MacRumors

YouTube for iOS has been updated today with Google Cardboard support, allowing for all videos to be watched in VR mode on iPhone. The functionality was previously limited to the YouTube app on Android smartphones since November 2015.

YouTube-Google-Cardboard
To activate Cardboard mode, tap on the three circles in the top-right corner of a video and select the Cardboard icon. The video will then switch to an immersive VR experience, even if it was not originally filmed in a full 360 degrees.

YouTube-iOS-Google-Cardboard-duo
YouTube for iOS is a free download on the App Store [Direct Link]. The app is now at version 11.18.

Tim-Cook-IndiaFollowing his trip to Beijing, China on Monday, Apple CEO Tim Cook will travel to India tomorrow to meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi later this week, according to Reuters.

Cook will be making his first-ever trip to India as CEO, as Apple seeks to increase its presence in the world's most populous country after China. He is also expected to hold meetings with employees and partners in the country.

It is unclear what Cook and Modi plan to discuss, but the conversation could revolve around the Indian government's recent decisions to approve single-branded Apple retail stores but deny the sale of refurbished iPhones in the country.

As growth in the Greater China region begins to slow, India is becoming an increasingly important market for Apple. Last month, the iPhone maker reported that revenue has grown 56 percent in the first three months of the year, while smartphone sales are projected to grow by 25 percent in the country this year.

modi-tim-cook-L

Cook and Modi first met in the U.S. last year (Image: The Financial Express)

Apple's growth in India has been dominated by lower-priced devices like the iPhone 5s, which has since been succeeded by the iPhone SE, but India's stance against Apple selling refurbished smartphones could make it more challenging for the company to grow its estimated 2 percent market share in the country.

Apple recently confirmed plans to set up a $25 million technology development center in Hyderabad, which will be focused on Apple Maps development and house over 150 employees. Apple partner Foxconn is also reportedly close to reaching a deal to open an iPhone manufacturing facility in Maharashtra.

After an initial announcement late last year, and a small test rollout, Walmart is now beginning a statewide launch of its in-house mobile payments solution Walmart Pay in Texas and Arkansas.

All 480 Walmart retail locations in Texas will support the mobile wallet service beginning today, as well as the 110 stores in Arkansas. Although the company continues to reiterate its plans for a wide-release rollout in the United States soon, it's still yet to give customers a specific launch window for Walmart Pay beyond the two states announced today.

“We can’t wait to hear what our customers and associates in Texas [and Arkansas] think of Walmart Pay. The service was built to make shopping easier and faster, something we know our customers want,” said Daniel Eckert, senior vice president, Services, Walmart U.S. “Walmart Pay is a powerful addition to our app, a tool that we’re using to transform the shopping experience by seamlessly connecting our online assets and our stores for customers. The service opens the door to new and better ways we can serve the 140 million customers who shop our stores each week.”

Unlike Apple Pay's NFC and Touch ID system, there are a few added steps to successfully check out with Walmart Pay: users have to navigate to the Walmart app on their phone, tap through to the Walmart Pay section, and then scan a QR code displayed at the register. Users can set up the app to be protected by a PIN or Touch ID, and the company says that "mostly any card" can be directly linked as a payment method for the service.

Walmart was part of an original collection of retailers who opposed Apple Pay in favor of an alternative mobile payments service, CurrentC, along with companies like Best Buy and Target. Best Buy has since backed support for Apple Pay, while Target is working on its own QR code solution, similar to Walmart Pay.

Although the launch of Walmart Pay suggests that the company isn't interested in integrating with other digital wallets -- like Apple Pay -- down the line, last year Walmart senior vice president of services Daniel Eckert said the QR code service allows "for integration of other mobile wallets in the future." Eckert continued to describe Walmart Pay as "an innovation that will make the ease of mobile payments a reality for millions of Americans.”

The Walmart App can be downloaded from the App Store for free [Direct Link].

Related Roundup: Apple Pay

A regulatory filing by multinational conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway -- which is run by Warren Buffett -- today revealed that as of March 31, the company owned 9,811,747 shares in Apple stock (via Bloomberg). Berkshire Hathaway's shares were valued at over $1 billion at the end of the first quarter of 2016, but given Apple's recent dip in stock value, it has subsequently declined to nearly $900 million.

WARREN BUFFETT
Berkshire Hathaway's stake in Apple appears to be a bet that the Cupertino company's stock will rebound, following its first ever year-over-year revenue drop in 13 years. The slump comes after Apple's April earnings call where it announced the first ever drop in iPhone sales in the 9 years that the smartphone has been on the market. Last week, shares of the company fell below $90 for the first time in nearly two years, but after Berkshire Hathaway's disclosure, Apple's stock price rose 2.2 percent to $92.50 in early trading Monday morning.

Earlier in April, Apple investor Carl Icahn decided to sell his stake in the company, explaining that he did so due to concern over China's attitude towards Apple's encroaching presence in the country. A second Apple investor, David Tepper, also dumped his shares of the company as its value continued to lessen. Tepper had 1.26 million shares that were valued at around $133 million.

As planned, Apple CEO Tim Cook arrived in Beijing on Monday for his latest visit to China, where the iPhone maker has experienced a turbulent few months. Earlier today, he caught a ride using Didi Chuxing, the Chinese ride-sharing service that Apple just invested $1 billion in, alongside the Uber rival's president Jean Liu.

Tim-Cook-Beijing-Visit

Cook meets with Liu, left, and developers at an Apple Store in Beijing (Image: CNBC)

While an earlier report said Cook plans to meet with senior Chinese government officials to discuss a range of issues, including iBooks and iTunes Movies store closures and a recent patent dispute, the CEO has thus far met with App Store developers at an Apple Store in Beijing for a seminar hosted by Liu, per CNBC.

At the Apple store, Cook attended a seminar hosted by Didi Chuxing's President Jean Lui, also known as Liu Qing, and attended by the founders and CEOs of some of China's top app providers, including Groupon-like Meituan, picture-editing app MeituPic, news content provider Toutiao.com, culinary app DayDayCook and game developer Tap4Fun.

Cook, who shared photos of his visit on Twitter and Weibo, understands the importance of Apple maintaining a positive image in China.

Greater China, including Taiwan and Hong Kong, is Apple's second largest market by revenue after the U.S. Last month, the iPhone maker reported that sales dropped 26 percent in the region in the second quarter, primarily due to declining iPhone sales as China's smartphone market becomes increasingly saturated.

Cook has made similar visits to Beijing to meet with Chinese officials, carrier partners, and customers in both 2012 and 2014.

David TepperHedge fund billionaire David Tepper has sold his entire stake in Apple, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (via Business Insider UK).

Tepper's 1.26 million shares in the company were last valued at around $133 million, according to data from Bloomberg. The massive sale of Apple shares is the second reported in as many months, after billionaire Carl Icahn dumped his stake in the company earlier this year based on worries over China's attitude towards the tech giant.

Since August 2015, 146 of the 833 hedge funds tracked by Goldman Sachs had Apple as one of their largest positions, earning it the number two spot on Goldman's list of stocks "most loved" by hedge funds.

But Apple shares have been on the decline since last month's earnings call, where the company announced its first ever drop in iPhone sales and its first year-over-year revenue drop in 13 years.

Two days ago, shares of Apple fell below $90 for the first time in nearly two years amid investors' concerns over slumping sales. Apple's stock price fell 3.3% to $89.47 during Thursday afternoon trading, leaving its market valuation at $494 billion. At the same time, Google's parent company Alphabet briefly overtook Apple as the world's most valuable company, hitting a market cap of $498 billion.

Apple today confirmed reports of an issue that causes music from personal collections to be deleted, telling The Loop it only affects a small number of users and that a fix is incoming in an iTunes update next week.

itunes_match_2015

“In an extremely small number of cases users have reported that music files saved on their computer were removed without their permission,” Apple said. “We’re taking these reports seriously as we know how important music is to our customers and our teams are focused on identifying the cause. We have not been able to reproduce this issue, however, we’re releasing an update to iTunes early next week which includes additional safeguards. If a user experiences this issue they should contact AppleCare.”

Last week, debate raged over the supposed glitch after Vellum's Jake Pinkstone wrote a blogpost complaining that Apple Music had deleted 122 GB of his personal music collection without his permission after he joined the service. The deletion occurred after Pinkstone had his music library scanned by Apple to make his collection available across his devices.

Confusion ensued after Pinkstone was told by an Apple Support Representative named Amber that Apple Music's matching system was "functioning as intended." When asked whether Apple Music was supposed to delete his personal music without his permission, Amber responded "yes." Amber's statement, however, was inaccurate according to Apple's own support document.

While the causation of the bug is still unknown, as Apple has failed to reproduce the issue, the company's statement suggests Apple has narrowed down the issue to iTunes rather than the Apple Music service. It's unclear whether the fix will arrive with a minor or major iTunes update. However, one possibility is iTunes 12.4, which will include a minor redesign and arrive in the next couple of weeks, according to a MacRumors source.

Related Forum: Mac Apps

In the future, drivers in the United Kingdom may be able to store their driver's licenses digitally in Apple's Wallet app, bringing Apple one step closer to fully replacing the traditional physical wallet.

Oliver Morley, CEO of the UK's Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, showed off a prototype version of a digital driving license on Twitter this morning (via The Independent). In the image, the Wallet app on the iPhone was shown with a virtual copy of a UK driving license, stored right next to other Wallet cards.

passbookdrivinglicenseuk


According to Morley, the feature is still a prototype and will not serve as a full replacement for a driving license, but an add-on, with its implementation possible following the discontinuation of a paper driving license counterpart in June of 2015. Security is one of the main priorities for the introduction of the digital driving license in the UK.

Should the digital driving license feature be introduced in the United Kingdom, it's not a stretch to imagine it also being introduced in additional countries like the United States as the digital wallet concept grows in popularity. In fact, at least one state in the United States is already testing the idea - in 2014, Iowa said it was working on a digital app that would allow customers to use digital ID cards instead of physical cards.

Tags: DVLA, Wallet

For this week's giveaway, we've teamed up with Case Logic to offer MacRumors readers a chance to win one of the company's new Larimer Rolltop Backpacks. The backpack is available in "Hudson," a mix of blue, mint, yellow, and green, or "Petrol Green," a mix of green, tan, blue, and red. It's described by Case Logic as a utilitarian daypack that's able to hold a ton of stuff thanks to a multitude of pockets and an expandable rolltop feature.

caselogiclarimer2
Like many Case Logic products, the Larimer Rolltop Backpack is made from a durable 600D polyester with a water-repellent coating, which is designed to stand up to damage. Padded, adjustable straps ensure it's comfortable to wear for long periods of time even when packed with gear.

The backpack, which has a matching multi-color diamond-patterned interior lining, can hold a MacBook up to 15 inches in its padded laptop compartment, and there's also a slip pocket for a tablet up to 10.1 inches, which will accommodate the iPad Air 2, the 9.7-inch iPad Pro, or a smaller tablet.

caselogiclarimer3
Accessories can be put inside a zippered front pocket or an internal zippered pocket, and with the rolltop expanded, there's additional space for any essentials. A nylon web is attached at the bottom for securing a hat or shoes.

caselogiclarimer1
The Larimer Rolltop Backpack can be purchased from Amazon for $49.99, but four MacRumors readers will be able to get one for free through our giveaway. 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.

The contest will run from today (May 13) at 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time through 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time on May 20. The winners will be chosen randomly on May 20 and will be contacted by email. The winners have 48 hours to respond and provide a shipping address before new winners are chosen.

Kia has announced that its all-new 2017 Sorento is now on sale at U.S. dealerships as its first vehicle with CarPlay support available for purchase. The 2017 Sportage and 2016 Optima, when equipped with a compatible navigation or UVO3 system, will also now feature CarPlay when enabled models reach dealerships in the second quarter.

hero_sportage_2017--kia-mp-dkp

Kia's all-new 2017 Sportage SUV

Customers who already purchased the 2017 Sportage or 2016 Optima equipped with a compatible system will be able to download a free software update that enables CarPlay through the UVO Home website beginning in the third quarter. Other models in the Kia lineup eligible for the CarPlay update will be announced at a later date.

"The arrival of CarPlay compatibility follows on a promise we made when Optima launched last year. These running changes and available downloads will seamlessly bring iPhone's easy-to-use interface and functionality to our newest and best-selling models," said Henry Bzeih, Managing Director Connected & Mobility Services, KMA.

Kia's lineup of announced CarPlay vehicles in the U.S. now includes the 2017 Cadenza, 2017 Forte5, 2016 Optima, 2016 Sorento, and 2016 Sportage. Its parent brand Hyundai offers CarPlay in the 2016 Sonata, 2017 Elantra, and 2017 IONIQ. Select models are also available in Canada and other regions where Kia vehicles are sold.

Apple periodically updates a list of available CarPlay models on its website.

Related Roundup: CarPlay
Tag: Kia

Didi-ChuxingApple announced yesterday that it has invested $1 billion in Chinese ride-sharing service Didi Chuxing, but CEO Tim Cook refused to elaborate on the reasoning behind the move, beyond saying that it will help the company better understand the Chinese market and "deliver a strong return" on its invested capital over the long term.

Nevertheless, a pair of new reports suggest that Apple's ambitions behind its investment in the Uber rival could relate to its oft-rumored electric vehicle plans and broader push into the automotive industry.

The Wall Street Journal wrote that Didi Chuxing is "not only an important ally in a key market, but also a rich data source for self-driving vehicles," which is valuable to Apple amid rumors that it is developing its own electric and possibly autonomous vehicle.

Didi provides Apple with a rich data source for its self-driving vehicle push. It also could provide benefits to Apple’s mobile ecosystem. Ride-sharing apps are closely linked to payment services, such as Apple Pay. They also can be the foundation for other mobile commerce transactions such as deliveries.

The investment sets up with a potential showdown of firms aligned with Uber, which has taken investments from Alphabet Inc.’s venture capital arm and Chinese search giant Baidu. Both Alphabet and Baidu have invested heavily in autonomous driving technology.

The Information reported that ride-sharing services like Didi Chuxing and Uber are highly interested in self-driving vehicles, which would reduce overhead costs by eliminating the need for contracted drivers. In fact, Uber CEO Travis Kalanick was reportedly planning to meet at Apple headquarters this week to "talk about future partnership opportunities," but the status of that meeting remains unknown.

This deal isn’t about the Didi service today. It establishes a future alliance around tech like self-driving cars, where Apple and Google are going head-to-head. Developing autonomous vehicles is the end game for these ride sharing companies—the move that will help them mint money by cutting out the cost of drivers. Uber has made big investments on that front, as has its partner Baidu. Didi had not. But Apple […] can help.

The so-called Apple Car, allegedly known as Project Titan internally, could launch by 2020. The bulk of research and development may be centered in the Santa Clara Valley area, near Apple's existing Cupertino headquarters, led by a team that includes former Tesla, Ford, and GM employees and other automotive experts. The vehicle is expected to compete with the likes of Tesla and Google.

Apple has updated its System Status page to reflect that iCloud Mail and Notes may currently be unavailable for approximately 0.86% of users.

iCloud-Mail-Notes-down
Apple says "users may be unable to send or receive mail and may also be unable to use Notes" until the services are restored.

The outage began shortly after 5:00 a.m. Pacific. This article will be updated when new information becomes available.

Update 9:41 AM: According to Apple's System Status page, the issue was resolved shortly after 9:00 AM Pacific Time.

A new wearable tech device revealed this week, called the "Tap," aims to simplify typing methods on devices lacking traditional keyboards (via Bloomberg). Made out of a soft foam material, Tap slips onto each finger of your hand and can translate 31 different taps into letters and numbers that are then transmitted to a Bluetooth-enabled smartphone or tablet.

All Tap needs is any flat surface -- "a table, a chair, or even your body" -- and for users to overcome a slight learning curve. Each finger on Tap is designated with a vowel, so the rest of the alphabet, and the usual array of special characters and punctuation, can be input using a combination of various finger taps.

tap bluetooth keyboard
That might sound slightly complex, but its creators at Tap Systems, Inc say that it takes about one hour to master Tap thanks to the company's TapGenius App. The app is described as a mnemonic-based learning tutorial that combines an educational system for users to wrap their heads around Tap's new input style, with a gaming-style experience.

While Tap's current market purpose lies in quicker texting and typing within smart devices, the technology's creators see it as an evolving creation over the coming years. Possibilities include music creation, video game control, and other applications that could open up "a world of creative possibilities" for Tap's users. As it stands, the device already has some interesting practicality for visually impaired individuals, who could possibly learn Tap's new input system and become a nimble typist on a smartphone without the use of dictation.

"Tap brings an entirely new dimension to how we can interface with the digital world," said Ran Poliakine, Tap's co-founder. "Tap's fundamental technology is applicable not only to language, but also to music, gaming and control. It is a new modality that opens up a world of creative possibilities. We are partnering with creative developers and select OEMs to help us unlock its full potential. Our goal is to create an ecosystem in which our partners utilize Tap to deliver new and exciting experiences for our users.

Tap is currently in a beta test in San Francisco, with an expected ship date for a consumer model "before the end of 2016." The company will also be making a Tap Development Kit available to a few developers to begin implementing the technology in their apps, games, and even interactive AR and VR experiences.

Anyone interested can join Tap's waitlist to be the first to receive new information about the device as its development progresses.

Tag: Tap

A large number of MacBook Pro owners running OS X El Capitan are reporting widespread system freezes since installing the 10.11.4 update to Apple's Mac OS.

Hundreds of MacRumors forum members have been posting to a dedicated thread to discuss the issue, which spans 20 pages at the time of writing. The problem appears to be concentrated on 13-inch Retina MacBook Pros (Early 2015) running 10.11.4. Users report that their system becomes totally unresponsive at seemingly random times, with no way to regain access to their Mac other than to force a hard reboot.

macbook_pros_2015
The issue was initially reported by MacRumors forum member Antonnn on March 25, four days after Apple released what is the third update to the Mac OS. In Antonnn's case, the freezes have been occurring "about once a week", first when browsing in Safari, but then also during the use of other Mac apps, including Adobe Photoshop and several third-party browsers. The freeze seems to affect not only the screen and mouse cursor but also the Mac's Force Touch trackpad, which completely loses feedback.

Many other users have since reported similar freezes after updating to 10.11.4, with some 15-inch MacBook Pro (Mid 2015) owners also experiencing issues. One potential cause has been identified from crash logs as a system framework or an Intel Graphics driver bug. The issue is also being reported after installing Safari Technology Preview Version 1 and OS X 10.11.5 Public Beta 1.

Video by MacRumors forum member appleofmy"i" experiencing the freeze issue.

Apple Support is apparently aware of the issue but have so far offered no concrete solution. Meanwhile, some users have resorted to downgrading their system to 10.11.3 by restoring from a Time Machine backup or performing a clean install.

We'll update this post throughout the day as we learn more.

Related Forum: MacBook Pro

Apple has invested $1 billion in Chinese ride-hailing company and Uber competitor Didi Chuxing, reports Reuters. The move is a strategic investment that will help the Cupertino company better understand the Chinese market, CEO Tim Cook told Reuters.

Didi-Chuxing

"We are making the investment for a number of strategic reasons, including a chance to learn more about certain segments of the China market," he said. "Of course, we believe it will deliver a strong return for our invested capital over time as well."

Didi Chuxing, which has raised several billion dollars in funding, says the investment from Apple is the largest it's ever received. Didi Chuxing dominates the ride-sharing market in China, completing more than 11 million rides a day and owning 87 percent of the market in the country.

Although Apple has hired many employees in recent months with automotive backgrounds, likely for its secretive Apple Car project codenamed Project Titan, Cook insists Apple is currently focused on the in-car experience. However, he did not deny what the future may have in store for a potential Apple Car. "That is what we do today in the car business," he told Reuters. "So we will have to see what the future holds."

Cook also used the deal to underline Apple's confidence in the market, saying that it reflects the company's "continued confidence in the long term in China's economy." Apple's sales fell 26 percent in Greater China in the second quarter of 2016, causing Carl Icahn to sell his full stake in the company. Apple was also recently forced to take down its iTunes Movies and iBooks stores in the country. Cook will visit China and meet with government officials this month.

With Apple shares dipping below $90 this morning, Google's parent company Alphabet briefly overtook Apple as the world's most valuable company hitting a market cap of $498 billion compared to Apple's market cap of $494 billion. Apple and Google shares continue to fluctuate and the two companies are neck-and-neck for the top valuation, but Google remains in the lead.

Apple's stock has seen steep declines in recent weeks, following its first ever drop in iPhone sales and its first year-over-year revenue decline since 2003. Apple's share price is down again amid rumors of weak demand for the upcoming iPhone 7 and there's no relief in sight as Apple is also expecting a revenue drop in Q3 2016.

Apple_Google_new
Apple's guidance for the quarter includes expected revenue of $41 to $43 billion and gross margin between 37.5 and 38 percent, compared to $49.6 billion revenue and gross margin of 39.7 percent in Q3 2015.

Google parent company Alphabet previously overtook Apple as the most valuable company in the world in February of 2016 following a strong Q1 2016 earnings report.

Earlier today, Apple was ranked the world's most valuable brand by Forbes, assigned a brand value of $154.1 billion compared to Google's $82.5 billion.

xcode-6Apple's app review process has become significantly faster during the first five months of 2016, according to AppReviewTimes.com, a website that tracks average App Store review times for both the iOS and Mac App Store using data crowdsourced from developers on both platforms.

App Store approval times have dropped to an average of two days, compared to between eight and ten days in May 2015, based on 328 reviews submitted in the last 14 days. The shorter process has been well received by the developer community, which had grown accustomed to weeklong waits.

"A lot of the way that we build software for iOS is controlled around the fact that you have a one-week release cycle," Button Inc. founder Chris Maddern, whose team has done work for Uber Technologies Inc. and Foursquare Labs Inc., told Bloomberg. "It can now happen within hours of submitting them, which is really awesome because it speeds up the development cycle."

Last December, Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller took over App Store leadership responsibilities from iTunes and services chief Eddy Cue. Schiller now leads nearly all developer-related functions at Apple, and WWDC 2016 next month could serve as a good opportunity for him to announce shorter approval times on stage alongside new versions of iOS, OS X, and other developer updates.

While much attention has been placed on Apple's first quarterly revenue decline in thirteen years, with some suggesting that the iPhone maker may push deeper into services to combat the slowdown, there is evidence to suggest that Tim Cook and company have bigger plans in store.

Apple analyst Neil Cybart of Above Avalon notes that Apple is now on track to spend a record $10 billion on research and development this year, up nearly 30 percent from 2015 and significantly more than the little over $3 billion per year it was spending on R&D just four years ago.

Apple-RD-Spending-2016
Cybart believes that the most likely explanation for Apple's increased R&D spending is that the company is looking to make a long-term pivot beyond the iPhone, which currently accounts for nearly two-thirds of the company's revenue. His predicted product of the future: the widely rumored Apple Car.

"Apple is not spending $10 billion on R&D just to come up with new Watch bands, larger iPads, or a video streaming service," he wrote. "Instead, Apple is planning on something much bigger: a pivot into the automobile industry."

Apple's R&D spending has experienced a significant uptick since mid-2014, which Cybart attributes to Apple Car development over the past few years. There were similar quarter-over-quarter spikes in spending leading up to the release of the iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch, as illustrated in the chart below.

Project-Titan-RD
The analyst added that Apple has likely already spent upwards of a few billion dollars on Project Titan, the alleged internal codename for the Apple Car, with R&D spending likely to hit at least $14 billion per year by 2017 or 2018. He predicts the odds of Apple releasing an electric vehicle are at least 80 percent.

There is one very simple reason for my high degree of confidence: Project Titan is a long-term pivot. I don't consider Titan to be just another project that Apple has been tinkering around with in the lab for years like an Apple television set or Apple Pencil. Instead, Project Titan is much more about building a foundation for Apple that will literally represent the company's future.

Apple is widely rumored to be working on an electric vehicle that could launch by 2020. The bulk of research and development may be centered in the Santa Clara Valley area, near Apple's existing Cupertino headquarters, led by a team that includes former Tesla, Ford, and GM employees and other automotive experts.

Related Article: Apple R&D Reveals a Pivot Is Coming — Above Avalon