Season four of Apex Legends will reveal a brand new character named Forge. Every season of Apex Legends lasts approximately three months and brings with it brand new features and characters. There have been some pretty big shakeups with every new season like season three’s brand new map World’s Edge. Season three launched last October and fans have been waiting to see what season four would bring next. New characters have been released over the course of Apex Legends’ run....

iOS is generally a very slick operating system, but every now and then I come across a UI decision that makes me wonder what on earth Apple was thinking, and app settings are a prime example. You never know whether an app setting is configured in the app, or in the separate Settings app … Apple’s Camera app is the worst offender. If I’m shooting video, and want to change the resolution or frame-rate, I can’t do that within the app....

Android users have long wanted an iMessage app to use the popular messaging service on non-Apple devices. Epic’s lawsuit against Apple has now revealed and confirmed that lock-in is the reason why iMessage for Android does not exist. Apple announced iMessage in June of 2011 and launched it that October with iOS 5, while it came to Mac OS X less than a year later. According to a deposition with senior vice president of Internet Software and Services Eddy Cue, Apple decided not to develop a version of iMessage for the Android that would have allowed for cross-compatibility with iOS “as early as 2013....

Update: Some users are reporting that after opening a document in iWork for iCloud, that document is unable to be opened in the Mac or iOS versions of iWork. Apple has just pushed out an update to its iWork for iCloud web apps that brings a redesign for some elements of the three apps and a long list of new features and improvements. Apple has added a new iOS 7-style UI for each app’s template chooser and document library (the first thing you see when launching the apps, pictured above), but when editing a document you’ll still get the old black and grey editor UI for now....

Last week, we reported on a flaw with the EU’s new no-questions-asked 14-day refund policy that meant customers could effectively get paid apps for free, as refunding the app does not delete it from customers’ devices. In response, Apple has adjusted its App Store purchases slightly for customers who have an excessive number of refunds on file. This means people with a track record of refunding purchase effectively lose the right to refund their purchase....

If you’ve ever dreamed of becoming an app developer, the Apple Developer Academy is now open for applications. You could be one of 400 lucky students to win a year’s free training in Naples, Italy, completely free of charge. You’ll also get a free iPhone and Mac … The program first started in 2016 with 200 students, but was doubled in size the following year and into 2018. Apple says that applications are welcome from anywhere in the world....

On the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus announcement day, Apple increased the pricing of its AppleCare+ protection plan from $99 to $129. We’ve since discovered that Apple has additionally discontinued its combined plans for the Apple Watch and iPhone. Since the launch of the Apple Watch earlier this year, Apple offered combined packages that allowed a customer to protect both devices on a single plan. Now, customers must purchase both plans separately....

Apple has just announced a price drop for Apple Watch, now starting at just $299 for 38 mm. For that price, it appears to come equipped with the new nylon bands. It’s unclear how other models in the range are impacted. Updating with more pricing information as they become available … This represents a $50 price drop from the launch $349 price for Apple Watch. Note however, that Apple Watch has been seeing significant $100 discounts in many retail outlets for a while now....

After announcing Apple Watch Series 4 and new Apple Watch bands yesterday, Apple got rid of some of its older bands. This is normal, however, as Apple moves bands in and out every few months as it refreshes the bands for new seasons. Upon initial inspection, it appeared that the Apple Link Bracelets were being discontinued and no longer available for sale. However, a direct link to the old page still shows that Apple is selling both the stainless steel and space black models....

Computerworld today laments on the issue, blaming Apple’s priorities and lack of any desire to dive into this lucrative market. If Apple ever had a better chance to hit the big time market share gains it would be now – with Vista bombing hard. However, the following concerns were given for the lack of adoption: Legacy concerns Cost of support and ownership Are third-party software vendors on board? The complexity factor No second source Service and support...

Apple’s one-week exclusive access to Drake’s latest album Views appears to have paid off. Despite the fact that it was available for streaming on Apple Music as well as downloads in iTunes, the WSJ reports that the album sold over a million copies in less than five days. Over 600k of those sales were made in the first 24 hours. The streaming numbers were also impressive. Drake’s record label was also said to have been working hard to maximize sales by taking down pirate copies....

Blame the iPhone? Hit up Apple’s website for the details. http://www.apple.com/macbook/macbook.html Apple today updated its MacBook consumer notebooks with faster Intel Core 2 Duo processors, 1GB of memory and larger hard drives in every model. The new line of MacBooks remain just one-inch thin and feature built-in 802.11n wireless networking for up to five times the performance and twice the range of 802.11g. Every MacBook also includes a built-in iSight video camera for on-the-go video conferencing, Apple’s MagSafe Power Adapter that safely disconnects when under strain, and iLife ’06, Apple’s award-winning suite of digital lifestyle applications....

Apple also announced that an enhanced App Store for China is also now available. This App Store has localized featured apps, sections, and top charts. The updated App Store is also now available in Simplified Chinese for the first time. Full press release after the break: CUPERTINO, California—October 26, 2010—Apple® today introduced the Apple Store® in China (apple.com.cn), the easiest way to shop online for Apple products including the revolutionary iPhone® 4 and the magical iPad™....

We don’t know too much yet about the long-rumored Apple over-ear headphones, but a patent published today describes a couple of features that the company has at least considered: gesture controls, and rotation detection. The two features would work in tandem … It’s always risky to use patents to get a steer on where Apple may be headed with new products. The company plays with a lot of different ideas, and patents many of them....

The US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple today (via PatentlyApple) detailing how a future iPhone could potentially utilize a virtual SIM card that integrates NFC technology. We reported back in October 2010 rumors of Apple experimenting with virtual SIM cards that would essentially allow consumers to bypass carriers when purchasing an iPhone and utilize a carrier-chooser App Store app to select the network of their choosing....

Transformers: The Last Knight star Anthony Hopkins says Michael Bay’s Transformers films are the work of “a genius”. Bay, of course, is the high-energy filmmaker who brought the Hasbro action figure franchise to the big screen in live-action form in 2007 with the blockbuster Transformers, followed by three sequels that were a smash at the worldwide box office. Bay says The Last Knight, in theaters in June, will be his last time in the director’s chair for a Transformers film (maybe)....

After years of arguments, we do seem to be slowly winding our way toward a final showdown between Apple and Qualcomm over radio chip patents. The two companies are currently arguing one case before the the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), and are due to begin a US civil lawsuit next month. And the latest weapon in the former case is 5G. Each sides is attempting to persuade the ITC that 5G is such a crucial technology it’s essential it prevails …...

Apple has just announced watchOS 5, with new features for health and fitness and better ways to stay connected. You can now set 7 day Activity Challenges with friends and earn custom achievement medals. Apple has added support for yoga and hiking in the Workout app as well as a method to automatically detect what workout you are doing without you having to initiate it … Apple is also introducing a new Walkie-Talkie app that works on WiFi or LTE, support for Podcasts streaming, rich HTML email content, a customizable Control Center, and more …...

Now that one analyst thinks that Apple is going to ARM for its laptops (notice we didn’t say “Mac”), another one says that Apple could be moving its MacBook lineup to ARM as early as next year. Barclays Capital hardware analyst Ben Reitzes says through Barron’s: I still think Apple would rather build an iOS Air. We believe that Apple is already working hard on the software to accomplish this feat within the MacBook Air line-up....

Spotify has been a pretty unmitigated success in Europe as our European readers can probably attest. The subscription model it has built is pretty compelling. For a (~$10) subscription fee, you have access to most of the popular music on earth through streaming channel. What’s more is that you can download playlists for offline listening. This all fits under a monthly fee model. But that’s not why Spotify is a success....