Apple has updated its website for China with a new video advertisement in celebration of the Chinese New Year. The one-and-a-half minute advertisement is largely similar to Apple’s “The Song” ad for the United States that aired during this past Christmas and holiday season… In the new ad, a granddaughter utilizes Apple software and hardware to convert a vintage audio recording to a format playable on an iPad. For the U....

Digital imaging professionals who rushed to upgrade to the new OS have been distressed when they attempt to open their essential photogs tool, as Apple’s big cat is not prepared to support versions of Aperture earlier than 2.1.4. An Apple tech support document published in the early hours of this morning confirms the news, warning: “When you attempt to open Aperture 1.5.6 on a computer running Mac OS X v10....

The website for the Apple Card onboarding process has now gone live ahead of the much-anticipated credit card’s public launch. Tim Cook has previously said that the Apple Card rollout will begin in August. The page says users can setup on any iPhone and iPad with Face ID or Touch ID (apart from iPhone 5s). iPad users can setup the card through the Wallet & Apple Pay settings page. The copy of the page makes reference to an “Apple Card Preview” period....

During its event at Steve Jobs Theater this afternoon, Apple announced “Apple Card.” The company is calling this “a new kind of credit card crated by Apple, not a bank.” Of course, Apple has partnered with Goldman Sachs to create the card, so it’s not entirely bank-free. Even though it partnered with a traditional bank, Apple is still doing some interesting things with Apple Card. Here are some tidbits that you might have missed during today’s event....

Ahead of the World Cup final tomorrow between France and Croatia, Apple is joining the fun. The company has overhauled both its French and Croatian websites with a short soccer-themed videos… As first spotted by French Apple news website iPhoneAddict, Apple’s homepage in France now plays a short 3-second video featuring floating soccer balls and the French flag. Once the video has played once, the regular Apple homepage appears in seamless fashion....

Apple confirmed today that iTunes Connect will be unavailable for a five-day period lasting from December 23 to 27. The pre-announced shut down is part of Apple’s annual time off period for app reviewers at the company. For developers, this means any changes being planned during that period should be in place ahead of time and new app and update submissions should be handled days in advance. For customers, it means the App Store won’t be updating for a few days aside from scheduled releases while the App Store team takes a break....

As someone who’s been managing iPads and Macs for a long time, I know there are a lot of “nooks” where settings are in various mobile device management systems. I’ve learned a lot of things through trial and error as the platforms have evolved, but that isn’t useful for new technicians. A new book was recently published that I feel is essential for anyone who works with Apple products in the enterprise....

Apple was today granted a patent for what it describes as a ‘consumer electronic product [which] includes at least a transparent housing and a flexible display.’ The accompanying drawings show a device which has a display which completely wraps around the device – covering front, rear and sides – with only tiny bezels at the top and bottom. While Apple uses generic language throughout most of the patent text, it does use the example of a smartphone in places, and the main drawing clearly shows an iOS device with a phone icon present, indicating that the company has an iPhone in mind....

Comscore today released its usual quarterly report on U.S. smartphone market share for May with Apple holding its spot as top smartphone manufacturer ahead of Samsung. While the numbers haven’t changed much since its report for the three month period ending in February, Apple is up slightly to 42% and ahead of Samsung which grew from 27% to almost 28%. Following behind is LG with 6.5%, Motorola with 6.3%, and HTC with 5....

Last week, repair guide website iFixit published a detailed blog post discussing an issue plaguing a growing number of iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus users. Referred to as “Touch Disease,” a hardware problem causes iPhone displays to become unresponsive and feature a thin gray flickering line along the top. Now, a trio of iPhone users have filed a class action lawsuit against Apple over the issue, claiming that Apple has refused to repair devices that are affected for free…...

Apple has today released a (PRODUCT)RED version of its iPhone 6s Leather Case, available to buy now from Apple.com with Wednesday shipping. The omission of the color was odd back in September, as the Silicone Case was offered in (PRODUCT)Red since the iPhone 6s launch. Apple has just about got stock of the item in time for the holidays, if you still happen to be hunting for an official red iPhone case (there are plenty of third-party red iPhone cases available)....

Apple is among nine technology companies chosen by the United States Food and Drug Administration to test a new pilot program that could allow health products to be developed and released with less delay. This could allow Apple to use the Apple Watch and iPhone for medical uses that would previously require a longer approval process which slows down deployment. Bloomberg reports that the FDA made the announcement today: Under the pilot, the FDA will scrutinize digital health companies’ software and will inspect their facilities to ensure they meet quality standards and can adequately track their products once they’re on the market....

Earlier this month, we reported that Apple would soon introduce significant changes to its online AppleCare support portals. In line with our report, Apple has begun rolling out a redesigned AppleCare website to provide support and has also begun rolling out 24/7 live chat support. The new AppleCare website is easier for users to follow and it groups product categories in more understandable fashion. The new support site also makes it simpler for customers to identify the exact issues with their device....

Dialog has been part of the Apple supply chain for some time, but has faced financial uncertainty amidst rumors Apple is developing its own power management chips. In an interesting turn of events this morning, Apple and Dialog announced a new business agreement where Apple will license power management technology from Dialog, in exchange for an upfront $300 million payment and another $300 million in purchase agreements over the next three years....

According to Bloomberg, Apple is currently in negotiations with major music labels regarding some major enhancements they are planning to bring to iTunes by mid-2011. These enhancements are said to focus around an “unlimited” download approach (with help from Lala?) so users can instantly re-download lost or damaged music titles. The potential changes, that Apple is working on with Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group Corp., and EMI Group Ltd, would also allows users to re-download songs, on the same Apple ID account, on multiple devices....

The iPhone and Apple Watch Series 2 are scheduled to go up for pre-order later this evening and ahead of that, the Apple Online Store has gone down. Apple generally always takes down its online store before events and product launches in order to build suspense. Like normal, Apple’s website teases that the company has “something special” in store for customers: The Apple Watch Series 2 and iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus are slated to go up for pre-order at 12:01AM PT/3:01AM ET....

Apple has opened a subsidiary company in Vietnam, its fastest-growing iPhone market, reports Reuters. The company will ‘conduct wholesale business,’ read: directly import and distribute iPhones within the country. Apple tripled its sales in Vietnam in the first half of last year – a higher growth rate than in either China or India, though of course among a far smaller population. Apple Vietnam Limited Liability was established on Oct. 28 with a registered capital of 15 billion dong ($672,194), according to a news announcement recorded on Vietnam’s national business registry website....

Electronic Arts CEO Andrew Wilson acknowledged during its recent Q4 2019 financial results conference that Anthem did not live up to expectations, and that the game’s troubled launch period has the company strongly reconsidering its release process moving forward. Anthem’s release wasn’t necessarily a traditional one, given that it had an early access period for EA Origin subscribers, but its launch was marred by technical difficulties and ineffective Day One patches regardless, which apparently has EA going back to the drawing board for major game releases....

Apple today has expanded its Executive Leadership Team to include notable Apple Vice Presidents. The team shown on Apple’s official PR Bios website now includes Vice President of Special Projects Paul Deneve, Vice President of of Environmental Initiatives Lisa Jackson, Vice President and Dean of Apple University Joel Podolny, Vice President of Hardware Technologies Johny Srouji, and Vice President of Worldwide Human Resources Denise Young Smith. Interestingly, each of these positions is fairly new to Apple: Deneve joined from Yves Saint Laurent last year, Lisa Jackson moved over from the EPA last year, Joel Podolny went full-time on Apple University earlier this year, Young Smith was promoted to head of HR earlier this year, and Srouji became head of Hardware Technologies upon Bob Mansfield’s (second) role reduction last year…...

Apple has begun airing a new television advertisement for the MacBook Air that promotes the computer as “the notebook people love.” The ad demonstrates various personal connections to the MacBook Air via various stickers for the computer’s lid. Some stickers range from one of Homer Simpson holding the Apple logo, one with Snow White, and various cool black and white graphics. Apple last updated the MacBook Air earlier this year with improved processors and lower pricing, and significant updates to the line are expected this fall....