The Wall Street Journal is out with a report on Monday detailing that Apple had originally intended the Apple Watch to be a lot more.
The publication's sources state that executives at the Cupertino-based company had envisioned a full-fledged health monitor, but many plans were scrapped after reliability and complexity came into play, perhaps paving way for features that could be found in a second-generation of the Watch due out in April.
The New Yorker's February 2015 issue features a lengthy interview with British-born designer Jonathan Ive who is widely credited with helping revive Apple's fortunes alongside his spiritual mentor Steve Jobs, who used to call Ive “my best friend in the whole world”.
Suggestively headlined “The Shape Of Things To Come,” the extensive profile offers deep insight into Ive's brain and centers around topics like the Apple Watch, cars, creating the iPhone 6 and working with Steve Jobs.
Seriously, it's an epic article you absolutely shouldn't pass. It also covers other wide ranging topics and reveals a few previously unknown tidbits about Apple's industrial design czar and his design process.
Here are the most interesting takeaways from the interview.
Yesterday, French blog NowhereElse.fr pointed us to a few curious images of a purported protective case for an ‘iPad Pro,’ originated from a Chinese accessory vendor which makes iPad Air cases.
The sleek black case clearly shows cutouts for a rear-facing camera, Lightning connector, volume rocker, microphone, mute switch and power button.
However, the cutouts for stereo speakers believed to be located at the top and bottom of the device are nowhere to be seen. Big media has asserted that the oversized iPad will rock a screen measuring either 12.2 or 12.9 inches and one analyst believes the device may include an optional stylus for the creative types.
Ahead of its wearable release in April, Apple invited select developers to submit their Watch apps for the inclusion in the App Store. We've already seen previews of Todoist, we know eBay is working on a bidding Watch app and Nimblebit even created a puzzle game for it.
And now, developer SilverWiz has posted a pair of previews of its two productivity apps for the device: the personal finance app MoneyWiz 2 and the automatic mileage tracking software MileWiz.
VLC, the popular cross-platform media player which lets you watch AVI videos on your iPhone and iPad without conversion (as well as other non-iOS-friendly media types), is back in the App Store following a long-standing licensing dispute.
In addition to resolving licensing issues, this edition of VLC brings a few noteworthy enhancements to the table which I'll lay out for you after the jump.
UPDATE: following a soft-launch in New Zealand, the app on February 27, 2015, finally went live in the US App Store.
BBC Radio 1 has announced that its popular DJ, Zane Lowe, is leaving the radio giant for a job at Apple in March.
There's no word on what position Lowe is taking at the Cupertino-based company, but it would make sense he would take a job with iTunes Radio or Beats Music.
A rumor involving an Apple-branded electric vehicle that The Financial Times and The Wall Street Journal threw their weight behind just took an interesting turn with a Reuters report Saturday offering additional tidbits.
The news gathering organization learned from sources that Apple's electric vehicle is actually an autonomous self-driving car. Apple is reportedly actually “exploring how to make an entire vehicle” rather than just designing automotive software as previously suspected.
Apple has several hundred employees secretly working on creating an electric vehicle, reported the Wall Street Journal on Friday, citing people familiar with the company's plans. Code-named Titan, the project currently sports the design of a minivan.
According to the Journal, Apple CEO Tim Cook approved the project about a year ago, putting product design Vice President Steve Zadesky in charge. A former Ford engineer, Zadesky has been a long time Apple employee who helped create the iPod and later the iPhone.
Zadesky is said to have created a team strong of 1,000 people, which tends to prove that Apple is serious about the project, rather than considering this electric car a hobby.
Apple is recruiting experts in automotive technology and vehicle design to work at a new top-secret research lab, Financial Times reported on Friday. Among the new-hires is former president and CEO of Mercedes-Benz Research & Development Johann Jungwirth.
Citing several insider sources, the outlet says Apple set up the new research lab late last year at a confidential Silicon Valley location. And it's believed that the facility is being used by a team, led by experienced iPhone managers, to research new automotive products.
Apple doesn't just want to compete in the music business, it wants to be the music business, according to a new report from Billboard. Citing sources with knowledge of the matter, the outlet has shed some light on the company's ambitious plans for the record industry.
Beats co-founder and Apple executive Jimmy Iovine has apparently been holding secret meetings with senior executives from many record labels in recent weeks. The discussions are of course protected by non-disclosure agreements, but details are beginning to trickle out.
After adding a widget to its check-in app called Swarm back in December, Foursquare's main iPhone application today finally received a brand new Today widget for iOS 8's Notification Center of its own.
Moreover, the latest 8.7 update added personalized recommendations while logged out, so you don't need to even have an account with Foursquare to receive tips and recommendations about nearby places.
Just open the app to get started.
It only took, what, five months, but Nike's FuelBand application for the iPhone was finally refreshed Friday, adding much-needed integration with Apple's HealthKit platform. As a result, a dedicated FuelBand accessory is no longer required to track your activity or earn Fuel points, your iPhone now does this.
To reflect this change in direction, the app has been rebranded and is now being marketed as just Nike+ Fuel.
In addition to getting more insight into your activity in iOS 8's Health app, HealthKit integration makes your Fuel points visible in and accessible by other apps.