Apple on Friday updated the Acknowledgements page for its mapping software, adding a handful of new data partners. The page gives credit to TomTom, Yelp and other companies that provide Apple Maps with imagery and information.
Among the new partnerships added this week are E-WEGO, a business listing firm, navigational ad expert NavAds, and Yellow Pages. TripAdvisor and Booking.com are also now listed as official partners, following a report earlier this year.
Units of the staggeringly-expensive Apple Watch Edition began shipping this week, and some customers have already started receiving their orders. Yesterday, a user over in this MacRumors forum thread posted a series of photos showing his new golden wearable.
The photos are of a 42mm Yellow Gold Edition with black Sports band. The box looks similar to that of the Stainless Steel Apple Watch, but is dark blue (almost purple) in color and includes a matching cleaning cloth. Check out the images below to see more differences.
It may be hard to believe, but Pac-Man is celebrating its 35th birthday this weekend. The popular pellet-gobbling arcade game made its debut 35 years ago on May 22, 1980 (it launched first in Japan, and then Midway brought it to the US in October).
Unsurprisingly, Bandai Namco is going above and beyond to honor the anniversary. It's hosting a party in Chicago with the creator of Pac-Man Professor Toru Iwatani tonight, and it's pushed out an update and discount for the iOS port of the game.
Apple this week launched a new promotion in the App Store called 'Amazing Apps & Games for $0.99.' The curated section highlights 12 great apps and 13 popular games, which normally run between $2 and $6, that are currently on sale for less than a buck.
Among the offerings are the endless snowboarder Alto's Revenge, and premium creative apps like Procreate Pocket and Enlight. Many of these have already been mentioned in our App Recap, but we thought the deals were worth compiling into a single post.
There is a new book coming out later this month entitled "Losing the Signal," and it explores the rise and fall of BlackBerry. The Canadian-based handset maker that once sat atop the smartphone market has spent the last two years fighting off bankruptcy.
On Friday The Wall Street Journal published an interesting excerpt from the book, which tells the story of the iPhone's debut in 2007 and how it impacted folks inside BlackBerry. It's clear that they had no idea it was coming, or what they could do to respond.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office published a new Apple patent application on Thursday entitled "Spatially interactive computing device." The filing describes an advanced display system that can output both 2D and 3D images at the same time, without the need for specialized glasses.
More specifically, the display uses multiple layers to provide differing output to a viewer’s left and right eyes, as well as adaptive eye-tracking courtesy of a built-in image sensor. These technologies allow the display to produce 3D images to one user, or multiple images to different users, simultaneously.
Apple posted an update on Thursday for its Apple Store app, bringing the app to version 3.3. The update brings about at least two significant improvements: support for Touch ID and Apple ID two-step verification.
Folks checking their Apple Watch orders frequently using the app will be happy to hear that you no longer have to input your password. You can now use Touch ID to access orders, Easy Pay receipts and reservations.
Apple has just named “Magnetized” its App of the Week for this week. This means that from now through next Thursday, you’ll be able to download the abstract physics puzzler for both iPhone and iPad for free—an awesome savings of $2.99.
In Magnetized, you are tasked with navigating a moving ball through a series of neon mazes using magnetic control points. It sounds simple at first, but the mazes get increasingly difficult, forcing you to try and master momentum and direction.
In honor of Global Accessibility Awareness Day, Apple has begun highlighting apps with specialized accessibility features. The curated section features apps such as Instapaper, which offers text-to-speech, and Workflow, which can automate complex tasks, and is featured on the front page of the App Store.
Apple has long been praised for the accessibility features in iOS. Grammy Award-winning artist, who has been blind for most of his life, famously took time out of a concert to thank Steve Jobs and company for their work, saying "there’s nothing on the iPhone or the iPad that you can do, that I can’t do."
You may soon be able to pickup new Apple Watch bands in-store, according to 9to5Mac. Citing an internal memo sent out to employees, the outlet reports that Apple Stores will soon start carrying limited quantities of bands for the just-released wearable.
Before you get too excited, the message indicates that a majority of the stock will be made up of Sport bands. Also, it sounds like much of the inventory is reserved for customers looking to swap their pre-bundled bands, and replacing worn out demo bands.
Russia is going to be among the first countries where Apple will launch its revamped Beats Music service, according to Billboard. The publication points to a report from local outlet Vedomosti, who cites several sources claiming that the company is in negotiations with Russian record labels regarding the service.
The fact that Apple is eyeing Russia for an early streaming music launch isn't alone significant—its slowing economy and struggling ruble have deterred other services like Spotify from entering the countries—but what is interesting is that it sounds like the company is planning on a quick international rollout.
Automatic, the makers of the adapter that allows cars to talk to smartphones, debuted new hardware and third-party app support on Tuesday. The new hardware comes in the form of a second-gen Automatic adapter that supports real-time data, and third-party app support in the form of a new SDK.
More specifically, the new adapter supports dual Bluetooth data streams: one to the Automatic mobile app and one to a third-party app. This allows both apps to receive data from the adapter simultaneously over an encrypted Bluetooth connection. It also features built-in GPS, and MFi certification.