Luke Dormehl - page 315

Hey, at least give Samsung credit for being quick off the mark.

Apple’s Tuesday keynote is only days old and already professional Apple spoofer Samsung has released a new series of ads skewering Cupertino’s latest developments — from its Apple Watch to its problematic live feed.

There are six ads in total, all designed to advertize the Galaxy Note 4, although barely any time is given to talking up Samsung’s own products, since the company clearly feels it’s better off trying to tear down its leading competitor.

According to sources in the Taiwan-based iPhone supply chain, Apple is preparing the parts and components to manufacture up to 80 million iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus devices before the end of 2014.

Barring unexpected component shortages or low yield rates (thought to have been responsible for Apple abandoning its use of sapphire for the iPhone 6-series devices), sources estimated that shipments of the iPhone 6 family will reach 10 million units by the end of September, with the remaining units shipping over the subsequent three months.

We’ve had a couple of days to let the massive announcements of Apple’s September 9 keynote sink in, but if you want to relive the event you might want to check out this new video from Jonathan Mann.

Who is Jonathan Mann, you may ask? The brilliant YouTube musician who created the celebrated Mario Opera close to a decade ago is the answer. An unabashed Apple fan, Mann was previously responsible for composing the iPhone Antenna song which Steve Jobs publicly danced to, and earlier this year composed a great WWDC ear worm which is still rattling around my brain months later.

Following Apple’s Tuesday keynote Mann is back in Apple territory with a new musical tour-de-force entitled “Apple Watch: The Musical,” which somehow manages to compress Apple’s entire Tuesday event into just 3 minutes and 13 seconds.

More and more retailers are already using NFC terminals, but there is an additional reason why those without them might want to hurry up and get onboard: because Apple Pay could lead to more impulse purchases.

That at least seems to be the rationale of Walt Disney World, according to a new report.

A partnership with Walt Disney World was announced on Tuesday, and as per About.com theme park expert Arthur Levine, Disney is convinced it’s going to prove a great way of upping the amount customers will spend.

“It is surely hoping that by giving visitors the ability to use its cash-less system anywhere across the Disney World campus, they will increase spending, especially on impulse purchases,” Levine says.

While the rest of us were celebrating the unveiling of Apple’s much-anticipated smart watch on Tuesday, Apple’s European legal team was busy rushing to file six trademark applications for the name “Apple Watch.”

Of these applications, four featured the Apple logo in front of the word “Watch,” while the other two referred to the two words “Apple Watch.”

Apple’s legal firm filed the trademarks under a total of 11 International Classes for protection and clarification, covering areas including financial transactions, fitness and wellness sensors, and more.

Being Steve Jobs’ son or daughter would surely mean a never-ending supply of new high-tech devices to play around with, right?

Not according to a New York Times article by Nick Bilton, who claims that Jobs set out to purposely limit the amount of time his kids spent using their iPhones and other gadgets — even going so far as to stop them using Apple’s latest must have-devices altogether.

Apple started introducing gold variants of its devices with the “champagne” iPhone 5s in 2013. Given the unexpected popularity of that device, it was only natural that Apple would keep the color scheme going for future devices — which now includes the Apple Watch, as unveiled yesterday.

While Tim Cook didn’t dwell on too many details regarding the individual Apple Watch models during his keynote, technology journalist David Pogue does have some additional information about the 18-karat gold Edition variant of the Apple Watch, which he claims will come in a “gorgeous jewelry box” that doubles as a charger.

Thanks to its work on the iPhone 6, Apple supplier Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) has announced record high revenues for August — representing an earnings increase of 6.7 percent from last month and a leap of 25.8 percent from the previous year.

TSMC made a massive $2.31 billion in August, with the phenomenal performance being credited to the company’s production of A8 processors for the iPhone 6-series of handsets — in addition to other chips such as Touch ID fingerprint sensors.

Baldur’s Gate is one of the all-time classic RPGs, and while it’s iOS Enhanced Edition has been available on iPad since late 2012, up until now iPhone gamers have been left out in the cold.

That’s changed thanks to a new update which adds iPhone support, meaning that we can finally play this epic fantasy game on the move.

But wait, you might say, Baldur’s Gate was already a challenging read on the iPad mini. How on earth is it possible to play on an iPhone? Well, developers Bioware have thought of that too, since they’ve added a new “Font Size” option, which makes the game easier to view on smaller iOS devices.

Work on the Apple Watch might have seen Apple’s R&D spending hit $4.36 billion over the past financial year, but that’s a drop in the ocean compared to the amount the wearables device cost Apple yesterday.

After AAPL stock prices hit a high of $102.91 prior to Apple’s special event kicking off, prices tumbled back down to $97.99 by the end of trading: wiping $30 billion off Apple’s market value.

Jony Ive shared a bit of insight into the design process behind the Apple Watch during his interview with ABC News, following Tuesday’s keynote.

With Tim Cook looking on, Ive described how his team “worked extremely hard to make an object that, one, would be extremely desirable, but would also be personal because we don’t all want to wear the same watch.”

When asked how many Apple Watch variations will be available, Ive claimed that there are “millions and millions” of different configurations available, taking into account the different combinations that are possible.

“There are different materials for the actual case, there’s two different sizes, you can choose one of six different straps or bands,” he says, in addition to noting the different watch faces that can be chosen within the UI.

Apple might be a hardware first company which creates software only to drive sales of its physical devices, but that doesn’t mean it can’t earn a bit of money from its services, right?

According to a new Bloomberg report, Apple will earn a fee every time its newly-announced Apple Pay service is used to make a purchase.

The deals were reportedly brokered by Apple with each bank individually and will give Apple a sizeable share of the $40 billion generated by banks each year from so-called swipe fees for credit card payments. JPMorgan, Bank of America and Citigroup have not yet disclosed the terms of the deal.

During yesterday’s unveiling of the iPhone 6 and Apple Watch, awesomely-named developers Super Evil Megacorp took to the stage to show off the iPhone 6’s impressive graphical capabilities through a demo of their forthcoming iOS game Vainglory.

Despite the presence of “scarf guy” (one of the demoing developers wearing an infinite scarf that’s already become an Internet meme), Super Evil Megacorp was able to claw back viewer attention for their “unapologetically core MOBA” (that’s multiplayer online battle arena to the noobs out there) developed by veterans from the likes of Blizzard and Riot.

And no wonder: the game looks fantastic, built on Super Evil’s E.V.I.L engine, and boasting full Metal support from day one. The game’s rolling out globally from next month, but for now excited gamers can check out the trailer after the jump:

Months of rumors suggested Apple’s wearable device would be a health-centric powerhouse capable of predicting heart attacks, analyzing sweat and other miraculous feats. But in reality, the Apple Watch seems more like a sexy, supercharged fitness tracker than a full-fledged medical device.

Still, this is an ambitious first-generation device — a crucial step forward for wearables that points the way toward the comprehensive health and fitness device the Apple Watch could become.

Just when you thought you’d heard everything, allow me to introduce the “Selfie Brush.”

There have been plenty of wacky phone cases over the iPhone’s lifespan, but until now the idea of crossing an iPhone with a hairbrush remained the stuff of mad scientists. Until now.

Appearing shortly before the long-awaited iPhone 6 announcement, the Selfie Brush iPhone case is designed to (no surprise here!) helps its users take better selfies by tidying themselves up beforehand for “professional results.”

The Minnesota-based Mayo Clinic is set to be at Apple’s special media event this morning to help demonstrate the benefit of Apple’s Health app to medical professionals, according to the Star Tribune.

Mayo Clinic is one of the best-known names in U.S. healthcare and partnering with Apple will benefit both organizations: Apple with legitimacy for its new mobile health push, and Mayo Clinic in terms of using technology to better provide health and fitness tracking for patients.

As per the Star Tribune, Mayo Clinic’s role at Apple’s event will involve demonstrating how data can flow into the more sophisticated management system of a major health center.

We’re mere hours away from Apple’s September 9th special media event at The Flint Center, and as expected, the company has added an “Apple Events” channel for those planning to watch on the Apple TV.

Fans without an Apple TV can watch a livestream of the event on Apple’s website, provided they are running Safari 5.1.10 or later on OS X 16.6.8 or later.

The event kicks off at 10 a.m. Pacific today, and we expect to see the public unveiling of both the iPhone 6 and iWatch.

Cult of Mac will be covering the event live from the Flint Center, so stay tuned for our moment-by-moment coverage. It’s going to be a blast!

With Apple set to unveil the eagerly-anticipated iPhone 6 later today, that can only mean one thing: that the public launch of iOS 8 isn’t far away. And chances are that OS X Yosemite’s not too far behind it, either.

As both of Apple’s operating systems are set for a refresh, Chitika Insights has run the numbers to examine iOS and OS X version distributions at this exciting juncture for Apple: sampling tens of millions of U.S. and Canadian online ad impressions running through the Chitika Ad Network.

The numbers, catalogued between August 25 and 31, show that a massive 90 percent of North American iOS Web traffic comes from devices running iOS 7, largely thanks to Apple’s update strategy of directly prompting eligible users to upgrade.

Fans have been clamouring for an iOS port of the later Final Fantasy games for years, but it looks as though publisher Square Enix is set to go one step further — announcing that not only will some of these titles soon be making their way to mobile, but also that the company behind them is experimenting with a new cloud-based mobile streaming service called Dive In.

Dive In is set to debut October 9 with an initial offering of three games, including Final Fantasy 7, Final Fantasy 13 and The Cherry Blossom Murders.

The only problem? You guessed it: currently the service is only available in Japan.

Apple’s most-anticipated — and likely most-eventful — product introduction since the iPad is set for later this morning. It will undoubtedly be Tim Cook’s biggest moment yet as Apple’s CEO, with the company reportedly ready to unveil new products from what has been described as its most exciting product pipeline in a quarter century.

Anticipation among the Apple faithful couldn’t be any higher. Endless speculation and massive expectations about finally laying eyes on the long-awaited iWatch got us thinking about other memorable announcements from Apple’s 37-year history.

While you wait for this morning’s 10 a.m. liveblog from Apple’s big event, relive some of Cupertino’s past glories. Here are our picks for the 10 biggest Apple announcements of all time.

A former Apple senior mechanical engineer has confirmed to Cult of Mac that, judging by pictures, the iWatch most likely comes with wireless charging.

Earlier today a Reddit user posted schematics supposedly showing various components of the iWatch. One of these refers to BCM coils, meaning Battery Charging Module or Battery Control Module. These components are routinely found in electric cars featuring wireless charging.

“If it has wireless charging then it needs an internal coil and the screen shots look to have a coil,” says Abraham Farag, Apple’s former Senior Mechanical Engineer of Product Design and owner of product development consultancy Sparkfactor Design. 

While the Reddit post alluded to wireless charging by noting the lack of ports on the iWatch, it did not explicitly state this to be the case.

There’s just one day to go until Apple reportedly unveils its long-awaited iWatch and — as if anticipation couldn’t be any higher — a Reddit user just posted what he claims to be half a dozen technical images of Apple’s wearables device.

The user claims that the device will feature a microphone, speaker, and Siri virtual assistant. It is also reported that there will be a flexible multi-touch screen, that it will be waterproof to a depth of 20 meters, and that Apple will announce the availability of 4 colors and 2 different sizes.

Former Apple exec Jean-Louis Gassée has posted a new edition of his always enjoyable Monday Note blog, arguing that Apple isn’t intending to disrupt banks and credit card companies with its entry into the mobile payments world.

It’s an interesting read, and makes a whole lot of sense: pointing out that Apple’s mobile payment drive is simply an extension of the company’s current strategy.

In addition to near field communication (NFC) as part of its mobile payments drive, Apple will be incorporating something called “tokenisation” technology, according to sources who spoke with Bank Innovation.

As the report explains, “Financial institutions — card issuers and networks — prefer token technology because it replaces primary account numbers, those 16-digit card numbers on the front of credit and debit cards. Instead, the tokenization technology uses complex codes that are easily transmittable over the air and between devices, but that are used only once, so even if they are intercepted, are of no use to fraudsters.”

Apple has been investigating tokenization technology for several years, with multiple patents relating to the process dating back as far as 2009.

As much as Apple wants the tech press on its side, tech writers aren’t the only journalists being invited to Cupertino’s September 9 event, where it’s heavily rumored the iWatch will be unveiled for the world to see.

Lending even more credence to the idea that Apple is set to announce its entry into the world of wearables, the company has reportedly been inviting unprecedented numbers of fashion editors and bloggers to the event.

“I assume it’s because they are unveiling a wearable,” Lea Goldman, features and special projects director for Marie Claire magazine told Reuters. “This suggests Apple is serious about tapping into the fashion world, which often sits on the sidelines.”