New Radio Tab With Beats 1 Demo Appears on iOS 8.4 and iOS 9 Betas

With less than two weeks until the launch of Apple Music in over 100 countries, the latest signs of the streaming music service continue to appear in iOS 8.4 and iOS 9 betas. A number of users running the pre-release software versions have shared screenshots showing a new Radio tab in the Music app that displays a Beats 1 demo alongside a list of other stations and genres.

The new Radio tab and Beats 1 pre-recording have gone live for users in the United States, Canada, Germany, Norway, United Kingdom and select other countries, although it remains unclear if all features of Apple Music will be available worldwide on June 30. The search feature in the Radio tab is working as of now for some users, but Beats 1 and other playlists cannot be listened to yet.

The curated playlists shown in the screenshots cover a wide selection of genres, including classic, indie, pop-hits, all-city, francophone hits and charting music. Searching for and tapping on an individual song brings you to the Apple Music subscription menu that began appearing earlier this month and has revealed possible international pricing of €9.99/£9.99 per month in Europe and as low as $2-$3 per month in some countries.

Apple Music subscription menu added to iOS 8.4 beta earlier this month
Apple Music was announced last week as an all-in-one streaming music service, live global radio station and social platform for artists to connect with fans. The subscription-based service will be available June 30 for $9.99 per month after a three-month free trial period for iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac and PC. Apple TV and Android versions of the service will be available in the fall.

Apple Watch U.S. Sales Estimated at 2.8 Million, Sports Band May Cost Apple Just $2

The latest data from Slice Intelligence, a digital commerce research firm that tracks email receipts, estimates Apple Watch sales at 2.79 million in the United States nearly two months after the wrist-worn device launched, according to Reuters. Slice Intelligence previously estimated 1 million Apple Watch pre-orders on April 10 and 2.5 million orders processed through late May.

The report claims that about 17 percent of those Apple Watch customers proceed to spend hundreds of dollars on extra bands for the smartwatch, enabling Apple to make a profitable double dip into customers’ wallets. While the Sports Band starts at $49, for example, technology research firm IHS estimates the 38mm fluoroelastomer band costs Apple just $2.05 to make.

The estimate does not include the cost of packaging and shipping, and the bill of materials may in fact be slightly more expensive, but it remains clear that Apple has a significant profit margin on spare bands. Apple also sells the Classic Buckle, Milanese Loop and Leather Loop retail for $149, Modern Buckle for $249 and Link Bracelet for $449 through the Apple Online Store.

“It’s just a psychological thing,” said Carolina Milanesi, chief of research and head of U.S. business at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, a consumer research firm. “I start with the least investment, and then I spend more money, but I get something else.”

Apple Watch in-store reservations at Apple Stores began earlier this week ahead of the wrist-worn device’s second wave launch in Italy, Mexico, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland and Taiwan on June 26. A limited selection of Apple Watch models will be available at 10 Corso Como in Milan, BOONTHESHOP Cheongdam in Seoul and Malmaison by The Hour Glass in Singapore.

Major indie labels are not happy with Apple Music

Smaller record labels are unhappy with Apple Music, so much so that some big-name artists may be unavailable when the company’s new subscription music service launches on June 30th. Beggars Group says it’s “very concerned, especially for artists releasing new albums in the next three months,” about Apple’s proposal to pay zero royalties out during the three-month free trial it’s offering users. In a letter to its artists and managers, it explains that it struggles to see “why rights owners and artists should bear this aspect of Apple’s customer acquisition costs.”

While you may not have heard of Beggars, the group owns or distributes several smaller record labels including XL Recordings, Rough Trade, 4AD and Matador. That makes it home to Adele, Dizzee Rascal, (Tidal co-owner) Jack White, M.I.A., Queens of The Stone Age, Sigur Rós, Tanlines, The Prodigy, Tyler The Creator, Vampire Weekend and more. The Telegraph reports that fellow indie label Domino is similarly unhappy — Domino currently represents Arctic Monkeys, Hot Chip, Tricky and others.

Apple has apparently been playing hard ball with smaller artists, according to The Brian Jonestown Massacre frontman Anton Newcombe, who said on Twitter that the company threatened to pull his music from iTunes if he didn’t agree to the terms of the three month trial.

So @APPLEOFFIClAL has a new deal they offered me: they said we want to stream your music free for 3 months..I said what if I say no,and they

– antonnewcombe (@antonnewcombe) June 17, 2015

(@APPLEOFFIClAL ) said “we’ll take your music off itunes. hard ball? fuck these satanic corporations

– antonnewcombe (@antonnewcombe) June 17, 2015

All told, Apple’s terms seems to be pleasing most record labels. It will pay out 71.5 percent of its Music revenues to labels (who will then distribute a fraction of that to their artists). That’s higher than Spotify’s 70 percent, but lower than Tidal. which offers 75 percent (supposedly 62.5 percent to labels, 12.5 percent to artists). Beggars doesn’t seem to have an issue with what Apple’s offering artists and labels in general, and says “in many ways the deal structure is very progressive.” It hopes that “the obstacles to agreement” for it and other independent labels to join Apple Music can be removed prior to the service’s launch in two weeks.

Filed under: Mobile, Apple

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Via: FACT Magazine, The New York Times

Source: Beggars Group

Samsung Asks Court to Reconsider Appeal in Infringement Ruling [Mac Blog]

Samsung today asked the U.S. Federal Circuit Court of Appeals to reconsider a central part of a recent ruling that ensured Apple would receive $548 million in damages, according to the San Jose Mercury News. The Korean company wants the court to hear the case with its full 12-judge roster rather than the 3-judge panel it used in the previous ruling.

“Unlike rugs, spoons, and simple mechanical objects, smartphones incorporate hundreds or thousands of different patented technologies, and it is undisputed here that Apple’s design patents claim only partial, minor features of such devices,” Samsung’s lawyers argued in court papers.

In 2012, a jury ruled that Samsung willfully infringed Apple patents and awarded the Cupertino company $1 billion in damages. However, the award was slightly reduced to around $900 million a short time later after it was determined the original jury erred in its decision. Earlier this year, a U.S. appeals court reversed a significant part of the judgment, bringing the award down to $548 million. Samsung’s latest move would target a part of the verdict that accounts for $400 million of the $548 million in damages Samsung owes.

The move is the latest in the ongoing legal battles between Samsung and Apple. In June 2014, it was reported that the two companies were attempting to find “common ground” in their legal battles and that they were both attempting to become “more practical” about finding a solution.

Unicode Consortium Releases Unicode 8 With Taco, Cheese and Unicorn Face Emoji [iOS Blog]

The Unicode Consortium today released Unicode 8, the next update to the Unicode Standard that defines special characters and symbols, including emoji. Unicode 8 introduces 7,716 new characters, including six new scripts and new symbols, with letters to support languages in Africa, lowercase Cherokee symbols, and more.

Of interest to iPhone and Mac users is the emoji portion of Unicode 8, which introduces 37 new emoji and five emoji modifiers (these are the same skin tone modifiers that Apple has already adopted). These new emoji may eventually be added to Apple’s Mac and iOS operating systems.

Of the 37 new emoji, inclusions based on popular request include taco, cheese wedge, burrito, bottle with popping cork, hot dog, popcorn, turkey, and unicorn face. Missing sports symbols like badminton and volleyball are also included, as are several new faces: face with rolling eyes, zipper-mouth face, robot face, upside-down face, and hugging face.

Emoji examples via Emojipedia

Unicode only includes text descriptions for each of the emoji, so it’s up to each individual company to create the graphics to go along with the symbols. When these emoji eventually make their way to the iPhone, they’ll look different than the images above.

Apple has adopted the emoji skin tone modifiers outlined in Unicode 8, but it has not yet adopted the new emoji symbols. In fact, Apple still has not adopted the Unicode 7 standard that was finalized in June of 2014, continuing to offer only the emoji that were included in Unicode 6. It is not known when Apple might add new emoji, but it has not done so in iOS 9, aside from a few new flags.

The Unicode Consortium is already working on Unicode 9 for 2016. Emoji additions proposed for Unicode 9 include bacon, avocado, shrug, croissant, owl, selfie, drooling face, and more.

How to Make Icons and Fonts Bigger on Apple Watch [iOS Blog]

The Apple Watch screen is small. So small that it can be difficult for some people to read messages and other text on the device. Also, even though the Home screen icons get bigger when they are centered on the screen, you might find yourself accidentally tapping the wrong one more often than you’d like.

Apple has included a couple of accessibility features that make dynamic text larger on the screen, and there are options to make all of the icons stay big on the Home screen instead of shrinking and growing when they are not centered. We have a tutorial to show you how to enable these features.

Reduce Motion

The same feature that helps keep people from getting motion sickness in iOS 8 makes app icons larger on the Home screen on Apple Watch. It makes it a little bit easier to tap those tiny icons.

1. On Apple Watch, navigate to the Home screen and then open the Settings app.
2. Select General. Then scroll down to Accessibility.
3. Tap Reduce Motion and toggle the switch to the on position.

Or

1. Open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone and go to My Watch.
2. Select General, and then Accessibility.
3. Tap Reduce Motion and toggle the switch to the on position.

Now, the icons on your Home screen will remain at their fullest size instead of shrinking down as they move away from the center of the screen, as seen in the image at the top of this post.

Tip: If an app is centered on the screen, you don’t even have to tap it to open it. Instead, rotate the Digital Crown to open the app. The hard part is being able to tell which app is centered.
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OS X El Capitan Roundup Updated

OS X 10.11 El Capitan is Apple’s next-generation operating system for the Mac, set to be released to the public this fall. Our roundup has everything you need to know about El Capitan, covering the multitude of performance improvements and new features in the OS, like an updated look for Mission Control, a way to use two full screen apps at once, new features for Safari, improvements for Mail, and more.

Click to read our OS X El Capitan roundup.

Publishers Upset Over Apple’s Opt-Out Terms for Inclusion in iOS 9 News App

Apple recently sent a mass email to news publishers to introduce them to Apple News, an upcoming Flipboard-inspired app for iOS 9 that will deliver curated news and magazine stories with custom layouts, photo galleries, videos and animations optimized for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.

The email has ignited some controversy in the news and blogging community over the past week, according to the BBC, which reports that some writers are disappointed about Apple’s decision to automatically include a website’s RSS feeds in Apple News unless they specifically opt out by replying to the email.

“Let me get this straight, Apple: you send me an e-mail outlining the terms under which you will redistribute my content, and you will just assume that I agree to your terms unless I opt out?” wrote Plausible Labs programmer Mike Ash on his personal blog. “This makes typical clickwrap EULA nonsense look downright reasonable by comparison. You’re going to consider me bound to terms you just declared to me in an e-mail as long as I don’t respond? That’s completely crazy. You don’t even know if I received the e-mail!”

Some bloggers argue that not all publishers are guaranteed to see the email, which could easily be overlooked or buried in a spam inbox, leading to their content being featured on Apple News without their knowledge or explicit consent. Apple also has permission to place advertising next to or near a publisher’s content without providing any compensation, and will pass on any legal fees to publishers.

You agree to let us use, display, store, and reproduce the content in your RSS feeds including placing advertising next to or near your content without compensation to you. Don’t worry, we will not put advertising inside your content without your permission.

You confirm that you have all necessary rights to publish your RSS content, and allow Apple to use it for News as we set forth here. You will be responsible for any payments that might be due to any contributors or other third parties for the creation and use of your RSS content.

If we receive a legal claim about your RSS content, we will tell you so that you can resolve the issue, including indemnifying Apple if Apple is included in the claim.

You can remove your RSS feed whenever you want by opting out or changing your settings in News Publisher.

Apple News is highlighted as one of the main features on the iOS 9 preview page, so it is no surprise that Apple is attempting to have as much content available on the platform at launch as possible. It is clear, however, that many publishers would have appreciated the terms of Apple News being set on an opt-in rather than opt-out basis. Apple so far has not commented on those concerns.

Review: Dotti and Notti Are Fun iPhone-Controlled Smart Lights That Deliver Notifications [iOS Blog]

Dotti and Notti are small iPhone-controlled smart lights created by design company Witti. More fun than practical, the two lights connect to an iPhone over Bluetooth, allowing their colors to be changed and letting them light up when a notification is received.

Notti, the more inexpensive of the two at $60, is an angular light that somewhat resembles a candle. Dotti, priced at $80, is a square pixel light with 8×8 grid of LEDs that can be arranged into different pixellated shapes and colors.

I went hands-on with the Notti and Dotti and after a couple of weeks, I can say that they’re both well-designed, fun to play with, and make nice desk or table decorations.

Notti

Notti is the more simple light of the two. Made of opaque white plastic, it’s got a faceted, angular design that looks attractive, especially when lit. It’s a nice mood light for a living room or bedroom, measuring in at 10cm x 7.5cm x 6cm. Notti has a built-in battery that will last for up to five hours when the light is turned on, and up to 720 hours in standby mode while waiting for a notification to come in.

When the Notti is first turned on via a small button on the front of the light, it’s bright green, but with the accompanying Notti app, it can be changed to any color. The Notti pairs with an iPhone automatically once the app has been installed. Lights don’t photograph quite as saturated in as they are in real life, so when looking at photos of Notti and Dotti, keep that in mind. The colors are actually deeper and more vivid.

With the app, you can control both color and brightness with a color wheel, resulting in a lot of different combinations. LEDs in some colored lights can’t do certain shades like blue and green, but the Notti does well with these these colors.
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