Tim Cook in London to Talk Apple Watch and Visit Covent Garden Retail Store Posted: 27 Feb 2015 07:17 AM PST Apple CEO Tim Cook on Friday made an unannounced visit to the iconic Apple Store in Covent Garden, a popular shopping and tourist location in London, according to The Telegraph . The chief executive also sat down for an interview with the British publication to discuss the Apple Watch, providing a few more interesting details about the device ahead of Apple's highly-anticipated "Spring Forward" media event on March 9.
The chief executive told Apple retail employees at the Covent Garden store that the Apple Watch will be unlike any other product the company has ever sold before. "We've never sold anything as a company that people could try on before", said Cook. He added that "tweaking the experience in the store" will likely be a requirement when the wrist-worn device launches in April. During his visit to the Covent Garden store, one retail employee asked Cook what his biggest accomplishment was in the past year. "I'm proud we stayed true to our North Star", replied Cook. "We are pro-privacy, pro-environment and pro-human rights. He added that the Covent Garden location is one of his favorite Apple Stores and praised the retail staff for being such a contributing factor to Apple's success. Cook has been on traveling on an international tour this week, making stops in Belgium, Germany and Israel earlier this week. The chief executive kicked off the week in Belgium to meet with the European Commission, visited the newsroom of popular German publication BILD on Tuesday and traveled to Israel on Wednesday to sit down with President Reuven Rivlin, committing to continued growth in the country. Recent Mac and iOS Blog Stories
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Apple Faces Ericsson Lawsuit After Refusing Licensing Deal Posted: 27 Feb 2015 04:52 AM PST
Ericsson has filed two complaints with the U.S. International Trade Commission in an effort to secure an exclusion order against Apple, which could block the iPhone, iPad and other products involved from being sold in the United States. The company has also filed seven complaints with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas as part of the negotiations. Apple's previous licensing deal with Ericsson expired in mid-January. Apple originally filed suit against Ericsson on January 12, arguing that it was demanding excessive royalties for patents not essential to LTE standards. Ericsson countersued in a Texas courtroom just hours later, seeking an estimated $250 million to $750 million in royalties per year for Apple to continue licensing its patented wireless technologies. Ericsson is the world's largest provider of mobile network equipment and holds over 35,000 patents related to 2G, 3G and 4G wireless technologies. Apple was ordered to pay Smartflash LLC a $533 million settlement earlier this week in a separate patent lawsuit. Recent Mac and iOS Blog Stories
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'Click' Aims to Introduce Apple Watch Band Adapter in Upcoming Crowdfunding Campaign Posted: 26 Feb 2015 02:16 PM PST Ahead of the Apple Watch's launch, accessory makers are already hoping to create solutions that will allow the device to be used with a wide array of existing watch bands. Click, for example, is an upcoming watchband adapter that will slide into the band slots of the Apple Watch, allowing the Apple Watch casing to be used with any existing 24mm watchband. According to Click's creators, the adapter is a spring bar that will attach to a watchband, which will then fit into the Apple Watch's grooves, much like one of Apple's own watch bands. It appears to use the pin that comes with an existing watchband rather than shipping with one of its own.
Click is currently in the prototype stage with only 3D printed versions of the adapter available to show off, but the team behind Click is planning to introduce it via a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter in the next two weeks.
Apple's distaste for adapters that will allow the Apple Watch to be used with any watch band is not surprising given the amount of work that went into developing the six custom bands for the Apple Watch: the Link Bracelet, the Sport Band, the Leather Loop, the Modern Buckle, the Classic Buckle, and the Milanese Loop. Jony Ive has called the Apple Watch "one of the most difficult projects" he's ever worked on, and in multiple interviews, he's detailed the extensive amount of time that the company put into design of the Apple Watch.
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FCC Votes in Favor of Net Neutrality Rules, Classifies Broadband Service as a Utility Posted: 26 Feb 2015 01:25 PM PST
The ruling will reclassify fixed and mobile broadband as a telecommunications service, and Internet providers will be regulated under Title II of the Communications Act. The decision was heavily contested by Internet service providers such as AT&T, Comcast and Verizon, which could sue the FCC in an attempt to reverse the new rules. FCC officials believe that Type II reclassification will give them more legal authority to prevent net neutrality rules from being overturned. While the new requirements are intended to ensure that the Internet remains fast, fair and open, the FCC did not follow through with last-mile unbundling that would have required Internet service providers to sell wholesale access to their networks. That decision would have allowed new competitors to enter local markets and sell broadband service using the existing infrastructure of larger providers such as Comcast and Time Warner Cable.
The FCC's order on Thursday could be faced with legal challenges and action from Congress, according to the report, suggesting that debate surrounding net neutrality is far from over. The new rules will go into effect 60 days after being published in the U.S. Federal Register, although the Office of Management and Budget will continue to manage enhancements to the transparency rule. Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts. Recent Mac and iOS Blog Stories
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Apple Opens Up 'iWork for iCloud' to Everyone, No Apple Device Required Posted: 26 Feb 2015 12:51 PM PST Following a short beta testing period, Apple's iCloud.com website has been updated to make its iWork suite of apps accessible to all users, even those without an Apple device.
iCloud.com's web-only apps can be accessed from recent versions of Safari, Firefox, Chrome, and Internet Explorer. Free accounts are limited to 1GB of storage and users will need an iOS device or Mac to acquire more storage or access iCloud's full set of features. Recent Mac and iOS Blog Stories
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Apple Targeting Early April Launch Date for Apple Watch Posted: 26 Feb 2015 12:28 PM PST Apple has not provided details on when the Apple Watch might begin shipping to customers beyond the broad "April" launch date shared by CEO Tim Cook, but new information provided to MacRumors suggests the Apple Watch could see a release more towards the beginning of April rather than the end of the month. According to a reliable source that spoke with MacRumors, Apple is planning to begin moving Apple Watches to centralized distribution points in the U.S. during the first few days of the month, with an Apple Watch release possibly coming during the first full week of April, between April 6 and April 10.
Apple will likely share a specific Apple Watch release date during the March 9 event, and we're also likely to find out whether the company will be accepting pre-orders. With an early April launch timeline, Apple could begin accepting pre-orders during the last week of March. Apple will be live streaming its March 9 media event, and MacRumors will also be providing live coverage of the information the company unveils about the Apple Watch. Recent Mac and iOS Blog Stories
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Smartflash Hits Apple With Second Lawsuit After Winning $533 Million Verdict Posted: 26 Feb 2015 12:08 PM PST
The new lawsuit was filed in the same Tyler, Texas district court on Wednesday night, only hours after a federal jury found Apple guilty in the original trial. Apple plans to appeal the decision in the original lawsuit under the belief that the patents are invalid. The patented technologies relate to digital rights management for downloaded songs, videos and games.
Smartflash LLC fits the definition of a so-called "patent troll," which is generally considered to be a company that licenses patents but does not sell any products or services based on the inventions. The small company has also filed similar lawsuits against Samsung Electronics, Google and Amazon in recent months over the same patents. The new lawsuit against Apple was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. Recent Mac and iOS Blog Stories
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Apple to Live Stream 'Spring Forward' Apple Watch Event on March 9 Posted: 26 Feb 2015 10:19 AM PST Apple today updated its website to notify users that it plans to live stream its Monday, March 9 media event that will take place at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco. The event will be broadcast on Apple's Live website and it will also be available on the Apple TV via a dedicated channel. MacRumors will be providing live coverage of the event as well, both on MacRumors.com and on the MacRumorsLive Twitter account for those unable to watch Apple's live stream.
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Apple Sends Invites for 'Spring Forward' Media Event on March 9 Posted: 26 Feb 2015 09:07 AM PST Apple today sent out invites for a media event that will be held on Monday, March 9 at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, reports The Loop . As with most Apple media events, it will begin at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time. The event's "Spring Forward" tagline is decidedly time related and March 9 falls one day after the start of Daylight Saving Time in the United States, suggesting the Apple Watch may be the focal point.
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Friday 27 February 2015
MacRumors : Mac News and Rumors
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