Samsung May Announce Galaxy Note 5 in August to Beat iPhone Launch

Samsung is planning to move up the launch of the Galaxy Note 5 by one month to avoid competing with Apple’s annual iPhone event in September, according to The Wall Street Journal. The South Korean handset maker will reportedly unveil the next Galaxy Note in mid-August instead of announcing the smartphone at the IFA Berlin trade show in early September as it has done for four consecutive years.

Apple introduced the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus just six days after the Galaxy Note 4 was announced on September 3 last year, shifting much of the media coverage and consumer attention away from Samsung. With the launch of the so-called “iPhone 6s” and “iPhone 6s Plus” also likely to be in September, Samsung is reportedly looking to avoid the same fate with the Galaxy Note 5.

Apple Rumored to Announce New iPod Touch, Nano and Shuffle Around July 14

Apple will announce a refreshed lineup of iPod touch, iPod nano and iPod shuffle portable media players around July 14, according to usually reliable French website iGen.fr. The report claims the new iPod touch (codenamed “N102″) should be a more significant update, likely including a bump to a 64-bit A-based processor, while the iPod nano (“N31A”) and iPod shuffle (“N12D”) may be refreshed with new colors only.

iPods in unreleased colors spotted in iTunes 12.2 earlier this month
iPods in unreleased colors were spotted in iTunes 12.2 earlier this month, including a darker blue for the iPod touch, a new gold or beige color for the iPod nano and a brighter pink color for the iPod shuffle. Notably, a few eagle-eyed readers noticed that the Calendar app on the iPod touch displays “Tuesday” and “14,” which lines up with Tuesday, July 14 and information shared by iGen.fr‘s sources.

MacRumors discovered a full lineup of six new iPod colors
MacRumors subsequently discovered a full lineup of six new colors for the iPod touch, nano and shuffle hidden within iTunes resource files, including silver, space gray, red, bright pink, deep blue and light gold. Beyond new colors, storage capacities and other minor changes, Apple last updated the iPod touch and iPod nano in October 2012 and the iPod shuffle in September 2010.

Apple Rumored to Announce New iPod Touch, Nano and Shuffle Around July 14

Apple will announce a refreshed lineup of iPod touch, iPod nano and iPod shuffle portable media players around July 14, according to usually reliable French website iGen.fr. The report claims the new iPod touch (codenamed “N102″) should be a more significant update, likely including a bump to a 64-bit A-based processor, while the iPod nano (“N31A”) and iPod shuffle (“N12D”) may be refreshed with new colors only.

iPods in unreleased colors spotted in iTunes 12.2 earlier this month
iPods in unreleased colors were spotted in iTunes 12.2 earlier this month, including a darker blue for the iPod touch, a new gold or beige color for the iPod nano and a brighter pink color for the iPod shuffle. Notably, a few eagle-eyed readers noticed that the Calendar app on the iPod touch displays “Tuesday” and “14,” which lines up with Tuesday, July 14 and information shared by iGen.fr‘s sources.

MacRumors discovered a full lineup of six new iPod colors
MacRumors subsequently discovered a full lineup of six new colors for the iPod touch, nano and shuffle hidden within iTunes resource files, including silver, space gray, red, bright pink, deep blue and light gold. Beyond new colors, storage capacities and other minor changes, Apple last updated the iPod touch and iPod nano in October 2012 and the iPod shuffle in September 2010.

MasterCard and MLB Bringing Apple Pay Purchases & Rewards to All-Star Game in Cincinnati

Fans attending the 2015 MLB All-Star Game in Cincinnati will be able to use Apple Pay for on-site food and merchandise purchases, thanks to a partnership between MasterCard and Major League Baseball Advanced Media. MasterCard hopes it gets fans back to their seats as fast as possible during the week-long festivities, streamlining the sometimes lengthy lines at concession and souvenir stands at such events.

“Nobody wants to be caught in line at concession only to hear the crowd go wild over a play they’ve missed. The ballpark experience is an ideal environment for quick and secure payment options so fans can get through concessions and back to the game quickly,” said Cheryl Guerin, Group Executive, Global Products & Solutions, MasterCard.

“We’re thrilled to partner with MLBAM to bring contactless acceptance to the 2015 MLB All-Star Week festivities. Through our longstanding relationship with MLB and MLBAM, we are constantly looking for opportunities to create enhanced fan experiences both in-stadium and online, whether that’s through advanced payment capabilities or delivering surprises to fans.”

Any customer using Apple Pay at the T-Mobile All-Star FanFest from July 10th through July 14th or in-stadium at the Great American Ball Park from July 12th through July 14th, will also be eligible for MasterCard’s “Priceless Surprises” rewards. This will give customers the chance at winning premium All-Star branded merchandise, autographed memorabilia, prepaid cards, and more. The FanFest begins today in Cincinnati and ends with the 86th MLB All-Star Game on July 14.

MasterCard and MLB Bringing Apple Pay Purchases & Rewards to All-Star Game in Cincinnati

Fans attending the 2015 MLB All-Star Game in Cincinnati will be able to use Apple Pay for on-site food and merchandise purchases, thanks to a partnership between MasterCard and Major League Baseball Advanced Media. MasterCard hopes it gets fans back to their seats as fast as possible during the week-long festivities, streamlining the sometimes lengthy lines at concession and souvenir stands at such events.

“Nobody wants to be caught in line at concession only to hear the crowd go wild over a play they’ve missed. The ballpark experience is an ideal environment for quick and secure payment options so fans can get through concessions and back to the game quickly,” said Cheryl Guerin, Group Executive, Global Products & Solutions, MasterCard.

“We’re thrilled to partner with MLBAM to bring contactless acceptance to the 2015 MLB All-Star Week festivities. Through our longstanding relationship with MLB and MLBAM, we are constantly looking for opportunities to create enhanced fan experiences both in-stadium and online, whether that’s through advanced payment capabilities or delivering surprises to fans.”

Any customer using Apple Pay at the T-Mobile All-Star FanFest from July 10th through July 14th or in-stadium at the Great American Ball Park from July 12th through July 14th, will also be eligible for MasterCard’s “Priceless Surprises” rewards. This will give customers the chance at winning premium All-Star branded merchandise, autographed memorabilia, prepaid cards, and more. The FanFest begins today in Cincinnati and ends with the 86th MLB All-Star Game on July 14.

Samsung May Announce Galaxy Note 5 in August to Beat iPhone Launch

Samsung is planning to move up the launch of the Galaxy Note 5 by one month to avoid competing with Apple’s annual iPhone event in September, according to The Wall Street Journal. The South Korean handset maker will reportedly unveil the next Galaxy Note in mid-August instead of announcing the smartphone at the IFA Berlin trade show in early September as it has done for four consecutive years.

Apple introduced the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus just six days after the Galaxy Note 4 was announced on September 3 last year, shifting much of the media coverage and consumer attention away from Samsung. After experiencing poor Galaxy S6 sales, Samsung will reportedly look to avoid that same fate by unveiling the Galaxy Note 5 about one month earlier to maximize awareness of the new smartphone.

Apple Debuts Two New iPhone 6 Ads: ‘Loved’ and ‘Hardware & Software’

Apple tonight debuted two brand new iPhone 6 ads that appear to be a part of a new marketing campaign. The ads feature a voice over detailing what makes an iPhone unique compared to other smart phones and smart phone platforms while showing off multiple iPhones doing different things on a white background. Both ads end with a new tagline: “If it’s not an iPhone, it’s not an iPhone.”

The first ad, “Loved”, talks about the iPhone’s high user satisfaction rate, claiming that 99% of people who have an iPhone love their device. It shows off people messaging, sending emojis, FaceTiming and having a good time on a multitude of iPhones before cutting to the new tagline.

The second ad, “Hardware & Software”, explains how Apple is one of the few smart phone manufacturers to design both the hardware and software parts of the device. It goes on to say that this allows the device to function as a whole better than other smartphones can. It shows off games, intensive apps like GarageBand and iPhone-exclusive features like Apple Pay and FaceTime.

The new ads mark the third campaign centered around Apple’s flagship device after the Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake ads explaining the differences between the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus and Apple’s award-winning “Shot on iPhone 6” campaign.

Apple Sees U.S. Mac Sales Drop 2.5% in 2Q15 Amid Larger Worldwide PC Shipment Decline

Amid a decline in both U.S. and worldwide PC shipments, Apple has also seen a slight drop in its U.S. PC shipments in 2Q15, according to shipping estimates released today from Gartner. Apple shipped 1.92 million PCs during the second quarter of 2015, down from 1.97 million in 2Q14, marking a 2.5 percent decline.

Overall PC growth in the United States during the quarter was down 5.8 percent, with total estimated shipments at 15.1 million, down from 16 million in the year-ago quarter. With the exception of Lenovo, all of the top U.S. PC vendors saw declines in growth.

In the U.S., PC shipments totaled 15.1 million units in the second quarter of 2015, a 5.8 percent decline from the second quarter of 2014 (see Table 2). The decline was led by a double-digit decline of desk-based shipments, which offset single-digit growth of mobile PCs. Based on preliminary results, the desk-based PC shipment decline was the steepest since 2009 when the market was hit by the economic crisis.

During the quarter, Apple captured 12.7 percent of the market, down from 12.3 percent in 2Q14. Apple was ranked as the fourth largest PC vendor in the United States in 2Q15, based on Gartner’s estimates, trailing behind HP, Dell, and Lenovo.

Market leader HP shipped nearly 4 million PCs during the quarter for a 26.2 percent share of the market, while Dell shipped 3.9 million for a 25.6 percent share of the market. Lenovo came in just ahead of Apple with 2 million PC shipments and 13.3 percent of the market, while Asus brought up the rear with shipments of 767,000 and a 5.1 percent share of the market.

While U.S. PC shipments were down 5.8 percent, worldwide PC shipments saw an even steeper drop. Worldwide PC shipments during 2Q15 totaled 68.4 million units, a 9.5 percent decrease from 2Q14.

It’s important to note that data from Gartner is preliminary and that the numbers can shift somewhat, sometimes dramatically. Last year, for example, Gartner predicted Apple shipments of 1.68 million and 10.6 percent market share in 2Q14, a number that was later revised to 1.97 million shipments and 12.3 percent market share.