Apple today seeded the first beta of an upcoming OS X 10.11.4 El Capitan update to developers for testing purposes, just over one month after releasing the second OS X El Capitan update, OS X 10.11.2. OS X 10.11.3 is also in testing and has been provided to developers and public beta testers.
The new OS X 10.11.4 beta can be downloaded through the Apple Developer Center.
It is not known what improvements the fourth update to OS X El Capitan will bring, but like prior updates, it's likely to focus on security enhancements, performance improvements, and bug fixes to address issues have been discovered since the release of OS X 10.11.2 and were not able to be included in the OS X 10.11.3 beta.
We'll update this post with any changes that are discovered in the beta.
Apple today provided developers with the first beta of an upcoming update to tvOS, the operating system that runs on the fourth-generation Apple TV and powers its built-in App Store. Today's tvOS beta comes just over one month after the release of tvOS 9.1, the first update to tvOS since it was released in October alongside the new Apple TV.
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.
We don't know what's included in the new version of tvOS, but it's likely to bring expanded features, bug fixes, and performance improvements to Apple's youngest operating system.
The first tvOS update, tvOS 9.1, introduced Siri support for Apple Music, allowing the personal assistant to play content from Apple Music when requested. Siri for Apple Music on the Apple TV works similarly to Siri for Apple Music on iOS devices, enabling queries like "What was the top song in 1980?" or "Play Adele's latest single." It also brought support for the iOS and Apple Watch Remote app, which is now compatible with the new Apple TV.
What's new in tvOS 9.2:
Bluetooth keyboard support - tvOS 9.2 now supports Bluetooth keyboards, allowing a keyboard to be paired to the Apple TV for text entry. This is a major feature that was missing from previous versions of tvOS and its addition should make it much easier to do things like enter passwords.
Folders - tvOS 9.2 includes support for grouping apps in the Home screen into Folders, much like one can do on an iOS device. Folders are a bit buggy on the Home screen, but this will improve in subsequent betas.
MapKit - tvOS 9.2 supports MapKit, allowing developers to implement maps into their tvOS apps.
Siri - Siri now includes support for US Spanish (in the US only) and French Canadian (in Canada only). UK English, Australian English, and US English are now available in the UK, Australian, and US Storefronts when English is set as the tvOS language.
App Switcher - There's a new look for the App Switcher interface in tvOS.
Podcasts - The Podcasts app is now available on the fourth-generation Apple TV.
Apple today seeded the first version of an upcoming watchOS 2.2 update to developers, just over a month after releasing the first major update (watchOS 2.1) to watchOS 2, the operating system that runs on the Apple Watch.
The 2.2 beta can be downloaded through the dedicated Apple Watch app on an iPhone running the iOS 9.3 beta by going to General --> Software update. To install the update, the Apple Watch must have 50 percent battery, it must be placed on the Apple Watch charger, and it must be in range of the iPhone.
It is not yet clear what is included in watchOS 2.2, but it's likely to include bug fixes and performance improvements for issues discovered since the release of watchOS 2.1. It may also include new features to enhance the performance of the Apple Watch.
The first major update to watchOS 2, watchOS 2.1, included a range of bug fixes to address problems with Calendar, Power Reserve mode, third-party apps, and more. It also included support for several new languages.
What's new in watchOS 2.2:
Apple Watch - With watchOS 2.2 and iOS 9.3, the iPhone is able to pair with more than one Apple Watch. Both updates are required, with each watch running watchOS 2.2 and the iPhone running iOS 9.3.
Apple today seeded the first beta of an upcoming iOS 9.3 update to developers for testing purposes.
The iOS 9.3 beta is available for download immediately from the Apple Developer Center, and a public beta is likely to be available in the near future. With iOS 9.3, developers can also download the update over-the-air using the new iOS 9.3 Configuration Profile.
There have been no hints about what might be included in iOS 9.3, but as a major .1 update, it’s likely to include new features and operating system tweaks that improve performance. As with all iOS updates, it will undoubtedly include a long list of bug fixes to address problems found since the release of iOS 9.2. We will update this post with any changes that are discovered in the beta.
What's new in iOS 9.3:
Apple Watch - With iOS 9.3 and watchOS 2.2, the iPhone is able to pair with more than one Apple Watch. Both updates are required, with each watch running watchOS 2.2 and the iPhone running iOS 9.3. WatchOS 2.2 was seeded to developers alongside iOS 9.3.
Night Shift - iOS 9.3 includes a feature that reduces blue light at night, much like f.lux does on a Mac.
Notes - Notes is now password protected and there are new features for sorting by date created, date modified, or alphabetically.
Apple News - News algorithms have been improved to offer more tailored articles in the For You section. There's also a new landscape mode and in-line video playback.
Health - Health has been updated with a new interface that makes it easier to see move, exercise, and stand data. There's also a new menu in certain categories to help users discover apps that can be used to track health data.
CarPlay - CarPlay includes iOS 9 features like New and For You sections in Apple Music along with a Nearby feature in Maps for discovering the best local restaurants, coffee shops, and more.
Education - iOS 9.3 includes multiple Education-oriented features including shared iPads for students, a new Classroom app, and an Apple School Manager.
Danny Boyle's Steve Jobs film racked up two wins at last night's 73rd Annual Golden Globe Awards, getting half of the awards for which it was nominated. In total, Aaron Sorkin won for Best Screenplay and Kate Winslet won for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role.
Notably, Michael Fassbender lost to Leonardo DiCaprio's win in the Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama category for The Revenant. Steve Jobs' composer, Daniel Pemberton, was also edged out by Ennio Morricone's composition for The Hateful Eight in the Best Original Score section.
The new Steve Jobs film has been remembered more for its poor box office performance in the months since its wide release than for the quality of the film, and Aaron Sorkin briefly remarked on the topic while backstage at the Golden Globes. Sorkin commented on his enthusiasm for winning the award after the film had come to be known as "Box Office Failure Steve Jobs," hoping last night's double wins will bolster the movie’s legacy in the face of its financial failures.
"The first weekend, we broke box office records. Same for the second weekend. The third weekend, the title of the movie changed to 'Box Office Failure Steve Jobs' … It took some of the air out – the pride we had been feeling. We understood it wasn’t for everybody, but we worked so hard on it. It was an unexpected and unusual movie. We just didn’t want that to be the epitaph for the movie. So this is very nice."
Now that the Golden Globes out of the way, most are looking towards the 88th Academy Awards as the next major awards ceremony of the year, with nominations taking place this coming Thursday, January 14. Steve Jobs was rumored for Oscar nominations since the film debuted at Telluride in September, so it's likely to get some some of the similar recognition it got this year at the Golden Globes: Michael Fassbender for Best Actor, Kate Winslet for Best Supporting Actress, and Aaron Sorkin for Best Adapted Screenplay.
Chinese website cnBeta [Google Translate] is the latest source to claim Apple will release a new 4-inch iPhone early this year. The blog, citing Foxconn sources, shared many new details about the so-called "iPhone 5e" that we have broken down for comparison against previous 4-inch iPhone rumors below.
iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c, both released in 2013
"iPhone 5e" vs. "iPhone 6c" Apple's next-generation 4-inch iPhone has been given several names, including "iPhone 6c," "iPhone 7c" and "iPhone 5s Mark II," but this is the first report where it has been called "iPhone 5e."
The website claims "iPhone 5e" will represent an "enhanced" iPhone 5s and replace the latter in Apple's smartphone lineup once released. iPhone 5e would be Apple's new entry-level handset.
A8 Chip with 1GB of RAM The report says the "iPhone 5e" will be powered by Apple's 64-bit A8 chip and 1GB of RAM. Apple devices with an A8 chip: iPhone 6, 6 Plus, iPad mini 4, Apple TV 4, iPad Air 2 and the newest iPod touch.
Japanese website Mac Otakara also said the new 4-inch iPhone will have an A8 chip, without disclosing potential RAM, while Chinese website MyDrivers said the device will have an A9 processor and 2GB of RAM.
KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo also said the 4-inch iPhone will have an A9 chip in a research note to investors, but that appears to be more of a prediction rather than supply chain evidence.
16GB/64GB Storage The report claims the "iPhone 5e" will have 16GB base storage, with a 64GB model also available. Chinese website MyDrivers also said the new 4-inch iPhone will have 16GB base storage.
iPhone 5s Camera "iPhone 5e" will have the same rear-facing 8-megapixel iSight camera as the iPhone 5s, according to the report. If the "iPhone 5e" proves to be an "enhanced" iPhone 5s, then this makes sense.
No other reputable iSight camera rumors have surfaced about the new 4-inch iPhone, but Mac Otakara said the device will have an improved FaceTime HD camera with ƒ/2.2 aperture.
Slightly Thinner and Lighter The report claims the "iPhone 5e" will be lighter, implying that it will likely also be thinner. Mac Otakara previously reported the new 4-inch iPhone will resemble a sixth-generation iPod touch.
Mac Otakaranow says the new 4-inch iPhone will have dimensions of 122.90 mm x 57.63 mm, which is fractionally thinner than the iPhone 5s. Apple could use 2.5D cover glass like the iPhone 6s.
Apple Pay Apple will reportedly add NFC and Touch ID to the "iPhone 5e" to support Apple Pay, which is not available on the iPhone 5s unless paired with an Apple Watch.
KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has also claimed the new 4-inch iPhone will feature Apple Pay to complete Apple's lineup of NFC-enabled devices.
VoLTE Calling The report claims the "iPhone 5e" will support VoLTE calling, allowing for wideband, high-quality phone calls on select carriers in the U.S. and nine other countries.
Rose Gold and Colors The report corroborates previous rumors claiming the new 4-inch iPhone will be available in Rose Gold and other existing iPhone colors.
Multiple reports claim the device will have an anodized aluminum finish like the iPhone 5s, rather than plastic casing like the budget iPhone 5c.
Pricing and Availability The report claims the "iPhone 5e" will launch in February-March, possibly around the Chinese New Year, lining up with multipleotherreports claiming the new 4-inch iPhone will launch in early 2016.
Pricing could start at around 3,288 yuan ($500 U.S.).
AT&T today announced the first new unlimited data plan possibility for its customers since the company removed the option over five years ago. Officially starting tomorrow, AT&T users who already have or decide to add AT&T DIRECTV or AT&T U-Verse onto their plan can choose to opt-in to an Unlimited Plan, "offering customers more data to use for watching video, playing games and surfing the web on their mobile devices."
"Our new unlimited plan is our best offer yet. It’s the perfect reward for our valued customers who like to take advantage of our integrated offers of TV and wireless services,” said Ralph de la Vega, CEO of AT&T Mobile and Business Solutions. “Video traffic continues to grow on our network as fast as ever because people enjoy viewing their favorite video content on their favorite devices.”
As it does for current grandfathered customers, the new Unlimited Plan offers unlimited data, talk, and text to its users instead of a month-by-month data allotment. The pricing for the plan begins at $100 per month for the first smartphone, with additional devices costing $40 per month, although the fourth phone can be added at no additional cost. The company noted that today's announcement is the "first of many integrated video and mobility offers" coming to AT&T customers in 2016.
AT&T also noted that DIRECTV and U-Verse customers who don't yet have an AT&T wireless subscription can get $500 in credit when beginning the new Unlimited Plan, with one of the company's eligible trade-ins that would go towards the purchase of a new phone on AT&T Next. The alternative is also an option, with AT&T wireless subscribers able to add a new TV package starting at $19.99 per month for a full year after signing a 24-month agreement.
Publishers who have been offering their content on Apple News have been receiving incorrect usage statistics from Apple due to an internal glitch that caused the company to miscalculate the number of people using the service, Eddy Cue told The Wall Street Journal in a statement this evening.
According to Cue, Apple has been underestimating the number of readers using the News app since it launched alongside iOS 9 in September. The problem went under the radar because Apple was busy working on improving other aspects of the service. Apple doesn't know how exactly many people are using the News app, but the company is working to fix the problem.
"We're in the process of fixing that now, but our numbers are lower than reality," [Cue] said. "We don't know what the right number is," but he added that it was better to undercount than overcount traffic.
In October, during Apple's fourth quarter earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook said Apple News had approximately 40 million users, but he did not specify whether that number represented people who use the Apple News app on a regular basis or if it was a number reflecting the number of people who accessed the app at one point or another. Cue echoed that number in his comments to The Wall Street Journal, but it is not clear if that is an accurate figure given Apple's current inability to calculate exact usage.
Despite not knowing how many people are using Apple News at the current time, Cue says that Apple News usage has "scaled very fast," and that the company is happy with the Apple News product's progress thus far. After launching in the United States in September, Apple News expanded to the U.K. and Australia in October with the launch of iOS 9.1.
As The Wall Street Journal points out, accurate readership numbers are important to publishers because the figures impact advertising. Publishers who share content on Apple News are able to keep 100 percent of proceeds from ads sold on their own, or 70 percent from ads sold through the Apple iAd service. According to Cue, iAd has been popular enough with publishers that Apple will be expanding the platform with a self-service ad-buying feature in the next two months.
Apple has partnered more than a hundred publications for Apple News, including The New York Times, CNN, ESPN, The Atlantic, The Daily Mail, Slate, and more. MacRumors is also on Apple News and can be subscribed to by clicking this link on an iOS device.
Apple has announced that its 31st and 32nd retail stores in China will open in Nanjing, the capital city of Jiangsu, and Guangzhou on Saturday, January 16 and Thursday, January 28 respectively. Both stores will open at 10:00 a.m. local time.
The first store will be located in the IST shopping mall at 100 Zhongshan Road in Nanjing's Xuanwu District, while the Guangzhou store will open at the Parc Central retail development at 218 Tianhe Road in the city's Tianhe District.
Parc Central retail development render in Guangzhou, China (Image: Benoy)
The new stores will be open Monday to Sunday between 10:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. local time, and each will offer a Genius Bar and other traditional Apple Store services. Apple is quickly approaching its goal of opening 40 new retail stores in China. The locations will mark Apple's 27th and 28th retail stores in mainland China, while the company also operates four retail stores in Hong Kong.
Apple Music has surpassed 10 million subscribers across iOS, Mac, PC, Android and Apple TV in just six months, a milestone that took its largest rival Spotify around six years to accomplish, Financial Times reported on Sunday.
Apple Music, which launched in over 100 countries on June 30, 2015, has cemented its position as the world's second largest streaming music service behind Spotify, which last announced reaching over 20 million paying subscribers and more than 75 million active users three weeks before Apple's streaming service became available.
Spotify was an early entrant in the streaming music market when it launched in Europe in October 2008. The service did not expand to the U.S. until July 2011 due to lengthy negotiations with major record label companies, and it has since launched in nearly 100 countries and territories worldwide. Unlike Apple Music, Spotify also offers a free ad-supported tier with limited features on desktop and mobile.
Music industry analyst Mark Mulligan predicted last month that Apple Music would have 8 million subscribers by the end of 2015, and he expects the service to reach 20 million total users by the end of this year. At that pace, Apple Music could top Spotify as the largest streaming music service by number of subscribers in 2017, assuming that Spotify maintains around its current rate of growth.
Update: Spotify told Business Insider that it experienced its fastest subscriber growth ever in the second half of 2015, but did not provide an updated subscriber total.
Facebook may be developing an official Messenger desktop app for Mac, according to TechCrunch. The technology website obtained a blurry photo that allegedly shows a Facebook employee using the Messenger client on Mac, which would be easily accessible from the OS X dock as opposed to a tab in a web browser.
Leaked photo of claimed Facebook Messenger for Mac app (Image: TechCrunch)
Messenger for Mac appears to have a navigation tab bar in the bottom left with options matching the Messenger for iOS mobile app, including Recent, Groups, People and Settings. These menu options are reportedly not found in unofficial Messenger apps, making it more likely the app is not a third-party version.
The company's goal is likely to create a standalone Messenger experience on Mac, similar to how it released a dedicated Messenger app for iOS in August 2011. But unlike when Messenger was detached from the main Facebook app on iOS in July 2014, the web version of the chat platform may remain available alongside the desktop app.
It’s unclear but seemingly unlikely that Facebook would require users to chat via the desktop software instead of the website. We have no information about when or even if Facebook might release Messenger For Mac. The company often builds and internally tests apps that never ship. Still, this app seems like a smart move. Slack has proven people enjoy a dedicated desktop app for messaging. It could help Facebook box out competitors like Google, WeChat, Line, Kik, and KakaoTalk.
Facebook released a Messenger desktop app for Windows in March 2012, and said it was "busy working on Messenger for Mac" at the time, but the company discontinued its Windows app two years later and has yet to release a Mac app. Facebook also launched Messenger.com last April as a standalone web chat client.
Facebook often internally tests apps that never ship, so it remains unclear when or if Messenger for Mac will be released. A company spokesperson declined to "comment on rumor or speculation," but author Josh Constine said that is "the same boiler plate response" he has received about rumors proven true in the past.
Edwin the Duck is an iPhone-connected rubber duckie that was first introduced to the world in 2014 via Kickstarter. The Kickstarter campaign failed to get enough interest and didn't reach its funding goal, but Edwin's creators, who had a vision of a better rubber duckie, didn't give up. Edwin was shown off at CES in January of 2015, made it into production, and began shipping later in 2015.
Edwin caught a lucky break in December of 2015, winding up in the Apple Online Store, a sign of Apple's approval. Edwin is also now sold in other major retail locations, like Best Buy, where he's been getting some positive reviews from parents and kids alike.
When we at MacRumors saw Edwin the Duck on Apple's site, we scoffed at the prospect of a $100 rubber duckie, which led to an invitation to try Edwin for ourselves to see whether or not it's worth shelling out $100 for an iPhone-connected duck.
As something of a toy enthusiast, I gladly accepted the challenge. I'll say up front that I have no children to gauge a child's response to Edwin, but even as an adult, I was charmed by Edwin's design and impressed with his range of features. Edwin is cute, but he isn't perfect - there are some definite shortcomings, which I'll cover in my review.
Apple's upcoming iPhone 7 is rumored to feature a thinner body with no headphone jack, with Apple instead planning to rely on the Lightning port and Bluetooth as ways to connect headphones to the device.
It was not clear if Apple would continue to ship EarPods along with the iPhone 7, and whether those EarPods would use Lightning or Bluetooth, but a new report from 9to5Mac suggests Apple will indeed ship Lightning-connected EarPods with the iPhone 7. Apple is also working on a new set of wireless Bluetooth earphones that would be sold alongside the iPhone 7 as a premium accessory and alternative to the Lightning-connected EarPods.
While traditional Bluetooth headphones, including Apple's own PowerBeats, have a wire that connects the left and right ear pieces to each other, Apple is said to be designing earphones that do not include a connective cord. These earphones would be similar in design to the Bragi Dash, an upcoming set of earphones that features individual ear pieces for each ear. Charging would be done through a battery case.
The latest version of the new wireless Apple/Beats headphones in development do not include any ports for charging, in contrast to the mini-USB port on the current wireless Beats. Instead, the new headphones are likely to come with a carrying case that doubles as a rechargeable battery to juice up the headphones when they are not in use.
A recent rumor suggested Apple would use new audio technology in the iPhone 7 to improve noise-cancelation techniques for better sounding music and phone calls, and this appears to be technology that may also extend to Apple's prospective wireless earphones.
In October, trademark filings for an audio accessory by the name of "AirPods" were linked to Apple, so it's possible Apple's rumored wireless earphones will eventually be named "AirPods" and sold alongside the existing EarPods.
According to 9to5Mac, while the earphones are currently under development in preparation for a fall launch, there's a possibility the technology could be delayed due to battery life concerns. The earphones are said to have a battery life under four hours.
Today's report also suggests Apple is finalizing the design for the iPhone 7, testing three designs that range from a thinner model to a device that looks much like the iPhone 6s.
With just 12 months to go until Apple's second "spaceship" campus is scheduled to be completed, construction crews are hard at work on the main ring-shaped building and several auxiliary buildings, including the underground auditorium, a visitor's center, and a set of research and development buildings.
Drone pilot Duncan Sinfield today shared another monthly campus update video with MacRumors, giving us a look at how construction has progressed since December. Late last month and early this month, enough of the main building was completed that the unique, curved glass windows could start going up. In the video, you'll see the first window panels on the building, both at the exterior and the interior of the ring.
Significant progress has been made on the underground auditorium, and the Tantau research and development buildings are taking shape and filling out.
With construction growing closer to completion, work on the landscape may soon begin. Apple's second campus will feature 80 percent green space, a central garden with outdoor dining areas, and more than 300 species of trees, including a variety of fruit trees. Underground structures like parking facilities and the auditorium will be covered with greenery.
When finished, the campus will include the 2.8 million square foot ring-shaped main building, several parking structures, a 100,000 square foot fitness center, a 120,000 square foot auditorium, and a dedicated visitor's center with an observation deck, cafe, and Apple Store.
Positioned as a competitor to products like the Nest Cam and the Logi Circle, the Flir FX is a compact home surveillance camera that's useful for keeping an eye on what's going on at home when you're not there. The Flir FX consists of a palm-sized wide-angle camera with a resolution of 1920 x 1080p, auto motion detection, Wi-Fi connectivity, and night vision.
Flir FX comes with a mount (and an optional outdoor housing) that lets it be positioned anywhere in the home -- I've got one on a desk that monitors my kitchen, front door, hallway, and a portion of my living room. It can run on battery four hours on the stand, so it can also move from room to room or work as a GoPro-style camera in a pinch, which is handy. Another neat feature: it can let you know the humidity and the temperature of the room it's in and alert you if there are significant changes.
While great for making sure a home is safe from intruders, the Flir FX is also useful for keeping an eye on pets and kids with its two-way microphone and automatic recording based on motion. Image quality is crisp overall, but low-light capture can be a bit dark at times. At night, the night vision feature records movement up to 30 feet away and gives a clear picture of activity.
Flir FX ships with an 8GB microSD card (upgradeable), so video can be captured and viewed locally, which is a major plus. There's also a Flir Cloud feature for viewing streaming video on the Flir FX iOS app when you're away from home. Basic connectivity, with two days of unlimited cloud storage, is free, but up to 30 days of storage is available for $19.95 per month, which is pretty pricy. I was mostly satisfied with the free tier because video can be exported and saved locally, but the more expensive tiers have perks that enhance some of the app abilities like daily recaps.
With the Flir FX iOS app, there are some nifty things you can do with the camera. The Flir FX works by sensing motion, and in the app, you can set SmartZones for it to monitor. I don't want to get an alert every time someone moves in the living room, for example, but I do want to know when someone comes in the front door. Detailed settings for motion capture are also available, including sensitivity adjustments movement and noise, and there's an option to turn on continuous recording to the microSD card.
I'm not a huge fan of the Flir FX app's interface, its slow loading speed, or the occasional delayed movement notifications I get, but I do like what it can do. The Flir FX app takes quick one minute videos whenever motion is detected, and sends an alert. It can also take snapshots and it has a list of all the manual recordings I've created on the microSD card. My favorite feature, by far, is the "RapidRecap," which aggregates all of the movement captured during the day into a single video with timestamped overlapping objects. It's a neat way to go through a ton of footage and see everything that happened in a day.
The Flir FX can be purchased directly from Flir for $199, but one lucky MacRumors reader will get a camera and an outdoor housing as part of 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 MacRumorsFacebook 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 (January 8) at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time through 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time on January 15. The winner will be chosen randomly on January 15 and will be contacted by email. The winner has 48 hours to respond and provide a shipping address before a new winner is chosen. The prize will be shipped to the winner for free.
The National Football League is in talks with technology companies like Apple and Google as the NFL seeks out a partner for three London games that it plans to stream next season, reports Reuters. Apple is said to have expressed interest in purchasing the rights to conduct the stream, perhaps in an effort to secure the games for the Apple TV.
In December, news leaked suggesting Apple and other digital companies like Google, Amazon, and Yahoo had talked with the NFL about streaming "Thursday Night Football" games online on a non-exclusive basis. It is not yet known who secured those digital rights.
Over the past year or two, live-streaming has become important to technology companies who want to cater to sports enthusiasts and an ever growing number of cord cutters. In 2015, Yahoo partnered with the NFL to live-stream a London game for free to viewers, setting off a trend that is continuing this year.
The NFL believes last year's Sunday night streaming experiment was a success, with approximately 15.2 million viewers having tuned in as it was broadcast.
According to Reuters, it is not clear if the NFL plans to sell the rights to the three games as a package deal or split them up individually. The fee the NFL is seeking is also not known, but last year, Yahoo shelled out $15 million to stream a single game.
The three games that will be played in London include the Indianapolis Colts vs. the Jacksonville Jaguars on October 2, the New York Giants vs. the St. Louis Rams on October 23, and the Washington Redskins vs. the Cincinnati Bengals on October 30.
Apple has blocked German car maker Volkswagen from showcasing wireless CarPlay connectivity at CES in Las Vegas this year, according to a report from Car and Driver. Apple introduced the ability to connect an iPhone wirelessly to CarPlay in iOS 9, but there has yet to be a commercial release for an infotainment system that supports the function.
“We wanted to demonstrate wireless CarPlay and the owner of CarPlay technology didn’t allow us to,” Volkmar Tannerberger, head of electrical and electronic development at Volkswagen, told Car and Driver.
The current CarPlay setup requires users to connect an iPhone to a vehicle via USB port, and many have seen the wireless feature as a natural evolution of the in-car system. Although Tannerberger didn't divulge the specifics behind Apple's stonewalling, it is likely the Cupertino company wanted more control over all of the elements going into the public debut of the wireless feature.
In lieu of its inability to show off wireless CarPlay features, Volkswagen used its CES booth to demonstrate a new project that connects a smartphone to a car's infotainment system and mirrors its functions and controls. The car maker used an open-sourced standard called MirrorLink, unavailable on iPhones, to show off the technology, which would let users stream content from a smartphone and onto the in-car system. Volkswagen was said to "envision" the feature working in tandem with a wireless charging system to keep a phone topped off.
CarPlay news has been flowing out of CES this year, with companies like Kenwood, JVC,Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and others announcing incoming support for Apple's in-car system. There are still a few opting out of the service, however, including Toyota, which decided to go with SmartDeviceLink over CarPlay and Android Auto earlier in the week.
Apple has registered a trio of auto-related top-level domain names, including apple.car, apple.cars and apple.auto. Whois records updated on January 8 show that Apple registered the domains through sponsoring registrar MarkMonitor Inc. in December 2015, although the addresses are not yet active.
The domains could be related to CarPlay, but there will naturally be speculation about their possible relation to Apple's much-rumored electric vehicle plans. Multiple reports over the past year said Apple has a secretive team of hundreds working on an electric vehicle with a prospective 2019 or 2020 shipping date.
Apple has aggressively recruited engineers and other talent from Tesla, Ford, GM, Samsung, A123 Systems, Nvidia and elsewhere to work on the rumored "Apple Car" project, which has allegedly been called "Project Titan" internally. Electric motorcycle startup Mission Motors even ceased operations after losing employees to Apple.
Apple likely remains in the earlier stages of research and development of its rumored electric vehicle, and it remains possible the company's plans change over the next three to four years. Nevertheless, the trio of new domains provide yet another clue that Apple may one day compete with the likes of Tesla and Google.
AT&T today 
Publishers who have been offering their content on Apple News have been receiving incorrect usage statistics from Apple due to an internal glitch that caused the company to miscalculate the number of people using the service, Eddy Cue told 
Apple Music has surpassed 10 million subscribers across iOS, Mac, PC, Android and Apple TV in just six months, a milestone that took its largest rival Spotify 
The National Football League is in talks with technology companies like Apple and Google as the NFL seeks out a partner for three London games that it plans to stream next season, reports 
