Ed Hardy - page 68

The long-awaited Apple Music Classical application is now live in the App Store. It gives subscribers access to the world’s largest classical music catalog, and is designed to help users find specific recordings of great works almost instantly.

Apple Music Classical is a dedicated app that is great for classical experts as well as anyone who is new to classical, with the largest classical music selection in the world, the very best search and browse capabilities, the most premium sound experience with Spatial Audio, and thousands of exclusive recordings,” said Oliver Schusser, Apple VP of Apple Music and Beats. “We believe this is the very best classical music streaming experience available anywhere, and for us, this is just the beginning.” If you’re looking for classical music songs, you can explore them through Apple Music Classical listening guides.

Apple introduced iOS 15.7.4 and iPadOS 15.7.4 for older devices on Monday, closing significant security holes in a range of frequently used applications. Anyone still running iOS 15.x should install the new version.

Cupertino also released iOS 16.4 and the iPad equivalent on Monday. The updates for its older operating systems are further proof that Apple doesn’t abandon them.

The wait is over for macOS Ventura 13.3 and iPadOS 16.4, which Apple released Monday. While not major upgrades, they do bring new emoji, a better way for devs to work with betas, and other changes (including security updates).

Apple also released iOS 16.4, as well as watchOS 9.4 and tvOS 16.4, today.

Apple CEO Tim Cook was one of the few executives from U.S. companies to attend the China Development Forum in Beijing over the weekend as tensions between the two countries continue.

In a speech, Cook spoke about the “symbiotic kind of relationship” that Apple and China have.

Sneaky Sasquatch is a delightful game on Apple Arcade. It lets players live the life of a Sasquatch doing regular, everyday things this mysterious forest dweller does: sneak around campgrounds stealing picnic baskets, play golf, ski, learn to drive. That sort of thing.

If you haven’t discovered it yet, here are six reason why it’s worth playing.

Fans weren’t bothered by an extra-long wait for Ted Lasso‘s third season. The season premiere brought a tidal wave of viewers, pushing Apple TV+ back to near the top of the ratings charts.

And Shrinking, another Apple TV+ comedy, is finishing its freshman season with strong viewership.

The mystery AirPods referenced in iOS 16.4 are a new version of AirPods Pro 2 with a USB-C case, according to a reliable Apple tipster. And the product could be out in the next few months.

If true, these will be a significant step in transitioning the iPhone ecosystem away from Lightning and to USB-C.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency put an AirTag into an item that was suspected to be on its way to illegal drug dealers. The hope was that Apple’s item tracker would enable DEA agents to discover the location of the criminals.

This may be the first time this has happened, and it also may be the last. We don’t know how useful the AirTag was in the investigation, but Apple deliberately makes the device very hard to use for surveillance of any type.

The Federal Trade Commission wants to make cancelling subscriptions as simple as starting them. The US government agency proposed a “click to cancel” rule that would make it easy for consumers to escape recurring subscriptions and memberships.

Apple users can easily leave subscriptions they signed up for thorough the App Store. That’s not necessarily true for ones started elsewhere.

Apple reportedly hopes to make a big splash at your local movie theater in the very near future. The company supposedly will spend $1 billion to make films for the big screen.

These also will appear on the Apple TV+ streaming service, of course.

The Amazon Luna cloud-gaming service will soon include the Batman: Arkham Knight, Lego DC Super-Villains and three other premium games. They will be added in April.

And this applies to more than the United States, because Amazon also announced on Wednesday that residents of Canada, the UK and Germany now have access to Luna, which means they can play console-quality games on Mac, iPad and iPhone. There are even free games for Prime members.

Friday Night Baseball heads back to the Apple TV+ ballpark on April 7. This is the second season for the series that features weekly doubleheaders of marquee MLB games.

When the sports show launched in 2022, it was free. But that was last year — the 2023 season is only for subscribers to Apple’s streaming service.

The Voice Isolation feature iPhone users have become accustomed to in video chats will soon expand to regular phone calls. It will make participants in these voice calls easier to understand.

This will be one of the major new features in iOS 16.4, which is expected in late March.

Apple’s experiment with the iPhone 14 Plus is paying off… somewhat. The first 6.7-inch non-Pro model is selling much better than the 5.4-inch iPhone 13 mini it replaced, according to a market analysis firm.

That said, the Plus reportedly has the weakest demand of any of the handsets Apple released in fall 2022.

Apple seeded the release candidates for iOS 16.4 and macOS Ventura 13.3 to developers on Tuesday, signaling that beta testing for these upcoming operating systems is almost over. The same is true for the release candidates for iPadOS 16.4, watchOS 9.4 and tvOS 16.4.

These will usher in new emoji, a better way for devs to work with betas, and other changes.

Premium smartphones are on a roll. Revenue from iPhone and other devices that cost more than $600 grew to the point that they contributed more than half of all revenue from the product category in 2022, according to a market research firm.

That’s to Apple’s advantage, as iPhone sales make up 75% of this category.

OtterBox’s new OtterGrip Symmetry Series case protects your iPhone, plus it includes a pop-up handle. What sets it apart from the competition is the handle doesn’t interfere with MagSafe wireless charging.

I wrapped my own iPhone 14 Plus in an OtterGrip. I found a lot to like.

The selection of game controllers that can be used with Apple devices just grew, as a software update made multiple 8BitDo products compatible with iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple TV.

The accessory maker offers wired and wireless controllers that mimic Xbox and Playstation ones. And there’s the 8BitDo Lite SE, too.

The traditional mute switch on the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max supposedly will be replaced with a static, touch-sensitive button. If true, it’s possible this will be too easy to activate so users don’t get the notifications they expect.

Just-leaked CAD images allegedly show how the buttons on the upcoming iPhones will look. And that they look very easy to press accidentally. It also doesn’t look like the new button would offer a visual cue that an iPhone is set to silent mode.

Although Apple co-founder Steve Jobs died more than a decade ago, he’s back as an artificial intelligence. Kind of.

A programmer made a chatbot able to carry on conversations in a voice that sounds like Jobs. The result is authentic enough to be eerie.

Claiming that iPhones can be hacked by Western intelligence agencies, the Kremlin reportedly told government officials involved in the 2024 Russian election to get rid of their iPhones.

A Kremlin spokesperson then told Reuters that government officials shouldn’t use a smartphone at all, Android or iPhone.

Digital artists, or those who would like to be, can pick up an Apple Pencil 2 for a whopping $40 off the usual price. That’s a 31% discount.

I use this stylus with my iPad all the time, and there’s no better tool for painting on your tablet. It’s also great for taking notes and sketching out ideas.

The RiotPWR RP1950 Cloud Gaming Controller solves a problem for iPhone gamers: the controller plugs into the Lightning port in today’s models, but also into the USB-C port that will be in the iPhone 15. In the mean time, the controller can also be used with the many iPad models that use USB-C.

I field-tested RiotPWR’s latest controller and its removable iPhone mount. I understand why Apple likes it enough to put in the online Apple Store.

Siri simply can’t compete with ChatGPT and other chatbots because it was built with the wrong system, according to someone who was once charged with improving Apple’s voice assistant.

But there’s hope for future improvement, as Apple is reportedly working on a replacement that is being built to be more like ChatGPT.

An auction that included vintage Apple items that were almost thrown away wrapped up this week with many items bringing in more than their estimates. A Lisa 1 and an original iPhone still in the plastic sold at hefty prices. Some technical notes handwritten by Steve Jobs also brought in more than expected. There were many more.

However, some of the Apple items did not sell, including a fully functional Apple-1, likely because bids didn’t reach their reserve price.