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Upate: Partnership on AI has now confirmed that Apple has joined. The Partnership on AI was formed in September, with part of its brief to make recommendations in the areas of ethics, fairness, inclusivity, privacy and trustworthiness – all values you might expect Apple to fully endorse. But while the company didn’t sign up at the time, it appears this is about to change … Bloomberg reports that Apple has now agreed to join the non-profit....

Apple has officially set a date for when it will require corporate employees in the United States to return to offices. As first reported by Bloomberg, Apple has announced that corporate employees will be required to return to the office on April 11. This is not the first time Apple has announced its plans to return to in-person work. The company has announced and subsequently delayed its timeline four times so far, each time due to pushback from employees as well as changes in COVID-19 case numbers....

Apple has previewed the new iMac Pro ahead of its release later this year. Apple calls this machine its ‘most powerful Mac ever’ and includes a space gray casing. That description means the new all-in-one machine will rival the current Mac Pro which will be replaced with a modular version in the future. The new iMac Pro will feature four Thunderbolt 3 ports with support for up to two 5K displays, a 1080p FaceTime camera, realtime 3D rendering, and much more....

Apple has just published a notice to developers on its dev center that all new apps submitted after February 1st, 2014 must be built with the latest version of Xcode 5 and “must be optimized for iOS 7.” Essentially any apps built using old versions of Xcode or possibly even just maintaining an iOS 6-style interface in Apple’s brave new world of software will be rejected from the store. This goes for updates, too, meaning even the ambiguous “bug fixes and improvements” that seem to be ever-present in the App Store will now require an iOS 7 update just to be published in February....

Apple today announced a new docuseries on basketball’s up-and-coming star Makur Maker will debut on Friday, April 22nd exclusively on Apple TV+. The Makur Maker docuseries is entitled ‘The Long Game: Bigger Than Basketball’ and all five parts will debut on April 22nd. That is the same premiere date as Apple’s four-part upcoming docuseries on Magic Johnson, They Call Me Magic, giving subscribers a double bill for basketball fans on that date....

Apple is rolling out updates to its iWork suite of applications, bringing new features to Pages, Numbers, and Keynote. The updates bring new integration with Apple’s Schoolwork application, new shared spreadsheet features in Numbers, and more. Here are the full release notes for Pages version 11.1, which is rolling out now on iPhone, iPad, and Mac: Link to web pages, email addresses, and phone numbers from objects such as shapes, lines, images, drawings, or text boxes Teachers using the Schoolwork app to assign activities in Pages can now view student progress, including word count and time spent (iPad and iPhone only) Keynote version 11....

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=osRNt8ai9FM] The World Ends with You: Solo Remix: Square Enix has reworked the title originally released for Nintendo DS in 2007 with an all new combat system, HD art, and new music. The $18 iOS port (and $19 iPad version) has made a few changes that hardcore fans of the game are not too pleased with, but overall first impressions have been positive. CNN app for iPad version 1.7: CNN’s iPad app, in addition to its official iPhone app, was updated today with the ability to follow the 2012 presidential race through CNN’s U....

Sony has given its Music Unlimited app a big overhaul. The app has been modernized with iOS 7’s aesthetics, featuring sharp imagery and flat iconography. The team have also dedicated significant time in improving performance, to minimize the sluggishness customers complained about in previous versions. You can also edit playlists right from the app, a critical improvement for a music app. Speaking of multimedia, Yahoo Screen has added music videos from Vevo (the leading music video service, also seen on Apple TV)....

Aqara Matter support has been added to two of its existing hubs, which upgrades them to the HomeKit-compatible connectivity standard for smart home devices. Updating the hubs will provide Matter connectivity to much of the company’s product range, including sensors, switches, and plugs. The company says that Matter compatibility is coming first to two hubs, the Aqara M1S and M2 … Background Matter is an open-source secure connectivity standard for smart home devices....

Apple Store iPhone 14 lines seen earlier were reminiscent of pre-pandemic days, as customers waited to collect the latest phone or Apple Watch. Apple has now shared some official photos of customers getting their hands on the new devices. The company has so far shown Apple Store photos from Singapore and China, and typically adds photos from stores in other time zones as they open … Apple optimistically says that people can shop for the new devices at their local Apple Store....

According to a new report from Chinese news outlet the Economic Daily News, Apple is “aggressively” working to expand its presence in Southeast Asia. The company has been working with Foxconn on the efforts, the report explains, further strengthening the partnership between the two parties. Specifically, Apple is expected to begin constructing two new research and development centers in 2017. One is said to be located in Indonesia, while the other is destined for Shenzhen, China, Apple announced in October....

Apple’s new Shortcuts feature launched as part of iOS 12 and has since gained swift popularity among users and developers. One aspect of Shortcuts that has gone largely undiscussed is what it means for accessibility. MacStories is out today with a closer look at the role of Shortcuts in accessibility, with Apple’s Senior Director of Global Accessibility Policy & Initiatives also weighing in. Writing for MacStories, Steven Aquino explains that the focus of Shortcuts on speed and accessibility, combined with how it’s able to consolidate multi-step tasks into one process, is huge for those with certain cognitive or physical motor delays:...

If you’ve decided to sign on to Apple TV+, one of the original series you probably had your eye on to check out was See. The science fiction drama starring Jason Momoa is about a dystopian future whereby a virus has wiped out all of humanity’s ability to see. Completely blind, they live a new life where they must build, hunt, fight, and survive. The story begins when a chief’s wife gives birth to twins who, it is discovered, have the sense of sight....

The 2.29MB configuration utility lets you set up configuration profiles and install provisioning profiles as well as applications, and lets you get information about iPhones, including their console logs. Configuration profiles are XML files that contain device security policies, VPN configuration information, Wi-Fi settings, APN settings, Exchange account settings, mail settings, and certificates that permit iPhone and iPod touch to work with your enterprise systems. full account of what this software does is available within this PDF document....

Apple has unveiled a new 9.7-inch iPad with Apple Pencil support at its education event. Prior to today, Apple Pencil support has been limited to Pro models of the iPad. Details below: Apple previously offered a 9.7-inch version of the original iPad Pro which worked with Apple Pencil, but it was replaced a year and a half later with the 10.5-inch model. The new education-focused model brings support without the Pro label (and price)....

(Screenshot of The Lorax from Trailers App – Click to enlarge to full size) Apple updated its Movie Trailers.app today to Retina graphics, which you will immediately notice bring videos to a higher 1080P quality. This would have been a good app to showcase when launching the Retina display. Either way, the video quality is impressive to the point that it makes the app addictive. Apple highlights Retina-ready apps for new iPad (9to5mac....

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmkYHZpel3Y&f] Real Racing 3: EA officially announced the next title in its Real Racing series, which is now being handled by developer Firemonkeys (recent merger of Firemint and and IronMonkey), and also released the rather impressive announcement trailer above featuring pre-alpha footage. More info is coming later this year but there is additional Porsche footage on the game’s Facebook page if you can’t wait. A little bit of what to expect from Real Racing 3 below:...

Update: The Apple Store app is back with the only notable change being some currency adjustments. Ahead of new product releases, Apple will take its online store down for a few hours to changeover banners and products, as well as to build hype. This evening, the Apple Store app for iOS has gone offline without warning, though the Apple.com store remains online. However, it’s unlikely that this is for product announcements…...

The Communications Workers of America (CWA) is now supporting union organizing efforts at Apple’s Grand Central Station Store in New York City. Together with Fruit Stand Workers United (FSWU), the CWA and Workers United will help the flagship store in its ongoing work to form a union. In a press release, it was stated that Workers United is also the union behind the Starbucks Workers United campaign. The Grand Central store began the unionization process in April, branding the initiative as “Fruit Stand Workers United”....

Since the launch of OS X Mavericks last week, many users have been reporting widespread, various, consistent issues within Apple’s bundled Mail application. Many of the issues have mainly affected users of Google’s Gmail email service, and some of the issues have to do with receiving messages, sorting messages into folders, and deleting messages. Apple is aware of the issue and is testing a fix for the problem… An updated Mail application has been seeded to both Apple employees internally and testers within Apple’s customer AppleSeed program....