News

Apple pushes new music discovery feature to beta testers ahead of iOS 10 release

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 3, 2016

First announced at this year's Worldwide Developers Conference in June, a pair of forthcoming music discovery features went live on Apple Music this past Friday for iOS 10 beta testers.

Rechristened from “Discovery Mix” to “My New Music Mix” and available through the For You section of the Music app on iOS 10, this new curated playlist suggests tunes based on your previously played music.

As a bonus, you also get another personally curated playlist—“My Favorites Mix”. These two auto-updated playlists should take the pain out of discovering new artists and music from Apple Music's vast content library, as first reported on by AppleInsider.

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KGI on iPhone 7: IPX7 waterproofing, 2.4GHz chip, new Force Touch sensor, LED flash & more

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 3, 2016

KGI Securities' Ming-Chi Kuo is probably the most reliable analyst out there when it comes to predicting Apple's unannounced gadgets and today he issued a new report to clients, a copy of which was obtained by 9to5Mac, to discuss some last minute details ahead of Apple's September 7 event.

In it, he shares many previously undisclosed iPhone 7 features, including a lot faster new chip, some new and updated sensors, significantly improved cameras with an upgraded LED flash system and more, plus specifics on waterproofing, new colors options, display technology and so forth.

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What we’re expecting from Apple’s September 7 event

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 2, 2016

Apple is hosting a special media event on September 7 at San Francisco's Bill Graham Civic Auditorium at 10am PT. As always, we'll be covering the latest in Apple's big fall refresh thoroughly here at iDB. Of course, the iPhone 7 will be the event's biggest story, but we're also hoping to see other hardware refreshes, accessories and related products come into full view next Wednesday.

Here's everything we think Apple could introduce come September 7, plus some of the things we'd like them to announce but they probably won't (yet).

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The government of Ireland will back Apple in its fight against EU’s tax bill from hell

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 2, 2016

Following news earlier this week that the European Commission had ruled that Apple must pay €13 billion ($14.5 billion) in back taxes to the government of Ireland because its sweetheart deal with Dublin that lets it be subjected to a lower tax rate constitutes “illegal state aid,” the Irish government said today it would join Apple in its fight against the ruling.

“Paradoxically, Ireland is determined not to accept the tax windfall, which would be equivalent to what it spent last year on funding its struggling health service,” says the report.

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Samsung issues global Note 7 recall after complaints of exploding batteries

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 2, 2016

It looked like Samsung was well poised to steal some of Apple's thunder by releasing its Note 7 phablet with a redesigned appearance and wraparound screen ahead of Apple's iPhone 7 event. But following reports from users around the world about a battery issue that has caused some handsets to catch fire or explode, Samsung has now announced plans to recall every single Note 7 sold in order to prevent further damage and has also abandoned today's scheduled Note 7 launch in the United Kingdom and elsewhere.

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“Hey Siri, call Sébastien on Skype”

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 1, 2016

Apple's made a rare move of publishing multiple blog posts to whet our appetite for Siri's upcoming third-party integration on iOS 10. We already detailed how Siri will work with popular messaging/payments apps and allow you to search photos inside third-party apps like Pinterest, just by using your voice.

Now, we take a closer look at how Apple's personal digital assistant can interact with VoIP apps like Skype, Vonage and others.

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Apple previews photo-search capabilities coming to iOS 10 via Siri app integration

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 1, 2016

iOS 10 marks the first time Apple has allowed other people's apps to integrate with Siri. The following app categories are permitted to take advantage of the new SiriKit in iOS 10: ride hailing, messaging, photo search, mobile payments, VoIP and workout apps.

The company already detailed Siri integration in popular messaging and payments apps and now a new blog post shows you how Siri can find photos inside apps like Pinterest, Vogue and more.

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App Store Review Guidelines updated with details on subscriptions, SiriKit and iMessage

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 1, 2016

In addition to beefing up App Store quality control by removing poorly maintained apps and those with 50+ characters in their name starting September 7, Apple also updated the official App Store Review Guidelines with details on app subscriptions, SiriKit and downloadable iMessage content. “As you plan and develop your apps for the upcoming releases of iOS 10, macOS Sierra, watchOS and tvOS, make sure to read these updated guidelines,” writes Apple.

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Apple to impose 50-character limit on app names, remove poorly maintained apps

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 1, 2016

Apple just sent an email blast to its registered developers to inform them that it's implementing two suggestions from the developer community starting September 7, 2016, the same day the iPhone 7 event is scheduled to take place. The first concerns “abandoned” apps that no longer function as advertised and the other deals with funny tricks some developers resort to in an effort to game the system.

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iPhone 7 Plus could come bundled with Apple’s new AirPods Wireless Earphones

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 6, 2017

Another day, another iPhone 7 leak. A high-resolution photograph of an alleged iPhone 7 Plus packaging that surfaced this morning would have us believe that a 5.5-inch iPhone 7 model could ship with Apple's new wireless earbuds in the box.

The info sticker on the back of supposed packaging shows the details for a 32-gigabyte handset model, suggesting the purchase is bundled with an “AirPods Wireless Earphones”. The purported photo was uploaded anonymously and sent to AppleInsider.

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