MacRumors

Pokémon Go launched this morning in 26 new countries across Europe, capping a blockbuster week in which the augmented reality-based title became the most popular mobile game ever and saw Nintendo shares set record trading volumes in Tokyo.

The announcement of the multi-country launch was made earlier today on the official Pokémon Go Facebook page.

Pokémon Go is available in twenty-six new countries. As of tonight, Trainers living in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Greenland, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, and Switzerland are able to download Pokémon GO from the Play Store or App Store.

As a major market, France remains conspicuously absent from the launch list, while rollout in Canada and across the Asian region has yet to begin. Users in several countries have also reported login problems with the game since this morning's announcement, suggesting continuing server-side issues for developers Niantic Labs.

Speaking to Reuters yesterday, chief executive of Niantic John Hanke said Pokémon Go will release in around 200 countries "relatively soon" as developers work to bolster server capacity to enable the wider rollout.

Those comments helped Nintendo shares surge another 10 percent on Friday, setting a record in daily trading volume for an individual stock on the Tokyo exchange. The shares have climbed 86 percent this week, adding $17 billion in market value.

Meanwhile in New York City, a stampede was caught on camera on Friday near Central Park, where a "Vaporeon" pokémon character reportedly showed up. People were seen jumping from cars to capture the creature.

Earlier this week, U.S. mobile carrier T-Mobile announced it plans to offer its customers free data to play the game, while Sprint and affiliated Boost Mobile stores are providing charging stations to players, and even training up store staff to help customers locate nearby game features.

Niantic has also revealed it is considering introducing a sponsorship scheme similar to one it has with its other AR-based game Ingress, which assigns sponsors' stores and vending machines as spots in the game.

Update: The Pokémon Go Servers Twitter account has linked to an article by The Independent claiming that a hacking group called PoodleCorp has claimed responsbility for taking down the servers using a denial-of-service attack. Gamers are advised to check back with the account for further updates.

Update 2: Pokémon Go is now available in Canada.

Update 3: Niantic has announced it postponed the launch of the game in France "as a sign of respect for the French people in this time of national mourning." The game was expected to release Friday, July 15 in the country, but the company didn't hint as to when the expected debut is now set to happen.

Yelp is getting in on the Pokémon Go action, adding a new filter that will let users discover restaurants and other businesses located near PokéStops to make it easier to find new Pokémon and other bonuses.

Added via an over-the-air update going out today, Yelp's new Pokémon filter is available at the top of the app when searching for a venue to visit, right alongside other filters like "Good for Lunch," "Price," and "Open Now."

Searching for locations by PokéStop is available on Yelp for the desktop and in Yelp's mobile apps, including its iOS app. Yelp is also asking customers to help identify businesses that have a PokéStop located nearby by checking in.

In order to leave no PokéStop unturned, we need your help! To identify a business that's in the vicinity of a PokéStop, check-in to that location on Yelp and answer a quick question to let fellow Yelpers and trainers know that this is the place they want to be. In just the past 24 hours, Yelpers have already identified thousands of PokéStops! With your help, we'll become Pokémon masters in no time.

Yelp's new PokéStop feature is available in the United States, Australia, and New Zealand. Yelp can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]

Apple Music's string of exclusive content continues today with the debut of "Rise," a new single from Katy Perry set to coincide with the upcoming 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio. The song was released late last night, and is an exclusive to iTunes as well as Apple's streaming music service.

In a statement, Perry said that the timing of the song felt right to share it now, instead of waiting for her next album, because she sees that "there is a need for our world to unite." NBC also confirmed that it will play Rise as the anthem of the Rio Olympics, with the new single set to play before and throughout the Summer Games.

“This is a song that’s been brewing inside me for years, that has finally come to the surface. I was inspired to finish it now, rather than save it for my next album, because now more than ever, there is a need for our world to unite,” the Grammy nominee said in a statement.

“I know that together we can rise above the fear – in our country, and around the world. I can’t think of a better example than the Olympic athletes, as they gather in Rio with their strength and fearlessness, to remind us how we ALL can come together, with the resolve to be the best we can be. I hope this song can inspire us to heal, unite, and rise together. I am honored that NBC Olympics has chosen to use it as an anthem before and during the Rio Games.”

Apple Music turned one year old in June, with subscriber numbers now reaching above 15 million, which Apple CEO confirmed during WWDC. Also during its keynote in June, Apple revealed an incoming redesign for its streaming music service, set to debut within iOS 10, where Apple Music will get a simpler navigation interface and bolder fonts. Following in the wake of multiple artist and song exclusives, Apple Music head of original content Larry Jackson described the service's current goal as "MTV in its 80s and 90s Heyday."

CBS today announced the launch of an all-new Apple TV app that will center around the network's always-on, 24-hour "CBSN" streaming network and has been designed exclusively for tvOS. In addition to the live stream of CBSN, the app curates news stories and video playlists for each user based on previously watched videos.

The new app will also take advantage of the 4th generation Apple TV's deep Siri integration, allowing users to tell Apple's personal assistant that they want to "Watch CBS News" to immediately start a full-screen broadcast of CBSN. While the stream is playing, users can interact with other parts of the app to browse related videos, bookmark some to watch later, and begin subscribing to specific playlists and topics.

"Our Apple TV app represents the future of how viewers will consume and interact with video," Christy Tanner, senior vice president and general manager of CBS News Digital, said. "We are taking advantage of the platform's cutting-edge, interactive technology to offer a customizable experience."

"The CBS News app on Apple TV delivers the full breadth of our original reporting and live, anchored streaming coverage combined with a layer of editorial curation, giving news consumers unprecedented flexibility and access to the stories they care about," Nancy Lane, senior executive producer of CBS News Digital, said.

The launch of the news-focused app is timed to get users ready for coverage of the Republican and Democratic National Conventions, according to CBS, which begin on July 18 and go through July 28. The network's new tvOS app isn't only politically-focused, however, with its daily coverage spanning most popular topics from entertainment and any currently breaking news.

Last night a few users began reporting that their Apple IDs had been compromised, causing them to be locked out of their accounts. Recovering and password resets worked for a handful of Apple IDs, but it was still unclear overnight what might have been happening to cause the small breach in Apple's otherwise secure universal log-in system.

This morning speculation came to a close as third-party email client Spark confirmed that an upgrade to faster servers for iCloud users on the platform triggered the issue and forced password resets in a collection of Apple IDs. The company mentioned that it has been preparing to launch Spark for Mac, which was the reason for the faster server upgrade, but now promises that "there's NO breach or data leak" that users have to worry about.

Readdle, the creators of Spark, reiterated what it tweeted out throughout the morning in a post on Reddit.

Hello guys,

Thank you for the feedback and comments! Our team has been investigating this for a few hours. What we know so far: 1. There's no breach or data leak according to our investigation. 2. The new, faster AWS server logic might have triggered iCloud security algos. We are already working with Apple to learn more details. We are doing some server side work to make Spark much faster, and to make it ready for the Mac version, which is already in Alpha. We will keep you updated once we have more news from Apple side.

Thank you.

As some users have noted, the security problem didn't hit all Spark users who use the service with their iCloud account. The company said that it's working with Apple to get the issue fixed as soon as possible, but it seems that users affected by the security lockouts need not worry about malicious attempts at entry into their private Apple ID at least. If Readdle posts any more updates on its fix for the problem, we'll update this story as well.

Music video platform Vevo has released a major update to its iOS app as part of a wider continuing effort to revamp the brand.

Users of the app can now create profiles to share their music preferences with friends, while an update to the main feed means videos play in zoomed portrait view in addition to landscape.

Machine learning has also been introduced to the app's server back end, offering more intelligent auto-generated playlists based on what users are already listening to.

Additionally, the company has partnered with a handful of original content curators, like Stereogum's Scott Lapatine and Rap Radar's Brian "B. Dot" Miller, to serve new videos and playlists to users directly through the app.

Back in February, Vevo released its Apple TV app – also soon to be updated – in a move that attempts to pitch it as an MTV-like music video destination for the digital era.

The platform currently has 400 million active monthly users, over half of which view Vevo content through the brand's mobile app.

Vevo is a free download for iPhone and iPad available on the App Store. [Direct Link]

The European rollout of smash hit Pokémon Go continued today with App Store launches in Italy, Spain, and Portugal, joining the U.K. and Germany where the game debuted in the last couple of days.

In the U.S. alone, players on iOS are spending about $1.6 million each day on in-app transactions within the game, according to data from app analytics firm Sensor Tower. Of those IAPs, 30 percent of the revenue earned goes straight in Apple's pockets.

Nintendo shares jumped nearly 10 percent to a six-year high on Friday as the retro-styled title became more popular than Twitter just one week after its launch in the U.S., Australia and New Zealand.

"When you look at the way it's becoming a social phenomenon in the U.S., the rally is understandable even though it's not clear yet how much it will boost profits," markets analyst Toshiyuki Kanayama told Reuters.

"People still remember the time when the Wii and the DS became a hit and boosted Nintendo's shares," he added, referring to the company's popular game consoles – one of which Nintendo has announced will be returning to stores around the world on November 11 in the form of the 'NES Classic Mini'.

Meanwhile, in yet another Pokémon-related incident, two men fell down a 75ft cliff in Encinitas, California, yesterday as they tried to catch nearby virtual creatures. One of the men fell 50ft while the other reportedly fell all the way to the beach below.

According to FOX affiliate local news, rescue crews used a rope to reach one of the men, but despite the large fall neither of them suffered serious injuries.

Direct link to Pokémon Go on the Spain App Store.
Direct link to Pokémon Go on the Italy App Store.
Direct link to Pokémon Go on the Portugal App Store.

As part of its T-Mobile Tuesday offerings, T-Mobile plans to offer its customers free data for hit augmented reality game Pokémon Go. Starting on July 19, T-Mobile subscribers will be able to play Pokémon Go without using up their monthly data.

T-Mobile plans to provide free unlimited high-speed data for Pokémon Go for all subscribers through August 17, 2017. Customers will need to redeem the gift in the T-Mobile Tuesdays app between July 19 and August 9, 2016.

"This is what T-Mobile Tuesday is all about - thanking customers with hot, new, totally free gifts every week, and right now, nothing is hotter than Pokémon Go!" said John Legere, president and CEO of T-Mobile. "With the carriers' shared data schemes, players could easily burn up the family's data bucket - and then, hello, overages! At T-Mobile, we're unleashing Pokémon Go so our customers can play free for a year. It's gonna be a fantastic T-Mobile Tuesday!"

T-Mobile first unveiled T-Mobile Tuesdays last month, marking the debut of its eleventh Uncarrier promotion. T-Mobile Tuesdays brings customers a variety of weekly freebies, from food and movie tickets to ride-sharing credits.

As of this week, Apple retail stores and the Apple online store will begin selling a new fitness-related product, the Tangram Smart Rope. The Smart Rope uses magnetic sensors attached to ball bearings in the handles to count each jump, relaying the information to the accompanying Smart Gym Pro app on the iPhone and Apple Watch.

Jump data is also projected to 23 LEDs that are built into the rope, which flash thousands of times per minute to create an animated effect in mid air. On the iPhone, the Smart Gym Pro app, which syncs with the Apple Health app, keeps track of jump count, calories burned, and workout times. It is designed to offer up workout recommendations based on each individual's fitness goals, and it includes tools for unlocking awards and competing with friends.

Jump rope is one of the most efficient cardio workouts around, burning twice as many calories as running - but offering a more total body workout and less impact to your joints. While jumping rope is easy to learn, it's challenging to master, and it's difficult to track your progress because intervals go into the hundreds and thousands of reps.

Smart Rope accurately counts your jumps with advanced magnetic sensors attached to ball bearings in the handles - using the exercise mechanics to generate true, relevant data.

The Smart Rope sold in Apple Stores is available in an exclusive white color, comes in four sizes (S, M, L, and XL) to meet different height needs, and is priced at $89.99 in the United States. It is rolling out worldwide and should be in retail stores over the course of the next few days.

Razer today launched a new top-tier mechanical keyboard peripheral for Apple's 12.9-inch iPad Pro, which packs in PC-like mechanical switches for typing on the tablet (via The Verge). The $169.99 accessory -- which uses Bluetooth to connect to the iPad Pro -- also doubles as a protective case for the tablet when closed, and has a kickstand to perch the device open when the keyboard is in use.

The "ultra-low-profile mechanical switches" used in the keyboard case replicate the feel and responsiveness of a full-fledged mechanical keyboard, according to Razer, but with the slimmer profile needed for a mobile tablet accessory. The keys are even individually backlit for typing in the dark, and come with 20 levels of illumination power to cycle through depending on the light needed.

This revolutionary technology with slim chiclet keycaps raises the bar for ultra-mobile keyboards. Featuring optimized actuation and reset points and an actuation force of 70g, the world’s first low-profile mechanical switch delivers the exact same performance and feel as a full-fledged mechanical keyboard.

Optimized for multiple viewing angles, Razer noted that the Mechanical Keyboard Case's metal kickstand is "detachable and not limited to a fixed angle," letting users find the perfect position for every typing environment. Concerning battery life, the company claimed that the case gets 10 hours on one charge at the highest-intensity level of keyboard brightness, with the possibility to extend that all the way up to 600 hours by turning the backlight off completely.

Razer has posted more information about the Mechanical Keyboard Case on its website, and anyone interested can purchase it from the company for $169.99.