On stage at today's "show time" event, Apple CEO Tim Cook announced Apple TV+, an ad-free subscription home for the company's new push into original content. With the Apple TV app now extending onto other smart TV platforms while collecting shows and movies from other outlets into Channels, it's giving people even more of a reason to stick with Apple by adding exclusives you can't get anywhere else. According to senior VP Eddy Cue, "Apple TV+ will be home to some of the highest quality original storytelling that TV and movie lovers have seen yet."
With Apple TV Channels, the company has created a way for you to pick and choose your favorite networks and watch everything within its TV app. The selection includes traditional channels like CBS and Comedy Central, premium networks like HBO and Showtime, as well as online streaming services like Brit Box and Acorn TV. On top of giving you a single spot to watch all of this content, you'll also be able to download shows and movies to your devices to watch online.
The Samsung app will land first, and other manufacturers will get the Apple TV app this Spring. The app will also be available on Roku and Fire TV devices. And the company is also launching an Apple TV app on macOS this Fall.
Fronted by a "Helpster" muppet who likes helping others, the show will aim to teach the basic principles of programming, including concepts as producing a set of instructions to be followed.
Additionally, Oprah announced that she would be using Apple TV Plus for “building the biggest, most vibrant, most stimulating book club on the planet... I want to literally convene a meeting of the minds connecting us through books,” mentioning plans to host live-streams with authors directly on the platform.
The stars and creators of the most highly anticipated projects like Steven Spielberg’s “Amazing Stories” and “The Morning Show” from Reese Witherspoon appeared on stage to reveal more details about what people can expect, although many people felt like there were more questions raised than answers. Variety has a roundup of the upcoming shows slated to hit Apple TV+, who’s involved, and some major plot points.
The UI is updated to integrate magazine issues into the main flow of the News app. The app features latest issues and featured content, including live covers that animate like a video rather than a static image. Inside an issue, users can jump to individual episodes or browse the magazine at their leisure.
"A specially curated collection of general interest news from The Wall Street Journal" sounds like a smaller selection of what you'd otherwise get with a "real" subscription to the WSJ through the web.
But no matter how much Apple’s aesthetic epigenetics have contributed to Apple News Plus, the underlying magazine industry DNA is very clear — and not to the product’s benefit. Magazine companies produce issues; it’s what they did for many pre-digital decades, and it’s the frame through which they have typically viewed the transition to digital, usually to their detriment.
After taking an initial look at Apple News+ with my US Apple ID and noticing the differences between Apple News Format-optimized magazines and standard "PDF-like" ones, I thought it'd be interesting and useful to compile the full list of all magazines currently available to Apple News+ subscribers in the US.
Apple says that it's not only curating the games it offers in the Arcade, it's also contributing to development costs and "working closely with creators" to bring these games forward. As for the studios contributing, Apple cited Annapurna Interactive, Bossa Studios, Cartoon Network, Finji, Giant Squid, Klei Entertainment, Konami, LEGO, Mistwalker Corporation, SEGA, Snowman and ustwo as its first development partners.
When Apple Arcade is ready, it'll launch in more than 150 markets, but it won't be out until this fall. At this point, there aren't any pricing details, either -- we'll unfortunately have to wait a while to try this out.
Apple today revealed a brand new service called "Apple Card," which was designed for the iPhone. In the Wallet app, Apple now shows the amount of money you've spent on Apple Card, when payments are due, and more. Apple partnered with Goldman Sachs and Mastercard for Apple Card.
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Apple Card also supports rewards, so every time you spend with Apple Card you will get cash back every day. This is called Daily Cash, which is subsequently added to your Apple Cash card, which can be used anywhere Apple Pay is used.
Apple Card seems to meld the two things: a virtual credit card with a rotating security code, protected by a biometric, like Touch ID or Face ID in newer devices. Better yet, the company’s debut physical titanium credit card won’t even have a credit card number.
Now if someone wants to commit fraud, they need to steal your phone and your face or fingerprint.
"With that product (Apple Card) we are going to start in the U.S. but over time, absolutely, we will be thinking of international opportunities for it," Richard Gnodde, CEO Goldman Sachs International, told CNBC's Elizabeth Schulze Tuesday.
A 24 percent APR is considered pretty high and certainly doesn't qualify as "low."
You can still fund Apple Pay Cash from a debit card, where no fees should apply.
For years, Apple downplayed the idea that it would ever compete with the banks. After all, Apple need those credit cards so consumers could utilize Apple Pay. Now, Apple is establishing itself as a competitor in financial services. And it feels like just the beginning.
First and foremost, the iOS 12.2 update introduces support for the new Apple News+ subscription service, allowing Apple News subscribers unlimited access to news and magazines for a monthly fee.
For Canadians, iOS 12.2 brings Apple News to Canada for the first time, expanding it beyond the United States, the UK, and Australia. Canadians can access news in either French or English.
Following the event today, Apple has not released any new hardware but it has rebranded the 2015 fourth-generation Apple TV as the Apple TV HD. The set-top box, formerly known as simply ‘Apple TV’, now has a better name that it distinguishes it from the newer Apple TV 4K.
With today's update, support for Apple Music is ensured across a wide range of products capable of running the latest Chrome OS release.
Hidden in iOS 12.2 are animations and images that showcase Powerbeats without any sort of connecting wire. In terms of design, they’re nearly identical to Powerbeats3, but truly wireless much like AirPods. The glyphs show Powerbeats Pro in black and white color variations.
“It was Apple not telling it’s own story, maybe for the first time,” said Carolina Milanesi, an analyst at Creative Strategies. “Many of those people are bigger stars than Tim.”
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The question is the company’s identity. At Apple events we’re used to seeing people like Kevin Lynch (Apple Watch) and Craig Federighi (iOS) who you know live and breath core “Designed in California” products.
Today the company made a big deal of announcing a bunch of third-party content and services, with only passing references to the hardware that made it famous. Should Apple really identify itself with products that its own creative hand never really gets close to?
Will Apple finally 'sunset' the iTunes app, and move the jukebox and music store into Apple Music? Will Apple also rebrand the existing Apple Music subscription service to Apple Music Plus?
Will Apple start up Apple Music Channels, and allow you to subscribe to Spotify from within Apple Music app?
Who knows.
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Thanks for reading.