As we enter the busy holiday shopping season, Apple today has shared four new advertisements for the iPhone X on its YouTube channel. These new videos highlight several Face ID features, such as Animoji… Apple seems to be aiming to dispel some common worries about Face ID with these new videos. For instance, one of the videos focuses on using Face ID in the dark, showing how the feature works in the light with “no problem” thanks to the TrueDepth camera sensor and more....

Ever since the story broke in mid-July that Apple was looking to fund some original podcast series, the tech-community has had a lot of opinions about what this might mean for the future of podcasting. On recent episodes of The Talk Show and ATP, there was plenty of discussion about why Apple might be considering funding podcasts, and what it might be for the industry as a whole. I think it’s an interesting discussion to have, so I wanted to add my opinions on why I think Apple is funding original podcasts....

Ahead of CES, LG has revealed two new monitors with a couple of features that are bound to attract the attention of prosumers and gamers alike. First up is the 32-inch 32UD99 that offers HDR10 support and USB-C connectivity alongside an IPS 4K panel. With Apple discontinuing its Thunderbolt Display, LG’s latest creation is likely to be a notable alternative for Mac users. USB-C ports bring single cable connectivity that can charge your MacBook and add additional ports thanks to the built-in hub....

Apple’s longtime head of public relations Katie Cotton is set to retire. Cotton was with Apple for nearly 20 years and served as VP of Worldwide Corporate Communications directly under Tim Cook and Steve Jobs before him. There’s not much info surrounding the high-profile departure, but she is reportedly moving on to spend time with family. Apple and Cotton did provide the following statements to Recode: Cotton told the site the decision to leave Apple would be one of the hardest of her career: “This is hard for me,” she said....

Following up on the new version of iBooks, which was released this morning, with greater support in Asia and support for books from Japanese publishers, Apple has published a press release with some new details. Notably, Apple says that the iBooks application for iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch has been downloaded 130 million times worldwide. iBooks originally launched in early 2010 alongside the iPad and was brought to the iPhone and iPod touch later that year....

After providing developers with beta build 13F14 of the upcoming OS X Mavericks 10.9.5 last week, Apple today has released yet another build of the beta. Build 13F18 is available now and asks developers to focus on USB, USB Smart Cards, Safari, Graphics, Thunderbolt and Gatekeeper integration with 10.9.5. Apple also reminded developers and testers of recent app signing changes for Gatekeeper: Signatures created with OS X version 10.8.5 or earlier (“v1 signatures”) are obsoleted and will no longer be recognized by Gatekeeper....

Apple has long offered the ability for customers to purchase gift cards online and instantly send them to people via email. The company, however, appears to have recently removed the option from its website in the United States. Oddly enough, the email delivery method is still available in other countries. At this point, it’s unclear why Apple has removed the email gift card feature in the United States. It could very well be a mistake, but the company has not yet commented on the change....

Apple will be hosting at least two exclusive events at its retail stores to celebrate Global Accessibility Awareness Day tomorrow. These include one with Paralympian Scout Bassett and Nike+ Head Coach Chris Bennett and another with activist Andrea Dalzell. Apple’s Chicago flagship store on Michigan Avenue will be hosting Perspectives: Scout Bassett x Coach Bennett tomorrow from 12PM-1PM local time. Apple notes that Bassett won her first international competition medal last year at the World Championships in London....

Pre-orders for the iPhone 6 will start at 12:01 a.m. PDT and will be available to purchase in Apple Stores on Sept. 19th, 2014, but what isn’t widely known is that it looks like Apple is kicking off Personal Pickup availability starting with preorders as well. This means that you’ll be able to preorder an iPhone 6 and select a store in your area and pick it up on launch day…....

Apple is continuing the roll out of Apple Pay today with the addition of 20+ new US banks and credit unions supporting the iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch-based payments service. The total 23 new banks and credit unions include: American Chartered Bank Bank-Fund Staff Federal Credit Union Bellco Credit Union EFCU Financial First Federal First National Bank Health Care Systems Federal Credit Union Keesler Federal Credit Union Kemba Credit Union Members 1st Federal Credit Union NorthStart Credit Union Parsons Federal Credit Union Pinnacle Bank Randolph Brooks Federal Credit Union Service Credit Union SRP Federal Credit Union SUMA (Yonkers) FCU Tampa Bay Federal Credit Union Tennessee Valley Federal Credit Union Tri County Area Federal Credit Union Trona Valley Federal Credit Union United Teletech Financial Winthrop Area FCU The expansion comes ahead of the international expansion for Apple Pay with a UK launch planned for later this month....

Apple Pay has been slowly making its way across the world, and today it’s officially rolling out in New Zealand. Customers of ANZ are receiving emails now explaining that it is available to them, and readers are able to configure their cards within the Wallet app. This now marks the tenth country where Apple Pay is available, alongside Australia, Canada, China, France, Hong Kong, Russia, Singapore, Switzerland, UK, and the US....

Apple Pay continues its rollout across the US with a stop in Las Vegas. The Cosmopolitan resort has announced that Apple Pay will be accepted at the hotels’ front desk, restaurants and bars by early June. Room service can also be streamlined using Apple Pay, as the concierge service will also accept Apple Pay as a payment method. This means that you can pay with your iPhone or even your Apple Watch....

The embattled monitor maker Proview, fighting Apple over rights to the iPad name in China, suffered a blow as the Shanghai Pudong New Area People’s Court rejected a preliminary injunction against the sale of the iPad. This means Apple can continue selling iPads in its flagship Shanghai stores without fear (and embarrassment) of sales suspension. The hearings are now postponed, because both companies are awaiting the results of a separate case in the Guangdong provincial high court, the Wall Street Journal reported today....

Apple has a new advertising campaign called ‘They send, you spend’ that highlights the newest Apple Pay features: Apple Pay Cash and Apple Pay in Messages. The campaign includes three micro-ads so far, demonstrating how fast and simple Apple Pay features can be. Apple Pay Cash lets you keep a real cash balance on a virtual debit card in Apple’s Wallet app. You can spend your balance in apps or in stores that accept Apple Pay, or you can transfer your balance to an existing bank account....

Apple today will release the fourth betas of iOS 14 and iPadOS 14 to developers. Today’s release of iOS 14 beta 4 comes two weeks after the release of beta 3, which included new features such as new Clock app widgets, Apple Music changes, and more. Today’s update will continue to make refinements to iOS 14 for iPhone and iPad users. Update: iOS 14 beta is now rolling out to registered developers....

Apple just seeded its second beta release of OS X 10.11.3 to both public beta testers and developers as it prepares for the upcoming public release. Apple released the first beta of 10.11.3 on the Mac App Store mid-December following the public release of OS X El Capitan 10.11.2 earlier that month. The company didn’t include any release notes with the first two pre-release versions of 10.11.3, which means the update should focus on performance improvements and bug fixes instead of major new features or enhancements....

Apple has acquired a small Italian startup called Stamplay, according to a new report from local newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore. Stamplay was founded in 2012 with a specialization in cloud development and API-based backend development — experts in fields that could benefit Apple’s services. Apple has not yet commented on the report of this acquisition. Apple is said to have paid around five million euros for Stamplay, which equates to roughly $5....

While Apple made a $1 billion investment in Chinese ride-hailing service Didi Chuxing earlier this year, it apparently also held talks with Lyft, another popular car request service, regarding an acquisition. According to a report from the New York Times, Lyft has recently held discussions with handful of companies to discuss a possible acquisition, with Apple being one of them. The biggest factor working against Lyft during the acquisition talks was apparently its asking price....

As Apple continues to ramp up its focus on augmented reality, the company has recently hired a specialist from NASA for its efforts. According to a new report from Bloomberg, Apple has hired Jeff Norris, a specialist in new technology at NASA… The report cites “people familiar with the matter” and says that Norris joined Apple earlier this year, working as senior manager on the company’s augmented reality team. At NASA, Norris founded the Mission Operations Innovation Office of its Jet Propulsion Lab....

Apple is reported to be in talks with British Telecom (BT) to help kick-start its pay-TV plans in the UK. The Telegraph reports that the deal is designed to be a win-win for both companies. BT would get extra customers for its own pay-TV channel, while Apple would not only benefit from extra sales of its Apple TV box, but would also have a larger audience once it’s ready to move ahead with its own subscription television service....