iOS

In a statement to Re/code, Apple has announced that iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus have set new records for overnight preorders.

An Apple representative said that the overnight sales of the new iPhones set a record, though Apple did not say how many have been sold.

“Response to iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus has been incredible with a record number of preorders overnight,” Apple told Re/code.

Earlier today, AT&T announced that it saw the best iPhone demand in two years. The phones have received immense interest today, despite Apple Online Store issues. T-Mobile’s systems have been crunched due to the demand, meaning sales representatives have had to resort to pen and paper to reserve iPhones for customers.

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Apple is set to bring Apple Pay, its mobile wallet service, to China using a partnership with China UnionPay. @KhaosT on Twitter found references to the credit card type in iOS 8 code and now MarketWatch is corroborating with sources that a deal is in the works.

Apple announced Apple Pay as a US only service, coming to iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in October with a software update. A deal with UnionPay would obviously mean Apple wants to bring the feature to Chinese iOS customers soon.

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A review of 1,211 apps carried out by a coalition of privacy officials across 19 countries found that 60 percent of them failed at least one basic privacy test, reports the WSJ.

The officials found that 60% of apps raised privacy concerns, based on three criteria: They did not disclose how they used personal information; they required that the user give up an excessive amount of personal data as a condition of downloading the app; and their privacy policies were rendered in type too small to be read on a phone’s screen …

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Update 2: AT&T says demand is higher than iPhone launches from the last two years (via Recode): “Demand for the new iPhones is higher than that seen in either of the past two years, AT&T spokesman Mark Siegel told Re/code.”

Update: All models of the 5.5 inch iPhone 6 Plus are now quoting 3-4 weeks shipping. Apple is still stocking most models of the iPhone 6, however.

The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus launch has not been smooth, to say the least. Many people are still unable to access the Apple Online Store to purchase Apple’s newest devices. Despite availability issues, many models are already selling out. Carrier websites are the first to be affected, naturally, as they always get less supply than Apple itself.

Both AT&T and Verizon are quoting three week shipping delays for the Plus, meaning customers buying now won’t get their phones until around the 7th of October. At the time of writing, the iPhone 6 is still available. At Apple’s own store, it seems like the 64 GB iPhone 6 Plus and the 128 GB iPhone 6 Plus is now also unavailable. However, the exact nature of supply is unclear due to the ongoing website issues.

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Pre-orders for the iPhone 6 will start at 12:01 a.m. PDT and will be available to purchase in Apple Stores on Sept. 19th, 2014, but what isn’t widely known is that it looks like Apple is kicking off Personal Pickup availability starting with preorders as well. This means that you’ll be able to preorder an iPhone 6 and select a store in your area and pick it up on launch day….

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Apple has announced this year’s summit for its Made-for-iPhone/iPad/iPod accessory program will take place Nov. 12-14 in China. The event will focus on briefing accessory manufacturers on HomeKit, iBeacon, and other new technologies coming in iOS 8. 
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For most people, the decision of which wallpaper to choose for your iPhone is just a matter of going through your photo library to find the right picture. For Espen Haagensen, however, the process just became a whole lot easier. Starting September 17th, a photo of the Milky Way he captured while in Norway will become the default wallpaper in iOS 8, software that will be downloaded hundreds of millions of times by users all around the world.

Two days later, on September 19th, countless iPhone 6 and 6 Plus units will begin shipping out to customers, all preloaded with the same shot. I talked to Espen about the photo’s origins and how it feels to be so prominently featured by Apple.

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Good news and bad news for Tesla Model S owners: the iOS and Android apps have been updated to allow you to start the car without a key – but the matching firmware update needed by the car hasn’t yet arrived.

Version 2 of the iOS app also provides support for the new calendar function, where the car can pull in data from your iPhone calendar and offer to navigate you to the location – as well as providing several new alerts … 
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The fact that Apple was working on a smartwatch may have been one of the worst-kept secrets in the world, but the company did at least manage to keep us guessing about the form it would take – right down to whether the form factor would be square or circular.

Was a square format the right choice? To help us form a view, UX/UI designer Alcion has put together a series of renders showing what the Apple Watch would look like with a round face … 
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As we always do, we’ve compiled a list of the best iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus cases already available to order. With preorders for the device kicking off this Friday through most carriers and major retailers in launch countries, a number of great case makers have already started selling accessories. We’ve stuck to reputable case makers and cases that you can order today. A few might not ship until the end of the month or early next, but Apple isn’t expected to ship the iPhone 6 & 6 Plus until September 19th. We’ll add more to the list as we find them.
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SwiftKey has long been known as one of the most popular third-party keyboards for Android, but the company kept no secrets earlier this year in announcing that the app would be making its way to Apple’s platform with the release of iOS 8. Today, the company has shared some more details about its features, and given us a first-look at the swipe-to-type entry method running on the latest build of iOS.

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Now that the iPod classic, the last of Apple’s legacy clickwheel iPods, is no longer for sale from Apple, this might be your last chance to get your hands on the device. While you can’t get one from Apple, there are still a few spots to purchase remaining stock:
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Re/code is reporting that Apple is currently seeing about a day’s worth of battery life. The company was notably sheepish to mention anything specific, but internally Re/code says Apple’s current marketing strategy is that users charge it over night to get full use during daylight hours.

Interestingly, the report notes that Apple is unhappy with current performance and the situation is very much still in flux. Apparently, Apple is doing many different things to improve battery longevity, by the time the device launches in ‘early 2015’.

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When Apple quietly created a new MFi spec for headphones, allowing them to connect via the Lightning port rather than the headphone jack to deliver higher-quality audio, everyone expected Apple-owned Beats to be first to take advantage of it. But instead Philips has, ah, beaten them to it … 
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Jonathan Zdziarski, who flared up the initial round of iOS surveillance claims a couple of months ago, is now reporting that some of these flaws have been rectified with iOS 8. Apple said that these services were used for debugging purposes, and had no connection to government agencies. It then proceeded to detail these processes in a support note.

Zdziarski’s post explains that many issues have been addressed, particularly with File Relay. Before, this service blindly sent data from the device to an external source, without authentication. In iOS 8, he says that the service has been disabled. It seems that data is no longer available either through physical connection or wirelessly. Zdziarski notes law enforcement will not be able to use current tools to access any of this previously-exposed information.

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Apple tried to get social with the iTunes Ping network in 2010. Things didn’t work out so well. (Image via Wired)

Apple and social networking don’t have such a great history, but the Cupertino tech firm is ready to give it another go, if new rumors regarding a potential acquisition of the Path social app are true. According to PandoDaily, Apple is already in talks with the mobile social network and the merger is “essentially a done deal.”

Path, for the uninitiated, is a mobile-only social networking app launched in 2010 that features photo sharing, private messaging, and other features you’d expect from a basic social service. It isn’t as widely popular as something like Facebook or Twitter, but it’s estimated to have somewhere around 25 million users and could provide Apple with a decent platform to create its own network.

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