General

• General
• Mophie
• external battery
• Power Banks
• powerstation

Mophie introduces new power banks with a sleek aluminum design and Bluetooth monitoring

From 9to5Toys.com:

Just a few weeks after launching a new slim iPhone 6/s battery case and power bank, Mophie is back again today with five new external batteries. We’ve seen a lot of power banks in our day – and regularly have deals too – but the new Mophie powerstations use an aluminum shell that, from pictures alone, standout from the pack.

Available in five different capacities, each model provides a different feature set focused on a variety of needs. The smaller 1X provides a 2,000mAh battery with speeds up to 1.8A. Going up to the larger 2X and 3X models provides 4,000 and 6,000mAh capacities along with 2.4A charging speeds, the latter of which adds a second USB port to the mix.

Mophie has added a couple of standout features to the largest powerstations, the 5x and 8x, including Bluetooth monitoring via the free Power iOS and Android app. The smaller model packs 10,000mAh of power, while its bigger brother has 15,000mAh. Each model has dual-USB charging ports and LED indicators.

Most of the new power banks are available for purchase today via Verizon Wireless, and will be coming to Apple Store locations as well. Pricing is as follows:

• 1X: $40
• 2X: $60
• 3X: $80
• 5X: $130
• 8X: $150

 

• Apple Health
• General
• Apple Store Brussels
• Liver transplantation
• Medical ID

Campaign uses Apple Store opening queue clip to encourage organ donor registrations [Video]

A Belgian campaign group used the queue for the recent opening of the Apple Store in Brussels to create a clever video encouraging people to register as organ donors.

People on the waiting list for organ transplants ask those in the queue how long they have been waiting at the store, say they know how it feels to wait and offer to take their place in return for signing up to join the organ donor register. Organ donors can save up to eight people’s lives after their own death.

Back in 2010, Steve Jobs – who himself had a liver transplant – helped a California bill pass to make joining the register there a simple tickbox on the driver’s license form. You can also record your preference in the Medical ID section of the Health app, introduced in iOS 8.

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7B7EX_NroY]

• iOS Devices
• iPhone 6
• iPhone 6 Plus
• iPhone 6s
• iPhone 6s Plus

Mophie debuts iPhone 6s Reserve batteries, TechLink offers iPad, iPhone 6 Plus Recharge

With the post-launch dust now settled for the iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, and iPad mini 4, two accessory makers have released four batteries designed to fuel Apple’s latest devices. While they carry significant price premiums over top-rated batteries we’ve covered, both vendors have received Apple’s seal of approval for device compatibility.

Mophie has officially released Juice Pack Reserve for iPhone 6s and iPhone 6 ($60), officially guaranteeing compatibility with both versions of the 4.7″ iPhone. Juice Pack Reserve is a form-fitting battery case promising over 60% extra battery life with an 1,840mAh integrated cell. It features built-in button protectors and a very small “chin” for audio and charging. Power Reserve 1x ($35) is a device-agnostic, 2,600mAh battery shaped like a large pack of gum, reliant on a self-supplied Lightning cable to charge your iOS device. Each Reserve battery is available in 5 soft touch rubber colors, and comes with a micro-USB to USB cable for recharging.

U.K.-based TechLink has launched Recharge 5000 ($90) and Recharge 12000 ($120), Lightning cable-equipped batteries for the iPhone 6s Plus/6 Plus and iPad mini/iPad Air, respectively. While each battery works with other Apple devices, the partially aluminum Recharge 5000 is specifically pitched at iPhone 6/6s Plus users, as it’s bundled with a leatherette carrying case that holds both the slim 5000mAh battery and either 5.5″ iPhone, promising a 1.2X recharge. Made entirely from plastic, the dual-port Recharge 12000 has iPad-ready 2.4-Amp power and a really nice built-in stand that holds an iPad on a recline while it’s charging. Capable of delivering at least one full recharge to any recent iPad, the 12,000 mAh battery also includes a zippered carrying case. Each has a micro USB cable for recharging.

 

• iOS
• iOS Devices
• Apple News
• Apple Retail
• Tech Industry

Apple refuses to sell Adele’s new album as a physical CD in Apple retail stores

Adele has been turned down by Apple as the company is refusing to sell her new album in its stores. Whilst that may sound surprising, it turns out Apple actually declined from stocking physical CD album copies of her album in Apple retail stores as per Adele’s representative’s request (according to The Daily Mail). Apple declining to stock physical media … shocking right?

For the company that revolutionized digital music and released a streaming music service with much fanfare earlier in the year, it’s quite hilarious that a top artist’s team even tried such a request. You can, of course, get the debut single ‘Hello’ from Apple’s digital stores including Apple Music … but getting the Apple Store to sell physical media, especially when practically none of its products include optical disk drives, is a step too far in the past.

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• AAPL Company
• Tech Industry
• Apple Inc
• General
• San Francisco

Home tracking firm Zillow demonstrates the Apple effect on housing prices in San Francisco & San Jose

It’s long been taken as read that high tech company salaries push up housing costs in the surrounding areas, but the WSJ commissioned home tracking company Zillow to provide some hard data. By tracking the increase in values of homes owned by Apple employees, it was able to prove that home values in those areas rose further and faster than in surrounding areas with similar demographics.

The piece notes that zoning laws and regulatory red tape also have a significant effect, by limiting the supply of housing at a time when demand is increasing, but the comparison does suggest that there is a direct link to tech companies like Apple.

Homes occupied by Apple workers are appreciating at 18% a year, compared with 11% for San Francisco as a whole and 12% for San Jose. Since iPhone sales launched in June 2007 [and stock values rose], the Zillow analysis found, the average difference between the median home value of Apple workers and San Jose workers has swelled to 20% from 13%.

The problem of lower-paid workers finding it hard to find housing within reasonable commuting distance of tech companies like Apple has been highlighted in the past. Apple took the decision back in March to hire the majority of its previously contracted security guards as staff, providing them with health insurance and retirement benefits. The company also arranged for its contracted shuttle bus workers to get an improved deal.

• AAPL Company
• Apple News
• Twitter
• Apple Inc
• Microsoft

Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer calls 1997 investment saving Apple “craziest thing we ever did”

In a Bloomberg interview this morning former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer spent some time discussing competition with Amazon for talent in Seattle and then moved on to Apple and Tesla.

With regard to Apple, Ballmer first said that Apple has “done a good job” and took credit for saving Apple with an investment in 1997 when Steve Jobs returned – which was part of a patent lawsuit over Windows 95/stolen Quicktime code. Ballmer went on to describe the investment this way: “In a way you could say that was the craziest thing [Microsoft] ever did.”

Ballmer then moved to the current landscape where he said that Microsoft is the only company (in addition to Samsung) really competing with Apple with its SurfaceBook in a new category.

Ballmer currently is the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers basketball team and now owns around 4% of Twitter stock. The relevant clip can be found here with Apple conversation starting halfway through.

 

• AAPL Company
• Steve Jobs
• General
• Steve Jobs movie

PSA: Steve Jobs movie goes nationwide today, as cast discusses the man’s legacy [Video]

If you’ve been waiting impatiently for the Sorkin/Boyle movie Steve Jobs to reach a theater near you, your wait should be at an end as the phased rollout completes today, going nationwide.

Universal Pictures yesterday posted a video of a brief roundtable discussion of the cast and others discussing the legacy of the man. Jeff Daniels, who plays John Sculley, said that Jobs was a creative genius who could be spoken of in the same breath as Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell.

A creative genius, a pioneer, one of the great figures of certainly American, maybe world, history.

You can watch the five-minute video below.

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tY1MdYlnnvQ]

• AAPL Company
• iPad
• iOS Devices
• iPhone
• Tech Industry

Majority of iPhone/iPad workers at Pegatron’s Shanghai factory exceed 60-hour work limit, claims China Labor Watch

China Labor Watch says that an undercover investigation at a Pegatron factory manufacturing iPhones and iPads found that 58% of workers there were working in excess of 60 hours a week – the limit laid down by Apple for its suppliers. It also said that overtime, which is supposed to be voluntary, is effectively mandatory, reports CNET.

The report claimed that the standard shift was nine hours, but that – between September and December last year – staff worked an additional minimum of 20 hours of overtime each week, usually split up between an extra two hours each week day and one 10-hour shift on Saturdays. […] This overtime was essentially a requirement, according to the investigator, who claimed to be told by a trainer that working eight-hour shifts five days a week “does not conform to our hiring requirements.”

The report says that many workers in any case said that significant overtime was necessary to meet their living expenses, with wages at the local minimum wage of around $1.85 per hour.

The report also alleges that Pegatron falsifies documents shown to Apple to give the appearance of complying with supplier audit requirements while failing to do so in reality.

Despite providing only about eight hours of pre-job safety training—where Chinese law requires 24 hours—Pegatron forces each new worker to sign a form that “certifies” that she has undergone 20 hours of safety training. A worker also must sign a trainer’s name on the form. The factory has workers quickly copy answers to the safety information quiz. These falsified forms are the types of documentation that are provided to Apple in their audits.

The report notes some improvements since 2013, with partial improvements in sick leave and the ending of claimed discriminatory hiring practices. CNET says that neither Apple nor Pegatron responded to requests for comments on the report.

It’s not the first time that China Labor Watch has criticized working conditions in factories run by Apple’s suppliers. A report last year on another Apple supplier detailed claims of 22 violations ranging from hiring practices to safety concerns.

A BBC documentary based on an undercover investigation at another Pegatron factory prompted Tim Cook to say he was “deeply offended” by the claims and the show’s failure to include facts and perspectives provided by Apple.

Apple publishes an annual Supplier Responsibility Progress Report in which it details the issues it faces in its supply chain and the steps taken to address these.

Photo: AP Photo/Kin Cheung