Your Amazon Echo can serenade you without a subscription, if you’re willing to endure ads. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Amazon just launched a free streaming music service for its smart speakers. This is further competition for Apple Music and Spotify, who are battling it out in the paid music subscription business.
This service could bring additional pressure for a free Apple Music option.
The #CancelSpotify movement is a win for Apple. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Spotify’s efforts to avoid paying higher rates is giving Apple Music a big advantage, according to a new report.
Apple is the only major music streaming company that isn’t appealing a decision to increase the rate paid to songwriters. As a result, Apple Music is getting all the love on social media.
The wearables market is about to heat up. Photo: Apple
Apple’s AirPods are about to get some fresh competition from Amazon.
The online retail giant is reportedly planning to release its own set of wireless earbuds that will be powered by its digital assistant Alexa and possibly better audio quality.
YouTube is reportedly canceling its original series just as Apple prepares to unveil a video streaming service of its own.
At least two of YouTube’s biggest shows have been axed, according to a new report. The service has also stopped accepting pitches for new originals as it drops plans to compete with the likes of Amazon and Netflix.
But they won't be ready for streaming for a while. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Five of Apple’s original TV shows have now finished filming, according to a new report. They have entered post-production ahead of the company’s March 25 event, but they’re not expected to be available until the fall.
Apple is said to be working on around six other shows that are still in production. The company is also developing lots more original content that is planned to debut in 2020.
Apple is expected to launch a number of new services this spring. Photo: Apple
Apple will hold its next special event on Monday, March 25, in the Steve Jobs Theater in Cupertino.
The “It’s show time” event is expected to bring a number of new services, including new TV content and a paid Apple News service. Fans have been eagerly anticipating confirmation of Apple’s next keynote, with rumors surrounding new subscription services circulating. The tagline for this one suggests it will focus on Apple’s upcoming video service, with hardware taking a backseat.
Apple decided not to fight the ruling to pay songwriters more. Photo: Apple
Every major music streaming service is joining together to appeal a controversial ruling that increases payouts to songwriters. Everyone except Apple Music that is.
Spotify, Google, Pandora and Amazon have teamed up to fight the U.S. Copyright Royalty Board’s decision to increase payouts to songwriters by 44%. Apple is the only major streamer not planning to fight the ruling, causing some artists to heap praise on the iPhone-maker for its stance.
Tim Cook wants TV shows to be family-friendly. Photo: Apple
Apple’s “intrusive” executives, including CEO Tim Cook, have been criticized by Hollywood for becoming too involved in ongoing TV projects.
Agents and producers have complained about how “difficult” Apple is to work with, according to a new report. The company’s “nitpicking” has led to delays that mean only a handful of shows will be available when its new streaming service launches.
Apple acquisition meant that Shazam turned a profit in 2018 Photo: Apple
Apple has pulled all but one third-party SDK from Shazam in its latest update.
The move wipes out analytics firms, ad networks, open-source projects, and more — including Google AdMob, Facebook Ads, Amazon Ads, and DoubleClick. Only HockeyApp, a Microsoft platform for beta testing, is still available.
Barry Diller doesn't see the competition catching up to Netflix. Photo: J.D. Lasica/Wikimedia CC
Apple can try to compete with Netflix for video streaming subscribers, but Barry Diller says Apple and others are “fools” to chase Netflix.
Diller, a studio executive turned tech entrepreneur, does not see any company gaining the number of subscribers as Netflix, which began building a base by sending DVDs of choice movies by mail.
The company that made Barbie a conversationalist has been bought by Apple. Photo: ToyTalk
Apple’s latest acquisition could give Siri a better chance at competing against Amazon’s popular voice-power assistant, Alexa.
Pullstring, a San Francisco-based startup that specializes in helping developers design, prototype and deploy voice apps has reportedly been purchased by Apple. The company’s platform helps create voice apps for Alexa and Google Assistant, and will likely help Apple make more tools for Siri.
Look out for CBS All Access on July 29. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
The long wait for Apple’s TV streaming service might finally be coming to an end.
With a rumored March 25 event on the horizon, Apple is reportedly planning to launch its TV streaming service in April or early May, but some of the biggest names in the streaming won’t be part of the platform.
Tim Cook likes his currency the old-fashioned way. Illustration: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Apple is back to being the world’s most valuable publicly traded company once again.
The company’s stock price has been rising steadily since Apple revealed its first earnings of 2019 last month. Worried investors ditched the stock at the beginning of the year due to slumping iPhone sales, but it just passed Amazon and Microsoft today, putting Apple back on top.
Spotify is dominating audio streaming. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Spotify is making a push to cement its self as the best audio platform in the world. The company revealed today that it acquired two podcasting companies and that it plans to spend big on original audio content.
Despite growing competition from Apple, Amazon and YouTube, Spotify is inching closer to having 100 million paid subscribers. In an interview on CNBC this morning, Spotify CEO Daniel Elk didn’t sound worried one bit about Apple and Amazon spending tons of cash to beat Spotify.
Apple was back at the top of the mountain yesterday! Photo: Apple
For a long time, Apple stock was predictable in the way that 1980s Mike Tyson was predictable: steamrolling through challengers as it firmly held onto its status as all-conquering champion.
That changed last year as Apple’s market cap fell behind Amazon, Google, and even old rival Microsoft. But yesterday, for a few moments, it climbed back to the top of the mountain as the world’s most valuable company once again. For a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment, that is!
Smart speakers are microphones that other people can listen to. Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac
You know the Apple FaceTime bug that everyone’s going crazy about? It’s a huge screwup, for sure, but at least we know it’s just a bug. Being able to call someone and eavesdrop on their conversations without them knowing is clearly a privacy nightmare, which is why Apple disabled Group FaceTime until it can issue a proper fix.
Amazon, on the other hand, offers silent eavesdropping as a feature for its Echo speakers. It’s called Drop In, and if you’ve enabled it, you should probably turn it off.
The industrial finish on the ProLine video doorbell looks gorgeous. Photo: Robin Telecom Development
The first HomeKit-compatible video doorbell finally has a launch date in the USA, giving iPhone lovers an alternative to Amazon’s Ring doorbell and Nest Cam from Google.
Robin Telecom Development — a tech hardware company from the Netherlands — revealed today that its ProLine Doorbell will launch in over 50 countries on January 31, but people in the USA and Canada will have to wait until February 28.
"I think what Tessa’s saying is that you haven’t bounced back." Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
FAANG stocks suffered a massive dip before the holidays, wiping out $1 trillion in combined value. Now they’re bouncing back — with one notable Apple-shaped exception.
While Facebook, Google, Netflix and Amazon have all gained between 10.7 percent and a massive 50 percent since Christmas Eve, Apple is severely lagging. It’s up just 5.5 percent over the same period.
Get real work done on your iPad Pro. Photo: Satechi
Is the iPad Pro a laptop replacement? Despite what you might think, and what many reviewers will tell you, it can be for a lot of professionals. But not by itself.
If you’re going to use your iPad to get real work done, and to be as productive as possible, you’ll need some things to go with it. In this roundup, we’ve listed affordable accessories that turn iPad Pro into a productivity powerhouse.
Look out for Apple Music on other Alexa speakers soon. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Apple Music will make its way to third-party Alexa speakers eventually, Amazon has confirmed.
The streaming service finally joined Alexa earlier this week — you may have gotten an announcement notification on your iPhone — but it’s currently available only on Amazon’s own Echo devices.
The Echo finally plays nice with Apple Music. Photo: Amazon
Amazon’s Alexa speakers can finally connect to your Apple Music account.
Support for Apple Music on the Amazon Echo was rolled out today, giving iPhone and iPad owners the option to pump out their favorite jams without signing up for an Apple Music competitor like Spotify Premium.
Getting the new Apple Music integration up and running is ridiculously easy, but we’ll walk you through the entire process.
Apple is now behind where it was at the start of the year. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Apple has done a whole lot in 2018 but, from a stock price perspective, none of it matters. That’s because Apple’s declining stock price means that the company has now officially lost money this year.
AAPL finished 2017 at $169.23. At time of writing, it is trading at $164.48. Overall, it’s now down around 1 percent year-on-year. In the process, it’s fallen behind some major rivals.
You'll be able to scoop an iPhone from Amazon real soon. Photo: Apple
Amazon shoppers are about to see a whole lot more Apple products on the retailer’s online storefront.
Apple and Amazon have reportedly inked a deal that allows Amazon to sell Apple’s newest iPhones and other products. The deal gives Apple a huge new sales channel but there’s one product Amazon doesn’t want to sell for Apple.