Apple last night confirmed it will live stream the opening press event for its Worldwide Developers Conference on Monday, but the stream is limited to certain devices. The company will stream the event to iPhone, iPad, and Mac users via its Safari browser, and to Apple TV users, and it’s also recently added support for Windows 10 via Microsoft Edge.
Steve Jobs, the official Sony biopic film for Walter Isaacson’s Jobs biography, received a muted response at the box office. The film received decent reviews from critics with an engaging story and unique approach to filming and movie-making, with Aaron Sorkin conjuring the plot around just three Steve Jobs product keynotes.
If you didn’t get the chance (or chose not to) to see the film at the movie theater, you can now buy it on Blu-ray and DVD from today. The film was also released on iTunes as a digital download last week, but it seems Apple is intentionally not promoting the movie on its store — the film has got no special placement on the iTunes storefront.
Attendees at this year’s Tommy Hilfiger New York Fashion Week show won’t have to be pulling out any physical invitations or even their smartphones to check-in to events this year thanks to a partnership with GPS Radar. Attendees instead will be able to use the newly updated GPS Radar Apple Watch app to view event invitations, RSVP to the events, and get a view on the fashion week’s calendar.
Following the unveiling of its BreakSafe USB-C accessory earlier today, Griffin has now taken the wraps off of a new Apple Watch accessory. Dubbed the Travel Power Bank, the accessory is one the of the first battery packs we’ve seen for Apple Watch and it comes in a bitesize package.
There are many watch guys out there who are reluctant to give up their beautiful analog watches in favor of an Apple Watch, but still feel slightly envious about the convenience of wrist notifications. Chronos is a $99 gadget geared to solving that problem.
It’s a 3mm thick disk designed to be discreetly worn underneath an analog watch. It offers multi-color flashing lights and vibrations for notifications from your iPhone, and also offers limited tap-based control of iPhone apps. You can, for example, skip to the next track in the Music app.
The Verge reports that it’s probably something you’ll want to use only with larger watches.
Chronos does add an appreciable thickness to the watch, setting it higher off of your wrist, but it isn’t particularly noticeable when placed beneath a larger model.
Chronos will retail for $129, but the first 250 people to pre-order can snag one for $79. The bad news is that you’ll have to wait until the spring to receive it.
After announcing an official program for accessory makers interested in making Apple Watch bands back in May, Apple has now delivered on its promise of providing Apple-made watch lugs that third-party manufacturers can use to make straps. That’s the first sign that official third-party watch bands will soon be hitting the market through Apple’s Made for iPhone program (MFi). Companies enrolled in the MFi program can now order the parts (pictured above) through Apple’s supplier (via MR).
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Nest Weave, the communications protocol that Nest uses to make its connected home devices talk to each other, definitely isn’t new. But as of today, Nest is making it part of its Works with Nest program so that third-party hardware makers and developers can use the protocol in their own products…
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With iOS 9 set to release on September 16th, Apple has released the final beta build, the Golden Master, to developers. Along with this beta is an all new preview build of iOS 9.1. The exact changes in iOS 9.1 aren’t yet known, but we’ll keep this post updated with any changes we find in either build.
Apple today added two new accessories for Apple Watch that will make the wearable fit wrists as large as 245mm. The first accessory, simply called Link Bracelet Kit, costs $49 from Apple and includes six additional links to expand the Link Bracelet to fit wrists as large as 245mm. Apple also today introduced a new Sport band size in L/XL that also fits up to 245mm wrists. Previously, the Sport band only extended to 210mm.
An example of current Apple Watch stands that must utilize Apple’s official Watch charging cable.
Apple will soon let manufacturers in its Made for iPhone/iPad/iPod (MFi) licensing program include charging pads for the Apple Watch directly in their accessories, according to sources. Currently, dock makers can only offer charging by making unsightly openings in their docks for Apple’s official charger to sit, forcing users to bring their own cable and install it, and compromising an ideal design and user experience in the process. By making charging modules available to manufacturers to use, however, customers will be able to buy docks and stands with integrated chargers without needing to use their own.
A new report out from KGI’s Ming-Chi Kuo includes some interesting details about Apple’s planned fall product releases. Firstly, Kuo expects iPhone shipments to fall in the current quarter as anticipation builds for the new iPhone dubbed the ‘iPhone 6s’, although apparently ‘Force Touch yields are low’ which may constrict availability at the beginning. For Apple Watch, following a report earlier in the year to expect new materials for Apple Watch casings, Kuo claims Apple will launch new Apple Watch Sport color options to match the new iPhone.
This includes anodizing aluminum in either yellow gold or rose gold to match the gold options on the iPhone 6s and create a faux-Edition Sport model. Third-party coating services already exist for the Apple Watch (pictured above), but Apple’s additions would seemingly be for the aluminum, not steel models. KGI believes Apple shipped a “tepid” 3.9 million Apple Watch units to date.
There is also news of a new iPad mini covered in KGI’s report, as well as sales estimates for all of Apple’s products ahead of the earnings calls on Tuesday.
When Apple released the first beta of watchOS 2.0 last month following WWDC, users were surprised to learn that there was no way to downgrade from the beta build to the more stable Watch OS 1.0.1. Users tried a variety of different methods, but were ultimately left with one option: send their Watch into Apple and allow them to do the restore. With today’s launch of watchOS 2.0 beta 3, Apple has officially confirmed that there is no way to downgrade to an earlier version of watchOS without sending your device into Apple.
Apple this evening appears to have updated the way in which Apple Watch screenshots are presented in the App Store on iOS. Prior to this recent update, Apple Watch screenshots were shown as normal, rectangular screenshots, which looked unappealing and out of place. Now, Apple has added a black border to the screenshots and has given them rounded corners.
Apple this evening has launched a new Reserve & Pickup system for Apple Watch customers in the UK, Australia, and other countries as they change to June 17th. Earlier today it was reported that Apple Watch would soon be available in retail stores and this development is a step towards that for customers. Apple’s webpage for Reserve & Pickup says that Apple Watch models are available by reservation in retail stores, although availability will still be sparse and limited to select variants of Apple Watch.
Apple’s SVP of marketing Phil Schiller this evening gave an interview on John Gruber’s podcast The Talk Show during which he addressed a variety of different topics. Gruber and Schiller together discussed Apple’s WWDC announcements, such as watchOS 2 and Apple Music. The two also talked about many of Apple’s decisions over the past couple of years, including the company’s obsession with making the thinnest devices possible and how on earth they still sell 16GB devices in 2015.
Apple CEO Tim Cook kicked off the company’s WWDC keynote presentation today with its usual update on numbers and growth since last checking in. The big numbers so far from today’s event: Siri is now 40% faster and more accurate, the company now supports 2500 banks for Apple Pay, and iOS and OS X adoption continues to outpace the competition.
Head below for a full roundup of notable numbers and company stats announced during today’s event (we’ll be updating as more come up):
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MacStories’ Federico Viticci has posted an interesting image of WWDC banners from the second-floor of Moscone West, the WWDC event venue.
These images show Apple highlighting its three platforms: iOS, OS X and watchOS. These banners do not follow the same pattern as previous years with dramatic photography in rectangular banners. These are more like full-height wall posters with simpler geometric logos. Each image has the name of Apple’s OS written in a light font-face (the image is not clear enough to see whether this is Sans Francisco) on a simple background of multicoloured translucent shapes.
What’s particularly striking about this photo is that it confirms a rebranding of Apple’s smartwatch operating system. On Apple’s current public marketing, the Apple Watch is described as running ‘Watch OS’. By these banners, it can be seen that the new name for this platform is actually ‘watchOS’.
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We’ve already run down much of what can be expected from iOS 9, OS X 10.11 and Apple Music at the 2015 Worldwide Developers Conference, and now it’s time to run down what 9to5Mac’s editors want to see at the conference. You can find our hopes below, and stay tuned for our comprehensive roundup of what to expect at WWDC.
As announced last night, Apple will live stream its WWDC keynote at 10 AM PST on June 8th, next Monday, where it will announce iOS 9 and OS X 10.11. The apple.com/live site confirms that the official website stream is limited to Macs, iPhones, iPads and Apple TV. However, it is possible to watch the keynote using Windows or even Android devices by using VLC, a free video player that can read Apple’s livestream data and show the video in its player …
We’ve already seen a couple of useful calculator apps for the Apple Watch, but the most recent one, released today, arguably has the coolest interface of them all. Geek Watch takes the design and interface of the classic Casio calculator watch and puts it on the Apple Watch.
Apple’s in-store “magical” Apple Watch displays have brought about a variety of questions since they first appeared back on April 10th. Thanks to new documents from the Brazilian regulatory process, shared by BlogDoiPhone, we now know a bit more about how the Apple Watch display units are set up. The documents and accompanying images show how a special, proprietary band is connected to the Watch that incorporates a built-in Lightning cable and charges the device.
Nearly a month after the release of the first-generation Apple Watch with Watch OS 1.0, a proven source has disclosed a collection of upcoming Apple Watch software and hardware updates. Currently in development, the features seek to enhance Apple Watch security, connectivity with other Apple devices, health and fitness features, Wi-Fi capabilities, and integration with third-party applications. Additionally, Apple is also priming major updates for the Apple TV in both the hardware and software departments, including Apple Watch integration. Below, we detail what users can expect from Apple Watches and Apple TVs in the future…
The Apple Watch has already been seen on a variety of celebrity wrists, including Pharrell, Kanye West, Beyonce, and Katy Perry. Politicians Jeb Bush and Newt Gingrich were also recently pictured wearing Apple Watch. Now, however, Apple Watch has made its music video debut thanks to Wiz Khalifa.
According to market research firm DisplaySearch, LG Display—the sole company currently making displays for the Apple Watch—brought in over $186 million during the first quarter of 2015, a number more than 90% of the overall market estimated to be worth a total of $240 million (via Business Korea). Other players in the market have tiny shares in comparison, with Samsung Display in second place with a 3.1% share, followed by Japan Display at 2.1%…
