Apple

iSpaceship is finally coming together

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 11, 2017

Though Apple's yet to confirm a move-in date for the 13,000+ employees it's planning to house at a new Jony Ive-designed campus, the project is finally coming together after work on it began in 2013. New drone footage from Matthew Roberts suggests the campus may open its doors early this year.

Going by this gorgeous 4K clip, there’s still some work to be done before Campus 2 opens but the main building looks nearly complete, roads are being cleared and landscaping within the building and around its central courtyard is now visible.

Kantar: iPhone 6s/7/Plus were 3 most popular smartphones in U.S. in November

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 11, 2017

Kantar Worldpanel previously said that iOS achieved its strongest growth and the highest market share in the United States in more than two years. In its latest survey, the market intelligence company found out that iPhone's share of the U.S. smartphone market grew 6.4 percent year-on-year in the three months ending in November 2016.

iPhone 6s, iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus were the country's three most popular smartphones during November, with the handsets taking share from Google's Android platform in most markets globally.

The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth arrives after being yanked from App Store almost a year ago

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 11, 2017

The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth, an iOS version of the dungeon crawler game originally released back in 2014 by independent game studio Nicalis, is now available on iOS as a premium $14.99 download from App Store.

Nicalis originally submitted its dungeon crawler for iPhone and iPad a year ago, but the game got rejected for depicting violence against children. The iOS port has a 17+ rating.

Senior Director of Design for Mac lineup leaves Apple for engineering role at Tesla

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 11, 2017

Apple was trying “very hard” (in Elon Musk's own words) to recruit top talent from Tesla.

Now that its Project Titan has shifted gear from building an electric vehicle to developing an autonomous driving software, some of the engineers associated with the initiative have departed for Tesla.

Just as we've discovered that Swift creator Chris Lattner was leaving the iPhone maker to take a position as Vice President of Autopilot Software at Tesla, Electrek.co is reporting that the guy who designed many of Apple’s iconic Macs will now be building Tesla vehicles.

Early click wheel and icon-based iPhone prototypes shown in new video

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 11, 2017

After sharing images and a video of an early-stage prototype iPhone software based on iPod's click wheel interface, leakster Sonny Dickson is back at it with another wonderful piece of Apple history.

A new video posted on Dickson's website pits a pair of early iPhone prototypes against each other: Tony Fadell’s “P1” device based on the click wheel UI and ex-iOS chief Scott Forstall's “P2” project.

Swift creator leaves Apple to be Tesla’s VP of Autopilot Software

Cody Lee ∙ January 10, 2017

Swift creator Chris Lattner is leaving Apple to take a position as Vice President of Autopilot Software at Tesla. Lattner announced his departure Tuesday on a Swift.org forum, and Tesla published a blog post shortly after welcoming him to the company.

Lattner has been at Apple since 2005, and is credited with building early versions of the Swift programming language in 2010, before a team was formed to further the project. Most recently, he held the title of Senior Director of the Developer Tools team.

Apple’s failed sapphire plant will now build server cabinets for its global data centers

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 10, 2017

Apple's failed sapphire crystal manufacturing facility in Mesa, Arizona will be repurposed to produce server assembly cabinets for the Cupertino firm's global data centers, according to a notification published by the Federal Register and cited yesterday by Business Insider.

Apple already has authority to produce certain components for consumer electronics in a special zone that exempts it from customs duty payments, but now it's looking for approval from the Foreign-Trade Zones Board to produce “finished products and foreign status materials and components” in the Mesa factory.

Foxconn reports first ever annual sales decline since going public 25 years ago

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 10, 2017

iPhone manufacturer Foxconn Technology Group posted its first ever sales decline since it went public back in 1991, Japanese outlet Nikkei reported Tuesday. The outlet expectedly blames “lukewarm demand” from Foxconn's biggest client Apple and the “saturated smartphone market” for the 2.81 percent drop in annual sales.

For context, Foxconn earns more than half of its revenue from doing business with Apple. The Taiwanese company is also known as Hon Hai Precision Industry and assembles iPhones and other gadgets like PlayStation consoles, notebooks, wearable devices and so forth on a mass scale.

MacBook Pro battery: hidden Safari setting led to flawed results in Consumer Reports tests

Cody Lee ∙ January 10, 2017

Apple has come to the conclusion that a hidden setting in Safari caused the odd battery results in Consumer Reports' MacBook Pro review that kept the publication from recommending the laptop. In a statement to AppleInsider, the company said it worked with CR's team over the holidays and determined that its testing methods were flawed.

Apple patents tiny thru-holes in OLED display, HUD windows & more slick tech for full-face iPhone

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 10, 2017

A new patent No. 9,543,364 for “Electronic devices having displays with openings” has been awarded to Apple this morning by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). First filed for in February 2015, this newly granted patent reveals more ways iPhone 8 will outclass Android rivals.

The invention would basically put some common components typically found on the front face of the phone behind the display assembly.

What components are we talking about?

Well, stuff like the earpiece, forward-facing cameras, Touch ID and various sensors. Integrating such parts behind the display assembly would help design a truly edge-to-edge device. Apple is thought to be working on such designs for its upcoming OLED-based iPhone 8 refresh.

New details surface about Hulu’s live TV service

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 10, 2017

In a new report Tuesday, Mashable's Pete Pachal took a closer look at the early build of an upcoming live TV service from Hulu. Having seen Hulu's new iPhone, iPad and full-screen TV apps, Pachal shared his thoughts on the service. Hulu CEO said last week that the new service would be priced at under $40 per month.

The Wall Street Journal said earlier in the month that Hulu did manage to strike a deal with CBS to put both live streaming and on-demand content from CBS's various channels on Hulu's service.

Sketchy report says Apple working with German optics maker Carl Zeiss on AR glasses

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 10, 2017

Bloomberg recently alleged that Apple is considering a digital glasses gadget for a possible release some time in 2018. In a Facebook post published Tuesday, well-known blogger Robert Scoble claims that the Cupertino firm has partnered with German lens specialist and optical instruments maker Carl Zeiss on the project, which should develop augmented reality optics for the digital glasses.