The official Starbucks app for iOS has gotten an over-the-air update that enabled the ability to place an order right from the app, but only for users in Portland, Oregon. Users will now be able to create an order and pay for it directly from their phones, and find their coffee waiting for them at the counter when they arrive.
Shipping times for the new 27″ iMac with 5K Retina Display have improved from 2-3 weeks yesterday to just 1-2 weeks today. It’s a small improvement, but it’s certainly better than nothing with the holidays right around the corner.
The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus also saw a drop in shipping times. Many models saw improved shipping times at the end of last month, but now almost all color, size, model, and carrier combinations are available to ship in just 3-5 days. The only exceptions to this are the 128 GB versions, which are all limited to the 7-10 day range.
The iPhone 6 Plus has suffered from stock constraints since it launched, and that isn’t expected to improve for some time, although things do seem to be slowly improving as the months tick by. Hopefully these new shipping times will help plenty of buyers get their hands on one in time for the holiday season.
Update: Apple appears to have pulled this update. Apple previously pulled a Safari update when it accidentally released a beta to the general public, but this doesn’t seem to be the same type of situation. The security document for the update is still live.
Apple has released a small patch for the three most recent versions of Safari running on OS X Yosemite, Mavericks, and Mountain Lion. The new versions are 8.0.1, 7.1.1, and 6.2.1, respectively.
The updated builds include fixes for features like WebGL graphics running on Macs with Retina displays, and problems with iCloud Keychain and syncing of browsing history. There is also a new option for importing saved usernames and passwords from the Firefox browser.
You can download the updates from the Software Update tab of the Mac App Store. There are no standalone installers, as Safari is now bundled with OS X.
The ten-year-old lawsuit over whether Apple violated antitrust law by locking the iPod to its own iTunes software has finally gone to trial. In its first day before a jury, the case has yielded several new emails between Apple executives as well as a videotaped deposition of Steve Jobs, which was recorded in 2011 shortly before he died.
In the video, according to Reuters, Jobs was asked if he had heard of Real Networks, the company behind the RealPlayer software Apple had blocked from working with the iPod. Jobs took a quick jab at the music distribution rival and asked, “Do they still exist?”
Earlier this year the Los Angeles Unified School District announced that it would be suspending its “iPad for All” program after it ran into an array of problems. Things started off optimistically in July 2013 when the district announced that it would give 640,000 students iPads for school.
A few crafty students figured out a way to bypass the built-in restrictions on the devices, then the district realized that it may have miscalculated the cost of the entire program. Eventually officials started to question if iPads really were the right tablets to hand out after all.
Now the LAUSD has decided to scrap the entire plan for good just as the Federal Bureau of Investigation has started taking a closer look at the deal.
It seems Apple has ordered yet another developer to make changes to his app’s Notification Center widget even after it was approved for sale and adopted by countless users. Previously the company’s indecisiveness on the purpose of widgets led to an app called Launcher being pulled from sale, and a similar fate was almost met by the popular pCalc widget until Apple changed its mind (again).
The widget in question today was created by developer Greg Pierce and is part of the popular note-taking app Drafts. The app allowed users to create new entries in the app by pressing a button in the widget, which then opened the app’s composer (in the app, of course).
Apple has updated Final Cut Pro with support for native import, editing, and export of MXF video files, along with the capability to edit video encoded with Panasonic’s AVC-LongG codec. Several issues are fixed in this update as well, including problems importing certain clips from specific cameras, App Nap stopping long import operations, and errors in handling of 240fps video.
Xcode was also update with fixes for common SourceKit crashes when using the new Swift language. The full change logs for both apps are included below:
As you’ve no doubt heard by now, the federal government is not a big fan of Apple’s decision to employ data protection measures on its iOS devices that prevent snooping on a customer’s private information, even taking its disapproval to ridiculous levels at times.
Today Ars Technica reports that federal authorities are now considering new ways to force Apple to bypass these protections to assist in criminal investigations.
The displays on most smartphones these days, including the iPhone, are made using Gorilla Glass from Corning, Inc., which is stronger and lighter than regular glass. Just how much stronger and lighter, exactly, is a question that was put to the test by MythBusters Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman as part of a promotional campaign by Corning.
The video (embedded below) puts two phones through quick drop and scratch tests before moving on to other applications for the glass, such as car windshields. A previous entry in the series covered the bendability of Gorilla Glass.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13B5K_lAabw&channel=CorningIncorporated]
As we noted earlier this week, Apple is now offering a one-day-only deal on its products for Black Friday. Customers who purchase qualifying Apple products will receive a (PRODUCT)RED iTunes gift card valued from $25 to $100 depending on the product.
Below you’ll find a full list of the qualifying products for each denomination:
Apple is also donating the proceeds from many specially-marked iOS apps to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS until December 7th.
Better yet, save 25% on an iTunes gift card without buying any new hardware. We’ve been posting the best Apple deals on 9to5Toys throughout Thanksgiving and Black Friday.
Following the release of two new iPhone ads earlier this week, Apple has put out yet another commercial for the iPhone 6. Like the others, “Voice Text” features Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon and pop star Justin Timberlake discussing the newest features on Apple’s smartphone.
In this ad, Fallon and Timberlake demonstrate the many uses for the new voice messaging feature included in iOS 8, such as including sarcasm or difficult-to-spell words in a reply. You can check out the full ad below:
A new Bloomberg report indicates that Sony might be preparing to produce a smartwatch that uses an e-paper display rather than a traditional LCD display. Not only will the display be made of e-paper, the report continues, but the entire wrist band as well. Could such a device take on Apple’s own smartwatch, set for release early next year?
E-paper, for those unfamiliar with the term, is the same low-power “electronic paper” display used in devices like the Kindle. It allows a display to be legible, even in direct sunlight, by reflecting light rather than emitting it like a standard LCD display.
Last week Mozilla announced that its Firefox browser would be dropping Google as the default search engine in favor of Yahoo. While it’s a good move for Yahoo, it won’t gain the company the exposure that comes with being the default search engine on something more widely used, such as Apple’s Safari browser on iOS devices.
That position has been held by Google since the iPhone’s launch in 2007, but the agreement that made the Mountain View-based company the default site for all of Safari’s searches will expire next year, and The Information reports that Yahoo and Microsoft’s Bing are both vying for the spot.
As Apple and would-be sapphire supplier GT Advanced Technologies come closer to a settlement following the latter’s recent bankruptcy announcement, GT’s creditors will get to take a look under the wraps of the secretive Cupertino tech giant.
As noted earlier today by the Wall Street Journal, Apple will provide GT’s creditors with documents regarding the companies’ arrangement in response to inquiries attempting to determine whether the proposed settlement is fair, or whether Apple is trying to take advantage of the situation.
Yesterday afternoon, Twitter’s CFO accidentally publicly tweeted a message that was apparently supposed to be private, indicating that the social…
If you open the Mac App Store right now and do a search for “twitter,” you’ll find results just like the ones in the image above. You may recognize the official Twitter app along with some of the most popular and prolific third-party clients. Right below Twitter for Mac you’ll find Twitterrific.
Twitterrific has been around for quite a while now, and was the very first native Twitter application ever built for Mac. It was also the first app to use the word “tweet” to refer to the posts on the network, and introduced many modern staples like conversations and replies. To this day it remains a popular choice among users and has seen many major updates and redesigns. It’s currently on its fourth major version.
In December 2012, Twitterrific 5 was released for iOS devices. The Iconfactory, Twitterrific’s developers, promised that a Mac version of the updated app was in development and would include support for the new iCloud syncing feature and an all-new design. Three days shy of a year after releasing the iPhone update, however, users were given what is currently the app’s most recent update. It included only two bug fixes. The developers have noted that the 5.0 update for Mac is facing big delays.
So what’s going on here? Why has it taken two years for any more news of the update? When will the new version finally be available?
The unfortunate truth? Not even the developers know.
Itching to “trade up” from your iPhone to a shiny new BlackBerry Passport? Thanks to BlackBerry’s latest promotion, you’ll be able to do just that. The program will let Passport buyers get up to $550 in credit towards the new device when they trade in an iPhone 4s or higher.
In order to get the full amount, you’ll need to trade a brand-new iPhone 6 (or presumably a 6 Plus, though it’s not specifically listed on the chart). The trade-in value for each device is actually much lower (ranging from $90 to $400), but shoppers buying a Passport will get a “top-up” worth an additional $150.
If, for whatever reason, you’d like to take advantage of this offer, you’ll need to wait just a few weeks. The program goes into effect on December 1st and runs through February 13th.
The Passport sports a square 1440×1440 resolution display and a “touch-enabled” physical keyboard. It went on sale earlier this month.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrxtbB-z2Sc]
Apple premiered two new TV ads for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus tonight featuring the duo of Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake. The first of the two, “Reservations,” shows off iOS 8’s new Continuity features that allow users to place phone calls from any iCloud-connected device.
In the ad, Timberlake uses a Mac and iPad to call Fallon’s iPhone, while Fallon answers the calls in a phony French accent.
When Apple debuted the A8 processor that would be used in its iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, it appears the company decided to omit one big detail: the chip, according to a new discovery by the developers behind the app WALTR. Using that app, they found that it was possible to load 4K videos onto an iPhone 6. Not only that, but the device managed to play it back without any issues.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xjvVbeUn80&channel=grc15r]
If I told you about a touchscreen smartwatch with a crown-driven interface and a UI based on circles (despite the square display) that can allow you to view your contacts, calendars, and more, you’d probably have a pretty good idea what I was referring to: the upcoming Apple Watch.
But actually, you’d be wrong. I’m really referring to the 2001 WatchPad from IBM, seen in the video above. It seems Apple’s latest creation isn’t nearly as original as they’d hoped.
Maybe IBM should take out a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal saying “Welcome, Apple. seriously.”
Here’s an interesting tidbit that comes from a Fortune interview with Moleskine CEO Arrigo Berni: apparently the company’s physical retail stores do a lot better when they’re in close proximity to an Apple Store.
“Interestingly, we find that we do better whenever we are closest to an Apple retail store. This may come as a surprise, but it makes perfect sense when one considers that the profile of a Moleskine user is very similar to that of an Apple user.”
It seems Microsoft isn’t the only one who wants to put its stores near Apple’s.
Apple has issued a new update for Adobe’s Flash Player browser plugin. The update fixes “a recently-identified Adobe Flash Player web plug-in vulnerability,” according to Apple’s website. Users will be automatically prompted to install the update when visiting a page that uses Flash Player.
The prompt in Safari will take users to the Flash Player download page on Adobe’s website. Users who haven’t yet seen the prompt can also go there to download the update now.
Apple has improved shipping times on several iPhone 6 and 6 Plus models ahead of the holidays, especially in the 16 GB range. The 4.7-inch iPhone 6 previously required 7 to 10 days to ship after being ordered, but that number has now dropped to just 5 to 7 days. Shipping times for the 64 and 128 GB models remains unchanged, however.
The 16 GB iPhone 6 Plus also saw an improvement, with the larger model now shipping in just 7 to 10 days. Unlike the smaller handset, the 64 and 128 GB versions of the 6 Plus are also getting reduced shipping times at 2 to 3 weeks (down from 3 to 4 weeks before that).
Apple has pushed the first beta build of OS X Yosemite 10.10.2 out to AppleSeed users and developers. The update has a build number of 14C68k and weighs in at 422 MB. Last week the company released version 10.10.1 to the general public.
Apple hasn’t provided any indications of what’s new in this beta and has not listed any particular focus areas, though it’s possible this could be a hotfix update to address any lingering Wi-Fi glitches that didn’t get fixed in the most recent patch.
