New iMovie for Mac Update Provides Look at Potential of Force Touch Trackpad [Mac Blog]

While Apple updated iMovie for Mac on March 9 with Photos integration and noted it in the “What’s New” section, Apple did not mention it also gained additional support for the new Force Touch Trackpad. The new feature was first found by freelance film editor Alex Gollner (via Wired) and is described in an Apple support document.

When dragging a video clip to its maximum length, you’ll get feedback letting you know you’ve hit the end of the clip. Add a title and you’ll get feedback as the title snaps into position at the beginning or end of a clip. Subtle feedback is also provided with the alignment guides that appear in the Viewer when cropping clips.

Gollner notes that the new feature allowed him to “feel” his way around iMovie’s user interface, which means that he could do certain tasks without looking at the screen. He goes on to say that the new feature feels like a sign of the future for Apple devices, with users being able to feel their way through UI elements that he calls “bumpy pixels”.

iMovie for Mac is available in the Mac App Store for $14.99. [Direct Link]

Apple Removes Intego’s ‘VirusBarrier’ From iOS App Store, Says It’s Misleading

Apple appears to be cracking down on “anti-virus” apps in the iOS App Store, in an effort to prevent customers from believing iOS devices are capable of contracting viruses and malware. Intego, a company that produces anti-virus software for Mac and iOS, recently had its VirusBarrier iOS app pulled from the App Store.

VirusBarrier was an app designed to scan external files stored in the cloud or attached to emails, to detect viruses that might be sent on to vulnerable devices.

Intego CEO Jeff Erwin announced the removal of the app from the iOS App Store yesterday, and pointed towards a larger culling of all anti-virus apps available on Apple’s platform. MacRumors spoke to Erwin this afternoon to shed some light on why Apple opted to remove VirusBarrier after four and a half years in the App Store.

According to Erwin, when Apple notified Intego of VirusBarrier‘s removal from the App Store, the company told him the app’s App Store description was “misleading” and could potentially cause customers to believe that there are viruses on iOS.

Intego filed an appeal and rewrote the App Store description with “obnoxiously” clear wording, and that’s when the company learned about a wider crackdown on anti-virus apps. “We were as clear as we could be that this wasn’t a scanner, that it was scanning email attachments and cloud files,” said Erwin. The company “went up to the executive level” at Apple and described exactly what VirusBarrier does, but Apple was firm on the app not returning to the App Store.

Apple, Erwin says, does not want people to be misled into believing that there are viruses on iOS, a position that he understands. Even with an App Store description that stated VirusBarrier scanned email attachments and cloud files, Intego would still receive negative comments from people who didn’t read the description and didn’t understand the app’s purpose.

I sort of get Apple’s point. Even as clear as we were about what our product did, there were still customers who were confused as to why the app was scanning their iPad or iPhone. There are a lot of people who don’t have a tech background and don’t understand.

Erwin does not believe that Apple was singling VirusBarrier out, as several other anti-virus apps have also been eliminated from the App Store. Instead, he sees it as a wider removal of the category and he doesn’t fault Apple for the decision. “It’s unfortunate, but I understand Apple’s position,” he said.

Erwin says that Intego’s iOS app was not a big source of revenue for the company, and the loss won’t hurt financially, but it was a way to get the Intego name out in the world and connect with customers. People who have previously downloaded the VirusBarrier app will continue to get virus updates, but won’t be able to download new versions of the iOS app.

It is not clear when Apple began removing anti-virus apps or how many have been pulled from the App Store, but a search for “anti-virus” today primarily brings up games, privacy apps, and apps for finding lost phones. There are still a couple of apps that advertise virus-detecting capabilities like VirusDetector, but those few remaining apps may be removed from the App Store in the near future.

Fitness Magazine Shares Behind-the-Scenes Details on New Apple Watch Cover

The Apple Watch has already been spotted within the pages of several fitness and fashion-oriented magazines during the month of March as Apple makes an advertising push ahead of the device’s launch, and as of this week, it’s also scored a spot on the cover of Fitness Magazine.

On the cover, model Kate Bock wears an Apple Watch sport with an aluminum band. The Apple Watch feature focuses heavily on images and doesn’t offer much in the way of details compared to other Apple Watch magazine spots, but Fitness shared some information about the shoot with MacRumors, giving us an interesting inside look at Apple’s Apple Watch marketing efforts.

Apple first reached out to the magazine about HealthKit following the launch of the iPhone 6, which developed into a relationship that allowed Fitness to be the first women’s magazine to photograph the Apple Watch back in early December.

The prototype Apple Watch that was provided to Fitness and photographed on the wrist of Kate Bock was accompanied by an Apple security detail to prevent it from disappearing. Apple representatives were also on hand to approve the photos that were taken.

Ahead of the shoot, Apple asked Fitness to share details on the concept of the cover, who would wear the watch, and what the model would be wearing. After the photo shoot, Apple’s own creative team was involved in editing the photos to make sure the Apple Watch looked good. Fitness Editor-in-Chief Betty Wong described the process to MacRumors, and shared her plans for future Apple Watch features in the magazine.

Apple was pretty engaged from the beginning and wanted to know details like who would be model be who would be wearing it, what sort of attire would she be wearing and what the concept of the cover would be. They liked FITNESS for our tech-savvy, goal-oriented female audience, and thought we’d be great partners in helping showcase the Apple Watch.

Apple reps were on-set at our cover shoot for the whole day to make sure the watch was photographed well. Then once we made our selects, their creative team helped with the retouching to make sure the face of the watch was lit up and live.

I hope to be able to get my hands on an Apple Watch Sport sample in the coming month and really put it to a sweat test for Fitnessmagazine.com to see how useful it is in helping our readers stay motivated to exercise, keep track of their physical activity, or connect with people and their to-do lists while out for a run.

With the Apple Watch positioned as Apple’s first wearable accessory, it’s no surprise to learn the company has been carefully curating its image and exercising control over the way it’s portrayed in magazines. Apple wants people to see the Apple Watch as fashionable, sporty, and genuinely useful to the average person rather than as something geeky and technical that doesn’t belong in the fashion world. Thus far, Apple’s Apple Watch marketing efforts have been split between posing the Apple Watch as a fashion statement and as a fitness accessory.

On the fitness side, the Apple Watch has been featured in this month’s issue of Fitness and it was on the cover of the March issue of Self magazine, on the wrist of Candice Swanepoel. Self did a full feature on the Apple Watch, highlighting its accelerometer, heart rate sensor, and more. Model Christy Turlington has also been promoting the fitness-oriented features of the Apple Watch, both on stage at Apple’s March 9 event and on a personal blog on Apple.com. Turlington is using the Apple Watch as she prepares for the London Marathon in April.

On the fashion side, the Apple Watch has been featured in Vogue, Style, East Touch, and YOHO. Late last year, it was on the cover of Vogue China and it was shown off at an exclusive event at Parisian fashion boutique Colette. It will also be featured in a number of high-end exclusive popup shops around the world after it’s released.

As the launch of the Apple Watch creeps closer, it’s likely the device will continue to appear within an increasing number of magazines and newspapers as Apple attempts to market the device to a wide range of potential customers. The Apple Watch will be available beginning on April 24, but it will be available for pre-order and in-store try ons starting on April 10.

Airlines Embrace Apple Watch With Upcoming Apps

At its Apple Watch event on March 9, Apple highlighted several apps that will be available on the Apple Watch, including an app from American Airlines, which will let users receive flight information, check in for their flights, and more.

Since then, several other airlines have also announced upcoming apps for the Apple Watch, giving us a hint at some of the ways the Apple Watch will be used to make our lives easier. British Airways, for example, has just announced a British Airways app for the Apple Watch, which will be available beginning on April 24.

Through a glance option, which is accessed by swiping right on the watch face, the British Airways app will display a summary of a customer’s next flight, offering details like flight number, flight status, a countdown to departure time, and the weather at the destination. All of that information will be available at a single glance, preventing users from needing to rifle through emails and open up apps to access flight details.

The app will also support on-wrist check-ins for flights, and it will deliver notifications to direct users to their appropriate gates. At certain airport terminals, such as Heathrow’s Terminal 5, users will receive welcome messages powered by iBeacon.

British Airways’ Apple Watch app
Earlier this week, VentureBeat asked several airlines about their plans for Apple Watch apps, which yielded information about two upcoming apps from Delta and United. The Delta app that’s in development will deliver notifications about flights to users ahead of their flights, and it will give them access to the boarding pass stored on their iPhones.

Like the apps from other airlines, it will offer flight numbers, gate numbers, flight times, and other info. If a flight gets changed, for example, users will get a notification on their Apple Watch. There will also be a notification when a flight is approaching a destination city, with information about luggage pickup.

Delta Apple Watch app, image courtesy of VentureBeat
United Airlines wasn’t prepared to share app screenshots of its upcoming Apple Watch app, but it did divulge some details about it. The app will offer at-a-glance information on upcoming flights, including gate numbers and status, plus it lets users view their flight reservations within the United Airlines Apple Watch app. It will also pull a traveler’s boarding pass from the Passbook app, and it’s able to alert users if flight times or gate numbers change.

Southwest and Virgin America told VentureBeat they were not working on Apple Watch apps at the present time, but the two airlines, along with other airlines, will likely create apps as they see their competition developing apps for the device.

The Apple Watch will become available on April 24, with pre-orders beginning on April 10. Developers have been hard at work putting the finishing touches on apps ahead of the launch, with many even flying out to Cupertino for guidance from Apple, so there should be a wealth of third-party apps available to consumers right on launch day.

Apple Updates iPhoto for Mac to Prepare for Upcoming Transition to New Photos App [Mac Blog]

Apple today released a minor update for the iPhoto app for Mac to prepare for the upcoming transition to the OS X Photos app. According to the release notes, today’s update improves compatibility when migrating iPhoto libraries to the new Photos app available in OS X 10.10.3.

What’s new

-Improves compatibility when migrating iPhoto libraries to the new Photos app in the OS X Yosemite 10.10.3 (available this spring)
-Fixes an issue that caused iPhoto to display only the first 25 images in a Facebook album
-Fixes an issue that could cause iPhoto to become unresponsive when printing an image

As we have known for months, the upcoming Photos for OS X app for the Mac is designed to be a replacement for iPhoto and Aperture, both of which Apple ceased developing last year.

Photos for OS X is an all new photo management app that’s been designed to integrate deeply with Photos for iOS. It introduces a Yosemite-style design that emphasizes flatness and translucency, and it works alongside iCloud Photo Library, streamlining photo availability across all of a user’s devices.

Reviews of the Photos for OS X app have suggested that it’s a vast improvement over iPhoto, with better photo editing tools and faster speeds, but it has been criticized for lacking many of the professional editing tools that were found within Aperture.

It is not clear when OS X 10.10.3 with the Photos app might see a public release, but thus far, the software is available to both developers and public beta testers. Developers have received four OS X 10.10.3 betas, and public beta testers have had access to two updates.

Apple Releases New Security Update for OS X Yosemite 10.10.2 Users [Mac Blog]

Apple today released Security Update 2015–003 1.0 for users who are running the current publicly available version of Yosemite, OS X 10.10.2.

Apple recommends that all users download the update, which can be acquired through the Software Update tool in the Mac App Store, or through the links below. According to Apple, the update “improves the security of OS X.” There are two different versions available, one for early 2015 Macs and one for earlier Macs.

– Security Update 2015-003 Yosemite
– Security Update 2015-003 Yosemite (Early 2015 Mac)

Today’s security update comes 10 days after Apple issued Security Update 2015–002 designed to fix the “FREAK” security flaw that left many devices vulnerable to hacking attempts.

Apple Watch Band Adapters Begin Hitting Crowdfunding Sites Ahead of Next Month’s Launch

The Apple Watch is still several weeks away from making its official debut, but that hasn’t stopped dozens of inventors from coming up with accessories for the device, and many of those ideas are showing up on crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo.

Along with charging stands, band adapters are a popular category for crowdfunding campaigns, and several different projects have been started with the hope of creating solutions that will allow the Apple Watch to be used with third-party watch bands.

Earlier this month, we covered the Click Apple Watch band adapter, showing off a 3D printed prototype, and now that project has been further developed and launched on Kickstarter. Click is a band adapter aiming to make most 22mm watch bands compatible with the Apple Watch.

Rendering of the Click adapter design
Click is a simple adapter that slides into the grooves of the Apple Watch, much like one of Apple’s own watch bands. It supports several different pin styles, including spring bars, T-bars, and quick release bars, promising to give Apple Watch users more band options at an affordable price. It will come in two sizes and four finishes, to match all of the Apple Watch casings.

Click adapter prototype in 3D printed Apple Watch

Until now, there has been no affordable way to customize the bands on your Apple Watch. The current selection is small and very expensive. We want you to be able to express yourself in every situation, because you shouldn’t have to change for your watch; your watch should complement you. With Click, you can truly personalize your Apple Watch without breaking the bank.

Another Apple Watch band adapter also promises to let users wear their Apple Watches with existing watch bands. The Adappt is very similar to the Click, but Adappt is pairing its adapter with watch bands in addition to selling it separately. Like the Click, it slides into the Apple Watch band groove on one side and the second side features a standard pin that’s used by most watch bands.

Rendering of Adappt Apple Watch adapter
Adappt will be available in plastic, anodized aluminum, stainless and gold plated steel, in colors to match each Apple Watch, and it will be available in two sizes.

Rendering of Adappt Apple Watch adapter color options

Thanks to high quality materials, Adappt will match perfectly your Apple Watch. Our aluminum is anodized through an electro-chemical process that creates a porous surface, then coated with a dye, to look and feel exactly like the Sport edition versions, Silver and Space Grey Aluminum.

Adappt’s bands will come in rubber, leather, metal, and are priced very reasonably at $9 to $18, adapter included.

The Adappt band was actually launched previously on Kickstarter as the Standap and later removed, leading many to believe that its disappearance was at the behest of Apple, but it appears that Apple has not yet taken a stance on these types of adapters that will allow the Apple Watch to work with any band.

In the weeks leading up to the Apple Watch launch, we’ll undoubtedly see additional band adapters and other accessories designed for the device. The Apple Watch will become available on April 24, but it will be available for pre-order and in-store try on beginning April 10.

The Click Apple Watch band adapter is priced at $10 for early backers, with delivery set for May 2015. Later backers will need to pay up to $30 for a June 2015 delivery.

The Adappt Apple Watch band adapter starts at $7 for a plastic version, and goes up to $250 for a gold plated version. Adapters and bands from Adappt will ship in June of 2015.

How to Choose the Right Apple Watch Band Size [iOS Blog]

After spending hours looking at the wide variety of Apple Watch band options, you’ve probably narrowed it down to just a few different models. One aspect you may not have thought through entirely, however, is what size band you need.

Apple is going to allow users to try on the wrist-worn device at its retail stores starting April 10. That is, however, the same day pre-orders become available, so if you don’t want to risk your favorite model selling out before you have a chance to try one on, you can use Apple’s sizing guide [PDF]. We also have a few suggestions to help you figure out which band is right for you.

Not all Apple Watch bands are available in every size and not all bands are available with every model. For example, the Classic Buckle is the only band that goes as small as 125 mm (4.92 inches). It is also the only band that goes as large as 215 mm (8.46 inches). Some bands are also available with only some casing sizes, as the Modern Buckle is compatible only with 38 mm casings and the Leather Loop is compatible only with 42 mm models.

Below is a rundown of what bands in which sizes are available with each casing (excluding the gold Apple Watch Edition). When looking at the band sizes below, keep in mind that the average woman’s wrist is between 140 mm (5.5 inches) and 170 mm (6.7 inches) and the average man’s wrist is between 165 mm (6.5 inches) and 195 mm (7.8 inches).

Modern Buckle

Case size 38 mm

• Small fits wrist circumference 5.3–5.9 inches (135–150 mm)
• Medium fits wrist circumference 5.7–6.5 inches (145–165 mm)
• Large fits wrist circumference 6.3–7.1 inches (160–180 mm)

Case size 42 mm

• None Available

Leather Loop

Case size 38 mm

• None Available

Case size 42 mm

• Medium fits wrist circumference 5.9–7.3 inches (150–185 mm)
• Large fits wrist circumference 7.1–8.3 inches (180–210 mm)

Milanese Loop

Case Size 38 mm

• Small/Medium fits wrist circumference 5.1–7.1 inches (130–180 mm)

Case size 42 mm

• Medium/Large fits wrist circumference 5.9–7.9 inches (150–200 mm)

Link Bracelet

Case size 38 mm

• Small/Medium fits wrist circumference 5.3–7.7 inches (135–195 mm)

Case size 42 mm

• Medium/Large fits wrist circumference 5.9–8.07 inches (140–205 mm)

Classic Buckle

Case size 38 mm

• Small/Medium fits wrist circumference 4.9–7.9 inches (125–200 mm)

Case size 42 mm

• Medium/Large fits wrist circumference 5.7–8.5 inches (145–215 mm)

Sport Band

*Watch and standalone band pack each come with both S/M and M/L bands.

Case size 38 mm

• Small/Medium fits wrist circumference 5.1–7.1 inches (130–180 mm)
• Medium/Large fits wrist circumference 5.9–7.9 inches (150–200 mm)

Case Size 42 mm

• Small/Medium fits wrist circumference 5.5–7.3 inches (140–185 mm)
• Medium/Large fits wrist circumference 6.3–8.3 inches (160–210 mm)

Getting Your Band Size

The first thing you should do is measure your wrist. Using a cloth tape measure (or a string measured with a standard ruler), you’ll typically want to wrap your left wrist if you are right-handed or your right wrist if you are left-handed.

Wrist preference for watches is, however, purely a personal thing, so feel free to use whichever wrist feels more comfortable to you. The Apple Watch has settings to allow it to be used on either the left or right wrist, although positioning of the Digital Crown and side button will be reversed depending on orientation.

Most cloth tape measures are based on inches, not millimeters, so you may want to convert your measurement. One inch is equal to 25.4 mm, so if your wrist is seven inches in circumference, multiply by 25.4 to get 177.8 mm. Or, you can reference our conversion guide above.

Choosing a Band

Taking a seven-inch wrist as the model, you can see that the Modern Buckle might not be a comfortable fit. Although the large size covers wrist of up to 7.1 inches, you won’t have any room for weight changes or slight puffing at night (or while going on long walks).

If your wrist measures seven inches in circumference, you may want to avoid the 38 mm case for all models except the Link Bracelet, Classic Buckle, and Sport Band.

If your wrist measures more than eight inches in circumference, your options for the 38 mm case are even more limited, and the Sport Band would be your best option.

In the reverse, a smaller wrist, say one that measures 5.5 inches in circumference, might find some of the 42 mm models to be a bit too loose. The Sport Band would be the best options for someone with a 5.5-inch wrist looking for a 42 mm casing, although you would probably find the Classic Buckle to fit fairly well since it is only 0.16 of an inch larger. While a slightly larger band is easier to get used to than a slightly smaller band, the Apple Watch needs to be worn snugly so the sensor on the back of the device can accurately pick up the user’s heart rate.

Considering all of the different band/casing combinations and available band sizes should give you a good start on picking the right Apple Watch band ahead of the pre-order launch. With any luck, your favorite option won’t sell out.

The first round of pre-orders for the Apple Watch will be available in nine countries starting April 10, both online and in Apple retail stores. The wrist-worn device will launch across those countries on April 24. Prices start at $349 for the aluminum Apple Watch Sport model, $549 for the stainless steel Apple Watch model, and $10,000 for the gold Apple Watch Edition Model. Starting April 10, you will also be able to make a reservation or stop by an Apple retail store to try on the Apple Watch and place pre-orders.

Tag Heuer Partnering With Google and Intel to Build Connected Smartwatch

Swiss luxury watch maker TAG Heuer on Thursday at the Baselworld watch convention in Switzerland announced that it is partnering with Google and Intel to create a connected smartwatch. TAG Heuer will be responsible for designing and manufacturing the watch, which will have an Intel microprocessor and use Google’s Android Wear platform. The smartwatch will be released later this year, at which point specific pricing and features will be revealed.

TAG Heuer’s Carrera contemporary luxury sport watch
TAG Heuer has high expectations for its upcoming smartwatch, with CEO Jean-Claude Biver calling it his “biggest announcement ever” in 40 years of working in the industry. The executive also predicted that the product will be the “greatest connected watch” available, just weeks before the Apple Watch is released. “The difference between the TAG Heuer watch and the Apple Watch is very important,” Biver said. “That one is called Apple and this one is called TAG Heuer.”

TAG Heuer joins Swatch, Breitling, Montblanc and Frederique Constant as one of several Swiss watch makers bringing electronic features to the wrist to compete with the Apple Watch and other connected smartwatches. TAG is the first traditional watchmaker to partner with Google, however, opening the doors for more Swiss luxury watch makers under parent company LVMH, including Hublot and Zenith, to collaborate with Silicon Valley on the next generation of wrist-worn devices.

Angry Birds Developer Rovio Reports First Major Profit Decline in 2014 [iOS Blog]

Finnish developer Rovio, creator of the Angry Birds games and all of the subsequent spin-offs, yesterday reported the company’s first big decline in profits since the original Angry Birds game launched in 2009 (via VentureBeat).

Though the company’s mobile gaming business did see a slight 16 percent rise in revenue, a huge drop in Rovio’s licensing business, which includes the various toys, t-shirts, and action figures related to its games, was the true culprit of the company’s decline last year. Not to mention other mega-hit franchises, like Candy Crush Saga, slowly taking the once-dominant spotlight of Angry Birds.

The first official image from the upcoming Angry Birds movie.
The company’s revenue dropped to €158.3 million ($170 million) in 2014, from €173.5 million ($185.6 million) in 2013. Likewise, Rovio’s operating profit also fell last year to €10 million from €36.5 million in 2013 and €76.8 million in 2012. Rovio CEO Pekka Rantala hopes a steady release of new games and a renewed focus on advertising will pivot the company in the right direction for 2015.

“2014 results show that steps in the game portfolio, free to play competency building and advertising are going in the right direction. I am confident that with new simplified organisation and clearer vision, we will be back to the path of growth in 2015,” said Pekka Rantala, who took over as chief executive last fall, in a statement.

Rovio launched six new games in 2014, no doubt helping to bump up its mobile gaming revenue, with more than 600 million new game downloads for the company. It’s also already launched two new games in 2015, Jelly Jam and Angry Birds Stella POP!, which Rantala hopes will keep the brand’s momentum going through the first half of 2015.

Although it’s not to be released until the summer of 2016, Rantala also points to the buzz surrounding the Angry Birds movie as a boon to the company’s wilting licensing business. The company will produce the movie, which is set to star Jason Sudeikis, Josh Gad, Maya Rudolph, and Peter Dinklage.

Rovio no doubt hopes for the film to pick up the slack where Angry Birds Toons, Rovio’s 2013-launched animated kids TV show, has failed to increase the company’s licensing business year-over-year. Rantala notes that the film already has received “very positive reactions from major retail and license partners as well as from consumer focus groups”, which he and the company predict will translate into booming licensing deals in the coming years.