Apple

Apple to announce fourth quarter earnings on October 20

Apple on Tuesday updated its Investor Relations webpage to confirm that it will be announcing its financial earnings for its fourth fiscal quarter (or third calendar quarter) of 2014 this month. The earnings statement will be released at 1:30 PM PST on October 20, with a conference call scheduled for 2 PM.

This earnings report will cover the three month period from July through September, giving us our first real glimpse at how Apple's new handsets are selling. The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus were unveiled at a media event this month, and launched in several countries on September 19 with record-breaking figures.

You will use a dedicated iPhone app to put apps on and manage your Apple Watch

Rather than browse an App Store for third-party Apple Watch software on the device's tiny Retina touchscreen, fans will be instead using a dedicated iPhone app to manage their Apple smartwatch and apps, Ariel Adams noted two days ago in his hands-on article on A Blog To Watch.

The iPhone app, he learned, will be used to download apps onto the Apple Watch, “as well as likely manage Apple Watch settings”.

Quanta Computer to kick off mass production of Apple Watch in January 2015

As Apple shoots to bring its smartwatch to market in early-2015, news reports Tuesday asserted that the Cupertino firm has commissioned contract manufacturer Quanta Computer to start mass producing Apple Watches in January 2015, citing supply chain rumors first mentioned by Apple Daily [Google Translate] and reposted by GforGames.

Apparently Taiwan-based Quanta is the only manufacturer tasked with building the device, the story goes, contradicting earlier rumors that mentioned both Quanta and Inventec, an iPad supplier, as Apple Watch manufacturers.

The Apple Daily report gives hope that the fashionable smartwatch could hit store shelves in time for Valentine's Day 2015. For what it's worth, a recent article by The Information alleged that “Apple would be lucky” to ship the device by Valentine’s Day.

Apple’s Irish tax woes deepen as European watchdog finds ‘illegal state aid’ unacceptable

The European Commission publicized its ruling that Apple benefited from a favorable Irish tax rate, arguing that Apple's funneling of revenues and earnings to Ireland, where the Cupertino firm cut a favorable tax deal with the Irish government in the late 1980s and early 1990s, constitutes illegal state aid, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.

Responding to these accusations, Apple issued a written statement denying it's received preferential treatment from the government of Ireland. Apple is urging the need for corporate tax reform, insisting its tax arrangements in Ireland are perfectly legal.

Apple pushing Foxconn to hire aggressively to cope with strong iPhone 6 demand

As Apple's recently released iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus continue to face strong demand from fans around the world, the Cupertino firm has reacted by pushing its favorite contract manufacturer, Foxconn, to hire more workers to help assemble the handsets, Taiwanese trade publication DigiTimes reported Tuesday.

A large-scale aggressive hiring for Foxconn facilities in Shenzhen and Zhengzhou is currently underway, with sources noting that working on assembly lines is no longer as attractive as before for workers in China.

Samsung rumored to supply screens for iPad Air 2 and 12.9″ iPad Pro

Samsung Display, Samsung's display unit and part of the company's component-making arm, will supply Apple with high-resolution panels for an upcoming second-generation iPad Air and a rumored “iPad Pro”which is understood to feature a 12.9-inch screen, Taiwanese trade publication DigiTimes reported Tuesday morning citing Korean-news outlet inews24.

Although the Cupertino firm’s been distancing itself from the South Korean conglomerate amid ad wars and legal spats, the Galaxy maker is still an important supplier for Apple. And with its leading position in mobile screen production, Samsung is best poised to ensure that Apple has ample supply of high-resolution panels for the iPad Air 2 and the rumored iPad Pro.

Apple Watch goes on display at Colette boutique in Paris

Several photos have appeared on Instagram and Twitter this morning showing the Apple Watch on display at Colette's boutique on Rue Saint-Honoré in Paris. On Monday it was reported that Apple was planning a joint promotional event with the French retailer.

More specifically, Colette is now prominently showcasing various models of the Apple Watch in its high profile windows. It has also updated its website announcing that the boutique is inviting people to come preview the wearable device in a special one-day event.

iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus launching in China on Friday, October 17

Apple has announced this morning that the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus will be available in China beginning Friday, October 17. The devices will be launching in the company's online store, as well as its retail stores and various other chains and Authorized Resellers in the country.

Both handsets will support TD-LTE and FDD-LTE, and be offered by China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom across mainland China. Apple says that customers can pre-order the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus from its online store in two weeks, beginning on Tuesday, October 14.

All iCloud services currently down for some users [updated]

If you're having issues with some, or all, of your iCloud services you're not alone. It appears that several of Apple's iCloud services are down for a number of users. We've seen numerous complaints of it on Twitter, and Apple has updated its System Status page to reflect the outages.

A few of us here at iDB are experiencing iCloud issues—I specifically am receiving pop up warnings on both my Mac and iPhone saying that my iCloud password is incorrect for various applications. Others have reported that they are unable to access iCloud.com, or iCloud backups.

Apple releases first beta of iOS 8.1 to developers

Apple has seeded the first beta of iOS 8.1 to developers this afternoon, with build number 12B401. The release comes just a few days after the company posted iOS 8.0.2, and just a few hours after reports surfaced claiming that multiple iOS 8 updates were in the works.

We’re currently installing the beta and will be updating this post with any changes we find. If you find any changes from previous versions, be sure to email us at tips@idownloadblog.com or leave a comment below, preferably with a screenshot of the change or addition.

Facebook Messenger and Amazon Kindle apps updated for iPhone 6

Although Apple's new iPhones have been in stores for more than a week now and developers are scrambling to update their apps with native display support for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.

And while users are still waiting for an iPhone 6 optimized edition of WhatsApp, the social networking giant Facebook has now updated the Messenger iOS app with native iPhone 6 support.

Another important piece of software has also received its iPhone 6-focused refresh today, Amazon's Kindle for the iPhone and iPad. Both Facebook Messenger and Amazon Kindle are available free of charge in the App Store.

Jawbone launches all-new HealthKit-enabled Up software, no fitness band required

San Francisco, California headquartered wearable products company Jawbone on Monday released a brand new Up software for the iPhone in the App Store (not to be confused with the firm's existing Up app).

Announced earlier in the month, the app features iOS 8 HealthKit integration, personalized fitness advice and other features, but without requiring Jawbone's UP or UP24 fitness band.

The app lets you share Up's food, fitness and sleep tracking data with iOS 8’s Health app, and vice versa. Jawbone has opened up its platform to third-party development so more than a hundred health and fitness applications and accessories for the iPhone and iPad now integrate with Up, with or without HealthKit, including Strava Running & Cycling, Wello, IFTTT, RunKeeper and MyFitnessPal.