MacRumors

United Airlines today announced that it plans to distribute Apple's new iPhone 6 Plus to more than 23,000 of its flight attendants during the second quarter of 2015.

The phones will be able to handle "most onboard retail transactions" such as food and drink purchases, and will allow flight attendants to access their email, the United.com website, the United Airlines Intranet, plus policies and procedures manuals.

"We are thrilled to make this investment in our flight attendants," said Sam Risoli, United's senior vice president of inflight services. "iPhone 6 Plus will enable them to deliver an even higher level of flyer-friendly service and will offer our flight attendants simple, one-touch access to valuable work information, enabling them to better serve our customers."

In the future, the iPhone 6 Plus devices used by flight attendants will replace printed safety manuals with electronic versions, allowing for real-time reporting and access to aircraft cabin issues and repairs. United will also develop customer-focused tools to be used on the iPhones.

United Airlines has been an eager adopter of Apple technology in the past, becoming one of the first airlines to distribute iPads to pilots to replace heavy flight bags of navigational charts and other flight materials in 2011. United is planning to renew that program, replacing the original iPads with Apple's newest iPad Air 2 devices.

In addition to rolling out iPhone 6 Plus devices to flight attendants, United is also in the midst of terminal renovations at New Jersey's Newark Liberty International Airport, which will see upgrades that include iPads for customer use.

Currently, supply of Apple's iPhone 6 Plus remains somewhat constrained, with new devices shipping in three to five business days. By mid-2015, however, Apple should have reached supply/demand balance, making it possible for companies like United to deploy the devices on a large-scale basis.

As of this week, Apple has begun offering several new toys in its online Apple Store, including a Barbie from Mattel, a Skylanders game, and a WowWee Robot. The new online-only additions come just ahead of the holiday season and mark Apple's continued efforts to bolster its products aimed at younger children.

The most curious new toy offered in the online Apple Store is a Barbie Fashion Design Maker Doll from Mattel. Sold for $49.95, the Barbie is the first doll that Apple has ever sold and at first glance, appears out of place in the online store. The Barbie is a standard Barbie doll, but it is designed to be used alongside a free app [Direct Link] on the iPad that allows children to create customized clothes on printable fabric sheets.

To start, download the free design software app to your iPad, or visit the website to download to your Mac or PC. Use it to create completely customized designs. Select patterns, colors, and accessories available within the program, and add photos to make a really personal statement. Print your finished and fabulous creations onto the eight enclosed printable fabric sheets -- and watch them go from 2D to 3D.

Along with the Barbie doll, Apple is also now selling the Activision Skylanders Trap Team Starter Pack for the iPad. Available for several months via other outlets like Amazon, the Trap Team Starter Pack brings the popular Skylanders console game experience to the iPad. Much like Barbie, Skylanders is very popular with children.

Apple's third kid-oriented offering added this week is the WowWee MiP Robot, a $99 gesture-controlled toy robot that plays games, dances, battles with other robots, and delivers small items.

Full of personality, WowWee's MiP gesture-controlled robot gives you seven different modes and a free app for your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch that offers a bunch of games. Swipe your hands in front MiP's eyes to the direction of your choosing and watch him follow suit. Or load up MiP's tray with a can of soda and use the MiP app to deliver it. MiP is a loveable toy your whole family can enjoy.

Apple has long offered a variety of iOS-related toys suitable for both children and adults like the Anki DRIVE and the Sphero, but over the course of the last few months, the company has added several accessories oriented solely at its youngest consumers. Products added in 2014 include the Philips/Disney Friends of Hue StoryLight kit, the Tiggly Shapes toddler game, and the Osmo educational gaming system are all aimed at children.

It is not entirely clear why Apple has boosted its focus on accessories for younger children in recent months, but drawing kids into the Apple Store with iPad and iPhone-oriented toys pushes them into the Apple ecosystem at an early age, potentially allowing the company to create lifelong customers.

The expanded range of toys offered by Apple also lets the company reach a whole new demographic and it may be part of new retail chief Angela Ahrendts' efforts to redesign the Apple retail experience. As noted earlier this year, Apple's new head of retail is aiming to overhaul the end-to-end Apple Store sales experience, reimagining product discovery and improving customer interactions with employees.

Apple today seeded the second beta of iOS 8.2 to developers, approximately three weeks after releasing the first iOS 8.2 beta.

The beta, build 12D445d, 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 2 with WatchKit.

According to the release notes, iOS 8.2 beta 2 includes fixes for keyboards that may not appear in Safari, Maps, or other third-party apps in iOS simulator and it offers Siri support for Singapore English.

Several WatchKit fixes are bundled in as well, repairing a bug that caused notifications to fail to open an app, an issue that caused WatchKit apps to stop working in iOS 8 simulator, and more.

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.

Following a partnership announced over the summer, Apple and IBM have today introduced the first in a line of mobile business apps that target a wide range of industries and businesses. Dubbed "IBM MobileFirst for iOS", the suite of ten apps hopes to "bring IBM’s big data and analytics capabilities to iPhone and iPad users."

With the initial batch including apps focused on the finance, air-travel, and banking industries, IBM also confirmed a few clients including Citi, Air Canada, Sprint, and Banorte will support the MobileFirst program starting today.

“What we’re delivering aims directly at the new quest of business—smart technologies that unlock new value at the intersection of big data and individual engagement,” said Bridget van Kralingen, senior vice president, IBM Global Business Services. “Our collaboration combines IBM’s industry expertise and unmatched position in enterprise computing, with Apple’s legendary user experience and excellence in product design to lift the performance of a new generation of business professionals.”

One of the ten apps, Sales Assist, is retail-focused and, for example, allows workers to view customer profiles with extensive back-history on previous purchases to help make informed suggestions tailored to specific users. It can also check a store's inventory, find missing in-store items, and ship items unavailable in-store to customers at home. There's one app that grants pilots easier control over flight manifests and schedules, another that provides personalized in-flight services for passengers, and multiple apps focused on banking and case advisers.

The apps, built exclusively for iPhone and iPad, "are delivered in a secure environment, embedded with analytics and linked to core enterprise processes." The two companies ensure that the apps can be developed and adjusted to fit any company, and once out in the wild are easily managed and upgraded thanks to cloud services provided by IBM. All apps are highly secure as well, and the partners promise that more apps are "being continuously designed and developed" for release in the future.

“This is a big step for iPhone and iPad in the enterprise, and we can’t wait to see the exciting new ways organizations will put iOS devices to work,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “The business world has gone mobile, and Apple and IBM are bringing together the world’s best technology with the smartest data and analytics to help businesses redefine how work gets done.”

The official websites of both Apple and IBM provide a deeper dive into the program with extensive looks into each of the ten apps announced today.

Following a two month absence, Apple has restarted sales of Bose products in its online store. The reinstated products include the Bose QuietComfort 20i, the Bose SoundLink Mini Bluetooth Speaker, and the Bose SoundLink Bluetooth Speaker III, but notably do not include the company's over-the-ear headphone offerings. The move follows a report yesterday which noted that some French Apple retail stores had begun receiving shipments of Bose products with an intent to put the products back on shelves, and it is now likely those products will return to stores shortly.

It still is not clear as to why Apple removed Bose products from its stores, but the decision may have had something to do with Apple's acquisition of Beats Electronics and a patent infringement lawsuit filed by Bose in July against Beats. That lawsuit was settled between Beats and Bose before Bose products disappeared from Apple's store shelves, which may indicate that the removal and reinstatement was a part of the discussions between the two companies.

Bose also signed a deal with the NFL to ban NFL players from wearing Beats headphones during games, which garnered comments from Beats co-founder Jimmy Iovine who stated that it made Beats "look like the underdog." Bose products were not the only products removed by Apple in recent months, as the company also pulled Fitbit products from its retail and online stores. Unlike Bose products however, Fitbit products have yet to return to the Apple Store.

After more than two months of availability, Apple's newest mobile operating system, iOS 8, is now installed on 63 percent of iOS, according to new numbers posted on Apple's App Store support page for developers.

iOS 8's installation numbers have increased approximately seven percent over the course of the last month, and installation numbers are up 11 percent since October 27. iOS 7 usage, meanwhile, has dropped from 43 percent in October to 33 percent as of December 8.

Apple's own iOS 8 adoption estimates are based on App Store usage and are mirrored closely by data from analytics service MixPanel, which puts iOS 8 adoption at 63.94 percent as of today.

The number of users installing iOS 8 initially stagnated at 47 percent just three weeks after the software was first released to the public, but installation numbers have been climbing steadily since then due to a number of bug fixes and an email campaign from Apple encouraging users to upgrade.

iOS 8's low adoption rates were likely due to several major bugs the software faced in its early days and a lack of space on 16GB devices for installing the OS. Apple's recent email campaign attempted to alleviate the latter issue, informing users with little space on their devices that they could upgrade through iTunes.

iOS 8.1, iOS 8.1.1, and iOS 8.1.2, introduced today, all brought bug fixes for several major issues, repairing problems and improving the stability of iOS 8. Apple is also working on iOS 8.2, which is expected to bring additional bug fixes and has been seeded to developers for testing purposes.

Just over two weeks ago, hackers attacked Sony Pictures, acquiring up to 100 terabytes of data that included huge amounts of sensitive information like emails, Social Security numbers, films, scripts, and more.

Data from the hack has been leaking out for the last several days, and as of today, new emails have been found discussing the Steve Jobs biopic that Sony was producing before it sold the film to Universal Studios.

According to leaked data shared by Ars Technica, screenwriter Aaron Sorkin, who penned the script from Walter Isaacson's Steve Jobs biography, originally had his eye on Tom Cruise to play Steve Jobs. An email from October 31 suggested Sorkin was campaigning heavily for Tom Cruise, while director Danny Boyle was concerned about the actor's age.

His emails also divulged a few details about the scenes, which cover three different Jobs product launches, suggesting Tom Cruise, at 52 is the right age for third act, while Seth Rogen, aged 32, would be the right age for the first act as Steve Wozniak.

I just got off the phone with Danny who's concerned about the age but I think I got him thinking about it and he's going to look at some scenes from Lions for Lambs where Tom's basically auditioning for Jobs. He's also concerned that the choice will be met with derision because it's such a commercial choice but I honestly think that ends up working for us. Tom's going to surprise some people and they'll want to reward that. I don't think we'd have to recast Woz. Seth's the right age in the first act and Tom's the right age in the third. And the movie announces itself pretty quickly as not being literal---as being a painting rather than a photograph. Look, I wouldn't cast Clint Eastwood but if I saw Tom Cruise flying around the backstage corridors of Symphony Hall I wouldn't think he was too old. I think it would be dazzling performance.

Ultimately, director Danny Boyle dug in his heels and insisted on Michael Fassbender over Tom Cruise, with an email response to Sorkin suggesting Boyle "seemed committed" to Fassbender. Sorkin was not initially thrilled with the decision, but opted to accept Boyle's choice.

Sorkin replied, "This used to be an event. I don't know who Michael Fassbender is and the rest of the world isn't going to care. This is insane." But in the exchange that followed, he wrote, "F*** it. He's a great actor whose time has come."

It's known that Sony Pictures had difficulty casting the role of Jobs, as Leonardo DiCaprio and Christian Bale were both briefly tied to the film before dropping out, but the emails also suggest that Tobey Maguire and Matthew McConaughey inquired about playing Steve Jobs before the role went to Fassbender. Tom Hanks was also reportedly interested in taking on the role of John Sculley, which is rumored to be going to Jeff Daniels.

Boyle's decision to stick with X-Men actor Michael Fassebender ultimately led to Sony's decision to drop the Steve Jobs biopic after executives struggled to secure financing for the film with Fassbender in the lead role. Boyle and producer Scott Rudin went on to ink a deal with Universal to take over the film.

Apple CEO Tim Cook met with civil rights activist Jesse Jackson on Monday, reports USA Today. Though Jackson declined to comment on what he and Cook discussed, Jackson is currently in the Bay Area for his Rainbow PUSH Coalition, which is hosting a workshop at Intel on racial diversity at technology companies.

The Rainbow PUSH Coalition is a non-profit organization that champions social justice, civil rights, and political activism, and recently, it has been targeting tech companies for not employing more women and minorities. At its Silicon Valley meeting, taking place on December 10, the Coalition is expected to discuss ways tech companies can improve diversity in the workplace.

The Coalition, alongside Jackson, will also hold a rally with labor leaders and service workers outside Apple's headquarters in Cupertino to highlight the growing wealth gap in Silicon Valley.

Speaking about the meeting with Tim Cook, Jackson said that he and the Apple CEO discussed "a range of subjects" for approximately one hour, and that the meeting was "positive and productive."

"I am impressed with him and the conversation," Jackson said in an interview on Tuesday. "He has a real vision for Apple and he sees the value in inclusiveness."

Diversity and equality have been an important topics for Tim Cook as of late, as the Apple CEO recently came out as gay. In the letter declaring his sexuality, Cook told the world that Apple will continue to take a strong stand on furthering workplace equality. An August diversity report revealed that 7 out of 10 Apple employees around the globe are male, and Apple's U.S. workforce consists of 55 percent white employees, 15 percent Asian, 11 percent Hispanic, and 7 percent Black.

At the time, Tim Cook said that he was unhappy with Apple's diversity numbers and promised to improve them.

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