Apple's 2014 WWDC kicks off tomorrow with a Keynote at 10am Pacific. Today, attendees are registering for the conference and receiving their usual WWDC badges and WWDC jackets, but Apple also included a $25 App Store gift card.
The gift card is in celebration of "25 years and coding", as noted by @HarrisonW1998:
Apple is offering a live video stream of the Keynote on Monday. We'll have live text and photo updates here on MacRumors, as well as live Twitter updates at MacRumorsLive.
As announced earlier this month, Katie Cotton, head of Apple's public relations department and an 18-year veteran at Apple, has left the company, reports Re/code.
Cotton is known for having been fiercely protective of Apple executives, particularly Steve Jobs, serving as gatekeeper for all media access and shepherding executives through their formal and informal meetings with the press.
Given Apple's penchant for secrecy, Cotton has long been tasked with keeping a tight rein on the company's PR operations, managing Apple's image and contributing to the company's presentations.
But, despite what many of her detractors have written since the news of her departure came, I was never “scared” of her, any more than I fear any of the other hard-charging PR and communications execs I have encountered over the many years I have covered tech.
Was she aggressive? Sure. (So is Facebook’s Elliot Schrage.)
Did she sometimes ice our reporters out, ignore calls or reply with newsless answers? Sometimes. (Please meet Yahoo PR for much of my time covering it over the last 20 years, especially under the current administration, which does not return any of my calls.)
Did she try her hardest to showcase Apple and its products in a way that benefited it? Yep. (Paging Andreessen Horowitz’s Margit Wennmachers!)
Was she vocal when she did not like something we did? And how. (So are Microsoft’s Frank Shaw and Google’s Rachel Whetstone, both of whom can throw a decent uppercut at me when they are not happy with something we have written.)
So what? That kind of hard driving is part and parcel to the business, even if she was harder driving and, because of that, more successful than most. As she once told me when we talked about her outsize reputation in the tech press: “I am not here to make friends with reporters, I am here to put a light on and sell Apple products.”
Swisher goes on to note that many negative comments made about Cotton might not have been made about a man in such a powerful position, saying that reporters who "did not get any PR love" from the company should "grow up."
Apple is continuing to decorate the Moscone Center ahead of its upcoming Worldwide Developers Conference, and following the addition of outside banners and the first iOS 8 banner, the inaugural OS X 10.10 banner has just appeared, with a photo courtesy of The Verge.
Click to view larger
The mountainous background of the banner suggests OS X 10.10 will be receiving a land-related name to complement the water-based name given to OS X 10.9, possibly Yosemite or El Cap, as the image appears to feature the national park's El Capitan rock formation. We detailed some of the names Apple has apparently filed for trademarks on back in April.
Some trademarked land-themed names include Yosemite, Redwood, Mammoth, California, Diablo, Miramar, El Cap, Redtail, Condor, Grizzly, Tiburon, Skyline, Shasta, and Sierra. Newly discovered trademarked names also include Mojave, Sonoma, Ventura, and Sequoia.
Because OS X Mavericks only introduced minor visual changes, OS X 10.10 is expected to feature a more drastic redesign, adopting a "flatter" look and taking on some iOS 7-style design elements. While little is known about the operating system at this point, we will get our first glimpse of the operating system on Monday June 2 at 10 AM Pacific Time, when Apple kicks off the Worldwide Developers Conference with its keynote presentation.
Apple will be live streaming the event both on the web and on the Apple TV. MacRumors will also provide a live blog, live tweets via the MacRumorsLive Twitter account, and a spoiler free page for those who want to watch the full keynote at a later time.
One of the major new features expected in iOS 8 is "Healthbook", a system for keeping track of and providing at-a-glance access to various types of health and fitness information. The system would be ideal for interfacing with Apple's rumored iWatch with built-in biometric sensors, but even before that device's introduction would also be useful for collecting data from sensors within the iPhone and third-party health accessories.
MacRumors has now discovered several trademark applications related to the Healthbook name, and while information on the applications available online does not directly link them to Apple, circumstantial evidence suggests that they are indeed Apple's filings. The filings were made earlier this year in Trinidad and Tobago, one of Apple's favored early trademark filing locations.
First is a pair of filings protecting Healthbook itself and a two-word variation of Health Book. Rumors and a leaked screenshot have indicated that Apple has been planning to use the one-word variation, but it is understandable that Apple would want to protect both versions. The applications were filed on February 3 of this year, just days after the name was publicly revealed.
Supporting the notion that these are Apple filings is the fact that two different trademark applications for "Apple CarPlay" were filed on the same day, roughly a month before iOS in the Car was publicly announced as having been renamed CarPlay.
Just one day later, another series of trademark applications were filed for several other terms, including HealthKit, iResearch, and iReasearch. Again, while these can not be directly linked to Apple, the timing and other circumstantial evidence suggests that these are in fact Apple's applications.
It is not entirely clear what these terms are intended to describe, although HealthKit could be a set of developer tools for Healthbook integration in much the same way Apple has named other kits such as UIKit and GameKit. The focus of iResearch is even less clear, and iReasearch could simply be a typo that was quickly corrected with another filing.
All of the new health- and research-related trademark applications are filed under four international classes: 9 (computer software), 10 (medical apparatus), 14 (jewelry and watches), and 42 (computer hardware and software development services).
With the shift from OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion to OS X 10.9, Apple opted to switch from naming its desktop operating system updates after big cats to naming them after distinct California landmarks or "places that inspire us," as Craig Federighi explained during the 2013 Worldwide Developers Conference.
Mavericks, a popular surf spot, was the company's first choice, and as we approach the initial preview of OS X 10.10, there's a lot of speculation about which landmark Apple will choose next. Back in April, several possible naming choices were discovered in the form of trademarks that Apple applied for on California-related terms including Yosemite, Redwood, and Mammoth.
An OS X 10.10 mockup image
MacRumors has now discovered an additional set of names that appear to be linked to Apple, which trademarks were filed for on March 11, 2014 in Trinidad and Tobago, a favorite early filing spot for the company. The terms, all of which could be slated for future OS X releases, include OS X Sequoia, OS X Mojave, OS X Sonoma, and OS X Ventura, as well as the individual names Sequoia, Mojave, Sonoma, and Ventura.
While Sonoma and Ventura are major California cities known for vineyards and beaches, respectively, Mojave refers to the state's Mojave Desert while Sequoia likely refers to the Sequoia National Park famous for its giant sequoia trees. All of the names represent well-known California landmarks and are suitable for Apple's new OS X naming scheme.
At this point, the full list of known trademarks Apple has registered for includes Yosemite, Redwood, Mammoth, California, Big Sur, Pacific, Diablo, Miramar, Rincon, El Cap, Redtail, Condor, Grizzly, Farallon, Tiburon, Monterey, Skyline, Shasta, Sierra, Mojave, Sequoia, Ventura, and Sonoma.
It is unknown which name Apple is leaning towards for OS X 10.10, but an iOS 8 banner currently hanging at the Moscone Center ahead of WWDC featured an underwater theme, which may hint at the company's OS X plans.
Along with the trademarks for several OS X terms it filed for on March 11, Apple also appears to have applied for trademarks on the terms "Apple Watch" and "Watch," continuing its long trademarking spree of iWatch-related terms, which included several new filings under shell company Brightflash back in April.
OS X 10.10's official name will be unveiled this coming Monday, during the keynote presentation of Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference. The event will take place at 10 AM Pacific Time.
The 21.5" 2.7GHz current generation iMac is seeing a $149 discount at Adorama and Best Buy. The iMac, however, is near the end of its refresh cycle and while we probably won't see the new low-cost iMac debuted at WWDC, it does seem imminent. So, we recommend you wait on buying any new iMacs.
The 13" Retina MacBook Pro with 512GB SSD, however, is seeing a $199 discount at both Amazon and B&H Photo, bringing the price from $1799 to $1599.99. That's the lowest price we've seen. The buy recommendation for the Retina MacBook Pro is more complicated.
The Retina MacBook Pros were last updated in October 2013, according to our Buyer's Guide and receives a "Caution" rating. Current MacBook Pro rumors place the next update in between Q3 and Q4, so approximately 4 months from now. That is enough time that if you are on the market specifically for the 13" Retina MacBook Pro, a $199 discount may be enough to pull the trigger.
B&H Photo and Adorama only charge sales tax in NY and NY/NJ, respectively.
MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors.
Apple is beginning to decorate the inside of the Moscone Center ahead of WWDC, adding banners for OS X 10.10 and iOS 8. A photo of the iOS 8 banner has been supplied by BusinessInsider's Jay Yarow, depicting a simple "8" on what appears to be a watery background.
Apple's iOS 8 is expected to retain the same general look as iOS 7, offering polish along with several new features including a health-aggregating "Healthbook" app, new TextEdit and Preview apps, and possible improvements to both Siri and Maps.
We will get our first glimpse of iOS 8 on Monday during Apple's WWDC keynote, which kicks off at 10 AM Pacific Time. Apple will be live streaming the event and MacRumors will also provide a live blog, live tweets via the MacRumorsLive Twitter account, and a spoiler free page for those who want to watch the full keynote at a later time.
Update 11:38 AM PT:MacStories has provided another image of the banner, which can be seen below:
Apple has plans to add both targeted local advertisements and broadcast radio stations to its iTunes Radio music service in the coming months, according to a report from The Information. The move will boost its advertising efforts and introduce new content on iTunes Radio, better positioning it to compete with market leader Pandora. Apple is also expected to begin advertising its own iTunes content through the iAd network.
In a move that strikes at the heart of Pandora's advertising business, iTunes Radio is expected to enable locally targeted advertising later this year, according to ad buyers who have spoken to Apple. Apple may begin promoting iTunes with "house ads" on its iAd mobile advertising network, an unusual move for the company.
Apple has reportedly contacted broadcasters like Cumulus Media, the second largest operator of radio stations in America. Cumulus serves approximately 150 million listeners in 110 metropolitan areas and could potentially bring multiple local stations to iTunes Radio. Apple made its first moves towards introducing local content on iTunes Radio earlier this year with the launch of the National Public Radio (NPR) channel, which will eventually include local stations offering a mix of live and taped news.
Since the launch of iTunes Radio, Apple has had a renewed focus on advertising, redirecting its iAd team to monetize iTunes Radio through advertising sales. While the company has signed deals on a national level with several high profile companies like McDonald's, Nissan, Pepsi, and Procter & Gamble, local ads are new territory.
The addition of local ads could significantly boost the revenue iTunes Radio pulls in, which is a major threat to Pandora. Pandora currently focuses heavily on local ads with sales teams located in more than 35 markets around the United States.
In April, Apple moved towards expanding into Pandora's local advertising territory by making it easier to create and buy iAds on its network. While a developer account was previously required to create an ad campaign, that restriction has now been removed, making it simpler for advertisers large and small to create ads for the platform.
Apple's efforts to bolster its iTunes Radio revenue through local content come as the company works to acquire Beats Music, a paid streaming music service that delivers content on demand. With both iTunes Radio and Beats Music, Apple is hoping to boost its overall music sales, which have waned in recent years.
Walter Isaacson, known to the Apple community for his authorized Steve Jobs biography, believes the Apple co-founder would have approved of Apple's acquisition of Beats. Isaacson shared his thoughts on the Beats deal during a CNBC interview earlier today (via Fortune).
Isaacson points to the close relationship between Beats co-founder Jimmy Iovine and Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, both of whom shared a similar appreciation for music.
Isaacson argues that Jobs and Beats co-founder Jimmy Iovine and Jobs had bonded over their shared love of music, and that Jobs would have been interested in adding Iovine's "cool" factor to the company. "I think Jimmy is the greatest talent spotter now in the music and content business, so it feels like part of the DNA of Apple."
Before the acquisition was announced, Isaacson speculated that Iovine was Apple's real target, bringing the veteran producer on board to head up the Cupertino company's content business. Isaacson said Iovine could "help Apple launch the TV product that analysts have been gossiping about for years," by using his influence in the media business to negotiate content deals. During an interview at the Code Conference earlier this week, however, Iovine noted that he has enough on his plate with music and has no plans to become involved in television negotiations.
Iovine has a long history with Apple, helping Steve Jobs sign deals with music labels in the early days of iTunes and working with Apple and U2 on a special edition iPod. Before the launch of Beats Music, he also pitched the idea of a streaming music service to Apple, but neither Steve Jobs nor Tim Cook was interested at the time.
Upon completion of the acquisition, Iovine and Dr. Dre will join Apple while the Beats team will work under the guidance of Eddy Cue, Apple's senior vice president of Internet Software and Services.
iPhone rumors this year have included a steady stream of mockups, case designs and alleged schematics for the iPhone 6 emerging from China and other Asian countries. Sonny Dickson, well-known source of Apple hardware rumors, claims this wellspring of leaked information may be drying up due to increased security efforts by Apple and Chinese authorities.
iPhone 6 mockup (left) obtained by MacRumors and iPhone 5 (right) in the hand
Dickson claims Apple is working with Chinese officials to stifle leaks about the iPhone 6, hiring approximately 200 security officers to catch merchants who are selling accessories allegedly for the iPhone 6.
There are about 200 security officers trying to catch those who dare to sell i6 accessories.
— Sonny Dickson (@SonnyDickson) May 30, 2014
Apple is known for being a secretive company, with Tim Cook promising shortly after he took over as CEO that he was going to "double down" on secrecy when it came to future product information. Cook may be able to adequately control the flow of information from Apple's employees by reminding them to "do the right thing," but his power does not extend to Asian suppliers.
These overseas suppliers often are the weak link as they are privy to Apple's unreleased products, but lack the strict oversight that discourages employees from intentionally leaking sensitive product details.
One of the more popular feature requests from iOS users has been live widgets for the home screen, similar to Live Tiles on Windows Phone and Widgets on Android. While there have been no specific rumors of widgets actually coming to iOS 8, a new concept from Jay Machalani (via The Verge) offers an excellent vision of how this could be implemented on iOS with the "iOS Block".
Here’s how it works. On your iOS device you have your list of icons like you know and love. They work and look the same way as before. But, if you want more information about an app, you can simply pinch the app icon bigger and it will now become an iOS Block. There’s no menu, no hidden options and no weird gestures to do. You literally make the icon bigger with your finger if you want more; it can’t be simpler and more intuitive than that.
When you pinch the icon, you will see the transformation/transition into a Block and at that point you have two choices: Either you pinch it back to an icon since you got the information you need or you release your fingers and the icon will remain a Block on your iOS screen.
Malachani imagines three possible sizes for Blocks, designed to take up the space of a 2x2 grid of icons on the home screen for iPhone, iPad portrait, and iPad landscape.
Malachani goes on to outline more details on how the Blocks would be constructed with a relative uniform layout consisting of an app icon in the lower left, a tap zone along the remainder of the bottom edge where buttons could be placed, and a content zone taking up the remainder of the Block. As examples, Malachani walks through how the stock Weather, Music, Calendar, Messages, and Photos apps might look as Blocks.
As Malachani notes, the concept is still a work in progress, as he is unsure exactly how iOS would handle moving other home screen icons to accommodate a new Block on a full home screen, as the normal method of pushing icons to the next page could be disruptive depending on how frequently Blocks are opened and closed.
Apple's upcoming Omotesando retail store located in Japan may incorporate a unique "green curtain" of vines and plants to help with climate control, according to Japanese Apple site Mac Otakara [Google Translation].
Though much of the store remains hidden under large curtains, one entire wall of the building appears to be entirely covered with plant life, which the site suggests is used to insulate the store to save energy. Toyko, where the store is located, can get quite hot and humid during the summer months.
The store's construction walls also show off a leafy design, hinting at its unusually "green" exterior. In recent years, Apple has committed itself to lowering its carbon footprint, utilizing 94 percent renewable energy for both its data centers and corporate facilities. Apple was featured as a "Green Energy Innovator" by Greenpeace back in April, and the company has also hired former EPA chief Lisa Jackson to head up its environmental initiatives.
While the Omotesando store design appears to be Apple's first of that nature, it is possible the company will adopt a similar strategy for future stores should it prove successful.
The new Omotesando store with its unique green wall may be opening as soon as June.
Despite a variety of iPhone 6 mockups and case leaks, there haven't been as many part leaks for the iPhone 6 outside of what could be the front panel of the device, the backlight panel and the possible batteries. Now, Macfixit Australia has obtained what looks to be the back cover for the 4.7-inch silver iPhone 6.
Like many of the mockups, this photo also includes the antenna breaks near the top and bottom portions of the back. It also appears to have a green film on top of it, with silver poking through near the camera and flash holes near the top, indicating that this could be the white / silver iPhone 6. The cover also appears to be made out of a thin metal and includes clear cutouts for the camera and flash, unlike a lot of mockups, which also adds some weight to its possible authenticity.
The cover also appears to have the much-rumored round corners, which are similar to the design of the iPod Touch. This also keeps the iPhone in line with both the iPad Mini and iPad Air, which have more rounded back corners.
Apple is in talks with several high-profile retail store chains about a mobile payment service, reports 9to5Mac. Citing a source with knowledge of the discussions, the site suggests Apple is speaking with retail store brands that sell luxury clothing and premium goods to gauge interest in such a service.
An Apple-branded mobile payment solution would likely be integrated directly into iOS devices, allowing people to use their iPhones or other devices to make purchases for physical goods both on the web as well as in retail stores. Currently, iTunes customers can use their accounts to make purchases in iTunes and in brick and mortar Apple Stores, a feature Apple hopes to expand to third-party retailers.
Discussions with retailers have reportedly focused on the difficulties behind building a unified payment service to be used with multiple retail outlets, with Apple also encouraging retailers to adopt the company's Bluetooth-based iBeacons, which could potentially be used as part of a payments service in the future.
Every retail outlet has unique payment and transaction practices, so building a single mobile payments solution will require extensive research from Apple, and the company appears to be in that research and development phase.
Apple has also been asking retailers to survey customers regarding potential interest in paying for items with their smartphones and other mobile devices. Apple also has been seeking general insight from retail store chains to see if the companies would be interested in utilizing an Apple payments service.
Apple's interest in a possible mobile payment solution has been rumored for years, but gained renewed attention in early 2014, after The Wall Street Journal reported Apple was looking to develop a mobile payment service to leverage its store of more than 800 million iTunes accounts, many of which have credit cards attached.
In April, the company was said to be in talks with several senior payments industry executives about possible roles at the company and Apple has also spoken with Paypal about a possible partnership.
According to Apple CEO Tim Cook, a mobile payment solution was "one of the thoughts" behind Touch ID. He has also said that Apple is "intrigued" with mobile payments, noting that there's a "big opportunity on the platform."
Apple has promised new hardware, software, and services in 2014, and it is possible that a mobile payment service could come later this year, though a set date is unclear as the company is still in the developmental stages.
Apple yesterday announced plans to acquire both Beats Electronics and Beats Music for a combined total of $3 billion, but a new report from The Wall Street Journal breaks those numbers down further.
As it turns out, Apple is paying slightly less than $500 million for the Beats Music streaming service, with the bulk of the money ($2.5B) going towards the purchase of Beats Electronics, which includes the company's popular line of headphones and speakers.
At yesterday's Code Conference, Beats co-founder Jimmy Iovine revealed that the service has 250,000 subscribers in the United States, a small number compared to Spotify's 10 million worldwide listeners. Beats Music's relatively modest size explains why it was so much cheaper than the company's Electronics division, which pulled in $1.5 billion in sales in 2013 according to a source that spoke to The Wall Street Journal.
Leveraging iTunes and iTunes Radio, Apple may be able to grow Beats Music significantly in the coming months. Apple's existing streaming music service, iTunes Radio, has a total of 40 million listeners and via iTunes, Apple has sold 35 billion songs. The company also has more than 800 million iTunes accounts, most with credit cards attached, along with a wealth of data on customer listening habits.
"We think all of those things, when you put them all together, it's on steroids with us together," said iTunes Chief Eddy Cue.
Under the terms of the deal, Beats co-founders Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre will both be joining Apple to work under Cue, while marketing head Phil Schiller will oversee the Beats headphone business. Apple CEO Tim Cook has called Iovine and Dre's talent and skills "really unique" and "very hard to find." He also stated that Apple felt Beats Music was the first music service to "get it right" through the use of human curation.
Following regulatory approval, Apple's purchase of Beats is expected to close during the fiscal fourth quarter.
Chair's hit sequel Infinity Blade II has been named Apple's App of the Week and as a result, it is free to download for the second time since its initial 2011 release.
Created as a followup to the original Infinity Blade game, Infinity Blade II has enhanced graphics with detailed environments, character textures, and ambient light touches like sharper shadows and atmospheric effects.
The Infinity Blade series is known for its impressive graphics, action RPG gameplay, gesture-based combat and console-quality experience. In addition to improved graphics, Infinity Blade II also offers deeper character customization and new styles of combat.
The God King has been defeated, an unlikely hero has emerged and now you must discover the truth behind the secrets of the Infinity Blade. The continuing journey of young Siris unfolds as you delve deeper into the world of the Deathless tyrants and their legion of Titans. Can you unlock all the mysteries and successfully wield the power of the Infinity Blade in this timeless swordplay adventure of champions and villains?
The third and final game in the Infinity Blade series, Infinity Blade III, is also available at the discounted price of $2.99 for a limited time.
Apple is nearly finished decorating the Moscone Center ahead of its annual Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco next week. Decorations began appearing earlier this week with a larger banner that says "Write the code. Change the world."
MacStories editor Federico Viticci has shared selection of images from San Francisco. Giant Apple logos are nearly finished on the sides of Moscone, with large square panels in the same style as the other banners have appeared on the Metreon building across the street.
Finally, MacRumors reader Joseph sent in this image of an empty banner bracket inside Moscone West. In past years, Apple has draped black tarps over banners that were then revealed following the Monday morning keynote address.
Apple's WWDC keynote kicks off on Monday at 10:00 AM Pacific Time, and the company will be providing a live video stream of the event.
Amazon will be launching a music streaming service offered free to customers paying for its $99/year Amazon Prime service. The service will launch in June or July according to a new report from Buzzfeed.
The news follows yesterday's acquisition of Beats Music by Apple, and a report from February that claimed Amazon was investigating the possibility of a music service to accompany Prime.
Amazon's streaming catalog will only include songs older than six months, likely saving the company on royalty costs. Spotify, Beats and Rdio all offer new releases to their subscribers.
The company will expand its Prime membership offerings by adding a stockpile of old and newish music for subscribers to stream on demand. The Prime music service, which is scheduled to launch this June or July, will not include recent releases but instead restrict its catalog to songs and albums that are 6 months old and older, five music industry sources familiar with the company’s plans confirmed to BuzzFeed.
Amazon has some 20 million paying Prime members and offers them a library of movie and TV shows via its Netflix-esque Prime Instant Video service along with free 2-day shipping on most items the company sells.
Recently, Amazon signed a deal with HBO to stream older original content from the cable network to Prime subscribers.
As announced 
One of the major new features expected in iOS 8 is 
Apple is in talks with several high-profile retail store chains about a mobile payment service, reports 
Chair's hit sequel Infinity Blade II has been named Apple's App of the Week and as a result, it is free to download for the second time since its 
Amazon will be launching a music streaming service offered free to customers paying for its $99/year Amazon Prime service. The service will launch in June or July 
