Not to be left out on ‘Back to the Future Day‘, Apple too is joining in on the Internet’s celebrations for reaching the day, October 21, 2015, in which fictional character Marty McFly time travelled to in 1989’s “Back to the Future Part II”. What better way to officially celebrate being in the future than to have our pocket-sized electronic assistant updated with a few witty remarks related to the occasion....
Apple has announced that it will hold is Q2 2013 financial results earnings call on Tuesday, April 23rd. As usual, the call will be streamed on Apple’s website at 2PM Pacific/ 5 PM Eastern time… This past quarter, Apple released a 128GB version of the fourth-generation iPad and dropped prices on some of the MacBook Pro with Retina display and MacBook Air lines. Additionally, the company rolled out cellular versions of the latest iPad and iPad mini and the iPhone 5 in China....
Business Insider featured an interesting article today with some soundbits and tidbits from Hollywood agents working with Apple, and sources inside the content arm of Apple TV+. Despite easily being the most resourced company financially, the Insider article suggests that Apple TV+ content division is understaffed, or perhaps more generously experiencing growing pains, leading to rollout issues of new content. The report says that Apple’s TV infrastructure is generally under-developed with various issues cropping up, including disruptive last-minute marketing plans such as not having press materials ready in time for a new show launch....
The final trailer for James Wan’s Aquaman has been released, with Jason Momoa’s Arthur Curry facing his destiny to become the King of Atlantis - and perhaps even something more. The film marks the first DC Extended Universe release since last year’s Justice League, so fan anticipation is naturally high. Though it’s set after the events of Justice League, Aquaman will also be an origin story - exploring Arthur’s early life as the child of the Atlantean Queen Atlanna (Nicole Kidman) and a mortal man (Temuera Morrison)....
Aquaman is the latest installment of the DC Extended Universe and Warner Bros.’ big blockbuster of the holiday season, but how much did it cost to make? Anyone who’s been following the franchise since its inception in 2013’s Man of Steel knows that it’s been a very bumpy ride for the property. In the beginning, mixed critical and audience receptions were offset by strong box office performances, but things eventually caught up with WB on Justice League....
Tim Cook was interviewed today on journalist Kara Swisher’s Sway podcast. Apple’s CEO talked about his admiration for Tesla and its lead in electric vehicles and noted that he “probably” won’t be at Apple in 10 years’ time. Another thing Cook talked about was AR and its role in Apple’s future. Although Cook doesn’t talk about future products, he has been mentioning AR quite often in public appearances. Swisher asked about the “glow and behold” quote on WWDC 2021’s invitation, but Tim Cook wouldn’t elaborate on whether that had any underlying meaning....
Just over a week following the previous build, Apple has seeded OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.4 build 12E47 to registered Mac developers. The update is available via the Mac App Store for developers and should be on the Mac Developer Center shortly. Apple, once again, tells developers to focus on WiFi performance, Safari, and Graphics Drivers… We previously noted that 10.8.4 includes support for Mac computers with 802.11ac WiFi chips....
As Apple released iOS 14.2 to the public last week, the company today stopped signing iOS 14.1 and iPadOS 14.1. That means users who have updated their devices to iOS 14.2 can no longer downgrade to iOS 14.1. iOS 14.1 was introduced in October with bug fixes and also initial support for iPhone 12 devices, including compatibility with 10-bit HDR videos in the Photos app. iOS 14.2 came two weeks later variety of changes and new features, including new emoji as well as new wallpapers....
Ahead of next Friday’s iPhone and Apple Watch launches, Apple is rolling out fresh new artwork and eye-popping displays to its retail stores. Vivid graphic panels promote the upcoming iPhone XS, iPhone XR, and Apple Watch Series 4, while feature bays showcasing Apple services, apps, and third-party accessories are headlined by unique new molded iconography. Apple swaps out store artwork seasonally, typically highlighting recent products or significant campaigns like Shot on iPhone and artwork created on the iPad....
Apple will resume sales of iPhone 7 and iPhone 8 devices in Germany, after a ruling in December forced the company to halt sales of the two devices for infringing on Qualcomm patents. The legal disputes between Apple and Qualcomm have long dragged out and gone in favor of both sides along the way. While Qualcomm saw a major victory in the court ruling from December, a second lawsuit from January was thrown out in Germany, being described by a patent expert as a ‘nuisance’....
Apple is continuing to slowly expand its autonomous vehicle testing program in California. According to new data published by the California Department of Motor Vehicles, Apple now has 10 new drivers registered to its crew. The number of self-driving vehicles, however, remains the same at 69 vehicles. Apple’s self-driving car efforts in California have waned and waxed over the years, as chronicled by macReports. The number of drivers has changed many times over the years, with Apple’s team at one point nearing 200 crew members before dropping off....
Apple is speaking out against the Environmental Protection Agency’s plan to repeal efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, Reuters reports. In a new filing, Apple cites “increased investment uncertainty” for the company and its supplier partners if the Clean Power Plan is reversed. The Clean Power Plan was originally proposed by the previous EPA under President Obama back in 2014. President Trump signed an executive order to review the plan, however, and later decided the Clean Power Plan would not be implemented....
Just like with the iPhone, developers who have their apps ready at launch should have a substantial advantage of getting attention drawn to their apps. The iPad tablet, announced at the very end of the month along with the new SDK, should increase app production even further in February. Some things to consider with this report however: Apple only launched the iPad on January 27th…4 days before the end of the month and the SDK after....
Apple’s secrecy when it comes to product development is one of the defining characteristics of the company. But a former Apple HR exec said that it came at a high price: engineer burnout and frustration. Ultimately, he argues, it stifled innovation within the company. Chris Deaver, who was a senior HR business partner at Apple from 2015 to 2019, says that the company tried an experiment with the development of AirPods Pro, to see whether it was possible to create a more collaborative working environment while still ensuring secrecy …...
Apple has updated its System Status webpage today to note that a variety of different iCloud services are suffering from downtime. According to Apple, services including Game Center, iCloud Account & Sign in, and iCloud Keychain are experiencing issues currently. Apple doesn’t go into detail about what issues users are facing when trying to access these services. Reports on Twitter indicate that many users are totally unable to access these services....
As speculated, it seems that the “popping” speakers problem that some 16-inch MacBook Pro users are experiencing is a software-related rather than hardware. Apple has reportedly confirmed in an internal document that it is working on a fix for the issue, which will be available via a future software update. As reported earlier this week, a growing number of 16-inch MacBook Pro users are complaining about a “popping” sound that comes from their speakers during certain audio playback....
Following its latest seed of OS X Mavericks 10.9.3 beta (build 13D17) to developers, Apple has just pushed out a newer pre-release version of the 10.9.3 beta to employees alongside a pre-release version of iTunes 11.1.6 beta. The new pre-release of OS X 10.9.3 (build 13D19) is available to employees and doesn’t introduce any major changes since the latest beta build seeded to developers. The last beta release asked developers to focus on testing graphics and audio drivers....
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNxDd3l0lEU] Apple senior VP of marketing Phil Schiller was so concerned about Samsung’s Next Big Thing ad campaign, in which the company poked fun at Apple customers, that he emailed Tim Cook to suggest a change of ad agency to fight back – according to a claim by Samsung lawyer Jon Quinn. The Verge reports that Quinn made the claim in his opening arguments in the patent trial in which Apple is accusing Samsung of violating five of its iOS-related patents....
Angela Ahrendts, soon to be ex-CEO of Burberry, is to become a dame today according to the Daily Mail. The retail magnate will become a Dame of the British Empire in a ‘low key’ ceremony according to the British paper, for her contributions to business. The Queen will not be in attendance, apparently. The government’s business secretary Vince Cable will instead lead proceedings. According to the Daily Mail, Cable will congratulate Ahrendts for her restoration of the Burberry brand....
Ahead of tomorrow’s launch of iOS 7, Apple has taken the wraps off of a brand-new iCloud website. The new website went into beta earlier this year, and it is completely redesigned to match the simpler and more animated aesthetic found in the new iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch operating system. The new site is includes all-new applications, including redesigned versions of Mail, Calendar, Reminders, Notes, and Find my iPhone. The new website also includes iWork for iCloud, Apple’s new free suite of online productivity apps (Pages, Numbers, and Keynote)....
