Apple’s Beautiful New Store in Brussels Opens to Long Lines and Fanfare
Apple celebrated the grand opening of its newly designed Apple Store in Brussels today with much fanfare, ranging from CEO Tim Cook being on scene to long lineups and media forming around the entrance prior to the doors opening. The store is the first located in Belgium at Avenue de la Toison d’Or in a busy shopping area.
The new Apple Store is the first to feature a next-generation Jony Ive-inspired design with large and virtually seamless curved glass panels on the facade, light boxes extending the length of the ceiling, indoor trees, touch-sensitive sequoia wood tables, new wooden shelves for Beats headphones and other accessories, and a massive digital screen at the back of the store for product marketing.
Goeiedag Brussel! Bonjour Bruxelles! pic.twitter.com/ldKCGIRcXv
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) September 19, 2015
http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsApple blog One More Thing was on hand for the Apple Store grand opening in Brussels today and recorded some exciting footage as the doors opened. As with many other grand openings, the day started with a countdown among the hundreds of people lined up outside the store, at which point the doors opened and customers were cheered on by retail employees as they entered.
Apple recently shared a new video that highlights the work of several comic artists in Brussels, which is known for its tradition of comic art, to celebrate the grand opening. The store is open on Monday-Saturday between 10 AM and 7 PM local time and offers a Genius Bar, Workshops and other regular services.
(Thanks, Jan!)
Apple Begins Hiring for Flagship Chinese Retail Store in Macau
Apple has posted several job listings today for an upcoming retail store in Macau, a Special Administrative Region of China. The store is looking to fill Specialist, Creative, Genius, Store Leader and Manager positions, in addition to hiring for the Apple Store Leader Program and multiple business-related positions.
Chinese-language newspaper Macao Daily reported in June that Apple is planning to open a flagship store in Macau, which is located across from Hong Kong, but the news went largely uncovered by mainstream media. At the time, the report claimed that Apple had not finalized a location for the upcoming store.
Apple celebrated the grand opening of its Apple Store in Brussels today, while two new Apple Stores also open in Nanjing, China and Florence, Italy today and September 26 respectively. Apple now operates over 460 retail stores worldwide.
Apple Watch Launches in Austria, Denmark and Ireland September 25
Apple has updated its regional websites for Austria, Denmark and Ireland to announce the Apple Watch will be available on September 25. Apple Watch models with prices were also added to the Apple Store app in Norway, but no release date has been provided.
MacRumors previously reported the Apple Watch was expected to launch in Austria, Denmark and India this month, leaving India as the sole country of the three that has yet to announce an Apple Watch release date.
Austria, Denmark and Ireland will be part of the fifth launch wave since April:
Apple Watch sales have also expanded to dozens of Apple Premium Resellers this month.
Recommended Reading: What will astronauts eat while exploring Mars?
Recommended Reading highlights the best long-form writing on technology and more in print and on the web. Some weeks, you’ll also find short reviews of books that we think are worth your time. We hope you enjoy the read.
How NASA Is Solving the Space Food Problem
by Elizabeth Preston
Eater
The first manned test flight for NASA’s Orion capsule may have been pushed back this week, but the project forges on. One issue that the agency faces in the quest to send humans to explore Mars is food. This piece from Eater examines the challenges NASA looks to overcome with regards to the dietary needs of the crew during deep-space missions, including some onboard gardening.
|
20 Minutes with Tim Cook What’s it like to take a ride across Manhattan with the CEO of Apple? BuzzFeed’s John Paczkowski found out, and picked up some info on the iPhone, iPad Pro and more along the way. |
The Duke, the Landscape Architect and the World’s Most Ambitious Attempt to Bring the Cosmos to Earth A landscape architect in Scotland built a model Multiverse as a series of land installations, and the whole thing is really pretty amazing. |
|
Why I Bought the Last iPod Classic in the Store This short read explains why the iPod Classic is still a solid music player even after Apple discontinued it. |
Vinyl LP Frenzy Brings Record-Pressing Machines Back to Life Step inside a factory that plans to crank out up to 1.5 million records a year to feed the vinyl craze. |
[Image credit: NASA]
Malware-ridden apps found in Apple’s Chinese App Store
The iOS App Store is usually a trustworthy source of software. But as hackers tend to do, they found a way to get their nefarious wares into the China version of the software supermarket. By using altered versions of Apple’ development tool Xcode they were able to slip malware into apps being built by unaware devs. The problem started when developers downloaded altered versions of Xcode (named “XcodeGhost” Alibab researchers) from third-party sites. When apps built with the modified compiler are launched, they collect the phone’s name, UUID, language and country, current time and network type. That data is then encrypted and sent to servers. Not a huge breach, but no one wants to be tracked by unknown sources.
The bigger issue is that these apps made it into Apple’s App Store in China. While only a handful of apps have gotten past Apple’s strict security, all it takes is one app with an aggressive piece of malware to destroy the trust customers have put in Apple. Fortunately, the apps have only been seen in the App Store in China.
Also, developers shouldn’t be downloading their tools from random third-party sites. Just a thought.
Apple has not responded to requests for comment about XcodeGhost and the infected apps.
Via: Wired
Source: Palo Alto Networks
Apple TV Dev Tidbits: First Emulator Available, Old Remotes Work With New TV, Siri Remote Limited for Gaming
As developers get their hands on Apple TV, they’ve started experimenting with its new operating system tvOS, testing new kinds of apps and finding tidbits that haven’t been discovered yet. Developer James Addyman, for instance, has created an emulator for the new Apple TV called Provenance.
Image via James Addyman
Provenance is an iOS front end that allows support for multiple emulators. Currently, it supports emulators for Sega’s Genesis, Master System, Mega CD and Game Gear and Nintendo’s NES, SNES, Gameboy and Gameboy Advance.
If you’re lucky enough to have an TV Dev Kit, go checkout Provenance for tvOS! http://t.co/Snd3jejzEU
http://t.co/3i0bbTMQUf
— James Addyman (@jasarien) September 18, 2015
http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
While Provenance is still being developed and it’s unlikely the app will make it into the Apple TV’s App Store, other developers can test Provenance as Addyman continues work on it. Addyman says certain issues still need to be corrected, including determining when the Apple TV will erase its local content and how to properly map old Sega and Nintendo gamepad functions to the Siri Remote. Addyman began developing Provenance last week within the tvOS simulator.
Mirroring Addyman’s concerns about mapping old Nintendo and Sega gamepad functions to the Siri Remote, developer Steve Troughton-Smith points out how many inputs can actually be used for playing games.
So the gamepad situation is even more dire: you have dpad, accelerometer, and one button. They *really* need to revert that gamepad decision
— Steve T-S (@stroughtonsmith) September 18, 2015
http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
While the touchpad can be clicked, acting as a “second button”, it can’t be clicked easily while being used to control movement. This could make game development difficult, as games have to be able to be played on the Siri Remote.
Troughton-Smith has also been revealing Apple TV tidbits as he explores the dev kit. For instance, when a user picks up the new Siri Remote it senses it’s being held and automatically wakes up the screen before a button is pressed. IR is used to control a TV’s volume with the Siri Remote and your TV remote can be used to control the Apple TV.
Additionally, the existing Apple TV IR remotes also work with the new Apple TV. This includes the silver aluminum remote that ships with current Apple TVs and the original white plastic Apple TV remote. While they don’t allow you to access Siri, they do allow you to navigate around the Apple TV’s interface.
The new Apple TV will be available in October and come in two variations: a 32 GB version for $149 and a 64 GB version for $199.
Apple win in appeals court ruling may force Samsung to change one of its products
In May 2014, a jury decided that monetary damages were ample compensation for Samsung’s infringement of three Apple patents. However, this Thursday a US appeals court ruled that monetary compensation wasn’t enough, and that Apple should be able to “exclude competitors from using one’s property rights.”
Originally, the lower courts required Apple to show that these infringing features in question were the main reason why consumers purchased these devices in the first place. Two of the three judges in the appeals said that it should have only been necessary to prove that Apple lost sales because Samsung’s products contained the California company’s patented features.
The court explains:
Apple does not need to establish that these features are the reason customers bought Samsung phones instead of Apple phones — it is enough that Apple has shown that these features were related to infringement and were important to customers when they were examining their phone choices.
After vacating the district court’s original decision, the appeals court returned the case to the lower court for reconsideration. This ruling may mean that Samsung will have to change some infringing aspects of their tablets and smartphones. However, Samsung says that only one of its current devices is using one of the patented features discussed by this case, so overall, Samsung may not be taking a big loss after all.
In response to this ruling, Samsung released a statement that reads:
We want to reassure our millions of loyal customers that all of our flagship smartphones, which are wanted and loved by American consumers, will remain for sale and available for customer service support in the US. For decades, we have invested heavily in developing revolutionary innovations in the mobile industry. We look forward to continue to provide American consumers with a wide choice of groundbreaking products that they have come to expect from the Samsung brand.
Some major tech companies like Google, Facebook, eBay, and Hewlett-Packard expressed concern in July that a ruling in favor of Apple might have “significant detrimental consequences for the continued development of useful modern technologies,” and would give Apple unfair leverage for its own gain.
The patented technologies Apple claims were stolen by Samsung include swipe-to-unlock capabilities, automatic spelling correction, and the ability to tap phone numbers in emails to dial them.
Nomad Review: The Pod is an Apple Watch Stand Made for Off-the-Grid Travel With its Built-In Battery
The Nomad Pod, with its built-in battery, is one of a small selection of Apple Watch stands able to offer functionality beyond simply holding the Apple Watch charger in a more accessible position. Priced at $60, the Pod is a compact, modern-looking Apple Watch stand that’s small enough to fit in a backpack or bag and able to keep the Apple Watch’s battery full when traveling away from the grid for a few days.
I’ve been testing the Pod for several weeks now to see how it stacks up against other Apple Watch docking options on the market, both as a travel companion and as a stand at home on my desk.
Setup and Design
The circular Pod is made up of two pieces: a plastic and aluminum base that holds the Apple Watch charger and cord in place, and an aluminum faceplate that snaps on over the base to hide the cord from view. The Pod is made from brushed aluminum in Silver or Space Gray that matches Apple’s MacBook, iPhone, and iPad lineups, and its minimal design will let it fit into almost any decor.
Size wise, the Pod fits into the palm of a hand and is quite similar to a hockey puck both in diameter and thickness. It can potentially fit in a generously sized pants pocket or a jacket pocket, but its thickness and round shape makes that less than comfortable. At one side, there’s a micro-USB port to charge the Pod itself, a button that activates the Pod’s charging function, and a 4-LED indicator for displaying battery life. It also ships with a Nomad-branded micro-USB cable.
Read more 
Apple Outlines Fix for Unresponsive ‘Slide to Upgrade’ Screen on iOS 9
Apple has published a new support document on its website that outlines a fix for users experiencing an unresponsive “Slide to Upgrade” screen after updating to iOS 9 (via iPhoneHacks).
The issue has affected a growing number of users on the Apple Support Communities, MacRumors discussion forum and social media.
Apple recommends restoring your device from an iTunes backup to resolve the problem.
1. Connect your iOS device to your computer and open iTunes.
2. Select your device. If you don’t see it listed, force restart your device by pressing and holding both the Sleep/Wake and Home button for at least 10 seconds, until you see the Apple logo.
3. If you made an iTunes backup of your device before updating to iOS 9, restore your device from that backup. If not, you need to make a backup of your device in iTunes, then restore from that backup.
Apple released iOS 9 on Wednesday for iPhone 4s or later, iPad 2 or later and the fifth-generation iPod touch or later.
MacRumors Giveaway: Win OWC’s Envoy Pro Mini 120GB SSD
For this week’s giveaway, we’ve teamed up with OWC to give away the Envoy Pro mini, a desktop class solid state drive that fits into a keychain-sized enclosure. The Envoy Pro mini measures in at 3.7 inches by 0.94 inches by 0.44 inches, but houses a 120GB or 240GB SSD.
Despite being able to fit comfortably in a pocket, the Envoy Pro mini is nearly twice as fast as the average thumb drive, reaching sustained speeds up to 427MB/s, so it’s excellent for tasks regular thumb drives can’t achieve, like quickly transferring large files.
The Envoy Pro mini, which is available directly from OWC, is priced at $117.99 for the 120GB version or $184.99 for the 240GB version, but one MacRumors reader will have a chance to get the 120GB version for free.
To enter to win, use the Rafflecopter widget below and enter your email address. Your email address will not be given to any third party and will be used solely for contact purposes to reach the winner.
a Rafflecopter giveawayhttp://widget-prime.rafflecopter.com/launch.jsYou 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.
The contest will run from today (September 18) at 11:30 a.m. Pacific Time through 11:30 a.m. Pacific Time on September 25. The winner will be chosen randomly on September 25 and will be contacted by email. The winner have 48 hours to respond and provide a shipping address. The prizes will be shipped to the winner for free.
AIVAnet 