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Apple given Didi Chuxing board seat after $1 billion investment

Cody Lee ∙ Updated May 17, 2018

Apple was granted a seat on the board of Didi Chuxing following its staggering $1 billion investment in the ride-hailing company, reports The Information. Citing a regulatory filing, the outlet says the appointment occurred in late June—a few weeks after the deal was finalized. Adrian Perica, Apple's mergers and acquisitions chief, represents Apple on the board. Perica also played a major roll in the company's $3 billion Beats acquisition back in 2014.

Apple to open R&D center in Shenzhen next year to boost China ties

Cody Lee ∙ Updated May 17, 2018

Apple plans to set up a new research and development center in China's manufacturing capital Shenzhen, reports Shenzhen Economic Daily (via Reuters). The outlet says Tim Cook announced the plan during a meeting with senior city officials while attending a nation-wide event on innovation. Apparently Foxconn CEO Terry Gou was also in attendance.

Snapchat launches Story Playlist, no longer automatically loads the next Story

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 11, 2016

Snapchat is removing the Auto Advance feature to give users control of their Story viewing experience once again. It was about goddam time, if I might add. Shortly after Auto Advance debuted in March of this year, folks began complaining that Auto Advance made it impossible to individually choose Stories to watch. The updated app has now replaced Auto Advance with an all-new feature they're calling Story Playlist.

Dropbox for iOS gains iMessage app, PDF signing, iOS 10 widget, PiP video & more

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 11, 2016

Cloud storage startup Dropbox today announced a major update to its mobile application for the iPhone and iPad, bringing new iOS 10-focused features that will make you more productive. Dropbox 18.2 for iOS packs in a brand new iMessage app for sharing Dropbox files through Apple's Messages app.

You can now sign legal PDF documents with your finger, and see newly updated Dropbox files on your Lock screen via a new Today widget, and much more.

You can now buy a bus ticket with your Apple Watch in Switzerland

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 11, 2016

We just told you how Apple has been hard at work getting Apple Pay into more public transit systems and now a new report outlines how customers in Switzerland can purchase a bus ticket with a dedicated Apple Watch app that's integrated with Apple Pay. Swiss website Cominmag reports that the app in question, FAIRTIQ, files as the world's first app to bring the ticket vending machine on the Apple Watch.

Samsung “paying extra careful attention” to Galaxy S8 development due to “huge changes”

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 11, 2016

Unperturbed by its ill-fated Note 7 flagship, which Samsung has now permanently stopped building due to ongoing battery woes, development of a next-generation Galaxy smartphone is in full swing. Reportedly, the troubled South Korean company is “paying extra careful attention” towards the development of the Galaxy S8.

That's not just because of quality control issues with the Note 7, but also due to the fact that the Galaxy S8 packs in some “huge” hardware and design changes, according to a new report Tuesday from Korean news site ET News.

Apple seeds macOS 10.12.1 beta 4 to developers and public beta testers

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 11, 2016

Apple on Tuesday released a fourth beta of what would become the first major software update to macOS Sierra following its public release last month. macOS 10.12.1 beta 4 (build 16B2548a) is now available to members of Apple Develop Program and public beta testers on Apple Beta Software Program.

The latest build is available as an over-the-air update via the Mac App Store and the Software Update mechanism on Macs that run a prior beta of macOS Sierra 10.12.1.

Bloomberg: Apple working on getting Apple Pay into more public transit systems

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 11, 2016

Apple has been working on getting its mobile payments system, which expanded into Russia earlier this month, into more public transit systems, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.

Thanks to FeliCa-compatible NFC chips inside iPhone 7 and Apple Watch Series 2 models sold in Japan, Apple Pay will be gaining support for Japanese railway JR East later this month through its dedicated Suica payment system.

Facebook targets Slack, Google Apps and others with new Workplace for iPhone app

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 11, 2016

Facebook yesterday announced a new Workplace mobile app which it has used to run its own company “for many years”. Available at no charge from the App Store, Workplace for iPhone (formerly known as Facebook at Work) is now available to any company or organization that wants to use it. In a nutshell, Workplace puts the best of Facebook at your fingertips while packing in a few notable productivity features businesses may like.

New Apple patent would embed light sensors into the display, hints at iPhone 8 technology

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 11, 2016

The United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) today awarded Apple a patent describing a process for embedding light-sensing sensors into a mobile display. The invention, titled “Electronic devices with display-integrated light sensors,” potentially paves the way for next year's iPhone.

Apple's new patent specifically mentions the ambient light and proximity sensors, which are found on the front face of the device, as being integrated into the display assembly.

According to KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo and pundits in the know, like Daring Fireball's John Gruber, the iPhone 8—or whatever a 2017 iPhone (or Tenth Anniversary iPhone) ends up being called—should be a major design departure from prior models as it would supposedly get rid of the chin and forehead bezels by integrating Touch ID and the front-camera along with other sensors directly into the display.

Apple pegs iOS 10 adoption rate at 54 percent

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 11, 2016

I've long been saying that we shouldn't trust any iOS adoption rate “research” based on the assumption that users have on their phone specific apps which incorporate third-party tracking software. Yesterday, for instance, Fiksu and Mixpanel each estimated that iOS 10 was powering two-thirds of active devices, or about 66 percent.

Well, Apple this morning posted iOS 10 adoption rates on the official App Store dashboard for developers which reveal that iOS 10 is currently installed on 54 percent of active iPhone, iPad and iPod touch devices.

Note 7 is dead: Samsung permanently ceases production of its troubled flagship phone

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 11, 2016

After temporarily halting production of its troubled Galaxy Note 7 smartphone earlier this week, Samsung confirmed in today's statement to TechCrunch that it's permanently discontinued the production of its flagship Galaxy smartphone over multiple incidents of exploding batteries.

This past weekend, major U.S. carriers AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon and Sprint stopped offering new units as replacements for those affected by Samsung's global recall. U.S. carriers are now offering Note 7 customers replacement devices from other brands, including Apple's latest iPhone.