In a world where people are still having a hard time accepting that smartphones cost money, Apple is prepping a special 10th anniversary iPhone model, and it’s going to cost more than US$1,000. The special model will reportedly be called the iPhone 8, and despite the hefty price tag people will likely buy it.
News
See and Sleep Smarter with the Helia LED Bulb from Soraa
Soraa has announced their Helia LED bulb, which incorporates several lighting and communication innovations not found in other LED bulbs. Todd Antes, Senior Vice President of Marketing, gave us an overview of the benefits of their bulb.
Hello, Irony: Samsung Note 7 Battery Factory Catches on Fire
It’s the kind of irony that takes serious script work to bring together in a TV show, but for Samsung it’s real life: The factory that makes the faulty batteries that led to the exploding Galaxy Note 7 caught on fire. Luckily no one was hurt, so it’s totally OK for us to poke fun at Samsung’s latest misfortune.
Amazon's Fire TV Boss Joins Apple TV Team
Apple TV has a new vice president for product marketing and he used top be in charge of Amazon’s Fire TV division. Timothy D. Twerdahl came on board with Apple in February and he’s taking over the marketing job from Pete Distad.
Steve Wozniak to Tell 'Untold Stories' about Apple at Startup World Cup Grand Finale
Steve Wozniak will be speaking at the Startup World Cup Grand Finale in San Francisco on March 24th, 2017. Event organizers Fenox Venture Capital said Tuesday that Woz will, “share insights on his time at Apple and tell some untold stories.”
Apple in a Standoff with Australia's Banks Over Apple Pay
Don’t count on Apple Pay coming to most of Australia any time soon because the ongoing fight between Apple and the banks is only getting worse. Apple is calling Australia’s banks a cartel looking to squeeze more money out of customers, and the banks say Apple is trying to kill competition. Both sides are digging in their heels, and it doesn’t look like they’re interested in finding a compromise.
Apple Turns to UAC for Yet Another iPhone Connector
Apple has plans for yet another connector in its Made for iPhone (MFi) program. The new plug—which is actually kind of old—is called Ultra Accessory Connector, or UAC, and will work along side Lightning and USB-C instead of replacing them.
32-bit iPhone and iPad Apps Are on Death Row
Apple’s look-forward philosophy means 64-bit iPhone and iPad apps are the future and 32-bit apps are fading into the past. That means the day is coming where 32-bit apps that haven’t been updated to 64-bit will stop working, and if you don’t have a replacement app ready to go you’ll be out of luck.
Jawbone Bails Out of Consumer Fitness Tracker Market
Apple and Fitbit are about to lose a competitor because Jawbone is ready to shut down its consumer fitness tracker business. The company is shifting to devices for health care providers.
Apple Among 97 Companies in Filing Against Trump's Immigration Ban
The White House immigration executive order has faced harsh criticism and now it faces even more opposition now that 97 companies, including Apple, have filed an amicus brief with the Federal Courts. The document, which leaked last week, is harshly critical of Mr. Trump’s order and says immigrants are an important part of our society and economy.
Lawsuit Claims Apple Broke FaceTime to Force iOS 7 Upgrades
What happens when you don’t want to upgrade to a new version of iOS on your iPhone, but you’re sure Apple is forcing you to anyhow? Lawsuit! Apple is facing a class action lawsuit for just that where the plaintiffs allege the company intentionally broke FaceTime in iOS 6 to force upgrades to iOS 7 all to save some money.
Get Pro Mac Apps From Apple With An Education Discount
Apple is offering a brand new educational bundle for students and teachers. The apps, worth $430 separately, are offered at a great discount and include Logic Pro X, Final Cut Pro X, Motion 5, Compressor 4 and Main Stage 3. Verification requires an account on UNiDAYS, a savings program for college kids. If you’re a creative student or educator, you may want to check out this deal.
Steve Savoca Leaves Spotify for Apple Music
Steve Savoca, Spotify’s former vice president of Content, is now part of the Apple Music team. He joined Apple in January and is serving the in same role for Apple Music.
Apple Working on Custom Mac Chips to Cut Reliance on Intel
Apple is reportedly working to scale back its reliance on Intel for MacBook and MacBook Pro chips by designing its own ARM-based processor. The Apple-designed chip will handle low power functions such as Power Nap, and could be a step towards abandoning Intel at some point in the future.
Hackers Post Cellebrite's Smartphone Cracking Tools Online
A hacker dumped 900GB of hacking tools and data used by Cellebrite. The cache of data is on Pastebin, for now, at least. Cellebrite is an Israeli security company that came to public prominence when the FBI used its services to hack into the San Bernadino shooter’s iPhone.
Federal Court Blocks Part of Trump's Immigration Executive Order
The controversial executive order blocking immigrants and refugees from seven middle eastern countries from entering the United States has been partially shut down. A Federal Court Judge granted a temporary restraining order stopping the government from refusing entry for people with valid immigrant visas, but didn’t address the fate of refugees or tourists.
Tempered Tantrum: Screen Protectors for iPhones
iPhone cases may be great for protecting the back and sides of your iPhone, but most of them offer little or no protection for the screen. Bob LeVitus runs us through some tempered glass protectors, and weighs the pros and cons of using cheap one or paying for premium products.
Prince Coming to Apple Music, Spotify
It looks like Prince may be streaming on Apple Music and other services soon. An industry insider says deals are in place for the iconic artist’s work to stream on more than just Tidal starting on February 12.
Apple's Services Business Hits Fortune 100 Level
Apple is a hardware company, a media company, and now it’s a serious services company, too. Company CEO Tim Cook said the company’s services business is on track to reach the size of a Fortune 100 company in 2017, and the goal is to double the division’s growth over the next four years.
![Apple Beats Guidance with Record Revenue of $78.4B and EPS of $3.36 [Update]](https://www.macobserver.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/apple-money-pile.webp)
Apple Beats Guidance with Record Revenue of $78.4B and EPS of $3.36 [Update]
Apple announced Tuesday record revenue for its December quarter of US$78.4 billion, as well as record earnings per share (EPS) of $3.36. That’s up from $75.9 billion in revenue in the year-ago quarter with EPS of $3.28. [Update: This article has been updated with additional details. – Editor]
The iOS Chrome Browser Is Now Open Source
After several years of switching the code, Google made the iOS Chrome browser open source. For the past several years the Chrome team has been updating the code in order to bring it under the Chromium Project. Since iOS browsers must use Apple’s WebKit rendering engine, the app had to support that as well as Google’s Blink engine.
Winners of the TMO Roddenberry Vault Giveaway Announced
On January 9th, TMO published our Background Mode interview with producer Rod Roddenberry. As part of that podcast, Rod generously provided TMO with three copies of his new release, The Rodddenberry Vault, on Blu-ray, to give away. The three randomly selected winners, who correctly answered a question about the podcast audio, have been announced.
watchOS 3.2 Developer Beta Gives Us Our First Look at Theater Mode
Apple released watchOS 3.2 as a beta for developers Monday afternoon. The update gives us the first real look at Theater Mode, and opens SiriKit on Apple Watch to developers, too.
Black AirPods Exist Thanks To BlackPods
A company called BlackPods is offering custom painted AirPods, but as the name suggests they only offer them in black. Matte black, to be specific. You can buy a pair directly from the company, or send in your own pair and pay to have them coated using a custom process.
