After almost two years of planning, Apple finally launched Apple Pay in China last month — and, wouldn’t you know it, Samsung’s keen to catch up!

To that end, the company officially launched Samsung Pay in China today, partnering with the state-backed China UnionPay to do so.

And, right away, it claims that it will be available in more places than Apple’s rival system.

If, like me, you sank countless hours into Pokémon games during your misspent youth, there’s some great news: Pokémon GO, an augmented reality game for smartphones, is one step closer to rolling out.

And it looks great!

Whether it’s adding tree-lined avenues or high-tech display tables for showing off the Apple Watch or iPhone, the design of the Apple Store is constantly changing.

The latest innovation is a giant floor-to-ceiling television display, which can be seen at Apple’s new Saddle Creek Store in Germantown, Tennessee.

And you thought the 12.9-inch iPad Pro had a big screen!

The FBI’s case against Apple may be over, but the repercussions involved in this battle sure aren’t.

Apple has already made clear its belief that this particular case should never have been brought, and now activist group Fight for the Future — which has played a vocal role in this ongoing story — claims that this will be recorded as the biggest PR disaster in FBI history.

The Justice Department may have dropped its suit against Apple after successfully gaining access to the iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino shooters, but according to Apple the case should never have been brought to begin with.

In a statement, Apple doubles-down on its beliefs about the importance of user privacy. Check out the company’s words of wisdom below:

The Department of Justice has removed all legal action against Apple after the FBI successfully hacked the San Bernardino terrorist’s iPhone without assistance from Cupertino.

Apple and the FBI have been fighting a very public legal battle over whether the government can force the iPhone-maker to create a backdoor into iOS. Apple CEO Tim Cook publicly defied a federal court order to deliberately weaken iOS security for millions of users, but it appears that the feds are backing down — at least for now.

No matter how many email apps I try, I just keep coming back to the stock iOS Mail app. While some of the things I’ve come to love about the iPhone’s built-in Mail app are obvious, some are not — such as shortcuts or gestures that make using it even more intuitive. Here are a few favorite iOS Mail tips I think everyone should know.

Upgrading to an iPhone with 64GB of storage will cost you an extra $100, but Apple actually only spends about a tenth of that to pay for the bigger memory chips.

With the iPhone 6s and new iPhone SE both starting with a paltry 16GB, shelling out the extra cash for more space is practically a no-brainer, and that plays right into Apple’s plan to milk the margins on its higher end models.

There’s a new Apple TV update in town, and it adds a few obvious features, like Bluetooth keyboard support and Siri Dictation in search and user name/password fields.

tvOS 9.2 also has some less-obvious improvements, though. For instance, it’s easy to locate the exact spot you want to find in any video. Here’s how to scrub through video on Apple TV with your Siri Remote in tvOS 9.2.

These days, very few of us actually purchase individual albums or singles, thanks to the growing popularity of subscription-based services such as Apple Music and Spotify. Playing these streaming services through Bluetooth speakers is just as easy as playing them from your iPhone. But what if you want to play your favorite Spotify playlists without having your phone glued to you?

Introducing the GGMM E3 Wi-Fi Smart Cloud speaker. I admit, I’d never heard of GGMM either. Launching on Kickstarter last week, the E3 boasts a ton of features to earn the “smart” title, including cloud music play, favorites, multiroom play and much more.

Check out the video after the jump to see it in action.

A fix for the Activation Lock bug that plagued older devices that upgraded to iOS 9.3 has been released by Apple this morning, after the company pulled iOS 9.3 availability on select iPhones and iPads last week.

Apple pushed out iOS 9.3 build 13E237 to iPad Air and earlier models, as well as the iPhone 5s and earlier models. The previous build bricked those models during Activation Mode due to failed password authorization.

Update: Apple has released iOS 9.3.1 to fix the iPhone web links problem.

If you have an iPhone running iOS 9.3, whatever you do, do not install the Booking.com app.

iPhone users are reporting that an iOS 9.3 bug, possibly related to the Booking.com app, causes some apps to freeze and crash when tapping on links — and it’s not entirely clear what’s causing it.

The iPhone SE may look tiny, but it’s already become a big hit in China.

Apple’s new iPhone doesn’t hit stores until March 31st, however, pre-orders for the iPhone SE have already topped 3.4 million in China according to early estimates that show the iPhone SE will be much better received than the iPhone 5c.

The small profile of the iPhone, iPad and iPod holds a ton of data, and it can get cramped in there. iMyfone makes a pair of products that are unparalleled in their ability to dig deep into the confines of iOS devices, clean out needless data, organize what’s there, and protect what you need to keep. Right now both are going for a fraction of the usual price, take a look:

The iPhone may finally ditch its metal casing in 2017 in favor of a new curved glass body similar to the one on Samsung’s Galaxy S7 edge.

Apple’s next big redesign of the iPhone is slated for next year, reports KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who claims in his latest note to investors that Apple will pair the new case design with a 5.8-inch AMOLED display.

With the new iPhone SE and 9.7-inch iPad Pro announced, it was a big week for Apple. But it’s also been a good seven days for developers, with a slew of super-awesome apps arriving in the App Store for iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple TV.

Whether you’re looking for a great productivity tool for staying on top of task management, a fantastic port of an arcade classic, or the best weather app for Apple TV, check out our “app of the week” picks below.

What better way to spend your Sunday?

It doesn’t look like any camera you’ve ever seen, and that’s because it’s not. The Lytro makes images that can be refocused after they’re shot, even moved around in 3 dimensions. These “living” pictures have made the Lytro one of the most envy-worthy pieces of photo gear, and right now you can get one for just $369.99 at Cult of Mac Deals.

Word, Excel, Outlook, the many faces of Microsoft Office are familiar to anyone who works in a professional office. But being fluent is what counts when you want to get the gig, and this bundle of course will make sure you get there quickly. These lessons will also prep you for the certification exams that will prove your chops, and right now you can get them for just $29 at Cult of Mac Deals.

This week on The CultCast: Apple’s new iPhone SE is an insane value; the significant differences between the big and small iPad Pros; new rumors point to major MacBook Pro redesigns in June; future keynotes need more yak; and the cool features in the new tvOS 9.2 update.

Our thanks to Casper for supporting this episode. Casper’s American-made mattresses have just the right amount of memory foam and latex, and people everywhere love them. Learn why and save $50 off your order at casper.com/cultcast

Once again, Apple has refreshed its iPhone and iPad line with some better (albeit smaller) iOS devices, the iPhone SE and the 9.7-inch iPad Pro.

If you’re looking for all the details on these two new gadgets, or just want to know which is the right iPad or iPhone for you, be sure to grab this week’s Cult of Mac Magazine, which also includes all the cool things you can do with iOS 9.3, a look at Cupertino’s new Apple Watch pivot, and a deeper dive on the keynote itself.

Here are this week’s top stories.

We got our first look at a new line of straps for the Apple Watch this week. But if you’re a little bit handy and want a cool weekend project, you can make your own nylon Apple Watch band for about a tenth of the cost of buying one directly.

The new series of Woven Nylon bands that Apple showed off at its event on Monday were nice and all, but what if you didn’t see a color that struck you? One enterprising YouTuber posted a tutorial that shows how to get one in just about any style you want by repurposing some cheap, existing watch straps.

Check it out below.

The FBI aren’t the only people interested in postponing court proceedings this week — Apple just requested a hold in its ongoing case in Brooklyn over a criminal’s locked phone.

Magistrate Judge James Orenstein has already ruled in Apple’s favor, saying that the government could not compel the company to breach its own software. But the government is appealing that decision, and Apple would like to see if some recent developments in a similar case might render a new decision unnecessary.

Google Maps has rolled out something special for the premiere of Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice this weekend: You can take a stroll around the film versions of Bruce Wayne’s house and Batman’s lair through Street View.

The tour contains a lot of surprises for long-time Batfans who have been keeping cold on the new film. For one thing, did you know that Batman is secretly Bruce Wayne? It’s crazy. Even stranger than that is the fact that while the film places Gotham City somewhere in New Jersey, Google Maps puts it on the border of a dog park in southern Michigan.

Tim Cook is a better leader than U.S. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, but Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is the best of them all in a new poll ranking the leaders in business, government, philanthropy and the arts.

In a few weeks, my partner and I are heading to London and Iceland for a two-week vacation. While London definitely isn’t a first for us, Iceland is. This trip also marks another important first for me: It’s the very first time I’m leaving my DSLR at home. I’ll be relying solely on my iPhone 6s Plus for all my photos.