MacRumors

Apple has posted a series of job listings today and earlier in May for retail positions in Brooklyn, confirming that the company plans to open its first store in New York City's most populous borough in the near future.

Apple's jobs website lists typical retail store positions, including Creatives, Experts, Geniuses, Specialists, Business Leaders, and management, while recent LinkedIn postings seek a Retail Manager and Senior Manager specifically in Brooklyn.

Brooklyn's population is estimated to be over 2.6 million, which as a city would be the fourth largest in the U.S. behind the rest of New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago, yet there remains no official Apple Store in the borough.

Rumors point towards Apple opening a retail store in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn in the second half of 2016. Apple reportedly signed a long-term lease for a 20,000-square-foot space at 247 Bedford Avenue, at the corner of North 3rd Street, and construction has been ongoing since 2015.

Apple is also expected to open a retail store inside the Westfield shopping complex at the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan later this year.

Today marks the 15th anniversary of the grand openings of Apple's first two retail stores in Tysons Corner, Virginia and Glendale, California, and the company marked the occasion by inviting media for a preview of its new flagship Union Square location opening in downtown San Francisco on Saturday.

Apple retail chief Angela Ahrendts outlined all of the new features of that store, some of which will be adopted at other locations worldwide.

Keep track of Apple's retail store developments by reading our Apple Stores roundup.

Unlocking an iPhone via Touch ID in lieu of a passcode makes it much easier to maintain security while preserving convenience, and Touch ID's ease of use has left many Mac users wondering when a similar feature might be introduced for Apple's desktop and notebook machines.

There has been speculation Apple might introduce dedicated Touch ID fingerprint scanning hardware for the Mac, but as it turns out, Apple is working on a simpler way to allow a Touch ID to unlock a Mac, and it's a feature that could be included in OS X 10.12.

Apple engineers are designing an auto unlock function that would allow an iPhone to unlock a Mac when in close proximity, alleviating the need to enter a password on a password-protected Mac.

The feature, which uses Bluetooth LE frameworks, will presumably work similarly to the automatic unlocking function on the Apple Watch, which allows an unlocked iPhone to bypass the passcode restriction on a connected Apple Watch. In this scenario, an iPhone's Touch ID button would likely be used as a verification method for simpler logins.

It's also possible that a connection with an Apple Watch could be used to unlock the Mac even when an iPhone isn't present, making the process even simpler. This concept has already been demonstrated through the Knock app for the iPhone and Apple Watch, using a Bluetooth connection to unlock a Mac instead of a password. Knock requires an iOS app and a Mac app to work, but an Apple-designed feature will undoubtedly be simpler.

Features planned for OS X 10.12 are not yet set in stone, so there is a chance that the unlocking function could be shelved until a later date if work is not completed in time.

Because OS X 10.11 El Capitan focused heavily on internal updates and optimizations, Apple appears to be aiming to debut new features in OS X 10.12. Along with the unlocking feature, Apple is also working on integrating Siri into the Mac and we may see improvements to Photos and iTunes.

Details on Siri for Mac and the prospective design of the dock and menu bar icons can be seen in a post we shared yesterday.

Apple plans to adopt a glass body for at least one iPhone model set to debut in 2017, reports Nikkei, citing a statement from Catcher Technology CEO Allen Horng. Catcher Technology is one of Apple's main suppliers for the casing of the iPhone.

According to Horng, Apple is planning to use glass for the casing of the 2017 iPhone to differentiate itself from the multitude of aluminum-bodied smartphones on the market.

"As far as I know, only one [iPhone] model will adopt glass casing next year," Horng told reporters after the annual shareholder meeting on Thursday. "I don't think this move will have an impact on Catcher's revenue as glass casing still needs a durable metal frame which requires advanced processing technology and would not be cheaper than the current model."

Horng does not expect Apple's transition to glass to impact Catcher's business because Apple will still be using a metal frame for the device. Horng says there will be no Apple iPhone using a glass-only casing without a metal frame in 2017.

The information sourced from Catcher Technology aligns with predictions from KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who has also said Apple will use a glass-backed design for the 2017 iPhone. Kuo has also indicated that a glass body may only be present in some of the devices planned for 2017, suggesting Apple may release a mix of glass-bodied and aluminum-bodied devices if more than one iPhone is planned.

The 2017 iPhone is rumored to be a radical upgrade to the iPhone, so it is not clear if Apple will stick with its 4.7 and 5.5-inch screen sizes, introduce new screen sizes, or consolidate down to a single iPhone once again. From Kuo:

In 2017, the ratio of new iPhone models using aluminum casing will likely drop significantly from current 100% to 40% or less. In addition to reiterating our view from the March 25 report, we believe the share of new iPhone models using aluminum casing will significantly fall from the current 100% to 40% or less.

Apple last used glass for the body of the iPhone 4s in 2011, with devices since the iPhone 5 in 2012 featuring aluminum bodies. In 2017, Apple may pair the iPhone's glass body with an edge-to-edge OLED display that includes a Touch ID sensor embedded into the glass, doing away with the home button for a sleek, all-glass look.

Because of the major changes rumored for the 2017 iPhone, there is speculation that Apple will name the device the "iPhone 8" rather than the "iPhone 7s" to denote its status as a significant upgrade.

Apple today invited journalists to San Francisco to preview its new Union Square store, set to open this weekend. Dozens of images are being shared on Twitter and other social networks, giving us our first glimpse at the revamped store that's been under construction for more than two years.

As it shows off the new location to journalists, Apple has also published a press release outlining all of the new features in the store.

"Fifteen years ago today Apple opened its first two stores and we're thrilled to mark the occasion with the opening of Apple Union Square in San Francisco," said Angela Ahrendts, Apple's senior vice president of Retail and Online Stores. "We are not just evolving our store design, but its purpose and greater role in the community as we educate and entertain visitors and serve our network of local entrepreneurs."

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Today marks 15 years since the first two Apple retail stores opened on May 19, 2001 in Tysons Corner, Virginia and Glendale, California. The locations welcomed over 7,700 people and combined to sell $599,000 worth of merchandise during their first two-day weekend. Apple opened 25 more stores by year's end.

The retail initiative was spearheaded by Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, who recognized the need for a better customer experience than provided by third-party retailers such as Circuit City. Jobs was helped by a retail team led by former Target vice president of merchandising Ron Johnson and Gap CEO Millard Drexler.

The first Apple Store outside of the U.S. opened on November 30, 2003 in Tokyo, Japan, and the company now operates over 475 stores in the U.S., U.K., Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, and United Arab Emirates.

In line with previous rumors and confirmations, Apple today announced the opening of a new development center in Hyderabad, India focused on Apple Maps development.

“Apple is focused on making the best products and services in the world and we are thrilled to open this new office in Hyderabad which will focus on Maps development,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “The talent here in the local area is incredible and we are looking forward to expanding our relationships and introducing more universities and partners to our platforms as we scale our operations.” [...]

“Apple is one of the most innovative companies in the world and we are very proud they chose us to partner with for this important project,” said Anup Jindal, RMSI’s CEO. “We are experts in geospatial data and we will be hiring thousands of people from the local area to support this effort.”

According to previous reports, the new center at Tishman Speyer's WaveRock campus in Hyderabad is 250,000 square feet, with Apple investing $25 million in the project.

The news comes a day after Apple announced plans to open an iOS App Design and Development Accelerator in Bangalore, India. That center, intended to aid Indian app developers in adopting Apple's Swift programming language and help with development and one-on-one app reviews, is planned to open early next year.

Google hosted its annual I/O developers keynote at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, California today, announcing multiple new products and services related to Android, search, messaging, home automation, and more.

Google Assistant

Google Assistant is described as a "conversational assistant" that builds upon Google Now based on two-way dialog. The tool can be used, for example, to ask who directed the movie Avatar, and to ask which other movies he has directed, and Google should be able to isolate the questions from the conversation and provide answers.

The new Siri and Alexa rival, compatible with both voice and chat, will be widely available on Android, iOS, in the home, and elsewhere later this year.

Google Home

Google Home is a new Wi-Fi-enabled personal assistant device for the home that enables people to ask Google search queries, manage everyday tasks, enjoy music and entertainment, and more using hands-free "OK Google" voice commands.

The Amazon Echo rival features a clean, color-changing design with no buttons, a speaker on the bottom, multiple room support, remote control of Chromecast and other speakers, compatibility with Nest and other popular home automation platforms, and more.

Google Home can be used to make general searches, check flight statuses, track shipments, set dinner reservations, turn on lights or play music in certain rooms, receive real-time traffic and routing information, check your appointments, and more.

Google Home will be available later this year. Pricing was not disclosed.

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Rumors have indicated Siri integration will be one of the key features coming in OS X 10.12, and new screenshots of a Siri menu bar and Siri app icon suggest Apple is indeed working on bringing Siri to the Mac in its 2016 operating system update. The screenshots were shared with MacRumors by a source who has provided us with reliable information about Apple's software plans in the past.

In the menu bar, there's a simple Siri black and white icon that features the word "Siri" surrounded by a box, while the full dock icon is more colorful and features a colorful Siri waveform in the style of other built-in app icons. Clicking on either of the icons brings up a Siri waveform to give users a visual cue that the virtual assistant is listening for commands, much like on iOS devices when the Home button is held down.

In addition to accessing Siri through these two buttons, a hands-free "Hey Siri" activation command is also supported. "Hey Siri" is an option that's disabled by default at the current time, but it can be turned on in the Preferences menu.

Siri integration in the Mac is still in the early stages of development, but the assistant will presumably be able to answer many of the same queries and perform many of the same tasks it can on iOS devices - opening apps, conducting web searches, controlling HomeKit, sending text messages, reading emails, setting calendar events, and more.

Because work on Siri is far from complete, there's a chance these icons could be tweaked between now and when the feature is introduced as part of OS X 10.12 at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference. The Menu Bar icon in particular looks like it could be a placeholder icon, with a finalized design, perhaps depicting a microphone or waveform, to come in the future. Apple has also been known to shelve expected features at the last minute if work is not complete and up to the company's standards.

WWDC is set to take place from June 13 to June 17, with a keynote event scheduled for Monday, June 13, which is where we'll see our first glimpse of OS X 10.12 and iOS 10.

After arriving in India from Beijing on late Tuesday night, Apple CEO Tim Cook started his five-day trip in the country with a pre-dawn visit to the famous Siddhivinayak Temple in Mumbai on Wednesday, according to The Indian Express. Cook was accompanied by newly promoted Apple India head Sanjay Kaul.

Local media reports claim that Cook also has plans to have dinner with Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan at his seaside home in Bandra, a suburb of Mumbai, and meet Chief Minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis.

Indian website Mid-Day reported that Cook will travel to Hyderabad, India on Thursday, where he is expected to formally announce a $25 million technology development center that will focus on Apple Maps development and house over 150 employees. The CEO is also expected to make stops in Bangalore and Delhi later this week.

Apple's market share in price-sensitive India remains less than 2 percent, but Cook believes the country provides a "really great opportunity" for growth after sales in the U.S. and China have slowed. Apple's revenue grew 56 percent in India last quarter, passing the $1 billion mark for the first time.

Earlier, Apple announced plans to establish a new iOS App Design and Development Accelerator in Bangalore.