Apple officially announced its acquisition of the music recognition and tagging company, Shazam, last December. While this deal may not sound like one to experience antitrust hurdles, the EU is launching a probe to review the acquisition’s effect on competition. The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple registered the deal with regulators in Austria as it worked on acquiring the British software company. Now, however, Austria, France, Italy, Sweden, and other countries have asked Brussels to take over the probe to investigate potential harm to competition....

When Apple bought AuthenTec back in 2012, it did more than grab the best fingerprint technology available for itself – it also stopped Google including a fingerprint sensor in the Nexus 6, revealed former Motorola CEO Dennis Woodside. Speaking to the Telegraph, Woodside said that the dimple on the back of the handset was originally intended to be a fingerprint reader. A fingerprint scanner had been widely rumored prior to the launch of the Android smartphone originally code-named Shamu, and it’s believed one was included in internal prototypes, before it was abandoned....

Apple has added a notable new curation section to the Apple TV app today. Variety reports that the American Film Institute’s AFI Movie Club selections can now be found directly in Apple’s TV app. This means that under the “Browse by Collection” section in the Apple TV app on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, and other platforms, you’ll now see a new film pick every day, as well as options to buy or rent it, or watch it on a streaming service if possible....

Apple has confirmed that hackers attacked and infected a “small numbers” of Mac users, according to reports from Reuters. The company told the publication that the same unidentified group thought to be behind an attack on Facebook targeted it and breached and a small number of employees’ Macs. Apple said it is working with authorities to investigate the attacks but “there was no evidence that any data left Apple.” EXCLUSIVE: Apple said it was attacked by hackers who infected “small number” of its Mac computers....

Apple has made it clear recently that it is doing a lot to improve the overall quality of the App Store and a new report from TechCrunch dives deeper into Apple’s efforts. The report explains that Apple this year is putting a heavy focus on clone and spam applications… The App Store Review guidelines state that “apps created from a commercialized template or app generation service will be rejected,” and this is apparently an area where Apple is putting its foot down this year....

Following the release to developers yesterday, Apple today released iOS 14.5 beta 3 to public beta users. iOS 14.5 beta 3 makes continued refinements to the new features coming to iPhone and iPad users this spring. One of the new features introduced with the first beta of iOS 14.5 was the ability to change the default music player used for Siri commands, similar to what’s already available to HomePod users. This option is available once again with iOS 14....

Originally released a few weeks back, Apple has re-released iOS 10.1.1 today for the iPhone and iPad. Though no release notes or changes have been noted, today’s iOS 10.1.1 update brings the build up to 14B150 from 14B100. In the past when these small build number changes occurred, they were related to server updates so an OTA update is not to be expected. If you’re currently on iOS 10.1.1, you most likely won’t be able to, nor need to, download today’s update....

Former subscribers of MobileMe, the $99/year iCloud predecessor, received 20 GB complimentary storage upgrades when making the switch to iCloud. Apple additionally extended this upgrade until September 30, 2013. Now, Apple is reminding those users, via email, that the complimentary storage will come to an end shortly: As our own Benjamin Mayo notes, this will probably be a busy day for Apple’s support representatives as they work with the customers who are over the 5 GB free storage size....

It was reported earlier this month that Apple was close to striking a deal where it would make a large upfront investment in LG’s OLED production lines in return for output being exclusively devoted to iPhone screens. A fresh report today supports this, and claims to have more detailed information on the as-yet-unannounced arrangement … Korea Economic Daily (via The Investor) claims that the amount Apple is paying LG is 3 trillion won ($2....

AllThingsD reported that Apple is planning an event for late January to be held in New York, not in Cupertino or San Francisco, Calif. The event will not be huge nor will it cover any iPad or Apple TV related announcements. Apple’s Senior Vice President of Internet Services and Software Eddy Cue is said to be involved in the event, and the event is reportedly “media-related.” On a side note, Apple has an office for their iAd business in New York, the business that Cue is now in heading....

Apple has sent out a second update to the third developer preview of OS X Mountain Lion. Changes are currently unknown, but the update is available via software update in the Mac App Store. Let us know if you find anything new! Apple sent the following email regarding the new build: Update: Apple has seeded update 4 of Safari 5.2 as well. Important: MacBook Pro 3,1 is not supported in this build of Mountain Lion....

Update: Live in Australia. As part of the American Black Friday sales tradition, Apple typically offers minimal discounts on its own products and third-party accessories via its online and physical retail stores. However, this year will be significantly different. According to multiple sources, Apple’s sales event this Friday will be based around gift cards, not discounts on products. If a customer buys a product from Apple on Black Friday, instead of receiving a discount, they will be given an Apple Store gift card....

Update: Two new Portrait Mode ads + a tweet from Tim Cook below. Hot on the heels of a report claiming that Apple was shifting its ad focus to more regional campaigns, the company has shared four new videos on its YouTube channel, each focused on a specific city. All of the new videos are apart of the “One Night” series that the company had previously unveiled. All of the videos share images shot exclusively with the iPhone 7, with the ads carrying the “Shot on iPhone 7” slogan, as well....

Apple today is releasing the iOS 13.5 and iPadOS 13.5 GM to developers. This follows an evolving beta testing period, with updates to Face ID and the first version of Apple’s COVID-19 Exposure Notification API. A release to the public is expected soon, perhaps as soon as later this week. What’s new in iOS 13.5? The update includes the basis of Apple and Google’s new Exposure Notification API for COVID-19 contact tracing....

Apple has released iOS 7.1 beta 4 to developers via the Software Update function in Settings of the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. The previous betas brought various interface enhancements to the phone app, shut down slider, and the calendar application. Only hours ago, a rumor said that iOS 7.1 beta 4 would be released tomorrow. We’ll update this post as new changes are discovered in beta 4: – Subtle text change for slide to unlock and slide to power off....

A little over a week after iOS 7 beta 4, Apple has seeded iOS 7 beta 5 to developers. It is available over-the-air via Software Update. The previous beta brought several minor interface and performance tweaks to the operating system and beta 5 will likely continue doing that. A new Apple TV seed is also available: We will continuously update this post with discovered changes. If you find anything new, you can let us know at tips@9to5mac....

Apple updated its Activity Challenge servers today in preparation for its next Apple Watch challenge (via Kyle Seth Gray). Apple Watch owners will be able to earn the 2019 Veterans Day badge by doing a workout of 11 minutes or more on Veterans Day: Monday, November 11th. Unfortunately, the reward looks to be the same as last year with the medal mapping the American flag and gold star onto the badge shape....

Apple today has shared a collection of Apple TV Tech Talks in which Apple experts demonstrate to developers how to design and develop apps and games for the company’s fourth-generation Apple TV. Apple announced the availability of these talks on its Developer Portal. Previously, developers had been learning how to make apps for the Apple TV during various demos around the world, but Apple hopes that the Apple TV Tech Talk collection will make it easier for everyone to learn the process....

In a new interview with Reuters, European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager cleared Apple when asked about its mobile payment service and competitive issues in Europe … for now. In a bit of a burn from Vestager, she shared that Apple Pay doesn’t have the dominance in Europe yet that would prompt an investigation. Apple Pay is steadily expanding to new regions including Germany, however, which will expand Apple Pay’s reach. Vestager also told Reuters that she isn’t opposed to investigating Apple Pay over competitive violations if a formal complaint was filed....

Apple has released the fourth iOS 11 public beta for iPhone and iPad. This allows users who are not registered developers to test pre-release versions of iOS with new features for free. In terms of stability, the same warnings apply to any pre-release software: apps may crash, battery life won’t be optimal, and expect performance to be sluggish. Still tempted to try the iOS 11 public beta? Check out our guide for how to install the iOS 11 public beta on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch here....