Rumors

Report: Apple close to striking major partnership with NHL

Cody Lee ∙ December 7, 2016

The National Hockey League has informed teams that it is in late-stage negotiations with Apple over a major partnership, reports TSN. Citing sources familiar with the matter, the Canadian sports outlet says the deal could see iPads and other technology come to NHL team benches.

Apparently the League has been in talks with Apple, and competitor Microsoft, for several years, but discussions with the iPhone-maker accelerated after a similar deal with the NBA fell through. The source says this pact could still dissipate, but it's pretty far along for that to happen.

Apple wants to offer rentals for movies that just came out in theaters

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 7, 2016

Bloomberg is reporting that Apple is in discussions with Hollywood studios about eventually offering home rentals for new movies two weeks after they've hit the silver screen, but at a price.

New flicks are usually available for purchase on the iTunes Store 90 days after theatrical releases, followed by rentals two to four weeks later.

Movie studios are now said to be discussing rentals two weeks after they open in theaters though encryption is among the concerns in these talks, the article notes.

With T-Mobile’s new Digits service, your number can be used across multiple devices

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 7, 2016

U.S. wireless carrier today unveiled a new service, called Digits, which aims to uncouple your phone number from your mobile devices and wireless service plans.

According to T-Mobile CEO John Legere, Digits makes it so that you can use your T-Mobile number across multiple devices like smartphones, tablets, smartwatches, desktop PCs and wearable devices.

Digits will also permit you to use multiple T-Mobile numbers on the same device, making it easy to combine your work, home and personal numbers on a single smartphone with calls and texts appearing from the same number.

iPhone manufacturer Foxconn rumored to spend $7 billion on U.S. expansion

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 7, 2016

Taiwan-based iPhone manufacturer Foxconn is said to be considering pouring as much as $7 billion into a massive expansion of its operations in the United States, looking to create 50,000 jobs within the country in the next four years, Reuters reported Wednesday.

Foxconn is reportedly looking to build a collection of U.S.-based assembly plants.

The company has confirmed being in preliminary discussions regarding expansion of its U.S. operations. CNBC earlier posted a slide which pegs the investment at $7 billion.

iPhone 7s and iPhone 7s Plus rumored to come in a brand new Red color option

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 7, 2016

Apple is prototyping as many as ten next-generation iPhone models, and most analysts agree that the company will probably launch a trio of new handsets next year: an 'iPhone 8' with a wraparound OLED screen and all-new industrial design and LCD-based 'iPhone 7s' and 'iPhone 7s Plus' models. According to a new report Wednesday from the fairly reliable Japanese outlet Mac Otakara, LCD iPhones may come in a brand new Red color option.

Apple’s machine learning researchers are now free to publish their findings

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 22, 2017

Apple demands that its machine learning (ML) experts and artificial intelligence (AI) researchers do no publish their findings in research papers or share results of their work with fellow ML/AI experts, which scientists think is preventing the company from recruiting the brightest minds in the field. Realizing its mistake, Apple is changing its stance.

As announced by Russ Salakhutd, Apple's director of AI research, the company’s machine-learning researchers are now free to publish some of their breakthroughs in and confer with colleagues.

Galaxy S8 rumored to drop 3.5mm audio jack, adopt USB-C & use in-screen Home button

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 6, 2016

SamMobile is reporting today that Samsung's next-generation Galaxy S8 smartphone will replace the physical Home button with a non-moving variant embedded right behind its AMOLED screen. The firm is also said to adopt USB-C for charging and data transfer and ditch the 3.5mm headphone jack to make the phone thinner and lighter.

The Galaxy S8 should be unveiled in February 2017 and could beat Apple's rumored iPhone 8 to the virtual Home button.

iPhone 7 demand reportedly starts fading as iPhone 8 rumors continue picking up steam

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 1, 2016

Apple has enjoyed success with the new iPhone 7 family as the Jet Black iPhone 7 Plus models saw strong demand, in some part due to Samsung's Note 7 debacle. But demand for latest iPhones may have started to fade recently, forcing Apple to cut back on orders, Taiwanese supply chain sources told trade publication DigiTimes.

That's especially true with the rumor-mill in high gear regarding next year's massive iPhone 8 upgrade and all the talk of the so-called Tenth Anniversary iPhone gaining all-glass, bezel-free industrial design and a wraparound OLED displays akin to that on the Galaxy S7 edge.

Bloomberg: Apple plans to use drones and new indoor navigation features to improve Maps

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 1, 2016

Apple is assembling a team of robotics and mapping experts that will use data-collecting drones to capture and update Maps information faster than its existing fleet of minivans that use cameras and other sensors to collect Maps data.

The company has reportedly hired at least one person from Amazon's Prime Air division to help run the drone team, which is being assembled in Seattle. In addition, Apple is working on a brand new indoor view in Maps.

Indoor features would use pressure sensors, GPS, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth in latest iPhones to let users easily navigate indoor areas such as airports, museums and other high-traffic buildings, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman and Alan Levin reported Thursday.

Cook: AirPods shipping over the “next few weeks”

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 30, 2016

We were originally promised the AirPods in “late October” before Apple delayed launch because, as the company explained in a statement, “we don’t believe in shipping a product before it’s ready.” Since then, multiple sources reported conflicting availability information pertaining to the product, ranging from end of November to year-end to January 2017.

According to an alleged reply that a MacRumors reader received after emailing Tim Cook, Apple's first Bluetooth earphones with an in-house designed W1 wireless chip will be shipping to customers over the next few weeks.

Is watchOS 4 finally going to get the Home screen right?

Steffen Reich ∙ Updated June 11, 2018

Much was made of Apple’s third major software overhaul for watchOS this year with Control Center and the Dock seeing the light of day, finally making for a much beefier experience on our wrists. The one other central interface of Apple Watch received no love though, meaning users are still embroiled in a love-hate relationship with their watch’s Home screen. It is easy to let patience wear thin with respect to Apple not pushing the Home screen on Watch forward, then again it took Apple more than a couple of years to refine the iPhone’s Home screen, just to put matters into perspective.

Regardless of the pace at which Apple is planning to shape up the screen accessed by pressing the crown, design and functionality changes are eventually going to take place. It’s a highly emotive topic and any watch owner will be able to raise one or two aspects they either dislike about the Home screen or wished to be fundamentally different. Personally, with the arrival of my snappier Series 2 watch, the Home screen is about the only qualm I still have with Apple's youngest product line. So there, let me add my voice to what the Home screen in watchOS 4 needs to implement in order to catch up with the rest of the operating system.

FDA emails reaffirm Apple may be developing a pair of cardiac monitoring devices

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 29, 2016

Thanks to a recent Freedom of Information Act filing, we now know that Apple is still interested in developing a pair of FDA-regulated devices dedicated to cardiac monitoring.

This was revealed in a recent email exchange between officials at Apple and the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which was obtained Tuesday by Mobihealthnews.

Economic Daily News reported on Apple's alleged interest in the creation of two health-tracking hardware products back in August. According to that report, the devices—one of which described as a “killer” gadget—should release some time in 2017.