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:
In the ongoing controversy over Apple’s refusal of the FBI’s request to assist in unlocking the iPhone of the San Bernardino gunman, The New York Times reports Apple engineers could refuse the work necessary even if Apple as a company decides to cooperate with authorities.
Citing “more than a half-dozen current and former Apple employees,” the report claims there is already an internal discussion over engineers possibly refusing to do the necessary work or even quitting:
IDC’s latest report is out today with new estimates based on worldwide wearable shipments, and in it is a prediction that Apple Watch will hold the market lead this year and through 2020 as competitors begin to close the gap.
While the report shows estimates based on overall wearable shipments, which IDC says will go from 72.2 million last year to 100 million in 2016 for watch and wristband products, it also shows a breakdown of estimates for leading smartwatch platforms by operating system…
Popular note taking and annotation app Notability is getting an update today for both iPad and Mac that includes improved Apple Pencil support, new themes, copy & paste for pages, and more.
For the iOS app, version 6.2.0 brings enhanced Apple Pencil integration that adds supports for improved palm rejection and one finger scrolling. “With these improvements, Notability offers the most fluid writing experience on iPad Pro, so customers can focus more easily on their ideas and notes. In addition, the update supports copy and pasting pages between notes, saving time.”
In addition, the updated iOS app is receiving some refreshed themes today for the spring season that users can find tucked under settings, and a new “define” button for non-English languages.
And Mac users are also getting the ability to copy and paste pages between notes with today’s update to version 2.2.0 of the Mac app. Other new features in the update include an “improved text box insertion on PDFs” and the same Define button for non-English languages that the updated iOS app received.
The updated Notability apps for iPad and for Mac are available on the App Store now.
– Copy and paste individual pages into another note.
– One finger scrolling when using Apple Pencil.
– New Spring theme in settings.
– Define button for non-English languages.
– Bug fixes.
– Copy and paste pages into another note.
– Define button for non-English languages.
– Improved Text Box insertion on PDFs.
– Bug fixes.
T-Mobile is expanding its Binge On initiative that allows users to stream content in certain apps without using up their data allowance, and with today’s update YouTube, Google Play Movies, and many other services are now officially supported.
Uber is beginning to test a new feature that will make it easier for family and other close-knit groups to share an Uber account. That means that your family could use a single credit card for Uber across several devices, making it easy for parents to pay for their kids or other family members, for example.
Following the introduction of the TAG Heuer Android Wear watch late last year— the first of the major Swiss brands to launch a full-fledged smartwatch— TAG’s parent company says Hublot will likely be its next brand to receive smartwatch features. Bloomberg reports:
Waze, the popular Google-owned mapping app with a focus on community-based features, is today adding a new feature called “Planned Drives” for iOS users.
Starting today, Parallels is offering a new bundle for a limited time that will let you get 81% off 7 great Mac apps with the purchase or upgrade of Parallels Desktop for Mac ($50-$79).
That means if you either purchase Parallels Desktop for $79.99, or upgrade to the latest version for $49.99, you’ll get the following 7 apps free: 1Password, CleanMyMac, Kaspersky for Mac, PDF Expert, PDF Office for iPad & Parallels Access.
TomTom used to have a handful of paid apps, each specific to a region. The app covering just the U.S., for example, was $45. But today it’s making its premium navigation services free for iPhone users everywhere for the first 50 miles or 75km of use. The new freemium model comes as the company consolidates its TomTom apps for each region under a new, redesigned app simply called TomTom Go Mobile.
After launching Skype for Web worldwide back in June, today the previously chat-only web app is adding support for making phone calls and other new features.
The Apple and FBI controversy just barely makes it into our top stories again this week, but it’s overshadowed by Apple’s announcement of its upcoming March 21 iPhone SE event, a new OS X ransomware detected in the wild, the release of iOS 9.3 beta 6, and leaks related to the much anticipated iPhone 7.
The latest to speak out on the Apple and FBI controversy is none other than President Obama who earlier today attended a talk at South by Southwest Interactive. While the talk was about “civic engagement in the 21st Century,” the conversation not surprisingly turned to the government’s role in the high-profile Apple and FBI case.
Obama made it clear that he isn’t behind Apple in the case, saying that tech companies shouldn’t “take an absolutist view” on encryption and encouraging them to make concessions instead of forcing Congress to pass new law:
I’ve never been a Family Sharing user, Apple’s feature that allows families to share iCloud account access for things like photos and music on both iOS and Mac. But I recently decided to upgrade my Apple Music account to a family plan to take advantage of the discount as I encourage family members and friends to try out the service; that required me to activate the Family Sharing feature that Apple uses to manage family plans for Apple Music.
While you can choose to ignore most of the features of Family Sharing — photos, calendars, and reminders can be accessed through shared folders in their respective apps — once it’s activated, there aren’t any granular settings for each member to disable sharing on a per-feature/app basis. But the even bigger issue is that all purchases from any Apple ID in the family go to a single credit card of the admin (or parent) of the group. In other words, I’m now paying for every app, song, book, or anything else that my family group members purchase from Apple on top of the subscription costs for Apple Music.
Will Apple stick to business as usual later this month at its press event for the new iPhone SE, Apple Watch, and Mac updates? Or will it use the very public stage to also address the ongoing FBI/San Bernardino/encryption controversy?
As much as I think the Apple Music user interface is still a total jumbled mess, I do think there are also a few features that Apple should add as it simultaneously cleans up what’s already there. A big one for me is the potential for private, collaborative playlists and streaming radio stations.
What Apple Music currently has, as far as users sharing music goes, is the ability to share a playlist, station, album or song from within the app via email, third-party apps or copying the link to share elsewhere. But once sent to someone, the person only receives a link to open the shared selection in Apple Music. It works, but it’s not exactly taking full advantage of the potential for user collaboration and a truly interactive experience that ties together the various social aspects of the service.
The new sharing features could be twofold. First, the ability to have collaborative playlists that one or more other people could contribute to. That’s a feature that some competitive services, notably Spotify, already have, but I’d like to see Apple take it a step further with the ability to create not just collaborative playlists, but private, custom radio stations that stream in real-time…
A couple of readers have asked me about the super slim wood case I’ve had on my iPhone in photos accompanying recent reviews. The case is Minnesota-based Pad & Quill’s latest, and it’s a wood and Kevlar mix that makes for one of the thinnest and strongest natural wood cases around.
Pebble Time smartwatch users are getting a few notable updates today including a redesigned iOS app alongside the latest firmware for the watch itself that brings new features, fixes and enhancements.
Apple today shared new photos from within the currently under construction Campus 2 (via Mashable), as well as previously unknown details about the site set to become the company’s new headquarters when construction completes early next year.
The most impressive shots and most of the new details surround the on-site auditorium separate from the main building, where the company will indeed hold future press events. That was expected, but Mashable seems to have gotten the inside scoop from Apple and notes the company is calling the auditorium “Theatre” internally and that it will be “the new stage where Apple will publicly debut its products to the media and, ultimately, the world.”
It’s been a while since we’ve checked in on the state of iPhone and iPad controllers, but I have seen some improvements since we first covered some of the shortcomings with the early batch of game controllers that came out under Apple’s Made-for-iPhone licensing program. Today I’m taking a look at the new Tt eSports Contour MFi controller, a new $65 option that includes a classic Xbox-style design and a built-in stand to hold your iPhone and turn it into a true handheld game console.
Since last checking in a month ago, today Duncan Sinfield gives us an update on progress at Apple’s under construction Campus 2 in his latest drone flyover video of the site.
Kanye West must actually be $50 million in debt like he claimed, as today he’s getting called out for exposing his own illegal downloading activity in a tweet.
IBM today announced that it’s launching the first app that will run on its new Watson Health Cloud for ResearchKit — SleepHealth — as it also makes that platform available to researchers building their own apps that work with Apple’s ResearchKit.
In the ongoing controversy over Apple’s refusal to unlock the San Bernardino suspect’s iPhone on behalf of FBI, today Apple’s General Counsel Bruce Sewell will appear before the House Judiciary Committee at a hearing titled “The Encryption Tightrope: Balancing Americans’ Security and Privacy,” as will FBI Director James Comey.
A live stream of the hearing (embedded below) will begin today at 9:30AM PT/12:30PM ET.
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Apple is set to officially make a statement before Congress tomorrow regarding its refusal to fulfill a judge’s request to help the FBI unlock a suspect’s iPhone in the high-profile San Bernardino attacks. Apple’s General Counsel Bruce Sewell, likely alongside other Apple employees, will deliver the prepared statement below at the hearing titled Balancing Americans’ Security and Privacy before addressing the panel and answering questions from Congress (via The Verge).
In the full statement (below), Apple echoed many of the past statements CEO Tim Cook and other representatives have given throughout the controversy, explaining that the FBI’s demands for a backdoor into iOS “would set a dangerous precedent for government intrusion on the privacy and safety of its citizens.”
