Apple has just kicked off its deals for its one day Black Friday shopping event in the United States, and as previously announced, the company is offering special Product (RED)-branded iTunes gift cards with the purchase of an iPhone, iPad, Mac, iPod, Apple TV, or Beats by Dr. Dre headphones.
Gift card amounts for products vary and include $100 on select Macs, $50 on iPhones (6, 6 Plus, 5s, 5c), $50 on qualifying iPads, and $25 each on qualifying Apple TV, iPods, and Beats hardware, as noted below:
- iPhone ($50): iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6, iPhone 5s, iPhone 5c - iPad ($50): iPad Air 2, iPad Air, iPad mini 3, iPad mini 2, iPad mini - Mac ($100): iMac, MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, Retina iMac, Retina MacBook Pro - iPod ($25): iPod touch, iPod nano - Apple TV ($25) - Beats by Dr. Dre ($25): headphones and speakers
Apple's (RED) Black Friday shopping promotion will last for a single day and the deals are available both in-store and online. Along with (RED) gift cards, Apple also plans to donate a portion of retail sales on Friday, November 28 and Monday, December 1 to the Global Fund to fight AIDS.
Alongside Apple, many other retailers are offering significant discounts on Apple products and accessories. While some of the deals began yesterday ahead of Black Friday, many of the discounts are still available and will be valid through the end of the day.
Best Buy and MacMall are offering significant discounts on a range of different Macs, with prices up to $200 off, and Best Buy is also discounting its entire iPad stock by up to $100.
Target is offering gift cards up to $140 on the iPad Air 2, iPad Air, iPad mini 2, and iPad mini 3, while Sam's Club has the best deal on the iPhone 6, offering it for $100 off. Online only stores are also offering deals, with Twelve South, for example, discounting several products and Speck offering 25 percent off many of its iPhone cases.
Following in the footsteps of retailers, app developers are discounting their apps in the iOS and Mac App Stores, and a list of popular discounted apps can be found at our sister site AppShopper.
A full list of all the Black Friday deals on Apple products and accessories is located in our comprehensive Black Friday roundup, which is being updated throughout the day with new deals.
Earlier this year, U.S. Senators Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) and Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) introduced the E-Label Act, which would allow for companies to meet the FCC's demands for certification labels by placing digital stamps on a device's software as opposed to etching information on hardware. The senators argued that the changes would allow manufacturers to save money and pass savings onto consumers. This was followed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) loosening its rules for labeling, stating that manufacturers could bypass etching FCC labels on their devices in favor of labeling by alternative means.
Now, The Hillreports that U.S. President Barack Obama has officially signed the E-Label act into law, which will now allow for companies like Apple to drop FCC labeling from their devices. Instead of being etched on hardware, it is likely that the required information will now be inside of a settings menu. However, it is also likely that the certification labels representing the European Commission (EC) and its Waste of Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) initiative will still be seen on devices.
Verizon iPhone 4 without FCC logos on left, GSM iPhone 4 with FCC logos on right.
The slight design change could come to Apple's lineup of devices for next year, although it remains unclear as to how exactly the company will take advantage of the new rules and regulations.
Just a couple days after releasing the fifth and sixth iPhone 6 ads starring Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake, Apple has released a seventh called "Voice Text". The new ad focuses on one of the new features introduced to iMessage in iOS 8, the ability to instantly send audio messages quickly and easily.
The ad humorously highlights how voice messages can be used to better communication with friends, with examples pointing out how voice messages are good for sarcastic comments, singing and saying hard-to-spell words instead of typing them.
Apple, so far, has released two new iPhone 6 ads at a time, releasing "Duo" and "Health" during the iPhone 6 event in September, "Huge" and "Cameras" in late September and "Reservations" and "Gamers" a couple days ago. "Voice Text" marks the first time Apple has released an iPhone 6 ad by itself.
The marketing website for the Apple Watch has been updated (via 9to5Mac) with additional details about how it functions as a watch, new ways that wearers will communicate, as well as more about the watch's health and fitness features.
Apple's marketing team has also added new animations to the site, showing how the Apple Watch will move between screens and how some of the apps will work. Much of the basic information was already located on the Apple Watch site, but lots of it has been broken out with more information and detail.
The new Timekeeping page reveals more about some of the watch faces that are included with the Apple Watch, including details about Complications -- specialized functions on a watch face like moon phases, sunrise and sunset, or, for the Apple Watch, stock quotes and weather.
Apple Watch is first and foremost an incredibly accurate timepiece. It does everything a watch should, but in ways no other watch ever has. It's also connected to your calendar, your contacts, and your schedule. So in addition to showing you the time, Apple Watch actually understands what time means to you. It helps you be more productive and efficient. So you get more out of every moment.
The New Ways to Connect page talks about the Friends feature that makes it easy to send messages, make a call, or reach out to other Apple Watch users. Wearers can send a tap, draw a picture, or share their heartbeat with other Apple Watch wearers, but they can also send and receive text messages, audio snippets, share a location, make phone calls and email right from the watch. Wearers can also use Handoff to start a call or email message from the Apple Watch and seamlessly transfer it to the iPhone.
You won't just send and receive messages, calls, and mail more easily and efficiently. You'll express yourself in new, fun, and more personal ways. With Apple Watch, every exchange is less about reading words on a screen and more about making a genuine connection.
Finally, the new Health and Fitness page talks about the different ways Apple Watch measures movement, as well as additional details on the included Workout app. The watch tracks movement, exercise and how often the wearer stands up throughout the day, giving subtle reminders as needed to encourage more movement.
The watch uses its accelerometer, heart rate sensor, as well as Wi-Fi and GPS locations from the iPhone to follow movement as well. The Workout app shows real-time stats including time, distance, calories burned, pace and speed for running, walking and cycling. All data is tracked over time, making it easy for wearers to track their improvement.
Apple Watch is our most personal device ever, and there's nothing more personal than your health. Just as Apple Watch is designed to keep you more efficient, organized, and productive, it's also made to keep you moving. Because being active is vital to living a healthy life.
The Apple Watch is scheduled to go on sale early next year, though Apple has not gotten any more specific than that.
Earlier this week, news hit that the teaser for the much-anticipated movie Star Wars: The Force Awakens would be shown in a selection of theaters on Friday, November 28, and but it turns out the trailer will also be featured online, on Apple's iTunes Trailers website, on the Apple TV, and through the iTunes Movie Trailers app for iOS.
According to tweets from both the iTunes Trailers and Star Wars Twitter accounts, the Star Wars: The Force Awakens teaser will be shared online by Apple this Friday, on November 28, at an unspecified time.
Apple's iTunes Trailers website, accompanying Apple TV channel, and iOS app feature hundreds of HD movie trailers, clips, images, and behind-the-scenes content. The new Star Wars movie trailer being shown on Friday will represent one of the first times Apple has leveraged its movie trailer site to provide exclusive content.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens is the seventh film in the Star Wars series and is set 30 years after Return of the Jedi. Directed by J.J. Abrams, the movie features actors like Andy Serkis, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Domhnall Gleeson, Gwendoline Christie, Lupita Nyong'o, and Oscar Issac, along with stars from the original films including Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, and Carrie Fisher.
In addition to being featured by Apple, the teaser for Star Wars: The Force Awakens will be shown in a selection of theaters across the United States on Friday.
You've made your list, you've checked it twice. Now it's time to get gifts for the folks on that list. But what should you buy, especially for the tech-savvy people? You can turn to many of the gift guides on the web, but our guide is for the devoted Mac, iPhone, and iPad user. Pick up one of our suggestions, or use them as inspiration to figure out a gift on your own.
Mac Gifts
Asus PB287Q 28" 4K Monitor: HD is passé. It's all about Ultra HD now, also known as 4K video. The PB287Q is a 28-inch display with a native resolution of 3840 by 2160 pixels. At a $649 list price and frequently available for less, it's a lot more affordable than other Ultra HD displays, which can cost most than a thousand dollars. As Macworld points out, you sacrifice a few features for the price, but the PB287Q does the job. [$563 at Amazon]
OWC Thunderbolt 2 Dock: Apple laptops are quite popular, so there are a lot of MacBook users who plug-in and unplug their devices as part of their daily routines. With the $300 (and currently on pre-order sale for $249) Thunderbolt 2 Dock at your desk, you connect all your devices to the dock, and then you connect the dock to your laptop with a single Thunderbolt cable. When it's time to go, just unplug the one cable; when you return, just plug in the same cable. [$249, pre-order at OWC]
Dynamism Ultimaker 2: Remember when 3D printing was only for companies with big budgets and specialists? We've come a long way since then, and you can have your own 3D printer at home. The $2,499 Ultimaker 2 from Dynamism comes with Cura, software for designing your creations, and it has settings for beginners and experts. The Ultimaker 2 is PC Magazine's Editor's Choice for 3D printers, with the site pointing out that the printer is ideal for makers and designers alike. [$2,499 at Dynamism]
LaCie Christofle Sphére: Don't settle for a boxy, boring hard drive when you can give something more artistic. The $490 Christofle Sphére is a gorgeous silver-plated sphere that houses a bus-powered 1TB hard drive. Handcrafted in France, the Sphére uses a USB 3 connection, so you don't have to sacrifice speed in the name of art. CNET's review of the Sphére says it stands out in both performance and design in a crowded market of hard drives. [$490 at Lacie]
WaterField Designs Mac Pro Go Case: Apple's Mac Pro is so small that you shouldn't be surprised to find a professional toting a Mac Pro around from location to location. But instead of using the original box, use the $129 Mac Pro Go Case a bag that's specially designed for the Mac Pro. The soft lining inside the bag protects the Mac Pro, and accessories and cables can be stored in the Go Case's disc pouch that covers the top of the Mac Pro. Macworld called the Go Case an "elegant" bag for the Mac Pro. [$129 at SFBags]
iPhone Gifts
Cobra JumPack Battery: It sucks when your iPhone battery runs dry, but it's even worse when you're stranded somewhere because your car battery is dead. The JumPack is a 7500 mAh portable battery pack with a peak current of 400A, enough juice to jump start a car. Cobra includes special jumper cables that work with the JumPack, as well as a standard power adapter and a 12V charger. Mobile devices connect to the JumPack via USB. [$101 at Amazon]
Beats solo2 wireless headphones: The $300 solo2 wireless headphones are the first released by Beats since Apple's acquisition of the company became official in August. The headphone's Bluetooth connectivity has a 30-foot range, and the battery lasts 12 hours. More importantly, as of the launch of the original solo2, Beats has improved the audio quality, and there's no degradation between the wireless and wired modes. TechCrunch says the solo2 wireless sounds "surprisingly good." [$300 at Apple Store]
Fujifilm Instax Share Smartphone Printer SP-1: While we live in a digital world, there's something fun and sentimental about printed photographs. The $180 Instax Share Smartphone Printer SP-1 is small enough to take to parties and get-togethers, and it connects to your iPhone wirelessly so you can print a picture right after you've shot it. The iOS app has different templates for adding text and to make your prints more festive to match the occasion. The Digital Trekker Blog said the SP-1 can be "an indispensable tool." [$151 at Amazon]
HTC RE Camera: You have a camera with you all the time, thanks to your iPhone, so why do you need a camera like the RE, much less want to pay $200 for it? Because as easy as it is to use your iPhone's camera, you can still miss out when a surprise photo opportunity presents itself. With the RE's one button control, all you need to do is literally point and shoot, and its 146-degree wide-angle lens means you don't have to worry about framing. You can set the RE to shoot videos or stills, and it's waterproof up to 1 meter deep. The iOS app gives you access to saved videos, provides a viewfinder, and offers camera settings. Greenbot has a full review of the RE. [$199 at Amazon]
Nova Bluetooth iPhone Flash: The easiest way to improve your photos is to have better lighting when you take a picture. The iPhone's flash has come a long way, but it still has its limits. The $59 Nova Bluetooth iPhone Flash gives you more flexibility, allowing you to place the flash where light is needed, instead of coping with the fixed flash on your iPhone. The flash has 40 diffused and cool LEDs so you can adjust the light through Nova's iPhone app. It's small enough to fit in a pocket so you can carry with you all the time. [$59 at Amazon]
Olloclip 4-In-1 Photo Lens: Olloclip's camera lenses for iPhone have always been popular, and the 4-in-1 Photo Lens improves on a successful formula. Designed for the iPhone 6, the 4-in-1 clips on the phone over the front-facing or rear-facing cameras to expand your choices in optics. The 4-in-1 includes a fisheye lens, wide-angle lens, macro 10x lens, and macro 15x lens for $79.99. Learn more about the 4-in-1 by reading our hands-on article. [$79 at Olloclip]
SanDisk iXpand:iXpand is a flash drive that can copy files from your iOS device, giving you one more way to transfer files between devices. The drive works with an iOS app that you use to transfer photos and videos, and you can even play media files from other devices directly on the drive. The iXpand also has password protection, so your files are safe in case the drive falls into the wrong hands. CNET provides a review. [16GB ($59.99), 32GB ($79.99), and 64GB ($120) at Sandisk].
iPad Gifts
littleBits Smart Home Kit: Home automation is making its way through the neighborhoods of America, but why isn't it catching on more quickly? Mostly because most home automation systems require you to replace the items already in your home. You don't have to do that with the $249 Smart Home Kit, which includes 14 "Bits" that you add to appliances and other items in your home. With some handiwork, you'll soon have the Internet of Things throughout your house, and you can control it all with your iOS device. [$249 pre-order at littleBits]
Logitech Keys-To-Go: The $70 Keys-To-Go is a portable stand-alone keyboard that's extremely thin and lightweight like the iPad Air 2. Keys-To-Go weighs a scant 6.35 ounces, and is barely a quarter of an inch thick, so it won't take up a lot of room in your bag. It's covered in FabricSkin and there are no nooks and crannies, so if you're at the coffee shop and you spill your latte on the keyboard, all you need to do is wipe it off. In its review of Keys-To-Go, TUAW says the Bluetooth connectivity works quickly and easily. [$70 at Logitech]
Orbotix Ollie: Originally called the 2B, the $99.99 Ollie is a new robotic toy from the makers of the Sphero. This time, the robot is tube-shaped and comes with a set of wheels that make it go as fast as 14 miles per hour. Ollie is durable enough so that you can off ramps and make it spin, and the iOS app shows you how to do more tricks. In a review, Time called the Ollie durable, but "even more niche than Sphero." [$99 at Amazon]
Parrot Bebop Drone: You can get a bird's eye view of the landscape around you with the Bebop Drone. It has a 14-megapixel fisheye camera so you get a wide angle view, and image stabilization makes sure your videos and pictures don't suffer from the shakes. The drone uses Wi-Fi to connect to your iOS device. The Next Web says that the controls require practice, but it's "definitely suitable for beginners." [$500 at Apple, shipping in 1-2 weeks]
SteelSeries Stratus XL: When the gaming gets serious, the iPad's touch controls can be frustrating. Times like these require a dedicated controller like the $70 Stratus XL. It connects to the iPad or iPhone via Bluetooth and has two joysticks, a D-pad, four action buttons, and four shoulder buttons. Most importantly, it's comfortable in your hands, making it easier to perform precise movements while you're getting your game on. Our sister site TouchArcadewent hands-on with the Stratus XL earlier this year, and said it felt great when held due to its large size, which is similar to a standard console controller. [$70 at Apple]
Out of ideas?
Still stumped about finding just the right gift? You can always turn to gift cards. Apple offers Apple Store Gift Cards that can be used at any retail Apple Store or on the online Apple Store.
You can also buy iTunes Gift Cards that are redeemable in the iTunes Store, App Store, iBooks Store, or Mac App Store.
MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors.
Jonathan Zufi's gorgeous coffee table book "Iconic: A Photographic Tribute to Apple Innovation", about 30 years of Apple design, has been updated just in time for the holiday shopping season. The new book includes many more photographs, with a particular focus on prototypes. There is also a new cover, and several new special editions.
"ICONIC: The Classic Edition" is similar to the original $75 book, updated with 16 additional pages of pictures as well as an updated cover featuring the original Macintosh 128K. It's available for $55 on Amazon.
"ICONIC: Classic Plus Edition" is the same book but with a special black slip cover with ICONIC foil stamped on the front to protect it and give it a unique look. It's available for $99 from the Iconic website, shipping in early December.
ICONIC: Ultimate Edition" includes a special white clamshell case with a custom embedded LED that pulses like a sleeping Apple notebook when moved, though, sadly, current generation Apple notebooks no longer pulse when sleeping. The Ultimate Edition is available from ICONIC's website for $250, shipping in early December.
The new Ultimate Edition of ICONIC is offered in a white Cromwell Aristo Grain clamshell case with a custom PCB designed to pulse an LED embedded inside the case itself.
The circuit is powered by the high-performance, low-power Atmel 8-bit AVR RISC-based microcontroller which combines 1KB ISP flash memory, 32B SRAM, 4 general purpose I/O lines, 16 general purpose working registers, a 16-bit timer/counter with two PWM channels, internal and external interrupts, programmable watchdog timer with internal oscillator, an internal calibrated oscillator, and 4 software selectable power saving modes.
The book includes photographs of rare Apple products like the Apple II, a circuit board from the Apple I, the "Flower Power" iMac G3, and an Apple Lisa 2. It also features more modern products like iPods, and also offers an entire chapter on packaging. The book has little text, but it does offer forewords and introductions from original Apple employees like Daniel Kottke and Steve Wozniak.
MacMall has kicked off its 60 hour Black Friday 2014 sale on an array of Apple products both online and in its retail stores. Deals will last through 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time on Friday, November 28.
MacMall will be discounting its stock of MacBook Air and Retina MacBook Pro computers by $50 to $200, depending on configuration. Unlike other resellers, MacMall offers Apple computers with a variety of custom configurations, similar to the online Apple Store. MacMall is also offering the Mac Pro for up to $600 off, the Mac mini for up to $60 off, and the iMac for up to $120 off. The new iPad Air 2 will also see discounts of up to $75 off.
We've listed a sampling of the discounts on products of interest below, but MacMall's full range of discounts can be found on its website.
The site is also offering discounts on several different Mac and iPad/iPhone accessories, such as the LaCie 20TB Thunderbolt External Hard Drive, which is available for $1,119.99, a discount of $779, and the ASUS 31.5-inch 4K monitor, available for $1,469.99, a discount of $530. A full list of MacMall's accessory deals can be found in the Black Friday section of its website.
In addition to offering a large range of different Mac configurations, MacMall only charges sales tax in a limited number of states -- California, Colorado, Illinois, New York, Tennessee, Minnesota, Georgia, North Carolina, and Wisconsin -- making it an attractive choice for shoppers looking to save a bit more on a Mac or iPad.
With Black Friday quickly approaching, retailers and app developers alike are beginning to offer deep discounts on their products. Flexibits has decided to kick off its holiday sales a bit early, and is now offering its popular Fantastical line of apps at ultra low prices.
Fantastical 2 for the iPad has been discounted from $14.99 to $4.99, which is 65 percent off. That's the lowest price Flexibits has ever offered on the iPad version of the app. [Direct Link]
For those unfamiliar with Fantastical, it's designed to be a replacement for Apple's standard calendar app, providing event scheduling, reminders, and more. Fantastical's major claim to fame is its ability to automatically create events, reminders, and tasks with conversational language, such as "Lunch with Elon in Palo Alto on Friday."
Flexibits is also offering its Chatology app for Mac for 50 percent off, dropping the price from $19.99 to $9.99. Chatology is an app that's designed to make it easy to search through Messages.
Since their September launch, Apple's iPhone 6 and 6 Plus have produced record-setting revenue and sales for Apple, but looking beyond financials, the handset also is radically changing the reading habits of those who own the large-sized devices, according to news-reading service Pocket.
Pocket recently analyzed 2 million article and video opens and examined the reading behavior of readers both before and after the launch of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. In particular, the study compared how iPhone and iPad usage changed after the recent iPhone launch.
According to the results, customers with an iPhone 5s and an iPad spent an equal amount of time with each device. As users adopted the iPhone 6, however, they spent considerably more time reading on their iPhones than on their iPads, with users choosing their iPhone over the iPad 72 percent of the time.
This trend was even greater among iPhone 6 Plus owners, who grabbed their iPhones 80 percent of the time when they wanted to read. The big screen of the iPhone 6 Plus also increased video watching by 40 percent.
Even before it was announced, analysts expected the larger-screened iPhone 6 and 6 Plus would cannibalize iPad sales, especially for the 7.9-inch iPad mini. Overall, iPad sales are on the decline, dropping as much as 12.7 percent year over year as the tablet market begins to slow.
Natalie Portman may take on a role in Universal's upcoming Steve Jobs biopic, reports Deadline. It is not clear what part she may play, but there are said to be several female roles in the movie, including the part of Steve Jobs' daughter Lisa Brennan.
Portman is a well known actress that has starred in high profile movies like Black Swan and V for Vendetta. Most recently, Portman has had a leading role in the last two Thor movies, Thor and Thor: The Dark World.
Earlier this week, the Steve Jobs biopic was picked up by Universal Studios after being dropped by Sony Pictures. The film has had trouble finding a leading man to take on the role of Steve Jobs, with Leonardo DiCaprio and Christian Bale both turning down the role.
Michael Fassbender, best known for his role as Magneto in X-Men: First Class and X-Men: Days of Future Past, has reportedly signed on to play Steve Jobs. Seth Rogen is also rumored to be in talks to possibly play Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, and Jessica Chastain has also been in talks for a role in the film, which was written by Aaron Sorkin. Danny Boyle, who directed Slumdog Millionaire, will direct.
The biopic, based on Walter Isaacson's Steve Jobs biography, is said to consist of three continuous 30-minute scenes depicting three of Apple's product launches.
Foxconn Technology Group, Apple's main iPhone assembly partner, is reportedly gearing up to produce sapphire displays for Apple's next generation of mobile devices, according to a report by China Economic Weeklycited by Focus Taiwan.
Foxconn has reportedly reached an agreement to build a display factory on an over 300-acre plot of land adjacent to an iPhone 6 assembly plant in the Chinese city of Zhengzhou, where the company had been reported last month to be looking into such a facility. Just last week, Foxconn was also reported to be planning a new iPhone display plant in Taiwan.
The China Economic Weekly reported Tuesday that Foxconn has signed an agreement with the Zhengzhou city government in Henan Province, central China, to set up a display factory on a 133-hectare plot of land next to an iPhone 6 assembly plant.
The new factory is expected to manufacture sapphire displays for the next generation of the Apple devices, the report said.
Rumors of Apple's continued interest in sapphire displays for the iPhone come less than two months after the company's previous sapphire partner GT Advanced Technologies filed for bankruptcy. Apple had been widely expected to use sapphire displays on at least some models of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, but that turned out to not be the case as production difficulties apparently prevented the move and led to the collapse of the partnership between the two companies.
According to the new reports, Apple "has not given up on a plan to use sapphire displays in its next-generation smartphones." Market observers, however, reiterated that Apple plans to cautiously evaluate the sapphire displays to determine feasibility and avoid shortages.
Following the reports concerning the adoption of sapphire displays in the next generation of iPhone, shares of Taiwanese sapphire manufacturers rose sharply. Share prices of local sapphire firms had been depressed following Apple's decision to not adopt sapphire displays for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.
Beyond the iPhone, Apple also plans to use sapphire displays in higher-end models of its upcoming Apple Watch, a plan Asia Securities Investment Consultant analyst Chang Chih-cheng says will boost local Taiwanese sapphire manufacturers in the near-term far more than rumors of the iPhone 6s or 7, as rivals see the possible benefits of the scratch-resistant display and adopt it for their own devices.
Industry sources indicate Apple is planning to lean heavily on Samsung as a component supplier for both new iPhone 6 builds and the upcoming Apple Watch, reports BusinessKorea (via G for Games). If true, this would be a marked change from Apple's reported goal of lessening its reliance on Samsung by seeking alternative suppliers for critical hardware components.
According to the report, Apple is looking to Samsung to supply RAM, NAND flash storage, and batteries for future iPhone 6 production, supplementing or replacing current suppliers for those components.
NAND flash has been a particular area of concern for Apple according to recent news reports, with the company's decision to use cheaper and slower TLC (triple-level cell) flash memory for larger-capacity iPhone 6 and 6 Plus models being blamed for sporadic crashing issues. Apple has reportedly moved to stop the use of its current TLC NAND flash chips and supposedly is back at the negotiating table with the South Korean supplier.
At first, Apple discussed with Samsung about the supply of NAND flash for the iPhone 6. Due to problems with prices, Toshiba's TLC NAND flash was used in the 128GB models, and components made by SK Hynix, Toshiba, and SanDisk were used in the 64GB models.
However, as overseas IT news sites reported functional defects in the 128GB models, Apple is said to be considering whether or not to replace the TLC NAND flash made by Toshiba with Samsung's own TLC NAND flash. If Apple and Samsung strike a deal, Samsung will supply both DRAM and NAND flash to the iPhone 6.
Beyond the iPhone 6, the same Korean industry sources also claim Samsung will supply Apple with application processors for the Apple Watch, which is slated to debut in early 2015.
Apple touts the Apple Watch as using a new "S1" module for the internals that seals nearly all of the internal components into a single resin-filled package for durability. The individual components of the S1 are undoubtedly being provided by several different manufacturers, but according to today's report the main application processor portion will be coming from Samsung.
A new report from Bloomberg indicates Sony may be gearing up to produce a new line of smartwatches for release next year. The report states the new watch will focus on design and customization over the technological prowess of watches like the yet-to-be-released Apple Watch and Sony's own SmartWatch 3.
Sony's just-released SmartWatch 3, a more traditional smartwatch
The upcoming Sony device will use an e-paper display in lieu of a traditional LCD or OLED smartwatch screen and, according to Bloomberg, and the display will cover the entire surface of the watch and band.
The watch’s face and wrist band will be made from a patented material that allows the entire surface area to function as a display and change its appearance, the people said, asking not to be named because it hasn’t been announced.
Sony also hopes the e-paper display's outdoor friendly view-ability advantage over other display technologies will attract consumers.
The device will emphasize style, according to Bloomberg's sources, rather than attempting to out-perform technological offerings in the increasingly crowded smart watch field. The watch is said to be part of Sony CEO Kazuo Hirai's recent initiative to fast-track promising products and attempt to regain the culture of innovation the company was known for in years past.
“The innovation program is very important, but it will take time and require some risk-taking,” said Sadao Nagaoka, a professor at Hitotsubashi University in Tokyo who studies innovation and serves as an economic adviser to Japan’s Patent Office. “It’s not that Sony ran out of new ideas, but rather, it’s taking too long to restructure, and gigantic losses have starved new businesses of funds.”
The new watch is reportedly part of Sony's new Seed Acceleration Program, which allows any employee with a new idea to pitch to other employees, or a panel of outside experts, for venture financing. Speaking of the program earlier this year, Hirai noted he is optimistic about the new direction of the company, and hopes the innovation program continues to become "the driving force for our new Sony."
Apple will discontinue the iPhone 5c next year, according to Taiwan's Industrial and Commercial Times. Production of the handset is said to be stopping in the middle of the year, as Apple suppliers Wistron and Foxconn will look to wind down production of the device. The news follows a report from KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo earlier this week which noted that production of the iPhone 5c and the iPhone 4S would end later in 2015 after promotional plans.
Originally released as a lower-cost option last year, the iPhone 5c is currently available in a single 8GB configuration alongside the iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, and iPhone 6 Plus. It is likely that Apple will stop production of the iPhone 5c to streamline its iPhone lineup, as every handset would then likely be equipped with a Touch ID fingerprint sensor.
Apple's iPhone 5c saw lower-than-expected sales after its debut in 2013 due to high demand for the then-flagship iPhone 5s. Apple did attempt a renewed push late last year to promote the iPhone 5c, debuting ads for the device on popular blogging platform Tumblr and on websites like Yahoo.com. Other reports also suggested that Apple cut iPhone 5c production significantly while ramping up iPhone 5s production to meet customer demand last year.
Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions, the next game in the popular franchise Geometry Wars, launched today for both PC and Mac. For those unfamiliar with the series, Geometry Wars is an arcade shooter where players will shoot through wave after wave of enemies to win, with the goal of surviving as long as possible and racking up points.
In the game, players take control of a ship and slaughter enemies that come in an array of geometrical shapes across 3D battlefields. Players earn weapons, bombs, and extra lives at regular intervals throughout the game, while an ever-increasing number of enemies continually spawn.
Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions offers more than 50 single player levels across two game modes, Adventure and Classic Arcade, and it offers both cooperative and competitive online multiplayer modes.
There are several 3D grids and more than 10 battle modes like Pacifism, King, and Claustrophobia, plus players can use four unique companion drones: Attack, Collector, Ram, and Snipe.
The game requires OS X Mavericks or OS X Yosemite, 1GB of storage space, a minimum of a 2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Processor, 4GB of RAM, and ATI Radeon HD 3870/NVIDIA 330M/Intel HD 3000 graphics or better.
Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions can be purchased for Mac via Steam or through GameAgent.com for $14.99. A Mac App Store version will also be available, as soon as it's approved.
The worldwide tablet tablet market is expected to see a significant decline for 2014, according to reports from the International Data Corporation. The tablet market's year-over-year growth is expected to be 7.2% this year, down from 52.5% in 2013. According to the analysts, one of the central reasons for the market slowdown is the expectation that 2014 will be the first year Apple will see a decline in iPad shipments.
IDC expects Apple to ship 64.9 million iPads this calendar year, a decline of 12.7 percent from 2013. Capturing 67.7 percent market share and shipping 159.5 million devices, Google's Android operating system will continue to be the most popular OS for tablets.
Total tablet market shipments is projected to hit 235.7 million units shipped, yielding relatively small growth of 7.2 percent over 2013. As a comparison, shipments in the worldwide tablet market saw 52.5 percent growth from 2012 to 2013. IDC equates this slowdown in growth to the longer lifespan of tablets in the modern market.
"The tablet market continues to be impacted by a few major trends happening in relevant markets," said Ryan Reith, Program Director with IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Device Trackers. "In the early stages of the tablet market, device lifecycles were expected to resemble those of smartphones, with replacement occurring every 2-3 years. What has played out instead is that many tablet owners are holding onto their devices for more than 3 years and in some instances more than 4 years. We believe the two major drivers for longer than expected tablet life-cycles are legacy software support for older products, especially within iOS, and the increased use of smartphones for a variety of computing tasks."
IDC also points towards consumer hesitancy over Windows 8 tablets for such low market shares in the total tablet and 2-in-1, or detachable, product market, a space Microsoft largely owns at the moment. Microsoft will only see about 11 million tablet shipments this year, equating to less than 5% of the overall tablet market.
"We need to look at how the tablet ecosystem is answering these challenges, and right now we see a lot of pressure on tablet prices and an influx of entry-level products, which ultimately serves Android really well," said Jean Philippe Bouchard, Research Director for Tablets. "But we also see tablet manufacturers trying to offset this price pressure by focusing on larger screens and cellular-enabled tablets. The next six months should be really interesting."
Looking forward, IDC sees a few factors that could impact the worldwide tablet market, including the overall industry reaction to Windows 10, what Google does in the tablet space with Android and Chrome OS, and the yearly potential of even more products from Apple. But, according to IDC, "Despite all of these unknowns, it seems clear that consumers can be expected to hold onto tablets longer than smartphones."
Apple renewed its maps and search partnership with Google in 2010, but with that contract reportedly set to end in 2015, both Yahoo and Microsoft are actively vying to be the next default search provider for Apple's Safari products, reports The Information.
Both Microsoft and Yahoo have existing relationships with Apple, with Yahoo providing stock data to iOS and Microsoft supplying Siri with Bing search results. Executives from both companies have reportedly already approached Eddy Cue, Apple's Senior Vice President of Internet Software and Services, about a potential agreement that could see one of them displace Google to become the default search engine for iOS devices and Macs. There is no indication Apple has made any decision which company, if any, will replace Google.
Yahoo has approached Apple in the past about expanding their relationship on mobile, although things moved in the opposite direction with iOS 8 as Apple cut out middle-man Yahoo for weather data and instead began sourcing data directly from The Weather Channel.
Yahoo has also reportedly been working on a revamp of its mobile search in hopes of landing an agreement with Apple to be the default search provider on iOS, but for now the companies are still in the discussion stages as Apple's deal with Google remains in effect for the time being.
Microsoft was said to be in the running for the 2010 deal with its Bing services, but Apple ultimately opted to extend its deal with Google that has seen Apple reportedly receiving in excess of $1 billion per year.
With Black Friday quickly approaching, retailers and app developers alike are beginning to offer deep discounts on their products. 
