Apple today launched a new promotion in its retail and online stores, offering a $60 Apple Music / iTunes gift cards with the purchase of Beats headphones or speakers. The promotion, first spotted by 9to5Mac, runs from December 3 to December 28, 2015.
The promotion is available for all Beats headphones and speakers save for a select few, including the Beats Mixr high-performance headphones, the urBeats in-ear headphones, the special edition Beats Tour in-ear headphones and the special edition Beats PowerBeats 2 wireless in-ear headphones. When users purchase an eligible Beats headphone or speaker, they will receive a $60 iTunes gift card that can be used to pay for an Apple Music subscription.
Apple also launched a promotion involving Beats earlier this year, giving away free Beats Solo2 headphones with the purchase of a Mac in its annual Back to School promotion.
Apple today shared another short iPhone 6s video, this time starring actor and director Jon Favreau. In the "On the Set" video, Favreau is directing a gymnastic sequence and uses the hands-free always-on "Hey Siri" feature to ask Siri to bring up pictures of flying squirrels.
The iPhone 6s is here, and the only thing that's changed with Siri is everything. Because now you just say "Hey Siri" and Siri's there, hands-free. Which can come in handy.
Today's ad starring Jon Favreau is the latest in a series of iPhone 6s ads that have featured celebrities and sports figures like Jamie Foxx, Stephen Curry, and Bill Hader using the various features of Apple's latest flagship device.
The video also comes one day after Apple shared two other iPhone 6s ads, focusing on the Hey Siri feature and the iPhone's powerful A9 processor. All of the ads are part of a campaign that uses the tagline "The only thing that's changed is everything."
Apple has implemented a carrier billing feature that lets Russian customers purchase iTunes content like apps, movies, music, and books using a phone number, reports CNBC. Purchases made with a phone number linked to an iTunes account are then added to a user's monthly cellular telephone bill without the need for a credit card, debit card, or iTunes gift card.
For its new mobile payment initiative, Apple has teamed up with Beeline, the third largest wireless operator in Russia. Beeline's Russian site says the mobile billing feature is now available to Beeline customers in the country, with the payments powered by San Francisco-based company Boku.
Apple's partnership with Beeline comes a month after it established a similar partnership with German carrier O2. As of late October, O2 customers are also able to link a phone number to their iTunes accounts to purchase iTunes content that's added to a monthly cellular phone bill.
According to CNBC, Apple has started expanding into carrier billing due to lower carrier rates. While carriers have charged as much as 10 to 30 percent to handle transactions in the past, Apple has secured a deal with better rates "in the single digits."
Apple's carrier billing partner Boku has partnered with dozens of carriers around the globe, so it's likely Apple will continue to expand its carrier billing initiative to more countries in the future. Boku works with all of the major carriers in the United States and has established partnerships in countries like Germany, France, Korea, the UK, and more.
The MOS Pack, available now on Kickstarter, is a backpack that includes a built-in power strip and cable management system that allows all of the devices inside to be charged by a single power cord without taking anything out of the backpack.
Ideal for travel, the MOS Pack can hold charging cables for a MacBook, an iPad, and an iPhone all at once, with each one plugging into an included MOS Reach power strip. The MOS Reach includes two USB charging ports for iOS devices (or other USB-powered electronics) and a standard port that can accommodate a MacBook's Power Adapter.
Cords are cleverly routed through cable management sleeves to keep them organized and out of sight, and the small power strip is concealed at the bottom of the backpack and kept in place with magnets. The MOS Pack includes a padded laptop sleeve, a tablet sleeve, an iPhone pocket, a waterproof water bottle pocket, a passport pocket, a hard glasses case, and slots for pens and pencils.
The MOS team has produced and shipped several other products via Kickstarter, including the original MOS Magnetic Organization System, the MOS Spring, and the MOS Reach, establishing itself as a reliable manufacturer.
The MOS Pack can be pre-ordered via Kickstarter for an early bird pledge of $120. When the early bird units have sold out, the price will be $140. MOS plans to begin shipping backpacks in March of 2016.
The latest data from market research firm IDC estimates Apple Watch sales totaled 3.9 million worldwide in the third quarter of 2015, making it the second most popular wearable device behind Fitbit fitness trackers during the three-month period ending September 30.
Apple posted a slight increase from the previous quarter, mostly the result of additional markets and channels coming on line. End-user attention has been going toward its entry-level and least expensive Sport line, to which Apple responded by introducing gold and rose gold models. In addition, Apple released watchOS 2, bringing native third-party applications to the device.
Fitbit shipped an estimated 4.7 million fitness trackers for 22.2% market share in the third quarter, compared to Apple's estimated 18.6% market share. Apple Watch shipments grew over IDC's second quarter estimate of 3.6 million, but both Apple and Fitbit ceded some market share to Xiaomi and other vendors.
Chinese rival Xiaomi remained in third place with an estimated 3.7 million wearables shipped in the quarter, representing 17.4% market share. Garmin and BBK rounded off the top five with 900,000 (4.1%) and 700,000 (3.1%) wearables shipped respectively, while all other vendors accounted for a combined 7.3 million shipments and 34.6% market share.
IDC estimates that wearable shipments totaled 21 million worldwide in the third quarter, growth of 197.6% compared to the 7.1 million units shipped in the year-ago quarter. IDC said the average smartwatch price was around $400, while basic bands and trackers averaged $94. China continues to be the fastest-growing wearables market, especially for lower-priced fitness trackers.
Apple has not disclosed Apple Watch sales numbers since the device launched in April, instead grouping the wrist-worn accessory with iPod, Apple TV and Beats Electronics accessories under an "Other Products" category in quarterly earnings reports. But when asked, Apple CEO Tim Cook and other executives consistently remain upbeat about current sales.
Flickr has published a 2015 Year in Review that again crowns the iPhone as the most popular camera, used for 42% of photos uploaded, based on EXIF data analysis. iPhones finished ahead of the Canon EOS, used for 27% of uploaded photos, and the Nikon D, used for 16% of uploaded photos.
The photo sharing website's cameras page lists the iPhone 6 as the most popular camera in the Flickr community, trailed by the iPhone 5s, Galaxy S5, iPhone 6 Plus and iPhone 5. Apple is the most popular camera brand on Flickr overall, ranking ahead of Samsung, Canon, Nikon, Sony, Motorola and LG.
iPhones have been the most popular smartphone cameras on Flickr for several years, which is largely unsurprising since DSLRs and some point-and-shoot cameras cannot be carried around as easily. In January 2015, Apple eclipsed Nikon to become the second most popular camera brand on Flickr.
Uber yesterday announced SPOT, a new initiative to make sure drivers and riders experience less hassle finding one another in dark or crowded areas. The technology will allow someone calling for an Uber to designate a specific color so that their driver can easily spot them when arriving at the pickup location.
SPOT is the latest experiment in our ongoing effort to make Uber pickups as seamless as possible. When riders and drivers can easily find each other, we’re able to trim down wait times, which is a win for everyone. We hope you’ll have a chance to experience SPOT in the coming weeks.
Beginning exclusively in Seattle, the new program will give Uber drivers a small "SPOT Device," attached to their windshield. When a user requests a SPOT-enabled vehicle, they're asked to pick a specific color within the app while waiting. When the app prompts the rider that the vehicle is driving up, they can take the app out and display their color to the driver, or simply look for their chosen color in the windshield of the car.
The company didn't give any mention if, or when, SPOT would make it to other cities after its test run in Seattle. Those that have yet to do so can download Uber from the App Store for free [Direct Link].
ESPN today announced an update to its iOS app that will let users stream live sporting events from the separate WatchESPN service directly within the core app, a feature that would previously redirect users to a separate download of WatchESPN. Specifically concerning videos, the ESPN app before today's update only allowed for short clips and game highlights.
“Offering the convenience of live streaming within one app reinforces the value of the multichannel subscription,” said Sean Breen, Senior Vice President of Affiliate Sales, Disney & ESPN Media Networks. “Even with WatchESPN’s recent record-breaking viewership, we continue to be aggressive in driving awareness to a large scale audience and to incentivize video subscribers to authenticate.”
ESPN representatives promised that logging into the new app will be the same process as before, and users can expect to see a simple "WatchESPN" tab at the bottom right of the screen. On the iPad, the app will also support multitasking with a picture-in-picture mode that keeps playback rolling even as users leave the app's homepage.
The company noted that it will be keeping WatchESPN up on the App Store as a solo, "full experience," for those who specifically want live streaming capabilities and none of the various other game-tracking features of the base app. To use WatchESPN in any capacity, users have to check for support from their cable provider and then link the two accounts within the app.
ESPN mentioned that the move to consolidate its two popular mobile apps comes after "record-breaking audience viewership" for its WatchESPN software across all platforms of its availability. September was its most-viewed month ever -- excluding months the World Cup took place -- with 11 million total viewers on the app that watched 2.2 billion minutes in total of ESPN content.
iPad Pro launched in the U.S. and 40 total countries in November, and this week the 12.9-inch tablet became available in the Philippines, South Korea and Taiwan through the Apple Online Store and select authorized resellers.
Pricing for the 32GB Wi-Fi base model in the three Asian countries starts at ₱42,990.00 in the Philippines, ₩999,000 in South Korea and NT$27,900 in Taiwan. 128GB Wi-Fi and 128GB Wi-Fi + Cellular models are also available.
Apple's website continues to list the iPad Pro as "coming soon" in select countries. The large-sized tablet is now available in the countries and territories listed ahead.
We are excited by this new chapter in the story of Swift. After Apple unveiled the Swift programming language, it quickly became one of the fastest growing languages in history. Swift makes it easy to write software that is incredibly fast and safe by design. Now that Swift is open source, you can help make the best general purpose programming language available everywhere.
Announced at WWDC 2014 and launched alongside iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite a few months later, Swift marks a significant step forward from the Objective-C previously favored by Apple.
On December 3, 2015, the Swift language, supporting libraries, debugger, and package manager were published under the Apache 2.0 license with a Runtime Library Exception, and Swift.org was created to host the project. The source code is hosted on GitHub where it is easy for anyone to get the code, build it themselves, and even create pull requests to contribute code back to the project. Everyone is welcome, even just to file a bug report. There are excellent Getting Started guides available here on the site as well.
The project is governed by a core team of engineers that drive the strategic direction by working with the community, and a collection of code owners responsible for the day-to-day project management. Technical leaders come from the community of contributors and anyone can earn the right to lead an area of Swift. The Community Guidelines includes detailed information on how the Swift community is managed.
With the open sourcing of Swift, Apple has also released a Linux port to expand access to the language. Apple has also begun sharing design guidelines related to the upcoming Swift 3, setting the stage for "a more cohesive feel to Swift development."
Update: Apple has published a press release announcing the news and Apple's Senior VP of Software Engineering, Craig Federighi, has done an interview with Ars Technica on Apple's decision to make Swift open source.
T-Mobile has announced a third "Un-carrier Unwrapped" holiday promotion that offers AT&T customers a 128GB iPhone 6s for the same price as a 16GB model, which is a $200 savings.
The offer is valid for AT&T, GoPhone and Cricket postpaid and prepaid customers that switch a phone number to a T-Mobile Simple Choice postpaid plan between December 4 and December 13.
AT&T customers can combine the offer with T-Mobile's Carrier Freedom promotion, which provides up to $650 towards a balance owing or to pay off early termination fees (ETFs) with an eligible device trade-in.
T-Mobile is also offering AT&T customers that switch up to half off its lineup of financed in-store accessories:
That could mean as much as a $125 discount on the hottest mobile gifts, like the latest smartwatches, UE Boom and JBL Bluetooth speakers, top-of-the-line headphones, Fitbit fitness trackers, Guitar Hero Live for iOS and more.
T-Mobile plans to unveil additional "gifts" over the next few weeks, with a new gift coming at least once per week. T-Mobile CEO John Legere recently confirmed on Twitter that Verizon customers will receive their "Un-carrier Unwrapped" gift soon.
T-Mobile also recently announced that Music Freedom now supports 11 new services: Aud.io, Dash Radio, DatPiff, Jango, KCRW, Noon Pacific, Radio Danz, SomaFM, Spinrilla, StreamOn and TuneIn Premium.
Nuance Communications today announced the launch of its voice dictation and productivity app, Dragon Anywhere, for iOS devices. Although the app includes a bevy of document management and enterprise-focused features, its main selling point is its continuous, cloud-based dictation that lets users create and edit documents without a time or length limit set in place.
“Expanding Dragon Anywhere to iOS further empowers the mobile workforce to more easily complete time-consuming documentation and achieve greater levels of productivity away from the office,” said Peter Mahoney, senior vice president and general manager of Dragon.
The company positions Dragon Anywhere as an ideal alternative for professionals often working outside of an office, since the software allows them full editing, formatting, and distribution tools right from their phone. Although it should be noted that even when out in the field, an internet or cellular connection is required at all times for the dictation software to function.
The app extends its voice dictation beyond document creation, as well, letting users navigate the UI or even share documents to Dropbox and Evernote using only their voice. The video below shows off Nuance's voice dictation software in greater detail.
Dragon Anywhere also includes a customization suite for its dictation awareness, letting businesses enter personal and customized phrases to be sure the software picks up on everything said by the user. All saved settings will also sync between iOS and the company's supported Mac and PC apps, as well.
Nuance offers Dragon Anywhere as a three-tiered subscription-based service, with 1 month ($15), 3 months ($40), and 12 months ($150) available as options to those interested, along with a one week free trial to test out its features beforehand.
KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has issued a research note corroborating rumors that Apple will release a new 4-inch iPhone next year, which he believes will resemble an upgraded iPhone 5s and launch in early 2016.
While new model may not generate huge sales, Apple still has good reasons to launch. These are: (1) still-existing demand for 4-inch smartphones. We estimate 15-17mn 4-inch iPhones will be shipped in 2015. We estimate the new 4-inch model will account for 8-9% of total iPhone shipments in 2016F; (2) expected price of US$400-500, with the aim of penetrating emerging markets and consumers on smaller budgets; and (3) adoption of NFC will support Apple Pay, benefiting the ecosystem.
Kuo expects the new 4-inch iPhone to have an A9 chip manufactured by both TSMC and Samsung, 2.5D cover glass with curved edges like on the iPhone 6s, NFC for Apple Pay, metal casing with at least two to three color options, and identical camera specs to the iPhone 5s -- an 8-MP rear-facing camera and 1.2-MP front shooter.
Kuo forecasted that full-year shipments of the new 4-inch iPhone will reach 20 million units, with production beginning in the first quarter of 2016. The research note said the new 4-inch iPhone could be priced at between $400 and $500 in the U.S., which would be $149 to $249 cheaper than the 16GB iPhone 6s.
The analyst also reaffirmed that the iPhone 6s may not outsell the iPhone 6, with a possible 30%-40% decline in quarter-over-quarter shipments, based on recently slowed orders within the supply chain. Kuo believes the new 4-inch iPhone could help the slowdown for suppliers.
Recently slowed iPhone 6s orders validates our prediction six months ago that the model may not outsell iPhone 6, potentially resulting in the supply chain returning to a normal cycle starting 1Q16F, and with shipments declining 30-40% QoQ. While the new 4-inch iPhone may not catalyze shipments, it should still help mitigate slow seasonality for suppliers and a negative impact on share performance. This would also in turn raise investor awareness of the Apple supply chain.
Kuo added the iPhone 7 will enter mass production in the second quarter of fiscal 2016.
A coalition of authors and well-known booksellers have come forth to back Apple in a petition to overturn a recent ruling that stated the company was liable in conspiring to fix the prices of electronic books when its iBooks store launched on the iPad in 2010 (via Cult of Mac).
Together, the Authors Guild, Authors United, the American Booksellers Association, and Barnes & Noble have filed a 37-page amicus brief that states Apple was in fact enhancing competition and benefiting its customers.
“We are pleased to lend our support in this matter, critical to anyone interested in a competitive and diverse literary marketplace,” said Mary Rasenberger, executive director of the Authors Guild, in a statement. “We fundamentally question the wisdom of the Second Circuit’s use of antitrust law to punish a business arrangement that demonstrably increased competition in the e-book marketplace.”
The brief falls in line with Apple's petition of the Supreme Court to review the case this past October, after first being found guilty of conspiring to artificially inflate the prices of e-books back in 2013, when the case started. The amicus brief filed by the authors and booksellers backs up Apple's attempts at overturning the ruling, stating that a positive outcome for the case is "critical to maintaining a healthy marketplace for the ideas and First Amendment-protected expression that authors and bookstores facilitate."
The groups even mention Amazon as more of a "disruptive" force in the e-books market, with a "loss leader" strategy that led to domination over the digital bookselling marketplace. The groups use Amazon's recent public battles with publishers like Hachette, where it essentially ceased selling any of their novels due to a price point disagreement, as a primary example. They also look at the market monopoly Amazon held before Apple entered with iBooks in 2010.
“With a 90% market share, nearly every customer who wanted to purchase an e-book had to do so through Amazon,” the brief states. “Amazon could exercise this power to suppress specific publishers, authors, or messages with which it disagreed, with impunity. It also could steer the culture toward the ideas it valued. Amazon controlled what e-books were promoted on its home page, what e-books were recommended to consumers, and what books appeared at the top of a consumer’s search results when she searched for e-books on the Amazon.com website."
With no response yet from the Department of Justice regarding Apple's filing for a review, the company still has an uncertain future in the two year-long case. All respondents have until January 4 to file a response in opposition to Apple's petitioning of the Supreme Court, so the next leg of the case is just over a month away.
While many carmakers are starting to roll out support for Apple's CarPlay in-vehicle functionality, an older Siri Eyes Free feature is also designed to help minimize driver distraction by using Siri voice recognition and spoken responses to allow drivers to interact with an iPhone without needing to look at the screen.
Siri Eyes Free is generally activated through a hardware button on the vehicle's steering wheel and is available in a number of makes and models, and Ford today is officially announcing the launch of Eyes Free support for over five million vehicles dating back to the 2011 model year via a software update to Ford's second-generation SYNC infotainment system.
“SYNC, Ford’s entertainment and communications system, was designed to be flexible and updatable, just like other mobile technologies, so our customers are able to get the most out of their smartphones while behind the wheel,” said Sherif Marakby, director, Ford Electronics and Electrical Systems Engineering. “Siri Eyes-Free is another great voice-activated feature that not only adds convenience but helps our customers keep their eyes on the road and hands on the wheel.”
Eyes Free support actually went live two months ago with the launch of version 3.8 of the second-generation SYNC software, but Ford has apparently waited until now to make the rollout official as it has worked to apply the update to new cars coming from the factory and make it available to owners of existing vehicles.
Apple also lists Ford as one of its CarPlay partners, but the automaker has yet to announce specific plans for supporting it in upcoming vehicles. The most recent information from Ford indicates CarPlay support will be arriving "relatively soon."
Roughly a year ago, popular accessory company Withings introduced its Home security camera and air quality monitor, giving users an easy way to keep tabs on their homes with video streaming, push alerts for activity, and cloud storage of footage. Withings has continued to improve the Home with software updates since the launch, and several recent additions such as an app for the new Apple TV and a Baby Monitor mode have made the user experience even better.
Priced at $200, the Withings Home is a 5-megapixel HD camera with a 135-degree field of view, night vision, sensors for motion, sound, and air quality, and more. A companion iOS app [Direct Link] makes it easy to control the camera, receive alerts, and monitor video, audio, and other data from the Home.
The Home is a fairly attractive looking camera about the size of a coffee mug, with a wood grain shell that can be rotated to physically cover the device's camera to eliminate any potential concerns about accidental activation of the camera at unwanted times. The lower portion of the main body can glow in a variety of colors to indicate device status or act as a nightlight.
Following in Facebook's footsteps, Twitter today announced plans to make some of its Fabric developer toolkit available for tvOS apps. Developers will be able to integrate Twitter's Digits feature into apps, allowing end users to securely sign into tvOS apps using SMS verification.
With Digits, customers can sign up for an app or service using a phone number with Digits providing a confirmation code used for verification purposes in lieu of a password, a feature that's likely to be handy on the new fourth-generation Apple TV. Entering lengthy passwords using the new Apple TV remote is a hassle and the Digits login feature will remove that pain point in apps that use it.
Using Digits' device authorization, your app on the Apple TV will show a short alphanumeric code. Your user then simply enters the code on digits.com/appletv via their laptop or smartphone to authorize the device to their account. Once that's done, the TV device receives a Digits session for the user's account which you can use to instantly identify your user and personalize their experience.
Along with Digits, developers can also integrate Twitter's data analysis service, Crashlytics, into apps to track install numbers and crash instances.
Last week, Facebook announced a Facebook SDK for tvOS, designed to allow developers to access Facebook Login, Share to Facebook, and Facebook Analytics for Apps. With Facebook login, customers can sign up for services and log into apps using a similar confirmation code system.
Logitech's Create Keyboard Case for the iPad Pro was one of the first third-party keyboards available for the device, because Logitech created it with help from Apple. Because Logitech partnered with Apple for the accessory, it's also the only third-party keyboard that's currently able to take advantage of the Smart Connector on the iPad Pro, meaning it doesn't need to connect to the iPad over Bluetooth or use its own power source.
We went hands-on with Logitech's Create Keyboard case to see how it measures up to Apple's own hard-to-find Smart Keyboard and the few other iPad Pro third-party keyboards on the market.
Design
Logitech designed the Create to transform the iPad Pro into a laptop clone, producing a keyboard that is close in design and feel to a traditional laptop keyboard. The case itself is made from a rigid material covered with a ballistic nylon fabric, while the keyboard is constructed from aluminum with plastic keys. Design wise, the Create is available in three colors - black, navy, and red - to match the Space Gray, Silver, and Gold iPads.
You can mix and match colors, but based on marketing materials, the black model is meant to match the Space Gray iPad, the navy model is meant for the Silver iPad, and the red version is designed to match the Gold iPad. Each model's outer cover is designed to be resistant to liquid, keeping the iPad Pro safe from small spills, drips, and light rain.
The Create Keyboard has two main parts: the keyboard portion of the case and a rigid backplate that fits over the iPad Pro. The shell of the case fits over the top half of the iPad Pro in landscape mode, aligning with the camera. There's a crease in the middle of the backplate that allows it to flex to fit the iPad Pro into the Smart Connector built into the case.
Only half of the iPad Pro is fitted securely in the case because of the need for that connection, and on multiple occasions, my iPad Pro popped out of the shell. This never happened in an area where I could potentially drop the iPad Pro, but it was a definite concern of mine. Having the iPad Pro pop out of the case at the wrong time could be a potential disaster, but at the same time, the bottom of the iPad Pro has to be free to fit properly.
Apple has implemented a carrier billing feature that lets Russian customers purchase iTunes content like apps, movies, music, and books using a phone number, reports 
T-Mobile has 
A coalition of authors and well-known booksellers have come forth to 
