First Belgium Apple Store Opens in Brussels on September 19

Apple has constructed a creative barricade with colorful artwork that confirms its first Apple Store in Belgium will open on Saturday, September 19. The retail store will be located on Avenue de la Toison d’Or in the capital city of Brussels.

Apple confirmed the store opening to Belgian website Apple Nieuws Vlaanderen, which has shared several photos of the storefront. The store has not yet been listed on Apple’s website, but store hours and grand opening details should be available soon.

Firefox for iOS Soft Launches in New Zealand

Mozilla released the first public preview of Firefox for iOS on the App Store in New Zealand today. The company aims to collect feedback on Firefox for iOS in the country, and eventually a few others, to help make improvements and add new features to the browser prior to a worldwide launch later this year.

The public preview version of Firefox for iOS features Intelligent Search, Firefox Accounts and Visual Tabs.

• Intelligent Search: Suggested search results and list of search options, including Google, Bing, Yahoo, DuckDuckGo, Twitter, Amazon and WordPress
  
• Firefox Accounts: Firefox browser history, passwords and tabs from your desktop on your iPhone
  
• Visual Tabs: A card-based grid of open tabs

To provide feedback within the app, tap the numeric tab icon on the top right, tap the “Settings” menu on the top left and tap on “Send Feedback” under the “Support” menu.

Mozilla was initially opposed to releasing Firefox on iOS because of Apple’s policy that requires third-party browsers to use its own WebKit framework and JavaScript engine, but the company reversed course and announced plans to release an iOS app in December 2014. Other third-party browsers include Chrome and Opera.

Mozilla is ready to test Firefox on iOS, but only in New Zealand

iPhone and iPads owners looking for a browser alternative are one step closer to seeing Mozilla’s option on their devices, but right now a “preview” of the app is only available in New Zealand. In a blog post it says this limitation is so it can gather feedback before taking it to a few more countries ahead of any public launch. Assuming you are a Kiwi, you can try out its Intelligent Search with suggested results across certain sites, and sync your info from the desktop with a Firefox account. Everyone else is invited to sign up for a notification of when the app will arrive in their country.

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Cellphones, Internet, Mobile, Apple

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Source:
Mozilla Blog

Tags: appl, apple, browser, firefox, ios, ipad, iphone, mobilepostcross, NewZealand

iPhone 6s Roundup Updated

We’re just 6 days away from Apple’s big iPhone event, which will see the debut of the iPhone 6s and the iPhone 6s Plus.

The phones will include Force Touch, upgraded processors, improved front-facing and rear cameras, and a new rose gold color will be available. For more details on the new devices, check out our full iPhone 6s roundup.

Sphero Announces iPhone-Controlled BB-8 Droid From ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’

Sphero, the company responsible for creating robotic balls that can be controlled by iPhones, today announced a remote-controlled BB-8, a droid from the upcoming film “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.”

While BB-8 can be controlled with an iPhone, it also comes with a patrol mode that allows the droid to roam around by himself. Users can also design their own routes and have BB-8 follow them. Additionally, Sphero says BB-8 has an “adaptive personality” and his “attitude” and actions will evolve the more a user interacts with him. BB-8 can also receive voice commands via the app, which means that a user can say “move forward” and BB-8 will move forward.

While Sphero developed this version of BB-8 as a connected toy, the company was instrumental in the development of the BB-8 droid used in the actual movie. The company was a part of Disney’s accelerator program and was paired with Disney CEO Bob Iger as its mentor. When Iger visited with Sphero to see the robotic ball they were working on, he realized the technology could be used for BB-8, who at the time was still being designed. He connected Sphero to the filmmakers and special effects people behind the film and they collaborated on the real BB-8, which was shown off at the Star Wars Celebration convention in May.

The toy version of BB-8 will go on sale on September 4, 2015 as a part of “Force Friday,” which is when toys and merchandise from “The Force Awakens” officially go on sale. BB-8 will be available for $149.99 at Sphero.com and Apple Stores.

Final Cut Pro X Receives Minor Update With Performance Improvements, Bug Fixes

Apple’s professional video editing software Final Cut Pro X received its first update in months this afternoon, adding a handful of new features, fixing several bugs, and improving performance and stability.

The update adds native support for the Sony XAVC-L and Panasonic AVC-Intra 4:4:4 files, introduces exporting of interlaced H.264 video, and allows users to import Canon XF-AVC 8-bit video files using the Canon plug-in.

What’s New
– Native support for Sony XAVC-L and Panasonic AVC-Intra 4:4:4 up to 4K resolution
– Import Canon XF-AVC 8-bit video files with Canon plug-in
– Export interlaced H.264 video
– Asset management systems can include a library backup file when sharing from Final Cut Pro
– Fixes render errors that may occur when using reflective materials with 3D text
– Improves stability when swapping materials on 3D text with published parameters
– Improves performance when loading text styles
– Motion Title templates with published text layout parameters now export correctly
– Fixes an issue that may cause 3D text to appear dark when rendered
– Addresses issues with timing on certain animated effects

Complementary app Compressor has also received a minor update today, adding bug fixes, support for exporting interlaced H.264 files, and an improvement to closed caption and subtitle audio and video sync. An update to Motion may also be following shortly.

Final Cut Pro X, Motion, and Compressor received their last major updates in April of 2015, with Apple adding new features for motion graphics and enhancements to speed up video editing, packaging, and delivery.

Final Cut Pro X can be downloaded from the Mac App Store for $299.99. [Direct Link]

Compressor can be downloaded from the Mac App Store for $49.99. [Direct Link]

Motion can be downloaded from the Mac App Store for $49.99. [Direct Link]

Apple will reportedly outfit the 21.5-inch iMac with a 4K display

Almost a year ago, Apple put a Retina display inside its 27-inch desktop. A report from 9to5Mac says we could see a high-res panel on the smaller 21.5-inch model soon as well. The word comes from Mark Gurman, who has a solid track record for news like this, of the new iMac initially tipped by clues inside the upcoming OS X El Capitan. Despite the larger all-in-one getting a 5K Retina panel last fall, the report claims that the 21.5-inch version will come equipped with a 4K display and resolution of 4,096 x 2,304 (up from the current 1,920 x 1,080). While Apple has an iPhone-focused event scheduled for next week, Gurman says the new iMac won’t be announced until next month. If you’re not too thrilled about paying a premium for a higher-resolution display, chances are the current model will remain available. Even after the 27-inch Retina model arrived, the 1080p option stuck around.

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Desktops, Apple

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Tags: 4k, 5k, apple, desktop, imac, mac, retina, retinadisplay, retinaimac, rumor

Disk Management App ‘DaisyDisk’ Gets Major Overhaul With Faster Scanning Speeds, New Look

Disk management app DaisyDisk received a major update today, overhauling its interface and improving disk scanning speeds. The new DaisyDisk 4 app has a new, flatter design that aims to match OS X Yosemite and El Capitan, with bright colors, it’s able to scan drives up to 20 times as fast, and it consumes less memory when in use.

For those of you unfamiliar with DaisyDisk, it’s an app that gives you a visual overview of what’s eating up space on your Mac. It displays files in a pinwheel-shaped disk map, letting you quickly locate and clean up large files.

After a quick scan, the interactive disk map pops up, which is organized into different colors to denote various sections of a drive. Clicking into a section drills down into individual folders and files arranged by size and color, so it only takes a few seconds to find content that’s taking up a lot of space.

File names are listed at the side of the app and any content you want to delete can be dragged down to a bucket located at the bottom of the app. Once you’ve collected files for deletion, they can be removed with a click.

“Not only does DaisyDisk 4 have an updated modern look and award-winning intuitive user experience, we’ve put its new scanning speed up against the top five competing apps and found that DaisyDisk 4 is more than twenty times faster on a modern SSD,” said co-Founder Oleg Krupnov “If anyone is looking to liberate hard drive space on their Mac, they could download our app, scan all drives, find and delete unwanted files with a few clicks and have tens or hundreds of GBs more hard drive space than they did a few minutes before! The efficiency of DaisyDisk is also unmatched by the ‘automatic cleaner’ apps because as a rule, the latter are capable of freeing only up to 10 GBs or so.”

DaisyDisk is priced at $9.99 and is available from the DaisyDisk website or from the from the Mac App Store. [Direct Link] The standalone version available from the website is not sandboxed and can be used to scan disks as an administrator, delete stuck files, and reveal hidden disk space.

We’ve teamed up with DaisyDisk to give away 15 copies of the app to MacRumors readers. To enter to win, use the Rafflecopter widget below and enter your email address.

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 DaisyDisk giveaway will run from today (September 3) at 12:00 p.m. Pacific Time through Monday (September 7) at 12:00 p.m. Pacific Time. The winners will be chosen randomly on September 7 and will be contacted by email. Winners have 48 hours to respond.

iPhone Continues to Increase Lead in U.S. Smartphone Market Share Ahead of ‘iPhone 6s’ Debut

The latest data from digital media analytics firm comScore shows that Apple continues to increase its lead over Samsung, LG, Motorola, HTC and other handset makers in U.S. smartphone market share, less than one week before the launch of the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus.

iPhones captured 44.2% market share among U.S. smartphone subscribers aged 13 and older based on a three-month average ending July 2015, an increase of 1.1 percentage points over the preceding three month average.

Samsung’s smartphone share in the U.S. dropped to 27.3% in July 2015, a decline of 1.3 percentage points over April 2015. LG, Motorola and HTC rounded off the top five smartphone makers with 8.7%, 4.9% and 3.5% smartphone market share in the U.S. respectively.

Android remained the most widely adopted smartphone platform in the U.S. with 51.4% market share based on the July 2015 data, trailed by iOS with 44.2% market share. Windows Phone, BlackBerry and Symbian accounted for 2.9%, 1.3% and 0.1% market share in the U.S. respectively.

Facebook ranked as the most popular smartphone app in the U.S. with 73.3% reach, according to comScore’s Mobile Metrix. Facebook Messenger, YouTube, Google Search, Google Play, Google Maps, Pandora Radio, Gmail, Instagram and Yahoo Stocks rounded off the top ten apps.

Apple is set to announce the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus at its September 9th media event in San Francisco.