Bloomberg

Apple Music launches in Israel, gains free Bloomberg Radio news channel in 100 countries

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 3, 2016

The Apple Music service has expanded to Israel this morning, allowing users in the eight million people country to sign up for the music-subscription service in exchange for 19.90 ILS per month (about $5.2) for individual accounts. A family of six can subscribe to Apple Music for 29.90 ILS, or about $7.81.

A free three-month trial is available as well.

The news comes 24 hours after the news gathering organization Bloomberg announced that its radio service is now available on Apple Music in over a hundred countries.

Bloomberg: Apple’s Project Titan prioritizes autonomous driving amid new hirings

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 28, 2016

Apple's rumored electric vehicle project has shifted its focus towards autonomous driving systems although that shouldn't be interpreted as Apple abandoning efforts to design its own vehicle, Bloomberg reported today.

After bringing former hardware chief Bob Mansfield back from retirement to run its Project Titan initiative, Apple has now hired BlackBerry and Ford talent to help perfect its secret self-driving software.

Indian government intervenes to allow Apple Stores in the country

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 21, 2016

After repeated delays, Apple may finally get the chance to open company-run retail stores in India as the cabinet of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has reportedly approved a three-year extension on local-sourcing rules that require foreign companies operating their own retail stores to manufacture at least thirty percent of goods in the country.

Bloomberg: Intel cellular modems will be reserved for AT&T iPhone 7 models

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 10, 2016

Supply chain whispers recently claimed that a significant portion of LTE cellular modems for the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus would be built by Intel instead of Qualcomm and now Bloomberg is reporting that Intel modems will be actually reserved for AT&T iPhone 7 models.

Qualcomm is expected to remain Apple's modem provider for Verizon and China-bound iPhone 7 handsets. Qualcomm's boss had said he expected a major customer to diversify its supplier base.

Apple hires a satnav expert who holds a patent for preventing car collisions

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 16, 2018

Revered software engineer Sinisa Durekovic has joined Apple in an unspecified role in October, Bloomberg reported on Thursday, citing sources.

Durekovic was charged with managing the development of advanced satellite navigation systems used by luxury carmakers such as BMW AG, Daimler AG’s Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen AG’s Audi, suggesting another possible mapping push for the Cupertino giant.

Bloomberg: Twitter plans to stop counting photos and links within the 140-character limit

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 16, 2016

Twitter's legendary 140-character limit per tweet (which mirrors limits on SMS messages) may not be going away anytime soon even though it was recently lifted from Direct Messages, but that doesn't mean the company isn't plotting new ways to help users squeeze more words into tweets.

As reported by Bloomberg, citing a person familiar with the matter, by not counting photos and links in tweets Twitter aims to make it easier to compose posts without losing 23 characters, or more, to these links—even after Twitter automatically shortens them.

A more intuitive Apple Music to launch at WWDC next month

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 4, 2016

Since its debut, Apple Music has received its fair share of criticism as fans complained about various issues, from the confusing, complicated user interface to a number of design inconsistencies. Thankfully, your prayers haven't gone unnoticed by the powers that be at 1 Infinite Loop, California.

As reported by Bloomberg, Apple is set to show off at WWDC next month a “more intuitive” version of Apple Music that should be easier to use.

Bloomberg profiles Apple’s silicon chief, gives a peek at secret chip-testing lab in Cupertino

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 18, 2016

Bloomberg Businessweek has published an interesting profile of Johny Srouji, Apple's silicon chief (official title: Senior Vice President of Hardware Technologies), who joined the company back in 2008 to lead development of the A4, the first Apple-designed system-on-a-chip that made its debut in the iPhone 4 and the original iPad.

Apple is now widely praised by critics and fans alike for taking its chip destiny in its own hands. The article tells an in-depth story of how then CEO Steve Jobs had the foresight and courage to take Apple on a risky path to make it a fabless silicon designer.

Apple-designed mobile chips went on to differentiate iPhones and iPads on the hardware level from competing devices using off-the-shelf parts. The story also gives us our very first peek at chip-durability testing at an unmarked Apple lab in Cupertino.

Bloomberg: Apple’s penchant for secrecy slowing down its AI development efforts

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 30, 2015

According to a new report from Bloomberg, Apple's artificial development efforts are being hampered by the company's legendary penchant for secrecy as the company is finding it difficult to hire top engineers in the field.

While Apple researchers attended an artificial intelligence industry conference in Montreal last year, they kept a low profile and “didn’t say who they worked for unless asked.”

Bloomberg: Apple to delay TV service until 2016

Cody Lee ∙ August 13, 2015

Apple has scrapped plans to announce its long-rumored streaming TV service at its upcoming September 9 event, reports Bloomberg. Citing sources familiar with the matter, the outlet says that content deal talks with 21st Century Fox and others have been progressing slowly.

Additionally, Apple also doesn't have the computer network capacity in place to ensure a good viewing experience—a common complaint among users of Dish's Sling TV and other streaming services. Thus, the company has decided to push back the launch of its service to 2016.

Apple still negotiating terms with record labels for music streaming service

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 5, 2015

Apple is reportedly still negotiating terms with record labels for its rumored music-streaming service, just days before its annual Worldwide Developers Conference kicks off with a keynote next Monday, Bloomberg said today.

People familiar with the negotiations told the news organization that the labels are pushing to get a larger chunk of revenue than they receive under their current deals with Spotify.

Apple moves to remove its customer data from RadioShack sale

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 28, 2016

In another showing of its commitment to protecting the privacy of its users, Apple has intervened in the sale of Radio Shack, which recently filed for bankruptcy, arguing that any information collected during the sale of its own products at RadioShack locations should be left out of the deal.

As noted by Law360 earlier this week, Apple, AT&T and others have objected to the potential sale of their customers' data. The iPhone maker reportedly said that the fallen electronics retailer “doesn’t have the right to sell Apple customer information.”