Blizzard’s Upcoming Game ‘Overwatch’ Won’t Be Coming to OS X
While game developer Blizzard has a long-standing history of bringing its games to OS X in addition to Windows, the developer today confirmed at its BlizzCon fan convention that it will not be bringing its new game, Overwatch, to OS X, according to Polygon.
Overwatch game director Jeff Kaplan confirmed the news, acknowledging that the company has longstanding support for Apple’s computers. However, Kaplan says the company focused its efforts on Windows due to the “technology behind Macs.”
“Currently with the technology behind Macs and the way Overwatch runs it’s just too challenging for us at this point to support it,” Kaplan said. “Our focus right now is entirely on PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4.”
Kaplan didn’t specify what Mac technology was making it challenging for Blizzard to make the game for OS X, but Apple’s support for graphics technologies such as Metal and OpenGL may be part of the reason. Some of the early developers who committed to Metal, such as Adobe, have backpedaled a bit as they work with the new technology. Apple has also been criticized for not adopting the most recent versions of OpenGL, which is also heavily relied upon in modern game development
Most recently, Blizzard launched free-to-play multiplayer online battle arena game Heroes of the Storm for Mac OS X on June 2, 2015.
(Thanks, Teyla!)
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Apple Sends ‘Shot on iPhone 6’ Photographers Special Photo Books
The photographers who had their photos featured in an assortment of billboards and TV ads for the “Shot on iPhone 6” ad campaign Apple ran to promote its iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus have begun receiving a set of special coffee table photo books that include their artwork.
Image via Brendan Ó Sé
Cult of Mac spoke to photographer Brendan Ó Sé, one of the lucky few to receive one of the books after having his photo featured as part of the campaign. He said the cloth-covered high-quality books came as a surprise and were even shipped with a set of white gloves for viewing.
Image via Brendan Ó Sé
“It was totally out of the blue,” photographer Brendan Ó Sé, of Cork, Ireland, told Cult of Mac. “Naturally, I looked for my own photo, but seeing those of the friends I’ve made over this campaign added to the surprise and thrill.”
One of the books, “The Photographs” includes the photos that were used in the ad campaign, while the other, “The Gallery,” features shots of the photographs on billboards around the world. With the billboards now largely replaced with new content for the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, the photo books serve as a memento for those who had their iPhone 6 images included in the campaign.
http://imgur.com/a/tsb8J/embedAn Imgur album of some of the photos. Click this link to view the images on mobile devices.
Ó Sé’s photograph was taken in Berlin, but the ads that went up around the world featured a wide assortment of images from places like United States, Canada, Japan, Iceland, South Korea, China, Scotland, Indonesia, Thailand and New Zealand. In total, more than 77 photographers across 70 cities and 40 countries were featured.
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Apple Sends ‘Shot on iPhone 6’ Photographers Special Photo Books
The photographers who had their photos featured in an assortment of billboards and TV ads for the “Shot on iPhone 6” ad campaign Apple ran to promote its iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus have begun receiving a set of special coffee table photo books that include their artwork.
Image via Brendan Ó Sé
Cult of Mac spoke to photographer Brendan Ó Sé, one of the lucky few to receive one of the books after having his photo featured as part of the campaign. He said the cloth-covered high-quality books came as a surprise and were even shipped with a set of white gloves for viewing.
Image via Brendan Ó Sé
“It was totally out of the blue,” photographer Brendan Ó Sé, of Cork, Ireland, told Cult of Mac. “Naturally, I looked for my own photo, but seeing those of the friends I’ve made over this campaign added to the surprise and thrill.”
One of the books, “The Photographs” includes the photos that were used in the ad campaign, while the other, “The Gallery,” features shots of the photographs on billboards around the world. With the billboards now largely replaced with new content for the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, the photo books serve as a memento for those who had their iPhone 6 images included in the campaign.
http://imgur.com/a/tsb8J/embedAn Imgur album of some of the photos. Click this link to view the images on mobile devices.
Ó Sé’s photograph was taken in Berlin, but the ads that went up around the world featured a wide assortment of images from places like United States, Canada, Japan, Iceland, South Korea, China, Scotland, Indonesia, Thailand and New Zealand. In total, more than 77 photographers across 70 cities and 40 countries were featured.
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Eddy Cue on Apple TV: Customers Should Be Able to ‘Buy Whatever They Want, However They Want’
Apple executive Eddy Cue sat down with CNN senior correspondent Brian Stelter last week for a two-part interview about the new Apple TV, describing the fourth-generation device as an “add-on for most people,” since content providers such as ABC, CNN and WatchESPN still require authenticating with a cable or satellite TV subscription.
Eddy Cue’s interview with CNNMoney about the new Apple TV last week
CNNMoney has now shared a few additional comments Cue made about Apple’s rumored streaming TV service. Specifically, Cue said the new Apple TV could support whole cable packages from content providers such as Comcast, but he refused to elaborate much further, beyond alluding that Apple wants customers to be “able to buy whatever they want, however they want.”
But what about buying a whole cable package, including CBS, right through the TV?
“If Comcast or any other provider wants to do that, they’ll be able to do that with the current Apple TV,” Cue said.
When I asked directly if Apple wants to get to the point that Moonves has been describing, an Apple-branded TV package, Cue said, “We want to get to the point where customers are able to buy whatever they want, however they want. We’re not fixed into ‘There’s only one way to buy it.’ Just like we’ve done with the App Store, where there have been things that have been free; things that you subscribe to; things that you pay for; things that are in-app. All of those capabilities will be here and we want that market to be able to develop.”
Apple’s rumored streaming TV service is expected to deliver a lightweight package of about 25 channels for around $40 per month, anchored by popular networks such as ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX, and could launch in 2016 following multiple delays in negotiations between Apple and content providers.
The new Apple TV launched last Friday and features an App Store, Siri, tvOS and more.
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MacRumors Giveaway: Win a Fireproof 2TB Solo G3 Hard Drive From ioSafe
For this week’s giveaway, we’ve teamed up with ioSafe to give away one of their Solo G3 fireproof, waterproof external hard drives. The ioSafe Solo G3 is a rugged, heavy external hard drive that’s made to hold up against disaster and look nice on a desk.
The Solo G3 is not a small hard drive, measuring in at 7.1 x 5 x 11 inches and weighing 15 pounds, but that’s because of all of the equipment inside, which will keep a hard drive intact in the event of a house fire to save precious documents, photos, and more, making it an ideal in-home backup solution.
It will protect data from loss for up to a half hour in a fire that’s up to 1550 degrees Fahrenheit. It’s also waterproof at up to 10 feet for 72 hours, so it’s going to stay safe in wet conditions, too. All of ioSafe’s hard drives ship with a year of data recovery service – if there’s a fire or other damage to the Solo G3, ship the hard drive back to ioSafe and they’ll pay to recover your data.
This isn’t the first time we’ve partnered with ioSafe. Earlier this year, they invited MacRumors to Seattle where we set one of the ioSafe Solo G3 hard drives on fire and then doused it in water. In the video below, you can see the hard drive inside the enclosure came out fully unscathed and kept our data safe. A non fireproof hard drive we burned alongside the Solo G3 was charred to a crisp.
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The ioSafe Solo G3 comes in several capacities and can be purchased directly from ioSafe, from the Apple Online Store, or from Amazon.com. ioSafe also sells a variety of other fireproof products for homes and businesses.
One lucky MacRumors reader will win a 2TB Solo G3 from ioSafe. To enter to win, use the Rafflecopter widget below and enter an email address. Email addresses will be used solely for contact purposes to reach the winner and send the prize.
You can earn additional entries by subscribing to our weekly newsletter, subscribing to our YouTube channel, following us on Twitter, or visiting the MacRumors Facebook page. Due to the complexities of international laws regarding giveaways, only U.S. residents who are 18 years of age or older are eligible to enter.
a Rafflecopter giveawayhttp://widget-prime.rafflecopter.com/launch.jsThe contest will run from today (November 6) at 12:15 p.m. Pacific Time through 12:15 p.m. Pacific Time on November 13. The winner will be chosen randomly on November 13 and will be contacted by email. The winner has 48 hours to respond and provide a shipping address before a new winner is chosen. The prize will be shipped to the winner for free.
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Review: The Logi Circle Will Keep You Connected to Your Home Even When Away
The Logi Circle, a home monitoring camera, is one of the first products Logitech is selling under its new Logi brand, which it’s using for devices that are part of the Internet of Things. The Logi Circle is a palm-sized connected camera designed to let its users monitor their home and interact with pets, children, and other people when away.
I’ve been using the Logi Circle in my home for the past few weeks to get a feel for how it works and how it compares to some of the other camera options on the market, and the major takeaway is that the Logi Circle is not a home security device. It’s not meant to notify you of intruders, but it is a way to connect to the home and those inside of it at all times.
Hardware
The Logi Circle camera has an attractive, simple design that looks like a modernized version of a classic webcam. Made of black or white plastic, it’s about the size of a tennis ball, with a circular base that fits magnetically into an included charging stand. A lot of companies don’t pay attention to minor product details like cords, but that’s not true of Logitech.
Attached to the charging stand is a flat white USB cord that’s able to plug into the included power brick or any other USB-based charger. I don’t know about most people, but I hate ugly, bulky black cords that stand out, so it was nice to see an unobtrusive, clean white cord included with the Logi Circle. The cord is also quite long at 10 feet, so it will reach to plug in behind furniture.
The front of the Logi Circle contains the camera, which has a 135 degree wide field of view. It’s wide enough to capture most of a room, depending on the size of the room. Around the camera there’s a ring-shaped speaker and a microphone for two-way communication. An activity light on the front indicates when the camera is turned on, and the light blinks when someone is viewing the feed.
Hands-On With the New Plex App for the Apple TV
Earlier this week, Plex released its highly anticipated app for the tvOS App Store, making Plex officially available on the Apple TV for the first time. Given Plex’s popularity, we decided to check out the new app and do a quick video overview for those who might be interested in getting a new Apple TV to use with Plex.
Plex is a media server and personal library that’s able to organize the media stored on your computer, like videos, TV shows, music, and stream that content to iOS devices, the Apple TV, and other set-top boxes.
When you install Plex and let it organize your content, it’ll add artwork to movies, TV shows, and music, along with information like cast members, plot summaries, and Rotten Tomatoes ratings. On the Apple TV, this turns into a nicely organized media library that largely resembles iTunes or Netflix.
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Plex has been available for a long time on set-top devices like the Chromecast and the Fire TV, but it has not previously been available on older versions of the Apple TV in an official capacity. Those who have jailbroken an Apple TV in the past have been able to unofficially install the Plex software.
The Plex app for the Apple TV can be downloaded from the tvOS App Store. The app is free to download, and unlike the iOS version does not require a $4.99 in-app purchase or Plex Pass subscription to unlock functionality. Apple TV and iOS App Store apps are universal, so if you’ve already downloaded the app for iOS, it can be found in the Purchases section of the tvOS App Store. [Direct Link]
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iOS App Store Gains New ‘Shopping’ Category
Apple will be updating the iOS App Store today to introduce a new Shopping category that will allow iOS users to better find shopping-related apps. According to TechCrunch the Shopping category will be available to users worldwide and will encompass apps that offer shopping, auctions, price comparisons, coupons, product reviews, and more, transitioning them from the existing Lifestyle category to the new less noisy category.
Apple plans to use the Shopping category to highlight apps that support Apple Pay, its mobile payments service. Many apps now include Apple Pay integration, letting users pay for merchandise with a finger on the Touch ID fingerprint button on supported devices.
The new App Store category will include launch with several different collections of shopping apps, including a “Save While You Shop” category that will be offering exclusive discounts from a variety of merchants like Everlane, Zappos, Groupon, and Nordstrom. Nordstrom, for example, will offer a free gift when $100 or more is spent in the app, while Zappos will offer free 1-day shipping.
App Store users should begin seeing the category in the App Store later today, and in the future, it’s possible Apple could expand it to the tvOS App Store as well. The tvOS App Store currently only supports two categories, Games and Entertainment, but shopping on the big screen has been a feature that’s been touted by Apple.
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Apple Drops Support for PayPal Credit Payment Plans in U.S. Online Store
Apple yesterday quietly removed all mentions of PayPal Credit from its U.S. Online Store, signaling its decision to stop allowing customers to use PayPal Credit payment plans for purchases in the United States.
On the financing section of its website, where customers can get information about their payment options, Apple is now only offering financing through Barclaycard Visa, which allows users to make payments over 6 to 18 months depending on purchase price.
Previous PayPal Credit options, which are no longer available.
The previous PayPal Credit option allowed customers to choose 6, 12, 18, or 24 month payment plans with a fixed APR of 12.99%, while the Barclaycard Visa maxes out at 18 months with an APR of 13.99%, 19.99% or 26.99% depending on credit.
Apple is continuing to offer rewards to customers who buy with the Barclaycard Visa, with customers earning 3 points for every $1 spent at the Apple Store, 2 points for every $1 spent at restaurants, and 1 point on all other purchases. 2,500 points can be redeemed for Apple Store or iTunes gift cards.
Apple first began promoting PayPay Credit payment methods in December of 2014, which is when the company also began allowing customers to buy items using PayPal as a payment method. While Apple is no longer allowing customers to use PayPal Credit options to make purchases, it does still accept PayPal payments for purchases made from its online store and from its iOS app.
PayPal Credit is still available in the U.K., and it is not clear if Apple plans to drop support in other countries as well.
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Wegmans Shoppers Club Card Showing Up in Apple Pay, but Full Rollout Not Coming Until 2016
Following yesterday’s official launch of the first Apple Pay-enabled loyalty card from Walgreens with its Balance Rewards program, a number of MacRumors readers reported that their Shoppers Club loyalty cards from grocery store chain Wegmans were also showing up in Apple Pay.
Early testing has shown that card readers at Wegmans stores are not yet accepting Shoppers Club cards via Apple Pay, and Wegmans’ June press release alongside Apple’s WWDC announcements pointed only to a “fall” launch, so we contacted the company to ask for an update on Shoppers Club integration with Apple Pay.
“Wegmans will be testing loyalty card support via Apple Pay at one store later this year,” a spokesperson told MacRumors. “If all goes well, we plan to roll that service out to all stores in 2016.”
The spokesperson declined to identify the specific store where Apple Pay Shoppers Club will be tested, but did note it will be in the company’s home market of Rochester, New York.
Wegmans is a popular grocery store chain that with a new store opening outside of Philadelphia this Sunday will have 88 locations in New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Maryland, and Virginia. The chain is known for its large stores of up to 140,000 square feet with a focus on prepared foods, broad selection of items, and even in-store restaurants and childcare in some locations.
(Screenshot via forum member “deejaykorn”)
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