MacRumors

Apple today seeded the second beta of an upcoming watchOS 3.1.1 update to developers for testing purposes, one week after seeding the first watchOS 3.1.1 beta and two weeks after releasing watchOS 3.1, the first update to the watchOS 3 operating system.

watchOS 3.1.1 can be downloaded through the dedicated Apple Watch app on the iPhone by going to General --> Software Update. To install the update, the Apple Watch must have 50 percent battery, it must be placed on the charger, and it must be in range of the iPhone. watchOS 3.1 requires an iPhone running iOS 10 to install.

As a minor 3.1.x update, watchOS 3.1.1 appears to focus on under-the-hood bug fixes and performance improvements, with no outward-facing changes discovered in the first watchOS 3.1.1 beta. We'll update this post should any new features be discovered in the second watchOS 3.1.1 beta.

watchOS 3 completely overhauls the interface on the Apple Watch, introducing a dedicated app dock, instant launch apps, new watch faces, and new complication options. There are new Activity sharing features, a "Breathe" app guides users through deep breathing sessions to cut down on stress, and an SOS feature can automatically call emergency service.

For more details on what's new in watchOS 3, make sure to check out our watchOS 3 roundup.

Facebook's popular messaging app WhatsApp for iPhone was updated over the weekend with long-overdue support for animated GIFs.

WhatsApp users can now send and receive their own animated GIFs, or discover and share GIFs from built-in services such as Giphy and Tenor -- which one exactly appears to be dependant on your region.

Likewise, videos that are shorter than six seconds and Live Photos can also be sent as GIFs. To send a Live Photo as a GIF, simply 3D Touch the photo after tapping on Attach > Photo/Video Library and choose "Select as GIF."

WhatsApp is available as a free download on the App Store [Direct Link] for iPhone. The app is now at version 2.16.15.

Ahead of Election Day in the United States tomorrow, November 8, a collection of popular iOS and Android ride-hailing apps have launched promos for customers to more easily make it to their polling location before the 8PM deadline (via BuzzFeed). As the biggest ride-hailing app in the U.S., Uber [Direct Link] recently announced that starting tomorrow an action sheet will pop up when users launch the app, reminding them to vote.

Through a partnership with Google, the prompt will also include a way for users to find their polling place, add it as a destination, and use Uber to make it to the polls. Uber said that the small update was implemented because the company wants "to make getting to and from your polling place easier than ever." As a blanket rule, polls open 6AM and close at 8PM.

Let Uber and Google help you get out to vote. As part of our ongoing campaign to encourage users to vote, Uber is teaming up with Google to launch a special in-app feature on November 8th that will help you locate your polling location and then seamlessly request a ride with just a push of a button.

Given the important decision people around the country will make on November 8th, we wanted to make getting to and from your polling place easier than ever. Teaming up with Google, Uber is excited to help make that trip as convenient and stress free as possible.

Another popular taxiing app, Lyft [Direct Link], is angling its Election Day promotion as more of a money-saver for its customers (via The Verge). In twenty select markets, Lyft riders will be able to get a 45 percent discount on one ride between 7AM and 8PM tomorrow, although the return trip does not receive a similar discount.

Lyft's promotion is limited to the following cities: Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Miami, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Nashville, New Orleans, New York City and New Jersey, Orange County, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Portland, Raleigh, San Diego, and Washington. Eligible customers in these cities can check their inbox for a promotional email from Lyft and take advantage of the 45 percent discount in the Deals of the Week section of the app.

Car-sharing company Zipcar [Direct Link] is offering 7,000 of its vehicles completely free of charge on Election Day to customers riding to the polls. Of course, limitations apply, including the fact that a free Zipcar can only be taken between the limiting, last-minute window of 6PM and 10PM on the night of November 8. Users can reserve a Zipcar now, although supplies of the 7,000 rides available are likely to be limited.

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.

Gmail for iOS received a major update today with a brand new look, improved search with instant results and spelling suggestions, Undo Send for retracting accidental emails, and swipe to archive functionality for easier inbox management.

The app now more closely resembles Inbox by Gmail and Gmail for Android with a Material Design makeover, including an all-new pop-out side menu with a splash of color. Meanwhile, the new features should result in a faster experience for iPhone users.

In a new Bloomberg interview with Steve Ballmer, the former Microsoft CEO revisited his famously dismissive remarks about the iPhone when it launched back in 2007.

Shortly after Steve Jobs revealed the first iPhone, then-Microsoft CEO Ballmer was asked what he thought of the device during a press conference.

500 dollars? Fully subsidized? With a plan? I said that is the most expensive phone in the world. And it doesn't appeal to business customers because it doesn't have a keyboard. Which makes it not a very good email machine. ... Right now, we're selling millions and millions and millions of phones a year. Apple is selling zero phones a year. In six months, they'll have the most expensive phone by far ever in the marketplace.

Speaking to interviewer Emily Chang recently, however, Ballmer praised Apple's cellular subsidy model and admitted he wished he had come up with it first.

I wish I had thought of the model of subsidizing phones through the operators. People like to point to this quote where I said the iPhones will never sell. Well the price of $600 or $700 was too high and it was business model innovation by Apple to get it essentially built into the monthly cell phone bill.

Ballmer also admitted it was a mistake for Microsoft not to make handsets and tablets sooner. "I would have moved into the hardware business faster and recognized that what we had in the PC, where there was a separation of chips, systems, and software, wasn't largely going to reproduce itself in the mobile world," he said.

Microsoft entered the hardware market in 2012 with the Surface RT tablet, which sold poorly and saw the company take a $900 million charge to write down the value of inventory. Since then, Microsoft's Surface range has taken off, and generated more than $4 billion in sales for the company for the fiscal year ending June 2016.

India's Forensic Science Laboratory is in negotiations to purchase the security bypassing technology used by Israeli mobile software developer Cellebrite, the company that the FBI enlisted to help unlock the iPhone of the San Bernardino shooter earlier in the year (via The Economic Times).

The FBI needed Cellebrite's "mobile forensics solutions" to bypass the lock on the iPhone 5c in question, a method which Apple vehemently opposed throughout the lengthy public spat between it and the U.S. Justice Department.

Cellebrite has worked with government and law enforcement agencies "around the world," and the FBI's interaction with the company was reported earlier in the year to cost somewhere around $1 million. The terms of India's purchasing agreement with Cellebrite were not laid out, but an anonymous official from the Forensic Science Laboratory said that the Indian government is expected to get the unlocking technology fairly soon.

“We are likely to have the technology within a month or so. India will become a global hub for cases where law enforcement is unable to break into phones,” said a senior FSL official. All officials spoke on the condition of anonymity.

As the FSL official mentioned, after its purchase of Cellebrite India intends to become the "global hub" for cases similar to the one between Apple and the FBI that occurred this year, since it will now own the "entire tool" to open encrypted smartphones. It's mentioned, although not in much detail, that requests the FSL receives by other institutes to unlock a smartphone "will be entertained at a fee."

It's not clear how India's purchase will be different from anyone else's, or what would lead the country to become a "global hub" when others can also seek out help from Cellebrite.

Despite the FBI eventually finding nothing of importance in the San Bernardino iPhone, the political and technological climate surrounding the case will continue because encryption is "essential tradecraft" of terrorists, according to FBI director James Comey. His prediction came true last month when the agency began looking into the "legal and technical options" for entering the iPhone of the culprit behind the Minnesota mall stabbings in mid-September.

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.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame singer Neil Young's full back catalog has returned to Apple Music, Spotify, Deezer, and elsewhere, less than two years after he pulled his collection from all streaming services due to his belief that streaming delivers the "worst quality in history," according to Music Ally.

Young stopped streaming his songs in July 2015, and at the time said "it's not because of the money" but rather "about sound quality" in a Facebook post.

Streaming has ended for me. I hope this is ok for my fans.

It's not because of the money, although my share (like all the other artists) was dramatically reduced by bad deals made without my consent.

It's about sound quality. I don't need my music to be devalued by the worst quality in the history of broadcasting or any other form of distribution. I don't feel right allowing this to be sold to my fans. It's bad for my music.

For me, it's about making and distributing music people can really hear and feel. I stand for that.

When the quality is back, I'll give it another look. Never say never.

Young's catalog first returned to streaming service Tidal's high-fidelity CD quality tier in April, although his songs were also made available through its standard tier with a max quality of 320 kbps. Apple Music has a max quality of 256kbps. Both services use the Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) encoding format.

Young himself launched Pono, a music download service with high-resolution audio, in early 2015. The digital music service delivers high-resolution 24-bit 192 kHz audio. However, the store has been temporarily offline since July after its primary cloud-based infrastructure partner Omnifone was acquired.

Young has yet to provide a reason behind his decision to bring his catalog back to additional streaming services.

Honda has announced its 2017 Pilot will be available with CarPlay and Android Auto in models EX and above in the United States. The software platforms will be built into an improved 8-inch touchscreen with a new anti-fingerprint coating.

The three-row SUV is the latest Honda vehicle to support CarPlay after the 2016 and later Accord, 2016 and later Civic, 2016 Clarity Fuel Cell Sedan, 2017 Ridgeline, and 2017 Honda CR-V. Honda did not mention if wireless CarPlay will be supported.

The 2017 Honda Pilot goes on sale beginning November 7, with a suggested starting price of $33,030 for the CarPlay-supported EX model.

CarPlay is available in over 100 vehicle models worldwide from over two dozen automakers, providing hands-free or eyes-free access to common iPhone apps such as Maps, Messages, Music, Phone, and Podcasts, and select third-party apps. Apple keeps a periodically updated list of available models on its website.