MacRumors

Apple's intention to remove the 3.5mm headphone jack from this year's iPhone 7 has been a well-publicized rumor since last November, with the widespread belief that the company would use a Lightning port to provide both charging and as a source for audio output on 2016's iPhone. Today, however, Chinese company LeEco announced a line of smartphones that will beat Apple's rumored removal of the 3.5mm headphone port, instead opting for a USB-C input (via Engadget).

LeEco also has its hands in product categories like smart TVs and electric cars, with offices in Los Angeles and Silicon Valley, but the company keeps most of its smartphone business focused locally in China. The new line of smartphones -- dubbed the Le 2, Le 2 Pro, and Le Max 2 -- will run the Android operating system, and users will be able to purchase either in-ear or over-ear USB-C headphones to go with the new phones. No specific plans were divulged, but LeEco noted that it intends to bring "at least one" of the devices stateside in 2016.

The Le 2 and Le 2 Pro are analogues of the iPhone 6s Plus, featuring 5.5 inch, 1080p displays, but coming in slightly above Apple's 2750 mAh battery at 3000 mAh. Understandably, the Le 2 Pro stacks up better against the Le 2 in a few categories: it has a 21-megapixel rear-facing Sony IMX230 sensor and 4GB of RAM, whereas the Le 2 packs a 16-megapixel rear-facing camera and 3GB of RAM. The Le 2 will cost 1,099 yuan ($170), while the Pro version will run for 1,499 yuan ($230).

The Le Max 2 has a bigger screen than the other two devices at 5.7 inches, and includes Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon 820 processor, a more "advanced ultrasonic" fingerprint scanner, and a bigger 3100 mAh battery. That's in addition to optical image stabalization, increased storage capacity options, and a total of 6GB of RAM. A 32GB storage option of the Le Max 2 (with a lesser 4GB of RAM) will cost users 2,099 yuan ($325), while the increased storage of 64GB (and 6GB of RAM) will sell for 2,499 yuan ($390). Pre-orders for all three smartphones began today in China.

Although nothing has been confirmed this far out from the iPhone 7 event, which will most likely take place in September, recent rumors have suggested Apple could ship Lightning-enabled EarPods with the smartphone to ready users for a new shift in headphone inputs. One report suggested recently that the company might even adopt Bluetooth-enabled headphones for the iPhone 7 to free up the Lightning port when listening to music, but still be able to charge the wireless EarPods through the iPhone when they run low on battery.

Read More: JBL Announces Noise-Canceling Headphones Powered by USB-C

Apple Watch Hermès can now be purchased at Apple and Hermès stores, and select fashion boutiques, in an additional 17 cities as of this week.

In the U.S., the models are now available in Bellevue, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Las Vegas, Portland, and Washington D.C. In Europe, the new cities include Barcelona, Brussels, Florence, Madrid, and Manchester.

Apple Watch Hermès has also expanded to Guangzhou, Macau, and Shenzhen in China, in addition to Melbourne, Australia and Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Apple Watch Hermès has also been available for purchase online since January, while Apple began selling standalone Apple Watch Hermès bands through its online store yesterday for between $340 and $690 based on U.S. pricing.

(Thanks, Alan!)

First making its name as the go-to app for music recognition software, Shazam has expanded into other media content like TV commercials, movie trailers, and radio ads in the past. This week, however, the company is officially announcing its push into brand-specific advertisement with a new initiative called "Shazam for Brands" (via AdAge).

Using data accumulated from how users interact with the app, and a company's integrated brand advertisement, Shazam will attempt to pick out which artists and musical genre each brand should use to attract the widest swath of their particular audience. Before the official launch of Shazam for Brands, some of Shazam's past partners have included Marvel Studios, Nike and Clinique. Those partners provided fans with experiences like Shazamable movie posters and interactive music videos.

"Advertising had always been secondary, but now we are putting it front and center," said Greg Glenday, chief revenue officer at Shazam. "We are taking advertising seriously by adding stock and people. We sold ourselves short with the advertising industry by just selling banner ads and being transactional."

With such data, a brand will be able to purchase the landing page of a specific Shazam, called "clickable listening screens," so that their products can be displayed in conjunction with the a particular artist's song. Glenday said the new ad-push for the company won't bring any noticeable changes on the user side of things, and that all of Shazam's fans "will still receive the results they want without interruption."

Shazam for Brands will also allow the company's partners to incorporate Shazam's technology -- using the same, traditional Shazam app -- into their own marketing materials. For example, earlier in the month Coca-Cola introduced a Shazamable bottle design that prompted users to film a video of themselves lip-syncing to one of a handful of songs displayed on the drink's label.

Furthermore, the company is looking to get into the live-event business, in a festival centered around up-and-coming artists set to open later in the year. Shazam intends to use beacon technology to create an event where each performer will be able to be discovered by the app. Following today's launch, the company hasn't said who its next major advertising and brand partner will be, but it has created a new Shazam for Brands Twitter account so users can follow its progress on the social network.

Shazam is available on the App Store for free [Direct Link]. Users can also download Shazam Encore for $6.99 [Direct Link], negating all of the company's attempted advertisements.

An open letter expressing "deep concerns" about a U.S. draft encryption bill that would force smartphone makers to decrypt data at the behest of the government was published yesterday, signed by four coalitions representing Apple, Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and other major tech companies.

The letter is addressed to the bill's sponsors, Senators Richard Burr and Dianne Feinstein, and warns of the legislation's "unintended consequences", calling its requirements of technology companies "well-intentioned but ultimately unworkable" (via The Verge).

Any mandatory decryption requirement, such as that included in the discussion draft of the bill that you authored, will to lead to unintended consequences. The effect of such a requirement will force companies to prioritize government access over other considerations, including digital security. As a result, when designing products or services, technology companies could be forced to make decisions that would create opportunities for exploitation by bad actors seeking to harm our customers and whom we all want to stop. The bill would force those providing digital communication and storage to ensure that digital data can be obtained in "intelligible" form by the government, pursuant to a court order. This mandate would mean that when a company or user has decided to use some encryption technologies, those technologies will have to be built to allow some third party to potentially have access. This access could, in turn, be exploited by bad actors.

It is also important to remember that such a technological mandate fails to account for the global nature of today’s technology. For example, no accessibility requirement can be limited to U.S. law enforcement; once it is required by the U.S., other governments will surely follow. In addition, the U.S. has no monopoly on these security measures. A law passed by Congress trying to restrict the use of data security measures will not prevent their use. It will only serve to push users to non-U.S. companies, in turn undermining the global competitiveness of the technology industry in the U.S. and resulting in more and more data being stored in other countries.

We support making sure that law enforcement has the legal authorities, resources, and training it needs to solve crime, prevent terrorism, and protect the public. However, those things must be carefully balanced to preserve our customers’ security and digital information. We are ready and willing to engage in dialogue about how to strike that balance, but remain concerned about efforts to prioritize one type of security over all others in a way that leads to unintended, negative consequences for the safety of our networks and our customers.

The letter is signed by Reform Government Surveillance, the Computer and Communications Industry Association, the Entertainment Software Association, and the Internet Infrastructure Coalition. Facebook, Netflix, eBay, and Dropbox are among other companies represented by the groups.

The news follows heavy criticism of the bill from security experts after a draft titled "The Compliance with Court Orders Act 2016" was circulated earlier this month following Apple's standoff with the FBI over access to an iPhone used by one of the shooters in the San Bernardino terrorist attack. The draft states that all providers of communication services and products must respect the "rule of law" and comply with legal requirements and court orders to provide information stored either on devices or remotely.

Without detailing specific technical demands, the wording of the act itself makes end-to-end encryption impossible. Experts said it was "absurd", "dangerous", and "bad legislation in every way", amounting to a government-mandated back door.

The White House remains deeply divided on the issue and has so far decided not to offer public support for the legislation. Language in the draft bill is subject to changes based on input from stakeholders, although an official draft was released one week ago with few changes from the earlier version. Senators Burr and Feinstein have yet to respond to the letter.

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.

Apple has begun rolling out iTunes web previews for Apple TV apps, allowing Apple TV users and developers alike to easily share links to Apple TV apps on the web. The change was first spotted by Slide to Play's Jeff Scott (via MacStories).

Previously, Apple only had iTunes web previews enabled for iOS and Mac OS X apps, making it very difficult for users of the fourth-generation Apple TV to share their favorite apps on the web as well as for developers to promote their apps on their websites and social media accounts.

Although the feature is still rolling out, it appears it's limited to tvOS-only apps thus far. Kevin MacLeod of AfterPad told MacStories "that while the iTunes API is now returning screenshot metadata for tvOS-only apps, that metadata is absent for iOS apps with tvOS support."

Two of the first apps to feature web previews are currently Disney Infinity 3.0 and Beergeek.com TV. While these previews offer users and developers a way to see what an Apple TV app looks like or what features it has, they do not include any way for users to take any action.

Apple today settled a long-running lawsuit with Dynamic Advances and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute over accusations Apple's Siri voice-based personal assistant violated a 2007 patent owned by Rensselaer and licensed exclusively to Dallas company Dynamic Advances, reports the Albany Business Review.

Apple will pay a total of $24.9 million to Dynamic Advances' parent company Marathon Patent Group. $5 million will be paid after the lawsuit is dropped with the rest of the money to follow later. Apple will be granted a patent license to use the technology and under the terms of the settlement, will not be sued again for a three-year period.

Dynamic Advances will pay approximately 50 percent of the money received from Apple to Rensselaer, but Rensselaer has not agreed to the royalty rate proposed in the settlement.

Dynamic Advances expects to pay 50 percent of that money to Rensselaer, legal counsel and the predecessor exclusive licensee of the patents in suit, according to regulatory filings.

Rensselaer has not, however, agreed to the royalty rate proposed in the settlement, according to a document filed by Marathon Patent Group

Had the case not been settled out of court, it would have gone to trial next month. The lawsuit dates back to 2012 and covers U.S. patent No. 7177798 B2, "Natural language interface using constrained intermediate dictionary of results."

A long-requested feature could be coming to the iOS and Android versions of Netflix, letting users download TV shows and movies for offline viewing instead of being stranded in areas without Wi-Fi or a cellular signal when wanting to watch the video streaming service. Netflix has been lagging behind its competitors in this regard, with companies like Amazon and YouTube allowing some form of offline viewing to its paying members.

Answering a question from Re/code yesterday, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings admitted that the company would consider the possibility for users to download its videos moving forward, without directly confirming it would implement the feature anytime soon. The wording of Hastings' comment also suggests that if offline viewing ever came, Netflix would angle it as an assistive feature for countries with less reliable internet speeds, rather than a bullet point benefit to its broader subscriber base.

“We should keep an open mind on this. We’ve been so focused on click-and-watch and the beauty and simplicity of streaming. But as we expand around the world, where we see an uneven set of networks, it’s something we should keep an open mind about.”

Netflix's previous stance on offline viewing was a belief that the introduction of such a feature would add too much complexity into a service that prides itself on simplicity of use. Last September, the company's Chief Product Officer, Neil Hunt, said that Netflix believes it's "not a very compelling proposition" moving forward. Undoubtedly content licenses would be a hurdle for the feature as well, but given the steadily growing amount of Netflix-created original content, users would have plenty of TV shows, movies, and documentaries to choose from if offline viewing ever becomes available.

Following an announcement earlier in the month, Apple today began selling the higher-end Apple Watch Hermès bands separately in its online store. Before today, the only way to get a band from the French lifestyle accessory brand was to buy an Apple Watch collection which included either the Single Tour, Double Tour, or Cuff bands, ranging between $1,100 and $1,500.

Now those who already have an Apple Watch can splurge on the Hermès bands, and choose from an array of new colors including sapphire blue, peacock blue, white and orange. The color options do vary by casing size and band design, however. For the $340 Single Tour bands, the 42mm size is offered in sapphire blue, deer brown, fire orange and black, while 38mm users have additional choices of white and peacock blue.

The $490 Double Tour option is aimed at smaller wrists and is available only in 38mm option, but in two regular and long strap lengths. The regular length will be available in white, peacock blue, sapphire blue, tin gray, deer brown and fire orange, while the longer length band comes in deer brown. The $690, 42mm-only Cuff band is still being sold in just the deer brown color option.

Apple has updated its Apple Watch band storefront to include the Hermès collection, but the new page has a few bugs and broken images and links, so users can't fully purchase the bands separately as of yet. Apple began selling the Apple Watch Hermès collections on its website in January, which was an online expansion of its previous exclusivity to select boutique retailers and Apple Store locations. Since the new bands are being sold separately from an Apple Watch, it also appears users who purchase a band only won't get the Hermès exclusive Apple Watch clock face.

Apple has been granted a patent today for an invention that enables a touchpad or touch surface to simulate textures like cool metal and hot cement.

The patent, originally filed in 2013 and called "Touch Surface for Simulating Materials" (via Patently Apple), appears in a series of 62 others published today by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and includes details on the mechanisms that would allow the touchpad to vibrate and change temperature.

An "actuator" would allow at least a part of the surface to vibrate and simulate the tactile sensation of the texture, with rougher surfaces simulated by stronger vibrations. By varying the vibrations over time in response to a finger moving over the touch surface, the control actuator would even be able to simulate irregular textures such as wood grain.

In combination with the actuator, a temperature control device could control the heat or coolness of the glass touch surface relative to the temperature of the detected contact. In one example, a layer of diamond material in the touch surface provides extremely high thermal conductivity, exceptional wear resistance and optical transparency.

As with any filed patent, the technology is unlikely to appear in any product soon, if at all. But it does offer some insight into Apple's ideas about how it might innovate upon haptic technology in its devices with simulated touch.

Last-minute rumors prior to the release of the third-generation iPad in 2012 suggested that the device could include haptic technology that would give on-screen objects texture, but the feature never appeared.