Folks in France, Italy and Spain can now sign up for an upgraded AppleCare+ plan to ensure they get a replacement iPhone for a small fee in case of device theft or loss.
AppleCare+ theft and loss insurance launches in France, Italy and Spain
Spain
Apple Pencil features like converting handwriting to text now available in five new languages
Apple Pencil features like turning your handwriting into typed text and interactive links with data detectors are now available more broadly with support for five new languages.
Apple Maps expands its transit directions coverage across Europe
Apple Maps now offers transit directions in major cities across France, Spain, Germany and possibly a few other European countries.
HomePod arrives in Spain and Mexico, could expand to Italy in the near future
Keeping true to its promise, Apple today launched its HomePod smart speaker in Spain and Mexico. Additionally, we've learned that Apple is internally testing Italian support for Siri on HomePod, indicating the accessory could soon arrive in Italy.
HomePod is scheduled to arrive in Spain and Mexico on October 26
According to both Apple's online store and the company's press release announcing the new iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max smartphones, its Siri-powered HomePod wireless speaker is scheduled to launch next in Spain and Mexico on Friday, October 26.
iTunes carrier billing expands to UK’s EE, Germany’s Telekom, Orange in France & Spain
Joining standard payment methods accepted on Apple's content stores—such as Paypal, plastic money and iTunes credit—customers in some European countries can now have their app and media purchases charged to a monthly mobile phone bill from their carrier.
Apple Pay support in Spain extended to CaixaBank and ImaginBank
Apple's mobile payment service in Spain has gained support for credit cards issued by the local bank CaixaBank and its mobile banking brand, called ImaginBank.
Apple Music’s 3 month trial has gone from free to paid in some countries
If you live in Australia, Spain or Switzerland, you can no longer try out Apple Music for three months for free. In those countries, Apple Music's three-month trial now requires a small payment. In Australia, three months of Apple Music is now AUD 0.99. In Spain, Apple Music trial is now a € 0,99 value and in Switzerland it comes in at SFR 0.99.
The trial was still free in those countries as of May 14, according to The Verge. In an email statement to the publication, Apple said: “Pricing and promotions for Apple Music vary from country to country.”
AppleInsider thinks the move may have something to do with Apple trying to recover some of those costs with paid trial periods.
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In all other countries, Apple Music's three-month trial remains available at no charge.
Apple Music lunched in 2015 with a fairly generous three-month free trial allowing customers to try the service before paying a monthly subscription.
It's interesting that rival Spotify also does not offer a free trial in Australia, Spain and Switzerland, charging the same fee for three months of its service in those markets.
On the other hand, Spotify's trial costs 99 cents elsewhere, too, including in the US and Canada.
32GB iPhone 6 now available in Spain, Italy, Turkey, Germany, Austria, Denmark & elsewhere
Apple's limited-edition iPhone 6 with 32 gigabytes of storage, dubbed “iPhone 6 (2017),” is now available in Spain via the German retailer Media Markt for €469, which works out to about $500, with a two-year warranty and a 14-day return policy.
In comparison, Apple sells the 32GB iPhone 6s in Spain though its online store for €659, or about $720.
The handset is available in other markets, too, including Chile, Germany, Denmark, Austria, Italy, Turkey (aka the worst place to buy an iPhone) and possibly elsewhere.
iPhone 6 originally launched in 16, 64 and 128-gigabyte versions and this new storage tier appears to be Apple's option for budget shoppers in select markets.
The 32GB iPhone 6 was originally relaunched in January in China.
In early-March, Taiwan Mobile began promoting the 32GB iPhone 6 in gold casing as the cheapest iPhone to be offered on its network, for the equivalent of $435 unlocked.
In mid-March, it arrived in Belarus, a landlocked country in Eastern Europe bordered by Russia, via the i-Store retail chain, priced at the equivalent of $522 (999 Belarusian rubles).
Amazon is also offering the device via its online store in India.
The 32GB iPhone 6 (2017) is identical to the original iPhone 6 which debuted in 2014, complete with a 4.7-inch 1,334-by-750 pixel resolution screen, a 1.2-megapixel camera out the front, an eight-megapixel shooter out the back, Apple’s 64-bit A8 processor with 1GB of RAM and more.
Aside from the previously unavailable storage SKU, the phone comes with iOS 10 versus iOS 8 which came pre-installed on Apple's original iPhone 6 models.
Apple Pay launches in Spain
Apple Pay today launched in Spain, the thirteenth market for the mobile payments service since its inception more than two years ago. According to Apple's website and the official Apple Pay support document, the service is available in the 46 million people country with launch support for debit and credit cards from Banco de Santander, Carrefour, Ticket Restaurant and American Express.
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.
“Trade Up with Installments” iPhone program expands to France, Italy and Spain
MacRumors is reporting that Apple's trade-up program for the iPhone, dubbed “Trade Up with Installments”, has expanded to an additional three countries today: France, Italy and Spain.
Customers in these countries can now trade in a used iPhone, Android or Windows Phone smartphone and put the value of that device towards a new iPhone based on a 24-month payment plan.