Apple

Apple Pay transaction limit in UK raises to £30

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 1, 2015

When Apple Pay launched in the United Kingdom in mid-July, it was limited to transactions up to £20 without entering in a PIN number or signature, a cap imposed on almost all contactless payments in the country. Tuesday, the cap rose to £30 per touchless payment without entering a PIN number or providing your signature.

As noted by The Verge, the new £30 cap is applied to all contactless payments in the United Kingdom, including those made via contactless cards that work without any other authentication.

Apple said to be exploring original programming

Cody Lee ∙ August 31, 2015

Apple is exploring getting into the original programming business, reports Variety. Citing sources familiar with the matter, the outlet claims the company has held "preliminary conversations" in recent weeks with Hollywood executives to suss out their interest in producing entertainment content.

It's unclear how large Apple's ambitions are at the moment, but one source says the endgame is to set up development and production divisions that would churn out long-form content in a bid to compete with Netflix, and the like. They say these divisions could be operational as early as next year.

Next-generation Apple TV gaming prowess detailed in a new report

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 31, 2015

Just as the iPhone and iPad have been chipping away mercilessly at Nintendo's dominance in the handheld gaming market, Apple's next-generation set-top box should give dedicated game consoles a good run for their money.

A report by 9to5Mac's well-informed writer Mark Gurman lays out a few upcoming features for a rumored fourth-generation Apple TV that are bound to prompt gamers, casual and hardcore alike, to jump with joy.

Unreal Engine 4.9 hits with push notifications, CloudKit support and ton more goodies

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 31, 2015

Epic Games' widely used Unreal Engine that powers countless graphics-rich games like the Infinity Blade trilogy was bumped to version 4.9 today. New features include better graphics in iPhone and iPad games, the ability to use remote push notifications, support for Apple's CloudKit framework which provides authentication, databases and storage services to developers, and many other perks.

Unreal Engine 4.9 can be downloaded through the official website.

Apple TV’s NFL Now channel revamped, rebranded and enriched with Game Pass subscriptions

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 31, 2015

Right on cue, the official NFL channel on the Apple TV got updated with support for Game Pass subscriptions, as first noted by MacRumors. The new Game Pass service has replaced NFL's Game Rewind. With Game Pass, sports fans can subscribe to premium NFL content directly on their Apple TV set-top box.

Game Pass subscriptions are also available through the NFL Mobile app on the iPhone and the iPad. In addition to supporting Game Pass on the Apple TV, the updated NFL Now channel has been rebranded as just NFL.

University of Oklahoma students can now use Apple Pay across entire campus

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 31, 2015

Notch up another victory for Apple's mobile payment platform as the University of Oklahoma announced Monday that it will begin accepting Apple Pay across its entire campus. The initiative will allow students to pay with Apple Pay using their NFC-enabled devices like the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus and Apple Watch at any of the four-hundred service locations scattered across the campus, including restaurants and bookstores.

Apple and Cisco form partnership to ‘deliver fast lane’ for iOS enterprise users

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 31, 2015

In a press release issued Monday, Apple announced a partnership with network giant Cisco designed to deliver “fast lane” for iOS enterprise users. The initiative strives to optimize Cisco networks for iOS devices and apps and integrate the iPhone with Cisco enterprise environments.

The goal is to “provide unique collaboration” opportunities to enterprise customers on the iPhone and iPad.

Moto 360 Sport, 2nd gen Moto 360 and ‘shatterproof’ Motorola phone due this year

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 31, 2015

It pays to keep tabs on competition. Just as Google released Android Wear for iPhone earlier today and LG announced a gold-plated limited-edition of its Urbane watches, noted gadget leaker Upleaks published some interesting tidbits and press renderings for Motorola's upcoming smartwatches and phones. According to these leaks, a second-generation Moto360 smartwatch is allegedly coming in September.

A Sport variant of the current-generation Moto 360 smartwatch should be due a month later, Upleaks claims. In addition, the Lenovo-owned company is purportedly working on a high-end smartphone that should be shatterproof.

Apple seeds OS X El Capitan beta 8 to developers, beta 6 to public testers

Cody Lee ∙ August 31, 2015

Apple on Monday released the eighth OS X El Capitan beta to developers. The new build is available to registered developers via the Updates section of the Mac App Store or through Apple’s Developer Center.

There's also a new build available to those participating in Apple's pubic testing program. It's beta 6, though it's likely identical to today's dev release, and you can either find it in the Mac App Store or click here.

LG targets Apple Watch Edition with limited-edition Urbane Watch Luxe

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 31, 2015

LG on Monday announced the Urbane Watch Luxe, a special version of its Urbane lineup that it hopes will appeal to folks in the market for an Apple Watch Edition.

Featuring a 23-karat gold case and available with a new alligator strap, the Urbane Watch Luxe was created in partnership with US-based REEDS Jewelers which will handle sales of LG's Android Wear device in the United States. The limited-edition smartwatch costs $1,200 a pop and will go on sale beginning October.

Google+ Collections are now available within Google’s native application for iPhone and iPad

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 31, 2015

Google+ Collections are now available within the just-updated Google+ app for the iPhone and iPad, which also contains performance improvements and bug fixes.

Introduced back in May of this year, Collections is basically a feature of Google+ that allows you to group your posts around shared interests and passions. After going live in the official Google+ app for Android and on the web, Google+ Collections can now be browsed on your iPhone and iPad.

Parts shipments for 12.9-inch iPad Pro likely to begin in September

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 31, 2015

According to a J.P. Morgan investor memo, a copy of which was obtained by AppleInsider, parts shipments for Apple's mythical 12.9-inch 'iPad Pro' are most likely to begin in September. J.P. Morgan's analysts reaffirmed claims that the iPad Pro will use an improved touch panel design.

Dubbed Glass-Film-Film (GFF), as opposed to the Glass-Film (GF) panels found on the iPad Air and iPad mini, GFF tech allows for greater touch accuracy and performance. These two prerequisites would be crucial for an Apple-built stylus accessory that the rumor-mill believes might sell as an optional accessory as soon as the iPad Pro arrives.