iOS Devices

McDonald’s is testing Bluetooth beacon-based offers in at least some of its locations as it pilots beacon platform Piper that works with both iOS devices using Apple’s iBeacon framework and other mobile devices.
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A new UK job listing posted on Apple’s website and uncovered by iClarified indicates that the company is planning to expands its payment service into Europe and elsewhere. It shouldn’t come as a big surprise that Apple wants to put its iPhone 6-based payment system into as many hands worldwide as possible, but this is one of the first indications of a move in that direction.

The intern will be part of a new London-based team that will help roll the product out across Europe, the Middle East, India, and Asia. Specifically the intern will be responsible for handling contracts and non-disclosure agreements between Apple and third-parties like banks and retailers.

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Christmas and the end of Hanukkah are only a week away. You’re looking for a last-minute gift that’s guaranteed to arrive in time for the holidays. We’re here to help with a collection of top picks for Apple fans, all at great prices.

Welcome to 9to5’s Last Minute Apple Gift Guide!

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Touchscreen universal remotes have long been a popular way to turn a mass of button-covered remotes into a single, customizable unit, but these days the logical next step is to use the touchscreen device we already have – the iPhone. Harmony made the transition last year with the Ultimate Hub, and Philips is now following suit with the $50 Pronto Peel, going on sale in January.

Pronto, the latest device in connected home entertainment, together with the Peel Smart Remote app, turns your iPhone into a personalized universal remote control, completely changing the way viewers consume entertainment. Pronto allows you to control your entertainment devices, TVs, set-top boxes, DVDs and Blu-ray players, all from the iPhone already in your hand. Say goodbye to switching between standard remotes.

As with the Harmony Ultimate Hub, it works by turning wifi (Harmony) or Bluetooth (Pronto) signals from your iPhone into the correct infrared signals for your device … 
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRsPnzcZ1VY

Continuing its ‘From one gift come many’ campaign, Apple has published a new commercial entitled ‘The Song’. The ad depicts a young woman listening to a song on a record player, from her youth. The girl then learns the tune using their guitar, recording the tune on a Mac.

The girl then leaves an iPad preloaded with the same song for an older relation, her grandmother, provoking the same emotions of her childhood and memories. The ad concludes with a Happy Holidays message from the company. Apple describes the ad with the following prelude on its website:

Some gifts create a million more. Watch as one budding musician uses Mac and GarageBand to make a heartfelt song for her grandmother.

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Production by Samsung of the A9 chip destined for next year’s iPhones and iPads is underway, according to a report in Korea’s Electronic Times.

According to industry insiders on December 11, Samsung Electronics began production of Apple’s A9 in the Austin plant in the US using the 14nm FinFET technology. Samsung has production lines capable of FinFET process production in Austin, US and Giheung, Korea, but began to produce A9 only in Austin as it is in the initial stage.

It had been reported back in July that Samsung had received some orders for the chips, which the company effectively confirmed in October when the president of the company’s chip-making division said that profits would improve once it began supplying its latest-generation chips to Apple …

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Apple accessory maker Twelve South has debuted an updated version of its popular BookBook iPhone case for the latest models of the iconic smartphone. The new BookBook for iPhone 6 (and iPhone 6 Plus) is available now from the company’s website.

The BookBook combines a protective smartphone cover with a hand-distressed leather wallet for storing your cash, credit cards, and IDs, and puts it all inside a case designed to look like a book.

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The USPTO has today published an Apple patent application for a flexible display which deforms when touched to provide tactile feedback. Actuators beneath the display would create bumps or ridges in the display to simulate buttons and other virtual objects. The patent also describes a speaker and microphone that could work through the display, potentially making for sleeker and more water-resistant devices.

Electronic devices may be provided that contain flexible displays and internal components. An internal component may be positioned under the flexible display. The internal component may be an output device such as a speaker that transmits sound through the flexible display or an actuator that deforms the display in a way that is sensed by a user. The internal component may also be a microphone or pressure sensor that receives sound or pressure information through the flexible display. Structural components may be used to permanently or temporarily deform the flexible display to provide tactile feedback to a user of the device.

The display described would be sensitive to both touch and pressure … 
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Apple announced today that the iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3 will be coming to China “starting this week.” One single model will support all of China’s iPad carriers. The tablets are already available on Apple’s Chinese web store and are expected to ship within about a day.

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<a href="http://9to5mac.com/2014/08/01/angela-ahrendts-continues-debut-tour-with-employee-qa-new-york-city-apple-store-visits/" target="_blank">Apple SVP Retail Angela Ahrendts</a>

With the introduction of new iPhone financing options from wireless carriers, Apple has steadily been adding support in its stores for the latest payment options allowing customers to get an iPhone without paying the full price or even the $199 and up contract price.

Apple already supports financing plans from AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile either online, in its retail stores, or both, and 9to5Mac has learned that Apple is preparing to soon offer Sprint’s iPhone financing and leasing plans as well with support rolling out at some stores as soon as today.
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Apple has just released the second beta of iOS 8.2 to developers, for testing, as an over-the-air update.  The beta can also be downloaded from Apple’s developer site. iOS 8.2 includes WatchKit, so developers can create apps and Glances for Apple Watch. You can read about how such apps work with our previous coverage of the WatchKit APIs. Apple released the first beta of iOS 8.2 a few weeks ago.

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Apple kept making the iPod Classic for much longer than many expected, but when it finally called time over lack of components there were still plenty of people who wanted one. The Guardian reports that some iPod Classics are now selling for up to four times the original price.

Versions of the 160GB Classic – which can hold around 40,000 songs – are being sold as new via Amazon for up to £670. More than 3,000 of the models – the seventh, final version came out in 2010 – have been sold on eBay since the Classic was retired in October, most for between £350 and £500. Even refurbished older models now cost far more than the £229 for which the later generations retailed.

While The Guardian was looking at UK prices, the same phenomenon can be seen in the US on Amazon and eBay … 
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Apple TV is receiving a flurry of new channels today. Most prominently is a brand new YouTube app, to bring the client up-to-date with some of the other platforms. The new app reflects the design of other set-top box clients, with easier access to subscriptions and search functions. For the security conscious, the YouTube app now uses OAuth to login rather than naive password entry (by visiting youtube.com/activate)

Unfortunately, this YouTube update also means that Apple TV users will start seeing ads for the first time on the platform. Naturally, some users will be disappointed by this addition — it is not possible to opt out of the update.

Aside from YouTube, Apple TV is also getting four entirely new channels from various providers. Rolling out today are channels for Conde Nast’s ‘The Scene’, ‘Fusion’, Dailymotion (a video upload site from France) and UFC for premium subscription fighting and martial arts content.

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We may get to see the two-hour video of Steve Jobs giving pre-trial evidence in the iPod antitrust case, if the judge approves a motion jointly filed by AP, Bloomberg and CNN to make it public. CNET reported:

“Given the substantial public interest in the rare posthumous appearance of Steve Jobs in this trial, there simply is no interest that justifies restricting the public’s access to his video deposition,” attorney Thomas Burke, who is representing all three media organizations, wrote in the filing Monday

The video currently has the same status of live testimony given in the case, meaning that it can be reported on but the video cannot be broadcast … 
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An Apple Premium Reseller store in India

Times of India has put numbers on its earlier claim that Apple was planning to open a collection of iOS-centric stores in India. It now says that Apple plans to support 500 new resellers in the country as part of a major expansion program into smaller towns and cities, where Samsung currently dominates.

Apple reportedly sold a million iPhones in India in the 12 months to September 2014, helped in part by a cheaper 8GB version of the iPhone 5c, and is said to expect sales to treble in the following 12 months following the rollout of the iPhone 6 in October … 
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Just as it looked like the iPod-related class action suit against Apple was getting interesting, Eddy Cue arguing that competing music stores had effectively hacked the iPod, it now seems the case is in danger of collapsing.

Apple’s lawyers have written to the judge to say there is no evidence that either of the two plaintiffs owned iPods during the time affected by Apple’s action to remove non-iTunes songs from iPods … 
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