MacRumors

App Store customers worldwide set a new record in the first week of 2015, Apple announced today. According to the company, customers spent nearly half a billion dollars on apps and in-app purchases in the first week of January, with New Year's Day marking the biggest day ever for App Store sales.

As noted by Apple, this opening salvo for 2015 follows in the footsteps of a successful 2014 that saw billings rise 50 percent to generate over $10 billion in app revenue for developers, pushing total developer earnings since the App Store's inception to over $25 billion. The steady climb of user acceptance for iOS 8, along with the strong success of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus and App Store specials like the (Product) RED Holiday Campaign, undoubtedly contributed to the company's App Store success of the App Store over the past few months.

“This year is off to a tremendous start after a record-breaking year for the App Store and our developer community,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. “We're so proud of the creativity and innovation developers bring to the apps they create for iOS users and that the developer community has now earned over $25 billion.”

The company points to innovations like the new programming language Swift, graphics technology Metal, beta-testing program TestFlight, and the introduction of HealthKit and HomeKit as major reasons behind the flourishing of App Store development in the past year. Outside of the U.S., the addition of UnionPay as a payment option for App Store customers in China was a significant move by the company in establishing an overseas presence in the country.

Apple Pay's growing popularity in the U.S. has also been a factor in the App Store's success, especially with its added integration in popular apps like those from Target, OpenTable, and Ticketmaster.

Apple isn't just celebrating a successful monetary year, but a job-creating one as well. The company has created or supported 1,027,000 jobs in the U.S., 627,000 of which are directly related to the inception of the iOS ecosystem and the App Store. Apple directly employs 66,000 employees in the United States.

Beyond the App Store ecosystem and Apple's own employment, the company calculates it supports 334,000 jobs at other companies resulting from Apple's own spending and growth through the years. And with Apple Campus 2 under construction, the company expects to continue employment growth, supporting 41,100 jobs in the area upon its completion.

A user on China's Weibo microblogging site today posted a new photo (via Letem svetem Applem) simply labeled "iPad Pro". The photo shows what appears to be a mold for the rear shell of Apple's rumored larger tablet with a display in the range of 12-13 inches, although it is unclear whether this mold is supposed to be for an actual iPad Pro shell or for a dummy unit such as the one that surfaced in a photo last May.

Few details can be discerned from the relatively poor quality photo, although it does appear to show faint details that could represent an Apple logo in the center and perhaps a rear camera feature in a corner. Exact size is also unknown, but it certainly appears larger than an iPad Air.

The relatively simple design of the mold suggests this may be an unofficial mold being used create dummy units for manufacturers. Such units frequently, but not always, turn out to be accurately based on information leaking out of Apple's supply chain.

Timing on a release for the iPad Pro has been in question for some time, with The Wall Street Journal reporting last October that Apple had pushed back production on the device in order to allow its suppliers to focus on the popular iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. Reports have indicated the device could still launch in the April-June timeframe, but there have yet to be any apparently legitimate part leaks for the device.

Philips today added to its lineup of Lightning-equipped headphones with the new Fidelio NC1L. Similar to its predecessor the Fidelio M2L, the NC1L headphones use a 24-bit digital to analog converter to provide high-quality audio playback.

As detailed by The Verge, the Fidelio NC1L headphones plug directly into the Lightning port, providing a direct digital connection to the phone and a power supply for the headphone's onboard noise cancellation technology. The Lightning connector power allows Philips to provide a valuable feature like noise cancellation without requiring the additional bulk of a battery.

Digital Trends went hands-on with a prototype of the new headphones and found they offered solid performance.

As for the performance, our initial audition of the cans impressed, as they blocked out an immense amount of ambient noise even at low volume levels. The set we tried out is only a prototype, and the final version will undergo some interior and exterior design changes. But even at the early stages, we’re excited about this technology.

Designed for usage in a variety of environments, the Fidelio NC1L headphones also include multiple noise profiles suitable for making phone calls and for allowing ambient noise when awareness of your surroundings is necessary. The Fidelio NC1Ls should launch in North America in April for $299.

Supplies of Apple's lowest priced iPod, the $49 iPod shuffle, are temporarily dwindling as shipping times on Apple's website drop to 7 - 10 days and Apple Retail Stores run out of stock around the country, reports 9to5Mac.

According to multiple sources, supplies of the iPod Shuffle are dwindling across Apple’s physical retail and online channels. In fact, Apple has warned its retail employees that Shuffle supplies will be short for an unspecified period of time and that customers seeking to buy a Shuffle via a retail store should be directed to Apple’s online store.

The other two iPod lines, the nano and touch, aren't seeing the same dwindling of supplies as they both display 24 hour shipping times and are available now in most of Apple's retail stores. It's unclear why the shuffle is seeing supply problems, but one possibility is that Apple is seeing a temporary shortage of iPod shuffle components, impacting the company's ability to make new iPod shuffles.

New York City appears to be the city mostly suffering from the iPod shuffle shortage, while the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles and Chicago seem to have a sporadic number of stores without any stock.

Apple hasn't updated the iPod shuffle since September 2013. In early 2014, CEO Tim Cook said that the iPod was a "declining business". In September 2014, Apple discontinued the iPod Classic due to the difficulty in purchasing parts to manufacture it and a shrinking audience for the device.

Apple today seeded a fourth beta of OS X 10.10.2 Yosemite to developers, nearly four weeks after the previous beta release. The interval between seeds was slightly longer than usual for recent updates, presumably due to the holiday pause.

The new beta, build 14C94b, is available through the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App Store and through the Mac Dev Center.

Apple continues to ask developers to focus their testing on Wi-Fi, Mail, and VoiceOver. Wi-Fi in particular has been an issue for some OS X Yosemite users since the operating system's October launch, and OS X 10.10.1 released in November failed to resolve all of those problems.

Following T-Mobile's recently announced "Data Stash" program allowing customers to roll over unused data to subsequent months, AT&T today announced it will launch a similar data program later this month. The new feature will be available at no additional charge to the 50 million users on the carrier's Mobile Share Value plans.

"Rollover Data is an added benefit of being an AT&T Mobile Share Value customer and it’s just another way that we’re saying thanks to our more than 50 million plus Mobile Share Value subscribers," said Glenn Lurie, President and CEO, AT&T Mobility. "We’re providing even more value and flexibility, and the best part is it’s simple, shareable and easy to track for our customers. All Mobile Share Value customers get this automatically."

AT&T's new Rollover Data feature does differ in one important respect from T-Mobile's program. While T-Mobile's rollover data expires after 12 months, AT&T customers can roll over unused data for only one month, with users tapping into the rollover data only after their normal monthly allotment has been exhausted.

As an example:

If you have four lines and have a 15GB AT&T Mobile Share Value Plan and only use 10GB in a given month, you’ll roll over 5GB and have a total of 20GB available to use within the next month. If you were to only use 10GB in the second month, you’ll again roll over 5GB and have a total of 20GB available the next month. Bottom line: if you have unused plan data this month, it automatically rolls over to be used within the next month in case you need more than your plan’s allotment.

AT&T will automatically enable the rollover feature on all Mobile Share Value plans starting January 25. Customers can track their rollover data using the MyAT&T mobile app [Direct Link] or on AT&T's website.

Since launching in September alongside the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, iOS 8 has seen its adoption rate grow to 68 percent of compatible iOS devices, according to new numbers posted on the Apple Developer Support page.

With Apple updating data publicly every few weeks, this latest data point represents a four percentage point bump in adoption since the last update on December 23. The significant increase highlights Apple's strong performance in device activation numbers over the holidays to add to the company's iOS 8 user base.

Over the longer term, installation numbers are up 5 percentage points over the past month and up 12 percentage points in the past two months. iOS 7 usage has seen an understandable decline as its successor has gained ground, with the older operating system dropping from 33 percent in December to 29 percent in January. Earlier iOS versions represent just 4 percent of the current App Store user base.

Apple initially faced multiple issues following iOS 8's launch, including what has progressed to a lawsuit over storage space needed to install the OS on smaller GB devices, but the adoption rate has steadily increased as users have decided to upgrade and purchases of devices with iOS 8 preinstalled have increased.

Apple has brought a number of bug fixes and addressed some more significant flaws with recent updates such as iOS 8.1, iOS 8.1.1, and iOS 8.1.2. The company is also continuing to work on iOS 8.2, seeding a third beta to developers in mid-December. In addition to bug fixes and other improvements, iOS 8.2 will include support for integrating with the upcoming Apple Watch.

The latest smartphone sales data released today from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech highlights good news for Apple on the strength of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus launch, with Apple gaining share year-over-year in every country surveyed except for Japan.

The report, focusing on the September-November 2014 period, points out that Android market share dropped in most European markets and saw its first decline in the U.S. since September 2013. In the surveyed period, Apple reached 42.5 percent of UK sales, up 12.2 percentage points from the same time in 2013.

In the U.S., the Cupertino-based company's share of smartphone sales grew 4.3 points to reach 47.4 percent of the market, an unsurprising performance given the strong early sales of the company's latest iPhones. More data from Apple on October-December iPhone sales will be announced later this month when the company releases its quarterly earnings report.

Apple's strong performance is being attributed in part to enthusiasm for the redesigned bodies and larger screens of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, with the iPhone 6 leading the smartphone pack during the time period.

“The iPhone 6 was the best selling phone in the three months through November 2014, capturing 19% of smartphone sales”, said Milanesi. Verizon and AT&T made up 57% of iOS sales while Verizon and T-Mobile were the top two carriers for Android accounting for 33.7% of all Android smartphones sold.

Despite declines in many markets, Android remains the dominant platform in Europe with 69.9 percent of the market, although that number is down 3.2 percentage points from the same period in 2013. Kantar also notes that customers switching from Android to iOS remained at a steady 18 percent from 2013 to 2014, suggesting Apple's larger-screened phones have yet to represent significant motivation for switchers.

At CES 2015, Antenna79 announced a new brand of cases called Reach79 , which claims to boosts signal strength and performance up to two times for iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.

“We all want to get the most from our smartphones, and that’s exactly what Reach79 cases were designed to do,” said David Vigil, CEO, Antenna79. “Powered by patented antenna technology, Reach79 cases are the first performance-enhancing smartphone cases designed for speed. Each case is embedded with a micro-thin, gold-plated antenna that works to increase your smartphone’s signal strength so your phone can do more for you.”

Reach79 says that the stronger signal strength provided by its cases can improve battery life as the phone wouldn't have to work as hard to pick up a signal. Additionally, the company says it improves user experience with less dropped calls and faster download speeds and greater signal coverage. The cases also come with military grade drop protection.

The cases contain antenna technology that pairs with the antenna in the smartphone, granting increased signal strength for the device. Reach79 says the cases have been tested at CETECOM, a CTIA accredited facility that verified the cases can improve signal strength at an average of 1.6 times normal strength, with a peak performance of 2 times normal strength.

However, the company does warn that user experience also depends on device, carrier and location.

The Reach79 cases can be purchased starting today at the company's website. The iPhone 6 case is priced at $59.99 while the iPhone 6 Plus version is priced at $69.99. The cases currently come in black only, but Reach79 says additional colors are on the way in the first quarter of 2015.

While Apple has yet to publicly announce a specific launch date for the Apple Watch beyond "Early 2015", sources speaking to 9to5Mac say the company is currently planning for a March debut in the initial wave of countries. Sources in the retail segment indicate that select store employees will undergo centralized Apple Watch training the week of February 9, with those employees in turn training others at their individual stores in the days leading up to the device's launch.

One or two representatives from many Apple Stores in the United States, depending on store and market size, will be sent to Apple offices in either Cupertino, California or Austin, Texas to learn first-hand about the Watch. These training programs will take place between February 9th and February 16th.

The report indicates Apple has been continuing to refine various aspects of the Apple Watch since its September unveiling, focusing mostly on software but also tweaking such components as the inductive charging mechanism.

Developers are currently working with Apple's WatchKit tools and iOS 8.2 betas to build apps for Apple Watch, starting with lightweight Glances, actionable notifications, and iPhone-based apps that project portions of their interfaces to the watch. More powerful apps running directly on the Apple Watch will be possible later this year.