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Bloomberg reports that Apple has once again been denied a sales ban request on Samsung products that were already found to infringe its patents back in May. According to the report, Apple had narrowed its request to focus on only certain smartphone models, but Koh still denied the sales ban despite Apple offering Samsung a period of time to implement workarounds for the infringing features: Apple tried to make its request more viable by targeting specific infringing features in nine Samsung devices, and by offering what it called a “sunset period” to give its Suwon, South Korea-based rival a chance to design around the features before any ban was enforced, according to a court filing....

The patent discusses over the air downloads of podcasts and a number of specific location-based solutions, such as shopping, groceries or recipe discovery. “For example, if the merchant is a restaurant, the merchant may provide a menu to the personal media device and the user may place an order on his or her media device by selecting items on the menu,” the patent states. Additional ideas include purchasing cinema/movie theatre tickets, or information about objects or creatures on display at a museum, art gallery or zoo....

With Apple reporting all-time record high iPhone sales and revenue in its earnings call yesterday, IDC’s latest data out today confirms that the company surpassed Samsung to take the top spot in the fourth quarter of last year. That was despite, as IDC notes, a first full year of decline for iPhone with a 7% drop year-over-year for 2016: Apple’s iPhone sales of 78.3 million units in the fourth quarter was a 4....

Apple has hired Amber Cottle as its new chief lobbyist, reports Politico. Before joining the Cupertino company, Cottle spent time as the Democratic Staff Director on the Senate Finance Committee, giving her a unique perspective on how Washington politics affect companies like Apple. Prior to serving the Finance Committee, Cottle was the Deputy Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Investment. In the past, Apple has not always focused heavily on lobbying efforts in Washington, and though the company hired a lobbying firm to represent them in 2011, the financial investment remains lower than that of many similar companies....

TechCrunch reports today that the CEO and founder of Wifarer, a company working on innovative indoor positioning technology, has has left for a leadership role at Apple. While Philip Stanger confirmed on his LinkedIn that he’s been at Apple since February, the report notes that the company claims it is still in business and has not been acquired by Apple: If a CEO and co-founder quits his indoor positioning startup to work for Apple, should his staff and customers be concerned?...

Apple has today begun rolling out a battery replacement program for the non Touch Bar 13-inch MacBook Pro. The company says there is an issue with a small number of MacBook Pros manufactured between October 2016 and October 2017. Affected users can mail in their MacBook Pro, find an Apple Authorized Service Provider, or visit an Apple Retail Store. To check if your MacBook Pro is affected, head over to this link and type in your serial number....

Apple has officially named long time director of public relations Steve Dowling as its new Vice President of Communications, as noted on the company’s executive bios webpage. Dowling succeeds former Apple Communications head Katie Cotton, who left Apple in 2014 following Apple CEO Tim Cook choosing to take Apple in a new direction PR-wise. Dowling has led Apple’s Communications division for several months following Cotton’s departure, and he was internally named interim head of PR last October....

Apple has officially expanded its Mac trade-in program to retail stores in the United States and Canada. This was first reported last week, and now Apple has made the expansion official. Apple has long allowed users to trade in other products like iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch at its retail stores, but the Mac trade-in program had been limited to online-only. This meant that you had to mail in your old Mac to Apple and wait for a gift card or credit....

Which brings us to iOS 11.2.6. iOS 11.2.6 hit the streets without even going to beta to patch a vulnerability where receiving a certain Telugu character via Messages could crash your entire device. Nice. So, should you upgrade to iOS 11.2.6? If you’re currently on iOS 11.2.5, absolutely yes. However, note that the Telegu character vulnerability doesn’t affect iOS releases before iOS 11.2.5. Here are some more details. iOS 11....

The US Patent & Trademark Office this week granted Apple a patent for a new magnetic connector capable of transmitting power to the iPhone. This comes after rumors that Apple is considering removing the Lightning port from its smartphones in the future. As reported by Patently Apple, the patent shows a new type of connector that can be somewhat compared to the iPad’s Smart Connector and even the MagSafe from older MacBooks....

Apple today updated its App Store Connect app for iOS with some great new features. Developers will now be able to set up and manage TestFlight apps right on their iPhone and iPad through the App Store Connect app. The App Store Connect is the place where developers can manage their iOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS apps. From there, they can send new apps to the App Store, upload screenshots, change the app description, read users’ reviews, and more....

What’s the downside of always-on devices that listen for commands? Nearly all voice-activated technology uses microphones that listen for “wake words.” That means they are, technically, always listening. If you want to take control of your privacy, here’s how to stop your smart devices from listening. Foiling Facebook Facebook sometimes requests access to the microphone for video chatting and text-to-speech purposes. You might not feel comfortable giving Facebook control of your mic....

Apple Arcade has gotten a big wave of new games today. Over 30 new titles including ones from major game developers to popular indie devs have hit the service that pushes the available titles to over 180. New games include NBA 2K21, an all-new version of The Oregon Trail from Gameloft, Fantasian from the creator of Final Fantasy, and lots of hit classics like Really Bad Chess, Monument Valley, Reigns, Simon’s Cat, Threes!...

After opening registration last week, Apple today has started notifying winners of its WWDC 2019 lottery. These winners are now able to purchase a ticket to the event for $1599. Registration for WWDC 2019 officially closed yesterday, and now the first winners are being notified. Winners are notified via email, so be sure to check your inbox if you entered the WWDC 2019 lottery. Apple uses a lottery system to address the high demands for WWDC tickets....

January has already been a busy month in Apple retail news. After announcing a temporary store closure for remodeling in Altamonte Springs, Florida, and a permanent store closure in Sendai, Japan, Apple has plans to completely remodel its Bridgewater, New Jersey location as well. Starting January 27th, Apple Bridgewater will be closed as the space is significantly rebuilt and expanded inside the Bridgewater Commons mall. The store originally opened in October 2004....

A survey of 6,000 consumers across three countries has found that Apple is ‘the most intimate brand’ – using a range of survey responses to measure the emotional connection people feel to a brand. It also had the highest score for ‘can’t live without this brand,’ with 59% of consumers ticking this box. MBLM, the company behind the survey, say that hard data proves the rankings aren’t just fluff …...

Apple will allow its upcoming Siri-controlled HomeKit platform to work with certain existing, non-HomeKit home automation products, including ones using competing protocols such as ZigBee or Z-Wave, but there are many limitations. According to sources briefed on the new specs, the latest Made for iPhone (MFi) licensing program specifications detail the types of home automation products other than HomeKit that Apple will permit to interact with its platform. During the 2014 WWDC, Apple briefly mentioned the possibility of connecting rival home automation products to HomeKit using a hardware “bridge,” but only in recent weeks has clarified the types of accessories that will and will not be allowed....

Apple is donating 1,000 Apple Watches to help university researchers gain a better understanding of eating disorders such as binge eating or the more specific bulimia nervosa … CNBC (via MacRumors) reports that the study is being carried out at the University of North Carolina. The school aims to recruit 1,000 volunteers who have binge eating disorders. The primary data is a log of thoughts and feelings collected through an app called Recovery Record....

Update: As the Chicago Sun-Times reports, Apple now faces a second lawsuit over the “deceptive, immoral and unethical” tactic of slowing older iPhones. More here. Following yesterday’s revelation that it slows down older iPhones to help manage batter wear, Apple today has been hit with its first class action lawsuit over the tactic. The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles, California, accuses Apple’s battery saving “feature” of causing users to suffer and hurting the value of older devices…...

We first heard two years ago that Apple was opening its first office in Cambridge, England, at a location close to the world-famous university. Back in November, a report said that the offices housed former VocalIQ employees performing R&D work on Siri, but at the time Apple wasn’t even admitting that it had a presence there. That has changed this week, notes Cambridge News, as the company’s logo has now appeared outside the building at 90 Hills Road....