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Updated with Apple statement, below. Upmarket London department store Selfridges has closed its Apple Watch store-within-a-store. The dedicated area was part of its Wonder Room, a room devoted to watches and jewellery and described by the store as ‘a unique destination that plays host to the world’s most desirable brands.’ Selfridges told us that the last day of trading was yesterday, with its other staff only informed on the day by email....

Apple released the first Apple Watch Ultra a few months ago, and even though the product is focused on users who do extreme sports, many customers have been opting for it due to its larger screen and better battery life. According to Haitong Intl Tech Research analyst Jeff Pu, Apple has plans to bring Micro LED technology to the Apple Watch Ultra with an even larger display in the future....

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xn6vv16Vq_I&feature=player_embedded] As always, we’ll update this list throughout the day with notable app news… Wild Blood: Gameloft has officially released the first full length gameplay trailer for its upcoming ‘Wild Blood’ title. The third person action game, Gameloft’s first powered by Unreal Engine, will feature a single-player campaign, as well as co-op and arena modes. VentureBeat has first impressions from an iPad demo: AutoCad WS version 1.5.2: A nice update for Autodesk’s free AutoCAD WS iPad app brings support for the new iPad’s Retina display in addition to a number of bug fixes....

Apple is preparing an all-new MacBook Air for 2015 with a radically new design that jettisons standards such as full-sized USB ports, MagSafe connectors, and SD card slots in favor of a markedly thinner and lighter body with a higher-resolution display. Sources within Apple, who have used internal prototype versions of the upcoming computer, have provided in-depth details about the machine, and our exclusive artist renditions of the revamped MacBook Air provide the first close look at Apple’s first major step in mobile Mac computing since the Retina MacBook Pro launch in 2012....

It was recently reported that Apple is investing a billion dollars in producing original movie and TV content. However, audiences shouldn’t expect Apple to deliver the next Game of Thrones or The Walking Dead, as the company has expressed that it’s only interested in making family-friendly content. Thanks to Bloomberg, we now have details on exactly what kind of TV Apple is interested in producing. The company is reportedly looking for family-friendly material that’s appropriate for anyone with access to an Apple Store....

Developers lucky enough to attend WWDC in previous years will know that Apple’s Company Store in the McEnery Convention Center is always a popular spot. Each year, the pop-up shop sells a variety of limited edition clothing and souvenirs only available to attendees. This year, Apple looks to make it easier for busy developers to get in, get the items they want, and get back to the conference. Update: Store visitors report that while self-checkout is active and functions as expected, store staff are directing customers to purchase with assistance instead....

Apple’s new sapphire crystal component producer GT-Advanced announced its Q4 2013 earnings results yesterday, and in addition to talking about the past quarter, the company shared some details about its future and its well-publicized partnership with Apple. We previously indicated, based on research into publicly available shipping documents, that we expect Apple and GT-Advanced to be developing sapphire crystal displays for a future iPhone model. The companies are likely to be able to produce over 100 million displays this year…...

After making it available yesterday, Apple this evening has seemingly removed the watchOS 5 developer beta from its website. The company doesn’t elaborate as to the specifics of the removal, though it acknowledges the unavailability on its website… On its developer portal, Apple says that seed 1 of watchOS 5 is “temporarily unavailable.” The company seems to suggest that the update process rendered the Apple Watch of some unusable. Apple says it is investigating an issue that occurs while updating and invites affected user to contact AppleCare....

Apple is slowly rolling out a new customer service initiative across its retail stores called ‘table selling.’ With the new strategy, Apple Store employees are assigned a product table where they are responsible for working with groups of customers with different needs, albeit the same device, according to people familiar with the strategy. Previously, customers were individually helped on a first-come, first-serve basis and organized by an “iQueue” system that often resulted in lengthy wait times and customers walking out....

Following reports in March from Chinese news websites that claimed Apple planned to integrate Baidu as a search engine in iOS, Bloomberg reported today that sources indicated the feature could be announced as soon as next week. Apple is set to kick off its Worldwide Developers Conference on June 11: Bloomberg noted that Baidu is currently capturing roughly 80 percent of the search business in China by revenue, compared to just 16....

Apple has pushed two new channels to the Apple TV today, bringing sports and drama content from two new sources. The first new channel is CBS Sports, which allows users to watch free clips from a host of different sports, including the NFL, MLB, NBA, college sports, and more. The second new channel is USA Now, which features content from the USA network. Unlike CBS Sports, this one will require a cable provider login to access most content....

Update: Jony Ive is retaking managerial roles from his deputies which is reason for the change we reported below. Apple has updated its Leadership webpage today to reflect the retirement of general counsel Bruce Sewell, as well as the departure of VP of inclusion and diversity Denise Young Smith. Both of these executive changes had been previously announced. Back in October, Apple announced that general counsel and SVP Bruce Sewell would retire by the end of the year, with former Honeywell general counsel Katherine Adams taking over....

There is a great deal of potential for creative expression with this update. So much so that Instagram used the word “express” four times in two paragraphs! Think they’re trying to get us to express ourselves? Archive Instagram Story Feature Once you’ve updated to the latest version after your story expires it will automatically be saved on Instagram servers — your Instagram Stories Archive. You will be the only one with access....

The future of legacy application data and the cloud – report found that only 35% of organizations store more than 50% of their legacy app data on cloud services. Yet more than 80% say their priority is to move their data within 12 months or sooner. Those plans, however, are made uncertain by three major issues: 60% said data compliance was a big concern with changing data regulations in California and in Europe; security is a huge concern for 55%, especially with the rise in ransomware and the large fines if hackers gain access to data, and about 50% said they had uncertainty over budgets for cloud-based IT plus there is a significant lack of IT talent in this area....

On the same day as the rocky iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus pre-order, Apple is reporting on its iCloud System Status site that a small percentage of users are experiencing issues with iCloud Mail and iCloud Notes. According to the detailed timeline, the issues began about 45 minutes ago and are ongoing for 0.05% of users. August proved a rough month for iCloud uptime, with major issues reported by Apple on multiple occasions, although the current outage seems minor so far....

Update: watchOS 8 beta 8 is now available to public beta testers as well. As we near the final release of watchOS 8, Apple is seeding today watchOS 8 beta 8 to all developers. Here’s everything new with the upcoming Apple Watch operating system. Today’s build is 19R5342a. Public beta testers will have to wait a bit longer until beta 8 is available to them as well. watchOS 8 beta test program started on June 30 with beta 2....

Google has once more posted its annual Year in Search video, covering topics as diverse as the refugee crisis, the blue/gold dress, Cecil the lion, female engineers, the discovery of water on Mars, gay marriage, Star Wars and more. It also posted the top ten search terms for a range of categories, with Apple taking three out of the top four slots in consumer tech … As last year, the latest iPhone model – the 6 last year and 6S this year – was the top search, while the Apple Watch climbed from #8 to #3 and the iPad Pro took 4th place....

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Ug6XAw6hzaw] A new website recently launched by the W3C, in partnership with a number of the biggest tech companies, aims to be the ultimate resource for developers looking for information on HTML5, CSS3, and other open-web standards. Accessible at webplatform.org, the new website includes documents, forums, chat, and tutorials, and it will act as a Wiki of sorts in an attempt to “become a comprehensive and authoritative source for web developer documentation....

Apple TV+ has scored four Golden Globe Awards nominations this year for its hit comedy series Ted Lasso and the animated film Wolfwalkers, as well as the film On The Rocks. The 78th Annual Golden Globe Awards nominations were announced this morning, and this marks the second year in a row that Apple TV+ has received nominations. Update: Apple has published a new press release highlighting its Golden Globe nominations....

Apple today held another special event to introduce new Macs, and although this was the only topic of the event, the company quietly launched some new colors for its Apple Watch bands. The newly introduced Solo Loop and the traditional Sport Band were updated with three new colors. The update wasn’t mentioned during today’s presentation. Instead, Apple only updated its website with the new colors. These include a new bright orange called Kumquat, a shade of blue called Northern Blue that resembles the new iPhone 12 Pro color, and a dark purple named Plum....