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Apple smart home initiative and other news for May 27, 2014
It's almost time for Apple's annual World Wide Developer Conference (WWDC), which means that the rumor mills are working over time to mass produce ideas of what might we might hear about at next Monday's keynote address. Apple getting into the home automation market is one of the first and most intriguing rumors, so let's look at that and other news of the day: The Financial Times said yesterday that Apple may announce a new software platform allowing iOS devices to control "the Internet of Things," meaning devices like thermostats, door locks, lights, and more. The platform would be announced alongside a new initiative similar to the "Made for iPhone" program, with Apple certifying devices that work with the platform. Apple already sells a number of connected devices in Apple Stores. Apple has been granted a patent for a method of embedding displays -- including those covered with sapphire -- into Liquid Metal. The patent was applied for six years ago, but is of particular interest since Apple has exclusive rights to the "bulk amorphous alloy" through the end of 2015 and is also investing in a large synthetic sapphire manufacturing facility in Arizona. Want a Mac Pro? Finally, more than six months after the top-of-the-line Mac was rolled out, you can get one configured to order in about a week. While you're at it, buy another one and send it my way, OK?
iPhone 5s top seller at all US carriers, and more news for May 8, 2014
Despite the fact that Apple is doomed, Doomed, DOOMED, there's still a ton of good news coming out about the company's products. On this slow news Thursday, we hear about how the iPhone 5s is doing in the United States, and more upbeat news about AAPL. Cannacord Genuity has raised its target price for shares of Apple stock to $660, based partially on the results of a survey that showed the iPhone 5s to be the most popular handset at all four major US carriers. According to Cannacord survey results provided to AppleInsider, carrier early upgrade programs -- AT&T Next, Verizon Edge, T-Mobile Jump and Sprint One Up -- are being heavily adopted by customers and could result in a strong upgrade cycle when the next iPhone appears. While Jony Ive's iPhone 5s is breaking sales records, Samsung reportedly replaced its mobile design chief Chang Dong-hoon after an underwhelming introduction of the flagship Galaxy S5 smartphone. Chang will now be working on a design language for the rest of the Korean conglomerate's divisions, with his deputy taking over the all-important work of designing future smartphones and tablets. The S5 has been panned worldwide, with the Wall Street Journal reporting that the back of the device was "reminiscent of a Band-Aid" and the International Business Times saying that it "Looks Cheap, Feels Cheap." Adobe has released Adobe Voice for iPad, a free iPad app allowing users to create videos using simple animation and user narration. TUAW blogger Mel Martin took a first look at the app today, and it looks like a wonderful way to produce animated video content quickly. And one day after Apple VP of Corporate Communication Katie Cotton announced her departure from the company, Apple's VP of Sales for North America, Zane Rowe, is also leaving the company. His duties will be passed along to Doug Beck, who manages sales in Japan and Korea.
Reports say OS X 10.9.2 breaks AirPlay Mirroring, and other news for Feb. 28, 2014
Are you noticing any AirPlay issues on your Mac after updating to OS X 10.9.2? You might not be alone. There's a growing thread on Apple's support communities saying the OS X 10.9.2 update breaks AirPlay on a number of older model Macs. As AppleInsider reports: According to one of the larger forum threads, titled "Airplay mirroring broke in 10.9.2," users are seeing a host of different failures. For example, one user found AirPlay Mirroring was no longer a selectable option in the AirPlay menu. Others have been able to connect to their Apple TV, but only audio is passed through in these cases. In addition to the mirroring faults, users detail problems with AirPlay's desktop extension function... ...AppleInsider was able to reproduce a few of the described issues with a mid-2011 MacBook Air and third-generation Apple TV, which are running OS X 10.9.2 and Apple TV Software Update 6.0.2, respectively. We experienced scaling issues on both the Mac and Apple TV, low frame rates, sporadic mouse freezing and video failures. Are you having issues with AirPlay after updating to OS X 10.9.2? Let us know in the comments. In other news: The Apple online store briefly went down in the wee hours of this morning. When it came back up there was a new "Shop Accessories" section. A California appeals court has ruled that though drivers can't talk and text while driving, they can't be convicted of distracted driving if they are using their smartphone for another use: looking at maps. The Google Hangouts app has received a significant update. Now it's universal, so it's also formatted for the iPad. It also allows users to record and send video messages up to 10 seconds long, among other new features. Apple has published a new design-specific page to help developers design for iOS and OS X.
Taco Bell to unveil cutting-edge mobile ordering system, and other news for Feb. 14, 2014
Taco Bell is getting ready to launch a cutting-edge mobile-ordering system for the iPhone later this year, reports Nation's Restaurant News. The company already has an existing iOS app, but the new one, which has been in development for more than two years, will allow hungry customers to order and pay for food directly from their iPhone. The app opens first to the menu, but then immediately allows guests to find their closest Taco Bell, so pricing specific to that location appears, as well as hours and directions. Customers can customize menu selections, and the app offers "smart upsell" opportunities, suggesting a drink or dessert, for example, if the user hasn't ordered one. Users can save their favorite orders, customized to their liking, for next time. Guests can load Taco Bell gift cards or use their credit cards to pay. The order goes directly to the restaurant's POS system and appears on the kitchen display system specifically as a mobile order. To ensure that the food is prepared hot when the guest arrives, the system uses a GPS locator to recognize when the person placing the order is near, giving the kitchen a signal to fire the order. The guest then has the option of in-store pick up or using the drive thru - but they don't have to make that decision until they arrive at the restaurant. If the drive thru line is long, for example, they can tap "in-store" pickup and go inside. Jenkins said a separate pick up window for mobile orders will be available to allow those guests to avoid the line. The company believes its mobile ordering system will be as significant as the drive thru. Taco Bell has not announced a global rollout date, but many customers should be able to try it by the end of the year. In other news: Apple has distributed another US$2.6 billion worth of dividends to shareholders of record yesterday. Shareholders received $3.05 for every AAPL share they owned. The next dividends distribution will be in May. Rovio has announced Angry Birds Stella, which will feature female lead characters. Four US senators have introduced The Smartphone Theft Prevention Act, a bill which would require smartphone manufacturers to build a "kill switch" into each and every phone. The kill switch would allow a user to wipe the stolen phone remotely and make it completely inoperable, rendering it all but worthless to a thief.
Apple publishes awkward workaround for OS X Mail issues plaguing users, and other news for Feb. 4, 2014
Apple has published a rather awkward workaround for users who are experiencing Mail troubles in OS X 10.9 Mavericks. Many users have reported trouble with Mail since 10.9 shipped, like misbehaving Gmail accounts, issues with moving and deleting messages and retrieving new messages. The last issue -- being unable to receive new messages -- is particularly annoying as those affected must force-quit the app and then relaunch it to check for new Mail. Now, Apple says those users can simply take the following steps to get new mail: OS X: New email messages not received until Mail is quit and reopened Symptoms For some email providers, new email messages in Mail may only appear to arrive when Mail is first opened. No new email arrives until Mail is quit and reopened. Resolution Quitting and reopening Mail forces it to re-establish a connection to the email server. You can use these steps to receive new mail messages without quitting Mail: Choose Mailbox > Take All Accounts Offline. Choose Mailbox > Get All New Mail. As a shortcut, you can also add the Take All Accounts Offline and Get Mail buttons to your Mail toolbar. Choose View > Customize Toolbar. Drag the Take All Accounts Offline button to the Toolbar if it is not there already. Drag the Get Mail button to the Toolbar if it is not there already. Click Done To receive new mail messages, click the Take Offline button, then click the Check Mail button. Beside the cumbersome steps above, there's no further word on Mail's widespread problems. Hopefully Apple will sort this all out when OS X 10.9.2 is released. In other news: Google Maps has been updated for iOS. The new version allows users to get notified when a faster route becomes available in navigation mode. It also includes your usual bug fixes. World Wrestling Entertainment has announced that the company's WWE Network will be launching on the Apple TV on February 24th. The news came when a WWE employee answered a fan's question on Facebook as to whether the WWE will come to the Apple TV, who confirmed that it will. That Facebook answer has since been removed. Tim Cook has met with the Turkish president today, according to meeting notes on the president's public calendar. There's no word what the meeting will be about, but many speculate Turkey's US$4.5 billion tablet education initiative will be discussed. With it, Turkey plans to give up to 15 million tablets to school children.
Apple.com, Mac App Store celebrates 30 years of the Mac, and more news for January 24
Today marks the 30th anniversary of the Mac and Apple is out in force promoting it. Tim Cook will be appearing on ABC's World News with Diane Sawyer later tonight for an exclusive interview and now the company has also revamped its homepage in celebration of the anniversary. However, more than just redoing its homepage for today, Apple has also created a special section on its website detailing the 30-year history of the Mac. Users can watch a video about the Mac's history, browse a year-by-year timeline of the major advances in the Mac and even take part in an interactive chart by telling Apple what your first Mac was, how you discovered it and what you used it for. In addition to the celebrations on Apple.com, Apple also has a special "Happy birthday, Mac" section set up on the Mac App Store spotlighting a special selection of apps and games that captures the spirit of what makes the Mac so extraordinary. In other news: Apple has silently discontinued the Keynote Remote app. New remote functionality was added to the latest version of Keynote for iOS yesterday, so Apple decided to pull the old dedicated app. This isn't a surprise as Keynote Remote had not been updated to reflect iOS 7's new design aesthetic. This week's free App of the Week is Disney's Where's My Mickey? The app is a physics-based puzzler with simulated weather mechanics done in a style of classic Disney animation from the 1920s. Samsung announced yesterday it missed earnings estimates by a large margin. The earnings miss is due in part to the popularity of the iPhone 5c and 5s and increasing competition from other Asian vendors that make low-end Android phones. Carl Icahn scooped up another US$500 million worth of Apple stock yesterday. He tweeted the news just days after he made the world aware he had purchased an additional half a billion dollars in Apple stock just a few weeks ago. He now owns $3.6 billion in AAPL shares and called AAPL's value a "no brainer."
iPhone goes on sale on China Mobile, and more news for January 17
Today is the day many market watchers have been yearning for: The iPhone has gone on sale on China Mobile, the world's largest mobile phone carrier. Tim Cook was on hand with China Mobile's Chairman Xi Guohua at the company's flagship store in Beijing for the launch and handed out several iPhones to the first buyers. During the event, many asked Cook about future Apple plans, including about the rumored 6-inch iPhone and iPhones with flexible displays. Cook replied: "We never talk about future things. We have great things we are working on, but we want to keep them secret. That way you will be so much happier when you see it." In other news this morning: The district court judge in the Apple e-book trial filed an opinion and order explaining her reasoning for denying Apple's request to have the external antitrust compliance monitor removed. The judge said the primary reason were because "many of the arguments which Apple once made (and is no longer pursuing) have been waived or are moot." Many owners of Early 2011 MacBook Pro models with discrete AMD GPUs are seeing system crashes and hardware failures. The thread on Apple support forums detailing the issue has more than 2,348 replies. AppleInsider spotlighted the problem and reached out to Apple for comment, which has not responded. Apple has seeded a new beta of OS X 10.9.2. The new beta adds the ability to block people on iMessage and FaceTime -- just like you can in iOS 7. An new Android app called doubleTwist AirPlay Recorder allows people to record songs directly from iTunes Radio. Once the app is installed on an Android phone, users select it as an AirPlay device in iTunes on their desktop, and the app then captures iTunes Radio songs which are being streamed over the local WiFi network. Starbucks has updated its iOS app with "additional performance enhancements and safeguards." The update comes days after the Starbucks app was busted for saving user's information in plain text. [Image credit: @eyoonCNBC]
International HD news roundup
Here at Engadget HD, we'd prefer not to just focus on high-def happenings in the US of A. Thus, we round up the best of the best from the international front each week and present it here, bundled together in a single, easy to digest list. If something went down in your corner of the globe over the past seven days, let the rest of the world know it in comments. 'Til next week, Doei! Read - AFN's planned move to high definition will mean costlier decoders Read - Bell TV Uses New Satellite for HDTV Services (Canada) Read - ASTRO commenced HD services in Malaysia Read - VTC selects AsiaSat 5 for DTH service in Vietnam Read - ZON TVCabo goes for HD Read - Welho Preps 2010 3DTV Launch (Finland)
HD channel expansion roundup
Once upon a time, a smattering of new HD channels in one major metropolitan area was a huge deal. Nowadays, it's almost expected that one area or another will experience some HD expansion each week. In order to keep things nice and tidy around here, we deliver high-def expansions, market expansions and anything else dealing with HD channel growth right here. If we missed an area that you're familiar with, drop us a line in comments so everyone can catch up. The more the merrier, we say! (Links continue after the break) Read - Dish Network Adds 2 More HD Markets Read - Comcast Boosts HD, Switches Basic Cable Channels to Digital (Michigan) Read - Pace Connects Set-Tops With Rovi Read - Valley TeleCom offers HD TV channels Read - AT&T U-verse Arrives in Mobile Read - DIRECTV Delivers Local HD Programming to Customers in Lexington, Ky. Read - Comcast Boosts HD To 100+ Channels In Western Wayne (Michigan) Read - Outdoor Channel Broadens Distribution in Oregon and Washington Markets Through Comcast... Read - Mega TV Is the First Spanish-Language Network to Launch Its High Definition Service on the Comcast System in South Florida
