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32GB iPhone 6 now available in UK via EE network

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 24, 2017

A 32-gigabyte version of iPhone 6 has quietly launched in the United Kingdom on the EE network with a 24-month contract, available only in Space Grey. Apple stopped selling 16/64/128GB iPhone 6 smartphones in September 2016.

In recent months, however, the Cupertino giant quietly re-launched the phone in China, Taiwan and a few European countries in a never-before-available 32-gigabyte capacity.

Given that iPhone 6 originally debuted in 16, 64 and 128-gigabyte versions, this new 32-gigabyte storage tier is likely Apple’s solution targeting budget shoppers. Aside from the previously unavailable storage capacity, the 32GB iPhone 6 comes with iOS 10 versus iOS 8 that was pre-installed on the original iPhone 6 models.

Amazon is currently offering the device via its online store in India.

Released back in 2014, iPhone 6 was Apple's first larger-screened smartphone and as such proved a massive upgrade opportunity for the Cupertino firm. The device has a 4.7-inch LCD screen, runs Apple's in-house designed A8 chip and includes an eight-megapixel iSight camera out the back and a rather unimpressive 1.2-megapixel FaceTime selfie camera out the front.

Download Apple’s new Swift app development curriculum from iBooks Store

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 24, 2017

Apple on Wednesday announced a new app development curriculum targeting U.S. high school and college students who are eager to learn the secrets of mobile app development with the Swift programming language.

Titled “App Development with Swift”, the new curriculum is now available as a free download from iBooks Store. It's an extension of Apple’s existing K-12 Everyone Can Code curricula, which has been downloaded 430,000 times.

Noting that the app economy and software development are among the fastest-growing job sectors in America, Apple CEO Tim Cook says his company is thrilled to be providing educators and students with the tools to learn coding.

“Community colleges play a critical role in helping students achieve their dreams, and we hope these courses will open doors for people of all ages and backgrounds to pursue what they love,” said Cook.

The full-year course focuses on app design and development with Swift, the company's modern programming language. It includes various Swift Playgrounds exercises and Xcode tutorials, as well as homework projects, a teacher guide with solutions, grading advice and more.

Starting this fall, the following community college systems serving nearly 500,000 students nationwide will teach the new curriculum, among others:

Alabama Community College System Columbus State Community College Harrisburg Area Community College Houston Community College Mesa Community College San Mateo Community College District

Houston Community College will be opening an iOS Coding and Design School to teach the new curriculum.

“We are thrilled Apple is offering this incredible opportunity to advance student learning, which will especially help us bridge the gap in computer science training for minorities and women,” said Houston Community College Chancellor Cesar Maldonado.

“We can’t wait to see what these students will do and already have local businesses offering mentoring and internship opportunities.”

Apple says that select high schools will teach the curriculum as well. At many campuses, local businesses will also offer students mentoring and internships, added the firm.

More than a thousand schools across the US plan to teach with Everyone Can Code materials in the fall. Feel free to check out Apple’s existing free coding materials on iBooks Store.

Customize the Camera app with SmartCameraShutter

Anthony Bouchard ∙ May 24, 2017

If you’re looking for new ways to customize the Camera app experience on your iPhone or iPad, then check out a new free jailbreak tweak called SmartCameraShutter by CydiaGeek.

This tweak offers a handful of options for chaging the look and feel of the Camera app’s user interface. Complete with both aesthetic and functional mods, SmartCameraShutter might be worth installing if the stock Camera app experience isn’t cutting it for you.

LaunchInSafeMode lets you selectively launch apps without being affected by tweaks

Anthony Bouchard ∙ May 24, 2017

If you install jailbreak tweaks that modify certain apps in particular, then you might find a new free release dubbed LaunchInSafeMode by iOS developer inoahdev useful for troubleshooting when things stop working properly.

This tweak lets you launch individual apps into a “safe mode”-like state in which it launches without the effects of other jailbreak tweaks. In other words, it lets you see if a problem you’re experiencing is caused by a jailbreak tweak or something else.

Pin important notes at the top of the Notes app with Thumbtack

Anthony Bouchard ∙ May 24, 2017

Your iPhone comes equipped with a Notes app right out of the box so you can write things down without forgetting them. On the other hand, people tend to jot down a large number of things, and this makes it hard to differentiate between regular and important notes.

One of the features the stock Notes app lacks is the ability to pin the most important notes so you can tell them apart, and that’s precisely that a new free jailbreak tweak dubbed Thumbtack by iOS developer Evil Penguin aims to fix.

Apple testing next-generation 5G technology

Cody Lee ∙ May 23, 2017

Apple is testing next-generation 5G wireless technologies, according to documents recently made public by the FCC. Business Insider points to the filing, in which the iPhone maker asks the Commission for an experimental license to use a new wireless technology called 'millimeter wave.'

Apple Inc. seeks to assess cellular link performance in direct path and multipath environments between base station transmitters and receivers using this spectrum. These assessments will provide engineering data relevant to the operation of devices on wireless carriers’ future 5G networks.

Apple intends to transmit from two fixed points located at Apple-controlled facilities in Cupertino and Milpitas, CA. These transmissions will be consistent with the parameters and equipment identified in Apple’s accompanying Form 442, and will include the use of a horn antenna with a half-power beamwidth of 20 degrees in the E-plane and H-plane and a downtilt between 20 - 25 degrees. Apple anticipates that it will conduct its experiments for a period not to exceed 12 months.

Interestingly enough, one of the bands Apple intends to test (28GHz) has been allocated for earth-to-space transmissions. It was reported last month that Apple is recruiting satellite experts for a secret hardware team. The company is also currently in a legal battle with wireless chip supplier Qualcomm.

Here in the US, major carriers like Verizon and AT&T have pledged to start rolling out their 5G networks to major markets later this year. T-Mobile and Sprint both hope to have 5G towers up and running by 2020.

Source: Business Insider

iPhone 7 and 7 Plus get a stable jailbreak on iOS 10.1.1 with extra_recipe+yaluX

Joaquim Barbosa ∙ Updated June 2, 2017

Developer xerub has just released an updated version of Ian Beer's mach_portal exploit, entitled extra_recipe. This new iteration should resolve the stability issues which have been plaguing iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus users on the iOS 10.1.1 jailbreak.

Yalu creator Luca Todesco has in turn picked up the extra_recipe code and paired it with his Yalu jailbreak, compiling the project into a downloadable .ipa to create extra_recipe+yaluX, which effectively replaces his previous yalu+mach_portal tool.

Not to be outdone by Instagram, Snapchat unveils custom Stories of its own

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 23, 2017

Just a few hours following Instagram's announcement regarding all-new location and hashtag-based Stories in the app's Explore tab, rival Snapchat just announced custom Stories of its own. Now there's a new way to create Stories in Snapchat 10.9 for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.

You can create a custom Story in a specific location or with your cherry-picked friends. “It's perfect for a trip, a birthday party or a new baby Story just for the family,” notes Snap.

Tap the Create Story icon in the top-right corner of the Stories screen to get started.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohN8cv7nUmA

Song: “Sunroof” by courtship

Of course, you have the tools at your disposal to control who can add to your Story and who can view it. And by using geofencing, you can attach your Story to a specific location. Your custom Story disappears automatically if no one has contributed to it in the past 24 hours.

Aside from custom Stories, this edition of Snapchat puts your own Bitmoji selfie inside your Snapcode. To change the mood of your Bitmoji, just tap the Edit Bitmoji command.

Grab Snapchat for free on App Store.

Upcoming HomeKit support will let you voice-control your Ikea smart lighting

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 23, 2017

Furniture, kitchen appliances and home accessories giant Ikea announced on Tuesday that its inexpensive Trådfri smart lighting system will soon gain support for HomeKit, Apple's smart home management platform.

German publication iPhone-ticker.de reports that Ikea is readying a software update to its Trådfri app to make its smart lighting products controllable not only via Apple's HomeKit system, but also through Amazon's Echo and Google's Home smart speakers.

The new firmware update should arrive in the summer.

HomeKit will let you use Siri to voice-control Ikea's smart bulbs and incorporate HomeKit-enabled Ikea products in your custom scenes through Apple's Home app on iPhone and iPad.

The official Trådfri app, seen below, allows different family members to easily customize the light and atmosphere however they want, depending on their activity (i.e. choose a light for early mornings, another for late evenings and a third for cooking or working at home).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5blA3EgaDpI

Announced in March 2017, Ikea's extensive smart lighting lineup sports plug-and-play simplicity at significantly lower prices than similar systems from the likes of Philips and others.

Starting at $12 a piece, for instance, Ikea's smart bulbs cost half as much as Philips' Hue range at $30 per white bulb (goes all the way up to $50 per bulb if you want color). With Ikea's app, you can dim, turn off, turn on and switch your Ikea smart bulbs from warm to cold light.

The full range of smart lighting systems from Ikea includes LED bulbs, dimming lights, illuminated panels, a motion sensor kit and a gateway device. It was unclear at the time of this writing whether or not Ikea is planning on eventually making its whole range of smart products for the connected home compatible with the HomeKit platform, which would be splendid.

Apple promotes human resources chief Denise Young Smith to VP of Diversity and Inclusion

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 17, 2018

Apple has created a new Vice President role for its Diversity and Inclusion team. Denise Young Smith, who was Apple's Vice President of Worldwide Human Resources, will now head diversity programs for the Cupertino giant, according to her updated LinkedIn profile.

For more than a decade, Denise sat on the leadership team that built Apple’s retail organization. Before retail, the executive ran human resources for Apple’s Worldwide Operations and Corporate Employee Relations teams.

Prior to joining Apple in 1997, she offered talent, HR and management consulting expertise to early-stage businesses including Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers portfolio companies.

Apple's holistic view of diversity looks beyond the usual measurements to include the varied perspectives of its employees, according to its Inclusion & Diversity webpage.

“Diversity is more than any one gender, race or ethnicity,” the webpage quotes Young Smith as saying. “It’s richly representative of all people, all backgrounds, and all perspectives. It is the entire human experience.”

Young Smith earned a bachelor’s degree in Communications and a master’s degree in Organizational Management from Grambling State University in Louisiana.

Her new position means Apple will be without a permanent Vice President of Human Resources. As per sources, Luca Maestri, the company’s Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, will fill that role temporarily.

iTunes carrier billing expands to France and Turkey

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated March 20, 2018

If you live in France or Turkey and don't have a credit or debit card, you can now buy apps, media and Apple Music subscriptions from Apple's content stores and have those purchases billed to a monthly mobile phone bill from your carrier.

iTunes carrier billing in France is currently supported for Bouygues Telecom customers.

In Turkey, the feature works with Paycell.

According to Apple, carrier billing is now available in the following countries:

Austria (Drei) Belgium (Pay by Mobile) France (Bouygues Telecom) Germany (Vodafone, O2 and partner brands) Italy (Three) Japan (KDDI, Softbank and NTT DOCOMO) Norway (Telenor) Russia (Beeline and Megafon) Saudi Arabai (Zain) Singapore (M1 Limited) Switzerland (Swisscom) Taiwan (APTG, FET, Chunghwa Telecom, Taiwan Mobile and T Star) Turkey (Turkcell) United Arab Emirates (Etisalat and Du)

Our step-by-step tutorial explains the process of setting up carrier billing as a payment method for App Store, iTunes Store and iBooks Store purchases across your devices.

Instagram rolls out location and hashtag Stories in Explore tab

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 23, 2017

Photo-sharing service Instagram today announced that all-new location and hashtag-enabled Stories are now available through the app's Explore tab. These newly added Stories features require Instagram version 10.22 for iPhone and iPad, available at no charge via App Store.

“Now you can see what’s happening around you and find stories related to your interests,” says Instagram. Location-based Stories appear in a new Story ring at the top of Explore.

Additionally, you can now search for any location around the world.

When you search for a location, you'll see a Story ring for that place at the top of the location page. Location and hashtag-enabled Stories appear at the top of the Explore tab only if their creators have used location stickers or a new hashtag sticker.

“We’re also beginning to introduce hashtag stories on Explore to help you find Stories related to your interests,” added the company. “When you search for a hashtag, you may see a Story ring at the top of the page filled with Stories using that hashtag.”

If your location or hashtag-enabled Story was included in the larger Story on Instagram, you’ll see a line at the top of your Stories viewer list which tells you how many people saw your Story as part of the larger Story. To use a location or hashtag sticker without your Story appearing on the Explore tab, tap the “X” on your Stories viewer list.

Instagram's previous update brought out Snapchat-like face filters for your selfies, an eraser brush and a new hashtag sticker. Location stories on Explore are available on iOS and Android as part of Instagram version 10.22 in App Store and Google Play.

Hashtag stories will be rolling out over the coming weeks.

You can learn more about these features in Instagram's Help Center.

Instagram for iOS is a free download from App Store.