Japan

Starting on January 2, Apple plans to hold a special New Year's Sale both online and at all of its retail locations in Japan, continuing a long tradition of offering something special on January 2 in the country. Up until 2016, Apple took part in the Japanese tradition of offering "Fukubukuro" or "lucky bags" to customers. Fukubukuro used to contain an assortment of random Apple products at a...

Apple CEO Tim Cook hinted that Japan has a big part to play in the company's ongoing development of AI, as he continued his travels around the country via bullet train on Monday. Speaking to Nikkei Asian Review, Cook revealed that Apple's new advanced R&D center in Yokohama, currently scheduled for completion in December, would focus on "deep engineering" and would be "very different" from the ...

While on a trip that's taken him to Shenzhen, China and Nintendo's offices in Kyoto, Japan, Apple CEO Tim Cook today met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe discussing topics related to the importance of the country in Apple's ongoing market strategy. Specifically, Cook was said to confirm that an advanced R&D center in Yokohama was on track to complete construction by December (via Xinhua). ...

Apple supplier Foxconn Electronics is reportedly gearing up to launch its own line of smartphone devices in Japan, using its recent acquisition of Sharp to help manufacture and distribute the handsets (via DigiTimes). Over the past few years, Foxconn has been a major supplier for Apple device manufacturing, including for the iPhone SE and iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus. The company is said to be ...

Apple has paid some 12 billion yen ($118 million) to Japan after underreporting income in the country, according to broadcaster NHK (via Reuters). The company has yet to comment on the matter. Japanese tax authorities determined that Apple failed to pay withholding taxes on profits it earned from subscribers in Japan and shifted to its Irish subsidiary to pay for software licensing.The Tokyo...

Following today's iPhone-centric event, Apple has quietly announced that Japanese carrier SoftBank is the latest Apple SIM partner. Apple SIM has also expanded to three additional countries and territories: Guam, Kenya, and Mauritius. Apple SIM is embedded in the latest cellular iPads and enables users to easily switch between different short-term data plans from select carrier partners...

Apple is developing a version of the iPhone for Japan that includes one of Sony's FeliCa chips to enable contactless transit payments, reports Bloomberg. FeliCa is a tap-to-pay format developed by Sony and built into cards that are used to access Japan's railway and bus system. FeliCa is faster than Apple Pay, allowing transactions to occur in a fraction of a second, which makes it suitable...

Apple today added Japan to its list of countries eligible for iTunes carrier billing, suggesting the company is set to fast-track its expansion of the payment feature to regions across the globe (via Mashable). Japan becomes the fifth market to accept the transaction method, which allows users to charge iTunes content purchases directly to their cellphone bill instead of registering a bank...

Apple today updated its iOS feature availability page with 30 new Flyover locations around the world, including cities in the United States, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Flyover is an Apple Maps feature that provides photo-realistic 3D views of primarily large cities and landmarks. In satellite view, users can zoom, pan, and rotate to get a closer look at...

Apple has opened registration in the U.S. and a number of other countries (links below) for its annual Apple Summer Camp, where kids aged 8 to 12 can attend a company retail store and learn how to create interactive books and movies using Apple products and software, ranging from iBooks Author on Mac to iMovie on iPad. Apple's summer workshops will be hosted between 10:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m....

Apple Pay is supported by large financial institutions in the United States, United Kingdom, and China, but the mobile payments service can only be used with non-bank-issued American Express credit cards in Australia and Canada. Apple Pay does not support big banks in either country. That could soon change in at least Canada, as MacRumors has learned that MasterCard has Apple Pay support in...

Less than ten hours before the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus launch in Japan, at least one Apple Store in the country has begun setting up display models for customers to view. The new iPhones will go on sale in Japan at 8:00 AM local time on Friday just a few hours after the smartphones launch in Australia and New Zealand. MacRumors reader Shawn DaSilva sent us a trio of photos and a video...

Apple has set a principal amount of ¥250 billion ($2.01 billion) for its bond sale in Japan per a final pricing term sheet published by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday. The yen-denominated bonds have an interest rate of 0.350% and are set to mature on June 10, 2020. Interest is to be paid semi-annually on June 10 and December 10, commencing December 10, 2015. The global ...

Apple announced today that it will begin offering the iPad Air and Retina iPad mini on Japanese carrier NTT DOCOMO starting Tuesday, June 10. Both tablets will be compatible with the company's nationwide Xi LTE service, as users will be able to pre-register for both devices beginning June 2nd at local DOCOMO stores and the carrier's website. "With the addition of iPad alongside iPhone, we now...