MacRumors

Today's watchOS 4.1 beta, seeded to developers this morning, introduces support for streaming music directly to the Apple Watch over LTE and it brings a new Radio app with access to Beats 1 live and other Apple Music radio stations.

We went hands-on with the beta to get a look at the new features, which are primarily aimed at Apple Music subscribers who have a Series 3 Apple Watch.

With the update, you have access to the full range of Apple Music content, and can ask Siri to play songs with or without a phone and over WiFi or LTE.

The new Radio app houses all of your Apple Music radio stations and provides access to Beats 1 radio content. Siri can also create new radio stations with requests like "Play Taylor Swift" or "Play something fun."

It's not yet clear just how much streaming music over an LTE connection will affect battery life, but when possible, the Apple Watch will use the iPhone's connection or a WiFi connection to conserve battery.

These new features are available in watchOS 4.1, which is only available to developers at the current time. Apple doesn't offer watchOS public betas, so non-developers will need to wait for the update to be released to try out the new music capabilities.

At an event in Seattle this morning, Amazon unveiled its next-generation Amazon Echo speaker, which features a new smaller design and better sound than the original Echo to compete with products like Apple's upcoming HomePod.

Apple focused heavily on sound quality as a way to differentiate the HomePod from existing smart speakers like the Google Home and the Amazon Echo, with a 7 tweeter array, a 4-inch upward-facing woofer, and an A8 processor capable of advanced acoustic modeling and spatial awareness. Shortly after the HomePod was unveiled, rumors of a higher-end Echo surfaced.

The Echo is made from metal and is wrapped in a fabric shell, which can be swapped out with other shells for customization much like the Google Home. Amazon is offering six shells for the Echo.

Amazon plans to charge $99 for the new Echo, making it much more affordable than the HomePod, which will be priced at $349 when it launches in December. Pre-orders for the new Echo are available today.

There's also a new Echo Plus, with built-in Zigbee functionality for smart home hub functionality and all of the same improvements in the new Echo model. It's designed to work with a wide range of smart home products right out of the box, with over 100 partners signed up. Echo Plus is similar in design to the original Echo, while the new $99 Echo is smaller and shorter. Amazon is charging $149 for the Echo Plus, and it comes with a free Philips Hue bulb.

Echo Buttons, also new, are priced at $20 and are designed to allow Echo owners to play trivia games with the Echo, and the Echo Spot is a new Echo device that features a 2.5-inch circular display. It's a cross between an Echo and a smart alarm clock with a price tag of $130.

Along with the new Echo models, Amazon announced the $35 Echo Connect, a device that's designed to plug into a phone jack on one side and an Echo on the other, allowing the Echo to be used as a telephone able to accept calls from a person's standard home phone number. The Echo Connect is also available for pre-order today. Amazon Echo speakers are also gaining call functionality that will let them make phone calls to any number.

Apple today seeded the first beta of an upcoming watchOS 4.1 update to developers, just over one week after releasing the new watchOS 4 operating system to the public.

Once the proper configuration profile has been installed from the Apple Developer Center, the new watchOS 4 beta can be downloaded through the dedicated Apple Watch app on the iPhone by going to General --> Software update.

To install the update, the Apple Watch needs to have at least 50 percent battery, it must be placed on the charger, and it has to be in range of the iPhone.

watchOS 4.1 introduces support for streaming music from Apple Music or iCloud Music Library straight to the Apple Watch. There's also a new Radio app that offers up access to Beats 1 live or any Apple Music radio station on the new cellular Apple Watch Series 3 models.

Apple today seeded the first beta of an upcoming macOS High Sierra update to developers, two days after releasing the new High Sierra operating system to the public.

The first macOS High Sierra 10.13.1 beta can be downloaded from the Apple Developer Center or through the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App Store with the proper profile installed.

It's not yet clear what improvements the first update to macOS High Sierra will bring, but it's likely to include bug fixes and performance improvements for issues that have been found between the time the golden master was released and its final public launch.

The update could also include features Apple has delayed for a later set of betas, such as iCloud storage for iMessages, and we're also supposed to be getting some new emojis soon.

We'll update this post with any new features that are found in macOS High Sierra 10.13.1.

Apple today seeded the first beta of an upcoming iOS 11 update to developers, just over one week after releasing iOS 11 to the public and a day after releasing the first bug fix update, iOS 11.0.1. iOS 11.1, as a major point update, may bring a few new minor features to the operating system along with the standard bug fixes and performance improvements.

Registered developers can download the iOS 11 beta from Apple's Developer Center or over-the-air once the proper configuration profile has been installed from the Developer Center.

Several iOS 11 features did not make it into the first public release and these could potentially be included in the iOS 11.1 beta.

Apple has said both peer-to-peer Apple Pay payments and iCloud support for iMessages will be introduced in later iOS 11 updates, and new emoji characters are expected at some point.

iOS 11 marks a major update to the operating system, with systemwide design tweaks, a new Lock screen experience, a revamped Control Center, and an entirely new interface for the iPad that includes a Dock, Drag and Drop support, and a redesigned App Switcher for better than ever multitasking.

Apple has already shared many details on the upcoming Face ID facial recognition feature in the iPhone X through its software engineering chief Craig Federighi, who did several interviews, but now the company has consolidated that information into a new support document and an in-depth security white paper released this morning. [PDF]

If you've been paying attention to Federighi's interviews and all of the Face ID coverage on sites like MacRumors, you may already be familiar with the content of the support document, but it does a good job addressing all common questions and concerns in a single spot.

It outlines the way Face ID works, the conditions in which it works - in the dark, with sunglasses, with hats, etc., and how it's set up, along with security information, including the conditions that will lead to Face ID being disabled:

- The device has just been turned on or restarted.
- The device hasn't been unlocked for more than 48 hours.
- The passcode hasn't been used to unlock the device in the last six and a half days and Face ID hasn't unlocked the device in the last 4 hours.
- The device has received a remote lock command.
- After five unsuccessful attempts to match a face.
- After initiating power off/Emergency SOS by pressing and holding either volume button and the side button simultaneously for 2 seconds.

Face ID, as Apple has said, adapts to changes in appearance, and the document gives a bit more info on that topic. If there is a major change in appearance, like the disappearance of a full beard or a significant haircut, Apple will require a passcode and then update the stored facial data accordingly once your identity is confirmed.

It also covers privacy, explaining that Face ID is just like Touch ID: protected by the Secure Enclave and handled all on-device, using years of established security protocols. Accessibility and safety are also topics Apple addresses.

In fact, developers do not need to update their Touch ID apps for those apps to work with Face ID because the systems are the same.

The TrueDepth camera system will not cause harm to eyes or skin, says Apple, and if damage is caused to the infrared emitters, the camera will be disabled. Apple warns that repairs will need to be conducted by Apple or an authorized service provider, which should not come as a surprise as the same applies to the Touch ID home button.

The white paper, meanwhile, explains in better detail exactly how the TrueDepth camera and the A11 Bionic processor in the iPhone X work together to accurately identify a face and avoid spoofing.

To counter both digital and physical spoofs, the TrueDepth camera randomizes the sequence of 2D images and depth map captures, and projects a device-specific random pattern. A portion of the A11 Bionic chip's neural engine--protected within the Secure Enclave--transforms this data into a mathematical representation and compares that representation to the enrolled facial data. This enrolled facial data is itself a mathematical representation of your face captured across a variety of poses.

Anyone who plans to buy an iPhone X and has questions about how the Face ID feature on the device works should take a look at both the support document and the white paper, as both together answer many questions on security and functionality.

Face ID will become available to the public starting on November 3, the official launch date for the iPhone X.

Apple this morning launched a revamped and redesigned Privacy website designed to make its privacy policies more accessible to consumers.

The new site better outlines how Apple's commitment to privacy benefits users through concrete examples of features like Apple Pay and an iPhone's passcode, and it explains how Apple uses encryption, Differential Privacy, and strict app guidelines to protect users.

Apple has a section on the new privacy site that cover all of its apps and features, including iMessage, Apple Pay, Health, Analytics, Safari, iCloud, CarPlay, Education, Photos, Siri, Apple Music, News, Maps, and more.

It's incredibly detailed and explains the security measures and privacy features built into each and every feature.

There's also a new feature on how to secure devices with a passcode and Touch ID, and how to keep your Apple ID safe with a strong password, two-factor authentication, and an awareness of scams and phishing attempts. It explains how these features work, and beyond that, why customers should want to use them.

Apple has long had a transparent privacy policy and has outlined all of its privacy practices on its website, but this new site does so in a way that's easier for customers to understand and digest in just a few minutes. For anyone who has a question about one of Apple's products, the new site is worth checking out.

Apple executives Zack Van Amburg and Jamie Erlicht, formerly of Sony Television, have spent the last few weeks visiting agents and studio executives in Hollywood, spearheading Apple's ongoing attempts to land "big, smart, splashy dramas" in the vein of Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad. In a new profile on Apple's ambitions by The Hollywood Reporter, multiple studio chiefs are said to be sending Apple spec scripts and packaged projects as potential options for its big break into the premium TV show space.

Apple is reportedly not interested in spending money at the scale of a rival like Netflix (around $6 billion each year on original content), but multiple reports over the past few months have shown the company's gaining interest in both original "prestige" TV content and major film distribution deals, and that momentum has only picked up in recent weeks.

In recent weeks, Zack Van Amburg and Jamie Erlicht, poached from Sony Television in June to spearhead Apple's content acquisitions and video strategy, have been spotted all over town making their pitch to agents and studio executives. One studio chief says, "Who wouldn't want to be the 'Mad Men' or 'House of Cards' on Apple?"

"There's this sense of, 'It's the most innovative company in the world, of course you want to have a show there,' " says UTA TV head Matt Rice, whose agency, like many of its peers, has inundated the industry's hottest new entrant with spec scripts and packaged projects. Apple, which is famously secretive about its plans, declined to comment for this story.

Apple's newly leased property at the iconic California production site, The Culver Studios, is said to have helped the company "leap-frog" much of the Hollywood competition, with a handful of agents commenting that any project they would take to Netflix or HBO is also being delivered to Apple as well. Apple's so-called "overnight status" as a major player in the business is said to be due to the company's built-in branding, as well as its deep pockets of cash reserves that could be tapped into for the TV drama push.

Some projects have already been lost by Apple's content team, however, including an origin series for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest focused on Nurse Ratched, created by Ryan Murphy and starring Sarah Paulson. Netflix eventually outbid both Apple and Hulu for the show, as well as the ongoing streaming rights for Murphy's American Horror Story anthology series (with new episodes also streamable on Hulu).

Apple is still being "deluged with nearly every script in town," but sources said that Van Amburg, Erlicht, and the rest of Apple's team have passed on most of them, in attempts to keep Apple's penchant for quality alive in its TV shows as well. The team has bids out on a few projects, however, including a reboot of Steve Spielberg's 1980 anthology series Amazing Stories, and a morning show drama starring Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon.

Other potential partners with Apple include Vince Gilligan, Bryan Cranston, Ron Moore, Ryan Coogler, Mike Schur, and more, who have all been approached by Apple's team recently in some form. The ultimate question, according to talent agency ICM Partners, is finding out where -- and how -- these shows will be streamed.

Still, the lack of clarity has left at least a few, including ICM Partners managing director Chris Silbermann, asking tough questions. "Jamie and Zack are good guys, and they've done business with all of us for decades, and it's Apple, so everybody will sell there," he says. "That being said, they need to articulate to the creative community and the industry at large their marketing, release and distribution strategy. Simply, what does it mean to be an Apple show?"

Check out The Hollywood Reporter's full article on Apple's TV strategy right here.

The Wall Street Journal reports that iPhone X production issues were due to a supply imbalance of components dubbed Romeo and Juliet.

The report, citing people familiar with the situation, claims it has taken more time to assemble the Romeo module than the Juliet module, both part of the iPhone X's new TrueDepth facial recognition system for Face ID.

The so-called Romeo module reportedly includes the dot projector that beams more than 30,000 invisible dots to create a precise depth map of your face, while the Juliet module includes the infrared camera that analyzes the pattern.

Earlier this week, both KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo and sources speaking with Nikkei Asian Review said the TrueDepth system has indeed been a significant bottleneck for Apple suppliers manufacturing the iPhone X.

One of The Wall Street Journal's sources said the assembly process is now moving smoothly, but the production issues add to concerns about extended shortages when iPhone X sales begin in early November.

iPhone X pre-orders begin October 27, and the device officially launches November 3.

Apple has posted a series of job listings for a future retail store in Bangkok, Thailand, as spotted by local publication The Nation.

The location will be Apple's first retail store in Thailand, and its second in Southeast Asia, following its Singapore location that opened in May.

In July, the Bangkok Post reported that the store will open in 2018 at the Iconsiam, a future mixed-use development with two shopping malls in Bangkok. The flagship location is said to have over 20,000 square feet of space.

Apple continues to hire for retail stores in Vienna and Seoul as well, which will be the first in Austria and South Korea respectively.

In related news, Apple has announced that its Woodfield store in Schaumburg, Illinois will be relocating to a new unit in the shopping mall on September 30. The current store, opened in August 2001, is Apple's fifth oldest, and one of just four to still have a classic black storefront with two Apple logos.

(Thanks, Storetellee!)