Apple today has shared yet another new iPhone 6s ad focusing on the device’s always-lisnteing “Hey Siri” feature. Earlier this week, Apple debuted two new advertisements for the iPhone 6s, one focused on the device’s improved performance and another on “Hey Siri.” This ad stars highly acclaimed director Jon Favreau and showcases the iPhone 6s being used on a film set.
Apple today has debuted two new TV ads for the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus. These ads come just a week after the company unveiled its new holiday ad featuring Stevie Wonder and Andra Day. The two new iPhone ads are entitled “Hey Siri” and “Ridiculously Powerful,” and focus on exactly what you would expect them to.
Android smartphone maker OnePlus is no stranger to unusual marketing tactics. Whether it’s because it’ll only sell phones to those with an invitation, asks customers to trade in their iPhone or Samsung phones for one of its devices, or by leaving out features many Android fans love, it seems to promote discussion with whatever it does. Its latest move is equally interesting, to say the least…
Today, OnePlus has officially started selling iPhone cases in its popular ‘Sandstone Black’ finish. For the unaware, the original OnePlus One smartphone’s rear cover came with this case, as does the OnePlus 2’s. It’s essentially a black plastic with a rough, sand-like finish. A lot of customers love it because of the extra grip. Personally, I much prefer a softer finish. Regardless, OnePlus believes you want to feel this Sandstone Black texture on your iPhone 6/6s so it made you a case.
Like all things from OnePlus, the Sandstone Case is packed in attractive, minimalist packaging. Sliding off the lid reveals the case sitting right on top, while on the inside of the box lid is a physical invite card. Not only does OnePlus want you to feel the texture of its flagship phone, it also wants you to buy the OnePlus X (its 5-inch all-glass and metal smartphone).
As plastic shells go, there’s nothing really wrong with the OnePlus iPhone case. There are well-placed cutouts in all the right places and it’s very easy to apply. It adds a little thickness to the phone and a lot more grip. If you’re biggest concern with the iPhone 6 is how easily it slips out of your hand, the OnePlus case might not be a terrible idea. Still, personally, I’m not a fan of the texture as I find it too rough to want to hold on a daily basis.
As for the invite card, that’s a simple piece of white plastic with a scratch-off portion on the back which reveals the unique invite code for those who want to buy a OnePlus X. Some of the cases even come with invitations to buy a limited edition ceramic-backed model of the device.
The OnePlus Sandstone case is available to buy today from OnePlus.net in the US, UK and mainland Europe for $19.99/£15.99/€19.99.
Apple has today released a (PRODUCT)RED version of its iPhone 6s Leather Case, available to buy now from Apple.com with Wednesday shipping. The omission of the color was odd back in September, as the Silicone Case was offered in (PRODUCT)Red since the iPhone 6s launch. Apple has just about got stock of the item in time for the holidays, if you still happen to be hunting for an official red iPhone case (there are plenty of third-party red iPhone cases available).
The idea of a smart home is a long running meme in technological circles. Apple has made the biggest stride recently with HomeKit and there is now a significant ecosystem of lights, switches, and other accessories to buy for your home. That being said, smart home accessories are still novelties and quite pricey: they aren’t must-have purchases. However, this makes them great gifts for the holiday season — uncommon presents that are fun to play with and have some long-lasting usefulness. We’ve rounded up our favorite HomeKit accessories below …
Update: We’ve got hundreds of items in our Apple Black Friday Mac/iPhone/iPad accessories and software guide
As the Thanksgiving turkey and wine buzz starts to wear off and we head into the pinnacle of American consumerism known as Black Friday, we here at 9to5Mac have some tips which should make the shopping experience pleasant, efficient and productive. Over the next 24 hours, everything Apple related will be at the lowest prices of the year. We’re going to guide you to getting in, saving a bunch of cash and getting on your way.
First some don’ts:
As for Apple products, we’ve distilled the absolute best deals out there into just a few options. Important considerations include state tax at time of purchase, gift cards vs. actual savings, shipping and rewards. Also, AppleCare discounts. Here’s the quick rundown:
Target, B&H and Best Buy in the US have the biggest discounts we’ve seen this year. Best Buy will knock off $50 on Sport and $100 on Stainless. Target gives you a $100 gift card on both models which is of course good for an additional 5% cash back using their RedCard. Both sites charge tax in all 50 states but offer free shipping.
However, the best option might be B&H Photo which offers the Apple Watch in fewer varieties than Best Buy but for the same $50 off Sport/$100 off Stainless. In addition, B&H throws in a $50 gift card, B&H only charges Tax in New York State which may save you big money.
B&H Photo:Apple Watch Sport starts at $349 and comes with a free $100 Target Gift Card. Use your REDcard to save an additional 5% and your effective net cost is just $231.55. That’s the lowest price we’ve seen on new Apple Watches. Target will throw in the free gift card on any in-stock Apple Watch.
Target has the New Apple TV for ~$50 off in store but those prices will likely hit retailers like Walmart ($112) tomorrow. HHGregg also is expected to have some availability on Black Friday at reduced cost. Staples has $25 off if you checkout with Visa Checkout. The 3rd Gen Apple TV is $50 in a number of places and $40 Geek squad refurb at Best Buy. Stay tuned.
For those of us that still love the iPod touch, there are a few nice deals around. Best Buy cuts $50 across the board, Target cuts $40-$60 and Walmart cuts $35.
iPhones with plans from the major US carriers are marked down significantly in a number of retail outlets
Mac prices and inventory will fluctuate wildly on Black Friday. Best Buy gives an extra $50 off to students on iMacs and MacBooks
B&H is leading the way with $150-$500 off 13-inch MacBook Pros and $200-$500 off 15.4-inch MacBook Pros. We expect to see some lower prices at eBay and other locations through the day.
The entry level iMac is a whopping $200 off at Best Buy ($899) and with the .EDU credit drops down to $850 shipped. After that B&H is leading the way with at least $100-$300 off on standard models and MacMall leads the way on custom configs. We’ve heard whispers that a retailler is going to do some serious price drops so we’ll post those when they happen.
B&H takes $50 off the base model which now starts at $449 and $70 and $100 off the higher models. Other places take off less but will likely drop prices tomorrow.
Again, B&H has the lowest base model price and most of the configurations along with MacMall.
The above prices and inventory will likely be all over the place on Black Friday so we’ll be updating frequently. Thanks again for joining us for Black Friday 2015.
Even though the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus support 4K video recording, the 4K format is still gathering steam. TVs with 4K Ultra HD only became affordable in the past year (with major holiday discounts), but the lack of 4K content — and devices to even play 4K videos — have been sticking points. Apple’s just-released fourth-generation Apple TV doesn’t support 4K, and the only Apple devices that can play back 4K videos at full resolution without a separate 4K monitor are the 21″ Retina 4K iMac and 27″ Retina 5K iMac.
Even though they can’t actually display 4K videos, either through their own screens or accessories, Apple has enabled certain iOS devices to edit in 4K using the latest version of iMovie. So armed with an iPhone 6s Plus and two accessories, I decided to see whether the brand new iPad Pro was actually up to the task of editing and sharing 4K videos. The results were surprising, so if you’re wondering how 4K video editing actually works with Apple’s “Pro” tablet, read on…
Apple today has shared a new Guided Tour video to its YouTube channel that highlights Apple Pay on the iPhone. Apple has previously shared a Guided Tour showing off Apple on the Apple Watch, but this is the first video in which Apple has demonstrated the feature on its smartphone.
In the video, Apple highlights the ease of use that Apple Pay provides. The company demonstrates how you can use it at compatible checkout terminals in retail locations, as well as use it in apps for buying goods and apps like Uber for buying services.
Apple closes the video by demonstrating how easy it is to setup Apple Pay, including adding the card, verifying the card, and finally actually using it in stores.
You can view Apple’s new Guided Tour video for Apple Pay on iPhone below. Apple has previously shared a plethora of Guided Tour videos for Apple Watch. The company likes to use the format to showcase features that take some explanation to truly understand.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ez-2M3C_4wU
Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) is out with a new report today claiming Apple is now at over 100 million iPhones in use in the US. That means Apple has crossed 100 million active iPhone units since CIRP reported 97 million iPhones in use back in August, according to the research firm’s data.
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Last month the popular Waze navigation app on iPhone got a major update with a new design and improvements to reporting traffic issues and sharing arrival times with others. Now Waze is out with its next new version which brings 3D Touch shortcuts to the Home screen icon for iPhone 6s and 6s Plus users. Firmly press on the updated icon to quickly look up an address, share your location with other users, or get directions to your work or home address from your current location. Waze also says the update includes the usual bug fixes and improvements.
Fantastical already features 3D Touch shortcuts from its Home screen icon, and today the calendar and reminders app is adding more 3D Touch features for iPhone 6s and 6s Plus users…
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According to the iPhone in Canada blog, American Express representatives have confirmed that eligible American Express bank cards will be able to use Apple Pay from tomorrow in the country, Tuesday November 17th. Apple announced on its last earnings call that American Express would lead the expansion of Apple Pay beyond the UK and US, with Canada and Australia coming by end of year and Spain, Singapore and Hong Kong to be added in 2016.
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Apple has launched a holiday gift guide microsite today, featuring Apple products and accessories targeted at a wide variety of audiences. The list is separated into six main sections: Gaming, Photography, Music, Fitness, Learning and Travel. Naturally, Apple prominently features its own devices in the recommendations (iPhones, iPads, Apple TV, Beats headphones) alongside third-party accessories and suggested apps.
For example, in the Photography category of its gift guide, Apple lists the brand new iPhone 6s as the ‘world’s most popular camera’ alongside silicon cases, the olloClip Active Lens telephoto mount, a Gorillapod tripod as well as apps like Instagram, VSCO and Darkroom. Also, check our own gift guide for photography here.
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The iPhone podcast app Castro has a lot more competition in the market nowadays since I first reviewed it back in 2013. Arguably, Castro is still the most visually appealing of the current crowd and the developers are currently working on the next major version of the app, Castro 2. In the meantime, the developers have released Castro 1.5 with some new features and a new pricing model. Following Overcast’s lead, Castro is now completely free for all to download. The company is moving to a patronage model.
You can now get the alternative web browser Firefox for iPhone and iPad in the App Store. Except its not really Firefox as you know it on the desktop, because the underlying engine is all WebKit, not Mozilla’s Gecko renderer like it is on the Mac. This is the same as the iOS Google Chrome app — the App Store rules require browsers to use the Safari WebKit engine. This isn’t really a bad thing, the WebKit rendering core is the industry leading mobile (and desktop) engine.
You might want to use Firefox for iPhone and iPad if you use Firefox on the Mac, due to UI similarities for the browser chrome or just for syncing convenience. The Firefox app will sync bookmarks, open tabs across all your devices by logging into your Firefox account. These are the main differences between Firefox and the native Safari app.
New for the holiday season, Apple is offering some bundles for the photographer and videographer. The iPhones have a great camera, as demonstrated by the Shot on iPhone 6 campaign and Apple is certainly looking to capitalize on these capabilities. With these bundles, they are making it easier for a hobbyist or a professional to get started with accessories.
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As demoed by Apple on stage, the latest instalment of Guitar Hero, Guitar Hero Live, is now available on Apple TV. It’s just like classic Guitar Hero, a three-lane rhythm based game, but modernised with better visuals, ‘real’ band members, enhanced crowd reactions, and more.
On the iPhone and iPad version, you can play two trial songs for free or pay $50 via In-App Purchase to unlock the full game with 38 additional songs. However, on Apple TV, the game is completely non-functional without the controller accessory. You have to buy the controller for the game to work at all. Incidentally, you can buy the full game and controller on Amazon as a $99 bundle, for both iOS and tvOS.
Requiring a game controller peripheral is a controversial move, as it goes against Apple’s normal App Store policy for Apple TV games. In fact, it appears to defy the rules about game controllers laid out by Apple.
With iOS 9, it is now possible to install screen brightness app Flux (or f.lux). Flux adjusts screen brightness and color depending on the time of day automatically, so you aren’t blasted with bright light at bedtime or early in the morning. Due to App Store restrictions, Flux has been only available on the Mac OS X platform until now. Whilst it isn’t available through the App Store, you can now download and install the Flux beta for iPhone and iPad by sideloading the app through Xcode on the Mac.
It sounds complicated but it’s actually really easy to do. Apple lifted the developer limitations on device app sideloading earlier this year, so it’s completely free. Until Apple relaxes App Store policies, this will be the only way to do this. Read the instructions on how to install Flux after the break …
In a research note, reliable supply chain analyst KGI’s Ming-Chi Kuo is suggesting that Apple is unlikely to bring AMOLED screens to the iPhone for many years to come, through 2018 at least, and almost certainly not coming to the iPhone 7.
OLED iPhones have been a long-running rumor but Apple has remained steadfast with investments in better LCD panels for the most part. Yield for OLED panels continues to be a big issue given the incredible scale Apple requires for iPhone shipments.
Update (11/20 1:00pm): We’ve published a more comprehensive roundup of the best upcoming Apple Black Friday deals.
From 9to5Toys.com:
Believe it or not, we’re only a little over two weeks away from Black Friday. Over at 9to5Toys we’ve been tracking a steady stream of Black Friday ad leaks, reveals, and news since last month. While we haven’t seen every retailers’ deals yet, we have seen enough to get a good idea of what types of discounts top Apple products will be getting this holiday season:
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