As if Disney+ weren’t enough, there will be another Apple TV+ competitor from next April, in the form of NBCUniversal’s upcoming streaming service, Peacock … We first learned back in January that the new service was on the way, though little was known then. The company shared in July that The Office would be exclusive to the service once the Netflix deal expires, and we’ve today learned a lot more – including the name of the service, after the network’s mascot....

Apple previewed its new virtual debit card and person-to-person payment feature called Apple Pay Cash back at WWDC in June, but the feature wasn’t present in iOS 11 and watchOS 4 betas over the summer. Apple shared the final version of iOS 11.0 and watchOS 4.0 with testers last week, and Apple Pay Cash was still not enabled. Now Apple has acknowledged the missing feature and shared an update for when we can expect to see it ship....

Belgian paper De Tijd is reporting that Apple Pay is launching in Belgium in November, initially for customers of BNP Paribas Fortis. The report says that it will initially be exclusive to the leading bank. Alongside VISA and MasterCard payment cards from Fortis, the initial rollout may include subsidiaries Hello Bank and Fintro. It wouldn’t be the first time a mobile wallet rollout in Belgium has initially been exclusive to Fortis – the same happened with Android Pay back in March 2017....

Apple today released the official trailer for its next original movie, CODA. Apple TV+ will release the film on August 13, alongside a limited theatrical release. CODA first debuted as part of the 2021 Sundance film festival. At Sundance, the film was warmly received and it was awarded the Grand Jury prize. Apple acquired the film in a record-setting $25 million deal. Watch the trailer below … The movie centres on lead character Ruby, played by Emilia Jones, who is a child of deaf adults or ‘CODA’....

Shortly after announcing that its pro photography app Aperture is being discontinued, Apple released a number of updates to its remaining professional desktop applications. Final Cut Pro, Motion, Compressor, and MainStage on OS X all received updates via the Mac App Store today. See the changes for each professional desktop application below: Final Cut Pro 10.1.2 • Optimized, proxy, and rendered media can be stored at any location outside of the library • Easily delete optimized, proxy, and rendered media from within Final Cut Pro X • Used media indicators for Compound clips, Multicam clips, and Synced clips • Option to show only unused media in the Browser • Apply a standard (Rec....

One of the standout features of the new Apple TV is its support for gaming, but now Apple has reversed its stance and placed a new limitation on that capability. Apple has said from the beginning that third-party controllers will be supported on the new Apple TV. The SDK for the device carries Game Controller support and the company mentioned it on stage at its unveil event. Apple also mentioned that games that worked only with third-party controllers were okay, meaning the games wouldn’t necessarily have to be compatible with the company’s bundled Siri Remote....

Apple’s Personal Pickup service – where you place your order online but can pick it up from a local Apple Store as early as an hour later – just hit six more European countries today: France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden. Long limited to the U.S. only, it made its way to Australia and Canada a couple of weeks ago, and the UK a few days later. German site Macerkopf first noticed its availability in Germany, before updating with the additional five countries....

Update: Both relevant photos have since been removed from Instagram. Following a report earlier today that Apple and French fashion retailer Colette were teasing a one day in-store experience, there’s now more evidence the collaboration might be for Apple’s upcoming Apple Watch. It appears that Apple’s design team could also be headed to the event or at least to the same city, lending more weight to the idea that Apple Watch is about to get some stage time during Paris Fashion Week....

Forrester Research today published an interesting and extensive analysis (via CNET) based on a large-scale poll of 10,000 information workers from North America and Western Europe, including 3,350 higher-ups that make purchasing decisions. The report, titled “Apple Infiltrates The Enterprise And Reshapes The Markets For Personal Devices At Work,” found out that 21 percent use one or more Apple devices (the figure includes gear they had brought in). Nearly half of businesses, or 46 percent, now issue Macs to their workers....

Apple is now so focused on marketing-driven goals that its software quality has “taken a nosedive” in the last few years, argues a blog post by Instapaper creator and former Tumblr lead developer Marco Arment. People are sticking with OS X not because they love it, he suggests, but because Windows is worse and desktop Linux is too much hassle. The issue, believes Arment, is that Apple is so focused on releasing a major new version of OS X each year that it is making it impossible for engineering teams to maintain quality....

According to a report from the The Economic Times, Apple is planning to set up a distribution center in India. The move comes as Apple is working to establish a retail presence in the country and has faced challenges due to local regulations. This evening’s report claims that Apple will work with its global logistics partner, DB Schenker, who will set up and operate the center. The goal of the distribution center in India is to ensure that Apple’s products are “rarely sold out at the retail level” and to set “common pricing for offline and online sales,” thus giving Apple greater control of the supply chain in the country....

Apple today has released its 12th annual Supplier Responsibility Progress Report, detailing the work the company is doing in improving conditions at supplier facilities. Apple touts that 15 million supplier employees have now been trained on their rights, including 3 million just last year. The report, however, also offers color on some of the issues Apple still faces in its supply chain… Apple audited 756 suppliers in 30 countries as part of its progress report, with 197 of those suppliers being brand new and audited for the first time....

Apple is continuing its release of iPhone X ads today with a new video focused on using Face ID to quickly make purchases with Apple Pay. The whimsical new ad highlights how Face ID and Apple Pay makes impulse purchases even easier… Throughout the ad, the iPhone X user travels through various stands at an outdoor market, using Apple Pay to buy a hat, a new suit, and much more. While you don’t see the Apple Pay checkout process every time, you do here the incredibly satisfying sound effect from the Face ID authentication process....

A new report from Bloomberg goes into detail about how relations between Apple and Qualcomm soured so quickly, after years of collaboration, featuring quotes from Qualcomm executives and excerpts from a new interview with Apple SVP Bruce Sewell. Sewell points out that the Qualcomm modem inside an iPhone costs Apple about $18. In addition, Apple has to pay 5 percent of the phone’s sale price. It is that royalty that Apple deems exorbitant and unfair....

The schedule for WWDC 2017 has just been announced and includes a new ‘Podcast Studio’. From Tuesday, podcasters will be able to reserve one hour slots and record in a specially-made recording studio inside the McEnery Convention Center. Apple says that the ‘fully outfitted studio’ allows for the creation of audio podcasts with up to four guests per show. Apple experts are on hand to provide support and podcasters are given a copy of their session to distribute freely how they see fit....

Apple is ready to launch its own streaming platform, Apple TV+, and here’s every TV show users will be able to enjoy at launch. The streaming wars are only getting started, with various networks and companies launching their own subscription services – Netflix is definitely not the only option to watch films and TV shows from the comfort of your home anymore. What’s interesting about all the streaming options (and, sometimes, what makes it hard to choose) is that they all offer different content and some are more affordable than others....

Apple is planning to build an additional “tactical datacenter” at its facility in Maiden, North Carolina, according to a report by the Hickory Daily Record. The new building will be smaller than the previous addition, coming in at only 14,246 square feet, and will house additional server hardware along with new offices. The previously-constructed “tactical datacenter” is around 21,000 square feet. The datacenter is powered by a combination of solar energy from a 100-acre solar farm and a much smaller biogas fuel cell installation nearby....

After announcing the availability of a new Pride Edition Woven Nylon Band and watch face at this past week’s WWDC keynote, Apple is promoting the new products and Pride Month in select retail stores. The new Apple Watch band and face first became officially available on Monday, when orders opened online and the custom face was unlocked for all Apple Watch owners immediately following the WWDC keynote. Widespread retail availability began on Thursday....

Excitement over Apple’s new MacBook Pro announcements has been weakened a bit in the UK customers due to sticker shock when looking at the prices. Prices for new MacBook Pro’s have risen in the US a bit already, in the UK this has been amplified by the weak GBP currency following the Brexit vote. Apple has adjusted UK prices for its entire line of Macs, including those it didn’t update, with prices increases of hundreds of pounds....

Apple has just seeded a new developer build of iOS 8.3. The beta can be downloaded on Apple’s developer website. iOS 8.3 beta 2 was released just over two weeks ago. Apple also released a new 10.10.3 build today with Force Touch APIs. There are also new developer seeds for Xcode and Apple TV. Previous betas of iOS 8.3 have shown that the release will include new features like wireless CarPlay, more diverse Emojis, a new Emoji keyboard for input, tweaked login for Google services as well as support for Apple Pay in China....