MacRumors

Apple yesterday updated its 3D "Flyover" map of London, adding animated images onto popular London-based attractions that result in real-time moving pictures right inside of the Maps app (via The Daily Mail).

The update causes the current time to be showcased on the face of Big Ben's clock tower, and the popular giant London Eye to constantly rotate when users find each structure in the London Flyover map. The feature, according to The Daily Mail, is expected to hit other big cities "within weeks."

Though a straightforward and purely aesthetic update, the addition of real-time animated effects in the Maps app brings a more immersive experience to Apple's mobile map service and could give it a slight edge on competing map apps.

Thanks to hefty amount of criticism following the rocky launch of Maps, even resulting in a public letter of apology by Tim Cook, Apple has been steadily attempting to straighten the app's course and win back the users that migrated to services like Google Maps in the intervening years.

Apple has steadily improved the accuracy of its maps, increased the number of points of interest displayed, and improved the quality of its Flyover imagery, while also reportedly working to add new features such as transit directions and indoor mapping information. Apple-leased minivans with equipment rigs on top have also been seen in a number of U.S. cities in recent months, suggesting the company may be collecting street-level imagery to compete with Google's Street View.

While the Apple Watch is not expected to be released until April, luxury and couture product design company Brikk today announced a line of 30 luxury models for the upcoming smartwatch that they claim, "will afford unmatched opulence to an exclusive clientele worldwide."

Similar to the Apple Watch in terms of sizes, the line of Lux Watches will be available in 38mm and 42mm, with color options of 24-karat yellow gold, 18-karat pink gold, and 950 platinum alongside varying band options. There are also three editions to the line: Standard, Deluxe, and Omni. All versions of the Lux Watch are prepared through disassembling Apple Watches that the company then repurposes with their luxury materials in a "state-of-the-art laboratory."

The basic Standard edition offers a single row of diamonds (.50 carats) and a leather strap, while the mid-tier Deluxe has multiple rows of diamonds (2.3 carats), diamond encrusted buttons, and a diamond studded clasp on its leather strap.

"For the ultimate in exclusivity," Brikk offers the Lux Watch Omni edition with a fully diamond-emblazoned case resulting in over 12 carats of jewels on the device. The company promises only the highest end of luxury and satisfaction in purchasing one of their new line of high-end devices, which they've done before with the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.

The Lux Watch line stands out thanks to its meticulous production processes. Each piece is disassembled inside Brikk’s state-of-the-art laboratory in Los Angeles by a team of skilled engineers. They are hand polished, then plated with five layers of diverse metals before their final plating in either two layers of gold or platinum. High quality diamonds (color D, clarity VVS1) are set with a microscope in a custom-machined bezel. Each piece is then reassembled and tested before shipping to clients.

The line will set those interested back $7,495 for the Standard, $11,995 for the Deluxe, and $69,995 for the Omni, and all prices fluctuate slightly higher for larger sizes. Brikk promises that each comes in a "Zero Halliburton aluminum case with carbon fiber interior", with a user manual, the expected accessories, a 1-year warranty, and a diamond-studded certificate of authenticity.

While Apple has taken a decidedly fashion-skewed angle in beginning to market the Apple Watch, Brikk's new diamond-encrusted offerings appear to be a more straightforward answer to those looking for more of a statement with the new wearable.

Pricing guesses have jumped between $10,000 and $20,000 for the high-end Apple Watch Edition, so while the Lux line's lower-end models could fall in line with Apple's own mid-to-upper tier models, the Omni edition offered by Brikk may in fact be the most expensive version of the Watch on the market when the device launches this Spring.

Those interested in the Lux Watch line can visit Brikk's official website to place a pre-order, which requires a deposit and is expected to ship between 4-6 weeks following the official Apple Watch launch in April.

Following Apple CEO Tim Cook's visit to Israel this week, the company's increasing interest in the country is said to relate to chip design, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Apple recently opened new research and development offices in Israel north of Tel Aviv, with the facilities serving as the iPhone maker's second-largest R&D operations outside of the United States.

“Apple’s Israeli acquisitions and its expanding local workforce show that the company is becoming more and more independent on the chip level, where it once had to rely on external suppliers,” said Shlomo Gradman, chairman of the Israeli Semiconductor Club.

Apple may be looking to increase development of chips internally to the costs associated with relying on third-party suppliers, although it still relies heavily on vendors such as Samsung to produce chips for iPhones. Apple has acquired two Israel-based microprocessor chip design firms in Anobit Technologies and PrimeSense in recent years, and also hired several Texas Instrument engineers in Israel after the company announced some 250 job cuts at its Ra'anana offices.

Apple vice president of hardware technologies Johny Srouji is an Israeli Arab that grew up in Haifa and earned both a bachelor's and master's degree in Computer Science from Technion, Israel’s Institute of Technology. Srouji joined Apple in 2008 and oversees custom silicon architecture and development covering several devices and technologies. Apple has over 700 other employees working directly for the company in Israel.

“We’ve hired our first individual in Israel in 2011 and we now have over 700 people working in Israel directly for us,” said Apple CEO Tim Cook in the meeting with Israeli president Reuven Rivlin on Wednesday. “Israel and Apple have gotten much closer together over the last three years than ever before, and we see that as just the beginning,” he added.

Apple has job listings in Israel for a number of chip-related positions in the fields of silicon and semiconductor design, testing and engineering. The company has also been hiring staff to work at its chip design center in Haifa over the past three years. Google, Facebook, IBM, HP and hundreds of other international companies have also setup R&D centers in Israel, often following acquisitions of local companies.

Apple CEO Tim Cook will give the keynote address to graduates at George Washington University this May, the university announced today. Cook will speak on May 17 on the National Mall and was nominated for the honor by students earlier this year. The university also plans to give Cook an honorary doctorate of public service.

"I am delighted that Tim Cook has accepted our invitation to give this year's commencement address on the National Mall," George Washington President Steven Knapp said. "I know our graduating students will be inspired and enlightened by his reflections on the lessons he has garnered from his distinguished career as a highly effective leader at the forefront of technological innovation."

Cook's last commencement speech took place in 2010, at his alma mater Auburn University. At the time, Cook was Apple's Chief Operating Officer, and he took the opportunity to call working at Apple "the best decision I ever made." He gave a moving speech that emphasized the importance of intuition and how it led him to Apple.

Previous commencement speakers at George Washington University have included actress Kerry Washington, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, First Lady Michelle Obama, former President George H.W. Bush and former First Lady Barbara Bush, and Hillary Clinton.

It is not clear if a live stream of Cook's commencement address will be available, but George Washington University does typically share videos of its commencement events on Vimeo shortly after they take place.

Just a few days before the release of the Hollywood romantic comedy film Focus, starring Will Smith and Margot Robbie, Apple has provided a behind-the-scenes look at how Final Cut Pro X was used to produce the movie. The feature page provides an in-depth profile of how Final Cut Pro X was used for editing, screen-ready effects and post-production.

Focus directors John Requa and Glenn Ficarra opted to use Apple's professional video editing software because they found it provided a fast and straightforward workflow. The software gave the directors fine-tuned control over all aspects of the film and provided the flexibility to easily move between editing on a Mac Pro and working with a MacBook Pro on location.

After researching several workflows, Requa and Ficarra decided to cut their major studio feature entirely in Final Cut Pro X. The results were even better than they’d expected. The movie came in on time and under budget, and it played and looked just as they’d envisioned it. “We got exactly the film we set out to make,” says Requa. “What I love about Final Cut Pro X is that it allowed me to be involved with, and in control of, every aspect of making our film.”

Final Cut Pro X was highly criticized by some professional video editors when it was released in 2011, but the directors of Focus told USA Today that they value how the software is easier to use and resembles the look of iMovie. These comments come amid criticism that Apple is dumbing down certain areas of OS X, including the removal of Aperture in favor of the all-new Photos for Mac app.

"Many editors called the new FCPX 'iMovie Lite,' when it was released, and not ready for the big leagues, but Ficarra says he likes that FCPX is easier to use, and that it's look and feel is akin to iMovie. 'We have a whole generation of kids learning on iMovie,' he says. 'They'll be familiar with this tool when they get into the real world.'"

The film crew used Mac Pro-equipped on-set mobile post systems from a cutting-edge Los Angeles-based post-production company and used metadata markers to identify the best shots taken each day. Final Cut Pro X enabled this metadata to be searchable and handled full-resolution ProRes 4444 files with ease.

Ficarra believes that the metadata advantage gave them unprecedented control over their story line. “I was able to say, ‘I need Will’s side in this take,’” he says. “And because even his improvisations were specially tagged, we were able to filter and come out with it. The upshot was just infinite searchability. We could change direction so fast and do multiple iterations. Sometimes while we were editing we felt as if we were actually rewriting the movie.”

The full-length feature page on Apple's website goes into further details about how Final Cut Pro X was used throughout all stages of the film's production. The in-depth page also outlines other Apple products and third-party hardware used to make the film a reality, including the Mac Pro, iMac, MacBook Pro, iPad, iPhone, Logic Pro X, Motion 5, Xsan, Apogee Quartet, Quantel Pablo Rio system and more.

Final Cut Pro X is $299.99 on the Mac App Store [Direct Link].

Apple added several new companies to its Apple Maps Acknowledgements page over the course of the past month, possibly hinting at future plans for improvements to its mapping app. The Acknowledgements page lists all of the sources that provide information to Apple for the Maps app.

New listings include GasBuddy/OpenStore and GreatSchools, two additions that AppleMapsMarketing speculates could lead to Maps upgrades like gas prices on gas station locations and school data for school locations. GasBuddy.com is a site that is designed to highlight local gas prices, helping users find the cheapest gas in any given area. GreatSchools.org is a community-based site that aggregates information about schools, including students enrolled, available programs, ratings, and academic test scores.

Apple has also added Yext to the page, a site that allows businesses to update their locations for multiple online sites at one time, but the company's partnership with Yext was previously known. The National Land Survey of Finland Topographic Database is also new, likely adding new maps data for the country.

Though Apple's acknowledgements page lists GasBuddy and GreatSchools, the above-mentioned data is not yet showing up in the Maps app, and it is unknown exactly when and if Apple will add gas price and school information to Maps. It's entirely possible that the company's partnerships with GasBuddy and GreatSchools have been established to bolster existing data on the locations of gas stations and schools.

Since Maps' rocky debut in 2012, Apple has made continued efforts to improve the app by hiring mapping experts around the world, fixing user-reported errors, and boosting points of interest through its data partners. Most recently, Apple added 10 new data sources to Maps, sometime around November of 2014.

Apple is rumored to be working on some major Maps improvements like transit directions and indoor mapping information, but the launch of these features seems to have been pushed back due to internal organizational issues. It is not known when Maps might see its next major update, but because there seems to be no sign of Maps upgrades in iOS 8.2 and iOS 8.3, it's possible Apple is saving the feature for iOS 9.

Update: iDownloadBlog spoke with a GasBuddy representative and learned that GasBuddy is not supplying Apple with gas prices. Instead, the company is sharing station information like brand name and address.

Apple appears to be gearing up for a big marketing push for the Apple Watch ahead of its April launch, featuring the device on several magazine covers. The Apple Watch made its U.S. magazine cover debut earlier this month in the March issue of Self, and it's also being featured in a multi-page spread in the March issue of Vogue.

The Apple Watch is shown on multiple pages of the magazine, depicting different watch casings and band designs in clean ads that feature nothing but the Apple Watch itself. The images are actual size, giving readers an idea of how big the watch is in real life.

There's a heavy focus on Apple Watch bands, several of which are depicted in close up images that show off details on their construction. The Milanese Loop is featured on one page, while the navy-colored Leather Loop is shown on another page. The Apple Watch sport with a green band is also shown, as is the fitness interface for one of the Apple Watch's built-in fitness apps. Yet another page features the rose gold Apple Watch Edition with a Rose Gray Modern Buckle band.

It's likely that several other publications beyond Self and Vogue will be featuring the Apple Watch in the coming weeks as the device's April launch date approaches. Apple has targeted fashion and fitness markets thus far, and is expected to market the Apple Watch to a wide range of potential customers.

Up until this month, Apple's Apple Watch marketing has been somewhat reserved, limited to an appearance at Parisian fashion boutique Colette in September and the Vogue China cover in October, but the company appears prepared to begin more serious marketing efforts.

As we reported last month, Apple asked some developers creating content for the Apple Watch to have their apps completed by mid-February, possibly to have apps ready to go for marketing purposes or an upcoming event. Apple also invited select developers to its Cupertino headquarters to put the finishing touches on Apple Watch apps and the company may be preparing to launch a series of Apple Watch popup stores in various locations around the world.

While on a trip in Germany to visit with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and meet with a few German-based Apple staff members, Apple CEO Tim Cook told Apple Store employees in Berlin that he wears his Apple Watch constantly, "even in the shower", according to iGen.fr [Google Translate].

The new piece of information from the Apple CEO could mean the company's been working on adding more water resistant features to the upcoming wearable, since at its early-September reveal event the company warned off wearing the device in the shower.

Cook went on to say that he charges his Apple Watch every night, which seems to fall in line with what he's said previously on the topic. But, as Apple Insider points out, some of his comments regarding the new information on the Apple Watch could have been lost in translation.

He also told a few of the Apple Store workers, specifically in fielding a question asked by a visually impaired employee, that apps and accessibility features focused on aiding the disabled would be coming to the watch over time. Cook even commented on a few recent bits of bad press the company has faced in regards to the working conditions at its Chinese facilities.

He said that Chinese workers want to work hard and their employers want them to always work more. Apple is trying to ensure that there is no abuse, and the number hours worked per week decreases with time. He said that wages in China are increasing much faster than anywhere in the world. While recalling that the cost of living is much lower there, compared for example to Germany or the United States.

Concerning the overseas launch of Apple Pay, which has been gaining steam in rumors lately, Cook stated that a European launch for the contactless payment service will come "before the end of the year." Cook's trip continues this week (via The Marker) [Google Translate], with the CEO moving on to Israel to visit the newly-built Apple offices in Herzliya and a planned meeting with former President Shimon Peres.

A federal jury in Tyler, Texas has ordered Apple to pay $532.9 million to patent licensing firm Smartflash LLC for using its patents without permission, reports Bloomberg. The court found certain iTunes apps to be infringing upon the Texas-based company's patents related to digital rights management, data storage and managing access through payment systems.

Apple argues that Smartflash is exploiting the patent system and plans to appeal the decision.

“Smartflash makes no products, has no employees, creates no jobs, has no U.S. presence, and is exploiting our patent system to seek royalties for technology Apple invented,” said Kristin Huguet, an Apple spokeswoman. “We refused to pay off this company for the ideas our employees spent years innovating and unfortunately we have been left with no choice but to take this fight up through the court system.”

Smartflash was originally seeking $852 million in damages from Apple for infringing three patents, claiming that it was entitled to a percentage of sales of Apple products used to access iTunes, such as iPhones, iPads and Macs. Apple believed that $4.5 million was fair at most, arguing that it was not infringing upon the inventions and that the patents were invalid. Developers Game Circus and KingsIsle Entertainment Inc. were also defendants in the case but were later dismissed from the lawsuit.

“Apple doesn’t respect Smartflash’s inventions,” the company’s lawyer, John Ward of Ward & Smith in Longview, Texas, told the jury. “Not a single witness could be bothered with reviewing the patent.”

Smartflash has also sued Samsung Electronics in a separate lawsuit that is scheduled to begin following the end of this Apple trial. The patent licensing firm also recently filed against Google, which has attempted to move its lawsuit to California, and Amazon in December. This case is Smartflash LLC v. Apple Inc., 13-447, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Texas.

During its investor call today, Chase announced (via AppleInsider) that over 1 million customers have provisioned their credit and / or debit cards for use with Apple Pay. Additionally, the company provided a look at the demographics of its Apple Pay users.
Eileen Sierra, CEO of Chase Card Services, said that its customers who use Apple Pay tend to be young and have higher incomes, with 69 percent of their Chase card Apple Pay transactions credit based.

Sierra also revealed that the financial company has seen "good growth" in the number of its customers provisioning their cards on Apple Pay. Those customers have been using their Chase cards through Apple Pay at the top five merchants 58 percent of the time, with all remaining merchants making up the remaining 42 percent.

While Apple hasn't provided adoption details on Apple Pay, CEO Tim Cook did announce in January that Apple Pay accounted for two of every three contactless dollars spent on American Express, Visa and MasterCard. Bank of America announced in January that nearly 800,000 of its customers were using Apple Pay, and point-of-sale suppliers have seen a massive increase in interest following Apple Pay's launch last October.

Although Apple Pay is having early success in the United States, it has yet to expand past its borders. Reports indicate Apple is in talks with Canadian partners to launch Apple Pay in that country as soon as March, while Visa today announced it would launch tokenization in Europe in mid-April, paving the way for Apple Pay to expand into the continent.

The latest numbers from research firm IDC reveal that the smartphone market continues to be a largely two-horse race between iOS and Android, which accounted for 19.7% and 76.6% market share in the fourth quarter respectively. The mobile operating systems combined to dominate Windows Phone, BlackBerry and all other platforms with 96.3% market share during the three-month period ending December.

iOS increased 2.2 percentage points to 19.7% during the fourth quarter over its 15.1% market share in the year-ago quarter, while Android experienced a marginal year-over-year decline as its market share slipped from 78.2% to 76.6%. Apple shipped a record-breaking 192.7 million iPhones during 2014 on the strength of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, while overall Android device shipments on the year surpassed the 1 billion mark.

Android and iOS continue to dominate the smartphone operating system race, resulting in a smaller battle between Windows Phone, BlackBerry, Firefox OS and less popular platforms for third place. Windows Phone and BlackBerry were the closest runner-ups to iOS and Android, claiming 2.8% and 0.4% market share in the fourth quarter respectively to close out 2014. All other platforms held 0.6% market share on the year.