Monday Morning News

screen-shot-2015-11-06-at-1-34-27-pmThree online retailers in the US have started iPad Pro pre-orders, but only two have any kind of consensus regarding a possible launch date. Both Sam’s Club and MacMall have listed November 13 as the launch date for Apple’s larger-screened iPad, with Staples throwing a spanner in the works by claiming a November 25th launch for the iPad Pro. US pricing for the iPad Pro and its accessories has also been released by the above retailers, but with no official word from Apple with regards to a launch date or even Australian pricing, all hope is not lost as there’s a good chance we’ll hear something this week.

Apple World Today thinks the release of the iPad Pro will be the device to turn around declining sales of Apple’s tablet, if only temporarily. They say the iPad Pro’s “enterprise appeal” will provide a boost to flagging sales, citing survey results from Gartner to bolster their argument.

Apple exec Eddy Cue’s interview with CNN about the new Apple TV reveals a little about Apple’s plans for the device. Cue said that while the US content providers (read: cable companies) still require authentication for content via a cable or satellite TV subscription, Apple wants customers to be able to buy “whatever they want, however they want”, going onto explain that like the App Store, Apple would offer a variety of purchase options for customers.

Apple has introduced the shopping category in the App Store, with mobile banking, marketplace, and coupon apps all included. Apps that support Apple Pay also make the cut, and as noted by TechCrunch, apps from retail outlets are also included.

A California judge has dismissed the class action lawsuit against Apple over bag searches for Apple Retail employees. Apple would have been forced to compensate thousands of former and current employees for unpaid bag checks, but a judge in San Francisco has dismissed the case, saying employees could have easily avoided the bag checks by simply not bringing a bag to work.

A hack for the new Apple TV lets you run a web browser on your TV, and although it’ll never be released on the App Store due to use of a private API, might be useful enough for casual browsing on the big screen.

People are complaining of Touch ID issues in iOS 9.1, with the feature being slower and more unreliable than normal. I haven’t noticed any weirdness other than Touch ID prompting me for my passcode, claiming it requires the passcode “every 48 hours”, which definitely seems like a bug to me.

Apple has gifted physical photo books to photographers that were a part of Apple’s “Shot on iPhone 6” campaign, going so far as to include white glove intended to prevent handling damage to the cloth photo books.

A truly crazy rumour from News.com.au says a mysterious electric car manufacturer could be a front for Apple’s electric car project. Besides failing to name a CEO and the source of their large resources, Faraday Future’s current staff includes the kind of folks Apple has been hiring lately, including former employees from Tesla, BMW, Ferrari, SpaceX, as well as other car manufacturers.

Ben Brooks thinks you should get a couple of extra Sport Bands for the Apple Watch. While he also owns the Leather Loop, he says the Sport Band is hands-down the best option, and the fact that it comes in a wide variety of colours is a bonus.

The New York Times wonders what Apple SVP of Retail and Online Stores, Angela Ahrendts, has been doing at Apple. While it’s possible Ahrendts could be playing a part behind the scenes in Apple’s attempts to break into the fashion world, she hasn’t exactly been a very public member of Apple’s leadership team.

Last week’s Touch Arcade game of the week was the intricately crafted Lumino City, set in an entirely real hand-crafted environment and then brought to live via the magic of video games and animation.

Steven Levy has a piece and interview with Aaron Sorkin, which both expresses his thoughts on Sorkin’s Steve Jobs film and challenges Sorkin about the line between biopic and artistic portrait. It’s a great read about why Sorkin made some of the decisions he did, even if the film isn’t available


Originally published at: http://appletalk.com.au/2015/11/monday-morning-news091115/