9to5 Staff

There’s an app currently circulating around Apple’s App Store pretending to be the official set-up companion for Amazon’s Alexa, and it’s fooled its way to the top of the download charts. At the time of this writing, the fake app sits at #60 overall in the general “Top Free” apps section, while in an even more concerning top 10 place under the Utilities sections at #6.

Expand
Expanding
Close

A new poll by data research firm Toluna via Recode attempted to analyze the least trusted companies in the tech sector.

Conducted between December 9 through December 15, the poll surveyed one thousand online participants asking which company they believe to be the least trustworthy with personal information.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Chinese firms are rallying around Huawei after the tech giant has seen immense pressure over recent weeks, climaxing with the arrest of the company’s CFO. Chinese companies are now threatening employees by demanding they not purchase any Apple products whatsoever, going so far to withhold bonuses, garnish wages or even terminate an uncooperative employee.

A report from Nikkei Asian Review details how companies have even offered workers tremendous subsidies on Huawei purchases, with discounts ranging anywhere from 10% up to free devices.

Expand
Expanding
Close

New data from SensorTower today reveals 164 publishers generated their first million dollars in net revenue during 2018, an approximately 13% increase from 143 in 2017.

The interesting data point arises when comparing to Google’s Play Store, who saw 71 publishers last year net one million dollars, and just 88 in 2018.

Expand
Expanding
Close

With Christmas just days away, your chance to get gifts in time is running out fast. While 9to5Mac has got you covered for all your gift guide needs, you’ll need to act fast for December 24th delivery.

Further, Apple’s deadline for the discounted $29 out-of-warranty battery replacements is also ending right after Christmas, meaning there’s a handful of important deadlines you should be aware of.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Waze CEO recently sat down for an interview with Business Insider, and spoke about the company’s $1 billion acquisition by Google, self-driving cars, and why the company attributes Waze’s widespread success to Apple and celebrates an annual “Tim Cook Day.”

The reasoning dates back to 2012, when Apple Maps’ debacle proved a worst case scenario for the company, forcing CEO Tim Cook to write a public apology letter over the numerous Apple Maps shortcomings.

Expand
Expanding
Close

A report from the Wall Street Journal today details Apple’s minuscule success in India with iPhone, specifically highlighting Amit Rajput, who runs a counter selling iPhones in the country with a population of over 1.3 billion. Rajput spoke on how one iPhone sale a day is considered ‘lucky’, with his coworkers at the Samsung, Oppo and Nokia counters selling well over ten devices daily.

The sales decline comes as a stark contrast to 2013, where Rajput recalled selling 80 iPhones per day. He says today, most Indian consumers don’t spend more than $300 on a smartphone — reducing Apple’s presence in the country dramatically.

Expand
Expanding
Close

T-Mobile today announced the release of its eSIM app for compatible iPhone XS, XS Max and XR devices. The app serves as a streamlined portal to activate an eSIM line without the need to head to a store or call a hotline.

Once activated, users can remove their physical SIM, freeing up the slot for a secondary line.

Expand
Expanding
Close

France is set to impose a sweeping new law starting January 1 which is set to raise as much as 500 million euros in 2019 alone.

The tax, dubbed GAFA for Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon, is targeted towards high-profit internet tech giants who generally pay a lower effective tax rate than other corporations, reports AFP News.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Lead attorney for Apple assembly firm Foxconn reiterated statements similar sounding to ones made by Apple attorneys that neither company would seek a settlement in court with Qualcomm over the companies ongoing legal tug-of-war.

The statement comes just weeks after Apple attorney William Isaacson told reporters that a trial against Qualcomm “would be necessary”, despite conflicting comments coming from Qualcomm via its CEO, who implied a peaceful resolution was just “on the doorstep.”

Expand
Expanding
Close

A lawsuit has been filed against Apple this week by a man and women claiming prominent iPhone XS and iPhone XS marketing photos on Apple.com are overly deceptive in hiding the notch. The lawyer for the plaintiffs claims they pre-ordered an iPhone XS Max unaware there would be any “missing pixels,” bezel or notch of any sort.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Apple struck a deal today with DHX Media to produce new animated content with Charlie Brown and the rest of the Peanuts gang for its upcoming video streaming service. The deal comes as Apple aggressively expands its in-house video content alongside the numerous television deals and rights acquisitions being made by the company recently.

Apple’s interest in animation is nothing new, as the company previously made deals with the creator of Bob’s Burgers and Irish-animation studio Cartoon Saloon for future TV and film content.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Apple’s television advertisements have earned three places on Adweek’s 25 Best Ads of 2018 annual list, which highlights the best media ads ranging from print to film. Apple’s highest spot ranking on the list, #2, was for its Spike Jonze directed-critically acclaimed ‘Welcome Home’ ad.

This isn’t the first time the company has seen massive celebration over the HomePod advert, with Adweek previously conducting a highly featured behind-the-scenes video.

Expand
Expanding
Close