MacRumors

Apple Maps has been updated with comprehensive transit data in Calgary, Alberta, enabling iPhone users in the Canadian city to navigate with public transportation, including the CTrain light rail system and buses.

Apple Maps transit directions are also available for buses in the smaller Southern Alberta cities of Red Deer, Lethbridge, and Medicine Hat.

Apple Maps enabled transit routing in Calgary just in time for the 2017 Calgary Stampede, which runs between July 7 and July 16.

Apple Maps gained a Transit tab in iOS 9. The feature lags several years behind Google Maps, but Apple's public transportation support is exhaustive, mapping all station entrances and listing departure times.

At launch, the feature was limited to Baltimore, Berlin, Boston, Chicago, London, Los Angeles, Mexico City, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Sydney, Toronto, and over 300 cities in China. Since then, Apple has been working to expand support for public transportation to other cities around the world.

Newer additions include Atlanta, Columbus, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Honolulu, Houston, Kansas City, Madrid, Manchester, Melbourne, Miami, Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Montréal, New Orleans, Paris, Portland, Pittsburgh, Prague, Rio de Janeiro, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, San Diego, Seattle, and Singapore.

For a complete list of cities with Apple Maps transit directions, visit the iOS Feature Availability page on Apple's website.

(Thanks, Bernd!)

Amazon is offering Prime members who have yet to try its Music Unlimited streaming service a steep discount in the run-up to the company's Prime Day on July 11.

Prime subscribers can currently sign up for four months for a total cost of $0.99 (or 99p in the U.K.), with the service reverting to its usual price of $7.99 (£7.99) per month thereafter. The non-Prime price for the service is $9.99 (£9.99) per month.

Amazon Music Unlimited launched last year to compete with the likes of Apple Music, Spotify, and Google Play Music. Its music catalog of "tens of millions of songs" makes the service distinct from the company's Prime-only music library, which offers access to "over a million songs". A standard Prime subscription costs $99 (£79) annually.

The four-month discount is only valid for Prime members and is only redeemable toward an Amazon Music Unlimited Individual Monthly Plan. The offer ends on July 11.

Data from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) estimates that Amazon Prime membership has grown 35 percent in the past year. Figures suggest there were 85 million Prime members as of June 30, 2017, while CIRP's June 2016 estimate put the number at 63 million.

Amazon is an affiliate of MacRumors and the site may benefit if you click product links in this article.

Samsung tipped its best-ever operating profit on Friday, with likely record earnings in the company's second quarter ending in June (via Reuters). The Apple rival predicted quarterly operating profit of 14 trillion won ($12.11 billion), a 72 percent jump from a year earlier. The estimate includes sales from the Galaxy S8 for the first time, but analysts pointed to Samsung's components business as the main driving force behind the latest projected figures.

Samsung has yet to provide a breakdown of its performance over the April-June period, with a full earnings report due later this month, but the South Korean company is known to have benefitted from higher prices for the memory chips it supplies that go into servers and smartphones. Samsung expects revenue to be up 18 percent year-over-year at 60 trillion won. Shortages for both DRAM and NAND chips are expected to persist for the rest of the year, increasing the likelihood that 2017 could represent Samsung's best-ever annual earnings.

Ironically, Samsung's continued success is expected to hinge increasingly on the performance of its biggest rival. Apple has reportedly turned to Samsung for more NAND chip supplies for its upcoming phones, since Samsung has relatively stable yield rates and has scaled up its output while other chip suppliers have lagged.

Samsung is also being helped by its sales of OLED panels, which are expected to become the go-to display standard over the coming years. Apple has reportedly signed a two-year contract with Samsung for the supply of up to 92 million curved OLED panels, as it attempts to ramp up capacity for this year's release of its high-end "iPhone 8", before transitioning fully to OLED displays for all its phones in the second half of 2018.

Samsung said on Tuesday it would invest $18.6 billion to extend its lead in memory chips and next-generation displays. Meanwhile, sales of the upcoming Galaxy Note 8 will be closely watched in the third quarter, after its predecessor was pulled from the market last year because of fire-prone batteries. Samsung is expected to unveil the handset in August.

In May of last year, speaker and fitness tracker company Jawbone ended production of its fitness trackers and started seeking a buyer for its speaker business, leading to speculation that the company was going out of business.

Jawbone denied claims that it was shutting down and planned to pivot to medical products for direct sale to clinical practitioners, but that may not have panned out, as The Information reports that the business is officially shutting down.

Jawbone has reportedly started liquidation proceedings and notices have been sent out to its creditors.

Jawbone co-founder and CEO Hosain Rahman has moved on to a new company called Jawbone Health Hub that is designed to make "health-related hardware and software services." Many existing Jawbone employees have already transitioned to the new company.

Jawbone Health will reportedly service existing Jawbone products, which may allow existing Jawbone customers to get help with their devices. Jawbone has been ignoring customer service requests for several months, making customers unhappy. Starting in January, Jawbone customers were unable to contact Jawbone support and did not receive responses to service requests for faulty products.

Apple today seeded the fifth beta of an upcoming tvOS 10.2.2 update to developers for testing purposes, two weeks after seeding the fourth beta of tvOS 10.2.2 and over a month after releasing tvOS 10.2.1, a minor bug fix update.

tvOS 10.2.2 is only available for the fourth-generation Apple TV. Registered developers can download the update by connecting the Apple TV to a computer with a USB-C cable and installing the beta software using iTunes. Once a beta profile is installed, new updates will be received over-the-air.

No major feature changes or bug fixes were discovered in the first four betas of tvOS 10.2.2, so it appears the update focuses on minor under-the-hood improvements and security enhancements.

tvOS 10.2.2 will be one of the last updates to the tvOS 10 operating system as Apple is already working on the next-generation version of tvOS, tvOS 11. tvOS 11 is currently available for developers and public beta testers.

ElevationLab's latest product is the BatteryPro, an Apple Watch and iPhone charger that's got some clever design elements and a built-in Apple Watch charging puck for convenience. Priced at $99, the BatteryPro isn't cheap, but if you value ease of use over cost, it's worth checking out.

At first glance, the BatteryPro doesn't look like much. It's similar in design to many external battery packs, constructed from plain but durable black plastic and designed with a rectangular shape that matches up well with the iPhone. It's meant to fit in a back pocket while charging the iPhone, and it does. Walking around with the BatteryPro in a back pocket isn't exactly comfortable because it's almost an inch thick and weighty, but it's functional in a pinch.

Though it uses a simple design, the BatteryPro features a built-in Apple Watch charging puck and a unique elastic "StowStrap" that's designed to hold the Apple Watch in place while it's charging, so you can toss it in a backpack while on the go. When not in use, the strap sits flush in a groove that's been added to the Battery Pro, but when you need to charge, you unhook it from the back, place the Apple Watch on the charger, wrap the strap over it, and secure it in a second slot on the back of the device.

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Uber in June announced plans for a "180 Days of Change" initiative that added a new long-desired tipping feature for drivers.

Tipping was initially limited to Seattle, Minneapolis, and Houston, but Uber said tips would be available to all U.S. drivers by the end of July, and the company is making good on that promise.

Starting today, tipping is rolling out in 121 cities across North America, including New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Philadelphia, and several cities in Canada. TechCrunch has a full list of all of the areas where tipping is now available.

The tipping feature will continue to expand to additional cities throughout the month of July, and Uber says it is still planning to have the feature available to all U.S. drivers by the end of the month.

Tips are optional for Uber riders, and the tipping screen will show up after a driver has been rated following the conclusion of a ride. Passengers have up to 30 days after a ride to provide a tip, and there are three custom preset tipping amounts ($1, $2, and $5) along with an option for a custom tip total.

Uber long resisted tipping even as competitors like Lyft implemented tips for drivers, with the excuse that it kept the service hassle-free. Uber is now aiming to bolster its public image and improve working conditions for drivers through the addition of tipping and other "180 Days of Change" features, such as a per minute waiting fee for riders, a shorter cancellation window, and a new Driver Injury Protection insurance option.

During a Nintendo Direct event this morning, Nintendo announced plans to release a new "Nintendo Switch Online" app on July 21, the release date for Splatoon 2. According to Nintendo, the Nintendo Switch Online app, available for iOS and Android, is designed to "enhance your online experience for compatible games on the Nintendo Switch console."

At launch, the only game compatible with the Nintendo Switch Online app will be Splatoon 2. The app will let users voice chat with friends, invite people to online matches, create teams, and access SplatNet 2. SplatNet2 offers up online play statistics and info on upcoming game features.

The debut of the app means Splatoon 2 and other games are unlikely to have built-in voice chat capabilities, instead requiring the separate app, but Nintendo has been promoting an upcoming headset accessory from Hori that will combine audio from the iPhone and the Nintendo Switch for a more seamless play experience.

Nintendo Switch Online for iOS will let you invite friends with Splatoon 2 to Private Battles, League Battles, and Splatfest Battles across social media and "other services," and it will support push notifications for instant alerts when an invite is received.

Though the app will launch with limited functionality, it will expand to encompass other games as Nintendo builds out its Nintendo Switch Online service.

The app's functionality and the Splatoon 2 online play will be available for free until the full Nintendo Switch Online service launches in 2018. Following the launch of Nintendo Switch Online, most games with online gameplay will require an ongoing subscription. Nintendo Switch Online will cost $19.99 per year or $3.99 per month with a monthly subscription.

Instagram today announced that it has added an option to reply to Instagram stories with a photo or a video, allowing Instagram users to do more than simply comment on a friend's stories.

When watching a story, you'll see a new camera button that can be used to snap a photo/video or choose an image that was taken within the last 24 hours from your camera roll. There are options to use Boomerang or Rewind with videos, and there are stickers and filters to apply to both photos and videos.

Photos and videos that friends send as story replies will show up in the Direct inbox, where they can be viewed with a tap. A photo or video sticker will also be added to the story itself, but it is only viewable by the user who shared the story. When you view a story reply, friends will be notified of screenshots or replays.

Instagram users who have the latest version of the iOS app installed will see the new video reply options. Instagram can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]

Hulu today announced that subscribers will now be able to add HBO's programming into their Hulu subscription for $14.99 per month, as well as Cinemax for $9.99 per month (via TechCrunch). Hulu currently offers Showtime for $8.99 per month as an add-on package to the basic streaming service.

HBO will be available as an add-on package for both Hulu's new live TV service (beginning at $39.99 per month) as well as its on-demand streaming tiers ($7.99 per month for limited commercials, $11.99 per month for no commercials). HBO's East Coast and West Coast live feeds will be available, as well as every show and movie in the network's back catalog.

Apple has updated its regional websites to indicate that Apple Pay is expanding to additional banks in France, Italy, and Spain.

In France, Apple Pay will be available later this year at Crédit Mutuel de Bretagne, Crédit Mutuel du Sud-Ouest, and Crédit Mutuel Massif Central, which are the three regional federations of Crédit Mutuel Arkéa. Apple Pay is also coming to Crédit Mutuel Arkéa's online banking subsidiary Fortuneo, and Max.

In Italy, Apple Pay is now available at Banca Mediolanum for Mediolanum Card debit cards, which are based on Mastercard's Maestro network.

In Spain, Apple Pay is now supported by Boon, a mobile wallet solution based on a prepaid account with a digital Mastercard. Boon users top-up their accounts with a debit or credit card, or via wire transfer. Boon also supports Apple Pay in the United Kingdom, France, Switzerland, Ireland, and Italy.

In Spain, Apple Pay will also be available through mobile-only bank N26 later this year. The service has a partnership with Mastercard.

Apple maintains a list of Apple Pay participating banks in Europe, although it has yet to be updated to reflect today's additions.

One year ago this week, Pokémon Go began appearing on the App Store in the United States and around the world. Following the announcement of various in-game and real life events celebrating the anniversary, Niantic CEO John Hanke recently sat down with The Verge to talk about the game's first year, including for-profit cheaters, a six-month development delay due to the huge success of the game, and more.

Concerning the current state of certain fan-requested updates (player-versus-player battles and Pokémon trading), Hanke said that those features have been delayed because of Pokémon Go's unpredictably huge launch. In total, Niantic lost as much as six months on its production schedule due to the team needing to shift to "rebuilding and rewiring infrastructure" to keep the game running, taking precedence over substantial new updates.

We lost probably six months on our schedule because of the success of the game. Really all the way through November and December, from launch onward we were rebuilding and rewiring infrastructure just to keep the game running at the scale that we were running at.

We were fortunate to have a massive launch, a massive success, and many, many more users than we had planned for. But we had to redirect a substantial portion of the engineering team to [work on] infrastructure versus new features. That switched off things like extending gyms, it pushed out things we still want to have, like player-versus-player and trading. I’d say we’re about six months behind where we thought we would be.

Hanke admitted that if the team had known it would face such huge delays on its schedule, "maybe we wouldn't have talked so much about" PvP and trading updates so early on. The CEO went on to explain that Niantic's communication with fans has "become much more open over time," following an initial lack of consensus with the developer's partners (The Pokémon Company and Nintendo) over how to handle vocal communities on Reddit, Twitter, and other social media sites.

In terms of cheating, Hanke talked about how there are now "actual commercial entities" that advertise ways to level up players' profiles and advance in the game, which received enough interest and revenue from Pokémon Go players to become "real businesses." Hanke said that Niantic faced similar experiences, albeit on a smaller scale, with its previous game Ingress.

To keep the game fair for everyone, there are now dedicated resources inside Niantic cracking down on these cheating businesses.

Because of the scale [of Pokémon Go], there are actual commercial entities that sprung up that were offering services to level up your account or do various other things, and were real businesses. Therefore they’re able to invest significant resources in these things. We didn’t really anticipate that scale of commercial-funded cheating, which is a challenge to keep the game fair for everyone.

We dedicate resources to it for sure. There are people working on that that could be working on features, but they’re not. It’s a fraction of the team. It’s not as if half of the team is working on that. It’s significantly less than that. But there is a chunk of resources that we devote to that.

Hanke still doesn't make it clear when exactly PvP and Pokémon trading will be making it to Pokémon Go. Recently, Niantic updated the game with a revamped Gym system and announced co-op raid battles, while Hanke talked about his excitement for Apple's ARKit developer platform and what it will do for Pokémon Go, stating, "I don’t think anyone should bet against Apple."

Check out The Verge's full interview with John Hanke here.

AirPods continue to have a 6-week shipping estimate when purchased through Apple's online store, but AT&T's website currently has the wireless earphones in stock with free delivery in 3-5 business days.

AT&T sells AirPods for $159, the same price as Apple charges, but the carrier only ships to addresses within the United States, excluding P.O. boxes.

AirPods occasionally appear in stock through Apple resellers like AT&T, but typically not for very long due to a combination of limited supplies and strong demand. For that reason, prospective buyers should order as quickly as possible.

AirPods, driven by Apple's custom W1 chip for one-tap setup, instantly connect to a nearby iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad, or Mac when taken out of their charging case. The cord-free earphones use optical sensors and a motion accelerometer to detect when they are in your ears and automatically turn on.

AirPods deliver up to five hours of listening time on one charge, and a 15-minute fast charge provides up to three hours of listening time. The charging case holds multiple additional charges for more than 24 hours of listening time.