Almost two years ago to date, Apple acquired a Topsy Labs, an analytics company that made various products that searched and drew data from conversations happening on services like Twitter. Now, Apple has shut down the service according to a tweet from Topsy. “We’ve searched our last tweet,” Topsy said in a post on Twitter this evening. Going to Topsy’s website now redirects you to an Apple support article on how to use Search on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch....

After our attempt at explaining the 500% markup on Apple’s new solar array yesterday, further information has now confirmed that Apple’s new stores – starting in the brand new San Francisco location – will be utilizing a new walkable solar glass floor technology for electricity generation. According to a document on Onyx Solar’s website, Apple “has decided to commit itself to OnyxSolar’s designer photovoltaic technology for its new stores. The first of these is located in the heart of San Francisco, the company’s home town....

Users looking to trade in their iPhone 5 for credit toward a newer model will now get less value out of their old devices. Today Apple cut the trade-in value of the iPhone by $45, from the previous $270 down to only $225. The change is visible on websites for both United States and Canada Apple Stores, but it is likely that stores in other countries will see changes in local currency equivalents....

Apple is pretty vocal about its stance on equality, often noting that everyone that works for Apple deserves equal pay, regardless of race or gender. However, that belief doesn’t always translate to reality. Reuters reports that male Apple employees in the U.K. get paid 5 percent more than women on average. It does say that the median pay for women was 2 percent higher than men, though. This information comes out a day after a deadline in Britain, which required companies to report their gender pay gaps....

Apple has removed the vinyl window coverings from its first retail store in Singapore, revealing the interior for the first time. Straits Times reports that the ground floor is used to display both main products and accessories, while the focus of the upper floor is on space for the company’s Today at Apple creative sessions … The paper says that one of the photos sees staff being briefed prior to the grand opening on Saturday....

Apple Pay continues to pick up new banks and credit unions every few weeks — and soon three new countries. These are the latest new banks and credit unions added in the US that let you pay with iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Mac… United States Aeroquip Credit Union AllSouth Federal Credit Union AuburnBank Azura Credit Union Bangor Federal Credit Union Bank of Sun Prairie Citizens National Bank of Albion Community Alliance Credit Union Community Bank (IL) Dover-Phila Federal Credit Union Family Financial Credit Union Farmers & Merchants Bank (NE) First Century Bank First Century Bank, N....

Apple has began promoting the new Photos app to Aperture users in an email blast to past customers. Photos replaces iPhoto with new iCloud features built in, but the app does not carry over the same advanced editing features as Aperture. Photos was first announced at WWDC last June with a release date targeted for sometime this year. The developer betas of OS X 10.10.3 included the new app for testers, and earlier this week the first public beta for non-developers was released....

Update: No new Apple display at WWDC … timing unclear but integrated GPU next-gen Apple Display is still in development. The current $999 (!) Thunderbolt Display is showing its age to put it mildly, now significantly overshadowed by Retina MacBooks and iMacs in terms of screen resolution and quality. Reaffirming earlier reports, we have heard that stock of the Thunderbolt Display at Apple Stores is quickly running out with no indications of more units on the way to replenish availability....

Apple has just shared a new TV commercial to its YouTube page, called ‘Bulbs’. The ad shows a series of lightbulbs exploding around the world, ending with a tag line ‘Ideas push the world forward’ and a few short shots of the new MacBook Pro with Touch Bar. The ad highlights human inventions like fire, harvesting, woodwork, trains, transport, television, robots and space travel, finishing with a few glimpses of Apple’s newest MacBook Pro which it calls “a tool for all the ideas to come”....

Apple usually begins their Back to School promotion approximately three months prior to their annual fall music-related event. This Back to School promotion usually serves a way for Apple to clear out their iPod inventory ahead of an early September refresh for the lineup. Given that iPods will not be in this years Back to School promotion, we are not too sure what to think about this fall’s iPod upgrade situation....

Apple has launched its latest Apple Pay promotion today. This time, the deal offers $5 off when you place an order for groceries with Instacart. When you place an Instacart order for $35 or more and use Apple Pay at checkout in the Instacart app for iOS, you’ll receive $5 off your order. This promotion runs from today through October 20th, Apple says. Here are the full terms of the deal:...

The job of Apple Retail Store employees will begin changing in profound ways next month. In order to showcase and sell the Apple Watch, retail employees will be trained to provide personal fashion and styling advice to customers, according to employees briefed on the plans. Until now, Apple Retail has been tasked with recommending iPads, iPhones and Macs with few styling options aside from limited color options. Apple is pushing for retail employees to initiate conversations that build trust, enabling the employee to serve as a valued fashion advisor during the purchase process, similarly to how traditional watches are sold....

A few days after the last release to developers, Apple seeded OS X 10.7.4 build 11E52 to developers this evening. The update features no known issues and asks developers to focus on graphics, iCal, Mail, Printing, 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....

Right on the heels of yesterday’s release of Mac OS X Lion 10.7.3 that includes Safari 5.1.3, Apple seeded its developer community with Safari 5.1.4 for Mac and Windows. Apple advised developers to update their test machines to OS X 10.7.3, because it is a requirement for Safari 5.1.4 for Lion. Release notes and download links are available after the break. JavaScript Performance Enhancements Safari 5.1.4 on Lion includes many fixes that enhance JavaScript performance....

Home control system integration with Apple TV and Siri is one of the few features introduced in tvOS 12, and this week Crestron is releasing an update to its programmable touch screen remote to support the new feature. Apple announced home control system integration last year at WWDC 2018 alongside Dolby Atmos support and new screen savers designed for Apple TV, although adoption of the smart home feature has been rather slow....

GforGames is today running a piece based on a Weibo post, claiming that both the 5.5-inch version of the iPhone 6 and iWatch will be released in December. December would be an extremely unlikely time for Apple to launch a new product. Many people will already have made holiday gift purchases by then, while others would have unleashed their gadget fund on Black Friday, which this year falls on 28th November....

Wow – that was worth the wait. Apple today introduced new iMacs, now equipped with 21.5-inch and 27-inch LED-backlit displays. The new Macs also ship with the all-new wireless Magic Mouse (more follows). More on the displays – these feature a new edge-to-edge glass design, while the body of these models features a seamless all aluminium enclosure. They offer a 16:9 aspect ratio. Prices on the new models start at £949 (inc....

Asymco’s Horace Dediu has estimated that Apple’s iTunes business, initially intended only to cover its costs as a way of driving hardware sales, now earns the company annual profits of a cool $2 billion. What started as just a music store now sells music, video, books, iOS software, and Mac software. Revenues have grown five-fold in 7 years, with total sales approaching $5 billion a quarter and notching up an estimated 23 billion transactions a year....

Reuters sources have said that Apple’s billion dollar investment in Chinese ride-sharing company Didi Chuxing was one of the key factors that led to Uber ceasing independent operation in the country. It was announced earlier this week that Didi had acquired UberChina in return for a 20% shareholding. Apple invested $1B in Didi back in May, the same month that the company began actively seeking to acquire UberChina. Together with investments with Chinese tech companies Alibaba and Tencent, it was this which led Uber to conclude that it was being out-spent and would ultimately lose the expensive battle for market domination …...

The latest installment in Apple’s ongoing Shot on iPhone ad campaign is a daring one, a five-hour journey through the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia. Shot on iPhone 11 Pro in 4K, Apple says the 5 hour 19 minute 28 second video was recorded on one battery charge. The journey covers more than 45 galleries and not only features the art on exhibition, but Apple set up several live performances along the way....