New images posted to Apple’s website reveal the opening of two new stores in Japan for later this year. The stylized logos are accompanied by text reading “planned for 2019.”
One of the logos uses the colors of Apple’s iconic rainbow logo. The other is a slightly retro-style logo showing the Apple logo as a series of lines with a sun-hued gradient.
Apple is gearing up to launch HomePod in Japan — more than two years after the device got its first unveiling.
Smart speaker shoppers will be able to pick one up in the coming weeks for 32,800 yen (approx. $301). HomePod will then be available in a total of 11 countries.
Another dispute between countries looms over Apple, but this one dates back to World War II and could cause the tech giant heartburn as it readies the lineup of 2019 iPhones.
Japan will tighten export restrictions on South Korea for materials used to make smartphone chips and displays beginning Thursday. Japan imposed the rule after a court in South Korea ordered Japan’s Nippon Steel to compensate South Koreans for wartime forced labor.
iPhone users will be able to scan German ID cards, passports, and more when iOS 13 rolls out this fall, according to local authorities.
The functionality will allow digital versions of those documents to be carried on an iOS device so that they are always accessible. Recent reports have confirmed users in Japan will be able to do the same with national ID cards.
Apple Pay Express Transit is on its way to London, giving travelers a quick and easy way to pay for rides.
Transport for London (TfL) has confirmed it is working closely with Apple to enable the feature “in the coming months.” It promises more information will be available at a later date.
Every Android smartphone maker has a concept folding smartphone that turns into a tablet, but what if manufacturers used folding screens to make our smartphones smaller?
That’s exactly what Sharp has proposed with its first folding smartphone concept that turns a regular-looking smartphone into a clamshell phone kind of like the popular Motorola Razr.
Check it out in action:
Apple’s trade-in offer for the iPhone XS and XR in Japan shows no sign of being quite as “time limited” as Apple suggests.
Having previously been advertised in the country as ending January 31, Apple has now modified the end date to February 28. That gives fans in the country an extra month to take advantage of the deal. It also suggests that Apple still isn’t selling quite as many of its new handsets as it would like.
Apple hasn’t traditionally been known for offering discounts on its products, but the company takes a different position in Japan. In the country, Apple offered a one-day New Year’s sale on a variety of devices.
It covered assorted iPhones, iPads, MacBooks, iMacs, Apple Watch, Apple TV, and more.
An iPhone user reportedly had her life saved after using her iPhone to call the coast guard after her ship capsized in rough waters. The woman, named Rachel Neal, was visiting Japan at the time, when she and her friends chartered a boat off the coast of Okinawa.
When the group wound up in the water, concerned about their safety, Neal’s waterproof iPhone allowed her to call for help. They were rescued 90 minutes later.
As rumored, Apple has slashed the price of the iPhone XR in Japan in an attempt to get more units into customers’ hands.
The lower price tag is courtesy of NTT Docomo, the country’s main mobile carrier. As of today, customers signing up for a 24-month contract can save around $100 on the cost of the device over its lifespan. The total reduction is from 36,000 yen down to 24,000 yen — plus mandatory contract fees.
The iPhone X had one of the shortest lifespans of any iPhone Apple has ever made, being cancelled when Apple introduced its next-gen handsets back in September. However, according to a new report, Apple is restarting production on last year’s iPhone model in certain markets.
And it may all have to do with a lack of demand for some of the newer iPhones.
Ahead of this Sunday’s opening of Apple’s first store in Kyoto, Japan, the company has published a few images of the store — showing the interior of what looks to be a stunning addition to Apple’s high-end retail outlets.
The store is located on one of Kyoto’s main shopping streets, surrounded by some of Kyoto’s most famous shrines and temples. The Apple Store pays homage to Japanese culture and design, while still maintaining a uniquely Apple look.
The Japanese government is considering a move to block carriers from bundling the cost of smartphones into monthly services fees. This comes after regulators last month said Apple violated anti-trust laws by forcing carriers to subsidize iPhones.
Apple has dominated the Japanese smartphone market for the last five years. The flagship iPhone X is the most expensive smartphone on the market at more than $1,000, but customers feel little to no pinch in the pocketbook as the cost becomes part of a fixed contract with monthly service fees.
Apple will open a new Apple store location in Kyoto, Japan this month, its first in the city, which is located in the Kansai region of Japan.
This will be the ninth Apple Store to be opened in Japan, although one of these in Shibuya-ku, Tokyo is currently closed. The August 25 opening comes approximately 15 years after Japan was selected in 2003 as the first country outside of the U.S. to receive an Apple Store.
Apple got a bit pushy with Japan’s wireless service providers, and was slapped down by regulators as a result.
The iPhone maker was requiring the carriers to put subsidies on iOS handsets. The Japanese Fair Trade Commission decided that was a violation of Japan’s antitrust rules.
The iPhone is made in China, so most of the profit stays over there, right? Actually, everything in that sentence is wrong.
A new study finds that China makes less than $9 from each iPhone 7. Some of the rest goes to other Asian countries, but the lion’s share is earned by Apple and other U.S. companies.
Apple is set to begin using its Apple Maps minivans to collect mapping data in Japan later this year, the company has revealed.
Apple is due to begin carrying out surveys of Tokyo and Urayasu between June and October, marking the eleventh country that Apple has used its vehicles to collect data in. Previously, Apple’s map vehicles have collected data in Croatia, France, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, the U.K., and, of course, the United States.
Apple is closing the last of its remaining Apple Watch pop-up shops. Based in Tokyo, the last of the mini-stores is located in Shinjuku’s high-end Isetan department store. It will shut its door next month.
A message outside the store reads, “This is a notice that Apple Watch at Isetan Shinjuku will close as of Sunday, May 13. Thank you very much for your continuous patronage.”
Having your own invisibility cloak could soon become a reality thanks to the iPhone X. Kind of.
Japanese developer Kazuya Noshiro showed off a demo of an app he’s working on that uses the iPhone X’s facial recognition features to completely camouflage a users’ face with the background. The trippy effect almost makes you look like a set of floating eyeballs with hair on top.
Watch his face disappear:
Acquiring Toshiba’s chip-making business could still be in play for Apple after all, even though the company’s previous attempts to secure the coveted division with Foxconn fell through.
According to a new report, Apple is part of a “last-ditch” bid to acquire Toshiba’s chip-making ability along with Bain Capital and a few other players. If successful, the acquisition could give Apple a serious weapon in its battle with Samsung for smartphone supremacy.
The Essential Phone, built by Android creator Andy Rubin, will do battle against the iPhone in new markets around the world.
For now, the device is only available to those in the U.S. — but Essential is already in talks with carriers in the U.K., Europe, and Japan as it looks to expand its reach.
iPhone-assembler Foxconn may be about to get some help from none other than Apple in its quest to buy Toshiba’s chipmaking business.
Apple is reportedly considering whether to make a huge multi-billion dollar investment in the world’s second-largest memory chip maker. If the deal goes through, it would give Foxconn and Apple a major advantage over other smartphone manufacturers.
Apple’s most important manufacturing parter is getting ready to make a huge investment that could make it one of the world’s biggest chipmakers.
The Japanese government is hoping Toshiba will sell itself to a domestic company, but Taiwan’s Hon Hai Precision Industries (aka Foxconn) is preparing to make a huge offer for the company that could shake up the tech world.
Apple confirmed today that is getting into the venture capital game by investing in one of the world’s largest tech funds.
SoftBank’s new Vision Fund received $1 billion from Apple, according to a company spokesperson that revealed the company is investing in the $100 billion fund to gain access to future technology.
Like a short, Apple-produced version of the movie Sliding Doors, the company’s latest ad for the Japanese market pits two parallel versions of the same character against each other — one with Apple Pay, one without.
Guess which one makes it onto the train home in time? (Hint: the answer probably won’t shock you!)