Apple Now Allowing Personal Pickup in Canada and Australia
As of today, Apple has launched an in-store pickup feature in Canada and Australia allowing customers in those countries to order and pay for devices online and pick them up in retail Apple Stores. Personal Pickup has long been available in the United States, but this is the first time it’s expanded to additional countries.
MacRumors reported on the possible expansion of Personal Pickup in early November after receiving word Apple was training retail employees in Australia, France, Canada, the UK, and other countries. While Personal Pickup has currently only expanded to Canada and Australia it may roll out to additional countries in the near future.
Personal Pickup is available for a number of Apple products, from Macs and Apple TVs to the iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. When an order is placed for an in-stock item for Personal Pickup, Apple employees get it ready to go and then send an email to a customer whenever it’s ready. Out of stock items are able to be shipped to a store for Personal Pickup.
This week has been big for both Australia and Canada. Along with the availability of Personal Pickup, both Canada and Australia have also gained Apple Pay through a partnership with American Express. Apple Pay is available in Canada as of today and will be available in Australia on Thursday.
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Apple Responds to Developers Regarding Expired Mac App Store Security Certificates
Last week some users and developers experienced an issue that displayed a “damaged” error when attempting to open select apps from the Mac App Store, including popular apps like 1Password, Tweetbot and Byword. Today, Apple has sent an email to developers explaining what happened and how to fix their apps.
In the email, which developer Donald Southard Jr. shared on Twitter, Apple explains that the company issued a new security certificate for the Mac App Store in September in anticipation of the expiration of the old certificate. The new certificate used a stronger SHA-2 hashing algorithm instead of the old SHA-1 algorithm. Hashing algorithms are used by certificate authorities to sign security certificates.
However, two issues caused users to experience errors when starting up apps. The first issue, according to Apple, is that there was a caching issue with the Mac App Store that required users to restart their computers and re-authenticate with the Mac App Store to clear out the old cache. Apple says it’s working on a fix for this in an upcoming OS X update. The other issue is that some apps were running an older version of OpenSSL that didn’t support SHA-2. Apple says it replaced the SHA-2 certificate with a new SHA-1 certificate last Thursday night.
Finally, Apple says that “most of the issues are now resolved”, but that some apps might still experience problems if the apps make “incorrect assumptions” about the Mac App Store’s security certificates. Apple asks developers to make sure their code adheres to the Receipt Validation Programming Guide and to resubmit apps for expedited review if necessary. The AppleCare support team has also been briefed with the latest troubleshooting information for users.
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Apple’s share of smartphone operating profit share rose to 94% this year
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We’ve previously heard of the dire state of Android manufacturers slowly losing all their profit margin in an increasingly competitive smartphone industry, but we had no idea it was this bad – or how badly Apple is beating everyone. According to Canaccord Genuity, Apple’s share of global smartphone operating profit share has risen to 94% in Q3 2015, a jump from 85% the same time last year. Perhaps the more depressing news from this analysis is that Samsung, the last remaining Android manufacturer to be making any kind of profit margin, has now decreased its share to 11%, a far cry from its 42% just two years ago.
As you can see, plenty of manufacturer’s profit margin have dipped to 0%, with some even incurring losses for every device made a la Microsoft and Lenovo/Motorola. Going forward, it’s not clear how some manufacturers will be able to increase their profit margin with how things are progressing, but presumably the hope is that devices start to get cheaper with more focus on usability and user experience over sheer performance.
What do you think about the smartphone operating profit share across all manufacturers? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Source: Canaccord Genuity via Phone Arena, Apple Insider
The post Apple’s share of smartphone operating profit share rose to 94% this year appeared first on AndroidSPIN.
Instagram Institutes API Changes That Will Kill Off Malicious Third-Party Apps
Following the recent discovery that malicious app InstaAgent was stealing Instagram passwords from users, Instagram has instituted much stricter rules for accessing its API, effectively killing off a large number of apps that read Instagram feeds.
In a notice posted today on its developer site, Instagram explains it will no longer permit apps that access the Instagram feed API, as that API is being shut down. In the future, third-party Instagram apps will have much more limited capabilities.
We’ve updated our Platform Policy to explicitly list the use cases we will support moving forward. These include apps and services that:
Help individuals share their own content with 3rd party apps, such as apps that let you print your photos and import an Instagram photo as a profile picture.
Help brands and advertisers understand and manage their audience, develop their content strategy, and get digital rights to media. Established apps in this space may apply for our newly announced Instagram Partner Program.
Help broadcasters and publishers discover content, get digital rights to media, and share media using web embeds.
Starting today, Instagram is instituting a new review process and preventing new apps from using its APIs until it starts conducting reviews on December 3. Existing apps have until June 1, 2016 to comply with Instagram’s new platform rules, and the users/self/feed and media/popular API endpoints will be available until the end of the review period. Instagram is also launching a new Sandbox Mode to allow developers to privately build and test apps using Instagram’s APIs.
Instagram’s new policy will put an end to dozens of questionable third-party Instagram apps that promised users new followers and the ability to track follows and unfollows. Apps are no longer able to use “like,” “share,” “comment,” or “follower” exchange programs nor can they use follower information for “anything other than analytics” without Instagram’s permission.
Unfortunately, as no apps will be able to access the full Instagram feed, it will also have an impact on legitimate Instagram clients for the iPad and the Mac, where Instagram is not natively available. As TechCrunch points out, this will affect apps like Retro, Flow, Padgram, Webstagram, Instagreat, and more.
With today’s changes, Instagram says it plans to institute a “more sustainable environment built around authentic experiences on the platform” and give users more control over their content.
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Jony Ive: Apple Pencil Will Not ‘Replace the Finger as a Point of Interface’
To promote the iPad Pro, Apple Pencil, and Smart Keyboard, several Apple executives gave interviews to a number of media outlets ahead of the release of the tablet and its accessories. Last week we shared a Jony Ive interview from The Telegraph where he spoke on the Apple Pencil, and today, Wallpaper has published a second Ive interview with even more of the design chief’s thoughts on the stylus accessory.
Speaking on the conception of the Apple Pencil, Ive said that while it was originally “fundamentally important” to develop a user interface that was based on fingers, Apple discovered there were people who would benefit from an instrument that would enable more precise interactions for drawing and writing. Ive said developing the Apple Pencil and iPad Pro in tandem was essential for a natural drawing experience.
It was important that we develop the UI based upon multi-touch, based on our fingers. The reasons are obvious. I think it is equally obvious that you’re just not as dexterous as you are with a pen or a pencil for certain things.
What we found is that there’s clearly a group of people that would value an instrument that would enable then to paint or draw in ways that you just can’t with your finger. And I suspect that this isn’t a small group of people. I don’t think it’s confined to those of us who went to art school.
Ive went on to talk about the naming of the Apple Pencil, explaining that he preferred “Pencil” to “stylus” because stylus “seems a product that’s about technology,” while Pencil “seems very analogue in its association.”
Apple has a specific role in mind for the Apple Pencil, and that is not as a finger replacement. According to Ive, the Pencil is for making marks, while the finger is to be used for other user interface interactions. Each tool has its purpose, with the Pencil serving as a “far better” way to make marks on the iPad Pro.
I think there’s a potential to confuse the role of the Pencil with the role of your finger in iOS, and I actually think it’s very clear the Pencil is for making marks, and the finger is a fundamental point of interface for everything within the operating system. And those are two very different activities with two very different goals.
So we are very clear in our own minds that this will absolutely not replace the finger as a point of interface. But it is, and I don’t think anybody would argue, a far better tool than your finger when your focus becomes exclusively making marks.
For more of Ive’s opinions on the Apple Pencil, his full interview is worth checking out over at Wallpaper. The Apple Pencil can be ordered from the online Apple Store for $99, but shipping dates range into late December. Apple retail stores have begun receiving larger Apple Pencil shipments as of today, so customers hoping for an Apple Pencil may want to seek one out in a store.
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The Apple Watch looks like it’s getting an official dock
If you’ve been wishing for an Apple-made dock to go with your Watch, you should start making room for it soon. Based on a couple of leaks, the Cupertino company appears to be ready to introduce a charging station for its wearable. The white circular dock (pictured above) uses a built-in magnetic puck, similar to the one that’s included out of the box, to power up the Apple Watch wirelessly. However, the main difference here is that a Lightning port plugs in directly to the dock, rather than being a single USB-powered charging cable. Naturally, right now it is unclear when, or if, Apple will release this purported Watch peripheral, but the spilled packaging images suggest it could cost as much as $100.
Via: AppleInsider, 9to5Mac
Source: Grobgebloggt.de, iGen.fr
Apple Pay Support Coming to Dominos By Year’s End, Cinnabon Next Year
Apple has confirmed to AP that Apple Pay support is coming to pizza chain Dominos by year’s end, followed by cinnamon roll chain Cinnabon next year. The news comes less than two months after Apple said Starbucks, KFC and Chili’s locations will begin supporting Apple Pay starting next year.
Apple said Tuesday that Cinnabon will add Apple Pay to all its U.S. locations next year, while Domino’s company-owned pizza stores will get it by year’s end. Earlier, Apple said Starbucks will conduct a pilot this year, with a broader rollout next year, while KFC will launch next spring.
Apple Pay is accepted at more than 1 million locations in the U.S., and at over 250,000 more locations in the U.K. The mobile payments service launched in Canada for American Express cardholders earlier today, with participating retailers including Apple, Indigo, McDonald’s, Tim Hortons, Staples and more.
While Cinnabon and Dominos also have Canadian subsidiaries, both chains will support Apple Pay at U.S. locations only at launch.
Apple also confirmed that Apple Pay will launch in Australia on Thursday, November 19, exclusively for American Express customers. Apple Pay will launch in partnership with American Express in Spain, Singapore and Hong Kong next year. Apple has not disclosed plans for other countries.
Apple Pay gained support for Tesco Bank and TSB in the U.K. today, in addition to nearly 100 new participating U.S. issuers.
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More Apple Stores Begin Receiving Very Limited Stock of Apple Pencil
While the iPad Pro launched nearly a week ago, many early adopters have been unable to get their hands on the companion Apple Pencil. With shipping estimates of 3-4 weeks or longer for the accessory on the Apple Online Store, some prospective buyers have been checking their local Apple Retail Stores for stock and tracking their results in our discussion forums.
Apple Pencil stock at SoHo Apple Store in New York City earlier today
Beginning early Tuesday, it appears that more Apple Retail Stores in the U.S. have begun receiving very limited Apple Pencil stock. MacRumors forum member JuanKr shared the above picture of Apple Pencil stock at the SoHo Apple Store in Manhattan, New York, while we have independently confirmed Apple Pencil stock as of writing at the Oakridge Apple Store in San Jose, California.
MacRumors forum members have shared a handful of other Apple Stores with Apple Pencil stock over the past 24 hours, listed below, although some have since sold out and we cannot guarantee stock remaining at every store due to the combination of limited supplies and strong demand. We recommend calling your local Apple Store prior to visiting, but some customers have had better luck in person.
– SanTan Village in Gilbert, AZ
– Arrowhead in Glendale, AZ
– Burlingame Avenue in Burlingame, CA
– Los Cerritos in Cerritos, CA
– South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, CA
– Century City in Los Angeles, CA
– Manhattan Village in Manhattan Beach, CA
– UTC in San Diego, CA
– Union Square in San Francisco, CA
– Oakridge in San Jose, CA
– Valley Fair in Santa Clara, CA
– Park Meadows in Lone Tree, CO
– Evergreen Walk in South Windsor, CT
– Stamford Town Center in Stamford, CT
– Lenox Square in Atlanta, GA
– Boylston Street in Boston, MA
– CambridgeSide in Cambridge, MA
– Derby Street in Hingham, MA
– Bethesda Row in Bethesda, MD
– Crabtree Valley Mall in Raleigh, NC
– King Street in Charleston, SC
– Haywood Mall in Greenville, SC
– Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, NY
– Grand Central in Manhattan, NY
– West 14th Street in Manhattan, NY
– Easton Town Center in Columbus, OH
– Walnut Street in Philadelphia, PA
– Pentagon City in Arlington, VA
– Short Pump Town Center in Richmond, VA
– Bellevue Square in Bellevue, WA
– University Village in Seattle, WA
– Georgetown in Washington D.C.
The first batch of Apple Pencil online orders began shifting to “Preparing for Shipment” status earlier this week, while Smart Keyboards remain scarce both online and in stores. Most Apple Stores have plenty of Logitech Create keyboards available for the iPad Pro as an alternative.
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Apple Promotes iPad in Classroom With New Education Profiles
Apple has shared a new Heart Anatomy education profile and a Philadelphia Performing Arts school profile that promote the iPad in the classroom.
The first profile shows how iPads allow Jodie Deinhammer, a science teacher at Coppell High School in Texas, to better educate her students about the complexity of the human heart using iTunes U, digital textbooks and apps including BioDigital Human, The Human Body Lite and MotiConnect.
“The heart unit is important because kids need to know how to take care of themselves and live a healthy life. Heart disease is a huge problem, and it’s something they don’t know a lot about. […]
With the heart unit, there are lots of great visualizations I could never provide before. Now students can just click on them on iPad, and it makes the learning more concrete, so it sticks with them.”
iBooks textbooks such as Life on Earth provide Deinhammer’s students with a closer look at heart anatomy and the complexities of blood flow through the heart muscle, while the iPad and other apps are also used in multiple lab activities for heart rate, histology, dissection and more.
“The iPad has afforded our students the opportunity to learn science at a deeper level. They’re able to make connections that weren’t really possible before the technology came into the classroom.”
The second profile provides a snapshot of how the Philadelphia Performing Arts, a String Theory Charter K-12 school, has used iPads to create custom learning materials and lesson plans for teachers. The school uses the iWork suite, iTunes U and other apps such as Elements 4D and Volcano 360º.
“You’ll never remember a test you took, but you will remember something you created. And you will remember the moment when a teacher says to you, ‘Wow, that’s really awesome.’ And those are the things our students get to take away with them.” — Christine DiPaulo, Director of Innovation and Instructional Technology
Apple has shared over a dozen educational profiles on its website to date.
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Apple Shares New Apple TV Ads Highlighting Apps and Games
Apple today shared five new ads for the fourth-generation Apple TV on its YouTube channel, highlighting a handful of notable and popular apps that are available for the new device. These mark some of the first Apple TV ads Apple has released since the fourth-generation Apple TV launched in late October.
Each ad is just sixteen seconds in length and depicts one of five Apple TV apps and games, including Crossy Road, Netflix, HBO NOW, Disney Infinity 3.0, and Asphalt 8. The videos show a brief glance at each app before cutting to an overall view of the new interface of the Apple TV.
The fourth-generation Apple TV features both an entirely new operating system and a full App Store for the first time, letting users access apps and games on the device. These new Apple TV ads, which will help with app discovery, will likely start showing up on TV over the course of the next few days.
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