Apple

Apple Park opens next month, watch the latest drone flyover video

Apple's upcoming 175-acre campus, called Apple Park, is opening next month when Tim Cook and other employees  will begin moving in. Drone pilots Matthew Roberts and Duncan Sinfield posted their flyover footage of Apple Park earlier in the month.

Today, Sinfield posted a mid-March video update to his YouTube channel, running three minutes and fifty seconds long and highlighting construction progress at the site.

Check out beautiful mockups imagining augmented reality Siri on iPhone 8

iPhone 8 could enable augmented reality features via a next-generation FaceTime camera outfitted with a bespoke PrimeSense chip for depth sensing, 3D scanning, advanced facial recognition and more.

The upcoming Apple flagship may also introduce enhanced Siri capabilities that may or may not benefit from built-in augmented reality support.

Designer Gábor Balogh has created some gorgeous mockups imagining an augmented reality Siri on an edge-to-edge iPhone.

Apple and others join Google in resisting FBI warrant seeking emails stored outside US

Business Insider reports that Apple has joined Amazon, Microsoft and Cisco in filing a joint amicus brief in support of Google's opposition to a warrant by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) seeking to extract emails stored on non-US servers.

In response to the FBI warrant, a court in Pennsylvania recently ruled that Google must hand over emails stored on non-US servers. The joint filing claims the warrant could set a troubling precedent and force Google to violate foreign data privacy laws.

Apple seeds beta 6 of watchos 3.2 and tvOS 10.2

Apple today seeded sixth betas of what would become the tvOS software update for the fourth-generation Apple TV and the watchOS 3.2 software update for Apple Watch with new features like Theater Mode, support for Siri in watchOS apps and other perks.

tvOS 10.2 beta 6 (build 14W5264a) can be deployed via the Software Update mechanism on any Apple TV with an appropriate configuration profile. watchOS 3.2 beta 6 (build 14V5245a) is available as an over-the-air download via your paired iPhone.

Apple hires iOS security researcher and former jailbreak developer Jonathan Zdziarski

Forensic data analysis expert, iOS security researcher and former jailbreak developer Jonathan Zdziarski has officially joined Apple. Zdziarski announced today he accepted a position with Apple's Security Engineering and Architecture team, but it's unclear when he might be starting work at Apple. Zdziarski, who at times could be critical of Apple's security efforts, says he's joined the iPhone maker because he's so passionate about protecting the security and privacy of others.

More evidence points to late 2017 launch for iPhone 8

Evidence continues to mount suggesting that Apple's AMOLED-based iPhone 8 flagship aka “iPhone Edition” may in fact launch later in the fourth quarter of 2017, unlike the refreshed LCD-based iPhone 7s and iPhone 7s Plus that should hit store shelves shortly following an announcement in September.

Citing industry sources, DigiTimes reported Tuesday that touch panel maker TPK Holding won't begin churning out next-generation 3D Touch sensors for use in iPhone 8 before the fourth quarter of 2017.

Apple wants to zero in on ‘Pro’ segment, but what about the large majority?

In a statement warmly welcomed by us internet folk, Tim Cook recently proclaimed "you will see us do more in the pro area." In our circles, this is unquestionably good news, as we all foster an insatiable appetite for new innovations, be that on a hardware or software level. More pro is great, however I invariably had to spare a thought for the average, not-so techy Apple customer.

I’m talking about the type of customer that after owning their iPhone 6S for more than a year, still has little concept of what 3D Touch does. Or how about the one that loves their new MacBook, but will gaze at you with a stunned expression when you introduce them to Force Touch on their trackpad. This is by no means meant to sound snarky or patronizing, because as a matter of fact, I don’t blame them for not knowing - I blame Apple for failing to take everyone along for the ride due to poor communication.

Shifting up the ‘Pro’ a notch in the future sounds great, that said how do you straddle the line between pleasing us tech-warriors and not entirely overwhelming a large majority of users, a majority already only privity to roughly half of the juicy features on their devices? Apple needs to find some cogent answers to this issue, and rather than creating a two-tier system in their hardware sold (labelling only some products 'Pro'), I contend that software could be the key.

Latest iPhone 7 ad is all about iMessage stickers

Apple on Monday via its YouTube channel shared a brand new television commercial for iPhone 7, titled “Sticker Fight”. Much like its September 2016 “Balloons” ad, the most recent 60-second video takes another iOS 10 iMessage feature to the real-world: sticker packs. “Say it with stickers on iPhone 7,” reads the tagline. Apple also created a new App Store section where you can download all of the stickers featured in the ad.

Apple spotted testing new iPads

Potentially confirming KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo’s prediction of a planned iPad refresh due this spring, mobile marketing firm Fiksu (via TechCrunch) has spotted several new iPad models that are currently being tested in Cupertino and nearby locations.

According to unnamed but allegedly “reputable supply chain analysts” who spoke with MacRumors, Apple could announce new products between Monday, March 20 and Friday, March 24.

Viber rolls out self destructing Secret Chats

Messaging service Viber today rolled out a new Secret Chats feature. Not to be confused with Secret Messages, a similar feature introduced in February 2017 that lets you define how long your photos, videos and texts are available after the recipient has opened them, Secret Chats use Viber's end-to-end encryption let you set a timer on individual messages so they disappear after a few seconds, get an alert when a screenshot is taken and be sure no messages get forwarded.