Apple to Open New Retail Store in Vienna, Austria on February 24

Apple will open a retail store in the Austrian capital of Vienna on Saturday, February 24 according to a new webpage for the store published recently on Apple’s site.

The new three-story Vienna Apple Store is located on Kärntner Straße, a famous shopping street in central Vienna, and for the last several months, Apple has been renovating the location.

Kärntner Straße is near Stephansplatz, a square located at the center of Vienna that’s home to the Stephansdom cathedral, which is known as one of the tallest churches in the world. The street is home to dozens of well-known retailers, like H&M, Forever 21, Zara, and more.

Apple’s building is located on a corner and has been outfitted with modern-looking glass panels that replace the former metalwork that was in place. The Vienna location will adopt the new store layout that’s been rolling out around the world, with dedicated areas that include the Genius Grove, The Forum, and The Avenue, aka various parts of the store dedicated to support, classes, and shopping.

Rumors of a new Apple Store in Vienna first began circulating in August of 2016, when it was reported that Apple was close to inking a deal for a flagship retail property that was formerly occupied by fashion company Esprit. Apple began posting job listings for the store a year ago in February of 2017.

Ahead of the store’s opening on February 24 at 9:30 a.m. local time, Apple will allow customers to make Genius Bar appointments and sign up for Today at Apple classes.

(Thanks, Michael!)

Related Roundup: Apple Stores
Discuss this article in our forums

‘infltr’ Photo App Gains GIF Shooting Mode, New Editing Tools, and New Toolkit Manager

Award-winning photo editing app infltr received an update on Thursday that adds a number of notable features, including new editing tools and the ability to shoot animated GIFs.

The new GIF shooting mode appears beside the regular camera shutter button within the app, and joins infltr’s existing support for capturing Live Photos, depth photos, and raw photos.

After selecting GIF shooting mode, users can select the speed and duration of the GIF, and also choose whether it should loop forever or ping-pong back and forth.

Over on the editing front, the developers have added new tools including fade, save highlights, save shadows, highlights tint, and exposure.

The new selections join infltr’s more than 20 editing options, which include the ability to edit Live Photos and images with depth information. And on the same note, it’s now possible to manage, order and hide them, thanks to the new toolkit ordering screen introduced in version 2.13.

Also fresh in this update is a new button in Camera mode that sits next to the undo option and lets users quickly reset all applied adjustments.

Additionally, the app now saves in HEIC format instead of JPEG, and uses the H.265 video codec instead of H.264 whenever possible, bringing a 50 percent reduction in file size without a concomitant reduction in quality.

infltr costs $1.99 and can be downloaded for iPad and iPhone (with Apple Watch support) from the App Store. [Direct Link]

Tags: photography, infltr
Discuss this article in our forums

SEC shuts down AriseBank initial coin offering after it made fraudulent claims

An initial coin offering for a cryptocurrency project known as AriseBank has been shut down by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

AriseBank is one component of a broad range of cryptocurrency services being offered by 29-year-old Jared Rice Jr. and 45-year-old Stanley Ford. The pair embarked upon the project in 2017, announcing an ICO toward the end of the year, according to Ars Technica.

The white paper detailing the cryptocurrency asserted that it would bring together the best aspects of capitalism and socialism. “It’s capitalism without the inequality and socialism without the lack of opportunity,” read the document.

There were claims that AriseBank had raised some $600 million in funding for the project, and even celebrity endorsements. However, in the wake of the SEC’s action against the company, it seems that the cryptocurrency has gone down in flames.

The SEC ruled that the AriseBank ICO is a securities offering in legal terms and as such, it should have been submitted to the commission ahead of time. It also said the company’s founders made at least two fraudulent claims while marketing the cryptocurrency.

AriseBank claimed to be collaborating with a financial technology company called Marqeta to facilitate payments using the Visa network. Marqeta has since denied any knowledge of such an agreement in a public statement.

The AriseBank team also professed to have acquired KFMC Bank Holding Company, an FDIC-insured bank, which would allow it to field banking products that other cryptocurrency firms could not. According to the SEC, KFMC is not insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

Now that cryptocurrency is beginning to hit the mainstream, government bodies are starting to pay closer attention. It remains to be seen what sort of effect this will have in the long term, but there are reasons to welcome this expanded oversight.

AriseBank seems to have been adopting some shady practices, and we’ve seen various other misdeeds pertaining to cryptocurrency in recent months — the wave of ‘malvertisements’ is one way people are abusing the technology. With the authorities taking more interest in its potential for illegal activity, we’ll perhaps see less activity of this kind.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Facebook bans advertisements for cryptocurrency exchanges
• As bitcoin takes its biggest tumble this quarter, other coins follow suit
• Stripe bids farewell to bitcoin, says it will stop supporting the currency
• Hackers steal as much as 10 percent of new cryptocurrency funds
• Everything you need to know about the Essential PH-1 phone

AMD wants to make it easier for you to buy its GPUs

If you’ve been planning to build a new PC or upgrade the one you already have, then the past several months have been both the best and the worst of times. Buying a new CPU is an exciting proposition, with both Intel and AMD offering some attractive options. Buying a new GPU is a different story, though — there are great options there as well, but actually getting your hands on one has been a challenge. AMD hopes to make things easier, however, by ramping up production.

The GPU problem, which involves not only constrained supply but also exorbitant pricing, stems from the cryptocurrency craze and the fact that today’s GPUs are the best engines for efficiently mining cryptocurrency. As Polygon reports, AMD wants to ramp up production of its leading GPUs to make it easier to buy one and, hopefully, more affordable as well.

According to AMD CEO and President Dr. Lisa Su, “The graphics channel is very low, and we’re certainly working to replenish that channel environment.” Su recognizes the impact of cryptocurrency mining on the availability of the company’s products while asserting that a good portion of its growth in GPU sales has derived from other buyers.

The challenge appears to be that while AMD can ramp up production of its own chips, it’s constrained by the availability of another very important component: graphics memory. AMD uses both GDDR5 and HBM2 memory in its graphics cards, and both types suffer from shortages. Su recognizes the impact that has as well, saying, “We continue to work through that with our memory partners.”

Nvidia has also taken efforts to resolve the GPU shortage. Its approach has been a bit different, with the company asking its retailers to take steps to make its GPUs more available to the general market. In a statement posted on Computerbase.de, Nvidia said, “All activities related to our GeForce product line are targeted at our main audience. To ensure that GeForce gamers continue to have good GeForce graphics card availability in the current situation, we recommend that our trading partners make the appropriate arrangements to meet gamers’ needs as usual.”

It’s been a good few months for AMD, with its new Ryzen CPUs based on the Zen architecture receiving a warm reception in the market due to their great price-performance ratios. And AMD’s new Vega GPUs are also grabbing some attention for their own performance gains. Now, AMD just hopes it get more of them produced so that gamers and other PC buyers can actually buy them.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Honor View 10 versus Huawei Mate 10 Pro: A battle of David and Goliath
• Synaptics’ Clear ID puts the fingerprint sensor under your smartphone’s display
• Nvidia speaks out against rising price of GPUs due to cryptocurrency mining
• OnePlus 5T review
• Best mobile gifts for the 2017 holiday season

Apple plans to bring iOS apps to MacOS later this year

Despite reportedly pushing some iOS features down the road, it looks like Mac users might see some cross-compatible iOS apps show up in the Mac App Store before long. According to MacRumors, the framework which would allow iOS apps to run on MacOS is in the works for release later this year.

There is no word on how exactly it would work, which apps would be available cross-platform, or if it would be a universal framework that would work with any iOS app, but we do have a few clues as to how it could. Currently, as MacRumors reports, MacOS uses a framework called UXKit which is similar in function to Apple’s UIKit, which is used to create user interfaces for iOS apps. That means there is already a bit of overlap between these behind-the-scenes tools, making a closer integration between iOS and MacOS a shorter leap than it might appear.

MacRumors speculates that the public announcement could come at the Worldwide Developers Conference in June, with a beta test following in the summer and a public release likely coming in September or October. The plans were reportedly announced to Apple employees in a meeting with software engineering head Craig Federighi in January.

“Apple’s move to delay some features was announced to employees at a meeting earlier this month by software chief Craig Federighi. The company is looking to address criticisms that it has put new products and features ahead of ensuring quality,” Axios reports.

Bringing iOS apps to MacOS would put Apple’s flagship operating system in direct competition with Microsoft’s Universal Windows Platform — a similar framework designed to allow apps to run on various platforms seamlessly. With both operating system giants moving toward their own solutions to unify their respective desktop and mobile environments, it will be easier than ever for developers to create platform agnostic applications that work in a variety of environments.

In Apple’s case, it’s an intriguing move considering iOS is a much more mature and robust platform than Microsoft’s Windows 10 Mobile ever was. Bringing iOS apps to MacOS would open the doors to a large existing ecosystem, provided the implementation works seamlessly. Otherwise, it could just mean your Mac has access to a bunch of new apps you will never use.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Apple reportedly prepares a universal app framework between iOS and MacOS
• How to uninstall apps on a Mac
• How to install fonts on a Mac
• How to use Split View on a Mac
• How to change your username on a Mac

Samsung confirms it’s working on chips for cryptocurrency mining

Just like everyone else on the planet, it looks like Samsung is getting in on the cryptocurrency business, by manufacturing ASIC chips designed specifically for mining those precious bitcoins. Or litecoins, or NEM tokens, or dogecoins, take your pick. Point is, one of the world’s largest chip manufacturers is muscling into the cryptocurrency mining industry.

“Samsung’s foundry business is currently engaged in the manufacturing of cryptocurrency mining chips. However we are unable to disclose further details regarding our customers,” a Samsung spokesperson told TechCrunch.

According to TechCrunch, the move comes as part of a collaboration with a distribution partner in China. Other than that, there is not much to go on here, Samsung has remained tight-lipped about who it’s making the chips for, and to what end — other than their purpose as crypto-mining tools.

To clarify, Samsung isn’t making CPUs or GPUs for bitcoin mining, instead it is making application-specific integrated circuit or ASIC chips. Think of these as processors designed for one specific purpose, rather than the kind of general use processor inside your computer or smartphone. ASIC chips are made with particular uses in mind, and optimized to perform a single task very well and very efficiently. That’s why ASIC chips built for cryptocurrency mining are in such high demand. They get the job done because it’s the only job they’re built for.

Samsung getting in on this part of the cryptocurrency craze makes sense, since its a massive company with its snaking tendrils in hundreds of different businesses. Manufacturing ASIC chips for crypto mining isn’t much of a stretch for Samsung’s enormous manufacturing infrastructure. It is, however, big news for other ASIC chip manufacturers.

As TechCrunch points out, it’s not clear exactly where Samsung is going to fit into the cryptocurrency chip manufacturing business, but at the very least it’s putting itself in direct competition with some big players in chip manufacturing — namely, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, or TSMC.

As the world’s largest chip manufacturer, TSMC has made a comfortable niche in the cryptocurrency-facing ASIC chip market. We will have to wait and see what happens now that Samsung is jumping in with both feet — either way, it’s sure to make some waves.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Go ahead, pass laws. They can’t kill bitcoin, even if they try
• The best bitcoin alternatives
• Bitcoin’s latest boom sends it scorching past $9,000
• How to trade bitcoin for other cryptocurrencies
• Ethereum vs. bitcoin: What’s the difference?

Xerox becomes Fuji Xerox in cost-cutting move with Fujifilm

Fujifilm and Xerox are taking existing industry collaboration to a new level. On Wednesday, January 31, Fujifilm and Xerox announced a move to combine efforts in the document solutions industry. Fujifilm will be a majority stakeholder in a newly combined company called Fuji Xerox. The move will allow the companies to reduce costs while expanding options through the merger of two different research and development teams.

Understanding just how the companies are working together is a bit of a brain teaser. Fuji Xerox Co. Ltd. (not to be confused with the new Fuji Xerox) is a joint venture by Fujifilm and Xerox created over 50 years ago. Fujifilm owns a 75 percent stake in that joint venture and Xerox, the remaining 25 percent. That Fujifilm Xerox Co. (not Fujifilm itself) is combining with the existing Xerox company, which will be renamed into Fuji Xerox. With all the Fuji Xeroxes being tossed around, the group is temporarily referring to the new venture as New Fuji Xerox.

Fujifilm isn’t spending any actual cash on the change either — Fujifilm is selling all of its shares in that 75 percent of the existing Fuji Xerox and using that to buy a 50.1 percent share in the New Fuji Xerox.

While it may be a bit hard to follow how the transaction is happening — with multiple parts under the same Fuji Xerox name — the merger’s impact on consumers is a bit easier to make out. With the combination, the companies combined revenue, as they sit currently, makes the New Fuji Xerox a world leader out of all the document solution companies. The merger will also bring together their resources and technology, which Fujifilm says will help expand offerings from Fuji Xerox. That opens up possibilities for the new Fuji Xerox outside of the typical office, including industrial printing and commercial printing.

The combination also comes as office document focused companies are struggling with decreasing revenues as expanding digital tools leave lower demand for printing. Through the merger, the previous Fuji Xerox and Xerox will be able to reduce their costs to the tune of $1.7 billion dollars by 2022, with a majority of those savings taking place over the next two years. Some of that structural reform is through cutting what amounts to about a fifth of the workforce from the existing Fuji Xerox, or around 10,000 employees in the Asia Pacific region, according to CNBC.

Xerox becoming Fuji Xerox doesn’t necessarily that Xerox name will disappear — according to the announcement, the newly formed company plans to continue using the Fuji Xerox and Xerox brands in their current regions, with Fuji Xerox primarily in Asia and Xerox the more common name in the United States and Europe.

The deal is expected to be finalized this summer.

Editors’ Recommendations

• It’s deja vu as Uber forms a joint venture in Russia, much like it did in China
• Fujifilm Instax SQ10 is a digital-print hybrid that prints edited photos, too
• Fujifilm X-T2 review
• The best laptop brands
• Fujifilm GFX 50S review

Elon Musk sells all 20,000 $500 Boring Company flamethrowers

Just a few days after opening pre-orders for $500 Boring Company-branded flamethrowers, Elon Musk has announced that all 20,000 have been sold. That’s $10 million in sales for a product that will ship in spring (hopefully) on a website that admits it’s overpriced and said: “You can definitely buy one for less elsewhere.” At least, according to Musk, each order will come with a complimentary fire extinguisher.

If you missed out and absolutely must have a flamethrower ASAP, there are others available. USA Today points out the XM42-M from Ion Productions Team that’s a bit more expensive at $899, but promises a range of over 30 feet. If it absolutely must be Musk, however, don’t despair — he tweeted that a “snowthrower” would be fun.

Flamethrowers sold out

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 1, 2018

All flamethrowers will ship with a complimentary boring fire extinguisher

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 1, 2018

Source: Boring Company

Uber’s Siri and Apple Maps Integrations Have Disappeared

Uber’s latest app update appears to have removed several important iOS integrations, with the service now unavailable to both Siri and Apple Maps.

If you ask Siri to get you an Uber, a feature that has been available since the launch of iOS 10, Siri will say that Uber hasn’t activated that feature. In the “Siri & Search” section of the Uber options in the Settings app, there’s also no longer a “Use with Siri” toggle.

Similarly, in Apple Maps, you can no longer select Uber as an option when choosing “Ride” when getting directions. This is also a feature that debuted in iOS 10.

Both Siri and Apple Maps integrations are still available for other ride sharing apps like Lyft, so the problem seems to be with the Uber app rather than with Apple’s services.

The removal of both features was noticed by MacRumors readers and reddit users starting last week. It is not clear if Uber has deliberately removed these features or if it’s a bug, and the company did not respond to a request for comment when contacted by MacRumors earlier this afternoon. We have also contacted Apple and will update this post when we hear back.

Uber integration with Siri, enabled through the SiriKit API, was a much touted feature when iOS 10 first launched, as was Apple Maps integration. Both Apple and Uber heavily promoted the two options when iOS 10 rolled out.

Tags: Siri, Apple Maps, Uber
Discuss this article in our forums

eBay will soon replace PayPal as its main payment option

eBay and PayPal remained tight even after the two headed to splitsville in 2015. That’s bound to change in the near future now that the auction site has decided to offer an integrated payment system built by Amsterdam-based company Adyen. The move will give way to a more seamless payment experience — no need to log into another website to pay — since Adyen’s product (already used by Netflix and Uber) is purely a back-end payment service.

You might encounter the new payment system as soon as the second half of 2018, when the e-commerce giant deploys it (on a small scale) in North America. Its availability will expand in 2019 and the year after, until all sellers have been transitioned to the new system by 2021. eBay has an existing contract to continue offering PayPal as a payment option until July 2023, but neither company has announced if they have plans to extend that partnership beyond that point.

According to the auction site’s announcement, offering its own intermediate payment system will allow it to build a central console where sellers can track all their transactions easily. Plus, it’ll lower the payment processing charges sellers have to pay. Even with the lower charges, Recode says the move will boost eBay’s revenue by $2 billion, since it can now pocket those payment processing fees. At the moment, PayPal’s value is billions more than eBay — its shares fell after news of eBay’s decision was announced, but it remains to be seen if it will have a huge and permanent effect on the payment portal’s business.

Wenig: We have made the decision to intermediate payments on $eBay. We have already begun building this capability, and will move as quickly as we can under the terms of our operating agreement with PayPal. pic.twitter.com/qDp3mDmBVx

— eBay Newsroom (@eBayNewsroom) January 31, 2018

Via: Recode

Source: eBay, (Twitter)