Tim Cook charity fundraiser earns $200,000 for RFK human rights campaign

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 28, 2019

Bidding for the annual Tim Cook lunch auction closed today and the winning bid stands at a cool $200,000, which goes to the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights.

Even though there were more than twenty bids, with the starting bid beginning at $10,000, the fundraiser has actually earned less this year than previous auctions held in 2013 and 2014, probably due to a shift in CharityBuzz’s authentication policy to better prevent false bids.

The annual auction broke records in 2013 when it raised $610,000 for Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights. In 2014, the auction ended at $330,001.

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Apple’s VoiceOver receives Award from the American Foundation for the Blind

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 6, 2015

Apple's VoiceOver technology has impressed the American Foundation for the Blind enough to award the company its Helen Keller Achievement Award for “breakthroughs in accessible technology.”

Part of Apple's rich set of accessibility features available across Mac, iPhone, iPad and iPod devices, VoiceOver for OS X and iOS is a gesture-based screen reader that lets visually impaired users navigate their devices via spoken word and gestures.

The organization has recognized not only VoiceOver, but other features that make the iPhone, iPad and other iOS devices accessible to people with vision loss.

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Apple Watch and water: what you need to know

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated September 27, 2016

There seems to be a lot of confusion, misunderstanding, and maybe a bit of misinformation when it comes to the water resistance aspect of Apple Watch. Apple itself hasn't been very helpful as the company has been providing contradicting information when explaining what you can and cannot do with your watch. Add those misleading videos of guys jumping in the pool with their Apple Watch, and you can easily understand why one might be puzzled at whether or not it is acceptable to dunk Apple Watch in water. In this post, we'll try to put an end to the speculation about Apple Watch and water.

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Apple readying in-store pickups for Apple Watch

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 6, 2015

Reports are coming in that Apple is preparing the in-store pickup option on new Watch orders in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States, allowing customers in these launch countries to (soon enough, hopefully) select an Apple retail store to pick up their device after order.

As indicated by a report on MacRumors, the grayed out in-store pickup option on both the Apple Online Store and Apple Store shopping app is now labeled as “coming soon”.

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Pixelmator for iPhone coming soon, iPad version goes half price

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 6, 2015

Pixelmator, arguably the most popular alternative to Adobe's Photoshop available on the Apple platform, is “coming soon” to the iPhone, its developer has confirmed in a blog post published today. In addition, the iPad edition of Pixelmator is on sale and can be grabbed now with a cool fifty percent discount for just $4.99. As it'll soon be a universal app for the iPhone and iPad, now's the time to grab the iPad edition and upgrade later to Pixelmator for iPhone at no additional cost.

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Apple announces 7-part bond sale to finance its capital return program expansion

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 6, 2015

During a conference call discussing its fiscal 2015 second-quarter results, Tim Cook & Co. also announced expanding their already massive capital return program to a whooping $200 billion through March of 2017 to “reflect strong confidence in what lies ahead for Apple.”

A filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission posted today on Apple's Investor website casts more light on the initiative, confirming the company will fund this expansion through a new seven-part bond to raise the funds.

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Remastered version of 1998 classic adventure game Grim Fandango hits iOS

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 6, 2015

The highly acclaimed adventure game, Grim Fandango by LucasArts, has been remastered and released for the iPhone and iPad on the App Store.

Featuring fully repainted high-resolution textures, a new dynamic lighting system, a handy concept art browser and classic musical score re-recorded with a full live orchestra, Grim Fandango Remastered provides an unforgettable experience spiced up with over two hours of exclusive developer commentary — and is a massive 3+ GB download.

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Applebot, a web crawler for Siri and Spotlight, unmasked in a support document

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 6, 2015

An official support document updated last evening has confirmed that Apple is using a web crawler service called Applebot to index the web for content used by its Siri personal digital assistant on iOS devices and built-in Spotlight search on both iOS and OS X.

An Apple-operated engine, Applebot is described as “the web crawler for Apple” which gathers useful content for products including Siri and Spotlight Suggestions. The document doesn't state how long AppleBot has been operational in production.

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FTC also probing Apple’s upcoming music service over deals with record labels

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated September 17, 2017

Increasingly, Apple is finding itself in hot water with regulators over its rumored subscription-based music service. Citing people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg reported that the United States Federal Trade Commission is now probing Apple's efforts to line up deals with record labels.

The agency is reportedly taking a closer look at the possible misuse of the iPhone maker's dominant market position as the largest seller of music downloads to put rival music services such as Spotify, Rdio, Pandora, YouTube and others at a disadvantage.

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Lifeline… is a fun interactive game you can play on your iPhone or Apple Watch

Lory Gil ∙ May 6, 2015

The longer Apple Watch exists, the more companion apps will become available. Many apps are simply notification related, which will help you stay connected with your iPhone, even while it stays in your pocket.

Lifeline… is a text-based game where players interact with a stranded space traveler. Playing it on Apple Watch will make you feel like you are living in some kind of sci-fi future in the past, like Lost in Space.

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