The Rumor: Apple is negotiating with networks on a Sling-TV type of service.
The Verdict: Definitely. In fact, we've been hearing this same rumor for about two years now. It looks like the biggest hurdle for an Apple TV update is the company just doesn't have the relationships with content providers, like Dish and others do.
Twitter announced its fourth quarter earnings today, and while the social network beat its revenue estimates, it failed to meet Wall Street’s expectations for monthly active users.
The company only added an extra 4 million users in the quarter, bringing the total number of monthly active users to only 288 million. That figure was much lower than analysts’ predictions of 292 million, but according to CEO Dick Costello, Twitter’s slower-than-expected growth was mostly because of a bug in iOS 8.
Apple is finally letting developers get their hands on Photos, the long-awaited successor to iPhoto. Revealed at Worldwide Developers Conference 2014, the new app is a complete revamp of iPhoto, allowing Mac users to organize, edit, share and print their favorite photos. It packs powerful new tools into a gorgeous, OS X Yosemite-style user interface.
The public launch of Photos isn’t expected until spring, but we took the beta for a spin today to get acquainted with the future of Apple photo software. We found eight new features you’re going to love.
Take a look:
One of the biggest shockers of Super Bowl 2015, other than Malcolm Butler’s phenomenal interception, was the number of app companies willing to shell out $4.5 million for 30-second ad slots.
Clash of Clans, Game of War and Heroes Charge all paid up to get their games in front of the estimated 112 million live viewers during Sunday night’s game, but was it actually worth it?
Swatch Group AG isn’t planning to just roll over dead now that Apple is entering the timepiece market. Swatch announced today that it’s preparing its own smartwatch to take on Apple Watch, and it’ll be ready to launch in just three months.
Swatch CEO Nick Hayek was originally skeptical of the smartwatch revolution two years ago, but in an interview with Bloomberg, Hayek said his company is ready to throw its numerous patents into a smartwatch that won’t need daily recharging.
Apple has been trying to wean itself from being dependent on Samsung’s smartphone components for years, but breaking up is proving nearly impossible to do.
According to a report from Recode, Apple is turning back to Samsung to make the next-generation A9 processors that will make their way into the iPhone and iPad later this year.
We’ve been waiting nearly three years to get a glimpse of Aaron Sorkin’s Steve Jobs biopic, and while filming is just getting underway in California, Universal Pictures has finally announced when we can expect to see it on the big screen.
Like millions of photography fans, the iPhone is my main camera. In fact, ever since my Nikon D600 took a suicidal, lens-first dive off a cliff and into a waterfall, my iPhone has become my only camera.
I’m always trying to eke out a little extra performance from my iPhone’s tiny camera sensor with new apps, tripods and lenses. Over the last three months, Cult of Mac has been testing various lenses for the iPhone 6 in a search for the best aftermarket glass. I’ve narrowed the field down to two top choices: the new Olloclip and Moment’s mountable lens system.
Unfortunately, iPhone 6 users can’t actually use both the Olloclip and Moment lenses at the same time. But if you’ve been considering getting new photo gear for your iPhone 6, we’re ready to break down the pros and cons of these aftermarket accessories.
File this under “unbelievable,” but according to reports from the Bay Area, multiple black vans owned by Apple have been spotted driving around San Francisco with a fancy camera array on top that may indicate the company is developing a self-driving car.
The vehicles have also been spotted in Brooklyn and could be designed to create a competitor to Google Street View. But after looking at the camera array, which is much different than Street View cars, some experts are convinced it’s a self-driving car prototype.
Get a look at the vans in the video below:
The SXSW Film Festival lineup revealed today that Academy Award-winning documentarian Alex Gibney will show his latest film, Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine, for the first time next month in Austin, Texas.
Details on the documentary are scant, but the SXSW blurb describes Gibney’s creation as “an evocative portrait of the life and work of Steve Jobs that re-examines his legacy and our relationship with the computer.”
Here’s the official synopsis:
ARM holdings, the company behind the mobile processor architecture that powers the iPhone and iPad, unveiled its next generation processor blueprints today that it says will increase performance three fold compared to its current designs.
The new Cortex-A72 chips aimed at smartphone and tablets will make their debut next year — just in time for the iPhone 7 — and also use 75% less power while maintaining the same level of performance as today’s ARM processors, paving the way for thinner, more powerful iPhones in the future.
Luca Maestri controls the purse strings of the most profitable company in the world, so it’s no wonder why he was just named the most admired CFO in the world.
Apple’s money man won nearly one in four votes among top Fortune 500 CFO’s of the world in Model N’s annual rankings. His company announced last week that it made more profits in the last three months than any company in history.
Dr. Dre became the first billionaire of hip-hop thanks to Apple’s $3 billion acquisition of Beats Music and its accompanying over-priced headphone brand. Jay Z is pretty much the only big name rapper that hasn’t imitated Dre by slapped his name on headphones. Instead, he’s decided to do the next best thing and buy a high-def music startup.
Jay Z purchased the Scandinavian music streaming company Aspiro today, adding to his array of businesses that include clothing, sports bars, and a sports agency. The takeover cost Jay Z $56 million in an effort to take on the likes of Spotify, Beats Music, and the fiery music titan Neil Young.
Tourists are invading Phoenix like locusts this weekend thanks to the Waste Management Open and a little football game called the Super Bowl. And while all the snowbirds are running around the valley watching golfers, snapping pics of gridiron superstars and taking in the unbelievable Arizona weather, Uber has a secret plan to lure fans into its black sedans.
Starting today, Uber is partnering with Mophie to deliver free JuicePacks to riders across the Phoenix valley, and they might just throw in an NFL superstar to go with it.
This afternoon I tested out the Mophie giveaway and wasn’t surprised how quickly an Uber SUV pulled up to my apartment. But when my driver opened up the passenger door to reveal Arizona Cardinals’ running back Andre Ellington, chilling like this is just what he does in the off season, I nearly lost my cool.
Developers trying to update their apps on iTunes got a surprise this morning, when thanks to a weird glitch with iTunes Connect, devs were logged into other users’ accounts.
Not only has the outage prevented developers from being able to log into their own accounts to update apps, but it’s also exposed apps that are secretly in development to competitors.
Developers have taken to Twitter this morning expressing their outrage, with some calling for Apple to just take an ax to any cable leading to the iTunes Connect servers. Apple has yet to release an official statement, but they have finally taken iTunes connect offline, hours after the first reports hit.
Tim Cook told investors he’s optimistic that the iPhone 6 still has legs, mostly because it has the highest Android switcher rate the company has seen in over three years.
The bigger screen was supposed to cause an avalanche of Android switchers, but according to Consumer Intelligence Research Partners, most of them must have come from outside the U.S.
Take a lot at their analysis of the last three years of new iPhone buyers:
Tangerine has been a breakout hit at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. The indie flick is drawing crowds thanks to a plot that features transgender prostitutes, Hollywood, meth addicts, pimps, and beat cops. But the craziest thing about director Sean Baker’s film is that instead of using a professional camera rig, he shot it all on the iPhone 5s.
Aaron Sorkin’s Steve Jobs movie has been down a hard road on its way to production. Disasters like fickle actors and directors have plagued the project, but filming is finally underway in San Francisco as we speak, and for the first time ever, we have an official cast list.
Universal Pictures announced the official cast for the movie this week as filming has already wrapped up at Jobs’ parents garage. The logline confirms the film will be “set backstage at three iconic product launches and ending in 2001 with the unveiling of the iPod. The film takes us behind the scenes of the digital revolution to paint an intimate portrait of the brilliant man at its epicenter.”
We already knew Michael Fassbender has been tapped to play Jobs, but the official cast list includes a few surprises — like the three different actresses that will play Steve’s daughter — and a veteran Apple PR guru we didn’t see coming.
Here’s the full cast alongside the real-life people they’ll play:
Apple closed its earnings call this afternoon after announcing an unprecedented 74.5 million iPhone sales to go along with $74.6 billion in revenue and $18 billion in profits. It broke the record for the most money made by a corporation in history.
While breaking down the Q1 2015 numbers, Tim Cook and CFO Luca Maestri also gave us some juicy details about what’s in store for 2015 by hinting at new products in the pipeline, as well as subtly dropping the Apple Watch’s release date.
We’ve combed through the numbers and the conference call and found seven huge new revelations every Apple fan needs to know:
During today’s historic Apple earnings call, Tim Cook dropped a subtle bomb on Apple fans by revealing that the Apple Watch is slated to launch in April.
“I’m using it every day and I love it and I can’t live without it,” Cook said.
While he didn’t give a specific release date for the wearable, it’s the first time Apple’s narrowed down the launch beyond “early 2015.” Cook said Apple considers “early” to be sometime within the first four months of the year, so the Apple Watch is right on target.
The numbers are finally in for Apple’s Q1 2015 financial quarter, and just as predicted, Apple blew away its own projections with a record-breaking $74.6 billion in revenue, leading to $18 billion in net profits. Both profit and revenue topped Apple’s previous records set in Q1 2014.
Apple’s record-breaking quarter was aided in large part by unprecedented demand for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. Total iPhone sales hit an astounding 74.5 million, while only 65 million was expected. The iPad experienced decent holiday sales, with 21.4 million sold, and Mac sales didn’t disappoint either. With 5.5 million sold, it’s no wonder Tim Cook called the quarter “simply phenomenal.”
Despite the better-than-expected performance, AAPL shares were down 3.51 percent to $109.53 per share by close of market today. Take a look at the impressive numbers in Apple’s announcement below:
Along with this morning’s iOS 8.1.3 update, Apple also has some new goodies for Mac users with the release of OS X Yosemite 10.10.2.
The update fixes a problem that caused Wi-Fi to disconnect. The latest version also includes a number of bug fixes for Spotlight, Bluetooth headphones, iCloud Drive and VoiceOver, while also improving stability and security in Safari.
The update is available now in the Mac App Store. Here’s a full list of the changes:
Apple’s latest iOS 8 update fixes a number of issues with FaceTime, Spotlight and iMessages, but the biggest addition is the giant reduction in free space you’ll need to install future updates.
iOS 8.1.3, released this morning, is available now as an over-the-air update in the Settings app of iOS or via direct download in iTunes. The new software increases stability and performance in addition to squashing a number of bugs.
Check out all the changes in the iOS 8 update below:
Tim Cook and CFO Luca Maestri are getting ready to announce Apple’s biggest earnings ever to investors this afternoon, and we’ll be on hand to liveblog all the action.
The results are expected to be historic, thanks to unprecedented demand for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus in not only the US, but also China. Wall Street expects Apple to blow past its projected revenue of $63.5 billion to $66.5 billion and hit somewhere closer to an all-time high of $68 billion.
Analysts expect iPhone 6 sales to have topped more than 66 million, but Apple expert Ben Bajarin is predicting any number lower than 70 million would be a result of supply chain limitations, not demand. Mac sales are also expected to be strong, while the iPad remains the only wild card.
The call begins at 2 p.m. Pacific, but the liveblog action starts now. Keep this tab open and come back throughout the day for coverage of Apple’s biggest quarter ever.
Snapchat is taking Stories, its concept that lets you see the world through your friends’ perspectives, to a new level today. By collaborating with the likes of Vice, Comedy Central, Yahoo News, and National Geographic, Snapchat’s new Discover feature brings you the news in the form of a story.
The ephemeral social network says it’s taking aim at social media companies who “tell us what to read based on what’s most recent or most popular” (like Facebook).
Discover stories are created by editorial teams and refreshed every 24 hours. Unlike Stories, Discover content also supports long form journalism, making it a huge threat to Facebook and Twitter as the top place to find and read your news.
Here’s how to use Discover: