Jordan manages the internal Partner Program for sponsorships and partnerships across the 9to5 network’s media brands including 9to5Mac, 9to5Google, 9to5Toys, Electrek.co, SpaceExplored and DroneDJ.com.
Jordan also writes about all things Apple as a Senior Editor of 9to5Mac. He covers Google for 9to5Google.com, the best gadgets and deals on 9to5Toys.com, and EV and solar news on Electrek.co. He also co-authors 9to5Mac’s Logic Pros series and makes music sometimes.
Contact Jordan with partnership inquiries and long-winded complaints:
The Times reports that Apple is signing up UK footballer Raheem Sterling to be its latest celebrity endorser as the company reportedly plans a new ad campaign that will surround Sterling and the European Championship finals this summer. The report claims Sterling will earn a six-figure pay check for the endorsement:
Minecraft developers Mojang today announced a new online gameplay feature coming soon to the Minecraft: Pocket Edition mobile apps called “Minecraft Realms.”
Realms aims to make it easy to play online with friends, sort of like desktop players have been doing for years running their own servers, but without having to do much more than set up a group of approved users:
Expand
Expanding
Close
Yahoo Mail is getting a notable update today for iOS (and other mobile app users) that allows access to files stored in Google Drive, Dropbox, and GIFs on Tumblr. You can use the new feature to quickly attach a photo or other file from any of the supported services to emails.
In our regular Feature Request series, 9to5Mac authors offer their opinion on how to improve popular hardware or software products. Since we started the feature back in November of last year, the majority of installments in the series have focused on Apple’s own software and hardware, including a number of ways the company can improve its current iOS and Mac OS X software as well as possibilities for upcoming iOS 10 and Mac OS X 10.12 releases.
And some of the other Feature Requests we’ve published included features for the new Apple TV, the upcoming next-generation Apple Watch 2, Apple Music, iCloud, and more. Below we’ve compiled a hub for the series giving you an easy way to stay up to date and hopefully some hints at what to expect at WWDC this year and other upcoming Apple product launches…
Expand
Expanding
Close
DisplayMate is out today with its usual in-depth analysis of new Apple products, this time examining the display on Apple’s latest tablet, the iPad Pro 9.7-inch. The result? DisplayMate says the new iPad’s display isn’t just the best iPad display yet, but that it also includes record setting performance among all tablets it’s tested as well as hints at iPhone 7 screen upgrade possibilities.
With the iPhone SE behind us, those that didn’t jump on the new 4-inch iPhone are now looking to the fall when Apple is expected to introduce its true next-generation smartphone with the iPhone 7. Or at least that’s what we’re calling it until things become official, and from the sounds of the latest rumors and reports, there’s a lot more up in the air than just the device’s name when it comes to new features, design changes, and more.
Our top stories this week include our hands-on coverage and real-world testing of the new iPhone SE and iPad Pro 9.7-inch, as well as the latest on what to expect from the next generation iPhone 7 and iPhone sales going forward. Apple also attracted some attention with the announcement of new Hermès Apple Watch bands this week, and we had a handful of notable iOS and Mac app launches and updates.
Stories surrounding the Apple and FBI controversy over encryption came to a slow as the FBI officially confirmed the hack it discovered does not work with the iPhone 5s or later iPhones. Head below for the handy links to all of this week’s top stories.
If you ask me, Apple’s current color palette for the iPhone lineup is starting to look a bit dated. If it doesn’t introduce anything new in terms of colors with the next-generation iPhone 7 this fall, the device will have pretty much the same color options since the iPhone 5s (rose gold aside), and it wont have much to get excited about aesthetically for current iPhone users. And the fact that the iPhone 7 is said to retain the same metal design as the previous generation doesn’t help things…
Microsoft is updating its Translator app today with some notable features, including support for offline translations, that could give it the upper hand on Google and the competition.
It looks like a normal ballpoint ink pen, and it is, but hidden away in Bond-esque, spy gadget-fashion is a built-in 1,000 mAh battery with a Lightning connector, a 16GB USB flash drive, and a stylus attachment that lets you go from paper to touchscreen.
Google is experimenting with bringing native Chrome notifications to Mac users via integration with Apple’s built-in Notification Center in OS X. For now the feature is hidden as Google continues development, but there’s a way you can already enable it…
T-Mobile is kicking off a new iPhone and iPad promotion tomorrow that will let you get 50% off up to $200 on a new iPad when you purchase any iPhone on one of T-Mobile’s installment plans.
According to a report from BFM.TV (via iPhon.fr), France’s Directorate General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control (DGCCRF) has launched a case before a court in Paris claiming Apple owes 48.5 million euros. The complaint points to clauses in contracts Apple has with mobile operators in the country that the DGCCRF, a governing body under the Ministry of Finance, claims are illegal and essentially provide Apple with too much power over the carriers.
The DGCCRF outlined 10 clauses in Apple’s contracts specifically that it wants the company to remove. The clauses relate to stipulations Apple enforces including the amount of product carriers must order, advertising requirements, mobile plans and other guidelines the carriers must follow in order to sell iPhones. Other clauses relate to Apple’s permission to use patents held by carriers, requirements for carriers covering costs of iPhone repairs and in-store displays, and the fact that Apple doesn’t have to adhere to similar guidelines within the contracts. We’ve translated them from French below:
Expand
Expanding
Close
T-Mobile is adding more services to its Binge On and Music Freedom features, which allow its customers to stream video and audio content from certain apps without eating into their wireless plan’s data allowance.
“It’s a fact … Un-carrier Data is different than Carrier Data. It’s better! Nobody does data like T-Mobile!” said Legere. “Un-carrier Data is not only faster, it lasts a lot longer than the other guys… As of today, you stream unlimited music and video from over 100 providers – without ever touching your Un-carrier Data or worrying about overages—and you can stash what you don’t use for later. Try that with Carrier Data. It’s gone in a flash, and you’re getting hit with penalties—or they repossess it after a month or two. Ridiculous!”
Among the 16 total new services being added today, users can now stream audio data-free from Amazon Music, Chilltrax, ESPN Radio, OHIO.FM, PreDanz and Uforia.
And for video, services officially added to the list today include Dailymotion, EPIX, OVGuide, OWNZONES, Viki, YipTV, 120 Sports, Nickelodeon, Spike, and TV Land.
T-Mobile shared some stats about the Binge On and Music Freedom initiatives noting that users have streamed approximately 90 billion songs without using data since launch (around 210 million songs a day). It also pointed out that its users “are watching 2x more from free streaming sites on plans with limited data and have streamed over 190 million hours of video for free.”
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RP5k4aGDm_0]
The addition of the new services today brings up the number of audio and video services supported by Binge On and Music Freedom to 100 total. You can view a full list of supported services on T-Mobile’s website.
That’s probably because the majority of users probably don’t miss it with the top number row suffice for occasional number input, so it’s understandable why Apple doesn’t pay much attention to it. But I personally like and miss the speed of using a keypad for quick commands in pro apps like Logic and punching in numbers in spreadsheets (it’s tax time…), so I’ve been testing Satechi’s new Aluminum Wireless Keypad that recently arrived.
Following a flyover video late last month, today we get even newer 4K footage of Apple’s under construction Campus 2 site for April courtesy of YouTuber Duncan Sinfield.
Apple’s 40th birthday week came alongside some troubles for iOS 9.3, as our top stories this week surrounded a number of bugs, fixes and responses from Apple related to iOS 9.3 problems and the fix with the release of iOS 9.3.1.
But those issues were balanced out by our excitement over our first impressions with the new iPhone SE and 9.7-inch iPad Pro, as well as the latest leaks for iPhone 7 and other upcoming next-generation iPhones.
Apple alongside Amazon, Google and Microsoft today filed a joint amicus brief in support of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and President Obama’s proposed Clean Power Plan that aims to introduce new emissions regulations. The EPA had some major pushback on the plan, so now Apple and the others are lending their support:
Users are reporting downtime for some of Apple’s iCloud services this afternoon including problems logging in to iCloud and syncing data to apps that access the cloud services for calendars, mail and more.
A new drone flyover video courtesy of YouTuber Matthew Roberts gives us our latest close-up look at Apple’s Campus 2 site scheduled for completion by the end of the year.
Yesterday we detailed an Apple patent showing work on a stackable Smart Connector plug of sorts. Today we get a look at a similar invention aimed at making the I/O on future devices more versatile with Apple’s invention of a “Universal Magnetic Adapter” that could allow for more future-proof devices using only a single port. As pictured in the drawing accompanying the patent above, the technology allows for a single port that uses magnetic inserts as adapters for your various devices. Or in other words, MagSafe for everything using a single port and adapters for the various connectors.
In its patent, Apple describes the problem with the current mess of adapters and cables users have to deal:
Apple has started collecting some of the research data that users submit through apps using the company’s ResearchKit platform for the first time.
As part of announcements at Microsoft’s Build 2016 conference today, Skype announced a new ‘Bots’ platform that it’s launching today in preview mode for developers and users in the iPhone and iPad apps (as well as Android and Windows, but not on Mac).
Square is today launching a new set of APIs under the “Build with Square” banner that will allow sellers to use Square payment services and hardware (including Apple Pay), while maintaining a customized point of sale experience that might be crucial to their business.