Apple's $200M Advanced Manufacturing Fund Investment in Corning Means No Sapphire iPhone Displays

If you’ve been waiting for a sapphire glass for iPhone display, stop holding your breath because Apple’s $200 million investment in Corning says that’s not going to happen. The investment comes from Apple’s recently announced Advanced Manufacturing Fund, and is going to be used for Corning research and development, capital equipment needs, and state-of-the-art glass processing.

Five Apple Videos for Shooting with iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus

Apple released five videos to YouTube Thursday evening, all of them designed to teach you how to shoot on iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus. Topics include shooting action, shooting “great portraits,” shooting close-ups, shooting vertical panoramics (panos), and shooting without Flash. We’ve got all five of them.

Apple Buying Up 3D Cameras for iPhone 8

The iPhone 8 will reportedly include a 3D camera with facial recognition capabilities, and LG Innotek is parts supplier. That fits with reports that have surfaced over the past few months, although this is the first time we’re hearing that Apple has placed a parts order with Innotek.

Tim Cook Is No Steve Ballmer

A piece at Seeking Alpha argues that Tim Cook needs to be replaced as CEO of Apple because he’s “identical to Steve Ballmer.” Bryan Chaffin was specifically asked what he thought, so here’s the short version: it’s balderdash—Tim Cook is no Steve Ballmer.

Alexa Calling: Amazon Adds Voice Calling to Echo, Echo Dot

The just announced Echo Show isn’t the only device in Amazon’s lineup getting voice calling support. A new feature dubbed Alexa Calling is coming to the Echo, Echo Dot, and Alexa mobile app today. For now, the calling features are limited to the Echo lineup and Alexa app, but that could be the first step in turning the devices into speaker phones fro our homes.

Apple Invites Press to 2017 WWDC Keynote

Apple officially invited members of the press to its World Wide Developer Conference (WWDC) keynote. The conference will be held at the McEnery Convention Center in San Jose, CA, from June 5th to June 9th, with the keynote on June 5th.

FBI Paid $900K for San Bernardino iPhone Hack

The FBI refused to ever share how much it paid for the hack into San Bernardino shooter Syed Farook’s iPhone, but thanks to Senator Diane Feinstein we now know the price was US$900,000. The Senator accidentally spilled the beans during a Judiciary Committee meeting on accessing encrypted data on smartphones and personal computers.

Apple Offers Free 3-Year Repair for iPad Smart Keyboard

Apple is offering a new three-year service policy for its Smart Keyboard iPad accessory. The company found that some keyboards were having functional issues during usage. Faulty Smart Connectors and sticky, repeating and non-responsive keys being some of the issues.

PSA: Russian-Backed Flash Trojan Ported to macOS

A Russian-backed bit of malware called Snake has been ported to macOS, according to security blog Fox-IT (via Malwarebytes Labs). Snake is a trojan disguised to look like a Flash installer, and it’s been around on Windows since 2008 and Linux since 2014. Bryan Chaffin explains.

Amazon Prime Video Finally Headed to Apple TV

Amazon seems to warming up to the idea of bringing Prime Video to the Apple TV, and it could come as early as this summer. Insider sources say Amazon and Apple have finally come to terms, which should make many Apple TV owners very happy.

Apple Dethrones Fitbit as the Top Wearables Maker

Apple has taken over Fitbit’s position as the top wearables maker for the first quarter of 2017. Wearable device shipments are on the rise, as are Apple’s sales, but Fitbit’s numbers are declining and the company laid off over 100 employees earlier this year.