Lots of people aren’t happy about rich kid Wang Sicong from China buying his dog two gold Apple Watches worth around $30k,…
Chinese rich kid buys his dog two gold Apple Watches worth $30k
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Dir. Partnerships
9to5Mac / 9to5Google / 9to5Toys / Electrek.co / DroneDJ / SpaceExplored
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:
Minecraft Pocket Edition for iOS updated w/ skins, fishing, and much more
Mojang today announced a huge update to its popular Minecraft Pocket Edition app for iPhone and iPad. The big focus of the update is access to new free and paid skins for characters (as pictured above):
Skins are the way you change the appearance of your Minecraft character. Instead of looking like Alex or Steve, you can roll with a different vibe, like a butcher, dog, or plumber. Skins are purely cosmetic – they don’t affect the way the game plays or give you any special abilities.
Paid skins are available to purchase in bundles, but users can also upload or create their own as well as find free skins within the game. You’ll get around 20 skins for $0.99/€0.79/£0.79 if you opt for the paid bundles.
The update also includes other improvements and new features including the ability to fish and a long list of new animals. The full list of what’s new is below:
- Multiple language support
- Boats with space for two! Take your pet for a pleasant ride.
- The ability to throw stuff from boats, including snowballs and eggs
- Fishing! Now you can fish for fishies!
- Squids!
- Spider jockeys!
- Cave Spiders!
- Bats!
- Adorable baby zombies!
- Weird chicken jockeys!
- Edible clownfish. Yum!
- A fancy new World Edit screen so you can rename worlds, change game modes and do other things
- Creative players can no longer be set on fire. Controversial
- We’ve stopped cheeky chickens from walking on water
- Animals can no longer breed without touching each other ooh err
- Drinking milk now removes mob effects
- Ridiculous amounts of bug fixes
- More cool things that you should discover for yourself
You can grab the updated Minecraft Pocket Edition on the App Store soon (it’s submitted to Apple and should arrive any day now).
$100 kit lets you plate Apple Watch with 24K gold DIY-style (Video)
We’ve seen a number of solutions for getting a gold Apple Watch without spending the $10,000+ price Apple charges for the 18 Karat gold Apple Watch edition. We went hands-on with one of the first companies doing gold plating for Apple Watch, but that requires you to mail-in the device and pay approximately $400 on top of the Watch’s retail price (depending on the model).
Another option is this $100 DIY kit that offers an easy step by step solution for gold plating the Watch yourself with 24K gold…
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How to back up Apple Watch settings & data
Backing up Apple Watch doesn’t work exactly like your iOS device, and some of the data on the watch— like Workout and Activity calibration data, for example— won’t be included in your backup. Head below to learn exactly how to back up your Apple Watch, what to expect when doing so, and how to access the data if need be.
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AT&T plans to drop two year contracts through third-party retailers, Apple included
We’ve confirmed that AT&T’s plans to stop offering two-year contracts through third-party retailers will also extend to Apple.
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DirecTV releases “Kids” iPhone & iPad apps w/ content aimed at 5-10 year olds
DirecTV is releasing a new app today specifically for kids. It’s available now for iPhone and iPad for free and offers…
Debunk: That’s not an iPhone 6C with Touch ID, new iPhones unlikely for August
No, that’s not an iPhone 6C with Touch ID, and Apple isn’t planning new iPhones for August…
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Apple Watch’s Annoyingly Aggressive Screen Sleep Behaviour
Apple Watch’s screen sleep behaviour is a complete pain in the ass. At first I wrote this off as @apollozac’s…
What Apple Watch w/ all gold milanese loop band looks like (it’s disgusting)
Is this the first look at an exclusive all gold Milanese Loop band for Apple Watch? OK, it’s not. It’s…
What to know before you buy the Apple Watch w/ Milanese Loop band
I decided on the Apple Watch with stainless steel Milanese Loop band for a few reasons, but not before considering the benefits and drawbacks of Apple’s entire collection of straps and bands for Apple Watch. Budget will in many cases guide your decision, but going for the Milanese Loop was a no-brainer for me. There are a few downsides of the band compared to others, however.
Here are a few observations I’ve made after wearing it for the last couple weeks, including little talked about pros and cons you’ll want to consider before purchasing the Milanese Loop for yourself.
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Apple begins adding Apple Watch support to its IBM enterprise apps
Apple today updated its webpage for its enterprise app solutions to show that a few of the apps have been updated with Apple Watch support. Apple first launched the MobileFirst for iOS solutions last year through a partnership with IBM and most recently added 9 new apps in March bringing the total up to 22 across several industries.
The first three of Apple’s enterprise apps to receive Apple Watch support include: Hospital RN, Field Connect and Incident Aware.
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Report: Apple in talks w/ Russian labels ahead of new music service, international iTunes Radio rollout
Apple Watch + Music
We’ve reported extensively on what Apple has in store for its new revamped music service that will come alongside an international expansion of iTunes Radio, and today reports from Russian publication Vedomosti (via Billboard) hint that Russia will be one market Apple is aiming to launch in soon…
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Spotify introduces new features, original content, podcasts & video clips
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fZBqV_yMq4]
Spotify is announcing some big updates to its music streaming service today that brings a number of new features alongside more content in the form of video clips, audio shows, and podcasts.
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Facebook Messenger’s free video calling now available worldwide
After adding support for a new cross-platform video chat service through its Facebook Messenger mobile apps, Facebook has now announced that the feature is rolling out to all worldwide.
The feature first launched back in April for users on iOS and Android in Belgium, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, France, Greece, Ireland, Laos, Lithuania, Mexico, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Poland, Portugal, the UK, the US and Uruguay. Today, Facebook said the feature is now rolled out globally “with the exception of a few countries” that it’s still working on:
Quick update on video calling in Messenger: we’re happy to share we’ve now rolled out the capability globally, with the exception of a few countries we’re still working on improving quality for.
You can check out the new Facebook Messenger video calling feature through the latest versions of the iOS and Android apps.
Apple retains TomTom for Maps as Nokia continues HERE sale
TomTom has announced that Apple will continue sourcing data from the company as one data provider for its Maps app on iOS devices and Mac:
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Icahn pumps AAPL stock w/ predictions of Apple HDTVs, electric vehicle batteries
High-profile investor and AAPL shareholder Carl Icahn has published yet another open letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook, this time giving his thoughts on new product categories that he expects Apple to enter alongside his usual advice for the company on share repurchases, valuation, and more.
As for his product predictions, Icahn highlights two new big categories, both of which have been reported in detail and rumored for the last year, including TV and electric vehicles. Icahn thinks Apple will release full-fledged UHD TV sets sometime next year…
Drone flies low to give first close-up look at Apple’s new Campus 2 auditorium (Video)
A new flyover of Apple’s under construction Campus 2 project in Cupertino, California gives us one of our closest look yet at the site. We also get our first detailed look at work started on Apple’s new auditorium on the campus where it plans to host events when the project is complete.
The video below comes courtesy of MyithZ who was able to get these shots from just 120ft up, much closer than previous drone flyovers and Apple’s own aerial shots.
Apple CEO Tim Cook shares photos from recent trip to China (Gallery)
Tim Cook has shared photos from his recent trip to China where the Apple CEO spoke to media about upcoming initiatives in the country and visited new Apple retail stores opened in the region. The photos (above and below) were posted to Cook’s new Weibo account. The head Apple exec started posting to the Chinese microblogging site, much like he does on Twitter, earlier this month.
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Many Apple Watch shipping times improve slightly from July to June
Apple has slightly improved shipping times for some Apple Watch models with almost all 42mm versions of its mid-range stainless steel Apple Watch now shipping as early as June, up from a previous shipping estimate of July.
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Sprint expands free international data roaming to more countries, now 22 total
Sprint today announced that it’s expanding its free data roaming offer to a number of new countries, bringing its new total up to 22 locations around the globe.
New countries added today include: Colombia, Denmark, Honduras, Ireland, Italy, Paraguay and Sweden.
Those add to the full list of 22 supported countries where Sprint customers can take advantage of the International Value Roaming feature, which allows customers to use data for free when traveling to supported countries abroad.
The full list includes: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Denmark, El Salvador, Germany, Guatemala, Honduras, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Russia, Sweden, South Korea, Spain and United Kingdom.
Oculus Rift VR headset puts Mac development on hold to focus on Windows
In a blog post published to the company’s website today, creators of the Oculus Rift VR headset said it is putting development of the platform for Mac OS X on hold in order to focus on Windows:
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A bunch of iPhones and Macs are about to become ‘obsolete’ in June, losing Apple repair support
Apple is about to sunset support for a number of iPhones, Macs, and other products as it plans to switch several models to “Obsolete” or “Vintage” status in June, according to internal documents.
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HBO GO iOS app updated with fresh design to match new HBO NOW app
Following the release of HBO’s new HBO Now app for its $14.99/month standalone streaming service, today the company updated its main HBO GO app with a similar, long-awaited redesign.
Here’s what HBO GO looked like prior to today’s update (left) next to the new design (right):
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WatchDots let you customize Apple Watch w/ $10 decals for Digital Crown & button (Giveaway)
WatchDots is an upcoming product that lets you add a new level of customization to your Apple Watch by adding decals that match the color of your Watch and band.
Apple already includes a colored accent on the Digital Crown of some models (black on stainless steel models and other colors to match bands on the gold Edition models), but WatchDots lets you customize the Digital Crown and the Watch’s singular button in a variety of colors on any model.
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