MacRumors

For this week's giveaway, Pad & Quill, the maker of premium MacBook, iPhone, and iPad cases and other accessories, is graciously offering its Woodline iPhone cases and Roll Top Leather Backpack as prizes to the lucky winners.

The Woodline iPhone cases are made of real hardwood, which is polished and scratch-resistant, with a polymer core. The cases are thin, coming in at just .9 millimeter thick, and allow access to all ports and buttons. Four wood choices are available: American Cherry, Rosewood, Premium American Walnut, and Zebra Wood, with retail prices ranging from $49.95 to $59.95. The Woodline cases are available for the iPhone 6/6S and iPhone 6 Plus/6S Plus.

The Roll Top Leather Backpack is made of full-grain tumbled American bridle leather with hand-pounded copper rivets. The roll-top closure weatherproofs the backpack and it can accommodate laptops up to 15 inches. The backpack has a 25-year warranty and each bag is hand signed by the artisan who crafted it. Available in chocolate, black, or whiskey colors, the Roll Top Leather Backpack retails for $319.

Six winners will be chosen. The first four winners can choose one Woodline Case in the color of their choice for the iPhone 6/6S or iPhone 6 Plus/6S Plus. The last two winners can choose one Roll Top Leather Backpack in the color of their choice.

To enter to win, use the Rafflecopter widget below and enter your email address. Your email address will be used solely for contact purposes to reach the winners and provide prize shipping information. You can earn additional entries by subscribing to our weekly newsletter, subscribing to our YouTube channel, following us on Twitter, or visiting the MacRumors Facebook page. Due to the complexities of international laws regarding giveaways, only U.S. residents who are 18 years of age or older are eligible to enter.

Following the announcement of the $50 price drop for the Apple Watch Sport on Monday, Apple has now lowered the cost of its out-of-warranty repair price for the aluminum-cased wearable from $229 to $199. The program serves Apple Watch wearers not supported by AppleCare+, or the limited one-year warranty of the device, which will be ending soon for early adopters of the Apple Watch.

The company still has a few rules about out-of-warranty service, with any Apple Watch that "has been broken into multiple pieces" remaining ineligible for repair. For more detailed descriptions of applicable devices, the company has a full Apple Repair Terms and Conditions document on its website.

Since the other tiers of the Apple Watch have not gotten a price drop, their out-of-warranty prices haven't changed either. If an owner of either the Apple Watch or Apple Watch Edition lacks proper warranty, a repair will cost them $329 and $2,800, respectively.

Netflix has admitted to throttling the video streams of its customers on AT&T and Verizon mobile devices, a practice it confirmed has been in effect for more than five years to “protect consumers from exceeding mobile data caps.”

Speaking with The Wall Street Journal, the company said it doesn't throttle video on Sprint and T-Mobile due to more lenient policies enacted by those carriers that favor slower network connection when data plans are exceeded, instead of overage fees. T-Mobile was at the center of its own throttling controversy earlier in the year, thanks to its free video streaming service Binge On.

To continue its transparency on the subject, Netflix announced a new feature coming to its mobile apps that will grant subscribers more control over their streaming. Called "data saver," the update will let users decide to stream lower-quality video if they have a smaller data plan, or increase to higher-quality video if they have a larger data plan. Netflix said it's "on track" for data saver to launch in May, and plans to release more details closer to launch.

To justify the previous half-decade of secret throttling, the company cited a study it completed recently that pointed to an apathetic response by most users regarding the quality of streaming on their smartphones, with a larger percentage worried about the quality of streaming at home on a television. Still, it hopes moving forward that the new data saver feature will level the playing field and give every one of its subscribers the chance to control their preferable mobile streaming quality.

We believe restrictive data caps are bad for consumers and the Internet in general, creating a dilemma for those who increasingly rely on their mobile devices for entertainment, work and more. So in an effort to protect our members from overage charges when they exceed mobile data caps, our default bitrate for viewing over mobile networks has been capped globally at 600 kilobits per second. It’s about striking a balance that ensures a good streaming experience while avoiding unplanned fines from mobile providers.

Netflix stepped forward to accept the downgraded video claims about a week after AT&T and Verizon both became the center of accusation about throttled Netflix videos on their respective service plans. The streaming video company has publicly backed Net Neutrality since the FCC enacted the open-internet rules last year, and believes its practice of capping video to prevent unexpected user fees is striking a balance that "hasn’t been an issue for our members."

Apple this week updated the Apple Watch section of its website to make it easier for customers to try out different watch styles and find the look they want.

Cult of Mac notes that Apple has replaced the old basic scrolling Gallery section of the site with a more flexible one consisting of three tabs that enable users to mix and match Cases, Bands, and Faces.

Visitors to the Gallery can now click back and forth between the various options to experiment with different styles. Existing Apple Watch owners may also find the updated section more useful should they want to buy additional bands for their wearable.

At its media event this week, Apple introduced new color options to pre-existing bands like the Modern Buckle, Classic Buckle, and Sport Band, along with an entirely new offering in the Woven Nylon band. MacRumors has put together a breakdown of all of the new collections available to purchase on the Apple online store that you can view here.

Apart from the new Apple Watch collections, Apple introduced the iPhone SE and 9.7-inch iPad Pro during its "Let Us Loop You In" event on Monday. Catch up with the news in the MacRumors Event Recap and read more about various interesting details from the keynote.

The Apple Music app for Android devices was updated today, adding a new home screen widget that gives Android users the ability to control Apple Music playback without needing to open the Apple Music app.

The widget lets users view what's playing, and quickly pause, skip, rewind, and favorite songs. Today's update also lets Android users add songs directly to playlists without first needing to add them to the Apple Music, offers a way to redeem iTunes credit for membership renewal, and includes several other useful interface tweaks that should be a welcome change for Android Apple Music users.

Now you can add songs from the Apple Music catalog to playlists without having to add it to your library. You can also:
- Control playback with a widget you can add to your home screen
- Redeem gift cards in Settings to renew your membership using iTunes credit
- See what's playing on Beats 1 directly from the Radio tab -- without having to tune in
- Tap the name of the currently playing song in Now Playing to go to the album
- See which songs are most popular on albums in the Apple Music catalog

Apple Music for Android can be downloaded for free from the Google Play Store.

Popular music discovery app Shazam has been updated to version 9.4.1, gaining the ability to add songs to an Apple Music playlist. With the new version of the app, Shazam can connect to Apple Music and add songs that are discovered right to an Apple Music playlist without leaving the Shazam app.

For those unfamiliar with Shazam, it is a popular app that is able to identify music that is playing, offering up song titles, music videos, and more.

The new feature requires iOS 9.3, as the update enabled the ability for third-party apps to access Apple Music playlists. To use the feature, Shazam will need to be given permission to access and connect to Apple Music through the settings section of the app.

Once authorized, a song recognized by Shazam can be added to a playlist by tapping the "+" symbol in the upper right of the app. Songs can also be played in Apple Music, used to start a radio station, or opened in iTunes. Songs added to Apple Music are listed under a "My Shazam Tracks" playlist. Today's update also gives Apple Music subscribers the ability to listen to a song in full without leaving the app.

The new version of Apple Music is here - and it makes for an even better Shazam experience! Once you've upgraded to iOS 9.3, connect to Apple Music in Shazam settings and you'll be able to:

- Add any Shazam track to any of your Apple Music playlists.
- Find all your Shazams conveniently saved to a 'My Shazam Tracks' playlist in Apple Music.
- Listen to any song in FULL, without leaving Shazam!

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

Following the launch of iPhone SE and 9.7" iPad Pro orders, Apple has begun offering popular journal app Day One 2 for free through the Apple Store app for a limited time.

To take advantage of the promotion, open the Apple Store app, scroll down, and tap on the Day One 2 banner. Read the terms and conditions, tap on the green "download now for free" banner, sign in to your Apple ID account, and tap on "Redeem" in the top-right corner. The app will then begin downloading automatically.

Day One 2, normally $4.99 on the App Store, allows you to create a journal your life, ranging from once-in-a-lifetime events to everyday moments. The app features a timeline for browsing through past photos and notes, while you can also record the location, weather, time, and date of your life experiences.

Day One 2 is available on the App Store [Direct Link] for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.

The Pokémon Company today released more information about its upcoming augmented reality mobile game Pokémon GO, which blends the series' trademarked collectible gameplay with location-based discovery thanks to the technology of modern smartphones. As in its original September announcement, the company reiterated that the app itself will be free at launch, with in-app purchases available to round out the experience.

Pokémon GO works by notifying players when they're near a catchable Pokémon, and now the company is explaining how the catching process works: gamers will use their smartphone to "take aim" at where the Pokémon is waiting and use one of their collected Poké Balls to capture it. As is normal in games of the series, there's a chance for the capture to fail or for the Pokémon to run away before it can be caught.

There will also be a new feature called PokéStops, "located at interesting places, such as public art installations, historical markers, and monuments," that act as a sort of rest stop for users to restock on Poké Balls and Pokémon Eggs -- which use the pedometer of a smartphone to hatch after a certain number of steps. The more the game is played, the faster players can level up their Trainer and discover higher-level Pokémon in the wild while gaining access to more powerful items.

Similar to PokéStops, Pokémon GO will use the well-known feature of the Gym to provide community hubs in certain locations around the globe. But these areas won't be as peaceful-minded as PokéStops, with players able to challenge the ownership of a Gym and potentially gain control over it with their team of Pokémon. Although it will lack the story-driven experience of a proper game in the series, these features hint that there will be some sort of structure to Pokémon GO.

At a certain point in the game, you'll be asked to join one of three teams. Once you join a team, you'll gain the ability to assign Pokémon you've caught to empty Gym locations or to a location where a team member has placed one of his or her Pokémon. Like PokéStops, Gyms can be found at real locations in the world. Each player can place only one Pokémon at a particular Gym, so you're encouraged to work with others on the team to build up a strong defense.

If a Gym is already claimed by another team, you can challenge that Gym using your own Pokémon. Using the Pokémon you've caught, engage in battle with the defending Pokémon at the Gym to claim control.

The Pokémon Company reiterated that all of "the features, available languages, design, and overall appearance" of the game are not yet final, but a trial run is currently being conducted in Japan to iron out the experience before a wide release, which has also yet to be confirmed.

There's been a lot of news surrounding traditionally console exclusive companies emerging into the smartphone gaming market, including Pokémon parent company Nintendo, and now Sony, which just announced it'll be bringing some of its characters to smartphones beginning in Japan and Asia.

Check out The Pokémon Company's official press release for more information on Pokémon GO.

Sony is forming a new company, ForwardWorks, that will be focused on providing gamers with "full-fledged game titles" on their smartphone (via The Verge). ForwardWorks will begin operations on April 1, the same day that Sony has announced of all of its various PlayStation arms are set to be joined under the unified umbrella brand Sony Interactive Entertainment.

The new company plans to create gaming experiences for users in Japan and Asia, but the company has hinted that there's a possibility for expansion into other territories after initial launches in those countries. While ForwardWorks has yet to confirm the specific smartphone operating systems it will be launching games on, it did tease the content of the upcoming mobile experiences, which will "leverage the intellectual property" of Sony's vast catalogue of well-known characters and franchises to use in each title.

ForwardWorks will leverage the intellectual property of the numerous PlayStation® dedicated software titles and its gaming characters as well as the knowledge and know-how of gaming development expertise which was acquired over the years with PlayStation® business to provide gaming application optimized for smart devices including smartphones* to users in Japan and Asia. The company will aim to deliver users with opportunity to casually enjoy full-fledged game titles in the new field of the smart device market.

The exact franchises in question that the Tokyo-based company plans to focus on have yet to be confirmed, but the terminology of the announcement suggests that ForwardWorks will be going a more traditional gaming route in transplanting its characters onto mobile than Nintendo has. Sony has tried to break into the smartphone game space before, specifically on Android, but the focus of its past initiative was more of a cross-platform synergy with the company's game-ready PlayStation Vita handheld.

A shift to smartphone-only games is interesting, especially considering the library of classic franchises ForwardWorks could employ in clever ways to make up for the lack of tactile controller inputs. Nintendo has made a similar promise recently regarding the use of its most popular characters in upcoming mobile games, but its first game, Miitomo, has left most fans disappointed due to its sole focus on character creation and social network-skewing gameplay.

Following the unveiling of the 9.7-inch iPad Pro at Apple's media event on Monday, Apple CEO Tim Cook described the device as the "ultimate PC replacement". As if to underline that belief, the company has included a subscription option for Microsoft Office 365 in the iPad Pro ordering process on its website.

It's unclear exactly when Apple added the Microsoft productivity suite to the online checkout process – it also appears when customers order the iPad Air 2, iPad mini 2, or iPad mini 4 – however the inclusion has raised a few eyebrows, not least because Apple usually positions its iWork suite as a better alternative to Microsoft's Office apps.

More significantly perhaps, Microsoft already offers all of its mobile Office apps to Apple customers on the App Store for free (with the exception of 12.9-inch iPad Pro users, oddly enough, since the larger tablet exceeds Microsoft's official definition of a mobile device). By contrast, an Office 365 subscription gives users Mac and iPad access to Microsoft's full suite of productivity apps, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and more.

The move suggests Apple is heavily relying on the potential for Windows PC users to see the smaller iPad Pro as not only a Microsoft Surface beater, but also a complete desktop PC replacement that will draw them into the Apple ecosystem. Indeed, a look back at Monday's event highlights just how much effort Apple is now putting into encouraging Windows desktop users to switch to iPad.

"There's a second group of people that we'd love to reach with this iPad Pro: Windows users," Apple's senior VP Phil Schiller said during Monday's event. "You may not know this, but the majority of people who come to an iPad Pro are coming from a Windows PC."

Windows PCs were originally conceived of before there was an internet, before there was social media, before there was app stores, and this is an amazing statistic: There are over 600 million PCs in use today that are over five years old. This is really sad. It really is. These people could really benefit from an iPad Pro.

When they see the features and performance and capabilities of a product like the iPad Pro, designed for the modern digital lifestyle, many of them will find it is the ultimate PC replacement.

Apple remains the largest vendor in a declining tablet market, shipping 16.1 million iPads in the fourth calendar quarter of 2015. While the iPad continues to be the best-selling tablet, its worldwide market share remains only 24.5 percent despite the larger iPad Pro launching in early November. Despite that, the 12.9-inch iPad Pro outsold Microsoft Surface tablets in its debut quarter.

iPad sales have declined for eight consecutive quarters year-over-year due to, among other reasons, longer tablet refresh cycles compared to smartphones. Apple's efforts to convince Windows PC users that an iPad Pro is a complete PC replacement appears to be the company's latest big push in its larger efforts to reverse this trend.

A one-year, single-license Office 365 subscription on Apple's website costs $69.95. A five-license subscription costs $99.95 and a four-year, two-license University download comes in at $79.95.