Porsche announced this week that its new 718 Cayman and 718 Cayman S mid-engine sports cars will be equipped with CarPlay, along with a USB port and Porsche Car Connect app on iOS and Android for smartphone connectivity. Other CarPlay-enabled Porsche models include the 2016 911, 2017 718 Boxster, and 2017 Macan series.
The Connect Plus module offers real-time traffic information, CarPlay, Google Earth, Google Street View, and WiFi connectivity. Drivers can also make use of additional comprehensive services via their smartphone, which include the Porsche Connect App and Porsche Car Connect.
The new 718 Cayman and 718 Cayman S are on sale now and will arrive at Porsche dealerships in the U.S. in late November 2016. The 718 Cayman has a starting MSRP of $53,900, while the 718 Cayman S starts at $66,300. An additional $1,050 fee applies for delivery, processing, and handling.
August Home today began shipping its second-generation Smart Lock, which includes support for Apple's HomeKit platform and lets users unlock their doors with simple commands like, "Hey Siri, unlock my front door." August announced the new Smart Lock back in October, revealing that the newly redesigned lock, as well as the free August app, can let users unlock and lock their doors while they're away to let visitors inside, and double check the status of their home's security.
Image via CNET
Today's announcement brings news that those interested can buy the new Smart Lock from both Amazon and Best Buy, in addition to August's online storefront. As confirmed last year, August's lock can integrate with other HomeKit apps like Insteon+, Lutron, and iDevices, that can be customized to turn lights on or off as users unlock or lock their doors.
A couple of earlyreviews praise the Siri integration of the Smart Lock, as well as the improved design and largely seamless set-up process. According to CNET, the inside-only installation required of August's upgraded device is also a major plus, with the discreet lock ensuring that no one on the outside of your house knows you have a Smart Lock.
“We are committed to providing value by partnering with companies such as Apple to deliver the features our customers are asking for, including HomeKit integration and support for Siri voice commands,” said Jason Johnson, CEO of August Home Inc. “We will continue to develop best-in-class products and partner with leading smart home companies to add convenience to consumer’s daily lives and new smart security features that are an essential element of the connected home.”
In addition to the August Smart Lock, which costs $229, the company sells the August Smart Keypad ($79) and August Doorbell Cam ($199) to further increase the security and protection of a home. Besides the free iOS app for the August Smart Lock, the company also has an Apple Watch app to receive instant notifications about your door's security, and unlock and lock it from your wrist.
Before purchasing, August recommends users double check that their door's deadbolt lock is listed as compatible with the company's hardware on this list.
The latest data from research firms IDC and Strategy Analytics reveals that iPad market share declined for the ninth consecutive quarter as the worldwide tablet market continues to slow. Apple now has between 22.1 and 25.9-percent market share among tablet vendors, down from between 24.3 and 27.2-percent in the year-ago quarter.
Apple reported iPad sales of 10.3 million during the March quarter earlier this week, compared to 12.62 million in the year-ago quarter. IDC and Strategy Analytics data shows Samsung trailing in second with 6 to 6.5 million tablets shipped, amounting to 14.0 to 15.2-percent market share during the first three months of 2016.
IDC data shows that Amazon experienced explosive 5421.7-percent year-over-year growth, with its market share rising from just 0.1-percent to 5.7-percent on the strength of new low-cost Fire tablets. The research firm noted that it did not count the Fire HD 6 in its Q1 2015 numbers. Strategy Analytics did not share Amazon data.
Lenovo and Huawei rounded out the top five in both datasets, with both vendors having shipped between 2.1 and 2.2 million tablets during the quarter. Their respective market shares ranged between 4.5-percent and 5.5-percent, amounting to only a slight variation between the IDC and Strategy Analytics data.
Global tablet shipments reached between 39.6 and 46.5 million during the quarter, the latter of which is the lowest total since the third quarter of 2012, according to Strategy Analytics. Nevertheless, IDC noted that convertible 2-in-1 tablets continue to experience growth, with quarterly shipments totaling 4.9 million.
"Microsoft arguably created the market for detachable tablets with the launch of their Surface line of products," said Jitesh Ubrani, senior research analyst with IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Device Trackers. "With the PC industry in decline, the detachable market stands to benefit as consumers and enterprises seek to replace their aging PCs with detachables.
Apple's recent foray into this segment has garnered them an impressive lead in the short term, although continued long-term success may prove challenging as a higher entry price point staves off consumers and iOS has yet to prove its enterprise-readiness, leaving plenty of room for Microsoft and their hardware partners to reestablish themselves."
IDC and Strategy Analytics shared smartphone and smartwatch data earlier this week.
Apple Maps has recently been updated with all-new transit data for New South Wales, Australia, allowing iOS users to navigate the area with the new addition of the NSW TrainLink line as well as bus stations. Before the update, only rail directions for Sydney Trains were available. Sydney, and now New South Wales as a whole, are still the only areas in Australia with Transit information available.
NSW TrainLink provides residents with transportation throughout New South Wales, and even extends above and below the states borders, to cities like Melbourne in the south and Brisbane in the north. The new transit additions should help tourists out, as well, since New South Wales also houses the popular destination -- and most populous city in the nation -- Sydney, Australia.
Transit directions became a helpful feature with the introduction of iOS 9, and has since expanded to be supported in 16 cities around the world. Including Sydney, Transit directions can be found in Seattle, Austin, Baltimore, Berlin, Boston, Chicago, London, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Montreal, Toronto, New York City, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Washington, DC. There are also a few dozen cities in China that include Transit directions in Apple Maps.
The latest data from research firm Strategy Analytics reveals that Apple Watch sales totaled an estimated 2.2 million in the first quarter.
Apple Watch remains the most popular smartwatch, but its market share declined to 52.4-percent compared to 63-percent in the previous quarter.
Strategy Analytics cites increasing competition from Android Wear rivals such as LG and Motorola as one reason for the Apple Watch ceding market share:
"We estimate Apple Watch shipped 2.2 million units and captured 52 percent smartwatch marketshare worldwide in Q1 2016, dipping from 63 percent share in Q4 2015," said Neil Mawston, Executive Director at Strategy Analytics. "Samsung shipped 0.6 million smartwatches, capturing 14 percent marketshare worldwide for second position. Apple Watch and Samsung Gear models are expanding fast across dozens of countries, but competition from LG, Motorola and others is ramping up fast."
Nevertheless, Apple still maintains a comfortable lead in the smartwatch market, with its wrist-worn sales outpacing all other competitors combined. Samsung trailed in second place with only 600,000 shipments, for instance, while all other vendors shipped a combined 1.4 million units in the quarter.
Global smartwatch shipments grew 223-percent annually to reach 4.2 million units in the first quarter of 2016, up from 1.3 million in the year-ago quarter, according to Strategy Analytics. Growth was driven by demand for Apple, Android Wear, and Tizen models across North America, Western Europe, and Asia.
Apple does not disclose Watch sales in its quarterly earning results, instead grouping the device under its Other Products category alongside iPods, Apple TVs, Beats Electronics, and accessories. Strategy Analytics estimates, however, place total Apple Watch sales at nearly 16 million since its April 2015 launch.
Strategy Analytics estimated that Apple Watch sales totaled 4 million during its launch quarter, allowing it to capture an impressive 75.5-percent market share, followed by estimated sales of 4.5 million in the third quarter. By the fourth quarter, encompassing the busy holiday shopping season, the firm said Apple Watch market share had dropped to 63-percent based on 5.1 million sales.
On April 24, the Apple Watch celebrated its one-year anniversary in the U.S. and other first wave launch countries. Many consumers are now anxiously anticipating the Apple Watch 2, which is expected to debut in the secondhalf of 2016 and could feature a FaceTime camera, expanded Wi-Fi abilities, and cellular connectivity. New bands, finishes, and models are always a possibility as well.
Intel this week announced plans to usher in the adoption of an audio USB Type-C connector that would replace the standard 3.5 millimeter analog jack and eventually be capable of digital audio transmission (via Anandtech).
The plans were announced during the Intel Developers Forum (IDF) in Shenzhen, China, where the semiconductor manufacturer set out its project to develop USB Type-C Digital Audio. Intel remained vague about the digital conversion, but set out broad aims to update the USB Audio Device 2.0 protocol specifications to include up-to-date audio features, while simplifying discovery and improving power management, with plans to release the revised specification in the second quarter this year.
Intel hopes that the improved USB-C audio specification would eventually amount to a standardized connector replacement and eliminate the traditional audio jack from laptops, smartphones and tablets, eventually ushering in a transition to fully digital audio.
From a consumer perspective, this could mean higher-quality audio output, more remote control possibilities on headsets, potential biometric health data tracking (such as in-ear heart-rate monitoring), and supplied power for features like active noise-cancelling without the need for dedicated batteries.
The news comes amid iPhone 7 rumors suggesting Apple is also looking to remove the 3.5mm headphone jack on its future mobile devices, however speculation gravitates towards Apple replacing it with a proprietary Lightning port capable of transmitting audio. With no headphone jack, wired headphones would connect to the iPhone 7 using its Lightning port and Bluetooth headphones would connect wirelessly.
Apple could theoretically implement Intel's USB-C digital audio protocol in future Macs, although details remain unknown. Either way, given that LeEco already offers smartphones with USB-C-only audio, and JBL sells noise-cancelling USB-C headphones, the 3.5mm audio jack appears to be nearing the end of its life in the consumer technology market.
The Indian government is set to approve Apple's request to open its own retail stores in the country and exempt the company from its domestic sourcing policy for foreign businesses.
Apple currently has no wholly-owned stores in India and sells its products through a number of distributors. Back in January, the company sent an application to the country's Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) for approval of several planned Apple retail outlets.
According to The Times of India, a committee led by DIPP secretary Ramesh Abhishek will this week recommend exempting Apple from a state ruling that requires single-brand foreign stores to source at least 30 percent of their goods from domestic suppliers.
"The committee has found that the company's products are cutting edge technology and state-of-the-art," said sources familiar with the matter. "It has recommended to exempt them from the local sourcing norms."
The source's wording is significant, since under the rule, restrictions may be waived for retailers selling "state-of-the-art" and "cutting-edge technology" if local suppliers are unavailable. Since Apple manufactures most of its products in China, the precondition had thus far been an issue for the company as it tries to make headway into the Indian retail market.
Last summer, Apple announced its Authorized Mobility Resellers program in India, which focused on opening 500 retail store locations across 12 cities in the country. Apple CEO Tim Cook has praised India's business environment and stated that the company is putting more energy into the country, which has the third largest smartphone market in the world with over 200 million users, despite only one third of the population being smartphone owners.
Google has released an iOS app that enables Android TV owners to control their television using their iPhone or iPad.
The app's migration to iOS means that Apple mobile device owners now have the same ability to control the smart TV Google platform as their Android mobile-owning counterparts, so long as both television and iOS device share the same wireless network.
The iOS app features a D-pad in the center of the screen for standard remote control operation, while users can also input text or perform a voice search via Google Now, both of which should be a welcome alternative to using a standard remote handset to input to an onscreen keyboard.
Multiple remotes can be linked to an Android TV, meaning iOS device users can also take part in multiplayer games alongside users of standard gamepad controllers.
The Android TV app is a free download for iPad and iPhone from the App Store. [Direct Link]
Google Maps for iOS was updated with a number of new features yesterday, including a Notification Center widget for commuters on the move and an in-app option for sharing directions.
The new Travel Times extension for Google's popular iOS maps app allows users to quickly check a live travel time estimation to their home or work with a simple pull down of the Notification Center.
The widget includes a toggle for switching between driving and public transit times, but only functions if users have saved their home and/or work addresses in Google Maps' Settings menu. Tapping on either destination in the Notification Center starts direction navigation from the user's current location.
Other additions in the new version of the app include the ability to share directions via the three-dot icon in the top right of the map navigation screen, and a new setting that allows users to select the unit measurement for distance shown during navigation.
Lastly, users now have control over Google Maps' color scheme, with a night mode toggle as well as an "Automatic" setting that transitions between day and night mode depending on the time of day.
Apple's new CareKit iOS framework goes live today, allowing app developers to create integrated software that helps patients and doctors to better track and manage medical conditions.
The open source platform was announced last month and aims to make it easer for developers to build health apps by offering a number of integrations, such as monitoring of medical symptoms, sending images of an injury, and keeping tabs on medication schedules. CareKit also offers two-way benefits, since it not only helps doctors monitor patients but also allows patients to observe their progress over time.
CareKit is made up of series of interactive modules. The Care Card can be configured to manage wellness tasks such as medication scheduling and exercise, while the Progress Card includes a Symptom and Measurement tracker for logging physical metrics like weight and heart-rate (with the potential for Apple Watch integration). The Connect module meanwhile lets users share their health data with medical professionals and family members, and can be viewed in tandem with Progress Card data in the Insight Dashboard module.
TechCrunch reports that the launch is limited to support for four iPhone apps at present: Glow Nurture fertility tracker, Glow Baby maternity app, diabetes monitor One Drop, and depression medication tracker Start. CareKit is compatible with existing healthcare record systems such as Epic and should be available on GitHub later today.
Apple's other open source framework ResearchKit was made available to developers in April 2015, enabling them to create their own iPhone apps for medical research purposes. The framework has led to some significant gains in epilepsy and asthma research since its adoption among medical professionals and contributing patients.
Philips today launched a new Hue app for its range of Hue HomeKit-connected smart lights and lightbulbs, introducing a fresh, intuitive layout that makes it easier to organize and control multiple lights at one time. While the app does not support third-party HomeKit accessories, it does incorporate HomeKit-style features like organization into rooms and more expansive scheduling tools.
The Hue Gen 2 app now features a main overview screen that separates lights based on what room they're in, making it easier to set scenes by room, adjust the color or brightness of the lights in a room, or turn off all lights in a room at once. Before today, organizing HomeKit-enabled Hue lights into rooms had to be done through a third-party HomeKit app, but now it is available to all Hue users and directly within the Hue app.
Tapping on a room offers up individual controls for each light, along with options for managing scenes. Individual light colors can be changed by tapping on the color avatar for each light and selecting a color, a white light, or a Light Recipe. Scene creation is done in the same way it was with the previous app, through photographs or specific light settings.
Also included in the app is a dedicated "Routines" section that makes it easier to set specific lighting scenes for waking up, leaving home, arriving at home, and more. A Notification Center widget, Siri voice control, and accessory support are all available and can be accessed through the Settings section of the app, which is also where Rooms and Lights can be organized.
Up to 10 presets that combine multiple rooms and scenes at once can be added to the Notification Center widget for quick access, and Siri voice control with the HomeKit-enabled bridge is unchanged.
"Philips Hue was the world's first connected lighting system for the home a little over three years ago, and since then it has become the system of choice for consumers," says Sridhar Kumaraswamy, Business Leader Connected Home Systems at Philips Lighting. "As the Philips Hue ecosystem has grown with products, apps and partnerships with leading smart home platforms, so have our consumers. They want to do so much more with our connected lights, and with the new Philips Hue gen 2 app they can. It was designed for them, tested by them, taking their feedback onboard, and today's new app gives them more control and creative freedom than ever before."
Overall, Philips' new Hue app is a lot more intuitive when it comes to managing a large number of Hue lights, especially those organized into several different rooms. Changing colors, dimming, turning lights on and off, and setting routines are all features that are easier to access in the revamped app.
Philips plans to keep both the original Hue app and the new Hue app available in the App Store, so users will be able to use the app they like best.
The new Hue app can be downloaded from the App Store for free starting today. [Direct Link]
The ANZ website has also been updated with a new Apple Pay webpage and a report from Reuters confirms the partnership. ANZ card holders in Australia are able to add their cards to Apple Pay, which has been confirmed by a MacRumors reader.
According to the ANZ website, many Visa and American Express cards are supported, including the ANZ Rewards Platinum Card, the ANZ Access Advantage with Visa Debit, and the ANZ Business Advantage wth Visa Debit, but MasterCard, ANZ Access, and ANZ Corporate cards are not supported.
Prior to today, Apple Pay was only available in Australia through a partnership with American Express, limiting it to American Express cardholders. Apple Pay has been slow to roll out in the country as rumors have suggested Apple has had trouble negotiating fees with banks. Apple Pay also has to compete with the New Payments Platform being pushed by the Reserve Bank of Australia, the country's central banking authority.
ANZ is one of the four major banks in Australia alongside Commonwealth Bank (CBA), Westpac (WBC), and National Australia Bank (NAB). According to Apple Pay vice president Jennifer Bailey, Apple is still in talks with the remaining three banks about further expansion of Apple Pay in the country.
Apple Pay is available in the United States, the UK, China, Australia, Canada, and Singapore, with Apple Pay support being limited to American Express users in the latter two countries. Apple Pay will soon be expanding to Hong Kong and Spain under the American Express partnership, and in the near future, Apple will be introducing Apple Pay support for additional banks and credit cards in Singapore.
During yesterday's Q2 2016 earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook said Apple Pay is growing at a "tremendous rate" with transaction volume up 5X compared to a year ago. Apple Pay is gaining one million new users per week and is available at more than 10 million locations worldwide.
On Wednesday morning at approximately 8:35 a.m., the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Department was called to Apple's 1 Infinite Loop campus in Cupertino after a body was found in a conference room, according to several news reports.
There is no official word on what happened and Apple has not commented on the situation, but a sheriff's spokesperson has confirmed the deceased individual was an Apple employee and that no one else was involved. The employee's death has been described as an "isolated incident" with "nobody else on campus or in the public at risk."
"We are heartbroken by the tragic loss of a young and talented coworker," Apple spokesperson Kristin Huguet said in a statement to BuzzFeed News. "Our thoughts and deepest sympathies go out to his family and friends, including the many people he worked with here at Apple. We are working to support them however we can in this difficult time."
Update 2: According to the Santa Clara Country Medical Examiner's Office, the Apple employee who died yesterday was 25-year-old Santa Clara resident Edward Mackowiak. Cause of death was suicide caused by a gunshot wound to the head.
Schematics featuring the dual-camera 5.5-inch iPhone 7 Plus or "Pro" that's set to launch in the fall of 2016 have been published in the June issue of Japanese magazine MacFan, reiterating many of the design details that have been previously rumored for the device.
Japanese site Mac Otakara has shared images taken from MacFan, which seemingly confirm rumors that the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus will use largely the same design as the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus.
The schematic focuses solely on the 5.5-inch model, which MacFan says will measure in at 158.22mm x 77.94mm x 7.3mm, identical to the dimensions of the iPhone 6s Plus.
While this agrees with a previous Mac Otakara rumor suggesting the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus will not be significantly thinner, it does disagree with other rumors (including one from Ming-Chi Kuo) that have pointed towards a thinner chassis that approaches the thinness of the 6.1mm iPod touch. While it is not yet clear which design rumor will prevail, the most recent rumors are converging around a thicker body.
Also depicted in the schematic is the dual camera setup that's rumored for the 5.5-inch iPhone 7 Plus, a Smart Connector, and the absence of a headphone jack. Apple is planning to remove the headphone jack in its 2016 devices, with headphones instead connecting via Lightning or Bluetooth. Though some rumors have suggested the iPhone 7 will include stereo speakers, the design drawing features a single speaker. No other significant details are included in the MacFan drawing.
In the past, MacFan has offered up accurate information about Apple's devices, sharing design details of the iPhone 6/6 Plus and 12.9-inch iPad Pro ahead of launch. While largely accurate because its schematics often focus on previously available rumors, MacFan does not always provide a reliable picture of exact dimensions, predicting a 12.2-inch size for the iPad Pro and a 6.7mm thickness for the iPhone 6 Plus, so some of the detail on thickness could be inaccurate.
Apple is expected to debut the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus in the fall of 2016.
Apple today released a new update for Safari Technology Preview, the experimental browser that launched on March 30. Release 3 includes a long list of feature tweaks and updates to JavaScript, CSS, Web APIs, Web Inspector, Accessibility, Rendering, Media, and Networking, plus bug fixes.
The Safari Technology Preview update is available through the Mac App Store to anyone who has downloaded the browser.
Apple's goal with Safari Technology Preview is to gather feedback from developers and users on its browser development ahead of launch. 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 today seeded the third beta of an upcoming OS X 10.11.5 El Capitan update to developers and public beta testers, one week after releasing the second OS X 10.11.5 beta and a month after releasing OS X 10.11.4, the fourth update to the OS X El Capitan operating system. OS X 10.11.5 has been in testing since April 6.
OS X 10.11.5 beta 3 has a build number of 15F28b and can be downloaded through the software update mechanism in the Mac App Store or through the Apple Developer Center (for developers).
OS X 10.11.5, like prior OS X El Capitan updates, appears to focus on security enhancements, performance improvements, and bug fixes to address issues that have popped up since the release of OS X 10.11.4. No obvious outward-facing changes were discovered in the first two OS X 10.11.5 betas, but we'll update this post if any new features are found in the third beta.
Apple today provided developers with the third beta of an upcoming 9.2.1 update to tvOS, the operating system designed to run on the fourth-generation Apple TV. Today's beta comes one week after tvOS 9.2.1 beta 2. tvOS 9.2.1 has been in testing since April 6.
tvOS 9.2.1 is a minor update that comes more than a month after the launch of tvOS 9.2, a significant update introducing features like Bluetooth keyboard support, dictation, Siri search for the App Store, app folders, and more.
tvOS betas are more difficult to install than beta updates for iOS and OS X. Installing the tvOS beta requires the Apple TV to be connected to a computer with a USB-C to USB-A cable, with the software downloaded and installed via iTunes or Apple Configurator. Those who have already installed the first two tvOS 9.2.1 betas will be able to update to the third beta over the air.
As a minor 9.x.x update, tvOS 9.2.1 appears to focus on bug fixes and performance improvements that are not readily obvious to Apple TV users. No outward-facing changes have been found in the first two tvOS 9.2.1 betas, but should any new features be found in beta 3, we'll list them below.
Apple today released the third beta of an upcoming iOS 9.3.2 update to public beta testers, one day after seeding the third iOS 9.3.2 beta to developers. iOS 9.3.2 comes more than a month after the release of iOS 9.3, a major update that introduced Night Shift mode and other new features. iOS 9.3.2 has been in testing since April 6.
Beta testers who are taking part in Apple's best testing program will receive the iOS 9.3.2 update over-the-air after installing the proper certificate on their iOS device.
Those who would like to participate in Apple's beta testing program can sign up through the beta testing website, which gives users access to both iOS and OS X betas.
As a minor 9.x.x update, iOS 9.3.2 appears to focus on performance improvements and under-the-hood bug fixes to address issues discovered following the release of iOS 9.3. We don't know all of the fixes that will be included in the update, but a significant Game Center bug appears to have been fixed.
iOS 9.3.2 beta 2 also re-introduced a much desired feature -- the ability to use Low Power Mode and Night Shift simultaneously for power saving features combined with blue light reduction.
No other outward-facing changes or immediately apparent bug fixes have been discovered in the first three developer betas.
The 
On Wednesday morning at approximately 8:35 a.m., the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Department was called to Apple's 1 Infinite Loop campus in Cupertino after a body was found in a conference room, according to several 
Apple today released a new update for 
