Apple

Beats releases improved Solo2 on-ear headphones

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated November 9, 2016

Less than 24 hours into Apple's announcement that it is buying Beats for $3 billion, Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre's startup has announced a refreshed version of its best-selling headphones model, the Solo². Of course, this has nothing to do with Apple as the accessory has been in the making for months.

The new on-ear headphones offer a more dynamic, wider range of sound and a clarity that will "bring you closer to what the artist intended". The design has been revised for a better custom-fit feeling...

Eddy Cue: today’s TV experience sucks

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 17, 2018

Last night, Apple’s Eddy Cue (and Jimmy Iovine) joined Recode's Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher on stage at the Code Conference to discuss a wide range of topics. The focus was obviously on the recently announced Beats acquisition, but as you can imagine, other interesting stuff came up as well.

One of the more noteworthy bits came after Cue was questioned on the long-rumored Apple TV update. Mossberg said it's clear Apple has been wanting to do a big TV project for a long time, and Tim Cook has even alluded to it on a few occasions, but we haven't seen anything yet. Here's Cue's response...

Eddy Cue: Apple’s best product pipeline in 25 years coming later this year

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 2, 2017

'Has Apple lost its ability to innovate?' has become a common theme among critics in recent years, who note that the company hasn't released a groundbreaking new product since the iPad in 2010. And going halfway through 2014 without mention of a new gadget hasn't helped its cause.

But according to Apple's SVP of Internet Software and Services Eddy Cue, that's about to change. The executive sat down with Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher at the Code Conference last night to talk about the recent high-profile Beats acquisition, and set major expectations for the fall...

Apple acquires Beats for $3 billion

Joe Rossignol ∙ May 28, 2014

After weeks of speculation, Apple confirmed just moments ago that it has reached a deal to acquire Beats Electronics and Beats Music for $3 billion. Beats co-founders Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre will be joining Apple, the company announced. Beats is best known for its popular lineup of headphones, speakers and audio software, and in January launched a new streaming music service called Beats Music in partnership with AT&T.

This marks the largest acquisition that Apple has ever made, divided into a purchase price of $2.6 billion and approximately $400 million that will vest over time. But it comes at a pivotal time for Apple, as iTunes music sales decline in light of the rising popularity of streaming music services. Apple will now operate its own streaming music service in Beats Music, going head on against competitors like Spotify and Pandora…

Tim Cook interviews offer more details on Beats acquisition

Cody Lee ∙ Updated May 16, 2016

In addition to giving comments for the press release and writing a memo to employees, Tim Cook apparently invited a handful of high profile journalists to Apple's Cupertino headquarters today to talk about the just-announced Beats acquisition.

Cook spoke with reporters from the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Financial Times and other publications this afternoon on the Beats buyout. And we've rounded up some of the more interesting tidbits from each interview, below...

Pocket adds new features, introduces Premium tier

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated November 19, 2018

Pocket (formerly Read It Later), is a popular read-later service that lets you save content you don't have the time to read right now. You can then enjoy saved items later on all your mobile/desktop devices and in the web UI.

Saved stories are stripped of all unnecessary graphics, ads and other bells and whistles that clutter online articles. Folks who research a lot like bloggers tend to use read-later services as their central repository of URLs.

For example, I use Pocket to keep stories containing snippets of information that I may or may not use in my future writing. There's just one tiny problem: a saved URL is no good if an article gets deleted on the web. Enter Pocket Premium, your new subscription Pocket library that keeps a permanent copy of anything you save to it...

iTunes Radio set to stream a bunch of ESPN and NPR stations

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

Apple sure seems adamant to bolster up its music ambitions. Shortly after confirming that it's purchasing Beats Electronics and Beats Music in a transaction valued at $3 billion - by far the largest acquisition in company history since the 1997 NeXT deal, we're now hearing some encouraging news concerning iTunes Radio, its Internet radio service.

Specifically, iTunes Radio has now started streaming content from ESPN, including the World Cup stream. Moreover, Apple will be adding a bunch of local NPR stations to the service soon...

Beats Music apps to remain in Android, Windows Phone stores

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 17, 2018

Now that the long-rumored Beats deal has been confirmed by Apple, folks are wondering what's to become of the Beats Music service. Although it just launched in January, it has already built up a [small] loyal following of subscribers.

The good news is, it sounds like Apple is going to allow Beats to operate as a separate company, which will include its streaming music service. And according to reports, it has no plans to pull the Android and Windows Phone clients...

App Store’s Top Charts now shows fewer apps for performance reasons

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 28, 2014

TechCrunch has spotted an interesting change under the popular Top Charts section in the App Store. The popular section now displays only half as much ranked apps as before.

Whereas previously you were able to scroll through the top 300 apps listed across Paid, Free and Top Grossing categories on the iPhone (or Top 1,500 on the iPad), Top Charts now shows only 150 results.

It's a small but interesting change that shows Apple is still figuring out how to best surface noteworthy and trending apps among the more than million items it now carries in the App Store....

Tim Cook issues memo to Apple employees regarding Beats deal

Cody Lee ∙ May 28, 2014

After weeks of rumors and speculation, Apple confirmed that it has reached an agreement to acquire Beats Electronics this afternoon. The deal is worth $3 billion, split into a $2.6 billion payout and $400 million that will vest over time.

In the press release, Tim Cook said that 'music is such an important part of all of our lives and holds a special place within our hearts at Apple.' And he shared a similar sentiment in a memo he just emailed to the company's employees...

Beats Music drops annual subscription fee to $99, free trial extended to 14 days for everyone

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 27, 2018

Hot on the heels of officially announcing the major $3 billion acquisition of Beats Electronics LCC., and ahead of its SVP Eddy Cue and Craig Federighi's joint appearance at the Code Conference tonight, Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre's four months old music service has just sweetened the deal.

The startup has dropped the price of Beats Music yearly subscription free to $99.99, down from $119.88.

Additionally, the previous 7-day free trial of Beats Music has now been extended in a “no strings attached” move to fourteen days to all users...

Samsung introduces ‘Sami,’ an open health-tracking platform

Cody Lee ∙ Updated June 16, 2016

In less than a week, Apple will be taking the stage at its WWDC keynote event to talk about OS X, iOS 8 and its new health-tracking 'Healthbook' app. Unsurprisingly, Samsung tried to beat them to the punch today by announcing its own healthcare initiative.

They're calling it 'SAMI,' short for Samsung Architecture Multimodal Interactions, and it's a cloud-based platform capable of reading and storing data from various sensors. It's compatible with Samsung's S-Health products, and completely open to developers...