ad content will be the same content available on the App Store, and ads will only be accepted from developers. Apple plans to distribute ads through an auction system.
"We've thought about how to carefully do it in a way that, first and foremost, customers will be happy with," Schiller says, adding that he believes the ad auction system in App Store search will be "fair to developers, and fair for indie developers, too."
Recently, the Apple TV Top Charts stopped displaying apps that a user has installed, and that's a change that's rolling out more widely. The "Featured" section in the App Store will change dynamically for each user, no longer displaying apps that are already installed and Apple plans to bring the Categories tab back to the App Store.
A Share sheet will be added as a new 3D Touch Quick Action for all apps, allowing app recommendations to be more easily shared without needing to access the App Store directly. Search is also seeing some significant improvements to make it easier to find exactly what you're looking for and it is one of the areas Apple is focusing on.
Schiller took over the App Store from Eddy Cue late last year, amid developer complaints about discoverability, the review process, poor communication, search results, and myriad other complaints. Schiller promised improvements and has been delivering on that promise. In an interview with The Verge, Schiller said there's a "renewed focus and energy" around the App Store.
Under Schiller's leadership, the App Store has been steadily improving across 2016, not even counting today's changes. The app review process takes as little as two days, featured app sections like Best New Apps are updated on a more regular basis, and Schiller has a secret team working on exploring changes that could be made to the App Store to introduce further improvement.
Apple plans to begin rolling out these changes over the next couple of months. Ads will be made available as part of a beta program next Monday. Subscriptions will be accessible to developers starting in the fall, while existing subscription apps will see changes to the revenue split on June 13.
Apple plans to announce new MacBook Air models within the month of June, and begin shipping the notebooks to retailers in August, according to Japanese website Mac Otakara. The conflicting report also claims that Apple will announce a refresh to its entire MacBook Pro series this month, although it did not specify when shipments of those models would begin.
The report, citing "a reliable Chinese supplier," mentions earlier rumors that Apple will discontinue the smaller 11-inch MacBook Air to focus on 13-inch and all-new 15-inch models, although it is unclear if Mac Otakara's source is independently corroborating them. All of the new MacBook Air and MacBook Pro models are expected to be equipped with Thunderbolt 3/USB-C ports, while USB-A, MagSafe 2, and Thunderbolt 2 ports found on existing models will allegedly be removed.
Mac Otakara said it is unclear whether Apple plans to announce the new MacBook Air and MacBook Pro models at WWDC 2016, but multiple reliable sources have indicated that it will effectively be a no-hardware event. Apple could still make a non-WWDC announcement in June by way of press release, as was the case with the new 12-inch MacBook in April, possibly indicating only minor updates.
Today's report is mostly in line with Taiwan's hit-or-miss Economic Daily News, which reported that Apple will announce slimmer 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air models with "fully redesigned" internal components at WWDC 2016, followed by a launch in the July-September quarter. That report is from November 2015, however, so Apple's exact product roadmap may have changed over the past eight months.
Taiwanese website DigiTimes also reported that Apple will begin shipping new "ultra-thin" 13-inch and 15-inch MacBooks at the end of the June quarter. The report said the new MacBooks will "share a design similar to the existing 12-inch MacBook" and be "thinner than [the] existing MacBook Air," which makes it difficult to infer whether the report is referring to the MacBook, MacBook Air, or MacBook Pro lineup.
In a recent research note, however, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said that Apple will not introduce new MacBook models until the second half of 2016, including a thin and light 13-inch MacBook in the third quarter, and two thinner and lighter 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Pro models in the fourth quarter. Other reliable sources have also suggested new Macs will be released later in the year.
In terms of the new MacBook Pro, Kuo said the 2016 model will feature a thinner and lighter form factor, Touch ID, and a new OLED touch bar positioned above the keyboard. Leaked photos of what appears to be the notebook's unibody revealed space for the OLED touch panel and four USB-C ports. The new MacBook Pro is also expected to adopt metal injection mold-made hinges, which are reportedly already shipping.
Other improvements to the 2016 MacBook Pro should include faster Skylake processors across the lineup, while the top-of-the-line models may sport AMD's new 400-series Polaris graphics chips. Apple last refreshed the 13-inch MacBook Pro in March 2015, followed by the 15-inch model in May 2015, with Force Touch trackpads, faster flash storage, longer battery life, and improved graphics.
Meanwhile, Apple has not fully refreshed the MacBook Air since March 2015, when both the 11- and 13-inch models were upgraded with faster Broadwell processors, Thunderbolt 2, and Intel HD Graphics 6000. The 13-inch MacBook Air also received up to two times faster flash storage. The only minor update to the lineup since then was in April, when Apple bumped the stock 13-inch MacBook Air to 8GB of RAM, up from 4GB.
Apple not updating the 11-inch MacBook Air with 8GB of RAM as well lends credence to rumors claiming the ultra-portable model will be discontinued.
While it is widely believed that Apple may eventually discontinue the entire MacBook Air, which currently sits awkwardly between the Retina MacBook and MacBook Pro, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo recently said the notebook will remain part of Apple's lineup for now, repositioned as its lower-priced offering.
We expect new MacBook Pro models to be thinner and lighter with better hardware specifications. As such, it will retain its high-end position in the line. MacBook will replace MacBook Air to become the medium-/ high-end model. As both MacBook Pro and MacBook have a thin and light form factor, there is no need to keep MacBook Air. For this reason, we predict no significant upgrade for MacBook Air going forward. Rather, it will serve as an entry-level model sold at low prices.
Apple's WWDC 2016 keynote will occur on Monday, June 13 at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time.
New sources have come forth claiming that Apple is in fact aiming to phase out digital music downloads on iTunes, despite the fact that Apple rep Tom Neumayr specifically stated such rumors were "not true" in May.
Speaking with Digital Music News, the insiders said that Apple is simply "keeping their options open" while moving forward, intending to keep a watch on how Apple Music performs in comparison to the digital sales numbers in iTunes.
According to the sources, Apple might be gearing up for an iTunes revamp that would introduce software architecture with the ability for the company to "more easily drop iTunes music downloads" down the road. This would allow Apple to subtly shift the service towards the streaming and radio side of things in the event that paid music downloads drop off precipitously.
The same sources suggest such a refresh could be discussed at WWDC next week, bringing "harmony" between Apple Music and iTunes while preparing for the potential closure of paid downloads down the line.
Sources couldn’t share screenshots or any sensitive information about the upcoming iTunes launch, though a key aspect of the overhaul includes ‘making more sense’ of iTunes music downloads and Apple Music streams. That has been a huge source of confusion for fans, even those that clearly understand the difference between downloading and streaming.
But one source noted that Apple is “definitely not getting rid of [music] downloads” at the WWDC event next week, or any time in the short-term future, while another mentioned that possibility that top executives may “double down” their expressed commitment to the format during WWDC presentations to cool rumors.
The early rumors in May suggested that Apple was looking at a three-to-four year timeline on ending iTunes music downloads, with a staggered termination plan based on regional popularity of paid downloads. Projected gross from downloads in 2019 are around $600 million, down from the $3.9 billion users paid for downloads in 2012.
With many artistsrefraining from streaming services -- and fan support of owning their music remaining relatively strong -- DMN's sources admit that, for the time being, "downloads are here to stay."
Read DMN's full report on the iTunes download situation here.
The United Kingdom's House of Commons this week passed the controversial "Investigatory Powers" bill, which gives spy and government agencies the ability to "engage in bulk surveillance and computer hacking," and has met stern opposition from various technology companies, including Apple. In the House of Commons, the bill passed by a vote of 444 to 69 (via Bloomberg).
The original wording of the bill required companies to build anti-encryption backdoors into their software -- a point of contention Apple fought over repeatedly against the FBI this year -- and the storing of website records for every UK citizen by web and phone companies. The updated version of the bill passed this week introduced slight alterations to these rules, which could ultimately play in the favor of companies like Apple, Google, and Microsoft in the UK.
The updated bill clearly states that companies aren't required to install backdoors to get around encryption when a government agency requests it, with one exception: if taking such an action "is technically feasible and not unduly expensive," the company could face the same request the US government gave Apple earlier in the year.
Of course, the exact definition of what would be "technically feasible and not unduly expensive" isn't divulged in the bill. If the bill ultimately becomes law, these definitions would be left to the decision-making of a British judge on a case-by-case basis. According to Apple and CEO Tim Cook, if the company would have been required to introduce a workaround to grant unlimited access to terrorist Syed Farook's iPhone, it would have taken a team of engineers weeks and been the "software equivalent of cancer."
In the favor of communications companies and mobile operators who would be required to store the records of UK citizens for 12 months at a time, wording in the new bill states that these institutions would be reimbursed "for the cost of complying with the new legal obligations." No similar monetary reimbursement for anti-encryption backdoors by tech companies is mentioned.
The Investigatory Powers bill is now headed to the House of Lords, where it will be analyzed by a panel of legal experts, headed by the UK's independent reviewer of terrorism legislation David Anderson. Anderson and the panel will report if they believe the surveillance and anti-encryption aspects of the bill are legal and justified, and a final vote by the House of Lords will occur in the fall. If everything ultimately passes, the bill is expected to go into effect January 2017.
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.
According to some rumors, Apple's iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus will not include a headphone jack, requiring headphones to connect to the devices using a Lightning connector.
In our tests, all of the Lightning-connected headphones, from the $45 pair to the $800 pair, sounded better than comparable headphones connected to an iPhone using the 3.5mm jack.
Yesterday, The Verge took a closer look at the brand in our highest price bracket, the Audeze El-8, alongside the company's Sine headphones, and argued its own reasons for why adopting Lightning for audio should be considered a welcome and essential advance for serious listeners.
The review makes the general case that Lightning headphones have the potential to hand crucial audio reproduction tasks back to the headphone maker, relegating the iPhone to the role of simple digital source. For high-end listening enthusiasts, this is said to be a potential game-changer, although the impact on an iPhone 7's battery life obviously remains unclear.
In purely sonic terms, The Verge notes how the Audeze audiophile cans sound "dramatically better when exploiting the all-digital connection with their so-called Cipher Lightning cable", which houses its own digital signal processor, digital-to-analog converter (DAC), and headphone amplifier.
"If all future Lightning headphones are designed as thoughtfully and in the same integrated manner as Audeze's, then we'll have nothing to fear from the future," says The Verge. "These Lightning headphones are the real deal: good enough to make me forget all about the 3.5mm jack."
The review continues in a breakdown of general arguments for using Lightning for serious listening enjoyment, the first being better hi-fi portability. This is based on the idea that the integrated smartphone DACs and amps which traditional 3.5mm jack headphones rely on are inferior to dedicated external components.
Given that the latter are usually bulky and inconvenient in their own right, if Lightning headphones can integrate these components into the connector cable, the trade-off should be far superior sound quality.
Audeze takes care of that by integrating those components within its Cipher cable. From the outside, the Cipher module looks like an enlarged remote control, but on the inside it performs an almost magical transformation.
The second argument for Lightning is more power: the reviewer notes that the iPhone's integrated circuitry is among the best on the market, but it still lacks the power to drive high-end cans to their full potential.
Maximum volume directly from the iPhone is quite mediocre, pushing the EL-8 to no more than 70 percent of their capacity through the standard 3.5mm jack. Swap in the Cipher cable, however, and the EL-8 transforms into a super powerful set of cans. It's loud even before you hit Apple's warnings about continuous playback at high volumes, and it's straight up bad for your hearing at its max.
The article also highlights the fact that the Audeze iOS app gives exceptional control over headphone frequency response, and saves user settings in the firmware housed in the Cipher cable.
With two customizable presets per headphone, that means you only have to make your adjustments on one iOS device, and then your pair of EL-8 or Sine will carry those preferences with them to the next Lightning-connected device.
I love the granularity of Audeze's EQ adjustments — which span all audio sources, whether your sound is coming from Tidal, YouTube, or the default Music app — as they can be made in 1dB increments across 10 frequencies.
Finally, The Verge argues that the growing trend towards more digital and less analog "make(s) the classic 3.5mm jack redundant" and positions Lightning alongside wireless protocols as the future drivers of audio innovation.
I can get more convenient audio if I drop the wires, or I can get better audio if I go digital via Lightning. With upgradeable firmware and new sensors being built in, headphones are changing in function just as they're changing in connectivity. If you want to buy the headphones of the future, don't cling on to the connector of the past.
Sure, there'll be an adaptation period where adapters will be necessary, but over time Apple's Lightning and the more universal USB-C standard will take over from the 3.5mm connector. LeEco has already started the trend by eschewing the old jack in its latest phones, and others are sure to follow.
The iPhone 7 is expected to be launched in September, when we should find out just what's in store for audio enthusiasts and regular listeners alike. You can read The Verge's original article here, and be sure to catch MacRumors' video, Lightning Headphones: Are They Better or Just an Inconvenience?
Popular team communication service Slack today launched a voice call feature for its Mac and iOS apps, significantly expanding upon its previously text-only chat environment.
The real time messaging and file sharing platform has become a favorite among professionals for its one-to-one and group conversation tools, and the addition of voice calls comes after months of beta testing by the startup.
The update means all users can make one-on-one calls, but only paying teams can make use of the group call option in channels and group messages.
Slack users should see a phone icon in the channel header when using the desktop app or running the service through Google Chrome browser. A "Start Call" option also now appears in the iOS app's dropdown menu.
Also accompanying the new voice call feature is an emoji response tool, allowing users to make characters appear under their profile photo for the duration of the call. The idea is for listeners to be able to 'comment' on the subject being relayed to them without interrupting the speaker.
Slack announced its intention to introduce voice calling to its text-based chat platform back in March, signaling the company's advance into traditionally Skype-dominated territory and its ambition to become the go-to tool for all team-based communications.
Image messaging and social media app Snapchat has had its Stories page redesigned to increase exposure of commercial publisher's content and boost the company's ad revenue.
The new look, which goes live today, enables publishers to include an image and headline with each daily story in user feeds to increase visibility. The more popular user-contributed Live Stories will now compete for attention alongside them on both the Stories and Discover page.
In addition, Snapchat users can now subscribe to specific publisher channels so that they see unread stories below updates from friends on the Stories page, however non-subscription stories will continue to appear on the Discover page.
The change to the app signals Snapchat's latest effort to boost its advertising business, which remains its primary revenue stream. Currently 19 publishers regularly create specialized content for the platform in the U.S., including Buzzfeed, MTV, Mashable, and Cosmopolitan.
Users can subscribe or unsubscribe to channels by tapping and holding on a story, which should also allow Snapchat to evaluate the success or otherwise of its hosted publishers, while merging Live Stories with Discover should bring more exposure to its channels.
Snapchat reportedly surpassed Twitter recently in its number of daily active users. The redesign is being seen as an abandonment of its earlier strategy to charge users for particular features, and instead focus on increasing its shared publisher and advertising revenue through user clicks.
Snapchat is a free download for iPhone and iPad available on the App Store. [Direct Link]
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