StackSocial began offering eight Mac apps in its "Ultra-Premium" bundle today, which includes Cultured Code's Things 2, an Apple Design Award winner, and Realmac Software's Typed, which was just released in December. The bundle is priced at $44.99, but StackSocial is offering MacRumors readers a $5 discount with coupon code MRULTRA5, bringing the price down to $39.99.
The total retail value of all eight apps is $469, so the bundle at $39.99 offers a significant savings compared to buying each app individually. The apps included are:
- ScreenFlow 5 ($99.99) - screen recording tool - Things 2 ($49) - task manager - Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth ($49.99) - turn-based strategy game - ProSoft Data Rescue 4 ($99.99) - data recovery utility - ExpanDrive 4 ($49.95) - directly access files stored in many popular cloud services - AfterShot Pro 2 ($79.95) - photo editor - Typed ($24.95) - text editor - Snapselect ($24.99) - photo sorter for finding and eliminating duplicate and similar photos
Civilization: Beyond Earth was originally announced for Mac last April and debuted in the Mac App Store in November. ScreenFlow previously won an Apple Design Award several years ago.
Samsung today announced plans to purchase LoopPay, in an effort to compete with Apple's Apple Pay payments service. The two companies were in previously talks over a potential partnership in December for a payment system that would rival Apple Pay.
LoopPay's technology stores payment information from a credit or debit card's magnetic stripe, transmitting payment details to card readers in lieu of a physical card. Because it works over a magnetic field, LoopPay is compatible with 90 percent of existing card readers and does not require merchants to support NFC as Apple Pay does.
Currently, LoopPay works through an app and a standalone hardware device (a case is one of the company's most popular LoopPay offerings), but Samsung may build the technology directly into phones in the future. With LoopPay's technology, upcoming Samsung devices may be able to replace credit cards much in the same way Apple Pay does, with Samsung customers able to wave their phones at payment terminals instead of swiping a card.
According to Samsung, LoopPay will provide the company's customers with a "seamless, safe, and reliable" mobile wallet solution. LoopPay already markets itself as an alternative to Apple Pay, and it's likely Samsung will build upon the technology to create a payment service that even more closely mirrors Apple's offering.
"This acquisition accelerates our vision to drive and lead innovation in the world of mobile commerce. Our goal has always been to build the smartest, most secure, user-friendly mobile wallet experience, and we are delighted to welcome LoopPay to take us closer to this goal," said JK Shin, President and Head of IT and Mobile Division at Samsung Electronics.
The current version of LoopPay doesn't have the same security features that Apple Pay offers, like tokenization, but it does have some benefits, including the ability to store IDs, loyalty, and membership cards along with payment cards.
There are a lot of battery cases and external battery packs available for Apple's iPhone, but PowerSkin's newest offering, the Pop'n 3, is a fairly unique solution that offers the versatility of an external battery pack with the convenience of a battery case.
It's an external battery pack much like the Mophie Powerstation Plus, but it has a suction cup system that allows it to stick to the back of the iPhone, which means the iPhone can still be used as normal for the most part while charging is taking place.
We went hands-on with the PowerSkin Pop'n 3 battery pack and we thought the suction cup system was a handy feature. The suction cups themselves were a bit weak, but an added sticky pad in the middle of the battery pack assures that it sticks firmly to the iPhone.
We also liked the built-in Lightning cable that's just the right length for charging, and the LED indicator that let us know how much charge was left. The Pop'n 3 works best with an iPhone with no case, but it'll also stick to flat, smooth cases.
The Pop'n 3 battery pack has a 4,000 mAh battery inside, which is enough to charge the iPhone 6's 1,810 mAh battery to full twice over, and enough to give the iPhone 6 Plus with its 2,915 mAh battery 1.5 charges. It's only suitable for the iPhone, though -- it won't be enough to fully charge the 7,340 mAh battery of the iPad Air 2.
Like most battery packs, the Pop'n 3 charges via micro-USB. Compared to the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, the Pop'n 3 is not quite as wide, allowing it to fit comfortably on the back of the phones. It's 2.36 inches wide, 4.41 inches tall, .49 inches thick, and it weighs 3.81 ounces. That's just over half the weight of the iPhone 6 Plus, so it's quite pocketable.
Compared to several other battery packs on the market, the Pop'n 3 is a bit less impressive when it comes to capacity, but its unique portability and its price point make up for the lack of juice.
The PowerSkin Pop'n 3 comes in three colors to match each of the iPhones and can be purchased from the PowerSkin website for $49.99.
Amid rumors that Apple is developing an electric vehicle, former General Motors CEO Dan Akerson has shared his opinion on Apple's plans, suggesting the Cupertino company avoid getting into a business with such low margins.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Akerson said that Apple may be underestimating the difficulty of operating in the car business, as it's hard to navigate regulatory and safety requirements. "A lot of people who don't ever operate in it don't understand and have a tendency to underestimate," he said
"They'd better think carefully if they want to get into the hard-core manufacturing," he said of Apple. "We take steel, raw steel, and turn it into car. They have no idea what they're getting into if they get into that."
According to Akerson, Apple should stick with the iPhone, which has much higher margins than a car and none of the issues with safety. As highlighted by Bloomberg, while Apple made $18 billion in December with a gross margin of 39.9 percent, GM made just $2 billion with a gross margin of 14 percent.
Akerson doesn't believe Apple should get into the car business, but he does admire Apple's entrance into the car infotainment arena with CarPlay. Speaking on his time as CEO of General Motors, Akerson said that he absolutely would have partnered with Apple. "I'd have turned over the infotainment and interconnectivity of every car."
News of Apple's electric car plans surfaced last week after The Wall Street Journal shared details on a secret project at the company. Apple is said to have hundreds of employees working on the car in a secret research lab near its Cupertino headquarters. The car, which is electric, could potentially resemble a minivan.
GIF Finder creator Matt Cheetham today announced that his popular GIF curating app will be pulled from the App Store following a lengthy back-and-forth with Apple (via iPhone Hacks). Cheetham faced stonewalling from the company thanks mostly to a few copyright issues of Disney-related characters within the app.
Begun by Cheetham as a side project a few summers ago, the app used Tumblr and Imgur's APIs to discover and curate a collection of GIFs and images and distill them into categories or as search results for users to browse. It launched in 2012 and had nearly 90,000 downloads in the years since.
A recent update caused the app to crash on the iPad version when sharing a GIF, so Cheetham submitted an update to fix the issue. Instead of the usual okay from Apple, on January 25 he received a rejection notice for the update because the app "includes content or features that resemble various well-known, third-party marks, including Disney characters."
Thank you for your response. However, in order to proceed with your application, we require documentation demonstrating your right to use the images included in your app and/or metadata, specifically addressing your right to copyrighted images.
Otherwise, if you believe you can make the necessary changes to your application and/or metadata so that it does not infringe the rights of a third party, we encourage you to resubmit your revised application and/or metadata.
Cheetham pointed out that he doesn't directly own the images and proceeded to offer copyright, disclaimers, and links to the Tumblr and Imgur terms of service, but he admitted it "all has fallen on deaf ears." He ultimately relented, pulling the crash-prone app from the storefront upon Apple's repeated requests for documentary evidence of his ownership of the content.
At this point, I don't have the time or knowledge on how to fight this any further. I can't have an app in the store that I cannot support (and that crashes when attempting to use it's main function!), so today I am removing GIF Finder from sale and calling the project dead.
There's lots of other really great GIF Finding apps out there that are packed edge to edge with content from various API's. I wish them all the best with their next update and only hope they can continue to slip them in under the radar as I appear to have done for the last 3 years.
Apple and Disney's history is well-known, especially Steve Jobs' hand in the now Disney-owned Pixar Animation Studios, but Apple's crackdown on GIF Finder is unusual. GIF Finder has been in the App Store for three years without rousing attention and there are several other similar GIF apps in the App Store.
Apple has recently been enforcing App Store policies that it's been lenient about in the past, rejecting a number of apps that included screenshots of violence or guns, causing developers to modify the shots or remove the imagery all together before being able to update or release their apps at all.
Update 10:00 AM PT: Cheetham announced, via the GIF Finder Twitter page, that he has submitted an appeal to the App Store review board and is scheduling a call with Apple to go through the results of the appeal.
Update 11:04 AM PT: Cheetham now says his appeal has been heard and that GIF Finder will be returned to the App Store after he submits an update removing specific mentions of three image categories.
The rejection was largely due to the inclusion of 3 categories in the categories tab. "Doctor Who", "Nigel Thornberry" and "Star Trek" are the root of the problem. Apple has particular issue's with the copyright of these 3 categories which mean my app couldn't be approved. [...]
Richard was extremely polite and helpful and I'm very grateful for the speed at which this has all progressed. I've been assured that if I resubmit after removing these categories that my app will be approved and I can get it back into the store.
Cheetham also says he's been told any future rejections due to improper categories will include details on the issues rather than a simple form letter.
Two banks based out of the United Kingdom - Royal Bank of Scotland and NatWest - yesterday announced incoming support of Touch ID in their iOS-based apps, allowing customers to gain access to their accounts without needing to input a user name and password (via BBC News).
Customers of each bank will need to activate the Touch ID feature with their existing security information within each respective app before being able to gain access to their banking statements via their finger. After three failed Touch ID login attempts, each bank said the app will revert to the traditional user name/password protected log-in request before needing to re-establish the Touch-ID features.
BBC reported that a few "security experts" voiced concern over the new fingerprint security feature given reports of specialized fake fingerprint hacks. Speaking to BBC, Ben Schlabs, of SRLabs, a German hacking think tank, said, "The security implications are the same, it is just as dangerous... I think it has been shown that it is pretty easy to spoof it and the risks aren't fully understood." There have, however, been no reports of such hacks being successfully used for malicious purposes.
With the recent surge of online and app-based banking solutions, both RBS and NatWest are confident the new feature will continue to offer their customers the level of security and accessibility they expect from the banks.
Stuart Haire, managing director, RBS and NatWest Direct Bank, said: "There has been a revolution in banking, as more and more of our customers are using digital technology to bank with us.
"Adding TouchID to our mobile banking app makes it even easier and more convenient for customers to manage their finances on the move and directly responds to their requests."
Both RBS and NatWest are owned by the same parent company, Royal Bank of Scotland Group, so many of the same features and options will be similar between each app. Each bank also promised that existing processes that required additional verification of identity, like money transfers, will continue to do so even if users choose to opt-in for the Touch ID features.
Earlier this week, in a report about the Apple Watch's missing health features, The Wall Street Journal claimed that Apple has placed 5 to 6 million Apple Watch orders with overseas suppliers ahead of the wrist-worn device's launch in April.
The report specified that half of the first-quarter orders will be allocated to the entry-level Apple Watch Sport, while one-third of shipments will be for the mid-tier Apple Watch. The remaining orders will be for the expensive Apple Watch Edition.
While the Apple Watch Edition will have the least amount of orders among the three models, with between 850,000 to 1 million units shipped, well-known Apple pundit John Gruber of Daring Fireball believes that the expensive gold model could account for the majority of Apple Watch revenue. Multiple reports claim that the Apple Watch Edition will cost over $4,000, making it one of the most expensive products the company has ever sold.
"So as a business — if the WSJ’s sources are correct, and if Apple is correctly predicting demand — Apple Watch revenue will be dominated by the gold Edition units, accounting for double or more of the revenue from all the other models combined. The Edition models would thus do to the Apple Watch lineup as a whole what the iPhone, iPad, and Macintosh do to the entire phone, tablet, and PC industries, respectively: achieve a decided majority of the profits with a decided minority of the unit sales."
Apple Watch will start at $349 for the entry-level Sport model, while pricing information for the other two models has not been confirmed. Apple will reportedly increase production of the Apple Watch Edition to over 1 million units per month in the second quarter, indicating that demand could be strong for the company's first new product since the iPad in 2010. Early sales predictions for the Apple Watch have been all over the map, ranging from between 8 million to over 26 million units during 2015.
NBC today announced an update for its Android and iOS television-viewing apps that brings live streaming to select areas of the country along with a small but robust catalog of the network's classic series offerings (via Engadget).
Following in the footsteps of the Watch ABC app that introduced to users the ability to live stream the channel on their mobile device, NBC's new update brings a similar function to their app, with a few hindrances.
Like ABC's app, the live streaming functionality is available only in areas where the network owns the local station, meaning some areas may not be able to fully take advantage of the new live streaming feature at all. This is in addition to the usual cable or satellite provider subscription account needed to access normal streaming functionality, as well.
What's New in Version 3.0
* Live video stream of NBC programming available for cable/satellite subscribers in select markets. * Expanded full-episode library of classic NBC shows available, including The A-Team, Miami Vice, Kojak, Battlestar Galactica, The Incredible Hulk, Knight Rider and more!
On the other side of the update, NBC is bringing back a handful of classic series - from Airwolf to Miami Vice and The Incredible Hulk - with full episodes and seasons available right next to their modern line-up. Unlike the current shows, these throwback episodes don't require a satellite or cable subscription log-in to watch, so arguably anyone could download the free app and check them out.
NBC [Direct Link] can be downloaded from the App Store for free.
BlackBerry today filed a second lawsuit against Typo Products, the startup backed by Ryan Seacrest, alleging that the second-generation Typo keyboard continues to infringe upon its intellectual property, reports The Hollywood Reporter. In a complaint lodged in a California federal court on Monday, BlackBerry claimed Typo "slavishly copied" its keyboards down to the "smallest detail."
Just as they did with the Typo Keyboard, Defendants have again copied numerous proprietary BlackBerry designs and patents in the Typo2 Keyboard. The Typo2 Keyboard still blatantly copies BlackBerry's iconic keyboard trade dress designs that have been embodied in numerous BlackBerry smartphones from the 2007 BlackBerry 8800 to the current Q10 and Classic models. The Typo2 Keyboard also infringes numerous BlackBerry utility patents related to BlackBerry's proprietary keyboard design, backlighting and typing automation technologies.
Typo Products first clashed with BlackBerry shortly after the former debuted its first-generation Typo iPhone keyboard case in late 2013. Backed by media personality Ryan Seacrest, the product was the result of a desire to create a physical keyboard for the iPhone after he and his partner Lauren Hallier saw many of their friends carrying two phones -- one for typing and correspondence, presumably a BlackBerry, and an iPhone for everything else.
The Typo2 for the iPhone 6
The snap-on iPhone keyboard that Seacrest and Hallier developed looked very similar to a BlackBerry keyboard, which BlackBerry took offense to. BlackBerry sued and won an injunction against Typo Products, leading Typo to produce the Typo2, a second-generation keyboard that it claimed did not violate any BlackBerry patents.
The $99 Typo2 features a sleeker design with a built-in keyboard that unfortunately blocks the Touch ID fingerprint sensor on the iPhone 6. Though Typo Products claims that its second-generation offering does not infringe on BlackBerry patents, it continues to bear a visual resemblance to the keyboards BlackBerry has used in its products for years.
According to BlackBerry, with the Typo2, Typo Products produced a "minimally modified derivative version" of the original Typo keyboard that continues to abuse BlackBerry's trade dress. The lawsuit cites a range of media reviews that compare the Typo2 to the BlackBerry, pointing out the marked similarities between the two, including a comment from one of our own forum members. BlackBerry's lawsuit also accuses the Typo2 of infringing on five BlackBerry patents.
BlackBerry now has two lawsuits pending against Typo, for the original Typo keyboard and the Typo2. BlackBerry has also won an award of $860,000 after Typo continued selling its original keyboard in violation of the previously mentioned injunction. In the newest lawsuit, BlackBerry asks for "enhanced and exemplary" damages for Typo's continued infringement.
The iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus are Apple's thinnest iPhones yet at 6.9 and 7.1mm, respectively, and these ultra thin devices have spawned a range of super thin cases that aim to offer scratch protection without adding bulk. Of the dozens of featherweight cases on the market, the Scarf case from California case maker Totallee is one of the thinnest you can buy, measuring in at 0.35mm, and it's affordable, at $14.99.
We went hands-on with Totallee's Scarf case for the iPhone 6 Plus and you can see what we thought of it in both the quick video review below and our longer full-length review.
Design
At approximately the thickness of a fingernail, the Scarf is designed not to be noticed -- its primary goal is to blend in with your phone and offer unobtrusive protection. It comes in colors that are designed to match the iPhone casing -- black, gold, white, and light gray. Light gray is a brand new addition to the Scarf lineup, and was conceived to be a better match for the Space Gray iPhone than the previously available black color.
The Scarf is made of polypropylene, a lightweight thermoplastic polymer. It is flexible and bendable, so if you crease it forcefully, it can be damaged. The case's flexibility lets it slip easily onto an iPhone. Like most iPhone 6 and 6 Plus cases, the Scarf has cutouts for the rear camera, the power button, the volume button, and the mute switch. It covers the top of the phone, but leaves the bottom open for access to the Lightning port, speaker holes, and headphone port.
As promised in January, the newest game in the EA-owned Sims franchise, The Sims 4, is now available for purchase on the Mac. The Sims 4 initially launched for PC back in September of 2014, but it's taken several months for the company to ready a Mac version of the game.
Like other games in the franchise, The Sims 4 tasks players with the creation and control of the lives of virtual characters. The goal of the game is to guide sims through life, establishing relationships, building homes, advancing through careers, and conquering goals.
The Sims 4 begins with creating a sim with deep customization options. It's possible to randomly create a sim to start the game off in just a few minutes, but for those who would like select each aspect of their sim, the options are available. You can customize facial features, hair, accessories, makeup, and select outfits for every occasion from day to day wear to party wear.
Beyond the physical, creating a sim also involves choosing a name, personality traits that affect how sims interact with other sims, and a lifetime aspiration like reaching the top of a career ladder, having a big family, or hosting amazing parties.
Once a sim is created and ready to move into the world, the idea is to choose a house and direct your sim through life. With The Sims, the possibilities are endless. Sims can lounge around all day watching TV and being slobs, or pick up a job and pursue a career in several different fields, including crime, business, food, and more.
Sims have a never-ending list of minor achievements that are based on their relationships, personality, and lifetime goal, so gameplay largely involves fulfilling these minor achievements (a goal might be talking to a friend, cooking a meal, or buying a household item), earning money, building families, and progressing through the sim's life. Amidst all of this, it's also necessary to meet a sims' basic needs like hygiene, food, and sleep.
Building houses and community lots is the other major aspect of gameplay in The Sims, and in The Sims 4, a lot of the building tools are easier to use and more intuitive than in past games, making it easy to create detailed structures that range from the simple starter house to sprawling castles.
The Sims 4 has a thriving online community where it's possible to download sims, houses, and rooms created by other users or upload your own. This content is accessible from the "Gallery" option marked by a portrait icon at the top of the screen. The gallery is home to a huge collection of content that can be added to your game with just a few clicks -- one of the most impressive aspects of The Sims 4.
The Sims 4 has received some criticism for notable gameplay changes and features that were stripped from the previous game, but EA has pledged updates that will return some of the missing functionality to the game over the course of time. EA has already re-added pools and ghosts, two major features that did not ship with the game, and two additional free content updates have added genealogy to track sim family lines, holiday items, and two new careers.
EA's also released a major content pack for The Sims 4, Outdoor Retreat, which introduces a new vacations feature, new areas to explore, new traits, new skills, and more. Along with the full game, the new expansion is available on the Mac.
We tested The Sims 4 for Mac over the weekend ahead of its launch and we didn't encounter any significant bugs, performance issues, or lag when playing the game. Performance was equivalent to the PC version of the game. Of course, some users could still see issues, but on a 2013 iMac and a 2012 Retina MacBook Pro, the game ran well. System requirements can be found here.
The Sims 4 is missing some of the content from The Sims 3 and has some major differences in gameplay, namely that it's no longer possible to travel around the world without loading screens, but it should be noted that the game's performance has been much improved by some of these tweaks to the gameplay -- The Sims 4 runs quickly and has minimal lag.
If you've been playing The Sims 4 for PC and want to transfer your saved game to Mac, that's possible with a USB drive. Simply copy the "saves" folder from the PC and transfer it to The Sims 4 folder on the Mac, and the save files will be available and ready to play once you log into The Sims 4 on a Mac.
The Sims 4 for Mac be purchased through EA's Origin platform for $39.99. There's also a deluxe version available for $46.66, which includes exclusive bonus content. Outdoor Retreatcan be purchased for an additional $19.99. If you already own the PC version of the game, you can download the Mac version at no additional cost.
Google has quietly removed both the iOS and Mac versions of its Sparrow email apps from Apple's App Stores, amid reports the company is shifting to focus more intently on its revamped Inbox by Gmail app (via TechCrunch).
The company bought alternative email client app Sparrowback in 2012 and launched Inbox by Gmail to select users last fall, with a wider release earlier this year.
At the time of its launch, Sparrow offered a unique and accessible email client that made it popular with a wide audience. Google's acquisition saw the Sparrow team focusing on non-Sparrow related projects, and the app's lack of continued developer support saw it nosedive in the App Store rankings in the years since.
Sparrow flying away for good shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise, but it has been a long time coming. At the time of Google’s acquisition in 2012, reportedly for under $25 million, Sparrow/Google more or less stopped big developments but kept the apps operational and pledged support for existing users.
The Sparrow iOS app never received iOS 8 support and the Mac App was never updated after the acquisition at all, so Google's removal of the apps from the storefront isn't too shocking. Some of that same Sparrow team, including product designer Jean-Marc Denis, have gone on to help Google out with the new Inbox app.
Touch ID could be headed to the next-generation MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, Magic Mouse and Magic Trackpad, according to a sketchy rumor from Taiwanese website Apple.club.tw [Google Translate]. The report, citing sources, claims that the fingerprint scanner will be positioned above the trackpad on MacBooks and integrated directly into the Magic Mouse and Magic Trackpad for desktop Mac users.
The addition of a built-in fingerprint scanner on the latest MacBooks, Magic Mouse and Magic Trackpad would enable Apple to make an aggressive push into the mobile payments industry with Apple Pay. The NFC-based mobile payments platform is currently limited to the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, and will be compatible with the iPhone 5s, iPhone 5c and iPhone 5 when paired with an Apple Watch.
There are a few reasonable obstacles, however, that suggest this rumor may not be true. First, there is limited space above the trackpad on MacBooks for Apple to implement Touch ID, especially on the upcoming 12-inch MacBook Air. Meanwhile, integrating Touch ID on the Magic Mouse and Magic Trackpad would be complex due to the need for secure wireless transmitting authentication.
Apple.club.tw has shared reliable information in the past about Apple's upcoming product plans, leaking photos of components for next-generation products such as the iPhone 6 and iPad Air 2. Nevertheless, this rumor should be treated with a proverbial grain of salt until further information is known.
Non-Retina MacBook Airs could be updated as soon as late February, while the 12-inch Retina MacBook Air is expected to launch closer to mid-year. Keep an eye on MacRumors' Buyer's Guides for the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro for the latest advice and information about product refreshes.
The upcoming February 25 episode of ABC's multiple Emmy-winning sitcom "Modern Family" will take place solely on a MacBook screen (via The Verge). The episode, being shot by director and series co-creator Steve Levitan, used an iPhone 6 and iPad Air 2 to shoot every scene.
The episode's story focuses on Claire Dunphy's (Julie Bowen) attempt to reach her daughter Haley (Sarah Hyland) by contacting various other members of the Dunphy/Pritchett clan via multiple forms of MacBook apps, all while stuck in an airport.
The show will not only use various chat apps like Apple's own FaceTime and Messages, but include references to everything from Reminders to the now-obsolete iPhoto. Levitan mentioned that the idea for the episode came from his own experience communicating with his kids in college through the vast array of chat software available today.
"I have two daughters at college, and we do a lot of FaceTiming," he said at a recent press event in Los Angeles. He was working one day with a number of emails and websites open on his machine, when a video chat from his daughter popped up. On the screen he saw his work, his daughter, himself, and his wife doing something behind him all at the same time. "And I realized on that screen you could tell so much about my life. So the original idea was from there."
The show has been a proponent of Apple-related gadgets in the past, with an early-series episode mostly dedicated to Claire's attempt to get Phil the original iPad. Apple was even reported to lend the show a slew of iPhones, iPads, and MacBook Pros for shooting the video chats and for allowing the show's editors to conduct post-production work once the shoot was done.
The episode has been so long in production - with motion graphics artist John Brown at the head - the team had been working on it since OS X Yosemite itself was in beta. "It was frustrating to be like, 'Act one, totally locked,' and then come in Monday and hear the FaceTime notification has changed," Brown said.
Besides a few slight liberties to the Apple OS X platform, including giving FaceTime the ability to handle multiple calls at once and a few aesthetic alterations to Yosemite's transparency options, The Verge reports the environment created by the episode "felt all too familiar."
The episode, entitled "Connection Lost" airs Wednesday, February 25 on ABC.
Microsoft today released an update for its suite of Office apps on Apple's iPhone and iPad App Store for users running iOS 8. The 1.6 updates bring, along with the usual bug fixes and performance enhancements, full support for saving and syncing documents via Apple's iCloud Drive service (via The Verge).
Microsoft says users of its most popular software like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint can now open, edit, and save their work to iCloud as a storage option in the "Places" section of each iOS app.
The additional storage method doesn't require users to have an Office 365 subscription and comes as an alternative to Microsoft's own cloud storage option, OneDrive. As pointed out by The Verge, light restrictions on a few file types may hinder iCloud's usage on Microsoft's iOS apps, however.
There’s also restrictions on filetypes, so while you can see a thumbnail preview of text in a document created with TextEdit on a Mac (stored on iCloud), you can’t access the document or edit it. Overall, it’s a fairly basic feature addition, but one that will please (and possibly frustrate) those who use iCloud on a regular basis.
Microsoft most recently added a similar feature to flesh out its iOS offerings with a partnership with Dropbox that let users open, edit, and save their documents using the popular document-saving cloud app. The Word, Excel, and PowerPoint apps launched on the iPhone in early November, bringing free document creation and basic editing to the service.
While Apple Pay has yet to expand to any markets outside of the United States, rumors have suggested international expansions could begin in the relatively near future. One of those possible markets is China, with the first iOS 8.3 beta seeded to developers last week building in Apple Pay support for China UnionPay.
According to a new report from Caixin [via MarketWatch], however, talks have stalled as Chinese financial institutions remain wary of Apple Pay and Apple has yet to approach regulators about gaining approval for the service.
"Apple is seeking to cooperate with Chinese financial institutions" including banks for the use of Apple Pay, a People's Bank of China (PBOC) official said.
At the same time, the American company has not yet "acknowledged regulators" and as a result "it's unclear whether the product meets the government's requirements" for a commercial operation.
Apple is also struggling with its relationship with UnionPay, China's state-owned credit and debit card system operator. Sources close to the companies said that talks aimed at an agreement that would open China to Apple Pay have stalled.
On the regulatory side, the NFC chips used in the iPhone are said to not fully comply with Chinese technical standards, while regulators are also insisting Apple open a data center in mainland China to manage customer information linked to Apple Pay in that country.
On the institutional side, China UnionPay is reportedly wary of losing some of its grip on the mobile payments market, as the organization currently controls the only NFC payments system in use in China. UnionPay's control of the market has also thwarted Alibaba's Alipay unit, which has so far proven unwilling to pay fees demanded by UnionPay for tapping into the UnionPay payment network.
China has been a major market for Apple in recent years, with Apple CEO Tim Cook highlighting the company's efforts to understand and address that market at a Goldman Sachs conference just last week. Those efforts have led to an explosion in revenue, moving from $1 billion to $38 billion over the last five years as Apple has expanded carrier partnerships, points of sale, and other relationships to establish a strong foothold in the rapidly growing market.
Before Apple unveiled the Apple Watch last September, reports indicated the device would come with 10 sensors to track health and fitness data, leading some healthcare professionals to find the unveiled Apple Watch's health features disappointing. In a new report, The Wall Street Journal offers a look at the original Apple Watch health features that were dropped due to consistency problems.
Apple began developing the watch about four years ago, with a focus on health and fitness. It’s not unusual for Apple to experiment with many technologies or shift focus during product development, but the watch was especially challenging, people familiar with the matter said. Internally, the project became known as a “black hole” sucking in resources, one of these people said.
The Apple Watch originally featured sensors that measured the conductivity of skin, allowing the device to detect stress levels and heart-rate monitoring similar to an electrocardiogram, also known as an EKG. Apple also experimented with ways to detect blood pressure or how much oxygen is in a user's blood. However, a mix of consistency problems and potential oversight caused Apple to switch the focus of the device from health-related to a more general do-everything product.
The skin conductivity features didn't perform well with people who had hairy arms or dry skin, while results varied depending on how tight an Apple Watch was worn on users' wrists. Additionally, if Apple decided to use the health data to provide "health or behavioral advice", the Cupertino company would have to seek approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and other regulators.
While these features were dropped for the first version of the Apple Watch, sources tell the WSJ that they could appear in future versions of the device, echoing a Reuters report from September.
Last week, Apple CEO Tim Cook said the company's objective with Apple Watch is to "change the way people live their lives" and that people would be surprised by the breadth of what the device can do, which includes activity monitoring, reminding users to stand up after a certain time period, and non-verbal communication with friends. Apple is currently asking developers to have their Apple Watch apps ready by mid-February, with some developers traveling to Apple's Cupertino headquarters for help.
Cook has confirmed the Apple Watch will launch in April. The Wall Street Journalreports that Apple will make five to six million units for the first quarter, with half of those units being the entry Apple Watch Sport and one-third being the mid-tier stainless-steel Apple Watch.
Apple has invited third-party developers to its headquarters in Cupertino, California to allow them to test and finalize apps for the Apple Watch, according to 9to5Mac. The report claims that developers have been arriving at One Infinite Loop this month to work with Apple engineers on finishing WatchKit-based apps in categories such as sports, productivity and finance.
"The developers invited by Apple to Cupertino range from those behind titles for sports applications and productivity software. Apple has also been meeting with banks to work on WatchKit applications that assist with the Apple Watch’s Apple Pay functionality. Besides U.S.-based banks, Apple has been working on WatchKit apps with developers from Germany-based banks, which indicates Apple is likely in talks with more foreign banks to expand Apple Pay to more countries across the world."
MacRumors reported a few weeks ago that some developers have been asked to have Apple Watch apps readied by this month, although this report claims that Apple seems to be operating on a more urgent timeline, possibly in order to ensure that some apps are finalized for an upcoming marketing initiative or media event. In the meantime, Apple has reportedly been holding workshops to train retail employees about the Apple Watch in Los Angeles, Cupertino, Austin and Atlanta.
Apple CEO Tim Cook confirmed the Apple Watch will launch in April.
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Apple has invited third-party developers to its headquarters in Cupertino, California to allow them to test and finalize apps for the Apple Watch, according to 
