Seeking to attract iPhone users to its new Passport smartphone, BlackBerry yesterday announced a new Blackberry Trade-Up Program offering customers up to $550 (CA$600) to trade in an iPhone 4s or higher towards the purchase of a BlackBerry Passport. The program begins December 1 and offers the full $550 only when trading in an excellent condition iPhone 6, or presumably an iPhone 6 Plus, as that device isn't explicitly mentioned in the program's terms and conditions.
Other iPhone models accepted include the iPhone 4s, 5, 5s, and 5c, with all eligible iPhones receiving a "BlackBerry Top-Up" amount of $150 (CA$200) added onto the usual valuations of the device for participating in the program to reach the $550 (CA$600) maximum payout. Like most trade-in programs, the memory size and condition also factor heavily in the actual amount of money offered.
iPhone users wanting to take part in BlackBerry's offer have from December 1 through February 13, 2015 to order a Passport, and thirty days following that to mail in an eligible Trade-Up device. The special offer can be completed on BlackBerry's official online store or through Amazon, and is only available in North America.
The company has been attempting to gain favor with Apple customers since the Passport launched in September, with CEO John Chen stating, "I challenge you to bend the Passport" during the midst of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus bending controversy.
In addition to the Trade-Up program, BlackBerry is offering holiday deals on the Passport itself and the BlackBerry Z30 on its online store.
Apple's stock continues its strong recent performance, hitting another milestone today with a market capitalization of $700 billion and once again setting a new standard as the highest market cap in history before pulling back slightly. The mark comes less than two weeks after Apple's market cap passed $660 billion to set its first new high in two years.
The company's market capitalization has doubled since Tim Cook was named CEO in August 2011.
Apple's stock is up nearly 60 percent over the past year and up 24 percent since the company's October 16 media event, which was followed just days later by a strong earnings report. Looking forward, Apple is expected to show blockbuster iPhone sales for the holiday quarter, and Wall Street is anticipating continued strong performance into 2015 as Apple looks to add yet another product category to its mix with the Apple Watch.
While Apple has been routinely setting new stock price highs for months, the new standards for market capitalization have not come until more recently, as the company's aggressive stock buyback program has reduced the number of shares available on the market. With market capitalization calculated as the share price multiplied by the number of shares outstanding, the share price has had to reach higher levels to make up for the lower number of shares. Apple's current share price of just under $120 is equivalent to nearly $835 on a pre-split basis.
Just under a week after Sony Pictures dropped the Aaron Sorkin-penned Steve Jobs movie, Universal Studios has picked it up, according to The Wrap. X-Men: First Class star Michael Fassbender is also now attached to star as Jobs.
Universal Pictures has picked up the Steve Jobs biopic less than a week after it was dropped by Sony, an individual with knowledge of the deal told TheWrap.
Sony suddenly dropped the film last Wednesday after it had developed it for two years. One report indicated the studio dropped the movie because of the shooting schedule. Director Danny Boyle wanted to start shooting in January 2015, when Fassbender would be available to shoot. Sony, however, wanted to shoot a little later, which would have clashed with Fassbender's schedule as he was set to shoot X-Men: Apocalypse.
Earlier this month, Christian Bale dropped out of the film despite Sorkin confirming his involvement. Fassbender stepped into the role shortly afterward and actors Jessica Chastain and Seth Rogen have recently emerged as potential cast members, with Rogen possibly playing Steve Wozniak.
The film is expected to follow Jobs during three stressful, high profile product launches, including NeXT, the debut of the Macintosh in 1984 and the iPod debut in 2001.
Apple today launched two new ads featuring the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, which are once again voiced by Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake and highlight features like the iPhone 6's gaming capabilities and its ability to relay phone calls to Macs and iPads.
In the first humorous ad, entitled "Gamers," the focus is on the A8 chip in the iPhone 6, with the ad showing off the recently released multiplayer online battle arena game Vainglory. "The A8 chip is so powerful it brings gaming to the next level. I mean if you're into that kind of thing," says Fallon, before bantering with Timberlake about the gameplay.
The second ad, called "Reservations," highlights Continuity and the ability for the iPhone to relay calls to Macs and iPads. "Did you know you can use an iPhone 6 to make a call from almost any Apple device?" asks Fallon before the two go on to make silly calls from a variety of devices, including a Mac and an iPad.
The new ads launched today are the fifth and sixth iPhone 6 ads that Apple has released starring Fallon and Timberlake. The first two ads, "Duo" and "Health" were shown off during the iPhone 6's September debut, and two additional ads, "Huge" and "Cameras," were released later in September.
While many companies are following in the footsteps of Oculus VR and have already introduced virtual reality hardware, there has been little to no hint that the technology mentioned in Apple's numerous patents will ever come to fruition.
Apple's interest in the virtual reality arena does not appear to have waned, however, and it may even be picking up. A new job posting on Apple's site for an "App Engineer" (via 9to5Mac) suggests that the company is continuing to explore virtual and augmented reality, at least on the software side. The job listing seeks a software engineer to help the company "create next generation software experiences" designed to integrate with "Virtual Reality systems."
We are looking for a software engineer to develop UI and applications to create next generation software experiences. The individual must be able to participate in collaborative and iterative UI design through the implementation phases & complete performant user experience code for product delivery. This engineer will create high performance apps that integrate with Virtual Reality systems for prototyping and user testing.
It is not clear, of course, what Apple means by "Virtual Reality systems," which could refer to a full-on hardware experience, an augmented reality app experience, or something else entirely, but augmented reality and virtual reality have become increasingly important areas for development. Headsets like the Oculus Rift are beginning to catch on, and Google has been experimenting with augmented reality, both in its Ingress game for iOS and Android and with "Project Tango," an ambitious experimental smartphone that will provide 3-D mapping capabilities and immersive augmented reality games.
Apple is in possession of technology that's quite similar to what's used in Google's Project Tango, which Apple acquired in 2013 with the purchase of 3-D mapping company PrimeSense. PrimeSense famously developed the original Kinect, and its technology could be used as the backbone for virtual/augmented reality interfaces and games.
Development on new features for iCloud is being held up by "deep organizational issues," according to a new report from The Information, which suggests organizational problems are complicating iCloud products and holding up releases. Much of The Information's report requires a subscription to access, but the article's introduction gives a hint at what's going wrong at Apple.
With iOS 8, Apple introduced some major overhauls to iCloud, including iCloud Drive, which allows users to see all of their files in a dedicated folder on the Mac, similar to Dropbox, and iCloud Photo Library, an ambitious project that lets users upload all of their photos to iCloud.
It seems these features may not be as fully fleshed out as Apple would like, especially when it comes to iCloud Photo Library. iCloud Photo Library wasn't released to the public until iOS 8.1, and it remains in a beta testing phase, with speculation suggesting that iCloud's negative public image due to hacked celebrity accounts and photo leaks may have led to its delay.
Apple is great at building hardware and software that runs on it. But it has long struggled to build services reliant on software that runs remotely rather than on devices. While company executives say they are making progress, interviews with nearly a dozen current and former Apple employees paint a different picture.
Deep organizational issues are holding up releases and complicating products.
According to The Information, Apple's "photo vision" has yet to be "fully realized," with internal problems like the lack of a centralized iCloud team leading to iCloud Photo Library's delayed beta release and the lack of the Photos for Mac app, which isn't expected to be completed until 2015.
Photos for Mac, which will integrate with iCloud Photo Library for a complete photo editing and management system, is said to be taking on elements of both iPhoto and Aperture, two apps that Apple has opted to discontinue in favor of the Photos for Mac app. Launching iCloud Photo Library without a companion Mac app leaves a major piece of the iCloud puzzle missing, as users are not able to edit iCloud Photo Library photos natively on their laptops and desktop computers.
While iCloud Photo Library will remain incomplete for some months yet, Apple has been adding features to the iCloud Photos web app as a stopgap measure. Just last week, the company added a much-needed upload feature to its iCloud.com website, allowing users to add photos to iCloud Photo Library outside of their iOS devices for the first time.
iCloud Photo Library is not the first Apple service that's been delayed by organizational issues within the company. iOS in the Car, which later became CarPlay, saw development issues ahead of its official launch as it did not fit neatly into an existing hardware or software category. Internal issues have also been said to be affecting the development of the Maps app and the introduction of new features, like transit directions, due to poor planning, project management issues, and an ongoing loss of developers.
As smartwatches based on Android Wear and other operating systems continue to proliferate, users have been increasingly looking to download digital likenesses of high-end watch faces onto their favorite wearable tech devices. The luxury watchmakers behind the real-world design of the digital "fake" versions are now attempting to put an end to those creating smartwatch clones of their products, according to TorrentFreak.
Last week, Apple released its WatchKit developer tools, allowing developers to begin creating apps for the soon-to-be-released Apple Watch. Those developer tools do not currently support the creation of custom watch face designs, but it is possible they could do so in the future once Apple begins supporting fully native Apple Watch apps next year.
Companies including IWC, Panerai, Omega, Fossil, Armani, Michael Kors, Tissot, Certina, Swatch, Flik Flak, and Mondaine are sending cease-and-desist notices to websites, and even individuals, thought to be offering faces for Android Wear and other smartwatch platforms without permission. The watchmakers are citing various registered trademark, design, and copyright violations.
Richemont, the company behind IWC, Cartier, and Panerai, is one of the front-runners of the legal action and is giving owners of the pirate watch face sites as little as twenty-four hours to remove all infringing content.
TorrentFreak spoke with Luke, the owner of FaceRepo, one of the watchface download sites targeted by pirate allegations. He voiced support of the anti-piracy steps being taken, and detailed the use of a keyword filter they use that helps stop infringing content before it can even be uploaded. Users are also notified if their created designs are infringing copyright, and goes so far as to deactivate accounts of repeat offenders.
“Although some of the replica faces we’ve received take downs for are very cool looking and represent significant artistic talent on the part of the designer, we believe that owners of copyrights or trademarks have the right to defend their brand,” Luke explained.
“If a copyright or trademark owner contacts us, we will promptly remove infringing material. To date, all requests for removal of infringing material have been satisfied within a matter of hours.”
Apple itself hasn't even become a player yet in the smartwatch market and has already faced allegations such as these. Back in 2012, the Swiss Federal Railway service accused Apple of copying its iconic railway clock. A few months after the allegation, Apple reportedly paid the company $21 million for the rights to the clock face design.
As part of its campaign announced late yesterday to support the upcoming World AIDS Day, Apple has also confirmed its annual Black Friday sale on November 28, which is branded this year as the (RED) Special Shopping Day Promo.
The U.S. promotion is offering (RED) gift cards to customers who purchase a qualifying product on Black Friday. Unlike last year, Apple is including the iPhone in the (RED) promotion this year, offering a $50 gift card for iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 5s, and iPhone 5c purchases except for those made with no money down through the online store.
Gift card amounts for other products vary and include $100 on select Macs, $50 on qualifying iPads, and $25 each on qualifying Apple TV, iPods, and Beats hardware. Some of these amounts are lower than last year's Black Friday sale, which provided $150 gift cards for Mac hardware, $75 for the iPad Air and $50 on iPods. This year's sale includes the following hardware and gift card values:
- 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
The (RED) Special Shopping Day Promo begins on November 28 and lasts for one day or while supplies last. This Black Friday sale is part of Apple's recently announced World AIDS Day campaign, and in addition to the gift cards for customers on Friday, Apple will also donate a portion of its retail and online sales from Black Friday, November 28 and Monday, December 1 to the Global Fund to fight AIDS.
Interest in Apple's iPhone and iOS platform remains high with continued strong hardware sales driven by the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus launch pushing App Store downloads to record-setting levels in October, reports mobile marketing firm Fiksu.
According to Fiksu's October App Store Competitive Index, app downloads reached a record-setting high of 7.8 million per day across the top 200 free iOS apps. This is a 42 percent jump from September and a 39 percent increase year-over-year, with the trend expected to continue into the holidays.
Fiksu also highlights a disparity between rising advertising costs and a drop in marketing costs per loyal user for app developers, pointing to how nurturing a loyal user base can ensure users immediately add their favorite existing apps to new devices.
Despite the marked rise in advertising costs particularly on iOS, the Cost Per Loyal User Index (CPLU) indicated a slight decline in October to $2.16 from September’s $2.25. This decrease is a result of the tendency of app users to quickly re-download their most-used “vital” apps during upgrades. The first set of apps users download on their new iPhone 6s are likely to be those they can’t live without, which makes them much more likely to become loyal users of those apps.
Apple's iPhone 6 and 6 Plus launched in September with a record-breaking 10 million units sold during the first weekend of retail availability. Apple sold a total of 39.3 million iPhones in fiscal Q4 2014 and 169.2 million iPhones for the year. This growth is expected to continue in the holiday quarter with predicted sales of 71.5 million units.
Following this past weekend's promotion that saw Chase customers being offered free early downloads of David Guetta's upcoming album just for adding their cards to Apple Pay, the bank has launched a new national campaign touting Apple Pay. The new campaign begins today with a 30-second ad featuring Fun front man Jack Antonoff's side project Bleachers using Apple Pay at several locations around Los Angeles as they prepare for a rooftop concert.
While much of the attention surrounding Apple Pay has been focused on the major retailers supporting (or not supporting) the mobile payment service, Chase's ad shows the potential for small businesses to also benefit from Apple Pay. Small businesses signed on with the Chase Paymentech service for payment processing can use Chase's Future Proof Terminal to accept Apple Pay payments at the register or SDK tools to accept Apple Pay in apps.
Chase tells Ad Age that Apple retained creative control over some aspects of the ad, requiring that Apple Pay usage be depicted in realistic situations, but that the company was easy to work with.
"We spent half day with them in Cupertino and they're storytellers," she said. "So are we." As guidance, the technology company took Chase through its history of marketing efforts with various partners. [...]
"Our concepts went to Phil [Schiller], our storyboards went to Phil and someone from the brand team was on the shoot, so they were involved there too," said Ms. Canavari.
The 30-second version of Chase's new ad is planned to air in a number of prominent time slots on major networks, including primetime shows, sporting events, and holiday specials. A longer 90-second version of the ad is also debuting on YouTube today.
While Apple has not directly advertised Apple Pay in any television commercials, several Apple Pay partners including MasterCard and now Chase have run significant ad campaigns focused on the service.
Shipments of Apple's iPhone are expected to surge to 71.5 million units in Q4 2014 before the company decreases shipments to an estimated 49.4 million units in Q1 2015, according to a new report from KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. The analyst estimates that the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus will account for nearly 57 million of the fourth-quarter number and that the iPhone 5c and iPhone 4S will experience quarter-over-quarter growth in Q1 2015 before Apple ceases production of both phones later in the year.
Kuo notes that he expects shipments of the iPhone 6 to outnumber shipments of the iPhone 6 Plus by a 2:1 ratio:
We attribute the shortage of iPhone 6 Plus partly to less smooth production than iPhone 6. Moreover, while iPhone 6 Plus attracted greater attention when it was launched, we think more consumers will prefer iPhone 6 as they can operate the handset with one hand. Eventually, iPhone 6 shipments will outperform those of the iPhone 6 Plus model.
Sales of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus topped ten million during the launch weekend for both devices, with the larger model seeing supply constraints. However, shipping times for the iPhone 6 Plus improved last week, with the 16GB model showing a shipping estimate of 7 to 10 days and the 64GB model showing an estimate of 2 to 3 weeks. A survey of U.S. customers done by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) earlier this month also noted that U.S. customers are favoring the iPhone 6 over the iPhone 6 Plus by a 3:1 ratio.
Update: This article initially stated the 71.5 million estimate was for iPhone 6 and 6 Plus sales when it is actually for all iPhone models.
Apple today announced its campaign for World AIDS Day 2014 done in collaboration with (Product) RED, noting that it will offer a special Apps for (RED) section in the App Store that will contain 25 apps with exclusive new content that will benefit the Global Fund to fight AIDS. In addition to these special apps, Apple will also donate a portion of its retail and online sales on Friday, November 28 and Monday, December 1.
“Apple is a proud supporter of (RED) because we believe the gift of life is the most important gift anyone can give,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “For eight years, our customers have been helping fight AIDS in Africa by funding life-saving treatments which are having a profoundly positive impact. This year we are launching our biggest fundraising push yet with the participation of Apple’s retail and online stores, and some of the brightest minds in the App Store are lending their talents to the effort as well.”
The Apps for (RED) campaign in the App Store will run from Monday, November 24 to Sunday, December 7, and will include special versions of apps like Angry Birds, Clash of Clans, DJay 2, Clear, Paper, and more. On Friday, November 28, Apple's customers in the United States will receive a special (RED) iTunes gift card with the purchase of select Apple products, as the company will donate a percentage of each gift card to the Global Fund to fight AIDS. On Monday, December 1, Apple will donate a portion of every sale at its retail and online stores to the Global Fund to fight AIDS.
Apple and (Product) RED have worked together for a number of years, as the organization announced in June that Apple had contributed $75 million. Throughout the history of their partnership, Apple has released a number of (RED) devices including iPod nanos and shuffles, iPad Smart Covers, iPhone Bumpers, and iPhone cases. With every (RED) product bought, Apple donates a portion of the purchase price to the charity.
The dual-core A8 chip powering Apple's iPhone 6 and 6 Plus appears to be capable of handling 4K video playback, despite the fact that the two iPhones have native resolutions of 1334 x 750 and 1920 x 1080 pixels, respectively.
4K video playback on the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus was first discovered by the developers behind WALTR, a Mac app that's designed to make it easy to upload and convert any music or video file to an iPad or iPhone for native playback, and reported by TUAW.
The discovery was made by the developers of WALTR, a great Mac app that allows users to quickly upload video files to their iPhone which aren't supported by iTunes, such as FLAC and MKV files. While testing the app developers found it is possible to playback 4K videos on the iPhone 6. Even if Apple hasn't announced it, the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus are ready to play 4K videos.
With resolutions of 1334 x 750 and 1920 x 1080, the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus won't be able to reproduce the detail in a 3840 x 2160 4K video, but the A8's ability to play 4K content means 4K videos side-loaded onto one of Apple's two devices will still be watchable.
It's highly unlikely many users will load 4K videos on their iPhones due to the massive file size of 4K content and the fact that there's little practical use for it, but it has the potential to be a somewhat useful feature for some users who want to play 4K video recorded on their devices as there are apps available that advertise 4K video recording on the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.
As we head into Thanksgiving and its accompanying Black Friday shopping holiday, retailers are beginning to offer significant discounts on products in an attempt to lure shoppers ahead of the Black Friday event. Walmart and Best Buy, for example, are offering pre-Black Friday deals, and several retailers are also offering some decent discounts on Macs and older iPads.
iPhone
Walmart is selling the 16GB iPhone 6 for $179 with a two-year contract, which is $20 off Apple's standard price, but it will also include a $75 Walmart gift card. A similar $75 gift card deal is available for the iPhone 5s, priced at $79 with a two-year contract. iPhone 6 and iPhone 5s purchases made with AT&T Next or Verizon Edge will require $0 down from qualified customers and will include the gift card.
iPad Air 2
Walmart is selling the new 16GB WiFi-only iPad Air 2 for $489, with a $100 Walmart gift card included in the purchase, essentially dropping the price to $389 for frequent Walmart shoppers.
Original iPad Air
Best Buy is discounting all of its original iPad Air stock by $80 to $100 its standard pricing, dropping the price of the entry-level 16GB WiFi-only iPad Airto $319.99. Higher-capacity WiFi-only models are discounted by up to $85, while some cellular models are discounted by as much as $100. For example the 32GB WiFi + Cellular iPad Air from AT&T is available for $479.99. Best Buy's sale on iPads will last through the weekend.
The 27-inch 3.5GHz/8GB/1TB iMac with 5K Retina display is available from Amazon, Adorama, B&H Photo, and MacMall for $2,449, which is a discount of $50 off Apple's regular price.
The 2014 1.4GHz/4GB/500GB Mac mini is available for $449 from Amazon and B&H Photo, a $50 discount off of Apple's price.
2014 Retina MacBook Pro
We're seeing the lowest prices we've seen so far on a few models of the 2014 Retina MacBook Pro, including a couple of 13-inch models and one 15-inch model.
Many app developers have begun discounting their iOS apps and games ahead of Thanksgiving. Popular apps available at a discount include GoodReader ($4.99 --> $0.99), iA Writer ($4.99 --> $0.99), and Living Earth Clock & Weather ($2.99 --> $1.99).
A full list of discounted apps can be found over at our sister site AppShopper, and our other sister site TouchArcade has created a list of games that are on sale. Titles discounted include Blek,Badland, Osmos, Real Racing 2, 9mm, and more.
Things for iPad and iPhone can be downloaded for free this week as Things was named Apple's App of the Week.
The Belkin Stylus + Pen can be purchased for $7.99 from Groupon, a discount of $22. Staples is selling the Apple TV for $79, a discount of $20. The Sony RDP-XF300 Portable Bluetooth Dock can be purchased for $139.99 from Woot, $110 off its original price and $10 off Amazon's price.
A free copy of Wreck It Ralph can be downloaded from Disney Movies Anywhere when you join the Disney Movies Anywhere Service and connect an account to iTunes.
For the next few weeks, Target will be offering 10 percent off all of the items on a child's wish list. Parents need to download the Target Wish List app and have kids create a wish list of products that will then be available at a 10 percent discount. Apple products are excluded, but Apple accessories such as cases are included.
Make sure to check out our deals posts each week for the latest products that are available at low prices, and keep an eye on our Black Friday roundup, which we are updating on a regular basis with all of the Black Friday discounts we find on popular Apple products.
MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors.
The latest update to OS X Yosemite, 10.10.1, appears to be causing some users to be unable to play YouTube videos in Safari. According to threads on the Apple Support forums and Google's Product forums, some users that attempt to play YouTube videos are seeing only black screens with audio clipping or are experiencing problems loading videos.
Other users are able to play videos, but are seeing a brief error message before a video begins to play, and still other users are getting complete browser crashes when attempting to watch a video. For some users, the problems just started a few hours ago, suggesting the issue may be on YouTube's end.
I installed Yosemite on my iMac (20-inch, Mid 2007) when it was first released and I had no issues whatsoever.
Last night I updated Yosemite to 10.10.1 and now all of a sudden Safari Version 8.0 (10600.1.25.1) won't play any YouTube videos. All I get is a black screen with a little audio clipping.
When using Firefox (v32.1.1) or Chrome (v38.0.2125.122) everything works ok.
MacRumors has confirmed the problem and has also had some trouble loading certain YouTube videos in Safari. Users on the support forums have tried various methods to fix the issue, including resetting PRAM, clearing cookies and caches, but nothing appears to work to fix the problem. One user discovered a temporary fix, going to Develop --> User Agent --> and checking Google Chrome - Mac, but the fix resets when the browser is closed.
YouTube videos appear to be playing fine in both Chrome and Firefox, so a workaround until a fix is available is to watch videos in an alternate browser.
Released to the public on Monday after two weeks of testing, OS X 10.10.1 bundled in reliability improvements to Wi-Fi, Microsoft Exchange, Mail, and Back to My Mac. Apple has already seeded a second Yosemite update, 10.10.2, to developers, but that beta has its own issues, including problems with Chrome, and user reports suggest the Safari error is present on 10.10.2 as well.
Update: Users on OS X 10.10.0 are also reporting the issue, suggesting it is indeed a YouTube problem.
Update 2: YouTube videos are once again working properly for Yosemite users.
Magpul has released updated versions of its popular Field Case for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. The Field Case is a minimalist shell case made from flexible thermoplastic, similar to the company's popular PMAG rifle magazines.
The Magpul Field Case for the iPhone 6 is a semi-rigid cover designed to provide basic protection in the field.
Made from a flexible thermoplastic, the Field Case features PMAG®-style ribs for added grip, snap-on design for easy installation and removal, and slides easily in and out of pockets without snagging.
Made in the USA, the Field Case is available in black and olive drab green for $17, with Magpul's logo on the back.
Microsoft today launched a new video advertisement that compares its Cortana virtual assistant to Apple's own digital assistant, Siri, showcasing Cortana's contextual reminders and traffic alerts, two functions that Siri does not have.
In the ad, entitled "Siri vs. Cortana: Bigger," Cortana and Siri have a "conversation" where Cortana queries Siri about her new abilities in the iPhone 6 and Siri continually responds that she just "got bigger."
Cortana: Hi Siri, looks like you're in a new phone. Congratulations. Siri: Yes, I got bigger. Cortana: Oh, are you more like me now? Can you give reminders based on who calls or texts? Siri: No, I got bigger. Cortana: How about traffic alerts? Can you tell people to leave early based on traffic reports? Siri: No, seriously, I just got bigger. Cortana: That's okay. Happens to everyone this time of year.
Microsoft first announced Cortana in April of this year. The digital assistant, designed to compete with Apple's Siri, is named after the AI character in the popular Halo video game series and is voiced by actress Jen Taylor. With Cortana, Microsoft aims to emulate real personal assistants, and Cortana will ask questions and monitor user activity to learn more about its users. Cortana, available on Windows devices, can perform a few functions that Siri is not capable of, including scheduling reminders from text messages and mapping out traffic patterns to provide travel recommendations.
Siri may not have received updates specific to the iPhone 6, but the virtual assistant did gain new capabilities with the release of iOS 8, including Shazam music integration, the ability to purchase music in iTunes, streaming voice recognition, and hands-free voice activation with the command "Hey Siri."
Cortana has been starring in a series of anti-Siri advertisements since July, with the first advertisement highlighting context-aware reminders and the second showcasing Cortana's mapping capabilities.
Microsoft has a long history of targeting Apple in its advertisements, comparing its Surface line of products to Apple's iPad and iPhone. Just this week, Microsoft launched a new "Winter Wonderland" ad that pits the Surface Pro 3 against the MacBook Air, highlighting the Surface's kickstand, portability, and touchscreen.
Before the addition of the new uploading tool, the standard iCloud.com site allowed users to view all of their iCloud Photo Library images, as well as download and delete them, but it did not have a tool to allow users to upload photos captured with non-Apple devices.
New toolbar with upload support on iCloud.com site at top, previous iCloud.com toolbar on bottom
The new uploading feature on the iCloud.com site makes it possible to upload JPGs, but as with the beta feature, other image and video formats like .PNG, .MOV, .AVI, .MP4, and more are not supported. When a file is uploaded to the site, it syncs instantly to all of a user's iOS devices, much like a photo taken on an iPhone or iPad or added to iCloud Photo Library via the iOS Photos app.
Currently in beta and introduced alongside iOS 8.1, iCloud Photo Library stores all of the photos and videos that a user takes in iCloud, making them available on all iOS devices and Macs. iCloud Photo Library images can be viewed in the Photos app on iOS or through iCloud.com on the Mac, and the upcoming Photos app that Apple is creating for Macs will also work with iCloud Photo Library.
Users should be aware that photos uploaded to iCloud Photo Library use iCloud storage space. Apple offers 5GB of storage space for free, with additional plans ranging from $0.99 for 20GB of storage space to $19.99 for 1TB of storage space.
