AppleInsider

Apple streamlines transition from browser-based iTunes Preview to iTunes app for Mac & PC Posted: 01 Jul 2014 09:55 AM PDT Consumers who arrive at Apple's iTunes Store via the web-based iTunes Preview service will now notice a much slicker transition from their browser to iTunes, as Apple has done away with the old interstitial page in favor of a new in-place method.

8 new automakers pledge support for Apple's CarPlay, including Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Mazda & Ram Posted: 01 Jul 2014 08:53 AM PDT Joining last week's announcement that Audi will support the upcoming CarPlay platform, eight more car makers have been listed on Apple's website as "committed partners."

Apple 'overhauling' the backend for its Maps service, hints at 'big plans' to come Posted: 01 Jul 2014 08:36 AM PDT The tools that provide access to Apple's Maps service are being rewritten in a major way, with the company now recruiting software engineers to help with a major rewrite of the Maps application programming interface, AppleInsider has discovered.

Apple's new $199 iPod touch now available in the UK, other countries as global rollout continues Posted: 01 Jul 2014 06:54 AM PDT Consumers throughout Europe, Asia, and South America can now get their hands on Apple's revamped 16-gigabyte iPod touch, as the colorful media player has launched in a number of new countries just five days after its debut in the U.S.

Rumor: Samsung lands orders to trial 14nm Apple 'A9' chips at New York fab Posted: 01 Jul 2014 05:33 AM PDT Samsung Electronics and Globalfoundries are reportedly planning to begin building 14-nanometer mobile chips in small quantities at a New York-based facility in early 2015, which could set the stage for the team to begin building "A9" chips for Apple, according to a new report.

Apple's 'Back to School' promotion goes live with $100 gift cards for Mac purchases, $50 for iPhone and iPad Posted: 01 Jul 2014 12:55 AM PDT Apple on Tuesday revealed its "Back to School" sales promotion for summer 2014, offering $100 iTunes and App Store gift cards for new Mac purchases and $50 for iPhones and iPads.

Apple debuts new banners in retail stores, showcases iPhone and iPad through photography Posted: 01 Jul 2014 12:32 AM PDT Apple Store employees around the world have been installing new light box wall graphics showing a completely different style than the usual product close-ups overlaid atop stark white backgrounds.

Apple reportedly putting together team of speech recognition experts for neural network-powered Siri Posted: 30 Jun 2014 11:54 PM PDT A report on Monday claims Apple is putting together a team of A-list speech recognition researchers, including high-ranking employees from Nuance, to create an in-house Siri engine based on neural networking.

Los Angeles school district to shift away from Apple's iPad to Windows, Chromebook Posted: 30 Jun 2014 11:04 PM PDT A report over the weekend confirmed the Los Angeles Unified School District is planning to switch up a $1 billion technology in education project, allowing certain high schools in its jurisdiction to choose from six different Windows and Chromebook laptops instead of Apple's iPad.

Apple's in-house ad makers fall short of TBWAMedia Arts Lab, report says Posted: 30 Jun 2014 06:36 PM PDT According to data from research firm Ace Metrix, Apple's recent string of in-house advertisements don't stack up to those created by longtime go-to agency TBWA\Media Arts Lab, which dreamed up iconic campaigns like the "Think Different" series.

Apple's fiscal Q3 earnings call scheduled for July 22, first with new CFO Luca Maestri Posted: 30 Jun 2014 04:11 PM PDT Apple on Monday announced its quarterly earnings call for the third fiscal quarter of 2014 is slated for July 22 and will be the first such event for Luca Maestri since being officially confirmed as the company's new CFO.

Apple rolls out two-step verification for iCloud.com Web apps Posted: 30 Jun 2014 02:03 PM PDT Apple on Monday appears to have rolled out a new implementation of its two-factor Apple ID authentication system with iCloud.com, requiring users who have the additional layer of security enabled to enter a special code before accessing the Web apps.

Apple to reportedly kick off 'Back to School' promo on Tuesday with iTunes gift cards Posted: 30 Jun 2014 01:17 PM PDT According to a report on Monday, Apple will be launching its annual summertime "Back to School" sale campaign tomorrow, with this year's promotion again bringing iTunes gift cards to students buying Macs, iPads and iPhones.

Apple's Tim Cook, Eddy Cue invited to Allen & Co.'s 2014 Sun Valley conference Posted: 30 Jun 2014 12:16 PM PDT Investment bank Allen & Co. has once again extended an invitation for Apple CEO Tim Cook and services honcho Eddy Cue to attend the bank's annual conference in Sun Valley, Idaho alongside a number of other technology and business luminaries.

Sharp LCD plant revelation casts doubt on Apple's use of IGZO displays Posted: 30 Jun 2014 11:15 AM PDT Despite numerous reports that Apple is employing next-generation IGZO display panels in its iPad lineup, a weekend revelation that the iPhone maker has monopolized the output of a Sharp facility not known to produce IGZO components throws those assertions into question.

Apple is Barron's "most respected" company once again

Apple has returned to the top of Barron's annual list of "The World's Most Respected Companies" after being knocked out of the number one position by Berkshire Hathaway in 2013. Barron's complies their list from an annual survey of the 100 largest companies in the United States. The team from Cupertino has topped Barron's list for four out of the five years it has been published, but dropped from first to third place in last year's list.

This year Barron's had this to say about Apple:

The iEverything maker has reclaimed the throne with a flourish in 2014, its winning score leaving No. 2 Berkshire and other a blur in the rearview mirror.

In the past year Apple has made tremendous gains in its stock and shareholder dividends, and the consumer anticipation is high for the impending releases of the iPhone 6, updates for iOS and OS, and the rumored iWatch wearable device. Berkshire Hathaway came in second this year, with Boeing, Google, and Johnson & Johnson taking third, fourth, and fifth respectively.

Source: http://ift.tt/1rUmTBF

Apple reportedly developing in-house speech recognition solution for Siri

Apple may wean away from licensing Nuance's services for Siri, instead creating an in-house speech recognition solution which will be used to power the virtual assistant in the future. The move comes weeks after it was revealed by The Wall Street Journal that Samsung was possibly looking to acquire Naunce. According to Wired, Apple has already hired several experts in this field, including Nuance's former vice president of research Larry Gillick, and is said to be looking for more candidates in its bid to create a team of researchers to work on technologies like speech recognition, deep learning and neural networks.

"Apple is not hiring only in the managerial level, but hiring also people on the team-leading level and the researcher level," says Abdel-rahman Mohamed, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Toronto, who was courted by Apple.

While an in-house speech recognition engine may power Siri in the future, the upcoming version of Siri in iOS 8 will still utilize Nuance's voice recognition engine. The iOS 8 update includes new features like hands-free voice activation, music recognition via Shazam, streaming voice recognition and more.

What features would you like to see in future versions of Siri?

Source: Wired

Apple Building its Own Speech Recognition Team to Power Siri

Earlier this month, The Wall Street Journal claimed that Nuance, which is responsible for the technology behind Apple's virtual assistant Siri, was in talks with Samsung Electronics about a possible acquisition. Now, a new report from Wired states that Apple is forming its own in-house speech recognition team to power the next-generation of Siri.

“Apple is not hiring only in the managerial level, but hiring also people on the team-leading level and the researcher level,” says Abdel-rahman Mohamed, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Toronto, who was courted by Apple. “They’re building a very strong team for speech recognition research.”

Throughout the past few years, Apple has hired a number of high-level speech researchers in Nuance, including former vice president of research Larry Gillick. A number of those researchers are working at Apple's office in Boston, which was also rumored last year to be working on an in-house Siri solution that moves away from Nuance's technologies.

While the forthcoming version of Siri in iOS 8 still features the same technology provided by Nuance, it is possible that Apple could debut its own in-house voice recognition solution in a future version of iOS. Siri in iOS 8 will feature a number enhancements, including hands-free "Hey Siri" voice activation, music recognition by way of Shazam, streaming voice recognition, and more. Apple will launch iOS 8 this fall.

The Apple Core Blog RSS | ZDNet

The one Aperture feature that I can't live without (and alternatives) Posted: 30 Jun 2014 09:44 AM PDT Apple announced on Friday that it is discontinuing its photo applications Aperture and iPhoto. Here's what I'll miss most and what I'm going to use until Photos arrives in 2015.

Apple orphans Aperture, imaging pros unhappy Posted: 29 Jun 2014 10:36 PM PDT According to reports, Apple is stopping work on Aperture, its professional photo-editing application and will instead focus efforts on the forthcoming Photos software due with the OS X Yosemite. Some content professionals aren't pleased with the news.

#MobileFit podcast, Fitbit challenge winners announced and more!

June 2014 is coming to a close, which means #MobileFit is ending too. Or is it? We've got a podcast for you to check out below, we're announcing the winners of our Fitbit challenge and we've got some exciting new info about the future of #MobileFit.

#MobileFit podcast

Listen

Subscribe

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• Download Directly


• Follow on Twitter

Hosts

• Adam Zeis


• Kevin Michaluk


• Daniel Rubino


• Sam Sabri

Feedback

Yell at us via the Twitter accounts above or @liveconnectedly

Fitbit challenge winners!

During this month we ran a contest inside our Fitbit community. We had over 865 members compete against one another for the top spots. The winners are:

• Johnny Cat at 1,377,312 steps


• Whayne at 1,334,310 steps


• Alan at 1,250,067 steps

Congrats to you all for kicking ass this month! It was fun to see everyone working so hard in the community to move and be active. The winners up above are walking (or running) home with a new Fitbit Aria Wi-Fi bathroom scale. We also had two random drawings to win the scale, one from within the Fitbit group and the other among the Mobile Nations community. Here are the winners for the random drawing:

• cmfntn in our #MobileFit Fitbit community


• NickChamberlin in our Android Central and Connectedly communities

Congrats you two! We'll be in contact with all the winners to shipping details.

The future of #MobileFit

So that's it? Another month of fitness has come and gone? Nope. Watch the podcast above seriously do it! In the podcast you'll learn that we aren't going to just stop #MobileFit month because fitness doesn't work that way. Instead we'll continue to use the #MobileFit hashtag and theme to continue to explore the intersection of health, fitness and mobile technology. We'll still have one month a year where we focus more on the content, but you can continue to look forward to great fitness articles in the days, weeks and months ahead.

There's just too much content to put into one month and we can't wait to continue to explore fitness and technology.

Win a new iPod touch from iMore! Leave a comment now to enter!

Leave up to three comments below for up to three chances to win a brand new iPod touch from iMore!!

Apple has just updated the iPod touch lineup to bring colors and a camera down to $199 and 32GB and 64GB down to $249 and $299 respectively. So now the perfect entry-level iOS device for kids, schools, travelers, developers, and anyone else who wants something small and unencumbered by phone parts is more affordable, and more attractive, than ever. So, to celebrate, iMore is giving one away! (Technically an Apple Store gift certificate!)

All you have to do to enter is login to iMore and leave up to three comments for up to three chances to win!

Why three chances? Because there are three models — 16, 32, and 64GB! So which one are we giving away? Well, that's up to you. The more comments we get, the bigger the iPod touch we'll give away! If we hit 3200 comments, we'll go to 32GB. If we hit 6400 comments, we'll go to 64GB. So tell your family, your colleagues, your friends. Tell everyone!

If you're not yet a member of iMore, you can still login with Facebook, Twitter, Microsoft, or Google. It takes only a few seconds but the feeling of winning lasts a life-time!

The contest is open worldwide, and will run right until midnight PST on July 6th (Sunday night). Usual iMore contest rules apply!

Enter NOW!