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Luke Dormehl - page 261

Apple steps up its clean energy efforts in China

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Apple is spreading its green initiative to China. Photo: Apple
Apple is now carbon neutral in China. But it's not stopping there.
Photo: Apple

Apple and Foxconn are teaming up to build solar power plants that will ensure its iPhone-manufacturing factories in China run on 100 percent clean energy.

Foxconn has committed to constructing more than 400 megawatts of solar power plants, beginning in China’s Henan Province, by 2018. Apple will also build an addition 200 megawatts of solar projects throughout China, helping offset the carbon produced by the rest of its supply chain.

Great Scott! Siri prepared for Back to the Future day

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Granted, the future portrayed in Back to the Future Part II is only Oct. 21, 2015, meaning that a whole lot needs to happen in a very short space of time if we’re going to have a hope of catching up. To be honest, we’d skip most of it, so long as someone would hurry up and invent a hoverboard. Hey, at least Nike is planning to release self-tying Power Laces next year to commemorate the movie.
Yep, that's today. Apparently.
Photo: Universal Pictures

Happy Back to the Future Day, everyone! If you’ve somehow been living under a rock, today is the “future date” which Marty McFly visits in the 1989 movie sequel Back to the Future II.

And while we may not yet have ubiquitous hoverboards, self-tying sneakers, rehydrating pizzas or, erm, loads and loads of fax machines, we do have Siri. And Apple’s loaded it full of Doc Brown and Marty McFly references to celebrate the occasion.

Check out the best quips below.

Steve Jobs: The Lost Interview is about to vanish from Netflix

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This is 70 minutes more with Steve than most of us ever had.
Photo: Steve Jobs: The Lost Interview

Between Alex Gibney’s The Man in the Machine documentary and the new Steve Jobs biopic, there’s no shortage of viewing material at the moment if you’re interested in Steve Jobs.

But Netflix-subscribing Steve Jobs completists may want to check out one other Jobs artifact: 2012’s Steve Jobs: The Lost Interview. And you’d better hurry up, too — because it disappears in November.

Place your bets! Analysts take stabs at secret Apple Watch sales figures

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And the roulette wheel of Apple Watch predictions lands on... zero? Photo: John Wardell/Flickr CC
And the roulette wheel of Apple Watch predictions lands on... zero?
Photo: John Wardell/Flickr CC

Apple is still being coy about Apple Watch sales figures, with Cook this week noting that, “We are not announcing the numbers” — but assuring people that the company has “shipped a lot” of Apple Watches, and that numbers continue to grow.

“This is competitive information,” he said. “I don’t want to help the competition. We shipped a lot [of Apple Watches] the first quarter, then last quarter we shipped even more. I can predict this quarter we will ship even more.”

But how many is a lot?

Popular messaging app blocked in Iran after creator refuses to turn spy

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Photo: Quixotic54/Flickr CC
Lotf Allah Mosque, Iran.
Photo: Photo: Quixotic54/Flickr CC

The maker of Telegram, a popular messaging app, has had his creation blocked in Iran on the grounds that he refused to help authorities to spy on their own citizens.

Creator Pavel Durov said that Iran’s Ministry of Information and Communications Technology asked him to provide them with “spying and censorship tools” for the service. When he refused, Telegram was quickly given the boot.

What the rock? Guitar Hero Live features $50 in-app purchase

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Guitar Hero Live ditches the cartoony look of previous games in the series.
Guitar Hero Live ditches the cartoony look of previous games in the series.
Photo: Activision Blizzard

You’ll need to have rock-star money to afford new iOS rhythm game Guitar Hero Live.

That’s because, in a break from previous titles in the hard-rocking series, this one features a $49.99 in-app purchase for the full version, which includes well over 40 tracks.

Yep, to paraphrase This Is Spinal Tap, this price goes to 11!

New Balance’s latest skate shoe ad was shot entirely on an iPhone

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Screen Shot 2015-10-20 at 14.23.43
This whole ad was shot with an iPhone 6.
Photo: New Balance

You know smartphone cameras are getting pretty darn good when they start regularly popping up as the filming implement of choice for ad-makers.

The latest company to jump on the iPhone for shooting is New Balance Numeric, the popular sneaker brand’s skate shoe division. It’s released a six-minute skate video/advert shot completely on an iPhone 6 that features pro skaters including PJ Ladd, Arto Saari, Jordan Taylor, Levi Brown, Tom Karangelov and Jack Curtin.

Check it out below.

Apple TV available for pre-order and shipping next week

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Want. Now.
The swanky new Apple TV is on the way.
Photo: Apple

The eagerly-anticipated Apple TV refresh will be available for pre-orders next Monday, said Tim Cook during his on-stage appearance at the Wall Street Journal Digital Live conference.

Customers won’t have to hang about, either, as shipments are likely to be sent out by the end of that week.

Apple Music already has 6.5 million paid subscribers, says Tim Cook

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Apple Music already has around one-third of Spotify's paid subscriber base.
Photo: Wall Street Journal Digital Live

Apple Music has 6.5 million paying customers, according to no less an authority than Tim Cook, speaking at the Wall Street Journal Digital Live conference.

Given that Apple claimed it had 11 million people using its free trial back in August, that’s an impressive free-to-paid conversion rate of almost 60 percent. It’s also around one-third of the paid subscriber base of Spotify, which has 20 million subs.

Good work, Apple. Good work.

‘El Crapitan’: The biggest problems plaguing early OS X upgraders

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OS X El Capitan is coming
El Capitan isn't without its problems.
Photo: Apple

El Capitan has a ton of neat new features, but no OS ever arrives completely error-free. This year’s OS X update is no different — leading some impatient online types to go so far as to label it “El Crapitan.”

Some of these problems have been solved. Others haven’t. But we’ve compiled a list of some of the most widespread complaints. Check out the hall of shame below.

Down with the kids? Apple Music is more popular with older people

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Apple Music is awesome -- but can it replace the iTunes Store?
Shock horror! Kids don't like paying for things.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Older people are more likely to subscribe to Apple Music than their younger counterparts, claims a new survey by Jackdaw Research.

According to Jackdaw’s findings, 62 percent of survey respondents under the age of 35 have already canceled Apple’s streaming music service. However, an impressive 67 percent of respondents aged 35 and up have transitioned to paying subscribers after the three-month trial period.

Hundreds of iOS apps secretly collect users’ data

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App Store icon
Does Apple need to double up on its security measures for new apps?
Photo: PhotoAtelier/Flickr

A security firm claims to have discovered 256 apps that illicitly gather user email addresses, lists of installed apps, serial numbers and other identifying information.

Apple may be obsessed with user privacy, but these apps — which violate App Store policy and have been downloaded by an estimated 1 million people — somehow got by Cupertino’s gatekeepers.

Apple raids electric bike startup for possible transport talent

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(Credit: National Geographic)
Steve Jobs during his Easy Rider phase.
Photo: National Geographic

Apple Bike, anyone? According to a new report, Apple’s continued recruitment of auto experts has resulted in the closure of an electric motorcycle startup.

Called Mission Motors, the company had drawn comparisons with Tesla — only to shut down back in May after Apple raided some of its top engineers.

At least two Mission employees joined Apple in 2012, while over the past year another dozen are reported to have started work with the company.

Sorkin: My conscience is clear about Steve Jobs movie accuracy

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When it comes to making Steve Jobs light up the sliver screen, poor Sorkin just can't cut a break.
Aaron Sorkin is happy with his movie's accuracy.
Photo: The Newsroom

Steve Jobs screenwriter Aaron Sorkin says his “conscience is clear” over accusations that his movie doesn’t portray events as they actually happened.

People have been split over the Steve Jobs movie, with some (like Woz, John Sculley, and Andy Hertzfeld) saying it’s a great achievement, and others (Tim Cook, Jony Ive, Laurene Powell Jobs) arguing just the opposite — despite not necessarily having seen it.

China’s 21st Apple Store will be among world’s biggest

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Dailan's new Apple Store back during its construction phase.
Photo: Jake Smith

Apple is continuing its Chinese Apple Store expansion by announcing the opening of its 21st Chinese retail store in the city of Dalian, China.

A port city known for its clean air, good food, and luxurious shopping, Dalian attracts visitors from China, Japan, and Korea. In other words, it’s the perfect location for a new Apple Store — which is why it’s no surprise that it will be among the biggest Apple brick-and-mortar retail outlets in the world.

Downwell, Paper and other awesome apps of the week

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Yep, it's that time of the week again!
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

How do weekends go by so quickly? It’s already halfway through the end-of-week break but — don’t worry — we’ve got the app hookup you need, whether you’re planning on a lazy game-playing Sunday, or a day of out-and-about photo-snapping action.

What have we picked as the best apps of the past seven days? Read on to find out.

New ResearchKit projects will help tackle autism, epilepsy and melanoma

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ResearchKit is just as revolutionary as researchers hoped.
ResearchKit is continuing to revolutionize medicine.
Photo: Apple

Apple today announced it is expanding its ResearchKit health platform to include new studies on autism, epilepsy and melanoma.

Apple will work with leading universities and research centers including Duke University, John Hopkins, and Oregon Health & Science University.

“We’re honored to work with world-class medical institutions and provide them with tools to better understand diseases and ultimately help people lead healthier lives,” said Jeff Williams, Apple’s senior vice president of Operations.

Foxconn fails in bid to get an even bigger piece of the Apple pie

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hi-852-foxconn-workers
Nope. No good news in this box either.
Photo: Foxconn

Leading iPhone manufacturer Foxconn has failed to secure a stake in a Taiwanese chip company with the potential to earn massive amounts of cash from Apple.

Foxconn had made a bid for a share in Siliconware Precision Industries (SPIL), offering a share swap which would have made it the largest shareholder in the company.

Unfortunately for Foxconn, the proposal was shot down by SPIL’s board of directors on Thursday, who argued that Foxconn, “fails to make a compelling case regarding necessity of the share swap.”

New Twitter account will answer all your Apple Music questions

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Apple is here to listen so that you can listen.
Photo: Apple

Now that Apple Music’s three-month free trial is over and done with, Apple is stepping up its efforts to make sure (paying) customers are happy with the service they are receiving.

One way it is doing this is with a newly-launched Twitter account @AppleMusicHelp which, you guessed it, offers Apple Music help to anyone with a query.

iPhone manufacturers are battling for Apple’s business

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Tim Cook visits Foxconn, where Apple's iMacs are traditionally assembled.
Tim Cook visits Foxconn.
Photo: Apple

Stop the presses: supply chain companies really, really want Apple’s business.

According to a new report, key Apple manufacturers Foxconn and Advanced Semiconductor Engineering (ASE) are currently battling over control of a third company, Siliconware Precision Industries, a.k.a. SPIL. Why? Because it will help them win more orders from Apple, of course.

Apple embraces fashion world by sponsoring 2016 Met Gala

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Jony Ive
Jony Ive sure loves his fashion.
Photo: Apple

Apple is taking its next step into the fashion world by sponsoring the 2016 Met Gala, the annual star-studded event held in New York to benefit the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute.

The theme of next year’s event — set to take place on May 2 — is “Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology.” Jony Ive will represent Apple as co-chair of the event, alongside other luminaries including Taylor Swift, Idris Elba, and Anna Wintour.

That time already? Pangu drops iOS 9 jailbreak

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Pangu
Ready to break out of jail?
Photo: Pangu

Just weeks after iOS 9’s launch, Chinese jailbreak team Pangu has released the world’s first untethered jailbreak for Apple’s new mobile operating system.

The jailbreak, which covers iOS 9 through iOS 9.0.2 for all compatible Apple devices, is available for free, although OS X users will have to wait since there’s only a Windows installer available.