News

Apple Store going down tomorrow morning amid rumors of impending product refreshes

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 20, 2017

Reputable supply chain analysts recently told MacRumors Apple could announce new products between Monday, March 20 and Friday, March 24. Well, today Apple did something it's never done before—via its System Status webpage, the firm announced that its online stores will be undergoing maintenance tomorrow morning, March 21.

“The Apple Store will be updated and unavailable during this time,” reads the message first spotted by MacRumors. It's become a tradition for Apple to take its store offline ahead of major media events and product launches.

For the last ten years, Apple paid taxes to Australia instead of New Zealand

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 20, 2017

The New Zealand Herald's analysis of the local subsidiary's financial statements has revealed that for the last ten years, Apple paid taxes to the Australian Tax Office instead of New Zealand's Inland Revenue. The Cupertino company appears to have paid out $37 million in income taxes from sales generated in New Zealand, but to Australia's tax authority.

Samsung announces Siri rival Bixby

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 20, 2017

Samsung on Monday officially announced Bixby, its new personal digital assistant based on AI technologies from Viv Labs, a startup by Siri co-founders Dag Kittalus and Adam Cheyer that the South Korean company acquired last year. According to InJong Rhee, Executive Vice President and head of R&D, Software and Services at Samsung, Bixby is about completeness, context awareness and cognitive tolerance, aside from other features.

The personal assistant should launch alongside Galaxy S8 and will be “fundamentally different” than Siri, Cortana, Google Assistant and more.

TSMC could spend $16+ billion on US chip plant, final decision in the first half of 2018

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 20, 2017

iPhone and iPad silicon maker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSMC) won't make the decision whether or not it would build a foundry fab in the United States until sometime in 2018, Reuters reported Monday. The firm hinted it might start building some of the chips in America.

TSMC, which exclusively churns out Apple-designed mobile processors for latest iPhone and iPads, won't make a definite decision on building a US plant this year because it would lose its "flexibility" if it made the move this year.

Apple’s mysterious wireless device is just a door access system

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 20, 2017

Multiple filings for an unannounced wireless device with the model number A1844 which Apple recently made with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) have caused quite a commotion, more so in light of Bloomberg's claims that an Amazon Echo-like appliance powered by Siri was in prototype testing. The mysterious device has turned out to be nothing more than a wireless door access system.

As per Business Insider, the device was likely designed for the new Apple Park headquarters opening to employees in April.

New Bloomberg report details Apple’s AR efforts

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 20, 2017

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman in a new report Monday offered a deeper insight into Apple's next big thing—the company's secretive efforts related to augmented reality (AR) technologies which reportedly include an iPhone-connected digital spectacles that the news organization previously said would launch in 2018.

Citing people with knowledge of Apple's plans, the report states that the company's built a team combining the strengths of its hardware and software veterans with the expertise of talented outsiders. The group is allegedly being run by former Dolby Laboratories executive Mike Rockwell and includes engineers who worked on Facebook's Oculus and Microsoft's HoloLens virtual reality headsets “as well as digital-effects wizards from Hollywood.”

Twitter for iOS gains Tweets & Replies tab on profile pages

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 18, 2017

Twitter's mobile app for iPhone and iPad has gained updated profile design on mobile with a new Tweets & Replies tab now gradually rolling out to users. As first noted by 9to5Mac, the profile section shown upon tapping Me at the bottom of the app now resembles Twitter's web interface, which also separates replies into a dedicated tab. Previously, Twitter for iOS consolidated both your own tweets and replies under a single Tweets tab.

This tweaked profile design on mobile is a staggered rollout so check back in a few days if it's currently unavailable to you.

AppleCare+ can now be bought up to 12 months after purchasing your iPhone

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 17, 2017

As first noted by MacRumors, Apple now lets you buy extended warranty coverage for your iPhone up to twelve months after your device purchase.

Previously, customers had up to 60 days following an iPhone purchase to buy an extended AppleCare+ coverage for their phone. This information, originally provided by “multiple people familiar with the matter”, has been subsequently confirmed by a senior AppleCare advisor and other sources.

Netflix ditching stars for thumbs-up/down system, planning to stream mobile content in HDR quality

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 17, 2017

Netflix is abandoning star ratings in favor of a binary thumbs-up/down system set to start rolling out in a few weeks, Fast Company reported Friday. Variety says Netflix is also planning to stream content in High Dynamic Range (HDR) quality on supported mobile devices. HDR video offers a more dynamic and richer range of colors, brighter whites and deeper blacks. Lastly, they're experimenting with mobile-specific cuts of movies and TV shows tailored to viewing on smartphone screens.

Apple Store shopping app now requires iOS 10

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 17, 2017

Apple's mobile shopping app, aptly named Apple Store, now requires iOS 10.0 or later. This requirement happened in the last three days and even though it's not a huge deal, it deserves to be mentioned. The app's most recent update, dated March 9, included only “various improvements and performance enhancements,” according to Apple's release notes. Apple Store for iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch is available at no charge from App Store.

FiLMiC Pro 6.0 hits with overhauled UI, iPhone 7 exclusive features and other improvements

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 17, 2017

Anyone who's serious about taking videos on their iOS device would agree that FiLMiC Pro for iPhone and iPad leaves Apple's stock Camera app in the dust.

The filmmakers' go-to app, this ultimate video recording and editing software has become even better thanks to yesterday's update which brought out a redesigned user interface along with a number of new features.

The update includes iPhone 7-exclusive capabilities such as gamma curve controls for Natural, Dynamic, Flat and LOG (a first for mobile video), live adjustments for Shadow, Highlight, RGB, Saturation and Vibrance curves, temporal noise reduction up to 1080p resolution and more.

Permanent Indie Games collection launches on App Store, select titles temporarily slashed to $0.99

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 17, 2017

Apple has dedicated a new “Indie Games” collection on App Store to showcasing some of the best iPhone and iPad games crafted by independent developers. The new section, the store's permanent fixture, has arrived following Apple's twelve-day “Celebrating Indie Games” event.

Running from March 9 through March 20, that promotion is showcasing games from self-funded and self-published teams while temporarily marking down titles like Bicolor, Road Not Taken, The Room Two, Samorost 3 and Surgeon Simulator to 99 cents.