Apple has just filed for HealthKit trademarks in both the US and Europe ahead of iOS 8’s launch this fall and in at least one filing includes watches in a list of goods that could take advantage of the health-tracking software. While the filing in the US (filed July 31) only includes classifications for computer software and covers the HealthKit text, a filing in Europe (published yesterday) extends classifications to include health, fitness, and exercise sensors, medical devices, and watches:...

Apple continues to expand its original content road map as the launch of Apple TV+ nears. Variety reports today that Apple has given a series order to Ted Lasso starring Jason Sudeikis. If the Ted Lasso name sounds familiar, it’s because it first appeared in a NBC Sports video from 2013 promoting the network’s expansion to English Premier League games. Now, Sudeikis is bringing the popular character to Apple TV+....

A new round of health systems has been added to the Apple Health beta that digitizes health records and offers the option of custom software development. Last month during WWDC, Apple launched its Health Records API to encourage greater adoption of the platform. The API will allow health systems and developers to create custom software to help with medication tracking, disease management, nutrition planning, medical research, and more. Over the last week, six new health institutions and doctors have been added to the Apple Health beta....

Apple has hired former president and CEO of Mercedes-Benz Research & Development Johann Jungwirth to join the company as Director of Mac Systems Engineering. The hire was confirmed by Jungwirth’s LinkedIn page, and first noted by a report in the Financial Times detailing Apple’s recent hires in the automotive industry and secretive new automotive research lab. The report claims Apple’s automotive hires are for a new research lab where “experienced managers from its iPhone unit, are researching automotive products....

Apple is reportedly considering overhauling how it lets publishers use advertising as revenue for content in its News app, according to AdAge. The shift would allow publishers to use the same proven ad technology that they already use on the web rather than the Apple-controlled system used now. The report also cites an Apple News publishing partner in claiming micropayments for access to articles is being considered, although the possible changes aren’t expected for a couple of months (iOS 11 will likely be complete around this same time)....

Apple has announced today that the CarKey feature is coming with iOS 14 and also with a new iOS 13 update. CarKey lets you use the iPhone and also the Apple Watch to unlock, lock, and start a car. Users will be able to use CarKey in NFC-compatible cars, as they only need to hold the device near the vehicle to use it as a key. The pairing process is done through the Wallet app, and then it’s necessary to have the car manufacturer’s app to proceed with the setup....

With everyone expecting the iPhone 8 to feature minimal bezels, a key requirement to realize that vision would be to remove the chin housing the Touch ID fingerprint sensor. While an iris scanner has been rumored as a replacement for fingerprints, Apple is also not short on options for embedding a fingerprint reader into the display. We’ve previously seen Apple patents for two different methods of doing this, and a patent granted today describes a third …...

This morning, Apple has sent an over-the-air update to the Apple TV to add two new apps of content: Major League Soccer (MLS) and Disney Junior. The MLS app allows Apple TV users to watch soccer games live, and Disney Junior includes several shows oriented toward young children. The new soccer app will surely be a big bonus for sports fans, while Disney Junior will continue to attract kids to the Apple’s living room appliance....

Apple today has added a new option for Apple Card users: the ability to export monthly statements in spreadsheet form. This means you can download your Apple Card data, and then import it into your budgeting setup of choice. Previously, Apple only made Apple Card statements available via PDF, but this new spreadsheet option is much more versatile for users. To access a spreadsheet of your Apple Card statement, follow these steps:...

Apple chairman Arthur D. Levinson spoke at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business on Tuesday, where he notably talked about running the company’s board of directors and Steve Jobs, according to a report by Fortune. The chairman answered questions from the audience and university students while on stage and described how Jobs’ death has affected him to the point where he has yet to even finish reading Walter Isaacson’s biography on the late CEO: “I’m still not to the point where I walk into that board room and don’t miss Steve....

In addition to unveiling a pair of new Apple Music ads starring DJ Khaled, Apple today has uploaded a series of new videos as part of its “Shot on iPhone” ad campaign. Last month, Apple returned to the Shot on iPhone ad series for Mother’s Day, but this marks the first big release of videos for the campaign in a while. The company initially rebooted the ad campaign in February with all-new images from the iPhone 6s....

Apple’s new single sign-on feature is finally rolling out to all iOS and tvOS users after initially being introduced at WWDC in June and missing the September launch. The new feature has been available in the latest iOS and tvOS betas, and now is live on public versions of both platforms. Apple has also detailed which apps and providers currently support SSO: These services currently support Apple’s SSO feature: As more TV providers and apps take advantage of SSO, we’ll update our coverage to reflect....

Problems with the back cover detaching from first-generation Apple Watches led Apple to offer a second year of free repairs for the issue – and a service document seen by us shows that this was last month extended to three years … All four models are covered, from the Sport through Watch and Hermés to the Edition. Apple Store staff are instructed that no diagnostics are required – a simple visual inspection to determine that the back cover is detached is sufficient....

The Wall Street Journal reports today that Apple is in talks with the Department of Veterans Affairs to offer electronic health record access to military veterans. This comes as Apple continues its push into the health industry with platforms like HealthKit, ResearchKit, and Health Records. According to today’s report, the partnership would see Apple create “special software tools” to allow the VA’s 9 million veterans enrolled in the current system to access their health records on iOS devices....

Following a report from The Wall Street Journal yesterday about Apple’s attempts to sign publishers up for its News subscription service, Recode is out today with some more color on the process. According to Recode, Apple has already signed up “many publishers” for the service with a 50-50 revenue split. Recode explains that Apple has deals with publishers through its Texture magazine service, which it acquired last year. After Apple acquired Texture, it inked deals that see publishers take home roughly have of the subscription revenue of the service....

Apple’s second wave of iPhone 6 sales has just kicked off with customers in New Zealand getting access to the device through retail stores and online as we roll into the morning of September 26 in the country. We’re also approaching the launch in a total of 20 countries today as the device goes on sale the morning of September 26 local time in the following locations: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Isle of Man, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey and United Arab Emirates....

I wrote back in 2015 on the bloated mess that was iTunes, and suggested that Apple needed to take the same approach on Mac as it has on iOS: separate apps for each content category. The company took a big step in this direction with the release of iTunes 12.7 in 2017, removing apps and ringtones from iTunes, turning iTunes U into a subsection of podcasts, and tidying up Internet Radio …...

Apple’s never-ending battle with notorious patent troll VirnetX continues today. According to a new report from Bloomberg, an Eastern Texas court has ruled that Apple infringes on four VirnetX patents and must pay $502.6 million in damages… The report says that the patents in question relate to Apple’s FaceTime, VPN, and iMessage services. VirnetX, of course, thinks the damages are fair and based on the sales of over 400 million infringing Apple devices:...

Just like it did earlier this week for the 2011 and 2012 MacBook Airs, Apple, today, has released a new firmware update for the 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display to enable the PowerNap feature. PowerNap allows your Mac to update iCloud files, emails, software updates and more while in sleep mode. Users can get the update via the Mac App Store software update section. After updating users will see the following option in System Preferences:...

In honor of American Heart Month this February, Apple is adding a handful of limited-time new benefits to Apple Card. This includes savings on popular apps such as Strava, Sleep Cycle, and more. Apple announced the new promotions in an email today to Apple Card holders. Apple says in the email: Here are the promotions: This month, Apple Card is bringing you special offers on financing Apple Watch with Apple Card Monthly Installments, and on a variety of fitness and wellness apps....