[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UpmQN55q2g] Apple has aired two new television commercials about the iPhone 4S headline feature, Siri. The first new ad, displayed above, focuses on Siri’s integration with the Yelp, Maps, location, and direction services, while the second ad, embedded after the break, focuses on on how Siri can help you with many aspects of your life. Specifically, the second ad shows how Siri helps a musician learn new notes with Siri’s Wolfram-Alpha integration, dictate a text message to his fellow band members, and find a store to buy a new instrument....

Just two days after the “One more thing” event, the first Apple M1-powered MacBook Air orders are starting to ship to customers. The first deliveries are currently scheduled to arrive as early as next week, Apple says. If you check your order status via Apple’s website, you’ll likely see that your MacBook Air, Mac mini, or MacBook Pro is still “preparing to ship.” But, if you head to the UPS website, you can track the progress of your order and watch as it makes its way to your state....

With recent spats with the FBI and the Obama administration, Apple’s presence in Washington is growing rapidly. Today it was revealed that Apple hired insider Cynthia Hogan to head up its Washington office. Politico broke the story: Hogan will serve as vice president for public policy and government affairs at Apple and report to VP of environment, policy and social initiatives, Lisa Jackson, who joined the company from the EPA in 2013 and reports directly to CEO Tim Cook....

Apple is launching its annual Back to School promotion on Macs and iPads this week in New Zealand and Australia. Localized as ‘Back to Uni’, this year’s promotion runs from February 7 to March 16 and includes Apple Store credit for qualified purchases. Apple’s Back to School promo is also live in Japan. The promotion includes gift cards when purchasing iMacs, Mac Pros, MacBooks, MacBook Pros, MacBook Airs, and iPad Pros....

Apple has updated the Mac Pro configurator to include a new 8TB SSD option. This configuration was initially listed as coming soon when Mac Pro orders first began last week. The 8TB SSD option for the Mac Pro comes at an added cost of $2,600 compared to the base 256GB configuration. For comparison’s sake, the 8TB upgrade in the 16-inch MacBook Pro costs $2,400 extra compared to the base 512GB tier....

iPhone 8 owners may not be able to take advantage of the faster data speeds expected to be available later this year in the USA, says a Bloomberg report, and Apple’s dispute with Qualcomm may be the reason. AT&T, Sprint, Verizon and other carriers have promised to introduce a new generation of wireless data later in the year, offering speeds as high as a gigabit per second – some fifty times faster than typically available today....

Apple has announced a new update to their Apple News Format, which is used by publishers on the Apple News platform. The update today includes list item stylings for HTML formats within posts, and a new design tutorial to help new publishers hit the ground running. The Apple News Format is a specific publishing format created so news publishers can make their content look great across iOS devices within the Apple News app....

Apple is now sending emails to users when they log in to iCloud.com. This is part of Apple’s latest security upgrades to iCloud, which Tim Cook announced late last week. In the interview, Cook said Apple planned to launch the feature within two weeks, but obviously it has been deployed much sooner. The notification is supposed to act as a warning for users, to detect account infiltrations as early as possible....

Apple has now officially confirmed the opening date of its first Belgian retail store, opening in Brussels on 19th September. The date is shown on the hoarding outside the new store, located on Avenue de la Toison d’Or (also known as Gulden Vlieslaan), and was confirmed by Apple to ANV. The wording on the hoarding reads ‘Creativity, to be continued,’ and features paintings by local artists (below). The store is a large one, at 1500 square metres, reports iCulture....

Apple was granted a patent today for an augmented reality viewing system to display 3D flyover data from Apple Maps onto a desk or any other flat surface from an iPhone. Filed initially back in May 2016, this feature may or may not ever make a debut. However, with Apple’s heightened push into AR, it could be more likely to become a reality than other patents. Spotted by Patently Apple, the proposed app’s usage seems geared towards average consumers rather than a more advanced and complicated AR system....

This time last year, the hit battle royale game Fortnite made its highly anticipated debut on iOS. That was followed shortly by the release of PUGB on iOS, and now EA says it’s planning to launch its Apex Legends battle royale on mobile platforms, including iOS. As noted by The Verge, EA detailed its future plans for Apex Legends during its quarterly earnings call today. The company touted Apex Legends as “easily the fastest-growing franchise” it has ever had....

Apple has notified developers that App Store prices in Canada, Israel, Mexico, New Zealand, Russia, Singapore and South Africa are increasing. Customers in these regions will see prices for apps and in-app purchases rise within the next 72 hours. If you have a renewing subscription, Apple will notify you with an email about the price change ahead of the next subscription payment, although customers in Russia and South Africa will have to resubscribe manually....

An app to diagnose COVID-19 needs nothing more than a voice sample, according to an Israel-based company. In tests of 2,000 participants, the app achieved an accuracy rate of 81.2%, including asymptomatic carriers … TNW reports. To ensure consistency in the data, and preserve privacy, users are simply asked to count upwards from 50 to 70 to provide the voice sample. The accuracy rate found in the trial is comparable to that of lateral flow rapid tests, but eliminates the need for test kits....

The UK trade regulator is launching an investigation into alleged anti-competitive price-fixing deals within the nascent digital book publishing industry following a “significant number of complaints.” The Office of Fair Trading said the investigation is “into whether arrangements that certain publishers have put in place with some retailers for the sale of e-books may breach competition rules”. However, it added: “The investigation is at an early stage and it should not be assumed that the parties involved have breached competition law....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFUW7GcHsLQ Apple aired a commercial this evening titled “Every Dimension.” It shows off the 15.4-inch Retina MacBook Pro that released yesterday. It looks like the company is ready to push its $2,199 laptop to the masses, but who can afford it? Read more about it in yesterday’s coverage of the Worldwide Developers Conference. Have any of you picked it up? More on the new MacBook Pro: Apple unveils the all new 15....

To further its in-house video catalog, Apple is reportedly about to ink a deal to create its first animated film. Bloomberg reports that Apple is currently in talks with Ireland-based animation studio Cartoon Saloon. The movie in question has yet to be created and is reportedly more than a year from release, but Apple has been looking to buy distribution rights in the U.S. as well as other countries. Right now, it’s unclear how Apple plans on releasing the film — whether that’s online only or in theaters....

Advertisers looking to make automated ad purchases on Apple’s iTunes Radio platform will finally be able to do so thanks to changes the company is rolling out now. While in-app iAds have been available for automated targeting for some time now, audio ads that run on free iTunes Radio accounts have always only been available through Apple’s sales representatives. Enhanced customer targeting is also being added to the iAd offering. User phone numbers and email addresses can be anonymously compared against advertisers’ in-house data....

Apple is now offering its annual Boxing Day sale for Canadians with select discounts on albums and songs through the iTunes store. The sale is accessible through the iTunes store on both iOS devices and on the desktop in Canada and will likely remain available through at least Dec. 26, the day officially recognized in Canada and elsewhere as Boxing Day. Retailers typically hold Black Friday-type event for Boxing Day with many sales lasting the week of Dec....

There have been many signs over the years that the music business has changed from one where people buy music to one where they only rent it, but Warner has just become the first major music label to cross that line. Recode reports that streaming now earns the company more money than music sales. The company revealed that revenue from physical sales fell by $6M, downloads were down by $17M but streaming was up by a massive $72M for the quarter....

The Mac/PC is no longer the hub of your digital world according to Steve Jobs and while the traditional computer was demoted to just a ‘device’, iOS devices did get some promotions at WWDC this week as well. One notable addition is that you can set up an Apple Airport or Time Capsule from an iOS 5 device, like in the screenshots above. Let’s just say this one more time: No Mac Needed....