HTC last week published a video to its YouTube channel, HTCAmerica, which satirizes HTC's biggest competitors - namely Apple and Samsung - with a song sung by rapper Greg Carr, known as "Doc G."
The video, fully titled "Doc G's HTC Anthem "Hold the Crown" w/ David Bruce," centers around the rapper interacting with various people dressed up as smartphones from the various companies. Carr, known mainly for his time in the group P.M. Dawn, is joined for a majority of the video by HTC's own David Bruce.
The song's lyrics (via Engadget) include jokes about everything from Apple's inferior performance and sound ("Your chip is slower, But you'll never touch our BoomSound") to Samsung's "overrated" Galaxy ("More than a few clowns stole what we originated, We own the universe, your Galaxy is overrated"). It also includes general riffs on HTC's most popular features like Extreme Power Saving Mode and references to HTC CEO Peter Chou.
The company also released an interview on the same YouTube channel in which Bruce questions Carr about various topics ranging from his time with HTC products to his thoughts on the competition. During it, the rapper states he's been "a huge HTC supporter for years," and believes HTC has "the best phones created."
The new Macro 3-in-1 Lens offers three new magnification levels at 7x, 14x, and 21x, while the new Telephoto + Circular Polarizing Lens brings 2x magnification alongside a polarizing lens that minimizes reflections and reduces glare. MacRumors went hands-on with both of the new Olloclip sets over the weekend to give you a look at what kind of images the new accessories are capable of producing.
What's in the Box
Like the 4-in-1 Lens for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, the two new Olloclip lenses come with a lens attachment that's compatible with both the front and rear iPhone cameras.
The Telephoto + CPL accessory features a 2x telephoto lens attachment along with a polarizing lens that is detachable and compatible with other Olloclip lenses thanks to interchangeable filter mounts.
Box contents of both lens sets combined.
The Macro 3-in-1 accessory comes with a 21x macro lens on one side, and a 7x/14x lens on the other side. Switching between magnifications is done by unscrewing the lens. There are also two lens hoods which serve as positioning guidelines to help you determine the optimum position for an in-focus macro shot.
Both lens sets come with three interchangeable carrying clips in green, blue, and black, lens caps, carrying pouches, a detachable wearable lanyard, and two removable inserts to adjust the fit to either the iPhone 6 or the iPhone 6 Plus.
Design
The lens accessories feature a reversible body made of a thick plastic that allows them to be fitted over the rear and front facing cameras of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, and the lenses themselves are made of high-quality aluminum and glass. As with all Olloclip photo accessories, the new lenses cannot be used with a case or a screen protector due to the tight fit, but Olloclip is working on a very nice iPhone 6 and 6 Plus case that we were able to check out at CES. It should be coming in the near future.
The lens sets are compatible with the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus, with the different fit accounted for with plastic inserts. Each lens slides easily over the protruding rear-facing camera and locks into place. On the smaller iPhone 6, when the rear-facing camera is in place the opposite lens fits over the front camera, but with the larger iPhone 6 Plus, the lenses need to be tilted to the left when switching between the front and rear cameras.
Even though it's necessary to slightly adjust the lenses on the iPhone 6 Plus, getting them on the phone is super quick and takes only seconds, which means you're not likely to miss an important moment fumbling around to try to get the lenses attached.
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman Tom Wheeler plans to submit a proposal that would allow the agency to regulate Internet service much like a public utility, reports The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. The move would let the FCC introduce strong rules that could prevent Internet providers from creating "fast lanes" letting certain sites pay for faster speeds.
It is expected that the proposal will reclassify high-speed Internet service as a telecommunications service, instead of an information service, under Title II of the Communications Act, according to industry analysts, lobbyists and former F.C.C. staff members.
Net neutrality, which is the principle that all data on the Internet should be treated equally, has been a major topic of discussion in recent months as the FCC in 2014 approved commercially reasonable "Open Internet" net neutrality rules that could potentially allow companies to pay for better service.
In November, President Obama urged the FCC to instead implement strong rules to protect net neutrality, following a four tenet path that would prevent ISPs from blocking or throttling Internet sites. Obama's proposal also called for the prevention of paid prioritization, keeping companies from shelling out money for faster speeds, and it suggested greater transparency between ISPs and their customers.
More than any other invention of our time, the Internet has unlocked possibilities we could just barely imagine a generation ago. And here's a big reason we've seen such incredible growth and innovation: Most Internet providers have treated Internet traffic equally. That's a principle known as "net neutrality" -- and it says that an entrepreneur's fledgling company should have the same chance to succeed as established corporations, and that access to a high school student's blog shouldn't be unfairly slowed down to make way for advertisers with more money.
Obama's call for stronger net neutrality rules caused FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler to reverse course from his original plan that did allow for paid prioritization, and he is said to be aiming to submit the new proposal to FCC commissioners on Thursday. Wheeler may, however, aim for a "light-touch approach" to the plan, avoiding meddling in pricing decisions. A vote on the proposal is expected on February 26.
Apple has been working on developing its own content delivery network and has been pursuing deals with various ISPs to ensure the efficient delivery of content to customers, but it's possible these types of deals will no longer be allowed if the FCC's newest proposal is implemented.
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 plans to take over the Mesa, Arizona factory where GT Advanced was formerly producing sapphire boules, transforming the facility into a massive $2 billion data center, reports CNBC. The data center will reportedly act as a "command center" for Apple's global data network.
According to Arizona Governor Doug Ducey, the center will house 150 full-time Apple employees and its construction at the 1.3 million square foot facility will create 300 to 500 additional jobs.
In a statement, Apple called the investment one of the largest it had ever made and pledged that the facility would run on 100 percent renewable energy like the company's other data centers.
"This multibillion-dollar project is one of the largest investments we've ever made, and when completed it will add over 600 engineering and construction jobs to the more than one million jobs Apple has already created in the U.S. Like all Apple data centers, it will be powered by 100 percent renewable energy, much of which will come from a new local solar farm," Apple said in a statement on the project.
After GT Advanced filed for bankruptcy and abandoned the Mesa, Arizona plant, there were questions about what Apple would do with the facility. GT Advanced's closure caused a massive loss of jobs in Mesa, but Apple pledged to find a way to repurpose the location and preserve jobs in the city.
The end may be near for RadioShack retail stores after a dire September warning that the company would not be able to finance operations "beyond the very near term" without a sale, investment, or company restructuring. According to Bloomberg, RadioShack may be planning to sell half of its stores to Sprint and close the other half in a move that would potentially see the termination of the RadioShack brand.
The locations sold to Sprint would operate under the wireless carrier's name, meaning RadioShack would cease to exist as a stand-alone retailer, said the people, who declined to be identified because the talks aren't public.
RadioShack was established in 1921 and flourished for many years, but in the early 2000s, the retail chain began seeing some decline in sales. In 2006, RadioShack closed 500 stores and laid off more than 400 employees in an effort to cut costs, but the brand has continued to struggle since that time as consumers have turned towards online retailers like Amazon and dedicated carrier stores from AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon, and more.
The company warned investors in September that it could be forced to file for bankruptcy protection, but RadioShack bankruptcy rumors have circulated since 2012, when RadioShack first began seeing major losses. A second consolidation was announced in 2013, with an additional 1,100 stores to be closed, but that move has since morphed into the liquidation plan to sell to Sprint or another company as RadioShack has continued to lose value over the course of the past year.
Terms are still being discussed between RadioShack and Sprint and Bloomberg warns that negotiations could break down or that plans could change. The two companies have discussed co-branding, and it's still early enough in negotiations that another bidder could purchase RadioShack and keep the retail chain operational.
Update Feb 3 4:34 AM PT:Bloomberg also reports that Amazon is in talks to acquire some RadioShack locations to boost its brick-and-mortar retail presence in the United States. RadioShack has over 4,000 U.S. locations. The discussions are reportedly ongoing and a deal may not be reached.
Update Feb 5 2:21 PM PT: RadioShack officially filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Thursday, February 5, and announced plans for a deal with Sprint. An asset Purchase agreement with Standard General (RadioShack's largest shareholder) and Sprint will allow the RadioShack name to live on via a "store-in-store" model in some of the 2,400 shops (out of 4,000) it plans to sell. The remaining underperforming stores will be closed.
Apple today seeded the fifth beta of iOS 8.2 to developers, three weeks after seeding the fourth beta and almost three months after releasing the first iOS 8.2 beta.
The beta, build 12D5480a, is available immediately to registered developers as an over-the-air update and it can also be downloaded from the iOS Developer Center. Today’s update also includes Xcode 6.2 beta 5 with WatchKit.
iOS 8.2 includes the WatchKit SDK, allowing developers to create apps, Glances, and notifications for Apple’s upcoming wearable device ahead of its 2015 launch. The first iOS 8.2 beta, with WatchKit SDK and developer documentation, revealed several new details about the Apple Watch, including its heavy reliance on the iPhone and the different types of content developers can create for the device.
Update: It appears iOS 8.2 beta 5 fixes a bug that prevented Facebook from working properly. Some early reports have also suggested the beta fixes the "GMT bug" in iOS 8 calendar syncing.
The Steve Jobs biopic based on Walter Isaacson's best-selling biography began filming in January, and the first images of Michael Fassbender and Seth Rogen as Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak have surfaced (via The Daily Mail). The two actors were filming scenes at the Flint Center in Cupertino last week, and will also be filming at Steve Jobs' original childhood home.
In the images, Fassbender wears a dress shirt, jacket, and bowtie, while Seth Rogen is dressed somewhat more casually in a tie and sweater with a full beard. Fassbender has the long ear-length hair style that Steve Jobs had in the 1980s.
Michael Fassbender, who has most recently starred as Magneto in the newest X-Men movies, was somewhat of a controversial choice in the leading role due to his limited resemblance to Steve Jobs and the fact that he's not a household name like Christian Bale or Leonardo DiCaprio, both of whom were previously attached to the film before turning down the role of Jobs.
In leaked emails from Sony, Aaron Sorkin and other executives were initially against Fassbender because "the world isn't going to care," but director Danny Boyle was fully behind Fassbender and Sorkin came to accept him, saying "He's a great actor whose time has come."
Filming on the biopic will reportedly take place at a limited number of locations including the garage of Steve Jobs' childhood home, two auditoriums, and a restaurant. The movie will consist of three continuous scenes covering three product launches: the debut of the original Macintosh, the unveiling of the NeXT computer, and the introduction of the iMac.
Along with Fassbender and Rogen as Jobs and Wozniak, the film also stars Kate Winslet as early employee Joanna Hoffman, Katherine Waterson as Steve Jobs' girlfriend Chrisann Brennan, Perla Haney-Jardine as Jobs' daughter Lisa, and Jeff Daniels as former Apple CEO John Sculley.
With the Apple Watch on schedule to ship in April and some developers asked to have apps readied for this month, we are beginning to see a slow trickle of apps surface for the wrist-worn device. Todoist on Monday became the latest software maker to tease their work-in-progress Apple Watch app, sharing a video and screenshots of the upcoming to-do app with MacRumors this morning.
Todoist [Direct Link] aims to bring its popular to-do app for iPhone and iPad to the wrist with a simple Apple Watch app that will provide task management at a glance. When paired with an iPhone, the app will enable users to view their upcoming tasks and categories, reply to comments, and schedule or mark complete tasks. Todoist tells us that the video below is missing the task filter view, but plans to add the feature soon.
Enric Enrich, a 20-year-old iOS developer at Doist, explains further:
Once inside the main Todoist app, the user can access their Inbox, Projects (and full task lists within each project), Labels, Filters, and a 'Today' view showing all tasks for the day, as well as overdue tasks. When you tap on a task to get the detailed view, you will be able to see the task's associated labels, its due date, its priority level, and you will be able to either "complete" or "postpone" the task directly from the watch. If you don't want to complete or postpone the task, you use the watch's microphone to explicitly assign a time/date to the task (this feature is still in development)."
Apple made its WatchKit SDK available alongside the release of iOS 8.2 and Xcode 6.2 beta in November, although developers are limited to an emulator-only development environment until the Apple Watch is released. For now, a third-party Tesla app and concepts of what apps such as Instagram and Uber could look like provide the best teaser of what the future of the wrist holds.
While much of the wearables focus remains on the upcoming Apple Watch launch, Pebble continues to push forward with its own smartwatch platform that began as a record-setting Kickstarter project and has blossomed into a successful company. Pebble CEO Eric Migicovsky recently discussed the company's extensive plans for new hardware in the upcoming year, along with a few details of Pebble's prosperous 2014, in an interview with The Verge.
Reaching a milestone for the company, Pebble shipped its one millionth Pebble smartwatch on December 31, 2014, undoubtedly thanks to a few major price drops to its flagship products and the introduction of noteworthy apps onto the device last year. As The Verge points out, Pebble's biggest competitor in 2014 was Google's Android Wear device range, but both will be facing significant competition come this April when the Apple Watch launches to the public.
Migicovsky is unfazed by the imminent release of the Apple Watch, however, outlining how Pebble's line of devices planned for release this year will deal less with the app-obsessed world most devices focus on, instead offering something dramatically different than any smartwatch on the market.
"We’ve found a new framework to use as an interaction model on the watch," boasts Migicovsky, before adding that while apps will continue to exist on Pebble, they won't be the main focus of the platform. "It doesn't look like what we have today, and it doesn't look like what's on your smartphone."
Migicovsky sticks mostly to pointing out Pebble's successful year - such as the company more than doubling by year's end its 400,000 units sold as of March - than providing meaningful details on new products coming out of the company. He tells The Verge fans will have to wait until "later this year" for more details on the company's upcoming devices.
Pebble's unflinching attitude towards its upcoming war with the Apple Watch falls in line with previous actions the company has taken when it comes to Apple's new wearable. When Apple announced the Apple Watch last September, Pebble updated its website with a few related zingers - targeting battery life, price, and over-enthusiastic responses - aimed at its competitors, namely Apple.
Apple today filed a prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Commission, hoping to sell $5 billion worth of new debt according to reports.
Managed by Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank, the offer's monetary specifics haven't yet been revealed by Apple, but the company says the money will be used to cover "general corporate purposes, including repurchases of our common stock and payment of dividends under our program to return capital to shareholders, funding for working capital, capital expenditures and acquisitions and repayment of debt."
As Bloomberg's Lisa Abramowicz points out, much of the proceeds the company receives from the bond sale are undoubtedly going to buybacks and dividend payments.
Except for rewarding shareholders, of course. Proceeds to go to buybacks & dividend payments
— Lisa Abramowicz (@LisaAbramowicz1) February 2, 2015
This follows the company's previous bond sale last November, where Apple notably began issuing bonds in euros. That sale saw Apple looking to raise €2.8 billion ($3.5 billion) for the usual "general corporate purposes," again primarily share buybacks and dividend payments.
Today's prospectus comes on the heels of the company's record-breaking earnings for the first fiscal quarter of 2015, posting revenue of $74.6 billion in the quarter, and subsequently seeing a noticeable bump in shares of its stock when the market opened last Friday.
While the company holds roughly $178 billion in cash and marketable securities, much of that cash is held outside of the United States and would currently be subject to significant taxes if brought back to the U.S. to be used for stock buybacks and dividends. As a result, Apple has been pursuing bond sales at very favorable interest rates as a cheaper means of funding these initiatives, repaying the bonds from ongoing operations over time.
Update Feb 3 4:52 PT:The Wall Street Journalreports that Apple has increased the size of its bond deal to $6.5 billion.
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.
iPad sales slowed in the fourth quarter as the worldwide tablet market experienced its first year-over-year decline since being established in 2010, according to the latest numbers from market research firm IDC. Apple shipped 21.4 million iPads for 28.1% market share in the fourth quarter to maintain a comfortable lead over Samsung, which shipped 11 million tablets for 14.5% market share during the three-month period ending December.
The worldwide tablet market continues to be mainly a two-horse race between Apple and Samsung, with smaller competitors such as Lenovo, Asus and Amazon shipping just 3.7 million, 3 million and 1.7 million tablets respectively during the fourth quarter. IDC says that, despite a year-over-year decline, worldwide tablet shipments increased 4.4% to total 229.6 million units in 2014.
"The tablet market is still very top heavy in the sense that it relies mostly on Apple and Samsung to carry the market forward each year," said Jitesh Ubrani, Senior Research Analyst, Worldwide Quarterly Tablet Tracker. "Although Apple expanded its iPad lineup by keeping around older models and offering a lower entry price point of $249, it still wasn't enough to spur iPad sales given the excitement around the launch of the new iPhones. Meanwhile, Samsung's struggles continued as low-cost vendors are quickly proving that mid- to high-priced Android tablets simply aren't cut out for today's tablet market."
Apple CEO Tim Cook and CFO Luca Maestri cautioned investors during last week's earnings call that iPad sales are unlikely to see a dramatic year-over-year improvement in the near future. Nevertheless, Apple is optimistic about pushing the iPad further into the enterprise through its IBM deal announced last July and is also seeing first-time buyer rates for the iPad as high as 70% in emerging markets such as China.
Apple today announced on its Chinese retail website that it will be opening its brand new store in Tianjin, China this Saturday, February 7.
The store will be located within the Nankai District and follows Apple's other recently opened locations in Zhengzhou, Hangzhou, and Chongqing.
Last month, Apple retail chief Angela Ahrendts noted that Apple would be opening five new retail stores in five weeks to coincide with the Chinese New Year. The Tianjin store is the fourth store in that rollout, as Apple has also boosted its advertising efforts in the region by releasing a new version of its ad "The Song" for the Chinese market. After the five stores are opened, Apple would have 20 locations in China and Hong Kong with an ultimate goal of 40 stores in China over the next few years.
Apple's new Tianjin store opens on Saturday, February 7 at 10:00 AM local time.
Apple today released a new version of its holiday ad "The Song" to coincide with the Chinese New Year holiday, using new actresses and showing a variety of Apple products throughout the video.
Like the original version, the Chinese version of "The Song" centers around a girl who comes across a vintage record sung by her grandmother as she secretly learns the notes and vocals to put together her own rendition alongside the original. The commercial ends with the girl and her grandmother listening side-by-side to the new record on an iPad.
The ad is currently being featured on Apple's Chinese website. The company has opened a number of new stores in the past couple of weeks in time for Chinese New Year, with new locations popping up in Chongqing and Hangzhou.
Apple made its WatchKit SDK available alongside the release of iOS 8.2 and Xcode 6.2 beta in November, enabling developers to begin creating apps and software for the wrist-worn device. Looking beyond mockups and conceptual apps, however, a new third-party Tesla app designed by ELEKS offers insight into both the opportunities and limitations that developers face with the first-generation Apple Watch.
According to ELEKS software engineer Oleksandr Malyarenko, the technical capabilities of WatchKit do not match the expectations set during the Apple Watch keynote. In developing a prototype Tesla app that allows users to control a Model S over the Internet using a web-service API, the team of software engineers found a lot of functionality to be unavailable to developers at this time.
"If you look at the opportunities available for smart watch application development, you’ll also see a quite pessimistic picture," wrote Matsekh. "Apple does not indulge developers with an abundance of functionality and tools. However, we can hope that the available functions are limited because this is only the first beta version and it will get much better towards the release."
Malyarenko claims that developers do not have access to the Apple Watch's gyroscope, accelerometer, built-in speaker and microphone or Taptic Engine system of tactile notifications for development. Additionally, despite the Apple Watch display being touch sensitive, he claims that only Force Touch, which displays the shortcut menu, is available for developers, while GPS is restricted to a paired iPhone.
Even with its current limitations, this Tesla app provides an early look at the opportunities that Apple Watch apps make possible. The multipurpose software brings a lot of Tesla car control functionality to the wrist, such as an overview of the car's battery, temperature and mileage, a controls menu for opening or closing the car and activating the headlights, and various screens related to charging, climate, location and the car's condition.
Despite claiming that the Apple Watch has "weak potential for programmers" based on its current emulator-only development environment, Malyarenko recognizes that his assumptions are based off of the first WatchKit SDK available to developers. As with the iPhone and iPad, the first-generation Apple Watch will inevitability have some developmental hiccups that are ironed out over the years.
Apple CEO Tim Cook confirmed at the company's quarterly earnings call on Tuesday that the Apple Watch is on schedule to ship in April, likely alongside a new version of WatchKit. MacRumors also learned that Apple has asked some developers to have Apple Watch apps ready for mid-February. In a short few months, a clearer picture should emerge of just how much potential Apple's first wearable device has for developers.
Update 9:00 PM PT: For those interested in learning more about Apple Watch development, iMore's Rene Ritchie points towards an interesting series called As I Learn WatchKit by iOS developer David Smith. Apple also provides several public-facing Design and Development Resources for the Apple Watch and WatchKit on its website.
Apple has never shown much interest in styluses, even as companies like Samsung and Microsoft have embraced them as major selling points for smartphones and tablets. Former Apple CEO Steve Jobs even went as far as saying "If you see a stylus, they blew it," on one occasion, and at Macworld in 2007, he asked "Who wants a stylus? Nobody wants a stylus."
Apple's focus on the fingertip as the best input method doesn't mean styluses are entirely pointless -- they can be useful for taking notes, making sketches, creating artwork, and in dozens of other situations. Luckily, Apple's disinterest in the stylus hasn't stopped third-party accessory makers from developing them, and eight years after the iPhone first debuted, there are a range of stylus options on the market.
Adonit is a company that got into the stylus game early, debuting its first stylus on Kickstarter in 2011. The Adonit Jot was one of the first styluses to incorporate a thin plastic precision disc, doing away with a rubber tip to let users see more of the screen while writing. Since then, Adonit has gone on to make a range of styluses, some that even connect via Bluetooth to incorporate pressure sensitivity.
The company's newest styluses, the Jot Pro and the Jot Mini, are standard non-connected styluses, but they're the culmination of years of work perfecting the stylus based on customer feedback and they're some of the nicest writing utensils that Adonit has produced yet. Get a quick look at the Jot Pro or Jot Mini in the video below, or keep reading to see our full thoughts on the two styluses.
What's in the Box
The Jot Pro and the Jot Mini come nicely packaged in an outer cardboard box and a plastic insert with an adhesive strap that holds them in place during shipping. They arrive with caps in place to keep the tip from being damaged and are ready to use once the cap is removed and affixed to the bottom of the stylus.
Design and Features
Both the Jot Pro and the Jot Mini are made from a lightweight aluminum in black or silver that matches the aluminum backing of the silver/space gray iPad and iPhone. Each comes with a screw-off cap that connects to both ends of the stylus and serves two purposes -- keeping the stylus safe during transport in a bag or pocket and extending the size of the stylus when in use.
Deals have been a bit sparse in recent weeks following the holidays, but we expect things to pick up somewhat in February and March now that we're solidly into the new year.
There are a few deals to be had this week on the non-Retina iMac, older now-discontinued iPad Air and iPad mini 2 models, and the Retina MacBook Pro. We've also got some discounted Apple-related accessories and a selection of discounted apps.
Retina iMac
There are no particularly good deals on the Retina iMac from third-party resellers this week, but prospective buyers can get a good deal from Apple's online refurbished store, which has a variety of Retina iMacs available at discounted prices.
All of Apple's refurbished machines come with a 1 year warranty, but stock fluctuates often, so potential buyers may need to wait for a desired machine to show up in the store.
- 11-inch 1.4GHz/4GB/128GB (B&H Photo) - $854, $45 off - 11-inch 1.4GHz/4GB/256GB (B&H Photo) - $999, $100 off - 13-inch 1.4GHz/4GB/128GB (B&H Photo) - $919, $80 off
Retina MacBook Pro
- 13-inch 2.6GHz/8GB/128GB (B&H Photo) (MacMall)- $1,199, $100 off - 13-inch 2.6GHz/8GB/256GB (MacMall) (B&H Photo) - $1,399, $100 off - 13-inch 2.8GHz/8GB/512GB (Amazon) (B&H Photo) - $1,599, $200 off - 15-inch 2.2GHz/16GB/256GB (B&H Photo) (MacMall) - $1,889.99, $99 off - 15-inch 2.5GHz/16GB/512GB - (Amazon) (B&H Photo) - $2,319.99, $179 off
iPads
We don't recommend buying an iPad Air 2 or Retina iPad mini 3 this week if you can help it because there are no sales going on, but Best Buy is still offering now-discontinued higher-capacity Cellular versions of the iPad Air and the iPad mini 2 at discounted prices up to $130 off the standard price.
The Harman Kardon Go + Play II Speaker Dock for the iPhone is available for $179, down from $349, from Harman Audio. The current-generation Apple TV is available for $87.99from Groupon, down from its original price of $99.
Scosche earphones are available for $18.99from Groupon, down from their original price of $79.99. Groupon is also selling the Beats Pill 2.0 for $159.99, $40 off the regular price.
The myCharge Hub 6000 Portable Battery is available for $69.99from Best Buy, $30 off its regular price. Best Buy is also selling the 32GB Mophie Space Pack for the iPhone 5/5s for $129.99, down from its regular price of $179.99.
Monoprice is offering 25% off select Apple accessories using the promo code 25APPLE through 1/31. The ZAGG iPad mini Folio Keyboard Case is available for $29 from Daily Steals, $50 off the regular price.
MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors.
Apple appears to be asking some high profile app developers and partners to have their Apple Watch-compatible iPhone apps prepared and ready to launch in the App Store in mid-February. According to a source that spoke to MacRumors, Apple has asked one of its biggest Apple Pay partners to prepare an iOS application with WatchKit support that's ready to launch in the App Store by February 12.
It is unclear if Apple is asking the same of other developers, but it is possible the company is hoping to test some third-party Apple Watch apps with employees ahead of the device's launch to get a better feel for battery life when using non-Apple apps. As we detailed earlier today, thousands of Apple employees in the Cupertino area are wearing and testing the device on a daily basis to work out final kinks ahead of an April launch.
It's also possible that Apple could use this high-profile partner's app in an upcoming demonstration or launch event to show off how Apple Pay works on the Apple Watch. Apple Pay will be a key function of the Apple Watch, letting users authorize credit card payments right from their wrists. As has been outlined in the past, the Apple Watch will authenticate payments biometrically, requiring a passcode when the device is first placed on a wrist and again if it loses skin contact.
Apple CEO Tim Cook said earlier this week that Apple Watch development is on track and that the device will launch at some point in April. Pricing for the Apple Watch is largely unknown, but will start at $349 for the least expensive option.
With just three months to go until the Apple Watch's April release, Apple is hard at work field testing the device, and hundreds of Apple engineers, employees, and testers are wearing the Apple Watch on a regular basis to help Apple iron out last minute bugs and issues.
Due to the large number of employees testing the device, Apple Watch sightings in the wild have become more common over the course of the last few weeks. On the MacRumors forums, readers are aggregating photos and stories of device sightings, giving us an in-use look at the device that will be attached to many of our wrists in just a few short months.
One of the first major Apple Watch sightings occurred several weeks ago, when Vogue Editor Suzy Menkes snapped a photo of someone wearing the device. Rumors and speculation have suggested the arm in the photo could belong to Marc Newson, the designer who now works at Apple part time alongside Jony Ive.
A second less-clear image of what is likely an Apple Watch was shared on Twitter earlier this week, with the photo being snapped in San Francisco's Marina area.
If you happen to live in the Cupertino area, it's quite possible you might run into an Apple employee who is wearing one of the watches. VentureBeat's Mark Sullivan recently shared a story of an Apple Watch he spotted while commuting on Caltrain. Sullivan got a bit more than a glimpse -- he had the opportunity to see the Apple Watch in action for several minutes and his account on how it was used is a great read for those who want to learn a bit about how it integrates into daily life.
According to Sullivan, the man's Apple Watch "looked proportionate" to his wrist and had a traditional look that didn't "scream for attention." Sullivan saw a text reminder pop up on the screen, accompanied by a map, and he got the impression that the Apple Watch had become an essential part of this person's life.
I want one, and I didn't even really see much of what the thing could do. But I got the distinct impression that the Watch has already become integrated into the daily life of this user. I could see it as a powerful personal assistant that's always just an arm's lift away to help you make sense of the minutiae of daily life: the schedules and reminders and appointments and social media and everything else we all have to process every minute of every day.
Apple CEO Tim Cook said earlier this week that the Apple Watch is on track to launch in April, but he did not offer a narrower timeframe that would hit at when the release could come during the month. As we creep closer to April, though, we can expect to see a lot more of the Apple Watch in the wild as employees continue testing the device.
The end may be near for RadioShack retail stores after a dire September warning that the company would not be able to 
Apple today filed a 
Apple CEO Tim Cook and CFO Luca Maestri cautioned investors during last week's 
Apple appears to be asking some high profile app developers and partners to have their Apple Watch-compatible iPhone apps prepared and ready to launch in the App Store in mid-February. According to a source that spoke to MacRumors, Apple has asked one of its biggest Apple Pay partners to prepare an iOS application with WatchKit support that's ready to launch in the App Store by February 12.
