MacRumors

Nintendo's latest smartphone app Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp has just reached $50 million in player spending across iOS and Android globally, according to data tracked by Sensor Tower. It took the game 289 days to reach this goal, becoming the slowest of Nintendo's latest apps to do so.

Super Mario Run reached the $50 million mark 222 days after its release, while Fire Emblem Heroes achieved the $50 million milestone just 20 days after launching in February 2017. Fire Emblem Heroes has been called Nintendo and DeNA's "most successful mobile game" previously, and today's data cements the game's popularity.

At the one year mark, Fire Emblem Heroes had grossed $295 million worldwide, and as of August 2018 Nintendo has earned $400 million from the game. In a report earlier this week, Sensor Tower noted that Fire Emblem Heroes had grossed $63 million between the months of July and August 2018 alone, a 34 percent jump year-on-year. While it had a slow start, the game's free-to-play structure built on in-app purchases of items like "Orbs" help keep it a consistent earner for Nintendo and DeNA.

Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp is also free-to-play and includes in-app purchases for "Leaf Tickets," which can be used to reduce timers, craft items without the necessary materials, and more. While the tickets can be earned through regular gameplay, they are also available to buy with real-world money on the App Store.

Still, the game has yet to match Fire Emblem Heroes' success, and Sensor Tower says that Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp has earned a majority of its revenue from players in Japan, while those in the United States have been far less interested in it:

Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp revenue has largely come from players in Japan, who’ve contributed about 81 percent of the total it has earned to date. The United States is a distant second at about 14 percent. The majority of spending has been on iOS devices, at about 61 percent of revenue. It has been installed more than 25 million times so far.

Recently, Shigeru Miyamoto stated that Nintendo will "continue pushing" for its smartphone apps to adopt pay-once structures instead of being free-to-play, despite the breakout success of Fire Emblem Heroes. The only Nintendo app to release with a fixed price has been Super Mario Run, and Nintendo itself has admitted on numerous occasions that the game has failed its revenue expectations.

The next major Nintendo smartphone game based on an existing property will be Mario Kart Tour, and DeNA CEO Isao Moriyasu in February reportedly described the kart racer as free-to-start. While vague, Nintendo uses similar terminology on Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp's website, but Moriyasu could also have been referring to Super Mario Run's structure, which allows users to download the game and play the first few levels for free before paying $9.99 to unlock the full game.

Before Mario Kart Tour, Nintendo and developer Cygames will launch the original action RPG Dragalia Lost for iOS and Android later this month, on September 27.

Broadcom on Thursday offered analysts an upbeat end-of-year revenue forecast, thanks in part to the imminent launch of Apple's 2018 iPhone lineup, which is expected to boost the chipmaker's wireless business.

Reuters reports that Broadcom predicted current-quarter revenue largely above estimates, due to higher demand for components that power data centers, as well as an increase in manufacturing at a certain "North American customer," which analysts identified as Apple.

The chipmaker expects Apple's smartphone sales to increase its wireless revenue by 25 percent compared to the previous quarter, although the overall forecast may be down in single-digit percentage compared to the previous year.

That said, Broadcom's enterprise storage business was up 70 percent in Q3 2018, and CEO Hock Tan believes that another strong show will feed into a "seasonal uptick" in its wireless arm:

"More than half our consolidated revenue ... is benefiting from strong cloud and enterprise data center spending," Tan said on his post-earnings call with analysts.

"This, coupled with a seasonal uptick in wireless, will drive our forecast revenue in the fourth quarter."

Next week sees Apple launch its new flagship iPhone lineup, for which Broadcom traditionally supplies several components, including the wireless charger controller, touchscreen, and more.

Apple's September 12 event is expected to usher in a next-generation iPhone X, a larger 6.5-inch OLED screen mobile handset, and a mid-tier 6.1-inch device with an LCD display. The date should also see the company debut a new Apple Watch series and redesigned iPad Pro models.

British Airways says it is investigating the theft of customer data from its website and mobile app over a two-week period, during which 380,000 payment cards were exposed (via The Guardian).

"From 22:58 BST August 21 2018 until 21:45 BST September 5 2018 inclusive, the personal and financial details of customers making bookings on our website and app were compromised," the airline revealed in a statement on its website.

According to BA, travel and passport information was not accessed during the data breach, but concerned customers are being advised to get in touch with their card issuers in the first instance. The company said all customers affected by the breach had been contacted on Thursday night.

"British Airways is communicating with affected customers and we advise any customers who believe they may have been affected by this incident to contact their banks or credit card providers and follow their recommended advice."

The airline said it was informed of the hacking by a third party, which is why it was able to continue undetected for two weeks, but the company insists that the breach has been resolved and its website and mobile app are now working normally.

Twitter is testing an updated version of its desktop site that includes a new Bookmarks feature, the company outlined in a tweet earlier today.

Bookmarks is a feature that was added to the mobile version of Twitter earlier this year but has yet to make its way to the desktop. The Bookmarks option is designed to allow users to save tweets for later access.

According to Twitter, the design is a "limited test for now" and not everyone will see the revamped site. Those who are able to try out the site will see an opt-in popup and are able to go back to the "legacy" site at any time in the Settings options.

Twelve South has long offered a PlugBug accessory designed to provide interchangeable plugs for travel purposes, but earlier this month, an updated version debuted that adds an extra USB port.

The new Twelve South PlugBug Duo is an ideal travel accessory because it adds international plugs to your MacBook adapter and it lets you charge accessories like an iPad, iPhone, and Apple Watch while charging your laptop.

Design wise, when it comes out of the box, the PlugBug Duo is similar in shape to the power adapter for a MacBook, MacBook Pro, or MacBook Air. To use it, though, the bottom portion snaps off to reveal a slide and hook mechanism.

Attaching it to a MacBook power adapter requires popping off the plug part of the adapter and replacing it with the snap-on PlugBug Duo component. It's a simple replacement that took me a few seconds to do.

PlugBug Duo is made from a bright red plastic material that's quite eye catching, and while the quality of the plastic doesn't quite measure up to the Apple power adapter, it's not far off.

The PlugBug Duo can serve as a permanent replacement for the plug portion of the power adapter, for use both at home and when traveling. Size wise, it lines up well with the 87W MacBook Pro charger, but it's larger than the 29W/30W and 61W chargers for the MacBook and 13-inch MacBook Pro.

In my photos, for example, I've attached it to the MacBook charger. It's wider on the right side than the power adapter and it adds more than an inch of bulk at the top due to the two USB ports, but it takes up less space than separate charging bricks for my iPad and iPhone.

The PlugBug Duo does add extra size to a power adapter, but I didn't feel like it was so bulky that it became less portable.

It's worth noting that with the PlugBug attached, you're not able to use the Power Adapter Extension Cable. If you want to use the Extension Cable, you will need to remove the PlugBug to attach it to the power adapter. I don't normally use the Extension Cable, especially when traveling, so I didn't have a problem with the tradeoff.

There are two USB-A ports on the PlugBug Duo, one that's 2.1A and ideal for charging an iPad and one that's 1A, which is suitable for an iPhone or Apple Watch. You can also use the 2.1A port to more quickly charge an iPhone, but this isn't an adapter you'll want to use for something like two iPads. I found it particularly useful for charging an iPhone in the 2.1A port and an Apple Watch in the 1A port.

While you can use the PlugBug Duo at home to add extra USB ports to your power adapter, where it really shines is travel. It's useful not having to take along extra power adapters for all of your devices. As with the standard power adapter, the prongs on the PlugBug tuck in when it's not in use (this is limited to the U.S. and China adapters).

PlugBug Duo is ideal for international travel because the plug portion snaps off and Twelve South ships it with several other interchangeable adapters that can be used in other countries.

There are adapters for Europe, China, Australia/New Zealand, North America, and the UK, with more than 150 countries covered in total. I didn't travel out of the country during my time testing the PlugBug, but I can say that it's pretty simple to swap out the plugs when needed.

Even if you're not traveling abroad, PlugBug Duo has the potential to be useful just because it lets you charge a MacBook and two other accessories at one time.

I do wish that Twelve South had included some kind of little pouch to keep the adapters in place when not in use, but with no pouch, I'm using the box, which does have convenient cutouts for each one.

I also wish that the PlugBug Duo had a place to wrap up the cord when packing it up for travel, but Apple's own USB-C power adapters don't offer that functionality either so I can't complain too much.

PlugBug Duo worked well with the two USB-C power adapters I tested it with, but it's also compatible with all MagSafe 2 power adapters, all MagSafe power adapters, and the 12W iPad power adapter.

Bottom Line

The PlugBug Duo is a great little travel accessory that offers a lot of utility, offering up different adapters for travel and two USB-A ports so you don't need to carry around additional adapters for the iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch.

It's not cheap at $50, but the utility that's offered seems worth the price if you travel on a frequent basis.

How to Purchase

The PlugBug Duo can be purchased from the Twelve South website for $49.99.

Note: Twelve South provided MacRumors with a PlugBug Duo for the purpose of this review. No other compensation was received.

Smart home tech company Brilliant today launched its touchscreen-based "Brilliant Control" light switch priced starting at $299.00. Announced in early 2017, Brilliant Control replaces any existing light switch to enable touch and voice control over smart home devices from Amazon, Google, Nest, Ecobee, Honeywell, Ring, Philips Hue, and Wemo, but at launch not HomeKit.

Amazon Alexa is built directly into Brilliant Control, making it easy for those in the Amazon ecosystem to control their products with their voice using the light switch. For whatever light switch you are replacing, Brilliant Control also turns these bulbs into smart lights through the touch and voice control system.

Brilliant Control is compatible with Sonos, allowing the light switch to act as a hub for music playback on Sonos' line of smart speakers. The device also acts as a speaker system if you have two or more installed, so one person can make announcements to the rest of the house or use it as a video intercom between specific rooms.

Connected smart features include being able to see who is at your door by displaying the feed from a Ring doorbell, adjusting the temperature of Nest with touch or voice control, controlling Hue scenes, and more. Brilliant Control's display can also act as a picture frame when not in use, displaying family photos, art, or even seasonal themes.

Next to the touch screen are grooves that represent the traditional light switches you've replaced using Brilliant Control. Users can slide their fingers along each area to adjust the lighting for each respective fixture.

We reached out to Brilliant regarding future HomeKit support, and the company told us that it has hardware support for HomeKit built directly into Brilliant Control. This means that a future software update for the switch will include HomeKit support, but the company didn't divulge a release window for this update.

This should make Brilliant Control more enticing for those in Apple's ecosystem when HomeKit support launches, allowing you to control your scenes and accessories through the touch panel or Siri. As usual, if you're interested in Brilliant Control for HomeKit support, it's probably best to wait until the update has rolled out since we aren't sure how long it will take.

Brilliant Control comes in six colors and begins at $299.00 for a one light switch panel, and then rises to $349.00 for a two switch panel, $399.00 for a three switch panel, and $449.00 for a four switch panel. More information about Brilliant Control can be found on the company's website.

The European Commission today announced it has approved Apple's proposed acquisition of music recognition service Shazam.

"After thoroughly analyzing Shazam's user and music data, we found that their acquisition by Apple would not reduce competition in the digital music streaming market," said Margrethe Vestager, European Commissioner for Competition.

The regulatory body concluded that Apple and Shazam mainly offer "complementary services" and "do not compete with each other," and that a merged Apple-Shazam entity would not adversely affect competitors in the European Union:

In particular, access to Shazam's data would not materially increase Apple's ability to target music enthusiasts and any conduct aimed at making customers switch would only have a negligible impact. As a result, competing providers of digital music streaming services would not be shut out of the market.

The regulators were concerned that the merger could reduce choice for users of streaming music services in Europe. In particular, they were concerned that Apple might gain access to sensitive data that would allow it to directly target competitors' customers and encourage them to switch to Apple Music.

While the Commission did not name any specific companies, Apple Music's biggest rival in Europe is Spotify, headquartered in Sweden. Shazam is currently integrated with multiple services, including Apple Music, Spotify, and Deezer.

Apple announced its plans to acquire Shazam in December, describing the two companies as a "natural fit" with "exciting plans" ahead. In February, however, the Commission received requests from Austria, France, Iceland, Italy, Norway, Spain, and Sweden to assess the deal under European merger law.

Shazam is a popular service that can identify the name and lyrics of songs, music videos, TV shows, and more. It has apps across iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, iMessage, and Mac, while the service has been built into Siri since iOS 8.

Via: Reuters

With the latest Apple Pay promotion you can get 10 percent off your next order from Under Armour through Wednesday, September 12. If you're in the United States, you can shop in the Under Armour app and then place your order before next Wednesday to see the discount automatically applied when you check out using Apple Pay.

Apple is promoting the beginning of football season with the new Apple Pay offer, which also points users towards apps like Fanatics, Gametime, and Grubhub, offering sports apparel, tickets, and food respectively.

The last few Apple Pay promotions have included partnerships with Postmates, Nike, StubHub, TGI Fridays, and Adidas. As we enter the fall, users can likely expect some of the same promos we saw last holiday season, potentially including free Postmates subscriptions, savings on Fandango tickets, free Instacart deliveries, and more.

Apple has temporarily halted plans to launch Apple Pay in India after facing troubles with regulators in the country and a few technical hurdles, according to The Economic Times. Specifically, Apple is said to be concerned about the Reserve Bank of India's recent data localization rule, which requires companies to store all of their payments data for local users only in India.

Because of this rule, numerous companies -- including Apple, Amazon, PayPal, WhatsApp, Visa, and MasterCard -- have faced uncertainties regarding the rollout of their respective mobile wallets in India. Apple is said to have gone so far as to meet with a few leading banks and the National Payments Corporation of India, which manages the country's Unified Payments Interface platform.

In addition, Apple has reportedly encountered a few technical and design hurdles surrounding Apple Pay's India launch, relating to the inclusion of Touch ID as a mode of authentication for payments in India on supported iPhones. The NPCI did not agree to this plan, because the country's UPI is based on a six or four-digit passcode to authenticate transactions and does not have support for smartphone-based biometric security features yet.

Following these hurdles, plans as of now have been shelved, according to two people familiar with the matter.

“Apple will not launch payments in India yet. They are waiting to see how the regulatory landscape shapes up,” one of them said.

The Apple Pay news is just the latest in a string of negative reports regarding Apple's attempt at expansion in India, one month after the company faced a potential legal threat over noncompliance with the Indian government's anti-spam iPhone app. Otherwise, the company has had trouble in the country due to ever-increasing taxes on imported smartphones, rising iPhone prices because of such taxes, and user frustration with poor Apple services like Apple Maps.

In an attempt to finally rectify these issues, Bloomberg in August reported that Apple is planning a completely revamped India strategy led by Apple executive Michel Coulomb. This includes better and longer-lasting retail deals with higher sales targets, the opening of official Apple retail stores in India, "overhauling" the company's relationship with independent retailers, and improving apps and services "aimed more closely at Indians."

Apple Pay was never mentioned as part of that strategy, so it doesn't appear that users in India will have a chance to use the company's mobile wallet anytime soon. Otherwise, Apple Pay is available in over two dozen countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Singapore, Switzerland, Hong Kong, France, Russia, China, Japan, New Zealand, Spain, Taiwan, Ireland, Italy, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, UAE, Brazil, Ukraine, Norway, and Poland.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

In March, Feral Interactive announced that its latest video game port for macOS would be the adventure game Life is Strange: Before the Storm, and at the time said it would launch in the spring. After a delay, the prequel is set to release next week on Thursday, September 13 on macOS and Linux.

Life is Strange: Before the Storm was originally developed by Deck Nine and published by Square Enix on consoles and PCs in August 2017. The story takes place three years before the events of the original Life is Strange, tracking the friendship between rebellious sixteen-year-old Chloe and a popular schoolmate named Rachel.

Gameplay puts players in the shoes of Chloe as she must make choices that ultimately shape a branching story with multiple endings influenced by every decision. One of the main gameplay hooks of the game is "Backtalk," which the developers describe as a "risk and reward-based system" in which Chloe uses her wit to provoke NPCs or get her way.

• All Mac Minis since Late 2014
• All 13" MacBook Pros released since 2013
• All 15" MacBook Pros released since mid 2012 with a 1GB graphics card or better (Mid 2015 models with an AMD 370X are not supported.)
• All 21.5" iMacs released since late 2013
• All 27" iMacs released since late 2013 (Late 2012 models with Nvidia 675 or Nvidia 680 graphics are also supported.)
• All 27" iMac Pros released since late 2017
• All Mac Pros released since late 2013

Life is Strange: Before the Storm includes three episodes that make up the base game, and will also come in a Deluxe Edition that includes all three episodes as well as all available additional content, including the bonus episode "Farewell." The Deluxe Edition will be priced at $24.82 and is available to pre-order beginning today on the Feral Store.

Logitech today announced that its Crayon stylus, which was previously only available to schools, is coming to Apple retail stores, which means it will be available for everyone to purchase for the first time.

Introduced in March alongside the 6th-generation 9.7-inch iPad, the Crayon is designed to operate as a lower-cost alternative to the Apple Pencil.

Logitech designed the Crayon with students in mind, so it has a flat surface to prevent rolling, a tethered rubber end cap, a comfortable grip for small hands, and the ability to withstand drops of up to four feet.

The Crayon does not need Bluetooth to connect to the iPad, and it's able to last for up to seven hours before needing to be recharged with the built-in Lightning port.

It's worth noting that the Crayon is designed to be compatible only with the sixth-generation iPad.

We were able to get our hands on one of Logitech's Crayons ahead of its Apple Store availability, so if you're considering picking one of these up for your 9.7-inch iPad, make sure to check out our review video above.

The Crayon will be available in Apple retail stores, on the Apple website, and on the Logitech website starting on September 12 before expanding to additional retail outlets in October.

While schools can purchase the device for $50, customers who purchase the Crayon from Apple or Logitech will need to pay $70.