Apple Pay Coming ‘Very Soon’ to Lloyds Bank in United Kingdom
Lloyds Bank has sent an email to customers to notify them that it will begin supporting Apple Pay “very soon” for contactless payments with debit and credit cards and in-app purchases. Most transactions will initially be limited to £20 at retailers in the United Kingdom, but some retailers may allow larger purchases.
Lloyds Bank has been listed under the “Coming Soon” section on the Apple Pay page in the United Kingdom for quite some time, but the bank has not provided a more specific launch date beyond telling customers it is aiming for “autumn” through its Twitter support account.
Apple Pay launched in the U.K. on July 13 and is accepted at more than 250,000 locations across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Participating banks that have activated the service include First Direct, HSBC, MBNA, Nationwide, NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland, Santander and Ulster Bank.
Court Rejects Samsung’s Latest Appeal in Patent Case
The U.S. Federal Circuit Court of Appeals today rejected Samsung’s latest appeal in its patent infringement case with Apple without comment, according to the San Jose Mercury News. The appeal was Samsung’s effort to get the court to reconsider a central part of the ruling, which would account for $400 million of the $548 million in damages owed to Apple.
Samsung had urged the Federal Circuit to rehear the case with its full 12-judge roster, arguing that a three-judge panel erred earlier this year when it left intact a jury’s verdict that the South Korean tech giant’s smartphones and tablets infringed on Apple’s design patents.
Samsung’s only legal option to overturn the latest verdict is to turn to the U.S. Supreme Court. The decision comes weeks after Facebook, Google and other Silicon Valley companies sided with Samsung in the case, arguing that forcing Samsung to turn over profits from devices that infringed Apple patents would stifle innovation.
This decision is the latest turn in the ongoing patent war between Samsung and Apple. In 2012, a jury ruled that Samsung willfully infringed Apple patents and awarded the Cupertino company $1 billion in damages. The award was slightly reduced after it was determined the jury erred in its judgment. Earlier this year, a U.S. appeals court reversed a significant part of the decision, cutting the award down to $548 million. In mid-June, Samsung asked the court to reconsider its latest appeal, targeting $400 million of the $548 million it owed to Apple.
Samsung SideSync 4.0: Mac support and improved connection speeds
We have been going nuts over the new Samsung Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 Edge+, but those are not the only things the Korean manufacturer introduced today. The company also announced a new iteration of their SideSync services, taking the software to version 4.0.
If you don’t know what SideSync is, you are missing out. It’s actually one of the biggest reasons why I want to get a Samsung device (even though these are not my favorite). SideSync allows you to link your Samsung smartphone to your computer, creating a seamless connection between these devices. Once connected, you can control your smartphone screen from your PC.
Furthermore, one can even use the phone as a secondary display, as SideSync allows you to drag your cursor from PC to phone. Users ca type on either platform, and even copy/paste content and data. It’s also possible to send text messages and initiate calls from a computer. You can learn more about SideSync features in our original demo post. Or you can watch the video below.
There’s already a bevy of amazing features packed into this awesome software. And though the new updates don’t change the functionality much, they are still quite a big deal. For starters, Samsung is introducing Mac support, which will be a huge deal for all Apple OSX fans. In addition, connection speeds have been improved, making the experience even more seamless than it already is.
We are not exactly sure when the new version will be rolling out, but it was announced along with the Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 Edge+. These phones are set to be released later this month. Maybe Sidesync 4.0 will be read by then, as well? Let’s hope so!
Bloomberg: Apple TV service is not coming in 2015
In keeping with the requirement of a new Apple TV rumor every few weeks, Bloomberg says the yet-to-be-announced subscription package will not debut until at least 2016. Its sources echo the Buzzfeed’s recent claim that a new Apple TV box will be unveiled this fall, however difficulty negotiating deals with content providers and building up a network capable of delivering that much video is delaying the rollout of a video service. Another problem cited is finding “the right mix” of channels to sell for about $40 per month, an issue also faced by competition like PlayStation Vue and Sling TV. Sling TV has also faced a few outages, demonstrating the difficulty of maintaining a network to reliable handle the bandwidth requirements of so much live and on-demand video. There’s no mention of the possibility of an app store or gaming in this report, so we’ll pencil those in for the next leak from anonymous sources in a few weeks.
[Image credit: Paul Sakuma/Associated Press]
Filed under:
Home Entertainment, HD, Apple
Source:
Bloomberg
Tags: apple, AppleTV, delay, hdpostcross, rumor, service
Apple Live TV Service Not Coming Until 2016
Bloomberg reports that Apple will be unable to deliver their rumored live TV-over-internet streaming service for the Apple TV until 2016. Content negotiations are reportedly stalling the launch of the service, which Apple had hoped to be ready for their rumored September 9th media event.
The company wanted to introduce this year a live TV service delivered via the Internet, but is now aiming for 2016, said people familiar with Apple’s plans.
Apparently, pricing of the new TV service is one of the main hurdles in the negotiations. Bloomberg reports that Apple wants to offer “a package of popular channels” for $40/month, a significant discount from the average cable bill.
A new Apple TV set top box, however, is still said to be ready for release. The new Apple TV is rumored to have a touch-based remote control and full app store. Apple is expected to announce the new Apple TV on September 9th.
Apple Releases New Diversity Numbers, Hired Over 11,000 Women in Past Year
Apple has released updated diversity numbers that provide a breakdown of the company’s workforce based on gender, race and ethnicity in 2015. The new data reveals that Apple hired over 11,000 women globally over the past year, a 65% increase over the previous year, in addition to 2,200 Black employees, a 50% year-over-year increase, and 2,700 Hispanic employees, a 66% increase over the previous year.
Apple says that is has hired more diverse candidates in 2015 than any year to date, with the percentage of new hires in the past year broken down as follows: 35% Women (Global), 19% Asian (U.S.), 13% Hispanic (U.S.), 11% Black (U.S.). Apple’s global gender split is now 69% male and 31% female, a marginal change from last year’s 70% male-30% female split.
Apple CEO Tim Cook:
Diversity is critical to innovation and it is essential to Apple’s future. We aspire to do more than just make our company as diverse as the talent available to hire. We must address the broad underlying challenges, offer new opportunities, and create a future generation of employees as diverse as the world around us. We also aspire to make a difference beyond Apple.
Apple’s overall race and ethnicity breakdown in the United States is now 54% White, 18% Asian, 11% Hispanic, 8% Black, 2% Multiple, 1% Other and 6% Undeclared. The data reflects the past year through June 27, 2015 and varies when broken down into individual categories including tech, non-tech, leadership, retail and retail leadership.
Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.
Speck Announces New CandyShell Inked Luxury Edition Cases for iPhone 6 and 6 Plus
Popular iPhone case maker Speck today debuted a new set of cases in its CandyShell lineup, the Inked Luxury Edition. Like other CandyShell cases, Speck’s Inked Luxury Edition cases offer a dual-layer design that combines a rigid plastic outer shell with a rubber interior to offer protection from drops without a huge amount of additional bulk.
We were able to check out the Inked Luxury Edition cases in person ahead of launch. They’re quite similar to Speck’s existing Inked CandyShell cases, but the designs incorporate metallic colors. There are eight different designs available, ranging from floral to geometric, and the designs wrap all the way around the cases. Design wise, there’s a lot of variety to suit different tastes.
According to Speck, the Luxury Edition cases underwent a “highly technical” printing process that ensures the patterns on the case are resistant to fading and scratching. Speck has also had a third-party test the cases to make sure the metallic finish would not interfere with signal strength.
For those unfamiliar with the CandyShell cases, they’re not quite as thin as the Apple leather and silicone cases, so they do add some bulk to the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. The cases are in no way minimal, but they don’t add as much extra weight and size as something like an Otterbox case. For those who don’t mind cases, the CandyShell is a solid compromise between protection and bulk.
CandyShell cases offer protection for the volume and power buttons in the form of rubber covers, and there’s a rubber lip that extends up over the edges of the phone to protect the display when it’s placed face down on a surface. The case is also thick enough that it protects the protruding camera in the back.
The CandyShell Inked Luxury Edition cases are available today from the Speck website and in Best Buy stores across the United States. The iPhone 6 version is available for $49.95, while the iPhone 6 Plus version is available for $54.95. Speck’s site is currently offering orders through Best Buy at 25 percent off, bringing pricing down to $37.49 and $41.24 respectively.
Samsung Debuts Galaxy Note5 and S6 Edge+ Phones, Preps for Samsung Pay and Gear S2 Watch Launches
At Samsung’s big press conference today in New York, the company announced two new flagship smartphones: the Samsung Galaxy Note5 and the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+, both of which include large “phablet” sized screens that poise them to be direct competitors to the iPhone 6 Plus. They each include the same 5.7-inch display with 4GB of RAM, 16-megapixel rear cameras, and 5-megapixel front cameras, and even the ability to record 4K video.
The Galaxy S6 Edge+ (left) with the Galaxy Note5 (right)
The Galaxy S6 Edge+ keeps its predecessor’s curved screen design, but increases its screen size from 5.1-inches to 5.7-inches, which is even larger than the iPhone 6 Plus’ 5.5-inch screen. Otherwise, the phone’s internals are only slight bumps from the last generation, with the same rear and front cameras and only a slight RAM increase from the S6 Edge’s 3GB.
The other phone announced today, the Galaxy Note5, is being aimed at a more enterprise-friendly market, with Samsung describing the smartphone as having an “unmatched set of productivity tools” with the traditional stylus removable from the bottom of the device. Samsung notes that today’s upgrades confirm its commitment to the emerging larger-screened smartphone market, “which Samsung boldly pioneered in 2011 with the original Galaxy Note.”
Read more 
Apple’s Boot Camp 6 supports dual-booting with Windows 10
Apple began rolling out the latest version of its multi boot utility, Boot Camp 6, on Thursday. It supports newly-released Windows 10 (64-bit edition only) as well as USB 3, USB-C, Thunderbolt, SD and SDXC connections. Users will need to be running OS X Yosemite and have an authentic copy of Windows 10 installed on a separate partition. The update is still propagating, according to MacRumors, but should be available to Intel Mac owners shortly. That includes the 13- and 15-inch MBPs, 11- and 13-inch MBAs, MacBook, MacMini, and various iMacs. Users don’t actually have to do anything to get the update, as it will download automatically if you’re already running the latest rev of Boot Camp 5.
[Image Credit: Getty Images]
Via:
Mac Rumors
Source:
Apple Support
Tags: apple, bootcamp, bootcamp6, dualboot, MBA, MBP, osx, osxyosemite, windows10
Apple Releases OS X 10.10.5 With DYLD Vulnerability Patch, Bug Fixes
Apple today released OS X Yosemite 10.10.5, an under-the-hood update that introduces bug fixes, security enhancements, and performance improvements. OS X 10.10.5 is being released to the public after two developer betas and one month of testing.
The OS X 10.10.5 update can be downloaded through the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App Store.
Today’s update notably includes a fix for the DYLD_PRINT_TO_FILE privilege escalation vulnerability that could allow malware to gain root access to a Mac. Earlier this month, a DYLD_PRINT_TO_FILE exploit was found to be in use in the wild, so this is an update that all Mac users running Yosemite will want to install as soon as possible.
This update:
– Improves compatibility with certain email servers when using Mail
– Fixes an issue in Photos that prevents importing videos from GoPro cameras
– Fixes an issue in QuickTime Player that prevented playback of Windows Media files.
OS X 10.10.5 is likely to be one of the last updates to OS X Yosemite, which will soon be retired in favor of its successor, OS X 10.11 El Capitan. Currently in testing, OS X El Capitan builds on the features introduced with Yosemite, focusing on improving performance and user experience.
Once OS X El Capitan is available for download, OS X Yosemite will see only minor maintenance updates designed to fix security flaws and other major bugs. OS X El Capitan is expected to be released to the public in the fall.
