MacRumors

Apple has honored "Back to the Future" day by updating Siri with at least ten humorous responses related to the popular movie Back to the Future II, released in 1989. iPhone and iPad users can invoke Siri and say "happy Back to the Future day" to receive one of the responses below at random.

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Today is "Back to the Future" day because October 21, 2015 is the date that Marty McFly and Dr. Emmett Brown travel to in the movie. The classic film makes several fictional predictions about the future, including hoverboards, flying cars, remote-control dog walkers and the Chicago Cubs winning the 2015 World Series.

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Apple has updated Siri with humorous responses in the past for its September 9, 2015 event, WWDC 2014, "Okay Glass" and more.

Twitter announced today that a feature it has tested with a few users on a small scale -- the ability to add customized polls to a tweet -- will officially be coming to everyone over the next few days. The company hopes that the new add-on will further expand its users' interaction with their followers, by streamlining a function that would have previously taken extensive measures of reading replies and re-tweets to successfully follow.

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If you want the public’s opinion on anything — what to name your dog, who will win tonight’s game, which election issue people care most about — there’s no better place to get answers than on Twitter. For poll creators, it’s a new way to engage with Twitter’s massive audience and understand exactly what people think. For those participating, it’s a very easy way to make your voice heard.

Twitter users will be able to create a poll from the compose box of the Twitter desktop site or in any of the company's official mobile apps. Unfortunately, the feature won't be available in third-party Twitter apps, so those using clients like Tweetbot won't be able to see the polls or vote on them. Each poll will remain live for twenty-four hours from the time it is posted, and the company ensures that your name is kept anonymous from both the poster and the public when voting on other polls.

The company promises that polls will be available "over the next few days," and users should simply keep an eye out for the circular pie graph poll icon in their compose box to know when they can begin using the feature. The introduction of polls follows the launch of "Moments" earlier in the month, which gave users of the social network a simplified discovery tool to follow the news and accounts they care about.

Twitter [Direct Link] is available to download from the App Store for free.

Tag: Twitter

itunes-card-hero-xl-2015Ruben Profit, a 24-year-old employee at an Apple Store in New York's Queens Center Mall, has been charged with grand larceny and faces up to fifteen years in prison for an illegal scheme he ran while using his privileges as an Apple retail employee (via NBC).

Profit used re-coded Visa and American Express debit, credit, or gift cards to purchase numerous Apple gift cards, which he would then sell to other individuals at highly discounted prices.

Profit told police that he was paid $200 for each $2,000 Apple gift card he provided to another individual, according to prosecutors. Profit faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted. He was arraigned Friday and is being held on $20,000 bail.

The 24-year-old began working with the company in December of 2013, but transferred to the Queens location when it opened its doors this past July. He began purchasing the gift cards soon after -- the total coming in at $997,000 -- with receipts dating his purchases between August and October of 2015. When arrested, Profit was said to be in possession of 51 of the re-coded Visa and American Express cards, along with seven Apple gift cards with $2,000 on each.

Apple has leased Tech Place on 101, a 202,000-square-foot building under construction at 2509 Orchard Parkway in north San Jose, California, according to the San Jose Mercury News. The new building is located next to a large parcel of vacant land, owned by realty firm Steelwave, where up to two more office buildings could be built to accommodate around 3,000 workers.

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Steelwave render of Tech Place on 101 building in north San Jose

Apple, headquartered in nearby Cupertino, has been steadily expanding its presence in the Bay Area. In north San Jose, it owns or leases multiple properties along Orchard Parkway, between North First Street and U.S. Highway 101, including the 296,000-square-foot 101 Tech R&D building and a massive 43-acre development site approved for up to 2.8 million square feet of office space.

Apple's north San Jose campus could potentially employ up to 20,000 workers.

"They are taking this building to control that entire neighborhood," said David Vanoncini, a managing partner with Kidder Mathews, a commercial realty firm.

If all the sites were built out to their full capacity, over time, Apple potentially could employ up to 20,000 workers on the north San Jose properties.

The company also reportedly expanded into San Francisco for the first time in July, leasing a 76,000-square-foot office space in the popular South of Market (SoMa) neighborhood, and further bolstered its Bay Area presence by acquiring a 770,000-square-foot property in Sunnyvale.

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Apple now has real estate in five Bay Area cities, including Cupertino, San Francisco, San Jose, Santa Clara and Sunnyvale. In addition to its One Infinite Loop headquarters, the iPhone maker continues development on its nearby "Campus 2" project, which remains scheduled for completion in late 2016.

Misfit today debuted its second-generation Shine activity tracker, which has been redesigned to incorporate new technology. The Shine 2 is thinner than the original Shine and it includes more accurate activity and sleep tracking capabilities along with improved LEDs, longer Bluetooth range, and better touch responsiveness.

There are now several multicolor LEDs built into the face of the Shine, which, along with a vibration motor, allow users to see their progress towards their daily goals and get reminders to get up and move. The Shine 2 also works with Misfit Link, so it can be used to do things like take selfies, receive call notifications, control music, control home products, and more.

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The Shine 2, like the original Shine, is made of aluminum, and it measures in at just 3.3mm thick at the edge. Its built-in LEDs are able to display more than 6 million colors and their greater brightness makes it easier to tell the time and see progress towards a movement goal.

Misfit's newest device continues to operate on a standard watch battery, so it lasts up to six months on a single charge, and it's water resistant up to 50 meters, making it suitable for swim tracking.

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The Shine 2 comes in Rose Gold and Carbon Black, with each of the Shine 2 trackers shipping with a sport band and a clasp. The Shine 2, priced at $99.99, is available for purchase from the Misfit website and it will be in retail stores beginning on November 1.

Apple LogoApple today voiced its opposition to the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act, or CISA, just days before the Senate will vote on the bill. In a statement given to The Washington Post, Apple reiterated its commitment to user privacy and said it does not support CISA.

"We don't support the current CISA proposal," Apple said in a statement. "The trust of our customers means everything to us and we don't believe security should come at the expense of their privacy."

Apple's public statement on CISA comes on the heels of statements from several other tech companies who oppose CISA, including Twitter, Yelp, Wikipedia, and reddit. The Computer and Communications Industry Association, which represents companies like Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and Amazon, has also urged the Senate to make improvements to the act, saying it does not support CISA as it is currently written.

The controversial Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act is designed to allow companies to share information on cybersecurity threats with one another and with the government, but opponents say it puts personal privacy at risk by failing to include protections for user privacy and by granting the government wide-ranging rights gather private data from Americans under the guise of shielding them from hackers.

Apple has taken a strong stance on user privacy in recent years and has reiterated many times that the government has no access to Apple's servers. With iOS 8, Apple further strengthened its position on preventing government access to user data by ending its storage of encryption keys for iOS devices, making it impossible for the company to unlock iPhones and iPads under police request.

Over the course of the last two years, Apple CEO Tim Cook has spoken passionately on Apple's unwavering commitment to privacy. He shared his most recent thoughts on the subject last night, at the WSJ.D Live conference in California. "Do we want our nation to be secure? Of course," Cook said. "No one should have to decide between privacy or security. We should be smart enough to do both. Both of these things are essentially part of the Constitution."

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.

apple-watch-hermesEarlier this month, the Metropolitan Museum of Art announced Apple would sponsor its annual 2016 Gala and Costume Institute exhibition, with Apple Design Chief Jony Ive serving as co-chair of the event.

The Gala, which takes place next year, is themed "Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology," and while few details are available this early on, The Wall Street Journal has now shared a bit more information on what we can expect from the event following an interview with Jony Ive, Anna Wintour, and Costume Institute Curator Andrew Bolton.

"Manus x Machina" is a theme that aims to combine handmade crafting techniques like lacework with automation like 3D printing to "explore the full spectrum of processes by which clothing is designed and made." A theme that covers the intersection of technology and fashion is a good fit for Apple, as the company debuted its first fashion item, the Apple Watch, earlier this year.

"As products become more personal, something that is worn on the wrist put us in the space of fashion," said Mr. Ive. He and Ms. Wintour were wearing versions of the Apple Watch Hermès, introduced this month.

"These are issues close to our hearts," said Mr. Ive of the intertwining of fashion and technology. "Our understanding will temper and define future products we're working on. We're only starting."

At the Met Costume Institute exhibition, haute-couture garments will be paired with ready-to-wear versions to show "the equal contributions of automation and craftsmanship." Three dozen designers and 100 items of clothing will be featured, dating from the 1880s to now, and there will be rooms dedicated to embroidery, knitting, lacework, leatherwork, ultrasonic welding, thermo shaping, laser cutting, and 3D printing.

The annual Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Gala will be held on May 2, 2016. It's a fund raising event that benefits the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute. Held in New York City, the Met Gala always attracts hundreds of well-known celebrity attendees.

sixdigitpasscodeApple this week informed a federal magistrate judge in Brooklyn, New York that it "would be impossible" for the company to access data on a locked iPhone running iOS 8 or later, reports Reuters. Apple was responding to a request from the judge, James Orenstein, to help him decide whether to fulfill a U.S. Justice Department request that would have forced Apple to help authorities gain access to a seized iPhone.

Apple's response is not a surprise, as it is the same thing the company has said several times in the past. Since iOS 8, Apple has stopped storing encryption keys for devices, making it impossible for the company to unlock iPhones and iPads under police request. Without an encryption key, Apple cannot bypass a passcode to gain access to an iOS device.

In a brief filed with the court, Apple said 90 percent of its devices are running iOS 8 or higher and are thus inaccessible. Apple is able to access the 10 percent of devices that continue to use iOS 7 or below, but the company told the judge that being forced to comply with the Justice Department's request could tarnish its brand.

"Forcing Apple to extract data in this case, absent clear legal authority to do so, could threaten the trust between Apple and its customers and substantially tarnish the Apple brand," Apple's lawyers wrote.

Apple's encryption changes, implemented in 2014 with iOS 8, have been unpopular with some law enforcement officials. FBI Director James Comey has expressed concern that encryption implemented by companies like Google and Apple lets people "place themselves above the law."

Just yesterday, Apple CEO Tim Cook told an interviewer encryption is a necessity and that software backdoors are unacceptable, reiterating Apple's long-standing opinion on the subject.

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.

facebookSeveral months ago, Facebook announced "Instant Articles," a new platform for publishers that aimed to speed up the loading times of articles when browsing on the Facebook iOS app, but it was limited to a small number of iPhone users. As of today, Facebook's Instant Articles are rolling out to all iOS users and should be showing up in Facebook timelines starting now.

With Instant Articles, publishers are able to host their posts and stories on the Facebook servers, which are able to load linked articles up to 10 times faster than a separate web app. The platform also includes several interactive tools like photo zooming, maps, auto play videos, audio captions, comments, and more, plus it lets publishers access analytics tools to measure article traffic.

According to Facebook, its users are more likely to read and share content that loads instantly, and content that gets a lot of shares is beneficial to publishers as it ranks higher in the Facebook News Feed.


Several major publications have signed up to use Facebook's Instant Article platform, including The New York Times, National Geographic, BuzzFeed, NBC, The Atlantic, The Guardian, BBC News, Spiegel, Bild, The Washington Post, The Huffington Post, The Atlantic, Business Insider, Fox Sports, MLB, Hollywood Reporter, The Onion, The Verge, TIME, and more.

Instant Articles are highlighted in the iOS Facebook feed with a lightning bolt icon, letting users know which content has the special formatting.

Just a week ahead of the launch of the fourth-generation Apple TV, Apple has added several new channels to the existing set-top box. As of today, NBC, CBS All Access, and Made to Measure (M2M) are available on the Apple TV.

The new NBC channel is the first time the network has had a channel available on the Apple TV, aside from the dedicated NBC Sports channel. With the NBC channel, customers can watch full episodes of NBC shows on the Apple TV. Cable authentication is required for some features, but all users can watch some NBC content on the channel without needing a subscription.

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Announced last night, M2M is an Apple TV exclusive channel that focuses on fashion, run by talent agency conglomerate WME/IMG. The channel features short videos, interviews, and mini-documentaries from the fashion world.

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The new CBS channel, CBS All Access, is designed to provide access to the CBS All Access streaming service. CBS All Access includes more than 7,500 episodes of CBS shows on demand, and it offers new episodes of all CBS shows the day after they air. Some customers whose local CBS affiliates support All Access will also be able to watch CBS shows live on the channel.

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All three of the new channels are available immediately on the existing Apple TV, and will also be available on the new set-top box that's launching on Monday.

Related Roundup: Apple TV
Tags: CBS, M2M, NBC
Buyer's Guide: Apple TV (Don't Buy)

HTC today announced its latest flagship Android smartphone, the HTC One A9. Priced at just $399, the One A9 looks remarkably like an iPhone 6/6s, taking many design cues from Apple's most recent devices.

The A9 has a 5-inch screen with a curved-edge display, so it fits right in between the 4.7-inch iPhone 6s and the 5.5-inch iPhone 6s Plus, and it includes the same antenna bands and a protruding rear camera, both design choices that haven't exactly been universally popular on the iPhone. The aluminum body comes in colors that are similar to the iPhone color lineup, available in Opal Silver and Carbon Gray.


A Topaz Gold shade is available internationally, and a Deep Garnet color will be available later in the year. When it comes to thickness, the A9 One measures in at 7.26mm, putting it on par with the 7.1mm iPhone 6s and 7.3mm iPhone 6s Plus.

The design similarities between the iPhone 6 and the HTC A9 are only external. The A9 runs the latest version of Android, Marshmallow, and it's equipped with a four-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon 617 processor, up to 3GB RAM, and a 13-megapixel rear camera. There's also a 4-megapixel front-facing camera and it ships with up to 32GB of storage that can be expanded to 2TB with a microSD card.

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The HTC One A9 compared to the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, via The Verge

Like many smartphones available these days, the One A9 has a fingerprint scanner to unlock the phone without a passcode, and it has built-in DAC to convert 16-bit audio to 24-bit high-resolution audio.

HTC is accepting pre-orders for the One A9 on its website. The phone is priced at $399 and is available unlocked.

Tag: HTC

Sphero's been making iPhone-connected ball-shaped robotic toys since 2011, and while the company has been successful with the original Sphero and the Ollie, it stumbled on a major hit this year with the launch of the BB-8, a Star Wars branded iPhone-controlled droid.


BB-8 is based on the droid from the upcoming movie Star Wars: The Force Awakens. It combines Sphero's existing robotic ball technology with the Star Wars universe, a marriage that's resulted in the most appealing, advanced Sphero toy to date.

Sphero's BB-8 has a fun backstory and was designed with help from Lucasfilm. Throughout the development process, Lucasfilm provided Sphero with details on BB-8, feedback on the design, and the iconic sounds that bring the toy's personality to life.

The "real" BB-8 can be seen in the Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer

Hardware and Design

Design wise, the BB-8 consists of a robotic ball, similar to the original Sphero, and a droid head that fits onto the ball using magnets. Under the head, there are a set of wheels that allow it to move around and stay in place on top of the body of the BB-8 while it is in motion.

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BB-8 is about the size of a baseball and fits in the palm of a hand. If you have a Sphero already, the body of the BB-8 is the same size as the Sphero ball. The head is about the size of half a ping pong ball and is adorned with two ornamental antennae. The body and the head are both made of a smooth plastic and there are LEDs inside that allow BB-8 to light up. This is a pretty durable plastic - even when BB-8 slammed into walls, it remained undamaged. Plastic is breakable though, and it's still worth being gentle with BB-8.

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Apple updated its Apple Pay participating issuers list today with 75 additional banks, credit unions and financial institutions supporting the contactless payment service in the United States. Apple Pay now has over 600 participating issuers nationwide, and several more plan to support the NFC-based mobile payment service in the future.

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HSBC Atrium in Buffalo, New York

HSBC, one of the ten largest U.S. banks, highlights the complete list of Apple Pay participating issuers. As a disclaimer, it should be noted that some smaller banks, credit unions and financial institutions listed may have already had support for the contactless payments service and are only now being reflected on Apple's website.

The full list of new Apple Pay participating issuers is ahead.

➜ Click here to read rest of article...

Related Roundup: Apple Pay
Tag: HSBC

Guitar Hero Live BundleActivision today released Guitar Hero Live for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch in the U.S., following a five-year hiatus in the iconic video game franchise. The app is accompanied by an optional $99.99 bundle including a Bluetooth LE six-button guitar controller, guitar strap, redeem code and 2 AA batteries, available through major U.S. retailers. A two-guitar bundle is also offered for $149.99.

Guitar Hero Live puts you on stage rocking reactive live-action crowds. Guitar Hero Live is all about the dream of becoming a rock star. You will play with REAL band members, playing to REAL crowds, with REAL reactions to your performance. Play well and the crowd will love you! Play poorly and your fans will turn on you!

Guitar Hero Live for iOS has single-player and multiplayer modes and includes two free trial songs, while the guitar controller bundle unlocks over 40 additional tracks, access to GHTV channels featuring over 200 songs at launch and touch-based gameplay. A digital bundle is also available for $49.99 that unlocks the same features without a Bluetooth guitar for touch-based gameplay.

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T-Mobile is also selling the Guitar Hero Live for iOS bundle and, for qualified customers, offering financing that breaks down the $99.99 price into 23 monthly payments of $4.16, with a final monthly payment of $4.31.

Supported iOS Devices:

  • iPad 4, iPad Air, iPad Air 2

  • iPad mini, iPad mini 2, iPad mini 3, iPad mini 4

  • iPhone 5, iPhone 5c, iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus

  • iPod touch (6th generation)

The game also requires iOS 8 or later and at least 3GB of device storage.


Guitar Hero Live [Direct Link] is free on the App Store, and also available for $99.99 on PS4, Xbox One, Wii U, PS3 and Xbox 360. A version for the new Apple TV will also be released to play on the big screen. The game launches in Europe on October 23.

Learn more about Guitar Hero Live and other iOS games at our sister website TouchArcade.

Following the unveiling of the new Apple TV back in September, United Kingdom-based public service broadcaster BBC told fans on Twitter that there were "no plans currently" to develop an iPlayer app for the new platform. While the broadcaster has backtracked slightly since that time, more recently stating it doesn't "have any info to give" on the topic, with the launch of the Apple TV right around the corner, a couple of Dorset-based developers have taken the task into their own hands to prove that the app can be made with relative ease.

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Screenshot from the proof of concept iPlayer app

The BBC iPlayer app allows viewers of the popular British channel to catch up with current series and watch live TV on a smartphone or tablet. The company expanded support for the service to streaming devices like Chromecast and smart TVs last year, but never made the leap to Apple TV due to its limited SDK support and nonexistent functionality with other platforms like Android. Now, a pair of developers from Bournemouth, Dorset in the United Kingdom -- Matt Cheetham and Phillip Caudell -- have used a recent hack event to prove Apple TV support for BBC iPlayer could be implemented fairly easily by the broadcaster.


The pair took to GitHub to share the app they created, dubbed the "Auntie Player," which splits the iPlayer experience up into Home, Categories, Live, and Search tabs, with full episode lists, descriptions, and run times for each show. Cheetham and Caudell cite BBC's "disappointing response" from September as the main source of inspiration for the proof of concept app, pointing out BBC's failure to support Apple TV as a direct contradiction to its public purpose to "make engaging digital content and services available on a wide range of digital platforms and devices."

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Most impressively, the duo planned, coded, and completed the app in under nine hours at the "Hack to the Future" event in Bournemouth over the weekend. As they note in the GitHub post, the two won't be submitting the app to the App Store, but they wanted to showcase "what can be achieved with the tvOS platform and the BBC's amazing content."

The app we're publishing here was built in just under 9 hours at a hack event to prove it could be done. It's by no means complete or perfect, and it's very much a proof of concept. It's our hope the BBC will release an official app for Apple TV, as they've made iPlayer available on a wide range of other set-top boxes and Smart TVs.

Check out the developers' full suite of source code for Auntie Player on GitHub, along with an array of screenshots and more of the reasoning behind sharing their creation with the public.

With Apple's new tvOS developer tools for the fourth-generation Apple TV, the platform is now open to all developers, significantly broadening the potential for Apple's set-top box beyond the locked-down content provider model that has existed until now. Just yesterday, Apple CEO Tim Cook reiterated his thoughts that the television experience needs to be reinvented and that apps are the way to do it.

Related Roundup: Apple TV
Buyer's Guide: Apple TV (Don't Buy)

San Francisco-based accessory manufacturer Waterfield Designs today unveiled a new line of protective cases for the newly announced Magic Keyboard and Magic Trackpad 2. The company promises that the custom-fit cases protect the new Apple accessories from everyday drops and dings, and are thin and light enough to slip into bigger bags.

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The Waterfield Magic Keyboard Slip case

The Magic Keyboard has three case options for customers to choose from, the first being the full-featured $59 Magic Keyboard Travel Express, which fits the new keyboard along with power cables, a Magic Mouse and a host of other possibilities in its zippered case. A bit down in price from that is the $29 Magic Keyboard Slip, which takes the housing and look of Waterfield's MacBook case line and shrinks it down to accommodate the slim new Magic Keyboard. The bare-bones $15 Magic Keyboard Socket promises to protect the new accessory "on a student's budget."

“Many laptop and tablet owners use a separate keyboard with their mobile devices to avoid potential Repetitive Strain Injuries (like carpel tunnel syndrome) and other ergonomic problems,” explained founder Gary Waterfield, “But—as too many of us know from experience—one small spill can instantly ruin a Keyboard or TrackPad. We designed the Magic Keyboard and TrackPad 2 cases to protect these devices so that users can take them from workstation to workstation or from work to home with peace of mind.”

The Magic Trackpad 2 is seeing a similar new line of cases from Waterfield today, with a $25 Slip case that provides heavier durability and an extra accessory sleeve and the cheaper $12 Socket option for those wanting protection on the cheaper side. All of the company's new cases can be ordered from its official website beginning today, with an estimated shipping date of Friday, October 23.

apple_tv_2015_roundupWhile speaking at tonight's WSJDLive conference, Apple CEO Tim Cook revealed that the new Apple TV will begin shipping next week. Apple will begin taking orders for the new set-top box on Monday, October 26 with shipments beginning at the end of the week.

The new Apple TV, which Cook also said is the "foundation" for a new type of TV experience, features an A8 processor and either 32 or 64 GB of storage. It also has support for a full App Store, which Apple says will help "modernize" the "linear TV" experience that most consumers are familiar with. The new Apple TV also comes with the brand new Siri Remote, which allows users to use Siri to easily sort and find their favorite TV shows and movies.

The new fourth-generation Apple TV will be available for $149 with 32 GB of storage and $199 with 64 GB of storage.

Related Roundup: Apple TV
Buyer's Guide: Apple TV (Don't Buy)

Apple CEO Tim Cook is on stage for the opening night of the WSJDLive conference in Palm Springs, California, with Wall Street Journal editor Gerry Baker interviewing Cook about a variety of topics. Live coverage of the interview is being offered by publications including WSJ.D and The Verge, and we'll be updating this post with highlights from the session.

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- On whether Apple wants to control every facet of our lives: Apple does very few products, and puts a lot of care into them, but Apple does want you to have a seamless experience throughout your home and work life.

- Citing competitive reasons, Cook once again declines to share Apple Watch sales numbers. "We shipped a lot the first quarter, then last quarter we shipped even more. And I can predict this quarter we will ship even more." Addressing Baker's skepticism about the device, Cook refers to customer satisfaction being "off the charts."

- Talking now about iPhone 6s and the iPhone Upgrade Program, Cook insists it's not meant to compete with carriers. It's simply a plan for people who want to get a new iPhone every year. Addressing the need to keep innovating on iPhone and whether Apple is on a two-year cycle as it appears to many people, Cook stresses all of the new features included on the iPhone 6s.

- Cook says Apple Music has 6.5 million paying customers and 8.5 million more still on free trials. Cook stresses the human curation aspect of Apple Music and notes the company feels "fantastic" about customer uptake so far.

- Regarding Apple TV, Cook sees it as a "foundation" for a new type of experience as Apple tries to fix the "broken" experience of watching television. With Apple TV, providers like HBO can sell directly to consumers. The current system of "linear TV" with channels needs to be "brought up and modernized" and apps will help do that.

- Apple TV orders will kick off on Monday, October 26 with shipments beginning by the end of that week.

- Baker asks about Apple's car project, but Cook hesitates to say much. He does admit that software becomes increasingly important, and that enables other shifts like electrification and autonomous control. But in the short term, Apple wants people to have the iPhone experience in the car. "We'll see what we do in the future."

- On the retail front, Cook notes Apple will have 40 stores in China by the end of next year, and China currently provided in the "mid-20s" percentage of Apple's revenue. Angela Ahrendts has also been focused on integrating online and in-store shopping experiences.

- Cook and Baker talking about user privacy, with Cook giving his usual comments about how privacy is a key value for Apple but that the company believes it can still provide an excellent customer experience and services while maintaining that privacy. In response to a question about Apple's relationship to national security organizations, Cook says he is "very" comfortable with it and he shares the company's views that any software backdoors are unacceptable and encryption is a necessity. A rather tense debate about the tradeoff between privacy and national security ensues.

- Final question of the interview is about Apple increasing its willingness to speak out on issues and take leadership roles, and Cook notes Apple has a "responsibility to be a great global citizen." Cook points to the environment, human rights, and education as areas where it can lead. Cook says Apple has stepped up its efforts to "leave the world better than we found it" because "government isn't working well." Cook says Apple isn't worried about alienating customers with its stances, noting the company isn't forcing its views on anyone, and he hopes people who may be upset with Apple's positions in these areas can still think Apple makes great products and respect Apple for making efforts to put its values into practice.