Chuck Peddle, the engineer who spearheaded the creation of the microprocessor that powered the Apple II and many other early personal computers, passed away of pancreatic cancer earlier this month, at age 82. His story is recounted in an obituary in The New York Times.
Lunar Animation - the British company behind the visual effects in the end credits of the new film Jumanji: The Next Level - has provided an inside look at how the new Mac Pro and Pro Display XDR factored into their production, and how they netted some big performance and usability improvements over the iMac Pro they started with.
Apple and Google have both removed the ToTok app from distribution following a New York Times investigation claiming that it is a spying tool used by the government of the United Arab Emirates.
Apple news making the editor's desk this week include first impressions of Apple's new Mac Pro and Pro Display XDR, Apple's joint effort with Amazon, Google and others to solve smart home interoperability issues, and our 2019 Holiday Gift Guide.
"The Most Functional Keyboard for iPad Pro" is a bold claim. Does it hold up? iDownloadBlog video editor Harris Craycraft gives his opinion on this insider's look at the Chesona H1 Pro, a new keyboard case shipping this month.
If you're looking for some great weekend reading, get over to Wired to read a profile on Cliff Stoll. Whether you know the name or not, it's a fascinating read.
Through New Year's Eve, you can get a six month subscription to Apple Music for free when using Apple's Shazam app. Apple's running a special promotion for Shazam users in the US, UK, and Canada - and they're even giving an incentive for folks with lapsed Apple Music memberships. Here's how the deal works.
Shazam is the app that identifies what music you're hearing. It's great for figuring out which tracks are playing in movies, advertising or when you're out and about and you hear a song you really love. Apple announced plans to acquire Shazam in 2017. Since then the software's been updated with new features and even went ad-free.
As reported by Macworld UK, this isn't the first time Apple's used Shazam to promote Apple Music - in fact, this promotion is similar to one that Apple offered over Black Friday. And just like then, if you've had an Apple Music subscription but you let it lapse, you can resubscribe and get three free months.
How to get six free months of Apple Music1) Download and install Shazam from the App Store.
2) Tap on Shazam to open it.
3) Tap on the Library icon in the upper left hand corner.
4) Look in Recent Shazams for "Limited Time Only: Get up to 6 months free of Apple Music."
5) Tap on the Try Now button and sign up.
6) Tap on Try It Free. Tap on Confirm.
Bear in mind that you won't see the promotion if you're already an Apple Music subscriber, so if you're currently using Apple Music and you don't see this in your Recent Shazams library or anywhere else in the app, it's because Apple already knows you subscribe to Apple Music.
There's a loophole, however: If you cancel your subscription and then fire up Shazam, you should see the promotion, and then be eligible for the three-month restart deal. It's worth a try if you'd like to save yourself almost $30.
After the promotional period, Apple Music returns to its regular price: $9.99 per month, or $14.99 per month for a family subscription.
So did you get the free deal? Is it incentive enough for you to restart Apple Music after letting lapse? Sound off in the comments and let me know what you think.
An unusual email missive from SmugMug and Flickr CEO Don MacAskill is raising eyebrows, because MacAskill is asking image hosting service Flickr's Pro subscribers to get the word out about a new discount program, and MacAskill says the future of the service may depend on it.
Need more internal storage on your new Mac Pro already? Look no further than Other World Computing (OWC). The company has announced the Accelsior 4M2 SSD, its fastest-ever PCI Express-based Solid State Drive (SSD). It works in the new Mac Pro and the 2012 and 2010 models too, with configurations priced starting at $479.99 for 1 TB.
Apple has announced the expansion of the scope and the payouts of its security bounty program. After first making the program invite-only, it now encourages all security researchers to participate. What's more, researchers that discover heretofore unknown exploits in Apple operating systems and services can earn up to $1.5 million, a huge bump from the previous $200,000 cap.
Apple's newly announced Connected Home over IP initiative - made with Amazon, Google, the Zigbee Alliance and others in tow - is a grand attempt to unify a really broken environment for smart home appliances. Apple's participation will help HomeKit gain a leg up in the smart home wars going forward, and should also help devices from other makers be more secure.
Westpac is the second biggest bank in Australia and last of the four largest banking institutions in the country not to support Apple Pay. That changes in 2020, according to a new report in The Sydney Morning Herald.