HBO Now is live on Apple TV

HBO’s cable-free streaming service, HBO Now, is available right this very second on Apple TV. It’s exclusive to Apple devices for 90 days and costs $15 a month. Remember, the new season of Game of Thrones launches in just five days, so if HBO Now’s exclusivity deal with Apple sounds as restrictive as a Dothraki barber shop, that’s only because it is.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Internet, HD, Apple

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‘YouTube Kids’ Under Fire for Targeting Children with Advertisements [iOS Blog]

A handful of prominent child advocacy groups plan to work together today in asking the Federal Trade Commission to investigate Google’s YouTube Kids app, with the groups claiming that the popular video streaming service is deceptively targeting kids with advertisements on the tablet and smartphone application (via San Jose Mercury News).

The root of the complaint stems from restrictions placed on children’s entertainment dating back to the 1970’s, which bans hosts of a kids’ television series from attempting to sell products during a show, amongst other restrictions. The central crux of that established law, now coming back into play with the coalition’s defense against Google, is that young kids haven’t yet developed the reasoning behind resisting such advertisements, or even understand that they’re being targeted in the first place.

The complaint to be filed Tuesday asks the FTC to investigate several features of YouTube Kids:

Branded channels: “McDonald’s has its own channel on YouTube Kids … (presenting) promotional videos styled as news reports on topics such as, ‘What are McDonald’s McNuggets made of?’ … (Branded channels) take advantage of children because they do not understand that the entire channel is actually advertising.”

Lack of separation between shows and ads: “Selecting My Little Pony brings up four options. Two of the four options are labeled ‘TV Commercial.’ The other two are identified as ‘TV Clip’ but are actually promotions for the My Little Pony program.’ ”

The groups rallying against the YouTube Kids app allege Google’s new kid-friendly application blurs the line between funny, kid-centric videos and lengthy product promotions. Jeff Chester, director of the Center for Digital Democracy, one of the groups campaigning for more regulation on the YouTube Kids app, sees this as just the first step in a long line of kids’ entertainment regulation.

“This is the opening shot in a new battle with Google, Nickelodeon, Amazon, Netflix, Cartoon Network and others that are trying to cash in on this generation of young children,” said Jeff Chester, director of the Center for Digital Democracy. “It’s a battle for the hearts and minds and pocketbooks of America’s kids in the digital age.”

“Google simply ignored the basics,” Chester said. “They deliberately ignored the well-documented research on children’s developmental limitations when it comes to advertising and programming.”

Chester also noted that the groups don’t just want a more serious look into advertisements, but anything resembling such in the app as a whole, namely the perennially popular “unboxing videos” found on the service. “We want Google to pull all of its unboxing videos from the app,” Chester said. “There’s no disclosure of who actually owns those channels. They’re an ad, in essence, for toys.”

A few have stepped forward in speaking out in Google’s favor, namely Parry Aftab, an Internet privacy lawyer, who pointed out that “something’s got to pay” for the free app and said that she doesn’t “worry about ads as long as they’re not ads for Viagra and Victoria’s Secret and things like that, and as long as you teach your kids the reality of ads.”

YouTube itself responded, stating that when creating the app the company “consulted with numerous partners and child advocacy and privacy groups” and are always “open to feedback on ways to improve the app.” The YouTube Kids app officially launched back in February with a catalog of kid-friendly shows and parental controls, both aimed at giving kids a daily burst of entertainment without making parents worry about the more questionable content that can sometimes pop up on YouTube’s official service.

Angela Ahrendts: ‘The Days of Waiting in Line’ at Apple Stores Are Over

Apple retail chief Angela Ahrendts has issued an internal memo to retail employees that encourages store staff to direct customers to the Apple Online Store to purchase the Apple Watch and new MacBook, according to Business Insider. Ahrendts says that this is “a significant change in mindset” for Apple, noting that the long lines that typically form on Apple product launch days “are over” at retail stores.

“Get in line online

The days of waiting in line and crossing fingers for a product are over for our customers. The Apple Store app and our online store make it much easier to purchase Apple Watch and the new MacBook. Customers will know exactly when and where their product arrives.

This is a significant change in mindset, and we need your help to make it happen. Tell your customers we have more availability online, and show them how easy it is to order. You’ll make their day.”

Apple previously outlined changes to its so-called “Customer Journey” in leaked training documents obtained by MacRumors last month, emphasizing that retail employees will be focused on “reducing wait times and physical lines” for the Apple Watch. One way Apple will limit in-store waiting times for the Apple Watch is by requiring reservations for pick-up at brick-and-mortar Apple Stores, although Business Insider notes that option will be unavailable to U.K. customers at launch.

Apple Stores will have limited in-store supply of the Apple Watch when the wrist-worn device goes on sale April 24. Apple will begin accepting online pre-orders for the Apple Watch on April 10, the same day try-on appointments will be available for customers, in the United States, Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan and United Kingdom. Read how to pre-order the Apple Watch and what to expect at a try-on appointment.

‘Star Wars: The Digital Movie Collection’ Coming to iTunes Friday, April 10 [Mac Blog]

All six Star Wars movies will be available digitally for the first time this Friday, April 10 on iTunes and other digital stores, Disney, Lucasfilm and 20th Century Fox have announced. The movies will be available to purchase separately and as a collection, and come with two never-before-seen special features.

“We’re thrilled that fans will be able to enjoy the Star Wars saga on their digital devices wherever they go,” commented Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy. “These films broke new ground in technology, design, sound, and visual effects, and we’ve created some very special bonus material which delves into the saga’s rich history, including new and never-before-released conversations between legendary Star Wars artists — the masters who helped George bring his iconic universe to life.”

The new special features are broken into two new categories. The first is titled “Conversations”, which has key members of the cast and crew talking about the productions of all the films. The second is titled “Star Wars: Discoveries From Inside”, which features new looks at the making of the movies, from models and miniatures to costume design.

The full list of bonus features can be found at the Star Wars website. The versions included in The Digital Movie Collection are not the original theatrical versions of the films, and are instead the altered versions found in the Blu-Ray editions of the movies. It’s currently unclear how much the films and overall collection will be priced. However, the New York Times reports they will not be available for rent.

Apple Watch Makes Reality TV Debut on ‘The Voice’ Judge Pharrell Williams’ Wrist

Just a few days before the Apple Watch is available for pre-order on April 10, the device has been spotted in what seems to be its first TV appearance. The Watch, which appears to be the stainless steel version with a white sport band, is on the wrist of musical artist Pharrell Williams as he judges on NBC’s singing competition show The Voice.

And Apples marketing machine has got to work. @MacRumors pic.twitter.com/TsS65m6Vg2

— Johnathan Shell (@crash8130) April 7, 2015

Thus far, Apple has carefully curated the Apple Watch’s image and has exercised control on how the device is portrayed in media. Apple’s marketing efforts have so far been split between posing the Watch as a fashion statement and fitness accessory. Williams is often known for his unique style, recently winning the Fashion Icon Award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America.

The fitness side of the Apple Watch has been promoted on the covers of fitness magazines like Fitness Magazine on the wrist of Kate Bock, Self magazine on the wrist of Candice Swanepoel and model Christy Turlington as she writes about how the Watch helps her train for a marathon on a personal blog on Apple’s website. The fashion side of the Apple Watch has been on display in magazines like Vogue, Style, East Touch and YOHO. It was also shown off at an exclusive event at Parisian boutique Colette.

As the launch of the Apple Watch gets closer, and people are able to try them on within Apple Stores, it’s likely the device will continue to appear on TV, magazines, billboards and more as Apple attempts to market the device to a wide variety of potential customers. The Apple Watch will be available beginning April 24, but will be available for pre-order and in-store try-ons starting April 10.

Explore Feature in App Store Powered by ‘Ottocat’ Technology Apple Acquired in 2013

While most Apple acquisitions become public knowledge shortly after they happen, there are acquisitions that go largely under the radar until months or years afterwards. TechCrunch has recently learned of one such acquisition, which may have happened in 2013. Apple is said to have purchased Ottocat, a small startup specializing in search technology.

Ottocat’s technology is said to be behind the “Explore” app discovery function in the App Store. The Explore tab in the iOS App Store lets users find apps in different categories plus nearby apps.

TechCrunch has learned that Apple quietly bought a startup called Ottocat some time ago, which had developed a system to organize and surface apps on the app store based on “nested” categories of increasing specificity. A version of that system now powers the “explore” tab in Apple’s app store.

According to TechCrunch, though there’s little evidence on LinkedIn to suggest the acquisition happened, Ottocat co-founder Edwin Cooper was the author of a patent that was granted to Apple, which Cooper appears to have filed as an Apple employee. The patent, “System and Method for Divisive Textual Clustering by Label Selection Using Variant-Weighted TFDIF,” which is related to the App Store’s explore feature.

TechCrunch has some information on how Ottocat worked, explaining that its technology aimed to introduce categories for better app discovery to assist users looking to find apps in specific areas when they didn’t have an app in mind to search for, which sounds very similar to what the Explore feature in the App Store does.

Ottocat screenshot via TechCrunch

The premise was to do away with keywords by categorizing apps into increasingly more specific subcategories that worked on a “drill-down” principle — eliminating the guesswork and potential inaccuracy of keywords altogether.

The Ottocat website originally went down in October of 2013, so that may have been around the time that the acquisition occurred. The original error message stated “Ottocat is no longer available,” but the website is now completely defunct. Explore was announced as an App Store addition in June of 2014.

Some 2015 13″ MacBook Pro Users Complain About UI Lag [Mac Blog]

A limited but growing number of 2015 MacBook Pro users have turned to the MacRumors discussion forums with complaints about user interface lag on OS X Yosemite. The lag results in slow or choppy animations and graphics across multiple areas of OS X, including opening Mission Control or Launchpad, launching full-size applications, resizing windows and scrolling through web pages.

A pair of threads related to the issue have received close to 200 replies and 20,000 views within the discussion forums, with some users that previously experienced UI lag offering advice on how to resolve the problem. One potential solution involves resetting the Mac’s PRAM, while temporary workarounds listed include increasing contrast and reducing transparency under the Accessibility menu in System Preferences.

Forum Discussion Threads

1. “ 2015 Macbook Pro’s Intel Iris 6100 is so choppy in Yosemite” posted by cookies!
2. “2015 rMBP problems: 5-6 hours of battery life & major UI lag” posted by Youhoney

It is worth noting that new Macs may experience slower performance after booting up for the first few times as the computer indexes. It is also recommended that affected users perform a clean installation of OS X Yosemite to ensure that the issues are not the result of restoring from a backup. But the issues persist for some, with MacRumors forum member “cookies!” claiming that his 2015 MacBook Pro has “the most significant lag” of “any laptop on Yosemite” he’s ever used.

“I know that Retina displays are taxing on GPUs, but the Intel 6000 series seems incapable of driving this display without extreme choppiness in Yosemite for a number of actions— Mission Control, switching between windows, opening new windows, etc,” reads a post in the MacRumors forums. “This is the most significant lag I’ve experienced on any laptop on Yosemite. My old 2010 Macbook Pro 13″ doesn’t lag this bad on Yosemite.”

While complaints of user interface lag have resurfaced following Apple’s release of the 2015 MacBook Pro, similar issues have been reported in the Apple Support Communities, Reddit, Stack Exchange and MacRumors discussion forums by owners of 13″ and 15″ mid-2012 through mid-2014 Retina MacBook Pro models. The problems appear to be mainly limited to notebooks running OS X Yosemite.

Apple Employees to Receive 50% Off Apple Watch and Apple Watch Sport Models, $550 Off Gold Model

Apple CEO Tim Cook today sent out an email to all Apple employees to thank them for the effort they’ve put into the launch of the Apple Watch and to announce a major discount on Apple Watch models for Apple workers. The email was obtained by MacRumors and is shared below.

Employees will be able to order any stainless steel Apple Watch or Apple Watch Sport for personal use at a 50 percent discount, and Apple is also offering $550 off the Apple Watch Edition. $550 is half off the most expensive stainless steel Apple Watch and the maximum discount that employees can obtain.

Team,

The day we’ve all been waiting for is almost here: Apple Watch is ready to ship.

Our retail stores are training for a whole new way to engage customers and help them experience Apple’s most personal product yet. On Friday, in over four hundred stores across four continents, we’ll open our doors to people who want to try on Apple Watch for the first time and start deciding which one is right for them.

Tens of millions of people have seen our keynotes and demonstration videos about the watch, and there’s much more to come. Some of the most innovative developers in the world are working on new experiences designed specifically for Apple Watch. More than one thousand apps were submitted in just four days last week when the App Store started accepting them, and the rate of submissions has only been climbing since then.

I know that many of you have been looking forward to choosing an Apple Watch for yourselves, and we want to make it easy for you. Starting Friday in countries where the watch is available for pre-order, a special Employee Purchase Plan will offer a 50% discount on any Apple Watch or Apple Watch Sport for your personal use.

As we introduce the watch in more countries, the special pricing for employees will be offered in those countries as well. Discounts will begin at pre-order and last for 90 days after availability. AppleWeb has more details, so I invite you to check it out.

Our products enrich people’s lives like no others, and we think Apple Watch is going to delight our customers in ways people can’t yet imagine. We want you to share in that experience right alongside them.

Congratulations to everyone who has worked so hard for years to help this product reach our customers. And thanks in advance to the thousands of retail employees around the world who will start placing it on people’s wrists starting Friday.

Tim

Over the course of the past several weeks, MacRumors has spoken to multiple Apple retail employees who have relayed just how much work has gone into Apple Watch preparations. Training for the Apple Watch has been intense and somewhat stressful, as employees have needed to learn all new sales techniques to relate to customers in a more personal manner to offer fashion recommendations.

Employees are also gearing up for a couple of busy weeks as customers begin scheduling try-on appointments in stores beginning April 10, so the discount on the Apple Watch will be seen as a welcome bonus. In his email, Tim Cook says that he wants Apple retail employees to “share in the experience” of the Apple Watch right alongside the customers that are purchasing them, and he goes on to thank all of the retail employees that will be working with customers in the coming weeks.

Tim Cook’s email also includes a note about third-party apps. He says that “more than one thousand apps” were submitted to Apple for approval last week after the company began accepting submissions, and that “the rate of submissions has only been climbing since then.” We’ve covered many of the Apple Watch apps that have already surfaced, both in a comprehensive list that contained many of the first available apps and individual posts (airlines, to-do lists, transit apps) that give a deeper look at how we’ll be able to use the Apple Watch. Even more info on Apple Watch apps can be found on Apple’s dedicated app site.

The Apple Watch will be available for pre-order beginning April 10, which is also the day that try-on appointments will become available. The Apple Watch officially launches on April 24.

Apple Retail Employees Outfitted With New Shirts Ahead of Apple Watch Launch

Apple’s retail employees were today given newly redesigned shirts that will be worn during the Apple Watch launch, MacRumors has learned. The shirts are a dark shade of navy blue, much darker in color than the existing brighter blue shirts employees wear now. Employees have been given two T-shirts each and have been instructed to wear the shirts beginning on April 10. Apple also typically distributes polo shirts and T-shirts with longer sleeves, but employees have not yet received these.

The new shirts Apple employees are receiving for the Apple Watch mark the second wardrobe change that’s been enacted this year. In January, Apple distributed redesigned T-shirts and polo shirts all in a dark shade of blue, with an Apple logo located at the top left of the shirt, over the heart.

Apple’s head of retail Angela Ahrendts was rumored to be behind the first style change, and she’s likely handling the new look for employees during the Apple Watch as well, using her expertise as Burberry’s former CEO to find a uniform look that’s suitable for employees handling every day sales and those dedicated to serving high-end retail customers as Apple prepares to start selling its first luxury item, the gold Apple Watch Edition.

Along with new shirts, the launch of the Apple Watch has brought many changes for retail employees. Employees are undergoing rigorous training in order to get ready to sell the Apple Watch, which is being positioned as a fashion item. As we’ve learned from leaked training materials, employees are learning how to interact with customers in all new ways, evaluating customer style and preference to make product recommendations.

Training is still ongoing, and as of this week, employees have been learning what store-front displays will look like and they’ve begun to receive word on which stores will be carrying the gold Apple Watch Edition. It appears that only a limited number of flagship stores will have the higher-end device available for sale, and safes are being installed in some of these stores this week.

Employees are also beginning to receive details on how reservations and try-on appointments will be handled (try-on appointments will be worked into the Mac queue), and they are preparing for a major overnight revamp of stores, which will include the installation of Apple Watch try-on tables and display stations.

The Apple Watch will go on sale online this Friday at 12:01 a.m. Pacific Time. It will be available in all first-wave launch countries simultaneously, including Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States.