Lane guidance, a tremendously useful feature added to Apple Maps with iOS 11, has expanded to five additional countries following its initial launch in September.
Germany
German paper calls out Apple for paying between 1 and 7% tax on overseas income
Süddeutsche Zeitung, the biggest newspaper in Germany, on Wednesday published an open letter to Apple's boss Tim Cook in which its editor-in-chief Wolfgang Krach claims that the Cupertino giant pays between 1 and 7% tax on its overseas income.
iPhone 8 pre-orders could start on September 15, shipments on September 22
The ultimate in tech bling, Apple's iPhone 8, is expected to be announced at the September 12 Steve Jobs Theater media event and now two German carriers claim that the company will be collecting pre-orders for the device beginning Friday, September 15.
Amazon and Apple end Audible exclusivity deal to avoid antitrust probe by German government
Quietly announced two weeks ago following discussions with both the European Commission and the German Federal Cartel Office, Apple and Amazon have decided to end their deal which made Amazon-owned Audible an exclusive provider of audiobooks for iTunes.
According to a Reuters report Thursday, the move puts an end to antitrust complaints by the German government and is likely to boost competition.
The agreement had been in place for over a decade, since 2003.
Amazon Music Unlimited expands to UK, Germany and Austria
After making its U.S. debut last month, Amazon's $9.99 per month music-streaming service is set to expand to the United Kingdom, Germany and Austria beginning Monday, announced the online retail giant. The service was live in the United Kingdom at post time, with roll-outs in Germany and Austria following later today.
Earlier this morning, rival Google released revamped Play Music apps with machine learning-driven recommendations based on user location, activity and time of day.
Apple Pay could launch in Germany soon
Apple Pay could launch in its fifth European country soon. As first discovered by German blog iPhone-ticker.de, Apple's support document highlighting participating banks and card issuers for Apple Pay in Europe appears to have accidentally highlighted Germany on a world map, suggesting the next possible expansion for the iPhone-driven service.
Pokémon Go is now available in Italy, Spain, Portugal, UK and Germany
Nintendo's tremendously successful Pokémon Go is expanding in more countries across Europe. In addition to releasing on the App Store in Germany and the United Kingdom a few days ago, the augmented-reality game which requires people to go out hunting for pokémon is now available for download in Italy, Spain and Portugal.
German court rules against Apple in OpenTV patent case
AÂ Â German court on Wednesday ruled against Apple in a case over video streaming patents, reports Reuters. The court found the iPhone maker in infringement of digital content streaming patents owned by OpenTV.
OpenTV first sued Apple in 2014, alleging that various products infringe its patents, including the iPhone and iPad. It has also gone after other major technology companies as part of an ongoing IP licensing campaign.
iPhone and iPad prices increase slightly in Germany to comply with new private copyright levies
Apple has slightly raised prices of select iPhone and iPad models sold through its webstore in Germany in order to comply with new private copyright levies, as first reported by Apfelpage.de.
The iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus and iPhone 5s now each cost 5 euros more versus their December 31, 2015, prices on the Apple Online Store. iPad models such as the iPad Pro, iPad Air 2, iPad Air, iPad mini 4 and iPad mini 2 have increased in price by 8 euros for each model.
Personal Pickup now available in France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain and Sweden
Personal Pickup, a handy option which makes it easy for customers to order an Apple product online and have it delivered a few hours later to a specific retail store for pickup, is now available in the following major markets within the European Union: France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden, as first reported by German blog Macerkopf.de.
Apple Maps Flyover coverage expands to new locales in France, Germany, Japan and more
Apple has added a bunch of new cities and landmarks around the world to its three-dimensional Flyover views in Maps. The new locales in France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Japan, Australia, Mexico and the United States are now available in Apple Maps on both iOS and OS X platforms.
Germany’s highest appeals court invalidates Apple’s slide-to-unlock patents
Germany’s highest appeals court has ruled that Apple's famous slide-to-unlock patents are invalid, VentureBeat reported Tuesday.
The ruling basically reaffirmed a 2013 decision in which the lower Federal Patent Court rejected Apple's claims on the grounds of 'prior art'. The German courts discovered that Apple's slide-to-patent involves a similar technique as that featured on a smartphone released before the iPhone by a Swedish company called Neonode.