If you’ve been waiting for a sapphire glass for iPhone display, stop holding your breath because Apple’s $200 million investment in Corning says that’s not going to happen. The investment comes from Apple’s recently announced Advanced Manufacturing Fund, and is going to be used for Corning research and development, capital equipment needs, and state-of-the-art glass processing.
News
Amazon Prime on Apple TV Announcement Coming at WWDC
Apple plans to announce Amazon Prime Video for Apple TV during its Worldwide Developer Conference keynote presentation on June 5th. Amazon also plans to start selling Apple’s entertainment device again once the app is available.
Five Apple Videos for Shooting with iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus
Apple released five videos to YouTube Thursday evening, all of them designed to teach you how to shoot on iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus. Topics include shooting action, shooting “great portraits,” shooting close-ups, shooting vertical panoramics (panos), and shooting without Flash. We’ve got all five of them.
Apple Buying Up 3D Cameras for iPhone 8
The iPhone 8 will reportedly include a 3D camera with facial recognition capabilities, and LG Innotek is parts supplier. That fits with reports that have surfaced over the past few months, although this is the first time we’re hearing that Apple has placed a parts order with Innotek.
Tim Cook Is No Steve Ballmer
A piece at Seeking Alpha argues that Tim Cook needs to be replaced as CEO of Apple because he’s “identical to Steve Ballmer.” Bryan Chaffin was specifically asked what he thought, so here’s the short version: it’s balderdash—Tim Cook is no Steve Ballmer.
Spot the Apple Product Placement in this SNL Video with Melissa McCarthy as Sean Spicer
Saturday Night Live has a new video trailer promoting Melissa McCarthy as White House spokesperson Sean Spicer, and it was retweeted by Apple VP Lisa Jackson. It could be that she’s a huge Melissa McCarthy fan—because yeah—or it could be the Apple product placement at 38 seconds.
TSMC Starts 10nm A11 Chip Production for iPhone 8
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company has started manufacturing Apple’s custom designed A11 processor for this fall’s iPhone 8 launch. Production was supposed to start in April, but was delayed while production issues were worked out.
Microsoft Adds Cortana to the Voice Assistant Game with Invoke
Amazon has Echo, Google has Home, Apple reportedly has its own voice controlled assistant in the works, and now Microsoft is getting in on the game, too. Microsoft’s device is called Invoke, and it uses the company’s Cortana voice interface coupled with Harman Kardon speakers.
Mac Developers: Microsoft’s Visual Studio for Mac Is Here
Today Microsoft has released Visual Studio for Mac, which it previewed at the Microsoft’s Connect(); 2016 developer event. It’s exciting news for developers who want to develop for Windows without giving up their Apple devices.
New Render Shows the iPhone 8 We're Likely Getting this Fall
Another iPhone 8 render is out, giving us another look at what to expect when Apple officially announces the new smartphone model later this year. Steve Hemmerstoffer, known as @onleaks on Twitter, and his track record makes it very likely this is exactly what Apple plans to ship.
Apple Just Bought a Sleep Tracking Company
Apple is—at last—getting into the sleep tracking business. 9to5Mac reported that Apple purchased Beddit, a firm that makes sleep-tracking hardware and apps for Apple’s iPhone and Apple Watch.
Alexa Calling: Amazon Adds Voice Calling to Echo, Echo Dot
The just announced Echo Show isn’t the only device in Amazon’s lineup getting voice calling support. A new feature dubbed Alexa Calling is coming to the Echo, Echo Dot, and Alexa mobile app today. For now, the calling features are limited to the Echo lineup and Alexa app, but that could be the first step in turning the devices into speaker phones fro our homes.
Apple Invites Press to 2017 WWDC Keynote
Apple officially invited members of the press to its World Wide Developer Conference (WWDC) keynote. The conference will be held at the McEnery Convention Center in San Jose, CA, from June 5th to June 9th, with the keynote on June 5th.
Amazon Unveils Echo Show with Display and Video Camera
The biggest un-surprise of the day comes from Amazon and its just announced Echo Show. The well-leaked new Echo model includes a built-in display and camera so you can get visual responses to your Alexa queries and make video calls, too.
FBI Paid $900K for San Bernardino iPhone Hack
The FBI refused to ever share how much it paid for the hack into San Bernardino shooter Syed Farook’s iPhone, but thanks to Senator Diane Feinstein we now know the price was US$900,000. The Senator accidentally spilled the beans during a Judiciary Committee meeting on accessing encrypted data on smartphones and personal computers.
Phil Schiller Says Siri-like Voice Assistants Need Displays
If Apple really is making an Amazon Echo competitor, what does their Siri speaker appliance really need? According to Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing Phil Schiller, it needs a screen.
Apple Offers Free 3-Year Repair for iPad Smart Keyboard
Apple is offering a new three-year service policy for its Smart Keyboard iPad accessory. The company found that some keyboards were having functional issues during usage. Faulty Smart Connectors and sticky, repeating and non-responsive keys being some of the issues.
PSA: Video Converter Handbrake Was Compromised by Malware
While reading through forum posts, Jeff Butts came across some troubling news. It turns out that the popular video conversion app HandBrake has been compromised by malware.
Apple Music in the Running for Prince Documentary, Unaired Concert Video
Apple Music is among the streaming services in the running for exclusive rights to unaired Prince concert footage from 1983 and content for a Prince documentary. The content is related to Prince’s Purple Rain movie and album, and could be a big win for the service that scores the deal.
PSA: Russian-Backed Flash Trojan Ported to macOS
A Russian-backed bit of malware called Snake has been ported to macOS, according to security blog Fox-IT (via Malwarebytes Labs). Snake is a trojan disguised to look like a Flash installer, and it’s been around on Windows since 2008 and Linux since 2014. Bryan Chaffin explains.
Amazon Prime Video Finally Headed to Apple TV
Amazon seems to warming up to the idea of bringing Prime Video to the Apple TV, and it could come as early as this summer. Insider sources say Amazon and Apple have finally come to terms, which should make many Apple TV owners very happy.
Apple Dethrones Fitbit as the Top Wearables Maker
Apple has taken over Fitbit’s position as the top wearables maker for the first quarter of 2017. Wearable device shipments are on the rise, as are Apple’s sales, but Fitbit’s numbers are declining and the company laid off over 100 employees earlier this year.
Star Wars Windshield Wiper and Other Great Star Wars Day Sales
Today we have come to the intersection of two glorious things: Star Wars and puns. May the Fourth be with you! Kelly found some sales on physical goods to help you celebrate, and zero Bothans died for this information!
Apple Pushes 5th Developer Beta for tvOS 10.2.1
Apple released tvOS 10.2.1 beta 5, build 14W585, Thursday. There are no patch notes for the release, but at this stage of the development cycle Apple is most likely focused on squashing bugs.