Noted Mobile Phone Leaker Believes ‘iPhone 6c’ Could Still Launch Alongside ‘iPhone 6s’ and ‘6s Plus’

While recent rumors have claimed that Apple has ditched plans to release the so-called “iPhone 6c” until at least the second quarter of 2016, noted mobile phone leaker Evan Blass believes that the 4-inch budget smartphone could still be released alongside the “iPhone 6s” and “iPhone 6s Plus” later this year.

Blass, who has accurately leaked several images and details about unreleased smartphones on Twitter (@evleaks) in the past, recently tweeted that it “sounds like iPhone 6s, 6s Plus, and 6c will all arrive concurrently,” suggesting that Apple could release three new smartphones at its annual iPhone event in September.

Sounds like iPhone 6s, 6s Plus, and 6c will all arrive concurrently.

— Evan Blass (@evleaks) August 11, 2015

Blass is better known for leaking Android-based smartphones from handset makers such as Samsung, HTC, Motorola and Huawei, and Apple’s release date plans for the so-called “iPhone 6c” appear to be in flux, so his latest prediction should be treated with a proverbial grain of salt and have been shared for discussion purposes only.

@WhatTheBit Ha, I wouldn't say never. Plans really do change, and I don't always hear about it.

— Evan Blass (@evleaks) August 11, 2015

“iPhone 6c” release date rumors have widely varied, ranging from the “second half of 2015” to “2016” and “Q2 2016.” The much-rumored smartphone is expected to be a long-awaited successor to the plastic “iPhone 5c” budget handset that Apple released in 2013, and could feature new 14/16nm FinFET chips from TSMC and Samsung for improved performance and lower power consumption.

Rite Aid Reverses Course, Will Accept Apple Pay Starting August 15

Rite Aid today announced that its 4,600 stores across the United States will begin accepting Apple Pay and Google Wallet starting August 15, nearly one year after the drugstore chain and CVS infamously disabled support for the iPhone-based mobile payments service nationwide. Rite Aid will also support Google’s forthcoming Android Pay service.

Rite Aid and CVS spurred a controversy last year after disabling Apple Pay and Google Wallet as payment methods last year, likely because both are members of the Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX) consortium, which has its own mobile payments service called CurrentC. MCX launched in August 2012 with a three-year exclusivity period for all members, which ends this month.

“Increasingly, consumers are actively seeking out and incorporating mobile technology into many facets of their life, including their shopping and purchasing decisions,” said Ken Martindale, CEO of Rite Aid stores and president of Rite Aid Corporation. “By accepting mobile payments, we’re able to offer Rite Aid customers an easy and convenient checkout process, which we know is important to them. Investing in mobile technologies is just one piece of Rite Aid’s evolving digital strategy and we will continue to explore, test and implement innovative technologies that will help us to better serve our valued customers.”

Apple responded to the Rite Aid-CVS situation last year by stating that Apple Pay feedback from customers and retailers was “overwhelmingly positive and enthusiastic” at the time, and the mobile payments service is now available at over 750,000 locations in the United States and United Kingdom. Other MCX members that remain without Apple Pay support include Walmart, Target and Lowe’s.

LastPass Introduces Subscription-Free Mobile App Update

Password management app LastPass [Direct Link] today announced that new users joining the service will be able to sign up for free without having to pay for a LastPass Premium or Enterprise subscription on mobile devices. Those users who get started on iOS, Android, or Windows will be able to use the service and even sync passwords amongst other smartphones for free.

Now, if you get started with LastPass on your Android, iPhone, or Windows Phone, you’ll have completely free access from your smartphone, and can even sync across smartphones for free. The same is true for tablets, if that’s where you get started.

We want to ensure that LastPass is accessible for all users, including mobile-only users who need help managing their passwords and apps. Wherever you get started, you can use LastPass on that device, and any others of the same device type – desktops, smartphones, or tablets – for free!

The company even promises that wherever a user gets started — be it on desktop, mobile, or a tablet — they will be able to use and sync LastPass on that device and any device of the same type. Users who then want a more robust experience, and be able to migrate from mobile to tablet to desktop, will need to sign up for a LastPass Premium subscription for $12 per year.

Before it had a dedicated Mac app, the service was a web-only password management tool which has now grown to include features like quick search, secure logins, and automatic password change. LastPass promises that existing users can expect to continue using the service “without any changes” to their current experience. New users interested in testing out the desktop version can sign up for a 14-day free trial of the LastPass service on the Mac app [Direct Link].

Tim Cook Invests in Water-Efficient Shower Head Startup Nebia

Apple CEO Tim Cook is among a group of high-profile investors in Nebia, a San Francisco-based startup that has created a water-efficient shower head, according to The New York Times. Nebia is a self-installed shower system that atomizes water into millions of droplets to create 10 times more surface area than a regular shower for up to 70% less water consumption than a traditional shower head.

Nebia Shower was recently introduced on crowdfunding website Kickstarter and has quickly reached its $100,000 funding goal, with over $130,000 in pledges to be paid out to the six-person company on September 11. The shower head is available for a pledge between $269 and $299 and will retail for $399 once released.

According to the Kickstarter page, Nebia has tested its shower head with students, employees and customers at Equinox Gyms, Google, Apple and Stanford University. Apple noted that Cook’s funding towards the Nebia was a personal investment, but declined to comment further on the matter. Other investors include Michael Birch, Y Combinator and the Schmidt Family Foundation.

Force Touch to provide shortcuts on the upcoming iPhone

Reports came out earlier this year that the next iPhones will have Force Touch — a feature that makes it easy to access particular content or functions by pressing down on a pressure-sensitive screen with haptic feedback. Now, 9to5mac has more details about the feature, which was introduced on the Apple Watch’s screen and new MacBook’s trackpad. Apparently, Force Touch for Apple’s mobile devices is known internally as “Orb” and is meant to provide shortcuts for the platform. For instance, the publication’s sources said pressing down on a destination on the Maps apps automatically begins turn-by-turn directions. Doing so on a song listing within the Music app, on the other hand, brings up a menu you can use to quickly add it to a playlist or save it for offline listening.

You can also press down on an app on the Home Screen to bring up a special options menu: the Phone app’s, for example, includes a shortcut to Voicemail. Some of its other functions come straight from the MacBook version, such as how you can preview links or look up terms on Wikipedia when using Safari by pressing on them. These are the main tidbits of info, though you’ll likely find more uses for Force Touch when the new phones are out, since Apple reportedly plans to open up the feature to third-party developers. However, it’s worth noting that we didn’t find FT on the new MacBook particularly useful when we tested it, and it was difficult to execute in some instances: making that Wikipedia preview pop up was especially troublesome.

If you just got an iPhone 6 and plan to skip this year’s version, don’t worry: 9to5mac says the feature will also be part of the still-unconfirmed 12.9-inch iPad, and that its accompanying stylus can access a special Force Touch menu. In addition to a pressure-sensitive display, Apple was considering adding 4K video capability to the upcoming iPhone earlier this year, but it’s unclear whether it has become part of the final feature list. We’ll be able to confirm all of these when Cupertino launches its latest generation of mobile devices, which is expected to happen on September 9th.

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iOS Continues to Lead Enterprise Market in Second Quarter

iOS remained the top platform for smartphone activations in the second quarter, despite its overall market share falling from 70% to 62%, according to Good Technology’s latest Mobility Index Report. Android trailed behind with 32% market share during the quarter, while Windows Phone finished a distant third place with 3% market share.

iOS saw its market share fall from 81% to 64% in the tablet market, while Android grew to 25% and Windows Phone rose from 4% to 11%, a notable rise given that Microsoft’s mobile operating system represented just 1% market share two quarters ago. iOS continued to lead in regulated industries such as the public sector (79%), education (76%) and healthcare (70%).

Customers Who Bought MacKeeper Can Get a Refund Under New Settlement

If you were tricked into buying MacKeeper, you may be able to get your money refunded. MacKeeper, for those unfamiliar, is Mac software that purports to optimize a Mac and keep it secure from viruses and malware, advertising claims that it has not been able to live up to.

As shared by Macworld, following a class action lawsuit that accused MacKeeper developer ZeoBIT of deceptive advertising and false claims, a proposed settlement of $2 million has been established to provide to customers who bought MacKeeper and would like a refund.

Customers who purchased MacKeeper before July 8, 2015 can file a claim to request a full refund of the purchase price. Customers must submit a claim form before November 30, 2015 to become a part of the class action settlement. More than 500,000 people have purchased MacKeeper, paying prices up to $39.95, and buyers will be contacted via email about the settlement.

Because of its aggressive marketing tactics, often appearing in intrusive pop-up and pop-under ads, MacKeeper has earned a negative reputation with most Mac users, who believe it’s little more than bloatware.

As part of the $2 million settlement earmarked for refunds, ZeoBIT will not need to admit any fault in regards to claims of deceptive advertising and making false claims about the software’s capabilities. MacKeeper is no longer ZeoBIT property, having been sold to Kromtech in April of 2013.

Force Touch on iPhone 6s to Make iPhone Interactions Faster With Focus on ‘Shortcuts’

Rumors have all but confirmed the upcoming iPhone 6s and the iPhone 6s Plus will include Force Touch, allowing the device to distinguish between a light tap and a deeper press to enable a wide range of new gestures.

Force Touch has been built into the Apple Watch and the trackpads of the Retina MacBook and the newest Retina MacBook Pros, adding a whole new dimension to the way the devices are controlled. On the Apple Watch, Force Touch is used within apps to access different settings, and on the Mac, it can do things like previewing links in Safari, and accelerating rewind/fast forward speed in iMovie.

Force Touch on the iPhone will work similarly to the way that it works on the existing devices that offer Force Touch, but there are some differences, according to information an inside source shared with 9to5Mac. Force Touch on the iPhone is said to be used primarily for “shortcut actions,” letting users perform tasks within apps more quickly.

In Maps, for example, using Force Touch on a point of interest will cause turn-by-turn directions to start up immediately, while force pressing on a song in the Music app will bring up a menu to save it to a playlist. Force pressing on certain apps on the Home Screen could open directly to specific sections of the app.

Another feature in testing, according to one source, are shortcuts that appear after Force Touching an app icon on the Home screen. For example, if a user deep presses on the Phone app icon, he could choose to shortcut directly to the Voicemail tab. This could also apply to deep pressing the News app icon and being taken directly to either the Favorites or For You tabs.

Aside from Force Touch, the iPhone 6s and the iPhone 6s Plus will feature an A9 processor with 2GB of RAM, a revamped camera system with a 12-megapixel camera, improved Touch ID, and a chassis made of a new material with reinforcements at the weak points that previously caused some iPhones to bend. Rumors suggest the addition of Force Touch and the new reinforcements will cause the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus to be 0.2mm thicker, a change that will be hardly noticeable to most users.