Apple is looking to expand its efforts in crowdsourcing data to improve its Maps app for iOS and OS X, according to hints in a new job listing on the company’s site. So far Apple’s efforts in crowdsourcing data to improve its Maps app has been limited to its own data collection projects and the “Report a problem” function in the Maps app. It also collects crowdsourced data from iOS’s Frequent Locations feature if users allow it....

Apple has overhauled its list of compatible HomeKit accessories with a major update this month. Apple now details accessories by category rather than brand and provides a much more comprehensive list with external links and availability status. You can find the newly updated site at apple.com/ios/home/accessories where Apple lists each supported HomeKit category so far: lights, switches, outlets, thermostats, windows, fans, air conditioners, sensors, security, locks, cameras, doorbells, garage doors, bridges, and ranger extenders....

From 9to5Toys.com: Best Buy has the entry level 13inch MacBook Air on-sale for $1,099. This Mac retails for $1,299 and sports a 1.7GHz i5 processor, 128GB flash storage, and 4GB of memory (See below for full specs). This is an awesome deal on one of the best portable Macs you can buy. 1.7GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor 4GB memory 128GB flash storage Intel HD Graphics 3000 Two USB 2.0 ports (up to 480 Mbps)...

That’s the news coming out of Piper Jaffray analyst, Gene Mumster, who reckons most of Wall Street have missed out on the potential sales uptick Apple’s going to see in the coming weeks as partners push the in vogue device. “Our iPhone estimate of 4.1 million units in the Sept. [fiscal 3Q] quarter is like conservative,” Munster said, pointing out that Apple’s market reach now extends to a potential 660 million people....

Apple is one of a number of major companies urging the U.S. Supreme Court to hear a case of alleged employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation … The amicus brief – a submission by parties not directly involved in a case – argues that allowing organizations to discriminate against gay and lesbian employees is harmful to staff, businesses and the U.S. economy. The WSJ reports that the brief was filed after an earlier appeals court ruled against a lesbian employee....

Apple ads from the 1970s to the present day have been archived by graphic designer and marketer Sam Henri Gold. The archive includes literally hundreds of TV ads, print ads, promo photos, and more, organized by decade and then year … Gold says that he plans to get everything hosted on the Internet Archive later this year, but for now he has uploaded it to Google Drive so that people can check that everything is in the correct year....

Claims made by The Washington Post that the National Security Agency was tapping into the servers of nine tech companies for details of user activity have been denied by Apple and most of the other companies alleged to be involved. Similar denial statements have been issued by Yahoo, Dropbox, Google, Microsoft and Facebook. The Post published slides from what it said was a Powerpoint presentation detailing the top-secret program, in which it was implied that the companies listed were knowing participants … The NSA has issued a statement stating that the reports “contain numerous inaccuracies” but not actually denying the claims:...

Apple executives are now live on stage at the Yerba Buena Arts Center in California, where the company just unveiled the iPhone 5. “Today we’re introducing iPhone 5… It’s made entirely of glass and aluminum,” announced Apple Worldwide Marketing Senior Vice President Phillip Schiller. “You see we’re able to add a fifth-row of icons.” Additional iPhone 5 specs: Retina display: 4-inch (diagonal) widescreen Multi-Touch display, 1136-by-640-pixel resolution at 326 ppi, 44 percent more color saturation, 800:1 contrast ratio, and fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating on front....

Apple today has shared a new iPad Pro ad touting how it can act as a PC replacement. This is the same angle Apple has taken in several previous advertisements, but this is the first one to focus on the iPad Pro enhancements included with iOS 11. The ad features a young kid using a 10.5-inch iPad Pro paired with a Smart Keyboard and Apple Pencil. Throughout the ad, the eager kid can be seen writing papers with Microsoft Word, snapping images with the rear camera, sharing annotated screenshots with friends, and more....

Apple has a portal for developers to file complaints about other App Store apps infringing their intellectual property (IP) rights. This form says that Apple will follow-up via email, and put the two developers in contact. Yesterday, developer Benjamin Mayo noted that Apple may have begun rejecting apps that violate other’s intellectual property. For example, an app that mimicked the popular to-list software Clear, was apparently rejected because it could mislead people looking for the original Clear app....

Apple Inc., the company that restructured the music industry around its iTunes service, is exploring an overhaul of the way it sells and stores music that is aimed at extending its influence to the Web, according to people briefed on the strategy.The key vehicle for the move is Apple’s newly acquired music-streaming service La La Media Inc. for which Apple paid $85 [Wow! TechCrunch was WAY off] million, according to people familiar with the matter....

Apple today issued a significant update to its iTunes U application for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. The application focuses on enhancements for both teachers and students, and the application was first announced by Apple last week alongside the new Back to School retail initiatives. Here’s what is new for students: • The new iTunes U makes it simple for students participating in private courses to pose questions on the course or any post or assignment • Other students in the class can jump into the discussion and ask more questions or provide answers • Teachers and students can keep up with the conversation when they receive push notifications as the discussion progresses...

Apple made its public betas available for iOS 14 and iPadOS 14 back in July and we’ve been eagerly awaiting the macOS Big Sur public. Now it’s available giving anyone the ability to test out the all-new design, widgets, Safari experience, and much more. macOS Big Sur includes a big refresh to the UI that’s inspired by iOS. Other new features include Control Center, Safari improvements, new Messages app features like pinned messages, customizable widgets, and much more....

Apple’s update to its augmented reality Quick Look feature to let retailers sell their products and more right within the AR experience is starting to roll out from major brands like Home Depot, Wayfair, Bang & Olufsen, and more. Reported by TechCrunch, not only can companies use the new Quick Look button allows customers to make purchases via Apple Pay, they can also send a user to a support chat, or a number of other options....

Apple and Samsung will largely own the smartwatch market between them, predicts Jackdaw Research chief analyst Jan Dawson in a report being issued later today and seen by Re/code. Dawson said that new players should “stay out of the market,” and existing players should scale back their plans. “We do not recommend that existing vendors should maintain current levels of investment when market growth and the overall revenue opportunity remain poor,” Dawson said....

Apple this evening has announced that it is opening a new iOS App Design and Development Accelerator in Bengaluru, India. Apple says that the city is the “home of India’s startup scene,” while there are tens of thousands of developers in India building apps for iOS. Apple says the Design and Development Accelerator will feature members of Apple’s team working with developers to inspire and instruct them as to how to best go about building applications....

Apple officially announced a media event for the much-rumored iPad mini scheduled for Oct. 23. Apple sent out invitations to the press today, as noted by The Loop. The event will kick off at 10 a.m. PST in San Jose’s California Theatre, as opposed to one of Apple’s usual venues. An Oct. 23 unveiling of the new 7.85-inch iPad would likely signal an early-November launch and international rollout leading up to the holidays....

While Apple Card might not be the most lucrative card in terms of rewards, where it shines is ease of use – especially when it comes to cashback. Here’s how to track, manage, and spend Apple Card cashback. All of the cashback you earn with Apple Card is deposited directly onto your Apple Cash card. You’ll get a deposit at the end of everyday, accounting for the transactions that took place and/or posted since the last deposit....

We’ve already seen that analysts are expecting big things from Apple’s earnings in the final quarter of last year, and the latest numbers from Counterpoint Research lend support for that optimism. The company estimates that within the USA Apple sold a total of 22.39M iPhones across all models in Q4 2017 – pushing its US market share to a record 44% … Counterpoint says this is particularly impressive given consumer reluctance to upgrade....

This Friday afternoon, Apple has opened up an iPhone 5 battery replacement program after discovering that a “very small percentage” of units “may suddenly experience shorter battery life or need to be charged more frequently.” The iPhone 5 was originally launched in September 2012, and Apple says that the affected units were sold between that month and January 2013. Apple’s support website includes a tool to check if your serial number belongs to a faulty iPhone 5…...