MacRumors

Instagram for iOS was today updated to add a new "Superzoom" camera feature that's designed to let users record videos that have a dramatic zooming effect.

After opening the camera, Superzoom can be accessed next to the Boomerang option under the record button. Tapping Superzoom will cause the camera to automatically zoom in with suspenseful music.

You can make a Superzoom of anything -- your selfie, your friend's goofy face or even your half-eaten sandwich. As always, you can send your video to your friends on Instagram Direct or add it to your story.

In addition to Superzoom, Instagram is also gaining five new Halloween-related face filters and Halloween stickers, both of which will be available through November 1.

Filters can transform you into a vampire, zombie, ghost, and more, while there are a range of stickers that include pumpkins, candy corn, and other spooky things.

Instagram can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]

When the iPhone X becomes available for pre-order this Friday, it will be available to purchase in 55 first-wave launch countries and territories around the world. Pre-orders kick off at 12:01 a.m. Pacific Time, aka Cupertino time, but because Apple is doing a simultaneous launch, pre-order times will vary by country.

Below we've created a list of all of the first wave launch countries and the time when pre-orders will go live in those countries to make it easy for MacRumors readers to set alarms and reminders to be ready to place an order right when pre-orders kick off.

We haven't listed every time zone for every country, such as in Canada, Russia, and the US, so make sure to double check your specific time zone so you're certain you know the exact time that pre-orders will kick off. A time zone converting website is a useful tool for confirming the accurate pre-order time.

The iPhone X is expected to be severely constrained, and rumors have suggested Apple's not going to be able to reach supply/demand balance on the device until the first months of 2018. For that reason, customers hoping to get an iPhone X on launch day will need to place an order right when pre-orders go live, as available supply could sell out within minutes.

Just over six weeks after the iPhone X was unveiled, pre-orders for the highly-anticipated device will finally begin on Friday at 12:01 a.m. Pacific Time.

Of the nearly 2,500 readers who responded to our Twitter poll, 45 percent said they plan to pre-order the iPhone X as soon as Apple flips the switch. The remaining 55 percent of users indicated they will not be pre-ordering at this time.

Apple's first batch of iPhone X inventory will likely sell out very quickly, so time is of the essence. Given consistent reports about the iPhone X being in tight supply due to production issues, waiting even five minutes to place your pre-order could result in your order being shipped several weeks or months later.

MacRumors has a live countdown on our front page that indicates exactly when iPhone X pre-orders begin around the world.

iPhone X will go on sale in more than 55 countries and territories on Friday, November 3. Apple confirmed that stores will have stock available for walk-in customers on launch day, but availability will likely be extremely limited. On the same day, the first pre-orders should begin arriving to customers.

In a separate Twitter poll earlier this week, the iPhone X in Space Gray with 256GB of storage proved to be the most popular pre-order choice among over 6,500 readers who voted. The least popular configuration was Silver/64GB.

Apple today announced its all-new retail store at Westfield Century City in Los Angeles, California opens Friday, November 3 at 8:00 a.m. local time.

The grand opening date coincides with iPhone X launch day. Apple said the device will be available for walk-in customers to purchase on a first come, first served basis, although in-store quantities are likely to be extremely limited.

Apple's plans to open a more spacious store at Century City were first revealed by MacRumors last month, as part of the company's ongoing efforts to modernize its chain of nearly 500 retail stores around the world.

Apple's current store at Century City opened in June 2005 and will permanently close after November 2. The new, larger store will provide the space needed to accommodate increased customer traffic and Today at Apple sessions.

All new Apple retail stores opened since September 2015 have been based on the updated design, including Apple's flagship Union Square location in San Francisco. Apple has also renovated over 40 existing stores with the newer look.

(Thanks, Storeteller!)

Following an announcement earlier in the summer, eBay this week launched an "Image Search" feature in its iOS application. Image Search uses computer vision technology powered by AI to let you search the popular auctioning site by snapping a picture -- or uploading one from your Camera Roll -- and receive similar results based on image recognition abilities.

Live now in the eBay iOS app, you can tap the camera icon in the search bar at the top of the home screen, choose "Image Search," then take a picture or upload one from Photos. You'll have to grant eBay access to both your iOS Camera and Photos apps for the feature to work properly.

After you take a picture or choose one, you can crop it so it focuses on the item you want to search, and then tap "Search." eBay will then show you listings for items that are a "close match" or "visually similar" to the product in your picture. Image Search takes into account all of eBay's over one billion listings, according to the company.

Leveraging the latest advances in two core parts of artificial intelligence -- computer vision and deep learning -- these new features make it easier to find and buy the things that inspire you. When you upload images to run Find It On eBay and Image Search, we use a deep learning model called a convolutional neural network to process the images.

The output of the model gives us a representation of your image that we can use to compare to the images of the live listings on eBay. Then, we rank the items based on visual similarity and use our open-source Kubernetes platform to quickly bring these results to you, wherever you are in the world.

eBay also launched "Find It On eBay" for Android smartphones only, which lets users start an image search on another social platform, like Facebook. Using a share extension on an image, Android users can tap eBay and the retailer's app will open to show similar listings.

We've performed a few quick Image Searches today and found mostly solid results for some items (an Apple Watch and band), although other products stumped the software so much we got an error (Nintendo Amiibo, Apple Watch dock). eBay still hasn't said if some products are more reliable than others, but it did mention that Image Search will gain intelligence as customers use it more, as is typical with machine learning technology.

Image Search is live now on iOS and Android, and Find It On eBay has also launched on Android this week. The eBay app on iOS doesn't require an update for Image Search, so it appears the company is rolling out the feature through over-the-air installs.

LG Innotek recently finished constructing a manufacturing plant in Vietnam, where it will produce single-lens and dual-lens camera modules for several iPhone models, according to South Korea's ETNews.

LG Innotek reportedly built the factory to expand its production capacity due to Apple's increasing demand for iPhone camera modules. Production costs are also lower in Vietnam, as workers are often paid less than in South Korea.

LG Innotek is said to be planning a production capacity of 100,000 modules per day by the end of this year, and it should start supplying them to Apple on a full-scale basis in 2018. Orders are expected to continue through at least 2019.

"It is heard that LG Innotek's plant in Vietnam is built in order to match increased orders from Apple," an industry representative told ETNews. "It is likely that there is already an outlook for 2018 from Apple."

LG Innotek already has production lines exclusively for Apple, its largest customer, at its factory in Gumi, South Korea. It extends these lines whenever there is a large increase in the number of orders, according to the report.

Facebook has teamed up with auto car dealers to introduce a new Marketplace section for vehicles on its flagship social media app (via TechCrunch).

The new section features search filters to find a vehicle of a specific type, maker, transmission, color, and more, offered by members of the public as well as car dealerships including Edmunds, Auction123, Cars.com, CDK Global, and SocialDealer.

The automobile Marketplace includes a price checking function that uses the industry standard Kelly's Blue Book, and integrates with Messenger bots to allow users to communicate with dealers in real-time.

Today's announcement comes following an apparent upsurge in car listings, with the social media platform already featuring a dedicated vehicles category that lets users search by make, year, milage, and price.

Facebook doesn't receive a fee for any Marketplace transactions, but it has recently started testing ads within Marketplace to promote certain products. The company said the new car inventory will populate and new features will start rolling out over the next few weeks.

Apple is offering users of its official Apple Store app free redeem codes to download Plotagraph+ Photo Animator from the App Store. Usually $4.99, the iOS app allows users to animate any still photo into a seamlessly looping video or animated PNG.

Users create a Plotagraph by selecting or taking a photo, creating an animation track to indicate the direction of movement, and masking areas of the image they don't want to animate. It's then possible to adjust the animation speed and save the final result to the Camera Roll or share it as a video, GIF, or animated PNG using custom presets.

The editing interface features a range of tools for manipulating images, including an animation tool, selection tool, instant playback, mask, eraser, crop presets, anchor points, pinch zoom, Apple Pencil pressure sensitivity, real-time animation speed control, and multiple export options.

To get the app from the App Store, first download the free Apple Store app [Direct Link]. Then simply open the app, and the Plotagraph+ offer can be found further down in the Discover section on the main store screen. The offer looks like it's working for users in the U.S. and U.K. at the time of writing. Apple has extended its redeem codes to other countries in the past, so it's still worth checking for the offer if you're based elsewhere – let us know in the comments below if you have any success. Offer ends January 15, 2018.

As was announced back in July, Apple partnered with Australian company Cochlear to develop the Nucleus 7, the first made for iPhone Cochlear implant, which is able to stream audio from a compatible iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch directly to a surgically embedded sound processor.

Cochlear's new Nucleus 7 Sound Processor is launching in Australia this week, and should soon also be available in other countries for customers who have profound hearing loss that can't be alleviated with traditional hearing aids and requires implant technology.

Apple's accessibility engineering team worked with Cochlear to create a new form of Bluetooth low-energy audio that allows the implant to connect to the iPhone without draining significant amounts of battery life. Through an iPhone connection, patients who adopt the Nucleus 7 implant will be able to watch movies, listen to music, make calls, and more.

"It's something that we are really passionate about as a company," she said. "We consider it one of our core corporate values, an area where we put significant amount of time and energy ensuring our products work for everyone.

"We started looking at this program around the concept of Bluetooth LE and how it would be a beneficial tool in this specific circumstance. The work we have done is applicable both to hearing aids and sound processors."

The Nucleus 7 Sound Processor is compatible with a wide range of Apple devices, including the iPhone 5 and later, all iPad Pro models, the iPad mini and later, and the fourth-generation iPad and later.

iPhone X pre-orders begin this Friday, October 27 at 12:01 a.m. Pacific Time on a first come, first served basis, and customers that want any chance of receiving the smartphone on launch day will need a combination of speed and luck.

The quickest way to pre-order the iPhone X is to use the Apple Store app on iPhone. Prospective buyers that want any chance of receiving the iPhone X when it launches Friday, November 3 should follow the steps below to be ready.

Note that these steps are for customers paying full price for the iPhone X upfront, and may not apply to those who owe money towards a previously carrier financed device.

➜ Click here to read more...

Following the launch of the Apple Watch Series 3 last month, the previous generation of Apple's wearable device -- Series 2 -- has seen a steady stream of sales hit both aluminum and stainless steel editions, with the best discounts arriving for the aluminum models. The first discounts (from B&H Photo) marked 38mm devices down to $290 and 42mm devices down to about $320, while the second wave (from Best Buy) brought those numbers down by $20, to about $270 and $300, respectively.

Today, Best Buy has dropped the price of aluminum versions of the Apple Watch Series 2 down by another $40, resulting in 38mm models priced at just $230 and 42mm models at $260. Cases in the sale include Space Gray, Gold, and Silver, and collections are only focused on Sport Bands, although there are a few Nike+ editions. We've listed a few of the models below, compared to their previous sale prices at Best Buy. For the full list visit Best Buy's deals page right here.

• 38mm Space Gray Aluminum Case Black Sport Band - $229, compared to $269

• 42mm Space Gray Aluminum Case with Black Sport Band - $259, compared to $299

• 38mm Gold Aluminum Case Midnight Blue Sport Band - $229, compared to $269
• 42mm Gold Aluminum Case Midnight Blue Sport Band - $259, compared to $299

• Nike+ 38mm Silver Aluminum Case Pure Platinum/White Nike Sport Band - $229, compared to $269

• Nike+ 42mm Silver Aluminum Case Pure Platinum/White Nike Sport Band - $259, compared to $299

As a point of comparison, current prices of aluminum Series 3 models stand at $329 for 38mm and $359 for 42mm without LTE.

Best Buy's new sale isn't just focused on Apple Watch, however, and includes deals on MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac, iPad Pro, and select Beats products. The retailer also has a special offer running right now for anyone interested in both the 12.9-inch iPad Pro and Apple Pencil accessory. If you buy both items simultaneously, you'll save $100 on the order, essentially making the Apple Pencil free.

For more details on Best Buy's new sale -- and other ongoing discounts -- head over to our Deals Roundup.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Best Buy