Apple has received FCC approval for a new ‘sleep monitor’ product today, but it’s likely not an Apple Watch-based solution. Instead, the product description suggests the Apple sleep monitor is either an existing version of the Beddit sleep monitor product acquired by Apple or a new version of the same product. The production description simply reads ‘sleep monitor’ while the model version in the application is labeled ‘3.5’; the Beddit sleep monitor that Apple currently sells is Beddit Sleep Monitor 3....

In a report from professor and cryptographer, Matthew Green today, concerns were raised about Apple sharing users’ browsing data to the Chinese company, Tencent. Now Apple has offered an official response, reassuring users that actual URLs aren’t shared with third-parties. Apple has used Google to provide Safe Browsing services but with iOS 13 and macOS Catalina, it started using Tencent to comply with Chinese regulations. As we reported this morning, professor and cryptographer Matthew Green raised some concerns about third-parties seeing users’ IP addresses as well as what webpages they are viewing....

After launching Designed by Apple in California back in November, the book celebrating 20 years of Apple product design is available today in more countries including Canada, Italy, Netherlands, Sweden, Brazil, New Zealand, Ireland, Singapore, and many others. The book is available to purchase now through Apple.com and also through some of its retail stores. The countries getting access to the book today join Australia, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, the UK and the US where the book launched initially late last year....

Apple’s first retail location in the Japanese city of Kyoto opens this Saturday. Ahead of its grand opening, Apple has shared some new photos and details about the multi-floor store. It was just over a week ago that Apple replaced construction barriers outside of Kyoto’s Zero Gate shopping complex with intricate window coverings themed after woven bamboo. Both the physical signage and a comprehensive digital campaign spanning wallpapers, animations, Apple Music playlists, and more promoted a grand opening date of August 25th....

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNcaMqiD64g] We reported last night that Apple officially appointed CEO of Dixons John Browett as its senior vice president of Retail following Ron Johnson’s departure in October of last year. Browett is leaving his position at Dixons Retail, which operates various United Kingdom-based retail stores including Currys, Currys.digital, and PC World. Dixons is one of the largest electronics chains in Europe, and PC World, the last on that list, is one of the largest computer/consumer electronic retailers in the U....

At the Black Hat security conference in August, a lead Apple security executive will offer new details on iOS 13 and macOS Catalina. The talk will run for 50 minutes and is entitled “Behind the Scenes of iOS and Mac Security.” The talk will be led by Ivan Krstic, Apple’s head of security engineering and architecture. Krstic spoke at Black Hat in 2016 as well. According to a teaser on the Black Hat website, Krstic will focus on three primary things during his talk....

Apple today has shared a new advertisement for the fourth-gen Apple TV. The ad follows the same theme as “The Kiss,” which was released last month and starred Allison Brie. Today’s new ad, however, features Lakers player Kobe Bryant and actor Michael B. Jordan using the Apple TV and accompanying Siri Remote. The ad, called “Father Time,” shows using the Apple TV Siri Remote to do things like rewind content and find more content to watch....

Apple is now selling an exclusive USB-C hub from Satechi, the Multiport Pro Adapter. The new device features a USB-C port for power, USB-A, SD and microSD card readers, and an HDMI port in a slim package. Native Union also has a range of new Apple accessories now available at Apple Stores and Apple.com. Satechi announced the Apple-exclusive USB-C adapter in a press release today: The Multiport Pro Adapter comes in space gray and is priced at $70, the same as what Apple’s first-party USB-C adapter normally sells for (but doesn’t have SD readers like Satechi’s new adapter)....

Apple’s Vice President of environment, policy, and social initiatives, Lisa Jackson took to the stage to discuss the company’s latest numbers and initiatives in environmental protection. Jackson announced that 93% of its operations are running on renewable energy worldwide. A total of 23 countries, including United States and China are utilizing 100% renewable energy. In Sichuan, China, Apple was able to build a 40-megawatt solar farm without disturbing the local fauna....

We broke the news yesterday that developers Steven Troughton-Smith and the TheMudKip were working on bringing iOS applications to the Apple TV in a native experience. We have been updating with the developer’s progress since our initial report, but now a major leap was achieved: full-screen applications. Troughton-Smith was awesome enough to exclusively pass on the images (above and below) of full-screen applications in action. The port was initially able to run multiple applications side-by-side on a display connected to an Apple TV, but now the developers have figured out a way to run iPad applications —because of the artwork resolution— at a full 720p resolution....

Apple has officially unveiled iOS 11 at WWDC 2017. Details below: The first new feature centers around Messages… The app drawer is now redesigned with a scrolling view. Messages also works with iCloud now so messages stay in sync including deleted messages and more. This new feature also works with macOS and still includes end-to-end encryption. Apple Pay also now works with iMessage to enable peer-to-peer payments as an iMessage app as rumored....

In the second wave of new banks and credit unions, Apple Pay has picked up another 25 partners across the United States. The latest expansion includes several of those banks across the US. American Bank Center Bank of Akron Bank of the Valley Benchmark Community Bank Cashmere Valley Bank Central Savings Bank Citizens Tri-County Bank Family Savings Credit Union Fidelity Bank & Trust Fortifi Bank Frontier Bank Gate City Bank Hickam Federal Credit Union NBH Bank New Peoples Bank, Inc Omega Federal Credit Union Pacific Horizon Credit Union Portland Federal Credit Union Santa Rosa County Federal Credit Union Security Savings Bank SouthCrest Bank St....

Times of India has put numbers on its earlier claim that Apple was planning to open a collection of iOS-centric stores in India. It now says that Apple plans to support 500 new resellers in the country as part of a major expansion program into smaller towns and cities, where Samsung currently dominates. Apple reportedly sold a million iPhones in India in the 12 months to September 2014, helped in part by a cheaper 8GB version of the iPhone 5c, and is said to expect sales to treble in the following 12 months following the rollout of the iPhone 6 in October … The source told ToI that while Apple has been pushing hard in China, its presence in India has so far been restricted to large cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata and Chennai....

If you have automatic updated enabled, you should see the new update soon. If not, head to Settings > General > Software Update to get it. Apple News+ From all the new services announced today at the Apple event, the only one that’s available now is Apple News+ which you can access after installing the iOS 12.2 update. Apple News+ allows you to access over 300 magazines and newspapers from one central app for $9....

Following last week’s release of macOS 10.14.5, Apple today has released a supplemental update for certain MacBook Pro users. Apple says today’s update resolves certain issues with the T2 Security Chip. The supplemental update is available for the 15-inch MacBook Pro with Apple’s T2 Security Chip. Apple says the update is recommended for all users of that machine as it “addresses a firmware issue.” Apple has not yet updated its security webpage with details on what specifically the firmware issue is....

Apple is planning a worldwide overnight ‘refresh’ of its older retail stores on the night of May 16, according to our own sources. We understand that this is specifically for older and smaller stores that aren’t suitable for the full redesign we’ve seen in flagship stores. We got our first look at a whole new design for major Apple Stores back in 2015, when the Jony Ive design was shown to the press in Brussels, Belgium....

Following a report yesterday that the European Commission was about to launch a formal investigation into Apple’s tax practices in Ireland, the EU has now officially announced the investigation at a press conference. Bloomberg reports that the investigation will include not just Apple, but also Starbucks and Fiat Finance & Trade SA and will look at “whether the tax deals in Ireland, the Netherlands and Luxembourg are illegal state aid.” Apple responded with a statement to Bloomberg following the news claiming that it “pays every euro of every tax that we owe” and that it “received no selective treatment from Irish officials....

Apple ended its most recent quarter with nearly $66 billion in cash, increasing its war chest by an astounding $6.1 billion in just three months. Their cash pile is worth more than the combined market capitalization of Nokia, Research In Motion and Motorola Mobility – or half of Google’s enterprise value – explains Asymco’s Horace Dediu: Matter of fact, Apple’s funds have grown more than tenfold in the period between the fourth quarter of 2005 and the latest quarter....

The Economic Times of India reported on Wednesday that Bangalore-based company InfoSys, which provides outsourced tech support and other services for Apple, has fired the CFO of its business process outsourcing unit Abraham Mathews for failing to comply with the company’s code of conduct. The report did not provide specific details about the violations that Mathews committed, although initial reports indicate that the executive was ousted for overbilling Apple. According to Techmeme editor Mahendra Palsule, the news was “only just announced as an insider exclusive by the TV channel of [The Economic Times]....

Following WWDC20, Apple’s Josh Shaffer and Eliza Block have joined John Sundell on the Swift by Sundell podcast to talk in detail about everything that’s new in SwiftUI, the new home screen widgets in iOS 14, Xcode Previews, and more. Josh Shaffer, director of engineering at Apple and Eliza Block, an iOS software engineer offer great insight into what’s new with SwiftUI and also talk with John about what the internal process is like to adopt and improve the platform....