In celebration of Chinese New Year, Apple has launched a new section on its website in select Asian countries with exclusive wallpapers. The images feature contemporary versions of traditional "Nianhua" folk art, and they were created by 5 young Chinese artists using Mac and iOS devices.
New photos and a video have surfaced online showing an early-stage prototype of the original iPhone with a click wheel interface. Noted tipster Sonny Dickson is behind the leak, who says Apple called the operating system "Acorn OS."
As you can see in the images, Acorn OS's interface closely resembled that of the iPod, with a touchscreen click wheel and a small gray menu. You can also see phone functions like Dial and SMS, and features like Contacts and Notes.
Tim Cook and other executives received less revenue in 2016, as Apple failed to hit its revenue and profit goals for the year. The Wall Street Journal points to a regulatory filing, which says the miss kept the leaders from hitting some cash incentives.
Apple said its annual sales were $215.6B, 3.7% below its target of $223.6B, and its operating income of $60B was 0.5% short of their $60.3B target. As a result, Cook received $8.75 million in 2016 compensation, down from $10.3 million in 2015.
Apple on Thursday updated its Developer App Store Support page to show that the iOS 10 adoption rate is now at 76%. This means that 76% of all active devices are now running iOS 10.0 or higher, a nice jump since late November when the adoption rate was at 63%.
Also worth noting is that 18% of current active devices are running iOS 9, and just 6% of devices are on iOS 8 or lower. That's a drop for both numbers since the last report, which showed 29% of devices running on iOS 9 and some 8% running on an earlier version of iOS.
If you have an Apple Watch and an affinity for vintage computer hardware, you're going to love the W3 Stand from Elago. It's a short, stumpy stand that's built to make your Apple Watch look like an old-school Macintosh.
The stand is made of scratch-resistant silicone, and it conveniently holds your Apple Watch horizontally in Nightstand Mode. This allows you to view the current time, date, charging status and Calendar events at a glance.
The next iPhone may feature Tap to Wake, fast charging and other new features, reports Forbes. The outlet spoke to noted tipster Sonny Dickson, who laid out what he expects from Apple's next handset.
First Dickson says the new iPhone will include a "Tristar 3, Hydra" chip, which manages the charging port and supports fast charging. He doesn't offer up any additional details, though, and notes that just because it supports the tech, doesn't mean Apple will utilize it.
Hulu has struck a deal with CBS for its upcoming streaming service, reports The Wall Street Journal. The agreement includes live streaming and on-demand content from CBS Corp.'s various channels at a rumored rate of ~$3/month per subscriber.
Hulu Chief Executive Mike Hopkins announced the agreement at an investor conference in Las Vegas on Wednesday, saying the live-streaming service will cost "under" $40 and include Hulu's current video-on-demand library that starts at $8/month.
Apple on Thursday announced that the App Store broke records on the first of January. The company says New Year's Day was the Store's single busiest day ever with nearly $240 million in revenue.
The day put a nice cap on a record-breaking holiday season and year. Apple says App Store purchases topped $3 billion in December alone, and developers were paid more than $20 billion in 2016.
Apple is planning to announce its earnings results for Q1 of [fiscal] 2017 on January 31. The company on Wednesday updated its investor website to show that it will be hosting a conference call to discuss the quarter that Tuesday at 2:00pm PT.
Apple's first quarter is of course its holiday quarter, which covers the popular 3-month holiday shopping period between October and December. And as usual, all eyes will be on the company to see if it was able to solve its recent growth problems.
Apple removed news apps created by The New York Times from the App Store in China late last month. The Times itself says that it spoke with the iPhone-maker, and it was told that the removal was in response to a request from Chinese authorities.
The Chinese government began blocking NYT websites in 2012, following a series of articles on the wealth amassed by the family of then-prime minister Wen Jiabao. This latest move limits access to one of its few remaining channels in the country.
Rumored Apple partner Energous says its truly wireless charging tech is nearly market-ready. In a phone call ahead of CES, the company's CEO Steve Rizzone told The Verge their wireless charging transmitters, capable charging devices wirelessly from several feet away, will begin shipping by the end of 2017.
As you may recall, the company made a similar claim at CES 2015, but Rizzone says their plans changed after it signed a "key strategic partnership" following the convention. The deal saw Energous refocus its efforts on miniaturizing the tech, and gave its partner the right to be the first to ship it in its products.
Finder for Airpods is a new iPhone app that aims to ease user concerns of losing their new wireless earbuds. Using your AirPod's wireless signature, the app can search for your missing earbuds and even tell you if you are getting closer or further away.
How does it work? Well once you've noticed you've misplaced an AirPod, just fire up the Finder app on your iPhone, close the lid of your charging case and move about the area you suspect you lost it. The app's meter will tell you when or if you get close.
Update: Apple has pulled this app from the App Store. The developer explains "they didn't find anything wrong with the app itself, but rather they they didn't like the 'concept' of people finding their Airpods and hence was deemed 'not appropriate for the App Store." Check out LightBlue Explorer in the App Store for similar functionality.