[tweet https://twitter.com/NathanBowers/status/212803875114201088] Apple seems to now feature the Avenir typeface in iOS 6. An interesting Reddit discussion popped up about the discovery of the font in both Maps and Siri, check it out: Avenir is completely new to iOS, because it does not appear in Apple’s font list for earlier versions of the mobile operating system. According to Fonts.com, designer Adrian Frutiger first released the sans-serif typeface nearly 25 years ago....

Apple and four other big tech companies between them spent $80B on big-ticket industrial equipment last year – ten times as much as General Motors … Bloomberg reports on the somewhat surprising comparison. Credit Suisse analysts say that it is tech giants, and not traditional industrial companies, which are driving the fastest growth in capital expenditure seen for some years. Thanks to this surge in spending—up from $40 billion in 2015—they’ve joined the ranks of automakers, telephone companies, and oil drillers as the country’s biggest spenders on capital goods, items including factories, heavy equipment, and real estate that are considered long-term investments....

Opening a great new iOS 5 feature to many more users, Apple has announced in their iOS 5 beta 4 documentation that iOS 5’s WiFi-sync functionality will work with Windows PCs. This is fantastic news for those with an iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch that use a Windows computer as their main machine. iOS 5 WiFi-sync is a part of Apple’s greater “post-PC” initiative and “cutting the cord.” iOS 5 WiFi sync is either activated to synchronize new content when your iOS device is plugged in for charging, or when you click the WiFi sync button in the iOS settings application....

The morning of Apple’s iPad mini event earlier this week, we told you there was a handful of new accessories coming including four new Lightning adapters and a 12W USB power adapter. We didn’t hear much about them during the event, but the new cables and adapters have hit Apple’s online store now, including a Lightning Digital AV adapter and Lightning to VGA adapter, with most shipping in “2-3 weeks”....

In an extensive profile of Parse co-founder and Facebook executive Ilya Sukhar, The Information reveals that Apple considered purchasing the cloud services startup before Facebook: Apple’s interest in Parse is interesting because of the recently announced CloudKit feature for iOS 8. CloudKit, just like Parse, allows developers to leverage pre-designed and implemented servers to control the backend of applications. This makes the development team and process quicker and simpler for building iOS applications....

Apple today uploaded a pair of new ads to YouTube. The first ad, entitled “Hardware & Software,” showcases the fact that Apple is responsible for both major aspects of the iPhone, making for a more seamless and stable experience. The obvious goal here is to advertise the fact that with an Android device, you get hardware made by a manufacturer and software made by Google. The second ad is entitled “Loved” and seemingly showcases how happy iPhone users are....

Apple has mailers going out today telling us to get ready to interrupt our Friday in order to line up like little actors all over the place in their iPad 2 Friday marketing campaign blitz. Ugh. I’m kinda down on the whole “spend Friday in line without a reservation” thing if you hadn’t noticed. It is also interesting that Apple seems to default to the White iPad more often than not in its marketing – which was only a rumor a week ago....

Apple launched its Shot on iPhone 6 ad campaign earlier this year and has since expanded the campaign to buildings and skyscrapers around the world. The purpose of the campaign is to showcase the photography capabilities of the iPhone 6, notably excluding video content. Apple this evening, however, has further expanded its Shot on iPhone 6 campaign and launched a new microsite titled “World Gallery films” with 7 short videos shot with the iPhone 6....

Although tech companies are joining Apple’s camp en masse for the Apple/FBI court battle due to commence on March 22nd, there are many amicus briefs being posted in favour of the FBI’s argument. One of these was filed last Thursday night by the San Bernardino District Attorney, Michael Ramos. In the document, he claims that the shooter’s iPhone (which the FBI wants Apple to make a backdoor unlock for) could contain evidence that it is a digital weapon — containing a ‘cyber pathogen’ that would exploit San Bernardino infrastructure....

watchOS 7 brings a variety of new features to the fitness tracking capabilities of Apple Watch, including a new Dance workout type. In a new interview, Julz Arney from Apple’s Fitness Technologies as elaborated on what it took to develop the Dance workout type with accurate calorie tracking and more. In the Workouts app on Apple Watch, each of the 20 top-level workout types “uses a smartly-tuned algorithm that understands the workout you are doing to give you the most accurate metrics for each one,” Arney explained to HT Tech....

With this year’s holiday season looming, the online Apple Store is ready with the new Holiday Gift Guide section. Holiday gift ideas include Apple’s most popular mobile devices and computers as well as a hand-picked selection of third-party products, add-ons, device accessories and even fashion cases to carry your products around in style. The gadget maker teases: All products on offer in the Holiday Gift Guide come with free shipping, Apple notes....

According to data from Counterpoint Research, iPhone sales in India are booming. Apple reportedly shipped 800,000 units in the December quarter to the country, up from 500,000 a year ago. Apple has been aggressively promoting their phones with substantial discounts to sustain sales, given high prices for iPhone 6s in India (via Economic Times). Even with price cuts, that 800,000 number is composed of older iPhone models too. The report indicates that iPhone 5s was responsible for 30% of the sales numbers....

Apple has revealed that it will be investing more than $500M in research & development in China, as it today announced plans for two more R&D centers in the country. The new offices will be in Shanghai and Suzhou, and follow those already announced for Beijing and Shenzhen. All four centers are expected to open later this year. Apple says that there is a compelling reason for the investment …...

Last week, the NHL announced that teams would start using iPad Pros as a way to help coaches track various statistics and other data during games. To commemorate the new app, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and Edmonton Oilers player Connor McDavid and Toronto Maple Leafs player Auston Matthews visited Apple’s Infinite Loop campus. The event took place at the Town Hall auditorium, with Matthews, McDavid, and Bettman being joined onstage by Apple’s Phil Schiller....

As we reported two weeks ago and again yesterday, Apple has today launched its Back to School promotion for this school season. Like previous years, qualifying student customers will get a free gift card alongside any purchase of a Mac, iPad or iPhone. While last year Apple gave out Mac App Store/iTunes cards, this year’s cards are for Apple Retail Stores. Buying any Mac makes the buyer eligible for a $100 Apple Store gift card and $50 cards will be distributed alongside iPads and iPhones....

Apple’s patent infringement claims against Samsung now include twelve courts in nine countries on four continents. Reuters reported this morning that Apple is now formally suing Samsung in Japan and seeking to block sales of Samsung phones and tablets in the country: The iPhone maker is seeking 100 million yen, or approximately $1.3 million, in damages. Apple previously had filed four complaints before the Tokyo District Court, according to patent expert Florian Müller....

Apple’s been on a roll lately. They sold a record 18.65 million iPhones in the first quarter and for the first time zoomed past Microsoft in terms of profitability. The 49,400 Apple employees helped the company earn $14 billion annually and pull 30 percent growth in earnings per share. Recognizing those strides and Apple’s rising fortunes, the company is now ranked 35th on the Fortune 500 list of America’s largest corporations....

Anthem suffers from an identity crisis at times - and the Tomb of General Tarsis quest is an example of that. Players alternate between going through menial tasks on the world map and accomplishing history-altering feats within the confines of story-based dungeons, with little indication of why the latter isn’t occurring more frequently. When Freelancers get a chance to dive into those dungeons, though, what they’ll often find is Anthem at its very best, challenging their decision-making, reaction time, and skill in ways they haven’t encountered yet....

In Godfather of Harlem, the new EPIX original series, Bumpy Johnson returns him after a decade in prison, only to find his beloved community of Harlem taken over by the Italian mafia. As he considers his options regarding taking back his home turf, he is influenced by the two most important women in his life; his wife, Mayme, played by Ilfahesh Hadera, and his troubled daughter, Elise, played by Antoinette Crowe-Legacy....

Apple is rising the prices for apps and in-app purchases in a few countries following changes to exchange rates and taxation policy, with customers in India, Turkey and the United Kingdom to see price increases. In the United Kingdom, one of Apple’s largest markets, app prices are rising up more than 25% following the weak pound exchange rate after the Brexit vote. An app sold for $0.99 in the US will now cost £0....