MacRumors

Apple previewed iOS 10 earlier this week with new rich notifications that enable iPhone users to view photos and videos, listen to audio, or respond to messages directly within notification bubbles. If you receive an iMessage, for example, you will be able to reply to the conversation without leaving the Lock screen.

iOS_10_rich_notifications_duo
Apple has also provided developers with the ability to update existing notifications with new information, or delete them, which should help declutter the Lock screen and Notification Center. But many apps still generate multiple notifications, such as every photo, video, or message you receive on Snapchat.

MacRumors forum member chrf097 explains:

The problem with this current system is that notifications become easily cluttered. An active group chat can result in hundreds of individual notifications. For example I'm in a group chat of friends with about 12 active people, and I have to leave it muted anytime I choose not to participate, due to the amount of notifications that collect. In addition, this means that important information can get lost in the sea of notifications.

The solution, as seen in his concept below, could be to follow in Android's footsteps by collapsing notifications on a per-app basis.

iOS_10_collapsed_notification_concept
The new design would save valuable screen space and allow you to glance at your Lock screen or Notification Center notifications much quicker. But collapsed notifications could inhibit the rich notification experience, so it would work best if collapsed notifications could be toggled on or off on a per-app basis in Settings.

Apple seeded the first beta of iOS 10 to developers earlier this week, and a public beta will be available in July. The free software update will officially be released in the fall for most devices compatible with iOS 9, excluding the iPhone 4s, iPad 2 and 3, original iPad mini, and fifth-generation iPod touch.

Apple could introduce collapsible notifications in a future iOS 10 beta, although changes will more likely be limited to minor tweaks and enhancements.

The University of Cambridge has awarded seven "distinguished individuals" with honorary degrees -- known as the highest honor bestowed by the University -- in fields like law, business, and medical science. One of those honored was Apple's own Jony Ive, who received a doctorate in science for the "elegance, purity and beauty" he brought to personal computers in his time at the company.

jony ive honorary degree

The man credited with introducing elegance, purity and beauty to the design of personal computers as Apple's chief designer was also honoured. A doctorate in science was conferred on Sir Jonathan Ive, Chief Design Officer at Apple, in recognition of his impact on the world of computing and in making technology approachable through design.

Cambridge won't be the only esteemed university giving Ive an honorary degree, as Oxford plans to bestow a similar honor onto Apple's chief design officer next week. The Oxford ceremony recognizes ten figures from similar fields as Cambridge, including theology, law, economics and, in Ive's case, science.

At Oxford, Ive will be named a "Doctor of Science," alongside neurobiologist Dr Cornelia Bargmann and physicist Mildred Dresselhaus. The honorary degrees will be given out at the University's annual Encaenia ceremony on June 22.

Despite announcing a handful of new additions to iOS 10 earlier in the week at WWDC, Apple kept silent on whether or not a much-requested "Dark Mode" would be coming to its mobile operating system this year, although it did announce a similar feature would be hitting Apple TV.

iOS 10 dark mode
Yesterday, developer Andrew Wiik shared a few screenshots of what appears to be an early form of Dark Mode running on the first beta of iOS 10 inside Xcode. Wiik's tweet shows darkened versions of Messages, while a responding user corroborated his finding with pictures of Clock, Safari, and iTunes.

The Clock app is known to have gotten a darkened redesign in iOS 10, and a shot of iBooks is also included, but a reading-enabled "Night Mode" has been around since iOS 8. iTunes also presently uses a darkened scheme in its iOS app but, according to beta tester Mac Aficionados on Twitter, the system wide Dark Mode provides a unified darkened hue across all apps in comparison to what used to be an app-specific colorway with varying levels of black.

In a Reddit post sharing the screenshots, Wiik mentioned that "Apple has implemented the feature it just isn't available for us users yet." He went on to hope that "this won't be an iPhone 7 exclusive."

ios dark mode 2
The potential for Dark Mode's inclusion in iOS has been around for a while now, but picked up steam thanks to speculation in a few concept videos shared earlier in the Spring. Closer to WWDC, possible hints from a few evasive Siri responses -- alongside additional concept images -- fueled more rumors than ever that the feature would be announced by Apple during its keynote.

Related Forum: iOS 10

In the weeks leading up to WWDC 2016, multiple reliable sources indicated the opening keynote would be a no-hardware affair. And as it turned out, the focus of the event was unsurprisingly on software, including iOS 10, macOS Sierra, tvOS 10, and watchOS 3. So, when can we expect new Apple hardware?

Many products were at some point rumored to have a possible connection with WWDC 2016, including the next-generation Apple Watch, MacBook Pro, and Thunderbolt Display. Those that have been following rumors consistently, however, will know that the most of the products are actually expected in the second half of 2016.

The following roundup serves as a refresher of rumors we have heard up until this point.

Macs

mbp_13Apple last updated 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. As our Mac Buyer's Guide indicates, that was around 400 days ago, leading many to believe that a refresh is overdue.

Prospective buyers were hopeful that Apple would surprise with a new MacBook Pro at WWDC 2016, despite the keynote being billed as a no-hardware affair, but the comapny delivered upon expectations and focused on software announcements only. So, when will the 2016 MacBook Pro be released?

➜ Click here to read rest of article...

Case designs, drawings, and renders for the "iPhone 7" and "iPhone 7 Plus" have been propagating online for several months now, with most agreeing that the 2016 smartphone will adopt the same design language of the iPhone 6s. Apple is still expected to introduce a few new exclusive features on this year's iPhone, possibly including a Smart Connector, dual-lens camera, redesigned antennae bands, and no 3.5mm headphone jack.

iphone 7 render 5
Some of these additions -- mainly the dual-lens camera -- are rumored to be solely found on the iPhone 7 Plus, while the existence of others are still debated as we move closer to September and the expected reveal of each handset. Today, designer Mathijs Schrauwen (via iPhoned) [Google Translate] has imagined these rumors into an iPhone 7 rendering, alongside the newest information coming out of WWDC regarding the feature-packed additions of iOS 10.

iPhone 7 render 1
Schrauwen's designs show off the expected dual-lens camera system of the new iPhone, housed inside a small pill-shaped enclosure along with a horizontally aligned flash. The back also honors the rumor that Apple will realign the antennae bands from the current design, which cut across the back of the iPhone. The designer went for a Space Gray look, contrasting recent, questionable rumors that Apple might ditch the color in favor of a kind of "Deep Blue."

iPhone 7 render 4
Thanks to iOS 10's nixing of the "Slide to Unlock" feature, placing more emphasis on Touch ID than ever before, Schrauwen also includes a touch-sensitive Home Button in his renderings. This falls in line with recent sketchy reports that the iPhone 7 could possibly be the first iPhone model without a physical Home Button.

iPhone 7 render 3
The back of the new design renders double down on the Smart Connector rumor that is one of the more contested reports for the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, with the earliest rumors saying it was coming in 2016, and newer ones contradicting that news. iPhoned also alleges that Schrauwen's designs remove the 3.5mm headphone jack, which is one of the more widely believed rumors, but none clearly show the bottom of the device.

iPhone 7 render 2
Besides the hardware specifics, the renders are interesting insights into what a new generation iPhone might possibly look like running iOS 10. Schrauwen depicts screens running apps like Watch and Messages, and performing basic duties in the new widgets view. Instead of a downward swipe to access widgets in Notification Center, iOS 10 places them on the left-most screen of both the Lock screen and Home screen.

There's been a lot of news surrounding iOS 10 and all of its new features coming out of WWDC this week, with new details on apps like Messages, Photos, and the nuances of the redesigned Lock screen getting heavy attention. You can catch up with all the news you may have missed in the MacRumors iOS 10 tidbits post, and check out our most recent video, centering around the robust additions to Messages.

Related Forum: iOS 10

Facebook has included a secret soccer game in the latest update to its Messenger app to celebrate Euro 2016 and Copa America.

To play the game, called "Keepy Up", update the iOS Messenger app and send a friend a soccer ball emoji, then tap the emoji in the chat thread to launch the game, the aim of which is to keep the ball in the air.

Messenger soccer game
The game can be started again using the same emoji in the same thread, and high scores are posted in the chat window.

Facebook's previous secret game was basketball-themed to celebrated March Madness and the new NBA season. The game proved a bit hit with users, having since been played over 1 billion times, according to the company.

Earlier this month, Facebook also added 1,500 new emojis to Messenger in order to cater for the diversity of its user base.

Facebook Messenger is a free download for iPhone and iPad on the App Store. [Direct link]

An interesting leak has emerged online this morning that suggests Samsung is about to bring a new type of light notification technology to the rear case of its smartphones.

Android phones often come with a separate notification LED on the front of the handset that alerts users to missed messages and calls. Otherwise, notifications are usually assumed to relate to the display of a mobile device.

However, leaked specs and images that appeared on Dutch mobile tech site Galaxy Club show a new type of notification system for the back of a phone that Samsung is calling 'Smart Glow'.

Samsung Smart Glow

Smart Glow system expected to appear in the Samsung Galaxy J2 (Image: Galaxy Club)

The system features a luminous ring that runs around the handset's rear camera lens and which lights up to alert users, glowing different colors depending on the function in use.

For example, the ring of light will glow to indicate that the rear camera has detected a face, allowing the user to take a selfie with the superior-quality rear lens.

The Smart Glow technology may also be used to communicate alerts when the handset has been placed face down on a surface, allowing users to choose specific colors to indicate particular notification types. Colors will also show when the battery is running low or when it has reached a full charge.

The website suggests that the notification system will appear in the Samsung Galaxy J2, due to launch in India later this year. The feature has yet to be officially announced by Samsung, so the likelihood of its appearance in the company's flagship phones like the Galaxy Note 7 remains unknown.

The idea that Apple might one day try something similar with a future iPhone is not impossible. The most obvious candidate for the implementation of a rear notification system is the iconic Apple logo that appears on the rear of every iPhone.

The same logo on a MacBook lid glows whenever the laptop is opened, and speculation that Apple planned to use a lighted logo on its phones has existed ever since iPhone 6 leaks began appearing showing a chassis cut-out and the use of an embedded logo.

Those rumors were never realized, although third-party hacks do exist that allow iPhone 6 owners to make the logo on their handsets light up using LEDs.

Early rumors for next year's so-called "iPhone 8" suggest the Cupertino company won't debut a spec-bumped, internally upgraded "iPhone 7s", but a completely overhauled handset with major design changes and new, next-generation features, like wireless charging, a Touch ID-equipped OLED display, and no home button.

At its Worldwide Developer Conference earlier this week, Apple announced a raft of updates to notifications and the way that developers are able to present them to users in iOS 10. No hardware announcements accompanied the conference, however.

Update: One of our forum members has noted that a setting in iOS 9's Accessibility options enables visual notifications on an iPhone using the rear LED flash. To use the setting, open the Settings app, tap General -> Accessibility, and Toggle LED Flash for Alerts to ON.

Tag: Samsung
Related Forum: iPhone

Apple has begun inviting its retail store employees to try pre-release versions of macOS Sierra, the latest version of its Mac software platform and renamed successor to OS X El Capitan.

Staff who sign up to the voluntary AppleSeed program are set to receive pre-release versions of macOS Sierra to install on their personal computers for use on their own time.

Sierra seed program
Apple is hoping that staff who get involved will help the company assess how the OS stands up in typical everyday usage scenarios, as outlined in its AppleSeed participation guidelines:

We ask that you use seeded software in your day-to-day activities, which is an environment that cannot be replicated at Apple. We will provide you with a variety of tools that will allow you to give us detailed information about your experience, should you decide to provide feedback to us.

As usual, the AppleSeed program is subject to a strict confidentiality agreement that prevents employees from publicly discussing their involvement in testing the seed.

Apple has invited retail employees to try pre-release software for the past few years, such as the company's Photos app, which replaced iPhoto and was released last year for OS X.

macOS Sierra was announced on Monday at WWDC 2016, and became available to developers for testing immediately after the company's keynote. Apple says a public beta will be launched in July, while the final public release is coming in the fall.

macOS Sierra includes a number of new capabilities, including Siri desktop integration, an automatic unlocking feature, universal Clipboard support, new iCloud integration, Apple Pay for the web, and more. The new Mac OS also features an entirely new file system, dedicated RAID Support, and an intelligent Optimized Storage function.

The macOS name, which does away with Apple's long-standing OS X naming scheme, also brings the name of the Mac operating system in line with iOS, watchOS, and tvOS.

Related Forum: macOS Sierra

According to Apple, Messages is the most used iOS app, and for that reason, it got a lot of attention in iOS 10. Messages has been completely revamped with features to make conversations more personalized, expressive, and fun.

As can be seen in the video below, background animations, like balloons, confetti, and fireworks can be sent along with messages to make an impact, and a new "Bubble Effects" feature lets users send iMessage chat bubbles with different animated effects to add emotion to each message.


Digital Touch, the sketching feature of the Apple Watch, is coming to Messages. Digital Touch can be used to create little sketches, send a heartbeat, and send taps, and on iOS devices, you can Digital Touch over photos and videos.

Photos can be taken directly in the Messages app and edited with new built-in editing tools. There's also a new Markup feature that can be used to annotate images with text, sketches, and more.

Emoji in the Messages app are now three times larger when sent alone, and there's a new predictive Emoji feature that will automatically suggest words that can be replaced with emoji symbols. An invisible ink feature lets you send messages that stay hidden until a finger slides over them, and there's a tool for sending handwritten notes to friends.

A "Tapback" feature for lets users quickly respond to messages with symbols like a heart or a thumbs up, and Messages now supports rich links so it's possible to view content in line and do things like play Apple Music songs without leaving the Messages app.

The biggest change to Messages is a dedicated Messages App Store, which allows developers to create apps that are used exclusively in Messages. Stickers and GIFs can be added to message threads through apps, and more powerful capabilities, like sending payments or scheduling a dinner can also be done through apps without leaving Messages.

In case you missed them, make sure to check out our seven minute WWDC 2016 video, which features a quick rundown on all of the new iOS, macOS Sierra, tvOS, and watchOS features Apple introduced this week, our video highlighting iOS 10's overhauled Lock screen, and a video on the new features in the Photos app. Make sure to stay tuned to MacRumors, because we've got more in-depth software videos in the works.

Related Forum: iOS 10

During a live streaming event at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles, Nintendo today hinted at an official launch timeframe for Pokémon GO, a highly anticipated augmented reality game that will allow users to catch Pokémon in the world around them.

In a call between Nintendo, The Pokémon Company, and Niantic Labs, Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto showed off the Pokémon GO Plus device, which is a Bluetooth wearable accessory that will allow players to get alerts for nearby Pokémon without the need to keep a close eye on their iPhones.


During the presentation, Miyamoto mentioned that the GO Plus device will ship by the end of July, and because the accessory is dependent on the game, Pokémon GO will also need to launch during that same timeframe. As TechCrunch points out, this isn't concrete launch information, but it does narrow down the potential launch window.

The Pokémon GO Plus, which Nintendo will sell for $35, will flash green when a Pokémon is nearby, and it's also able to throw Poké Balls to catch Pokémon that can be transferred to an iPhone.

Pokémon GO is currently being tested in several countries around the world, and many details have leaked out about the game. When walking around, users will come across Pokémon hidden in the wild and will receive a notification whenever a Pokémon is discovered.

Using an iPhone, players will aim a Poké Ball at a Pokémon to capture it. Poké Balls, Pokémon Eggs, and other accessories will be obtainable at "PokéStops," which are located in places like public art installations, historical markers, and monuments.

Players will level up their trainers by capturing Pokémon and there will be Gyms located around the world where battles between Pokémon can take place. As in all Pokémon games, there are hundreds of Pokémon to discover through exploring and evolution.

Today's event revealed a few previously unknown details, including news that Pokémon trading won't be available at launch but could be added to the game at a later time.

Apple on Tuesday hosted a WWDC 2016 session called What's New in Accessibility that provided an overview of new assisitive technologies and features added to iOS 10, macOS Sierra, tvOS 10, and watchOS 3.

Physical and Motor Skills

Switch-Control-tvOS
Switch Control can now be used to interact with the tvOS interface using a single physical button, such as a switch on a wheelchair. There is both a cursor interface that highlights elements on the screen and an alternative interface with an on-screen remote. Accessibility users that already use Switch Control with an iOS device or Mac can automatically use the function on tvOS without re-pairing a switch.

Dwell-Control-macOS
Dwell Control is a new feature for macOS Sierra that enables users to control the cursor on Mac using assistive technologies and hardware like a headband with reflective dots or eye movements. When the cursor dwells on a certain location, a timer appears that expires and invokes a mouse click or other customizable actions.

Vision

Vision-iOS-10
Apple has made display and color adjustments and introduced the option to tint the entire display on Mac, Apple TV, and iOS devices, which can significantly increase contrast and reading ability.

Taptic Time is a new VoiceOver feature on watchOS 3 that uses a series of distinct taps from the Taptic Engine to help someone tell time silently and discreetly.

Vision-Magnifier-iOS
Magnifier is a new systemwide iOS 10 feature that enables users to use the camera to magnify objects in their physical environment. Various color filters, such as grayscale and inverted grayscale, are supported to increase contrast.

Hearing

Software-TTY-iOS
iOS 10 allows for Software TTY calls to be placed without any additional hardware. The calls work with legacy TTY technology and make it easy to dial a non-TTY number through your carrier’s relay service. There are also built-in TTY-specific QuickType keyboard predictions.

Learning

Typing-feedback-iOS
iOS 10 has a number of enhancements designed to help people with dyslexia. There are improvements to Speak Selection and Speak Screen to help people better understand text that has already been entered, and there is new audio feedback for typing to help people immediately catch mistakes.

Learn more by watching the What's New in Accessibility video or reading the slideshow.

Related Roundups: Apple Watch 10, Apple TV, WWDC 2025

The Photos app in iOS 10 has been updated with what Apple calls "Siri intelligence," which essentially equates to new deep learning techniques and advanced facial and object recognition algorithms.

Using these tools, Photos is able to scan a user's entire photo library, intelligently detecting people, animals, places, and objects and grouping photos together in a logical way based on those parameters. As can be seen in the video below, this enables powerful searching capabilities, allowing users to search for "cats" to bring up their images of cats, or "mountains" to find all images taken of mountains.


New to Photos on iOS is a "People" album, housing all of a user's images featuring people, grouped based on facial recognition, and there's a world map that shows the physical location where each of a user's photos were taken.

Perhaps the best new feature in Photos is a "Memories" tab that uses all of the image recognition, date, and location information to aggregate photos based around certain days, vacation trips, family events, and more, so your photos can be revisited on a regular basis. With Memories, there are options to watch quick video montages of photos, which are set to music.

Also new in the iOS 10 Photos app are Live Filters that work with Live Photos and new Markup tools for annotating photos.

The new features in Photos are powered by a device's GPU with all learning done on a device-by-device basis to ensure full privacy. Apple has made it clear that it does not see images or image metadata. When using the new Photos features, each device with a photo library will need to scan images independently -- there is no iCloud link yet.

In case you missed them, make sure to check out our seven minute WWDC 2016 video, which features a quick rundown on all of the new iOS, macOS Sierra, tvOS, and watchOS features Apple introduced this week, and our video highlighting iOS 10's overhauled Lock screen. stay tuned to MacRumors for more in-depth software videos.

Related Forum: iOS 10

Apple implemented privacy safeguards on iOS long ago so that when an app requests access to your contacts, calendars, photos, or location, a dialog box pops up asking for express user permission. On iOS 9 and previous software versions, however, that safeguard did not extend to a device's media library.

iOS_10_privacy_media_library
Apple developer Ben Dodson addressed the privacy concern in a blog post in January:

I discovered that there is no privacy prompt when a developer tries to access your library. In fact, they can access all of your music data […] This process happens completely silently and in my tests I was able to loop through a library of 10,000 songs, put all the metadata in a JSON file, and upload it to a server in under 2 seconds!

Apple acknowledged the issue earlier this year, and it has now introduced a new Cocoa key called NSAppleMusicUsageDescription that developers are required to use in all apps which access the media library on iOS 10 or later. This change ensures that users have to grant express permission for an app to access the music library.

NSAppleMusicUsageDescription (String - iOS). This key lets you describe the reason your app accesses the user’s media library. When the system prompts the user to allow access, the value that you provide for this key is displayed as part of the alert.

To protect user privacy, an iOS app linked on or after iOS 10.0, and which accesses the media library, must statically declare the intent to do so. Include the NSAppleMusicUsageDescription key in your app’s Info.plist file and provide a purpose string for this key. If your app attempts to access the media library without a corresponding purpose string, your app exits.

The new requirement will prevent third-party developers from being able to access a user's media library and send data on what's included back to a server without user-granted permission. This includes changes to the media library, which could have been analyzed for advertising or tracking purposes.

Apps that have requested access to your media library are listed in Settings > Privacy > Media Library.

Apple previewed iOS 10 on Monday during its WWDC 2016 keynote, and it has seeded the first beta to developers. A public beta will launch in July ahead of an official release in the fall. iOS 10 is compatible with most iOS 9 devices, excluding the iPhone 4s, iPad 2 and 3, original iPad mini, and fifth-generation iPod touch.

(Thanks, Steve Moser!)

Related Forum: iOS 10

In a lengthy new interview with Adweek (via CNET), Samsung's top marketing executive Younghee Lee addressed a few topics centered around how the company "embraced innovation to become a global master of brand marketing." Its accomplishments in the media space have earned it the 2016 Marketer of the Year award at the Cannes Ad Festival.

One of Lee's soundbites of the interview is particularly interesting, given Samsung's history of negatively focusing on Apple in some of its advertisements over the years. When asked about how the company manages to stay above Apple with the largest global smartphone market share in the world, Lee detailed a marketing strategy that emphasizes what the team believes to be right, and then they "pursue it relentlessly."

We always relentlessly pursue what we think is right in technology. Our communications program is no different. If we think it is right, we pursue it relentlessly. In North America, we were aggressive with our marketing toward competitors—we went at them head on. If you think about the "Fanboy" and "Wall Hugger" (Galaxy S) campaigns and the approach we took there, we tried to be flexible, relevant and bold.

The virtues of our brand are engineering, openness, freedom in mindset, purposeful innovation, multiculturalism, vibrancy, being inviting and inclusiveness. My goal is to help our consumers understand our values and support how the brand can be attached to them.

Lee's comments are referencing two ads that present a focus on Apple's iPhone -- Fanboy (video above) and Wall Hugger -- and then introduce Samsung's alternatives with a few features that were improved over Apple's handsets at the time, including a larger screen and better battery life. The company will keep its market-winning strategy going forward, according to Lee, while also attempting to focus on her biggest challenge: "to obtain more share of mind from millennials" in order to keep Samsung and its Galaxy brand "as a young and fresh mindset."

Check out Adweek's full interview with Lee here.

Tag: Samsung

Apple has extended its Back to School promotion to countries in Europe, offering a free pair of Beats Solo2 Wireless Headphones with eligible purchases.

At the beginning of June, Apple launched its annual Back to School promotion in the U.S. and Canada, offering the headphones to qualifying students and select others that purchase an eligible Mac, iPhone, or iPad Pro with education pricing.

Apple-2016-Back-to-School-promo
The same offer is now open to higher education students in the U.K., France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, and other countries in Europe. To qualify for the Beats Solo2 cans, customers must purchase an iMac, MacBook, MacBook Pro, Mac Pro or MacBook Air.

Apple is also offering a free pair of Powerbeats2 Wireless Headphones with the purchase of an eligible iPhone or iPad with education pricing, including the iPhone 6s, iPhone 6, iPhone SE, and the iPad Air 2, iPad mini 4, iPad mini 2, and both the 9.7-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro.

The offer can be taken up online and at brick-and-mortar Apple Stores and is available through to September 5, 2016. Apple has outlined the full eligibility requirements for the program in its terms and conditions, available at the bottom of the promotion pages on Apple's country-specific sites.

Photos have emerged online purporting to show the front of an iPhone 7 with a touch-sensitive home button flush with the front of the handset.

Ever since the launch of the original iPhone, Apple's handsets have featured a physical button that users press to return to the home screen, and press and hold for other functions.

But photos passed to mobile tech site mobipicker.com appear to suggest that may no longer be the case for future iPhones.

iphone-7-home-button
The white handset in the image above appears to be missing the silver metal ring around the button that has been included in similarly colored iPhone handsets since the iPhone 5s and the introduction of Touch ID fingerprint recognition.

According to the website's source, the button is level with the rest of the bezel and does not depress like a traditional clickable button. Instead, the button is said to be touch-sensitive, requiring users to perform taps, or tap-hold actions for functions like invoking Siri.

iphone-7-home-button-closeup
The handset in the photo also appears to have slightly narrower bezels and a repositioned front-facing camera and proximity sensor compared to the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus.

As is often the case, the latest alleged leak cannot be verified. However, some reports have suggested that Apple has been testing a touch-sensitive home button for its upcoming flagship handset.

Liquidmetal-Home
In March, Apple was also granted a patent for a pressure-sensitive Liquidmetal home button that deforms slightly when pressed, but returns to its normal shape when the user removes their finger or thumb. Apple has annually renewed its exclusive rights to use the malleable alloy since 2010, but has yet to do so in a major way.

Other features rumored to be exclusive to the iPhone 7 and/or iPhone 7 Plus models include a Smart Connector, dual-lens cameras, no 3.5mm headphone jack, repositioned antenna bands, stereo speakers, wireless charging, and a larger battery, but Apple may hold off on some features until its next iPhone with OLED in 2017.

Related Forum: iPhone

Apple has stepped up procurement of chips and components for the second-generation Apple Watch, according to sources from the supply chain (via DigiTimes).

Shipments of chips and components for the second-gen Apple Watch are reportedly set to begin in the third quarter, indicating a launch later this year.

applewatch
Orders for the upcoming Apple Watch have been higher-than-expected, according to the sources, after what they called "disappointing sales" of the first-gen smartwatch. Despite that, Apple's pull-in of orders is said to be "rather aggressive", and the sources estimated that about two million units of the new Apple Watch could be shipped monthly.

Taiwan-based website DigiTimes has a mixed track record at reporting on Apple's upcoming product plans, but its sources within the upstream supply chain have proven reliable in the past.

Rumors had initially suggested Apple would introduce the second-generation Apple Watch in March 2016 with shipments of the device set to begin in April 2016, but a conflicting report confirmed the Apple Watch 2 would not be ready for a spring launch.

A rumor out of the Asian supply chain in January suggested work on the next-generation Apple Watch was already underway, with Quanta working with Apple on the development of the device. Trial production on Apple Watch 2 was rumored to have started in January, with full production beginning in mid-2016 in preparation for a fall launch alongside the iPhone 7.

Apple is said to be working on implementing cellular network connectivity and a faster processor. Built-in cellular capabilities would allow the Apple Watch to place calls, send messages, and access data without the need for an iPhone, while a faster processor would result in speed improvements when accessing apps.

Related Roundup: Apple Watch 10
Buyer's Guide: Apple Watch (Neutral)

FCCA U.S. appeals court yesterday upheld landmark federal rules preventing internet service providers from obstructing or slowing down consumer access to web content (via Reuters).

The backing for the Federal Communications Commission's net neutrality rules came in a 2-1 decision by a three-judge panel in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The outcome reaffirms the law enforced last year that says ISPs must treat all internet traffic equally.

The rules prohibit broadband providers from giving or selling access to faster internet lanes for specific internet services, which the FCC claims will help protect freedom of expression and innovation on the internet.

The court also rejected legal arguments from telecommunications industry groups that the rules should not apply to mobile phone web use or that they violated the constitutional free-speech rights of internet service providers.

The court's decision in favor of the FCC means that it too considered the internet to be a public utility, and therefore subject to government regulations. White House spokesman Josh Earnest called the ruling "a victory for the open, fair, and free internet as we know it today," and one that barred service providers from becoming "paid gatekeepers".

The outcome will also be seen as a personal victory for President Barack Obama, who is a strong advocate of net neutrality rules, although ISPs have already said they plan to appeal to either the full appellate court or the Supreme Court over the ruling. Telecoms industry groups have also said they will continue with efforts to get Congress to limit the FCC's authority.

Netflix and Twitter were among the companies that praised the ruling, while Google and others have backed the rules. Democrats in Congress also lauded the decision to back the FCC rules, which have been in place since June 2015.

However, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce business group accused the FCC of "essentially transforming an entire industry... from an innovative, lightly regulated enterprise that made huge investments into this country, into a public utility subject to the whims of regulators."

South Dakota Republican John Thune, who chairs the Senate Commerce Committee, said the decision upholds FCC restrictions "designed for the monopoly-telephone era" and asked the Republican-led Congress to step in to overturn a decision that results in "a highly political agency micromanaging the internet ecosystem."

US Telecom, the telecommunications industry trade association that led the legal challenge, said the court failed to recognize "the significant legal failings" of the FCC rules that "we believe will replace a consumer-driven internet with a government-run internet, threatening innovation and investment in years to come."

But FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler called the ruling "a victory for consumers and innovators who deserve unfettered access to the entire web" and claimed that it would ensure the internet remained "a platform for unparalleled innovation, free expression and economic growth."

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.