Apple Pay is seeing impressive early adoption numbers according to a new ITG Investment Research Report on Mobile Payments (via MarketWatch), which suggests Apple's new payment service was responsible for a total of 1 percent of digital payment dollars during the month of November.
Apple still trails industry leaders like Square and PayPal, which captured 18 and 78 percent of digital payment dollars in November, respectively, but ITG analysts suggest Apple Pay is showing strong momentum given that it's available only to customers with the newest hardware and supported by a limited number of merchants.
According to the report, which uses data from ITG's Investment Research consumer panel, 60 percent of new Apple Pay customers used the service on multiple days throughout November, averaging 1.4 use times per week. In comparison, only 20 percent of new PayPal customers used the service multiple times during the same time period.
Among customers who used Apple Pay, Whole Foods was the location where the service was used most, capturing 20 percent of all Apple Pay transactions. Walgreens came in second, with 19 percent of transactions, and McDonald's was third, with 11 percent of transactions. Whole Foods was also saw the highest spending, responsible for 28 percent of all Apple Pay dollars spent.
Available since October 20, Apple Pay is accepted at several of Apple's partner stores and at more than 200,000 retail locations where NFC payments are accepted. Apple has given little indication of Apple Pay's early success, but in October, Apple CEO Tim Cook revealed that Apple Pay had seen more than one million credit and debit card activations during its first 72 hours of availability.
The Christmas holiday is less than a week away, and while deals have tapered off a bit this week, there are still a few discounts to be had on the iMac, MacBook Air, Mac Pro, Retina MacBook Pro, and older iPads. There's also one last deal on the iPad Air 2 that drops the price quite a bit.
We've also got discounts on some great potential gifts, including personalized iPhone cases from Casetify, wireless headphones from Jaybird, the popular Pencil stylus from FiftyThree, and more in this week's Buyer's Guide deals post.
iPad Air 2
If you're in need of an iPad Air 2 and didn't take advantage of the deals offered around Black Friday, there's one last discount available this week. Target is offering 15 percent off the iPad Air 2 in all colors and capacities through its Cartwheel app.
That drops the price of the entry-level Wi-Fi only model to $424, down from $499. The discount will only be available on Friday and Saturday, and only in Target stores.
iPhone
Walmart is continuing its $50 off deal on the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, dropping the price of the 16GB iPhone 6 to $129, down from the previous $179 price tag, and it's also offering the 16GB iPhone 6 Plus for $229, down from $279. The iPhone 5s is on sale at Walmart as well, now available for $49 instead of $79.
A two-year contract is required to get the discounted price, and Walmart also offers a trade-in program to drop the pricing even lower. Deals are available in-store only and will last through February.
Retina MacBook Pro
MacMall is selling the 2013 2.6GHz/16GB/1TB Retina MacBook Pro priced at $2,599.99, down from the regular price of $3,199, a $600 discount. Several 2014 Retina MacBook Pro models are also discounted at various retailers, as seen below:
- 13-inch 2.6GHz/8GB/256GB (B&H Photo) - $1,349, $100 off - 13-inch 2.8GHz/8GB/512GB (Best Buy) (B&H Photo) - $1,599, $200 off - 15-inch 2.2GHz/16GB/256GB (B&H Photo) - $1,699, $200 off - 15-inch 2.5GHz/16GB/512GB (B&H Photo) - $2,199, $300 off
Mac Pro
- 4-core 3.7GHz/12GB/256GB (B&H Photo) - $2,599, $400 off - 6-core 3.5GHz/16GB/256GB (B&H Photo) (Adorama) - $3,499, $500 off
iMac
- 21.5-inch 2.9GHz/8GB/1TB (Adorama) (B&H Photo) - $1349, $150 off - 27-inch 3.2GHz/8GB/1TB (Adorama) (B&H Photo) - $1,629.99, $170 off - 27-inch 2.4GHz/8GB/1TB (Adorama) (B&H) - $1,799.99, $200 off - 27-inch Retina 3.5GHz/8GB/1TB (B&H Photo) - $2,299, $200 off
MacBook Air
- 11.6-inch 1.4GHz/4GB/128GB (Adorama) (B&H Photo) - $799, $100 off - 11.6-inch 1.4GHz/4GB/256GB (Best Buy) - $899, $200 off - 13.3-inch 1.4Ghz/4GB/128GB (B&H Photo) - $899, $100 off
Best Buy is also offering discounts of $50 off all Wi-Fi iPad mini 2 models and $100 off all Cellular models. The iPad mini 2 can be a particularly good deal compared to the iPad mini 3, as the only difference is Touch ID.
Casetify is offering a 20 percent discounton all of its products, plus free shipping with the code CHEERS20. The site specializes in custom cases for the iPhone, which make great gifts, and it also sells a range of iPhone gadgets. The deal will last through 12/25.
For those of you with an older iPhone, Groupon is selling Star Wars cases for the iPhone 4/4s/5/5s for $7.99, down from $19.99. A refurbished Jawbone Mini Jambox speaker can be purchased from Groupon for $59.99, a savings of $59, and the site is also offering the Jawbone UP for $59.99, a $70 savings.
The now-discontinued Beats Beatbox Portable Speaker can be purchased for $249.99 from Best Buy, a savings of $150. Garmin's Heads-Up Plus Display Navigation System can be purchased for $74.99 from Groupon, a savings of $86.
Amazon is selling the Jawbone UP24 for $70, $20 off the standard price. The site is also offering the Pencil by FiftyThree Digital Stylus for $10 off, dropping the price to $39.95 for the graphite model and $49.95 for the walnut version.
Jaybird is offering 25 percent offits entire stock of wireless headphones with the code JBHOLIDAYS, and throwing in complimentary 2 day shipping that guarantees delivery in time for Christmas. This deal is good today only.
MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors.
Actress Kate Winslet is currently in negotiations to play the lead female role in the upcoming Jobs biopic, reports Variety. Winslet, aged 39, is best known for dramatic movies like Titanic, Divergent, All the King's Men, and Finding Neverland.
It remains unclear what role Winslet will play, but female parts in the movie are rumored to include Steve Jobs' daughter Lisa Brennan and Katie Cotton, Apple's well-known former PR lead.
Natalie Portman was formerly in talks to play a major female role in the film, but she pulled out of negotiations in early December. Actress Jessica Chastain, of The Help, may also be in talks for a part.
According to Variety, Jeff Daniels is still being considered for the role of former Apple President John Sculley, and Boardwalk Empire's Michael Stuhlbarg recently signed on to play Andy Hertzfeld, one of the members of the original Macintosh development team.
The Jobs biopic, now owned by Universal Pictures, is based on Walter Isaacson's Steve Jobs biopic. Penned by Aaron Sorkin, the movie will consist of three continuous 30-minute scenes that cover three of Steve Jobs' product launches - the NeXT cube, the original Mac, and the iPod.
Earlier this year, the United States Federal Trade Commission filed a complaint against T-Mobile, accusing the carrier of "cramming" or charging customers for unauthorized SMS subscriptions that delivered information like horoscopes for prices up to $9.99 per month.
Though T-Mobile initially called the FTC's complaint "unfounded and without merit," it today reached a settlement [PDF] that will see it paying out more than $90 million to consumers that were affected by its practices. The carrier will also be required to inform all current and former customers who paid the illicit charges about the refund program.
In a statement, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler praised the settlement as a win for consumers and pledged to continue to fight "unjust and unreasonable business practices committed by the nation's carriers."
"Cramming is a significant problem. For too long, millions of consumers have been scammed billed for bogus charges on their phone bills for services they didn't request. This is unacceptable. Today's settlement is a win for consumers who have been victimized by cramming. It means compensation for T-Mobile customers who were fraudulently billed for third-party services that they did not want or authorize. And it goes one step further. Today's action will also help protect all of T-Mobile's customers from bogus third-party charges in the future."
Along with T-Mobile, several other carriers have been targeted by the FTC for the same unsavory practices. AT&T paid out $105 million in penalties in October, and Sprint is facing a similar fine. In a statement released earlier this year, T-Mobile said that it stopped billing for Premium SMS services in 2013 and had already put a "proactive program" in place to provide full refunds for customers, but the government found that many customers went uncompensated.
Along with providing refunds for customers, T-Mobile's $90 million fine will also include $18 million in fines to attorneys in all 50 states plus the District of Columbia and a $4.5 million fine to be paid to the Federal Communication Commission.
News of T-Mobile's settlement comes just days after the company announced an eighth Un-carrier initiative, which will allow customers to roll over monthly unused data, storing it for up to 12 months.
As noted by Dutch website iCulture and reported by iGen.fr, Apple has recently added several new European locations to its Flyover feature for Maps, including Rotterdam in the Netherlands, Malmö in Sweden, Strasbourg and Dijon in France, and Turin in Italy. This expansion follows a similar update earlier this month that added Flyover to cities in France, Sweden and the US.
HSB Turning Torso in Malmö, Sweden
iOS and OS X users can now take advantage of the Flyover feature, which first debuted in iOS 6 and OS X Yosemite. Flyover provides a detailed 3D look at a location, allowing users to zoom in to buildings and other notable landmarks in supported locations. The feature relies heavily on the technology Apple acquired when it purchased C3 Technologies in 2011.
Flyover was limited when it launched, but Apple has been adding locations at a steady pace with support for more than 100 cities worldwide. Apple also recently introduced the new Flyover city tours feature, which provides users with a guided aerial tour of landmarks in a select cities worldwide.
While car manufacturers have been slower than anticipated to roll out support for Apple's in-vehicle CarPlay system, Pioneer and Alpine have delivered aftermarket options in the form of in-dash systems with CarPlay compatibility and large touch screens.
MacRumors has had a chance to spend some time with Alpine's iLX-007, which carries a suggested retail price of $800 but commonly sells for $600 and offers a 7-inch capacitive touch screen that dominates the unit's front. The only other physical features come as a thin row of buttons along the bottom edge, including a pair for controlling volume, one for activating Siri, one for returning to the Alpine home screen, and another pair serving varying functions such as changing tracks, depending on the app currently in use.
The basic Alpine home screen offers access to only a handful of functions including traditional radio, any peripheral devices connected to the system's auxiliary input including support for a rear back-up camera, and CarPlay devices. Upon connecting the unit's Lightning cable to an iPhone, the CarPlay interface automatically launches, allowing access to the standard Phone, Music, Apps, Messages, and Now Playing apps, as well as any CarPlay-compatible third-party apps the user has installed on his or her device and a Top Menu button to return to Alpine's main home screen.
In order to provide support for Siri input, the iLX-007 comes with a microphone that can be mounted in an appropriate location such as the driver's sun visor in order to pick up voice commands. CarPlay-specifc app settings within the main iLX-007 interface include the ability to set microphone level and noise reduction, as well as which speakers Siri's output come through.
With just a narrow row of physical buttons along the bottom of the head unit, Alpine has certainly maximized the available screen space on the iLX-007, squeezing in a 7-inch display that makes it easy to see content. The small physical buttons can, however, be a bit difficult to easily find by touch while keeping eyes on the road. The large icons and other interface elements inside the CarPlay interface itself are easy to hit, although the lack of tactile feedback means at least a glance is probably needed to ensure the correct area of the screen is being touched.
As is to be expected, the CarPlay functionality on the iLX-007 is essentially the same as on other CarPlay systems, several of which have already been reviewed. The simple integration of having much of the phone experience appearing directly on the dashboard display in an easy-to-use format is a welcome addition, although certain aspects of the implementation leave something to be desired.
One fairly significant drawback that appears to be due more to Apple than Alpine is the lack of full support for multi-touch or even fluid scrolling input. While Apple may prefer to limit multi-touch availability in order to potentially reduce driver distraction while pinching or making other gestures that require a more extended glance at the dashboard display, scrolling is a much-needed feature for areas such as lists of contacts, music, and podcasts.
The iLX-007 clearly supports swiping input as seen in its own top-level settings (albeit with somewhat poor responsiveness), but within CarPlay users are essentially relegated to a more cumbersome method of paging through lists. A form of scroll swiping is supported on some lists such as in the Music and Messages apps, but swipes simply serve the same function as page up/down buttons and do not allow for smooth scrolling. Other apps entirely lack what would feel like natural swiping actions. Maps, for example, does not support swiping or pinching to pan or zoom maps.
CarPlay certainly shows a lot of promise, and it will only become more useful as additional third-party apps become compatible with the feature over time. For now, however, a main obstacle is getting CarPlay into users' cars. Despite initial promises of a handful of car manufacturers shipping new vehicles equipped with CarPlay-compatible entertainment systems this year, only Ferrari appears to have met that goal as others have had to push their plans into 2015.
Likely more important to the immediate potential success of CarPlay is the availability of aftermarket products that will allow users to retrofit their existing cars with CarPlay-enabled systems for a few hundred dollars. Alpine and Pioneer have indeed met their goals of launching CarPlay systems for their customers, and for now they are the means by which most consumers will be able to experience CarPlay in their vehicles. These aftermarket systems aren't particularly cheap, but with resellers offering lower-end models in the $450-$600 range, they are within reach of a decent number of consumers.
The new dock will retail for $199.99, but CalDigit is offering a limited pre-order price of $169.99 that runs all the way up to the day before release, January 25. The new station keeps the same functionality of connecting multiple devices with one Thunderbolt cable, but updates it with new Thunderbolt 2 and dual eSATA 6G ports. The Thunderbolt Station 2 also allows users a vertical orientation option the original lacked.
The Thunderbolt Station 2 also comes with HDMI, three USB 3.0 ports, Gigabit Ethernet, audio in/out ports, the ability to connect high-resolution 4K displays to its HDMI port, and two Thunderbolt 2 ports.
The Thunderbolt™ Station 2 allows users to connect all their devices through a single Thunderbolt™ cable. Featuring dual Thunderbolt™ 2 ports for integrating a 4K workflow, the Thunderbolt™ Station 2 allows users to connect a high-resolution 4K monitor to the HDMI port. This is ideal for professional users who need to connect modern 4K displays to their computers.
“The power of Thunderbolt™ 2 allows the Thunderbolt™ Station 2 to be the central hub of modern 4K workflows. Not only can users connect a 4K monitor, they can also daisy-chain 4K capable devices such as Thunderbolt™ storage for the ultimate 4K workflows”, said Kosta Panagos, Director of Marketing at CalDigit.
The release of the Thunderbolt Station 2 sees CalDigit joining several other dock manufacturers such as Elgato and OWC who have recently caught up to the Thunderbolt 2 standard ports, which were introduced on Macs beginning late last year.
The Thunderbolt Station 2 can be pre-ordered from the CalDigit official website for $169.99 until January 25, 2015, after which it will retail for $199.99.
Apple CEO Tim Cook said he is deeply offended by allegations that Apple permits the mistreatment of workers in its supplier factories and mines, reports The Telegraph. The accusations were levied by the BBC news program Panorama, which sent undercover reporters to work in Chinese factories and Indonesian mines. The BBC aired the documentary titled "Apple's Broken Promises" last night on its BBC One channel.
Apple senior vice president of operations Jeff Williams relayed Tim Cook's message in an email sent to its UK staff. Cook and Williams both stated they were "deeply offended by the suggestion that Apple would break a promise to the workers in our supply chain or mislead our customers in any way."
"Panorama’s report implied that Apple isn’t improving working conditions," he continued. "Let me tell you, nothing could be further from the truth."
Williams also implied in the email that Apple provided the BBC with pertinent facts regarding the company's commitment to its workers worldwide, but that information was not included in the documentary.
The BBC report claims that Chinese workers were forced to work long hours assembling Apple devices and denied requests for a day off, even after working 18 days in a row. The BBC also uncovered issues with off-hour work meetings, underage workers and other violations with dormitories and ID cards.
The BBC also investigated tin mines in Indonesia, where it found children mining the ore in dangerous conditions. The BBC claims this tin makes its way into Apple's supply chain without the company's knowledge.
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.
ABC has updated its Watch ABC Apple TV app to allow all Apple TV users to watch full episodes of ABC shows a week after they air without having to verify their TV provider. Previously, users had to sign in via their TV provider to watch any full episodes.
All Apple TV viewers can now access full episodes a week after they air. Like WATCH ABC for mobile devices and desktop, viewers can now watch such shows as Scandal, How to Get Away With Murder, Modern Family, black-ish, Once Upon A Time and Castle, among others, a week after they air. Sign in is required for ABC's live network feed and its most current episodes
However, users are only allowed to watch the five TV show episodes prior to the most current one. Users who sign in to the app with their TV provider gain the ability to watch full episodes of the last five episodes of any TV show the day after they air and live TV.
The app was also updated with a brand new look and a continuous play mode that automatically starts the next episode for the viewer, similar to the system Netflix uses in its apps.
Popular photo editing app Brushstroke has been named Apple's App of the Week, and as a result, it is available to download for free for the first time since its March 2014 launch. Normally, the app is priced at $2.99, prior to today, its lowest price was $0.99.
Brushstroke, as the name implies, is designed to transform photographs into paintings using a variety of photo filters. There are dozens of different brush options that produce different paint effects, and each brush option can be customized using on-screen touch gestures to enhance the effect.
There are also various color filters to apply that will change the final look of the photo painting, and various textures like paper, canvas, wood, rock, and stone allow for even more customization. Controls for standard photo editing features like saturation, contrast, brightness, exposure, and more, are also available, and each photo work of art is finished off with a signature.
Edited photos can be shared on various social networks like Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, and the developers behind Brushstroke have partnered with CanvasPop to let users order physical prints, posters, and canvases of their edited photos at prices starting at $10. There is one in-app purchase in the app, but it is totally unnecessary and simply adds more effects to the multitude of tools and effects already available in the app.
Features: - Automatically transform your photos into one of many painting styles - Load photos from your Camera Roll and other Albums - Take snaps and watch them transform instantly - Experiment with different color palettes - Adjust your painting to get just the right look - Select from a variety of canvases and surfaces - Sign your painting to personalize it - Share your art on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook - Have your art printed and shipped right to your doorstep
Brushstroke will be available to download for free for the next seven days. [Direct Link]
As the Christmas holiday approaches, Apple Store shipping estimates for both the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus from all carriers in all colors and in 16 and 64GB capacities have now improved to just 1 business day in the United States, bringing the company close to reaching a supply/demand balance on those devices.
The larger-capacity 128GB devices remain somewhat more constrained than the lower-capacity models, and ship in 3 to 5 business days.
Shipping estimates are similarly improved in many other countries, including Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Thailand, Philippines, and more.
Throughout the month of December, shipping estimates have been slowly improving as Apple has catches up with demand, and in early December, estimates had improved to 3 to 5 days for 16/64GB models and 7 to 10 days for 128GB models. Last week, estimates for the 16and 64GB models improved further, reaching 1 to 3 day estimates before jumping up again this week to just 1 day.
The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus have been severely constrained since their September debut, but Apple has worked hard to improve available supply, going so far as to reportedly delay mass production on the rumored iPad Pro to focus on producing more iPhone 6 Plus units.
In store supply of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus has also seen major improvement over the course of the last few weeks, and in many stores around the country, it's now possible to walk in and purchase an iPhone 6 or 6 Plus. According to tracking tool iStockNow, iPhone 6 and 6 Plus units from all carriers and in all colors and capacities are widely available at most stores.
Back in October, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that demand for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus was "far outstripping" supply, but based on the continually improving shipping times, Apple appears to be on track to meet its supply goals before the end of the year.
Earlier this week, BBC One announced plans to air a documentary called Apple's Broken Promises, detailing the factory conditions of the overseas workers who are creating components and assembling the company's iPhones.
Apple's Broken Promises is set to air tonight, but ahead of the documentary's launch, BBC News has published a story outlining what they discovered when they visited Pegatron factories in China and mines in Indonesia.
During the visit, the BBC found that workers at Pegatron factories were forced to put in long hours assembling Apple devices, and that there were violations with ID cards, dormitories, work meetings, and juvenile workers.
Multiple reporters went undercover at the factory as part of the documentary, and one did not receive a day off after working 18 days in a row while another was exhausted by the long hours. There were also workers who were filmed falling asleep during 12-hour shifts.
One undercover reporter, working in a factory making parts for Apple computers, had to work 18 days in a row despite repeated requests for a day off.
Another reporter, whose longest shift was 16 hours, said: "Every time I got back to the dormitories, I wouldn't want to move.
"Even if I was hungry I wouldn't want to get up to eat. I just wanted to lie down and rest. I was unable to sleep at night because of the stress."
Undercover reporters were forced to do overtime, which is supposed to be voluntary, and the housing conditions were less than desirable, with one reporter subjected to a dormitory where 12 workers shared a single room. Another reporter had to attend after work meetings off the clock, receiving no compensation.
In response to the BBC's allegations, Apple released a statement suggesting that it's doing more than any other company to improve working conditions for factory employees. The company also said it monitors working hours at Pegatron, with employees at the factory averaging 55 hours per week.
"We are aware of no other company doing as much as Apple to ensure fair and safe working conditions.
"We work with suppliers to address shortfalls, and we see continuous and significant improvement, but we know our work is never done."
Apple also told the BBC that the overcrowding in the dormitory has been resolved, and that suppliers are required to retroactively pay workers if they have not received compensation for meetings.
The BBC's trip to Indonesia led the documentarians to allege that tin from illegal mines could be entering Apple's supply chain without its knowledge. Children were found digging tin ore in dangerous conditions, with the tin eventually being sold to a smelter that's on Apple's list of suppliers. Apple told the BBC that the situation in Indonesia is "complex" as thousands of miners sell tin through middle men.
Apple often finds itself in the spotlight over the conditions at the factories where its product components are produced, but over the last few years, the company has established a strict code of conduct for suppliers that prevents underage labor and provides safe, comfortable working and living conditions for workers.
Apple also maintains a Supplier Responsibility Team that performs regular audits to ensure compliance, but factory conditions continue to be an ongoing issue for Apple due to both the sheer number of suppliers the company works with and the fact that factories benefit from producing large quantities of product at a low cost.
The full documentary will be shown on BBC One on December 18 at 9:00 PM U.K. time, and it will be replayed later on BBC iPlayer.
Update: The BBC has added a video clip from the documentary.
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.
Bank of America this week released a new advertisement promoting Apple Pay, joining a growing number of financial institutions including Chase and Wells Fargo that are advertising Apple's recently launched mobile payments service.
The thirty-second video follows a businesswoman as she shops for her family and herself, buying a shirt, a dog bone, and some lipstick all with her iPhone. She then is seen leaving the store via an elevator, winking as the camera fades away.
Similar to previous commercials, the Bank of America ad focuses on the convenience of using Apple Pay to make payments with a Bank of America credit card. The narrator ends the ad by promoting Apple Pay as "the new, easy, secure, smart way to pay with a simple touch."
Interest in Apple Pay is increasing as additional banks and retailers start adopting the payment option. One of the newest retailers is the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida, which is the the home of the Orlando Magic basketball team, with Apple Pay support launching at concession stands and other retail locations within the arena tomorrow. According to the Magic, Chase card holders using Apple Pay at the Amway Center will be eligible for prizes such as $25 gift cards to the Magic team shop and Magic-branded iPhone 6 or 6 Plus cases over the next five home games. An iPad Air 2 will also be given away at each of the five games.
While many smaller banks have yet to roll out Apple Pay, support from the largest U.S. banks has given the service a strong foothold in the market. Apple recently confirmed that its mobile payments service now supports cards representing about 90 percent of the credit card purchase volume in the United States.
In a newly published Apple patent application credited to Dale Setlak, co-founder of AuthenTec, the company reveals its interest in enhanced security capabilities for the iPhone home button and Touch ID. The patent application describes how the Touch ID sensor could be paired with an on-screen combination lock or other secondary security feature, requiring the user to move his or her finger in certain directions to fully unlock a device.
As noted by Patently Apple, the June 2013 application shows off a few possibilities for the new technology, including a traditional combination lock-style system that has the user rotating his or her finger on the Touch ID sensor to input a security code.
Another potential implementation would require the user to swipe through a collection of circles by subtly shifting his or her finger in a specific pattern to unlock the phone. Both rely on the same technology created by AuthenTec that uses simultaneous security of a user's unique fingerprint and secure combinations to gain access to a device. AuthenTec has of course played an important role since its acquisition by Apple back in 2012, with the company's "Smart Sensor" technology serving as the basis for Touch ID.
While Touch ID was implemented for security reasons, the addition of a simple-to-enter secondary security code would increase security even further as a form of two-factor authentication combining physical authentication (fingerprint) with knowledge-based authentication (lock combination or swipe pattern). Implementation of such a system would address concerns over court rulings indicating that users could be compelled by police to unlock fingerprint-protected devices, unlike with passcode-protected devices.
The evolution of Touch ID from solely a fingerprint sensor in the iPhone 5s to the expanded "Reachability" features of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus provides a hint at the possibilities of Touch ID in the future. And while inventions disclosed in Apple patent applications frequently do not ever appear in products, they can still offer some insight into Apple's areas of interest.
Apple today seeded the third beta of iOS 8.2 to developers, just over a week after seeding the second beta and one month after releasing the first iOS 8.2 beta.
The beta, Build 12D5452a, is available immediately to registered developers as an over-the-air update and it can also be downloaded from the iOS Developer Center. Today's update also includes Xcode 6.2 beta 3 with WatchKit.
According to the release notes, iOS 8 beta 3 fixes several bugs including an issue that caused opening Messages conversations to take a long time and a missing emoji button in iOS Simulator. It also includes two fixes for WKInterfaceController methods: openParentApplication:reply: now launches the containing app in the background when the iPhone (or iOS Simulator) is unlocked or locked and presentTextInputControllerWithSuggestions:completion: is now fully supported in iOS Simulator.
iOS 8.2 includes the WatchKit SDK, allowing developers to create apps, Glances, and notifications for Apple's upcoming wearable device ahead of its 2015 launch. The first iOS 8.2 beta, with WatchKit SDK and developer documentation, revealed several new details about the Apple Watch, including its heavy reliance on the iPhone and the different types of content developers can create for the device.
Update: It appears the latest beta reintroduces blood glucose tracking in the Health app and adds new descriptions for various Health app features.
While there are several apps designed to turn the iPad or iPhone into a secondary display for a Mac, the most popular options use Wi-Fi, which can render them all but unusable at times due to unavoidable lag. A new app from developer and former Apple Engineer Rahul Dewan aims to solve these lag problems with a tethered solution that turns an iOS device into a more reliable secondary display.
Duet Display, which is launching today, is the one of the first apps that transforms the iPad and the iPhone into an extra display for the Mac using a Lightning or 30-pin cable. By sending data over a cable instead of Wi-Fi, Duet Display is able to greatly improve on the lag is typically present when an iOS device is used as a secondary display.
Duet Display offers both a Retina mode and a non-Retina mode, along with options for 30 or 60 frames per second, and it's easy to install and setup, requiring just the Mac app, the iOS app, and a cable to connect the two devices.
The Duet Display app is inarguably an improvement over other options today, but it is not a perfect solution. As detailed in the video walkthrough of the app below, MacRumors experienced some issues when testing the app. On a 2012 Retina MacBook Pro, Duet Display's Retina mode caused a significant amount of cursor lag, rendering the app nearly unusable, and the CPU usage climbed to well over 200 percent.
Non-Retina mode (which is enabled in the app by default) offered a more lag free experience, but the trade off caused the secondary iPad Air 2 display to look fuzzy -- a disappointment given the inherent clarity of the screen on Apple's newest tablet. Non-Retina mode in Duet Display degrades the quality of all Retina displays to a noticeable degree.
According to the developer, performance is better on Macs released in 2013 or later, and users who only want to view one static window may not have any problems. Furthermore, many users may find the utility of a secondary iPad or iPhone display to be enough to outweigh the lack of a Retina experience.
Though the iPad Air 2 and other Retina devices don't look good in non-Retina mode, Duet Display is a great solution for older iPads that people might have little use for. An original iPad or iPad 2 does not have a Retina screen, and will work well with older Macs as secondary displays. iOS 5.1.1 is not yet compatible with Duet Display, but the developer is working on a fix.
Along with the Retina issue, potential buyers should be aware of some other small issues that we ran into. Even in non-Retina mode, on a 2012 Retina MacBook Pro, there was some slight cursor lag, and we also had problems with visual artifacts on some apps. When watching YouTube videos, for example, there were some occasional performance blips.
The developer assures us that he is working on improving Duet Display, and he plans to release iterative updates in the months to come to clear up lingering problems. As he suggests, it's better to have an app that works most of the time with just a few problems rather than one of the existing Wi-Fi solutions that can be almost non-functional.
The Duet website claims that all Macs using OS X 10.9 or later work with the app, as well as all iPads and iPhones, but MacRumors was unable to get the software to work with a 2010 MacBook Air running OS X 10.10.2. According to the developer, the issue was due to the 10.10.2 beta software, which does not work with the app.
Duet Display may not provide the perfect secondary display experience, but in our testing, we found that it was more reliable than current Wi-Fi options, and we believe it's a fantastic way to make good use of older iOS devices.
Update 12PM PT: Some of our forum members have not been able to get Duet Display to work on an iPad running iOS 5.1.1, and the developer has asked people who want to use it with an iPad running iOS 5.1.1 to wait for an upcoming update before purchasing.
Audience members at the taping of Wednesday night's The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon episode were treated to an early Christmas present in the form of a free iPad Air 2 for each person.
"I'm in the spirit of giving," Fallon remarked before revealing the giveaway in last night's version of the "Tonight Show Stocking Stuffers" segment Fallon has been running all week. On Monday, Fallon gave away Bose Soundlink Mini-Bluetooth Speakers, and Tuesday saw the gifting of a Vitamix S30 personal blender.
Fallon is known to be an avid fan of tech and gaming and Apple in particular, repeatedly commenting on big releases of Apple products like the iPhone 6 Plus and Apple Watch. The talk show host has also partnered with good friend Justin Timberlake to voice a handful of ads focusing on the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.
Algoriddim has long been known for its popular DJ app djay, which began life on the Mac before moving to the iPad, iPhone and most recently Android, with the various versions winning a number of awards and contributing to making djay the world's best-selling DJ app with over 15 million downloads.
With djay having proven popular among both amateur and professional DJs, users have been asking for more from the software, and Algoriddim is delivering that today with the release of djay Pro for Mac. Going well beyond the previous version of djay for Mac, djay Pro takes advantage of Apple's latest hardware and software improvements to support 64-bit processing, 60 frames-per-second graphics rendering, up to four decks, seamless integration with dozens of MIDI controllers, and a variety of audio effects.
On the library side, djay Pro offers an all-new music library with inline search, instant preview, and song recommendations powered by The Echo Nest, as well as easy integration of iTunes libraries and, for the first time on desktop, Spotify playlists. Users can easily drag and drop tracks from iTunes and Spotify libraries, not only from within djay Pro but also from iTunes and Spotify Mac apps.
Turntable view
In our testing, djay Pro performed extremely well, with high-quality turntable and waveform graphics making for a pleasing user experience. And while djay Pro adds a number of new effects and other tools compared to the previous version, the app's thoughtful and intuitive layout makes it easy both for experts to dive right in and for beginners to keep things simple at first before growing into djay Pro's full capabilities.
A customizable layout allows users to choose from several modes dividing the app window between music library/queueing and the turntables or waveforms, and the library portion of the window can be easily toggled between light and dark views to match user preference for various environments. Users of both Mac and iOS versions of djay will also find their cue points, beat grid edits, meta data synced between the apps via iCloud.
Horizontal waveform view with four decks
All of the new features included in djay Pro do come at a price, however, with Algoriddim electing to offer the new app at an introductory price of $49.99 and an eventual regular price of $79.99, a significant increase over the $19.99 standard pricing of the previous version. But with djay Pro aimed in large part at serious DJs looking for the most powerful tools for Mac, Algoriddim believes djay Pro still offers a very solid value compared to traditional DJ setups.
The base package includes a set of five "Essentials" audio effects such as Echo and Flanger, and a one-time $9.99 in-app purchase adds 34 more effects from Sugar Bytes for use across all of the user's Mac and iOS versions of djay.
djay Pro is launching today via the Mac App Store [Direct Link] and replaces the original version of djay for Mac, which will no longer be available. djay Pro requires a minimum of OS X 10.9 Mavericks, and a Spotify Premium subscription is required to access the Spotify catalog from within the app. A free seven-day trial of Spotify Premium is available for djay Pro users to test out the service and integration.
Actress Kate Winslet is currently in negotiations to play the lead female role in the upcoming Jobs biopic, reports 
ABC has 
