MacRumors

Today at its September 2016 Special Event, Apple announced a new ConnectED program called Everyone Can Code. The program is designed to help students around the country learn how to program.

Everyone Can Code will begin by teaching kids how to code in Swift, Apple's own programming language. It'll use the Swift Playgrounds iOS app and Apple CEO Tim Cook said that it will benefit the more than 100 schools that have signed up to teach Swift since June.

We've always believed that education is a great equalizer, a powerful force for change, for good, and we've always believed that our products could have a positive impact on teachers and students. But we're keenly aware that not every school can have this impact. That's why we're so deeply committed to ConnectED, a national initiative combining government and leading technology companies to bring that technology to underserved schools.

I personally visited several of these ConnectED schools and the program is having amazing results. Kids are engaged like never before and they're learning like never before, and this is how it should be.

Apple announced that 114 ConnectED schools will be up and running by this fall. Apple has also delivered a Mac and an iPad to 4,500 teachers, put an Apple TV in every ConnectED classroom and has given 50,000 iPads for students.

"The ConnectED grant has meant a complete transformation," said Trina Siegfried of Crane Elementary School. "The students are having fun. They're more engaged. Most importantly, we're seeing a real love of learning."

Apple also announced a new real-time collaboration feature in iWork that will enable not only students and teachers, but businesses to work together much more effectively.

For example, Apple demonstrated how multiple users could edit the same Keynote presentation live at the same time without confusion, in private or in public, using apps on Mac, iPad and iPhone.

Today at its September 7 media event, Apple announced a new Mario game is coming to iOS, called "Super Mario Run." In the game, Mario runs to the right, and users can tap to make Mario jump.

Later levels will introduce blocks that change Mario's direction as well as other more intense obstacles that require precision timing, but the goal remains simple - collect as many coins as you can and get to the flagpole at the end of the level before time runs out.
All the while, users can play the game one-handed. There are a few other modes too, including a battle mode called "Toad Rally," which lets users compete against the ghosts of friends and strangers around the world and beat their high score.

Victory in battle mode depends on the number of coins you collect and the number of toads you impress, since the toad characters appear on screen every time you perform a daring move. There's no flagpole in battle mode, so the player keeps running until time runs out. The ghost appears in the level to show the player what the person they're competing against was doing when they ran the same level to achieve their score.

If players are victorious, toads they've collected become residents of their very own mushroom kingdom, enabling players to customize their kingdom using the coins and toads they collected in the game. The "father" of Mario, Shigeru Minamoto, spoke at the Apple event about his latest creation:

We want as many people with smartphones around the world to enjoy playing as Mario, and we're doing it first on iOS. And we're doing it in a brand new game called Super Mario Run. The magic of Mario is that anyone can pick up a game and instantly start playing. This time, we've made it even simpler to begin.

As the title suggests, Mario runs automatically to the right, and as he does he'll hurdle small gaps and certain enemies. It's very simple and the movement feels great. With just a tap of the finger anywhere on the touchscreen you can make Mario jump, and the longer you tap, the higher he jumps. This is key to getting high scores.

Being able to play one-handed means you can do so while holding onto a handle on the subway, while eating a hamburger, or while eating an Apple!

No further details about the price were revealed, but Shigeru Minamoto confirmed that the game would not be free-to-play, and come with a one-time, set price point. The game is expected to launch sometime this holiday season, and Nintendo is also launching a Super Mario sticker pack for iOS 10.

Update: It was discovered earlier today that Apple is trying out a new "Notify" system with Super Mario Run, where the App Store will let players know when the game becomes available to download.

Ahead of the reveal of the iPhone 7, which is largely expected to usher in a new era of user interest in wireless headphones thanks to the removal of the 3.5mm headphone jack, Sony recently unveiled three new wireless headphone options for its customers (via SlashGear). Each of the three Bluetooth headphones couple together high-quality sound with Sony's "Extra Bass" technology, along with high-rated resistance to the elements for sports-related activities on two of the models.

The first, most expensive set is the XB80BS Sports In-ear Headphones ($149.99), which come with a splash-proof IPX5 design that allows users to wear them in heavy rain and even clean them in water. In addition to being the most waterproofed of Sony's new headphones, the XB80BS also packs in the highest quality sound with "high fidelity wireless streaming" thanks to Bluetooth and LDAC technology for up to seven hours of music listening.

The mid-range, XB70BT Bluetooth In-ear Headphones ($99.99) are a slight step down in comparison, with an overall lack of waterproofing and high-quality music streaming, that's compensated for with a focus on smartphone interactivity. Thanks to in-line remote controls with phone call and music playback functionality (lacking on the other headphones), along with 9 hours of battery life, Sony's XB70BT headphones are aimed more at daily casual users who don't need an emphasis on sports-related resistance.

Lastly, the company's cheapest new headphones, the XB50BS Sports Bluetooth In-ear Headphones ($79.99), brings all of the same Extra Bass technology and wireless connectivity with a splash-proof IPX4 rating. Sony says this will let users keep a workout going "even in light rain," so water submersion capabilities of the XB80BS aren't the focus of the cheaper model. The battery on the XB50BS lasts 8.5 hours.

The $150 and $80 models come in three colors, including black, red, and blue, while the $100 version is only available in black. All three can be purchased through Sony's website and Amazon, although each listing on Amazon marks the headphones as temporarily out of stock. The company also announced three new wired headphones along with the trio of Bluetooth options.

Wayfair today became one of the first major retailers to announce forthcoming support for Apple Pay on the web for iPhone, iPad, and Mac. On iOS 10 and macOS Sierra, customers will be able to purchase items from the e-commerce website's catalog of more than 7 million furniture and home décor products by tapping or clicking the Apple Pay button and authenticating with Touch ID.

Apple Pay support in Safari will eliminate the need to directly enter and store credit card and payment information in the browser when making online purchases. It will also eliminate the need for customers to download a store's app to make a payment with Apple Pay. At WWDC 2016 in June, Apple said that many merchants have already agreed to support the mobile payments service on the web at launch.

Apple Pay is currently available in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, China, Switzerland, Hong Kong, France, and Singapore, and Apple lists web support as "coming this fall" in all of those regions except the U.K. on its website. Earlier this year, Apple Pay vice president Jennifer Bailey said Apple is "working rapidly" to expand the service to additional countries in Asia and Europe.

Photo-sharing service Instagram has begun removing its GPS-aggregating "Photo Maps" feature from user profiles. Some of Instagram's users may have already noticed that Photo Maps is gone when visiting another profile, with Instagram confirming to Mashable that it began phasing out the feature last week.

Photo Maps will remain on your own profile tab "for now," but the company is expected to begin removing it from there as well in the near future. The simple reason behind its removal is how little the feature was used by the social network's 500 million monthly active users, especially in comparison to popular features in the app, like the Explore tab.

“Photo Map was not widely used, so we've decided to remove the feature and focus on other priorities," the company said in a statement.

The company confirmed that geotagged locations in individual Instagram posts will remain, so "you'll still be able to click on a location tag in an individual post and see other photos from that location as well as a small map." The move is believed to be a part of the social network's move towards capturing ground from rival Snapchat, while leaving behind parts of its service that don't generate much in the way of user activity.

Over the weekend, Apple journalist John Gruber highlighted a comment made by Tim Cook during an interview with NDTV's Vikram Chandra back in May, in which the Apple CEO was asked what he thought Steve Jobs would make of the Apple Pencil.

NDTV: Has that voice never come to you? For example when you launched the pencil and you know what Steve said,' if you see a stylus they blew it', when you launched that pencil?

Tim Cook: Well we launched a pencil, not a stylus, first of all, and there’s a big difference, and the things that people are doing with this pencil, I think that Steve would have loved. He loved to help people create. And if you've ever seen what can be created with that pencil on an iPad or an iPhone, it's really unbelievable. You should really show some of these to your audience.

Gruber wondered whether Cook had simply misspoken, or if he had perhaps let slip that Apple was internally using the Pencil with its upcoming iPhone.

Apple's Pencil currently only works with the iPad Pro because of the display technology required to achieve the tool's high responsiveness: the iPad Pro's screen features a subsystem which scans the Pencil's signal 240 times per second, enabling it to detect position, force, and tilt at the individual pixel level.

KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has previously claimed Apple will release new iPad Pro models next year, but with the fate of the iPad mini uncertain, it's conceivable that Apple may discontinue the tablet and pitch the iPhone 7 as its smallest creative device by adding support for the Apple Pencil. Alternatively, it could restrict support for the tool to the iPhone 7 Plus, which would serve to further differentiate it from the new 4.7-inch handset and give pre-recall users of the Galaxy Note 7 – which has a stylus – another reason to consider switching devices.

Based on display improvements introduced in the 9.7-inch iPad Pro, DisplayMate's Ray Soneira has speculated the iPhone 7 display could include similar features such as True Tone, as Apple often expands display advancements across its entire product lineup. Whether or not this includes the subsystem required to support the Apple Pencil remains unclear.

With just hours to go before Apple's iPhone 7 event, we'll know for sure later today. Apple will provide a live stream of the keynote on the Apple TV and on iOS and Mac devices through its website, starting at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time. MacRumors will also have full coverage of the event, with a live blog on our front page at MacRumors.com and updates in 140 characters or less through our @MacRumorsLive account on Twitter.

LG unveiled its new flagship V20 smartphone in New York on Tuesday evening, just 24 hours ahead of Apple's iPhone 7 event in San Francisco.

A successor to last year's LG V10, the new 5.7-inch phone is pitched as a "multimedia heavyweight" and boasts a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor, 4GB of RAM, 64GB storage, a 2560x1440 QHD IPS LCD display, and a fingerprint sensor home button.

The front of the handset boasts an always-on screen "ticker" strip along the top that can display mini apps and notifications, such as music controls and calendar events.

The V20 sacrifices a unibody aluminum design in favor of a microSD slot (up to 2TB) and a removable 3200mAh battery via a metal backplate, while the top and bottom parts of the phone are made from silicon polycarbonate, earning the V20 a MIL-STD 810G drop and shock resistance rating. The device packs a USB-C port, water resistance is non-existent though.

While Apple is expected to drop the headphone jack with the iPhone 7 series, LG is very much relying on the analog port to appeal to audiophiles: the V20 boasts a 32-bit Hi-Fi Quad DAC (digital-to-analog converter) and a 72-stage volume control fine-tuned by Bang & Olufsen, with support for most lossless music formats including FLAC and Apple Lossless. It also includes a HD audio recorder able to capture "studio quality audio" from three ultra-sensitive built-in microphones.

The rear of the phone houses a 16-megapixel camera with a 75-degree field of view backed by optical image stabilization and laser, phase, and contrast autofocusing, with a second wide-angle 8-megapixel sensor boasting a larger 135-degree field of view. The front-facing 5-megapixel camera also packs a wide angle mode.

Software-wise, the V20 is the first phone to come pre-installed with Android 7.0 Nougat, which features vertical split screen view, picture in picture, VR mode, file-based encryption, and more.

With Samsung's Galaxy Note 7 suffering from a disastrous global recall due to reports of exploding batteries, LG's feature-packed V20 phablet finds itself first in line to go up against the iPhone 7 Plus, at least for now. While LG is yet to announce pricing and availability, consumers can expect the V20 to hover around the same $800 price point as the iPhone 7 Plus and Note 7.

MacRumors will have full coverage of Apple's iPhone 7 event today, with a live blog on our front page at MacRumors.com and updates in 140 characters or less through our @MacRumorsLive account on Twitter.

New data from market research firm IDC shows a split in the wearables market, with "basic wearables" (Fitbit) gaining popularity, and "smart wearables" (Apple Watch) seeing stalled growth. Despite a portion of the market stalling out, the overall wearable device market grew 26.1 percent in comparison to the year ago quarter, suggesting the burgeoning technology is gaining traction among consumers.

IDC specifically categorizes basic wearables as those devices without third party application support and smart wearables as any device with support for third party applications. Comparing each section's growth from last year, the research firm said that the two categories "traveled at different speeds and directions" in 2016, with basic wearables up 48.8 percent from 2015, and smart wearables down 27.2 percent year-over-year. In total, basic wearables represented 82.8 percent of every wrist-worn device shipped during the quarter.

Basic wearables, which include most fitness trackers, have benefited from a combination of factors: a clear value proposition for end-users, an abundant selection of devices from multiple vendors, and affordable price points," said Ramon Llamas, research manager, Wearables.

"Smart wearables, meanwhile, are still struggling to find their place in the market," added Llamas. "There is plenty of curiosity about what smart wearables – particularly smartwatches – can do, but they have yet to convince users that they are a must-have item. The good news is that smart wearables are still in their initial stages and vendors are slowly making strides to improve them. But this also means that it will be a slow transition from basic wearables to smart wearables."

Apple, representing the smart wearables section of the market, was the only company among the leaders in the wearable market to post a year-over-year decline in shipment volumes, which IDC ascribes mainly to the lack of a second generation Apple Watch on the first generation's anniversary last March. Specifically, Apple again finished third in the overall wearables market with a 7 percent market share and 1.6 million units shipped. In the first quarter of the year, Apple had a 7.5 percent market share and approximately 1.5 million sales for the Apple Watch.

As the Apple Watch stalls, Fitbit has grown, with a 25.4 percent share of the market and 5.7 million units shipped in the second quarter, compared to a 24.5 percent share and 4.8 million units in the first quarter. Because the company's name remains "synonymous with fitness bands," IDC believes its reign will continue in the wearables market. Until smart wearables with various functionalities can justify higher prices to consumers, a more affordable wearable with "a clear value proposition," i.e. fitness-focused features, will help Fitbit remain on top of the market, according to the firm.

Any slowdown in market share of the Apple Watch could also be attributed to prospective buyers holding out for the second generation device, now expected to be announced during Apple's media event set for tomorrow, September 7. In addition to a thinner display and larger battery, the Apple Watch 2 is believed to include GPS, an improved processor, and better waterproofing.

T-Mobile announced today it has recently implemented 4x4 MIMO in 319 cities across the United States, effectively doubling the number of data paths between the network's cell towers and compatible smartphones.

The carrier has also launched 256 QAM for downloads and 64 QAM for uploads across half of its network, with a nationwide rollout to be completed by the end of October. These new quadrature amplitude modulation technologies increase the number of bits delivered per transmission for even faster LTE speeds. Combined with 4x4 MIMO, 256 QAM delivers theoretical download speeds up to 400 Mbps.

Meanwhile, T-Mobile said it now covers nearly 312 million customers in the United States, bringing it to within 99.7% of Verizon's coverage.

Qualcomm's X12 modem, an appropriate candidate for iPhone 7, supports 4x4 MIMO, so it is possible that some models could benefit from the technology. However, Apple is expected to use Intel's XMM 7360 LTE modem for a portion of iPhone 7 models, including AT&T models, and 4x4 MIMO is not an advertised feature of that chipset. iPhone 6s and older models do not support 4x4 MIMO.

T-Mobile customers with Samsung's Galaxy S7 or Galaxy S7 edge will be covered by 4x4 MIMO following a software update later this month.