Apple will begin selling AirPods in its retail stores starting on Monday, December 19, according to a retail source that shared the news with MacRumors. Apple is currently informing stores about the imminent launch and shipping product to retail locations.
Apple previously announced that AirPods would be in stores next week, but did not give specific information on when the in-store launch would take place. In addition to retail stores, carrier stores and Apple Authorized Resellers will also be receiving stock.
AirPods first went on sale online on Tuesday, December 13, but supplies were highly limited. Delivery estimates slipped to four weeks within an hour and a half, and orders placed now won't ship out for six weeks.
Customers who were lucky enough to be able to place an AirPods order right when they became available will start to receive shipments early next week, but for those who weren't able to make an order, in store purchase will be the only option for getting AirPods in time for the holidays. Apple has already started charging credit cards and shipments have already started going out in Australia ahead of December 19 delivery dates.
Given how quickly AirPods sold out online, in-store supplies are likely to be limited, but Apple says its retail locations will be receiving regular AirPods shipments going forward.
A federal jury for the U.S. District Court for Northern California today found Apple to be infringing upon a pair of wireless patents owned by Core Wireless, a patent holding firm with a large portfolio of more than 1,200 patents and applications, originally filed and later acquired from phone maker Nokia.
Core Wireless was awarded $7.3 million in damages as part of the ruling, which Apple is likely to appeal. In its complaint, Core Wireless argued iPhones and cellular-enabled iPads infringe upon its patented wireless technologies, according to court documents filed electronically.
Core Wireless, in a statement following the verdict, said the patents-in-suit — U.S. Patent No. 6,633,536 and U.S. Patent No. 6,477,151 — "provide innovations that improve battery life and signal quality in mobile phones."
"We are very pleased with the verdict," said John Lindgren, Conversant's CEO. "We appreciate the efforts of the court and the jury. This confirms the strength of the Core Wireless portfolio, especially following our success against LG earlier this year in two cases in the Eastern District of Texas."
Meanwhile, Apple lost another lawsuit this week when a San Diego Superior Court jury reached a verdict in favor of a group of former Apple Store retail employees, who accused the company of failing to provide timely meal and rest breaks, wages due upon ending employment within the required time, and accurate wage statements.
California Labor Code dictates that employees must be provided with at least a 30-minute meal break when the work period is more than five hours, and at least a 10-minute rest break for every four hours worked. The defendants claimed Apple failed to always provide these breaks for at least four years prior to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit, originally filed in 2011 and elevated to class action status in 2014, involves Apple retail and corporate employees who worked for Apple between 2007 and 2012. The trial was to continue this week for corporate employees, as the jury verdict only applies to retail employees, according to a tipster.
Apple is ordered to pay $2 million in the lawsuit. Apple can now appeal the case before a higher court.
Apple today seeded the first public betas of both iOS 10.2.1 and macOS Sierra 10.12.3 to public beta testers, one day after seeding the two new releases to developers and two weeks after releasing iOS 10.2 and macOS Sierra 10.12.2.
Beta testers who have signed up for Apple's beta testing program will receive the new iOS 10.2.1 beta update over-the-air after installing the proper certificate on their iOS device, and macOS Sierra 10.12.3 can be installed using the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App Store.
Those who want to be a part of Apple's beta testing program can sign up to participate through the beta testing website, which gives users access to both iOS and macOS Sierra betas. Betas are not stable and include many bugs, so they should be installed on a secondary device.
No major outward-facing changes were discovered in the developer betas of macOS Sierra 10.12.3 or iOS 10.2.1, suggesting they are both minor updates that focus on bug fixes and under-the-hood changes rather than major new features.
Super Mario Run is now available on the App Store for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch, becoming the first official smartphone and tablet game to feature the iconic Nintendo character. The game is a free download with a $10 in-app purchase required to unlock all 24 courses spanning six worlds.
The game is a runner designed for one-handed gameplay. Mario runs forward automatically as players tap to jump, collect coins, pounce on Goombas, avoid obstacles, and reach the flagpole at the end of each course before the timer runs out. Ultimately, Mario must rescue Princess Peach from the infamous Bowser.
Mario automatically vaults over small obstacles, including Goombas, while players can tap over enemies to perform a vault jump. As the levels get more difficult, players will be tasked with performing long jumps, walking over blocks that launch Mario in a particular direction, and other challenges.
Mario can jump off walls and perform a number of stylish moves as players aim to collect pink or purple challenge coins along the way. Challenge coins are often placed near ledges or other difficult to reach areas, requiring an element of skill and precision to collect them all.
A challenge mode called Toad Rally allows players to compete with friends or strangers to see who can obtain the highest score. Players must collect coins and perform stylish moves as usual to attract the largest crowd of Toad spectators in order to win. There is no flagpole in this mode, so players keep running until time runs out.
Toad Rally requires Rally Tickets, which can be acquired in a variety of ways, such as clearing worlds or through bonus games in your own kingdom.
There is also a Kingdom Builder mode, enabling players to create their own kingdom and customize it using coins and toads gathered in Toad Rally, which become part of the kingdom. Placing certain buildings can unlock bonus mini-games and characters such as Luigi, Yoshi, and Toad.
Due to piracy and security concerns, Super Mario Run requires an internet connection to play. iOS devices must be connected to Wi-Fi or a cellular network during gameplay, largely ruling out usage on airplanes or subways. It is also a blow to SIM-less iPhone and iPod touch users when Wi-Fi is unavailable.
Super Mario Run signifies a change in stance for Nintendo, which for years refused to consider releasing its popular franchises such as Mario, Pokémon, and The Legend of Zelda on smartphones and tablets, instead limiting the titles to its own consoles such as the Wii and Nintendo 3DS.
Apple and Nintendo have been aggressively marketing the game since it was unveiled in September, with prominent App Store banners, teaser videos, and an on-stage demo on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. Some analysts believe Super Mario Run could top summer phenomenon Pokémon Go in downloads, but not revenue.
Apple doesn't appear to be offering AppleCare+ for AirPods, instead providing a standard one-year warranty that's available on all Apple products. If the AirPods need service during that one year period, all work will be covered for free.
After the one-year warranty has expired, Apple will charge a $69 fee for out-of-warranty service repairs. Battery service for AirPods that lose battery capacity is free during the one-year warranty period or $49 out of warranty.
If you lose or damage one of the AirPods or the charging case, Apple will charge $69 for a replacement, regardless of whether or not the AirPods are still under warranty. The pricing in Apple's support document is U.S. pricing, and will vary based on country.
AirPods first went on sale Tuesday morning with shipment dates as early as December 21, but supplies were quickly exhausted. Within an hour, delivery estimates slipped to December 29, and shortly after that, fell again to four weeks.
AirPods orders placed today in the United States will not ship out for six weeks, arriving to customers towards the end of January. Apple is expected to start offering AirPods in stores starting next week, so customers who did not get a chance to pre-order may still be able to get a set of AirPods.
Apple has said stores will be receiving "regular AirPods shipments," but supplies are likely to be tight as demand is high.
Priced at $159, AirPods are wire-free Bluetooth-equipped headphones that are able to provide up to five hours of music playback. AirPods use a new Apple-designed W1 chip to quickly switch between devices, and include features like touch-based controls and Siri. AirPods charge via an included charging case and a Lightning cable.
Twelve South today launched the latest in its line of BookBook cases, this one for the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. Like previous editions, the new BookBook includes wallet slots for credit cards and a driver's license, all housed in a vintage leather-bound case that looks like an old novel. A removable shell protects the iPhone 7 both inside of and out of BookBook, and the case can fold into a stand for the smartphone when viewing videos.
BookBook for iPhone 7
The company noted that the design for iPhone 7 does have a few differences this time around, including:
Upgraded card slot and wallet design to prevent stretching and pilling
Dark interior finish to better resist dirt and dust
All-new Book spine design to add variety to your library
Additionally, Twelve South is launching "Journal for iPhone," a new leather-bound wallet case that's made exclusively for iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. Journal is a more basic leather case that doesn't have BookBook's novel aesthetic, but matches that case's design with credit card slots, a detachable composite shell, and built-in viewing stand.
Journal for iPhone 7
Since 2010, Twelve South has curated a library of cases called BookBook. We are pleased to announce today that not only do we have your favorite vintage BookBook available for the iPhone 7, but we are also introducing an all-new edition called Journal. Modernizing the story, Journal is our newest and most luxurious case. Crafted in full-grain leather covering both inside and out, this handsome folio presents a more refined, clean design. Like BookBook, Journal features slots for cards, cash and ID, streamlining your everyday carry in style.
Home automation manufacturer Fibaro today announced a new set of HomeKit-enabled products that offer basic motion detection and home security, as well as a Flood Sensor, which the company calls "the first water sensing and leak detection device in the Apple HomeKit ecosystem." Each of the three new products -- Fibaro Flood Sensor, Fibaro Motion Sensor and Fibaro Door/Window Sensor -- include Bluetooth low energy and are all compatible with Apple HomeKit.
The Flood Sensor detects water as soon as it appears, and warns users of potential impending water damage with an acoustic alarm system. Fibaro says the device can also "trigger a smart home scene," so users can connect the Flood Sensor to other HomeKit products to serve as a back-up warning system. Temperature detection is included as well so users can check the levels of rooms in their home, which the company says can be useful in the winter to "stay ahead of burst pipes and potential problems."
The other two products Fibaro announced focus on motion detection around a home and near its entryways. The Fibaro Motion Sensor measures movement, ambient temperature, and light intensity to accumulate information about a user's home and warn them about intrusions and other anomalies. Similarly, the Door/Window Sensor can be placed on any door or window to add another layer of security onto a home and alert users about security breaches for each potential entry point.
All three devices can be connected to the Fibaro iOS app [Direct Link], which includes features like device status checks and notifications. Thanks to the introduction of the new Home app in iOS 10 users can also access the Fibaro products directly through Apple's first-party app, as well as in Control Center, and use Siri to control their features. With Apple TV, users can check in on the Fibaro devices when they aren't home.
"Expanding our product line to include support for Apple HomeKit was a natural choice for Fibaro. The HomeKit platform offers a simple and secure solution for expanding the many benefits of smart home to a new category of consumers that up to this point, may not have had the means or knowledge to participate. Working with companies like Apple to expand the mainstream consumer smart home market is very exciting for us," said Rich Bira, Managing Director of Fibaro in the U.S.
The Poland-based company sells its products through authorized resellers -- like The Home Depot -- and has priced the Fibaro Flood Sensor at $59.99, Motion Sensor at $69.99, and Door/Window Sensor at $59.99.
Weight Watchers today introduced a variation of its OnlinePlus subscription plan that includes a new 38mm model Apple Watch Series 2 with an annual membership.
The subscription plan has an initial installment fee of $99.95 in the first month, followed by a monthly fee of $34.95 for the next 12 months, for a total price of nearly $520.
Apple Watch Series 2 models start at $369, while a standalone OnlinePlus membership currently costs $242 for 13 months, so the combo would cost $611 if purchased separately.
In other words, if you were already planning to join Weight Watchers and purchase a new Apple Watch Series 2, this promotion will save you around $109.
"Weight Watchers and Apple share the belief that moving more each day has a powerful impact on people's lives," said Jeff Williams, Apple's Chief Operating Officer. "We are thrilled that Weight Watchers will be helping their members live a healthier day with the addition of Apple Watch to their OnlinePlus program."
At the end of the 13-month period, the plan automatically renews for a standard monthly fee of $19.95 until you cancel.
Weight Watchers told us customers do not have to return the Apple Watch at the end of the membership period, but there is a $304 early cancellation fee to pay for the device if you cancel in the first month. The cancellation fee will be reduced by $25.33 per month thereafter until the 13-month installment plan expires.
With an OnlinePlus subscription, the official Weight Watchers app [Direct Link] for iOS and Apple Watch enables members to track their food intake and physical activity with a personalized dashboard. Users can set tailored and adaptive activity goals, access a community exclusive to Weight Watchers, and more.
Popular music app Capo 3 received a major update today, adding Touch Bar support for the 2016 MacBook Pro and other new features that are designed to improve the overall user experience.
For those unfamiliar with Capo 3, it is a music app that can detect the chords in any song, allowing users to isolate specific sounds and vocals to play along with.
On 2016 MacBook Pro models, the Touch Bar can be used to scrub through songs and quickly access playback controls like volume, pause, and more. A waveform scrubber displays the waveform of the song and the locations of regions that have been added by the user.
"The Touch Bar support in Capo 3.5 was fun to build, but it's even more fun to use," says Chris Liscio, SuperMegaUltraGroovy founder and chief developer. "It's great to jump instantly to a point in the song, and if you have regions placed then you can identify them in the waveform overview by color. It's also helpful to have the audible feedback while scrubbing, so you can hear whether you're in the right spot."
Along with Touch Bar support, there's a new Song Views option, which allows users to choose between a new Practice view and a Tabbing view with the Spectrogram display. New view customization options are available, allowing the tablature display and automatically detected chords to be disabled.
Transcription Playhead, a new playback mode that makes it easier to listen to individual notes has been added, and there's an improved scrubbing feature, also for better identifying individual notes.
"I spent a week in the summer prototyping a new effect that would allow users to 'freeze time' so that they could hold a note still to help identify it by ear. I attached it to Capo's scrubbing feature--just to see whether it worked--and I couldn't stop playing with it. Since then, I've used it to pick apart some truly difficult solos in the Tabbing view faster than ever before."
Instagram announced today that it now has more than 600 million users, with the last 100 million of those users joining the photo and video sharing service in the past six months, a period in which it has added several new Snapchat-like features. Instagram has doubled the 300 million users it had in December 2014.
A lot has changed this year, but the Instagram community and the diversity of expression it provides has remained consistent. And you now have more ways to share than ever before with Instagram Stories, live video and disappearing photos and videos in Direct. Additionally, with updated safety tools that give you more control over comments and other parts of your experience, we’re working to make Instagram safer than ever for connection and self-expression.
Instagram, owned by Facebook, has morphed into a Snapchat competitor this year with the addition of "Stories" that disappear after 24 hours, a new "Events" channel, and photos and videos that disappear in direct messages. Facebook has also wittingly added Snapchat-like features to Messenger.
Update: In related news, Facebook Messenger has been updated today with another new Snapchat-like feature enabling users to customize their photos and videos with text art, filters, stickers, and more, as reported by TechCrunch.
One year after testing color-coded rider pickups in Seattle through a system called "SPOT," Uber today announced that the initiative is now called "Uber Beacon," and beginning December 16 it will expand to Miami, Denver, Nashville, and Newcastle in the United Kingdom. Uber Beacon is a piece of hardware that attaches to a driver's windshield and "uses color-pairing technology" to match up drivers with their riders.
In the Uber app, riders will be able to select from an endless amount of color options when calling for a ride. As their driver gets to the pickup destination, the Uber Beacon in the windshield will match the color the rider picked, making it easy to find a ride at night and at crowded venues. The new hardware has also been designed to match Uber's rider app logo.
On the rider side of things, users can hold up their smartphone to display their unique color and make it quicker for the driver to find and pick them up.
Uber said the Beacon itself can be installed easily, removed in seconds, and lasts for "several evenings without charge."
Enter Uber Beacon, designed for simplicity and scalability. Drivers can install it themselves within minutes and then remove it in seconds. And with a powerful battery and Bluetooth connection to our driver app, it can last several evenings without charge, while keeping the dashboard cable-free. And our technology also allows for customized color palettes and animation styles to celebrate events and holidays —imagine Beacon pulsing St. Patrick’s Day green or colorful rainbows all weekend for Pride.
Uber drivers in Miami, Denver, Nashville, and Newcastle will begin receiving Uber Beacons at community events in preparation for New Year's Eve celebrations within each city. Riders wanting the helpful system to make it to their city have some hope, with the company noting: "Our goal is to make Beacons the new standard for the Uber experience, so in 2017 we’ll be expanding Uber Beacon to more cities across the world."
Apple CEO Tim Cook visited Trump Tower along with other prominent tech executives on Wednesday as they gathered in New York for a summit with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, who was accompanied by three of his adult children.
According to The New York Times, the meeting was attended by 11 other tech executives, including Alphabet's Larry Page and Eric Schmidt, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, IBM CEO Ginni Rometty, and Tesla's Elon Musk. Vice-President-Elect Mike Pence was also at the table.
Cook sat two seats away from Trump, beside Facebook board member and Trump transition official Peter Thiel, and listened as the president-in-waiting began by heaping praise on the executives in the room.
"This is a truly amazing group of people. Anything we can do to help this go along, and we're going to be there for you… you'll call my people, you'll call me – it doesn't make any difference, we have no formal chain of command here. We're going to do fair trade deals, we're going to make it a lot easier for you to trade."
According to The Wall Street Journal, executives were then invited to introduce themselves one by one.
"Tim Cook, very good to be here," said the Apple CEO. "And I look very forward to talking to the President-elect about the things that we can do to help you achieve some things you want."
A number of issues were discussed once the press were ushered out of the meeting room. According to several executives who attended the meet, topics included trade, immigration, and vocational education – the latter being one of the main reasons Cook has previously given for why most Apple products are made in China.
Trump has rebuked Apple in the past for basing the vast majority of it assembly plants in other countries. While campaigning earlier this year, Trump said "we're going to get Apple to start building their damn computers and things in this country instead of in other countries", while he has also threatened to introduce a 45 percent tax on products imported from China.
According to USA Today, Trump also told executives at the meeting that he planned to slash the corporate tax rate in the U.S. in order to make it a lot easier to repatriate money kept overseas.
Referring to his commerce and economic administration picks, Trump said they would "make it easier for you to trade across borders, because there are a lot of restrictions, a lot of problems". He added, "If you have any ideas on that, that would be great."
The meeting reportedly ran for two hours and included "productive discussions about job creation and economic growth", said incoming White House Chief of Staff Renice Priebus. At the end of the summit, Trump suggested, and tech leaders agreed to, meeting quarterly, according to a person briefed on the meeting.
Cook was a Hillary Clinton supporter during the election campaign and hosted a fundraiser for the Democratic presidential nominee in August on behalf of himself. In a company-wide memo issued following Trump's victory, Cook urged Apple employees to "move forward together" despite "uncertainties ahead".
Despite any personal misgivings he may have had in the past, Cook reportedly stayed at Trump Tower after the summit was over to meet privately with the President-Elect for further discussions.
Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.
Pebble has moved to reassure its customers that software and services will continue to run through 2017, following Fitbit's acquisition of the company last week.
Fitbit bought out Pebble for its software assets, not for its hardware, which has concerned many existing owners of Pebble smartwatches about the continued functionality of their devices. Today, however, Pebble sought to allay fears by confirming in a blog post that services would continue as normal for at least another year.
Fitbit is going out of its way to keep Pebble software and services running through 2017. To be clear, no one on this freshly-formed team seeks to brick Pebble watches in active service. The Pebble SDK, CloudPebble, Timeline APIs, firmware availability, mobile apps, developer portal, and Pebble appstore are all elements of the Pebble ecosystem that will remain in service at this time.
Pebble said it has "seen a massive influx of community developers teaming up to keep the Pebble watch experience alive, long into the future," but as TechCrunch notes, what that means for third-party apps developed for the smartwatch remains unclear.
In addition, Pebble said that it was working on an update for release in the coming months that will ensure the normal operation of core Pebble functions, including Pebble Health, once the company's cloud services close down.
Some users of Evernote have threatened to stop using the note-taking service after the company announced a new privacy policy scheduled to go into effect on January 23 that allows employees to read customers' notes.
The policy changes are related to machine learning algorithms, says Evernote, which are being tested on user content that the company has accumulated since going into operation. Specifically, Evernote explained that staff may need to read customer notes in order to ensure the algorithms are working as they should.
The latest update to the Privacy Policy allows some Evernote employees to exercise oversight of machine learning technologies applied to account content. While our computer systems do a pretty good job, sometimes a limited amount of human review is simply unavoidable in order to make sure everything is working exactly as it should.
In describing this position more succinctly, Evernote's privacy policy states that employees will look at notes "for troubleshooting purposes or to maintain and improve the Service". But some users are concerned about the vague wording of the clause, which journalist Stacy-Marie Ishmael has called "so broad as to be all inclusive". Meanwhile, some users have taken to social media to join a growing chorus of revolt.
Evernote says that only a limited number of employees who have undergone background checks will be able to access note content and that users can encrypt notes to prevent staff from reading them.
But while users can opt out of having their notes reviewed for machine learning purposes, Evernote can still access content for other reasons, including violations of terms of service, to protect the rights, property, or personal safety of Evernote and its users, or to comply with law enforcement requests, warrants, or court orders.
Users can read more about the new changes to Evernote's privacy policy here.
Update: Evernote CEO Chris O'Neill has shared a note to further address and clarify the changes. He said Evernote employees may see "random content" to ensure its machine learning algorithms are working properly, but "they won't know who it belongs to." Moreover, if any personal information is identified, it "will mask it from the employee."
If you choose to participate in these experimental features, you’ll enjoy a more personalized experience. Select Evernote employees may see random content to ensure the features are working properly but they won’t know who it belongs to. They’ll only see the snippet they’re checking. Not only that, but if a machine identifies any personal information, it will mask it from the employee.
Apple supplier Dialog Semiconductor recently made a $10 million investment in Energous, a company that's developing long-range wireless charging techniques and has been rumored to be working with Apple in the past, reports Fast Company.
According to Energous CEO Steve Rizzone, going forward, all Energous technology will be sold under the Dialog brand. Dialog makes power management chips and is said to get as much as three quarters of its business from Apple.
Energous has developed WattUp, an emerging wireless charging technology that uses radio frequencies to charge devices from up to 15 feet away. There's been no concrete proof that Energous has partnered with Apple in any way, but in 2015, Energous inked a deal with an unnamed consumer electronics company, and speculation has suggested it could be Apple.
The deal between Energous and known Apple supplier Dialog doesn't add any further evidence towards rumors of a partnership between Apple and Energous, but as Fast Company points out, Dialog's resources would make such a partnership more viable. Through Dialog, Energous now has access to Apple, knowledge of how Apple's supply chain works, and an inside edge on how to establish a deal with the Cupertino company.
But if Energous were trying to get into a position to supply technology to Apple, it couldn't have made a better move than tucking itself under Dialog's wing. [...]
On its own, Energous is probably too small to be an Apple supplier. Apple suppliers have to be large enough to reliably supply parts at Apple's huge scale. Dialog obviously already has that capacity. With the Energous technology basically being folded into the Dialog structure, all of a sudden Energous has it too.
Rumors suggest Apple is planning to integrate some kind of long-range wireless charging technology into the iPhone 8, set to be released in 2017. Long-range wireless charging is superior to many existing wireless charging methods because it does not require devices to be close to a charging source or mat, but there are also challenges to overcome.
With long-range charging, there's a loss of power transfer efficiency that occurs as the distance between the transmitter and the receiver is increased. That means devices charge more slowly when they're further away, and Apple is said to be aiming to overcome that limitation.
Apple has been hiring engineers with expertise in wireless charging, testing wireless charging modules, and has been seeking a supplier for wireless charging chips, all hints that point towards the imminent implementation of wireless charging. Still, it remains unknown how wireless charging will be implemented and whether Apple will partner up with a company like Energous to implement the feature.
Energous' CEO says the company's technology should be ready to start shipping out in real world products starting in the second quarter of 2017, but he did not comment on whether the partnership with Dialog was made in an attempt to secure some kind of deal with Apple.
Yahoo today announced that it believes more than one billion Yahoo user accounts were compromised in a hack by an unauthorized third party in August of 2013.
Information stolen from affected accounts includes names, email addresses, telephone numbers, birth dates, hashed passwords, and both encrypted and unencrypted security questions and answers. Clear text passwords, bank account information, and credit/debit card information were not believed to be accessed in the attack.
According to Yahoo, the hack was discovered after law enforcement officials provided the company with what appeared to be Yahoo user data from an unknown source. Yahoo says it has not been able to identify the specific intrusion, but it is "likely" distinct from a late 2014 hack that compromised more than 500 million Yahoo user accounts.
Earlier this year, Yahoo confirmed that "at least" 500 million user accounts were accessed in September of 2014, and this marks a second attack during the same general timeframe.
Yahoo is notifying users who may have been affected by the attack, and says it has "taken steps" to secure their accounts by implementing mandatory password changes. Unencrypted security questions and answers have also been invalidated.
Along with the 2013 hack compromising 1 billion user accounts, Yahoo has also announced that an ongoing outside investigation suggests an unauthorized third party accessed proprietary code to forge cookies, a technique that may have been used by the hackers responsible for the September 2014 attack. Those account holders are also being notified.
The outside forensic experts have identified user accounts for which they believe forged cookies were taken or used. Yahoo is notifying the affected account holders, and has invalidated the forged cookies. The company has connected some of this activity to the same state-sponsored actor believed to be responsible for the data theft the company disclosed on September 22, 2016.
Yahoo suggests users "review all of their online accounts" to check for suspicious activity and change any passwords that might have been used for a Yahoo account and another online account. Yahoo also recommends implementing two-factor authentication and avoiding links from suspicious emails.
Apple released macOS 10.12.2 yesterday with stability improvements and fixes for several key bugs, including major graphics issues plaguing some late 2016 model MacBook Pro users.
A new MacBook Pro on macOS 10.12.2 with a 99% charge and an estimated 9 hours and 21 minutes of battery life remaining
What it may have also failed to mention is that macOS 10.12.2 appears to have led to battery life improvements for some users. A growing number of MacRumors forum members using the new MacBook Pro claim to be experiencing longer battery life after updating to macOS 10.12.2, despite experiencing less-than-desirable battery life while running macOS 10.2.1 just days earlier.
Many of the users using battery apps like coconutBattery have noticed their new MacBook Pro's battery is discharging with lower wattage, and if accurate, the lower power consumption would certainly lead to longer battery life.
MacRumors forum member lobo1978 — edited slightly for clarity:
Ok it is official. macOS Sierra 10.12.2 fixed my battery. I am up back to 9-10 hours of regular use. Before updating, idle power consumption was not going lower than 6 watts. On macOS Sierra 10.12.2, it is now <4 watts at 60% brightness with the ambient light sensor on.
MacRumors forum member JohnnyGo:
Before the update was getting 7-9 hours with 50-60% brightness. Now getting >10 hours with 70-75% brightness with the same workload (Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on of course).
At least a dozen other users have reported similar results since yesterday after upgrading to macOS 10.12.2. Since publishing this article, a number of Reddit users have also confirmed seeing longer battery life.
While the user reports are worth acknowledging, they remain anecdotal and reflect only a small subset of new MacBook Pro users. It remains to be seen if Apple actually made battery life optimizations in the latest macOS Sierra update; if it did, however, Apple could be choosing to do so quietly as to not confirm that battery life issues were actually a problem for some users.
Apple officially says the new MacBook Pro is rated for up to 10 hours of battery life. Specifically, its tech specs page says all new 13-inch and 15-inch models are capable of up to 10 hours of wireless web browsing, up to 10 hours of iTunes movie playback, and up to 30 days of standby time on a single charge.
Following the release of macOS Sierra 10.12.2, Apple told The Loop that, after a lot of testing, it stands behind the 10-hour battery life advertised.
As more user reports surface, we should be able to see if the alleged battery life improvements are circumstantial or part of a larger trend.
Weight Watchers today introduced a variation of its 
Some users of Evernote have threatened to stop using the note-taking service after the company 
