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Luke Dormehl - page 121

Japan Display still owes Apple for $1.5 billion factory

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iPhone XR was India’s no. 1 ‘ultra premium’ smartphone in 2019
The LCD iPhone hasn't been the hit some hoped for.
Photo: Apple

Struggling display maker Japan Display reportedly still owes Apple a whole lot of cash for one of its factories.

Apple paid a large chunk of the $1.5 billion in costs to build an LCD factory in 2015. In return, Japan Display would pay Apple a percentage of screen sales. Unfortunately, things have gone south since then — and Japan Display’s factory is running at only half capacity. Due to the way the deal is structured, the company reportedly owes Apple “a majority of the construction cost.”

Apple within striking distance of reclaiming $1 trillion crown

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European Commission could get even tougher on tech in 2020
Apple could once again recapture its $1 trillion valuation.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

As excitement builds around Apple’s Monday event, the company is edging closer to reclaiming its $1 trillion market cap.

Apple stock enjoyed its biggest rally since January on Thursday. It closed at $195.09 per share, making its ninth positive day in the past 10 trading days. Having added $33 billion to its market cap on Thursday alone, Apple is currently valued at $919.9 billion.

Australia’s biggest department store will stop selling Apple products

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Australia money
Apple products had become unprofitable, the store said.
Photo: Cult of Mac / Picturesofmoney

Australian biggest department store Myer has said that it will stop selling Apple products. The retail giant, founded more than a century ago, claims Apple products have become unprofitable for it.

The news that it will stop selling Apple devices was announced by the company today. It will apply to both the company’s physical and online stores.

Apple will have a hard time signing New York Times

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Apple News
The NYT's CEO has a warning about Apple News-style services.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

The New York Times has yet to sign up to Apple’s news subscription service — and it’s got a warning for those publishers who do.

Mark Thompson, chief executive of the NYT warns publishers that third-party distribution could mean losing control of their product. The New York Times is the biggest U.S. newspaper, as measured by its approximately 4 million subscribers.

New AirPower image discovered on Apple’s website

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AirPower image Australia
This time it's coming... seriously!
Photo: Apple

A new image of Apple’s MIA AirPower charger, alongside an iPhone XS and the new AirPods wireless charging case, has been spotted online.

The image was discovered on Apple’s Australian website, apparently buried in source code. While it doesn’t 100 percent confirm that AirPower may finally be set to launch, it does add another bit of evidence to the case.

Find My iPhone tracks down possible armed mugger

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Find My iPhone
Scourge of thieves everywhere.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

iPhones’ high market price makes them tantalizing to thieves. Unfortunately (for criminals, at least) Apple also provides ways for these devices to be tracked down if they’re lost or displaced.

James Antonio Pradia learned this lesson the hard way this week. On Wednesday, the 27-year-old was indicted for robbing a wallet and iPhone at gunpoint. It seems that he didn’t know about the “Find my iPhone” feature.

iPad Air 2019 review roundup: Middle child done good

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The new 2019 iPad Air, with its 10.5-inch screen, works with Apple's existing Smart Keyboard.
The new iPad Air sounds like a winner.
Photo: Apple

The new iPad Air might not be quite as beautiful or cutting edge as its Pro counterpart, but it’s still a gorgeous piece of tech — and a potential “Back to School” winner.

That’s according to the first reviews of the new tablet published. We’ll update this meta review with other opinions as they become available, but here are the first impressions so far.

Wall Street Journal reportedly signs on for Apple News subscription service

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Apple News
The Wall Street Journal would be a great launch partner for the service.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

The Wall Street Journal has reportedly agreed to participate in Apple’s paid news subscription service. Apple should offer details on the new service during the “It’s show time” media event.

News of the WSJ’s participation comes shortly after reports that The New York Times and Washington Post both opted out.

Apple’s TV service could hit 100 million subs in next 5 years

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Apple TV
Apple's TV streaming service could mean a massive revenue boost.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple hasn’t even debuted its streaming video service yet, and already analysts are salivating over the potential cash tidal wave it could earn Apple.

According to Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives, Apple could carve out 100 million subscribers in the next 3-5 years. This could earn anywhere up to $10 billion in revenue per year.

Apple design dictate: Make apps look good on our latest devices

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The iPhone XS Max screen delivers more of that OLED awesomeness.
You want your app to look as good as possible, right?
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

All new apps and app updates must support the iPhone XS Max and latest 12.9-inch iPad Pro starting March 27.

In a post on its developer portal, Apple notes that apps must be built with the iOS 12.1 SDK or later. New Apple Watch apps must also support the Apple Watch Series 4.

iPads pulled from classroom after kids use them to watch porn

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2018 iPad Pro unboxing
iPads are being removed from classrooms after a parent sounded the alarm.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

Students in California’s Sonoma Valley school district have had iPads pulled from their classrooms. This follows several second-graders reportedly using the tablets to access porn.

According to a report, searches for the word “kissing” on YouTube prompted suggestions of other videos, which included sexually explicit content. These videos had been viewed by kids as young as 8.

Disney completes massive $71 billion Fox takeover

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Mickey Mouse Disney Apple Watch Series 4
Disney and Apple could be a clash for the ages.
Photo: Ian Fuchs/Cult of Mac

Disney has officially completed its acquisition of 21st Century Fox, one of the biggest entertainment deals in history.

The $71 billion deal puts Disney in control of Fox’s movie and TV studios, the FX networks, National Geographic, and India’s Star India station. It also puts Disney is its strongest position yet to challenge the might of Netflix — along with whatever streaming service Apple comes up with.

Kaspersky Labs latest to take stab at Apple’s ‘monopoly’

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Woman in China temporarily goes blind in one eye after smartphone overuse
Apple debuted its Screen Time feature last year.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Cybersecurity firm Kaspersky Lab has filed a complaint against Apple, alleging monopolistic behavior in the way it runs the App Store.

“Despite a long history of working successfully with Apple, we believe that this is a necessary step,” the company claims. The complaint comes shortly after Spotify also alleged that Apple was abusing its position.

Apple subscription news service might lack two key players

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Apple News
Don't expect the service to be a comprehensive one on day one.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Major newspapers including The New York Times and Washington Post are yet to sign up to Apple’s news subscription service, a new report claims.

With less than one week to go, Apple will be working overtime to hammer down partners for its Apple Music-of-publishing service. However, while there are some big names on board, others could be absent.

Please, Apple, sort out your product naming nightmare [Opinion]

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Jumbled letters
Apple's new iPads underline its problem with product naming.
Photo: Lucille Pine/Flickr CC

As thrilling as new Apple devices are, this week’s surprise hardware updates really screwed the pooch on one important front: product naming.

The “new” iPad Air and iPad mini join a lineup of tablets with a variety of features and price points that will boggle the minds of even the most ardent Apple fanatics.

How did Apple’s naming strategy go so far off the rails? For the sake of the average customer, Cupertino’s once-brilliant branding needs to kick into gear. Because right now, the toxic hellstew of Apple product names is utterly confusing.

Apple TV’s Events app is primed for March 25 keynote

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Events
"Iiiiiiiiit's showtime!"
Photo: Tim Wells/Twitter

As it always does before a new keynote event, Apple’s updated its Apple Events app for Apple TV. If you own an Apple TV set-top box, and want to watch the March 25 event from the comfort of your couch, this is the best way you can do it.

The “It’s Showtime” event will take place at 10am Pacific/1pm Eastern. A new wallpaper hints at the “showbiz” focus of the event by featuring an Apple logo under a spotlight.

Apple’s newest iPads are just as fast as the latest iPhones

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The complete iPad lineup now includes Apple Pencil support, best-in-class performance, advanced displays and all-day battery life, Apple says.
Apple's new iPads are a much-needed upgrade.
Photo: Apple

The first Geekbench report on Apple’s new iPads suggests that at least one of the new tablets has a benchmark score of 4,806 and multi-core performance of 11,607. Those numbers put it roughly on a par with Apple’s iPhone XS Max.

Although it lags (understandably) behind the pricier and more power iPad Pro, it’s certainly promising news.

No turning back as Apple stops signing iOS 12.1.3

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Stop the madness
It's all about iOS 12.1.4 these days!
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

Apple has stopped signing iOS 12.1.3 after the release of iOS 12.1.4. That means that it’s no longer possible to downgrade again from the latest version of iOS if you’ve already upgraded.

To be fair, you’re not missing very much!

Moby’s latest album is an exclusive to top iOS meditation app

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Moby
For those days when you want to take your lounge chair into the local park.
Photo: Calm

Music exclusives are nothing unusual when it comes to streaming music services, such as Tidal and Apple Music. But electronic music legend Moby has thought different with his approach to releasing his latest album.

Fans wanting to get hold of Moby’s “Long Ambients 2” can do so only by downloading the Calm meditation app.

Massive study proves Apple Watch could save your life

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heart
Apple Watch will keep tabs on your heart rhythm.
Photo: Apple

Stanford scientists have declared that the Apple Watch is capable of safely identifying the heart rate irregularities known as atrial fibrillation. This is a big step in the Apple Watch being taken seriously as a medical device. A-fib is the leading cause of stroke and hospitalization in the United States,

The research was based on a virtual study involving upward of 400,000 participants. The work was funded by Apple.

Angela Ahrendts was the ‘Renaissance that never quite was’

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Ahrendts
Apple's ex-retail chief Angela Ahrendts with Will.i.am at the Apple Watch unveiling in 2014.
Photo: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac

It’s not 100 percent clear whether former retail boss Angela Ahrendts left Apple voluntarily or was pushed out. However, a new report suggests that she didn’t quite live up to the hype.

“Angela Ahrendts was supposed to be the Renaissance that never quite was,” a former Apple store manager says. “We were getting conflicting direction on a semi-regular basis and a lot of new initiatives on what seemed like a weekly basis. Nothing seemed to quite stick.”

It gives a slightly chaotic sense of the time spent at Apple by Ahrendts — who was among the company’s top earning employees.