Netflix is set to introduce a new movie and show preview mode to its iOS app next month (via Variety). Announced on Wednesday at the company's Lab Days press event in California, the upcoming feature will mean Netflix subscribers can watch 30-second previews displayed as vertical video on mobile devices.
The previews will appear as round icons on the home screen below a carousel showcasing the latest Netflix content available. Users tap on the icons to watch the previews and can swipe across them to see more. Netflix will debut up to 75 of its custom-crop previews for both original and licensed content when the feature goes live in April.
A similar preview feature has been part of Netflix's TV interface for a few years now, but this will be the first time the company has used a vertical viewing format within its mobile apps. Some subscribers who signed up to the "Test Participation" feature in their Netflix.com account settings may already see the previews in the iPhone app.
Netflix said approximately 20 percent of all viewing happens on a mobile device, which is why the company has been working on several improvements to its mobile offering, including the recent launch of mobile downloads and codec optimization to enable higher-resolution viewing over as little as 200kbps bandwidth.
Last year, Apple brought a display feature called True Tone to its flagship iPhone line-up for the first time, following the technology's debut in 2016 with the 9.7-inch iPad Pro.
True Tone works by adjusting the color temperature of a device's screen to match the surrounding ambient light, so that images on the display appear more natural and are less apt to contribute to eyestrain.
If you stand in a dimly lit room illuminated by a table lamp, for instance, a True Tone display appears warmer and yellower, much like a piece of paper would in the same light. Stand outside on an overcast day, however, and the same display looks cooler and bluer, as would the same piece of paper.
In this article, we'll run through how to quickly enable or disable True Tone from within Control Center as well as via the Settings app. We'll also explain how to tweak your device's color settings to help acclimatize you to True Tone's warmer extremes, which some users find too intense under certain conditions.
Apple today released its 2018 Supplier Responsibility Report, which provides a look into Code of Conduct violations in the Apple supply chain and outlines progress made with new programs promoting health and education awareness.
Apple provides supplier responsibility progress reports on an annual basis in an effort to be transparent about the steps it takes to improve the lives of the employees who manufacture the wide range of Apple products available to consumers.
Apple conducted 756 audits across 30 countries in 2017 (up from 705 last year), and it says that its efforts to raise standards are having a "dramatic impact." The number of low-performing facilities (judged on a point system based on compliance with Apple's Code of Conduct) decreased to one percent during the year, and Apple saw a 35 percent increase in the number of high performers. Overall, Apple suppliers earned an average Labor and Human rights score of 86 out of 100.
Apple did, however, uncover 44 core violations at its supplier facilities, including three bonded-labor violations, 38 working hours falsifications violations, one access restriction violation, and two cases of underage labor. In one incident, Apple says 700 workers in the Philippines paid out a total of $1 million in recruitment fees for factory jobs, which Apple made the supplier pay back. These violations have increased from last year, and Apple says this is because it brought on several new suppliers during the year.
Last year, Apple launched a health awareness program for women at supplier facilities in India and China, which offers access to services and education on self-examination for early cancer detection, nutrition, personal care, and maternal health. Apple says that this program, along with others promoting education and worker rights, has been highly successful.
"We believe that everyone making Apple products deserves to be treated with dignity and respect and we're proud that almost 15 million people understand their workplace rights as a result of the work we've done over the years. We're going further with health education programs and new opportunities for advancement at our suppliers," said Jeff Williams, Apple's COO. "A new preventive health care curriculum is encouraging women to focus on their personal health, and hopefully share that knowledge with their families and communities. Our goal is to reach 1 million women by 2020. We know our work is never done and we're committed to raising the bar every year across our supply chain."
Apple also worked with Beijing Normal University and some of its larger suppliers to introduce a Factory Line Leader Program that offers practical vocational skills, guaranteed internships, and long-term full-time employment opportunities to workers in an effort to recruit more factory line leaders.
Apple says that over the course of the last 10 years, more than 2.5 million supplier employees have taken education classes under its Supplier Employee Education and Development program, and over 12,000 have enrolled for a degree.
As of 2017, all of Apple's final assembly sites around the world have been certified as zero waste to landfill, and suppliers working with Apple introduced energy efficiency improvements that reduced more than on 320,000 annualized metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions during the year.
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.
California is preparing to join several other states with a new Right to Repair bill, which will require smartphone manufacturers to provide repair information, replacement parts, and diagnostic tools to product owners and independent repair shops.
California Assemblymember Susan Talamantes Eggman this afternoon announced plans to introduce the new California Right to Repair Act. Eggman says the bill will provide consumers with the freedom to choose a repair shop of their choice.
"The Right to Repair Act will provide consumers with the freedom to have their electronic products and appliances fixed by a repair shop or service provider of their choice, a practice that was taken for granted a generation ago but is now becoming increasingly rare in a world of planned obsolescence," Eggman said.
Mark Murray, Executive Director of Californians Against Waste said smartphone manufacturers and home appliance makers are "profiting at the expense of our environment and our pocketbooks" while Kit Walsh, Senior Staff Attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said the new bill is "critical to protect independent repair shops and a competitive market for repair," which will lead to "better service and lower prices."
In addition to California, 17 other states have already introduced similar Right to Repair legislation, including Washington, Massachusetts, Vermont, New York, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Virginia.
Several states began introducing Right to Repair legislation early last year, and the Right to Repair movement has continued on since then, spurred by Apple's iPhone throttling controversy.
Since last year, Apple has been lobbying against Right to Repair bills in various states, as have several other technology companies. In Nebraska, for example, Apple said approving Right to Repair would turn the state into a "mecca for bad actors" making it "easy for hackers to relocate to Nebraska." Other arguments from tech companies and appliance manufacturers have suggested Right to Repair bills would compromise device security and safety.
Right to Repair bills are heavily endorsed by repair outlets like iFixit, independent repair shops, and consumer advocacy groups like the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
In California specifically, the Right to Repair bill is particularly interesting because as Motherboard points out, there are strong repairability laws already in place. California Civil Code Section 1793.03 states that companies must offer parts for repair for at least seven years after a product is released, which is why on Apple's vintage and obsolete products list, it lists California as the sole state where consumers can continue to get repairs on vintage products.
Apple currently requires customers who have Apple products in need of repair to visit an Apple retail store, mail a product to an Apple repair facility, or visit an Apple Authorized Service Provider to receive support for their devices. Repairs from third-party repair shops that are not Apple Authorized Service Providers can void a device's warranty.
Apple's current flagship iPhone, the iPhone X, earned a repairability score of 6 from repair site iFixit. Repairs on the device require a special Apple-specific screw driver, delicate cables are often in the way and are difficult to replace, and Apple's waterproofing makes repairs complicated. Other Apple products, like MacBooks, have much lower repairability scores.
Workflow, the automation app that Apple acquired back in March of 2017, was today updated to version 1.7.8, introducing a new Mask Image action, and a long list of other bug fixes and improvements.
As MacStories points out, the Mask Image action added in today's update is a feature Workflow users have been wanting for several years. The new action, which applies a mask to an image and cuts it into any desired shape, is designed to make it easier to simplify image editing workflows that require image masking features.
By default, the masking feature offers rounded rectangle, ellipse, and icon masking options, but custom masks can also be used.
The new Workflow update also introduces new fields for the Add Things To-Do action, it makes items reorderable in the dictionary action, and it adds support for opening workflows to the URL scheme. Extracting text from PDFs has also been improved, as has drag and drop handling. Multiple bug fixes are included, as outlined before:
Workflow names are now case-insensitive
Fixed a crash when running the Edit Image action
Fixed Todoist and Slack authentication when using a Google account
Fixed an issue where icons from Search App Store and Get My Workflows were saved as JPEG, not PNG
Fixed an issue where the Encode Media action may not delete temporary files properly when encoding to MP3
Fixed an issue where the Custom X-Success URL parameter of the Open X-Callback-URL action did not work
Fixed an issue where variables could not be added to arrays in the Dictionary action
Fixed an issue where booleans could not be added to dictionaries inside dictionaries in the Dictionary action
Fixed an issue where a duplicate workflow could appear after searching for a workflow
Fixed an issue where Workflow could crash when deleting many workflows at once
Fixed an issue where double-tapping a variable button cleared the variable
Fixed an issue where the Tweet and Post on Facebook actions did not work from the Today Widget or Apple Watch
Fixed an issue where passing the output of Scan QR Code to Open URL did not work properly
Fixed an issue where workflows could not be edited after being opened via 3D Touch
Performance improvements to workflow running
VoiceOver improvements
Other bug fixes and minor additions
Since purchasing Workflow in March of 2017, Apple has continued to provide regular updates to the Workflow app, allaying fears that it would be discontinued and abandoned.
The last update to the app, introduced a long list of bug fixes for third-party app actions, was released in November of 2017.
Workflow can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]
Google Duo, Google's cross-platform FaceTime-style video calling app, was today updated with a new video messages feature that's designed to allow users to leave video voicemails whenever someone doesn't pick up a call.
Google says that if a person you're calling declines or misses your call, you can record up to 30 seconds of video (or voice) to send to the person. Video messages can be played in the Duo app by tapping on the sender's icon, and a quick call back can be done through the "Call now" button available after watching a video message.
All video messages will disappear one day after they were first watched, but can be saved to the iPhone's camera roll if so desired.
Sometimes, your mom isn't free for a video call at the moment you're trying to show off your culinary masterpiece. The same goes when you're trying to catch your best friend to rave about your favorite basketball team's recent win. But even if they miss your call, you shouldn't lose the opportunity to show them what you were calling about. Beginning today on Google Duo, you can leave a video message when the person you're calling can't pick up.
First introduced in August of 2016, Google Duo works on both iOS and Android devices. Users sign up with a phone number and can then place calls to any contacts who also have the Duo app installed. Google Duo, like Google Hangouts, another Google video app with a more enterprise focus, has been fairly popular since it launched.
Duo is consistently within the top 20 free apps in the Social Networking section of the U.S. App Store, and with the new release, it's sitting at the number 15 spot.
Video messaging is available today in the Google Duo apps for Android and iOS. [Direct Link]
In addition to our standalone articles covering the latest Apple news and rumors at MacRumors, this Quick Takes column provides a bite-sized recap of other headlines about Apple and its competitors on weekdays.
Wednesday, March 7
- Apple Watch soon available through UnitedHealthcare Motion: Apple Watch will be integrated into the wellness program, which provides participants with an eligible plan access to activity trackers that can enable them to earn up to $1,000 in incentives per year by meeting certain daily walking goals.
Select program participants will have access to an Apple Watch starting in July, with full availability later this year. The cost of shipping and taxes on the Apple Watch is due upfront, and then participants can apply their earnings towards paying off the cost of the device in as little as six months.
UnitedHealthcare Motion is available to employers with self-funded and fully insured health plans nationwide. The program enables employees to earn up to $4 per day in financial incentives based on achieving F.I.T. goals:
Frequency: complete 500 steps within seven minutes six times per day, at least an hour apart; Intensity: complete 3,000 steps within 30 minutes; and Tenacity: complete 10,000 total steps each day.
Commentary: UnitedHealthcare should benefit from offering this program in the long-run by encouraging its customers to live more active lifestyles, ideally resulting in fewer health insurance claims being filed. Similar programs are offered by life and health insurance providers John Hancock and Vitality.
- Universal announces Jurassic World Alive: The augmented reality game enables players to collect a variety of dinosaurs while exploring their own neighborhoods and cities around the world. Players discover dinosaurs by locating them on a map and deploying an in-game drone to collect DNA samples.
Commentary: Jurassic World Alive sounds a whole lot like Pokémon GO. The game is intended to promote the film Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, which debuts in theaters across North America on June 22. Pre-register here.
- Ireland chooses Bank of New York Mellon to manage Apple's escrow fund: The European Commission ruled in August 2016 that Apple received illegal state aid from Ireland, and ordered the country to collect 13 billion euros (currently $16 billion) in back taxes from the iPhone maker.
Commentary: The Bank of New York Mellon will hold the funds while Apple and Ireland both appeal the decision before the European General Court. Apple expects the amount will be reported as restricted cash on its balance sheet.
- Macintosh Portrait Display released on this day in 1989: The 15-inch display was released for $1,099 alongside the Macintosh IIcx. The grayscale monitor featured a vertical orientation designed to show full pages on a single screen, making it useful for desktop publishing.
Commentary: Apple discontinued the Macintosh Portrait Display in late 1992, but tech specs are still available on its website for those who want to take a trip down memory lane. Nowadays, we wait for Apple to deliver on its promise of a new pro display to succeed the nearly seven year old Thunderbolt Display.
Insta360, a company that offers a 360 degree camera, today announced the launch of an exclusive Insta360 ONE Camera Bundle that's available only from the Apple Store.
The bundle, priced at $329.95, includes an Insta360 ONE camera, a selfie stick, a case, a mini tripod, a micro SD card, and a new bullet-time handle.
Designed to attach to an iPhone's Lightning port or connect to an iPhone using Bluetooth, the Insta360 ONE Camera allows users to shoot and livestream 360 degree video and capture 360 degree photos.
Using a FreeCapture mode, the camera lets you shoot footage in 360 degrees and then go back and edit to a traditional 1080p format, so you can shoot an entire scene and then go back later to pick out what you want to highlight.
With the bullet-time handle, the Insta360 ONE camera can orbit a scene while suspended in mid-air, recording action in slow motion, hence the bullet-time name.
The new Insta360 ONE Camera Bundle is available from the Apple online store starting today, and it should be in retail stores later this week.
For the past couple of weeks, speakers equipped with Amazon's Alexa voice-based personal assistant have been randomly laughing, scaring and creeping out speaker owners who have affected devices.
Complaints have been surfacing on Twitter, Reddit, and other social media platforms over the course of the last few weeks, but the issue started receiving widespread attention this week after it was shared on BuzzFeed. From Reddit:
A friend of mine at work just a couple of days ago told me this very thing happened at his moms house. He was face timing with his her(he jokes she is jealous of Alexa, his dad just loves it) and out of the blue in the background Alexa started to laugh, he even heard it on his end. Said it was super creepy. I'm waiting the have the holy hell scared out of me one quiet evening...or even worse, awakened by the one a foot from my head while I'm sleeping.
Some audio examples of the Alexa laugh, with a humorous skit from Jimmy Kimmel included
In a statement provided to The Verge this morning, Amazon said that it is aware that some Alexa-enabled devices are randomly laughing and a fix is in the works. "We're aware of this and working to fix it," Amazon said.
Customers who have an Alexa-enabled device and are creeped out by the random and unprompted laughs may want to turn off their speakers until Amazon is able to locate the issue and push out a fix.
Update: Amazon says that in "rare circumstances" Alexa mistakenly hears the phrase "Alexa, laugh" which causes the creepy laughter. Amazon is changing the phrase to "Alexa, can you laugh?" to cut down on false positives.
Google today announced a new Android update, Android P, which introduces support for display notches built into Android devices that mimic the design of the iPhone X.
According to Google, Android P offers support for "the latest edge-to-edge screens with display cutout for camera and speaker," with a new "DisplayCutout" class for outlining the size and shape of a notch on an Android device.
Several new Android devices feature an edge-to-edge display with an included notch much like the iPhone X. The Leagoo S9, for example, is a $150 iPhone X clone that features slim side bezels and a front notch, with a design that looks very similar to the iPhone X.
Leagoo S9
The recently announced Asus ZenFone 5 also adopts a design that uses a notch, and when it was unveiled, Asus bragged that its notch is 26 percent smaller than the notch on the iPhone X.
Asus ZenFone 5
Other clone devices have surfaced from Chinese vendors, such as the Boway "Notch Series," and with official Android support for notch-style designs, we'll likely see more Android smartphones that aim to emulate the iPhone X. Even more well-known Android smartphone vendors are embracing the notch, with LG's upcoming G7 said to include a notched design.
Apple implemented a notched design in the iPhone X in an effort to maximize the available display area. The notch houses the TrueDepth camera system, which includes several components necessary for Face ID. Android companies copying Apple's design aren't using the notch in the same way, with currently available models offering fingerprint scanners rather than facial recognition.
In addition to notch support, Android P includes several other notable new features, such as indoor positioning APIs, enhanced notifications, multi-camera support, HEIF image support, design tweaks and changes, restricted access to the mic, camera, and other hardware, and more.
Android P is available for developers starting today, with a public release to come in the future following beta testing. Google is warning that Android P is in the early stages of development and should not be installed on a primary device.
Apple today released a new update for Safari Technology Preview, the experimental browser Apple first introduced two years ago in March of 2016. Apple designed the Safari Technology Preview to test features that may be introduced into future release versions of Safari.
Safari Technology Preview release 51 includes bug fixes and feature improvements for Accessibility, Security, Loading, Service Workers, Rendering, Styles, and Web Inspector.
Apple's aim with Safari Technology Preview is to gather feedback from developers and users on its browser development process. Safari Technology Preview can run side-by-side with the existing Safari browser and while designed for developers, it does not require a developer account to download.
In January, Voicebot.ai surveyed 1,057 Americans over the age of 18 regarding their ownership or interest in smart speakers, and today the researchers have published their final report with the results. While the data precedes Apple's entry into the market with HomePod in February, it does include a few points of data regarding iPhone/iOS users and their interest in smart speakers, prevalent long before rumblings about Apple's HomePod began.
Specifically, the Smart Speaker Consumer Adoption Report states that iPhone owners are 22 percent more likely to own a smart speaker compared to non-Apple smartphone owners. Of the smart speakers on the market besides HomePod, iPhone users are 30 percent less likely to own a Google Home and favor devices like Amazon Echo.
Graphs via Voicebot.ai
In fact, Voicebot.ai argued that Apple and Amazon are likely companions in "multi-manufacturer households," where HomePod is purchased as a "luxury item for music listening" and Echo is used for more "utilitarian tasks."
iOS users are attractive consumers and far more likely to own a smart speaker overall, but far less likely to own a Google device. However, the data also suggests that Google is at less risk of losing share to Apple HomePod than Amazon. Apple and Amazon may be the focus of multi-manufacturer households where HomePod is a luxury item for music listening in living spaces while Echo products get placed in the kitchen and bedrooms for utilitarian tasks.
In addition, iPhone owners are a good fit for Amazon because they are far more likely to have made a purchase by voice and more likely the 30,000 Alexa skills offered to Echo users. The favoritism shown by Apple owners to Alexa devices may also appeal to developers. Historically, iPhone app users have been far more valuable to developers on a revenue basis than Android users.
The report has many other interesting tidbits of information, stating that about 19.7 percent of adults in the United States use smart speakers, while 47.3 million have access to one of these devices. This means that they live in a home with a smart speaker, but may not be the primary owner -- a necessary distinction for the survey as smart speakers are "communal devices" used by entire households, unlike a smartphone with one user.
Many consumers own an average of 1.8 smart speakers, most place them in their living room (45.9 percent of owners) or kitchen (41.4 percent), and Amazon remains the dominant player in the market with a 3.5 times larger install base than Google. All of this growth surprised many analysts, particularly compared to growth rates of other product categories.
How does the march to nearly 50 million smart speaker consumers in 3 years compared to growth rates of other communications channels? Television took 13 years, the internet four years, and Facebook just two years. Smart speakers are devices but are growing almost as quickly as social media apps."
Among the most popular use cases, questions, music, and weather commands remain at the top. In total, the researchers said that this data provides the best indication that smart speakers are "being incorporated into everyday lives of consumers," with 63 percent using them daily and 77 percent at least weekly.
For those who don't own a smart speaker, 37.9 percent stated disinterest as their reason, 21.2 percent said they get enough similar features from their smartphone, 16 percent referenced privacy concerns, 11.8 percent said they plan to purchase soon, 8.8 percent claimed they were too expensive, and 4.2 referenced other reasons. For future owners, 9.8 percent expect to make a purchase in 2018, 26 percent of which said they will be purchasing Apple's HomePod.
If accurate, the timeframe suggests Apple will unveil the new iPad Pro models at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference, which will likely take place June 4-8 at the McEnery Convention Center in San Jose, California. Apple similarly unveiled its current iPad Pro lineup at WWDC last year.
Zhang expects the revamped iPad Pro to have slimmer bezels and no home button, in line with the iPhone X. The revamped design will likely be featured on both the 10.5-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro, although his research note didn't specify.
Apple's plans to release an iPad Pro with Face ID were first revealed by KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who said the refresh would occur in 2018. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman was a bit more specific, noting the iPad Pro with Face ID would debut "a little more than a year" after the current models.
The 10.5-inch iPad Pro and second-generation 12.9-inch iPad Pro launched in June 2017, so it's not entirely clear if "a little more than a year" meant WWDC 2018 or Apple's annual September event where it introduces new iPhones.
The new iPad Pro models will likely retain LCDs instead of OLED displays due to supply, cost, and technological constraints. It's unclear if the tablets will have a notch for the TrueDepth sensor housing, or if the device will have uniformly slim bezels on all four sides with enough room for the components.
A supply chain report out of China recently claimed the new iPad Pro models will be faster thanks to an octa-core A11X Bionic chip with three high-performance "Monsoon" cores and five energy-efficient "Mistral" cores.
There's no word on potential pricing yet, but the new iPad Pro lineup will likely cost more than the current 10.5-inch and 12.9-inch models, which start at $649 and $799 respectively in the United States. Since the new models won't have OLED displays, however, the price increase might not be substantial. Apple is also rumored to release a new 9.7-inch iPad for $259 in March, while the fate of the iPad mini remains uncertain.
Zhang also believes Apple may be planning to unveil a (PRODUCT)RED iPhone in the near future. Based on Apple's past (PRODUCT)RED devices, which included a (PRODUCT)RED version of the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, it makes sense that a red iPhone and iPhone 8 Plus could be in the works. There's also a possibility Apple could be planning to unveil a (PRODUCT)RED iPhone X, but Zhang's predictions have been a little unclear on this point.
Apple will launch lower-priced versions of four products this year, including an iPad, iPhone, MacBook Air, and HomePod, according to a translated report from Taiwan's Economic Daily News via Japanese blog Mac Otakara.
We've already heard rumors about more affordable iPad, iPhone, and MacBook Air models, but this is the first word of a supposedly lower-priced HomePod being on Apple's roadmap. The speaker is forecast to launch in the second half of 2018 for between $150 and $200 in the United States.
At $349, the current HomePod is considerably more expensive than the Amazon Echo and Google Home for $99 and $129 or less respectively. But the HomePod also has significantly better sound quality than its smart assistant rivals, in line with Apple positioning it as a high-quality speaker first and foremost.
A lower-priced HomePod would certainly be more competitive with the Echo and Google Home, but it's unclear if that would come at the expense of audio quality. One possibility is that Apple will release a smaller HomePod mini that still delivers premium sound relative to other portable speakers in that category.
Here's the full breakdown of the Economic Daily News report, based on what we could gather from a translated version:
9.7-inch iPad for $259: This lines up with a DigiTimes supply chain report from last December that said Apple is considering releasing a cheaper 9.7-inch iPad for $259 in the second quarter of 2018. The current 9.7-inch iPad was released in March 2017 for $349.
6.1-inch iPhone for $649 to $749: This lines up with a prediction from KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who expects Apple to launch a mid-range 6.1-inch iPhone with Face ID, but with some design compromises like an LCD rather than OLED display to achieve the lower price point.
MacBook Air for $799 to $899: This lines up with another prediction from Kuo, who said Apple will launch a more affordable MacBook Air in the second quarter of 2018. The estimated price range comes from WitsView researcher Yubin Qiu. The current MacBook Air starts at $999.
HomePod for $150 to $200: Today's report cites industry sources who expect a more affordable HomePod to launch in the second half of 2018. It's hard to decipher details from the loosely translated report, but Mac Otakara's coverage seems to suggest it will be a smaller speaker.
It's worth noting that these prices are estimates, as it's hard to envision Apple sharing pricing information with its supply chain partners.
Of the four products, the new iPad and MacBook Air are most likely to debut first. Apple is rumored to unveil new devices later this month, but it's unclear if the announcements will be made via press release or at a media event. If there is a keynote planned, invites would certainly have to go out soon.
The new 6.1-inch iPhone should debut in September alongside a new iPhone X and so-called iPhone X Plus, and the lower-priced HomePod could certainly be introduced at the same event. The current HomePod launched in early February.
About one month after PayPal's previous 15 percent discount on iTunes cards, the company has launched its latest sale for those who have been waiting on a deal to get some free iTunes credit. Like previous discounts, PayPal on its Digital Gifts eBay storefront is offering $100 App Store and iTunes gift cards for $85. While the sale lasts, anyone with a PayPal account can take advantage of the deal, and you should receive the code for the iTunes credit within a few hours after the purchase.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
As usual with email delivery sales on iTunes cards, you can either enter your own email address and send the code to yourself, or enter the email of a friend or family member to send it as a gift. The credit will only be valid on purchases made on the United States App and iTunes stores, however.
Coinciding with the new gift card offer, iTunes has some notable discounts on its Movies storefront that might be of interest to users getting iTunes credit today. The sale prices include a collection of Disney films for $14.99 each, as well as some recent 4K releases for as low as $9.99. We've rounded them up below:
Earlier in January, Apple detailed a series of plans to to bolster the U.S. economy, which included the confirmation of its fourth campus based in the United States. At the time, the company said its new campus will "initially house technical support for customers" and that it won't be located in California or Texas, but no other hints regarding its location were given.
Today, Bloomberg posted a new piece theorizing potential locations for Apple's fourth campus in an attempt to predict where Apple might end up. In partnership with Moody's Analytics, Bloomberg was provided with data regarding the top 15 U.S. cities for tax incentives and a local business environment, top 15 cities for workforce education and human capital, and top 15 cities for public transport.
This information was cross-referenced with known data including current Apple headquarters, call centers, data centers, repair centers, smaller corporate offices, and major parts suppliers, to result in areas of the country that Apple could be interested in. Bloomberg ultimately hypothesized that Apple "seems likely" to end up in one of three areas: the northeast, potentially in Pennsylvania, Massachusetts or upstate New York; the southeast, in North Carolina or Florida; or Midwest, in Illinois or Wisconsin.
When you consider all these factors, Apple seems likely to choose among northeastern states such as Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and upstate New York; North Carolina and Florida in the southeast; and Midwestern states like Illinois and Wisconsin. The East Coast has one obvious advantage: the ability to provide customer support before existing call centers in Texas and California open for the day, as well as its proximity to hundreds of suppliers. The company could also consider the northwest, where it has a couple of offices, including an R&D center for cloud services in Seattle, and several suppliers.
In regards to Moody's top 15 cities data, Bloomberg argued that these statistics will be the main criteria Apple looks at when planning its fourth campus. These cities could provide Apple with incentives in exchange for its investment, a talented workforce that emphasizes bachelor's degrees instead of advanced engineering degrees ("which arguably fit better with Apple's plans to recruit technical support people, rather than those working on products and operations"), and available commuting options for employees, including a nearby airport for those flying in from other offices.
As the company makes plans for its latest campus, this month it has also named Kristina Raspe as its new vice president of global real estate and facilities. On her LinkedIn page, Raspe said that she's responsible for a variety of the company's real estate assets, including corporate and data center construction.
Cities that have already expressed interest in becoming the home of Apple's fourth U.S. campus include Sidney, Nebraska and Orlando, Florida, but Apple said back in January that it won't confirm the location until later in 2018.
Check out Bloomberg's full article for more information on the potential locations of Apple's upcoming campus.
The next-generation iPhone X will feature a smaller notch for the TrueDepth camera system, while future models released in 2019 or later will have no notch whatsoever, according to Korea's ET News.
The interesting bit is that all three iPhone models are said to feature slimmer bezels and smaller notches, emphasis ours:
Apple is planning to release two models with OLED display and a model with LCD display during this fall. It is heard that OLED models will be available in 5.85-inch display and 6.46-inch display while a LCD model will be available only in 6.04-inch model. All three of these models will have Face ID function and it is heard that there will be less bezel and smaller notch design.
An unnamed industry source added that Apple has decided to remove the notch "from 2019 models," suggesting the third-generation iPhone X could be the first model with a truly full-screen design.
"Apple decided to get rid of notch design starting from 2019 models and is having discussions with relevant companies," said a representative for an industry. "It seems that Apple is planning to implement full-screen that is more complete to its new iPhones."
The report claims each iPhone will have Face ID, but it's unclear how Apple would manage to fit the required TrueDepth sensors on the front of the devices without a notch. The report speculates that Apple could drill holes into the display itself, or use patented multi-layer Black Matrix technology.
Microsoft is giving users of its Cortana virtual assistant another way to activate it with their voice. As reported by The Verge, owners of the first Cortana-integrated Invoke speaker can now summon the assistant using just "Cortana" rather than the typical "Hey, Cortana" phrase, although that continues to work as well. The alteration is expected to trickle down to Cortana for iOS in the near future.
Microsoft hasn't offered a reason for the new option, but probably doesn't need to, given that many users will find "Cortana" easier to say, just as Amazon's "Alexa" is on supporting devices. Alexa users can also choose an alternative "Echo" invocation, but owners of Apple devices must use the phrase "Hey, Siri" (and its equivalent in other languages) to get the attention of Apple's digital assistant.
Apple has never indicated it will offer a way to customize the "Hey, Siri" invocation – perhaps because it's not technologically viable, given the way Siri listens for the activation phrase via an energy-preserving coprocessor. But the ability to do so could theoretically help users specify which device their request is directed at when multiple Apple devices are present ("Hey, HomePod," for example). Aside from offering a little more personalization, the option could also help device owners prevent accidental or prank requests from other sources, like TV ads, podcasts, and so on.
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