MacRumors

Following its educational event in Chicago, Apple quietly introduced iPhone and iPad cases in new spring colors and officially launched the Apple Watch bands that were introduced last week.

The new iPhone cases, iPad Smart Covers, Apple Pencil covers, and more, are available in bright primary colors, perhaps a nod to the educational focus of today's event.

The $39 iPhone X Silicone Case, for example, is available in Lemonade, Red Raspberry, Denim Blue, as are silicone cases for the iPhone 7/8 and iPhone 7/8 Plus.

The $49 iPhone X Leather Case, iPhone 7/8 Leather Case, and iPhone 7/8 Plus Leather Case are available in new Bright Orange, Spring Yellow, Electric Blue, and Soft Pink colors. The $99 iPhone X Leather Folio is available in new Soft Pink and Electric Blue shades.

Apple's $129 Leather Sleeve for the 10.5-inch iPad Pro is available in Soft Pink and Electric Blue, as is the $29 Apple Pencil Case for the Apple Pencil.

The $49 10.5-inch iPad Pro Smart Cover is available in new Lemonade and Red Raspberry shades, while the $69 10.5-inch Leather iPad Pro Smart Cover is available in Electric Blue and Soft Pink.

Apple last week introduced new Apple Watch bands in a variety of spring colors, and all of those bands are available for purchase starting today. The $49 Sport Band is now available in Lemonade, Red Raspberry, and Denim Blue, while the $49 Nike Sport Bands now come in Cargo Khaki/Black, Barely Rose/Pearl Pink, and Black/White.

Woven Nylon Bands ($49) are available in new striped shades including Pink Stripe, Blue Stripe, Gray Stripe, and Black Stripe, while the newer $49 Sport Loop bands now come in Hot Pink, Flash Light, Tahoe Blue, and Marine Green.

The Classic Buckle ($149) is available in Soft Pink, Spring Yellow, and Electric Blue, and there are several new Single Tour ($439) and Double Tour ($489) Hermès bands in fresh designs and colors.

All of the new Apple Watch bands, iPhone cases, iPad cases, and other accessories are available for purchase from the online Apple Store starting today and should be in stores later this week.

Apple today reduced the price of AppleCare+ for 9.7-inch iPad and iPad mini models to $69 in the United States, down from $99.

AppleCare+ was previously $99 for any iPad, but that price now applies to iPad Pro models only. The lower $69 price for the iPad and iPad mini has been offered by select Best Buy stores for the past several months.

AppleCare+ is an optional warranty plan that extends an iPad's or iPad mini's warranty period to two years from the original purchase date of the device, and adds up to two incidents of accidental damage coverage, each subject to a service fee of $49 plus applicable taxes in the United States.

AppleCare+ for iPad also provides 24/7 priority access to support advisors via online chat or phone for up to two years after the device's original purchase date. Without the plan, iPad owners are covered by Apple's limited one-year warranty and an initial 90 days of complimentary telephone support.

Apple charges out-of-warranty repair fees of $299 for the iPad mini 3 and iPad mini 4 and $249 for most 9.7-inch iPad models, including the sixth-generation model introduced at its education event today. By comparison, the upfront cost of AppleCare+ for iPad plus one incidental fee is $118, so the warranty can pay for itself.

AppleCare+ pricing for 9.7-inch iPad and iPad mini models has also been reduced in other countries, including Australia, Canada, Singapore, and the United Kingdom. Prices vary based on local currencies.

(Thanks, Christian!)

Apple today updated its Clips and GarageBand apps for iOS with several new educational features and other improvements.

The full release notes for Clips version 2.0.3:

• Four additional Live Title styles featuring new fonts, colors, and layouts
  

• Four new animated labels with vibrant colors and editable text
  

• Nine new animated stickers including hand-drawn arrows, scribbles, circles, and underlining
  

• Eleven new Apple-designed posters for creating animated title cards, including education-themed blackboard and notebook designs
  

• Two new Selfie Scenes on iPhone X from Disney-Pixar that put you in the "Finding Dory" reef and on the Scare Floor from "Monsters, Inc."
  

• Drop shadows have been added to some labels to improve visibility against light backgrounds
  

• Fixes an issue that could prevent photos stored in iCloud Photo Library from displaying correctly in Clips projects
  

• Improved stability when deleting projects

Likewise, GarageBand has received new educational sound effects, including animals, vehicles, and counting to ten in different languages.

The full release notes for GarageBand for iOS version 2.3.3:

• New downloadable "Toy Box" sound pack with free educational sound effects, including animals, vehicles, and counting to ten in different languages.
  

• Use facial expressions and the TrueDepth camera for hands-free control over musical effects like guitar wah and synth parameters*
  

• Adds Modern Wah guitar stompbox effect
  

• Provides stability improvements and bug fixes

* Apple's fine print: "Requires iPhone X. GarageBand uses ARKit face tracking features to translate your facial expressions into instrument effect controls. Your face information is processed on device, and only music is captured during your performance."

The updates to Clips and GarageBand are rolling out on the App Store today. The apps are free to download on iPhone and iPad.

Apple announced Everyone Can Create, a new free curriculum for teachers, during its "Let's Take a Field Trip" event at Chicago's Lane Technical High School today.

Everyone Can Create makes it fun and easy for teachers to integrate drawing, music, filmmaking or photography into their existing lesson plans for any subject. The new curriculum joins Apple’s successful Everyone Can Code initiative as one-of-a-kind programs for teachers that keep students excited and engaged.

Apple says the new curriculum is designed to take advantage of the new 9.7-inch iPad with Apple Pencil support, which was also unveiled on Tuesday, costing $299 for schools. The curriculum includes a range of free learning resources and teaching guides to help teachers include drawing, music, filmmaking or photography into lessons, topics, and assignments.

It also features teacher and student guides, lessons, ideas and examples to aid teachers in bringing more creativity and new communication skills into existing subjects like English, math, science and history, according to Apple. For instance, students can use the iPad's built-in camera to learn about fractals, or use Apple Pencil and apps like Tayasui Sketches to learn about symmetry.

The curriculum feeds into Apple's other software announcements at Tuesday's event, including the new Schoolwork app that helps teachers create assignments and keep on top of student progress, and a new teaching assistant Mac application called Classroom, which helps teachers manage student iPads while guiding students through lessons.

Apple will begin teaching the Everyone Can Create curriculum as part of its regular Today at Apple sessions for educators.

As part of its new suite of educational apps and experiences for children, Apple today announced that it is increasing the amount of free iCloud storage available to kids and teachers.

Instead of providing each student and teacher with the standard 5GB of free storage, Apple is now offering 200GB of storage at no additional cost.

Every student that has an Apple ID managed by a school will have access to 200GB of storage space for storing assignments, resources, and other documents in the cloud. The new storage space goes hand-in-hand with ClassKit and the Classwork app, which stores assignments in the cloud so students and teachers can access them anywhere.

This is not a program that's available to any student -- it is limited to students who have Apple IDs that were provided by their school.

Regular students and standard users of Apple devices will continue to be limited to 5GB of free storage space.

Logitech today revealed two new accessories for the sixth-generation iPad: the Logitech Crayon and Logitech Rugged Combo 2, both designed to help students become "more creative and productive" in the classroom. The accessories were announced during Apple's "Field Trip" event in Chicago earlier today.

The Logitech Crayon is a digital pencil, similar to Apple Pencil, but comes in at a cheaper price of $49, roughly half the price of the Apple Pencil (Apple is selling its first-party Pencil to schools for $89). Logitech said that its alternative leverages Apple Pencil technology to deliver sub-pixel precision, low latency, and tilt support.

The Crayon works with a wide variety of apps and software already found in classrooms, including Apple's newly updated iWork suite. The physical build of the Crayon allows for easy gripping that also prevents rolling to reduce the potential for accidental drops. The device has an 8-hour battery life, and includes other kid-friendly features like a pry-resistant tip and tethered rubber cap.

“iPad opens up new opportunities for learning, both inside the classroom and beyond,” said Michele Hermann, vice president of mobility at Logitech. “We’ve brought years of design expertise into the classroom with Logitech Crayon and Rugged Combo 2, which take advantage of the new iPad's capabilities. Together, these products give students more opportunities to be creative and all new ways to complete their school work, taking learning to new heights.”

Secondly, Logitech's updated $99.99 Rugged Combo 2 case for the new iPad was announced, created with input from educators so that it can survive "daily wear and tear" in classrooms. The case integrates a protective screen covering that doubles as a keyboard, and also includes a slot for the Logitech Crayon.

The keyboard section is detachable and its keycaps are pry-resistant as well as silent while students type on them. Powered by the iPad, the case as a whole is spill-resistant and can protect the iPad from a drop of up to four feet. Logitech launched the first Rugged Combo iPad case one year ago, following Apple's early 2017 9.7-inch iPad update.

The keyboard physically connects to the Rugged Combo 2 case using a proprietary connector to deliver a secure keyboard connection, making iPad an approved device for testing.

In addition to being durable, the Rugged Combo 2 case offers an adjustable kickstand for a wide range of viewing angles and four use modes: Typing mode, for taking notes; Viewing mode, to watch educational apps and videos; Notebook mode, for writing with digital pencils and reading; and Travel mode, which protects the iPad screen during transport. It also features a pencil holder that’s a perfect fit for Logitech Crayon or Apple Pencil, so students always have the tools they need at hand.

Logitech's new accessories will be available for schools to buy in the United States beginning this summer, found on Apple's education website.

Mitchel Broussard contributed to this report.

Apple today announced it is working on a new version of its iWork productivity suite for iOS during its "Let's Take a Field Trip" event at Chicago's Lane Technical High School, where it also introduced a refreshed low-cost 9.7-inch iPad with Apple Pencil support.

Integrated Apple Pencil support in the new upcoming versions of Pages and Keynote will enable users to add drawings directly to reports and take advantage of smart annotation features, while students in particular will benefit from using the input device in Numbers to add to their "lab reports", said Apple.

Teachers on the other hand will be able to mark up students' Pages reports directly using an iPad and Apple Pencil, thanks to the suite's enhanced markup functions. When users annotate, for example, the markup anchors to the word or image. So as edits are made, the pencil annotations move.

"iWork is a powerful suite of apps designed for iPhone, iPad and Mac that is used in classrooms around the world," said Susan Prescott, Apple's vice president of Apps Product Marketing. "With Apple Pencil support on iPad, the new Pages, Numbers and Keynote apps now let students bring a whole new level of creativity to their documents, spreadsheets and presentations, while the innovative new Smart Annotation feature gives students the ability to give, receive and incorporate feedback easier than ever before. Students can also use the built-in, real-time collaboration tools available in iWork to explore and learn together."

Apple also announced that it is building digital book creation into the new version of Pages, which will come pre-installed on the new $329 9.7-inch iPad. Books generated within Pages can include photos, videos, Apple Pencil illustrations, and more.

Pages, Numbers, and Keynote on iOS and Mac are free and come preloaded onto most devices, including the new 9.7-inch iPad. Today's updates will be available to download "soon" on the App Store and Mac App Store.

Apple is at an impasse with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) over the development of an anti-spam iPhone app. The app is meant to allow users to report unsolicited calls and text messages as spam, preventing further spam on their devices (via Reuters).

Last October, Apple first agreed to help India "tap into new iOS features" to build the app, but in the ensuing months Apple is said to have raised concerns over the privacy implications of allowing the app broad access to customers' call and text logs.

Apple and the Indian regulator have "not met since November," and India in January reportedly asked Apple for "basic clarifications" on what the iOS app would be able to offer users. In a statement last week, Apple said that the app remains in ongoing development because as it stands now it "violates the privacy policy of the App Store." Apple plans to keep working with the regulator and India's engineers to "continue discussing ways they can design their app to keep users' personal data safe."

In hopes of moving things along at a faster clip, TRAI head R.S. Sharma has said that he is consulting a legal team to see how Apple could be pushed into a faster development cycle.

“We will take appropriate legal action,” Sharma told Reuters in an interview. “This is unjust, it shows the approach and attitude of this company.” He did not elaborate on what action the regulator might take.

Apple did not comment on Sharma’s remarks, but said that it shared TRAI’s goal of protecting customers from unwanted calls and messages. Apple said it would not modify its guidelines to allow any app access to contacts, see call logs or view text messages as those functionalities violate a user’s data security and privacy.

Prior to the iPhone app, there has been an Android version of India's "Do Not Disturb" app for about two years, requiring users to grant the app permissions to access contacts and view text messages so that users can report spam and telemarketers. For Google's version of the app, the company said that it believes in "the ability of users to make purchasing and downloading choices without top-down enforcement or censorship."

For the next steps with Apple, the company offered to have its technical teams meet with TRAI, but the Indian government is said to be waiting on "more details" from Apple first. Although Sharma threatened legal action, one former TRAI consultant stated that the Apple/TRAI disagreement is "likely to be more of a public relations battle," as opposed to a legal one.

Over the years, Apple has frequently had to balance its beliefs in user privacy and security as they sometimes conflicted with the laws and requests from foreign governments. Notably, last summer Apple removed a majority of VPN apps from the iOS App Store in China, following regulations passed earlier in 2017 that require such apps to be authorized by the Chinese government.

A few days later in an earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook stated: "We would obviously rather not remove the apps, but like we do in other countries, we follow the law wherever we do business. In this particular case ... we hope that over time, the restrictions we're seeing will be loosened, because innovation requires freedom to collaborate and communicate, and I know that is a major focus there."

Foxconn is best known as an Apple supplier that assembles Apple's devices and supplies components to the Cupertino-based company, but as of today, it's taking over a major Apple accessory maker.

Foxconn Interconnect Technology (FIT), a Foxconn subsidiary, today announced that it has acquired Belkin International in a deal that's worth $866 million. The acquisition includes the Belkin brand along with Linksys, Wemo, and Phyn, other companies owned by Belkin.

"FIT is excited to acquire Belkin and its capabilities in the premium consumer products space," said Sidney Lu, CEO, FIT. "Integrating Belkin's best-in-class capabilities and solutions into FIT, we expect to enrich our portfolio of premium consumer products and accelerate our penetration into the smart home."

"This move will accelerate our vision of delivering technology that makes the lives of people around the world better, more convenient and more fulfilling. I am thrilled to take our brand portfolio of Belkin, Linksys, Wemo and Phyn to new heights," said Chet Pipkin, CEO and founder, Belkin International. "We see significant synergies with FIT, including leveraging its world-class manufacturing capability to enhance Belkin's operating efficiency and competitiveness. The transaction also grants us access to more resources to invest in our people and to aggressively pursue opportunities in the marketplace."

Under the Belkin brand, Belkin offers a wide range of iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch cases, cables, adapters, wireless chargers, and more, while the Wemo brand offers HomeKit-compatible home automation devices. Through Linksys, Belkin sells wireless routers and similar accessories, and the Phyn brand offers a smart water assistant for monitoring for leaks.

All of the Belkin-owned brands will continue to operate as subsidiaries under Foxconn Interconnect Technology.