Galaxy maker Samsung today announced it is purchasing Harman International for $112.00 per share in cash in a deal valued at approximately $8 billion. If the deal goes through, it'll be Samsung's largest acquisition to date. With the purchase of Harman Samsung is essentially buying a competitive advantage as it looks to take on Apple's rumored Project Titan and the CarPlay platform, Android Auto and other automotive systems.
Today is Veterans Day, a public holiday observed annually on November 11 that honors men and women who served in the U.S. Armed Forces. In honor of 2016 Veterans Day, Tim Cook tweeted out a photo of some of the veterans who work at Apple.
The App Store's “For Those Who Serve” section provided resources on “military news, essential health and wellness info and valuable tools for everyday life” and Apple Music promoted playlists curated by former service members.
After previewing a new version of its popular password-management utility, developer AgileBits today updated 1Password for Mac with support for the Touch Bar and Touch ID features on the new MacBook Pro (that you can't have yet).
The update is free to existing users of the $64.99 Mac app. 1Password can now be unlocked by resting your finger on the Touch ID sensor that's built into the new MacBook Pro's Touch Bar.
In addition, you can access your vaults faster by tapping the app's dedicated shortcuts on the Touch Bar.
Apple should update both iPad Pros next year, with analysts from the banking and financial services company Barclays calling for a brand new model to be added to the lineup. Supply chain sources Barclays recently quizzed think the new iPad Pro model will have a screen measuring 10.9 inches.
And because that tablet is expected to adopt an all-new bezel-free design, its 10.9-inch screen could be fitted inside the current 9.7-inch package.
A report earlier this week alleged that one of Apple’s European resellers told a customer it would receive first AirPods stock on November 17 and start selling the earphones by November 18-19.
Contradicting the story, Barclays analysts heard chatter in the Asian supply chain that mass production of the delayed accessory is scheduled to kick off in December in time for Christmas, but in limited quantities, Yahoo Finance reported Friday.
After analyzing the latest chatter in Apple's supply chain following a trip to Asia this week, Barclays Research analysts predicted the Cupertino firm will offer a next-generation 'iPhone 8' in 2017 in two sizes, one with a screen measuring five inches and the other featuring a 5.8-inch display.
Because the handsets will utilize curved screens, they're expected to have a bezel-less design allowing them to increase display size while retaining the same overall size as the current 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch iPhones.
Foxconn Technology Group, the world’s top contract manufacturer and the biggest assembler of Apple products, reported rising revenues for the September quarter and a decline in net profit. Revenue for the July-September quarter climbed from NT$1.066 trillion ($33.43 billion) a year earlier to NT$1.075 trillion ($33.7 billion) thanks to brisk sales of the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus.
However, losses produced by Foxconn-owned electronics maker Sharp caused net profit to fall to NY$34.6 billion ($1.09 billion) from NY$37.9 billion ($1.19 billion) a year earlier.
According to Instagram co-founder and CEO Kevin Systrom in the Financial Times newspaper this morning, the popular photo-sharing service will be gaining the ability to stream live video. “Live is really exciting for us,” Systrom said without detailing when it'll launch in the mobile app. Russian news outlet Tjournal.ru was first to report that Instagram appears to have been testing the upcoming feature with a subset of its Russian users.
Spotify's desktop app for Mac, Windows and Linux has been found to be continuously writing massive amounts of data to local storage for no apparent reason—even when the app is simply sitting idle. As noted in Spotify's support forum, on Reddit and elsewhere, users are seeing the desktop app write tens of gigabytes of data to local storage every minute or so. On systems outfitted with SSDs like most Macs, excessive data writes can reduce the lifetime of flash storage.
That's because SSDs have a finite amount of write capacity and are prone to wear and tear. A Spotify spokesperson told ArsTechnica that a fix was underway via an update that's being rolled out as we speak.
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Apple supplier Japan Display could receive a bailout of around ¥75 billion ($703 million) from the government-backed fund Innovation Network Corp. of Japan (INCJ), which is its largest shareholder with a 36 percent share.
People familiar with the matter said that the display maker might receive new financing from INCJ through an issuance of subordinated bonds and may possibly get “additional support” from the fund.
Apple on Thursday updated its App of the Week promotion with the game Perchang. This means that for the next 7 days, you'll be able to download the popular puzzler for free on both iPhone and iPad—a solid savings of $2.
Perchang is kind of a cross between pinball and a physics puzzler that exercises your brain and tests your coordination. Use flippers, magnets, portals, fans and other gizmos to guide tiny marbles to their goal to win each level.
In August, the European Commission slammed Apple with a tax bill from hell over a sweetheart deal it received from Ireland—which, in the Commission's view, constitutes “illegal state aid”.
Dublin promptly promised to join Apple's fight against EU and it's put its money where its mouth is.
Michael Noonan, Finance Minister in the Irish government, said that Dublin today challenged the EU judgment by submitting an appeal to the European courts in a bid to block the decision, ArsTechnica reports.