Apple

Apple Pay launches in Russia

Apple's mobile payments service has officially launched in Russia, marking the tenth country where Apple Pay is now available. According to Reuters this morning, the service is available with support from MasterCard and Moscow-based Sberbank at launch. Users can add their credit or debit card to Apple Pay via the Wallet app on their iPhone or set up Apple Pay directly in the Sberbank Online mobile app.

Leaked photos and commercial show off Google’s Pixel smartphones ahead of today’s unveiling

As we told you, Google will be unveiling a pair of “Made by Google” smartphones, the Pixel and Pixel XL, at a media event later today. Yesterday, British mobile retailer Carphone Warehouse posted a series of slides for the upcoming devices.

These images give us a solid advance look at some of the features of the upcoming smartphones. In addition, Rabid Rotty just captured on video a Pixel commercial that aired in Canada ahead of the unveiling.

Apple granted patent for a Touch ID sensor that could work through an iPhone display

If you've been waiting for the next iconic design since the release of the black-clad iPhone 5, this year's iPhone 7 probably feels like a slight disappointment. Apple is widely thought to have saved its best innovation and industrial redesign for the Tenth Anniversary iPhone next year which could embed the fingerprint sensor, FaceTime camera and sensors behind the display.

As revealed by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), Apple has now been granted a patent for a fingerprint-sensing technology that could work through the display itself, paving the way for an iPhone with the full-screen face design.

macOS Sierra is now available as an automatic download

Apple on Monday told The Loop's Jim Dalrymple that the free macOS Sierra software update will be available as an automatic download later today. This means that the software update will download in the background for Mac owners who have auto update downloads enabled in System Preferences.

Apple is being smart about the move and won't download any files to your computer if it's low on storage or does not meet the system requirements for macOS Sierra.

“Online Stores” dropped from Angela Ahrendts’s title, but she is still Apple’s retail boss

Apple's boss of online and physical retail stores, Angela Ahrendts, no longer has “Online Stores” in her official title. Instead, Apple is now referring to her role simply as “Senior Vice President, Retail” to better reflect its efforts to simply retail branding. Her reworded title along with a tweaked job description is live at the Apple Leadership webpage.

The change occurred over this past weekend. This is a purely cosmetic change: her responsibilities have not shifted and she is still in charge of all things retail at Apple.

Construction is underway for Apple’s $1 billion data center in Foulum, Denmark

In February of last year, the Cupertino firm announced that it will be spending to the tune of two billion dollars on the construction of two huge data centers in Ireland and Denmark that will make iCloud and other services more performant and reliable for European customers. As per The Copenhagen Post, the Denmark facility is located in Foulum.

Foulum is a small town located just outside of Viborg, a city in central Jutland that is home to Aarhus University and agricultural research facilities. Additionally, the iPhone maker reportedly signed a multi-year clean energy deal with Aarhus University on a new biogas research and development project.

Apple Regent Street to reopen on October 15

Apple announced today that its flagship Regent Street store in London, England, will reopen on Saturday, October 15, after the company spent more than a year on major interior renovations. The new-look store will preserve the building's historic look, like before. “We're making the store you love even lovelier,” reads the Apple Regent Street's listing on the official Apple Retail website.

Apple TV gets its first ticketing app: StubHub

StubHub, the world's largest ticket marketplace, is launching today on the fourth-generation Apple TV as a free download in the tvOS App Store, according to an announcement this morning. With StubHub, you can browse, search and purchase tickets for various events from the comfort of your sofa. Owned by eBay, StubHub is an online marketplace for buyers and sellers of tickets for sports, concerts, theater and other live entertainment events.

Apple SIM partner AlwaysOnline Wireless unveils new UK plans, expands in 29 countries

Apple SIM is available in 140+ countries via GigSky, but now customers traveling abroad have additional choices when it comes to buying short-term data plans on the go, directly from their cellular-enabled iPad, thanks to a company called AlwaysOnline Wireless which today announced that its 4G LTE roaming network is now available via Apple SIM in the United States and 28 additional countries.

The company also launched new data plans in the United Kingdom via a partnership with British wireless carrier Three: an hourly plan with 100MB of 4G LTE for $0.49 (£0.37), a daily plan with 500MB of 4G LTE for $5.99 (£4.50), a 1GB plan for $10.99 (£8.26), a 3GB plan for $18.99 (£14.28) and a 5GB plan for $29.99 (£22.55).

Video: all iPhone sapphire lenses scratch tested

As you may know, Apple's marketing boss Phil Schiller recently insisted that rumors of the iPhone 7's Home button and camera lens not being covered in pure sapphire were false. However, YouTuber JerryRigEverything has found that these parts do leave scratch marks at a level six on the Mohs scale of hardness, which is odd given that pure sapphire crystal should sustain scratches up to a level nine.

Apple on its website states that all of the iPhones it currently sells offer sapphire protection for the Touch ID sensor and iSight camera, which doesn't explain why these parts appear to scratch more easily than they should.

Could Apple be using a sapphire/glass hybrid or even a normal tempered glass rather than a 100 percent sapphire crystal? That's what JerryRigEverything set out to find in a comprehensive scratch test video of the iPhone SE/6/6s/7 series.