Foxconn setting up Shenzhen facility to help Apple create gadget prototypes

iPhone manufacturer Foxconn Technology Group is building a new research and development facility in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen to help Apple build prototypes of new products, Nikkei Asian Review reported Wednesday. According to two people familiar with the matter, plans call for the new facility to be located next to Apple's upcoming research and development center in Shenzhen.

CBS Sports Radio now available on Apple Music

CBS today announced that CBS Sports Radio is now available via a dedicated 24/7 radio channel for Apple Music members. This means that Apple Music subscribers can tune in to CBS's popular sports channel via the Music app on their iPhone, iPad, iPod touch or Apple TV, no desktop using iTunes for Mac and Windows, via the official Apple Music app for Android and on Sonos speakers.

iPhone 8 said to use fixed flex 5.8″ screen with embedded sensors

Apple's next iPhone is expected to adopt a 5.8-inch wraparound AMOLED display that utilizes a fixed flex screen like Samsung's ill-fated Galaxy Note 7.

That's according to a note Cowen and Company analyst Timothy Arcuri issued to investors on Wednesday, a copy of which was obtained by AppleInsider. Arcuri refers to the so-called tenth anniversary iPhone as “iPhone X”.

The analyst claims the 4.7-inch iPhone 7s and 5.5-inch iPhone 7s Plus models may switch from LCDs to AMOLEDs, too, if Samsung Display is able to supply enough panels to Apple.

Qualcomm under fire from FTC over allegedly forcing Apple to use its baseband modem chips

Now we know why Apple has made the controversial decision to dual-source baseband modem chips for iPhone 7 from both Intel and Qualcomm. Tuesday, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) charged Qualcomm with monopolizing baseband modems used in smartphones, saying the firm's leveraged its position to force Apple to use its baseband chips in exchange for lower patent royalties.

Apple’s new TV app doesn’t like ripped DVDs, here are some workarounds

Apple's new TV app on iOS 10.2 struggles to play videos that have been ripped from DVDs and other sources and loaded into iTunes for Mac. It’s unclear whether this is a simple bug, but that didn't stop people from flocking to Apple’s Support Communities forum to express their disdain for the app.

The TV app has replaced the old and mostly useless Videos app.

Thankfully, dedicated apps let you easily play non-iOS-friendly media on iPhone, like FireCore's versatile Infuse video player. Handbrake for Mac, which recently exited beta after 13 years, packs in a comprehensive set of tools for easy video conversion with handy presets for turning ripped DVDs into an iPhone-compatible format.

Vine app officially becomes Vine Camera

Vine for iPhone was updated today with a cool dark icon, a new name and same old features, making good on Twitter's promise to sunset the service and morph it into a dedicated mobile camera software.

Rechristened as Vine Camera and bearing version number 6.0, the app is focused on the tools that let you shoot and edit six-second videos shareable on Twitter, where they now loop. You can also add captions, save videos to your iPhone's Camera roll and more.

Vine Camera is available free of charge from App Store and requires iOS 9.0 or later.

Original iPhone no longer receiving cellular service on AT&T network

Your original iPhone won't work on AT&T anymore, as first noted by The Verge. That's because the carrier shut down its sluggish 2G network on January 1, 2017 which the handset relies on for phone calls and cellular data.

According to AT&T itself, they've decided to phase out the GSM 850/1900 MHz 2G network to free up resources and spectrum bandwidth for future rollouts of more advanced wireless solutions, like 5G.

Apple could slash prices of 13″ MacBook Pros without Touch Bar, replacing MacBook Air

KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has called for updated MacBook and MacBook Pro notebooks this year with Intel's latest Kaby Lake processors and a 32-gigabyte RAM option on 15-inch Pros. According to a Chinese-language Economic Daily News report cited by DigiTimes, Apple is likely to slash prices of 13-inch Pros without Touch Bar to increase its overall shipments in 2017.

Industry sources also claim that these more affordable 13-inch MacBook Pros without Touch Bar will eventually replace the 13-inch MacBook Air in Apple's notebook lineup.

This is your last chance to save your Vine videos

Following the recent announcement that the Vine app as we know it will be sunset and morphed into a camera app, today is your last chance to save those Vine videos you created and published on the service over the years.

As the Vine app will officially become Vine Camera today (January 17th), the company says all videos uploaded will remain on the vine.co website where you'll still be able to watch them, but if you were big on Vine, it might still be a good idea to save all your creations locally either to your iPhone or to a computer.