MacRumors

Apple TV was the fourth most popular streaming media player in the United States in the first quarter, behind the Roku, Amazon's Fire TV, and Google's Chromecast, according to market research firm Parks Associates.

Parks Associates estimates Apple TV's market share fell to 15 percent in January through March this year among U.S. households with broadband. MacRumors confirmed the survey size was 10,306 households.

By comparison, Roku increased its lead in the category to an estimated 37 percent market share in the first quarter, trailed by the Fire TV and Chromecast at an estimated 24 percent and 18 percent respectively.

At $149, the Apple TV is also more expensive than any of its major competitors. Roku starts at $40, Chromecast starts at $35, and Fire TV starts at $90, with even cheaper prices often available from resellers.

"Higher-priced devices, such as the Apple TV, have not been able to keep up with low-priced and readily available Roku devices, which can be found at Walmart for as low as $29.99," said Glenn Hower, Senior Analyst at Parks Associates.

In January, following Apple's first quarter earnings results, financial chief Luca Maestri said Apple TV sales had declined on a year-over-year basis. Exact sales are unknown, as Apple groups the device under its "Other Products" category.

4K on Horizon

The current Apple TV launched in October 2015, ushering in significant changes such as a brand new tvOS operating system, App Store, and a Siri Remote. But, nearly two years have passed, and customers are anxiously awaiting what's next.

One of the most desired features is 4K support, and rumors suggest Apple TV fans may soon have that wish granted.

In February, Bloomberg reported that Apple was testing a new Apple TV with 4K and more vivid colors that could be released as early as later this year. The report said the fifth-generation model is codenamed J105.

The codename, and references to 4K and HDR, have since been found in both the accidentally released HomePod firmware and the seventh tvOS 11 beta. 4K HDR references have also appeared in iTunes.

Additionally, in March, developer Firi Games provided MacRumors with evidence of a device identified as "AppleTV6,2" and running "tvOS 11.0" connecting to its arcade game Phoenix HD for Apple TV in its logs. The IP address fell within a range linked to Apple's headquarters in Cupertino, California.

The current Apple TV has a model identifier of AppleTV5,3, and Apple TV6,2 does not correspond with any released model.

It's conceivable that Apple could launch 4K content in iTunes alongside a new Apple TV with support for up to 4K video output and HDR, or high dynamic range, which allows for sharper colors and lighting. The current, fourth-generation Apple TV has a maximum 1080p video output, and no support for HDR.

The high-end iMac models with 4K and 5K Retina displays are currently Apple's only devices that can display 4K content properly. The latest Apple TV lacks the hardware required for 4K and HDR video output.

Apple is widely expected to unveil new iPhones at a September event, which it could also use to unveil a new Apple TV.

Virgin Mobile USA today announced that customers who bring their existing iPhone, and transfer their phone number from another carrier, will receive one year of unlimited talk, text, and data for just $1 with AutoPay enabled. The limited time promotion is available until August 31, 2017.

The deal is also available to customers who purchase a brand new iPhone at full cost from Virgin Mobile, which sells the iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 6s, and iPhone 6s Plus for the same prices as Apple. Virgin Mobile also sells the iPhone SE for $279.99, which is $120 off its regular $399 price.

Once an iPhone is verified as compatible with Virgin Mobile, which operates on Sprint's network, a SIM card will be shipped with instructions to install it and activate the device. SIM cards can be ordered for free on Virgin's website until Friday, September 29, at which point the starter kit will cost $25.

Since Virgin Mobile USA shares Sprint's network, only CDMA versions of the following iPhone models are compatible:

- iPhone 5s
- iPhone SE
- iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus
- iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus
- iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus

During the 12-month promotional period, so-called "Inner Circle" members will receive unlimited talk, text, and data with a few caveats: video quality is limited to up to 480p resolution, music streams at up to 500 kbps, and games stream at up to 2 Mbps. Virgin promises 4G LTE speeds for "practically everything else."

Customers who use more than 23GB of data in a billing cycle will be de-prioritized during times and places where the network is constrained.

Mobile Hotspot is available for an additional $10 per month, providing up to eight tethered devices with a dedicated allotment of 10GB of high-speed data to share each month. Unlimited calls to Mexico and Canada, and unlimited worldwide text messaging, can also be added for $5 per month.

After the $1 offer, customers will be transitioned to Virgin Mobile's standard pricing of $50 per month for unlimited talk, text, and data, with all of the aforementioned caveats. Taxes are extra.

Overall, there doesn't seem to be any obvious catches hidden in the fine print. Virgin Mobile doesn't have contracts, so customers should be able to take their iPhone to a different carrier at any point. Virgin Mobile is simply looking for customers to try out its network, similar to its parent Sprint's free-year offer.

Apple's upcoming "iPhone 8" will be available to order in three storage capacities and with the same amount of working memory as the current iPhone 7 Plus, according to a new post on Chinese microblogging site Weibo (via Techtastic.nl).

The minimum storage capacity for Apple's OLED iPhone is said to be 64GB, with a 256GB option offered as the mid-tier capacity and a 512GB option at the highest tier, while 3GB of RAM is claimed to be included across the board.

Weibo poster GeekBar included the above image of an alleged iPhone 8 NAND flash 64GB memory module manufactured by SanDisk, which will also supply some 256GB modules, according to the source. Toshiba is also referenced as a supplier of both capacities, while Samsung and SK Hynix are said to be making the 512GB modules.

This is the first time SanDisk has been referenced as a NAND supplier for Apple's OLED iPhone, while Toshiba, Samsung, and SK Hynix have all been cited previously as suppliers of NAND flash chips. Earlier rumors have suggested the iPhone 8 will include increased storage space, making the device more expensive than previous-generation models, although previous additional reports claimed only that the phone would be available in 64 and 256GB capacities.

Reliable KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has also put the iPhone 8's memory at 3GB of RAM, while the larger iPhone 7s Plus is expected to remain at 3GB RAM and the smaller iPhone 7s will continue to offer 2GB RAM. Kuo claimed the DRAM transfer speed of the three new models will be faster than the iPhone 7 by 10 to 15 percent for better augmented reality performance.

Today's alleged photo leak follows several others in the last couple of weeks. They have included a 3D sensing camera module, an A11 processor, wireless charging pad components, and an OLED display assembly and flex power cables. Apple is expected to debut its "premium" redesigned 5.8-inch iPhone in the first half of September alongside upgraded (but standard) 4.7 and 5.5-inch iPhones.

As two new episodes of "Carpool Karaoke: The Series" air tonight, Apple has shared trailers for next week's episodes, which will pair Queen Latifah and Jada Pinkett Smith and Miley Cyrus and her family.

The first trailer features Miley Cyrus, her dad Billy Ray, her sister Noah, her mom Tish, her brother Braison, her sister Brandy, and her brother Trace. The Cyrus family sings popular Miley Cyrus songs and gets a family photo taken, among other activities.

The second trailer features Queen Latifah and Jada Pinkett Smith. The two sing songs from Janet Jackson and Queen Latifah herself, before Regina Hall and Tiffany Haddish, their fellow "Girls Trip" co-stars, join them.

The episodes featuring the Cyrus family and Queen Latifah and Jada Pinkett Smith will air on Tuesday, August 29.

Tonight's "Carpool Karaoke: The Series" episodes are now available to watch. The first episode stars Maisie Williams and Sophie Turner, the two actresses who play Sansa Stark and Arya Stark, respectively, in HBO's hit series "Game of Thrones."

The second episode stars singer Ariana Grande and and Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane.

"Carpool Karaoke: The Series" debuted on August 8. The first episode starred late night TV host James Corden and Will Smith, while last week's episodes paired Alicia Keys with John Legend and Billy Eichner with Metallica.

Apple is planning to develop a self-driving shuttle service that will transport Apple employees from one building to another as part of its autonomous vehicle efforts, reports The New York Times in a piece that explores why Apple scaled back its car ambitions.

Apple's "open secret" car project shifted focus from a full autonomous vehicle to an autonomous driving system last year, and to test that system, Apple will reportedly use employee shuttles.

Called "PAIL," an acronym for "Palo Alto to Infinite Loop," the shuttle program will transport employees between Apple's myriad offices in Silicon Valley. Apple is said to be planning to use a commercial vehicle "from an automaker" paired with its own autonomous driving technology for the shuttles.

Five Apple employees familiar with Apple's car project spoke to The New York Times about the shuttle program and also shared some details about the technologies Apple explored before the project was downscaled from car to software.

When Apple first started exploring car technology under the "Project Titan" name, it hired hundreds of people with expertise in everything from automation to car manufacturing. The team explored a wide range of technologies, including silent motorized doors, car interiors sans steering wheel or gas pedals, augmented reality displays, an improved LIDAR sensor that protrudes less from the top of a car, and spherical wheels.

Apple even looked into reinventing the wheel. A team within Titan investigated the possibility of using spherical wheels -- round like a globe -- instead of the traditional, round ones, because spherical wheels could allow the car better lateral movement.

As has been previously reported, Apple's car project suffered from delays, internal strife, and leadership issues. According to the people who spoke to The New York Times, there was no clear vision for the Apple Car and there were internal disagreements over whether Apple should pursue an autonomous vehicle or a semiautonomous vehicle and what language should be used for the CarOS software (Swift or C++).

Steve Zadesky, who initially led Project Titan but stepped down in early 2016, pushed for a semiautonomous vehicle, while Jony Ive's industrial design team wanted an autonomous vehicle that would "allow the company to reimagine the automobile experience."

Bob Mansfield took over the car project in mid-2016, and the project shifted from vehicle to software. Many members of the hardware team were laid off, but morale is said to have improved under his leadership now that Apple has a clear focus on an autonomous driving system.

Apple is now far enough along in its software development that the company is testing it in several 2015 Lexus RX450h vehicles equipped with a host of sensors and cameras. The vehicles have been out on the roads in the Cupertino area since April. It's not yet clear when Apple plans to expand that testing to encompass the campus shuttles.

Back in June, Apple CEO Tim Cook spoke publicly about Apple's work on autonomous driving software in a rare candid moment. "We're focusing on autonomous systems. It's a core technology that we view as very important," he said. "We sort of see it as the mother of all AI projects. It's probably one of the most difficult AI projects actually to work on."

Popular and well-known iOS weather app AccuWeather has been caught collecting and sharing user location data even when location sharing permissions are turned off, according to a blog post recently shared by security researcher Will Strafach.

According to Strafach, AccuWeather was partnering with data monetization firm Reveal Mobile to collect GPS coordinates, including speed and altitude, the name and BSSID of a user's Wi-Fi router, and whether a device has Bluetooth on and off, all of which was available to Reveal Mobile when location services were enabled.

With location services disabled, AccuWeather was still sending the Wi-Fi router name and BSSID, which still offered Reveal Mobile location data.

During a testing period of 36 hours, specifically while the AccuWeather application was not in the foreground, my test iPhone (located on a desk in an office building) sent the above information to RevealMobile a total of 16 times, occuring roughly once every few hours.

Reval Mobile is a firm that uses location data to gather information on a user's home, work, and frequently visited locations, pairing that data with demographic targeting criteria to allow retailers to deliver targeted ads. From the company's website:

By expanding the use case of location data to pre- and post-shopping experiences, entirely new possibilities open up for online and offline retailers. The value lies in understanding the path of a consumer and where they go throughout the day. Traveling from home to work to retail to soccer practice to dinner is vital to knowing the customer, and represents the new opportunity of mobile location data.

In response to Strafach's blog post, Reveal Mobile says the data it collects is anonymized and grouped into audience segments. "We offer no product or service that permits anyone to see an individual device's location data," reads a statement on the Reveal Mobile website. The company also says it does not reverse engineer a device's location when location sharing is turned off.

We do not attempt to reverse engineer a device's location based upon other data signals like Bluetooth when location services are disabled. In looking at our current SDK's behavior, we see how that can be misconstrued. In response to that, we're releasing a new version of our SDK which will no longer send any data points which could be used to infer location when someone opts out of location sharing. We do collect IP address, but do not use this data to determine location, as covered in our privacy policy.

AccuWeather vice president of emerging platforms David Mitchell told ZDNet that AccuWeather will use data through Reveal Mobile for "audience segmentation and analysis, to build a greater audience understanding and create more contextually relevant and helpful experiences for users and for advertiser."

Following Strafach's discovery, many people have been uninstalling the AccuWeather app, and given the wealth of weather apps available in the App Store, this is not surprising. AccuWeather does not apparently have plans to end its relationship with Reveal Mobile, so users may want to find another weather app.

Update: AccuWeather and Reveal Mobile have provided a joint statement on the issue:

Despite stories to the contrary from sources not connected to the actual information, if a user opts out of location tracking on AccuWeather, no GPS coordinates are collected or passed without further opt-in permission from the user.

Other data, such as Wi-Fi network information that is not user information, was for a short period available on the Reveal SDK, but was unused by AccuWeather. In fact, AccuWeather was unaware the data was available to it. Accordingly, at no point was the data used by AccuWeather for any purpose.

AccuWeather and Reveal Mobile are committed to following the standards and best practices of the industry. We also recognize this is a quickly evolving field and what is best practice one day may change the next. Accordingly, we work to update our practices regularly.

To avoid any further misinterpretation, Reveal is updating its SDK and pushing out new versions of the SDK in the next 24 hours, with the iOS update going live tonight. The end result should be that zero data is transmitted back to Reveal Mobile when someone opts out of location sharing. In the meanwhile, AccuWeather had already disabled the SDK, pending that update.

Reveal has stated that the SDK could be misconstrued, and they assure that no reverse engineering of locations was ever conducted by any information they gathered, nor was that the intent.

AccuWeather will work with Reveal to restore the SDK when it has been amended and will continue to update its ULAs to be transparent and current with evolving standards. AccuWeather and Reveal continue to enhance methods for handling data and strive to provide superior, seamless, and secure user experiences.

We are grateful to have a supportive community that highlights areas where we can optimize and be more transparent.

Update 2: AccuWeather has updated its app to remove the Reveal Mobile SDK.

Almost one month after the HomePod's firmware first began revealing tidbits about Apple's upcoming smart speaker, the iPhone 8, and even the Apple Watch Series 3, today iHelp BR has a few more pieces of information on the setup process for the HomePod. Interestingly, the site noted that the data doesn't come from HomePod firmware, but was discovered within the seventh iOS 11 beta, seeded to developers yesterday.

The new details suggest in broad strokes what users can expect when they first open their HomePod and sync it with an iPhone. Although HomePod lacks a W1 chip, the speaker will connect and pair with iOS devices in some capacity, and one new image discovered within the iOS 11 developer beta shows off a user interface similar to that of the AirPods pairing screen.

According to some images that we find in the internal files of the system, the pairing of the HomePod (codename B238) will be very similar to the AirPods wireless headphones. When you turn on the sound box for the first time, iOS will ask the user if they want to perform the setup with that iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. It will not be possible to set up a HomePod for Mac or Apple TV - although it is very likely that the device will work normally with them later.

The next screen that appears on iOS references a HomePod setup process similar to the initial setup of an iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch, with the major difference being that "Siri must be present in almost the entire process." At one point, a string of code suggests that Siri will read out a four digit code to the user, which is then entered on the paired iOS device as a form of authentication.

A similar string mentions that users will need to enter the last four digits of the HomePod's serial number, or the iOS device's serial number, although some of these processes might be tied to repeatedly failed setup attempts as a form of security.

Users will need to confirm their Apple ID in order to sync iCloud and Apple Music with HomePod, and in addition the new data said that Apple accounts without two-factor authentication or iCloud Keychain enabled will not be able to complete some steps in the pairing process. The iOS 11 code strings also mention that "you must be connected to a WPA/WPA2 Personal Wi-Fi network to set up your HomePod."

On HomePod, users will be able to choose the accent of Siri and the gender of the voice assistant, agree or disagree to send daily diagnostics to Apple, and agree to install updates manually or automatically through an iOS device. The code describes an ability for users to sync multiple HomePods in one house to save all of these settings across speakers, and even an "update all HomePods" and "install on all HomePods" feature to cut down the time of the update process for multi-HomePod households.

In other, more expected findings, the code strings mention that any songs, albums, and artists played through HomePod will be seen by a user's followers on Apple Music and influence the recommendations in "For You." Additionally, the HomePod's touch-sensitive display area on the top of the device will allow for various volume and playback controls, including VoiceOver-enabled controls like "touch to speak," "lift to activate," and "hold on volume controls to change quickly."

Previously, the HomePod firmware revealed a few UI sounds that users will likely hear during the pairing process, as well as some potential timer-related notifications. A recent comment by Inventec Appliances president David Ho -- supplier of the HomePod -- has suggested that the device will see a limited launch in December of around 500,000 units, before expanding in 2018 thanks to the addition of Foxconn to the speaker's supply chain.

Update: Developer Guilherme Rambo has shared a video on Twitter that displays the setup process for the HomePod using an iPhone. There's an option to choose a Siri voice followed by an authentication process, an option to share settings from other devices, and a menu to select the room where the HomePod is located.

Update 9/5: Rambo has discovered another tidbit about the HomePod's setup, which suggests that the speaker will be able to pair with an iPhone through audio sounds.

Verizon today split its unlimited talk, text, and data plan into three tiers: Go Unlimited, Beyond Unlimited, and Business Unlimited. The plans go into effect for new customers starting Wednesday, August 23.

Go Unlimited starts at $75 per month, which is $5 cheaper than the original Verizon Unlimited plan introduced in February. However, while Verizon Unlimited allowed for full HD video streaming, video quality on Go Unlimited is forcibly throttled to 480p, which Verizon and many other carriers refer to as DVD quality.

Go Unlimited customers can also experience reduced speeds if the network is congested at any time, rather than only after exceeding 22GB of data usage in a billing cycle. And while Mobile Hotspot is unlimited, tethering speeds are capped at a maximum of 600kbps from the very first kilobyte of usage.

The original Verizon Unlimited plan allows tethering at 4G LTE speeds for the first 10GB of data, with speeds reduced to 3G afterwards.

Beyond Unlimited starts at $85 per month, which is $5 more expensive than Verizon Unlimited. The plan includes unlimited tethering with the first 15GB of data at 4G LTE speeds, up from 10GB, but video quality is forcibly throttled to 720p quality on smartphones and 1080p quality on tablets.

Beyond Unlimited customers could experience reduced speeds at times of network congestion once they exceed 22GB in a billing cycle, in line with the original unlimited plan. Verizon increases that limit to 25GB for customers who sign a two-year contract when purchasing a new device.

Business Unlimited is designed for four or more lines and starts at $45/month/line. Each line could experience reduced speeds at times of network congestion after exceeding 22GB in a billing cycle, and video quality is throttled to 480p. Unlimited tethering is included with 4G LTE speeds for the first 10GB of data.

AutoPay and paperless billing must be enabled for all of the prices listed above, or else each plan costs $5 extra per month.

Verizon told The Verge that existing customers will be able to keep their current plan — including legacy ones. As a bonus, for existing customers on the original Verizon Unlimited plan introduced in February, Verizon is increasing the allowance for 4G LTE speeds while tethering from 10GB to 15GB at no charge.

However, the biggest kicker is that Verizon says, moving forward, HD video on all legacy plans will match Beyond Unlimited's HD quality. In other words, even grandfathered customers will soon be limited to video quality of 720p on smartphones and 1080p on tablets, which is sure to elicit some frustration.

"We're doing this to ensure all customers have a great experience on our network since there is no visible difference in quality on a smartphone or tablet when video is shown at higher resolutions," a Verizon spokesperson said.

As for the increased prices, Verizon says its unlimited data plan from February was an "introductory" price that was bound to increase eventually.

VMware today announced the upcoming release of VMware Fusion 10, its popular virtualization software for Mac.

VMware Fusion 10 includes full compatibility with macOS High Sierra, integration with the Touch Bar on the latest MacBook Pro models, and support for Apple's Metal 2 graphics acceleration technology for improved graphics performance, power efficiency, and accuracy of rendering.

Fusion 10 also features a redesigned user interface, including improved Installation and Migrate Your PC wizards.

Fusion 10 can run hundreds of operating systems, ranging from the latest Windows 10 versions to lesser-known Linux distributions. It will be able to run the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update expected to launch in October.

VMware will also be releasing Fusion 10 Pro, targeted at IT professionals and developers. The premium version features enhanced vSphere and networking controls, support for REST APIs, integration with VMware PhotonOS, and support for Microsoft's new virtualization-based security features such as Credential Guard.

VMware Fusion 10 and Fusion 10 Pro are expected to be available in October for $79 and $159 respectively. Fusion 8.5 customers will be able to upgrade to Fusion 10 for $49 or Fusion 10 Pro for $119.

Additionally, customers who purchase Fusion 8.5 or Fusion 8.5 Pro between August 22 and November 1 this year will be eligible for an upgrade to Fusion 10 or Fusion 10 Pro, respectively, at no additional cost.

Fusion 10 will be accompanied by Workstation 14 Player and Workstation 14 Pro with enhanced data center management capabilities.