MacRumors

Just a day after debuting three new iPhone 6s ads focused on the iPhone's camera and wireless "Hey Siri" functionality, Apple has shared a new short 15-second ad in the same series, this time focusing on Live Photos.

In the "Half Court" ad, the iPhone 6s is used to capture a half-court shot made by Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry, which is then played back again.

The iPhone 6s is here, and the only thing that's changed with the camera is everything. Because now you can shoot amazing Live Photos. Bringing every moment, big or small, to life with just a touch.

Yesterday's longer camera-focused iPhone 6s ad also featured a shot by Stephen Curry and both ads come just ahead of the start of the 2015-2016 NBA Regular season. The two ads may be featured during the Cavaliers/Bulls and Pelicans/Warriors games, set to be broadcast on TNT.

Over the course of the last several weeks, Apple has launched more than five videos to market the iPhone 6s, which have focused on 3D Touch, Siri, and the new camera features in the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus. Apple has also released a number of Apple Watch ads highlighting Apple Music, Apple Pay, Siri, and more.

JPMorgan Chase & Co today announced plans to launch its own payments service to compete with Apple Pay, reports Re/code. The news comes courtesy of Chase CEO of Consumer and Community Banking, Gordon Smith, who announced "Chase Pay" at the Money20/20 payments conference in Las Vegas.

Chase Pay will work via QR code instead of over NFC, allowing customers to make purchases with their smartphones by showing a QR code to a cashier. If that sounds a lot like the MCX Consortium's upcoming CurrentC platform, it's because Chase is partnering up with MCX for its payments service.

The MCX Consortium, which promotes the QR-based CurrentC app and payments service, consists of collection of merchants like Walmart, Target, Sunoco, Kohl's, Best Buy, Rite Aid, CVS, Lowe's, Sears, Shell, Michaels, 7-Eleven, and more. Once available, CurrentC will be available as a payment option in all of these retail locations, as will Chase Pay.

In some of these stores, customers will be able to pay by showing a QR code within the Chase Pay app. In others, Chase customers will have to use Chase Pay inside MCX's own CurrentC app. It's not clear which of the MCX member retailers will support which method.

CurrentC has been in development for multiple years, giving Apple Pay an edge with its earlier release timeline. While most MCX members were originally subjected to an exclusivity agreement, that has since expired, leading several MCX Consortium members to offer support for Apple Pay. Chase itself also supports Apple Pay, allowing Chase credit cards and debit cards to be used with Apple's payments service.

CurrentC and Chase Pay are both slated to launch in 2016.

Ahead of the release of the new fourth-generation Apple TV, Polygon has taken an in-depth look at the device, giving an explanation on how storage is used. Apple offers the Apple TV in 32 and 64GB storage configurations, but initial app downloads are restricted to 200MB, which has led to some confusion about how the storage works and what it's used for on the device.

Though apps on the device are limited to 200MB of storage space when downloaded, on-demand resources, part of iOS 9's App Thinning feature designed to reduce app size, allow tvOS apps to download and delete content whenever needed, such as levels that are already played or levels that have yet to be played. Developers can store 20GB of on-demand resources for apps in iCloud.

With app sizes limited to 200MB on the surface, it might seem like more than 32GB of storage is unnecessary, but apps can actually download up to 2GB of resources immediately after installation. Apple TV users who plan to play a lot of games or use a lot of resource-heavy apps could potentially find themselves using a large amount of storage, so the 64GB upgrade could be worthwhile.

Using this architecture, all of the bits and bytes that, together, make up the whole of every Apple TV app live in some combination two places: Apple's servers and on your Apple TV. Here's how it breaks down:

- The app bundle, accessible through the App Store, limited to 200 MB
- Initial install tags, which are on-demand resources limited to a total of 2 GB (in addition to the 200 MB initial app bundle)
- Prefetched data, which is prioritized for automatic download after the initial app bundle's installation
- Data hosted by the App Store, available on demand, limited to a total pre-sliced size of 20 GB (in addition to the app bundle's size limit)

Apple's own guidelines on storage don't offer much information. Apple suggests that customers who plan to stream movies, TV shows, and music, or play "a few apps and games" will be able to make do with 32GB storage. Those who plan to "download and use lots of apps and games" should choose the 64GB configuration.

Polygon spoke with a number of developers about App Thinning on the Apple TV. While some with smaller apps within the 200MB limit were not bothered, others, like Tyrone Rodriguez who works on The Binding of Isaac, suspected it could be troublesome to deal with App Thinning features.

"App size will be, and no pun intended, a huge issue for some developers," Rodriguez tells Polygon. "This means The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth won't meet Apple's requirements without serious reworking. This device is intended for in-home wi-fi/wired Internet, but it's clear that Apple [wants] to reduce the file size so that more apps can fit on the device. It's a bit disingenuous and not ideal for the game developer."

For a deeper look at how the Apple TV's storage works, how it takes advantage of App Thinning, the benefits of App Thinning, and what developers think of the Apple TV's storage limitations, make sure to check out Polygon's full article on the new Apple TV.

Apple began selling its new Apple TV in its online store this morning, with the first Apple TVs arriving to customers later this week. The device is priced at $149 for a 32GB version and $199 for a 64GB version.

In line with the target date announced by Tim Cook last week, Apple is now allowing customers to place online orders for the new Apple TV set-top box. The new Apple TV is available with either 32 GB of storage for $149 or 64 GB for $199, and orders will begin shipping to customers later this week, with the earliest deliveries being set for October 30 for those who opt for one-day shipping.

Alongside the box itself, Apple is also selling extra Siri Remotes for $79 and Remote Loop wrist straps for $12.99. Two-year AppleCare coverage is also available for $29.

Outside of the United States, the new Apple TV is available in a number of countries, with pricing for select locations as follows:

- Canada: $199/$269
- UK: £129/£169
- Euro countries: €179/€229
- Australia: A$269/A$349
- Japan: ￥18,400/￥24,800

The new Apple TV brings a number of improvements in both hardware and the user experience, led by a full App Store with support for third-party apps and a new touch-based remote that supports Siri-based controls in select countries. Universal search allows users to find available content across different services, and Apple intends to open this feature up to developers to allow their content to be included.

On the hardware side, the new Apple TV includes an A8 chip with 2 GB of RAM, supporting up to 1080p video at 60 frames per second. The new remote for the Apple TV includes a glass touchpad as well as an accelerometer and a gyroscope that allow it to serve a game controller. Third-party Bluetooth controllers are also supported.

As the first full weekend in theaters for Aaron Sorkin and Danny Boyle's Steve Jobs film comes to a close, early box office results have been disappointing, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Estimates put the film's take at $7.3 million from nearly 2,500 theaters, well below expectations and only good enough for seventh place on the weekend.

Those backing Steve Jobs had wanted to land somewhere in the teens, but are counting on a long run throughout awards season (an A- CinemaScore should help word of mouth). Jobs is over-indexing in upscale theaters in major cities, including the Bay Area — home of Apple — but falling flat in Middle America. Two weekends ago, the $30 million movie scored the top location average of the year to date when opening in New York and Los Angeles. Through Sunday, its domestic total is $10 million.

"We're going to redouble our efforts to support these markets," said Universal domestic distribution chief Nic Carpou. "It's working great in these theaters now, and we want to make sure it continues to do so."

The film has generally received a positive reception from critics, particularly for Michael Fassbender's portrayal of Jobs. Those more familiar with Jobs' history and those closest to him have, however, been less satisfied with the film, in many cases taking issue with the way Jobs is portrayed and some of the artistic license that deviates significantly from actual events.

Apple has shared three new iPhone 6s television ads called The Camera, Crush and Flip a coin, the latter two starring musician and actor Jamie Foxx. The new ads continue Apple's "the only thing that's changed is everything" campaign, focusing on the improved cameras and hands-free "Hey Siri" functionality on iPhone 6s.

The Camera is a one-minute spot, starring Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry, that shows off new iPhone 6s camera features, including 3D Touch, Live Photos, Retina Flash and 4K video recording. It also features 1080p HD slow-mo video recording and groups of people taking selfies using the improved 5-megapixel FaceTime camera.

Crush is a shorter fifteen-second spot where Foxx is getting dressed in front of a mirror and asks, "Hey Siri how do I look," to which Siri responds, "Judging from your voice, I'd say you must be fairly attractive." The focus of the ad is on how Hey Siri allows for hands-free usage of Apple's personal voice assistant on iPhone 6s.

Flip a coin is a similar fifteen-second spot that demonstrates hands-free Siri on iPhone 6s. Foxx is holding two movie scripts in his hand, contemplating which one to choose, before ultimately saying "Hey Siri flip a coin." Siri responds with "Tails" and Foxx says "sci-fi western it is."

Apple has released nearly three dozen ads for the iPhone 6s and Apple Watch over the past few weeks. Foxx starred in a similar iPhone 6s ad for 3D Touch earlier this month, while a series of Apple Watch ads have been released on two occasions focused on Apple Music, Apple Pay, Siri and messaging, fitness, maps and more.

Apple has hired Nvidia's Jonathan Cohen, director of deep learning software for the company, according to Cohen's LinkedIn page, which was first spotted by Re/code. Deep learning essentially trains computers to recognize patterns in data and then organizes them in a similar way to humans. Nvidia uses deep learning in its Nvidia Drive PX platform, which is used to power self-driving cars.

Cohen's LinkedIn page doesn't list an official title with Apple, instead only listing "Software" as his position. He's held multiple positions within Nvidia since joining the company in 2008, starting out as a Senior Research Scientist and building his way to Director of Deep Learning Software this year. Cohen also has experience working with Nvidia's CUDA platform, which is used to power GPUs in broad-ranging use cases like air traffic control and blood flow prediction software.

As noted by Re/code, Apple currently uses deep learning for Siri and Apple Maps. It's unknown what Cohen's expertise could be applied to at Apple, but at this year's CES Cohen was explaining how Nvidia's deep learning technology was being used in its self-driving car platform Drive PX.

Apple has met with California DMV officials regarding self-driving car laws within the state and multiple reports from The Wall Street Journal indicate that the Cupertino company is exploring the functionality with the possibility of including it in a later iteration of the much-rumored Apple Car.

In recent years, Apple has poached employees from Tesla, Ford, GM, A123 Systems and Samsung for its secretive automotive project. More recently, it's hired away talent from electric motorcycle startup Mission Motors, who had to close its doors after the talent drain. In September, it was reported that Apple was labeling the car project a "committed project", speeding up development and aiming for a 2019 launch date.

Apple was slapped with a $5 million class action lawsuit over iOS 9's Wi-Fi Assist feature today, according to AppleInsider. The new feature is turned on by default in iOS 9 and automatically switches a user to cellular data when the local Wi-Fi connection is weak.

The feature is an attempt to create a more smooth user experience, but some users have complained that the feature increases data use, which would take some users near or over their monthly data caps. In October, Apple admitted that users should only see a "small percentage" hike in data usage and attempted to ease concerns over the feature.

In a support document, Apple explained that the feature does not work when a user is roaming, only works when apps are in the foreground and doesn't work with third-party apps that use large amounts of data, like music and video streaming apps.

The lawsuit says that plaintiffs William Scott Phillips and Suzanne Schmidt Phillips were subjected to overage charges on their iPhones after updating to iOS 9, although the suit doesn't list how much those charges were. However, the plaintiffs claim that the "overall amount in controversy exceeds" $5 million. The suit also notes that Apple did not clearly explain the feature until the media covered user complaints, but that at that point it was too late for the plaintiffs.

"Defendant's above corrective action, however, still downplays the possible data overcharges a user could incur. Reasonable and average consumers use their iPhones for streaming of music, videos, and running various applications — all of which can use significant data. Defendant's corrective statement does not disclose any basis for its conclusion that an average consumer would not see much increase in cellular usage."

Wi-Fi assist is available on devices running iOS 9 or later, although the feature is not supported on the iPhone 4s, iPad 2, the 3rd-generation iPad and the 1st-generation iPad mini. To turn off Wi-Fi Assist, users can go to Settings > Cellular and scroll down to the bottom to toggle off the feature.

With the launch of the iPad Pro coming up shortly, technology and education expert Fraser Speirs got some hands-on time with the device at an invitation-only event in London yesterday. Speirs has been sharing his thoughts from his one-hour session with the iPad Pro and its accessories and answering questions on Twitter, offering an interesting perspective on the user experience.

Overall, Speirs was impressed by the iPad Pro, finding it most ideal for productivity tasks in noting the device "is expansive where the Air 2 is intimate. It definitely has a 'work' feel to it, although photos/media are fantastic." Multitasking in particular is "a whole different thing" on the iPad Pro with a true feeling of "two iPads stuck together," an experience that makes it "a great device for serious work and creativity."

Speirs is a bit less enthusiastic about other use cases, noting that "if you just use it to browse and Netflix" there may not be enough benefit from the iPad Pro to make it worth the increased size and weight compared to iPad Air 2. For reading, he feels "it's not a device to snuggle up with" but would be solid for reference work.

Turning to the Apple Pencil, Speirs calls it "extremely impressive" and "certainly the best iPad stylus I have used by a country mile." Palm rejection is described as "near-perfect" and the "best I have ever seen on iOS," making for a smooth experience with writing and drawing apps.

Speirs was less impressed with the Smart Keyboard, calling it "a bit fiddly" due to its size and complexity but a "decent enough" keyboard. As far as the keyboard feel, Speirs compares it most closely to Logitech's Keys-to-Go among accessories iPad users might already be familiar with.

For more of Speirs' thoughts on the iPad Pro and its accessories, check out his Twitter timeline, which is full of tidbits and other impressions.