Apple today seeded the third beta of an upcoming watchOS 3.2 update to developers for testing purposes, two weeks after seeding the second watchOS 3.2 beta and nearly a month after the release of watchOS 3.1.3, the current public version of the operating system.
The watchOS 3.2 beta can be downloaded through the dedicated Apple Watch app on the iPhone by going to General --> Software Update after installing the proper configuration profile on the iPhone. To install the update, the Apple Watch must have 50 percent battery, it must be placed on the charger, and it must be in range of the iPhone.
watchOS 3.2 requires an iPhone running iOS 10 to install and will only be available to developers. Apple does not make watchOS betas available to the public as there is no way to downgrade the software on an Apple Watch.
watchOS 3.2 includes a "Theater Mode" designed to let customers quickly mute the sound on the Apple Watch and disable Raise to Wake, preventing the screen from lighting up with arm movement.
Theater Mode, originally introduced in watchOS 3.1.3, is being made available in watchOS 3.2. Customers are still able to receive haptic feedback-based notifications, and information can be viewed by either tapping the screen or pressing down on the Digital Crown.
watchOS 3.2 also brings SiriKit to the Apple Watch, allowing customers to ask Siri to do things like send messages, send payments, book a ride, log a workout, make a call, or search through photos. SiriKit has been available on iOS devices since the release of iOS 10, but is new to the Apple Watch.
Apple today seeded the third beta of an upcoming iOS 10.3 update to developers, two weeks after seeding the second beta of iOS 10.3 and more than a two months after the release of iOS 10.2, the last major update to the iOS 10 operating system.
Registered developers can download the third iOS 10.3 beta from the Apple Developer Center or over-the-air with the proper configuration profile installed.
iOS 10.3 is a major update, introducing several new features and changes to the iOS 10 operating system. The biggest new consumer-facing feature is "Find My AirPods," which is designed to help AirPods owners locate a lost earphone. Find My AirPods records the last known location of when an AirPod was connected to an iOS device via Bluetooth and can play a sound on a lost AirPod.
Apple's latest update also introduces a new Apple File System (APFS), installed when an iOS device is updated to iOS 10.3. APFS is optimized for flash/SSD storage and includes features like strong encryption.
Apple plans to introduce some App Store changes in iOS 10.3, allowing developers to respond to customer reviews for the first time. iOS users are also able to label reviews in the App Store as "Helpful" or "Not Helpful," which should help surface the most relevant review content.
Apple also plans to limit the number of times developers can ask for a review, allow customers to leave app reviews without exiting an app, and provide a "master switch" that will let users turn off all app review request prompts (said to be included in beta 2).
Also new in iOS 10.3 is a redesigned app open/close animation, an Apple ID profile in Settings, a better breakdown of iCloud storage usage, improvements to SiriKit, and more. For a full rundown of the changes introduced in the first beta, make sure to check out our dedicated "What's New" post.
What's new in iOS 10.3 beta 3:
App Compatibility - In the Settings app, there's a new "App Compatibility" section that lists apps that may not work with a future version of iOS. Tapping on one of the apps opens it up in the App Store so you can see when it was last updated. As has been discovered in previous betas, opening one of these apps on your iOS device pops up a warning with a similar non-compatible statement. App Compatibility can be accessed by opening the Settings app and choosing General --> About. From there, scroll down to "Applications" and tap it.
Following in the footsteps of Snapchat and Instagram, Facebook-owned WhatsApp today announced the launch of "Status," a new feature that's designed to let users share videos, photos, and GIFs that expire each day.
The Status addition to WhatsApp is essentially identical to the "Stories" feature in Instagram and Snapchat, both of which allow users to share daily life updates with friends and family that expire after 24 hours.
With WhatsApp Status, WhatsApp users can use the in-app camera to share photos or videos that can be annotated with emoji, text snippets, and drawings. Status updates can be shared with all contacts, rather than just individuals or specific groups, but there are also options to choose who is able to see what.
Through the new Status tab, WhatsApp users can view all of the updates that their address book contacts have shared on the app and reply privately to updates. All Status updates expire after a 24 hour period.
WhatsApp is launching Status to celebrate its eighth anniversary. The new feature is rolling out to WhatsApp users starting today and should be available soon for all iPhone, Android, and Windows Phone users.
Apple will host a March event to introduce a new iPad Pro lineup and other products, according to Japanese website Mac Otakara.
In terms of the iPad Pro lineup, the report claims Apple will announce new 7.9-inch, 9.7-inch, 10.5-inch, and 12.9-inch models. The 10.5-inch model may not ship until May, while the other sizes are said to ship in March.
If the report is accurate, it would suggest Apple plans to refresh the iPad mini 4 with a new 7.9-inch iPad Pro model, update its existing 9.7-inch iPad Pro and 12.9-inch iPad Pro models, and introduce an all-new 10.5-inch iPad Pro, which is rumored to feature a narrow bezel design, possibly without a Home button.
Mac Otakara previously said the 10.9-inch iPad Pro—it now says 10.5-inch—will have the same overall footprint as the current 9.7-inch iPad Pro thanks to its narrow bezel design. The earlier report said the top bezel will remain in order to provide space for the front-facing FaceTime camera, but it will likely be slimmer.
The blog also previously said the 12.9-inch iPad Pro will feature a 12-megapixel rear camera and True Tone display like the current 9.7-inch model, using advanced four-channel ambient light sensors to automatically adapt the color and intensity of the display to match the light in the surrounding environment.
Meanwhile, it said the 7.9-inch iPad Pro will feature a Smart Connector, True Tone display, four speakers, and a 12-megapixel rear-facing iSight camera with True Tone flash, as Apple works to standardize features across its tablet lineup. All new iPad Pro models will reportedly gain quad microphones as well.
Three months ago, Barclays analysts predicted Apple will release a trio of new iPad Pro models in March, including 9.7-inch, 12.9-inch, and edge-to-edge 10.9-inch models, but not a 7.9-inch iPad Pro. Instead, their research note said Apple will continue to produce and sell the iPad mini 4, released in September 2015.
KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has likewise said Apple is planning a new 9.7-inch, 10.5-inch, and 12.9-inch iPad Pro lineup for 2017. He did not mention a 7.9-inch model. He said the 10.5-inch and 12.9-inch models are likely to feature a faster Apple A10X processor, while the "low-cost" 9.7-inch model will sport an A9X chip.
DigiTimesexpects a 10.5-inch iPad Pro as well, making that four separate sources reporting similar. The math checks out too: the width of a 10.5-inch iPad Pro would match the height of the iPad mini screen, while it would have the same resolution as the 12.9-inch model and the same pixel density as the iPad mini.
Today's report also claims Apple may add a 128GB storage option for the iPhone SE, alongside the smartphone's existing 16GB and 64GB capacities, and add a new red color—(PRODUCT)RED?—option for the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. The blog previously said the red color would be for the iPhone 7s and iPhone 7s Plus.
After debuting exclusively inside special pop-up vending machines last year, Snapchat has today begun selling its video-recording Spectacles online for $129.99. Like in the vending machines, the Spectacles come in Coral, Black and Teal, and include a charging case and cable. At the time of writing, shipping estimates sit at a delivery time within the next 2-4 weeks.
Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel said that the response to the Spectacles has been positive ever since the vending machines began appearing in California and New York. But, as TechCrunch uncovered in Snap's IPO filing, the company mentioned that "the launch of Spectacles . . . has not generated significant revenue for us." The filing further stated: "We expect to experience production and operating costs related to Spectacles that will exceed the related revenue in the near future."
“As Evan shared in his interview with the WSJ, when we launched, the idea was : ‘We’re going to take a slow approach to rolling them out,’ says Spiegel. ‘It’s about us figuring out if it fits into people’s lives and seeing how they like it.’ Response has been positive since November’s launch so we’re now happy to be able to make Spectacles more readily available — especially for those in the US who have not been able to make it to a Snapbot.”
When synced with the Snapchat mobile app, users can tap a button on Spectacles to begin recording a ten-second video, which is saved in the "Memories" section of the app and can be revisited and posted to their Story. Even though distribution has been added online, Snapchat said that customers can still expect the vending machines to appear at random new locations in the future, after they have a "brief nap."
Disney Research has constructed a prototype living room with "ubiquitous wireless power delivery," allowing users to move around while their technology charges without any cables, wires, or charging pads (via Ars Technica). Disney's technology mirrors some early rumors for the 2017 iPhone 8, which suggested Apple was building a long-range wireless charging solution instead of the Apple Watch-style inductive charging solution of more recent reports.
The room's walls, ceiling, and floor were built with aluminum panels, and a large copper pipe was placed in its center. The middle of the pipe was cut out and in the gap the researchers placed fifteen capacitors, "and it's those capacitors that set the electromagnetic frequency of the structure, and can find the electric fields."
To generate the power that is relayed into the room, a signal generator sits just outside the prototype living room and outputs a 1.32MHz signal to the capacitors in the pole, producing what the researchers call "quasistatic cavity resonance."
"In this work we're demonstrating room-scale wireless power, but there's no reason we couldn't shrink this down to the size of a toy box or a charging chest, or scale up to a warehouse or a large building."
Given that it's still a very early prototype, there's a few caveats to Disney's wireless charger, including the limit on the power that can be pumped into the room before it reaches dangerous levels for humans. The specific absorption rate, a measure of how much energy can be absorbed by the human body, is capped at 1900 watts. The copper pole at the room's center requires the nearest person to have at least 46 centimeters of clearance before they're put in danger. Besides these restrictions, Disney says it's "completely safe" for anyone to occupy the room for any period of time.
In order for the devices to receive the charging signal, Disney had to design a receiver that allowed the researchers to "power many devices simultaneously." Including an iPhone, the other objects included an RC car, a fan, a lamp, and six other devices. Although the technology is still nascent and the receiver is bulky, Disney's "Volumetric Wireless Power for Livable Spaces" is an interesting look at what future wireless charging systems might be able to accomplish without the restrictions of the inductive charging pads popular today.
Because of the restrictions of charging mats, Apple's Phil Schiller has said in the past that the introduction of a wireless charging pad for iPhone would actually be "more complicated" and he remained unconvinced that it was actually a convenient solution to traditional outlet and USB cable charging. Still, a prominent rumor for the iPhone 8 is its inclusion of wireless charging in some form, with Apple recently joining the Wireless Power Consortium in order to assist in the open development of the Qi wireless charging standard.
Read more about Disney's findings here, and check out another video that dives deep into the science behind the researcher's wireless charging living room.
Apple is the fifth most reputable major company active in the U.S. according to an annual poll that gauges public perception of 100 consumer brands (via The Korea Herald).
The Reputation Quotient Ratings from the 2017 Harris Poll are based on an online survey completed by over 30,000 adults in the U.S. The survey analyzes brand reputation across six gauges: social responsibility, vision and leadership, financial performance, products and services, workplace environment, and emotional appeal.
The Reputation Quotient Ratings saw Apple fall three places from the previous year, losing ground to Wegmans, Publix Super Markets, and Johnson & Johnson. Amazon meanwhile maintained its 2016 position at the top of the table, but the effects of the exploding Note7 phone debacle saw Samsung slump to 49th after last year ranking at seventh.
Other companies in the top ten include Google, which slipped from fifth in 2016 to eighth, and Tesla Motors, which was not included in last year’s rankings. Netflix and Microsoft both ranked in the top 20 (18th and 20th, respectively), with Facebook sitting at 66th.
According to Harris Polls, the biggest risks to a company's reputation are illegal actions by corporate leaders and lies about products or services. The poll was carried out between November 28 and December 16 of last year, so just before Consumer Reports denied Apple's new MacBook Pro line-up a buyer recommendation, based on perceived battery life issues. Consumer Reports later revisited the issues with Apple's input, and ultimately decided to award the laptops a recommendation in January.
Samsung meanwhile will be eager to resuscitate its brand in 2017 after some of its Galaxy Note7 phones caught fire, leading to the discontinuation of the model in October. However, the company had a setback last week when Samsung chief Lee Jae-yong was arrested over his alleged role in an influence-peddling scandal that has led to the South Korean president's impeachment.
Shares in Taiwanese iPhone assembler Foxconn have reached decade-year highs over growing optimism about Apple's upcoming iPhone 8, due to launch in 2017.
According to a new Bloomberg report, Hon Hai Precision Industry – better known as Foxconn – has gained 29 percent in the last year on high expectations for Apple's 10th anniversary iPhone, which has helped the Apple supplier defy a flat mobile market.
Apple, which accounts for half the company's revenue, played a pivotal role in the stock’s recent buoyancy. The U.S. company this month reported stronger-than-expected iPhone sales during the key holiday quarter.
While the iPhone 7, introduced in September, failed to convince as many existing customers to upgrade as its predecessor, it did attract new smartphone buyers. That bodes well for the iPhone slated for later this year.
Apple is expected to launch a radically redesigned iPhone this year. The phone is believed to include a glass body, wireless charging, and potentially an edge-to-edge OLED display that integrates a front-facing camera with facial recognition and touch sensors for fingerprint identification. Foxconn may also end up assembling upgraded (but standard) 4.7 and 5.5-inch iPhones alongside the redesigned handset.
Investors hope the iPhone 8 line-up will provide a boost to a stalling industry, with Foxconn reportedly grappling with the slowdown. According to an average of analysts' estimates compiled by Bloomberg, revenue is projected to slip about 3 percent in 2016, and net income will be down 13 percent. However, earnings growth could rebound to 12.2 percent this year.
In addition to the 10th anniversary iPhone boost, Foxconn is said to be considering building a $7 billion display-making facility in the U.S. Japanese company Sharp is reportedly "taking the lead" on the proposed U.S. site and has set aside $1.8 billion to developing facilities for making OLED displays – the same technology Apple is expected to adopt in future iPhones.
Apple is expected to introduce the iPhone 8 in the fall, with claims of a launch as early as this summer likely based on reports that Apple will ramp up production early, although this may only be to improve yield rates, work out manufacturing issues, and ensure better supplies for a September release.
A number of Mac apps failed to launch for users over the weekend because of a change to the way Apple certifies apps that have not been bought directly from the Mac App Store.
Several users of apps including Soulver and PDFPen who had downloaded the apps from the developers' websites all reported immediate crashes on launch. Developers of the apps quickly apologized and said that the issue was down to the apps' code signing certificates reaching their expiration date.
Apple issues developer signing certificates to assure users that an app they have downloaded outside of the Mac App Store is legitimate, comes from a known source, and hasn't been modified since it was last signed. In the past, the expiration of a code signing certificate had no effect on already shipped software, but that changed last year, when Apple began requiring apps to carry something called a provisioning profile.
A provisioning profile tells macOS that the app has been checked by Apple against an online database and is allowed to perform certain system actions or "entitlements". However, the profile is also signed using the developer's code signing certificate, and when the certificate expires, the provisioning profile becomes invalid.
Victims of expired provisioning profiles over the weekend included users of 1Password for Mac who had bought the app from the developer's website. AgileBits explained on Sunday that affected users would need to manually update to the latest version (6.5.5), noting that those who downloaded 1Password from the Mac App Store were unaffected. The developers' surprise was explained in a blog post:
We knew our developer certificate was going to expire on Saturday, but thought nothing of it because we believed those were only necessary when publishing a new version. Apparently that's not the case. In reality it had the unexpected side effect of causing macOS to refuse to launch 1Password properly.
Currently, the common factor among affected apps appears to be those that were issued iCloud entitlements as part of their provisioning profile. Smile, developers of PDFpen and PDFpenPro, told TidBITS that users would need to manually download the latest updates to the apps to fix the problem.
Acqualia, developers of number-crunching app Soulver, also apologized for the problem and asked affected users to download an update to fix the issue.
As the above suggests, the immediate solution for developers with potentially affected apps is to renew their code signing certificates before they expire. AgileBits said the incident had given them "a new understanding of the importance of expiring provisioning profiles and certificates" and would be renewing its current certificate, due to expire in 2022, "far before then".
Apple's shift towards regionally-focused digital and social media campaigns, and away from translating broader TV-focused campaigns for global markets, has led to layoffs and reorganizational efforts at its longtime global advertising partner TBWA\Media Arts Lab, according to Adweek.
The agency's translation and transcreation teams were naturally among those hardest hit by the downsizing, the report claims. The exact number of employees laid off was not revealed, but the staff reductions are said to have occurred at TBWA's Los Angeles headquarters and other offices around the world.
Nevertheless, the report said TBWA expanded other departments, most prominently digital and social media. The agency said its new operating model will allow it to "keep pace with the way people consume media and content," which increasingly involves platforms such as Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, and YouTube.
“TBWA\Media Arts Lab is reorganizing and introducing a new operating model to keep pace with the way people consume media and content,” an agency spokesperson told Adweek. “This will result in a reduction in areas such as localization and further investment in areas such as digital, social, data analytics, content creation and a more diverse set of strategic skills. We will also have greater integration with media partners at OMD.”
A recent example of Apple's regional work is "Meu Bloco na Rua," a Brazilian Carnival-focused video promoting Portrait Mode on iPhone 7 Plus. Apple shared the 90-second spot on its YouTube account in Brazil last week ahead of the Carnival beginning on the afternoon of February 24.
Apple has also shared an increasing number of social-friendly 15-second ads on YouTube for products such as the iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods. Just two days ago, Apple launched a series of new ads in which it promotes the iPad Pro and its features by responding to real tweets printed on large posters.
Apple will continue to work with TBWA\Media Arts Lab in tandem with its growing in-house marketing team, the report said.
Apple has bought Israeli startup RealFace, a cybersecurity and machine learning firm specializing in facial recognition technology.
The Times of Israel reported on Sunday that the Tel Aviv-based company, founded in 2014, was snapped up by Apple for an estimated $2 million, while Hebrew-language Calcalist said the deal was worth "several million dollars".
RealFace's website is currently offline, but according to promotional material, the startup had developed a unique facial recognition technology that integrates artificial intelligence and "brings back human perception to digital processes". RealFace's software is said to use proprietary IP in the field of "frictionless face recognition" that allows for rapid learning from facial features.
The Israeli startup also developed a now-defunct app called Pickeez, which selected and collated a user's best photos across various platforms using the RealFace recognition software.
Demo of RealFace's face recognition software
According to iPhone 8 rumors, Apple may ditch Touch ID along with the physical home button, in favor of a facial recognition-capable front-facing 3D laser scanner, although with the RealFace acquisition coming at such a late time, it's unlikely that the any of the startup's technology will feature.
RealFace is the fourth Israel-based firm Apple is known to have acquired. In 2011 it bought flash memory maker Anobit for a reported $400 million, then in November 2013 it acquired 3D sensor company PrimeSense for an estimated $345 million. Most recently in 2015, Apple bought LinX for around $20 million.
Developers at U.S. digital consultancy Rain have created a little-known app called Reverb that allows users to access Amazon's Alexa virtual assistant from their Mac desktop or iOS device.
Launching the free Mac app prompts users to sign in to their Amazon account, after which a window opens showing the familiar blue Alexa ring on the desktop. Click and hold on the ring with the mouse cursor, and provided an internet connection is active, the virtual assistant listens and responds to the sort of spoken questions and commands usually directed at Amazon's Echo range of smart speakers.
The iOS app works similarly, and the latest version of Reverb uses Alexa v2, which adds support for news flashes, timers, alarms, long form audio, audiobooks, and more. It can also interact with smart devices that are compatible with Alexa, such as lights, switches, and thermostats compatible with Samsung SmartThings, WeMo, Philips Hue, and others. The only Alexa service Reverb does not support is playing music, due to restrictions Amazon has placed on using Amazon Music in apps.
In addition to the above, users can enable third-party skills through the app with a simple voice command – "Enable Bird Songs", for example. In testing, the Mac app also responded to new skills enabled through Amazon's Alexa iOS app, which officially supports and integrates with the Reverb app for iOS.
The apps provide a convenient solution for Echo owners wishing to make Alexa available in, say, their office room or study, without having to buy an additional supporting device. It also offers prospective Echo buyers an opportunity to test the service prior to making a purchase, and at the very least gives curious Mac users a chance to compare Alexa's and Siri's smarts side by side on their desktop.
Apple is currently promoting interactive children's storybook Green Riding Hood as its Free App of the Week on the iOS App Store. Notable for its hand-drawn artwork, the app by Bobaka introduces kids of ages 5 and under to a healthy lifestyle in a cheery spin-off of the original folk tale.
The "organic fairytale" revolves around the bucolic daily life and escapades of a little girl, her grandma, a host of cute-looking animal friends, and a hungry wolf, but parents can rest assured, no-one gets eaten. Apple's App Store editors have this to say:
Recasting Grandma as an herbal tea-sipping yoga teacher is just one of the fun ways this gorgeous storybook encourages kids to develop healthy habits. (You'll love Bobaka's take on the big, not-so-bad Wolf, too.) We're having a ball exploring each interactive page, and the app's tasty vegetarian recipes make great projects for the whole family.
Alongside the friendly narrative elements and grandma's cookbook, Green Riding Hood features a series of mini games to keep kids engaged and a voiceover by Scottish actor Alistair Findlay, known for roles in such movies as Highlander and In the Name of the Father, as well as for narration in the acclaimed Nighty Night HD series of kids' apps.
Usually $2.99, Green Riding Hood supports multiple languages and is currently a free download for iPhone and iPad available on the App Store. [Direct Link]
Apple has fallen to fifth place in China's booming smartphone market, where combined sales reached 131.6 million units in the fourth quarter of 2016, accounting for nearly a third of worldwide shipments. The Q4 figure confirmed the highest ever annual amount of smartphones sold in China, according to market research firm Canalys, with shipments for the year reaching 476.5 million units, rising 11.4 percent from 2015 levels.
Huawei shipments of 76.2 million units took the top spot in China's smartphone market in 2016, followed by Oppo with 73.2 million units and Vivo with 63.2 million. Apple meanwhile shipped 43.8 million units, down 18.2 percent year on year, influencing the company's 7 percent decline in global shipments compared to 2015. Apple also lost fourth place to Xiaomi, despite the Chinese maker also experiencing declines in the country.
Xiaomi became number four in the China smartphone market, while Apple fell to fifth place. Xiaomi shipped a total of 51.4 million units of smartphones with a 21 percent year-on-year decline, while its market share decreased from 15.2 percent in 2015 to 10.7 percent in 2016, the lowest since 2013. Apple shipped 43.8 million units of iPhones throughout the year, a year-on-year decrease of 18.2 percent.
Huawei's success in China continued apace on the strength of its flagship products, said Canalys research analyst Jessie Ding. "While Apple, Samsung and Xiaomi are all in the process of adjusting their strategies in China, Huawei took the opportunity to consolidate its position in the tier-1 and -2 cities." The lull also allowed Huawei to attack Oppo and Vivo's backyard "in tier-three and tier-four cities," Ding noted.
Last year Apple experienced its first ever year-over-year decline in the Chinese smartphone market, with the company's phones continuing to be outpaced by cheaper alternatives and the iPhone 7 failing to kick up a frenzy among consumers compared to previous launches, according to analysts.
Apple faced a similar story at the beginning of the current year. Despite recording record results, Apple's Q1 2017 earnings call revealed revenue was down 8 percent in China, but CEO Tim Cook claimed half of that decline was down to currency devaluation. Cook said that while China was "not without challenges", he remained "encouraged by improvements" going into the second quarter.
Analysts have previously suggested that Apple's decline in China has been compounded by loyal users taking a year off upgrading in 2016 in anticipation of 2017's "iPhone 8". If so, Apple's success there depends on whether the upcoming phone can live up to the hype.
"China and Hong Kong are still the hardest-hit areas in Apple's global top ten market," according to Ding. "The outlook remains bleak for Apple to get its China performance back to its heyday of 2015. As with consumers in other developed markets, China's consumers are awaiting the 10th anniversary of the iPhone with very high expectations."
A future version of the iPhone could use a customized wireless charging system created in partnership with Broadcom, according to JPMorgan analyst Harlan Sur (via CNBC).
While Apple and Broadcom have reportedly been working together on a wireless charging solution for approximately two years, Sur is not sure whether the feature will be included in the 2017 iPhone due to "caution around the battery-related recall" of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7.
Despite Harlan's caution, the upcoming 2017 "iPhone 8" is widely rumored to include some kind of wireless charging solution, but details on how it is being implemented and whether or not Apple is working with a partner like Broadcom remain unknown at this time.
Past rumors have suggested wireless charging partnerships and supplier deals with Lite-On Semiconductor, MediaTek, Foxconn, Pegatron, and Luxshare, making it difficult to suss out Apple's wireless charging plans.
Harlan's research note also echoes previous rumors pointing towards a glass body for future iPhones, which many analysts believe is being implemented to facilitate wireless charging.
"We believe the glass back cover is conducive to wireless charging as it reduces signal interference versus a metal casing," Sur wrote. "It is possible for Apple to add proprietary features such as fast charging or extended charging to differentiate itself from the pack and enhance the value of its own hardware ecosystem."
Early wireless charging rumors suggested Apple would use a long-range wireless charging solution, but more recent speculation suggests the company may instead opt for an Apple Watch-style inductive charging solution. A glass body, as is rumored, would be necessary for an inductive charging option, and Apple also recently joined the Wireless Power Consortium, a group committed to the open development of the Qi wireless charging standard used in devices like the Samsung Galaxy.
Along with wireless charging, Apple's 2017 iPhone is rumored to include a radical redesign, featuring the aforementioned glass body and an edge-to-edge ~5-inch OLED display that eliminates the device's Home button. Rumors suggest this device will be positioned as a high-end "premium" model that could cost upwards of $1,000, and most sources believe it will be sold alongside two more affordable 4.7 and 5.5-inch devices that resemble the iPhone 7 and the iPhone 7 Plus.
Rumors disagree on exactly what material the two regular-sized devices will be made from, and whether or not they will include wireless charging as well.
For full details on what to expect from the flagship OLED iPhone 8 and its two companion devices, make sure to check out our dedicated iPhone 8 roundup, which is updated regularly with new rumors.
Sprint parent company SoftBank is prepared to sell Sprint to T-Mobile parent company Deutsche Telekom, reviving a potential merger between the two companies, reports Reuters.
According to unnamed sources that spoke to the site, SoftBank is reportedly frustrated with Sprint's growth in the United States and is ready to surrender control of the company and take a minority stake in T-Mobile.
Back in 2013, before T-Mobile soared in popularity, the situation was reversed. Sprint was prepared to purchase T-Mobile in a deal said to be worth more than $20 billion, but Sprint abandoned its plans in 2014 amid regulatory scrutiny, deciding that it would be too difficult to win approval from regulators.
At the time, U.S. antitrust officials reportedly told Sprint that having four national carriers in the United States was important to maintaining a competitive market. AT&T also once attempted to purchase T-Mobile, but that deal fell through too after being blocked by the Federal Communications Commission and the Department of Justice.
Given T-Mobile's recent success, Deutsche Telekom is no longer interested in selling the company, leaving SoftBank to pursue another merger strategy.
Sprint and T-Mobile will likely face the same regulatory scrutiny if a potential purchase deal is reached between the two.
Investors have said a merger between T-Mobile and Sprint, ranked third and fourth respectively, would still face antitrust challenges, but made strategic sense as the industry moves to fifth-generation wireless technology. Carriers will need to spend billions of dollars to upgrade to 5G networks that promise to be 10 times to 100 times faster than current speeds.
While SoftBank is still open to discussing other options, it is now willing to surrender control of Sprint and retain a minority stake in a merger with T-Mobile, the sources said. They asked not to be identified because the deliberations are confidential.
The two companies have not yet started to discuss a deal because of strict anti-collusion rules that are in place during an ongoing spectrum auction. The auction, which is being overseen by the FCC, ends on March 30, and negotiations are expected to begin at that time.
For this week's giveaway, we've teamed up with Cozy Industries to offer MacRumors readers a chance to win a PencilCozy-S stylus cap for the Apple Pencil.
The PencilCozy-S, designed to attach to the end of an Apple Pencil, serves multiple purposes. It makes sure the Apple Pencil's end cap is never lost when charging, and it also serves as a dedicated stylus that can be used right alongside the tip of the Apple Pencil.
The band of the PencilCozy-S slides over the body of the Apple Pencil, while the cap portion fits onto the Apple Pencil cap, keeping the two pieces attached. It might seem counterintuitive to put a stylus cap on the Apple Pencil, but it can be used on any iOS device in any app, and is not limited to the iPad Pro. There's one other added bonus -- it prevents your Apple Pencil from rolling off of a flat surface.
According to Cozy Industries, the PencilCozy-S took 11 revisions to get the ideal texture for the best possible stylus experience. It's designed from a proprietary silicone blend that's meant to be supple enough for writing and drawing but durable enough to stand up to being tossed in a bag.
At $8.99, the PencilCozy-S is a solid deal, especially because it also ships with a rare earth magnet cap in case you lose your original cap, plus it has a LightningCozy that's designed to attach your Apple Pencil Lightning adapter to a Lightning cable so it's never lost.
We're giving away 25 PencilCozy-S accessories to 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 (February 17) at 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time through 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time on February 24. The winners will be chosen randomly on February 24 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 today shared four new iPad Pro ads on its YouTube channel, which are focused on highlighting the features of the tablet and pointing out its benefits over a computer.
Each of the four ads is 16 seconds in length and starts out with a tweet a user has shared, either about the iPad Pro itself or a situation where an iPad Pro would be useful.
The first video opens with a person holding up a printed tweet that reads "An iPad Pro is not even close to being a computer." Apple's voiceover explains the benefits of the iPad Pro, pointing out LTE, the touchscreen that supports the Apple Pencil, and its speed.
Well, iPad Pro isn't a computer. It's actually faster than most laptops, has LTE like your phone, and a touchscreen you can write on. So you're kind of right.
The second video also focuses on the iPad Pro's LTE functionality, allowing users to get cellular service anywhere, while the third video points out that Microsoft Word is available on the device.
Apple's final video focuses on viruses, starting out with the tweet "My laptop has the nastiest virus and I'm terrified" and going on to explain that the iPad Pro doesn't get viruses.
Yeah, that is scary. You know an iPad Pro doesn't get PC viruses. So relax. There's nothing to be afraid of. EXCEPT GHOSTS!
All four of the videos use real tweets from real people, but Apple uses actors in the videos to hold up the signs and do the voiceovers. This is a new iPad Pro ad campaign for Apple, but it is similar to past iPad Pro ads the company has shared, which have also highlighted features like the touchscreen, Apple Pencil, multitasking, Smart Keyboard, and more.
Today's ads come as Apple is rumored to be preparing to launch an updated iPad Pro. Rumors suggest the device will have an upgraded processor and a new design with an edge-to-edge display. The refreshed tablet is rumored to be coming as soon as March, but it's not yet quite clear exactly when we'll see it.
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Biggest design overhaul since iOS 7 with Liquid Glass, plus new Apple Intelligence features and improvements to Messages, Phone, Safari, Shortcuts, and more. Developer beta available now ahead of public beta in July.
