PayPal on eBay Offering $100 iTunes Gift Cards for $85 as iTunes Discounts 4K Movies

About one month after PayPal’s previous 15 percent discount on iTunes cards, the company has launched its latest sale for those who have been waiting on a deal to get some free iTunes credit. Like previous discounts, PayPal on its Digital Gifts eBay storefront is offering $100 App Store and iTunes gift cards for $85. While the sale lasts, anyone with a PayPal account can take advantage of the deal, and you should receive the code for the iTunes credit within a few hours after the purchase.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

As usual with email delivery sales on iTunes cards, you can either enter your own email address and send the code to yourself, or enter the email of a friend or family member to send it as a gift. The credit will only be valid on purchases made on the United States App and iTunes stores, however.

Coinciding with the new gift card offer, iTunes has some notable discounts on its Movies storefront that might be of interest to users getting iTunes credit today. The sale prices include a collection of Disney films for $14.99 each, as well as some recent 4K releases for as low as $9.99. We’ve rounded them up below:

Disney Movies on Sale

• The Lion King – $14.99, down from $19.99
• Beauty and the Beast (1991) – $14.99, down from $19.99
• Pinocchio – $14.99, down from $19.99
• Bambi – $14.99, down from $19.99
• Snow White and the Seven Dwarves – $14.99, down from $19.99
• Cinderella (2015) – $14.99, down from $19.99
• Beauty and the Beast (2017) – $14.99, down from $19.99
• Into the Woods – $14.99, down from $19.99
• The Jungle Book (2016) – $14.99, down from $19.99
• Maleficent – $14.99, down from $19.99
• Alice: Through the Looking Glass – $14.99, down from $19.99
• Pete’s Dragon (2016) – $14.99, down from $19.99
• The BFG – $14.99, down from $19.99

4K Movies on Sale

• Blade Runner 2049 – $9.99, down from $19.99
• Wonder Woman – $9.99, down from $19.99
• Ghost in the Shell – $9.99, down from $19.99
• Kong: Skull Island – $9.99, down from $14.99
• Jackie – $9.99, down from $14.99
• Arrival – $9.99, down from $19.99
• Jumanji – $9.99, down from $17.99
• Geostorm – $12.99, down from $19.99
• War for the Planet of the Apes – $14.99, down from $19.99
• Alien: Covenant – $14.99, down from $19.99

For more details on sales happening this week, check out our full Deals Roundup.

Related Roundup: Apple Deals
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‘State of Decay 2’ brings a zombie horde to Xbox on May 22nd

Just when you thought you were safe, it’s time to fight for survival again. State of Decay 2 is coming on May 22nd, and it’s bringing a zombie invasion the likes of which players have never seen before. As we revealed in our preview last year, the sequel takes “kill or be killed” to a whole new level, as you’ll be heading up a team of survivors and ultimately deciding who lives or dies. The game launches on Xbox One and PC, with two access tiers that suggest the State of Decay franchise is paving the way for the subscription gaming service that Xbox chief Phil Spencer has nodded towards before.

The game launches as an Xbox Play Anywhere and Xbox Game Pass title on May 22, with the standard edition priced at $30. For $50 though, you’ll get the ultimate edition, which includes access four days ahead of general release, plus two add-on packs: “Independence” and “Daybreak” (both of which will be available at a later release date). The ultimate edition also includes a download token for a bonus copy of the console version of State of Decay: Year-One Survival Edition. Pre-orders for both editions opens today, and if you get your order in before May 21 you’ll also get some exclusive in-game goodies.

“Our goal is to build a long-term relationship with the State of Decay community and to foster deeper experiences with the franchise,” says Aaron Greenberg, general manager of games marketing at Microsoft. Indeed, it’s a franchise that could well lend itself to the kind of set-up developer Telltale has with its Game of Thrones and Walking Dead franchises, where narrative-based games are released episodically. Microsoft has clearly put a lot of investment into this release, so it’s not impossible that it’ll go on to form the foundations of some kind of game-as-service or platform, as Spencer has previously suggested.

Nickelodeon will use VR and AR to keep kids off Netflix and YouTube

Nickelodeon has announced an explosion of content for the 2018-2019 season in a bid to keep easily-distracted kids watching the network. More than 800 brand new episodes of new and returning series will hit its screens — a 20 percent increase compared to last year — and it plans on moving into the VR and AR landscape through its kid-facing apps.

Highlights will include a reboot of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and a remake of preschool classic Blue’s Clues, plus Keep it Spotless, a new competition series executive produced by WWE star Jon Cena which sees real kids competing in a variety of physical and paint-filled challenges while trying to stay as clean as possible. The network has also renewed Lip Sync Battle Shorties for a new 10-episode cycle, and has commissioned Los Casagrandes as a companion series to its current success story The Loud House, in a bid to bring more diversity to the network.

Elsewhere, Nickelodeon has announced a new partnership with IMAX to bring SlimeZone — its first multiplayer, social VR experience — to select IMAX VR Centers around the globe, and has unveiled a new AR mode for its Sky Whale mobile gaming app. It’s also expanding its location-based offerings with SlimeFest, a music festival for kids, which will take place in Chicago in June and feature a host of Nick favorites, including Liam Payne, Flo Rida and Lip Sync Battle Shorties star JoJo Siwa.

According to Nickelodeon Group president Cyma Zarghami, this content deluge comes in a bid to keep kids on board in the face of distractions elsewhere. Speaking to Variety, she said, “TV is still the biggest platform. Kids are definitely migrating to other places — we don’t pretend they don’t love Netflix and they don’t love YouTube — but what we are able to do is set up a mass simultaneous audience, which is still important to a lot of people.” She added that thanks to “a new energized relationship” with Paramount, the company needs to maintain its market dominance and take steps to ensure its longevity, and noted that “your odds of getting a fat hit are greater if you have more at-bats.”

Source: Business Wire

Microsoft confirms ‘S Mode’ will replace Windows 10 S

This week, Microsoft VP Joe Belfiore confirmed the rumor that Windows 10 S would no longer be standalone software. Instead, users will be able to access the platform as a “mode” within existing full Windows 10 installations.

We use Win10S as an option for schools or businesses that want the ‘low-hassle’/ guaranteed performance version. Next year 10S will be a “mode” of existing versions, not a distinct version. SO … I think it’s totally fine/good that it’s not mentioned.

— Joe Belfiore (@joebelfiore) March 7, 2018

Windows 10 S was designed to be a competitor for Chrome OS — a lightweight, more secure and more powerful operating system. However, implementation left something to be desired. In order to take full advantage of Windows 10 S, users were required to obtain a copy Windows 10 Pro. It’s more than many users wanted or needed.

The official details aren’t clear, but according to a leak from early February, S Mode will be available for all versions of Windows 10 except Core+ and Workstation. The cost of unlocking S mode would depend on the version of Windows you’re running; it would be free for some, while others would have to pay a $49 fee.

It’s not clear when this will take place, or when we’ll see more details from Microsoft on Windows 10 S. Belfiore says in his tweet that this will happen “next year,” so we may have to wait awhile before it actually comes to fruition.

Via: The Verge

Source: Twitter

Next iPhone X Lineup Said to Feature Smaller Notches, 2019 Models May Ditch Notch Entirely

The next-generation iPhone X will feature a smaller notch for the TrueDepth camera system, while future models released in 2019 or later will have no notch whatsoever, according to Korea’s ET News.

The report reiterates Apple’s widely rumored plans to release three new iPhone models this year, including a second-generation 5.8-inch iPhone X, a larger 6.5-inch version dubbed iPhone X Plus, and a mid-range 6.1-inch model with design tradeoffs like an LCD screen to achieve a lower price point.

The interesting bit is that all three iPhone models are said to feature slimmer bezels and smaller notches, emphasis ours:

Apple is planning to release two models with OLED display and a model with LCD display during this fall. It is heard that OLED models will be available in 5.85-inch display and 6.46-inch display while a LCD model will be available only in 6.04-inch model. All three of these models will have Face ID function and it is heard that there will be less bezel and smaller notch design.

An unnamed industry source added that Apple has decided to remove the notch “from 2019 models,” suggesting the third-generation iPhone X could be the first model with a truly full-screen design.

“Apple decided to get rid of notch design starting from 2019 models and is having discussions with relevant companies,” said a representative for an industry. “It seems that Apple is planning to implement full-screen that is more complete to its new iPhones.”

The report claims each iPhone will have Face ID, but it’s unclear how Apple would manage to fit the required TrueDepth sensors on the front of the devices without a notch. The report speculates that Apple could drill holes into the display itself, or use patented multi-layer Black Matrix technology.

Barclays analysts have also predicted the trio of new iPhone models released in 2018 could have smaller notches. ET News previously said Apple was exploring ways to combine a face recognition module with a camera module.

Apple removing the notch on the iPhone X is almost certainly its end goal, but as with any supply chain report, the timing of the move is uncertain.

Related Roundup: iPhone XTag: etnews.comBuyer’s Guide: iPhone X (Buy Now)
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Bloomberg Narrows Down Potential Locations for Apple’s Upcoming U.S. Campus

Earlier in January, Apple detailed a series of plans to to bolster the U.S. economy, which included the confirmation of its fourth campus based in the United States. At the time, the company said its new campus will “initially house technical support for customers” and that it won’t be located in California or Texas, but no other hints regarding its location were given.

Today, Bloomberg posted a new piece theorizing potential locations for Apple’s fourth campus in an attempt to predict where Apple might end up. In partnership with Moody’s Analytics, Bloomberg was provided with data regarding the top 15 U.S. cities for tax incentives and a local business environment, top 15 cities for workforce education and human capital, and top 15 cities for public transport.

Apple’s latest U.S. campus, Apple Park
This information was cross-referenced with known data including current Apple headquarters, call centers, data centers, repair centers, smaller corporate offices, and major parts suppliers, to result in areas of the country that Apple could be interested in. Bloomberg ultimately hypothesized that Apple “seems likely” to end up in one of three areas: the northeast, potentially in Pennsylvania, Massachusetts or upstate New York; the southeast, in North Carolina or Florida; or Midwest, in Illinois or Wisconsin.

When you consider all these factors, Apple seems likely to choose among northeastern states such as Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and upstate New York; North Carolina and Florida in the southeast; and Midwestern states like Illinois and Wisconsin. The East Coast has one obvious advantage: the ability to provide customer support before existing call centers in Texas and California open for the day, as well as its proximity to hundreds of suppliers. The company could also consider the northwest, where it has a couple of offices, including an R&D center for cloud services in Seattle, and several suppliers.

In regards to Moody’s top 15 cities data, Bloomberg argued that these statistics will be the main criteria Apple looks at when planning its fourth campus. These cities could provide Apple with incentives in exchange for its investment, a talented workforce that emphasizes bachelor’s degrees instead of advanced engineering degrees (“which arguably fit better with Apple’s plans to recruit technical support people, rather than those working on products and operations”), and available commuting options for employees, including a nearby airport for those flying in from other offices.

As the company makes plans for its latest campus, this month it has also named Kristina Raspe as its new vice president of global real estate and facilities. On her LinkedIn page, Raspe said that she’s responsible for a variety of the company’s real estate assets, including corporate and data center construction.

Cities that have already expressed interest in becoming the home of Apple’s fourth U.S. campus include Sidney, Nebraska and Orlando, Florida, but Apple said back in January that it won’t confirm the location until later in 2018.

Check out Bloomberg’s full article for more information on the potential locations of Apple’s upcoming campus.

Tag: Apple real estate
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EFF: Geek Squad has been working with the FBI for a decade

When the defense in a California doctor’s child pornography case accused the FBI of paying Geek Squad’s crew to look for evidence in the defendant’s computer, Best Buy denied it enjoys close ties with the agency. Now, according to the EFF, the big-box retailer’s team of IT technicians are even closer to the feds than previous reports indicated. The non-profit has received the results to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) it filed last year and found that Best Buy has been enjoying “a particularly close relationship with the agency” over the past 10 years, at least.

One of the documents the EFF got its hands on is a memo from 2008, detailing a meeting with the FBI’s Cyber Working Group at the Geek Squad’s repair facility in Kentucky. During that meeting, the company even gave the feds a tour of the facility. Other documents showed that the two entities worked so frequently together, that they’ve developed a process for reporting suspicious content.

When a repair technician finds something they believe is child porn in a computer, they have to call the feds, and an FBI agent would arrive to inspect it. If the agent agrees that it’s child porn, the PC or hard drive would be seized and sent to an FBI office nearest to the location of the device’s owner. The agents there would then dig deeper and secure a search warrant if needed.

The FBI classifies the Geek Squad technicians who call in the reports as informants, but some of the documents in EFF’s possession suggest they sometimes do more than report something they find. One shows that the feds paid at least one tech $500, and it’s reportedly one of the payments involved in the child pornography case that compelled the EFF to file for a FOIA.

The EFF says that by paying informants, the agency is encouraging technicians to actively look for content. Case in point: the technician who called in the evidence for the California doctor’s case reportedly found it in an unallocated space in his computer. That suggests that they didn’t just stumble upon the evidence — they used software with the intention of finding files that were already deleted. The EFF says the relationship between the agency and the retailer “potentially circumvents computer owners” Fourth Amendment rights, so it plans to it’s planning to go after the other documents the feds failed to produce for the FOIA it filed.

Source: EFF

Google’s AI scans and tags millions of ‘Life’ magazine photos

Google is pretty big on art. Its technology has turned clumsy doodles into masterpieces, transformed smartphones into virtual exhibitions and, in a move that caused momentary internet hysteria, helped selfie-takers find their fine art doppelganger. Now it’s unveiled a new set of machine-learning experiments that not only make exploring art more engaging, but help solve some of the biggest challenges faced by curators and museums.

First up is Art Palette, which lets you choose a group of colors and then matches your selection to artworks from institutions around the world. Handy if you’re after some prints for your newly-decorated apartment, or if you’re wondering what masterpieces your outfit is channelling today. Then there’s Life Tags. Life magazine’s 70-year run saw millions upon millions of photos taken, but only five percent ever published. This tool unveils four million photographs from its archives and makes them instantly searchable via thousands of automatically created labels, from “astronauts” to “zombies”.

Finally, there’s the MoMA tool, which is big news for art curators and museums. The Museum of Modern Art in New York has been taking photos of its exhibitions since its first in 1929, but many of them were missing corresponding information. Identifying the art in each photo (and there are 30,000 of them) would have taken months, if not years. Google’s MoMA identification tool automatically recognizes the artworks in each photo, and has helped turn the pictures into an interactive archive of the museum’s exhibitions.

Much of Google’s art-focused machine learning technology has been directed at consumers — fun ways to immerse them in a world they may not otherwise have access to. But as these latest tools demonstrate, the practical applications are significant, saving curators hours of manual, tedious tasks — and everyone gets to enjoy the result.

Facebook adds video chat to its lightweight Messenger app

Microsoft isn’t the only one making video chat more accessible in its messaging app. Facebook is rolling out an update to Messenger Lite for Android that brings video chats to those with lower-end phones or dodgy internet connections. You can have the same face-to-face conversations you do with the full Messenger app, just in a 10MB client that’s easier to download and shouldn’t tax your device as much. You’ll need a reasonably solid connection for the actual chats, of course, but that’s easier to manage than requiring one whenever you want to open the app.

As with Microsoft’s Skype optimization just days earlier, there’s a clear reason for Facebook to make video chat as widely available as possible: maximizing its audience. Nearly half of Android users using Google Play are running wholly obsolete versions of Android (Android 5 and earlier), and thus older phones. If Facebook wants more users to try video chat, it needs to loosen the requirements so that more people can give the feature a try.

Source: Facebook, Google Play

Microsoft’s Virtual Assistant Gains Alternative ‘Cortana’ Activation Command

Microsoft is giving users of its Cortana virtual assistant another way to activate it with their voice. As reported by The Verge, owners of the first Cortana-integrated Invoke speaker can now summon the assistant using just “Cortana” rather than the typical “Hey, Cortana” phrase, although that continues to work as well. The alteration is expected to trickle down to Cortana for iOS in the near future.

Microsoft hasn’t offered a reason for the new option, but probably doesn’t need to, given that many users will find “Cortana” easier to say, just as Amazon’s “Alexa” is on supporting devices. Alexa users can also choose an alternative “Echo” invocation, but owners of Apple devices must use the phrase “Hey, Siri” (and its equivalent in other languages) to get the attention of Apple’s digital assistant.

Apple has never indicated it will offer a way to customize the “Hey, Siri” invocation – perhaps because it’s not technologically viable, given the way Siri listens for the activation phrase via an energy-preserving coprocessor. But the ability to do so could theoretically help users specify which device their request is directed at when multiple Apple devices are present (“Hey, HomePod,” for example). Aside from offering a little more personalization, the option could also help device owners prevent accidental or prank requests from other sources, like TV ads, podcasts, and so on.

Tags: Siri, Microsoft, Cortana
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