Apple has recently added Australian streaming service Stan to the universal search function on the fourth-generation Apple TV, marking the first third-party service outside of the U.S. beyond Netflix to be supported.
For those unfamiliar with universal search, it's a feature that allows users to conduct Siri voice searches or text-based searches to find TV and movie content across a wide range of channels. At launch, universal search only supported a few channels, but Apple has been rapidly expanding the feature to encompass additional channels.
Universal search is available for a wide number of apps in the United States, but the feature is limited to iTunes and Netflix in Canada, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom. In Australia, universal search on the fourth-generation Apple TV supports movies and TV shows in iTunes, Netflix, and Stan.
Apple chairman Arthur D. Levinson and general counsel Bruce Sewell recently sold approximately $7.6 million and $2.5 million worth of company shares respectively, according to SEC documents filed electronically this week.
Levinson sold 70,000 shares of common stock on August 9 for an average price of $108.68, while Sewell disposed of 23,305 shares for an average price of $107.49 on August 5. The combined return was slightly over $10 million.
Levinson, CEO of biotech company Calico, a subsidiary of Google parent Alphabet, has served as chairman of Apple's board of directors since November 2011. The former Genentech executive has served on the board since 2000, with CEO Tim Cook praising his "enormous contributions to Apple" and "incredibly valuable" insight and leadership.
Sewell has served as Apple's general counsel, or chief lawyer in layman's terms, since September 2009. He oversees all company-related legal matters, including corporate governance, intellectual property, litigation and securities compliance, global security, and privacy, including a recent high-profile court battle with the FBI related to the intersection of national security and smartphone encryption.
Apple's senior executives and directors are commonly awarded generous stock bonuses based on performance and tenure. Last August, Cook and services chief Eddy Cue received 560,000 and 350,000 restricted stock units respectively, worth a combined $93.8 million at the time. Later in the year, Apple's recently promoted hardware chief Johny Srouji was awarded nearly $10 million in restricted stock units.
Apple might be looking to further expand its presence in Seattle, Washington following its acquisition of Seattle-based machine learning and artificial intelligence startup Turi. The news comes from reports of a "large California company" looking to purchase a big piece of office space in the city, with most believing that it's Apple (via GeekWire).
Last week, Apple paid $200 million to acquire Turi, which bills itself as a "machine learning platform for developers and data scientists," helping them build apps using the capabilities of artificial intelligence. Although the company's acquisition of Turi helps justify the rumor of Apple's expansion in Seattle, nothing has yet been solidified and, according to GeekWire, the Seattle rumors "pre-date Apple’s acquisition of Turi."
Specifically, the "large California company" is looking at properties in downtown Bellevue, particularly in the Schnitzer West’s 16-story Centre 425 building. Schnitzer West is under construction, with an opening expected towards the end of 2016, so if Apple makes a move it could begin increasing its Seattle presence by the end of the year.
At this point, we’ve been unable to confirm exactly where Apple may be headed in the Seattle area, but multiple sources say the footprint could be huge, several hundred thousand square feet. The rumors we’ve heard also pre-date Apple’s acquisition of Turi.
If a deal in downtown Bellevue were to go through it would be a big shot in the arm for an area that was looking at some sizable office vacancy over the next few years. In addition to the office buildings set to open soon, Expedia is leaving downtown Bellevue for Seattle in 2019. But the Valve and Salesforce deals, combined with a possible Apple move, would show that there are plenty of companies ready to step up to fill the void.
Last summer, Apple leased 30,000 square feet of office space in the Two Union Square skyscraper in downtown Seattle, which housed 120 to 200 employees, based on standard corporate leasing ratios. The work spaces now being looked at are over ten times as big, with the Bellevue location housing 354,000 square feet of office space, with the potential for approximately 1,400 to 2,300 employees. Apple originally expanded into Seattle in 2014 with a small team of more than 30 workers stationed in the city.
While multiple sources and leaked components have pointed towards iPhone 7 models having dual speakers, which could very well be the case, a new design drawing spotted by French website NWE suggests the additional holes may be purely cosmetic to give the bottom edge a symmetrical design.
The text in the documents refers to the area that occupies the 3.5mm headphone jack on current iPhones as having simply a microphone and microphone mesh, with no mention of a speaker in that location. Most of the secondary holes would be non-functional, except for the one furthest to the right, which would double as a microphone.
The veracity of the photo cannot be confirmed, and the rumor conflicts with some previous reports, but at least one previous iPhone 7 design drawing has depicted the left speaker grille as ornamental. In the photos, the secondary holes are not cut all the way through except for what would be normally be the microphone hole.
The inclusion of dual speakers or lack thereof will be known for certain in less than a month. Apple is expected to announce the tentatively named iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus on September 7, likely followed by pre-orders on September 9 and retail availability on September 16 in first-wave launch countries.
Crashes, and subsequent fatalities, of small private planes have "fallen to the lowest levels in decades" thanks to mobile devices that give pilots "much better weather information" than a few years ago, along with other benefits. These devices mainly include Apple's iPad lineup and, in 2015, helped contribute to the lowest rate of fatal crashes ever recorded by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration: 1.03 fatal accidents per 100,000 flight hours (via Bloomberg).
As pointed out by John Hansman, an astronautics and aeronautics professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the data should be "approached with care," due to the fact that there is far less information and data available on general aviation as opposed to commercial flights. Private airplane flights per year have also decreased, which would help lessen the overall chance for accidents in the first place. Still, the new data collected "jibes with broad new efforts to improve safety in that arena," according to Hansman.
“It’s encouraging,” said Hansman, who has studied private-aircraft safety data. “There are reasons to think it might be accurate. There’s a lot of things happening in the system that are slowly making it better.”
In reaction to these accidents, the FAA and the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board moved to bolster each private aircraft pilot's safety levels, leading to the official approval of "weather and other programs for mobile devices." To improve the regulation of these aircrafts, the two administrations also approved ways to make it easier to add safety equipment to planes, including devices that warn of engine failure and the impending loss of control of the plane.
Following months of being repeatedly blocked by independent planning body An Bord Pleanála, Apple has finally been granted the go-ahead to build its massive data center in Galway County, Ireland (via Business Insider). The Irish planning board reversed course on its earlier oppositions to the data center, "despite opposition from a number of individuals and local businesses," giving Apple permission to build just one data hall. Each time an extension of the property is to be made, Apple will have to reapply for permission with the local planning body.
The original objections to the facility -- which will specifically be located in Derrydonnell Forest -- cited a worry over the local wildlife and the potential for negative impact that Apple's data center could have on it, as well as flooding concerns in a neighboring golf course. In June, these issues continued anew with fresh worry that the data center's proximity to a nuclear power plant could be harmful, despite the plant having been shut down for years.
The planning body said the data centre will provide the area with a significant economic boost, adding that they took into account how hard it is to find sites that are able to accommodate huge data centres that need to be connected to the national grid.
With the new majority vote from An Bord Pleanála overpowering the last few protestors, Apple now can continue with its 10-15 year construction plan of a massive data center site for services like the App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay and iCloud. After winning permission for this first building, Apple's ultimate goal by the end of its decade-long plan is a total of eight buildings housing servers for the company's online services.
Apple's plan was to originally have the Irish data center up and running by early 2017, but since its first proposal in September 2015 and the ensuing blockades, it's expected that goal has been pushed further back. The company is also planning the construction of a data center of similar scale (about 166,000 square meters) in Denmark.
Following in line with a slump in iPhone sales, Apple manufacturer Foxconn recently reported a 31 percent decline in profits in the second quarter of 2016. For the full quarter, ending in June, Foxconn was said to have amassed a net profit of 17.7 billion New Taiwan dollars, down from NT$25.7 billion a year earlier. Analysts watching the company had expected a revenue of around NT$23.9 billion for the quarter (via The Wall Street Journal).
A doom and gloom sentiment began surrounding Apple, and its overseas manufacturers, soon after the Cupertino-based company reported its first quarterly sales decline since 2003 in April. Despite a strong presence of the iPhone SE in the market, iPhone sales continued to contribute to an overall revenue decline for the company as the year continued.
The slump in the iPhone market now appears to be fully affecting Apple's manufacturing partners with the news out of Foxconn today, but both companies are looking forward to an uptick in sales in the future. Notably, Foxconn's acquisition of Japanese electronics maker Sharp has been officially approved by Chinese antitrust authorities, "clearing the final hurdle" in the lengthy buyout process. With the acquisition over, it should be easier for Foxconn to move forward with not only manufacturing of parts for the iPhone 7, but potentially even ramping up development of AMOLED displays and glass casings for the 2017 iPhone.
Overall, weak demand for the iPhone 7 -- due to a "lack of innovation" -- was predicted by a group of Apple suppliers in May. Multiple companies, like Japan Display and Taiwanese Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, reported fears of both huge net profit declines and a worrisome decrease in chip orders thanks to an overall declining iPhone market. Still, Apple CEO Tim Cook is optimistic about iPhone sales moving forward, saying that he sees "so many signs that are positive" as the company moves towards the iPhone 7 and iOS 10 in the fall.
Apple's virtual assistant Siri is known for offering up funny responses to a range of questions, and Apple's Siri team often puts time and effort into providing Siri with answers and comments on current events. This summer, augmented reality game Pokémon Go has become a worldwide phenomenon, and as discovered on Reddit and by 9to5Mac, Siri will now answer questions about the hit game.
A question like "Siri, what's your favorite Pokémon?" receives answers like "That yellow species with an electrostatic tail of variable lengths is rather cute" or "Polymaths prefer Poliwags." Asking Siri if it likes Pokémon Go also results in humorous answers like "I like pocket monsters. Pocket assistants, too."
Because Siri draws in information from sources like Wolfram Alpha, which has offered information about Pokémon since 2013, the personal assistant can also answer specific questions you ask about Pokémon. Data available includes Pokémon type, abilities, stats, evolutions, and more specific comparative questions about which Pokémon have the highest attack, fastest speed, and more.
While fervor over Pokémon Go has died down somewhat in recent days due to controversial feature changes and decisions made by Niantic Labs, Pokémon Go set an App Store record for the most ever downloads during its first week of availability.
It is considered the biggest mobile game in U.S. history and has been downloaded more than 100 million times. According to estimates, the game brings in more than $10 million in daily revenue across the iOS and Google Play app stores.
To find other questions Siri gives funny answers to, Siri.io, a new website that offers a comprehensive list of Siri commands is worth checking out.
Mobile phone repair firm GeekBar continues to share photos of iPhone 7 components on its Weibo page, with the latest set showing off the display assembly for the device. One photo in particular is interesting because it includes the display assembly paired with a front panel for the device, revealing that the display is mounted upside down compared to previous iPhone models.
iPhone 7 display and front panel photographed upside down
The iPhone's display and digitizer flex cables have traditionally come from the top edge of the display, routing toward connectors in the top portion of the iPhone's main logic board. The 3D Touch chip built into the display assembly on the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus is also located near the top of that display.
When the bare logic board for the iPhone 7 surfaced earlier this week, one notable change was that the main A10 chip had been shifted higher on the board than corresponding chips on other iPhones, and several of the usual display-related connectors were not in their typical locations. Instead, there were extra spots for flex cable connectors found near the bottom of the iPhone 7 logic board, and today's display assembly photo shows a corresponding change to the display part.
Several other sites reporting on these photos today have been looking at the part upside down and noting that the "bottom" portion of the display appears different with no cutout for the home button, potentially supporting rumors of a flush, Force Touch home button integrated into the front panel.
What these sites are looking at as the home button area is actually the top of the part with the earpiece and camera and sensor holes. With the reversed orientation of the display assembly on the front panel, the home button would be at the top of the photo and a portion of the home button cutout can indeed be seen under the flex cable.
The presence of a cutout does not necessarily mean the home button won't have Force Touch haptic feedback as rumored, however, as the functionality could still be included in a separate home button component attached in much the same way as on previous iPhones.
The iPhone 7 is expected to be unveiled at a media event tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, September 7, with pre-orders reportedly beginning on September 9 and a launch following on September 16.
Apple Pay holdout CVS today introduced CVS Pay, a new barcode-based mobile payment solution that integrates payment, prescription pickup, and its ExtraCare loyalty program into a single scan at checkout. CVS Pay is built into the newly updated CVS Pharmacy app for iOS and Android devices.
CVS Pay works with all major U.S. credit cards, including MasterCard, Visa, Discover, and American Express, in addition to debit, Health Savings Account, and Flexible Spending Account cards. All verifications for prescriptions and payment like a signature or PIN occur within the CVS Pharmacy app.
After adding their credit or debit cards to the app, customers can show the store associate a barcode, or pickup number at drive-thru locations, to initiate payment. The associate will scan the barcode, ring up the purchases, let the customer choose a stored payment method, and then process the payment.
CVS Pay launches today in select markets, including New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware, and a nationwide rollout to its over 9,600 pharmacy locations in the U.S. is expected to begin later this year. CVS Pharmacy is free on the App Store [Direct Link] for iPhone, with a companion Apple Watch app available.
Apple has re-hired software engineer Evan Doll to help the company "develop more health-related software," according to information spotted by Bloomberg on Doll's LinkedIn account. Specifically, Doll is now a director of health software engineering at Apple, a position which he began sometime in July, but his profile information doesn't provide any further details into his role at the company.
The software engineer worked at Apple from 2003 to 2009, helping create and develop the software operating system for the iPhone. In 2009, he left Apple and co-founded magazine app Flipboard with Mike McCue. Similar to Apple News, Flipboard curates content and stories tailored to each user's personal tastes and preferences, and has even been endorsed by Apple in the past.
The launch of Apple News was reported as a steep competitive challenge for the small company, resulting in a majority of its executives leaving the company -- including Doll himself -- in September 2015. Despite his background in the news curation space, Doll's new placement at Apple has him focused on potential new health initiatives, an area that the company has slowly been building upon lately.
Apple has been beefing up its engineering team for health-care applications, hiring Sage Bionetworks founder and Merck & Co. veteran Stephen Friend and former Nest Labs technology chief Yoky Matsuoka earlier this year. Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook is increasingly positioning the Apple Watch as a wellness accessory as he tries to win a slice of the $4.6 trillion U.S. health and fitness industry.
A report from earlier in the week suggested that Apple is working on a new health-tracking piece of hardware to launch alongside the 10th anniversary iPhone in 2017. Although details are still lacking for a product launch over a year away, the product is said to collect heart rate, pulse, and blood sugar changes, which could be describing a next-generation Apple Watch if it's not an entirely new addition to the company's hardware lineup.
Earlier in the year, Apple CEO Tim Cook spoke with Jim Cramer on "Mad Money," discussing Apple's initiatives in the health landscape. Cook described services like ResearchKit and the Health app as "significantly underestimated" sections of the technology market. Ultimately, when asked what the "next frontiers" in product development, Cook described health, and all the inroads taken by Apple to provide detailed analysis of a user's well-being, as "the biggest one of all."
T-Mobile has announced that qualifying Simple Choice postpaid customers will automatically receive free unlimited data at up to 4G LTE speeds throughout Brazil until September 18, enabling visitors to celebrate the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro without worrying about roaming charges.
The carrier is also offering free calls within Brazil and to the United States until September 18, while unlimited texting to over 140 countries remains free.
Additionally, T-Mobile continues to offer families of U.S. athletes free T-Mobile service and a Samsung Galaxy S7 edge and Samsung Gear 360 camera. Those who qualify can email RoamFreeInRio@t-mobile.com to get up to two free smartphones per athlete activated for the 2016 Rio Games.
A new collection of high-resolution images depicting iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus dummy units have been shared online today (via Letem svetem Applem) [Google Translate].
The photos originated from mobile peripheral website Topp Ten, which claimed that in addition to the usual color options of Rose Gold, Gold, and Silver, Apple will offer the new iPhone in a variant of Blue. This resurfaces a rumor from earlier in the summer, which was believed to ultimately be a mistake and that this "Deep Blue" iPhone 7 is actually just a new shade of Space Gray.
The two iPhones in today's images are both Gold, so any claim to the veracity of a potential Deep Blue iPhone 7 is still left unconfirmed. The photos provide direct glimpses of the iPhone's front and rear sides, although it's difficult to directly confirm if the devices have a traditional, tactile home button instead of the rumored addition of a flush, Force Touch-enabled alternative, although as dummy units they wouldn't necessarily confirm any changes to the device's functionality.
Since the 2016 iPhone update will otherwise be modest, it's believed subtle changes to the line's longest-living features, like a potential shift in how the Home Button looks and functions, could be an attractive selling point for customers.
The back of the iPhone shows off what's expected of the device at this point, namely the single-lens camera of the 4.7-inch iPhone 7 and the dual-lens alternative on the 5.5-inch iPhone 7 Plus. Previous reports have suggested that Apple could be splitting the iPhone lineup this year into three tiers, with an "iPhone 7 Pro" housing the dual-lens camera and other top-tier features, but today's images showcase only two options.
The rear of the iPhone 7 Plus also doesn't have a Smart Connector, which was suggested earlier in the year to be a potential added-in feature on the larger model. More recently, however, it was reported that Apple has since ditched these plans, and subsequent image leaks and molds for the 5.5-inch iPhone 7 have lacked the Smart Connector on the lower backside of the smartphone's casing. It was never clear what the benefits of a Smart Connector could bring to the iPhone, besides the potential possibility of fueling wireless charging or battery cases.
Otherwise, the photos back up everything else that's expected in the iPhone 7 this year: realigned antenna bands, tapered camera enclosures, and an overall design that keeps a very close resemblance to the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6s. What's not shown directly is any side of the iPhone 7, so it can't be confirmed if the new images back up the rumored lack of a 3.5 mm headphone jack. Still, at this point and with a steady stream of other accessory leaks and videos, that's one of the likeliest rumors out there surrounding the 2016 iPhone.
It's currently believed that Apple will hold its media event debuting the iPhone 7 on September 7, with pre-orders kicking off on September 9, and a wide launch of the smartphones on September 16.
Apple has invented a new health wearable device that measures electrocardiographic signals via a series of built-in electrodes (via PatentlyApple).
The device was revealed in a new patent application published today by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and appears to show designs on another wearable apart from the Apple Watch that can be worn on different locations on the body.
Electrocardiographic measurements rely on multiple electrode readings that can vary depending on where the recording is taken on the body. For example, accidental misplacement of limb lead electrodes is a common cause of ECG reading abnormalities. To solve this, Apple's patent details how the device can intelligently adapt its measurements for accuracy by taking and comparing readings in different body locations.
In one example, the device can be run through an 'enrollment' process, whereby the measurements are taken at different locations on the body. Once the process is finished, electrocardiographic results obtained from the arm can be compared against the stored measurements and determine an accurate reading of heart functioning.
The patent describes how a user wearing the device on their arm can take manual measurements, by placing their finger on an electrode that is not already in contact with the body, whereby the device compares the inverted readings relative to one another to calculate an accurate measurement.
Earlier this week it was reported that Apple is developing at least one new health-tracking product that could debut alongside the tenth-anniversary iPhone in 2017. The product is said to have an array of health-related apps that collect data such as heart rate, pulse, and blood sugar changes.
It's extremely unlikely that today's patent relates to the upcoming device, but it does serve as another example of the research Apple is ploughing into this area, and indicates that the company is not averse to developing wearable technology that isn't necessarily linked to the Apple Watch.
In a recent interview, when asked what he believes the "next frontiers" will be when it comes to product development, Apple CEO Tim Cook highlighted health as "the biggest one of all."
App and device interaction service IFTTT has launched a new partner platform that enables third-party developers to bake the company's automated actions into their apps.
For those unfamiliar with IFTTT (IF This, Then That), the service lets users link smart devices, services, and apps in the form of workflows that trigger automated actions – saving photos you're tagged in on Facebook to Dropbox, for instance, or turning on the heating at home when you leave the office.
Previously, users had to download the IFTTT app or log on to its website to set up such workflows, but the New Partner Platform, which has been in closed beta testing for the last year, means automations can now be integrated and controlled within other apps, enabling gadgets and services to more easily connect to one another.
The public rollout comes to a number of partners, including video doorbell maker Ring, connected car service Automatic, banking app Qapital, air quality monitor Foobot, garage door automation Garageio, smart thermostat Hive, indoor air and health monitoring device Awair, Wi-Fi doorbell Skybell, connected light bulb maker LIFX, responsive lighting maker Stack Lighting, real-time weather service Bloomsky, group voice messenger Roger, and home security service abode.
Users who own apps or smart devices by any of these companies should be able to make use of the IFTTT recipe integration any day now.
The If app is a free download available for iPad and iPhone on the App Store. [Direct Link]
Logitech today announced a new single-button device called the Pop Home Switch, designed to simplify the control of multiple smart home products.
The interactive accessory company says the idea behind the Pop is to free up control of smart devices so that anyone in the home can operate them regardless of whether they have a smartphone and the associated app for each device.
The palm-sized, wall-mounted switch connects wirelessly to a Bluetooth hub that plugs into a power outlet, and enables users to activate up to three pre-programmed moods with a single, double, or triple press.
A companion mobile app scans local Wi-Fi networks for compatible devices and allows users to create a recipe for each. For example, a recipe called "morning" could be programmed to open the drapes and begin a particular music playlist with a single click of the button.
The Pop supports a range of smart home devices, like Phillips Hue lights, Sonos speakers, LIFX connected bulbs, August locks, and Lutron smart drapes.
Logitech's Starter Pack comes with two wall-mounted buttons and a single hub, and additional Pops can be bought to increase the flexibility of the system.
The Pop Home Switch Starter Pack costs $99.99 and additional switches cost $39.99. The device works with both iOS and Android; pre-orders begin today and the product will start shipping later this month.
Apple has announced that its World Trade Center retail store in Lower Manhattan opens on Tuesday, August 16 at 12:00 p.m. local time. The store will be located in the new Oculus transit and retail hub on the lower level.
Apple's plans to open a retail store at the new World Trade Center have been rumored since 2013, and construction has been underway since earlier this year. It will be the 10th Apple Store in New York City.
Last year, MacRumorscovered the potential reasoning for Apple's rumored return to having a single partner for Apple A-series chip production with the A10 after having both Samsung and TSMC produce versions of the Apple A9.
Since then, TSMC confirmed in conference call comments that its chip packaging changes have led to improvements of 20 percent in both speed and packaging thickness and 10 percent in thermal performance. This has a number of implications for future device performance and future foundry partner selection for Apple.
First, it is helpful to understand why InFO-WLP (Integrated Fan-Out Wafer-Level Packing) is such an important development for Apple's mobile processors. Typically, chips as large as CPUs or mobile SoCs have been attached via "flip-chip" methods which attach an array of inputs and outputs to a package substrate via solder bumps, ultimately enabling it to be attached to a printed circuit board (PCB) for device integration.
From the start, this is a compromise, as it would be preferable to attach a silicon die directly to the PCB to minimize height and reduce the lengths of interconnects between components. A number of technical limits in areas such as interconnect pitch, board produceability, and damage due to board warpage typically prevent this direct attachment.
The above problem had previously been circumvented for smaller I/O count components with a similar concept called Fan-In Wafer-Level Packing, where smaller dies are allowed to route their inputs and outputs in an area roughly the same area as the die. TSMC is just one of many companies beginning to enable this concept for larger I/O count devices in such a way that allows high volume, acceptable yields, and an acceptable cost.
Biggest design overhaul since iOS 7 with Liquid Glass, plus new Apple Intelligence features and improvements to Messages, Phone, Safari, Shortcuts, and more. Developer beta available now ahead of public beta in July.
Biggest design overhaul since iOS 7 with Liquid Glass, plus new Apple Intelligence features and improvements to Messages, Phone, Safari, Shortcuts, and more. Developer beta available now ahead of public beta in July.
Apple chairman Arthur D. Levinson and general counsel Bruce Sewell recently sold approximately $7.6 million and $2.5 million worth of company shares respectively, according to SEC documents filed electronically this week.
Apple might be looking to further expand its presence in Seattle, Washington following its 
Last year, MacRumors 
