MacRumors iPhone and iPad Blog: Apps, News, and Rumors

Apple today launched an "Enhanced Edition" for A Game of Thrones [Direct Link], the first book in George R.R. Martin's fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire (via The Guardian). The new digital edition marks the 20th anniversary of the release of the novel, and its four subsequently published sequels are also coming soon in the new remade format: A Clash of Kings (October 27), A Storm of Swords (De...

A new iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus case launched recently on Indiegogo, called "Fuze," with the explicit goal of providing an integrated 3.5mm headphone jack directly into the body of the protective case. With an integrated Lightning adapter that plugs into the iPhone 7, the Fuze case provides users with the ability to charge their new iPhone and listen to music simultaneously without the need of a ...

Samsung today issued a statement confirming that more than one million of its Galaxy Note 7 customers affected by reports of overheating, and sometimes explosions, are now using devices with batteries "that are not vulnerable to overheating and catching fire" (via Recode). Following the initial wave of reports, earlier in the month Samsung issued an "unprecedented" recall of 2.5 million Note 7...

Apple Maps has recently been updated with all-new traffic data in Liechtenstein, Malta, Monaco, and San Marino, providing users with real-time updates about vehicular traffic in four more European countries. As usual, highly congested areas will have orange or red lines along the roads to indicate that drivers may face delays. Apple Maps traffic data is available in over 30 other countries,...

Spotify launched in Japan today, 18 months after it opened its first offices in the country (via TechCrunch). The streaming service has been in protracted negotiations with record labels to flesh out rights for the region, allowing rivals like Apple Music to get a head start in the country's hugely lucrative market. Music sales in Japan are estimated to be almost $3 billion a year, making...

Union Square Hospitality Group and Resy, a restaurant reservation startup, tonight announced at the TechTable Summit that every manager and sommelier at the Union Square Cafe will be outfitted with an Apple Watch to help improve customer service, reports Eater. The Union Square Cafe is set to reopen in late October and is the flagship restaurant of Danny Meyer, founder of Shake Shack. Photo ...

Skype today updated its iOS app to version 6.25, adding support for new features that were introduced with iOS 10. Skype now integrates with Siri, allowing users to ask Siri to make a call using Skype for a hands-free way to keep in touch with friends and family. With iOS 10 and SiriKit, calling someone on Skype is as simple as using the same voice commands you're already using. Let's say...

Back in June, Apple announced some major changes to the App Store, including the addition of ads to App Store search results. App Store Search Ads have gone live as of today, and Apple is allowing developers to purchase ad spots. Ads from developers will be displayed starting on October 5. Search Ads have been in beta testing since the feature was announced, and developers were previously...

Streaming music service and Apple Music rival Spotify is in "advanced talks" to acquire audio distribution platform SoundCloud, reports Financial Times. Little information is available on the terms of the potential deal at this time. SoundCloud, which allows users to upload, promote, and share audio recordings ranging from music to podcasts, has upwards of 175 million total listeners a month,...

Starting today, Twitter is opening up access to its Moments feature to everyone, allowing all Twitter users to create their own story timelines through tweets and photos. Launched in October of 2015, Moments is designed to help Twitter users discover stories unfolding on the social network, like conversations between world leaders or celebrities, cultural memes, sports commentary, world...

T-Mobile has announced it is extending its free unlimited high-speed data travel promotion throughout South America and 19 European countries until the end of 2016. Simple Choice and T-Mobile ONE customers will be able to text and use data at the fastest available roaming speeds up to 4G LTE at no extra cost between October 1 and December 31. European Destinations: Armenia, Austria,...

Smartphone company BlackBerry confirmed today that it will cease internally developing its own handsets and rely on partnerships with other companies "for any future hardware efforts," lining up with company CEO John Chen's estimation that he would know by September 2016 whether or not BlackBerry would continue participating in the hardware manufacturing business (via Recode). Chen said the...

Apple is building hardware for next year's iPhone model at its offices in Herzliya, Israel, and referring to it internally as the "iPhone 8," according to an employee there who spoke anonymously to Business Insider. The employee works on soldering components for Apple and gave vague references to how "different" the 2017 iPhone will be from the iPhone 7, which falls in line with rumors about the...

Apple has increased its part and component orders for the iPhone 7 series this year, with orders for the fourth quarter said to be between 20 and 30 percent higher than expected (via DigiTimes). According to sources from Taiwan-based touch panel makers General Interface Solution (GIS), which is a subsidiary of Foxconn, increased touch panel orders from Apple mean the supplier will see revenues ...

Google announced an update to its namesake app for iOS yesterday, adding a resumable private browsing mode and inline YouTube support. The new private browsing feature apes Incognito mode from the company's Chrome browser, along with its dark window theme, but adds an extra layer of privacy, too. Like Chrome, search and browse history are not saved when the mode is enabled, but Google app...

DJI today announced the launch of the Mavic Pro, its latest and smallest drone. The DJI Mavic Pro is designed to be compact, folding down to be put in a bag so it can be used anywhere. When its four arms are folded and the propellers tucked away against its body, the Mavic Pro is "practically the size of a water bottle," making it more portable than most drones. Despite its small size, the...

Smart home platform Wink today announced the introduction of the Wink Hub 2, which the company says is "better, faster, more reliable, and more secure" than the original Wink Hub. In communication with a connected app, the device acts as a central location for users to connect a variety of smart home electronics in one place. The 25 percent slimmer Wink Hub 2 now supports both 2.4 and 5GHz...

Spotify has announced the launch of "Daily Mix," a new intelligent playlist system -- in the vein of Discover Weekly and Release Radar -- that puts together a "near endless" collection of songs for users every day (via The Verge). The songs include a mix of music and artists they have listened to previously, as well as new music based off their interests. When Daily Mix is updated each day,...