MacRumors

Otono Networks today announced that its global 4G LTE roaming network AlwaysOnline Wireless will be expanding to the United States and 28 additional countries, bringing its total number of countries covered to 74.

The other new countries are: Albania, Antigua & Barbuda, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Cayman Islands, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Guam, Iceland, Jersey, Kenya, Kuwait, Macau, Malta, Mauritius, Moldova, Montenegro, Oman, Peru, Qatar, Serbia, Slovakia, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Turkey, and Turks & Caicos Islands.

AlwaysOnline Wireless provides 4G LTE data by the hour, day, or megabyte, enabling owners of cellular iPads with Apple SIM to purchase short-term plans for on-demand access to high-speed data while traveling. Plans range from $0.99 per hour for 50MB to $59.99 for 5GB, valid for 15 days. All prices are in U.S. dollars.

Apple SIM, a special SIM card that works across multiple carriers, is included in cellular-enabled iPad Air 2, iPad mini 3, iPad mini 4, and iPad Pro models sold in the U.S., Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, and the United Kingdom.

AlwaysOnline launched in late 2015 in, among other places, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. In the U.S. and select other countries, plans are available to international travelers only -- not residents.

Through a separate partnership with GigSky, Apple SIM is available in over 140 countries. Other Apple SIM partners include carriers AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile in the U.S., EE and Three in the United Kingdom, Deutsche Telekom in Germany, Three in Hong Kong, and au by KDDI and SoftBank in Japan.

Meanwhile, AlwaysOnline has introduced new 4G LTE plans in the U.K. offering 2-3 times more LTE data in the country. Prices range between approximately £0.37 per hour for 100MB and 5GB for £22.55, valid for 15 days. These plans will be available directly on cellular iPads through a new partnership with British carrier Three.

AlwaysOnline Wireless data plans can be purchased on compatible iPads by tapping Settings > Cellular Data > Set Up Cellular Data. No Wi-Fi connection is needed to purchase a plan. iOS 9.1 or later is required.

Third-party accessory manufacturer ZENS today launched the two-in-one iPhone/Apple Watch Power Bank, letting users recharge their Apple devices while on the go. The rectangular case has an integrated induction charger for the Apple Watch -- which is Apple MFi Certified -- and a USB-A port on one side for charging any other device connected to the bank.

The Power Bank has an included battery rated at 4,000 mAh and a 2A output, which ZENS said "guarantees fast charging of the Apple Watch and iPhone or iPad." Its battery falls in line with another portable Apple Watch/iPhone charging pack made by Kanex, which can recharge an Apple Watch six times over on one life.

The two-in-one ZENS Power Bank is developed especially for Apple Watch and iPhone/iPad. As is the case with other ZENS products, the innovative new power bank stands out for its sleek, ultra-slim design. It offers a space-saving way to charge your Apple iPhone and/or Apple Watch at home, in the office or on the go, without the need to bring along a cumbersome charging dock while you’re underway.

The Apple MFi Certified module that is incorporated in the ZENS Power Bank eliminates the need to add your own Apple Watch Charger. While you are wirelessly charging your Apple Watch, you can use the reversible micro USB cable, that is impossible to plug in wrong, to charge your iPhone or iPad.

ZENS says the Power Bank is ideal for travel as well as home and office use, because "the all-in-one charging and battery solution requires little space on your desk or in your bag" thanks to its ultra-slim design, which is about 5 inches long and just 1.5 inches wide.

The company has released an integrated charging puck accessory before for the Apple Watch, with the small Apple Watch Power Bank that focused on portability and had a 1,300 mAh battery. That cheaper option, which runs for $56, didn't offer simultaneous iPhone or iPad charging with an additional USB-A port, however.

Those interested can purchase the ZENS iPhone/Apple Watch Power Bank from the company's website for €69.99 or about $78.00, and it will ship to the United States and several other countries from the Netherlands.

Facebook is launching a new user-to-user e-commerce service called "Marketplace" this week in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand (via The Verge). The new buying and selling service will replace the Messenger tab in the main Facebook mobile app for iOS and Android.

According to Facebook Marketplace project manager Bowen Pan, almost 450 million people use the social network's various other services, like group messaging, to buy and sell items already, so "with Marketplace, Facebook is now giving users a more formal process to conduct these exchanges."

When users tap on the new Marketplace icon, Facebook will use an algorithm to present each user with items it believes they will be interested in. This data is accumulated based on previously liked pages, and will even factor in a user's viewing, purchasing, and selling history on Marketplace after they've used the service for a while.

When an item is discovered, users can send the seller a message, or place an offer on it to see if the seller accepts. When users want to unload something of their own, the process will include taking a photo of the item, naming and describing it, setting a sell price, and confirming a current location. The company said search queries can be set to nearby (for person-to-person exchanges), or wider to other cities with the option to ship the item.

"We saw a lot of people were really just looking at coming to Marketplace without necessarily anything in particular they were looking for," Pan says. "They were just on Marketplace to casually browse through. This really mirrors an offline experience where you can go to a Sunday market or maybe the mall. You don’t know exactly what you want but you want to browse." In that sense, Marketplace feels like a hybrid between eBay, Craigslist, and Amazon.

The company said it "does not plan" to charge users fees for using Marketplace when selling items, and Pan said that a desktop version is coming but the company's focus is getting the service right on mobile as of now. On the safety and privacy side of things, Marketplace will continue Facebook's rules against selling drugs, explosives, animals, firearms, and alcohol, but in terms of specific financial security, "Facebook does not have the same kinds of protections or guarantees as, say, eBay," according to The Verge.

"We have built the tools to allow our community to report on any items that may violate our policies," Pan says. "It has well as a whole host of flags that people that can put out for people that may not be acting in the best faith. Once we see a flag, we have a team that will promptly review these and take action." Still, Facebook won’t take responsibility if you get ripped off, and it certainly will not get involved if someone decides to assault you and steal your item at the designated meeting place.

The company thinks that because users will be conducting these transactions under their real identities, it will prevent potential scams that other services might face because of their anonymity. "People on Facebook represent their real selves," Pan said. "We think knowing who you’re transacting with is very important." Facebook said the Marketplace tab will start showing up on the mobile app "over the next few days."

Popular messaging app Telegram today announced the launch of a bot-powered gaming platform that enables users to play games right inside their chats.

Last year we launched a Bot Platform for Telegram. Free, powerful, and open, it was an instant hit among users and developers. Today we are aiming to push the boundaries further by launching a bot-powered Gaming Platform on Telegram. That’s right: you can now use bots to play games in your chats, complete with graphics and sound.

The company promises 'hundreds of games' are heading for the messaging service, but around 30 are ready to go live, many of them published by developer platform gamee. Games can be anything from simple arcades and puzzles to multiplayer 3D-shooters and real-time strategy games.

Users can start a game by interacting with a chat bot, either directly or by invoking a bot from an existing conversation thread using the @gamee alias. Gamers are also able to challenge friends on the Telegram service and start up competitions across existing chats, with high scores saved and updated for every game played in a thread and gamers notified if they get overtaken in a leaderboard.

Telegram is promoting the idea of users building their own games, which it calls 'easy', and reckons some can be created in a matter of hours. The technology powering the games is HTML5, so they're loaded on-demand like ordinary web pages and therefore take up zero space on the host device.

To be able to play the games, users will need to update their apps to version 3.13, which should roll out on the App Store store today. Telegram is a free download for iPhone and iPad. [Direct Link]

U.K. mobile retailer Carphone Warehouse was today guilty of publishing a series of visuals and spec slides for Google's upcoming own-branded smartphones, a day ahead of their official unveiling (via 9to5Google).

Due to be announced at the company's October 4th San Francisco event, Google's 5-inch 'Pixel' and 5.5-inch 'Pixel XL' smartphones feature Snapdragon 821 processors and 4GB RAM, a 2770mAh battery for the Pixel and a 3450mAh battery for the Pixel XL, and screen resolutions of 1080x1920 and 1440x2560, respectively.

Both similar-looking handsets are available in black or white, and come with a choice of 32GB and 128GB storage capacities with the addition of a microSD slot for storage expansion, as well as what appears to be a headphone jack on the top and a USB-C port on the bottom. A 12-megapixel camera on the back, an 8-megapixel front-facing camera, and a circular fingerprint scanner on the rear also feature.

The pulled slides from the U.K. retailer's website also show off a number of Google software services on the Android Nougat 7.1 powered devices, including free photo storage via Google Photos, and the company's Duo video chat and Allo messaging apps, not to mention a quick charge feature that claims seven hours' battery life after 15 minutes of charging.

The two smartphones signal the company's first foray into own-branded phones in the manner of Apple and Samsung, and will allow it to have more control over the hardware running its Android OS.

Google is said to be relying on HTC to manufacture the devices, which will be unveiled tomorrow along with a number of other expected hardware announcements, including the company's Amazon Alexa competitor, Google Home, a Daydream VR headset, 4K Chromecast 'Ultra', plus a successor to its OnHub wireless router.

Apple has recently updated Apple Maps to include Amtrak's full system of train routes across the United States and in select Canadian cities.

Building upon support for northeast routes, Apple Maps now supports Amtrak routes in the Midwest, Northwest, South, and West regions of the U.S., and in the Canadian cities of Montréal and Vancouver. Amtrak routing is available mainly in areas where transit directions have been implemented.

Midwest:

• Blue Water operating between Chicago, Illinois and Port Huron, Michigan
• Wolverine operating between Chicago, Illinois and Pontiac, Michigan
• Cardinal operating between Chicago, Illinois and New York, New York
• Southwest Chief operating between Chicago, Illinois and Los Angeles, California
• Texas Eagle operating between Chicago, Illinois and San Antonio, Texas
• City of New Orleans operating between Chicago, Illinois and New Orleans, Louisiana
• Empire Builder operating between Chicago, Illinois and Portland/Seattle
• Illinois Service operating between Chicago, Illinois and Carbondale, Illinois
• Pere Marquette operating between Grand Rapids, Michigan and Chicago, Illinois
• Capitol Limited operating between Washington, D.C. and Chicago, Illinois
• Hoosier State operating between Indianapolis, Indiana and Chicago, Illinois
• Hiawatha operating between Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Chicago, Illinois
• Missouri River Runner operating between St. Louis and Kansas City in Missouri

California:

• Capitol Corridor operating between Auburn, California and San Jose, California
• Coast Starlight operating between Seattle, Washington and Los Angeles, California
• Pacific Surfliner operating between San Luis Obispo and San Diego in California
• San Joaquins operating between San Francisco area and Bakersfield area in California
• Sunset Limited operating between New Orleans, Louisiana and Los Angeles, California

South:

• Auto Train operating between Lorton, Virginia and Sanford, Florida
• Carolinian operating between New York, New York and Charlotte, North Carolina
• Crescent operating between New York, New York and New Orleans, Louisiana
• Silver Service/Palmetto operating between New York, New York and Tampa/Miami

Northwest:

• Amtrak Cascades operating between Vancouver, B.C. and Eugene, Oregon

West:

• Heartland Flyer operating between Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and Fort Worth, Texas

Additional northeastern routes such as Adirondack, operating between Montréal, Québec and New York, New York, and Downeaster, operating between Brunswick, Maine and Boston, Massachusetts, are also now supported.

Update: As mentioned by some readers, the California Zephyr route, operating between Chicago, Illinois and Emeryville, California, has not yet been added.

(Thanks, Alec!)

For this week's giveaway, we've teamed up with popular accessory maker Pad & Quill to give MacRumors readers a chance to win an expertly crafted case designed for the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus.

Pad & Quill makes a wide range of accessories for Apple's iOS devices, all made by hand from high-quality wood and leather, and its new line of iPhone 7 cases are no exception.

The Luxury Pocket Book iPhone 7 Case, the first case we're giving away, is a book-style case that's designed to both house and protect the iPhone 7. It features a cover made from full-grain American saddle leather to keep the iPhone 7's screen safe from scratches when in a pocket, and it has a birch wood cradle that holds the iPhone in place in case of a drop or impact while still leaving ports fully accessible.

Designed to perfectly fit the iPhone 7 or the iPhone 7 Plus, it comes with a wood frame to protect the area around the camera and a bookmark accent to complete the look. Inside the cover, there's space for up to five cards (six in the iPhone 7 Plus version) along with a clear ID pocket and a hidden cash pocket.

Available in several tasteful color combinations, the Luxury Book iPhone 7 case is priced at $99.95 while the iPhone 7 Plus version is priced at $109.95.

We're also giving away some of Pad & Quill's Woodline cases for the iPhone 7 and the iPhone 7 Plus, priced at $49.95. Available in four hard woods, including American Cherry, Rosewood, Premium American Walnut, and Zebra Wood, the Woodline is billed as the "world's thinnest, strongest wood case" for the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus.

The Woodline case snaps onto the two devices and has been crafted to fit perfectly with access to all ports. It's got an ultra-strong polymer core, able to keep the iPhone safe from drops. The case measures in at less than a millimeter thin and is 5x stronger than steel at the same weight. The wood is polished and resistant to scratches so it will look great for a long time.

Three MacRumors readers will win one of Pad & Quill's Luxury Book Cases and three MacRumors readers will win one of Pad & Quill's Woodline cases, all in the size and color of the winner's choosing. If you don't have an iPhone 7 or an iPhone 7 Plus, you can still enter - Pad & Quill is also offering its Luxury Book and Woodline cases for the iPhone 6/6s/6 Plus/6s Plus to winners.

To enter to win, use the Rafflecopter widget below and enter an email address. Email addresses will be used solely for contact purposes to reach the winner and send the prize. You can earn additional entries by subscribing to our weekly newsletter, subscribing to our YouTube channel, following us on Twitter, or visiting the MacRumors Facebook page.

Due to the complexities of international laws regarding giveaways, only U.S. residents who are 18 years of age or older are eligible to enter. To offer feedback or get more information on the giveaway restrictions, please refer to our Site Feedback section, as that is where discussion of the rules will be redirected.

The contest will run from today (September 30) at 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time through 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time on October 7. The winners will be chosen randomly on October 7 and will be contacted by email. The winners will have 48 hours to respond and provide a shipping address before new winners are chosen. Prizes will be shipped in mid to late October.

Apple has announced that iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus launch in India on October 7 and in Macao, Macedonia, Malaysia, Montenegro, South Africa, and Turkey on October 14.

The smartphones also launch in Ukraine on October 7, and in South Korea and Thailand on October 21, according to local news reports.

In India, the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus will be available through online shops Flipkart, which began accepting pre-orders earlier today, and Infibeam. Pricing starts at Rs 60,000, with trade-in deals available.

In South Africa, the smartphones will be available through Cell C, iStore, and select other carriers and resellers in the country. Pricing starts at R12 999 for iPhone 7 and R15 499 for iPhone 7 Plus.

iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus launched in the United States, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and other first wave countries on September 16, followed by over 30 more countries on September 23.

Additional countries will likely follow.

Apple is said to be in talks with Japanese electronics maker Sharp to create OLED displays for next-generation iPhones, with the ultimate outcome of the deal depending on Sharp's capacity to output a large amount of displays (via Bloomberg). The Osaka-based company would be one of a handful of OLED suppliers for Apple, and the deal is said to originate from the Cupertino company's "desire to increase the number of suppliers for OLED screens" for a number of future devices.

The rumor of Apple's negotiations with Sharp followed a report on Friday that said the electronics manufacturer is set to spend $570 million on OLED panel production. Sharp will use the funds to purchase equipment for OLED production in its Osaka and Mie factories, with the ultimate goal to start production "by June 2018." According to some watching the negotiations, Apple is encouraging Sharp to enter the OLED business.

“Apple has unofficially or as a nod encouraged Sharp to go into it,” said Amir Anvarzadeh, Singapore-based head of Japanese equity sales at BGC Partners Inc., in a phone interview. “Apple’s general strategy is to increase the competition on the supply side, and dilute the risk exposure to one company.”

“This investment is in response to what Apple is doing,” said Hideki Yasuda, an analyst at Ace Research Institute in Tokyo. “Production isn’t likely to begin until the second half of 2018, so the impact to profit won’t be until after that.”

Earlier in the year, Sharp was acquired by another Apple supplier, Foxconn, in a $6.2 billion takeover that saved the former company from a string of financial losses and $4.3 billion in debt, which Foxconn was reported as prepared to take on. The investment in OLED screen technology is said to be a "strategic plan" adopted from Foxconn as the two companies follow Apple into the future of iPhone manufacturing. Apple reportedly accounts for 27 percent of Sharp's revenue.

Next year's so-called "iPhone 8" is believed to come with an OLED display, along with an all-glass body, edge-to-edge, bezel-free display, and a Home button that's integrated into the screen. Since Sharp's OLED facilities are aiming for a mid-to-late 2018 output, the manufacturer will miss 2017's mega-cycle iPhone launch, however. Currently, the only supplier signed on to create OLED displays for the iPhone 8 is Samsung.

Taiwan's Financial Supervisory Commission has begun accepting applications from the country's banks for offering Apple Pay to their customers, according to a report out today (via DigiTimes).

The mobile payment service will initially be limited to the use of credit cards, although other financial card systems like debit cards are expected to be allowed at a later date.

Apple Pay is expected to be provided by Taiwan's four big banks – CTBC Bank, Cathay United Commercial Bank, E.SUN Commercial Bank, and Taishin International Bank. Customers should be able to apply to use Apple Pay at the end of the year at the earliest.

Last month, Taiwan became joint-third in line with Switzerland to adopt Apple's carrier billing feature for iTunes users, allowing them to charge app and media transactions directly to their cellphone bill.

Apple debuted the billing scheme in Germany back in October 2015, before rolling it out to users in Russia a month later. Apple is likely to continue to expand the initiative to more countries as it seeks to secure deals with carriers for lower transaction handling rates.