Apple's rumored electric (autonomous?) vehicle, internally referred to as Project Titan, should use custom-designed batteries developed by engineers that Apple poached from A123 Systems, the makers of advanced batteries. According to a new report Tuesday, Apple has now tapped scientists and engineers from a small, unnamed South Korean firm to help co-develop hollow battery packs for Project Titan.
Based on leaked components, supply chain chatter and analyst reports, it's fairly safe to conclude that Apple will release two iPhone models come this fall—a 4.7-inch iPhone 7 and 5.5-inch iPhone 7 Plus. For a while, word on the street was that a third, premium iPhone 7 model was in the works as well, referred to in press reports as 'iPhone 7 Pro'.
The logic was, the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus would have regular cameras while the Pro model would come outfitted with a dual-lens system.
As alleged by a Japanese outlet, Apple has killed off the iPhone 7 Pro for good earlier in the summer after experiencing soft iPhone demand amid increased competition.
The rumor-mill has been adamant that a 2017 iPhone model—dubbed by the press a Tenth Anniversary iPhone because the original iPhone was announced and released in 2007—will adopt power-saving organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display technology and feature an all-new industrial design.
Japanese outlet Nikkei is now reporting that iPhone contract manufacturer Foxconn is developing both OLED displays (Foxconn bought Sharp earlier this year) and glass casings to secure orders for the Tenth Anniversary iPhone in 2017.
The New York Times article headlined “Once Taunted by Steve Jobs, Companies Are Now Big Customers of Apple” contains an interesting side-note which claims that network giant Cisco is currently testing an upcoming software “that gives priority to mobile devices or apps” ahead of its unveiling next month.
The forthcoming software solution is clearly born out of a partnership that Apple and Cisco struck last year to optimize iOS devices and apps for enterprise users.
iPad sales fell another nine percent in the June quarter down to 9.95 million units, but that drop would have been deeper had it not been for big corporations and governments, which are now buying nearly half of all iPads, according to a Forrester research quoted in a New York Times article titled “Once Taunted by Steve Jobs, Companies Are Now Big Customers of Apple”.
“In the primordial days of computing, IBM machines were so common inside corporations that there was a running joke in the industry: Nobody ever got fired for buying IBM,” reads the report. “These days, the same could be said about Apple. Even IBM is promoting Apple gear.”
Taiwan's Economic Daily News is reporting that Apple is developing a brand new health-tracking hardware product that will be released in 2017. Although the report sheds little light on the matter, a machine-translated version of the story suggests that the device, described as a “killer new” gadget, will be a first-generation product so we can rule out a second-generation Apple Watch.
It's also unclear if the rumored product will be worn on one's body and whether it will operate standalone or require an iPhone, like the Apple Watch.
South Korean automobile maker Hyundai today announced a firmware update bringing Apple's CarPlay and Google's Android Auto infotainment systems to additional vehicles, namely the latest Azera and Veloster models. The new firmware follows a firmware update in December 2015 that brought support for CarPlay to the 2016 Sonata and a few other 2015 and 2016 models.
Last week, the company said that CarPlay integration will be offered as a standard feature on the 2017 Sonata and limited-edition Tucson models.
Hulu said today it's phased out its free, ad-suported tier as it refocuses efforts on subscription services. According to Variety, free TV episodes will no longer be available on Hulu, but the current $7.99/$11.99 per month paid tiers won't change. All Hulu content that was available free with ads has moved to Yahoo View, a new service designed for hosting free, ad-supported TV shows from the likes of ABC, NBC, Fox and others.
Night Shift, a feature that was introduced in iOS 9.3, reduces the amount of blue light emitted from the display of your iOS device at night to help avoid disrupting your sleep cycle. In helping you getting a good night’s sleep, the feature looks at your geographical position and the time of the day to shift the colors to the warmer end of the spectrum.
But we all know that. Today, we learn that Apple's engineers also built this feature in a way that avoids ugly artifacts that could appear on LCDs while scrolling and animating.
Fast Company today published a wide ranging interview with Apple's boss Tim Cook, software boss Craig Federighi and Eddy Cue, who is in charge of Internet software and services, that touches upon a number of interesting topics, including competition, iPhone sales slowdown, why public iOS betas exist (the real reason is now what you think) and more.
Cook also comments on the gloom-and-doom sentiment that has always surrounded Apple while admitting that the company does make mistakes along the way, and more.
I known we've had enough of uninspiring iPhone 7 mockups. Also, dummy iPhone cases like this one are a dime a dozen on Chinese sites like Ali Express as vendors have always been eager to produce rumor-based iPhone housings to gain free press.
That said, the 4K video you're about to see offers a different look at three iPhone 7 dummies—one is 4.7-inch and the other two are 5.5 inches—in line with questionable rumors that Apple could ship two different versions of the larger 5.5-inch iPhone 7 Plus.
The same source that posted images allegedly showing a claimed iPhone 7 chassis alongside a bunch of SIM trays in Apple Watch-like Space Black finish has now re-published a new photo that seems to picture iPhone 7 logic boards, obtained from Ming Technology on Weibo. Prolific leakster Steve Hemmerstoffer also posted his own iPhone 7 motherboard images.