Apple

Through a press release and a post on Medium by Apple VP Lisa Jackson, Apple and The Conservation Fund have today announced a ‘breakthrough’ arrangement for sustainability. The deal involves Apple purchasing 36,000 acres of forest land in the eastern United States.

Apple will use the paper from the forests for sustainable product packaging with guarantees to ensure that “forests stay forests” and harvested timber is done so in a sustainable way.

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Apple’s new 12-inch MacBook with Retina display is out now, and today we’re going hands-on with the new machine. This ultra thin and portable MacBook is as controversial as it is beautiful, but will its features make up for the compromises? Let’s go ahead and find out…

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Apple has released an update to its iCloud for Windows beta, the service that lets Windows users access files and photos stored in iCloud and Apple’s new iCloud Drive feature.
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In a new report by Bloomberg, Samsung apparently has created an independent group of about 200 people that work solely on screens for Apple products. Bloomberg claims this is part of a plan to “strengthen business ties” between Apple and Samsung, which obviously have had a shaky history since the lawsuits over iPhone technology.

The patent disputes between Apple and Samsung were dropped in mid 2014, which led many to speculate that relations between the two companies may improve. This report by Bloomberg suggests exactly that.

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According to the latest data from Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, interest in the Apple Watch among teens remains low. An October 2014 survey showed that only 16 percent of teenagers planned to purchase an Apple Watch, and now, a more recent survey shows that interest has dropped to 11 percent among the age group.

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Mophie today has revealed its own dock for the Apple Watch. The dock is made with a durable aluminum construction and features leather accents around the base. At the top of the stand is a hole for Apple’s magnetic charger for the Apple Watch. The stand is designed with the charging cable in mind, which Mophie says makes for a clean and clutter free appearance.

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Now that you’ve ordered an Apple Watch or two, you’ll want to start pre-ordering any accessories that you want to have by the time your watch arrives. Most of the products on this list of protective covers, cases, and bags are shipping around the same time as the Apple Watch — sometime between April 24th and June — but many can be preordered today for delivery in the coming weeks.
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Workflow for iOS was initially released back in December with a plethora of capabilities thanks to iOS 8. Now, the app has been updated to version 1.2 with support for Apple Watch. Workflow, similar to Automator on OS X, allows users to create more than 200 automated actions with a mix and match interface on the iPad and iPhone. With Apple Watch, users will be able to view and download workflows designed for Apple Watch instantly from their wrist.

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Apple announced today that its new ResearchKit platform is now available to medical researchers as an open source framework. Apple first unveiled ResearchKit on stage last month during the March event, promising that it would be available as an open source framework for developers and medical researchers this month. The framework enables the medical community to use the iPhone to distribute actual medical and health research through ResearchKit-enabled apps.
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With the release of the first developer beta of iOS 8.4 this evening, Apple gave us the first look at the oft-rumored redesign of the Music app. With the expected announcement of Apple’s streaming music service happening in June, the Music app redesign has been expected for several months now. The newly introduced Music app offers a handful of new features in the first beta of iOS 8.4, as well as a redesigned interface that’s similar to iTunes on the Mac. Let’s take a brief look…

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Apple has just released the first iOS 8.4 beta, which includes Apple’s upcoming revamped Music app. The seed for developers is available via the Apple Developer Center website.

As we reported earlier this year, iOS 8.4 includes an all new Music application. The new software design is present in this beta, while Apple is expected to announce the streaming service component in June at WWDC.

Here are the release notes from Apple for the new app:

– All-New Design. Music app has a beautiful new design that makes exploring your music collection easier and more fun. Personalize playlists by adding your own image and description. Enjoy stunning pictures of your favorite artists in the Artists view. Start playing an album right from the album list. The music you love is never more than a tap away.

– Recently Added. Albums and playlists you’ve recently added are now at the top of your library, making it effortless to find something new to play. Simply tap play on the artwork to listen.

– Streamlined iTunes Radio. Discovering music with iTunes Radio is easier than ever. You can now quickly return to your favorite stations in Recently Played. Choose from a selection of hand-curated stations in Featured Stations, or start a new one from your favorite artist or song.

– New MiniPlayer. With the new MiniPlayer, you can see what’s playing and control playback while browsing your music collection. To open Now Playing, just tap on the MiniPlayer.

– Improved Now Playing. Now Playing has a stunning new design that showcases your album artwork the way it was meant to be. In addition, you can begin wirelessly streaming your music using AirPlay without leaving Now Playing.

– Up Next. It’s now simple to find out which songs from your library will play next — just tap the Up Next icon in Now Playing. You can even reorder, add, or skip songs whenever you like.

– Global Search. You can now search from anywhere in the Music app — just tap the magnifying glass. Search results are conveniently organized to help you quickly find that perfect song. You can even start an iTunes Radio station right from Search.

iOS 8.4’s Music application includes revamped search, the UpNext and MiniPlayer features from iTunes on the desktop, improved iTunes Radio functionality, a new Recently Added page, and more on top of the new design. On the iPad, there’s a new split-screen interface on the iPad, as seen in the screenshots below. On the iPhone, the landscape interface has been removed entirely. The icon for the app remains the same, however. We have a hands-on gallery of several more screenshots below:

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Apple CEO Tim Cook with IBM CEO Ginni Rometty

IBM this evening has announced a new dedicated health unit that will deepen its relationship with Apple. The service, called Watson Health, will use the data collected with Apple’s HealthKit and ResearchKit services to provide information to various other companies including Johnson & Johnson and Medtronic. From there, those companies can integrate the data into services they offer to healthcare companies. Apple will work to integrate Watson-based apps into HealthKit and ResearchKit for these purposes (via Forbes).

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Apple Watch is finally available to preorder, but if you missed the mark at 12:01 a.m. you might be waiting quite a while to get your hands on one. Luckily, Apple is providing try-on appointments that will allow you to get a taste of the experience and feel one out for yourself. Recently, we took that opportunity to get our hands on a few and offer some initial impressions on the hardware and software…

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When unveiling the Apple Watch, Apple heavily touted the fact that the device is an incredibly precise timekeeper. As the Watch has rolled out to retail stores we’ve slowly been finding a few features buried within Settings, including one that relates to the accuracy of the time. In Watch OS, Apple has included the ability to manually adjust the time displayed on the watch face of your device.

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A new report from Bloomberg today claims that Apple is considering $10-$15 month plans for its upcoming music streaming service while the company approaches high-profile artists to get exclusive content.

The report today follows our own report last month that Apple was planning to relaunch its Beats Music streaming service at its WWDC event in June. At the time we noted that Apple was considering a $7.99 price point, but today’s report suggests Apple could go with paid tiers ranging from $9.99/month for a single user to $14.99/month for a family account.
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In addition to opening pre-order sales for the upcoming Apple Watch and launching the new 12-inch Retina MacBook, Apple has refreshed its Beats Solo2 wireless headphone lineup with three new color options: gold, silver, and space gray to match your iPhone, iPad, new MacBook, or Apple Watch…
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Dexcom announced today that it’s preparing updates to its two mobile apps that will allow users of its Continuous Glucose Monitor System to track everything straight from Apple Watch. The apps will not only let users view their own glucose information, but also invite others– parents or caregivers for example– to monitor the data from their own Apple Watch.
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Update: Shipment dates are all over the place for the Apple Watch. Many models are already showing delivery dates in June, while the Edition shows an August arrival date. Some 12-inch MacBook models still ship in 1-3 business days.

As expected, the highly anticipated Apple Watch is now available for pre-order through Apple’s online store. Likewise, the new 12-inch MacBook is now available for purchase through the online store. Pre-orders of the Apple Watch and sales of the MacBook are also live in the Apple Store app on iOS devices. You can also now make appointments to try-on an Apple Watch at an Apple Store.

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While most are still waiting for the clock to strike April 10th, Apple Stores in the eastern part of the world have started opening their doors to Apple Watch appointments and potential buyers. Images posted to Twitter and Instagram show lines of customers waiting outside of stores to get their hands on the Apple Watch.

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