Financial Times

As part of Apple's revamp of its recently acquired Beats Music streaming service, the company plans to bundle Beats directly into iOS, reports Financial Times. Apple will bundle the subscription music service it acquired from Beats into its iOS operating system early next year, instantly making it available on hundreds of millions of iPhones and iPads – and ramping up pressure on Spotify, the...

Apple will feature near field communication (NFC) technology in the iPhone 6 with a chip provided by Dutch company NXP Semiconductors, according to a report from the Financial Times. The chip will allow the iPhone to be scanned by payment terminals and ticket systems, while also allowing for further integration with other methods. Throughout the past week, a number of rumors and reports from...

Facebook is building a new app that will serve as a direct competitor to Snapchat, according to a report from the Financial Times. The project, which is codenamed "Slingshot", will enable users to send each other pictures or short video messages through a simplified, grid-based interface similar to the one seen in messaging app TapTalk. Like Snapchat, photos and videos can only be taken in real...

Apple allegedly is trying to tap Swiss watchmakers for their technical and metallurgy expertise as the company works to brings its rumored iWatch to the market, reports the Financial Times. Though Apple is reaching out to several companies, most are not willing to work with the Cupertino company. Swatch chief executive officer Nick Hayek confirmed the watchmaker has talked to several...

Financial Times reports that Apple is "aggressively" hiring new employees to help with its smart watch effort, suggesting that the company needs additional expertise to tackle the project's challenges. Sources also indicate that the "iWatch" may not appear until late next year, as has been previously rumored.The company has begun hiring “aggressively” for the project in recent weeks, say...

The Financial Times is reporting that Google's Android unit is working on a smart watch. With Samsung confirming that it is working on a smart watch and rumors about Apple's "iWatch" continuing to circulate, it appears that the three companies are set to battle in a new mobile device segment. The report unsurprisingly suggests that Google views the smart watch as a more mainstream wearable...

Following the selection of Apple's proposed design as the new nano-SIM standard last month, Financial Times reports that European carriers have begun stockpiling the new nano-SIMs in expectation that Apple's next-generation iPhone will be launching using the new standard in the coming months.Operators expect that the iPhone will feature the nano sim in a slimmed down design, according to two...

Financial Times reports that Apple has "clarified" with music labels its intent for a cloud-based music storage service, positioning the service as a way to back up existing collections and move music to Apple devices rather than as any sort of subscription streaming service. Apple, which rocked digital music services such as Pandora, Rdio and MOG last week by announcing plans to keep 30 per cent...