According to local newspaper DongA, Apple is set to announce a major contract with Kia Motors, worth about $3.6 billion as the company ramps up its efforts to build an electric car. According to the papers, the news could be officially announced as soon as February 17. Apple is apparently looking to produce about 100,000 cars a year, starting in 2024. A previous report had suggested that Apple was looking to sign a deal with Hyundai by March....

Apple has shared its latest white paper via its machine learning journal. Today’s entry is “Learning with Privacy at Scale” and covers specific algorithms Apple is using with differential privacy to improve product features with some specific use cases like discovering popular emoji. Launched this past summer, Apple has used its machine learning journal to share about the evolution of Siri, how ‘Hey Siri’ works, its facial detection, and more....

Almost two weeks after the last release to developers, Apple seeded OS X 10.7.4 build 11E46 to developers this evening. The update features no known issues and asks developers to focus on the App Store, graphics, Mail, QuickTime, screen sharing, and Time Machine. If you are a registered Mac developer, you can grab the update from the Developer Center. Apple did not provide a public release date for 10.7.4. You can check out the full release note after the break....

Apple has just sent out a new pre-release version of OS X 10.9.3. The update has a build number of 13D17 and asks developers to focus on testing the graphics and audio drivers. The limited scope of the focus indicates that issues in other areas have been ironed out and the software is almost ready to ship to customers. Apple first seeded 10.9.3 betas to developers earlier this month. The update is expected to bring support for 60GHz output to 4k Displays at Retina resolution from the latest generation of MacBook Pros....

ABC published some out-takes from a video Apple provided it showing Steve Jobs in the run up to the iPhone launch and at other times later in his tenure at Apple that depict his lighter, more humanistic side. Apple has previously worked with ABC, providing Tim Cook airtime to discuss both Apple and Steve Jobs a year ago. The move by Apple is likely in response to two negative movies that portray the Apple cofounder in an arguably negative light; these are hitting theaters this month....

The Economic Times reported that Apple plans to triple the number of Apple-exclusive franchise stores in India from 65 to 200 by 2015, but the country still won’t see any official Apple Stores. Government regulations mean that branded stores must source 30 percent of their stock from Indian companies, something Apple’s yet unable to do. It instead sells via franchisees who operate under their own brands, though generally emulating the look and feel of official stores to some degree …...

Apple has just published a new user guide that details what life would be like for iOS users if Apple were forced to allow the sideloading of third-party apps. The report, which was published this morning, is called Building a Trusted Ecosystem for Millions of Apps and describes Apple’s view on the importance of having a curated and managed App Store be the only way that iOS devices can download new apps....

Apple has just begun seeding out the first 10.2 beta update for the Apple TV out to developers today. We’ll update the post below with any new discoveries. After yesterday’s release of the performance-focused tvOS 10.1.1 software update, today’s 10.2 beta update for the Apple TV includes some new admin-level features for the device. The update today enables enrolling Apple TVs into Apple’s Device Enrollment Program and even expanding Mobile Device Management onto the Apple TV....

Digitimes has shed more light on CEO Tim Cook’s early December announcement that a Mac line’s production will move to the United States in 2013 courtesy of a $100 million investment. According to the hit-and-miss publication this evening, Cupertino-based Apple will move the production of its Mac mini to the U.S. (and not the Mac Pro, as previously theorized.) The infamous Foxconn will be responsible for manufacturing it, moving away from its traditional Asia and South America locale....

A European Parliament committee is holding a public hearing on tax evasion later this month, and has invited Apple to attend. Apple has declined the invitation, but offered to meet committee members in private … Reuters reports that the reason Apple doesn’t want to comment publicly is it is afraid of prejudicing its pending appeal against the EU’s ruling that it owes Ireland €13B ($15B) in underpaid tax. Thwaites goes on to say that Apple has the deepest respect for the committee, and would be happy to meet privately to address any questions it may have....

Apple Watch running the original 1.0 software rather reliably recorded a user’s heart rate every ten minutes. With Watch OS 1.0.1, users noticed that heart rate records were no longer being kept as frequently. This was initially thought to be a bug but Apple has now clarified that this is intended behaviour on its website. The updated website says that ‘Apple Watch attempts to measure your heart rate every ten minutes, but won’t record it when you are in motion or your arm is moving’....

Apple has just released several new beta seeds to developers today, including a build of OS X 10.9.4 (build number 13E16), a new version of Safari 6.1.5, and OS X Server 3.2 (build 13S5515). The first beta build of OS X 10.9.4 was released at the end of last month, but so far there don’t seem to be any major new changes in the update. This is the first seed of Safari 6....

Apple last night released its annual Supplier Responsibility Report that outlines the progress being made for everything from empowering workers to labor and human rights issues within its supply chain. It also highlighted audit results for 393 audits performed during the year—a 72-percent increase over the number of audits it performed in 2011. Apple said its worker empowerment program providing education on local laws and the company’s supplier code of conduct was extended to 1....

As is tradition, the Apple Store is down ahead of today’s Apple event. Apple is expected to announce a trio of new models; the iPhone 11, iPhone Pro, and iPhone Pro Max flagship phones for the holiday season. The event kicks off at 10 a.m. Pacific Time. Apple has drawn a lot of attention to today’s event, with heavy marketing across social media and in online ads. The strapline for today’s event is, “By innovation only,” which has further raised expectations....

As originally reported in December, Apple is currently in the process of building its first research and development center in Indonesia. According to a new report from The Jakarta Post, the research and development center will begin operations during the second quarter of this year while iPhone 7 sales will begin in the country tomorrow… Apple’s new institution in Indonesia is said to develop educational programs for 300 to 400 local students, according to today’s report....

Well, these companies always claim they’re making the world a better place, aren’t they? And which tech company has made the world a better, prettier place than Apple? (I pause a moment for your reaction.) Tim Cook and his cohorts have created an atmosphere of such revolutionary excitement that customers expect glorious products and joyous service. That’s not quite what one Apple customer says he found on a recent visit to an Apple store....

Apple rolled out the marketing budget last night at the Emmy Awards. The company picked up an Emmy for Carpool Karoake, but Apple’s presence was made known by a series of Apple TV+ commercials during the ad breaks. As the company readies its service for launch, with the first shows dropping on November 1, Apple has not been shy to drum up press for the streaming service. Apple TV+ features only original Apple programming of TV shows and movies....

Earlier this week, a security researcher detailed how the Zoom video conferencing app installed a hidden web server on Macs, leaving users vulnerable to having their webcams hijacked. Now, TechCrunch reports that Apple has pushed a silent update to macOS to remove that hidden web server. Apple confirmed to TechCrunch that it did in fact push the silent update to Mac users, and that the update does not require any user interaction to install....

Along with the updates released earlier today, Apple has now released macOS High Sierra 10.13.6 to the public. With this release, Apple is touting AirPlay 2 within iTunes (which requires a separate update to version 12.8). This means iTunes will have more reliable AirPlay playback with less latency, and stereo paired HomePods are now recognizable in the main AirPlay switcher. Before, iTunes would display all the HomePods separately (separating left and right stereo pairs for example) in the main switcher and only support remote control in the ‘Switch To:’ menu....

Apple today has released the sixth developer preview of OS X 10.11 El Capitan. Just last week the company released beta 5 to developers, although the update appeared to be very minor and didn’t include any noticeable changes. It is likely that this new beta has a similar focus, with Apple working mainly on under-the-hood bug fixes and improvements. The update carries the build number 15A244d. We’ll update this post with enhancements as they are discovered....