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Ken Segall – who was creative director of Apple’s ad agency for 12 years, leading the Think Different campaign – has addressed the oft-debated topic about whether the company is less innovative in the post-Steve era … Author of the best-selling book Insanely Simple: The Obsession That Drive’s Apple’s Success, Segall said that while Steve Jobs played a unique role, nothing has changed under Cook’s leadership. His remarks are reported by The Korea Herald....

Apple’s trial with Samsung continued today with Apple using two expert witnesses to testify on its behalf. The company today brought in industrial designer Alan Ball and the original Macintosh icon designer Susan Kare to try to sway the jury… As a quick refresher, the case centers around whether or not design patents are “powerful tools to keep competitors at bay or relatively limited in power,” as CNET puts it. A key point is the term “article of manufacture....

Jeff Williams announcing September Apple Watch updates – AFP In addition to launching a new 4-inch iPhone likely called the “iPhone 5se,” Apple plans to announce new Apple Watch models in March. The new lineup will be similar to the September 2015 Apple Watch revision, bringing a series of new band color options to the Apple Watch lineup. We are also told that entirely new bands made out of new materials are in development in addition to partnerships with firms beyond Hermes....

The Apple TV+ experience for web browser users has been improved today, with a new homepage interface that mirrors the design seen in the TV app when navigating to the Apple TV+ tab. The tv.apple.com web app is generally used by people who want to watch Apple TV+ content but do not own devices that are compatible with the TV app, such as Windows PCs and Android users. It is also used by owners of Macs that cannot update to Catalina and therefore do not have the native TV app option....

You’ll need a cable subscription for HBO and ESPN to work. DirectTV or Charter subscribers won’t be able to use HBO GO, and the ESPN app won’t work if you’re a Dish or DriecTV subscriber. Not a whole lot here for cord cutters. HBO Go does have previews, and ESPN has some videos, but no live streaming without cable. Everyone will be able to watch Sky News live. With a paid subscription, you can watch the anime service Crunchyroll, and the on-demand HD music concert and documentaries on Qello....

Apple still leverages Siri, along with several new software updates and improvements, including the ability to play music from third-party services like Spotify, instead of being limited to Apple Music as has been the case since its launch in 2018. The smaller speaker has the same mesh covering on the outside as the original HomePod, albeit smaller, but it’s more of a spherical shape than the column-like shape of the bigger HomePod....

Bloomberg has published a report with new details about how Apple plans to leverage its TV app on iOS and Apple TV to add new subscribers to its ecosystem. According to the publication, Apple plans to offer subscriptions to video services directly through the TV app sometime ” in the next year.” As Bloomberg highlights, the move would connect various parts of Apple’s platforms that already exist today and encourage customers to subscribe through Apple:...

That purported 4-inch “iPhone 6c” floating around the web yesterday? It’s fake, according to sources who have used the upcoming iPhone with a 4-inch display. Instead of releasing a smaller version of the iPhone 6s in order to appease potential customers seeking an iPhone with a screen smaller than 4.7 or 5.5-inches, Apple is upgrading the existing iPhone 5s that was first released in fall 2013. Also contrary to rumors, the device is not a preview of the iPhone 7 as it will mostly retain the 5s’s design and still include a headphone jack…...

Apple today has released iOS 14 beta 6 and iPadOS 14 beta 6 to developers. This release comes one week after iOS 14 beta 5 was released to developers and public beta users, signaling a shift from the two-week release cycle to weekly releases. Read on for a roundup of what’s new. iOS 14 beta 6 is available to developers via an over-the-air update in the Settings app. As usual, if the update does not immediately appear for download, keep checking as it sometimes takes a while to roll out to all registered developers....

Apple has just released iOS 4.3.5 for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. This update comes just days after the iOS 4.3.4 release and it resolves a “security issue” which has been resolved with certificate verification. Standalone downloads and geeky specifics below: iOS Firmware BGR: AT&T prepping for early September iPhone 5 launch (9to5mac.com) Native iPad app discovered in Facebook for iPhone (9to5mac.com) From Apple’s KB: This document describes the security content of iOS 4....

According to the update data the release contains improvements and bug fixes which include the following: Fixes an issue in iOS 8.0.1 that impacted cellular network connectivity and Touch ID on iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 PlusFixes a bug so HealthKit apps can now be made available on the App StoreAddresses an issue where 3rd party keyboards could become deselected when a user enters their passcodeFixes an issue that prevented some apps from accessing photos from the Photo LibraryImproves the reliability of the Reachability feature on iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 PlusFixes an issue that could cause unexpected cellular data usage when receiving SMS/MMS messagesBetter support of Ask To Buy for Family Sharing for In-App PurchasesFixes an issue where ringtones were sometimes not restored from iCloud backupsFixes a bug that prevented uploading photos and videos from Safari...

Apple responded today to the contacts-sharing issue with a statement indicating it plans to put some form of a setting on contact data that would allow users to control who views the data, similar to the way Apple locks down location data. Congress became involved and probably motivated the move, but the legislative body is not going to like what it hears. The problem is that iOS apps not only have access to a user’s contacts database (including addresses and notes), but apps also have full and unencumbered access to everything in the iOS app sandbox, such as pictures, music, movies, calendars, and a host of other data....

. We’ve been told by an Apple Store source who has been reliable in the past that preparations are being made for a big Apple Store event which will culminate on Friday, March 16th. Naturally, this points to an iPad 3 launch on the Friday just nine days after tomorrow’s announcement. We’ve previously noted that an Apple Store in London at the world famous Harrod’s will open on that date as well as a new Store in Houston, Texas....

Apple will further differentiate the next-generation 9.7-inch iPad from its predecessor by making it part of the new iPad Pro line, according to sources. Much like the MacBook Pro comes in 13-inch and 15-inch sizes, the iPad Pro will soon come in 9.7-inch and 12.9-inch variations. This trend follows Apple not calling its 12-inch MacBook a new Air despite developing the product as an apparent successor to the MacBook Air....

Apple Pay is continuing to expand internationally. The service recently launched in Poland and Norway and is constantly adding new banks, including in the US where it supports a ton of banks and credit unions. This week, Apple Pay is picking up two new banks in Brazil. Launched in Brazil on April 4th after being promised by Tim Cook during Apple’s Q1 earnings call, Apple Pay is only available for clients of Itaú with MasterCard or Visa credit cards....

Delays between Apple announcing a product and shipping it to customers have more than doubled under Tim Cook’s watch, according to a WSJ analysis. The averages bear out the paper’s claim, though also illustrate the rather small difference for a typical product launch … It notes that all three of the biggest completely new products launched since Cook became CEO were significantly delayed: the original Apple Watch, AirPods and the HomePod (though the Watch shipped within the promised timeframe)....

Apple appears to have recently started promoting some of its own stock iOS apps on the App Store for search terms that would have previously displayed results from third-party developers first. As noted by MacStories, when searching for terms such as “browser”, “web”, “SMS”, “Movies”, “cloud, “Siri”, “internet”, and others on the App Store, Apple is now promoting some of its own apps and services such as Safari, iTunes, Messages, iCloud, and Siri as the first results....

Apple has just released the first bug fix centric iOS 10.0.2 update today for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. The update includes fixes that should address issues where Lightning headphones would momentarily lose playback controls as well as other fixes. Today’s update focuses on three major bugs, with the first being the annoyance plaguing users who have moved to using Lightning headphones daily. While intermittent, headphones plugged into the Lightning port would lose playback controls from headphones causing more headaches than necessary....

Apple just released Safari 5.1.5 on its website and through Software Update, and it only contains a fix for a bug “that could affect website usability” when in 32-bit mode. The update follows a larger release earlier this month with Safari 5.1.4, which included a long list of Javascript, PDF, and HTML5 related security and performance improvements. In February, Apple rolled out Safari 5.2 for Lion to developers as part of the Mountain Lion preview....

Beats was purchased by Apple quite a while back. With that being said, Apple has yet to design any Beats products in-house, continuing to use the original Beats designs. Today, Apple’s Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre have been hit with damages in the millions over a Beats case from 2016. Billboard reports that Beats co-founders Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre will be ordered by a jury in a Los Angeles Superior Court to pay $25 million in Beats royalties to Steven Lamar for helping design the original Beats headphones....