Apple has commented on the recent chatter regarding Rite Aid and CVS disabling Apple Pay over the weekend, telling BusinessInsider that it's working to bring on as many merchant partners as it can for its newly launched mobile payment service.
Late last week, reports began popping up that Rite Aid stores were disabling support for Apple Pay and other NFC-based payment services, and over the weekend, CVS followed suit. The two retailers confirmed the moves today via press statements.
Facebook announced a new update for its mobile clients today, bringing the iOS app to version 16.1. The update brings about a new workflow that will make it easier for users to post multiple photos to the popular social network from their smartphones and tablets.
Using the Facebook app, you can now choose the exact order of photos when uploading them via iPhone or Android. Once you've selected the images, you'll see a preview of how the "story" (interesting that Facebook calls it that) will appear after its been posted.
Apple today added a new section to its website detailing its efforts regarding President Barack Obama's ConnectED education program. As part of its participation in the program, the company will be providing hardware, services and infrastructure to 114 schools across the United States.
According to the site, Apple will give each student at the selected schools an iPad, and every teacher and administrator will receive both an iPad and Mac. They'll also be providing an Apple TV for each classroom, which can be used for displaying lesson content on larger displays via AirPlay.
If you're looking for a little entertainment this weekend in the form of a new iOS game, you might check out some of Rubicon's titles. The UK-based indie developer has discounted nearly all of its iOS library down to free for the next two days.
This includes the massively popular turn-based strategy "Great War Game" series, as well as other games like Zombies: Dead in 20, Fruit Blitz and Yachty Deluxe. They normally range in cost from $1 to $3, so we're talking $10+ in savings here.
Sprint will soon start offering a 12-month lease option through its iPhone for Life program, the carrier said in a press release on Friday. The new option will allow qualified customers to get a new iPhone every year, without having to make a significant lump sum payment.
Previously, iPhone for Life subscribers could get an iPhone 6 for as little as $20 per month, with the option to trade it in for a new model after two years. With this new 12-month offering, customers will pay $30 per month for an iPhone 6 (16GB) or $35 for an iPhone 6 Plus.
Apple's just-released OS X Yosemite is thus far seeing slightly better adoption rates than last year's Mavericks launch. New stats from the research team at Chitika ad network show Yosemite was installed on approximately 12.8% of Macs in North America in the first week.
Additionally, Chitika notes that OS X Yosemite accounted for more than 1% of all North American Web traffic from OS X users on launch day. That's more than double the first-day adoption rates of Apple's prior Mac OS updates, OS X Mavericks and OS X Mountain Lion.
Just a heads up for folks looking to get a Wi-Fi + Cellular version of one of the new iPads. It was discovered on Friday that the awesome new Apple SIM feature, which is supposed to allow you to switch seamlessly between compatible carriers, doesn't play well with all providers.
More specifically, MacRumors points to an Apple support page that says when you activate your new iPad with AT&T, the carrier dedicates its Apple SIM to their network only. So if you wanted to move the tablet to another provider, you'd have to purchase and install a new SIM.
Apple has named the popular mini truck puzzler RGB Express its app of the week for this week. This means that from now through next Thursday, you’ll be able to pick up the title for free in the App Store—a solid $3 discount from its normal price tag.
For those who haven't played RGB Express, the game is simple. Players are tasked with drawing routes for their trucks in a way that ensures every house receives the correct package. There are over 200 levels, which of course get progressively tougher.
Apple on Wednesday defeated a civil suit put forth by GPNE, a non-practicing patent holding company in Honolulu, that was seeking nearly $100 million in damages. The company alleged that three iPhone and iPad models infringed on its pager technology patents.
A jury in the US District Court of San Jose disagreed, and rejected all of patent infringement claims. Apple applauded the verdict, calling GPNE a "patent troll," a term given to companies who acquire patents for the sole purpose of collecting licensing and lawsuit fees.
Vemedio has released version 5 of its popular Instacast podcast client this morning, and it is absolutely packed with new features and improvements. Perhaps the most obvious change is the new design, which gives the app a much more modern look.
And as you'd hope, the new UI looks great on the new iPhones, as it includes full support for their larger displays. The app also includes support for iOS 8 extensions, which allows you to share episode show notes, links and more via the iOS share sheet.
Tim Cook paid a visit to Foxconn's iPhone manufacturing plant in Zhengzhou today, one of what could be many stops during his China trip. The Apple CEO tweeted out "Great to meet talented like Zhang Fan, who helps make iPhone 6 in Zhengzhou," along with a photo.
Cook's face is a familiar one at many Asian supplier factories, thanks to his long tenure as Apple's operations chief and the company's recent commitment to comply with Fair Labor Associations guidelines. In fact, he visited the Zhengzhou plant as recently as spring 2012.
As the new iPads begin arriving in stores and on doorsteps, iFixit has gotten its hands on an iPad Air 2 and performed its usual teardown ritual. Upon popping the tablet open, the team discovered a more powerful processor, 2GB of RAM, and a smaller battery.
The processor is of course the new A8X, which is similar to the A8 in the iPhone 6 but with improved graphics. The RAM is comprised of two 1GB Elpida F8164A3MD sticks placed on either side of the A8X, and the battery is of the 27.62 Whr; 7,340 mAh variety.