Jordan Kahn

Following the release of the MobileFirst suite of iOS enterprise apps last year, the result of a new partnership between Apple and IBM, today the companies are rolling out the apps to the Japanese market.

The companies haven’t made an official announcement yet, but sources close to the situation say seven apps are arriving for Japanese customers today.
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Update: It looks like Apple removed the images of the refreshed keyboard after we published this story.

A refreshed version of the Apple Wireless Keyboard appears to be on the way as an updated model was spotted today on Apple’s Czech Republic online store (via letemsvetemapplem.eu).

While Apple appears to have let the image of the new keyboard leak early, it hasn’t updated the accompanying description for the product to mention new features. We can, however, make out a few changes including new buttons on the F5 and F6 keys indicating the new model may feature backlit keys. Apple also switched the CD eject button, which is all but useless for most people at this point, and replaced it with a power button the same as the keyboards on its MacBooks in recent years.
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There are now several companies selling USB thumb drives for iPhone and iPad since the first ones with built-in Lightning connectors debuted late last year. By connecting a small and lightweight thumb drive directly to your iOS device, you can avoid limitations of onboard storage and cloud services and instead store and stream media like music, video, and photos using the drive’s additional storage.

A few things to consider when searching for the right Lightning drive: some have a battery that requires charging, companion apps for managing and streaming content from an iOS device vary in quality, and I found some have designs that make using the drives and your iOS device at the same time easier than others. Lastly, pricing varies quite a bit based on the the options below with drives ranging from 8GB to 256GB and other options offering bring-your-own storage using a micro SD card slot.
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The Swiss watch market is bracing for the smartwatch movement, with many fearing another downturn for traditional mechanical timepieces much the same as when low cost Quartz movements were first introduced.

Industry players don’t intend to sit around and see how Apple Watch sells against traditional watches, however, as many of the watch world’s biggest luxury watchmakers— Tag Heuer, Breitling, Swatch, Frederique Constant—are showing off their first smart watches at Baselworld 2015 this week, the premier tradeshow for the jewelry industry where most Swiss watchmakers choose to unveil their latest creations each year.

A few on the list below were announced in the weeks leading up to Baselworld which officially starts today, but this week will be the first time anyone actually gets their hands on these new Swiss smartwatches that hope to compete with the Apple Watch. We’ll be updating this list as more luxury smart watches get unveiled in Basel, Switzerland.
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Today during its latest Un-carrier event, T-Mobile announced new initiatives including brand new plans and pricing for businesses and a promise to all of its customers that it won’t increase prices. It’s also paying off bills for those locked into leasing plans on other carriers if they switch to T-Mobile. 

That “Un-contract” guarantee that prices won’t increase goes for all of its Simple Choice plans (including Simple Choice promotional plans) as long as you remain a T-Mobile customer with a qualifying plan. However, the carrier will only offer the guarantee to those with unlimited 4G LTE data for two years. The guarantee will automatically start for all existing customers on March 22nd.
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China Unicom and China Telecom announced today that they will start selling the iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3 to customers starting March 27. This is the first time the carriers, two of the top three largest in the country, will offer customers in China the Wi-Fi + Cellular models of Apple’s latest generation tablets. 
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Apple recently picked up approximately 260,000 square feet of office space not far from its new Campus 2 project in Cupertino, as noted in a lease discovered this week by Silicon Valley Business Journal.
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Apple has its own magnetic charging bracelet for Apple Watch, but it will likely be limited to retail displays to keep devices on retail store floors charged for extended periods of time. In addition, the company has developed a special case capable of storing and charging 10 Apple Watches at once, allowing retail employees to help customers wanting to try the Apple Watch on in-store. 
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Ahead of the Apple Watch launch next month, Apple has removed language from its website signaling it has received all necessary final approvals from the US Federal Communications Commission.

Up until today, Apple’s website included the following footnote noting that the device had not yet been authorized by the FCC for sale:
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Apple appears to have just provided a first glimpse at the retail packaging for Apple Watch or the device’s straps via the photo above posted to a newly updated jobs page on its website. The white box lines up with the little information Apple has provided about the packaging for the entry-level Sport Edition and the stainless steel Watch Edition models.

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The latest from ADR Studio is a next-gen iPhone concept that images the device with the Digital Crown from Apple…

How will Apple Watch be displayed in retail stores next month? Apple’s own “try on by appointment” language led many people to believe appointments would be required to actually go hands-on with Watches before making a purchase. 9to5Mac has confirmed, however, that try on appointments won’t be necessary and that retail staff plan to accommodate walk-in customers wishing to try on an Apple Watch.
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Ahead of the launch of Apple Watch next month, Apple has started advertising the product in its retail stores, as pictured in the photos above (via @mikesiOShelp).
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A report from AppleInsider claims Apple is using a shell company called SixtyEight Research and small office building in Sunnyvale, California to work on its secretive electric vehicle project. The report doesn’t definitively confirm that Apple is actually using the site for its car project, but it does discover some connections with Apple and points to recent automotive related renovations at the building:
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Apple has added some new entries to its App Store Review Guidelines that developers must follow when developing and submitting apps for iOS devices. Among the new additions, Apple is requiring developers to obtain consent from users for health-related human subject research, obtain explicit authorization for downloading music and video from third-party sources, and disclose policies related to Apple Pay…
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USB-C has become the biggest topic of conversation following Apple’s introduction of the new 12-inch MacBook. After years of separate power, data, and video ports, Apple is now pushing USB-C as a replacement for its own proprietary MagSafe charging solution, as well as other I/O ports included on its previous laptops. Going forward, MacBook users can connect a USB-C multiport adapter to handle whatever accessories they want— USB-C can even support 4k displays using a DisplayPort Alt Mode.

But what accessories will the new MacBook support? Over the last few days, we’ve talked with sources close to the situation to find out what Apple plans on supporting, and whether there will be any limitations for USB-C accessories. The short and amazing answer is that most accessories supporting the USB Type-C specifications should work with your new MacBook. Apple won’t be doing anything to block any specific types of accessories— in fact, it will even allow external batteries or other Macs (!!) to charge the new MacBook…

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Following dismantling the latest refreshed MacBook Air models yesterday, today iFixit dives inside the new MacBook Pro model that arrived this week with upgraded internals and more.

On Monday, Apple’s 13-inch MacBook Pro received an update alongside a refreshed MacBook Air lineup and with it gets the new Force Touch trackpad that Apple debuted on its brand new 12-inch MacBook this week. The trackpad doesn’t actually push in like previous generations, but it provides enough haptic feedback to provide a similar and reportedly improved experience. Here’s what was discovered in the teardown … 
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Following the latest 4K drone flyover video we posted earlier this month, Apple has shared an updated aerial shot showing construction progress on its Campus 2 project in Cupertino. The new shot shows significant developments since last month’s official image.
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iFixit has just dismantled the refreshed early 2015 11-inch and 13-inch MacBook Air models that Apple unveiled earlier this week, featuring new Intel Broadwell CPUs, improved graphics and other minor tweaks. Although the models mostly remain the same apart from the spec bumps Apple announced on stage, iFixit gives us its usual rundown on changes it discovered…
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