Tim Cook Discusses World AIDS Day, PRODUCT(RED), and Apple’s Values in New Interview

Following the announcement of Apple’s annual fundraising for World AIDS Day this morning, USA Today has now published a new interview with CEO Tim Cook, discussing the lengths Apple goes to in support of projects like PRODUCT(RED) and what it means to Cook personally. The fundraising will donate $1 to (RED)’s fight against AIDS for every purchase made with Apple Pay in an Apple Store, on Apple.com, or through the Apple Store app from December 1-6.

Cook said that the company “wanted there to be something for everyone” in terms of donating, learning about the issue at hand, or simply being excited for a new Apple accessory launch. There are four new PRODUCT(RED) items, including an iPhone 7 Smart Battery Case, iPhone SE Case, Pill+ Portable Speaker, and Beats Solo3 Wireless On-Ear Headphones. (RED) CEO Deb Dugan said that the company, combined with Apple’s spotlight on the issue, has positively impacted the lives of 70 million individuals suffering from HIV/AIDS.

“We put our weight behind lots of things in the civil rights area,” says Cook. “Similarly, I think it’s key that people think about what they stand for and help their communities. We always say that we want to leave the world better than we found it. So, we try to thoughtfully decide how we can do that.”

The topic of Donald Trump’s upcoming presidency is briefly touched upon, centering around the possible negative ramifications for Apple and other more left-leaning tech companies. When asked if he’s concerned whether Trump supporters would denounce Apple because of its anti-Trump viewpoints, Cook remained adamant that Apple — and any company — should retain a strong central value system, whether or not those values misalign with some of its customers.

“Of course corporations should have values, because people should have values,” says the soft-spoken tech leader, who has been vocal on a range of civic issues, from gay rights to privacy rules. “And corporations are just a bunch of people.”

Cook was also asked to address critics who claim that his stance domestically on certain issues, namely gay rights, is hypocritical given that homosexuality is a crime “in about a fifth of the 100-plus countries Apple does business in.” Another point claims that the company’s political leanings help generate more sales towards its younger millennial customer base.

Cook responded:

“We’ll always help the most people through our products, because they empower people to do great things themselves,” he says. “But this (RED) partnership allows us to touch a group of people we normally wouldn’t. Sub-Saharan Africa is not a big marketplace for us. This is about trying to lift people up.”

“We haven’t shied away from being visible on a number of topics, and if it’s something in our wheelhouse, we’ll always be visible and stand up to protect as well as advance people’s rights,” he says.

Apple and Tim Cook have supported, and fought for, a number of movements and causes over the years, most recently holding a fundraiser for Hillary Clinton, fighting for user privacy and security against the FBI, and marching in annual support of LGBT rights during the Pride Festival in San Francisco.

Cook’s final note on Apple’s bold stances was that he and the company don’t intend to stop moving forward in the fight for acceptance, inclusiveness, and support in all of these areas and more. “Every generation has a responsibility of expanding the definition of those rights, to move forward. So we’ll very much continue to do that.”

Check out the full USA Today interview with Tim Cook here.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Tags: Tim Cook, (PRODUCT)RED, World AIDS Day
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Tim Cook Says He Expects AirPods to Ship Over ‘Next Few Weeks’ in Email to Customer

Many customers are anxiously anticipating the release of Apple’s wireless AirPods, originally slated to launch in October but later delayed. Fortunately, the wait may soon be over.

MacRumors has been forwarded an email in which Apple CEO Tim Cook, responding to a customer, allegedly said he anticipates AirPods to begin shipping “over the next few weeks.”

Customer’s comment: “Give us a release date. I really bought in to the wireless vision you painted. Now I’m stuck waiting with my EarPods but can’t charge my 7 at the same time which I need to do at work. Let us know if it’s a month or 6 months, because then I’ll just buy some other wireless headphones.”

Tim Cook’s response: “Thanks for your note. Sorry for the delay—we are finalizing them and I anticipate we will begin to ship over the next few weeks.”

MacRumors has verified the email’s full headers appear to originate from Apple’s corporate servers, while Apple executives are known to respond to customers on occasion, but as a boilerplate disclaimer, it should be noted these emails can of course be faked. Apple did not immediately respond to request for comment.

Apple has so far only said it needed “a little more time” before AirPods are ready for customers, while conflicting rumors have pointed towards release dates between December and January, offering little clarity. AirPods remain listed as both “coming soon” and “currently unavailable” on different sections of Apple’s website.

Tags: Tim Cook, AirPods
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‘DirecTV NOW’ Launches on the iOS and Apple TV App Stores

Two days after the initial announcement, AT&T’s new streaming television service DirecTV Now has officially launched on the iOS and Apple TV App Stores as a free initial download. [Direct Link] The service will allow customers to stream and subscribe to various channel bundles that range in price from $35 to $70, “with no commitments, no equipment, and no installers.”

Specifically, the bundles start with 60+ channels ($35/month), 80+ channels ($50/month), 100+ channels ($60/month), and 120+ channels ($70/month). A seven day free trial is available for customers to check out any of the packages, and a limited time offer is knocking down the price of the 100+ channel bundle to $35 to entice new users into subscribing. Premium channels, like HBO and Cinemax, can be added onto any package at $5 per channel.

DIRECTV NOW lets you stream top live channels and thousands of On Demand movies and shows instantly upon sign-up. It¹s hassle-free TV, with no commitments, no equipment, and no installers. Watch your favorite shows on your favorite devices. Start on one device, pause, and continue watching on another. Missed the first part of your favorite show that started airing 10 minutes ago? No worries! Restart your show from the beginning. Enjoy TV freedom with DIRECTV NOW.

AT&T is offering new subscribers a free Apple TV if they purchase three months of pre-paid DirecTV NOW. The new streaming service is also available to watch on the web, and on Android and Amazon devices. The company promises a seamless viewing ecosystem across all of a user’s devices, so they can pause a show and pick it up on any smartphone, tablet, or web browser that supports DirecTV NOW.

Tag: DirecTV Now
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Apple Seeds Fourth Beta of tvOS 10.1 to Developers

Apple today seeded the fourth beta of an upcoming tvOS 10.1 update to developers for testing purposes, two weeks after seeding the third tvOS 10.1 beta and more than a month after launching tvOS 10.

Designed for the fourth-generation Apple TV, tvOS 10.1 beta 4 can be obtained by connecting the Apple TV to a computer with a USB-C to USB-A cable, downloading and installing the software from a registered developer account via iTunes or Apple Configurator. Once a beta profile has been installed on the device through iTunes, new beta updates will be available over the air.

Many Apple TV owners have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of a promised Single Sign-On feature that will allow Apple TV users to sign in once with their cable credentials to access all available live cable content, and the feature was introduced in the first tvOS 10.1 beta. Single Sign-On is currently available for DirecTV, Dish, GVTC Communications, Hotwire, and Sling TV.

Shortly after the release of the third beta, Apple unlocked the new “TV” app, which is designed to make it easier for users to discover new content across the dozens of television and movie apps that are available.

It serves as a sort of Apple-designed television guide, giving customers a way to find and watch TV and movies across multiple devices. It features a dedicated store, recommended content, and cross-device syncing.

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tvOS 10, for those unfamiliar with the operating system, brings features like improved search, expanded Siri capabilities, a dark mode, a Continuity option for using the iPhone for text input, automatic app downloads, quicker access to live TV, and more.

Related Roundups: Apple TV, tvOS 10
Buyer’s Guide: Apple TV (Caution)
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BlackBerry DTEK60 review: A great Android phone and the best BlackBerry

The BlackBerry DTEK60 isn’t getting much attention outside of the hardcore BB audience. That’s a shame because it’s one of the best phones of 2016.

No, I haven’t lost my marbles. The BlackBerry DTEK60 really is that good.

Like a lot of Android fans and people who write words about phones for a living, I chuckled and instantly dismissed the DTEK60 before it even arrived. BlackBerry having Alcatel make a phone for them and deigning to charge a premium price for it sounded like a recipe for disaster much like the Priv. Good phone, great phone — none of that matters when you’re competing against the Samsung juggernaut, especially when you have BlackBerry’s reputation (mostly unfair, in my opinion). I mean, come on. Is BlackBerry even still in business? They lost about 99% of their market in the past five years and everyone outside a small group of the BlackBerry faithful has written the company off. What could they possibly do to turn things around?

You start by making a phone like the DTEK60, that’s what.

Before we go too deep here, you need to take a few minutes and read through one of the most comprehensive phone reviews ever written. Bla1ze has detailed every single feature that BlackBerry’s Android has and you’ll have a great understanding of how the company stands out in an ocean of companies building Android phones.

Read: CrackBerry’s complete DTEK60 review

We start there because the software is what makes the DTEK60 worth looking at. The hardware isn’t bad — Snapdragon 820, 4GB of RAM, QHD display, and even an SD card slot. It’s the same configuration as every other “flagship” Android phone sold since last March. Drop all that into a fairly nondescript package from Alcatel parent, TCL, and you have nothing that’s going to catch anyone’s eye. The $499 price tag also isn’t going to grab your attention and suck you in because there are other phones using equal or better hardware that hit that price or are cheaper. This is a problem almost every company that makes Android phones is up against — a good phone at a reasonable price just isn’t enough in a world where Samsung and Apple exist.

A good phone at a reasonable price just isn’t enough in a world where Samsung and Apple exist.

The phone itself flies. You can ask any of the people using one every day and they will tell you the same thing, From a performance standpoint, the DTEK60 will do everything you want it to do with nary a whine or whimper. The usability — good hardware combined with good software — of the DTEK60 does a commendable job making up for the one glaring hardware blunder: not including image stabilization in the camera. Honestly, that’s the only real fault I can find with the phone hardware that’s not a matter of opinion or preference. In late 2016, if you make a smartphone you need to have a kick-ass camera on it.

	6.06 in153.9mm
2.97 in75.4mm		0.28 in6.99mm

• Display:
  • 5.5-Inch QHD AMOLED display
  • 2560X1440 (534ppi)
• Camera:
  • 21MP rear camera
  • ƒ/2.0, Phase Detect Auto Focus, Dual-LED flash
  • 1080p 60fps video
  • 8MP ƒ/2.2 front camera
• Battery:
  • 3000mAh fixed battery
  • Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0
• Chips:
  • Snapdragon 820
  • Adreno 530 GPU
  • 4GB RAM
  • 32GB internal storage
  • microSD expansion
• Software:
  • Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow
• Keyboard:
  • On-screen BlackBerry keyboard
  • Contextual auto-correct
  • Touch-sensitive gesture control

DTEK 60 hardware

Using the DTEK60 for a busy week filled with too much running around on the T-Mobile network left me with no complaints. Battery life was between acceptable and good while syncing all my stuff and all of Android Central’s stuff. Call quality was exceptional (the DTEK60 has the best speakerphone I’ve ever used). The data connection was great around my home where T-Mobile offers good service and as good as any other phone in the places where T-Mo can be spotty and plain bad. The fingerprint sensor is fast and accurate.

The DTEK60 has the best speakerphone I’ve ever used.

Bluetooth worked with my MotoROKR headphones and a handful of standalone car speakerphone setups. The screen could be better in the sun, but it’s as good as the Nexus 6P which always worked well enough for me. Since I don’t take a lot of pictures with my phone, I had no complaints. Everything was good, but plenty of other phones are all good when it comes to things like battery life or call quality.

The glass back is expected on most any phone built nowadays, but the addition of a programmable convenience button wasn’t. It works well after you set it up to open one of the things that you often need to use. The DTEK60 is a completely unassuming package that more or less matches everything else worth buying in its price range on the outside.

So what makes the DTEK60 one of the phones I would suggest a person spend the money they worked hard to earn and buy? The software and the “total package” it brings to the table.

DTEK60 software

When you turn on the DTEK60 you know it’s running Android. You also know it’s a BlackBerry. The company has mixed the two to create the best BlackBerry consumer phone ever offered in a way that will appeal to people who like using Android.

That’s not easy to do. Motorola does it. Every now and then a company like Alcatel will do it. But most of the time, it’s not very successful and it takes some user dedication to getting rid of the things that need to go and adding the things that are missing — the ASUS ZenFone 2 was a great example of this. It was a great phone after you made it a great phone.

The alternative is to follow what companies like Samsung and LG are doing and replace everything you can replace. That’s great for the Samsungs and Hauweis of the world who can afford it (software developers don’t come cheaply) and whether you like the style of their products or not, you can’t deny that these companies deliver a complete product filled with things that just work once you log into them. And companies have to be successful with how they change the operating system, because if every phone ran plain vanilla Android, everyone would buy either a $100 Moto E or a Pixel and we would be out of a job.

BlackBerry’s take on Android is what makes the DTEK60 stand out.

Things haven’t really changed since the Priv introduced Android on a BlackBerry. The software looks and feels like vanilla Android with BlackBerry’s complete suite of services and software installed. But BlackBerry has improved at writing Android code, and the DTEK60 has hardware that’s a good bit more powerful. BlackBerry’s application suite includes the launcher (complete with swipe gestures and shortcuts), the excellent software keyboard, an OS-integrated password manager and BlackBerry Hub and Productivity tabs. To offer the Hub integration BlackBerry users expect the contacts, calendar, and dialer apps have been customized. These apps, as well as BlackBerry Tasks, work with the productivity tab so everything is where you would expect it to be if you’re interested in using it.

It just so happens that I’m not a fan of either the Hub or the Productivity tab. After seeing if there were any differences specific to the DTEK60 (there are none) I turned off and disabled both. There’s nothing wrong with either, but they just don’t fit into the way I do things and I’m too old to adapt and try new things.

It just so happens that I’m not a fan of either the Hub or the Productivity tab.

Even without these services in use, I find my core set of communication apps, namely contacts, calendar, and dialer, are easy to use and do the things they’re supposed to do in a logical and easy way. No, it’s not exactly the same as the way Google does it. But it’s all done well and doesn’t force me to change from how the Google way does those same things. Of course, BBM is included because you can’t make a BlackBerry without adding BBM to the pot. I just wish more people used BBM because the service is feature-rich and secure (unless you live in a few countries in Asia where “the man” has access). But talking to yourself gets old, and Phil is never online (read my message with the teddy bear stickers, Phil).

Oh, and a note about Nougat. It’s coming, we know that. But this runs Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow, which is fine, because it’s fast as hell, but it still would have been nice to see this running 7.0.

Building software that offers expanded functionality yet is still great when you don’t use any of it isn’t easy, but BlackBerry nails it. What started on the Priv is now finished on the DTEK60, and I can say I like BlackBerry’s take on the core Android experience. Who’d have thunk it?

Other changes are cosmetic and the rest of the vendor software — things like the clock or the settings work just like they work on a Nexus or Pixel phone even if the colors and graphics have changed. We were impressed with how Motorola managed to do this a few years back, and we’re just as impressed with the way BlackBerry has done it.

Android’s security features are there, too.

DTEK60 security

The DTEK60 has proven to be as secure as promised. We aren’t sure of the exact details on some of the things BlackBerry does to make it so, but they take everything Android from Google offers on the security front and add to it.

BlackBerry doesn’t take away any of the security features Google has implemented when they add their own.

The kernel is further hardened, the base system ha protections to keep from being modified and to stop everything to wait for the user to decide what to do if it were to happen. The boot services are secured in a similar way on top of the standard encrypted lock. Add in the fact that BlackBerry has never been even an hour late on any Android security bulletin updates (they’re usually early and the first to receive them) until you add a carrier who doesn’t care that you receive them on time (that means AT&T — they don’t care about your online security as much as Google or BlackBerry) and you can’t argue with BlackBerry’s claim that the DTEK60 is the most secure Android phone available.

There’s also a DTEK app (which stands for Detection) that doesn’t really contribute to any of this that the company insists on keeping around and talking about. It alerts you that you may not be as secured as you could be without any advice what to do about it or any helpful information with a meter and a scary red section. It’s not hurting anything, it’s just not very useful the way it is. I hope BlackBerry improves it or drops it rather than spend any resources maintaining it the way it stands.

The most important thing about this security feature stuff from a user standpoint — their full disk encryption methods (FIPS 140-2 compliant if you work somewhere that makes that mean something) — doesn’t bog everything down. A big part of the random 10FPS lag-glitch we see on the Priv can be attributed to file system performance. That’s fixed on the DTEK60.

DTEK60 final thoughts

BlackBerry has taken Android and made it their own. The Priv showed promise but performance issues put a damper on any excitement most people would have for it; the DTEK60 is what it looks like when it all works as intended and runs well. They done good. Real good.

The DTEK60 is more than just a phone for ex-BB users.

The price is in that tough spot where you can find some great stuff. Phones between $300 and $500 are now considered cheap when they offer top of the line hardware and a great interface to do things with it. I think BlackBerry’s attention to user security and privacy is something that adds plenty of value and makes the DTEK60 stand out from other good phones at the price point. Especially when it comes without any drawbacks to using it.

If the Pixel was never built, I’d probably use the DTEK60 as my phone — the one with my own SIM card that I won’t be resetting or changing until something replaces it next year. The core software experience is great right out of the box and even things you’ve not used before work the way you would expect them to work. If a friend or family member said they were buying a DTEK60, I’d say it’s a great choice, and if they were looking to buy a new phone I’d point them at it. I liked (and used) the Priv right up until I got the DTEK60 and expected it to be usable. I didn’t expect it to be this good.

BlackBerry did a great job on the DTEK60, and it’s more than just a phone people coming from “old” BlackBerry should look at. You should look, too.

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Huawei Mate 9 gets major software update as release nears

Update to build B126 fixes notification bugs and improves performance and photo quality.

Up to now we’ve been using the Huawei Mate 9 on pre-release firmware, as we noted in our review. Today, ahead of its December launch in Europe, the global dual-SIM version (the model reviewers currently have) has received a major software update, essentially putting it on retail-quality software.

Notifications now work as they should, and camera performance has been tweaked.

The update fixes a couple of major software issues we pointed out in our review — one having to do with parts of Gmail notifications being shown in white text, making them unreadable — squished. Huawei has also switched back to showing app icons in the top left corner of the screen for notifications, as opposed to just showing a number in the earlier build. (You can still switch back to “numbers” in the notification settings.) Notifications have long been an Achilles heel for Huawei phones, so it’s great to see the Mate 9 now having a bug-free notification setup that basically mirrors stock Nougat.

The camera has also seen a few improvements — Huawei has added up to 6X hybrid zoom, and the zoom interface has been tweaked to quickly snap to 2X zoom. In addition to sharper zoomed photos, we’re also seeing general improvements in fine detail rendering and color accuracy across the board, as well as in low-light situations (an area where the Mate 9 fell short on the older firmware.)

The new build also bumps Huawei’s upcoming flagship up to the 1 November 2016 Android security patch. All in all, it’s an important update that makes the phone feel like it’s now done and ready to ship. If you somehow already have a Huawei Mate 9, the OTA should be pushing out to your phone today.

We’ll be updating our Mate 9 review to reflect these changes in the coming days, so keep watching!

Huawei Mate 9

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• Huawei P9 specs
• The Porsche Design Mate 9 is a $1500 special edition you’ll want
• All Huawei Mate 9 news
• Join the discussion in the forums

Netflix finally lets you download TV shows and movies

Take Netflix offline with you wherever you go.

Netflix has finally added the ability to download TV shows and movies to watch offline. The option is available for Netflix’s own shows — including Orange is the New Black, Stranger Things, The Crown, Narcos, and others — as well as select movies and TV shows, with the company adding that it will offer more titles for offline viewing in due course of time. The ability to download content is included with all plans, and is available for phones as well as tablets.

The feature is now live with the most recent update, which is rolling out to users today. Once you’re on the most recent version of Netflix, you’ll see an “Available for Download” section that lists all the titles available for offline viewing. You’ll be able to download videos in either Standard or Higher quality, and all downloaded content will be accessible from the “My Downloads” section. Saved content is stored locally, and right now it looks like there’s no option to move it to the SD card.

PlayStation VR: The Ultimate Guide!

Let this be your extended user manual to all things PlayStation VR!

It wasn’t all that long ago VR was considered either something simple you added to a phone for a quick distraction or something amazingly complex for those who could afford the lengthy requirements of ownership. Sony created a compelling middle ground by doing what they do best — making something you actually want to have in your living room. PlayStation VR is a companion for your PlayStaion 4 that elevates your current games and helps you explore and entirely new way to feel like you are the character you’re playing.

Being able to fully enjoy this experience requires more than just taking one out of the box. Here’s our complete user manual for all things PSVR!

Read more at VR Heads!