MacRumors

Apple and several of its partners showed off CarPlay at its official unveiling earlier this year, mainstream users are finally getting their hands on the system with Pioneer's release of its promised CarPlay update for for several of its aftermarket car audio receiver yesterday.

Early reviews of CarPlay from Consumer Reports and Australian technology and car blog EFTM suggest the system is indeed easy to use and effective at reducing driver distraction, thanks to excellent Siri integration.

Consumer Reports points out the many benefits offered by Siri, which allows you to send text messages, get directions, set reminders, and more without touching your iPhone.

As handy as Siri’s natural speech recognition is when you’re just walking around with your phone, it really comes into its own in the car. Siri makes it easy to choose music, get directions, and read or send text messages—all by using your voice with natural speech, rather than menu-driven, formulaic commands.

Consumer Reports also notes that updating the AVIC-5000NEX unit was easy, requiring the owner to download the firmware to a USB stick, plug the stick into the receiver, and wait for unit to update itself.

For his part, Trevor Long of EFTM provides a detailed walkthrough with screenshots of CarPlay's major features. Demoing Pioneer's AVH-X8650BT stereo installed in a 2010 Mazda 2, Long shows how easy it is to make phone calls, interact with visual voicemail, listen to music, and more.

CarPlay is a revolution in in-car entertainment. While many of the features have been available for some time on other cars, the genuine integration with your smartphone and capabilities that have been added make it well worth considering if you’re an Apple iPhone user who spends a great deal of time in your car.

If you’re shopping for a new car – ask the dealer – is CarPlay available? and if no – will it be available via a firmware upgrade in the future?

Pioneer this week released its CarPlay firmware update, making it the first aftermarket receiver manufacturer to offer CarPlay to consumers. Among Pioneer's U.S. models, CarPlay is available for the $1400 AVIC-8000NEX, the $1200 AVIC-7000NEX, the $900 AVIC-6000NEX, the $750 AVIC-5000NEX and the $700 AVH-4000NEX. CarPlay is also compatible with Pioneer's new $600 smartphone receiver, AppRadio 4. Consumers can generally find Pioneer's units at significant discounts from list price from a variety of retailers.

The iPhone 6 Plus is expected to account for 60% of total iPhone 6 device shipments as sales of the device are exceeding initial expectations, reports Digitimes. The information comes from industry sources observing parts shipments to longtime Apple suppliers Foxconn and Pegatron.

Foxconn is said to be responsible for the production of the iPhone 6 Plus, while Pegatron is in charge of the iPhone 6. While parts shipments to both suppliers were even as the launch of both devices neared, Foxconn appears to have received more parts shipments for the iPhone 6 Plus as of late.

Apple announced last month that it opening weekend sales of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus topped ten million units, although the company did not specify how that number was divided between both units. Shipping estimates for new iPhone 6 orders remain at 7-10 business days, while the iPhone 6 Plus is still showing a shipping delay of 3-4 weeks.

Apple is asking music labels to cut prices on music streaming subscription services so that it can offer its new, revamped Beats Music service for less than $10 a month, reports Re/code. The Cupertino company is also looking to add new features to the service.

Sources say Apple is talking to the big music labels about a new set of rights and features it would like to include in a revamped version of the Beats Music service it bought earlier this year. Among the things Apple wants is a new pricing structure that would allow it to sell the service for less than the $10 level it’s at now.

Apple isn't planning on overhauling Beats Music until next year, and discussions with music labels are in early stages. In late September, it was rumored that Apple was planning on introducing a revamped Beats Music in early February, presumably timed to debut alongside the Grammy Awards on February 8.

The company has tried to undercut competitors with music rates before, trying to pay half the royalty rate that Pandora paid while in negotiations for what would become iTunes Radio in early 2013.

Re/code notes that music executives were once worried about streaming services cannibalizing CD music sales but eventually agreed to deals with streaming services, which some music industry observers feel is priced too high as the market for consumers who want to pay $10 a month to stream music is limited. In August, a report from Midia Research suggested only 25 percent of consumers pay $10 for music every three months.

Actor Leonardo DiCaprio has withdrawn from negotiations to play Steve Jobs in Aaron Sorkin's upcoming film about the late Apple co-founder, according to The Hollywood Reporter. DiCaprio was set to begin work on the movie after finishing work on The Revenant, but sources close to the actor have said that he plans to take a lengthy break soon.

Now with DiCaprio out, the studio is eyeing a number of actors to take on the iconic tech figure, who has been both worshipped and reviled. Christian Bale, who Fincher wanted for the title role, is on Sony’s wish list, as is Matt Damon, Ben Affleck and Bradley Cooper (though Affleck seems unlikely given that he just signed on for the thriller The Accountant).

The report also notes that the movie will be directed by Slumdog Millionaire director Danny Boyle, who was said to be in talks with Sony Pictures this past April. According to information shared by Sorkin, the film will use material from Walter Isaacson's Steve Jobs biography and will focus on three 30-minute scenes showing three of Apple's product launches. Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak is also working as a consultant on the film. Aaron Sorkin's Steve Jobs biopic has yet to receive a release date.

Apple has described its new Apple Pay payments service, which is designed to be the first step towards the company's goal of replacing the wallet, as "easy, secure, and private." Apple Pay includes several different features that offer customers much greater security than a traditional credit card, including Device Account Numbers that replace credit card numbers, dynamic security codes for each transaction, and biometric payment verification through the use of Touch ID.

Ahead of the release of Apple Pay, TUAW's Yoni Heisler has taken an in-depth look at the security features built into the payments service, outlining the ways Apple is safeguarding customer information.

While Apple Pay is built on existing NFC technology, Heisler's research suggests it is the first implementation of the EMVCo tokenization specification, a newly introduced security framework designed to cover emerging payment methods. According to former credit card executive Tom Noyes, this specification is "the most secure payments scheme on the planet."

As previously rumored, Apple Pay utilizes a "token," which the company refers to as a Device Account Number, to replace a user's existing credit card number on the iPhone. A randomized 16-digit number, the Device Account Number ensures that no merchant is able to obtain a user's credit card number, protecting consumers from retail security breaches, as TUAW points out, because tokens are randomized numbers that cannot be decrypted back into a credit card number.

Device Account Numbers, or tokens, are paired with a dynamically generated one-time use code that replaces the credit card's CCV with every transaction.

Providing an additional layer of security, an Apple Pay-equipped iPhone at the time of each transaction also sends a dynamically generated CVV up the chain along with a cryptogram. The CVV is the three-digit string located on the back of your credit card and, in the case of Apple Pay, is a algorithmically-generated dynamic string that's tied directly to the token. The cryptogram itself "uniquely identifies the device" that created the token and, according to the EMV Payment Spec, is likely composed of encrypted data sourced from the token, the device itself, and transaction data. Note, though, that the precise components of the Apple Pay cryptogram aren't publicly known.

As noted by Heisler, a Device Account Number can't be used in a transaction without an accompanying one-time use cryptogram, which verifies that the "token in transit originated from the device being used." Cryptograms also carry transaction information like the merchant's identity and the amount of money being charged.

The transaction comprising the Device Account Number and accompanying cryptogram is further verified through the use of Touch ID, which essentially replaces insecure verification methods like passwords and PINs.

According to a credit card executive who spoke to TUAW, token transactions as implemented by Apple "are a new and much higher standard of security for electronic payments."

The amount of security built into provisioning tokens and supporting transactions is a new standard that I think will definitely shift fraud patterns going forward.

Apple Pay is expected to go live in October, enabled through an update to iOS 8. Hints of Apple Pay have already been found in the iOS 8.1 beta, which was seeded to developers on Monday. TUAW's full look at the security behind Apple Pay, which covers tokens, Touch ID, and more, is well worth a read.

Apple today has announced revisions to a number of components of its employee benefits packages in order to retain existing workers and attract new ones to the Cupertino company, reports Forbes. The changes, which target both full-time and part-time employees, were initiated by Human Resources vice president Denise Young Smith and detailed in an employee-wide memo shared with the publication.

"I don’t think these [benefits] would be immediately thought of," Young Smith told Fortune. "But for the first time we’ve probably got four generations in the workplace at the same time, and we need a plethora of programs."

New and updated benefits include perks such as educational reimbursements, expanded donation matching, and more. One major change is in the parental leave policy following the birth of a child. With the new policy, expectant mothers can take up to four weeks before a delivery and up to 14 weeks after a birth, while fathers and other non-birth parents are eligible for up to six weeks of parental leave.

The report also profiles Apple's new "wellness center" at its Cupertino headquarters designed to meet the medical needs of its employees. Employees can seek treatment while at work with appointment wait times as short as five minutes.

The head of HR says 43,000 employees have already visited the center, which opened about a year ago and employs seven doctors plus a large team of chiropractors, physical therapists and dieticians. [...] Doctors work out of a central "pod" in the middle of the building, surrounded by a circle of examination rooms, which they enter through a different door than their patients. Inside, the paperless, minimalistic exam rooms hold a small table with an iPad and Apple monitor (what else?).

Many of these changes have been spearheaded by Young Smith, who took over the lead human resources position earlier this year. Young Smith's emphasis on the company's employees is part of Tim Cook's overall focus on people as well as the products that make Apple successful.

Besides these expanded employee benefits, Apple also has been working to improve working conditions overseas, requiring factory manufacturers to provide safe working conditions as part of the company's Supplier Responsibility initiative.

Earlier today, Pioneer kicked off the Paris Motor Show with the announcement it was making CarPlay available to select existing car audio receivers. The manufacturer also was present at the event showcasing CarPlay on its just-announced AppRadio 4 smartphone receiver in an exhibit that was recorded by French blog Mac4Ever.

At a suggested retail price of $600, the new AppRadio 4 (SPH-DA120) is positioned as the lowest-cost CarPlay system from Pioneer and ships with built-in support for CarPlay and Siri Eyes Free to provide on-dash and hands-free navigation, messaging and more. The AppRadio 4 CarPlay demo is only a minute long, but it shows decent responsiveness of the Apple-driven interface on the receiver's touchscreen display.

Pioneer is among the first car audio manufacturers to add CarPlay support to aftermarket car receivers, allowing users to install the Apple technology into their existing cars. CarPlay also will debut in new automobile models from a variety of automobile makers such as Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, BMW, Ford, Hyundai, GM, Honda and others.

A recent Apple patent application (via AppleInsider) reveals some of the company's efforts looking into ways of improving the Apple TV and iTunes desktop experience using iOS. The newly published patent application, titled "Browsing remote content using a native user interface," describes a mobile application that would serve as a second screen for a connected media device.

This smarter iOS-based remote detailed in the patent moves away from the current Remote app that mimics a hardware remote by providing a robust Apple TV or iTunes interface on the mobile device. Users could then browse, search or perform other advanced functions right from the mobile device.

The disclosed technology relates to receiving media signals from a media device and rendering a user interface that is native to the device receiving the media signals based on information encoded in the media signals. The device receiving the media signal interprets information received from the media device describing media content and semantic information describing a type of interface page, and displays the content based on the semantic information in a graphical user interface (GUI) on the electronic device based on the interpretation.

Other descriptions in the patent application, which was filed in March 2013, suggest iOS owners could use the remote to search the web for information, such as the cast of the movie they are watching, and display that information on the big screen.

Apple is rumored to be working on a new Apple TV that could launch sometime in 2015. The company reportedly is working with cable companies to negotiate access to live and on-demand content, but has run into numerous obstacles on the content front.

The new Apple TV may include an App Store, Siri integration and more. It is not yet clear whether the device will be a cable-supported set-top box, an updated version of the current Apple TV, or a combination set-top box and streaming media device, as Apple has been rumored to be working on a variety of different options.

As with many Apple patent applications showing unreleased inventions, there are no assurances the disclosed inventions will ever be released, but they can sometimes reveal hints about the company's areas of interest and research.

Designer Marc Newson recently spoke to architecture and design magazine Dezeen in his first interview since joining Apple. Though most of the conversation focuses on a new consumer beer machine he created along with Heineken, Newson does reveal some interesting tidbits about his current role at Apple.

Newson confirms to Dezeen's Amy Frearson that he is working for Apple part-time and was hired for very specific reasons he would not disclose. He will remain in the UK while continuing to work on projects for his existing company.

Amy Frearson: You've taken on quite a major role with Apple, do you think you'll still have time to work on these kinds of project as well?

Marc Newson: Yes absolutely, because my role at Apple doesn't necessitate all of my time and that was for very specific reasons, so absolutely, my company still exists and I remain based in the UK.

When asked about his role in the design of Apple's new Watch that is slated to arrive early next year, Newson was tight-lipped, answering only questions about the future of the traditional watch.

Amy Frearson: Can you tell me if you were involved in the watch design?

Marc Newson: Apparently I can't.

PR Lady: Sorry we can't answer that, sorry.

Amy Frearson: Maybe I could ask you another question. With your background in watch design, can you tell me what you think is the future of the traditional watch?

Marc Newson: There will always be a place for mechanical watches. Apart from telling the time – which is all they do – they're about something completely different. You know, I think that the mechanical watch industry will continue to exist in much the same way as it does right now. To be honest I'm not really intimately aware of what's happening with the world of mechanical watches right now.

Newson has worked closely with Apple lead designer Jony Ive, collaborating on several products for a Product (RED) benefit auction. Newson also is rumored to have worked on previous Apple products before officially joining the company.

Samsung semiconductor head Kim Ki-nam today announced that the company will begin work on 14-nanometer processors for partners such as Apple, Qualcomm, and AMD before the end of 2014, reports ZDNet (via 9to5Mac).

The comments indicate that Samsung will produce Apple's next-generation A9 chip to be used in next year's line of iPhones and iPads. Currently, the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus use the 20-nanometer A8 processor. It is also likely that the forthcoming iPad Air 2 and second-generation Retina iPad mini will utilize Apple's A8 chip.

The report also states that Samsung is producing around 30% of the total volume of Apple's A8 chip, while TSMC is handling 70% of the production load. Teardowns of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus revealed A8 chips that were manufactured by TSMC, although it is possible that a select number of shipped devices contain chips produced by Samsung.

Last year, it was reported that Apple signed a contract with Samsung to handle 30% to 40% of total A9 chip production, while TSMC would be getting the rest of the production load. A report from August stated that TSMC was ahead of schedule with its new 16-nanometer process, which was said to be for Apple's A9 chip. However, these latest comments from Ki-nam may indicate that Korean company has already won the bid to produce the A9 with its upcoming 14-nanometer process over TSMC's proposal.

Pioneer today became the first company to officially offer support for Apple's CarPlay vehicle integration feature, after announcing the addition of CarPlay to five of its 2014-NEX in-dash multimedia receivers.

"CarPlay enriches the iPhone experience in the vehicle by providing a safer way to access the iPhone features they want to use most while driving," said Ted Cardenas, vice president of marketing for the Car Electronics Division of Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc. "With Pioneer's implementation, CarPlay can now be integrated into millions of vehicles already on the road."

As previously announced, CarPlay is available through a firmware update for the $1400 AVIC--8000NEX, the $1200 AVIC--7000NEX, the $900 AVIC--6000NEX, the $750 AVIC--5000NEX and the $700 AVH--4000NEX. CarPlay is also compatible with Pioneer's new $600 smartphone receiver, AppRadio 4.

First introduced in March, CarPlay utilizes the built-in dashboard display of an automobile to offer hands-free operation of the iPhone. With CarPlay, drivers are able to complete tasks like getting directions, making calls, and sending messages through Siri voice control.

Other companies that sell aftermarket in-dash systems also plan to offer support for CarPlay in the near future, including Alpine and Clarion. The first CarPlay enabled cars are expected to come in 2014 as well, with Apple partnering with a wide range of manufacturers including Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, BMW, Ford, Hyundai, GM, Honda, Mazda, Audi, and more.

CarPlay for compatible Pioneer NEX in-dash systems is enabled through a firmware update that is available at no cost. It requires an iPhone 5 or later along with iOS 7.1 or newer.