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After expanding several Siri features to 9 new countries earlier today, Apple this evening has unveiled a redesigned Siri website. The site gives a specific breakdown of what Apple’s voice assistant is capable of, as well as specific examples of questions it can answer. Along the middle of the site are categories of Siri’s capabilities, including: At A Glance, Staying in Touch, Getting Organized, Sports, Entertainment, Out and About, Getting Answers, and Tips and Tricks....

Apple is working on a big change to how its Siri voice assistant works. While you currently have to say “Hey Siri” to activate the assistant hands-free, that may not be the case for much longer. Bloomberg reports today that Apple engineers are working to drop the “Hey” part of the phrase, so you’d only have to say “Siri” followed by a command to activate the assistant… In the latest edition of his Power On newsletter, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says that this is “a technical challenge that requires a significant amount of AI training and underlying engineering work....

Apple today has released the Apple Watch Series 3 with LTE support in a handful of new countries. With today’s additions, the smartwatch is now available in 16 different countries with LTE capabilities… Starting today, Apple users in Sweden, India, Denmark, and Taiwan can now purchase the Apple Watch Series 3 with LTE support. Apple originally made this announcement last month, with availability commencing today. In Taiwan, five carriers are offering LTE support for the Apple Watch, including Taiwan Mobile, FarEsTone3, Telecom3, Chunghwa, and APT3....

Apple applies for and gets awarded patents for everything under the sun, and patents don’t always translate to shipped features. Disclaimer aside, the iPhone maker was recently awarded a patent for a potentially useful feature that could help you avoid areas with weak cellular coverage when planning your trip with navigation in Maps. The USPTO awarded Apple with a patent (via Gigaom) to analyze routes between two locations and “employ an algorithm that considers wireless network signal strengths along those routes....

DigiTimes has the story, reporting, “Notebook research and development personnel working at Dell and HP are assigned mainly to test the performance and reliability of new parts and components. This work overlaps that performed by R&D staff at ODM makers and so is an area vendors can afford to cut back on without impacting new product development, the sources noted,” Wu and Shen report. This news also means both Dell and HP (in common with most in the industry, bar Apple) are happy to pass on much of the development of new product across to their OEM manufacturers....

To help aspiring and experienced podcasters grow their audiences and create more engaging shows, Apple has developed a toolkit of Marketing Best Practices for Apple Podcasts. The guidelines arrive alongside the release of watchOS 5, which includes an all-new Podcasts app. In June, Apple announced that Podcasts was now offering over 555,000 active programs in over 100 languages. At the time, the show Stuff You Should Know became the first show on the platform to cross 500 million streams/downloads....

Apple has just started seeding out the sixth beta for tvOS 10 today to all current testers and developers. To update, check through the Software Update section on the Apple TV, or grab the Configuration Profile from Apple’s Developer center if you’d like to install it for the first time. Apple’s newest tvOS software introduces Dark Mode, Single Sign-on, HomeKit, and YouTube search to the latest Apple TV. tvOS 10 beta 3 brought in more language support with Siri, and some improved functionality within the Music app....

Last month, Apple partnered with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson for an extended advertisement highlighting Siri. The ad was called “Dominate the Day” and showcased using Siri at various points to speed up basic tasks. Today, Apple has uploaded a series of shorter advertisements from its partnership with The Rock… The new ads are essentially smaller, chopped up video from the larger ad. These new ads, however, will likely be deployed across social media networks and aired on television where time is more constrained....

Oops. Apple’s done a boo-boo in Taiwan last week, when the company’s online store accidentally listed the all-new Mac mini at a price one-third the usual. Naturally, the deep discount (from NT$47,000 to an astonishingly good value NT$19,900) attracted plenty of attention, with numerous customers making orders (well, at that price?). But Apple — or so it seems — is welshing on the deal, and is said to have, “unilaterally changed their orders back to the original price of NT$47,000....

In honor of the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, Apple today has shared a closer look at its upcoming For All Mankind Apple TV+ original series. The new video offers a look at the series itself, and includes interviews with creator Ron Moore and others. The video was posted to the Apple TV YouTube channel, which was created earlier this year. In the video, For All Mankind creators Ron Moore, Matt Wolpert, and Ben Nedivi talk about the Apollo 11 mission and the goal of their new series....

Apple has created a dedicated channel for The Beatles in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the first U.S. appearance of the 60s pop group on The Ed Sullivan Show. The show footage is available “for a limited time,” and you can listen to the U.S. albums which are also available on iTunes for the first time … While Apple was able to secure iTunes deals with five major music labels when it launched in 2003, it was not able to reach agreement with The Beatles’ record company, Apple Records, because the two had been involved in a long-running dispute over ownership of the Apple brand....

Apple today has officially unveiled the new in-ear AirPods Pro. They will begin shipping on October 30th for $249. Apple says the AirPods Pro feature “Active Noise Cancellation and superior, immersive sound in an all-new lightweight, in-ear design.” To achieve Active Noise Cancellation on the new AirPods Pro, Apple is using two microphones combined with “advanced software” to continuously adapt to background noise. There’s also Transparency mode, which allows users to “simultaneously listen to music while still hearing the environment around them....

Apple today released a statement warning investors and customers that iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max availability is very constrained following recent factory closures due to recent COVID-19 restrictions in the region. This means Apple is likely lowering shipment estimates for the critical holiday period, potentially impacting revenue figures for the quarter, and customers should expect longer wait times when ordering a new iPhone 14 Pro model at the moment....

Apple is set to report their quarterly earning results tomorrow and while they still don’t break out Apple Watch numbers specifically, analyst firm UBS is positive on their estimates for the Apple Watch business this year. UBS believes Apple will ship around 24 million Apple Watches across 2018 which includes Series 1, Series 3, and some Series 4 sales. UBS expects the Apple Watch market to grow even more next year, however, with a 40% year-over-year increase to about 33 million watches sold across the year predicted....

According to the event’s page on Apple website, the keynote will take place on June 11, at 10 AM PT – you need an Apple Developer account and to be registered for the event to actually see the whole schedule (it must be some big secret for Apple, since no outsiders are allowed to see it…). And since tickets were sold out in a couple of hours, you’re definitely not going to buy one now....

In a video this week to retail store employees, AppleCare chief Tara Bunch has outlined some changes coming to the company’s AppleCare+ program for the iPhone and iPad. In the video, Bunch and an associate in charge of AppleCare+ say that the service will now become simpler to add for international customers. For example, if a Hong Kong resident travels to the United States, purchases an iPhone or iPad, and adds AppleCare+ to their purchase, their new device will become automatically registered with AppleCare+ in their home country…...

Apple today announced a new accessibility service called SignTime coming to Apple Store and Apple Support customers. The service will connect people with AppleCare and Retail Customer Care teams using sign language. SignTime launches May 20. Apple says SignTime will be available in American Sign Language (ASL) in the US, British Sign Language (BSL) in the UK, or French Sign Language (LSF) in France. Sessions connect within a web browser....

Our sources nailed it. What is being referred to as Apple Store 2.0 internally has officially launched Down Under. Australia is close to a day ahead of us in the United States. Just like we told you, paper signs and information cards have been swiped from Apple’s wood tables and have been replaced with super-interactive iPad 2s. These specially equipped tablets provide a simple and easy-use-view into the product right beside it....

You can now make purchases from the Apple Store with just a few taps on your wrist. The latest version of the Apple Store app for Apple Watch lets you actually purchase accessories that you’ve favorited from your account. You can favorite items from Apple’s website or the Apple Store app for iPhone and iPad. Payments are made using Apple Pay right on the Apple Watch. The new feature doesn’t apply to Macs and other high dollar products; purchasing from the favorites section is limited to just accessories for now....

A series of weekend Apple Store closures in Italy are being implemented as the country struggles to contain the spread of the coronavirus COVID-19. Italy has suffered the second-highest number of deaths after China. Three Italian Apple Stores were closed last weekend, and another one has been announced for the upcoming weekend after a government decree … AppleInsider spotted tweets by setteBIT. We learned yesterday that Apple has been installing hand sanitizers at store entrances, as well as heavily restricting staff travel....