Apple

Following our report claiming that Apple Watch will launch in U.S. carrier stores later this month, Apple has now updated its regional websites to reveal that the device’s availability will soon be further expanded. Apple this morning updated its Austria, Denmark, and Ireland websites to reveal that Apple Watch will be available on September 25th.

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Update: Images of the new store’s facade below via @MikesiOSHelp and @thequinntaylor.

With Apple’s redesigned company store set to open this weekend, details of changes to the new store have been highlighted in a memo to employees (via MacMagazine). Among the changes, the new Apple company store will for the first time sell Apple devices including the iPhone, iPad, Macs, and Apple Watch. The store is also re-opening with a new collection of Apple-branded merchandise including clothing, mugs, and other collectibles that are only available at the company store. 
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This wasn’t discussed much in the official announcement, but the iPad mini 4 is a pretty nice step above its predecessor with enhancements in a few key areas that definitely make a difference. The major things you need to know about with this iPad mostly falls in line with Apple’s upgrade patterns: thinner, lighter, faster. Though there are some performance differences at play as well…

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At its event earlier this month, Apple took the wraps off of a refreshed iPad mini 4 that is nearly identical to the iPad Air 2, but obviously in a smaller form factor. This evening, the crew at iFixit has shared its detailed teardown images of the iPad mini 4 and as expected, they show what is essentially a scaled down iPad Air 2.

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Today we get one of the best looks yet at Apple’s under construction “Campus 2” in Cupertino with a drone flyover video courtesy of Emory Peterson and aerial photography company Above Reno.

The video, shot in 4K over Labor Day weekend earlier this month, gets us up close with Apple’s rapidly progressing Campus 2 project scheduled for completion in late 2016. Above Reno notes the video was “filmed at or below 400 feet above ground level with clearance from the local FAA office.”
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Update: Now at over 30,000 1-star reviews:

Yo Tim, what's the customer sat on the Move to iOS app http://t.co/aFeOtup4f1 pic.twitter.com/ebytmXG1nt

— Benjamin Mayo (@bzamayo) September 27, 2015

Apple launched its ‘Move to iOS’ Android app yesterday as part of the iOS 9 launch, which streamlines the process of migrating data and apps from an Android phone to an iPhone. Just hours after launch however, Android users are not taking well to Apple’s first Android app (if you discount Beats Music, which existed before Apple acquired them). The app has accrued over 2700 1-star ratings in the few hours it has been available, with a less-than-spectacular 1.9 star average rating.

Very few of the commenters seemed to have actually used the app to migrate data to an iPhone and are instead using the reviews section to vent their frustration at Apple in general. The reviews are dominated by Android users complaining about iPhone battery life, overpriced Apple Watches, ‘iSheep’ and more …

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The retail availability of Apple Watch has been gradually expanding since its initial release back in April and now it looks like another avenue for purchasing the device will soon emerge. According to images of an internal Sprint stock screen obtained by 9to5Mac, Sprint will begin to sell Apple Watch in its retail locations on Friday, September 25th.

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We’ve already rounded up several apps this week that have been updated with iOS 9 support and that rollout continues tonight to a pair of popular apps. This evening, both Pocket and Hulu for iOS have been updated with support for the latest version of Apple’s operating system. Pocket has been updated to version 6.0.1, while Hulu has been updated to 4.6.1.

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Apple is no stranger to acquiring companies to bolster its Apple Maps offering and now it appears that the company has acquired yet another company to do just that. According to a report out of Re/code, Apple today has acquired Mapsense, a San Francisco-based startup that focused on building software that analyzed and visualized location data.

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One of the standout features of the new Apple TV is its support for gaming, but now Apple has reversed its stance and placed a new limitation on that capability. Apple has said from the beginning that third-party controllers will be supported on the new Apple TV. The SDK for the device carries Game Controller support and the company mentioned it on stage at its unveil event. Apple also mentioned that games that worked only with third-party controllers were okay, meaning the games wouldn’t necessarily have to be compatible with the company’s bundled Siri Remote. Now, however, Apple says that games can not require the use of third-party controllers.

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Apple has started a new big project in its web services division, according to The Information. The report claims Apple has decided to rewrite its cloud services to all fall under one single technology stack using open-source technologies. This will combine Apple’s services like iCloud, Siri, iTunes and more into a unified backend platform.

Apple has seemingly settled on Mesos, the backend infrastructure for Siri, as the core of its new platform which will take years to finish. Apple publicly revealed it had moved Siri to a Mesos stack earlier in the year.

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Reports surfaced last fall that Apple was opening a new research and development office in Lund, Sweden, continuing a wave of new satellite locations outside of headquarters in Cupertino, California. Rapidus (via tech.eu) has followed up with a new details now claiming that Apple’s been building out operations in Lund over the last several months to develop ‘advanced mapping technology’ for Apple Maps. The ramp up of hiring at the Swedish offices focused on mapping comes four years after Apple bought C3 Technologies, which translated to Apple’s Flyover and 3D features in Maps.
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Apple did something very uncharacteristic with the launch of the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus – it made the devices both thicker and heavier than their predecessors. While many people attributed this weight gain to the new 7000 series aluminum the new iPhones use. It appears, however, that the weight gain is actually attributable to the new 3D Touch display.

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It was announced last week that Apple CEO Tim Cook would appear on CBS’s The Late Show and now the Apple executive has arrived in New York City for the show. As seen in a variety of images shared on Twitter, Cook today made an appearance at the Fifth Avenue Apple Store. While at the store, Cook mingled and took selfies with customers, essentially causing chaos in the packed retail store. Apple executive Eddy Cue also was at the store today.

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iPhone 6s and 6s Plus are on their way with preorders kicking off over the weekend, so now is the time to buy a case for your new device in order to have it in time for an official launch set for later this month on September 25.

As is tradition, we’ve put together a roundup of the best choices for to protect your new iPhone with our selections of the best iPhone 6s and 6s Plus cases available to order now.
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If you don’t want to spend $50 for a case every time Apple announces a new device, you still have great options: cases with comparable quality are available for much less money if you do your research. One of the best brands for that is Poetic, maker of an Apple Watch stand we loved, and today the company has released brand new, sub-$20 iPhone 6s and 6s Plus cases called Revolution and Affinity.

They are both available to order now in anticipation of the new iPhone launch later this month. Here’s the rundown…
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The Wall Street Journal today announced that Apple CEO Tim Cook will appear at the second annual WSJ.D Live conference in October. Cook, of course, appeared at the inaugural WSJ.D conference last year and gave an in-depth interview with the publication. This year’s conference is slated to run from October 19th through October 21st at The Montage in Laguna Beach, California.

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Apple’s iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV event is finally over and we’ve got a lot to say about it. From 3D Touch to the iPad Pro’s Apple Pencil, there’s a lot to cover that happened during the event. Let’s get into a recap of the event as well as our first impressions of Apple’s latest product announcements. The Happy Hour podcast is available for download on iTunes and through our dedicated RSS feed.

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With Apple’s introduction of its new iPhone 6s and 6s Plus going on sale later this month, the company will discontinue the gold color option for the previous generation iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus and iPhone 5s.
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