Juli Clover

Juli is a Senior Editor at MacRumors, photographer, voracious reader, cinephile, gamer, plant eater, and cat parent. She can be reached at juli@macrumors.com or on Twitter.



Multiple Reviewers Facing Broken Galaxy Fold Devices After Just Days of Use

Wednesday April 17, 2019 11:16 am PDT by Juli Clover
Samsung this week provided reviewers with Galaxy Fold devices for some hands-on time, and it appears the folding smartphone may be suffering from some serious flaws. Three of the reviewers who received a Galaxy Fold have already experienced failures, all of which focus on the display. The Verge's Dieter Bohn says that his Galaxy Fold device broke after a random bulge appeared on the display, perhaps from a piece of debris that had gotten into the hinge. The debris, or whatever the bulge was, pressed into the display hard enough to break it. Broken Galaxy Fold OLED display via The Verge Bohn says that he did not mistreat the phone, doing "normal phone stuff" like putting it in a pocket and opening and closing the hinge.It's a distressing thing to discover just two days after receiving my review unit. More distressing is that the bulge eventually pressed sharply enough into the screen to break it. You can see the telltale lines of a broken OLED converging on the spot where the bulge is.Similarly, CNBC's Steve Kovach shared a video of his review unit displaying a flickering, failing screen after just a single day of use. After one day of use... pic.twitter.com/VjDlJI45C9— Steve Kovach (@stevekovach) April 17, 2019 Bloomberg's Mark Gurman also ran into a catastrophic display failure. His Galaxy Fold is broken and unusable, appearing to feature some of the same screen failures as Kovach's unit. The screen on my Galaxy Fold review unit is completely broken and unusable just two days in. Hard to know if this is widespread or not. pic.twitter.com/G0OHj3DQHw— Mark
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Apple Hit With Securities Fraud Lawsuit for Hiding iPhone Sales Drop

Wednesday April 17, 2019 10:38 am PDT by Juli Clover
Apple is facing a class action lawsuit accusing the company of securities fraud for making false statements and failing to disclose adverse information regarding its business prospects. These actions allegedly led to an artificially inflated stock price. Specifically, the lawsuit claims that Apple was not initially forthcoming about a drop in demand for the iPhone due to poor sales in China and the 2018 battery replacement program, both of which contributed to lower than expected iPhone sales in the first fiscal quarter of 2019. Apple is also accused of hiding the fact that production orders from suppliers had been slashed and prices had been cut, Apple's decision not to provide unit sales for iPhones and other hardware is also cited as a method Apple used to cause stock prices to rise to $209 per share. When Apple did reveal the dip in iPhone sales and announced that it would not make its quarterly revenue forecast, Apple's stock fell $15 per share from $157.92 on January 2 to $142.19 per share on January 3. According to the lawsuit, Apple knew its iPhone sales weren't on track months before the information was shared. The lawsuit, filed by the City of Roseville employees' retirement fund, is aiming to recover damages on behalf of people who purchased Apple stock between November 2, 2018 and January 2, 2019. Tim Cook and Luca Maestri are both named as defendants. Update: A second law firm has filed a class action lawsuit against Apple, which is essentially identical to the first lawsuit. It also accuses Apple of securities fraud for concealing the
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Alexa Support for Apple Music Expands to Sonos Speakers

Wednesday April 17, 2019 10:19 am PDT by Juli Clover
Amazon Echo devices have been able to use Alexa-based voice commands to control Apple Music since December, but the feature has been limited to Amazon's own devices until today. Sonos One and Sonos Beam owners in the United States, United Kingdom, and Ireland are now also able to use Alexa to control Apple Music after adding the Apple Music skill to the Alexa app. In the US, UK, and Ireland, you can now use your voice to control @AppleMusic through your Sonos One, Beam, or Echo device. Just add the #AppleMusic skill in your Alexa app. pic.twitter.com/2yNius56jo— Sonos (@Sonos) April 17, 2019 To get Alexa controls for Apple Music on Sonos, users will need to update to the newest version of the Sonos app, enable the Apple Music skill in the separate Amazon Alexa app, and link an Apple Music account. From there, Sonos owners will be able to use commands like "Play My Chill Mix on Apple Music," or "Play Beats 1 Radio on Apple Music." It's not yet clear if other Alexa-enabled devices will also be gaining support for Apple Music controls in the future, but right now, the feature is available on all Amazon Echo and Fire TV devices along with the Sonos One and Sonos
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Qualcomm CEO Steve Mollenkopf Shares Thoughts on Apple Deal but Declines to Give Specific Details

Wednesday April 17, 2019 10:11 am PDT by Juli Clover
Following yesterday's surprise announcement of a settlement between Qualcomm and Apple, Qualcomm CEO Steve Mollenkopf sat down with CNBC to share a few more details about the new agreement between the two companies. According to Mollenkopf, after "a lot of talking" both between teams and with Apple CEO Tim Cook, Apple and Qualcomm came to an agreement that "both companies like." Qualcomm and Apple are now focusing on getting new products out, such as the 5G iPhone coming in 2020 that Qualcomm will supply chips for. And really, if you look at the focus of that energy now, it's very much on, 'Let's get these products out.' You know, it really clears the way for, I think, a much more natural relationship between the two companies. One that we certainly enjoy working on products together. And that's what we're doing now.Apple and Qualcomm have established a "very broad deal" across all of Qualcomm's technologies, which Mollenkopf says is the first direct license that Qualcomm has had with Apple rather than contract manufacturers. Each side "found something that was useful" in the deal, and according to Mollenkopf, Apple and Qualcomm "want to work together on products," as evidenced by the multiyear product deal the two signed as part of the settlement. Part of the agreement between the two companies included a payment from Apple to Qualcomm, but Mollenkopf declined to provide further details on the size of the payment. He also refused to reveal how much Apple is paying Qualcomm per phone. On the topic of 5G chips for future iPhones, Mollenkopf said that Qualcomm
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Apple Releases Safari Technology Preview 80 With Bug Fixes and Performance Improvements

Wednesday April 17, 2019 10:08 am PDT by Juli Clover
Apple today released a new update for Safari Technology Preview, the experimental browser Apple first introduced three years ago in March 2016. Apple designed the Safari Technology Preview to test features that may be introduced into future release versions of Safari. Safari Technology Preview release 80 includes bug fixes and performance improvements for WebGPU, Web API, SVG Animation, Media, CSS, Accessibility, and Web Inspector. With this release, legacy Safari Extensions are no longer supported. The new Safari Technology Preview update is available for both macOS High Sierra and macOS Mojave, the newest version of the Mac operating system that was released to the public in September 2018. The Safari Technology Preview update is available through the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App Store to anyone who has downloaded the browser. Full release notes for the update are available on the Safari Technology Preview website. Apple’s aim with Safari Technology Preview is to gather feedback from developers and users on its browser development process. Safari Technology Preview can run side-by-side with the existing Safari browser and while designed for developers, it does not require a developer account to
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Uber Eats Gains Apple Pay Support

Wednesday April 17, 2019 9:33 am PDT by Juli Clover
Apple Pay is now available as a payment option in the Uber Eats food delivery app for the first time, allowing users who make food orders to pay with a credit or debit card stored in the Wallet app. The addition of Apple Pay will make food ordering through Uber Eats a more streamlined process as payments will be able to be approved with Face ID or Touch ID instead of through full billing information. As TechCrunch points out, the main Uber app has had Apple Pay as a payment option since 2014, but it was never made available in Uber Eats until now. Uber Eats already supports other third-party payment options like Venmo and PayPal. Apple Pay support is coming to Uber Eats over the course of the next few weeks in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Belgium, France, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Netherlands, and the United Arab
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Intel Exiting 5G Smartphone Modem Business, Won't Make 5G iPhone Chips at All

Tuesday April 16, 2019 4:51 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Intel this afternoon announced plans to exit the 5G smartphone modem business to instead focus on opportunities for 4G and 5G modems in PCs, internet of things devices, and other data-centric devices. The announcement comes just hours after Apple and Qualcomm reached a settlement and agreed to drop all litigation against one another. Intel said that it will continue current customer commitments for existing 4G smartphone modems, but it will not launch 5G modems in the smartphone space. In a statement, Intel CEO Bob Swan said that there is "no clear path to profitability and positive returns" in the smartphone modem business."We are very excited about the opportunity in 5G and the 'cloudification' of the network, but in the smartphone modem business it has become apparent that there is no clear path to profitability and positive returns," said Intel CEO Bob Swan. "5G continues to be a strategic priority across Intel, and our team has developed a valuable portfolio of wireless products and intellectual property. We are assessing our options to realize the value we have created, including the opportunities in a wide variety of data-centric platforms and devices in a 5G world."Rumors earlier today suggested Apple would use Qualcomm's 5G chips in its 2020 iPhones, and now it's apparent that the Cupertino company has no choice with Intel opting to pull out of the chip business all together. Following Apple's legal battle with Qualcomm, Intel was the sole supplier of modem chips for the 2018 iPhone lineup and planned to provide 5G chips for Apple in 2020. Intel had
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Seven Useful Tips Every Apple Watch Owner Should Know

Tuesday April 16, 2019 3:26 pm PDT by Juli Clover
There are lots of hidden shortcuts and features that have gone under the radar in watchOS, the operating system that runs on the Apple Watch. In our latest video over on YouTube, we've rounded up some Apple Watch tips and tricks that every Apple Watch owner should know. You may already be aware of some of these tips, but there's likely to be a few new things here for MacRumors readers. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Get to Control Center/Notifications Quickly - Swiping down on the Apple Watch's screen opens Notifications while swiping up opens up the Control Center, which everyone knows. But you can also quickly get to Control Center or your Notifications when using an app by pressing at the edge of the screen, holding for a second, and then dragging upwards or downwards. Locate a Missing iPhone - In the Control Center, if you press on the icon that looks like an iPhone, it will cause your iPhone to play a sound so you can find it if it's gone missing. If you long press on the button, it will also light up the flash, making it even easier to find a misplaced iPhone. Use Apple Watch as a TV Remote - If you've lost your Apple TV Remote, no worries. The Apple Watch works as a replacement if you download the Apple TV Remote app on your iPhone. It's easier than using an iPhone because the watch is always right on your wrist. Change Your App Layout - App grids look pretty on the Apple Watch, but can make it difficult when you just want to get to an app quickly. If you long press on the Apple Watch Home screen with the grid view
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Apple Plans to Use Qualcomm Chips for 5G iPhones in 2020 Following Settlement

Tuesday April 16, 2019 2:36 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Apple is planning to purchase 5G modem chips from Qualcomm for use in its 2020 iPhones, according to a source with knowledge of today's settlement plans that spoke to Nikkei. Apple won't be able to use Qualcomm chips in its 2019 iPhone lineup, but has already been testing Qualcomm's 5G chips for 2020 devices. "It is too late for Apple to use Qualcomm's chips this year, but for 2020 it will purchase modem chips, including 5G modem chips, from the chipmaker for iPhones after finalizing the deal," a source with direct knowledge of the settlement plan told Nikkei. As it moved toward a settlement, Apple started testing Qualcomm's 5G modem chips and asked some of its suppliers to test the chipmaker's product, Nikkei has learned.Qualcomm and Apple have reportedly been negotiating for weeks to reach the settlement that was announced today. In a press release, Apple said that the two companies had agreed to drop all litigation with a six-year licensing agreement for Qualcomm's technology. Apple also said that the deal included a "multiyear chipset supply agreement." Apple initially planned to use Intel's 5G chips in its 2020 iPhones, but recent reports have suggested that Intel has been missing developmental deadlines, causing Apple to lose confidence in Intel. For a September 2020 launch, Apple needs to have sample 5G chips in hand in mid 2019, with finished chips available in early 2020, and rumors indicated Intel might not make that goal. Apple in 2018 used Intel's chips exclusively for its iPhone lineup due to the bitter legal battle with Qualcomm, but may
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T-Mobile and Sprint Merger Unlikely to Be Approved as Currently Structured [Updated]

Tuesday April 16, 2019 2:08 pm PDT by Juli Clover
United States Justice Department staff members told Sprint and T-Mobile that their planned merger is unlikely to be approved as it is currently structured, reports The Wall Street Journal. The merger agreement between the two companies hinges on approval from the Justice Department's antitrust division, which has been exploring whether the deal would result in a major threat to competition. In a meeting earlier this month, Justice Department staff members laid out their concerns with the all-stock deal and questioned the companies' arguments that the combination would produce important efficiencies for the merged firm, the people said.Sprint and T-Mobile have other hurdles to overcome as well. Multiple state attorneys are prepared to launch lawsuits if the Justice Department doesn't end up challenging the merger, according to sources that spoke to The Wall Street Journal. The FCC has also been asking the two companies for more information on topics like cost savings and wireless infrastructure plans. A final decision "likely several weeks away" and ultimately, the staff position on the matter is a recommendation that can be overruled by the Justice Department leaders. Discussions are ongoing and Sprint and T-Mobile may be willing to offer concessions that include assets sales to get the government to approve the merger plans. T-Mobile and Sprint first announced plans for a merger in April 2018. If approved, the merger will combine two of the four major carriers in the United States, giving the new company nearly 100 million customers. Update: According
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Netflix Not Concerned With New Streaming Services Coming From Apple and Disney

Tuesday April 16, 2019 2:00 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Netflix isn't worried about the upcoming Disney+ and Apple TV+ streaming services from Disney and Apple, respectively, the company said today in its Q1 2019 earnings report. [PDF] In the document, Netflix says that it's "excited" to compete with Apple and Disney, and that it does not feel that the new services will affect Netflix's growth because of the "differing nature" of the content offerings. Netflix says all streaming services will continue to grow as the market transitions away from the traditional cable viewing.Recently, Apple and Disney each unveiled their direct-to-consumer subscription video services. Both companies are world class consumer brands and we're excited to compete; the clear beneficiaries will be content creators and consumers who will reap the rewards of many companies vying to provide a great video experience for audiences. We don't anticipate that these new entrants will materially affect our growth because the transition from linear to on demand entertainment is so massive ​and because of the differing nature of our content offerings​. We believe we'll all continue to grow as we each invest more in content and improve our service and as consumers continue to migrate away from linear viewing (similar to how US cable networks collectively grew for years as viewing shifted from broadcast networks during the 1980s and 1990s).According to Netflix, there is "vast demand" for watching "great TV and movies," with Netflix satisfying only a small portion of the demand. Netflix says that its streaming hours in the United States represent roughly
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Razer Launches New Core X Chroma eGPU

Tuesday April 16, 2019 1:43 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Razer today announced the launch of the Razer Core X Chroma, a new addition to its eGPU lineup. The Razer Core X Chroma improves on the existing Core X eGPU with a new 700W power supply, additional ports, and customizable Razer Chroma lighting, which Razer is known for. Chroma lighting can reproduce more than 16 million colors and is used in Razer products from keyboards to notebooks. Like other Razer eGPUs, the Razer Core X Chroma is compatible with Thunderbolt 3-equipped PCs and Macs, including Apple's Thunderbolt 3 notebooks. Razer eGPUs are designed to give notebook owners a way to play desktop class games and take advantage of a more powerful GPU for GPU-intensive tasks. The Razer Core X Chroma is compatible with a range of desktop PCIe graphics cards, including NVIDIA GeForce RTX, GeForce GTX, and Quadro cards along with AMD XConnect-enabled Radeon and Radeon Pro cards. Razer is using the same general enclosure design for the Core X Chroma, with a black aluminum casing that features a side window to show off the colored lighting. Graphics cards can be inserted using a simple drawer-style slide and lock mechanism and a single thumbscrew. There's a Gigabit Ethernet port included, along with four USB 3.1 Type-A ports. It supports up to 3 slot-wide desktop graphics cards that require up to 500W of power, and for Macs, it supplies up to 100W of power for charging purposes. Razer is pricing the new Core X Chroma at $400, and it is available for purchase from the Razer website starting
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Apple and Qualcomm Reach Settlement, Agree to Drop All Litigation

Tuesday April 16, 2019 12:07 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Apple and Qualcomm just kicked off a legal battle over unpaid royalty rebates in a San Diego court, but the case will be cut short as the two companies have reached a settlement. Apple announced the news in a press release this afternoon. Apple says the settlement includes a payment from Apple to Qualcomm and a six-year licensing agreement for Qualcomm's technologies. Qualcomm and Apple today announced an agreement to dismiss all litigation between the two companies worldwide. The settlement includes a payment from Apple to Qualcomm. The companies also have reached a six-year license agreement, effective as of April 1, 2019, including a two-year option to extend, and a multiyear chipset supply agreement.The settlement ends all ongoing litigation between the two companies, including with Apple's contract manufacturers. All companies involved have reached a global patent license agreement and a chipset supply agreement, suggesting Apple may be planning to once again use Qualcomm chips in its devices going forward. The legal battle dates back to 2017, when Apple sued Qualcomm for over $1 billion in unpaid royalty rebates, accusing the San Diego chip company of anticompetitive patent licensing practices. Apple in its lawsuit claimed that Qualcomm had "unfairly insisted" on collecting royalties for "technologies they have nothing to do with," while Qualcomm said that its technology is "at the heart of every iPhone. The original lawsuit spawned a bitter legal battle between the two companies, which led to patent disputes and import bans in multiple countries, all
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Twitter to Launch 'Hide Replies' Feature in June

Tuesday April 16, 2019 11:15 am PDT by Juli Clover
Twitter today confirmed plans to begin experimenting with a "Hide Replies" feature starting in June, which will provide Twitter users with more control over the replies that are visible following a tweet. As TechCrunch points out, this has the potential to be controversial because the original person who tweets will be able to control which replies are visible in a conversation thread. The feature will be experimental, so it could ultimately be tweaked or scrapped entirely based on how users react to its implementation. Twitter has said that hidden responses wouldn't show up automatically, but would be viewable by others using a menu option. Along with announcing the new feature, Twitter today also shared details on its efforts to create a "healthier service" through cutting down on abuse and spam. Twitter says that it has suspended three times more abusive accounts within 24 hours of a report compared to the same time last year, 2.5 times more private information has been removed, and there's been a 45 percent uptick in efforts to suspend users who create a new account after a suspension. In the future, Twitter says it plans to introduce additional safety-related features, such as making it easier for Twitter users to share specifics when reporting abuse, adding more notices within Twitter about rule enforcement, and debuting rules that are easier to
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Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg Leveraged User Data to Help Friends and Punish Rivals

Tuesday April 16, 2019 10:37 am PDT by Juli Clover
Facebook's executive team, including Mark Zuckerberg, used the data of Facebook users as leverage over partner companies, according to leaked emails, webchats, presentations, spreadsheets, and more obtained by NBC News. More than 4,000 pages of leaked documents from 2011 to 2015 provide insight into how Facebook was taking advantage of user data while publicly promising to protect user privacy before and after its 2015 move to end broad access to user data. The documents were sent to NBC News by British journalist Duncan Campbell and originated from a 2015 lawsuit filed against Facebook by startup Six4Three after Facebook cut back on third-party data access. Six4Three had an app called Pikinis that let users find photos of their friends in swimsuits that was not able to function after Facebook's data changes. Facebook has claimed that it limited data access to protect user privacy and to keep its users safe from companies that mishandled data, but internally, privacy was not the concern Facebook was addressing when making the move. Instead, the documents suggest Facebook ended access to user data to give it more power over third-party apps and partner companies.However, among the documents leaked, there's very little evidence that privacy was a major concern of Facebook's, and the issue was rarely discussed in the thousands of pages of emails and meeting summaries. Where privacy is mentioned, it is often in the context of how Facebook can use it as a public relations strategy to soften the blow of the sweeping changes to developers' access to user data. The
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OWC Launches New Aura Pro X2 SSDs for Older MacBook Air and MacBook Pro Models

Tuesday April 16, 2019 9:28 am PDT by Juli Clover
Other World Computing today announced the launch of new Aura Pro X2 SSDs, which are designed to offer double the speed of Apple's SSDs at half the price. Compared to its existing Aura SSD options, the Aura Pro X2 offers lower power consumption, lower heat, and better battery life. OWC says the SSDs it's offering to Mac users are cheaper, faster, and better. The Aura Pro X2 SSDs offer read speeds up to 3200MB/s and write speeds up to 2400MB/s, with a maximum of 2TB of storage. OWC has designed the SSDs to be compatible with the latest versions of macOS, with support for APFS. OWC says the new Aura Pro X2 SSDs are available for MacBook Air models from Mid 2013 to 2017, Retina MacBook Pro models from Late 2013 to Mid 2015, the 2013 Mac Pro, and the 2014 Mac mini, making OWC's upgrade option a solid one for eking more life out of an older Mac. The Aura Pro X2 SSDs are not compatible with the 2018 MacBook Air or the redesigned MacBook Pro models released from 2016 to 2018. OWC ships SSDs with an Envoy Pro enclosure designed to house your original SSD so you can repurpose it as an external USB drive and also use it to transfer your data to the new SSD. Pricing on the Aura Pro X2 SSD starts at $120 for the 240GB model with SSD only, and goes up to $700 for the 2TB model. OWC offers 240GB, 480GB, 1TB, and 2TB options. Slightly more expensive packages with tools, transfer enclosures, heat sinks (desktop machines) and more are available for those who need the extra equipment. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with OWC. When you click a link and make a
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Apple Notifying WWDC 2019 Scholarship Winners

Monday April 15, 2019 4:13 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Every year, Apple provides free scholarships to students and STEM organization members who don't have the $1,599 necessary to purchase a ticket to the Worldwide Developers Conference. For Apple's 2019 WWDC event, scholarship applications were accepted from March 14 to March 24, with Apple promising to notify winners on April 15. April 15 has rolled around and emails are going out to those who were chosen to receive a scholarship now that Apple has reviewed the submissions. Apple is offering 350 scholarships in total, which will include a WWDC ticket, free lodging, and a one-year membership to the Apple Developer Program. 🎊 I've won a #WWDC19 Scholarship! 🎊Whether or not you were accepted, it was a great learning experience, and it was tons of fun chatting and having fun in the #WWDCScholars chat pic.twitter.com/ccn35lxIQ8— Julian Schiavo (@justJS_dev) April 15, 2019 Apple asked scholarship applicants to create an interactive Swift Playground able to be experienced within three minutes. Like last year, submissions were judged applications based on technical accomplishment, creativity of ideas, and content of written responses on the accompanying application. I’m so excited 😍 @Apple #WWDC19 pic.twitter.com/YlA9ZXfijB— Yakov Manshin (@yakovmanshin) April 15, 2019 Apple held its developer ticket lottery in March and notified developers who won a full price ticket on March 21. At this year's WWDC event, Apple is expected to debut iOS 13, macOS 10.15, tvOS 13, and watchOS 6 at a keynote event set to be held on June 3. WWDC 2019 will take place from June 3
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Some Publishers Unhappy With Apple News+ Launch and Lack of Help From Apple

Monday April 15, 2019 1:16 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Some publishers who have joined Apple News+ are unhappy with the launch of the service and have shared details on some "early headaches" with media site Digiday. When encouraging publications to sign up, Apple promised design resources and templates for customizing content for the Apple News format, but as it turns out, Apple is shutting out some smaller publications and "playing favorites" with larger publishers. All participating publishers have been provided with an email address for sending pitches for design help, but a smaller group of publishers has been provided with access to a private Slack channel.But a smaller, select group of publishers were invited to join a private Slack channel where they could connect with Apple more directly, a move that exasperated several sources when they were informed of the channel's existence. "They're basically playing favorites," that first source said. "It always seems to be good for the big guys, but not for the rest of us."Apple has not provided Apple-designed article or content templates to publishers and has "largely outsourced" templates to vendors, which has resulted in bugs and other issues, along with much more work for publishers. Magazine publishers need to use tools to scan PDFs and convert them into individual articles and advertisements, but the technology is said to be so buggy that each issue needs to be "effectively copy- and design-edited all over again." Smaller magazines that don't have the resources for these full redesigns need to either invest time and money anyway or submit a PDF instead. A
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Amazon May Join Spotify in Offering Ad-Supported Free Music Tier

Monday April 15, 2019 12:53 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Amazon is in talks to launch a free, ad-supported music service, reports Billboard. Amazon currently offers an Amazon Music Unlimited service with 50 million songs and a Prime Music service, which offers up around 2 million songs to Amazon Prime members. Amazon Prime costs $119 per year, while Amazon Music Unlimited is priced at $9.99 per month. Prime Members have low-cost access to Amazon Music Unlimited, as Amazon charges a discounted $7.99 per month price for those who want to listen on any device or $3.99 per month for those who only listen on an Amazon Echo. Amazon does not currently offer free listening options. According to Billboard, the new ad-supported music service will join Amazon's existing services and will be marketed through the company's voice-activated Echo speakers. Like Prime Music, it will have a limited catalog. Offering a free ad-supported music tier would put more competitive pressure on Spotify, one of the few music services that has a free music option. Other competing services, such as Apple Music and Tidal, are subscription only and do not offer free ad-supported listening. To score deals with some record companies, Amazon is offering to pay per stream, regardless of how much advertising is sold. Spotify uses its free music tier to draw in new paying subscribers. Spotify has around 116 million free listeners and 96 million paying customers, while Apple Music, a major Amazon and Spotify competitor, has 56 million paying subscribers. Amazon has not provided details on how many paying subscribers it has, but estimates have
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Apple Shares New Shot on iPhone XS Video Featuring the Maldives Whale Shark Research Programme

Monday April 15, 2019 12:39 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Apple this afternoon shared a new video in its ongoing "Shot on iPhone XS" series, this time focusing on the Maldives Shark Research Programme, a charity focused on whale shark research and community-focused conservation efforts. The eight minute long video features underwater shots of whale sharks and the researchers that are studying them, as well as providing insights into how researchers use Apple products to further their conservation goals. In addition to showing off the iPhone, the MacBook Pro and iPad also make an appearance. While the video was captured entirely on the iPhone, Apple says that some additional equipment was used, including the Freefly Movi Cinema Robot, the FiLMiC Pro App, the AxisGO Water Housing, and a Beastgrip. Apple has shared many "Shot on iPhone" videos and photos over the course of the last several years, including one in the same vein that was recently captured in Cuba.
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