MacRumors

Over the past few weeks, images have claimed to show Apple's upcoming Lightning-enabled EarPods, but most were found to be fake as the design language of the headphones largely deviated from Apple's usual aesthetic, especially in regards to not having a thin, rectangular Lightning plug. Today, MobileFun posted a video of a working pair of Lightning EarPods, and the overall look of the accessory appears more in line with Apple's design than any of the previous leaks.

As is expected, the headphone part of the new EarPods is structured the same as the EarPods currently being sold by Apple, with a clean, white design, right and left markers on each earpiece, and in-line volume and play/pause controls. Interestingly, the in-line controls are placed farther down on the EarPods, directly below the right/left split in the cable design. If real, this would mark a design change from the current generation, which places the volume rocker along the right cable, above the bifurcation in the cord.

The most notable part is, of course, the long-rumored addition of the Lightning plug onto the EarPods, adapted to take advantage of the removal of the 3.5 mm headphone jack from the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. The plug on the Lightning-enabled EarPods appears slightly bigger than Apple's traditional Lightning adapters thanks to the inclusion of a digital-to-analog converter needed for music playback and not just straightforward charging.

In the video, the EarPods are proven to be completely functional through the playing of a few songs as well as using the in-line controls to play, pause, and skip some tracks. MobileFun concluded to its viewers, "as you can see, these are fully working, they aren't just a mock-up of what you might receive," believing that the working headphones will be what Apple sells alongside the new generation of iPhone in September.

Multiple solutions for the removal of the 3.5 mm headphone jack have sprouted up over the past few weeks, with one of the most prevailing alternatives centering around a Lightning to 3.5 mm dongle that the company could potentially bundle into the box of the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus to cushion the transition for customers. More recently, it was reported that Apple could be working on completely wireless "AirPods" as an option for iPhone users, allowing simultaneous iPhone charging and headphone music playback, which is one of the most commonly occurring grievances surrounding the loss of the 3.5 mm headphone jack.

Previous Coverage: Lightning Headphones: Are They Better or Just an Inconvenience?

511 Innovations, Inc. is the latest patent troll to file a complaint against Apple with the U.S. District Court for Eastern Texas, claiming that the iPhone's proximity sensor infringes upon five of its patents.

The asserted patents¹, filed between 1999 and 2012, relate to various methods for measuring optical characteristics of an object, such as color spectrums, translucence, gloss, and position detection.

511 Innovations is a Texas-based non-practicing entity that does not appear to sell any sensor-related products, but instead seeks to enforce its patented technologies through litigation. Eastern Texas is a common district for patent holding firms to target larger companies like Apple, which has fought similar lawsuits from VirnetX, Dot 23, VoIP-Pal, and others in recent years.

The small firm acquired the asserted patents in 2013 from JJL Technologies, which claims to have sold world market-leading spectrophotometers, according to court documents filed electronically this week. It then licensed the patents to Spectral Sensors, whose website has been "under construction" since 2013. Further complicating things, JJL Technologies had acquired the patents itself from LJ Laboratories.

511 Innovations has demanded a jury trial and is seeking damages in the form of a reasonable royalty, plus interest and fees, in addition to a permanent U.S. sales ban on iPhones and all other infringing products and services.

Legal battles of this nature can prove costly. Last month, Apple agreed to license Cover Flow- and Time Machine-related patents from Mirror World Technologies for $25 million, and it agreed to pay another $25 million in a Siri-related in April. It is, however, close to escaping a $533 million verdict won by Smartflash, LLC, and a $625 million verdict won by VirnetX was overturned last week.

¹ U.S. Patent Nos. 6,307,629, 7,110,096, 7,397,541, 8,472,012, and 8,786,844.

Despite India's overall healthy growth in the smartphone market -- currently sitting as the third largest behind China and the United States -- Apple is having a tough time gaining ground in the country. According to a new report from Strategy Analytics, Apple saw a drastic percentage dip in iPhone users from 2015 to 2016, with 35 percent fewer iPhone devices sold this year. Earlier in May, Apple CEO Tim Cook admitted iPhones are too expensive in India, potentially harming the company's sales figures as it tries to grow.

In its new report, the market research firm said that Apple sold just 800,000 handsets in Q2 2016, while in the same year-ago quarter the company sold 1.2 million units. These deflating sales numbers rippled into Apple's operating system marketshare in India, essentially getting halved down from 4.5 percent in Q2 2015 to 2.4 percent in Q2 2016. Director of Strategy Analytics, Woody Oh, pointed out a few ways Apple might go about course correcting its current struggles in the country, including the ongoing saga of boosting its retail presence in India.

“Apple iOS fell 35 percent annually and shipped 0.8 million smartphones in India in Q2 2016. Apple’s smartphone marketshare has halved from 4 percent to just 2 percent in India during the past year. Apple iOS will need to reduce iPhone pricing to cheaper levels, attract more operator subsidies and enlarge its retail presence through Apple stores or online channels if it wants to regrow significantly in the future.”

Apple Stores aren't as ubiquitous in India as they are in other parts of the world thanks to the country's rules on foreign direct investments, which required 30 percent of goods sold by a foreign company to be manufactured or produced within India. Thankfully, after a ruling in June cleared the way for companies to circumvent that law, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi set a precedent by granting Apple a three-year extension on the strict local-sourcing rule, due to its single-brand retail company status selling "cutting-edge technology." Companies similar to Apple are expected to get similar treatment.

While the relaxation of these rules should help Apple moving forward, it doesn't change the fact that Android remained the dominant force in India this year. In total, 29.8 million Android smartphones shipped within the country in Q2 2016, growing from 23.2 million in the same quarter last year. Similarly, Google's Android operating system remained the dominant force in the Indian mobile market with a record 97 percent hold for the quarter, increasing from 90 percent a year ago.

Apple's retail future in the country might be turning around, but the company is still hitting smaller roadblocks on its route to increasing sales figures in India. In May, Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman ruled "not in favor" of a proposal laid out by Apple to sell used iPhones in the country. Thanks to Apple's repeated growth frustrations, Strategy Analytics said that Android's domination of the Indian smartphone market "looks unbeatable right now, due to its deep portfolio of hardware partners, extensive distribution channels, and a wide range of low-cost apps like Gmail."

Back in September, MacRumors uncovered evidence that Apple had acquired Zurich-based real-time capture firm Faceshift, in a move possibly related to the development of biometrics for unlocking devices or authorizing payments through facial recognition techniques. Apple later confirmed the purchase in a statement.

Before the acquisition, Faceshift worked closely with game and animation studios on technology designed to quickly and accurately capture facial expressions using 3D sensors.

One of the lesser known aspects of Faceshift's business was licensing out its face tracking SDK to other companies, one of which was Xcessity, a small Austrian firm that specializes in designing human-computer interaction software to improve accessibility.

One of the most popular products made by the firm is KinesicMouse, which enables disabled people and those with degenerative conditions like Parkinson's disease to control a mouse through facial expressions. The functionality of the KinesicMouse software – which is also used in hospital settings – depended heavily on the SDK developed by Faceshift, which received a royalty fee for every purchased license.

Earlier this week, Xcessity CEO Markus Pröll revealed in a tweet and a post on the Xcessity forum that Faceshift had revoked the license following Apple's acquisition of the company, and that he would no longer be able to develop or offer the software:

The Faceshift SDK is the result of a research team that focused on this topic for several years at the university ETH Zürich. Whilst it would not be impossible to create such a software it would take way too much time and resources. Believe me after about four years of development I have tried about everything.

I don't know who or why the decision was made to cancel the existing license agreement. I want to explicitly mention that I don't make any claims that Apple or Faceshift is responsible for the cancellation. On this part I am left in the dark just as you are. All I can tell is that the guys from Faceshift have been very supportive through all those years.

The news came as a blow to users of the software, and Pröll says he has received "quite a few messages" from people who really depend on the app. One user of the software told MacRumors:

People like me depend on this affordable solution to access computer games. It brought me back to gaming although I have suffered from muscular dystrophy since I was a child. Shame on Apple for locking down such a solution.

If the license cancellation is indeed linked to Apple's acquisition of Faceshift, the KinesicMouse software would appear to be an unfortunate casualty, given Cupertino's stated commitment to accessibility. MacRumors has reached out to Apple for comment and we'll update this story with any forthcoming response.

Apple is working on wire-free earbuds built around a custom Bluetooth radio chip that will result in a longer battery life than is possible with traditional Bluetooth chips, reports Forbes.

Citing a source with knowledge of Apple's plans, Forbes says Apple has spent the last several years working on a custom Bluetooth chip that's designed to solve the battery life problems that plague existing wireless earbuds.

The low-power Bluetooth chip comes from technology developed by Passif Semiconductor, a startup Apple purchased in 2013. But the project has hit performance snags. Apple originally planned to launch the Bluetooth gadget in 2015, but Bluetooth performance issues stalled the release, the source told FORBES. "The way it works at Apple is if it doesn't work 100%, it gets cut," the source said. Whether Apple's wireless earbuds arrive with a custom Bluetooth chip by Apple, or instead use a third-party supplier is still unknown.

This isn't the first time we've heard about Apple's work on wire-free earbuds. Back in January, a rumor unveiled Apple's earbud plans, pointing towards Bragi Dash-style wireless Bluetooth earbuds with a battery life of approximately four hours. According to that rumor, the earbuds will also charge through an included carrying case that serves as a rechargeable battery, further extending battery life.

In recent years, Apple has delved into developing its own chips to reduce its reliance on third-party vendors, cut down on supply chain issues, and drive technology improvements. Apple has been developing its own ARM-based CPUs for mobile devices since 2010, so a move into other chip categories is unsurprising.

Rumors indicate Apple will remove the headphone jack in the iPhone 7, pushing consumers towards wireless headphones and Lightning-based headphones, so the timing is right for the release of new wireless earbuds. According to Forbes, the earbuds could potentially launch in September alongside the new iPhone 7, but the site's source was not able to confirm a launch date.

Based on trademark filings discovered by MacRumors, Apple may be planning to name its rumored wireless earbuds "AirPods."

At today's Black Hat Conference, an annual event designed for the global InfoSec community, Apple's head of security engineering Ivan Krstic announced the launch of a bug bounty program that will see Apple paying money to individuals who discover major bugs and security flaws in the company's software.

Many major technology companies like Google and Microsoft offer bug bounty programs to encourage people to discover and report major vulnerabilities, but until now, Apple has declined to provide a similar program.

According to TechCrunch, Apple's new bug bounty program is part of Apple's effort to open up to hackers, researchers, and cryptographers who want to help improve the company's security.

Apple will be offering bounties of up to $200,000 to researchers depending on the vulnerability that's discovered. Secure boot firmware components will earn $200,000 at the high end, while smaller vulnerabilities, like access from a sandboxed process to user data outside of the sandbox, will earn $25,000.

Although each category of vulnerability maxes out at the given rate, Apple will determine the exact reward amount based on several factors: the clarity of the vulnerability report; the novelty of the problem and the likelihood of user exposure; and the degree of user interaction necessary to exploit the vulnerability.

Apple plans to launch its new bug bounty program in September. To be eligible for a reward as part of the program, researchers will need to provide proof-of-concept on the latest versions of iOS and the company's newest hardware. Apple will also encourage researchers to donate their earnings to charity and will match all bug bounty donations.

The program will be invite only for the time being, limited to a few dozen researchers. Apple plans to make it more open as it grows, and if a non-member discovers a significant bug, they'll be invited to the program.

In a recent patent filing detailing smart watch band swapping mechanisms, Samsung appears to have cut some corners and borrowed a few familiar looking images from Apple.

The South Korean company’s patent application for a “Wearable Device” features several design drawings of the Apple Watch that appear to be based on Apple Watch marketing materials and images, as was discovered by Patently Apple and Business Insider.

Samsung uses Apple Watch drawings alongside its own product drawings as examples of methods for attaching a band to a smart watch. The Apple Watch’s lug attachment site is clearly depicted along with bands like the Classic Buckle, Modern Buckle, Milanese Loop, and Leather Loop, suggesting Samsung’s product designers and engineers are drawing inspiration from Apple’s wearable device.

Figures 10A to 10F and 11A to 11F are views illustrating diverse shapes, structures, and materials of a first strap portion or second strap portion in a wearable device according to am embodiment of the present disclosure.

Samsung has a long history of copying Apple designs and is often ridiculed for its tendencies to emulate Apple, so the use of Apple Watch design images for its patent examples is a curious choice.

Apple and Samsung continue to be embroiled in a long-running lawsuit that found Samsung guilty of infringing on iPhone design patents, and Samsung has already paid Apple $548 million as a result. Just today, more than 100 designers wrote an amicus brief supporting Apple in its ongoing battle with Samsung, describing how the visual design of a product has “powerful effects on the human mind and decision making processes.”

Apple is working with television content providers and video companies to create a universal digital TV guide for the Apple TV and iOS devices, reports Recode.

Apple's goal is to help users discover all of the different television channels that are available through dedicated apps from companies like HBO, Netflix, and ESPN without the need to open up each app. The digital TV guide would also include a feature allowing users to play TV shows and movies with one click.

Last year, after Apple shelved its plans for a streaming television service, it shifted its strategy to the tvOS App Store, positioning it as a way for content providers to share their own content on Apple's platform. Apple CEO Tim Cook has said in the past that he believes the future of TV is apps.

Industry sources say Apple's plans are an outgrowth of the TV service it wanted to launch last year. The difference is that in 2015, Apple wanted to sell TV programming directly to consumers, and provide them with a new interface that would make it easy find the stuff they paid for.

Now Apple is just working on the interface. It is letting programmers, distributors and customers work out the money part among themselves.

According to Recode, the single sign-on feature that's bundled into tvOS 10 is the first part of Apple's TV guide plan. Single sign-on will allow customers with a cable subscription to sign into the Apple TV once and access all of the apps that are available through cable authentication.

Apple already has access to information about the television content within apps to power Siri's Apple TV search features, but the company is said to be speaking with content providers about additional metadata for its full guide.

It's not clear what an Apple TV guide might look like, but it could perhaps work similarly to the App Store, with editor-based show recommendations, custom "For You" recommendations based on watched shows, lists of popular television shows, and more, making it easier for customers to discover new television content.

There is no word on when an Apple-designed television guide could be added to the Apple TV and iOS devices, but TV execs that spoke to Recode expressed some hesitation about the idea because it would eliminate their ability to draw customers to their own guides and channel promotion efforts.

As expected, Apple has just released its revamped Apple Store iOS app, bringing along a new "Discover" tab that takes into account each user's previous purchases so it can curate content from the company's online storefront in order to recommend what to buy next. The update for the Apple Store app introduces a universal functionality for both iPhone and iPad devices as well, along with a redesigned interface.

The newly redesigned Apple Store app is a more personal way to shop for the latest Apple products and accessories. Get recommendations based on the Apple products you already own. Find out which accessories are compatible with your devices. Easily upgrade to a new iPhone from your current one. Keep track of your orders wherever you go. And reserve a spot in an upcoming workshop or event.

Word of the revamped app surfaced last week, with Apple seeking to leverage the success and user feedback from similar "For You" sections in its other services, like Apple Music and Apple News. Based on your previous activity, the Apple Store app will automatically go to work in putting forth purchase suggestions when users begin placing orders in the store.

- Get recommendations and shop for new products based on what works with the Apple devices you already own.
- Manage your Apple account at a glance with the updated, easy-to-use Account tab.
- Learn about helpful workshops and exciting events happening at your nearest Apple Store.
- Stay on top of your in-store activities. Find out when your order is ready for pickup and see what time your reservation starts.
- Scan a product at a participating Apple Store to get more information, make sure it’s compatible, and buy it from your iPhone.
- Find out if a product you’ve added to Favorites is available when you visit a participating store.

You can download the new update for the Apple Store app from the iOS App Store for free. [Direct Link]

Update: We went hands-on with Apple's new Apple Store app to show off all the new features. Make sure to check out our video below.

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With the launch of the iPhone 7 fast approaching, images of device components are leaking out at a rapid pace. This morning, we saw what appeared to be a functional iPhone 7 model running Apple's SwitchBoard prototyping software, and now an image depicting what's said to be the front panel of the iPhone 7 has surfaced on Weibo.

The panel looks distinctly different than the front panel of the iPhone 6s, with a longer and wider earpiece that's closer in proximity to the camera cutout and two sensor cutouts towards the top of the device. Also included is a home button cutout at the bottom of the panel.

Curiously, the alleged front panel does not look like the front panel that was seen in the photos and video of the fully assembled and functional iPhone 7 that was leaked this morning, but it is in line with past rumors about the iPhone 7.

Back in June, Japanese site Mac Otakara said the iPhone 7 would feature a redesigned front panel with a longer earpiece cutout and dual proximity sensors. That rumor and the front panel image both conflict with the full device images, so either the front panel is fake or the full device images are fake.

Conflicting rumors have been surfacing about the iPhone 7 for months, making it difficult to suss out concrete details about the device. On top of that, many leaked dummy models said to be based on iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus specifications have been floating around, and not all of them are the same.

As we get closer to the launch of the iPhone 7, we'll undoubtedly see additional parts that will allow us to get a clearer picture of what to expect, but right now, there are a few features that are up in the air.

While some details are still murky, there are rumors that have surfaced time and time again, allowing us to reliably predict some iPhone 7 changes. The device is expected to include a slightly redesigned body with relocated antenna bands, no headphone jack, camera changes (larger camera in the iPhone 7 and dual cameras in the iPhone 7 Plus), and an improved A10 processor.

Apple today released an iOS 9.3.4 update for the iOS 9 operating system, just over two weeks after releasing iOS 9.3.3 and less than two months before we expect to see the public release of iOS 10, currently in beta testing.

iOS 9.3.4 is available immediately via an over-the-air download on all devices running iOS 9.

According to Apple's release notes, iOS 9.3.4 provides "an important security update" and is recommended for all iOS 9 users.

iOS 9.3.4 is likely to be the last update to iOS 9, with iOS 10 coming in September alongside new iOS devices.

iOS 10 brings a slew of new features, including a revamped Lock screen experience, an overhauled Messages app with new functionality and its own App Store, a new Photos app with object and facial recognition, a redesigned Music app, a centralized HomeKit app, and a Siri SDK for developers.

Update: iOS 9.3.4 fixes the Pangu iOS 9.3.3 jailbreak exploit. In a support document covering the security fix included in the update, Apple credits Team Pangu with discovering a vulnerability related to a memory corruption issue.

It appears that Apple's revamped Apple Store app for iOS is set to go live at any moment, as signs of the new app have begun appearing on Apple's sites and in the App Store.

As noted on Twitter, a new featured banner promoting the app with a color-reversed icon has gone live on the Turkish App Store, while we also spotted it in the United Arab Emirates App Store. The banner text promotes "the new Apple Store app" with "shopping designed around you."

Earlier today, Apple also added a new "Easily track your order" section to its Shipping and Pickup page, showing off a partial order tracking screen.

The new app should be going live shortly, but Apple has not made any official announcement about its launch plans.