Apple Shares New ‘Half Court’ Ad Showing Off Live Photos on iPhone 6s

Just a day after debuting three new iPhone 6s ads focused on the iPhone’s camera and wireless “Hey Siri” functionality, Apple has shared a new short 15-second ad in the same series, this time focusing on Live Photos.

In the “Half Court” ad, the iPhone 6s is used to capture a half-court shot made by Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry, which is then played back again.

The iPhone 6s is here, and the only thing that’s changed with the camera is everything. Because now you can shoot amazing Live Photos. Bringing every moment, big or small, to life with just a touch.

Yesterday’s longer camera-focused iPhone 6s ad also featured a shot by Stephen Curry and both ads come just ahead of the start of the 2015-2016 NBA Regular season. The two ads may be featured during the Cavaliers/Bulls and Pelicans/Golden State Warriors games, set to be broadcast on TNT.

Over the course of the last several weeks, Apple has launched more than five videos to market the iPhone 6s, which have focused on 3D Touch, Siri, and the new camera features in the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus. Apple has also released a number of Apple Watch ads highlighting Apple Music, Apple Pay, Siri, and more.

Chase Launches ‘Chase Pay’ Payments Service to Compete with Apple Pay

JPMorgan Chase & Co today announced plans to launch its own payments service to compete with Apple Pay, reports Re/code. The news comes courtesy of Chase CEO of Consumer and Community Banking, Gordon Smith, who announced “Chase Pay” at the Money20/20 payments conference in Las Vegas.

Chase Pay will work via QR code instead of over NFC, allowing customers to make purchases with their smartphones by showing a QR code to a cashier. If that sounds a lot like the MCX Consortium’s upcoming CurrentC platform, it’s because Chase is partnering up with MCX for its payments service.

The MCX Consortium, which promotes the QR-based CurrentC app and payments service, consists of collection of merchants like Walmart, Target, Sunoco, Kohl’s, Best Buy, Rite Aid, CVS, Lowe’s, Sears, Shell, Michaels, 7-Eleven, and more. Once available, CurrentC will be available as a payment option in all of these retail locations, as will Chase Pay.

In some of these stores, customers will be able to pay by showing a QR code within the Chase Pay app. In others, Chase customers will have to use Chase Pay inside MCX’s own CurrentC app. It’s not clear which of the MCX member retailers will support which method.

CurrentC has been in development for multiple years, giving Apple Pay an edge with its earlier release timeline. While most MCX members were originally subjected to an exclusivity agreement, that has since expired, leading several MCX Consortium members to offer support for Apple Pay. Chase itself also supports Apple Pay, allowing Chase credit cards and debit cards to be used with Apple’s payments service.

CurrentC and Chase Pay are both slated to launch in 2016.

Apple Adds New Flyover Locations, Expands ‘Nearby’ Feature to Australia, Canada, France and Germany

Apple today updated its Maps app for Mac and iOS with new Flyover locations in number of cities and “Nearby” location listings in Australia, Canada, France, and Germany. Introduced in iOS 9, the Nearby feature displays restaurants and stores that are located close by. When searching in the Maps app, Nearby shows up as a list of categories like Food, Drinks, Shopping, and Fun.

Nearby was previously available in the United States and China, but today expands to Australia, Canada, France, and Germany for a total of six locations of availability.

Apple has also added several new Flyover locations, highlighting landmarks and features in several countries in Europe, North America, and Asia. The new Flyover locations are listed below:

– Basel, Switzerland
– Bielefeld, Germany
– Gorge Du Verdon, France
– Hawaii (Big Island), US
– Hiroshima, Japan
– Kyoto, Japan
– Lassen Volcanic National Park, CA
– Leon, Spain
– Nagoya, Japan
– Okayama, Japan
– Osaka, Japan
– Porto, Portugal
– Prague, Czech Republic
– Sendai, Japan
– Tulum, Mexico

For those unfamiliar with the Flyover feature in Apple Maps, it lets users take photorealistic 3D tours of select areas, which can be navigated through to display close ups of notable landmarks and points of interest.

Flyover was first introduced alongside iOS 6 in 2012, and over the course of the last few years, Apple has been steadily adding new Flyover locations to the Maps app, with a full list available on its iOS 9 Feature website. As of February, some Flyover locations have also been updated with real-time animated landmarks, making the Flyover experience even more immersive, and many Flyover locations also have an additional City Tour feature that walks users through a series of landmarks in each city.

An In-Depth Look at Storage and App Thinning on the New Apple TV

Ahead of the release of the new fourth-generation Apple TV, Polygon has taken an in-depth look at the device, giving an explanation on how storage is used. Apple offers the Apple TV in 32 and 64GB storage configurations, but initial app downloads are restricted to 200MB, which has led to some confusion about how the storage works and what it’s used for on the device.

Though apps on the device are limited to 200MB of storage space when downloaded, on-demand resources, part of iOS 9’s App Thinning feature designed to reduce app size, allow tvOS apps to download and delete content whenever needed, such as levels that are already played or levels that have yet to be played. Developers can store 20GB of on-demand resources for apps in iCloud.

With app sizes limited to 200MB on the surface, it might seem like more than 32GB of storage is unnecessary, but apps can actually download up to 2GB of resources immediately after installation. Apple TV users who plan to play a lot of games or use a lot of resource-heavy apps could potentially find themselves using a large amount of storage, so the 64GB upgrade could be worthwhile.

Using this architecture, all of the bits and bytes that, together, make up the whole of every Apple TV app live in some combination two places: Apple’s servers and on your Apple TV. Here’s how it breaks down:

– The app bundle, accessible through the App Store, limited to 200 MB
– Initial install tags, which are on-demand resources limited to a total of 2 GB (in addition to the 200 MB initial app bundle)
– Prefetched data, which is prioritized for automatic download after the initial app bundle’s installation
– Data hosted by the App Store, available on demand, limited to a total pre-sliced size of 20 GB (in addition to the app bundle’s size limit)

Apple’s own guidelines on storage don’t offer much information. Apple suggests that customers who plan to stream movies, TV shows, and music, or play “a few apps and games” will be able to make do with 32GB storage. Those who plan to “download and use lots of apps and games” should choose the 64GB configuration.

Polygon spoke with a number of developers about App Thinning on the Apple TV. While some with smaller apps within the 200MB limit were not bothered, others, like Tyrone Rodriguez who works on The Binding of Isaac, suspected it could be troublesome to deal with App Thinning features.

“App size will be, and no pun intended, a huge issue for some developers,” Rodriguez tells Polygon. “This means The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth won’t meet Apple’s requirements without serious reworking. This device is intended for in-home wi-fi/wired Internet, but it’s clear that Apple [wants] to reduce the file size so that more apps can fit on the device. It’s a bit disingenuous and not ideal for the game developer.”

For a deeper look at how the Apple TV’s storage works, how it takes advantage of App Thinning, the benefits of App Thinning, and what developers think of the Apple TV’s storage limitations, make sure to check out Polygon‘s full article on the new Apple TV.

Apple began selling its new Apple TV in its online store this morning, with the first Apple TVs arriving to customers later this week. The device is priced at $149 for a 32GB version and $199 for a 64GB version.

How to Use Split View in OS X El Capitan

With the recent release of OS X El Capitan, Mac users can now take advantage of full-screen apps in a split screen view. That is, a compatible app will zoom to take up an entire half of the screen and you can do the same with a second one, giving you two apps side-by-side in full-screen mode.

While the basics of Split View are simple, there are a few aspects you might want to get familiar with to make the most productive use of the feature.

To activate Split View, click and hold on the green expand button in the upper left corner of a compatible app’s window.

While you are holding down the button, one side of the screen will be shaded in blue. Release the button and the app will automatically format to fit half of the screen.

At the same time, any compatible apps that are open will automatically shift to the opposite side of the screen. Any apps that are not compatible will shrink down into the lower right corner of the screen. If you try to access them, you will receive a notification that the app isn’t available in Split View mode.
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Belkin Announces Qode Ultimate Lite Keyboard Case for iPad Air 2

Belkin today debuted a new product that joins its lineup of Qode keyboard cases for the iPad Air 2, introducing the Qode Ultimate Lite Keyboard Case. The Qode Ultimate Lite is similar in design to the Qode Ultimate Keyboard Case and the Qode Ultimate Pro Keyboard Case, but it features a sleeker build that’s much lighter.

The Qode Ultimate Lite Keyboard case weighs in at 370 grams, which is approximately 150 grams lighter than the company’s top-of-the-line Qode Ultimate Pro Keyboard Case. Like all of the Qode cases, the Ultimate Lite features an aluminum keyboard base, nicely spaced keys that replicate the feel of a MacBook keyboard, and a folio design that protects the iPad when the keyboard is not in use.

It also features Belkin’s signature swivel design, letting it be used in portrait or landscape mode with built-in magnets that offer multiple viewing angles. There’s an auto on/off feature that preserves battery life, and the Ultimate Lite will last for six months on a single charge.

The Qode Ultimate Lite Keyboard Case for the iPad Air 2 can be purchased from the Belkin website for $99.99.

Beats Pill+ Speaker Launches Alongside New Colors for Solo2 Headphones

A few new products from Beats by Dre have been made available to customers today, beginning with the launch of the new Beats Pill+ Speaker for $229.95. The Bluetooth speaker was announced earlier in the month with an expected launch date in November, but has made its way to online availability a few days early. The Pill+ Speaker introduces a new design into the line-up of Beats portable speakers and includes an extended 12-hour battery life along with a new iOS companion app.

Also introduced today by Beats are new “Luxe Edition” colors for the Solo2 On-Ear Headphones, including Blue, Silver, Black, and Red. The $199.95 headphones offer the same features as the other editions of the Solo2, but with “a refined glossy finish and polished accents.” The Solo2 Headphones in the new “Luxe Edition” colors and the Beats Pill+ Speaker — available in white and black — can both be purchased right now from Apple’s online store.

Apple Begins Accepting Online Orders for New Apple TV

In line with the target date announced by Tim Cook last week, Apple is now allowing customers to place online orders for the new Apple TV set-top box. The new Apple TV is available with either 32 GB of storage for $149 or 64 GB for $199, and orders will begin shipping to customers later this week, with the earliest deliveries being set for October 30 for those who opt for one-day shipping.

Alongside the box itself, Apple is also selling extra Siri Remotes for $79 and Remote Loop wrist straps for $12.99. Two-year AppleCare coverage is also available for $29.

The new Apple TV brings a number of improvements in both hardware and the user experience, led by a full App Store with support for third-party apps and a new touch-based remote that supports Siri-based controls in select countries. Universal search allows users to find available content across different services, and Apple intends to open this feature up to developers to allow their content to be included.

On the hardware side, the new Apple TV includes an A8 chip with 2 GB of RAM, supporting up to 1080p video at 60 frames per second. The new remote for the Apple TV includes a glass touchpad as well as an accelerometer and a gyroscope that allow it to serve a game controller. Third-party Bluetooth controllers are also supported.

Apple to Open First Retail Store in Singapore in Late 2016

The Pure Group today announced that its Pure Fitness gym located at Knightsbridge, a four-storey luxury shopping center in Singapore, will be closing on December 15, 2015 to make space for the first Apple Store in the country opening late 2016, per Tech in Asia and multiple Singaporean news outlets.

Pure Fitness is located at 270 Orchard Road in Singapore (Google Maps)
Pure Fitness will reportedly be one of several tenants relocating to allow for the upcoming Apple Store at 270 Orchard Road, an upscale area in the city center. The gym sent customers a similar notice that confirms it “will be handing back space to the landlord to make way for the opening of Singapore’s first Apple store later in 2016.”

Apple does not have an official retail presence in Singapore, a large city-state and country south of Malaysia in Southeast Asia, but the Apple Online Store and dozens of Apple Authorized Resellers operate in the region. The closest physical Apple Stores are located several hours away in Australia and Hong Kong.