Apple is once again expanding its iAd efforts today with the announcement of an exclusive reseller of ads in Latin America following an expansion late last year into new countries while opening up the platform to a number of third-party resellers. Like the handful of mostly US-based ad companies selling iAds that were announced in November, Internet Media Services (IMS) will act as Apple’s exclusive partner selling ad inventory across iOS apps to customers in Latin America....

Apple has refreshed its App Store marketing tools for developers today with the ability to create custom assets and links including new QR codes and short links. Apple detailed the news on its developer website: You can get started with the new custom assets and links on Apple’s landing page here. For a unique touch, the QR code generator gives customization options like choosing a color or adding an icon....

Apple is testing a new iPad mini that includes a faster processor but not a Retina display, according to references in the iOS 7 SDK sent to us by a developer. The references were located inside of a hidden file that lists all supported iOS 7 devices, and the information has been corroborated with details found within the iOS 7 beta operating system itself… According to the provided information, Apple is considering three new iPad mini models: iPad “2,8,” iPad “2,9,” and iPad “2,10....

Is your Apple Music Library missing? Read on for how to check your iCloud Music settings to recover your Apple Music Library. Apple Music is a great streaming service that allows users to save and download music and videos to a personal library. However, if you’ve signed out of your iTunes/App Store account or are setting up a new device, iCloud Music Library isn’t turned on by default. Follow along with the steps below to see if this quick change will recover your Apple Music Library on iPhone, iPad, and Mac....

Earlier this week, Apple denied claims that it had hidden secret backdoors in its iOS platform that could allow the government or malicious users to extract a variety of critical and personal details about a device’s user from an iPhone or iPad, sometimes storing that data in unencrypted formats. Today, the company published a new document on its support website explaining the diagnostic tools that iOS uses to collect data for troubleshooting and other purposes....

The popular Apollo for Reddit iOS app it out today with a major update. The latest version brings an expanded pure black dark mode, improvements to private messages with fully-threaded conversations, auto hide read posts and auto collapse child comments, native moderator tools including Mod Mail, Mod Queue, Mod Zone, more gesture controls, and more. Apollo for Reddit developer Christian Selig notes that the most requested feature from users has been enhancing private messages....

iPad mini barely got a mention on stage last year as Apple only added Touch ID and a gold option plus 128GB models to what was in every other respect the same 7.9-inch tablet that it released in 2013. iPad mini with Retina display was renamed iPad mini 2 while the new iPad mini 3 model kept the same exact chip and specs aside from the finger print sensor. Nearly a year later the smaller tablet form factor is back with the more powerful version....

The WSJ reports that Apple has been quietly making major new investments in Internet infrastructure in a move which may simply be designed to boost the performance of its existing online services, but which could also be in readiness for its upcoming television product. Apple also made a couple of senior infrastructure hires in September: Lauren Provo from Comcast and Jean-François Mulé, a former technology VP at a TV R&D company....

While Apple’s ongoing development of its Campus 2 headquarters has been relatively secretive, Silicon Valley Business Journals today revealed a previously unknown detail about the headquarters. According to documents filed with the city of Cupertino, Apple’s new headquarters will feature a visitor’s center with an observation deck. It was already known that Apple’s Campus 2 would not be visible from bordering streets, which seemed to contradict the amount of money and effort Apple was putting into the design of the building....

Asymco’s Horace Dediu has a great slant on news that Apple recently sold its billionth iPhone. He points out that not only does this make it the best-selling phone of all time, it actually long ago became the best-selling product ever … Nothing else he checked even comes close. Second position was taken by the Harry Potter series of books, whose 450M sales are mind-blowingly huge but still less than half those achieved by the iPhone in its nine-year history....

Apple has filed its 2010 annual report with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, revealing higher employee numbers, higher advertising spend and a slight decline in profit margins as it kept iPad prices as low as it could. The company has raised its employee numbers by over a third from last year, it had 46,600 full-time employees as of September 25, up from 34,300 a year ago and 28,000 in 2008....

As the pandemic is still a problem in many parts of the world, Apple is extending its partnership with (RED) and it will continue to redirect 100% of eligible proceeds of its PRODUCT(RED) devices and accessories to the Global Fund’s COVID-19 relief efforts from now until December 30. Last year, Apple extended this COVID-19 relief effort until June 30, 2021. As vaccines are slowly rolling out across the globe and new variants of the disease have been discovered, this fund is more important than ever....

What if Apple used its iPod touch and iPhone as heart monitors? Pehaps a device that plugs into the iPod that sells with the software system? You could map your heart rate as part of the fitness regimine. The GPS system could be used to gage your running and speed. IF Apple adds GPS in June like Kevin Rose thinks, this would be cool both for running and biking Bike users could also use the iPod/iPhone as a bike computer....

Last month, Qualcomm won a victory in Germany with a suit that claimed Apple infringed on its modem patents. The ruling was set to affect iPhone 7 and 8, with Apple appealing the decision. In the meantime, Apple said it would stop selling the iPhone 7 and 8 in the country, but it interpreted the ruling so that third-parties could continue selling the devices. However, Apple has been issuing a press release in Germany that says it would be able to sell all iPhones in the country (via Bloomberg) and has now been ordered to stop using that part of the statement....

Apple today issued a press release to announce some big numbers for iTunes U (a billion downloads to be exact), but it has now also provided an update on iPads sales in the education market. In a statement to AllThingsD, Apple said it has sold a total of 4.5 million iPads direct to U.S. education institutions. Apple previously announced around a million units sold to U.S. schools in Q2 2012. It later said sales for iPad 2 in the K-12 market doubled y-o-y in Q3 2012 thanks to a price drop to $399....

Apple has for a long time hired engineers around the globe to contribute to making its Maps experience better. While positions for its team outside Cupertino usually consist of Maps Quality Analysts and Ground Truth managers that submit region specific corrections for Maps, a new job listing on Apple’s website hints at a “data-collection project” planned for New York. The location of the position is listed as a Austin, Texas, but Apple says the job requires 75% travel and is a full-time role based in New York....

Well, we’re seeing a lot of temporary Apple Store closures today — stores in San Francisco, Seattle and other cities are temporarily blacking out and reopening just before, on or a day after Oct. 4. That’s the same day Apple invited media and analysts to its so-called “Let’s Talk iPhone” event at its Cupertino, CA headquarters at 10 a.m. Pacific Time. We expect newly appointed Apple CEO Tim Cook to make his onstage debut there, with the announcement of the long-awaited iPhone 5 in various iterations, as well a cheap $199 iPhone 4 as its entry-level phone....

It’s just the latest in a growing body of evidence that proves Apple Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer really was not joking when he said the company is “not wedded to any particular way to go to market.” Speaking in March this year, Oppenheimer also added: “Our objective is to drive scale and take market share. We’re going to enter more European countries this year, and Asia, and we remain very confident about our goal of reaching 10 million iPhones shipped in 2008....

Apple is on rather a roll at the moment. A new world record for quarterly profits. Best-selling smartphone maker in China. Joint leader of the global smartphone market. Record-breaking app store earnings. Now Reuters reports that it’s picked up a new accolade, leading the luxury goods market in China. Hermès is a French maker of designer clothing and accessories, known for its scarves and handmade leather luggage … Apple Inc has taken the number one luxury gifting spot in China from designer goods maker Hermès International SCA, according to a Hurun luxury report on Thursday, reflecting the iPhone maker’s recent hot streak in the country....

As the Epic Games v. Apple court case goes forward, we have been learning more details about internal discussions within each company about their business models and more. With the testimony of Trystan Kosmynka, one of the heads of the App Store, more information about the App Store review process has been revealed. In a new document filed with the trial, Kosmynka detailed that about 5 million apps are submitted to the App Store every year and that the app rejection rate is less than 40%....