MacRumors

Snapchat's video-recording Spectacles became available to buy in the U.S. on Thursday, not online or in stores, but from pop-up vending machines.

Called 'Snapbots', the giant vending machines will dispense the Spectacles in either Black, Coral or Teal, and allow customers to try them on virtually using a built-in augmented reality display.

For those unfamiliar with Snapchat's first hardware product, the $129 Spectacles are a one-size-fits-all pair of sunglasses that can record 10 seconds of video at a time and sync wirelessly with the mobile Snapchat app, which was updated on Tuesday.

According to Recode, Snapchat plans to deposit the machines "soon" throughout the U.S., with the first machine appearing in Venice Beach, California. Reminiscent of Snapchat, the machines will only remain in one location for a day before being removed. The company said it will announce new Snapbot locations 24 hours before they appear, via the "Find a Bot" map on the Spectacles website.

Upon discovering a bot, customers press one of the large circular buttons to 'try on' their chosen color of sunglasses, after which they must insert a debit or credit card to purchase. About 10 seconds passes as the transaction is processed, before the Bot's mouth lights up and the spectacles are dispensed along with a receipt.

Snapchat, now dubbed Snap, has been developing the Spectacles for years and considers them "a toy" best used at concerts and outdoor events. Snap CEO Evan Spiegel said the limited-distribution product was made "because it's fun" and the company wants people to figure out if the glasses fit into their lives.

Apple has quietly introduced a new tvOS app for kids called "iBooks Storytime," designed to allow children to read along with interactive books on their television sets.

iBooks Storytime features a selection of children's books from the iBooks Store that feature Read-Along capabilities. Read-Along books are audio-enhanced with different character voices, vivid sound effects, and word-for-word narration that children can follow along with.

Parents can purchase Read-Aloud books chosen by App Store editors directly from the Apple TV and control the voice narration with the Siri Remote or turn on an automatic reading feature.

Some of the Read-Along titles include Lava, based on the Pixar short film, Green Eggs and Ham, Meet Tracker, The ABCs of Cookies, The Little Red Hen,
and Goodnight Moon. Apple is offering Dora's Big Buddy Race Read-Along Storybook as a free title for testing the feature.

Read-Along titles are also available on the iPhone and iPad, and previously-purchased selections will show up on the Apple TV. iBooks Storytime is a free download on the Apple TV. [Direct Link]

An update rolling out to the iOS, Android, and Windows 10 Instagram app today has introduced the company's standalone app "Boomerang" directly into its new Snapchat-like stories feature. Boomerang allows users to take a burst of photos that cycle forwards and backwards quickly, creating an animated GIF that they can share to Instagram and Facebook directly within the app.

Today, when users swipe left-to-right to open the stories camera, there will be a new format picker under the shutter button which can be toggled between "Normal" and "Boomerang," and shared directly to their story.

Mentions are also making an appearance in stories, allowing Instagram users to tag friends and family members using the @ icon normally found in comments and captions of posts. Whenever a friend taps the @ mention on a story, they'll be directed to that user's profile. Anyone who's mentioned in a story will also receive a direct message with a link to the image or video they were tagged in.

Additionally, a "See More" tag for some verified accounts will help users dig deeper into that person's media content.

Watching someone’s story and want to dig deeper? You may spot “See More” links at the bottom of some stories. This is a test that lets verified accounts add links so it’s easy to learn more. From discovering the latest music by Chance the Rapper (@chancetherapper) to learning about a new movie starring Dwayne Johnson (@therock) or reading a related article from Bustle (@bustle), tap “See More” or swipe up to view the link right inside the app.

Instagram is available to download for free from the App Store [Direct Link], and the 9.7 update will continue rolling out to users throughout the day.

Apple's annual extended holiday return policy began today in the United States and several other countries.

Most products and accessories purchased between November 10 and December 25 of this year are eligible for return until January 8, 2017 in the United States, Australia, Canada, and select other regions, or until January 20, 2017 in many European countries such as France, Germany, and the United Kingdom.

Apple products that can be returned include, among other things, the iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and Apple TV. The few items that cannot be returned include Apple or iTunes gift cards. Apple products can be opened and used prior to the return date, but must be returned undamaged with the original packaging.

When making a purchase at an Apple retail store, we recommend that you ask for printed and emailed copies of your receipt. Both printed and emailed receipts will indicate the return date for each product purchased, while Apple also lists the cutoff date under the "Your Account" section on its website.

All purchases made before today or after December 25 are subject to Apple's standard 14-day return policy in most countries.

Update: The extended holiday return policy is now reflected on Apple's delivery and pickup page.

Apple Maps has recently been updated with all-new traffic data in Bulgaria, Slovakia, and Slovenia, providing users with real-time updates about vehicular traffic in three more European countries. As usual, highly congested areas will display orange or red lines along the roads to indicate that drivers may face delays. The traffic feature is also now available in Gibraltar, a small British territory on Spain's south coast.

Apple Maps traffic data is available in over 40 other countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, China, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, South Africa, Spain, Belgium, Germany, Greece, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Czech Republic, Denmark, Poland, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Malta, Monaco, San Marino, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Slovenia, Gibraltar, and select other regions in Europe.

Apple recently expanded the universal search feature on its fourth-generation Apple TV to include MUBI, Hopster, and CW Seed. MUBI's universal search functionality has been added in the United States, Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom, while Hopster has been added in Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Additionally, only users in the U.S. can take advantage of having CW Seed in universal search.

For those unfamiliar, MUBI is a $5.99 per month service that gives subscribers a new film every day, with up to a month to watch it, "so there will always be 30 extraordinary films" for users to watch each time they open the app. Hopster is also a straight-forward $4.99 per month streaming service, aimed at providing "safe and ad-free" entertainment for kids. The CW Seed app is an offshoot of the main CW network, and is home to shorter digital series, as well as older shows like Pushing Daisies and V, but it doesn't include currently-running CW series, which are housed in the main app for The CW.

With these apps added, users will now receive content updates from each service within relevant universal search prompts. Universal search lets Apple TV users conduct Siri voice searches or text-based searches to find TV shows and movies across any app supporting the feature. When the Apple TV launched, not many apps were included in universal search, but Apple has slowly been expanding its reach ever since.

The current list of all apps supported in universal search, broken down by countries, can be found here.

Following Target's Black Friday ad shared yesterday, today electronics retailer Best Buy posted its Black Friday deals, showcasing doorbusters and all-day sales that include a few Apple products. Sixteen sales in total are even beginning now, one on the 13-inch MacBook Air with Intel Core i5, 8GB memory, and 256 flash storage, which is $200 off its original price of $1,199.00.

For every other deal, customers will have to wait until Best Buy's doors open at 5 p.m. local time on Thanksgiving, November 24, and the sales mentioned in the advertisement will run through November 26. For those willing to wait in line, Doorbusters include deals on the 9.7-inch iPad Pro, MacBook Air, and iMac.

- $125 off all 9.7-inch iPad Pro models
- $200 off 13-inch MacBook Air with Intel Core i5, 8GB memory, and 128 flash storage
- $200 off 13-inch MacBook Air with Intel Core i5, 8GB memory, and 256 flash storage
- $200 off 21.5-inch iMac with Intel Core i5, 8GB memory, and 1TB hard drive

Deals running throughout the day on Black Friday include $40 off the fourth-generation Apple TV, iPad Air 2 discounts, and a few installment plans savings for those interested in the iPhone 7 and iPhone SE.

- $40 off fourth-generation 64GB Apple TV
- $125 off all iPad Air 2 models
- $50 off Apple Watch Series 1
- $200 off 27-inch iMac with Retina 5K display, Intel Core i5, 8GB Memory, and 1TB Hard Drive
- Buy one, get one 30% off for all iTunes gift cards
- $160 off iPhone SE installment plans with Verizon, AT&T, or Sprint (starting at $9.99/month for 24 months)
- Up to a $250 Best Buy gift card when purchasing iPhone 7 installment plan with Verizon, AT&T, or Sprint

Best Buy also has some savings on iPhone cases and accessories, smart home products, as well as speakers and headphones. Anyone looking for Beats products can get $150 off the Solo 2 over-ear headphones, and $110 off the PowerBeats2 Wireless in-ear headphones.

Feral Interactive announced today that classic strategy game Rome: Total War is now available on iPad for a one-time purchase of $9.99.

The third title in the Total War series, Rome was hailed by MacRumors sister site TouchArcade as "not only one of the best strategy games ever, but one of the best PC games, period".

In what's considered the highlight of the series, players get to take control of one of three Roman houses vying for control of the Republic/Empire. The turn-based strategy gameplay is punctuated by real-time battles in 3D, where players command and control huge swathes of units in the field.

As one of the first desktop strategy titles to make the port to iPad, Feral says much time has been invested in heavily optimizing the game for the device, including reworked textures and a range of features designed with mobile gaming in mind.

"Optimizing Rome: Total War for iPad has been a huge design and programming challenge," said David Stephen, Managing Director at Feral Interactive. "Our aim has been to bring it to a new and very different platform without compromising its enormous content, superb gameplay or strategic depth. Working closely with Creative Assembly, I believe we have done that and am confident that Total War veterans and novices alike will enjoy the result."

Gamers need a first-generation iPad Air or newer, an iPad mini 2 or newer, or any iPad Pro to play the game, which requires just under 4GB of free space to install and iOS 9.3.5 or later.

Rome: Total War for iPad is available on the App Store for $9.99. [Direct Link]

Apple has shared its annual holiday gift guide on its website, with product recommendations such as the 12-inch MacBook, iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad Pro, fourth-generation Apple TV, gift cards, and related accessories. The guide also points gift-givers towards various music products, photography products, games, and toys.

This year's holiday gift guide is less sophisticated than in previous years, such as in 2015 when Apple split gift recommendations into six categories: gaming, photography, music, fitness, learning, and travel. Nevertheless, this year's list provides a basic overview of some of Apple's most popular products and accessories for those unfamiliar.

As a reminder, Apple offers free shipping in several countries:

• United States: Free two-day shipping on in-stock items ordered by 5:00 p.m. local time each day, and free next-day shipping on any in-stock iPhone.
• United Kingdom: Free next-day delivery on in-stock orders over £40 placed by 19:00 local time each day. Free standard delivery for everything else.
• Australia: Free next-business-day delivery to most metro areas on in-stock items over $250 ordered by 2 p.m. local time. Free standard delivery for everything else.
• Canada: Free standard shipping on everything.
• Western Europe: In countries such as France, Germany, Spain, and the Netherlands, Apple offers free next-day delivery on in-stock orders over €40 placed between 15:00 and 17:00 local time each day. Free standard shipping is generally available otherwise. Free shipping on everything is also available in Italy.

PayPal has updated its iOS app to include Siri integration with support for a variety of languages across 30 countries.

In a post on its official blog, PayPal announced that users of the digital payment service will be able to use Apple's voice-activated AI personal assistant to send and request money among friends and family.

With so many P2P transactions happening during such a busy season, we're excited to give our users an early holiday present: starting November 10, Siri will be integrated with PayPal. For iPhone and iPad users running iOS 10, making a payment has never been easier – PayPal users can now send and request money via a voice command with Siri. Simply say, "Hey Siri, send Bill $50 using PayPal." Voila! One less thing to check off the to-do list this holiday season.

The company says it expects the number of peer-to-peer transactions to increase over the holiday period, and predicts more than 17 million transactions in December alone.

Support for Siri-PayPal integration currently covers the following countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium (French and Dutch), Brazil, Canada (English and French), China, Denmark, Finland (Finnish), France, Germany, Hong Kong (Cantonese), India, Israel (Hebrew), Italy, Japan, Malaysia (Malay), Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Russia, Saudi Arabia (Arabic), Singapore (English), Spain, Sweden, Switzerland (French, German, and Italian), Thailand, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates (Arabic), and the United States.

With the launch of iOS 10, Apple opened up Siri to third-party developers for the first time by making a Siri API publicly available. Siri now supports a multitude of app types, including messaging apps like WhatsApp and ride-hailing apps like Uber.

Target has posted its Black Friday ad for 2016, listing several deals on Apple products. The promotions include 25% off all Apple TV models, $150 off the 9.7-inch iPad Pro and $180 off the Beats Solo2 Wireless.

The retailer is offering discounts and promotions in two waves: there's an Early Access period that begins today and runs until November 24 both in-store and online. Then, on Thanksgiving Day at 6 P.M., Target will open its stores for further Black Friday deals.

Early Access deals on Apple products include three Apple TV models -- the 32 and 64GB fourth-generation Apple TV and a third-generation Apple TV -- and Beats Solo2 Wireless headphones and Beats Tour 2.5 in-ear headphones.

- 25% off 32GB Fourth-Generation Apple TV
- 25% off 64GB Fourth-Generation Apple TV
- 25% off Third-Generation Apple TV
- $180 off Beats Solo2 Wireless (Reg. $299.99)
- $65 off Beats Tour 2.5 in-ear headphones (Reg. $129.99)

Regular Black Friday deals include $71.99 off Apple Watch Series 1, iPad discounts and iPhone 7 and 7 Plus deals.

- Save $71.99 Apple Watch Series 1 (Starting at $198)
- 20% off all iPods
- $0 Down and Free $250 Target Gift Card on iPhone 7 and 7 Plus models
- Save $150.99 on 9.7-inch iPad Pro
- Save $129.99 on iPad Air 2
- Save $70.20 on iPad mini 2
- Save $180 on Beats Solo2 Wireless (Reg. $299.99)
- Save $65 on Beats Tour 2.5 in-ear headphones (Reg. $129.99)

In addition to discounts on Apple and Beats products, Target is offering 40% off all Otterbox Commuter cases.