Apple has introduced a new "Shot on iPhone" campaign called "One Night on iPhone 7" that will be on display in 25 countries starting today.
Jennifer Bin sought to show a different perspective of Shanghai
Apple enlisted a group of photographers to capture photos on one night—November 5, 2016—to showcase the low-light capabilities of the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus cameras. The photographers traveled around the world, ranging from the clubs of Johannesburg in South Africa to the rooftops of Shanghai in China.
Some of the photographers tackled extreme climates in search of the perfect shot. Chicago-based photographer Reuben Wu ventured to Java, Indonesia to photograph the 130 active volcanoes, using an iPhone 7 attached to a drone to capture breathtaking views of Gunung Karang’s lava flow after dark. Ruairidh McGlynn traveled to Iceland to photograph the foreboding terrain of the Arctic, traveling overnight by dog sled.
The photos will presumably be displayed on billboards and other advertising mediums in a number of cities around the world.
A collection of seven photos in the campaign can be downloaded from the Apple Newsroom.
Starbucks today launched a limited iOS beta test for a new artificial intelligence assistant called "My Starbucks barista," which will let customers order their favorite menu items by speaking with a virtual barista within a new messaging interface in the company's mobile app (via TechCrunch).
If they choose to, users can also opt to simply type their order to Starbucks, similar to chatbots that have become popular in apps like Facebook Messenger. My Starbucks barista will ask to confirm the pick-up location for the order and can help customers through the payment process as well, leaving them only needing to pass by their local Starbucks and pick up their order when it's ready.
“The Starbucks experience is built on the personal connection between our barista and customer, so everything we do in our digital ecosystem must reflect that sensibility,” said Gerri Martin-Flickinger, chief technology officer for Starbucks, in a statement. “Our team is focused on making sure that Starbucks voice ordering within our app is truly personal and equally important was finding the right partner in Amazon to test and learn from this new capability.”
Additionally, a new "Starbucks Reorder Skill" is being implemented for Amazon's Alexa devices, giving users the chance to simply say, "Alexa, order my Starbucks" to reorder their usual items. The process requires the Starbucks app to be installed, with an account already in place that includes a designated favorite order.
The Starbucks app has increased in popularity over the years thanks to its ability to let customers place orders online and arrive in the store to receive their drinks and food at the pick-up counter. The practice has become so popular in some locations, however, that customers have been known to leave when faced with long wait times. To fix the problem, Starbucks has begun hiring online order-only baristas, as well as testing out text notifications that alert customers when to arrive at the store.
The beta test is currently beginning, but is limited to a small set of 1,000 iOS users in the U.S., with "a phased rollout" estimated to begin on a larger scale this summer. An update to the Android app is said to come later in 2017.
United States President Donald Trump and his administration have drafted an executive order that intends to overhaul the work-visa programs that various technology companies -- including Apple -- rely on to hire tens of thousands of employees each year.
According to a draft of the order acquired by Bloomberg, affected visa programs include L-1, E-2, and B1. Directly affecting tech companies is H-1B, which lets companies like Apple hire appropriately skilled workers for specific jobs when there is a dearth of local talent available.
Falling in line with Trump's "America first" intentions, which previously ignited reports of Apple turning to U.S.-based iPhone manufacturing, the order explains that the country's policy on immigration should not give priority to foreign workers. Its intent aims to prioritize and protect American workers, as well as their current and future jobs.
“Our country’s immigration policies should be designed and implemented to serve, first and foremost, the U.S. national interest,” the draft proposal reads, according to a copy reviewed by Bloomberg. “Visa programs for foreign workers … should be administered in a manner that protects the civil rights of American workers and current lawful residents, and that prioritizes the protection of American workers -- our forgotten working people -- and the jobs they hold.”
Although some companies use the visa programs to find high-skilled talent overseas, Bloomberg notes that allegations in recent years have claimed that the system can be abused to simply hire workers at a cheaper rate "to fill jobs that otherwise may go to Americans." Outsourced workers in India are said to be the main targets of the H-1B visa, filling in the technology departments of large corporations "with largely imported staff."
Since the executive order is only in the drafting stages, it's not yet clear how much force or backing it would receive if made official. According to Ron Hira, an associate professor at Howard University, companies who potentially use the work-visa programs to hire cheap labor will be affected most, likely ending up having to pay more to their employees if the order is signed. Companies using the programs to legally hire skilled workers may be able to find alternative visas elsewhere, but the intent to make the process more difficult is clear.
“If firms are using the program for cheap labor, I think it will affect them and they will have to pay workers more,” said Ron Hira, an associate professor at Howard University. “If tech firms are using the program for specialized labor, they may find there are more visas available.”
The current legislation caps workers who can enter the U.S. each year at 85,000, including educated workers with college degrees. According to the most recent data available, workers with H-1B visas at companies like Apple, Google, and Microsoft are paid more than $100,000 per year, while outsourcing firms reportedly intent on hiring for quantity over quality are said to pay workers less than $70,000 annually.
Trump's order aims to bring transparency to these issues, with the intent to publish reports "with basic statistics on who uses the immigration programs within one month of the end of the government’s fiscal year."
Today's news comes a few days after Apple CEO Tim Cook responded to the immigration executive order signed by Trump on Friday, which left refugees and immigrants stranded at airports around the country over the weekend. In a letter to employees, Cook said that Trump's order is "not a policy we support," and that the company has "reached out to the White House to explain the negative effect on our coworkers and our company."
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.
T-Mobile USA today introduced a limited time promotion offering customers a prepaid MasterCard with a new smartphone purchase starting February 1. The card is worth 11.2% of the smartphone's retail price, which T-Mobile advertises as covering more than the sales taxes that a customer would pay.
The deal is valid on every new smartphone that T-Mobile sells, including iPhones. Each smartphone must be activated with a T-Mobile ONE or Simple Choice Unlimited 4G LTE plan—up to 12 lines qualify for the deal. The prepaid MasterCard must be redeemed within 30 days and it will take 6-8 weeks to arrive.
Earlier this month, T-Mobile announced that the price of its T-Mobile ONE plan now includes sales taxes and all other additional charges. In other words, the price you see is the price you pay—that's $70 for the first line, $50 for the second line, and $20 for each additional line. AutoPay is required.
The carrier also launched a "Tax Rebate" promotion earlier this month. Every customer who switches to T-Mobile from another carrier will receive a $150 prepaid MasterCard, with no device trade-in required—up to 12 lines qualify for the deal. The promotion cannot be combined with Carrier Freedom.
A pair of drone videos covering the construction progress of Apple Campus 2 have been posted online recently, providing interested viewers with an ongoing glimpse into the construction on the campus, which is nearing completion in several sections as February approaches.
In Duncan Sinfield's drone video, workers are seen installing rocks within the inner fountain of the main "Spaceship" building. After months of construction, the fountain finally saw noticeable progress in the first drone video update of 2017, earlier in January.
Although construction is nearing completion, canopies still remain uninstalled on the windows of certain sections of the main building to provide easy crane access for workers. Elsewhere on the campus, the research and development facility is also approaching completion, greenery continues to sprout up around the site, including now over the underground tunnels, and solar panel installation continues on the roof of the campus.
Matthew Roberts' drone video estimates that solar panel progress is around 70 percent complete, while noting that most of the site is still filled with water and mud from the storms that hit the area in previous weeks. Finishing touches around the campus include a paved parking lot for the front of the R&D building, lamps lining the sidewalk behind the same building, and walkways forming around the campus.
Since the garages are complete, workers have also begun to use the structures to park when arriving at the site each day. Roberts' video notes that finishing touches are being put on some of the Spaceship's canopies, while the last section -- where the cranes are in place -- will be raised into place. The large retractable doors on the main atrium section of the building are also said to be looking "as good as ever," following glass installation back in November.
Fitbit is set to announce cuts of between 5 to 10 percent to its workforce later on Monday amid lower-than-expected fourth quarter results.
According to The Information, the job cuts are expected to affect between 80 and 160 people across multiple departments and save the company $200 million in costs. The Q4 results will be the second consecutive quarter in which Fitbit has missed its earnings guidance.
Fitbit is expected to blame the slowdown on a sluggish market, despite Market research data from September that showed a split in the wearables market, with Fitbit's "basic wearables" gaining popularity, and "smart wearables" like the Apple Watch seeing stalled growth.
Despite a portion of the market stalling out, the overall wearable device market was said to have grown 26.1 percent in comparison to the year ago quarter, with Fitbit the leading brand. Additionally, Fitbit's stock rose 7.4 percent on December 27, after reports that its app had become one of the most downloaded in the App Store on Christmas Day.
Fitbit's recent acquisition of Pebble and Vector Watch – along with its rumored interest in Jawbone – suggested the company was increasingly aligning itself with software rather than relying solely on hardware sales, and the reported layoffs could be another part of that plan. Indeed, one source told The Information that Fitbit is aiming to develop its own App Store and open up devices to third-party developers.
Whether Fitbit is planning to launch a more traditional smartwatch with a dedicated app store as part of those plans remains unclear.
Apple has allegedly begun removing iOS apps originating in Iran from the App Store, according to reports over the weekend. Tech news site Techrasa posted a story claiming that the biggest e-commerce service, Digikala, had its app removed from the store a few days ago (Via TechCrunch).
The removal appears to relate to international trade laws. No official App Store exists for Iran, so Iranian startups and developers often register their apps as being outside the country to get onto the store.
Apple has been allowing the Iranian apps onto the App Store since September 2016. Digikala runs the Shaparak payment system which is totally isolated from international systems, so in theory it would not contravene Apple's terms and conditions. Several Iranian banks also offer iOS apps that are side-loaded onto phones, notes TechCrunch.
The Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations issued by the U.S. Department of the Treasury puts blocks on the Iranian market, which is home to 82 million people, 40 million of which use smartphones. According to Techrasa, Apple has sent the following to Iranian startups attempting to upload apps:
"Unfortunately, there is no App Store available for the territory of Iran. Additionally, apps facilitating transactions for businesses or entities based in Iran may not comply with the Iranian Transactions Sanctions Regulations (31CFR Part 560) when hosted on the App Store. For these reasons, we are unable to accept your application at this time. We encourage you to resubmit your application once international trade laws are revised to allow this functionality."
It's still not clear exactly what part of the regulations the apps have contravened. We'll update this story if further details emerge in due course.
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.
Apple Maps has been updated with comprehensive transit data for the Houston, Texas metropolitan area, enabling iPhone users in the city and select Harris County suburbs to navigate using public transportation, including METRO buses and METRORail. Amtrak also goes through Houston, as previously supported by Apple Maps.
Apple introduced Transit in Maps as part of iOS 9 in select cities around the world, including Baltimore, Berlin, Boston, Chicago, London, Los Angeles, Mexico City, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Sydney, Toronto, and over 300 cities in China. The feature has its own tab in Apple Maps on iOS 10 for entering directions.
Transit routing continues to expand to several other cities, including Atlanta, Columbus, Dallas-Fort Worth, Denver, Honolulu, Kansas City, Melbourne, Miami, Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Montréal, Pittsburgh, Portland, Prague, Rio de Janeiro, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, San Diego, Seattle, Vancouver, and Victoria.
Last month, Apple expanded transit directions throughout Great Britain, beyond the London area already supported. The feature now works almost anywhere in England, Scotland, and Wales, such as Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle, Sheffield, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Bristol, Portsmouth, Nottingham, and Cardiff.
NRG Stadium in Houston will play host to Super Bowl LI between the Atlanta Falcons and New England Patriots on Sunday, February 5.
Three previously required iPhone customers to use its free Three inTouch app for Wi-Fi calling, but the carrier settings update released on Friday introduces system-level support for Wi-Fi calls and texts under Settings > Phone > Wi-Fi Calling.
We know that sometimes you can't get signal when you're indoors, but that shouldn't mean that you have to go off the grid. With Three inTouch Wi-Fi Calling, you can call and text whenever you're on Wi-Fi in the UK, even if there’s no mobile signal.
Three joins EE and Vodafone among carriers in the U.K. with native support for Wi-Fi calling on iPhones.
Apple has removed its Activation Lock status checker on iCloud.com at some point in the past few days. The tool enabled users to enter the serial number or IMEI of an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch and find out if the device is secured with Activation Lock, helping buyers avoid purchasing a device locked to another user.
An individual purchasing a used iPhone on eBay or another website, for example, was able to request the device's serial number and use Apple's tool to verify that Activation Lock had been turned off. If the device was still locked, or if the seller refused to provide the serial number, then it was likely lost or stolen.
How do I check for Activation Lock before purchasing a used device?
When you buy an iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or Apple Watch from someone other than Apple or an authorized Apple reseller, it is up to you to ensure that the device is erased and no longer linked to the previous owner’s account.
You can check the current Activation Lock status of a device when you visit icloud.com/activationlock from any Mac or PC.
Apple has not explained why it removed the page. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Activation Lock, enabled automatically when you turn on Find My iPhone, is designed to prevent anyone else from using your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or Apple Watch if it is ever lost or stolen. A device with Activation Lock enabled requires the owner's Apple ID and password before it can be used, even if it is erased or reactivated.
Last year, a number of users who purchased a brand new iPhone experienced an Activation Lock issue where their device was locked to someone else's Apple ID. Apple disabled Activation Lock for affected users upon being provided proof of purchase, but it is unclear if the strange issue factored into the page's removal.
Apple CEO Tim Cook today sent an email to employees speaking out against the immigration executive order that United States President Donald Trump signed yesterday afternoon. In the letter, shared with MacRumors by an Apple employee, Cook says Trump's order is "not a policy we support."
Cook goes on to say that Apple's HR, Legal and Security teams are in contact with all Apple employees who are affected, and he says Apple has "reached out" to the White House to "explain the negative effect" on the company. Cook's full letter is below:
Team,
In my conversations with officials here in Washington this week, I've made it clear that Apple believes deeply in the importance of immigration -- both to our company and to our nation's future. Apple would not exist without immigration, let alone thrive and innovate the way we do.
I've heard from many of you who are deeply concerned about the executive order issued yesterday restricting immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries. I share your concerns. It is not a policy we support.
There are employees at Apple who are directly affected by yesterday's immigration order. Our HR, Legal and Security teams are in contact with them, and Apple will do everything we can to support them. We're providing resources on AppleWeb for anyone with questions or concerns about immigration policies. And we have reached out to the White House to explain the negative effect on our coworkers and our company.
As I've said many times, diversity makes our team stronger. And if there's one thing I know about the people at Apple, it's the depth of our empathy and support for one another. It's as important now as it's ever been, and it will not weaken one bit. I know I can count on all of you to make sure everyone at Apple feels welcome, respected and valued.
Apple is open. Open to everyone, no matter where they come from, which language they speak, who they love or how they worship. Our employees represent the finest talent in the world, and our team hails from every corner of the globe.
In the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, "We may have all come on different ships, but we are in the same boat now."
Tim
Cook's letter addresses the immigration executive order signed by Trump on Friday, which suspends entry of all refugees to the United States for a total of 120 days, bans Syrian refugees for an indeterminate amount of time, and blocks citizens of seven countries (Iraq, Iran, Somalia, Sudan, Libya, Syria, and Yemen) from entering the United States for 90 days. The order has left immigrants stranded at airports around the country and has sparked panic and outrage among tech companies with affected employees.
The letter comes after Cook spent a week in Washington, where he met with Utah senator Orrin Hatch to discuss the economy and tech industry and had dinner with Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner. While Cook did not meet with President Trump during the trip, back in December, he and several other tech leaders like Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, and Tesla CEO Elon Musk sat down with Trump to discuss a range of topics including trade and immigration.
Though Apple has butted heads with Trump over the past few months after Trump suggested he would force the company to build its products in the United States instead of overseas, Cook explained to employees that he attended the summit to "influence these issues" because "being on the sideline" is not "a successful place to be."
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.
Today marks the beginning of the Chinese Lunar New Year, and to celebrate the Year of the Rooster, Google has teamed up with 12 museums from Beijing to Washington to create a new online exhibition that can be visited through the Google Arts & Culture iOS app.
Across Asia and around the world, families are coming together, houses and neighborhoods are being dressed up in red and traditional lanterns are being hung. If you're still wondering about what the fireworks are all about, Google Arts & Culture is here to help you learn more about this centuries-old tradition.
Titled 'Arts of the New Moon', the exhibition features rich video and interactive graphics to showcase a range of arts and crafts connected to the ancient tradition, taking in ancient calligraphy, contemporary painting, performing arts, woodblock prints, and more.
The app includes Google Cardboard-compatible VR portals to explore iconic places, like the Ge Garden in Yangzhou and the Fukuoka Asian Art Museum in Japan. Elsewhere, users can follow the zodiac animals across 1,000 years of art history, and kids can play New Year-themed games starring the Red Rooster.
Also to be found are interesting facts about the Lunar New Year, with a special lesson on how to give and accept a traditional red envelope.
Apple CEO Tim Cook met with senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) on Friday afternoon to discuss topics like technology and economy, reports BuzzFeed.
Hatch, who is a member of the Judiciary Committee and leads the Senate Republican High-Tech Task Force, has met with Cook several times in the past and participated in Apple's ongoing encryption debate with the U.S. government, calling for a private Senate briefing with Apple attorney Ted Olson following the dismissal of the San Bernardino case.
During Friday's meeting, Hatch told BuzzFeed he and Cook talked about ways to grow the economy and the technology industry. They also spoke about Cook's trip to Utah in October, where Cook took part in a privacy-related Q&A session hosted by Hatch.
"During today's meeting with Apple CEO Tim Cook, we discussed ways to grow the economy and our tech industry, as well as his recent visit with me in Utah," Sen. Hatch said in an statement to BuzzFeed News. "Given the issues I work on as chairman of the Senate Republican High-Tech Task Force, it's especially useful to listen to innovators like Tim."
Cook, along with Apple's vice president of environment, policy, and social initiatives Lisa Jackson, also had dinner with Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, on Thursday evening. They dined at Italian restaurant Tosca, located near the White House, but it's not clear what was discussed.
Cook's meetings with Hatch, Trump, and Kushner follow a December tech summit that saw Cook and other leaders like Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, IBM CEO Ginny Rometty, and Tesla CEO Elon Musk meet with U.S. President Donald Trump to discuss topics like trade, immigration, and vocational education.
At the time, Cook told Apple employees he attended the tech summit with Trump because Apple plans to continue to focus on key areas like privacy, security, education, human rights, and combating climate change. "Personally, I've never found being on the sideline a successful place to be," he said. "The way that you influence these issues is to be in the arena."
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.
Nanoleaf started out in 2013 as small company offering a Kickstarter project for an energy efficient light bulb, which led to the launch of the HomeKit-enabled Nanoleaf Smarter Kit, a set of three standard-style bulbs connected by a hub.
Nanoleaf's first HomeKit accessory worked well but was rather ordinary, something that can't be said about its newest product, the Aurora Smarter Kit. Inspired by the aurora borealis phenomena, the Aurora is like no other HomeKit product -- or lighting product -- on the market.
Priced at $199, the Aurora Smarter Kit is a set of modular mood lights that can be arranged in hundreds of ways. Each triangle-shaped light can be set to a different color using the Aurora app, and movement patterns are used to create a dynamic lighting setup that's essentially interactive art.
Design and Setup
The Aurora Smarter Kit includes nine plastic triangles with LEDs in each corner, a main connector that plugs into one of the triangles and into a standard wall socket, adhesive strips, and connectors to connect and power each triangle.
While one triangle needs to be attached to the power source (which can power up to 30 triangles), the others triangles draw power through the main triangle using small plastic connector tabs that can be placed on any side of each individual triangle. That means the triangles can be arranged in an endless number of patterns, and triangles beyond the additional nine can be added to the design.
For this week's giveaway, we've teamed up with Grovemade to offer MacRumors readers a chance to win one of the company's wood iPhone cases and a matching dock. All of Grovemade's products, ranging from Apple accessories to desk sets, are made from high quality wood and leather, and everything matches.
Grovemade's docks, priced at $79, are made from wood and solid aluminum. Available in Walnut or Maple, the base of the dock is crafted from solid aluminum with a handmade wooden cap. An iPhone cable routes up through the aluminum base for charging purposes, and it's heavy enough that it's super stable on a desk.
Docks are available for all Apple iPhones from the iPhone 5 and later, and our giveaway winner will be able to choose the wood and size appropriate for their iPhone.
Grovemade offers four different iPhone case styles, ranging in price from $139 to $59. The Leather iPhone Wallet Case ($129-$139) features a frame carved from walnut or maple wood and covered with vegetable-tanned leather. It keeps the display safe from scratches and bumps but leaves the screen and all ports accessible.
The Leather Case ($109-$119) is a standard-style iPhone case with a wood frame and a backplate made from vegetable-tanned leather. Like the Wallet Case, the leather of the Leather Case will wear in and develop a unique look with use.
Grovemade also makes both a plain wood iPhone Case ($89 to $99) and a minimal iPhone Bumper, both designed to add minimal bulk while still protecting an iPhone. The iPhone Case uses a thin stick-on backplate combined with the iPhone Bumper to prevent dings and scratches.
All cases are available in Walnut or Maple wood and fit the iPhone 6 and later. Some of the cases are also available for the iPhone 5, 5s, and SE.
We're giving away one case and one dock to two MacRumors readers. To enter to win, use the Rafflecopter widget below and enter an email address. Email addresses will be used solely for contact purposes to reach the winner and send the prize. You can earn additional entries by subscribing to our weekly newsletter, subscribing to our YouTube channel, following us on Twitter, or visiting the MacRumorsFacebook page.
Due to the complexities of international laws regarding giveaways, only U.S. residents who are 18 years of age or older are eligible to enter. To offer feedback or get more information on the giveaway restrictions, please refer to our Site Feedback section, as that is where discussion of the rules will be redirected.
The contest will run from today (January 27) at 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time through 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time on February 3. The winners will be chosen randomly on February 3 and will be contacted by email. The winners will have 48 hours to respond and provide a shipping address before new winners are chosen.
Apple has been in the smart home market for over two years, having introduced its HomeKit framework in the fall of 2014 alongside iOS 8, but HomeKit has been slow to get off the ground because of the company's strict requirements.
Amazon, meanwhile, entered the smart home market somewhat later with its Alexa-enabled Echo in-home speaker officially launching in the summer of 2015, but Amazon's Echo already supports a wider range of products.
The difference between the two? Open and closed development, as explored by Reuters in a new article that details the different approaches that Amazon and Apple have taken when developing their smart home offerings.
Apple maintains strict control over its HomeKit platform, with a heavy focus on security and simplicity. Manufacturers who want to create a HomeKit product are required to use special HomeKit chips priced up to $2, along with specific WiFi and Bluetooth chips.
Bluetooth-enabled HomeKit products from Elgato
HomeKit devices have to be made in factories certified by Apple, and then have to be sent to Cupertino for rigorous testing, a process that can take three to five months and must be conducted in secret.
Amazon's process for smart home products that work with Alexa is much simpler, taking a matter of days to complete. Smart home companies simply need to write code and send it for Amazon to review -- that's it. No special chips, no secure factories, and no specific oversight. Companies can send a product to a third-party lab for testing to earn a specific "Works with Alexa" label, a process that is completed "within 10 days."
Amazon's Alexa-enabled Echo
As Reuters points out, while HomeKit doesn't work with as many products, it supports Bluetooth, is much more secure, and has a quicker setup process. Security, which Amazon can't promise, is a key differentiator between the two companies and a factor that could ultimately entice more consumers in the long run. A non-hackable smart home product like a door lock or a camera provides more peace of mind than quick compatibility.
Amazon acknowledges that unlike Apple, it can't guarantee the security of third-party devices. A company spokeswoman did note that sensitive commands like unlocking doors have an extra layer of security such as a voice-controlled PIN.
Reuters spoke with several HomeKit manufacturers, and all were satisfied with Apple's approach. "It makes for a better user experience," said Incipio senior engineer Ahmed Abdallah, speaking about HomeKit's ability to work offline. "They found issues with our product before we released it that we didn't find in our testing," said Nanoleaf CEO Gimmy Chu.
Amazon's simpler certification process has led to over 250 smart home products being certified to work with Alexa, while Apple has certified approximately 100 devices. Alexa-enabled devices have also been selling rapidly, with an estimated 10 million sales over the holiday season, while Apple's HomeKit sales are less clear.
Apple spokeswoman Trudy Muller said the company is leading the industry by being the first to integrate home automation into a major platform with iOS 10. "The number of HomeKit-compatible accessories continues to grow rapidly with many exciting solutions announced just this month," she said.
Apple is rumored to be ramping up its smart home efforts through a smart home hub that's similar to the Amazon Echo, with built-in Siri capabilities, a speaker, and a microphone, allowing it to be used for controlling smart home accessories.
For more detail on the lengths that Apple goes to in order to ensure that its HomeKit products are secure, make sure to read the full analysis over at Reuters.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Thursday published an Apple patent application for a "sublimator/vaporizer" invention, leading to sensational headlines suggesting Apple might release a vape or enter the vaping industry. In actuality—and this could go without saying—the invention is completely unrelated.
The patent instead relates to a semiconductor device fabrication process Apple uses to create chips for its devices. The application describes a canister that can be used to vaporize or sublimate a substance, which in Apple's case would be for delivering substances to a substrate during the deposition or etching process.
The patent's assigned inventor Tetsuya Ishikawa, a senior manager at Apple in the nanotechnology field, lists photolithography as one of his skills on his LinkedIn profile. He also holds several other patents related to semiconductor fabrication. So, in the end, it is pretty safe to say, no, Apple is not working on a vape.
Microsoft on Thursday reported a 5% increase in revenue from licensing Windows to PC makers as part of its latest quarterly earnings results.
In a subsequent conference call, Microsoft's chief financial officer Amy Hood said its "partner ecosystem continued to see growth and share gains in the Windows premium device category," according to Business Insider. The comment has been interpreted by some as Microsoft stepping up its game against the Mac.
Microsoft reportedly defines "premium devices" as computers that are in the $900-plus price range, which equates to the higher end of the market traditionally led by Apple products such as the MacBook Pro. By its own definition, this includes Microsoft's latest Surface Book and Surface Studio desktop.
Last month, Microsoft said "more people are switching from Macs to Surface than ever before" following "the disappointment of the new MacBook Pro." The company has not released actual sales numbers to back that claim, however, while Microsoft's latest results include licensing to all Windows PC vendors.
While research firm Gartner says the worldwide PC market continues to decline, Mac sales grew by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Lenovo, HP, and Dell, the top three vendors, saw an estimated 5.4%, 4.3%, and 1.6% growth respectively during the quarter as well, while Asus, Acer, and others faced declines, according to Gartner.
Apple has allegedly begun removing iOS apps originating in Iran from the App Store, according to reports over the weekend. Tech news site 
Apple CEO Tim Cook today sent an email to employees speaking out against the immigration executive order that United States President Donald Trump signed yesterday afternoon. In the letter, shared with MacRumors by an Apple employee, Cook says Trump's order is "not a policy we support."
