Mexico

Read Cult of Mac’s latest posts on Mexico:

¡Olé! Apple Pay finally debuts in México

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Apple Pay Tap-to-Pay
Citibanamex is one of the banks that now supports Apple Pay in Mexico.
Photo: Apple

Add Mexico to the lengthy list of countries where Apple Pay can be used. Support for the iPhone and Apple Watch contactless payment system began Tuesday — which is quite a delay considering Apple Pay began rolling out in 2014.

This is a benefit both to citizens of Mexico and also to the many tourists who visit.

Apple Pay for Mexico looks set to launch imminently

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Apple Pay Terminal
¡Es inminente!
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple Pay could make its official debut in Mexico any day now after local iPhone users on Thursday discovered they could start adding debit and credit cards to the Wallet app.

Only regional bank Banregio appears to be supported for now, which suggests Apple Pay support may be an exclusive initially.

Apple community raises over $13 million for disaster recovery

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Tim Cook
Apple made a huge contribution to Hand in Hand.
Photo: Apple

North America has been getting its ass kicked by natural disasters the last two months and Apple users have stepped up big help in the recovery efforts.

More than $13 million in donations have poured in from the Apple community to help relief efforts related to hurricanes in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico. And according to a new blog post from Apple, the donations are still pouring in.

Apple donates $1 million to Mexico earthquake relief

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Mexico City
Search and rescue teams are still looking for people trapped under collapsed buildings.
Photo: Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs/Flickr

Apple’s generous spirit and its bank account continue to keep on giving in light of another major disaster, this time in Mexico.

The company already donated millions of dollars to relief efforts for hurricanes Harvey and Irma. Now Apple CEO Tim Cook has revealed that the company is sending money to Mexico to help clean up the damage done by the recent earthquake.

Tim Cook promises employees to work with Congress to help Dreamers

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Tim Cook
Tim Cook greeting employees at CTS.
Photo: Tim Cook

Apple CEO Tim Cook sent out a new letter this morning pledging to help fight for the protection of his employees who are now at risk of being deported.

The letter comes just hours after Donald Trump’s administration revealed plans to officially rescind Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) in the next six months. If Trump’s plan goes through, hundreds of Apple employees who are Dreamers could be forced out of the country. In his email, Cook says he’ll work with members of Congress from both parties to ensure that doesn’t happen.

Read Tim’s inspiring note to employees:

Bold mural marks Apple’s first Mexican store

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You shouldn't strugg
You shouldn't struggle to find a staff member to help you.
Photo: Apple

Apple said “Hola Mexico” with a big, bold mural as it opened its first retail store in the country over the weekend.

Many Apple fans queued overnight to be among the first into the new store, which is located in Mexico City’s upscale Vía Santa Fe mall.

China downloads more iOS apps than anyone

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App-Store-iPhone
The App Store continues to bring in the revenue for Apple.
Photo: Apple

When it comes to app downloads, China and Mexico surged in the first fiscal quarter of 2015, says a report by the mobile analysts at App Annie.

China took the top spot for iOS downloads while Mexico now ranks among the top five countries for Google Play downloads, surpassing South Korea this quarter.

While we’ve seen Google Play lead the number of downloads across the globe and iOS facing a shrinking lead in revenue, Q1 2015 showed a huge jump for iOS in terms of revenue, to the tune of about 70 percent more (up from 60 percent higher in Q3 2014). Google Play continues to be top dog in downloads, though, with 70 percent more downloads than Apple’s digital storefront.

Mexican carriers ordered to stop using the iPhone name in ads

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iPhone-5-Mexico

Carriers in Mexico are no longer allowed to make use of the word “iPhone,” according to a new report from the Mexican publication El Universal. The news outlet reports that the ruling comes from the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property (IMPI)and is based on the fact that the phonetically identical sounding “iFone” trademark is already owned by a small call center in Mexico. The trademark has been held since 2003 — four years before Apple released its first generation iPhone.

While Apple was acquitted as being at fault in the case, due to the fact that it is not considered a telecommunication services provider, Mexican carriers did receive blame, on the basis that they do provide such services.

Local Firm Wins Its Case To Get The iPhone Banned In Mexico

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iPhone-5-Mexico
The iPhone could soon be banned in Mexico.

Apple has lost its battle to secure the ‘iPhone’ name in Mexico and may have to cease selling its device under a court injunction. The Cupertino company attempted to secure the name in 2009, and wanted a local company to cease using the name ‘iFone’ under the grounds that it sounded too similar.

Unfortunately for Apple, the iFone name was secured four years prior to the launch of its smartphone, and the Mexican firm has won its bid to get the device banned.

Verizon Simplifies International Data Plan But They’re Still A Rip-Off

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Verizon announced new international data plans
Verizon announces new international data plans

One of the challenges when traveling internationally with iPhone or iPad is handling data roaming. There are two reasons that it’s incredibly easy to end up with a large bill when traveling for work or vacation.

One reason is that iOS features and apps can use data without you realizing it (iCloud’s Photostream feature being a great example) – to avoid such issues, you can disable data roaming in the iOS Settings app. The second reason is that the costs associated with international data roaming are rarely spelled out well by carriers.

At least one carrier is hoping to change that. This week Verizon announced that it will be offering customers a new set of international data plans intended to make managing data roaming easier to understand and track.

The iPhone 4S Goes On Sale In 22 More Countries Today

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Although we Yanks and select Euros already have iPhone 4Ses in our pockets, the iPhone 4S launch is hardly over. Far from it.

Today, Apple started selling the iPhone 4S in twenty-two other countries. Those countries are: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

Any Liechtensteiners care to report on how the lines are looking over there?