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We are with you: Tim Cook posts message of support on Chinese social media

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Tim WWDC
Tim Cook has a message of support to people in China during coronavirus outbreak.
Photo: Apple

Tim Cook has posted on Chinese microblogging platform Weibo, saying that Apple is happy to “welcome back employees and customers” to its Apple Stores as they continue to reopen across China.

Cook also reiterated that Apple has doubled its donation to battle the coronavirus outbreak. The virus has so far resulted in the deaths of at least 2,126 people. The vast majority of these have been in mainland China.

Police hunt men who robbed 2 Apple Stores within 30 minutes of each other

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A security camera image from the Mayfair Apple Store in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, shows alleged thieves in action.
A security camera image from the Mayfair Apple Store in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, shows alleged thieves in action.
Screenshot: CBS 58

Wisconsin police are on the hunt for three thieves who stole $17,000 of merchandise from Apple Stores.

Two robberies took place January 30, within half an hour of each other, at Apple Stores in Mayfair Mall in Wauwatosa and Bayshore Town Center in Glendale. Those locations are approximately 20 minutes’ drive from one another.

Apple ‘discussing’ plans to allow third-party browsers, email apps to be defaults on iOS

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close all tabs
You might not be stuck with Safari for much longer.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple is finally “considering” giving users the ability to set third-party web browsers and email clients as defaults on iOS, according to a new Bloomberg report. It could also open up HomePod to rival music streaming services.

iPhone and iPad owners can already install third-party alternatives, but iOS currently does not allow them to override Apple’s built-in services. That could change as Apple faces increasing pressure over the tight control it imposes over its mobile devices.

Coronavirus will hit iPhone-maker Foxconn hard in 2020

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Foxconn Wisconsin
Foxconn has admitted that coronavirus is going to hurt revenue for 2020 as a whole.
Photo: Foxconn

Apple supplier Foxconn says that it expects its full-year 2020 revenue to take a hit as a result of the outbreak of coronavirus in China.

Foxconn, the world’s largest electronics manufacturer, plays a crucial role in assembling products for Apple. Foxconn’s admission about the impact of coronavirus follows Apple’s decision to pull its previous forecast for fiscal second quarter earnings as a result for the second time in 15 years.

Apple Music’s real-time lyrics feature is coming to Mac users everywhere

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Streaming services like Apple Music dominate the US music market
Soon you'll be able to sing along to Drake on your Mac, too.
Photo: Apple

Apple Music’s lyric visualizer has arrived on Mac with the second beta release of macOS 10.15.4 Wednesday.

The feature, which gives users scrolling, karaoke-style song lyrics, was introduced as a much-lauded feature with iOS 13. Now Apple is porting it bringing it to macOS users as well.

Genre-bending drama Swan Song heads for Apple TV+

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Mahershala Ali is starring in a film for Apple TV+.
Mahershala Ali was in True Detective, and now he’s headed for Apple TV+.
Screenshot: HBO

Swan Song, a new film starring two-time Academy Award winner Mahershala Ali, is being produced for Apple TV+. It was written, and will be directed, by another Academy Award winner, Benjamin Cleary.

How to use Apple TV app’s new data-saving features

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The Apple TV app gets a raft of new features in iOS 12.3.
The Apple TV app just added new data saving features.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Binge-watching your favorite Apple TV shows on an iPhone is a great way to run through your data plan limits if you’re not careful, so Apple is introducing a way to wrangle in your data slurping habits.

iOS 13.4 beta 2 introduced some new settings to the Apple TV app for iPhone and iPad, giving users the option to control the size of downloads as well as lowering the amount of data used while streaming content. If Apple’s TV app is one of your major entertainment hubs, you’ll want to know how to take advantage of the new features.

Apple adds third company to exclusive list of iPhone manufacturers

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iPhone XS Max
Foxconn doesn’t assemble every iPhone. And soon there’ll be another company putting together iOS handsets.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Apple reportedly will expand the number of companies that can assemble iPhones. Luxshare Precision could join a rather exclusive club, according to reliable analyst, supposedly to reduce the risk that problems with one manufacturer will cause a shortage of iPhone units.

MRIs reveal smartphone addiction physically changes brains

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screen time management
Is Screen Time doing enough to curb iPhone addiction?
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Your iPhone addiction might be creating physical changes in your brain, according to a new study. Researchers looked into smartphone addiction and how it correlates to structural and functional changes in the brain.

They conducted MRI scans on 48 people, 22 of whom had smartphone addiction (SPA). The study found that SPA alters the brain in a way similar to what doctors see in drug addicts. The findings only get worse from there.

iOS 13.4 beta 2 brings more tweaks to Mail toolbar

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iCloud folder sharing is in iPadOS 13.4 and iOS 13.4
iCloud folder sharing finally arrives in iPadOS 13.4, and iOS 13.4 too.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Apple seeded the second beta build of iOS 13.4 and iPadOS 13.4 to developers this morning bringing a bunch of bug fixes and some small new features to the iPhone and iPad.

Included among the changes are some more changes to the controversial toolbar in the Mail app. Apple also added some under-the-hood improvements and some changes to how location authorization works in apps.

Apple seeks dismissal of Servant plagiarism lawsuit

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Apple TV+ Servant promo image.
Apple defends against plagiarism allegations.
Photo: Apple

Apple asked a federal judge on Tuesday to toss a movie director’s lawsuit, arguing similarities between her work and the Apple TV+ series Servant are “common” and “unprotectable ideas” found in other works.

Francesa Gregorini’ has accused Apple, and Servant’s creators M. Night Shyamalan and Tony Basgallop’s of ripping off her 2013 film The Truth About Emanuel. Both movie and television series features a traumatized parent who hires a babysitter to care for a baby that turns out to be a doll.

10 more Apple Stores in China reopen to masked customers

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Apple Store in Qingdao
The Apple Store in Qingdao was the first to close amid coronavirus concerns.
Screenshot: Apple

Apple is unlocking the doors to 10 more Apple Stores in China but will remain vigilant as health officials try to contain the deadly coronavirus.

The stores set to reopen today are listed on the store page of Apple’s website. The 10 stores, including the first one closed due to the outbreak, will operate at reduced hours.

Apple has 42 retail sites across China.

Qualcomm’s new cellular modems could finally take 5G mainstream

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Qualcomm headquarters
This could be the modem which appears in the 2020 iPhone.
Photo: Qualcomm

Qualcomm has announced its new Snapdragon X60 5G modem, its third-gen 5G chip which offers improvements over its Snapdragon X55 and X50 predecessors.

While there is no confirmation that this is the case, this could very well be the modem chip that is used in the forthcoming generation of 5G iPhones. Apple patched up its rocky relationship with Qualcomm last year over the company’s 5G technology.

Bose starts bringing AirPlay 2 to a range of SoundTouch speakers

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Bose-SoundTouch
Install the newest firmware update today.
Photo: Bose

Bose is rolling out a big firmware update for a bunch of SoundTouch speakers that adds AirPlay 2 support. You can install it via the free SoundTouch app for iPhone and iPad.

AirPlay 2 lets you stream audio from your Apple devices, and enables multi-room audio playback with other compatible speakers.

Apple sues former App Store manager over book that spills insider secrets

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Apple's not happy about former Apple employee Tom Sadowski's new book, App Store Confidential.
Apple's not happy about the new book App Store Confidential.
Photo: Murmann Verlag

Apple is suing former German App Store manager Tom Sadowski and his publisher over App Store Confidential, a new book that reveals “business secrets” Apple says Sadowski wasn’t legally allowed to disclose.

Cupertino’s lawyers are asking Sadowski and publisher Murmann Verlag to destroy all manuscripts of the German-language book, and to recall any copies currently in circulation. Apple says the book contains information that is of “considerable economic value” to the company.

Apple moves production of some high-demand devices to Taiwan

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Apple logo on store
Apple has a backup plan.
Photo: Cult of Mac

Apple is shifting a portion of AirPods, iPad and Apple Watch production from China to Taiwan as the tech giant continues to deal with coronavirus-related delays in China.

The virus, called COVID-19, has forced Apple to diversity on the fly its China-reliant production model. Much of the country remains quarantined and restricted in travel, and Apple assembly and supply partners are unable to operate at full capacity.

Analysts aren’t worried about long-term impact of coronavirus on Apple

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money
Analysts think investors will need to weather the storm first, though.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

While it’s a distant second to the human impact of coronavirus, the outbreak of COVID-19 coronavirus in China has caused plenty of disruption for Apple and its manufacturers.

But although Apple has already had to rein in its quarterly projections as a result, analysts watching the Cupertino firm aren’t getting unduly concerned. The majority of firms remain bullish when it comes to Apple’s prospects for near-term growth.

Photoshop celebrates its 30th birthday with new features for iPad

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Photoshop-Object-Selection-iPad
The new Object Selection tool works like magic.
Photo: Adobe

Photoshop turns 30 today, and to celebrate this massive milestone, Adobe is rolling out some handy new tools for the iPad version of its app.

The latest update brings an Object Selection tool and Type settings. They help bring Photoshop for iPad a little bit closer to the desktop version, and they’re part of Adobe’s mission to deliver a “continuous stream” of new features.

There are some nice additions for Photoshop on desktop, too.