MacRumors

Third-party keyboards like Swype and Fleksy promise to make typing on iPhones and iPads faster with features like predictive text and swiping, but new third-party keyboard NinType goes even further, combining taps, swipes, and shortcuts to allow users to type more than 100 words per minute.

Created by app developer Yose Widjaja, NinType's magic comes from its ability to support two-handed swipe-based gestures for spelling out words. Using two thumbs, it's possible to use a combination of taps and swipes to write words and insert punctuation quickly.

NinType has a built-in game-like tutorial that's designed to walk users through all of the app's features, and it is deeply customizable with a top bar that can be arranged to a user's liking, different visual effects, extensive shortcut options, and settings for nearly every aspect of the keyboard. There are a number of handy gestures in NinType, including a swipe on the spacebar to move the cursor, a swipe on the backspace key to quickly delete words, edge slides for inserting punctuation, and flick to autocomplete. NinType does not require users to enable full access.

MacRumors went hands-on with the NinType keyboard to show off how it works and to highlight some key features like themes and the ability to easily insert emoji. NinType also includes features like a built-in calculator, support for multiple languages, a tool for counting words typed per minute, and a "word transformer" mode for stylizing the words that you type.

NinType is available for both the iPhone and the iPad and can be downloaded from the App Store for $4.99. [Direct Link]

Between 2007 and 2009, Apple stealthily deleted content that iPod owners had downloaded from rival music services, reports The Wall Street Journal. The information came to light during an ongoing class action iPod lawsuit that Apple is fighting in court this week, where the Cupertino company is accused of having violated antitrust law by locking its original iPods to the iTunes ecosystem.

According to plaintiff attorney Patrick Coughlin, a user who downloaded music from a competing music service to iTunes and then tried to sync the content to an iPod would receive a nondescript error message. The vague message would advise the iPod owner to restore the device to its factory settings, deleting the music that had been downloaded from a rival service and preventing it from being played.

Apple security director Augustin Farrugia defended the vague error message, stating that Apple didn't want to "confuse users" by providing them with too much information. Farrugia also said the company's efforts to delete music acquired from third-party sources was done in an effort to protect consumers from hackers and malicious content.

Yesterday, lawyers for the plaintiffs shared both a videotaped deposition and emails written by Steve Jobs as evidence that Apple had deliberately stymied competing music services after the launch of the iPod. In the correspondence, the former Apple CEO hatched a plan to accuse competing music service RealNetworks of hacking the iPod when it offered song downloads that could be played on the device.

The class action lawsuit began on Tuesday of this week and is being heard in the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California. Both Apple marketing head Phil Schiller and iTunes chief Eddy Cue are expected to testify during the court proceedings.

Following the Thanksgiving holiday, Apple Store shipping estimates for both the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus have seen significant improvement, with many models in the online Apple Store now carrying a shipping estimate of 3 to 5 days in the United States.

iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus models in all colors and from all carriers in 16 and 64GB configurations now ship within 3 to 5 days, while the more constrained 128GB versions ship within 7 to 10 days.

Though the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus have been severely constrained since their September debut, Apple has been working hard to improve supplies. The company has reportedly delayed mass production on the iPad Pro to focus on producing more iPhone 6 Plus units, a move that's bolstered available supply.

iPhone 6 and 6 Plus stock first began improving in late November, with 16GB iPhone 6 Plus supplies jumping to a 7 to 10 day shipping estimate after sitting at three to four week shipping estimates for several weeks. 64GB and 128GB iPhone 6 Plus devices have seen the biggest increase in supply, because as of late November, 64GB devices carried a shipping estimate of 2 to 3 weeks while 128GB devices carried a shipping estimate of 3 to 4 weeks. iPhone 6 supply has also been steadily improving, going from 7 to 10 days in November to 3 to 5 days today.

In store supply of the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus has also seen significant improvement, and many stores across the country list availability of both the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in 16, 64, and 128GB configurations. Tracking tool iStockNow can be used to find where iPhone 6 and 6 Plus devices are available.

During Apple's fourth quarter earnings call on October 20, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that demand for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus was "far outstripping" supply and that the company was "not close" to having a supply/demand balance at that time, but based on the improved shipping times, the company could come close to meeting its supply goals before the end of the year.

Apple today released Safari 8.0.1 for OS X Yosemite, Safari 7.1.1 for OS X Mavericks and a Safari 6.2.1 for older versions of OS X. The release comes nearly three weeks after the Safari betas were first seeded to developers.

The new Safari builds can be downloaded through the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App Store. Safari 8.0.1 for OS X Yosemite requires OS X 10.10 or 10.10.1, while Safari 7.1.1 for OS X Mavericks requires OS X 10.9.5 and Safari 6.2.1 for OS X Mountain Lion requires OS X 10.8.5.

According to the release notes, Safari 8.0.1 fixes an issue that could prevent history from syncing across devices without iCloud Drive turned on, fixes an issue preventing saved passwords from being autofilled after two devices are added to iCloud Keychain, improves WebGL graphics performance on Retina displays, and allows users to import usernames and passwords from Firefox.

Update: The Safari 8.0.1 update has been removed from the Mac App Store by Apple for unknown reasons.

Beats co-founder, music mogul, and Apple employee Jimmy Iovine was named as one of GQ's Men of the Year, and in an interview with the magazine, he unveiled some details on his efforts to establish a partnership with Apple, which famously led to the $3 billion acquisition that was Apple's biggest purchase ever.

According to Iovine, who had an ongoing relationship with Steve Jobs, he worked hard to persuade Apple to purchase Beats because it was the only company that he wanted to work for. He also believed he had a lot to bring to the company, telling Apple execs that he would "plug" Apple's "hole in music," referring to the company's lack of presence in the streaming music arena.

I convinced them that they had to buy this company. I said, "I don't want to work for anybody else. I want to do this at Apple. I know I can achieve this at Apple. I don't want to shop it. I wanna come here, to Steve's company. I know you guys; I know what you're capable of; I know you get popular culture. I know you have a hole in music right now; let me plug it." I think it was two years before they said yeah.

Though he only joined Apple in 2014, Jimmy Iovine and Steve Jobs were longtime friend and had a close relationship. Iovine even collaborated with Apple on several projects, helping Steve Jobs sign deals with music labels in the early days of iTunes and working with Apple and U2 on a special edition iPod. Iovine even pitched a subscription music service to Apple way back in 2003, far before services like Pandora and Spotify exploded in popularity.

Iovine does not have a specific title at Apple, but he reportedly has a senior role at the company alongside Dr. Dre, aka Andre Young, and works under iTunes chief Eddy Cue. Given his experience in the music industry, there has been some speculation that Iovine is working to help Apple secure deals with record labels, establish relationships with artists, and create a connection with a younger audience.

When announcing the Beats acquisition, Apple CEO Tim Cook called Iovine and Dre's talent and skills "really unique" and "very hard to find." In a later interview, Cook called the duo "off the charts creative geniuses," specifically citing Iovine's knowledge of the music industry as one of the major reasons he was hired.

At the current time, Apple is said to be working on a rebranding of Beats Music that may see it incorporating the service into iTunes and cutting the subscription price. The new music streaming service is expected to be unveiled in early 2015, possibly ahead of the Grammy Awards in February.

The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) today announced the new Bluetooth 4.2 specification, which promises enhanced privacy measures, increased speed of data transfers, and an update that will allow Bluetooth Smart sensors to directly access the Internet.

The group emphasizes connected home scenarios as being able to take the most advantage of Bluetooth 4.2's new direct Internet access feature, promising low-power connectivity using the standard and with IPv6 support available by year's end.

“Bluetooth 4.2 is all about continuing to make Bluetooth Smart the best solution to connect all the technology in your life – from personal sensors to your connected home. In addition to the improvements to the specification itself, a new profile known as IPSP enables IPv6 for Bluetooth, opening entirely new doors for device connectivity,” said Mark Powell, executive director of the Bluetooth SIG. “Bluetooth Smart is the only technology that can scale with the market, provide developers the flexibility to innovate, and be the foundation for the IoT.”

The new 4.2 spec also promises speedier data transfers between devices, up to 2.5 times faster than previous versions. Bluetooth SIG promises that "increased data transfer speeds and packet capacity reduces the opportunity for transmission errors to occur and reduces battery consumption, resulting in a more efficient connection."

The new privacy features also take aim at lowering power consumption, while protecting consumers from being tracked through their Bluetooth devices. As more retail stores and public places accept Bluetooth beacons and similar applications, Bluetooth SIG hopes to be at the forefront for protecting every user's personal and private information.

The new privacy features put control back into the hands of the consumer by making it difficult for eavesdroppers to track a device through its Bluetooth connection without permission. For example, when shopping in a retail store with beacons, unless you’ve enabled permission for the beacon to engage with your device, you can’t be tracked.

The standard Bluetooth 4.2 specification is available now, with the new direct Internet access feature due within a month.

Apple CEO Tim Cook met with at least one U.S. senator to discuss technology policy during a trip to Washington, D.C. this week, reports The Hill. According to the report, Cook sat down with Utah Senator Orrin Hatch, chairman of the Senate Republican High-Tech Task Force.

Cook apparently met with Hatch to discuss the senator's innovation agenda for the upcoming 114th Congress, which is scheduled to convene in January 2015. The pro-research and innovation plan addresses several critical technology issues including patent trolls, company trade secrets, and more.

Sen. Hatch, who serves as Chairman of the Senate Republican High-Tech Task Force, laid out a plan to ensure that the United States continues to foster an environment that encourages research and innovation by addressing abusive patent litigation, protecting trade secrets, modernizing the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, strengthening cybersecurity, reforming immigration policy for high-skilled workers, reducing regulatory and tax burdens for innovators, and removing barriers to digital trade.

Details of the conversation were not made available, nor is it known whether Cook met with any other senators during his D.C. trip. On Monday, the Apple CEO, along with (RED) CEO Deborah Dugan, dropped by a Georgetown Apple Store in the city to mark World AIDS Day and Apple's contributions toward the (RED) campaign. Both Cook and Dugan tweeted photos from the visit.

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 this week is battling a decade-old class-action lawsuit by iPod owners angry that their media players were locked to Apple's iTunes ecosystem. Key pieces of evidence in the trial include email conversations among Apple executives and a videotaped deposition of Steve Jobs, both of which were made public for the first time this week as part of the court proceedings.

According to CNN Money and Reuters, the question-and-answer session with Steve Jobs focused on Apple's response to RealNetworks and its Harmony music service. In 2004, RealNetworks created this competing music service that allowed users to download songs and play them on any media device, including the iPod.

RealNetworks' iPod support incensed Apple, which published a press release accusing RealNetworks of hacking the iPod. Apple adopted this strategy following a series of emails between Apple marketing head Phil Schiller and CEO Steve Jobs.

"How's this?" Jobs wrote. "We are stunned that Real is adopting the tactics and ethics of a hacker and breaking into the iPod."

"I like likening them to hackers," Apple marketing chief Philip Schiller responded.

When asked if this response to RealNetworks was "strong and vehement," Jobs replied, "They don't sound too angry to me when I read them," adding that, "A strong response from Apple would be a lawsuit."

During the deposition, Jobs reportedly was snarky, asking "Do they still exist?" when referring to RealNetworks. Jobs also was evasive in his testimony, responding 74 times with "I don't remember," "I don't know" or "I don't recall."

When he did answer questions, Jobs painted Apple as a company being held hostage by the major music labels, which required digital rights management (DRM) on iTunes music as part of their contract terms. Apple claimed it had to repeatedly update iTunes to patch holes in its DRM or risk forfeiting these contracts.

The class action case started earlier this week and is being heard in the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California. Apple marketing head Phil Schiller and senior vice president of Internet Software and Services Eddy Cue are expected to testify as part of the ongoing court proceedings.

The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) today officially ended a $1.3 billion education initiative that would have seen all students in the Los Angeles school district outfitted with an iPad, reports the Los Angeles Times. LAUSD superintendent Ramon C. Cortines clarified that the district was not going to use "the original iPad contract" anymore.

"We're not going to use the original iPad contract anymore," Cortines said Tuesday. "I think there have been too many innuendos, rumors, etc., and based on my reading of a great deal of material over Thanksgiving, I came to this conclusion.

"As CEO and steward of a billion-dollar operation, I have to make sure things are done properly so they are not questioned."

Cortines' official statement comes just a day after the FBI seized 20 boxes of documents from the L.A. school district as part of an investigation into the district's contract with Apple. The FBI is reportedly looking into the bidding that led to deal, which would have seen the district spending $500 million on iPads and curriculum and $800 million on staff, improved broadband, and other expenses.

In question is the relationship between Apple executives and former L.A. superintendent John Deasy, who resigned in October. Deasy has said that he did not do anything wrong when securing the deal, but there has been speculation that the bidding process for the deal was modified to favor Apple and Pearson, the company providing content for the devices.

The contract between the Los Angeles Unified School District and Apple was first suspended back in August after Deasy's ties to Apple executives first became apparent, but the district was still planning to spend millions of dollars on iPads up until this week.

Apple's deal with the Los Angeles Unified School District was formed under Deasy in an effort to give all students in the district equal access to technology. A $30 million agreement was signed last year to facilitate an early rollout of the program to 47 schools, which was expected to lead to a larger deal between the two.

Initial testing unveiled quite a few problems with the program, including an issue that saw students discovering security workarounds to freely access content on the iPads, which led to a home use ban on the devices. Despite the cancellation of the current contract with Apple, the L.A. School District plans to continue moving forward with its technology program, shifting towards Chromebooks and other laptops.

Mozilla's Firefox browser may soon make its way to iOS, according to a statement made by Firefox VP Jonathan Nightingale at an internal Mozilla event. Relayed by Firefox release manager Lukas Blakk and shared by TechCrunch, Nightingale reportedly told Mozilla employees "We need to be where our users are so we're going to get Firefox on iOS."

The statement about releasing Firefox for iOS marks a major shift in ideology for Mozilla, as the company has, in the past, repeatedly said that it would not offer a version of Firefox for iOS because of Apple's refusal to allow third-party browsers to use their own web engines. In 2013, then VP of product Jay Sullivan said that Moziila didn't "feel like it could build the browser it wants" on Apple's platform, and that it had "no plans" for an iOS version of Firefox.

One of the major points of contention for Mozilla was Apple's refusal to allow the Firefox browser to carry over its rendering and JavaScript engines to iOS, as Apple imposes strict restrictions on third-party browsers and limits them to the company's own JavaScript engines. Prior to iOS 8, this meant that third-party browsers were slower than Apple's Safari, but with iOS 8, Apple began allowing third-party browsers to take advantage of previously unavailable features like the JavaScript Nitro Engine.

An inability to provide custom web engines along with the lack of an option to set a third-party browser as the default browser makes it difficult for companies like Chrome, Opera, and Firefox to create satisfactory browsing experiences on Apple's platform. Though little is known about Firefox's plans for iOS at the current point in time, it is likely Mozilla will need to continue to work within Apple's limits.

Though Mozilla's Firefox browser for iOS will be subjected to Apple's restrictions, key Firefox features like accounts, customizable home panels, and data syncing will translate to iOS, helping Firefox users achieve a more seamless browsing experience on a range of devices.

Apple is continuing to sort out its nebulous policies on Notification Center widgets, and has today told Drafts developer Agile Tortoise that the app's widget is not allowed to be used to create drafts or open the Drafts app.

In a tweet, developer Greg Pierce says that he's been asked to re-submit Drafts without functionality for opening the app or creating a new note, which essentially removes all of the features of the Notification Center Widget.

Like many other apps that have Notification Center widgets, the Drafts app widget lets users open the app directly, create a new draft, or create a new draft from what's on the clipboard. It has very little functionality in the Notification Center aside from simply opening up the Drafts app, which in the past, has seemed like an acceptable use of the Notification Center.

Pierce, however, says that he's been told that the Today view in the Notification Center is "for information presentation only," a point of view that would rule out nearly all Notification Center apps. As Pierce points out, there are several similar apps that offer the exact same widget function as Drafts, such as Evernote, which also allows users to launch the Evernote app and new notes and other content from within the Notification Center.

Drafts is one of a number of apps that have faced confusing rules and restrictions delivered by Apple's app review team. Back in October, Apple told the PCalc developers that calculator functions were not allowed in the Notification Center before changing its mind, and just a few weeks ago, Neato was told that it would have to remove the note taking functionality from its Notification Center widget.

Apple's App Extension Guidelines suggest that Notification Widgets should have a "simple, streamlined UI," and "a limited number of interactive items," but its vague language has led developers to spend time and effort creating a variety of useful functions that are ultimately disallowed as Apple aims to refine how it wants the Notification Center to be used.

It is not clear why Drafts has been singled out by Apple's app review team as it offers the same functionality as other widgets, but if the Drafts widget is removed, it's possible that many other similar widgets could be in danger of being in violation of the Notification Center widget rules.

Drafts can be downloaded from the App Store for $9.99. [Direct Link]

Wells Fargo, one of Apple's early Apple Pay partners, has been heavily promoting the service, perhaps more than any other participating bank. In addition to sending out numerous Apple Pay emails to customers, launching promotions, and advertising Apple Pay on its website, Wells Fargo has also launched a new television commercial highlighting Apple Pay's speed and ease of use.

In the ad, first shared by iSpot.tv, a man visits several different retail stores and uses Apple Pay to make his purchases at each location. With just a thumb on the Touch ID button, he breezes through each transaction, letting him return home in record time. Upon entering his house, he finds out he's interrupted his own surprise party.

"You were supposed to be out shopping," says his wife after he interrupts the surprise party. "It went super quick," he responds, before a voice over goes on to tout Apple Pay. "With Apple Pay, using your Wells Fargo card just got easier. Done."

Alongside Wells Fargo, Chase has also been heavily promoting Apple Pay. The bank recently launched a promotion giving its users a free David Guetta album for adding a Chase Visa card to Passbook for use with Apple Pay, and last week, it debuted an Apple Pay ad starring Fun front man Jack Antonoff.

In a new interview, Apple's Eddy Cue spoke with Fortune about the e-books pricing scandal that has plagued the company over the past several years. After a July 2013 judgment found the company guilty of conspiring to fix prices of electronic books, and a settlement in a class-action lawsuit was reached over the summer, the Apple negotiator at the center of the lawsuit has shared his thoughts on the case with Fortune ahead of Apple's appeals court appearance later this month.

The specifics of the case lie in the opening of the iBooks Store and the 17 percent industry-wide increase in e-book prices following its unveiling in April of 2010. Cue, Apple's "master negotiator", played a key role in convincing five of the then-six major publishing houses to start selling e-books through Apple's new store alongside the launch of the iPad. Part of the deal involved a shift in the pricing model for the entire e-books industry, eliminating Amazon's previous pricing advantage in which it would sometimes sell books at a loss in order to attract customers to Kindle hardware and other Amazon products.

These events led the Justice Department and thirty-three state attorneys general to sue Apple and those five publishing houses for horizontal price fixing in violation of the Sherman Act. While the publishing houses settled the lawsuits, Apple declined to do so and proceeded to trial in the federal case where the company was found guilty.

“Is it a fact that certain book prices went up?” asks Cue. “Yes. If you want to convict us on that, then we’re guilty. I knew some prices were going to go up, but hell, the whole world knew it, because that’s what the publishers were saying: ‘We want to get retailers to raise prices, and if we’re not able to, we’re not going to make the books available digitally.’ At the same time, other prices went down too, because now there was competition in the market.”

A settlement in the separate state and class-action consumer lawsuit worked out this past June sees Apple paying around $450 million if the company loses its appeal in the federal case and nothing if it wins. The case has dragged on far longer than most expect, and Cue argues that the company is fighting more for reputation than for monetary reasons.

“We feel we have to fight for the truth,” says Cue. “Luckily, Tim feels exactly like I do,” he continues, referring to Apple CEO Tim Cook, “which is: You have to fight for your principles no matter what. Because it’s just not right.”

Cue met with all six CEOs of the major publishing houses before the original iPad launched, and discovered most wanted the cost of e-books at price points both he and Steve Jobs considered too high. Cue proposed price tiers tied to the suggested retail prices of the hardback versions of the books.

As part of the shift to a new "agency model" of pricing similar to that used in the App Store, Cue also proposed a "most favored nation" clause, allowing Apple to match the price at which any retailer was selling a new e-book. When the iPad launched a few weeks later, most iBooks were priced between $12.99 and $14.99, higher than Amazon's typical $9.99 price point for best sellers but in the range of where publishers wanted to be selling their books. The agency model quickly became the industry standard, with Amazon also being required to adopt the pricing at the insistence of the publishers.

The sequence of events led Judge Denise Cote to rule in July 2013 that Apple was guilty of e-book price-fixing. When asked how he looks back on the "nightmare", Cue plainly stated, "If I had it to do all over again, I’d do it again. I’d just take better notes."

Apple will appear before the federal appeals court on December 15.